cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Rigid polyurethane foams containing lignin oxyalkylated with ethylene carbonate and polyethylene glycol

Abstract A “green” oxyalkylation protocol employing ethylene carbonate (EC), polyethylene glycol 400 (PEG400), and water was developed to convert an industry byproduct, kraft lignin (KL), into biopolyols for the production of rigid polyurethane (RPU) foams. EC served as an oxyalkylation reagent for the derivatization of KL’s hydroxyl (OH) groups. PEG400 and water served as a co-solvent and a reactive additive, respectively, to tailor two properties of the KL-derived biopolyols, those being viscosity and OH number. For the oxyalkylated-KL (OKL), as characterized by 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (31P-NMR), more than 80% of OH content was aliphatic. The 14-fold increase in reactivity towards isocyanates for the OKL, over that for the unmodified KL, was attributed to the derivatization of lignin phenolic OHs to aliphatic OHs, the latter being more accessible and reactive during the RPU foam production. The preferred oxyalkylation conditions were 170 °C, 30 min, PEG400/EC ratios of 50/50 to 70/30 (wt/wt), and KL mass loadings of 20–50 wt%. Biopolyols synthesized under these conditions exhibited viscosities from 0.5 to 53 Pa·s, OH numbers from 459 to 659 mg KOH/g, and alkalinity numbers below 4 mg KOH/g. The biopolyols were directly used for RPU foam production. RPU foams produced under optimal conditions showed densities from 51 to 60 kg/m3 and compressive strengths from 139 to 204 kPa.
Regulation of cardiac function in the horn shark by changes in pericardial fluid volume mediated through the pericardioperitoneal canal

The California horn shark (Heterodontus francisci), instrumented with a pericardial catheter and a ventral-aortic flow probe, was studied to determine the effect of complete pericardial chamber evacuation on the time course for restitution of pericardial fluid-volume and pressure, and the effects of both fluid removal and its restitution on cardiac output. Prior to evacuation, pericardial pressure was −0.02±0.02 kPa, and cardiac output was 18±2 ml min−1 kg−1. Evacuation reduced pericardial pressure to −0.73±0.14 kPa, and increased cardiac output to 23±4 ml min−1 kg−1. The time course for restoration of post-evacuation pressure is described by a non-linear asymptotic function. A large percentage of the pericardial pressure and volume recovery occurred within the first hour, while, complete restoration of pre-withdrawal conditions required about 11 h. Pericardial pressure-volume relationships, determined by incremental infusion of small volumes of elasmobranch saline into the pericardium, confirm previous findings that the operating pericardial pressure in the horn shark is at or near ambient pressure and that both pericardial fluid volume and cardiac stroke volume influence horn shark pericardial pressure.
Towards a World of Fixers Examining barriers and enablers of widely deployed third-party repair for computing within limits

Repair of computing devices is a potentially valuable pathway to energy and material conservation. I examine current barriers and enablers in design, manufacturing, policy, and practice arenas to more efficacious and widely deployed networks of third-party repair by 2030. Current barriers include design practices that reduce device service life; manufacturing practices that fail to mitigate or eliminate toxicants and externalities (e.g., pollution, waste), the socialization of costs of harms (e.g., pollution, waste) and the privatization of profits from device sales; restrictive enduser licensing agreements (EULAs), and the criminalization of third-party repair. Current enablers include public advocacy for legislation and regulation that reduce or eliminate toxicants in electronics design and manufacturing, require manufacturers to disclose pollution releases and transfers, and enhance right-to-repair; and growing networks of independent and do-it-yourself ICT maintenance and repair (INDIY ICT M&R) practitioners and advocates. After examining these barriers to, and enablers of, more efficacious and widely deployed third-party repair, I draw together findings from our existing research on INDIY ICT M&R activity and its potential to contribute to material and energy conservation for computing within limits over the next decade.
Preface and Introduction to SHOCKING THE CONSCIENCE OF HUMANITY: GRAVITY AND THE LEGITIMACY OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL LAW

The most commonly cited justification for international criminal law is that it addresses crimes of such gravity that they “shock the conscience of humanity.” From decisions about how to define crimes and when to exercise jurisdiction, to limitations on defences and sentencing determinations, gravity rhetoric permeates the discourse of international criminal law. Yet the concept of gravity remains highly undertheorized. This book uncovers the consequences for the regime’s legitimacy of its heavy reliance on this poorly understood idea. It argues that gravity’s ambiguity may at times enable a thin consensus to emerge around decisions, such as the creation of an institution or the definition of a crime, but that, increasingly, it undermines efforts to build a strong and resilient global justice community. The book suggests ways to reconceptualize gravity in line with global values and goals to better support the long-term legitimacy of international criminal law. The book's introduction sets forth its central arguments that: (1) the international criminal law regime relies heavily on the concept of gravity to justify its existence and many of its decisions; (2) the concept is undertheorized and ambiguous; (3) the regime’s reliance on the concept undermines its legitimacy; (4) gravity should be reconceptualized as a function of the regime’s values and goals; and (5) the regime’s focus should be on global community values and goals, rather than on those of the national communities most directly affected by the crimes it addresses.
Acoustic reflector-based three-dimensional ultrasound imaging

The needle intervention is required in many clinical procedures such as lumbar puncture and lymph node biopsy. Ultrasound (US) imaging has been applied widely to guide procedures involving needle insertion. However, conventional 2D US image guidance provides a limited field of view (FOV) for the region of interest (ROI), especially toward the outof-plane axis. Also, a high level of hand-eye coordination is required to accurately place the needle to the target in tissue because the needle path and the image plane are not registered to each other. This paper p roposes a needle insertion mechanism that enables 3D US imaging to provide a larger FOV and thus assists clinicians in making better decisions about where to insert the needle. Besides 3D imaging functionality, the image plane and needle path are co-registered in the proposed mechanism to facilitate needle insertion. The proposed mechanism uses actuated acoustic reflectors to redirect acoustic waves to different parts of ROI. 2D image slices are collected along the elevation direction and are then focused on the elevation plane. Elevation focusing is achieved with a synthetic aperture focusing algorithm that considers the acoustic path geometry in the actuated reflector system. Both software simulation and imaging experiments using a prototype are carried out to validate the 3D imaging performance.The simulation and experiment results of point and wire phantoms validate the 3D imaging capa bility and suggest that image quality on the elevation plane after applying elevation focusing improved in terms of both resolution and signal to noise ratio. By providing clinicians with an extended FOV with improved image quality, the proposed mechanism has the potential to enable needle insertion with better efficiency and a higher success rate.
Bronchoalveolar lavage

The technique of BAL performed through the fiberoptic bronchoscope has, in two decades, provided clinicians and researchers with the ability to safely sample the inflammatory-immune cell milieu of the human lung. Standardized BAL and processing of the lavage constituents provides assistance in determining the optimal care of patients with a variety of lung diseases, and renders diagnosis in selected cases. It has become indispensable in the diagnosis of pulmonary infiltrates in immunocompromised patients, and plays an important role in improving clinical management. Finally, it continues to yield an ever increasing amount of data for the researchers studying the mechanisms and pathogenesis of lung disease. It is likely that BAL will become an even more valuable tool with increasing relevance to the practice of chest medicine in the 1990s.
Veterans Health Administration Scheduling System: The Path to High Reliability Realization.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Timely access to services is the gateway to patient safety and quality, and scheduling is foundational to providing access to highly reliable care. An effective and efficient scheduling strategy is dependent on an evidence-based approach that focuses on critical drivers of the scheduling system related to patient safety and quality as well as access. As part of a continuing effort to improve access, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) completed a direct causation analysis (2015-2020) using an evidence-based framework and comprehensive measurement plan. The analysis, described here, validates access benefits realized specialty by specialty and facility by facility, identifies opportunities for improvement, and acknowledges limitations of the change from the Veterans Information Systems and Technology Architecture scheduling system to the Medical Appointment Scheduling System.This analysis of the assessments illustrates business validation structures, drivers, processes, and outcomes that can support leadership decision-making related to access. We drew our assessments of people, processes, policies, and technology from on-site interviews, over-the-shoulder observations, large-group discussions, and data from the VHA Support Service Center and facility data systems; we also mapped process steps, keystrokes, and workflow. Our assessments provided support for the VHA's decision to implement the stand-alone Cerner scheduling system at one site while continuing to implement the Cerner Millennium electronic health record platform that includes the Cerner scheduling system at other VHA sites. The VHA experience provides lessons learned for healthcare leaders who seek highly reliable efforts to improve access to care.
Trait perceptions influence economic out-group bias: lab and field evidence from Vietnam

Group favoritism is typically directed toward in-group members and against out-group members, but these cross-group effects often vary. Little is known about why group effects on economic choices vary. We use a survey method developed in social psychology to measure stereotyped attitudes of one group toward another. These attitudes are then associated with prosociality in five experimental games (also using an unusual amount of individual-level sociodemographic control). We present evidence from an artificial field experiment of a majority group with high status (Vietnamese) exhibiting no disfavoritism toward a lower-status out-group (Khmer) and typical disfavoritism to a second out-group (Chinese). Both Vietnamese and Chinese groups see the Khmer as warm but incompetent, attitudes which seem to activate empathy rather than contempt. The results suggest that measuring between-group stereotype attitudes can be used to predict the sign of cross-group favoritism in other natural settings.
Invariants and Cohomology of Groups

In this chapter we discuss the role of classical invariant theory in determining and analyzing the cohomology of finite groups.
ANTHROPOGENIC ENVIRONMENTAL ALTERATION OF THE SEA OF AZOV

The authors concentrate on four aspects of environmental alteration of the Sea of Azov. First, they trace the Azov's problems back to Soviet resource-use conflicts. Second, they present several examples of anthropogenically induced environmental disruption of the Azov's ecosystem. Third, modeling is utilized to project possible future salinity conditions within the Azov. Fourth, in their attempt to evaluate the various ameliorative efforts that have been made or are being proposed, they challenge the overall ecologic-economic effectiveness of the proposed dam across the Kerch' Strait designed to regulate the salinity of the Azov. Finally, they conclude it is unlikely that the Azov ever will be returned to its previous “natural” condition. This article should be read in conjunction with Pecherin's article also in this issue of Soviet Geography. (Illustrations by Elinore Mathews, University of Washington, Seattle.)
Quasi-Darwinian Learning in a Classifier System

Classifier systems (Holland, 1986) have a distinct Darwinian flavor, and in this respect contrast sharply with most other learning systems. In this paper we bring out various aspects of the contrast, and provide an example of classifier system learning which illustrates its quasi-Darwinian operation.
Abstract 3650: PI3-kinase gamma controls the macrophage M1-M2 switch, thereby promoting tumor immunosuppression and progression

Innate immune cells (macrophages, monocytes and neutrophils) rapidly migrate to sites of tissue damage where they initially activate T cells (M1 classical response). These cells gradually transition to suppress T cell responses, while stimulating wound healing (M2 alternative response). In tumors, however, the normal immune response is chronically disrupted and an exaggerated immunosuppressive, wound healing, tumor-promoting (M2) response prevails. In order to identify the mechanisms regulating this M2 response in tumor inflammation and to develop novel therapeutics to control it, we set out to explore the role of macrophage signaling in control of the M1-M2 switch. Using RNA seq analysis of gene expression patterns in M1 and M2 macrophages in vitro and gene expression analysis of myeloid cells in spontaneous and orthotopic mouse models of lung, pancreatic and breast cancer, we found that myeloid cell PI3Kinase gamma controls the switch between the M1-M2 phenotype in human and murine macrophages. PI3Kinase gamma signaling stimulates an immunosuppressive, wound healing gene expression program exemplified by expression of immunosuppressive and pro-angiogenic factors, such as Arginase1, TGFbeta1, PDGFBB, MMP9, and MMP13, and suppression of pro-inflammatory factors such as IL12, iNos, and interferon gamma. Blockade of this pathway by genetic or pharmacological inhibition of PI3Kgamma blocks this immunosuppressive, wound healing gene expression program and stimulates instead a T cell activating gene expression program as well as T cell mediated tumor cell killing. PI3Kgamma blockade inhibits tumor growth and metastasis in mouse models of lung, pancreatic and breast carcinoma. Our studies demonstrate the critical role of PI3Kgamma signaling in the control of the M1-M2 macrophage switch and demonstrate that this kinase is an important therapeutic target to suppress tumor growth by targeting inflammation that is associated with all solid tumors. Citation Format: Megan Kaneda, Sara Gorjestani, Judith A. Varner. PI3-kinase gamma controls the macrophage M1-M2 switch, thereby promoting tumor immunosuppression and progression. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 3650. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-3650
On H/sup /spl infin// optimal repetitive controllers

In this paper we consider a two degree of freedom repetitive controller design for a SISO finite dimensional plant. We pose an H/sup /spl infin// optimal control problem, which we then convert to a two block problem involving a MIMO plant with a scalar time delay, by constraining the solution to have a certain "standard" repetitive structure. We solve a generalization of this two block infinite dimensional MIMO H/sup /spl infin// optimal control problem by an extension/modification of results for similar SISO systems. The resulting two degree of freedom H/sup /spl infin// optimal repetitive controller leads to a more general repetitive control structure. >
Explosive Consolidation of Aluminum Nitride Ceramic Powder: A Case History

Prummer1 and Hoenig and Yust2 have demonstrated that high densities can be achieved in explosively formed compacts made from various ceramic powders. Of those materials which have been tried, aluminum nitride (AlN) seems to be particularly suited to dynamic compaction. Cline and Heard3 have demonstrated that AlN becomes plastic under combined hydrostatic and uniaxial stress, suggesting that substantial flow may occur under shock loading. This is borne out by the observations of Hoenig andYust2 as well as Gourdin et al.4 who report considerable deformation of individual grains in explosively consolidated material. These authors also report the presence of an amorphous phase at grain boundaries, indicating that local energy deposition occurs during the passage of the shock wave. This amorphous phase may be responsible for the cohesiveness of dynamically consolidated AlN much like the interparticle melting observed in metal compacts.5,6
Radiation-Induced Lung Injury

The use of radiation therapy is limited by the occurrence of the potentially fatal clinical syndromes of radiation pneumonitis and fibrosis. Radiation pneumonitis usually becomes clinically apparent from 2 to 6 months after completion of radiation therapy. It is characterized by fever, cough, dyspnea, and alveolar infiltrates on chest roentgenogram and may be difficult to differentiate from infection or recurrent malignancy. The pathogenesis is uncertain, but appears to involve both direct lung tissue toxicity and an inflammatory response. The syndrome may resolve spontaneously or may progress to respiratory failure. Corticosteroids may be effective therapy if started early in the course of the disease. The time course for the development of radiation fibrosis is later than that for radiation pneumonitis. It is usually present by 1 year following irradiation, but may not become clinically apparent until 2 years after radiation therapy. It is characterized by the insidious onset of dyspnea on exertion. It most often is mild, but can progress to chronic respiratory failure. There is no known successful treatment for this condition.
The Regulation of Superstores: The Legality of Zoning Ordinances Emerging from the Skirmishes between Wal-Mart and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union

Having saturated the less populated heartland of America, Wal-Mart is carrying its supercenter expansion program to major urban areas. Wal-Mart supercenters merge discount retail with full service grocery stores under the same roof. Because supercenters compete head-on with unionized supermarkets, they place downward pressure on grocery worker wages. The United Food and Commercial Workers, the largest representative of grocery workers, has joined other Wal-Mart critics at city halls across the country in using zoning laws to restrain Wal-Mart's supercenter expansion program. A smattering of lawsuits has ensued, and more are sure to follow. This paper describes the types of anti-superstore zoning ordinances favored by the UFCW, and the legal objections Wal-Mart can expect to be raised against them. At the top of the legal checklist are equal protection, pre-emption by the National Labor Relations Act, and prohibitions against the use of zoning to regulate economic competition. Anticipating these objections, the UFCW and its allies can make a public record sufficient to insulate virtually any anti-superstore ordinance from being invalidated in court. But this cannot be accomplished easily or inexpensively, because enacting jurisdictions wanting to avoid remand will need to commission studies to fit the claimed rationales for these laws. Market impact assessments sensitive to the local trade area will almost always be required, and in a handful of states, including New York and California, so will environmental impact reports. If the UFCW and their grocery chain allies find the zoning effort too costly and cumbersome, they may wish to consider extending "living wage" controls to grocery workers, a move more likely to be resisted in the political arena than blocked by courts.
Decentralized Control Experiments on the JPL Flexible Spacecraft

The complexity of present and envisaged space structures dictates the need for many experimental studies verifying different system analysis and control design techniques. The JPL/AFAL Flexible Spacecraft Control Dynamics Simulator is a labscale model for a large antenna-like flexible structure. It shows many of the characteristics of large space-based structures and provides challenging problems to the control designer. In this paper we will detail the decentralized controller design process, from finite element model to implementation, for a large flexible structure and give results of the actual implementations on the structure.
Maligned Youth? How Exit Polls Systematically Misrepresent Youth Turnout

Data from the 2008 Exit Polls were used to demonstrate that voter turnout among young people rose slightly from 2004, but that young people were still sorely underrepresented. Indeed, the reports suggested that youth comprised only 18% of the electorate while accounting for over 21% of the voting eligible population. While this fit historical trends in electoral participation, it appeared to belie the popular notion that young people were enthusiastic in anticipation of the election. Yet the exit-polling sampling method is inherently limited by its inability to capture early and absentee voting. While the national exit polls conducted by Edison-Mitofsky use telephone polling methods to account for these differences, the biases introduced may be rather large. By comparing states with early voting and no-excuse absentee voting to those that only allow absentee voting with an excuse, I find that the supplemental data was highly skewed, leading to inconsistent conclusions about youth turnout. Accounting for this bias, youth voting numbers appear to reach population proportions. A number of alternative explanations could also address these findings. I explore the possibilities that young interviewers may be selecting young interviewees for the exit poll, that overall voting may be higher in early vote states thereby diminishing the youth portion of the electorate, and that differences between the states may explain this discrepancy (e.g. swing state, southern, etc.). Election results, 2004 data, and data from the current population survey are used to disentangle these possibilities. We find that single-mode studies do not vary meaningfully across states, suggesting that the problem lies with the multi-modal design of the exit poll. Indeed, a similar trend is observed in data from 2004.
Abstract 74: Activation of Akt1 accelerates carcinogen-induced tumorigenesis in mammary gland of virgin and post-lactating transgenic mice

Introduction The data from in vivo and in vitro studies suggest that activation of Akt regulates cell survival signaling and plays a key role in tumorigenesis. To explore oncogenic role of Akt1 in the development of mammary tumor, transgenic mice were created. Methods The transgenic mice were generated by expressing myristoylated-Akt1 (myr-Akt1) under the control of MMTV-LTR promoter. The carcinogen 7, 12 dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene (DMBA) was used for inducing tumor formation. Results The MMTV driven myr-Akt1 transgene expression was detected primarily in mammary glands, uterus, and ovaries and the expression level increased significantly in lactating mice, suggesting the response was hormone dependent. The total expression level of Akt in the mammary gland was also high in these lactating mice. Interestingly, the expression of MMTVmyr-Akt1 in ovary of transgenic mice caused significant increase in circulating estrogen levels, even at post-lactating stage. Expression of myr-Akt1 in mammary glands alone did not increase tumor formation frequency. However, an increased susceptibility to the induction of mammary tumors by DMBA was observed in transgenic mice, especially in post-lactating mice. DMBA induced 42.9% of mammary tumors in post-lactating transgenic mice within 34 weeks, but none in post-lactating wild-type mice. The myr-Akt1 driven mammary tumors induced by DMBA had increased phosphorylated-Akt1 and showed strong expression of estrogen receptor (ERα) and EGFR. Cyclin D1 was more frequently up-regulated in mammary tumors from transgenic mice compared to tumors from wild-type mice. Overexpression of Cyclin D1, however, was not completely dependent on activated Akt1. Interestingly, mammary tumors that had metastasized to secondary sites had increased expression of twist and slug, but showed low expression of Cyclin D1. Conclusions In summary, activation of Akt1 in mammary gland accelerated carcinogen-induced tumorigenesis, especially in post-lactating mice. Citation Format: Yanyuan Wu, Juri Kim, Yayha Elshimali, Jaydutt V. Vadgama. Activation of Akt1 accelerates carcinogen-induced tumorigenesis in mammary gland of virgin and post-lactating transgenic mice. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 74. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-74
Science Directorate Publications and Presentations: January 1-December 31, 2000

This document lists the significant publications and presentations of the Science Directorate during the period January 1 - December 31, 2000. Entries in the main part of the document are categorized according to NASA Reports (arranged by report number), Open Literature, and Presentations (arranged alphabetically by title). Also included for completeness is an Appendix (arranged by page number). Most of the articles listed under Open Literature have appeared in refereed professional journals, books, monographs, or conference proceedings. Although many published abstracts are eventually expanded into full papers for publication in scientific and technical journals, they are often sufficiently comprehensive to include the significant results of the research reported. Therefore, published abstracts are listed separately in a subsection under Open Literature.
Adenoidal follicular T helper cells provide stronger B-cell help than those from tonsils.

Objectives/Hypothesis The tonsils and adenoids are secondary lymphoid organs, where antigen processing and immune cell development occur to control bacterial colonization and infection in the upper respiratory tract. Both organs are abundant in follicular T helper cells (TFH), a subset of T cells specialized for promoting B-cell development. There are no prior studies on differences between the immune cells of the tonsils and adenoids and whether the cells function differently. Study Design In vitro assays to assess cell phenotype of tonsils and adenoids from young children (median age = 40 months). Methods Mononuclear cells from tonsils and adenoids were cultured with or without 1 µg/mL Staphylococcus enterotoxin B (SEB) for 4 days. Cell phenotype and function were assessed by flow cytometry and multiplex enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results We found that in resting adenoids, TFH expressed higher CXCR5 and inducible costimulator but lower PD-1 than those from the tonsils, and that adenoidal B cells expressed higher CD27. Upon polyclonal stimulation with SEB, both TFH and B cells from the adenoids proliferated to a greater extent, and culture supernatants contained higher levels of interleukin 21. Conclusions We conclude that the cells of the adenoid are disposed toward the provision of more robust B-cell help than the tonsils. Level of Evidence NA Laryngoscope, 2015
Changes in Concentrations of Malodorous Compounds During Controlled Aeration Composting

Effects of composting on odorous chemicals in dairy manure were investigated in replicated pilot-scale studies. Three 16-day composting trials were conducted, using 205 L vessels containing 83 kg mass. Fresh or 12-day-aged manure, from lactating cows, was mixed with sawdust (3man:1saw w/w). Vessels were either aerated continuously with high (2.3 kg/hr)/low (0.8 kg/hr) air flow controlled by thermostats or intermittently on a 5 min high air flow/55 min off clock controlled cycle. Six vessel replicates were conducted on each manure/air flow treatment combination. Temperatures, air flow, O2 consumption, and CO2 production were recorded every 10 minutes. Trapped NH3 emissions were determined daily. Exhaust air was passed through water-cooled condensers to analyze emitted volatiles, and condensate volume, pH, and volatile fatty acids (VFAs) were quantified at 12 or 24 hour intervals. Solids were collected from each vessel initially, at remix at the end of day 7, and at the end of each trial (day 16) for analys...
Long Time Going: Religion and the Duration of Crusading

Scholars have argued for centuries about the relative importance of religion in determining behavior. Do actors with genuine religious beliefs, both leaders and foot soldiers, actually fight wars and commit atrocities in the name of religion and religious institutions? Or is religion a proxy for materialist variables such as land grabs or wealth creation? A case study of the Catholic Crusading movement and an evaluation of Crusading as an institution demonstrate that religiously motivated military campaigns, when decisive conclusions are not possible, may last longer than other campaigns because of the nonmaterial reasons for continuing to fight. Despite spectacular failures and rising costs, Crusading continued for centuries. The evidence shows that it is impossible to comprehend the persistence of Crusading over a several-hundred-year period without understanding the religious devotion at the heart of this institution. This research contributes to growing work in international relations on the importanc...
Local arterial vasoconstriction induced by octreotide in patients with cirrhosis

Peripheral vasodilation initiates the hyperdynamic circulation in cirrhosis. Somatostatin and its analogues, such as octreotide, have a vasoconstrictive effect in cirrhotic patients and experimental animals with portal hypertension. The exact mechanism of octreotide-induced vasoconstriction remains unknown. To investigate whether octreotide produces vasoconstriction through suppression of vasodilatory peptides, such as glucagon, or through a local effect, we evaluated the effect of an intra-arterial dose on forearm blood flow (FBF), while measuring systemic glucagon levels. FBF was measured in 10 cirrhotic patients by venous occlusion plethysmography. The brachial artery of the nondominant arm was catheterized, and vasoactive drugs were administered: methacholine 4 microg/min; octreotide 20 microg/h, and octreotide 20 microg/h + methacholine 4 microg/min. Each infusion, lasting 5 minutes, was followed by saline for washout. FBF was measured in both arms during the last minute of each infusion and at the end of washout, with the uninfused arm acting as the control. Nitrates and nitrites, octreotide, and glucagon blood levels were determined at baseline and after each infusion. Percent change in flow (%triangle up) was obtained by comparing the flow during drug administration to that during the preceding saline infusion. Saline infusion did not alter FBF, but octreotide infusion resulted in a 34% +/- 7.7 (P <.005) reduction in FBF in the infused arm. FBF in the control arm was unchanged despite a significant decrease in systemic glucagon levels. Methacholine infusion increased FBF around 300%, which was not altered by the concomitant infusion of octreotide. Octreotide has a local vasoconstrictive effect that seems nitric oxide (NO)-independent. Octreotide probably has a facilitating effect over vasoconstrictors increased in chronic liver diseases.
During Apoptosis of HL-60 and U-937 Cells Caspases Are Activated Independently of Dissipation of Mitochondrial Electrochemical Potential

Collapse of the mitochondrial potential (DeltaPsi(m)) during apoptosis has been linked with a release of cytochrome c and apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) and activation of caspases. Using a laser scanning cytometer (LSC), an instrument that allows one to measure the same cells twice, first when they are alive and subsequently after their permeabilization, we explored whether dissipation of DeltaPsi(m) (measured supravitally) is a prerequisite for the activation of caspases (detected after cell fixation). Apoptosis of HL-60 cells was induced either by TNF-alpha combined with cycloheximide (CHX) or by the DNA topoisomerase I inhibitor camptothecin (CPT) and of U-937 cells by CPT, and DeltaPsi(m) was measured using the carbocyanine fluorochrome DiIC(1) (5). The marker of caspase activation was specific cleavage of poly(ADP) ribose polymerase (PARP) detected immunocytochemically. After 30 or 60 min treatment with TNF-alpha + CHX or 60 or 120 min with CPT a considerable proportion of cells (20-40%) demonstrated PARP cleavage with no evidence of DeltaPsi(m) collapse. Also present in these cultures (3-20%) were cells with collapsed DeltaPsi(m) whose PARP was not cleaved. The results provide direct evidence that in HL-60 and U-937 cells treated with TNF-alpha + CHX or CPT the dissipation of DeltaPsi(m) is not required for activation of caspases and these two events are independent of each other.
Positive cognitive coping strategies and binge eating in college women

The current study explored whether specific cognitive coping strategies moderated the relation between global eating disorder symptomatology and binge eating frequency. Global eating disorder symptomatology and cognitive coping strategies (i.e., self-blame, acceptance, rumination, positive refocusing, refocus on planning, positive reappraisal, putting into perspective, catastrophizing, and other-blame) were evaluated in a sample of women who reported engaging in binge eating in the absence of compensatory behaviors (N=419). Moderation analyses indicated that most positive cognitive coping strategies were associated with reduced binge eating frequency; however, there was no such buffering effect among individuals who reported engaging in acceptance, or in negative coping strategies. These results suggest that focusing on specific positive cognitive coping skills might be an effective approach to decreasing binge eating frequency, although additional experimental research is needed.
Preventing medical errors in the perianesthesia setting.

THE INSTITUTE OF Medicine (IOM) published “To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System” in 1999. This startling report should cause all health care professionals to take a closer look at our practice, our standards, and our collaboration with colleagues so that we may strive to keep improving patient safety. The anesthesia profession has made significant strides over the last 2 decades at analyzing why errors occur, seeking ways to prevent them, standardizing equipment, and providing earlier detection systems to identify correctable problems. Perianesthesia nurses should evaluate their practice as well.
Electroless chemical deposition technique for Cu2O thin films

Abstract An electroless, solution growth deposition technique for Cu 2 O thin films, suitable for large-area depositions at relatively low temperatures (⩽ 70°C) has been developed. Uniform and electroconductive Cu 2 O films were deposited on glass or clear polyester film substrates, pre-coated with an ultrathin layer of Cu x S. Post-deposition treatment of the chemically deposited Cu 2 O films in diluted solutions of Na 2 S resulted in further increase of conductivity and absorbance. Rutherford backscattering analyses confirmed sulfur implantation into the Cu 2 O films.
Correcting user errors in SQL

Abstract Previous human factors research on SQL has discovered many correctable errors made by users. An experiment was run, testing how seriously error correction would affect SQL user performance. In the study, 39 subjects used SQL without error correction and 40 subjects had specific categories of errors corrected. The main result was that error correction improved user performance by 26%.
Clinical Course and Hemodynamic Observations After Supraannular Mitral Valve Replacement in Infants and Children

Objectives. We report the clinical course and unique hemodynamic findings after placement of a supraannular mitral valve prosthesis. Background. Children with symptomatic mitral valve disease whose annulus is too small for the smallest prosthesis are difficult to manage. One option is valve replacement with a prosthesis positioned entirely within the left atrium (LA). Methods. We reviewed 17 patients (median age 10 months) with symptomatic mitral valve disease who underwent placement of a supraannular valve prosthesis between 1980 and 1994. Results. The actuarial survival rates were 88% at 1 month and 71%, 62% and 53% at 1, 2 and 10 years, respectively. Preoperative hemodynamic data (mean ± SD) compared with those after placement of the supraannular mitral prosthesis were as follows: “a” wave to left ventricular end-diastolic pressure gradient 17 ± 5 versus 4 ± 4 mm Hg (p = 0.003), mean LA pressure 25 ± 6 versus 20 ± 6 mm Hg (p = 0.07), “a” wave 30 ± 6 versus 19 ± 5 mm Hg (p = 0.006), “v” wave 28 ± 5 versus 30 ± 9 mm Hg (p = 0.31), mean pulmonary artery pressure 54 ± 19 versus 42 ± 15 mm Hg (p = 0.07) and left ventricular end-diastolic pressure 14 ± 5 versus 16 ± 4 mm Hg (p = 0.12). Conclusions. Supraannular mitral valve replacement provides relief of mitral stenosis or mitral regurgitation. However, LA to left ventricular early diastolic gradients with large atrial “v” waves contribute to elevated mean LA pressures in the absence of prosthetic valve obstruction or regurgitation. As a result of this unexpected finding, associated left heart obstructive lesions and pulmonary and left ventricular end-diastolic hypertension, the outlook remains poor. (J Am Coll Cardiol 1997;29:1089–94) © 1997 by the American College of Cardiology
National Symbols as Agents of Psychological and Social Change

National symbols pervade most contemporary societies, and public policies encourage the displays of these symbols, yet little research has considered the psychological and social effects of exposure to national symbols. The current review integrates theorizing across social science disciplines and proposes that national symbols are not passive fixtures of people's environment, but instead may yield significant psychological and social effects. Empirically supported intraindividual consequences include enhanced national identification and the promotion of group unity at an unconscious level. National symbols may also have important implications for intergroup relations due to their relation to heightened national identification and potential to automatically activate concepts associated with nationhood. The factors that contribute to differential responses to national symbols and profitable avenues of future research are discussed.
Dynamic Strain - Induced Boundary Migration during Dynamic Recovery at a High Temperature Deformation with a Lower Strain Rate

Conventional hot compression deformation and water quenching experiments were applied to investigate the evolution of austenite grain structures before the initiation of dynamic recrystallization. The experimental results reveal an interesting phenomenon that dynamic strain induced boundary migration can lower dislocation density and coarsen austenite grains. The results show that dynamic recovery is not the only way to decrease dislocation density, the mechanism of which for dynamic recovery is related to dislocations climb and annihilation, resulting in the formation of sub-grains and regular sub-boundaries. However, the mechanism of decreasing dislocation density for dynamic strain induced boundary migration is different from dynamic recovery. Therefore, dynamic strain induced boundary migration should be another softening mechanism before the initiation of dynamic recrystallization.
Language-theoretic classification of hypermedia paths

Paths are, and have been since the beginning, an important mechanism for organizing hypermedia documents. This note shows how a document defined as a (possibly infinite) collection of paths over content nodes can be succinctly expressed as a formal language. We show the relationship to earlier hypermedia models based on automata. The language-theoretic model can be used to implement path engines as parsers or recognizers. Different levels of path power require different classes of recognizing automata.
Predicting axillary lymph node metastasis from kinetic statistics of DCE-MRI breast images

The presence of axillary lymph node metastases is the most important prognostic factor in breast cancer and can influence the selection of adjuvant therapy, both chemotherapy and radiotherapy. In this work we present a set of kinetic statistics derived from DCE-MRI for predicting axillary node status. Breast DCE-MRI images from 69 women with known nodal status were analyzed retrospectively under HIPAA and IRB approval. Axillary lymph nodes were positive in 12 patients while 57 patients had no axillary lymph node involvement. Kinetic curves for each pixel were computed and a pixel-wise map of time-to-peak (TTP) was obtained. Pixels were first partitioned according to the similarity of their kinetic behavior, based on TTP values. For every kinetic curve, the following pixel-wise features were computed: peak enhancement (PE), wash-in-slope (WIS), wash-out-slope (WOS). Partition-wise statistics for every feature map were calculated, resulting in a total of 21 kinetic statistic features. ANOVA analysis was done to select features that differ significantly between node positive and node negative women. Using the computed kinetic statistic features a leave-one-out SVM classifier was learned that performs with AUC=0.77 under the ROC curve, outperforming the conventional kinetic measures, including maximum peak enhancement (MPE) and signal enhancement ratio (SER), (AUCs of 0.61 and 0.57 respectively). These findings suggest that our DCE-MRI kinetic statistic features can be used to improve the prediction of axillary node status in breast cancer patients. Such features could ultimately be used as imaging biomarkers to guide personalized treatment choices for women diagnosed with breast cancer.
Spontaneous recovery of fluorescence by photobleached surface-adsorbed proteins.

-Fluorescence photobleaching of a carboxyfiuorescein-labeled protein (erythrocyte cytoskel-etal protein 4.1) immobilized on bare glass is found to be spontaneously reversible, provided that the sample is deoxygenated. After a short (hundredths of seconds) photobleaching laser flash, the subsequent fluorescence excited by a dim probe beam partly recovers on a long (tenths of second) time scale, even in the absence of chemical exchange or diffusion processes. Neither the fraction of the fluorescence that bleaches reversibly nor its recovery rate is a strong function of fluorophore surface concentration. At a fixed surface concentration, the reversibly photobleached fraction and its recovery rate decreases with increasing duration or intensity of the bleaching flash. On the other hand, nondeoxygenated air-equilibrated samples exhibit almost total irreversible bleaching on this time scale. Quantitative fluorescence microscopy experiments occasionally require deoxygenation to avoid photochemical crosslinking or photobleaching or to enhance the triplet state population. The observations presented here indicate that fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) experiments performed under deoxygenated conditions for measuring diffusion or chemical kinetics should be interpreted with caution: fluorescence recoveries may be due to intrinsic photochemical processes rather than fluorophore mobility. The recovery effect appears too slow to be ascribed simply to a relaxation of a triplet state; other possible explanations are offered.
Stress-Moderating Effects: Social Support in the Context of Gender and Locus of Control

Using multiple regression, the main and interactive effects of stress, social support, locus of control, and gender on psychological adjustment were investigated. In order to understand the complex interactions found, the adjustment effects of stress and social support were examined within four subgroups: internal and external men and women college students. Both social support and adjustment were assessed with multiple measures. Stress was more strongly related to levels of adjustment for women than for men. The relationships between social support and adjustment varied depending on which social support measure was used, which adjustment measure was used, as well as the locus of control orientation and gender of the subject. External men were the least able to use social support to aid adjustment. In contrast to previous investigations, there were no two-way stress X locus of control interactions. The importance of investigating the interactions of stress-moderating variables in specific subgroups is dis...
Calcitonin, an important factor in the calcemic response to parathyroid hormone in the rat

Calcitonin, an important factor in the calcemic response to parathyroid hormone in the rat. The role of calcitonin on the calcemic response to parathyroid hormone (PTH) in renal failure has not been evaluated previously. Often animal studies evaluating the calcemic response to PTH in renal failure are performed in thyroparathyroidectomized (TPTX) animals, and thus eliminate any potential physiologic effect of calcitonin. In addition, parathyroidectomy (PTX), presumably by reduction of high PTH levels, has corrected the calcemic response to PTH in animals with renal failure. The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of endogenous calcitonin production on the calcemic response to PTH in rats with renal failure and secondary hyperparathyroidism, and in rats with normal renal function with diet induced hyperparathyroidism. Four groups of rats were evaluated: 1) chronic renal failure plus TPTX with autotransplant of the parathyroid gland, (CT-) CRF; 2) chronic renal failure plus selective PTX with autotransplant of the parathyroid gland, (CT+) CRF; 3) normal renal function plus TPTX with autotransplant of the parathyroid gland, (CT-) NRF; and 4) normal renal function plus selective PTX with autotransplant of the parathyroid gland, (CT+) NRF. Renal failure was surgically induced by a two-stage 5/6 nephrectomy, and exogenous thyroxine was administered to the two thyroidectomized (CT-) groups. Hyperparathyroidism was induced with a high phosphate diet (1.2%), and thus at the time of PTH infusion, PTH levels were (CT-) CRF 84 ± 16, (CT+) CRF 89 ± 21, (CT-) NRF 37 ± 7, and (CT+) NRF 31 ± 4 pg/ml, respectively (normal 21 ± 3 pg/ml). Rat 1-34 PTH (2.6 U/hr) was infused for 48 hours via a subcutaneously implanted Alzet pump. The increase in serum calcium was: 7.56 ± .73 (CT-) CRF versus 4.01 ± .48 mg/dl (CT+) CRF, P