cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Incidence of opioid use disorder in the year after discharge from an emergency department encounter.

Objective Therapeutic opioid exposure is associated with long-term use. How much later use is due to opioid use disorder (OUD) and the incidence of OUD without preceding therapeutic exposure are unknown. We preliminarily explored the association between emergency department opioid prescriptions and subsequent OUD. Methods This retrospective cohort study queried electronic health records for discharged adult patients in the year before (2014) and after (2016) their first encounter in 2015 at either of 2 EDs in a Midwestern healthcare system. OUD was defined by diagnosis codes and prescription history. Patients with OUD history before the index encounter were excluded. We report OUD incidence within 1 year, with time to first indicator of OUD among those with a repeat health system encounter post index using a Cox proportional hazards model. Secondary outcomes were sources of therapeutic opioid exposure and frequency of risk factors associated with OUD among those who developed OUD. Results Of the 49,904 unique, adult ED patients without history of OUD, 669 (1.3%; 95% CI, 1.2-1.4) had health records indicating OUD within 12 months. The proportion of ED patients with OUD at 12 months was 1.5% (95% CI, 1.2-1.9) if prescribed an opioid at index and 1.3% (95% CI, 1.2-1.4) if not. Of the 669 who developed OUD, 80 (12.0%) were prescribed an opioid at the index ED visit, 54 (8%) received an opioid prescription at a subsequent ED visit, and median time to OUD was 4.5 months (interquartile range 1.6-7.6, range 0.0-11.9). When controlling for demographics, mental health, and prior opioid prescriptions, there was no difference in OUD incidence between patients who did or did not receive an initial ED opioid prescription (HR, 1.1; 95% CI, 0.9-1.4). Conclusions A small but meaningful proportion of the ED population will develop OUD within 1 year even without ED opioid prescription. Though we found no association between ED opioid prescription and later OUD, further study is warranted given the complexity factors influencing OUD incidence, ongoing ED opioid exposure, and limitations inherent to this study design.
Survival of Xanthomonas cucurbitae in Different Crop Rotations, Plant Debris, and Weeds in Pumpkin Fields

This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of crop rotation in managing Xanthomonas cucurbitae, the causal agent of Xanthomonas leaf spot, in pumpkin fields. The study was conducted usi...
Correlation of NDE Results with Fiber Density and Porosity Content in a Metal Matrix Composite

Many of the next generation, high performance metal matrix composites (MMC) and intermetallic matrix composites (IMC) are reinforced with continuous fibers1. The properties of such materials depend on the fiber distribution and porosity content, among other things. The deviation from a uniform fiber density distribution and the presence of porosity are the results of non-ideal manufacturing process. Such conditions have important effects on the stiffness, strength and failure behavior of the composites. Both the reinforcing fibers and the voids interact strongly with probing fields used for material property characterization and nondestructive evaluation, including ultrasound, eddy current and x-ray.
Introduction: Looking Back at Eugenics

In 1907, Indiana passed the first involuntary sterilization law in the world based on the theory of eugenics. In time, more than thirty states and a dozen foreign countries followed Indiana’s lead in passing sterilization laws; those and other laws restricting immigration and regulating marriage on “eugenic” grounds were still in effect in the United States as late as the 1970s.The centennial of Indiana’s pioneering enactment provided an opportune time to evaluate the historical significance of eugenics in America. On April 12, 2007, a group that included scholars, state officials, and members of the public assembled in Indianapolis for the culmination of the Indiana Eugenics Legacy Project. The project was designed to advance historical research on eugenics, to deepen our understanding of the varied ways “eugenics” was expressed intellectually, legally, and socially, and to help draw lessons from history for current policy makers. The volume described in this Introduction was the final product of the Indiana Eugenics Legacy Project. In the past twenty-five years, scholars have documented the wide appeal of eugenics and A Century of Eugenics, edited by Paul A. Lombardo (forthcoming from the Indiana University Press) builds on that growing literature. In contrast to the many wide-ranging scholarly and popular surveys of eugenics already available, this book is an exploration of the detailed and varied history of eugenics in America at the state and local levels. It contains original scholarship that probes practices in Indiana, Georgia, California, Minnesota, North Carolina and Alabama, along with other papers that explore eugenics from perspectives that include attention to bioethics, law, and race. We intend to contribute to the ongoing national discussion about the meanings of “eugenics” and how those meanings played out in specific and concrete contexts.
Holocaust Drama: The Survivor Syndrome and the Effects of the Holocaust on Survivor Families

Holocaust survivors admit that luck was a major factor in whether they remained alive, while having a social support system in the extermination camps certainly also helped, for loners often perished. However, the most important concerted effort that enabled the victims to survive was the will to bear witness to the atrocities. Terrence Des Pres, himself a survivor of the lager , recalls, “For most survivors the chance to speak comes later. To bear witness is the goal of their struggle.” Despite the fact that SS guards relished telling prisoners that they had no chance of living and that even if someone miraculously survived to tell the tale, no one would believe that such persecution was possible, many prisoners struggled to survive to enact revenge as witnesses. Immediately after their liberation from l'univers concentrationnaire , survivors were in no shape to bear witness. Former Ravensbruck inmate Simone Veil, interviewed by Annette Wieviorka, revealed, “For several days after my return I had such difficulty reading that I was afraid I would never again be able to take up normal intellectual activity.” Charlotte Delbo, who survived Auschwitz and Ravensbruck, stated that upon her return home after her internment, she tried to recall the gestures necessary to assume the shape of a living being: learning again how to talk, walk, answer questions, dream, imagine, laugh, and think for yourself. Gradually, she began to redevelop her senses of smell, taste, sight, and hearing, while later becoming accustomed to recognizing colors and sounds.
The Prothrombotic Effects of Leptin

Human obesity is associated with leptin resistance, elevated leptin levels in the circulation, and increased risk of arterial and venous thrombotic disease. Our studies suggest that elevated leptin levels may directly promote arterial thrombosis in vivo. We found that leptin-deficient ob/ob mice had prolonged times to thrombosis after arterial injury with ferric chloride and that exogenously administered leptin corrected their phenotype in a dose-dependent manner. These effects appear to result from a direct, receptor-mediated effect of leptin on platelets, because leptin stimulated the aggregation of murine (wild-type and ob/ob) and human platelets, but it had no effect on platelets from leptin receptor-deficient db/db mice. Moreover, db/db mice had an attenuated thrombotic response to ferric chloride injury (indistinguishable from that of the ob/ob mice), which was unaffected by exogenous leptin. Our results raise the possibility that elevated plasma levels of leptin may contribute to the risk of atherothrombotic complications in human obesity.
Merging University Students into K-12 Science Education Reform

Abstract : Not since the Sputnik "crisis" has so much public attention focused on improving science education. In the 195Os, concerns were driven by national security fears and focused on increasing the numbers of scientists able to keep the United States ahead of the Soviets during the "space race." The current reform impulse springs from the awareness that U.S. society has become increasingly based on science and technology and requires a science-literate workforce that is able to understand and derive benefits from recent scientific advances. In contrast to the earlier movement, which focused on increasing the number of scientists, this movement emphasizes science for all and promotes changes in science education that will ensure that all students have equal access and opportunities to learn. To promote education reforms, a number of initiatives have been developed to encourage changes in teaching practices that will ultimately improve student learning in science. Some of these initiatives include Science for All Americans (American Association for the Advancement of Science), Project 2061's Benchmarks for Science Literacy (American Association for the Advancement of Science), and the National Science Education Standards (NSES). The NSES, released by the National Research Council in 1996, is one of the more prominent sets of guidelines among these initiatives. Known simply as the Standards, the National Science Education Standards encourage an inquiry-based approach to teaching science that enables students to explore learning on their own and encourages teachers to facilitate this process rather than control it.
Real-World Software Engineering: A Spiral Approach to a Project-Oriented Course

A one-semester course cannot adequately cover the software development process and still provide meaningful project experience. We have developed and implemented a tightly- coupled two-semester undergraduate course which presents, in a spiral form, theory and practice, product and process. Coordinating the increase in depth of the lectures as topics are revisited repeatedly, with increasingly demanding projects, constitutes our spiral approach. Three projects differ in size, complexity, team structure, artifacts provided and delivered, and development methodologies. The projects are carefully choreographed to provide varied team experiences and allow each student to function in a variety of roles and responsibilities. The project framework provides a series of passes through the software development process, each pass adding to a body of common student experiences to which subsequent passes can refer. By the middle of the first semester students, individually and in teams, have begun accumulating their own “war stories”; some positive, some negative. This personalized knowledge provides a solid base for more advanced concepts and classroom discussion.
Sequences in the 5' proximal segment of the paused transcript affect NusA-mediated enhancement of transcriptional pausing

NusA protein is a transcription elongation and termination factor that acts to enhance pausing of RNA chain growth by RNA polymerase at specific sites on DNA templates. We demonstrate that this enhancement of pausing in tR1, the transcription termination site between genes cro and cII of phage lambda, is inhibited by DNA oligonucleotides complementary to a segment of the nascent RNA just preceding the sequence that is thought to be a part of the stem of an RNA hairpin that is responsible for pausing, but not by oligonucleotides complementary to segments containing the boxA sequence or the sequences up to 40 nucleotides upstream from boxA. The results are consistent with a model proposed by Landick and Yanofsky (Landick, R., and Yanofsky, C. (1987) J. Mol. Biol. 196, 363-377) in which the NusA protein acting as a subunit of RNA polymerase in the elongation complex contacts a structure near the 3' end of the nascent transcript and uses the binding energy to shift the equilibrium between elongation and paused conformational isomers of the transcription complex in favor of the paused isomer.
The ACRONYM model-based vision system

ACRONYM Is a model-based image understanding system. It demonstrates mechanisms for interpretation of images with generic object classes and generic viewing conditions, in a way that is generalizable. It incorporates a powerful geometric modeling capability with a high level modeling language for natural communication with the user In terms of object models. A user gives high level descriptions of both generic and specific instances of objects. A rule-based Inference system produces a viewpoint dependent symbolic summary of the predicted appearance of the objects. This geometric reasoning capability enables the system to incorporate and relate knowledge and information at different levels. This summary drives a powerful syntactic matcher to find instances of the objects in preprocessed images.
Orientation dependence in collision induced electronic relaxation studied through van der Waals complexes with isomeric structures

Weakly bound molecular complexes with more than one well-defined structures provide us with an unique opportunity to investigate dynamic processes induced by intermolecular interactions with specific orientations. The relative orientation of the two interacting molecules or atoms is defined by the complex structure. The effect of the orientation in the spin changing collisions glyoxal(S1)+Ar → glyoxal(T1)+Ar and acetylene (S1)+Ar → acetylene(T)+Ar have been studied by measuring the intersystem crossing (ISC) rates of the glyoxal(S1)·Ar and acetylene(S1)·Ar complexes with different isomeric structures. Results show that there is a strong orientation dependence in the ISC of glyoxal(S1) induced by interaction with the Ar atom: the Ar atom positioned in the molecular plane is much more effective than in the out-of-plane position in inducing the S1 → T1 transition of glyoxal. On the other hand, studies of acetylene(S1)·Ar complexes indicate that the Ar-induced ISC rates are nearly identical for the in-plane and out-of-plane positions. Orientation dependence in the collision induced vibrational relaxation process C2H2(S1,vi)+Ar → C2H2(S1,vf<vi)+Ar is also studied by measuring the vibrational predissociation rates of the acetylene(S1)·Ar complex isomers. The results indicate that collisions of C2H2(S1,v3=3, 4) with Ar at two orthogonal orientations are equally effective in causing vibrational relaxation of C2H2.
Nucleotide sequence of the Yersinia enterocolitica ail gene and characterization of the Ail protein product.

Abstract The ability to enter (invade) eucaryotic cells is a property common to many pathogenic bacteria. Yersinia enterocolitica is a facultative intracellular pathogen whose primary site of multiplication is the reticuloendothelial system. In an effort to understand how Y. enterocolitica crosses the intestinal epithelial cell layer, we previously reported the cloning of two loci from Y. enterocolitica that individually conferred an invasive phenotype to the normally noninvasive Escherichia coli HB101. One of these loci, ail, is encoded by a region of DNA that is less than 650 base pairs. We have identified the ail gene product in maxicells as a 17-kilodalton membrane-associated protein. The Ail protein has been purified, and its N-terminal sequence has been determined. The nucleotide sequence of the ail gene revealed a single unique open reading frame of 178 amino acids. Comparison of amino acid sequences deduced from the gene and obtained by analysis of the purified protein identified the first 23 amino acids as a signal sequence. The site(s) at which transcription initiates on the ail gene was identified by primer extension analysis and shown to be identical in E. coli and Y. enterocolitica. Two small open reading frames downstream of ail were found and shown to exhibit considerable identity to the proposed IS3 transposase.
Manfred Girbardt and Charles Bracker: outstanding pioneers in fungal microscopy

Midway through the twentieth century, the availability of new and improved optical and electronic microscopes facilitated rapid advances in the elucidation of the fine structure of fungal cells. In this Essay, I pay tribute to Manfred Girbardt (1919-1991) and Charles Bracker (1938-2012)—two individuals who, despite being separated by geography and the restrictions of the Cold War, both made equally fundamental discoveries in fungal cell ultrastructure and set high standards for specimen manipulation and image processing.
Injection of Oilfield Produced Water into Water Aquifers - The Ojo Alamo Project

This paper shows the feasibility of using the Ojo Alamo Sandstone (OAS) aquifer of the San Juan Basin (SJB) to store produced water from oil and gas operations. Included are data analysis and reservoir modeling. To perform this study, we have constructed a reservoir (aquifer) simulation model that allows us to estimate the effect of injecting low salinity produced water from oil and gas wells into the Ojo Alamo Sandstone. Using the simulation model, we have the ability to select sites for both the injection and discharge of water within the reservoir boundaries and predict water quality at any point in the aquifer. The OAS`s in-situ water and formation properties were compiled from recent studies. In areas of the OAS which have insufficient data, electric log correlations from oil and gas wells were utilized to increase the accuracy of the model. The injected water quality is based on current production water analyses available from area operators. Realistic variations of injected water quality and flow rates are simulated in the model to create potential water quality distributions within the reservoir. The short range benefits of this project will be to provide readily available storage for production water for later use inmore » agricultural and urban areas. Certain low salinity production water that is currently considered a {open_quotes}waste product{close_quotes} could be turned into a valuable resource. A benefit for New Mexico is more usable water and less unused {open_quotes}waste water{close_quotes}.« less
Metric learning for hyperspectral image segmentation

We present a metric learning approach to improve the performance of unsupervised hyperspectral image segmentation. Unsupervised spatial segmentation can assist both user visualization and automatic recognition of surface features. Analysts can use spatially-continuous segments to decrease noise levels and/or localize feature boundaries. However, existing segmentation methods use task-agnostic measures of similarity. Here we learn task-specific similarity measures from training data, improving segment fidelity to classes of interest. Multiclass Linear Discriminant Analysis produces a linear transform that optimally separates a labeled set of training classes. This defines a distance metric that generalizes to new scenes, enabling graph-based segmentations that emphasizes key spectral features. We describe tests based on data from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer (CRISM) in which learned metrics improve segment homogeneity with respect to mineralogical classes.
The light-dark structure in the Pantar and Kapoeta stone meteorites☆

Abstract Some stone meteorites with a typical light-dark structure contain primordial noble gases in their dark portion exclusively. The minerals and the textures of both light and dark portions in the Pantar chondrite and the Kapoeta achondrite were examined microscopically. The chemical composition of numerous grains of olivine, pyroxene, feldspar, nickel-iron, and troilite was determined using electron microprobe techniques. It was found that both light and dark material in a given meteorite consist of the same minerals with identical composition, but the two portions differ markedly with regard to grain size. Generally, minerals in the dark portions are fine-grained, while the light material has “normal” texture and grain size. Single crystals of the light material occasionally extend into the dark part. These findings indicate that these types of meteorites are not polymictbreccias, but result from shock brecciation of originally homogeneous rock bodies monomict shock breccias. The distribution of rare gases is tentatively ascribed to selective trapping in some recrystallized minerals in the dark part which have been more severely altered by the shockwaves.
SPACE APPLICATIONS OF GPS

The country's space systems ground command and control network is rapidly becoming antiquated, and will not be able to handle the expansion of space traffic projected for the twenty-first century. There is a heavy reliance on vulnerable overseas ground locations that are not guaranteed. A cooperative satellite system architecture based on GPS would significantly alleviate the complexity of a future command and control structure. Specifically, if each satellite were to carry a GPS receiver as part of its telemetry, tracking, and command subsystem, all space vehicles could maintain accurate and reliable time, ephemeris, and pointing estimates. This satellite navigation and status data could then be transmitted on a regularly scheduled basis to a ground monitoring station or a Tracking and Data-Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) Satellite. In this way, normal operations would be reduced to merely reviewing the telemetered data. In case of anomalies in the data or a space emergency, a dwell mode would be initiated in which the ground segment would begin active tracking of the space vehicle. This paper outlines the structure of such a GPS-based cooperative satellite monitoring system.
Long-Acting Integrase Inhibitor Protects Macaques from Intrarectal Simian/Human Immunodeficiency Virus

GSK1265744 (GSK744) is an integrase strand-transfer inhibitor that has been formulated as a long-acting (LA) injectable suitable for monthly to quarterly clinical administration. GSK744 LA was administered at two time points 4 weeks apart beginning 1 week before virus administration, and macaques were challenged weekly for 8 weeks. GSK744 LA, at plasma concentrations achievable with quarterly injections in humans, protected all animals against repeated low-dose challenges. In a second experiment, macaques were given GSK744 LA 1 week before virus administration and challenged repeatedly until infection occurred. Protection decreased over time and correlated with the plasma drug levels. With a quarterly dosing schedule in humans, our results suggest that GSK744 LA could potentially decrease adherence problems associated with daily preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP).
Choosing between micro and macro nonverbal measurement: Application to selected vocalic and kinesic indices

Selecting the appropriate size of measurement unit in nonverbal research requires empirical as well as conceptual analysis. A definition is offered to distinguish macroscopic from microscopic measurement. Merits of each measurement approach are reviewed briefly in terms of cost, efficiency, precision, and analysis flexibility, and four additional criteria are advocated as central considerations in choosing measurement units: (1) isomorphism between the form of measurement and the phenomenological experience of interactants, (2) reliability, (3) concurrent validity, and (4) predictive validity. These criteria are applied to the analysis of 20 vocalic and kinesic nonverbal behaviors measured microscopically and macroscopically. Reliability and validity results demonstrate that either approach may be acceptable for many behaviors, but that relatively molecular coding may be preferable for highly dynamic and “objective” behaviors, while relatively molar coding may be preferable for static behaviors and perceptual judgments.
What College Administrators Expect of Department Heads

Abstract The department is the basic operating unit in academe. It is where faculty function and the unit with which students, alumni, and clientele groups identify. Characteristics and responsibilities of effective departmental administrative officers, as well as college administrators’ expectations of and working relationships with them, are discussed.
Effect of thiols in reversing the inhibition by methyl-1-(butylcarbamoyl)-2-benzimidazolecarbamate on Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Abstract Cultures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in minimal medium were inhibited by 1 μg/milliliter or more of methyl-1-(butylcarbamoyl)-2-benzimidazole-carbamate (benomyl). The yeast could reverse the inhibition at concentrations less than 50 μg/milliliter after a time proportional to the concentration of the fungicide, thus indicating the approximate toxicity under the conditions used. Cysteine, and other thiols of the structure R-CH 2 -SH tended to reverse the inhibition. This reversal was due to a metabolic effect rather than a direct chemical combination of the thiols with benomyl or methylbenzimidazole carbamate, its breakdown product. Fungitoxic residues were reduced in the medium during yeast growth if benomyl and cysteine were present. However, spectrophotometric comparisons of cultures grown in benomylcysteine mixtures vs . controls using whole washed cells suggested that neither cytochrome P-450 nor any cytochrome normally present were induced. The mechanism of action of the thiols remains to be demonstrated.
HPCC Support to Campaign Level Analysis HPCC Solving the Problem

The High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP) was initiated in 1992 in response to congressional direction to modernize the Department of Defense (DoD) laboratories' high performance computing (HPC) capabilities. The HPCMP provides the supercomputer services, high-speed network communications, and computational science expertise that enables the Defense laboratories and test centers to conduct a wide range of focused research, development, and test activities. One of the primary missions of the HPCMP is to support analysis to include campaign level analysis in support of DoD Analytic Agenda. Campaign-level simulations such as JAS, STORM, EADSIM and AMP/MIDAS are utilized by Office of the Secretary of Defense (Program, Analysis and Evaluation) [OSD(PA&E)] Simulation and Analysis Center (SAC) and the study partners to support the DoD Analytic Agenda with force structure level analysis in accordance with the Defense Planning Program (DPP). Campaign-level analysis requires the sharing of data, a tremendous processing capability, and a quick turnaround postprocessing ability, in collaboration with study partners, to meet the requirements set forth by our DoD leadership. Study partners include OSD agencies (AT&L, DIA, MDA, DTRA, NRO, NSSO, etc.), Joint Staff/J8, Combatant Commands (COCOMs), and the service analysis agencies. With the capabilities of the HPC program, collaboration and sharing of data can be achieved. Processing and post-processing data from common servers significantly reduces the cost to DoD. The objective of this project is to provide OSD(PA&E) with HPC capabilities for conducting quick turnaround analysis and a forum for their study partners to share data and collaborate on analysis efforts in support of the DoD Analytic Agenda. An OSD(PA&E) Windows & Linux cluster has been established at Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, Charleston (SPAWAR-Charleston) under a Terms of Reference agreement with the HPCMP. The processing power is the newest in technology for high-speed processing of multiple stochastic replications. The Joint Analysis System (JAS) simulation is the first simulation to be established on the cluster. This experiment affords use of many JAS scenarios, storage of data in a common Oracle database, fast processing of multiple simulations simultaneously, and quick processing of data. Collaboration is presently internal to PA&E offices in the Pentagon and Crystal City. The HPC Centers capability allows for nation wide collaboration between analytical agencies in support of the DoD Analytical Agenda.
A study of the ternary oxide LiVO2 and its anomalous behavior

Nonstoichiometric LiVO/sub 2/ and its unusual magnetic, electrical, and thermal phase transition near 200/sup 0/C were studied using X-ray diffraction, IR and EPR spectroscopy, thermoanalytical methods, and measurements of electrical resistivity and magnetic susceptibility. The transition is semireversible, appearing to be noncooperative and of higher or multiple order. It has been concluded that the driving force for the transition is not a structural instability, but rather a critical distance phenomenon involving a change in the V/sup 3 +/-V/sup 3 +/ bond type. The low-temperature data are interpreted in terms of a two-dimensional vanadium metal cluster layer formed via covalent-type metal-to-metal bonds; above T/sub t/, narrow-band metallic behavior sets in within the vanadium planes. The phase transition in LiVO/sub 2/ is similar to that of TiCl/sub 3/, and is also very similar to the semiconducting-to-metallic transformations in VO/sub 2/ and V/sub 2/O/sub 3/.
A simple model for predicting the release of a liquid-vapor mixture from a large break in a pressurized container

Abstract This paper presents a simple, accurate model for determining the amount and composition of a liquid-vapor release from a pressurized tank that develops a large break above the level of the liquid. Most models commonly used by the chemical industry assume that there is thermal- and mechanical-equilibrium between the liquid- and the vapor-phase (homogeneous equilibrium models, HEM). While this assumption is valid for releases though long pipes and nozzles, we found that it overestimates the total amount released during rapid discharges through large breaks in a vessel when there is insufficient time for the mixture to become homogeneous. We derived an analytical non-homogeneous, thermal equilibrium model that accurately determines the void fraction of the mixture at the time of the release, and the quantity of a release from a pressurized container. Our model is based on equations describing the transfer of interfacial momentum between the liquid- and the vapor- phases that develop during the quick depressurization of a vessel. The model’s predictions are verified by comparing them with actual measurements of the void fraction, and with the results of the RELAP5 model. Also, our model is used to determine emissions of nitrogen oxides and nitric acid in an actual rupture of a railcar tank. The results agreed with actual observations, whereas a homogeneous equilibrium model gave erroneous predictions.
Intense interplanetary magnetic fields observed by geocentric spacecraft during 1963–1975

In the present paper, interplanetary magnetic field and plasma data are reviewed over a period exceeding one full solar cycle for intervals in which the magnetic intensity was greater than 13 gammas. One hundred forty nine intervals of this type, with almost complete plasma and magnetic field data, are identified. Most (79%) of these enhancements could be associated either with interplanetary shocks or with high-speed stream interfaces. Half of the remaining 21% of the enhancements could be identified as cold magnetic enhancements, while the other half could not be associated with a single shock, interface, or cold magnetic enhancement.
Silent myocardial ischemia is not predictive of myocardial infarction in peripheral vascular surgery patients

Continuous ambulatory ECG (CAECG) monitoring has been advocated as an effective low-cost preoperative method for detecting silent myocardial ischemia in patients undergoing peripheral vascular surgery. In addition, silent ischemic events are associated with an increased incidence of postoperative myocardial infarctions. Ninety-six patients (mean age 73 years) admitted for elective aortic (24) or infrainguinal (72) operations over a 2-year period underwent 24-hour two- or three-lead CAECG monitoring. Results were reviewed by a single cardiologist blinded to the study. The criterion for ischemia was ST segment depressions of 1 mm or greater for 40 seconds or more 60 msec after the J point. Postoperative myocardial infarction was determined by ECG changes and/or elevated serum creatinine phosphokinase with positive MB isoenzymes. Risk factors included hypertension (71%), history of coronary artery disease (66%), smoking (61%), and diabetes mellitus (47%). Nine out of 96 patients (9.4%) had a positive CAECG test for silent myocardial ischemia. Only one patient (11.1%) developed postoperative myocardial infarction and there were no deaths in this group. The incidence of postoperative myocardial infarction in the nonischemic group was 16.1% (14/87). However, the mortality in this group was 6.9% (6/87). New and malignant arrhythmias requiring preoperative medical intervention were observed in seven patients (7.4%): two cases of ventricular tachycardia and five cases of atrial flutter/fibrillation. Contrary to previous reports, CAECG monitoring for silent ischemia was not a significant predictor of postoperative myocardial infarction or mortality in our patient population. However, we continue to recommend the preoperative use of CAECG monitoring as a diagnostic tool for unsuspected malignant arrhythmias.
Transforming growth factor-β3 stimulates lactotrope cell growth by increasing basic fibroblast growth factor from folliculo-stellate cells

Recently, we have shown that transforming growth factor-β3 (TGFβ3) mediates estradiol’s mitogenic action in primary cultures of mixed anterior pituitary cells. In some cell types, TGFβ isoforms stimulate cell proliferation via a paracrine mechanism by increasing growth stimulatory peptide growth factors. Whether such a mechanism exists in pituitary cell culture was examined in the studies presented here. The data demonstrate that unlike the response of lactotropes in mixed pituitary cultures, cultures of enriched lactotropes, obtained by Percoll gradient separation, did not proliferate in response to TGFβ3 treatment. The lactotropic cells of the RC-4B/C cell line, a cell line that contains all of the hormone-secreting cell types of the anterior pituitary but is devoid of folliculo-stellate (FS) cells, did not proliferate in response to TGFβ3 unless RC-4B/C cells were cocultured with FS cells. Enriched lactotropes cocultured with FS cells also demonstrated a proliferative response to TGFβ3. Media collected...
Ex vivo expanded autologous polyclonal regulatory T cells suppress inhibitor formation in hemophilia

Adoptive cell therapy utilizing ex vivo expanded polyclonal CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ regulatory T cells (Treg) is in use in clinical trials for the treatment of type 1 diabetes and prevention of graft versus host disease in bone marrow transplantation. Here, we seek to evaluate this approach in the treatment of inherited protein deficiencies, i.e., hemophilia, which is often complicated by antibody formation against the therapeutic protein. Treg from mice that express green fluorescent protein–marked FoxP3 were highly purified by two-step magnetic/flow sorting and ex vivo expanded 50- to 100-fold over a 2-week culture period upon stimulation with antibody-coated microbeads. FoxP3 expression was maintained in >80% of expanded Treg, which also expressed high levels of CD62L and CTLA-4. Transplanted Treg suppressed inhibitory antibody formation against coagulation factors VIII and IX in protein and gene therapies in strain-matched hemophilia A and B mice, including in mice with pre-existing antibodies. Although transplanted Treg became undetectable within 2 weeks, suppression persisted for >2 months. Additional studies suggested that antigen-specific suppression emerged due to induction of endogenous Treg. The outcomes of these studies support the concept that cell therapy with ex vivo expanded autologous Treg can be used successfully to minimize immune responses in gene and protein replacement therapies.
Management of a mound-building ant, Lasius neoniger Emery, on golf putting greens and tees using delayed-action baits or fipronil.

The ant Lasius neoniger Emery can be a serious pest when its nesting and mound-building activities occur on golf putting greens and tees. Controlling turf-infesting ants is difficult because conventional insecticides usually fail to eliminate the subterranean queen. We compared the attractiveness of commercial and experimental ant baits to L. neoniger workers, and we evaluated baits containing novel, delayed-action toxicants for selective control of L. neoniger on creeping bentgrass, Agrostis stolonifera L., golf tees. Efficacy of nonbait granular fipronil, a new phenyl pyrazole insecticide, also was evaluated. In choice tests, protein-based baits were more readily taken than baits containing sugar- or oil-based attractants. Abamectin-, hydramethylnon-, or spinosad-based baits significantly reduced numbers of ant mounds and nests when applied either as spot or broadcast treatments. Two commercial baits, Advance Granular Carpenter Ant Bait, containing 0.011% abamectin B 1 , and Maxforce Ant Killer Granular Bait, containing 0.9% hydramethylnon, were especially effective. Spot-treatment with either of these baits, using 1 g of bait per mound, eliminated 88 to 97% of the mounds within 3 d. Broadcast application of fipronil (0.028 kg a.i. ha -1 ) on heavily infested, sand-based creeping bentgrass putting green turf in May provided 80% reduction of ant mounds at 7 d after treatment and 86% reduction at 60 d.
Monitoring of volatile organic compounds using a surface relief D-Fiber Bragg grating and a polydimethylsiloxane layer

We use a surface relief fiber Bragg grating with a polydimethylsiloxane layer as a volatile organic compound chemical sensor. Sensitivity of ~4000 ppm is demonstrated of dichloromethane in a gas state.
Neuron–Glial Interactions in the Developing Cerebellum

Advances in microscopy allow one to probe the structure of neurons and their interactions with astrocytes in brain slices and in vivo at ever increasing resolution. Moreover, the dynamic interactions between the cells can be examined in live preparation. In this paper we discuss how a variety of imaging approaches: confocal microscopy, electron microscopy, and multiphoton time-lapse microscopy are employed to probe neuron glia interactions in the developing cerebellum.
Proteins of herpesvirus type 2. III. Isolation and immunologic characterization of a large molecular weight viral protein.

Abstract At least 47 viral proteins are synthesized in cells infected with HSV-2 (G ). One of these viral proteins, ICP 10 (MW, 161,000), was purified by SDS-acrylamide gel electrophoresis. Protein eluted from gel segments containing ICP 10 and passaged on SDS-HTP columns migrates on 8.5% SDS-acrylamide gels as one protein band with the relative mobility of ICP 10. Antisera prepared in rabbits inoculated with ICP 10-containing gel segments fix complement with extracts of cells infected with HSV-2 (G) for 4 hr and stain cycloheximide and actinomycin D-treated HSV-2 (G) -infected cells which contain only early viral proteins. Furthermore, the (Fab′) fragment of anti-ICP 10 IgG blocks complement fixation between sera from cervical carcinoma patients and the tumor-associated antigen designated AG-4, thereby demonstrating the immunologic identity of ICP 10 and AG-4. Previous reports from our laboratory have shown that ICP 10 has the same electrophoretic mobility as HSV-2 (G) virion protein VP-4. When nucleocapsids and envelope proteins are prepared and electrophoresed on SDS-acrylamide gels, a protein with the relative mobility of ICP 10 is found only in the envelope protein fraction. The identification of ICP 10 as an envelope protein is further substantiated by: (i) the ability of anti-ICP 10 to fix complement with either intact virions or envelope proteins solubilized from dextran-gradient-purified virions by NP-40 treatment; (ii) the absorption of the anti-ICP 10 reactivity with HSV-2 (G) virions but not with “mock-virus” preparations; and (iii) the potential of anti-ICP 10 to “sensitize” virions causing their neutralization in presence of complement or anti-IgG.
Impact of environmental tobacco smoke on children with asthma, United States, 2003-2010

Abstract Objective Given widespread interventions to reduce environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure and improve asthma control, we sought to assess the current impact of ETS exposure on children with asthma. Methods We analyzed 2003–2010 data for nonsmoking children aged 6 to 19 years with asthma from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Outcomes (sleep disturbance, missed school days, health care visits, activity limitation, and wheezing with exercise) were compared between ETS exposed children (serum cotinine levels 0.05 to 10 ng/mL) and unexposed children ( Results Overall, 53.3% of children aged 6 to 19 years with asthma were ETS exposed. Age-stratified models showed associations between ETS exposure and most adverse outcomes among 6- to 11-year-olds, but not 12- to 19-year-olds. Even ETS exposure associated with low serum cotinine levels was associated with adverse outcomes for 6- to 11-year-olds. Race-stratified models for children aged 6 to 19 years showed an association between ETS exposure and missing school, health care visits, and activity limitation due to wheezing among non-Hispanic white children, and disturbed sleep among non-Hispanic white and Mexican children. Among non-Hispanic black children, there was no elevated risk between ETS exposure and the assessed outcomes: non-Hispanic black children had high rates of adverse outcomes regardless of ETS exposure. Conclusions Among children with asthma 6 to 11 years of age, ETS exposure was associated with most adverse outcomes. Even ETS exposure resulting in low serum cotinine levels was associated with risks for young children with asthma.
X-ray study of transition-metal dopants in β-boron

Abstract The atomic locations and concentrations of various transition element dopants in single crystals of β-boron have been studied by X-ray methods. The elements include Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zr, Nb, Hf, and Ta. These dopants do not enter normal boron positions in the framework at the concentrations studied; rather they occupy previously identified A1, A2, D, or E sites. The percentage occupancies of the several sites are correlated with the atomic sizes of the dopant atoms and their concentrations. Some differences between samples are related to their thermal histories. A number of competing interactions between six different, partially occupied boron sites and the dopant sites have been found. The doping mechanism is “displacive” rather than interstitial or substitutional.
Saturable entry of ciliary neurotrophic factor into brain

Abstract Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), like tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), is a cytokine with neurotrophic properties. Since all three cytokines are found in the periphery as well as brain, and since TNF and GM-CSF cross the blood–brain barrier (BBB) by a saturable mechanism, we investigated whether CNTF also saturably enters the brain from the blood. We found that CNTF crosses the BBB rapidly, with a rate of entry (Ki) of 4.60 (±0.78)×10−4 ml/g min, considerably faster than that of the 99mTc-albumin control. The Ki was reduced more than 3-fold by addition of excess unlabeled CNTF. The results indicate that CNTF is saturably transported across the BBB from blood to brain.
The differential effects produced by daunomycin and adriamycin on RNA, polynucleotides, single stranded, supercoiled DNA, and nucleosomes.

Abstract Terbium, a sensitive probe whose fluorescence is strongly enhanced when bound to unpaired guanine and xanthine bases, has been employed to study the effects of adriamycin and daunomycin on a variety of nucleotide substrates. After treatment with either drug at concentrations of ≤1:500, the fluorescence of the probe was substantially abrogated. Daunomycin, however, produced a markedly greater effect than adriamycin with rRNA, linear calf thymus DNA, and polyriboguanylic acid. The difference between the drugs was experimentally significant, suggesting that changing the C9 side group from a methyl (daunomycin) to an alcohol (adriamycin) may result in a changed base sequence specificity. The distinction was also evident when changes in electrophoretic mobility of supercoiled and nucleosomal DNA was monitored, but only at much higher (1:25) drug:DNA ratios.
Societal Transformation: Ecological Issues Affecting Educational, Mental Health, and Family Systems.

Abstract This article addresses current trends and issues impacting educators and the populations they serve. Perspectives on the major societal changes occurring are presented from a mental health and family systems framework. Implications and suggestions for approaching these ecological issues and creating new delivery systems as we encounter the 21st century are discussed.
Bottom pressure fluctuations due to standing waves in a deep, two-layer ocean

The pressure fluctuation in a deep ocean, due to short-period surface waves, is calculated by means of a simple physical model. It is shown, as was pointed out earlier by Longuet-Higgins, that the pressure under a standing wave varies at twice the frequency of the wave and with an amplitude proportional to the square of the wave amplitude, and inversely proportional to the wave length, but that the pressure under a progressive wave is constant. A similar calculation of the pressure fluctuation under a standing internal wave gives similar results, but the amplitude is diminished by the factor (δρ/ρ). Numerical calculations, using typical wave amplitudes, show that pressure fluctuations of about 30 cm may occasionally be expected under six-second surface waves, but that internal waves, because of their large wave lengths, will have little effect on the pressure in the deep ocean.
An experimental investigation of the data delivery performance of a wireless sensing unit designed for structural health monitoring

This study explores the reliability of a wireless sensing unit by testing it in a real-world university laboratory environment. The unit employs off-the-shelf products for their key components, while a flexible payload scheme was adopted for radio packet transmission to maximize throughput and minimize latency. The testing consists of two main parts: (1) a series of loopback tests using two off-the-shelf radio components with carrier frequencies of 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz, respectively, and (2) wireless transmission of a shake table response to a periodic swept sine excitation. The performance of the wireless channel is examined in each part of the study. Through this experimental investigation, it is validated that a loopback test may be used as a fast prototyping approach to characterize the complex transmitting environment of a structure in which a wireless monitoring system is installed. Various factors leading to signal attenuation are ranked according to their effects on packet delivery performance. Transmitting range and building materials are among the leading factors causing packet loss (and therefore data loss) in this specific testing environment. The severity of interference from 802.11b wireless systems in close proximity to the wireless sensing unit was investigated. Some preliminary results on the influence of operating rotating machinery and human activities are to wireless sensors were investigated. The results presented herein offer a guideline for applying wireless sensing within real-world structures so that the reliability of the wireless monitoring system is maximized. Due to uncertainties associated with the reliability of wireless communications, statistical analysis is performed on the collected time histories to reveal the underlying patterns associated with data loss. Temporal correlations of data loss were measured and found to be related to the adopted radio. A statistical distribution of the size of consecutive lost data points was further derived from the collected data. Such results have identified the need to further develop: (1) reliable communication protocols to reduce these losses in data and information, and (2) robust data processing and system identification tools to anticipate and explicitly handle any data loss. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.