cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Medical therapy for Crohn's disease: the state of the art.

Crohn's disease is an inflammatory disorder of the bowel of unknown cause. Crohn's disease seems to result from stimulation of the intestinal immune cascade in genetically susceptible individuals. Although the specific antigen perpetuating this inflammatory response is unclear, overactivation of the enteric immune and inflammatory pathways results in chronic mucosal damage. Also, in patients with Crohn's disease, perianal disease or fistulas commonly develop and are usually frustrating consequences of this disease that provide additional therapeutic challenges to clinicians. Various medications are used to control the symptoms of fistulizing and nonfistulizing Crohn's disease. Oral and topical aminosalicylates are first-line agents for patients with mild to moderate disease activity, whereas corticosteroids are often beneficial in patients with more severe disease activity. Immunomodulatory therapy with azathioprine, 6-mercaptopurine, and methotrexate may be beneficial in patients who are unresponsive to the aforementioned agents or for patients who become dependent on corticosteroids. Antibiotics are useful in many patients, particularly in patients with perianal and fistulizing disease. Immunosuppressive medications previously reserved for patients undergoing solid-organ transplantation (e.g., cyclosporin A [CSA] or tacrolimus) are being used more commonly for refractory disease, whereas a novel class of biological agents, including infliximab (Remicade), propagated by advances in biotechnology, are changing the models for the treatment of many patients afflicted with active lumenal and fistulizing Crohn's disease. Also, postoperative prophylaxis is becoming more customary, and increasing data suggest that antibiotics, aminosalicylates, and azathioprine or 6-mecaptopurine may help to prevent or delay postoperative recurrence.
WHO classification of soft tissue tumours: an update based on the 2013 (4th) edition.

Summary The fourth edition of the World Health Organization (WHO) Classification of Tumours of Soft Tissue and Bone was published in February 2013, and serves to provide an updated classification scheme and reproducible diagnostic criteria for pathologists. Given the relative rarity of soft tissue tumours and the rapid rate of immunohistochemical and genetic/molecular developments (not infrequently facilitating recognition of new tumour entities), this updated text edited by a consensus group is important for both practising pathologists and oncologists. The 2013 WHO classification includes several changes in soft tissue tumour classification, including several new entities (e.g., pseudomyogenic haemangioendothe-lioma, haemosiderotic fibrolipomatous tumour, and acral fibromyxoma), three newly included sections for gastrointestinal stromal tumours, nerve sheath tumours, and undifferentiated/unclassified soft tissue tumours, respectively, various ‘reclassified’ tumours, and a plethora of new genetic and molecular data for established tumour types that facilitate better definition and are useful as diagnostic tools. This article briefly outlines these updates based on the 2013 WHO classification of soft tissue tumours.
Sandwich Holospeckle Interferometry For Three-Dimensional Displacement Determination

A holospeckle technique for 3D displacement measurement using sandwich plates is developed, whereby the resulting fringes have a variable sensitivity in both the hologram and specklegram modes.
Erratum to: Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres

In the previous issue, the three papers by MacDermott et al. appeared in incorrect order. The correct sequence should be: Evaluation of Coupled Perturbed and Density Functional Methods of Computing the ParityViolating Energy Difference between Enantiomers Electroweak Parity-Violating Energy Shifts of Amino Acids: The “Conformation Problem” Parity-Violating Energy Shifts of Murchison L-Amino Acids are Consistent with an Electroweak Origin of Meteorite L-Enantiomeric Excesses Orig Life Evol Biosph (2009) 39:599 DOI 10.1007/s11084-009-9176-3
Leonardo: A First Step towards an Interactive Decision Aid for Port-Placement in Robotic Surgery

Leonardo is a prototype interactive augmented reality system designed to aid a surgeon in port-placement prior to performing robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery. The system components consist of a computer, a projector, and a motion and color tracking device. The human-computer interface through which the surgeon interacts with the system is the patient's abdomen itself. Based on the parameters of the patient body and surgical procedure, an optimized set of port locations is provided to the surgeon as colored icons projected onto the abdomen. The surgeon can adjust the suggested locations by direct manipulation with the gloved hand and fingers in real-time. This interactive decision-aid is expected to shorten the planning phase, and enhance performance of robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery.
Reactivation of X-linked genes in human fibroblasts transformed by origin-defective SV40

To determine if expression of genes on the inactive X is inducible in human cells, we looked for reactivation events in a clone of fibroblasts transformed with origin-defective SV40. The karyotype of these cells was grossly heteroploid so that the aneuploidy associated with SV40 transformation occurs even in the absence of viral replication. This transformed clone, heterozygous for hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT), lacks HPRT activity, as the mutant allele is on the active X and the normal allele on the inactive X. Reactivation of the HPRT+allele on the inactive X was observed at a frequency of 6 x 10−5per cell and increased approximately eightfold following treatment with the cytidine analogs 5-azacytidine (5azaC) and 5-azadeoxycytidine. The fact that spontaneous reactivation is detectable in some clones, but not all, suggests that the environment of the SV40-transformed cell, although not sufficient to induce generalized derepression, increases the frequency of rare reactivation events. The methylation pattern at the HPRTlocus revealed transformation-associated alterations that may have predisposed these cells to reactivation events, spontaneous as well as 5azaC-induced.
B(C6F5)3 Activation of Oxo Tungsten Complexes That Are Relevant to Olefin Metathesis

We have found that coordination of B(C6F5)3 to an oxo ligand in tungsten oxo alkylidene bis(aryloxide) complexes, where the aryloxide is O-2,6-(mesityl)2C6H3 (HMTO) or 2,6-diadamantyl-4-methylphenoxide (dAdPO), accelerates the formation of metallacyclobutane complexes from alkylidenes as well as the rearrangement of metallacyclobutane complexes. In contrast, a tungstacyclopentane complex, W(O)(C4H8)(OHMT)2, is relatively stable toward rearrangement in the presence of B(C6F5)3. A careful balance of steric factors allows a single isomer of W(O)(trans-4,4-dimethylpent-2-ene)(dAdPO)2 to be formed from W(O)(CH-t-Bu)(dAdPO)2 in the presence of both ethylene and B(C6F5)3.
Hurricane Bonnie wind flow characteristics as determined from WEMITE

Abstract The Wind Engineering Mobile Instrumented Tower Experiment (WEMITE) successfully gathered high-resolution wind speed data from within Hurricane Bonnie as it made landfall near Wilmington, North Carolina, on 27 August 1998, at 04:00 UTC. This data is used to inspect the variations in turbulent characteristics of the wind during the passage of the storm. Specifically, turbulence intensities, integral scales, gust factors and power spectral densities are evaluated. Results indicate there is general agreement with the Krayer/Marshall gust factor curve, additional low-frequency energy in the longitudinal power spectral density compared to various model spectra, and a wide variation in integral scales even within the same roughness regime.
Mapping of the Tobacco mosaic virus movement protein and coat protein subgenomic RNA promoters in vivo.

The Tobacco mosaic virus movement protein (MP) and coat protein (CP) are expressed from 3'-coterminal subgenomic RNAs (sgRNAs). The transcription start site of the MP sgRNA, previously mapped to positions 4838 (Y. Watanabe, T. Meshi, and Y. Okada (1984), FEBS Lett. 173, 247-250) and 4828 (K. Lehto, G. L. Grantham, and W. O. Dawson (1990), Virology 174, 145-157) for the TMV OM and U1 strains, respectively, has been reexamined and mapped to position 4838 for strain U1. Sequences of the MP and CP sgRNA promoters were delineated by deletion analysis. The boundaries for minimal and full MP sgRNA promoter activity were localized between -35 and +10 and -95 and +40, respectively, relative to the transcription start site. The minimal CP sgRNA promoter was mapped between -69 and +12, whereas the boundaries of the fully active promoter were between -157 and +54. Computer analysis predicted two stem-loop structures (SL1 and SL2) upstream of the MP sgRNA transcription start site. Deletion analysis and site-directed mutagenesis suggested that SL1 secondary structure, but not its sequence, was required for MP sgRNA promoter activity, whereas a 39-nt deletion removing most of the SL2 region increased MP sgRNA accumulation fourfold. Computer-predicted folding of the fully active CP sgRNA promoter revealed one long stem-loop structure. Deletion analysis suggested that the upper part of this stem-loop, located upstream of the transcription start site, was essential for transcription and that the lower part of the stem had an enhancing role.
Purchasing power in Japanese popular culture

Cet article presente les moyens par lesquels le peuple japonais a, au cours des decennies, pu se reapproprier, reviser et tourner en derision certains modes d'expression afin de creer et d'exprimer ses propres gouts, sentiments et vues politiques. Il se penche egalement sur la facon dont les tenants du pouvoir ont essaye de gagner l'approbation du public et de produire des loisirs populaires afin de construire des identites de consommation de masse. Cette dynamique de concurrence de formes et de modes, de luttes pour definir ce qui est populaire et de masse, est signe de vitalite comme en temoigne l'expansion internationale d'une de ces formes d'expression japonaise qu'est le dessin anime
Aluminum precipitation and dissolution rates in Spodosol Bs horizons in the northeastern USA

The present study was undertaken to verify some of the assumptions involved in the modeling of Al geochemistry in Spodosols of the northeastern USA. Specific objectives were to determine if there is a mineral phase in the Bs horizons which regulates Al(3+) activities, evaluate the rate at which precipitation and dissolution reactions occur with the controlling mineral phase (referred to as Al(OH)3 precipitation hereafter, since the specific reactions controlling Al(3+) activity in soil solutions are unknown), and provide process-level information for the development of simulation models that depict Al retention/release and the acidification of drainage waters. The Bs horizon was chosen because it is the soil horizon thought to most influence surface water chemistry in these shallow Spodosols.
Time-resolved studies of the order–disorder phase transformations in rare-earth–transition metal intermetallics with 2-17 stoichiometry

High-temperature order–disorder transformations in R2T17 and R2T17-M-C intermetallics with R = Pr, Sm, Dy, Tb; T = Co, Fe; and M = Zr, Nb were studied utilizing time-resolved synchrotron x-ray diffraction at the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne, IL). High-energy synchrotron radiation provides intense, highly penetrating x-rays, which are ideal for in situ studies of phase transformations. Alloying additions are used to stabilize formation of metastable phases; their influence on order recovery was investigated. The experimental setup utilized Debye–Scherrer geometry; specimens were heated at a rate of 10 K/min. Full-profile diffraction patterns collected every 10 s were refined in sequence using the Rietveld method to track changes of lattice parameters and phase assemblages during heating. Sharp changes observed in the evolution of temperature-dependent lattice parameters suggested formation of ordered structure via nucleation and growth. Both 2-17 polymorphs co-existed in light and heavy rare-earth systems at high temperatures. The presence of alloying additions in the solid solution greatly influenced long-range order formation.
Fundamental study of laser generation of narrowband Lamb waves using superimposed line sources technique

Abstract In this paper, a laser generated ultrasound technique called superimposed line sources is presented. The technique generates narrowband Lamb waves with a dominant wavelength by superimposing signals of line sources at the pitch corresponding to the desired wavelength. The superposition is performed in software after data are collected so that it permits flexibility of selecting the desired wavelength afterwards. By selecting the dominant wavelength in signals, signal complexity is reduced and the speeds and frequencies of wave modes with the selected wavelength can be determined through dispersion curves. Wavenumber–frequency domain filtering and continuous wavelet transform are used in this research to further reduce the complexity of the signals. Finally, simulations and experiments are conducted to investigate the defect detection ability of the technique. Reflection coefficients are calculated for fundamental A0 and S0 wave modes. Good agreement is found between the simulations and experiments and the result of coefficients with respect to defect and sample dimensions will be shown.
Schottky contacts of Gd‐Pt and Gd‐V alloys on n‐Si and p‐Si

Alloys of Gd‐Pt and Gd‐V, both Gd‐rich and Pt or V‐rich, have been prepared by coevaporation onto n‐ and p‐type Si for Schottky contact formation. Structural and electrical properties of these contacts after various heat treatments have been studied by combining x‐ray diffraction, backscattering spectroscopy, and current‐voltage measurement. We found that these alloys produced a mixture of silicides on Si; i.e., they formed parallel contacts of GdSi2 and PtSi or GdSi2 and VSi2 to Si. We also found that the sum of apparent Schottky barrier heights of these parallel contacts on n‐Si and p‐Si is not necessarily equal to the value of the band gap of Si, which we recall is always true for a single phase contact.
Baroreflex Sensitivity Assessed by Complex Demodulation of Cardiovascular Variability

Abstract We used complex demodulation of cardiac interval and systolic arterial blood pressure oscillations in the low-frequency band (0.04 to 0.14 Hz) to investigate baroreceptor control of heart rate. Baroreflex sensitivity was defined as the instantaneous amplitude of complex-demodulated oscillations in the RR interval divided by the instantaneous amplitude of complex-demodulated oscillations in systolic blood pressure. We evaluated the method using both simulated and actual data obtained from 33 healthy nonsmokers during supine and standing postures. To test the validity and reliability of the method, we compared the mean values of baroreflex sensitivity calculated using complex demodulation with the values obtained using power spectral analysis and sequential analysis of spontaneous variations in blood pressure and RR interval. All three methods applied to the simulated data yielded the same values of baroreceptor sensitivity. Mean values of baroreflex sensitivity assessed by complex demodulation of the actual data were similar to those calculated by both power spectral analysis and sequential analysis (13.9±5.2 versus 13.7±6.7 or 14.3±6.5 ms/mm Hg for supine and 7.3±2.8 versus 7.0±3.0 or 7.2±2.8 ms/mm Hg for standing, respectively). In addition, a significant correlation existed between the values obtained by complex demodulation and power spectral analysis ( r =.97, P =.0001) and sequential analysis ( r =.98, P =.0001). Furthermore, complex demodulation–derived baroreflex sensitivity fluctuated across time during both the supine and standing postures, and this could not be discerned by power spectral analysis. The results indicate that complex demodulation provides a dynamic assessment of baroreflex sensitivity and may be a useful tool in exploring reflex autonomic control of the cardiovascular system.
Sustained FVIII Expression and Phenotypic Correction of Hemophilia A in Neonatal Mice Using an Endothelial-Targeted Sleeping Beauty Transposon

Hemophilia A, deficiency of coagulation factor VIII (FVIII), is an attractive candidate for gene therapy as expression of modest amounts of FVIII can provide therapeutic benefit. Most gene transfer approaches for hemophilia have focused on the liver, as this is the major source of endogenous FVIII; however, increasing evidence suggests that endothelial cells are capable of synthesis and release of FVIII. Here the Sleeping Beauty (SB) transposon is employed to target long-term expression of the human B-domain-depleted FVIII gene (approved gene symbol F8) within lung endothelia of hemophilic mice. As the formation of inhibitory antibodies to FVIII has been a significant impediment toward achieving therapeutic plasma levels after gene or protein therapy, we chose to perform gene transfer in neonatal mice, which are more likely to be immune tolerant. Using this approach, low therapeutic levels of FVIII ( approximately 10%), as well as phenotypic correction of the bleeding disorder, were achieved in all animals that received the FVIII transposon and functional transposase throughout the duration of the study (24 weeks). Rechallenge of these animals with additional gene transfer did not result in significant increases in FVIII levels, due mainly to increases in inhibitory antibodies. These studies demonstrate the feasibility of using endothelial-targeted SB transposons for the treatment of hemophilia A.
The Calm Before the Storm? Revolutionary Pressures and Global Governance

Has the era of revolution passed? Many scholars think globalization and democratization make a recurrence of the great social revolutions unlikely, now that global webs of economic interest bind states together and democratization absorbs popular discontent. I argue against these views here. The present climate is the calm before the storm. Precisely those factors that make national revolutions unlikely (economic, political, and cultural globalization) may lead to a global revolutionary crisis in coming decades. Despite the lack of a global state to capture, transnational political institutions are creating a global political arena for future upsurges of revolt. They lock in policies favorable to global capital, while remaining unresponsive and hence brittle. The loss of democratic legitimacy within nation-states, combined with rising inequality, make the world system quite vulnerable to crisis in the long run. A future profound economic crisis, if it overlaps with the cultural fault lines of our time, may recreate globally many of the dynamics that led to earlier revolutionary ruptures within nation-states.
The Direct Assessment: An Alternative to Psychometric Testing

There is currently a need for school psychologists to write remedial recommendations for the same educational problems identified by teachers and parents. Such fundamental problems as reading, writing, and arithmetic need to be assessed on the basis that a child simply has not learned the necessary subtasks within these skills or that certain immediate environmental conditions prevent the child from acquiring the skills. Previous assessment procedures ignore the task and the immediate environment and assess only the child's inability to learn. The child, the task, and the immediate environment need to be included in an assessment.A direct assessment anaylzes the task to be learned in such a way that the steps required to learn the skills are specified, and the child's level within the task is determined. This assessment takes into consideration that the child's immediate environment can make a difference in performance.Factors within the environment are assessed to determine whether they set the occasion ...
The scope of indefinites: an experimental investigation

This paper reports on an experimental investigation of the scope of English a indefinites and a certain indefinites. Three experiments test whether native English speakers allow indefinites to scope out of syntactic islands, and to take intermediate as well as widest scope. The experimental findings indicate that a indefinites and a certain indefinites have different ranges of interpretations available to them. Experiment 1 shows that a certain indefinites, unlike a indefinites, cannot be interpreted in the scope of an intensional operator, and further shows that functional readings are available to a certain indefinites but not to a indefinites. Experiment 2 focuses on the availability of long-distance readings of indefinites out of scope islands, and shows that the most accessible reading for a certain indefinites is the widest-scope reading, while the most accessible reading for a indefinites is the narrow-scope reading. Experiment 3 shows that modification of an a indefinite by a relative clause does not facilitate long-distance readings, as long as it does not restrict the domain to a singleton set. Overall, these findings are consistent with the proposal of Schwarz (Proceedings of the Thirteenth Amsterdam Colloquium, ILCC, University of Amsterdam, 192–197, 2001) that a certain indefinites and a indefinites are derived by different semantic mechanisms. The behavior of a certain indefinites is shown to be consistent with the contextually determined choice function approach Kratzer (Events in grammar, Kluwer, Dordrecht, 165–196, 1998) and the singleton indefinite approach Schwarzschild (J Semant 19:289–314, 2002). In contrast, a indefinites are most compatible with a purely quantificational approach, contra much recent theoretical literature. These findings highlight the value of conducting experimental studies testing the predictions of semantic theories.
Isolation and Characterization of the Natural Colloidal Material From the Fox River

ABSTRACT Resuspension of aquatic sediments with HOCs (hydrophobic organic contaminants) can disrupt existing sorption equilibria and cause HOC desorption, and increase the exposure of water column biota to HOCs. Resuspension can also increase levels of aqueous colloidal material in the overlying water column. Furthermore, because colloidal material partly determines the transport and ultimate fate of sediment-derived HOCs, physical and chemical characterizations of sediment colloids that are subject to resuspension are necessary to assess the full impact of activities that disturb contaminated sediments (e.g., dredging, navigation, chemical treatment, high flow events). Colloidal material extracted from lower Fox River sediments was analyzed for chemical (total organic carbon (TOC), elemental and mineralogical analyses, isoelectric point (pHIEP)) and physical (particle size distribution (PSD), solids and moisture content, surface area) characteristics, and subjected to batch aggregation studies under cont...
New features in Saturn's atmosphere revealed by high-resolution thermal infrared images

Observations of the stratospheric IR emission structure on Saturn are presented. The high-spatial-resolution global images show a variety of new features, including a narrow equatorial belt of enhanced emission at 7.8 micron, a prominent symmetrical north polar hotspot at all three wavelengths, and a midlatitude structure which is asymmetrically brightened at the east limb. The results confirm the polar brightening and reversal in position predicted by recent models for seasonal thermal variations of Saturn's stratosphere.
Allergens in bee venom: I. Separation and identification of the major allergens

Abstract Honeybee venom was separated into seven fractions by gel filtration on Sephadex G-75. Allergenic activities of these fractions were assessed by the paper disc radioallergosorbent test (RAST) with a panel of sera from 24 individuals who had systemic reactions to bee stings, 7 who had large local reactions, and 10 control subjects who had reactions of 5 cm or less following bee stings. Three fractions were identified by enzyme or direct hemolytic activity. Twenty-nine of 31 sera from patients having either systemic or large local reactions to bee stings were positive when radioallergosorbent tested with whole bee venom; 22 were positive to phospholipase A, and 28 were positive to both fractions 1 and 2. Thirteen sera combined most strongly with fraction 1, 12 sera most strongly with fraction 2, hyaluronidase, and three sera about equally with fractions 1, 2, and 3. Reactions with other fractions were much weaker. Fractions 1 and 2 were potent inhibitors of RAST with whole venom in the sera reacting most strongly with fractions 1 or 2, respectively. Fraction 3, phospholipase A, and commercial bee venom phospholipase A were significantly less potent inhibitors with the sera tested. In the cases in which IgE antibody bindings to fractions 1, 2, and 3 were of similar magnitude, inhibitions of RAST using the variovs fractions both on the discs and as inhibitors demonstrated substantial cross-reactivity between the fractions. These results strongly indicate that by using RAST with human sera from bee sting-sensitive individuals, fraction 1, the high molecular materials, and fraction 2, hyaluronidase, are the major allergens in honeybee venom. Phospholipase A appears to be of secondary importance.
Regional seismic observations of the Ontong Java plateau and East Mariana Basin

P-waves recorded on Ponape Island at the northern end of the Ontong Java plateau have been investigated. Different modes of propagation in the distance range 12° to 17° Δ between paths from Melanesian earthquakes across the Ontong Java plateau and paths from Mariana earthquakes across the eastern Mariana basin suggest that the mantle underlying the regions is not homogeneous. Travel-times of P-waves beneath the Ontong Java plateau are slower than for paths beneath the east Mariana basin. The frequency content of the first-arriving P-waves is lower for paths across the Ontong Java plateau than for the east Mariana basin. The disparate crustal thicknesses of the Ontong Java plateau and east Mariana basin may influence the relative amplitude of oceanic Pn, with smaller amplitudes corresponding to a thicker crust. Pn-P differential times for the Ontong Java plateau show a general decrease with the depth of earthquake focus but no comparable trend is seen in the Mariana data, possibly because of the scatter. The observation of high-frequency oceanic Pn propagation across the Ontong Java Plateau is suggestive that the plateau is not of continental origin.
Toward a defect prediction model of exception handling method call structures

The ability to predict where faults are likely to arise in the source code can help guide test plans, reduce effort and cost, narrow the test space, and improve software quality. Our preliminary results show that exception handling code can be more risky than normal code. Therefore, in order to support more efficient testing of exception handling code, this extended abstract proposes a framework to predict faults from annotated exception handling method call structures. This framework will generate annotated exception call graphs of the whole system and calculate property-based software engineering measurement values. The framework will then predict the high risk area of the system by applying statistical modeling techniques to perform fault prediction.
Novel temperature compensation technique for force-sensing piezoresistive devices

A novel stress-insensitive piezoresistor in the shape of an annulus has been developed to be used in conjunction with a piezoresistive bridge for temperature-compensated force measurements. Under uniform stress conditions, the annular resistor shows near-zero stress sensitivity and a linear response to temperature excitation within test conditions of 24–34 °C. Annular resistors were placed in close proximity to stress-sensitive elements in order to detect local temperature fluctuations. Experiments evaluating the performance of the temperature compensator while testing force sensitivity showed a thermal rejection ratio of 37.2 dB and near elimination of low-frequency noise (drift) below 0.07 Hz. Potential applications of this annular resistor include use in multi-axis force sensors for force feedback microassembly, improvements in the simplicity and robustness of high precision microgram sensitive balances, higher accuracy for silicon diaphragm-based pressure sensors and simple temperature compensation for AFM cantilevers.
Impact of Endorectal Balloon in the Dosimetry of Prostate and Surrounding Tissues in Prostate Cancer Patients Treated with IMRT

The dosimetric effect of endorectal balloon repositioning or failure was assessed in 10 prostate cancer patients treated with intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). Three extreme clinical scenarios were simulated by placing the balloon in the most superior and inferior positions within the rectum and by removing the balloon. Treatment planning was performed by obtaining a computed tomography (CT) image with the balloon in the most superior position (plan 1). Subsequently, the isodose lines of plan 1 were superpositioned over the anatomy of 2 other CTs, one obtained with the balloon in the most inferior position and another without the balloon (plans 2 and 3, respectively). Dose-volume histograms (DVHs) of the prostate and surrounding tissues were generated and compared for all 3 plans. The prescribed radiation dose to the prostate and seminal vesicles was 70 Gy in 35 fractions. Balloon repositioning resulted in significant changes only for the seminal vesicles, where the minimum doses decreased from 70.39 to 61.58 Gy, and the percent volume below 70 Gy increased from 1.62% to 8.39%. Balloon failure resulted in significant decreases in mean and minimum doses for prostate from 74.36 to 72.84 Gy and 67.62 to 50.96 Gy, respectively. Similar decreases in the mean and minimum doses were also observed for seminal vesicles from 74.21 to 64.43 Gy and 70.39 to 41.74 Gy, respectively. Balloon repositioning did not affect normal tissue doses, while balloon failure significantly decreased the upper rectum mean doses from 30.79 to 19.38 Gy. This study demonstrates that repositioning of the endorectal balloon results in increased dose inhomogeneity for seminal vesicles, while balloon failure causes significant prostate and seminal vesicle underdosing without overdosing normal tissues.
5-HTTLPR X Stress in Adolescent Depression: Moderation by MAOA and Gender

Depression surges in adolescence, especially among girls. Most evidence indicates that the short allele of a polymorphism in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) interacts with stress to influence the onset of depression. This effect appears to be less robust in adolescents, particularly among boys, and may be moderated by other genetic polymorphisms. Seeking to explain the adolescent gender difference in depression, this study examined the effects of 5-HTTLPR (rs25531), the monoamine oxidase A-upstream variable number tandem repeat (MAOA-uVNTR), and negative life events (NLE). A community-based longitudinal sample of 309 adolescents reported depressive symptoms and NLE at ages 11, 13, and 15. 5-HTTLPR and MAOA-uVNTR genotypes were ascertained via buccal swabs. A significant four-way interaction of 5-HTTLPR, MAOA-uVNTR, NLE at age 13, and gender predicted depressive symptoms at age 15. Girls were most likely to exhibit elevated depressive symptoms when experiencing NLE if they possessed low-expression MAOA-uVNTR alleles and short 5-HTTLPR alleles, whereas low-expression MAOA-uVNTR alleles but long 5-HTTLPR alleles were implicated in boys. The results indicate that the commonly reported 5-HTTLPR by stress interaction for depression may be limited to individuals with low-expression MAOA-uVNTR alleles. These data also provide new evidence that the short allele of 5-HTTLPR confers susceptibility to stress differently for females compared with males.
Stability of linear time-varying systems via differential inequalities

A new necessary and sufficient condition for the asymptotic stability of a linear time varying system is presented. The condition involves the tests for sign definiteness of a certain matrix and a scalar function and leads to an existence tests for functions satisfying differential inequalities. By restricting the class of allowable functions, nice sufficient conditions for stability are obtained.
Outcomes of Severely Comminuted (Type III) Nasoorbitoethmoid Fractures

Purpose Nasoorbitoethmoid (NOE) fractures are complex and often challenging to repair. Inadequate treatment may result in secondary deformities which are difficult to treat. Severely comminuted fractures require repositioning of the medial canthal tendon. The purpose of this study was to evaluate all results in treating these challenging injuries. The work is to be used as a basis for continuing quality improvement of our surgical technique. Patents and Methods Ten consecutive patients who sustained a comminuted NOE (type III) fracture were included in this study. All patients had comminution of the central fragment involving the detachment of the medial canthus. Results Transnasal reduction, primary grafting, and plate and screw fixation were used for all patients. Two patients demonstrated slight asymmetry between the medial canthi. Two patients were observed to have overprojection in the nasofrontal region. Conclusion Severely comminuted type III NOE fractures are best treated primarily to avoid secondary deformities.
Rapid and efficient removal of heavy metal ions from aqueous media using cysteine‐modified polymer nanowires

We report the development of a novel, sim- ple, and highly effective polymeric material with nano- scale dimensions for use in removal of heavy metal ions from aqueous media. The nanomaterial was � 200 nm in diameter and several microns long and was fabricated in the form of nanowires via template-directed electrochemi- cal polymerization. The nanowires were covalently modi- fied by cysteine, a nonessential amino acid with very high binding constants for selected toxic heavy metal ions, such as, As 3þ ,C d 2þ ,P b 2þ , and Cu 2þ . We demonstrated rapid and efficient removal of As 3þ ,C d 2þ ,P b 2þ , and Cu 2þ ions from natural water samples. The arsenic removal capacity was found to be � 160 mg As 3þ per gram of the material, a substantially greater removal capacity than other materi- als reported to date. The removal capacity of other heavy metals ions was also rapid and effective, their concentra- tions becoming undetectable in a matter of minutes after treatment with the nanowires. These nanowires have dem- onstrated potential that could lead to a low cost, novel, and highly effective technique for use in treatment of drinking water and for other environmental remediation purposes. V C 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 116: 308-313, 2010
Graft Copolymerizations of Polysaccharides. II. Acrylamide Grafting to Yellow Dextrin

Abstract Graft copolymers of acrylamide and yellow dextrin were prepared using cerium(IV) as initiator. The yellow dextrin had a very broad molecular weight distribution but was fractionated utilizing dialysis and ultrafiltration membranes. Initiator efficiencies were determined using size exclusion chromatography and were found to be between 2.4 and 34%. Initiator efficiency increased with acrylamide concentration at constant cerium (IV) and yellow dextrin concentrations, and decreased with increasing cerium(IV) concentration at constant acrylamide and yellow dextrin concentrations. Plots of acrylamide conversion and intrinsic viscosity vs initial acrylamide concentration at constant yellow dextrin and ceric ion concentrations showed a maximum at about 2.0 M.
Understanding Mental States in Natural Language

Understanding mental states in narratives is an important aspect of human language comprehension. By "mental states" we refer to beliefs, states of knowledge, points of view, and suppositions, all of which may change over time. In this paper, we propose an approach for automatically extracting and understanding multiple mental states in stories. Our model consists of two parts: (1) a parser that takes an English sentence and translates it to some semantic operations; (2) a mental-state inference engine that reads in the semantic operations and produces a situation model that represents the meaning of the sentence. We present the performance of the system on a corpus of children stories containing both fictional and non-fictional texts.
Copper-pumped dye laser system at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's (LLNL) Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation (AVLIS) Program has developed a high-average-power, pulsed, tunable, visible laser system. Testing of this hardware is in progress at industrial scales. The LLNL copper- dye laser system is prototypical of a basic module of a uranium-AVLIS plant. The laser demonstration facility (LDF) system consists of copper vapor lasers arranged in oscillator- amplifier chains providing optical pump power to dye-laser master-oscillator-power-amplifier chains. This system is capable of thousands of watts (average) tunable between 550 and 650 mm.© (1993) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Experimental analysis of sexual differentiation of the zebra finch brain

Classical theories of sexual differentiation of brain and behavior hold that sex differences in the brain arise because of the action of gonadal steroid hormones. In mammals, testosterone secretion by the testes stimulates a masculine pattern of neural differentiation, whereas feminine patterns of development occur in the absence of testicular secretions. In some bird species, estrogen secreted by the ovary is thought to trigger feminine patterns of neural development, whereas masculine development occurs in the absence of ovaries. Sexual differentiation of the neural circuit for song in zebra finches is not easily explained by these theories. Although female zebra finches can be masculinized by treatments with estrogen, it has proven difficult to prevent masculine neural development in genetic males by treating them with inhibitors of estrogen synthesis. Moreover, when genetic female embryos are treated with inhibitors of estrogen synthesis, they develop significant amounts of testicular tissue that causes little or no masculinization of the song system. Thus, testicular secretions alone appear to be insufficient to cause masculine neural differentiation, and other factors need to be invoked. These factors may include ovarian secretions that inhibit masculine development, or direct genetic (nonhormonal) effects on neural differentiation.
The Role of Endoscopic Ultrasound in Biliary Obstruction

The role of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) in the diagnosis of biliary obstruction is well established, and emerging evidence suggests it may also play a therapeutic role. Differentiating between benign and malignant causes of biliary obstruction can be challenging, but EUS is a crucial tool in the armamentarium of the physician. Evolving technologies such as elastography and contrast enhancement may further supplement the diagnostic abilities of EUS. Therapeutic applications of EUS are evolving rapidly, and EUS-guided cholangiography may aid biliary decompression when endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) has failed or is not possible.
Culture media variation as related to in vitro aging of human fibroblasts: I. Effects on population doubling, nuclear volume and nuclear morphology

The relative effect of five commonly used culture media (MEM, BME, McCoy's 5A, M199 and HMEM) on the population doubling level (PDL), nuclear volume and nuclear morphology was examined during in vitro senescence of WI-38 human fetal fibroblasts. Statistical analyses showed that cells grown in M199 had a significantly lower PDL than that of cells cultured in any other medium. The PDL in McCoy's 5A was significantly lower compared to that in BME, MEM and HMEM. Cells grown in BME, MEM and HMEM showed similar PDL. It was found that the nuclei of aged cells grown in M199 were significantly larger in volume than cells aged in any other medium. The average increases in nuclear volume of cells during aging in BME, MEM and McCoy's 5A were statistically equivalent. The increase in nuclear volume in HMEM was significantly smaller than that of cells aging in M199 and was longer than that of cells aging in BME or MEM. Linear regression analysis showed that there was a linear increase in nuclear volume as a function of PDL for cells aged in all five media. However, the rate of increase in nuclear volume with increasing PDL varied from medium to medium. There was no significant difference between media on induction of abnormal nuclear morphology as related to PDL. The relative effects of all five media were not uniform on the three cellular parameters investigated during in vitro aging of WI-38 cells. It is, therefore, suggested that one should keep this medium differential in mind to allow meaningful comparison of possible changes in various morphological parameters during in vitro senescence of diploid human fibroblasts such as WI-38.
Effect of Bordetella pertussis extract and vasoactive amines on vascular permeability

Abstract Vascular permeability to Evans blue dye and 131 I-labeled human serum albumin was studied in normal mice and in mice treated with alkaline saline extracts (SE) from Bordetella pertussis cells. Skin sites inoculated intracutaneously with small doses of histamine, serotonin, or a combination of these 2 substances were more permeable in SE-treated mice than in normal animals. Intravenously administered catecholamines were able to reduce in varying degrees the vascular permeability induced by serotonin or by histamine in normal mice; in SE-treated mice the catecholamines were less effective. The relative effectiveness of intravenously administered catecholamines to reduce vascular permeability in normal or SE-treated mice was ranked as follows: isoproterenol > epinephrine > norepinephrine. When catecholamines were given concomitantly with histamine and serotonin in the skin test site, the permeability in both normal and SE-treated mice was again reduced or blocked, but isoproterenol was only weakly effective in this instance. Their relative effectiveness was epinephrine > norepinephrine > isoproterenol. The possible explanations for these results are discussed.
The role of multiple electronic states in the dissipative nergy dynamics of coumarin 153

Abstract We have examined the transient spectral relaxation properties of coumarin 153 in three polar solvents using ultrafast spontaneous and stimulate emission spectroscopies. The time evolution of the coumarin 153 spontaneous emission spectrum exhibits an excitation energy-dependence, demonstrating that the spectral dynamics of this molecule are determined promarily by intramolecular population relaxation processes. We have used ultrafast stimulated emission spectroscopy to determine the presence of at least two electronic state within the spontatneous emission envelope. The excitation energy dependence of the stumulated emission spectra, in conjunction with reorientation time measurements, show that the excited electronic states possess substantially different charge distributions and thus interact differently with the surrounding solvent medium. Semi-empirical molecular orbital calculations of the electronic states of coumarin 153 predict the presence of two closely spaced singlet states as well as several triplet states, consitent with our experimental data. Our data and calculations demonstrate collectively that coumarins are, in general, not ideal molecular probes of solvationn dynamics because of their complex electronic structure and intramolecular energy dissipation characteristics.
Metabolic and elimination products of [14C]photodieldrin from bluegill fish

Abstract Bluegill fish, following exposure to [ 14 C]photodieldrin eliminated 50% of the absorbed radioactivity in 3 weeks. Analysis of the products revealed that about 27% of the eliminated radioactivity was due to the unaltered photodieldrin while the rest consisted of at least 11 metabolites in free and conjugated forms. Photodieldrin ketone was the major excretory product. Solvent extracts of the whole fish examined showed 4 metabolites in addition to about 90% of the unmetabolized photodieldrin. The ketone derivative was the most predominant of the metabolic products.
The Influence of Electronic Transmission on Written Communication

The primary objectives of the study were to determine the principal influences of electronic mediation on text‐based communication as perceived by experienced users and to provide a basis for additional research including nonusers and novice users. To achieve the first objective, the Delphi technique was employed to obtain the opinions of experienced users of computer‐based communication systems. The members of the Delphi panel failed to reach consensus on any of more than eighty issues, and the three rounds of questionnaires showed little movement in the direction of consensus. The study thus confirms reports of wide variation in style and content of computer‐based messages and underscores the need for additional research in techniques and strategies that influence the readability and effectiveness of electronic messages.
Joint Evolution of Kin Recognition and Cooperation in Spatially Structured Rhizobium Populations

In the face of costs, cooperative interactions maintained over evolutionary time present a central question in biology. What forces maintain this cooperation? Two potential ways to explain this problem are spatially structured environments (kin selection) and kin-recognition (directed benefits). In a two-locus population genetic model, we investigated the relative roles of spatial structure and kin recognition in the maintenance of cooperation among rhizobia within the rhizobia-legume mutualism. In the case where the cooperative and kin recognition loci are independently inherited, spatial structure alone maintains cooperation, while kin recognition decreases the equilibrium frequency of cooperators. In the case of co-inheritance, spatial structure remains a stronger force, but kin recognition can transiently increase the frequency of cooperators. Our results suggest that spatial structure can be a dominant force in maintaining cooperation in rhizobium populations, providing a mechanism for maintaining the mutualistic nodulation trait. Further, our model generates unique and testable predictions that could be evaluated empirically within the legume-rhizobium mutualism.
Viscosity solutions and convergence of monotone schemes for synthetic aperture radar shape-from-shading equations with discontinuous intensities

The shape-from-shading (SFS) equation relating u(y,r), the unknown (angular) height of a surface, to I(y,r), the known synthetic aperture radar (SAR) intensity data from the surface, is I = \frac{u_r^2}{\sqrt{1+u_r^2+u_y^2}}, where y and r are axial and radial cylindrical coordinates. Unlike the more common eikonal SFS equation which relates surface height in Cartesian coordinates to optical/photographic intensity data, the above radar equation can be transformed into Hamilton--Jacobi Cauchy form: ur+g(I,uy)=0. We explore the case where I is a discontinuous function, which occurs commonly in radar data. By considering sequences of continuous intensity functions that converge to I, we obtain corresponding sequences of viscosity solutions. We prove that these sequences must converge. We also establish conditions that guarantee that these sequences converge to a common limit, which we define as the solution to the radar equation. Finally, we establish and demonstrate that when this common limit exists, monot...