cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Preemptive pharmacogenetic testing: exploring the knowledge and perspectives of US payers.

Preemptive pharmacogenetic testing aims to optimize medication use by having genetic information at the point of prescribing. Payers’ decisions influence implementation of this technology. We investigated US payers’ knowledge, awareness, and perspectives on preemptive pharmacogenetic testing. A qualitative study was conducted using semistructured interviews. Participants were screened for eligibility through an online survey. A blended inductive and deductive approach was used to analyze the transcripts. Two authors conducted an iterative reading process to code and categorize the data. Medical or pharmacy directors from 14 payer organizations covering 122 million US lives were interviewed. Three concept domains and ten dimensions were developed. Key findings include clinical utility concerns and limited exposure to preemptive germ-line testing, continued preference for outcomes from randomized controlled trials, interest in guideline development, importance of demonstrating an impact on clinical decision making, concerns of downstream costs and benefit predictability, and the impact of public stakeholders such as the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Both barriers and potential facilitators exist to developing cohesive reimbursement policy for pharmacogenetics, and there are unique challenges for the preemptive testing model. Prospective outcome studies, more precisely defining target populations, and predictive economic models are important considerations for future research.
Response to Comment on Ely et al. A National Effort to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes: Participant-Level Evaluation of CDC’s National Diabetes Prevention Program. Diabetes Care 2017;40:1331–1341

In response to Ritchie et al. (1) regarding the first report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of findings from the National Diabetes Prevention Program (National DPP) (2), we respectfully submit the following. Our article (2) is an initial, preliminary report of data from the first few years of program implementation and data collection only. It describes the experience of 14,747 adults enrolled in year-long type 2 diabetes prevention programs from February 2012 through January 2016. As of July 2017, the National DPP had …
THE PHYSIOLOGY AND TECHNIQUE OF SKIN GRAFTING

Skin grafting is one of the earliest described surgical procedures. In the age of microsurgery and free-tissue transfer, it remains a utilitarian means of achieving tissue coverage. This article discusses the physiology of skin grafting as well as current grafting techniques.
Inclusive Immigrant Justice: Racial Animus and the Origins of Crime-Based Deportation

The merger of immigration and criminal law has transformed both systems, amplifying the flaws in each. In critiquing this merger, most scholarly accounts begin with legislative changes in the 1980s and 1990s that vastly expanded criminal grounds of deportation and eliminated many forms of discretionary relief. As a result of these changes, immigrant communities have experienced skyrocketing rates of detention and deportation, with a disparate impact on people of color. Despite increasing awareness of the harshness of the modern system, however, many people still view criminal records as a relatively neutral mechanism for identifying immigrants as priorities for detention and deportation. Drawing on the early history of crime-based deportation, this essay argues that criminal records have never been a neutral means for prioritizing immigrants for detention and deportation from the United States. Rather, as this essay sets forth, racial animus has driven the creation and development of crime-based deportation from the beginning.
1.10 – Oxidation of Metals and Alloys

This chapter gives an account of the high temperature corrosion behavior of different metals and alloys oxidized in air or oxygen, where oxygen is the only oxidant. The metals and alloys included here are Fe, Ni, Co, refractory metals such as Nb, Mo, Ta, and W, and Cr2O3-, Al2O3-, and SiO2-forming alloys. Current understanding and data on the nucleation, growth and protectiveness of the oxide formed on each system are summarized, with a section on the effects of minor alloying elements, in particular nonmetallic impurities and reactive elements.
Characterization of a functionally graded material of Ti-6Al-4V to 304L stainless steel with an intermediate V section

Abstract This work examines a functionally graded material, fabricated using additive manufacturing, that grades from Ti-6Al-4V to 304L stainless steel (SS304L) through an intermediate introduction of V. V was incorporated to preclude the formation of Fe-Ti phases in the direct joining of stainless steels and Ti-alloys. The addition of V resulted in cracking at the transition from 25 vol% SS304L/75 vol% V to 50 vol% SS304L/50 vol% V, thus the build was halted prior to the transition to 100 vol% SS304L. Through experimental investigations and thermodynamic calculations, this crack was found to be due to the formation of brittle σ-FeV.
Making Multivariant Programming Practical and Inexpensive

Since it was first proposed in 1978, n-version programming (NVP) has been a mainstay technique for obtaining fault tolerance in high-reliability software. Although subsequent research on NVP has indicated that coincident failures across different versions can be more common than initially expected, NVP remains the “gold standard” for application domains in which high reliability is of critical importance, such as fly-by-wire avionics control software.
The Detroit Discontinuity

The popular refrain for Detroit’s economic downfall is the collapse of the auto industry. This is unsatisfactory as the manufacturing decline affected the entire Detroit metro region but all of Detroit suburbs have not suffered the same fate as the city. This article offers a different yet more complete argument for Detroit’s poor performance by analyzing the politics of the city along various dimensions. Detroit differs from its neighbors by having more corrupt and destructive politics accompanied with high tax rates. Tiebout competition allows for Detroit residents to leave its poor yet expensive governance. While the decrease of auto-manufacturing jobs clearly negatively impacted the city, poor governance set Detroit apart from nearby areas and better describes its long run condition.
Association of Low Socioeconomic Status With Hidradenitis Suppurativa in the United States.

This cohort analysis evaluates the association of low socioeconomic status with hidradenitis suppurativa among patients in the United States.
Implementation and Analysis of Dutch-style Sealed-bid Auctions

Designing a sealed-bid auction protocol is a challenging problem in the field of applied cryptography. In the last couple of decades, numerous protocols have been proposed in the literature where each one has its own property in terms of the security model, communication and computation complexities. To the best of our knowledge, there has been no study to implement and compare a similar class of sealed-bid auction protocols. This paper therefore implements and evaluates five different Dutch-style sealed-bid auction protocols, of which three protocols are computationally secure and two protocols are unconditionally secure. It mainly focuses on the computational cost of the initialization and verification phases of these privacy-preserving protocols.
Editorial—The Role of Environmental Economics in U.S. Environmental Policy

AbstractThis Editorial, written by a former United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator under President Barack Obama, is adapted from the author's keynote address on June 25, ...
Modeling of Ice Accretion over Aircraft Wings Using a Compressible OpenFOAM Solver

A method to simulate ice accretion on an aircraft wing using a three-dimensional compressible Navier-Stokes solver, a Eulerian droplet flow field model, a mesh morphing model, and a thermodynamic model, is presented in this paper. The above models are combined together into one solver and implemented in OpenFOAM. Two-way coupling is achieved between airflow field calculation and ice simulation. The density-based solver rhoEnergyFoam is used to calculate the airflow field. The roughness wall function is proposed to simulate the roughness effect caused by ice accretion. For droplet flow field calculation, the Eulerian model is applied and the permeable wall boundary condition is used on the wing to simulate the droplet impingement. The icing thermodynamic model is built based on the Messinger model. The mesh morphing model adjusts the wing’s shape every time step based on the amount of accreted ice so that the airflow field is updated during the simulation. The effect of the ice accretion on the airflow is studied by comparing the aerodynamic performance—with and without ice. The ice accretion on the ONERA M6 wing model under a specific condition has been simulated to validate the solver’s performance and investigate the effect of the accreted ice on the aerodynamic performance.
Has the Economic Crisis Contributed to More Segmentation in Labour Market and Welfare Outcomes

This paper analyses whether developments on the labour market and in the welfare system during the economic crisis can be seen as perpetuating the trend towards labour market segmentation or whether the crisis may actually have contributed to containing some of the divisions forged in recent decades. The emphasis is placed on (involuntary) part-time and temporary employment. With regard to labour market developments, the author demonstrates a further segmentation during the crisis, in particular for youth and people with low educational levels who have been disproportionately affected by unemployment. Due to data deficiencies, it is difficult to judge conclusively whether the crisis has contributed to more or to less segmentation in welfare coverage. In fact, there seems to be a division between countries in this regard and the deliberate opening up of unemployment schemes in several countries to new groups of workers during the crisis can clearly be seen as a positive trend contrasting with developments over recent decades.
Student-Directed Exam Reviews, Real-Time Collaborative Composition, and Assessment of Student Preparation

This paper outlines a method for student-directed creation of exam review guides. No answers or lists of required information are provided to students. Students must reflect on the purpose of the course and the relationships between the different content units in order to collaboratively compose a study guide. The professor then critiques the guide, providing the students with an assessment of their collective level of preparation for the exam.
Design Considerations for Hypothesis Rejection Modules in Spoken Language Understanding Systems

Spoken Language Understanding (SLU) systems typically consist of a set of machine learning models that operate in conjunction to produce an SLU hypothesis. The generated hypothesis is then sent to downstream components for further action. However, it is desirable to discard an incorrect hypothesis before sending it downstream. In this work, we present two designs for SLU hypothesis rejection modules: (i) scheme R1 that performs rejection on domain specific SLU hypothesis and, (ii) scheme R2 that performs rejection on hypothesis generated from the overall SLU system. Hypothesis rejection modules in both schemes reject/accept a hypothesis based on features drawn from the utterance directed to the SLU system, the associated SLU hypothesis and SLU confidence score. Our experiments suggest that both the schemes yield similar results (scheme R1: 2.5% FRR @ 4.5% FAR, scheme R2: 2.5% FRR @ 4.6% FAR), with the best performing systems using all the available features. We argue that while either of the rejection schemes can be chosen over the other, they carry some inherent differences which need to be considered while making this choice. Additionally, we incorporate ASR features in the rejection module (obtaining an 1.9% FRR @ 3.8% FAR) and analyze the improvements.
Analysis of the soil-transmitted nematode infection in Tianjin from 2007 to 2010

Objective To analyze the result of soil-transmitted nematode infection surveillance in Tianjin during 2007-2010.Methods 2 villages in country side were chosen and human stool samples and soil samples were collected.Soil-transmitted nematode eggs of roundworm,hookworm,whipworm were examined by improved Kato-Kate thick smear method.The pinworm infections of children under 12 were examined by anus wiping method with transparent tape.The infection rates of them were then calculated.2 primary schools in downtown were chosen.The roundworm eggs were examined and its infection rate was calculated.Results A total of 9327 people had fecal examination in rural areas during 2007-2010.The yearly infection rates of roundworm were 5.12％,2.84％,0 and 1.83％ respectively.No other worms were found.The positive rate of roundworm egg in soil sample was 0.37％,0.26％,0,0.32％.5016 students were examined in downtown,and the yearly infection rates were 0.23％,0.40％,0.08％,0.74％.Conclusion The soil-transmitted nematode infection rate was low in Tianjin.But the source of infection is still available.Working on the disease control should be kept. Key words: Nematode infection; Soil-transmitted nematode; Infection rate; Disease control
Novelty Detection via Robust Variational Autoencoding

We propose a new method for novelty detection that can tolerate high corruption of the training points, whereas previous works assumed either no or very low corruption. Our method trains a robust variational autoencoder (VAE), which aims to generate a model for the uncorrupted training points. To gain robustness to high corruption, we incorporate the following four changes to the common VAE: 1. Extracting crucial features of the latent code by a carefully designed dimension reduction component for distributions; 2. Modeling the latent distribution as a mixture of Gaussian low-rank inliers and full-rank outliers, where the testing only uses the inlier model; 3. Applying the Wasserstein-1 metric for regularization, instead of the Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence; and 4. Using a least absolute deviation error for reconstruction. We establish both robustness to outliers and suitability to low-rank modeling of the Wasserstein metric as opposed to the KL divergence. We illustrate state-of-the-art results on standard benchmarks for novelty detection.
Introduction to laser thermal therapy for brain disorders.

Hyperthermia has long been recognized in medicine for its therapeutic properties. While hyperthermia has become widely used extracranially for many years, its use in the brain has been hampered by ...
An Agenda Without Data

Comment on John Talbott's "Size Matters: The Number of Prostitutes and the Global HIV/AIDS Pandemic".
Cultural Schemas: What They Are, How to Find Them, and What to Do Once You’ve Caught One:

Cultural schemas are a central cognitive mechanism through which culture affects action. In this article, we develop a theoretical model of cultural schemas that is better able to support empirical...
Visual perceptual abilities in young children diagnosed with CVI versus those with ocular disorders

Purpose : Currently, there is no available standard approach to diagnose Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI). Vancleef et al (2020) showed that the Children's Visual Impairment Test for 3- to 6-year-olds (CVIT 3-6) differentiated children with CVI from three groups: typically developing children, children with intellectual disorders, and typically developing children with simulated reduced visual acuity. We performed a prospective clinical study to assess the ability of this visual perceptual test to differentiate children with CVI from children with ocular and/or ocular motor disorders. Methods : The CVIT 3-6 is an objective test that uses a simple matching technique to assess the child's visual perceptual abilities. In-person testing was not feasible due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We developed and tested a virtual model first in a small sample of typically developing young children. Study participants were later recruited from a pediatric low vision clinic. Our clinical cohort consisted of two groups, children with a previous diagnosis of CVI and children with ocular and/or ocular motor disorders only. The examiner was unaware of the participant's diagnosis prior to data collection. A validated parent questionnaire regarding CVI, the Flemish cerebral visual impairment questionnaire, was also administered. Results : Preliminary data show a small, non-significant difference in overall CVIT 3-6 scores between participants with CVI and those with ocular disorders. (means 56 vs. 64.7, respectively. p = 0.151). For the Flemish CVI questionnaire, participants in the CVI group had a significantly higher % abnormal scores on average than those with ocular disorders (p = 0.003). Our virtual testing protocol was successful in all participants tested to date. Conclusions : In this preliminary study, collected data suggest that the CVIT 3-6 did not differentiate between children with CVI compared to those without CVI. This study is ongoing. Results from a larger sample will be needed to verify this finding. The Flemish (Ortibus) questionnaire differentiated between children with CVI from children without CVI.
Resistome characterization of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli isolated from wastewater treatment utilities in Oregon

Infections resistant to broad spectrum antibiotics due to the emergence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae is of global concern. This study characterizes the resistome (i.e., entire ecology of resistance determinants) of 11 ESBL-producing Escherichia coli isolates collected from eight wastewater treatment utilities across Oregon. Whole genome sequencing was performed to identify the most abundant antibiotic resistance genes including ESBL-associated genes, virulence factors, as well as their sequence types. Moreover, the phenotypes of antibiotic resistance were characterized. ESBL-associated genes (i.e., blaCMY, blaCTX, blaSHV, blaTEM) were found in all but one of the isolates with five isolates carrying two of these genes (4 with blaCTX and blaTEM; 1 with blaCMY and blaTEM). The ampC gene and virulence factors were present in all the E. coli isolates. Across all the isolates, 31 different antibiotic resistance genes were identified. Additionally, all E. coli isolates harbored phenotypic resistance to beta-lactams (penicillins and cephalosporins), while eight of the 11 isolates carried multi-drug resistance phenotypes (resistance to three or more classes of antibiotics). Findings highlight the risks associated with the presence of ESBL-producing E. coli isolates in wastewater systems that have the potential to enter the environment and may pose direct or indirect risks to human health.
Urinary Sugars—A Biomarker of Total Sugars Intake

Measurement error in self-reported sugars intake may explain the lack of consistency in the epidemiologic evidence on the association between sugars and disease risk. This review describes the development and applications of a biomarker of sugars intake, informs its future use and recommends directions for future research. Recently, 24 h urinary sucrose and fructose were suggested as a predictive biomarker for total sugars intake, based on findings from three highly controlled feeding studies conducted in the United Kingdom. From this work, a calibration equation for the biomarker that provides an unbiased measure of sugars intake was generated that has since been used in two US-based studies with free-living individuals to assess measurement error in dietary self-reports and to develop regression calibration equations that could be used in future diet-disease analyses. Further applications of the biomarker include its use as a surrogate measure of intake in diet-disease association studies. Although this biomarker has great potential and exhibits favorable characteristics, available data come from a few controlled studies with limited sample sizes conducted in the UK. Larger feeding studies conducted in different populations are needed to further explore biomarker characteristics and stability of its biases, compare its performance, and generate a unique, or population-specific biomarker calibration equations to be applied in future studies. A validated sugars biomarker is critical for informed interpretation of sugars-disease association studies.
The ethics of gambling research: an agenda for mature analysis.

The purpose of this article is to explore the ethics of both the anti-gambling and pro-gambling groups as they present their research into the gambling phenomenon. The type of ethical thinking that each group uses will be characterized to show how their ethical views have caused their research to be biased. The second part of this article proposes a modest research agenda for future gambling studies. This agenda rests a foundation of a “mature” ethical thinking.
Premature rupture of the fetal membranes. A review.

Abstract As a result of this review of patients presenting with premature rupture of the fetal membranes, the following points are apparent: 1. 1. In the majority of patients at term, labor will occur spontaneously within the first 24 hours following amniorrhexis. The earlier the gestation, the greater the tendency for a delay in the onset of labor. 2. 2. Approximately 20 per cent of infants delivered of mothers with premature rupture of the fetal membranes will weigh under 2,500 grams. 3. 3. The development of amnionitis is potentially a serious threat to both the mother and the infant. The incidence of this complication ranges from 5 to 25 per cent, but more importantly it is directly related to the duration of the latent period. 4. 4. The over-all perinatal mortality is approximately 5 per cent; risk of perinatal death is increased by prolongation of the latent period, amnionitis, low birth weight (below 2,000 grams), and breech presentation. 5. 5. Prophylactic antibiotic therapy administered to patients with premature rupture of the fetal membranes is not effective in lowering the incidence of amnionitis or in decreasing the perinatal mortality rate. It does appear to decrease postpartum morbidity, but this may not be related to the status of the membranes. 6. 6. Prophylactic antibiotics administered to newborn infants delivered of mothers with clinically aseptic premature rupture of the fetal membranes has not been demonstrated with certainty to be effective in decreasing perinatal deaths. 7. 7. A standard definition for premature rupture of the fetal membranes is proposed as well as a standard method for its diagnosis. 8. 8. It is proposed that vaginal examinations are usually unnecessary and may well be a significant contributing factor in the development of amnionitis. 9. 9. It would appear that the optimal conditions for perinatal survival in a pregnancy complicated by premature rupture of the fetal membranes would be a birth weight greater than 2,000 grams and a latent period under 24 hours in the absence of any infection. A proposed plan of management is discussed.
Occluded and Budded Autographa californica Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus: Immunological Relatedness of Structural Proteins

The immunological relatedness of the structural proteins of the budded and occluded phenotypes of Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus was examined by reciprocal immunoblotting and by in situ peroxidase-antiperoxidase staining of virus-induced cell surface and intracellular antigens with antisera to both phenotypes. The molecular weights (MWs) of major structural proteins of both phenotypes that reciprocally cross-reacted were 92,500, 78,000, 62,500, 54,000, and 42,000. A highly immunogenic, major structural protein of the occluded phenotype of 46,000 MW was not recognized by antiserum to the budded phenotype, and a major structural protein of the budded phenotype, 48,000 MW, was not recognized by antiserum to the occluded phenotype. Both the budded and occluded phenotypes contained a protein of 33,500 MW that comigrated with polyhedrin (the matrix protein) and reacted with antiserum and monoclonal antibody to polyhedrin. Evidence was obtained for the apparent antigenic relatedness of proteins of different MWs from the budded and occluded phenotypes, possibly indicative of different processing of some proteins for the two phenotypes. Antiserum to the occluded phenotype recognized virus-induced cell surface antigens, indicating antigenic similarities between the occluded phenotype and envelope proteins of the budded phenotype. Antiserum to the budded phenotype recognized viral proteins produced before the appearance of cytopathic effect, whereas antiserum to the occluded phenotype did not.
An Investigation into the On-Line Teaching of Programming Languages.

Abstract This paper describes an investigation into the teaching of a programming language by methods of computer‐assisted instruction (CAI). The subjects were first‐year university students who were divided into groups to enable comparisons to be made first between CAI lessons and conventional lectures and secondly between on‐line examples sessions and the usual demonstration classes. The selection into groups were determined mainly on the student's performance in a programming aptitude test but other factors such as previous programming experience, availability and objections to the methods of instruction were considered. All students were given a post‐test in an effort to determine how much they had assimilated during the week. An analysis of covariance on these two scores gives estimates of the effects of placement in a particular group. Conclusions are drawn and suggestions made as to how future investigations should be made in the light of this experiment.
Estimations of Magnetic Field Distributions in Three Dimensions Using a Two Dimensional Computer Program TRIMM

The TRIMM program for analysis of electromagnet designs is readily applied to cylindrical and infinitely long dipole problems. When the magnet does not conform specifically to the ideal shape, it is necessary to substitute an analytically similar problem to obtain a satisfactory prediction of field. Two cases are presented: one completed H magnet, and a rectangular solenoid, which is now being designed. The Harvard Computing Center 360/65 was used in this work.
Cyclic AMP response element-binding protein is required for normal maternal nurturing behavior

Abstract Analysis of mice with targeted disruptions of fosB or the gene encoding dopamine β-hydroxylase suggests that FosB and adrenergic signaling play critical roles in maternal nurturing behavior. The majority of neonates born to null females from either mutation fail to thrive, and virgin mutant females of both lines exhibit impaired pup retrieval. Considering whether FosB and adrenergic signaling might share a signaling pathway important for maternal behavior, we examined the role of a potential intermediary, cyclic AMP response element-binding protein (CREB). Here we report that ∼40% of neonates (all heterozygous) born to mice lacking the major isoforms of CREB ( Creb -αΔ −/− ) died within several days of birth. In contrast, heterozygotes born to Creb -αΔ +/− females thrived. Cross-fostering demonstrated that neonates born to Creb -αΔ −/†/− females thrived when reared by wild-type females, and that Creb -αΔ −/− females were capable of rearing neonates whose maternal care was initiated by wild-type females. Further, virgin Creb -αΔ −/− females were deficient in pup retrieval despite exhibiting normal investigation of pups and of novel objects. No maternal behavior phenotype was present in mice with a null mutation of the cyclic AMP response element modulator ( Crem ) gene. Interestingly, the number of cells immunostaining for phospho-CREB (on Ser 133 ) in the medial preoptic area of the hypothalamus, a key region for the expression of maternal behavior, increased nearly three-fold in wild-type mice following exposure to pups but not to novel objects. On the other hand, basal expression and induction of FosB in response to pup exposure appeared to be independent of CREB because levels were equivalent between wild-type and Creb -αΔ −/− females. These results implicate CREB in maternal nurturing behavior and suggest that CREB is not critical for expression or induction of FosB in adult virgin female mice.
Shoulder pain and cycle to cycle kinematic spatial variability during recovery phase in manual wheelchair users: a pilot investigation.

Wheelchair propulsion plays a significant role in the development of shoulder pain in manual wheelchair users (MWU). However wheelchair propulsion metrics related to shoulder pain are not clearly understood. This investigation examined intra-individual kinematic spatial variability during semi-circular wheelchair propulsion as a function of shoulder pain in MWU. Data from 10 experienced adult MWU with spinal cord injury (5 with shoulder pain; 5 without shoulder pain) were analyzed in this study. Participants propelled their own wheelchairs on a dynamometer at 3 distinct speeds (self-selected, 0.7 m/s, 1.1 m/s) for 3 minutes at each speed. Motion capture data of the upper limbs were recorded. Intra-individual kinematic spatial variability of the steady state wrist motion during the recovery phase was determined using principal component analysis (PCA). The kinematic spatial variability was calculated at every 10% intervals (i.e at 11 interval points, from 0% to 100%) along the wrist recovery path.
Primary interpretation of ICU radiographs via soft-copy display

If softcopy display systems are to be used for primary interpretation, there are a number of problems, in addition to image quality issues, that must be addressed. In order to evaluate these issues in a clinical setting, a system was developed to allow chest radiologists to routinely utilize softcopy displays in the interpretation of images from selected intensive care units. Computed radiography studies were acquired, stored on high-speed disk systems, and made available for review on high-resolution softcopy displays. Images from relevant prior studies were made available for comparison. Links to the department''s radiology information system were established to provide routine access to corollary information, including reports from related examinations. The initial results of this experiment are encouraging, but a number of problems and pitfalls were identified which must be addressed in the design of future systems.© (1992) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Specificity of oxygen radical scavengers and assessment of free radical scavenger efficiency using luminol enhanced chemiluminescence

The selective scavenging capacities of 19 important oxygen radical scavengers were determined by adding them individually to each of the four oxy radical standards, (superoxide, hydroxy, alkoxy and hydroperoxy, and singlet O2), calculating the percent chemiluminescence inhibited, and extrapolating O2 equivalents neutralized from baseline. The sensitivity (0.01 nm/ml) and selectivity of this method not only allows identification of individual oxygen free radical species but also quantitates the efficiency of free radical scavengers.
A first-principles approach to transition states of diffusion

We propose a first-principles approach for treating the unstable vibrational mode of transition states in solid-state diffusion. It allows one to determine a number of fundamental quantities associated with the transition state, in particular the enthalpy and entropy of migration and the characteristic vibrational frequency, along with their temperature dependences. Application to pure face centered cubic Al shows good agreement with available experimental measurements and previous theoretical calculations. The procedure is further applied in calculations of the migration properties of Mg, Si and Cu impurities in Al, and the differences among Mg, Si and Cu are discussed.
Respiratory control and oxidative phosphorylation of the cytochrome c-cytochrome oxidase complex.

Our reconstituted cytochrome c-cytochrome oxidase complex showed an average respiratory control index of 4 in the classical ADP reaction and 3 in the oligomycin-FCCP system. Respiratory control was obscured or abolished upon the addition of exogenous cytochrome c or by treating the complex with such membrane-breaking agents as cholate, Triton X-100, or bilirubin. Phosphorylation from the oxidation was demonstrated, in addition to ADPO, by 32Pi uptake, light emission in the presence of luciferase and luciferin, and the reduction of TPN by the hexokinase-glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase system. There were no requirements for external phospholipids or other factors in order to obtain respiratory control and oxidative phosphorylation exhibited by the cytochrome c-cytochrome oxidase complex.
Spectroscopic observations of an arc-plasma accelerator

Abstract Spectra from in-bore and from the muzzle flash of an arc-plasma accelerator have been observed, and strong absorption in the uv is observed in-bore. High pressure at the wall of the arc-plasma accelerator, > 800 Bar, suggests a high on-axis equilibrium temperature and a high opacity. Time-resolved measurements of the in-bore emission, at four spectral points, give a peak temperature at the accelerator wall of ≈20,000°K.
A high affinity, calmodulin-responsive (Ca2+ + Mg2+)-ATPase in isolated bone cells

Although acute alterations in Ca2+ fluxes may mediate the skeletal responses to certain humoral agents, the processes subserving those fluxes are not well understood. We have sought evidence for Ca2+-dependent ATPase activity in isolated osteoblast-like cells maintained in primary culture. Two Ca2+-dependent ATPase components were found in a plasma membrane fraction: a high affinity component (half-saturation constant for Ca2+ of 280 nM, Vmax of 13.5 nmol/mg per min) and a low affinity component, which was in reality a divalent cation ATPase, since Mg2+ could replace Ca2+ without loss of activity. The high affinity component exhibited a pH optimum of 7.2 and required Mg2+ for full activity. It was unaffected by potassium or sodium chloride, ouabain or sodium azide, but was inhibited by lanthanum and by the calmodulin antagonist trifluoperazine. This component was prevalent in a subcellular fraction which was also enriched in 5'-nucleotidase and adenylate cyclase activities, suggesting the plasma membrane as its principal location. Osteosarcoma cells, known to resemble osteoblasts in their biological characteristics and responses to bone-seeking hormones, contained similar ATPase activities. Inclusion of purified calmodulin in the assay system caused small non-reproducible increases in the Ca2+-dependent ATPase activity of EGTA-washed membranes. Marked, consistent calmodulin stimulation was demonstrated in membranes exposed previously to trifluoperazine and then washed in trifluoperazine-free buffer. These results indicate the presence of a high affinity, calmodulin-sensitive Ca2+-dependent ATPase in osteoblast-like bone cells. As one determinant of Ca2+ fluxes in bone cells, this enzyme may participate in the hormonal regulation of bone cell function.
A method of isolating nick-translated DNA by subsequent separation on low-melting-temperature agarose

The use of nick translation of cloned DNA segments followed by separation on low-melting-temperature agarose has been used to obtain multiple radiolabeled DNA probes from a single nick-translation procedure. This technique avoids gel matrix inhibition of enzymatic reactions. Examples of the utility of this procedure are presented and the advantages and drawbacks discussed.
Dynamics and control of motion on the ground and in the air with application to biped robots

The dynamics of a multi-linkage model of natural or man-made systems with arbitrary holonomic and non-holonomic constraints at the joints are formulated. The formulation is equally applicable to movements on the ground or in the air. Nonlinear control strategies for postural balance and rhythmic motion are presented. A predictive algorithm to compensate for computation or transmission delay is proposed. Digital computer simulations are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the control strategy for a five-link three-dimensional biped.
Interferogram analysis based on the data-dependent systems method for nanometrology applications

A spatial method of wave-front phase detection from an interferogram is presented. The method uses data-dependent systems methodology, an approach that extends and improves the way the stochastic autoregressive moving average models are obtained and interpreted. Its application to interference data addresses the fundamental problem of recovering the self-coherence function commonly used to retrieve the wave-front phase. The self-coherence function is efficiently computed by means of a complex autoregressive model and is used for surface reconstruction. The method is shown to be robust and suitable for surface testing. The correspondence of the data-dependent systems methodology and its physical meaning as related to the classical interferometry are presented. The theoretical development is illustrated by experimental implementation, with the results obtained from one- and two-dimensional interferometric fringe analysis of a computer hard disk.
Active learning using on-line algorithms

This paper describes a new technique and analysis for using on-line learning algorithms to solve active learning problems. Our algorithm is called Active Vote, and it works by actively selecting instances that force several perturbed copies of an on-line algorithm to make mistakes. The main intuition for our result is based on the fact that the number of mistakes made by the optimal on-line algorithm is a lower bound on the number of labels needed for active learning. We provide performance bounds for Active Vote in both a batch and on-line model of active learning. These performance bounds depend on the algorithm having a set of unlabeled instances in which the various perturbed on-line algorithms disagree. The motivating application for Active Vote is an Internet advertisement rating program. We conduct experiments using data collected for this advertisement problem along with experiments using standard datasets. We show Active Vote can achieve an order of magnitude decrease in the number of labeled instances over various passive learning algorithms such as Support Vector Machines.
B13+: A Photodriven Molecular Wankel Engine

Synthetic molecular motors that are capable of delivering controlled movement upon energy input are one of the key building blocks in nanomachinery. The major energy sources of molecular motors are from chemical reactions, photon beams, or electric current, which are converted into mechanical forces through the excitation of the electronic states of the molecule. The energy scale of the electronic excitation is normally two orders of magnitude larger than the molecular vibrational frequencies. To reduce the heat dissipation and increase the energy utilization efficiency, a motor running purely on the electronic ground-state (GS) potential energy surfaces is highly desirable.
VP: a new operation for semaphores

A semaphore is a non-negative integer variable on which only operations P and V are allowed. The semaphore construct (with various extensions) is supported by many operating systems and is often used to implement other synchronization constructs. Since the semaphore construct is low-level, a semaphore-based program may contain synchronization errors that are very difficult to detect. In this paper, we propose a new operation VP (s1,s2), where s1 and s2 are distinct or identical semaphores. An execution of VP(s1,s2) by a process T is equivalent to that of "V (s1); P(s2)" except that when T starts the V (s1) operation, T is guaranteed to be the next process to access s2 (i.e., T will execute the P(s2) operation before another process executes a P(s2) or V(s2) operation.) Section 2 shows several examples to illustrate the advantages of the VP operation. Section 3 concludes this paper. In this paper, we assume that the queue for a semaphore is first-in-first-out and that the order of processes blocked in a semaphore queue is the same order in which they executed P operations on the semaphore. We also assume that the scheduling of processes in a concurrent program is fair, i.e., each process ready for execution will eventually be selected as the running process. Programs in this paper use Ada-like syntax.
The underutilization of hemodialysis in patients with salicylate poisoning

A 28 year old man was brought to the hospital by ambulance complaining of 'ringing in his ears' and dyspnea. He reports ingesting a 'whole bottle' of aspirin four hours prior to admission in a suicide attempt. Upon presentation to the hospital, he was alert and oriented and was slightly agitated. He denied any other co-ingestion. His initial blood pressure was 128/70 mmHg with a regular heart rate of 110/min. His respiratory rate was 24/min, slightly labored, O 2 saturation 98%, and his oral temperature was 98.6 °F (37.0 °C). His pupils were equal, round, and reactive to light, cardiac exam was normal other than tachycardia, and his lungs were clear to auscultation bilaterally. The remainder of his physical exam was unremarkable. He weighed 155 Ibs (70.5 kg). Chest X-ray was normal and electrocardiogram revealed sinus tachycardia at 110/min. Admission serum laboratory values are shown in Table 1. Complete blood counts as well as pancreatic and hepatic enzymes were all within normal limits. Urinalysis showed a pH of 6.1 and 1 + ketones but was otherwise unremarkable. A urine toxicology screen confirmed the absence of barbiturates, opiates, cocaine, as well as tricyclic antidepressants. Serum toxicology revealed the presence of salicylate, and confirmed the absence of acetaminophen and ethanol.
Subroutines and visual line information processing

An experiment was designed to detect the existence of line-size and line-orientation processing subroutines. The results suggest that the visual system utilizes two distinct line-processing subroutines: a horizontal subroutine and a vertical subroutine. However, the sizes were handled by an individual subroutine executed repeatedly. It was also found that each increment of 3 msec significantly increased line-recognition performance.
Is Environmental CAPE Important in the Determination of Maximum Possible Hurricane Intensity

Abstract In numerical simulations using an axisymmetric, cloud-resolving hurricane model, hurricane intensity shows quasi-steady-state behavior. This quasi-steady intensity is interpreted as the maximum possible intensity (MPI) of the model. Within the literature, numerical demonstrations have confirmed theoretically anticipated influences on hurricane intensity such as sea surface temperature, outflow temperature, and surface exchange coefficients of momentum and enthalpy. Here these investigations are extended by considering the role of environmental convective available potential energy (CAPE) on hurricane intensity. It is found that environmental CAPE (independent of changes to the outflow level) has no significant influence on numerically simulated maximum hurricane intensity. Within this framework, MPI theories that are sensitive to environmental CAPE should be discarded.
Autoradiographic studies of distribution in the liver of 198Au and 99mTc sulfur colloids

There are observable differences in the way in which the liver handles 198Au and 99mTc-sulfur colloids. Studies were made with serial autoradiography following intravenous injection of these two colloids into mice. 198Au colloid passes through three distinct stages of phagocytosis by Kupffer's cells. In sharp contrast, 99mTc-sulfur colloid does not.
Computer simulation of the F-region seasonal anomaly

Abstract A two-dimensional steady state continuity equation of electron density has been solved numerically for the winter and summer cases. The difference between the winter and summer cases was simulated by adjusting the solar zenith angle, the mean Earth-Sun distance, the plasma temperature and by making systematic changes of the neutral atmospheric densities. It is found that, in winter, the electron density at the F 2 peak ( N m F 2) increases accompanied by a decrease in altitude of the F 2 peak ( h m F 2) as the atomic oxygen concentration increases while in summer, N m F 2 decreases accompanied by a rising of h m F 2 as the molecular oxygen and nitrogen densities increase. Furthermore, the only sensitive region to the changing of the neutral atmospheric densities is around the F 2 peak, and above about 400 km altitude there is almost no effect on the form of variations in electron density. The results show that a 50 per cent increase of O during winter and a 50 per cent increase of O 2 and N 2 during summer are enough to make a clear appearance of the seasonal anomaly. The neutral winds were tested and found not to be responsible for such an anomaly. Alouette 1 satellite data are presented for illustrating the atmospheric variations.
Neuroimaging findings in pediatric cerebral sinovenous thrombosis

Pediatric cerebral sinovenous thrombosis (CSVT) is a potentially life-threatening condition which is usually diagnosed by MRI. We analyzed the signal changes of the thrombus over time and the role of diffusion-weighted/tensor imaging (DWI/DTI) in the diagnosis of CSVT. Clinical histories were reviewed for risk factors for CSVT, neurologic manifestation, and interval from onset of symptoms related to CSVT to the neuroimaging diagnosis. MRI studies were retrospectively evaluated for the appearance of thrombi on T1- and T2-weighted, fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR), DWI/DTI, susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI), and magnetic resonance venography (MRV) images. Thirty-three children with CSVT were included in this study. Seventy-seven thrombi were found. Seventy-four thrombi could be identified on T1- or T2-weighted images (96 %), 72 thrombi were seen on DWI/DTI (94 %) and 68 on FLAIR (88 %). DWI showed restricted diffusion in 29 thrombi (40 %). Thrombi older than 1 day were more likely to have a T1-hyperintense signal (p = 0.002). No additional correlation between signal intensity and age of the thrombi was found. Intraparenchymal changes secondary to CSVT were seen in 11 children. MR sequences individually are not sensitive enough to provide the diagnosis. DWI/DTI does not provide complementary diagnostic value. Approximation of the age of the thrombus is difficult because of poor correlation between signal intensity and age of the thrombi.
Expression of Zfhep/δEF1 protein in palate, neural progenitors, and differentiated neurons

Zfhep/δEF1 is essential for embryonic development. We have investigated the expression pattern of Zfhep protein during mouse embryogenesis. We show expression of Zfhep in the mesenchyme of the palatal shelves, establishing concordance of expression with the reported cleft palate of the δEF1-null mice. Zfhep protein is strongly expressed in proliferating progenitors of the nervous system. In most regions of the brain, post-mitotic cells stop expressing Zfhep when they migrate out of the ventricular zone (VZ) and differentiate. However, in the hindbrain, Zfhep protein is also highly expressed in post-mitotic migratory neuronal cells of the precerebellar extramural stream that arise from the neuroepithelium adjacent to the lower rhombic lip. Also, Zfhep is expressed as cells migrate from a narrow region of the pons VZ towards the trigeminal nucleus. Co-expression with Islet1 shows that Zfhep is expressed in motor neurons of the trigeminal nucleus of the pons, but not in the inferior olive motor neurons at E12.5. Therefore, Zfhep is strongly expressed in a tightly regulated pattern in proliferating neural stem cells and a subset of neurons. Zfhep protein is also strongly expressed in trigeminal ganglia, and is moderately expressed in other cranial ganglia. In vitro studies have implicated Zfhep as a repressor of myogenesis, however, we find that Zfhep protein expression increases during muscle differentiation.