cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
CLE14/CLE20 peptides may interact with CLAVATA2/CORYNE receptor-like kinases to irreversibly inhibit cell division in the root meristem of Arabidopsis

Towards an understanding of the interacting nature of the CLAVATA (CLV) complex, we predicted the 3D structures of CLV3/ESR-related (CLE) peptides and the ectodomain of their potential receptor proteins/kinases, and docking models of these molecules. The results show that the ectodomain of CLV1 can form homodimers and that the 12-/13-amino-acid CLV3 peptide fits into the binding clefts of the CLV1 dimers. Our results also demonstrate that the receptor domain of CORYNE (CRN), a recently identified receptor-like kinase, binds tightly to the ectodomain of CLV2, and this likely leads to an increased possibility for docking with CLV1. Furthermore, our docking models reveal that two CRN-CLV2 ectodomain heterodimers are able to form a tetramer receptor complex. Peptides of CLV3, CLE14, CLE19, and CLE20 are also able to bind a potential CLV2-CRN heterodimer or heterotetramer complex. Using a cell-division reporter line, we found that synthetic 12-amino-acid CLE14 and CLE20 peptides inhibit, irreversibly, root growth by reducing cell division rates in the root apical meristem, resulting in a short-root phenotype. Intriguingly, we observed that exogenous application of cytokinin can partially rescue the short-root phenotype induced by over-expression of either CLE14 or CLE20 in planta. However, cytokinin treatment does not rescue the short-root phenotype caused by exogenous application of the synthetic CLE14/CLE20 peptides, suggesting a requirement for a condition provided only in living plants. These results therefore imply that the CLE14/CLE20 peptides may act through the CLV2-CRN receptor kinase, and that their availabilities and/or abundances may be affected by cytokinin activity in planta.
Ecology of Vibrio vulnificus in Galveston Bay oysters, suspended particulate matter, sediment and seawater: detection by monoclonal antibody - immunoassay - most probable number procedures.

Oysters, suspended particulate matter (SPM), sediment and seawater samples were collected from West Galveston Bay, Texas over a 16-month period and analyzed for the presence ofVibrio vulnificus, a naturally-occurring human marine pathogen. Detection and enumeration ofV. vulnificus was performed using a species-specific monoclonal antibody (mAb FRBT37) in an enzyme immunoassay (EIA)-most probable number (MPN) procedure capable of detecting as few as 2000 target organisms.V. vulnificus was not detected in seawater, oyster or SPM samples during the cold weather months, but was detected at low levels in several sediment samples during this time period. Increased levels of the organism were first observed in early spring in the sediment, and then in SPM and oysters. The major increase inV. vulnificus occurred only after the seawater temperature had increased above 20°C and the winter-spring rainfall had lowered the salinity below 16‰. The highestV. vulnificus levels at each site were associated with suspended particulate matter. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that (1)V. vulnificus over-winters in a floc zone present at the sediment-water interface, (2) is resuspended into the water column in early spring following changes in climatic conditions, (3) colonizes the surfaces of zooplankton which are also blooming during early spring and (4) are ingested by oysters during their normal feeding process.
Millimeter-wave imaging using FET detectors integrated with printed circuit antennas

The application of field effect transistor (FET) detectors integrated with planar twin dipole microstrip antennas to millimeter-wave imaging has been demonstrated. Circuits were configured as practical heterodyne mixers, as elements in a 2×3 element planar focal plane array for imaging, and as receivers in frequency modulated (FM) radars for three-dimensional imaging, at 63 GHz. These experiments show that quasioptical circuits, using conventional present-day FETs and simple printed circuit construction, can be applied usefully in the millimeter-wave region.
Development of computer-generated phantoms for FMRI software evaluation.

Abstract Functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) is a major tool for the evaluation of brain function and architecture. It is widely used by physicians, neuroscientists, psychologists and others. In order to process the data collected using FMRI, it is necessary to use post-acquisition processing software that employs motion correction and statistical modeling capabilities. These types of programs permit the user to extract the information about areas of brain activations that have occurred during a study. How well a particular motion-correction technique works and what effect it has on statistical processing are difficult to evaluate, since the level of activation present is not known a priori. This paper provides a description of the construction of a software phantom for use with FMRI post-acquisition processing tools with the properties that it is based on real subject data, has known locations and levels of activation, has known amounts of rigid body motion and noise added, and can be used to evaluate a processing system as if it were a real data set. Versions of the software phantom are available for downloading at the website: http://www.vuiis.vanderbilt.edu/fmriphantoms .
Leuprolide acetate treatment and myoma arterial size

Objective: To compare the size of arterial vessels in myomas from women treated with GnRH agonist (GnRH-a) or given placebo. Methods: Our study group included 46 women about to undergo myomectomy or hysterectomy; 30 were treated with leuprolide acetate (3.75 or 7.5 mg) in three monthly doses, and 16 were given placebo. Arterial diameters of the intramyomatous vessels were measured using an ocular micrometer on hematoxylin and eosin-stained slides. Results: Clinically and radiologically, the uterine volume of GnRH-a-treated patients decreased by an average of 30%, and the diameter of the largest myoma decreased by 27%. The average diameter of intramyomatous arteries was 24% smaller in GnRH-a subjects compared with those receiving placebo (136 ± 42 versus 178 ± 60 μm, P P Conclusion: Intramyomatous arteries were smaller and more often showed arteriosclerotic changes in leiomyomas removed from women treated with GnRH-a compared with those given placebo. The estrogen deprivation induced by GnRH-a may cause a relative vasoconstriction of myomatous vessels. Whether this decreased vessel size is the principal contributor to decreased myoma size will require further study.
Perceived risk and choice of childbirth service.

Abstract This paper presents an analysis of the risk perceptions of a sample of pregnant women in a large metropolitan area on the West Coast regarding childbirth and its medical management, and how these perceptions correspond to their choice of childbirth service. The analysis first summarizes recent experimental work in cognitive and social psychology on information processing in decision making and examines its usefulness for the study of women's reproductive strategies in real life contexts. Following this, perceived risks of childbirth and its management are examined in light of the concept of ‘bolstering’, advanced in Janis and Mann's conflict theory of decision making. The findings, that women discount the risks and magnify the benefits of the chosen birth service, and exaggerate the risks and minimize the advantages of the rejected services, support the concept of bolstering and provide empirical evidence of its explanatory power in interpreting a decision making domain—women's childbirth care decision making—heretofore approached almost exclusively through description.
Phospholipid fatty acids in forest soil four years after organic matter removal and soil compaction

Abstract Disturbance caused by forest management practices can have a striking effect on soil microbial activity in a forest ecosystem. Phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) profiles were developed and compared for soils in plots of a harvested forest stand 4 years after removing only merchantable logs (BO) and removing the whole tree plus forest floor (WT+FF), in combination with two levels of soil compaction (none and severe) and plots in an uncut forest stand (control). Soils in both forest stands were characterized by a cherty residuum that is primarily of the Clarksville series (Loamy-skeletal, mixed, mesic Typic Paleudults). Thirty soil samples were collected from 0 to 10 cm depth from each plot and pooled; a composite sample of the mixture was analyzed for each of the 15 plots. After 4 years, PLFA representing bacterial biomass did not differ significantly ( P >0.05) between treated and control plots. Prokaryote organisms outnumbered polyonic organisms by 5 to 1. Among structure groups, unsaturated and saturated differed significantly between treatments, but branched, cyclopropane, and polyenoic did not. Individual fatty acids differed between treatments regardless of significant differences between structure groups. Both cell membrane permeability and turnover rate were lower for organisms in control plots than for organisms in treated plots. Differences in fatty acid profiles attributed to soil disturbance suggest that attributes of soil disturbance favors specific groups of organisms over others. Further work is needed to identify how forest soil processes influenced by disturbance impact microbial community structure and growth to determine if microbial activity as inferred by PFLA analysis can be used to monitor the recovery of soils in forested sites.
The Promise of University-Assisted Community Schools to Transform American Schooling: A Report from the Field, 1985-2012.

This article explores the university-assisted community school approach as it has been developed at the University of Pennsylvania with its school and community partners in West Philadelphia since 1985, as well as adapted nationally. The approach is grounded in John Dewey's theory that the neighborhood school can function as the core neighborhood institution that provides comprehensive services, galvanizes other community institutions and groups, and helps solve the myriad problems schools and community confront in a rapidly changing world. Building on Dewey's ideas, the authors argue that all colleges and universities should make solving the problem of the American schooling system a very high institutional priority; their contributions to its solution should count heavily both in assessing their institutional performance (by themselves and others) and be a critical factor when responding to their requests for renewed or increased resources and financial support. Providing concrete examples from over 20 ...
Student and Teacher Outcomes of The Superkids Quasi-Experimental Study

In this article, we report kindergarten student and teacher outcomes from a quasi-experimental evaluation of The Superkids, a systematic, phonics-based, comprehensive K-2 reading program. We recruited 23 kindergarten teachers to implement The Superkids program from a diverse, yet predominantly ethnic minority, group of classrooms from across the United States. We then employed a precise computerized matching methodology to derive a statistically equivalent comparison group of 20 control teachers who implemented their standard “business as usual” core literacy program. Multilevel analyses of classroom-level effects of The Superkids revealed achievement advantages of more than 1/10 of a standard deviation, d = 0.11, to 1/4 of a standard deviation, d = 0.25, for the treatment group on the 5 subtests from the Stanford Achievement Test, 10th edition (SAT-10). Four measures of teachers’ self-reported satisfaction with the core reading program used in their classrooms also revealed statistically significant adva...
Automatic Transmissions in America

Since the internal-combustion engine was first adopted for automotive use, American industry has conducted a constant search for a transmission with infinitely variable ratio, fully automatic operation, and high efficiency.The fully automatic transmission has now evolved into a unit providing greater safety and ease of operation for the driver. It is no longer considered novelty or luxury equipment in the passenger car and its value is rapidly becoming recognized in commercial applications.Engineering research and development in the United States of America has been active in this search for two decades. The first approach was the development of friction, electrical, and hydraulic displacement drives, all of which resulted in bulky and heavy mechanisms inefficient and impractical in use. Then came the development of hydrodynamic drives, the fluid coupling, and the torque converter. Here, continual commercial successes have been made. The first use of the torque converter was in city service 'buses in 1934...
Events leading to the opening and closing of the exocytotic fusion pore have markedly different temperature dependencies: Kinetic analysis of single fusion events in patch-clamped mouse mast cells

The earliest event in exocytosis is the formation of a fusion pore, an aqueous channel that connects the lumen of a secretory granule with the extracellular space. We can observe the formation of individual fusion pores and their subsequent dilation or closure by measuring the changes in the admittance of patch-clamped mast cells during GTP gamma S-stimulated exocytotic fusion. To investigate the molecular structure of the fusion pore, we have studied the temperature dependency of the rate constants for fusion pore formation and closure. An Arrhenius plot of the rate of fusion pore formation shows a simple linear relationship with an apparent activation energy of 23 kcal/mol. In contrast, the Arrhenius plot of the rate of closure of the fusion pore is discontinuous, with the break at approximately 13 degrees C. Above the break point, the rate of closure has a weak temperature dependence (7 kcal/mol), whereas below 13 degrees C the rate of closure is temperature independent. This type of temperature dependency is characteristic of events that depend on diffusion in a lipid phase that undergoes a fluid-solid phase transition. We propose that the formation of the fusion pore is regulated by the conformational change of a molecular structure with a high activation energy, whereas the closure of the fusion pore is regulated by lipids that become phase separated at 13 degrees C.
Quality monitoring of microbial contamination of cryopreserved parathyroid tissue

Cryopreservation of parathyroid tissue (PT) provides patients undergoing parathyroidectomy with an option for delayed autologous heterotopic parathyroid transplantation. A standard protocol for quality monitoring of PT has not been established. This article describes a method for detecting the presence of bacterial contamination in PT tissue intended for autologous transplantation. PT was received in the tissue bank, processed under aseptic conditions, and placed into cryopreservation medium. Sterility testing was performed at 2 time points prior to cryopreservation. From January 2005 to October 2008, 47 PT samples were cryopreserved. The following bacteria were isolated from 11 PT specimens: Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus capitis subspecies ureolyticus, Staphylococcus lugdunensis, Bacillus pumilus, and corynebacteria (diphtheroids). 23% of PTs were contaminated at the time of collection, predominantly with indigenous bacteria. Quality monitoring using this protocol is a useful tool to identify tissues contaminated with bacteria.
HIDING THE COST OF INFORMATION

As a profession we argue endlessly about the quality of our activities in providing information. From my background as an educator, practicing librarian, and corporate official, I have concluded that while obviously the quality of the service we provide varies with the abilities of the specific librarian, on balance what we do is cost effective. This must be evaluated with the recognition that there is much in the recent literature, both business and general, to suggest that the availability of information is important, both for decision making and for quality of life. Protagonists such as Daniel Bell and international corporations like AT&T and IBM have convinced all citizens that information is vital. Just to make the point obvious, there is no visible group that champions ignorance as a desired way of life, or as a desirable mechanism for making decisions. The importance of information, and its value in providing for its disseminators a greater level of prestige and remuneration, is now clearly understood both by MBA and computer science education graduates, who have concluded that they are, after all this time, suddenly “information professionals.” Those of us who have observed the development of these people do know better, but that knowledge will not serve us if we are the only ones who posses it.
Complications Following Hepatectomy

As the number of liver resections in the United States has increased, operations are more commonly performed on older patients with multiple comorbidities. The advent of effective chemotherapy and techniques such as portal vein embolization, have compounded the number of increasingly complex resections taking up to 75% of healthy livers. Four potentially devastating complications of liver resection include postoperative hemorrhage, venous thromboembolism, bile leak, and post-hepatectomy liver failure. The risk factors and management of these complications are herein explored, stressing the importance of identifying preoperative factors that can decrease the risk for these potentially fatal complications.
Abstract 2322: TheKIAA1549:BRAFfusion gene regulates mTOR signaling and gliomagenesis in a cell type- and brain region-specific manner.

Proceedings: AACR 104th Annual Meeting 2013; Apr 6-10, 2013; Washington, DC The two most common genetic alterations in low-grade pediatric brain tumors (glioma) are NF1 gene inactivation and tandem duplications involving the BRAF kinase gene. In this study, we sought to define the role of KIAA1549:BRAF fusion (fusion BRAF; f-BRAF) gene in glioma development. We demonstrate that f-BRAF regulates cerebellar NSC proliferation by activating the mTOR pathway downstream of MAPK. Also, f-BRAF expression in cerebellar neuroglial progenitors is sufficient to induce glioma-like lesions in mice. Interestingly, f-BRAF expression does not increase the proliferation of NSCs derived from other brain regions, nor does it increase primary astrocyte proliferation. These brain region- and cell type-specific growth promoting effects of f-BRAF are mediated by tuberin/Rheb-dependent modulation of mTOR, leading to S6-kinase activation and p27 degradation. Finally, we demonstrate that mTOR activation is also observed in fusion BRAF-associated human sporadic pilocytic astrocytomas. Our findings highlight the importance of spatial, cellular and molecular heterogeneity in brain tumor development, and provide compelling preclinical evidence for the use of mTOR pathway inhibitors for both sporadic and familial low-grade gliomas. Citation Format: Aparna Kaul, Yi-Hsien Chen, Ryan J. Emnett, Sonika Dahiya, David Gutmann. The KIAA1549:BRAF fusion gene regulates mTOR signaling and gliomagenesis in a cell type- and brain region-specific manner. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2322. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-2322
Computational active site analysis of molecular pathways to improve functional classification of enzymes

This study describes a method to computationally assess the function of homologous enzymes through small molecule binding interaction energy. Three experimentally determined X-ray structures and four enzyme models from ornithine cyclo-deaminase, alanine dehydrogenase, and mu-crystallin were used in combination with nine small molecules to derive a function score (FS) for each enzyme-model combination. While energy values varied for a single molecule-enzyme combination due to differences in the active sites, we observe that the binding energies for the entire pathway were proportional for each set of small molecules investigated. This proportionality of energies for a reaction pathway appears to be dependent on the amino acids in the active site and their direct interactions with the small molecules, which allows a function score (FS) to be calculated to assess the specificity of each enzyme. Potential of mean force (PMF) calculations were used to obtain the energies, and the resulting FS values demonstrate that a measurement of function may be obtained using differences between these PMF values. Additionally, limitations of this method are discussed based on: (a) larger substrates with significant conformational flexibility; (b) low homology enzymes; and (c) open active sites. This method should be useful in accurately predicting specificity for single enzymes that have multiple steps in their reactions and in high throughput computational methods to accurately annotate uncharacterized proteins based on active site interaction analysis.
Ionospheric plasma disturbances due to a moving space vehicle

Abstract Disturbances due to a moving space vehicle in the ionospheric plasma have been investigated by means of accurate measurements of the electron density in rarefied wake regions, using a gyro-plasma probe. The vehicle wake structure of the K-9M-21 rocket in the ionosphere can be measured on its descent and has been investigated theoretically on the basis of the hydrodynamics of a quasi-neutral plasma. It is confirmed that the ionospheric plasma can be treated as a neutral gas for analysis of the vehicle wake by neglecting the effect of the local first-order electric field and the ambient geomagnetic field. The disturbance-free region which is important for the measurement of the undisturbed ambient plasma density is also discriminated clearly from the wake region surrounding the moving space vehicle.
Minimally invasive surgery in endometrial cancer: Recent updates

The surgical management of endometrial cancer has been markedly changed by minimally invasive techniques. After three decades of laparoscopy, robotic surgery has built upon and expanded the population of patients able to benefit from minimally invasive techniques. Updates in the field of laparoscopy continue, including single-site surgery. The emergence and rapid uptake of robotics continues to produce favorable outcomes while at the same time, expanding minimally invasive surgery to the obese and elderly populations. Sentinel lymph node detection and single-port surgery are expanding areas that will continue to push the role of minimally invasive surgery in endometrial cancer.
Wax ester biosynthesis by isolated membrane fractions from calanoid copepods.

Abstract 1. 1. A plasma membrane rich fraction was isolated from two species of calanoid copepods by density gradient ultracentrifugation. 2. 2. Membrane fractions were identified by electron microscopy and the following marker enzyme analyses: NaK activated ATPase, 5′-nucleotidase, glucose-6-phosphatase and succinic dehydrogenase. 3. 3. Membrane fractions were incubated with 1-14C palmitic acid and subsequently analyzed for synthesis of wax esters. Greater wax ester biosynthesis was observed to coincide with plasma membrane enrichment.
Removing RFID adoption obstacles: a socio-technical perspective

The topic of RFID adoption is of current interest to a widespread audience, especially in the e-commerce and retailing sectors. This article brings a balanced perspective to a subject that is experiencing reporting at the extremes. Using a base of established research theories, including the innovation research stream by Everett Rogers and other theories such as Interorganisational Relationships (IOR) and resource dependency theory, the authors explore a multi-faceted decision domain by showing that the obstacles to RFID adoption encompass technological, managerial and societal issues. The adoption of a major new innovation is a complex process; the eventual success of RFID requires a blend of technological and behavioural changes.
The Impact of Environmental Factors on Factionalism and Schism in Social Movement Organizations

Researchers attn butefactionalism and schism in social movement organizations (SMOs) to organizationalfactors and overlook the influence of the environment on internal conflict. This article explores the ways in which an SMO's external environment facilitates internal conflict leading to schism. Ipresent aframework outlining influential environmental elements and examine their impacts on the conflict and schism in four SMOs: Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the American Federation ofLabor (AFL), and Earth First! (EF!). Applying the framework to the four cases provides a systematic analysis of the impact of the environment and suggests the elements that are necessaryfor building a process theory explaining how conflict between factions develops and leads to schism.
Penalty calculations and branching rules in a LAV best subset procedure

Least absolute value (LAV) regression has become a widely accepted alternative to least squares regression. This has come about as the result of advancements in statistical theory and computational procedures to obtain LAV estimates. Computer codes are currently available to solve a wide range of LAV problems including the best subset regression. The purpose of this article is to study the use of penalty calculations and other branching rules in developing the solution tree for the best subset LAV regression.
Scalable Test Generation by Interleaving Concrete and Symbolic Execution

Functional validation is widely acknowledged as a major challenge for System-on-Chip (SoC) designs. Directed tests are superior compared to random tests since a significantly less number of directed tests can achieve the same coverage goal. Existing test generation techniques have inherent limitations due to use of formal methods. First, these approaches expect formal specification and do not directly support Hardware Description Language (HDL) models. Most importantly, the complexity of real world designs usually exceeds the capacity of model checking tools. In this paper, we propose a scalable technique to enable directed test generation for HDL models by combining static analysis and simulation based validation. Unlike existing approaches that support a limited set of HDL features, our approach covers a wide variety of features including dynamic array references. We have compared our approach with existing hybrid as well as random test generation techniques using various fault models. Our experimental results demonstrate that our proposed technique is scalable, and enables directed test generation for large designs.
Second-order statistics of speckle patterns observed through finite-size scanning apertures

The second-order statistics for speckle patterns are derived through the use of an integral equation which determines the moment generating function. A specific geometry of apertures is treated as an example of the techniques developed. The inversion problem of determining the field correlation function from measurements of the integrated intensities is examined in the context of singular-value decomposition. The joint probability density function for the integrated intensities is evaluated.
A synopsis of 2007 ACCM clinical practice parameters for hemodynamic support of term newborn and infant septic shock

ABSTRACT This is a synopsis of the term newborn and infant portion of the 2007 document (Brierley et al., Crit Care Med 2009;37(2):666–88) which examined and graded new studies performed to test the utility and efficacy of the 2002 recommendations. This 2007 document examined and graded relevant new treatment and outcome studies to determine to what degree, if any, the 2002 guidelines should be modified. More than 30 clinical investigators and clinicians affiliated with the Society of Critical Care Medicine who had special interest in hemodynamic support of pediatric patients with sepsis volunteered to be members of the “update” task force. Subcommittees were formed to review and grade the literature using the evidence-based scoring system of the American College of Critical Care Medicine. The literature was accrued in part by searching PUBMED/MEDLINE using the following keywords: sepsis, septicemia, septic shock, endotoxemia, persistent pulmonary hypertension, nitric oxide, and ECMO. The search was narrowed to identify studies specifically relevant to term newborns, infants, and children. “Best Practice Outcomes” were identified and described clinical practice in these centers was used as a model. The new taskforce is presently working on updating new guidelines evaluating the literature of the past 6 years.
Autonomy and Incentives in Chinese State Enterprises

When the responsibility for output decisions was shifted from the state to the firm, and when firms were allowed to retain more of their profits, managers of Chinese state-owned enterprises strengthened workers' incentives. The managers paid more in bonuses and hired more workers on fixed-term contracts. The new incentives were effective: productivity increased with increases in bonus payments and in contract workers. The increase in autonomy raised workers' incomes (but not managers' incomes) and investment in the enterprise, but tended not to raise remittances to the state.
HETEROGENEITY AMONG MUSCLE PRECURSOR CELLS IN ADULT SKELETAL MUSCLES WITH DIFFERING REGENERATIVE CAPACITIES

Skeletal muscle has a remarkable capacity to regenerate after injury, although studies of muscle regeneration have heretofore been limited almost exclusively to limb musculature. Muscle precursor cells in skeletal muscle are responsible for the repair of damaged muscle. Heterogeneity exists in the growth and differentiation properties of muscle precursor cell (myoblast) populations throughout limb development but whether the muscle precursor cells differ among adult skeletal muscles is unknown. Such heterogeneity among myoblasts in the adult may give rise to skeletal muscles with different regenerative capacities. Here we compare the regenerative response of a masticatory muscle, the masseter, to that of limb muscles. After exogenous trauma (freeze or crush injuries), masseter muscle regenerated much less effectively than limb muscle. In limb muscle, normal architecture was restored 12 days after injury, whereas in masseter muscle, minimal regeneration occurred during the same time period. Indeed, at late time points, masseter muscles exhibited increased fibrous connective tissue in the region of damage, evidence of ineffective muscle regeneration. Similarly, in response to endogenous muscle injury due to a muscular dystrophy, widespread evidence of impaired regeneration was present in masseter muscle but not in limb muscle. To explore the cellular basis of these different regenerative capacities, we analyzed the myoblast populations of limb and masseter muscles both in vivo and in vitro. From in vivo analyses, the number of myoblasts in regenerating muscle was less in masseter compared with limb muscle. Assessment of population growth in vitro indicated that masseter myoblasts grow more slowly than limb myoblasts under identical conditions. We conclude that the impaired regeneration in masseter muscles is due to differences in the intrinsic myoblast populations compared to limb muscles. Dev. Dyn. 1998;212:495–508. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Evolution in the Professorship: Past, Philosophy, Future.

The professorship in educational administration is considered in terms of its recent past-the times and the context. Then aphilosophical position is advanced along with implications for the professorship. Finally, in light of the past and the philosophical position, some suggestions are made for the future.
Assessment of the tear film with tandem scanning confocal microscopy.

Purpose To evaluate the confocal microscopic appearance of the tear film by correlating the interference pattern created by the lipid surface with physiologic measurements of tear function and with clinic diagnosis. Methods A series of 53 patients was examined with a battery of tests to evaluate the tear film and with confocal microscopy to evaluate the interference pattern created by the lipid surface of the tear film. Assessment of the tear-film appearance involved five nonparametric scales: degree of debris in the tear film, variability of the interference pattern over time, linearity of the interference pattern, number of dry spots seen, and relative thickness of the lipid layer. For 10 other subjects, the confocal appearance of the tear film and evaporation from the ocular surface was tested for before and after meibomian gland expression. Results The confocal appearance correlated with multiple physiologic variables and clinical diagnosis. Patients with seborrheic meiboman gland dysfunction had a thicker lipid layer, greater variability, and more debris than did patients with obstructive meibomiam gland dysfunction. After meibomian gland expression, lipid thickness and linearity increased, whereas pattern variability and evaporation decreased significantly. The mean reduction in evaporation was 48%. Conclusions Confocal microscopy can be used to examine the tear film, and its appearance correlates significantly with physiologic variables in normal-individuals and in disease states. The confocal appearance of the lipid interference patterns and evaporation from the ocular surface are altered after lipid expression from meibomian glands.
Chylothorax after Myocardial Revascularization with Internal Mammary Graft

Chylothorax following an intrapericardial cardiac operation is rare, and we are aware of only 12 reported cases. Nine followed median sternotomy for treatment of congenital heart disorders or acquired valvular disease; more than expected were reoperations (23%). This report documents that this complication may also occur following myocardial revascularization with internal mammary graft and describes the anatomy that makes this possible. This rare complication is important because of the high morbidity of prolonged tube drainage and the fact that nearly half of the affected patients underwent reoperation (5 of 13). Dilated lymphatics exuding chyle have been found at operations undertaken to control lymph fistulas and were located in anterior thymic tissue previously divided by electrocautery. Awareness of the significance of lymph encountered during cardiac operations, particularly during reoperation and near the origin of the internal mammary artery, may alert the surgeon that the stage is set for a disabling complication. Electrocautery may be an unreliable means of control as lymph contains little coagulable material; suture is recommended instead.
The essence of partnership in research

The essence of working together in research was explored using a two-step ethnomethodological approach. First, the authors reflectively analyzed their own 7-year partnership. This was followed by a collective interpretive process of interviewing other doctorally prepared health care researchers who were working in partnerships. Core constructs were identified in the reflective process and validated and expanded in the collective analysis, and variations were identified. Dialogue was the basis for maintaining the relationship, and all agreed that trustworthiness, competence, and flexibility were necessary requisites for individuals in a partnership. Successful relationships were characterized by acceptance, validation, commitment, synergy, and fun. Benefits of working together include increased productivity, quality, and personal growth. Hindrances to successfully working together were identified as problems centered around maturity, ownership, and control issues.
Primary prevention of heart failure: an update.

Purpose of reviewThe prevalence of heart failure is increasing world-wide. Primary prevention is essential. There are no trials targeting primary prevention. This review will focus on recently published studies that support drug therapy and lifestyle modification of high risk patients.Recent finding
Attachment and Student Success during the Transition to College.

We used 2 studies to examine attachment security and college student success. In the 1st study, 85 first-semester students provided information on attachment dimensions and psychological, ethical, ...
SONET-a network management viewpoint

SONET (synchronous optical network) ANSI T1 optical interface rates and formats specification defines feature sets and functionality for the next generation lightwave transmission systems to be used in the public telephone networks. The author emphasizes three benefits this new technology will provide to the network for future applications, i.e., optical midspan meet, flexible bandwidth for future services, and extensive network management features. These extensive network management features residing in the SONET architecture are the subject of this study. They are categorized into the following areas: layered overhead structure, performance monitoring data, maintenance signals, section and line orderwire channels, user channels, and section and line data communication channels. >
Urological Manifestations of Sarcoidosis

Purpose: We describe the urological manifestations of sarcoidosis and how the disease may affect the management of multiple urological conditions.Materials and Methods: We performed a PubMed® search using the query sarcoidosis and multiple urological terms.Results: Sarcoidosis is a disease that has variable manifestations. There is often genitourinary involvement that is clinically silent. However, sarcoidosis may cause symptoms, such as nephrolithiasis, which are sometimes the first manifestation of the disease. Renal function may be affected, and appropriate recognition and treatment may avert progressive functional decline. The presence of sarcoidosis may also confound the diagnosis and staging of various urological malignancies, particularly renal and testicular carcinoma.Conclusions: Urologists should be aware of the urological manifestations of sarcoidosis to avoid misdiagnoses and the over staging of urological cancers, and to identify when it is an underlying cause of nephrolithiasis or obstructiv...
Resource allocation for restoration of compromised systems

Computer systems are constantly under the threats of being attacked and in many cases these attacks succeed. Today’s networked systems are thus built to be intrusion tolerant. In a large scale, the progresses of compromising the networked system and recovering the damage will carry on in parallel, allowing services to be continued (at a degraded level). One of the key problems in the restoration procedure regards to the resource allocation strategies and the cost associated with, specifically, a minimal cost is desired. In this paper we model the cost as a sum of service loss and resource expense that incur during the restoration procedure. We investigate the achievable minimal total cost and corresponding resource allocation strategy for different situations. The situations include both constant rates and time-variant rates in terms of the speed of compromising and recovering. We also consider the fact that the restoration rate is constrained by the resource allocated. The relationship can be either linear or obeying the law of diminishing marginal utility. We present both analytical and numerical results in the paper. The results show the impact from various system parameters on the critical conditions for a successful system restoration and on the minimal cost.
A method of subdividing genetic data into self-contained subsets.

Summary A method of subdividing genetic data into self-contained subsets has been described in terms of examples. The subsets are such that each of them permits a valid estimate of the parameter concerned. Hence, the discarding of one or more subsets would not affect the validity of the remaining data. The detailed statistical properties of such subsets await further investigation. There is a need to simplify the variance formulas for estimates based on partial data.
Reactions toward the source of stimulation.

Sixty-four 5s used their right hand to move a control handle to the right or left from the midline of the body depending on the ear in which they heard a 1,000cps tone. The 5s moved the handle toward the side of the ear stimulated for one block of SO trials (25 to each ear in a random sequence) and away from the side of the ear stimulated for another block. Reactions toward the stimulus source were significantly faster than reactions away. Reaction time was faster for reactions to the right, while movement time was faster for movements to the left.
Medicare-certified home health care: urban-rural differences in utilization.

CONTEXT Availability of Medicare-certified home health care (HHC) to rural elders can prevent more expensive institutional care. To date, utilization of HHC by rural elders has not been studied in detail. PURPOSE To examine urban-rural differences in Medicare HHC utilization. METHODS The 2002 100% Medicare HHC claims and denominator files were used to estimate use of HHC and to make urban-rural comparisons on the basis of utilization levels within ZIP codes. FINDINGS Overall, the proportion of Medicare beneficiaries living in areas with little HHC utilization is relatively low. Rural elders, however, are more likely than their urban counterparts to live in such areas. Less than 1% of urban beneficiaries live in ZIP codes with no or low use of HHC, but over 17% of the most rural beneficiaries live in such areas. CONCLUSIONS Continued monitoring of rural HHC utilization and access is important, especially as Medicare seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of payment increases to rural home health agencies.
On the relationship between parsimonious covering and Boolean minimization

The authors explain some of the relationships of the Boolean minimization problem (BMP) to a formalization of abductive inference called parsimonious covering (PC). Abductive inference often occurs in diagnostic problems such as finding the causes of circuit faults or determining the disease causing the symptoms reported by a patient. Parsimonious covering involves covering all observed facts by means of a parsimonious set of explanations that can account for the observation. It is shown that only the prime implicants of a given Boolean function in a BMP, rather than any general product terms, are considered analogous to disorders in a PC problem. >
Electrical resistivity behavior of solution‐cast metal‐filled composites

Solvent-cast metal-filled composites made of polymethyl methacrylate and aluminum or copper exhibited electrical resistance behavior as is predicted by the percolation and tunneling mechanisms. A precipitous change in volume resistivity of about 1010 ohm-cm was found to be thermally dependent at volume concentration of filler in the range from 17 to 19.5 percent. Materials with compositions at the conductive-non-conductive threshold showed semi-conductor behavior and exhibited memory switching.
An experimental investigation of an ion-drag pump in a vertical and axisymmetric configuration

An ion-drag pump in a vertical, axisymmetric configuration was built. Two pumping sections with 1 and 10 electrode pairs were constructed. The total length of the pumping loop with one electrode pair was 133.0 cm; with 10 electrode pairs it was 186.0 cm. The electrodes were designed from the fluid mechanics standpoint. The ions were injected into the fluid where the viscous shear stresses were the highest. The fluid used was dodecylbenzine, and all the experiments were conducted at 25 degrees C. Pumping velocities as high as 33.4 cm/s (corresponding mass flow rate of 1.1 kg/s and total pressure generation of 111.9 Pa) at 25 kV have been achieved. The highest pump power efficiency obtained was 6.0%. The effect of the electrical conductivity level of dodecylbenzine on the pump performance was also studied. Increasing the conductivity level reduced the pumping velocity. >
From Doctor to Healer: The Transformative Journey

Claiming Power in Doctor-Patient Talk. Nancy Ainsworth-Vaughn. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. xii. 212 pp. From Doctor to Healer: The Transformative Journey. Robbie Davis-Floyd and Gloria St. John. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1998. xiv. 308 pp.
Treatment of primary angiosarcoma of the heart.

Abstract Angiosarcomas of the heart, because of their almost constant involvement of the right atrium, present a unique clinical picture. This is characterized by chest pain, obstruction to filling of the right side of the heart, pericardial effusion, cardiomegaly, dyspnea, and hepatomegaly. Up to now a total of 47 patients, including the present case, have been reported, but only 6 other cases have been diagnosed ante mortem. This case is unusual in that recurrent pericardial effusion was the dominant clinical feature and the diagnosis was made at thoracotomy before the typical symptoms appeared. Radiation therapy and appropriate chemotherapy for this patient are outlined, and she currently is doing well without evidence of progression of the primary tumor or metastatic disease after a follow-up of ten months.
Portable stand-alone instrumentation for intracellular in vitro recordings

A portable stand-alone system for continuous intracellular recordings in vitro is presented here. An off-the-shelf operational amplifier is used to illustrate the feasibility and reliability of the proposed method. The amplifier is powered by two coin batteries and directly connected to a traditional intracellular glass electrode. The brain of the sea slug Tritonia diomedea is used as the experimental model. By simultaneously impaling one neuron using two electrodes, and recording with two independent systems, namely, a commercial intracellular amplifier and the portable stand-alone circuit, intracellular signals are acquired for more than 20 hours without affecting cell spontaneous spiking patterns. The implemented system presents signal-to-noise ratio higher than 30. Signals recorded with the stand-alone circuit are shown to reliably reproduce subthreshold activity after a second order low-pass filter stage. Possible applications for this system include multichannel intracellular MEMS-based arrays and portable implantable electronics for drug-delivery.
Microfluidic Three-Electrode Cell Array for Low-Current Electrochemical Detection

This paper reports the implementation and calibration of a microscopic three-electrode electrochemical sensor integrated with a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microchannel to form a rapid prototype chip technology that is used to develop sensing modules for biomolecular signals. The microfluidic/microelectronic fabrication process yields identical, highly uniform, and geometrically well-defined microelectrodes embedded in a microchannel network. Each three-microelectrode system consists of a Au working electrode with a nominal surface area of 9 mum2, a Cl2 plasma-treated Ag/AgCl reference electrode, and a Au counter electrode. The patterned electrodes on the glass substrate are aligned and irreversibly bonded with a PDMS microchannel network giving a channel volume of 72 nL. The electrokinetic properties and the diffusion profile of the microchannels are investigated under electrokinetic flow and pressure-driven flow conditions. Cyclic voltammetry of 10 mM K3 Fe(CN)6 in 1 M KNO3 demonstrates that the electrode responses in the cell are characterized by linear diffusion. The voltammograms show that the system is a quasi-reversible redox process, with heterogeneous rate constants ranging from 3.11 to 4.94times10-3 cm/s for scan rates of 0.1-1 V/s. The current response in the cell is affected by the adsorption of the electroactive species on the electrode surface. In a low-current DNA hybridization detection experiment, the electrode cell is modified with single-stranded thiolated DNA. The electrocatalytic reduction of 27 muM Ru(NH3)6 3+ in a solution containing 2 mM Fe(CN)6 3- is measured before and after the exposure of the electrode cell to a 500-nM target DNA sample. The preliminary result showing an increase in the peak current response demonstrates the hybridization-based detection of a complementary target DNA sequence