cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Quantification of peripherally induced reciprocal activation during voluntary muscle contraction

A new method was developed to compare patterns of coactivation and reciprocal activation of antagonistic muscles during different experimental conditions. Pure coactivation was defined as a muscle activity pattern where there was never a difference between the slope of the agonist EMG record and the slope of the antagonist EMG record. The degree of reciprocal activation was defined as being proportional to the average absolute value of the difference between these two slope values. Use of this method for the comparison of muscle activity patterns during isometric contractions and unexpected movements showed that peripheral input related to agonist unloading and antagonist stretch significantly increased reciprocal activity.
A noncommutative version of the bispectral problem

We consider a matrix valued version of the bispectral problem involving a block tridiagonal doubly infinite matrix and a first-order differential operator with matrix coefficients. We give a set of necessary conditions that the coefficients need to satisfy and solve these equations under a variety of conditions. The situations discussed here should make it plain that while the corresponding problem in the scalar case is relatively trivial and devoid of any interest, the noncommutative version of the problem is much richer and subtle. The results here should be useful, for instance, in the study of a noncommutative version of the nonlinear Toda lattice.
A Comparative Study of the Assay of Digitoxin by the U. S. P. XIII Pigeon Method and the U. S. P. XIV Colorimetric Assay

The results obtained on 31 digitoxin preparations consisting of 29 tablets and two samples of “purified digitoxin” were compared by the U. S. P. XIII pigeon method and by the U. S. P. XIV colorimetric assay. Eight of these preparations were more than 25 per cent higher by the chemical method than b the biological assay. It appears that the U. S. P. XIV colorimetric method lacks the specificity necessary for the assay of digitoxin and its preparations.
Synthesis and characterization of fluorinated and iodinated pyrrolopyrimidines as PET/SPECT ligands for the CRF1 receptor

Abstract Fluorine-18 labeled fluorobutyl[2,5-dimethyl-7-(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)-7 H -pyrrolo [ 2,3-d ] pyrimidin-4-yl]ethylamine (FBPPA) and iodine-123 labeled butyl[2,5-dimethyl-7-(4-iodo-2,6-dimethylphenyl)-7 H -pyrrolo[ 2,3-d ]pyrimidin-4-yl]ethyl-amine (IBPPA) were synthesized in the development of a CRF receptor ligand. The methods of synthesis, in vitro binding assays, radiolabeling and in vivo tissue distribution in rats are described. Fluorine-18 labeled FBPPA was prepared with high specific activity (3 × 10 4 Ci/mmol) by nucleophilic displacement with an average radiochemical yield of 6% (EOB). Iodine-123 labeled IBPPA was prepared by electrophilic iododestannylation with good yield (60%) and high specific activity (3.3 × 10 3 Ci/mmol). The retention of FBPPA and IBPPA in the pituitary was good (1.16% i.d./g and 2.35% i.d./g respectively at 60 min). However, the accumulation of radioactivity in the brain for both radiotracers was very low at all time points of the study, which demonstrated the difficulties for these radiopharmaceuticals to penetrate the blood brain barrier (BBB).
Apoptosis in Myocardial Ischemia‐Reperfusion

The signal transduction pathways by which ischemia-reperfusion leads to apoptosis may involve the JNK pathway, ceramide generation, and inhibition of protective PKC pathways. The biochemical events associated with apoptosis include mitochondrial inactivation, cytochrome c dislocation, caspase activation, and cytoplasmic acidification. Through the concerted efforts of multiple classes of enzymes, apoptosis is accomplished, resulting in the death of a cell in which potentially transforming oncogenes have been degraded and inflammatory contents are contained within the plasma membrane until the fragments can be ingested by phagocytes. This non-inflammatory mode of cell death permits tissue remodeling with minimal scar formation, and so is preferable to necrotic cell death. The distinction between apoptosis and necrosis, which implies different mechanisms of cell death, is blurred in the case of a pathologic insult such as ischemia-reperfusion. It is suggested that it is more useful to view cell death in the context of whether or not it can be prevented.
Protecting-Group-Based Colorimetric Monitoring of Fluorous-Phase and Solid-Phase Synthesis of Oligoglucosamines

A new hydroxyl protecting group, nitrophthalimidobutyric (NPB) acid, has been synthesized in one solvent-free step for colorimetric monitoring of reaction cycles upon its facile removal with hydrazine acetate in the solid-phase and fluorous-phase syntheses of antigenic oligoglucosamines associated with infectious Staphylococcus aureus. The NPB group serves as a convenient hydroxyl protecting group that is stable to the basic conditions required for the synthesis of the common trichloroacetimidate protecting groups, the strongly acidic conditions used in glycosylation reactions, as well as conditions commonly used to remove silicon-based protecting groups.
Common sense wordworking: writing with a personal computer

Writing with a Personal Computerpersonal computers, in and out of business, is word processing, which the author feels might more accurately be thought of as wordworking. That is also the area in which personal computers can be the most helpful to a library or a professional user. It is likely that there are more programs available for wordworking than for any other personal computing task. The author discusses some of the problems occasional writers experience, how a personal computer can help overcome them, features that professional writers should look for in a word processor, and how word processing works. Four contemporary word processing systems are used as examples. This material is excerpted from Crawford's book Common Sense Personal Computing: A Handbook for Professionals (copyright 1986 by Walt Crawford), to be published by Pierian Press this year.
The creation of a legacy: Brandeis’ concurring opinion in Whitney V. California

This essay examines the strategies used by Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis in his concurring opinion in Whitney. Brandeis attempted to use a decision upholding a conviction of a speaker to promote the clear and present danger test. He did this by arguing that the framers were much more favorable to free speech than they actually were. Thus, Brandeis used the decision to create a legacy for free speech where none existed before.
Determination of risk factors associated with isolation of linezolid-resistant strains of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus.

OBJECTIVE. To identify independent risk factors associated with isolation of linezolid-resistant, vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE).
Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor does not enter normal mouse brain

Abstract Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is produced both in the central nervous system (CNS) and the periphery. Effective in ameliorating neurodegeneration in several animal models of CNS disease, its promise as a therapeutic agent would be greatly enhanced if it readily crossed the blood–brain barrier (BBB) in unmodified form. Here, we used the sensitive techniques of multiple-time regression analysis and ex-vivo perfusion in blood-free buffer to examine the entry of 125 I-GDNF into mouse brain. The integrity of GDNF in blood and brain was examined by high performance liquid chromatography and the physicochemical properties determining permeability were measured by octanol/buffer partition coefficient and hydrogen bonding. The efflux of 125 I-GDNF was determined to test for the presence of a bidirectional transport system. The results show that 125 I-GDNF differs from other peptides and polypeptides in that it does not enter brain any faster than 99m Tc-albumin, an effect that cannot be explained by degradation, rapid efflux, protein binding, or inadequate lipophilicity. Thus, GDNF shows a different type of interaction with the BBB. In normal mice, the BBB functions as a substantial physical barrier; in pathological or traumatic situations when the barrier is partially disrupted, the lack of restriction by a saturable transport system could make GDNF a suitable candidate for peripheral delivery in promoting neuroregeneration.
Managing Thyroid Abnormalities in Adults Exposed to Upper Body Irradiation in Childhood: A Decision Analysis. Should Patients without Palpable Nodules Be Scanned and Those with Scan Defects Be Subjected to Subtotal Thyroidectomy?

This decision analysis compares two currently recommended management strategies for adults at increasedrisk for thyroid carcinoma due to childhood upper body irradiation who present without palpable thyroid nodularity: 1) scansurgery: initially thyroid scan every patient, then perform subtotal thyroidectomy for each patient with single or multiple scan defects; and 2) no scan reexamine: do not scan initially, but reexamine at least every 2 yr, reserving surgery for those in whom palpable nodularity later develops. When surgical morbidity and mortality are taken into account, the expected utility of the no scan reexamine strategy slightly outweighs that of scan-surgery; this preference is maintained in several sensitivity analyses, unless more than 80% of occult cancers progress to palpable size. Moreover, the financial costs of universal scanning coupled with surgery are considerably greater. The no scan-reexamine approach, therefore, deserves serious consideration as the preferred strategy. Since the exp...
Practical energy efficient link adaptation for MIMO-OFDM systems

We present a practical link adaptation algorithm for MIMO-OFDM systems. The proposed solution is based on sounding the channel periodically and choosing the optimal mode that will maximize the throughput or energy efficiency while satisfying the application's quality of service (QoS) requirements. In addition, we address practical problems such as computational complexity of the algorithm and determination of sounding period, by novel closed form formulations and iterative algorithms.
Of Politics and Poetry: Ariadna Efron on Marina Tsvetaeva, Redux

Owing in part to real censorship and in part to self-censorship, Ariadna Efron, daughter and self-appointed dusheprikazchik of poet Marina Tsvetaeva, published memoirs of her mother that have been at least difficult to decipher and to many seemed obscurantist. In retrospect, particularly now that we have access to the very Tsvetaeva papers that Efron locked away until the end of the twentieth century, her memoirs of growing up alongside the great poet have acquired a second life. In the first half of this article I review major Tsvetaeva studies to illustrate that despite dissatisfaction with her executive decisions, Tsvetaeva scholars have relied on her memoirs in their interpretations of the poet's work. In the second half of this article I offer a close reading of Efron's presentation of her mother's two-poem cycle, Zavodskie, to suggest how future scholars might approach Efron's complex and rich biography cum autobiography.
Synchronization of ovulation in brook char (Salvelinus fontinalis, Mitchill 1814) using emulsified d-Arg6Pro9NEt sGnRHa

Effects of physiological saline (PS)-dissolved or Freund′s incomplete adjuvant (FIA)-emulsified sGnRHa on the induction and advancement of ovulation in brook char were assessed. Two-year-old females were randomly divided into 5 groups. Groups A and B received intraperitoneal injection of FIA-emulsified sGnRHa (sGnRHa-FIA) at dosages of 50 and 25 μg kg−1 body weight (BW), respectively. Females in group C were treated with a double injection (DI) of PS-dissolved sGnRHa (sGnRHa-PS) at 25 μg kg−1 BW spaced 3 days apart. Fish in group D received a 25 μg kg−1 BW single injection (SI) of sGnRHa-PS. Group E was established as a control group. After stripping, ovarian plasma pH level was measured, and an egg sample was taken from each female to record egg weight and diameter and survival to the eyed stage. Females in the GnRHa-treated groups ovulated significantly earlier than did females in the control group (P < 0.01). No significant differences were found among GnRHa-treated groups in ovulation dynamics and mean time to ovulation. Ovarian fluid pH was significantly higher in groups A, B, and C compared to control group E (P < 0.05). Significantly lower egg weight was found only in group B (P < 0.01), although all advanced groups tended to have lower egg weight than the control group. Egg diameters paralleled egg weight. Survival to the eyed stage was significantly higher in GnRHa-advanced groups compared to the control. A negative relationship was found between egg weight end eyed eggs percent (R 2 = 0.26). No pre-spawning or post-spawning mortality was observed during a 6-month period. Neither sGnRHa-PS nor sGnRHa-FIA are associated with negative influences on the health of females. The sGnRHa-FIA injections proved to exhibit the same efficacy as the DI protocol with sGnRHa-PS. Although no statistical differences were found in ovulation dynamics, we do not recommend the use of SI with sGnRHa-PS in brook char.
Cervical Radiculopathy: A Review

Background Cervical radiculopathy is defined as a syndrome of pain and/or sensorimotor deficits due to compression of a cervical nerve root. Understanding of this disease is vital for rapid diagnosis and treatment of patients with this condition, facilitating their recovery and return to regular activity.
Stability of the strengthening nanoprecipitates in reduced activation ferritic steels under Fe2+ ion irradiation ☆

Abstract The stability of MX-type precipitates is critical to retain mechanical properties of both reduced activation ferritic–martensitic (RAFM) and conventional FM steels at elevated temperatures. Radiation resistance of TaC, TaN, and VN nanoprecipitates irradiated up to ∼49 dpa at 500 °C using Fe2+ is investigated in this work. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) utilized in standard and scanning mode (STEM) reveals the non-stoichiometric nature of the nanoprecipitates. Irradiation did not alter their crystalline nature. The radiation resistance of these precipitates, in an order of reduced resistance, is TaC, VN, and TaN. Particle dissolution, growth, and reprecipitation were the modes of irradiation-induced instability. Irradiation also facilitated formation of Fe2W type Laves phase limited to the VN and TaN bearing alloys. This result suggests that nitrogen level should be controlled to a minimal level in alloys to gain greater radiation resistance of the MX-type precipitates at similar temperatures as well as postpone the formation and subsequent coarsening of Laves phase.
Creative Discovery: Reconsidering the Relationship Between Entrepreneurship and Innovation

The severe recession of 2008–09 has brought to the fore deep concerns regarding the U.S. economy’s ability to continue to grow, let alone to keep pace with emerging nations such as India and China. The scale of job losses and the woes of sectors that are emblematic of the recession—particularly finance and automakers— have left many worrying about a bleak American economic future. Even those who expect a return to growth worry about the United States’ capacity to supply two essential ingredients: innovation and entrepreneurship. Such concerns have spurred increasing investment in broadband Internet connections, additional funding for research and development (R&D), and the largest-ever federal investment in public education—all steps meant to help build a new foundation for economic growth. Public-sector efforts of this type are nothing new in U.S. history. They date back at least to the Morrill and Hatch acts in the late 1800s and continue through the massive expansion of federal investment in R&D after World War II. 1 Such actions are generally credited with helping to ignite bursts of innovation and maintain steady rates of economic growth. In its renewed efforts today, the United States joins Singapore, the European Union, and others in forming deliberate strategies to provide what are considered semipublic goods: the knowledge and the people necessary for productive firms to innovate, create jobs, and boost economic growth. 2 It’s far from clear, however, whether the phenomena of innovation and entrepreneurship are adequately understood for these entities to be making such large commitments. Over the past several years, the work of the Kauffman Foundation has focused on understanding these phenomena and thereby seeking to create more successful entrepreneurs in the United States. During that time, the Foundation has conducted extensive research and developed mechanisms, such as the iBridge Network, to increase the pace of entrepreneurship. 3 Now, with lingering questions about the U.S. economy’s capacity to grow, concerns over the one to two billion people who remain in poverty around the world, and increasing interest in different types of entrepreneurship and innovation, the Foundation has embarked on a newly ambi
Effect of gender differences and estrogen replacement therapy on vascular reactivity.

The incidence of cardiovascular disease is lower in premenopausal women compared with men; following menopause, the risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease increases in females. Postischemic dilatation of the brachial artery has been used previously as an index of endothelium-mediated vasodilation. Using this index, we examined a group of premenopausal and postmenopausal women, some of whom were on estrogen replacement therapy (ERT). All subjects were normotensive (blood pressure [BP] P P P
Doppler spectroscopy on relativistic particle beams in the light of a test theory of special relativity

Modern experimental techniques based on collinear laser spectroscopy have led to greatly improved versions of the classical Ives-Stilwell experiment. The new experiments employ collinear laser beams and measure the Doppler shift as it is seen in the rest frame of a relativistic particle beam. This note analyzes these experiments in the framework of a test theory of special relativity due to Mansouri and Sexl. It is found that the experiments can test the coefficient functiona(υ2 (responsible for time dilation), but are insensitive tob,d andɛ. While the Mansouri-Sexl theory in principle allows for an anisotropy of the velocity of light with respect to a moving reference frame, anisotropy effects cancel out in Ives-Stilwell type experiments. These experiments by themselves are not sufficient for a direct observation of such an anisotropy.
Effects of oral hygiene measures on clinical and microbiological parameters of periodontal disease

The effects of a 12-week period of oral hygiene alone on gingival conditions and subgingival microflora in 15 patients with severe periodontitis were investigated. Clinical measurements and plaque samples from selected sites were taken at week 0 (baseline), week 6, and week 12. Plaque samples were also taken at week 13, that is, 1 week following debridement. At week 0, the patients were instructed in supragingival plaque control and at week 6, the hygiene regimen was supplemented with the subgingival use of a toothpick device. At week 12, the patients received a full mouth supra- and subgingival debridement under local anesthesia. In those patients who complied with oral hygiene instructions (subgroup A), the gingival condition improved moderately while no improvement was found in less compliant patients (subgroup B). No significant changes were noted in the subgingival microflora in either subgroups A or B throughout the 12-week period of oral hygiene alone. However, significant reductions for all microbial parameters were found 1 week after debridement. Therefore, while moderate clinical improvements followed oral hygiene alone, no measurable changes in the subgingival microflora were observed concomitantly.
In Vitro Glosure of the Rat Palate

SYNOPSIS IN INTERLINGUA CLAUSURA IN ViTRO DEL PALATO DEL RATTO.—Le clausura del palato del ratto observate in vivo in fetos grossier occurreva per crescentia median del segmentos anterior del processos latero-palatal. Le segmentos posterior formava un apertura rectangule con processos parallel que se approchava le unes al alteres con le resultato de un clausura tanto anterior como etiam posterior. Le clausura in vitro sequeva le mesme schema con minor variationes. Le requirite tempore esseva accelerate per le positionamento del explanto causante un cadita del processos palatal le un verso le altere in le absentia del lingua.
Cosmopolitanism, Hybrid Identities, and Religion

Cosmopolitanism and hybrid identities are often characteristics of religion today, especially in the religion of migrants. This article explores these concepts both historically and in their current usage in contemporary postmodern situations.
The role of aortopexy in severe tracheomalacia

Purpose: Aortopexy is the accepted operative treatment for severe and localized tracheomalacia (TM). The standard surgical approach involves a left anterior thoracotomy, often under bronchoscopic control. We report the results of aortopexy in 28 children with severe and localized TM; 12 had a left lateral muscle-sparing approach and one had a thoracoscopic aortopexy. Methods: Retrospective review of patient notes was performed to note the indications, investigation findings, and postoperative course after aortopexy. Results: The median age at aortopexy was 5 months. The indications included acute life-threatening events in 22, failure to extubate in 5, and recurrent pneumonia in 1. Fifteen had associated esophageal atresia and 13 had primary TM. Symptoms of TM were abolished in 26 of the 28 patients after aortopexy. Conclusions: Aortopexy is a safe and reliable procedure to treat localized intrathoracic TM presenting with acute life-threatening events. It is important to exclude associated problems such as vascular rings and to ensure that the tracheomalacic portion is segmental and does not significantly involve the main bronchi. The lateral muscle-sparing thoracotomy provides good access and is more cosmetic than the standard anterior approach. We would attempt the thoracoscopic approach in older infants and children.
Simulation of Real-time Decision-making on Resource Allocation on Construction Sites

A construction site manager frequently makes real-time decisions on allocating resources (e.g., equipment) based on the dynamic status of the process on the field. Modeling and simulating these decisions are crucial to ensure a valid simulation of the process. This paper presents two methods based on the dynamic status of a simulation, addressed as objective function-based and control variable-based rules. The objective function-based rule defines an objective function for each activity which is competing for the resource. An activity is then selected if it has the optimum (either minimal or maximal) objective function value. On the other hand, a control variable is used as an indicator of the status of the process. Through structured conditional rules, it can be used to control which activity should or should not be allocated with the resource according to the updated value of the variable at the time when the decision is made. The algorithms are implemented in the ABC simulation system. A case study is presented to illustrate the usage and advantages of the presented methods. The results show an improved production, and more stable and balanced operational behavior of the process after human decisions are incorporated in the simulation. Through the animation function, a user can visualize on the screen that decisions are dynamically made corresponding to the status of the process and the decisions are similar to what a site manager would make on the field. Resource Releasing During Simulation The discussions in this article are based on the activity-based modeling and simulation method (Shi 1999). In an activity-based model, simulation entities (either resource or processing entities) move from activity to activity during simulation. After an activity completes an operation, the involved resources are released to one of the three destinations: remaining at the activity, to the resource pool, or to an immediate successor. Releasing a resource to a successor may involve a decision depending on the number of successors that demand the resource. If the resource is required by multiple immediate successors, a decision must be made on which one to get the resource. Selecting a recipient sometimes represents an important decision because the decision may affect part or even the entire process. Making a right decision requires considering many factors related to the dynamic status of the process. Three distinct approaches may be used: the random selection, the simple rule-of-thump selection, or the decision-based selection. Many simulation systems are implemented with random selection and simplified rule-based selection (e.g., a lower label or activity priorities) for such purpose (Halpin and Riggs 1992). Some simulation systems (e.g., SLAMSYSTEM) allow one simple conditional statement to
Semantic processing in aphasia: Evidence from an auditory lexical decision task

Abstract W. Milberg and S. E. Blumstein (1981, Brain and Language 14, 371–385) demonstrated semantic facilitation effects in a visual lexical decision task administered to Wernicke and other aphasics with severe comprehension deficits. In an attempt to explore the generalizability of these findings in a task where the acoustic-phonetic system could not be bypassed to access meaning, Wernicke's, Global, Broca's, and Conduction aphasics were administered a lexical decision task in the auditory modality. The patients were also given a simple semantic judgment task using the word pairs from the lexical decision task. The aphasic patients showed evidence of semantic facilitation whether they were categorized by diagnostic group or comprehension level. Performance of the semantic judgment task correlated with the severity of auditory comprehension deficits, whereas the consistency of the semantic facilitation effect did not. Even patients with severe comprehension deficits showed semantic facilitation. These results decrease the likelihood that auditory comprehension deficits are due to semantic organization per se and increase the likelihood that the deficits lie in one of the many processes involved in access to that information.
Unbalanced Designs to Maximize Statistical Power in Psychotherapy Efficacy Studies

In treatment efficacy studies, imbalance (unequal n's) has generally been viewed as a cause of loss of power of statistical tests of differences between group means. However when the total cost (me...
Meta-analysis of accuracy of left ventricular mass measurement by three-dimensional echocardiography.

Left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy is a fundamental prognostic factor in a variety of cardiac diseases. Three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) has achieved better estimation of LV mass than 2-dimensional echocardiography. However, significant underestimation has often been reported, and no previous study has synthesized these data. The aim of this meta-analysis was to investigate if there has been improvement in the accuracy in LV mass measurement by 3DE over time. Studies comparing LV mass between 3DE and magnetic resonance imaging were eligible. A cumulative meta-analysis was performed to investigate improvement in accuracy, followed by subgroup and meta-regression analysis to reveal factors affecting the bias. A total of 25 studies including 671 comparisons were analyzed. Studies published in or before 2004 showed high heterogeneity (I 2 = 69%) and significant underestimation of LV mass by 3DE (−5.7 g, 95% confidence interval −11.3 to −0.2, p=0.04). Studies published from 2005 to 2007 were still heterogenous (I 2 = 60%) but showed less systematic bias (−0.5 g, 95% confidence interval −2.5 to 1.5, p=0.63). In contrast, studies published in or after 2008 were highly homogenous (I 2 = 3%) and showed excellent accuracy (−0.1 g, 95% confidence interval −2.2 to 1.9, p=0.90). Investigation of factors affecting the bias revealed that evaluation of cardiac patients compared to healthy volunteers led to larger bias (p
Blunted heart rate response as a predictor of cardiac death in patients undergoing vasodilator stress technetium-99m sestamibi gated SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging.

The prognostic value of a blunted heart rate response (BHR) during ECG-gated vasodilator stress SPECT MPI in relation to ventricular function on long-term cardiovascular events is not well established. We performed this study to evaluate the incremental prognostic value of BHR during pharmacological stress SPECT MPI. Consecutive patients who underwent dipyridamole stress Tc-99m sestamibi ECG-gated SPECT MPI (without exercise) were identified. The ratio of peak stress heart rate to baseline was noted. If the ratio was <1.20, it was considered blunted (BHR). The images were interpreted using the standard ASNC 17 segment model. Patients were followed up for a mean time period of 2.3 ± 1.5 years. Sixty-four percent (2,890/4,484) of patients demonstrated BHR during dipyridamole stress testing. Cardiac death, the primary end point, occurred in 6.8% of patients. Patients with BHR had a significantly lower cardiac death-free survival as compared to NO BHR group in total population (83% vs 94%; P < .001) as well as in subgroup with normal ejection fraction (89% vs 96%; P < .001). BHR was an independent predictor of cardiac death after adjusting for multiple clinical, perfusion, and function-related gated SPECT variables. Blunted heart rate response during vasodilator stress SPECT MPI is an important prognostic marker for cardiac death.
An algorithm for unit-norm equation error system identification based on the method of multipliers

It is known that the unit-norm constraint for equation-error based system identification is superior to the monic constraint since it produces consistent estimates for white measurement noise and also presents better approximation properties in reduced-order cases. Here, a new algorithm for unit-norm equation-error adaptive filtering is proposed. This scheme is inspired by the constrained optimization technique known as the method of multipliers. An analysis of stationary points and mean convergence properties is developed.
Kinetics of thiamin cleavage by sulphite.

Results are presented on the rate of thiamin cleavage by sulphite in aqueous solutions as affected by temperature (20-70 degrees ), pH(2.5-7.0), and variation of the concentration of either thiamin (1-20mum) or sulphite (10-5000mum as sulphur dioxide). Plots of the logarithm of percentage of residual thiamin against time were found to be linear and cleavage thus was first-order with respect to thiamin. At pH5 the rate was also found to be proportional to the sulphite concentration. In the pH region 2.5-7.0 at 25 degrees the rate constant was 50m(-1)hr.(-1) at pH5.5-6.0, and decreased at higher or lower pH values. The rate of reaction increased between 20 degrees and 70 degrees , indicating a heat of activation of 13.6kcal./mole.
Continuous epidural analgesia in the heparinized vascular surgical patient: A retrospective review of 912 patients☆☆☆

Nine hundred twelve patients received continuous epidural analgesia administered through an indwelling plastic catheter while undergoing vascular reconstruction of a lower extremity. During a portion of the operative event, the patients were totally, transiently anticoagulated with heparin. None of the patients had an untoward neurologic event that could be attributed to an epidural hematoma. Our results and those of others show that this form of regional analgesia is safe and far outweighs theoretic contraindications when anticoagulation with heparin is planned as a part of the operative event. In the patients with impaired pulmonary ventilation or a cardiac disorder, this method of analgesia offers many advantages over a general anesthetic, such as obviating aspiration pneumonitis and averting prolonged support in the recovery period after completion of the surgical procedure. The regional vasodilation ensuing from the epidural blockade is an additional advantage in patients undergoing vascular reconstruction for lower extremity ischemia.
Fine‐needle aspiration of six carotid body paragangliomas

We report six carotid body paragangliomas diagnosed by fine-needle aspiration (FNA) in five patients. A total of eight aspirations were performed. The cytologic findings are characteristic: hemorrhagic background, hypo- to hypercellular smears (depending on the skill of the aspirator) with cells having delicate, ill-defined, vacuolated cytoplasm, pleomorphic nuclei with distinct nucleoli, rare intranuclear cytoplasmic inclusions, and prominent rosette formation. No complications arose in any of the eight aspirations. FNA is a safe, accurate means of diagnosing carotid body paragangliomas. It can provide essential information for treatment planning and patient management.
Repression of hla by rot Is Dependent on sae in Staphylococcus aureus

The regulatory locus sae is a two-component system in Staphylococcus aureus that regulates many important virulence factors, including alpha-toxin (encoded by hla) at the transcriptional level. The SarA homologs Rot and SarT were previously shown to be repressors of hla in selected S. aureus backgrounds. To delineate the interaction of rot and sae and the contribution of sarT to hla expression, an assortment of rot and sae isogenic single mutants, a rot sae double mutant, and a rot sae sarT markerless triple mutant were constructed from wild-type strain COL. Using Northern blot analysis and transcriptional reporter gene green fluorescent protein, fusion, and phenotypic assays, we found that the repression of hla by rot is dependent on sae. A rot sae sarT triple mutant was not able to rescue the hla defect of the rot sae double mutant. Among the three sae promoters, the distal sae P3 promoter is the strongest in vitro. Interestingly, the sae P3 promoter activities correlate with hla expression in rot, rot sae, and rot sae sarT mutants of COL. Transcriptional study has also shown that rot repressed sae, especially at the sae P3 promoter. Collectively, our data implicated the importance of sae in the rot-mediated repression of hla in S. aureus.
Dynamic reconfiguration: checkpointing code generation

The author describes a component bused checkpointing code generation tool. Scientific applications that require long computation runtimes experience the risk of hardware or software failures. Failure during a long computation requires that the application restarts the calculations from the beginning. Checkpointing important data at set intervals and using that data during a restart of the application minimizes the recalculation of data during failures.
Pulmonary rehabilitation in chronic respiratory insufficiency. 7. Health-related quality of life among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in industrialised nations. It is essentially incurable and, for many, inexorably progressive; health care providers spend much effort trying to minimise patients' symptoms and to improve their ability to function in dayto-day life. While improved survival time is an important aim of treatment, there is growing recognition that improving the quantity of an individual's life may not be the only goal; for some, improving the quality of life may be far more important. Since reducing symptoms, increasing function, and improving the quality of life are central therapeutic goals for patients with COPD, as for many chronic diseases, it is important for researchers and clinicians to develop a common understanding of what is meant by these phrases and how these concepts can be measured. In the past 10 years there has been an increasing body of literature on measurement of quality of life in patients with COPD and, more recently, on the efficacy of therapeutic agents based on quality of life measures. Studies measuring the quality of life in these patients appeared in the mid 1980s'4 when quality of life measures were used to assess continuous oxygen therapy,' intermittent positive pressure breathing,6 and, more recently, in the assessment of theophylline,7 inhaled bronchodilators,8 home respiratory nursing care,9 and pulmonary rehabilitation programmes.'0 As this trend continues it is important for clinicians to understand and assess these measures to help decide whether a new treatment is valuable. We will review quality of life measures in patients with COPD with the emphasis on issues important to the clinician who seeks an understanding of quality of life measures as they are used in therapeutic trials.
A failure-time model for infant-mortality and wearout failure modes

Some populations of electronic devices or other system components are subject to both infant-mortality and wearout failure modes. Typically, interest is in the estimation of reliability metrics such as distribution-quantiles or fraction-failing at a point in time for the population of units. This involves: (1) modeling the failure time; and (2) estimating the parameters of the failure-time distributions, for the different failure modes, as well as the proportion of defective units. This paper: (1) proposes GLFP (general limited failure population) for this purpose; (2) uses the ML (maximum likelihood) method of to estimate the unknown model parameters-the formulae for the likelihood contribution corresponding to different types of censoring are provided; (3) describes a likelihood-based method to construct statistical-confidence intervals and simultaneous statistical-confidence bands for quantities of interest; and (4) fits the model to a set of censored data to illustrate the estimation technique and some of the model's characteristics. The model-fitting indicates that identification of the failure mode of at least a few failed units is necessary to estimate model-parameters. Based on the fitting of the data from the lifetime of circuit boards, the GLFP model provides a useful description of the failure-time distribution for components that have both wearout and some infant mortality behavior. However, the data must include the cause of failure for at least a few observations in order to avoid complications in the ML estimation. The more-failed units whose failure mode has been identified, the better model estimates are in terms of model-fitting.
Seeking the elusive function of the root-colonising dark septate endophytic fungi

A comparison of published estimates of mycorrhizal and dark septate endophyte (DSE) colonisation from various ecosystems suggests that DSE may be as abundant as mycorrhizal fungi as judged by the proportion of host plants colonised in mixed plant communities, or by the extent of colonisation in sampled root systems. While many strides have been made in understanding the ecological significance of the mycorrhizal fungi, our knowledge about the role of DSE fungi is in its infancy. In order to provide a framework of testable hypotheses, we review and discuss the most likely functions of this poorly understood group of root-associated fungi. We propose that, like mycorrhizal symbioses, DSE-plant symbioses should be considered multifunctional and not limited to nutrient acquisition and resultant positive host growth responses. Admittedly, many mycorrhizal and endophyte functions, (e.g. stress tolerance, pathogen or herbivore deterrence) are likely to be mediated by improved nutritional status and increased fitness of the host. Accordingly, it is pivotal to establish whether or not the DSE fungi are involved in host nutrient acquisition, either from inorganic and readily soluble sources, or from organic and recalcitrant sources. Facilitation by DSE of the use of organic nitrogen, phosphorus and sulphur sources by plants is a topic that warrants further attention and research. Even in the absence of a clear nutrient uptake function, the extensive DSE colonisation that occurs is likely to pre-emptively or competitively deter pathogens by minimising the carbon available in host rhizosphere environment. The DSEs' high melanin levels and their potential production of secondary metabolites toxic or inhibitory to herbivores are also likely to be factors influencing host performance. Finally, the broad host ranges speculated for most DSE fungi thus far suggest that they are candidates for controlling plant community dynamics via differential host responses to colonisation. We emphasise the need for simple experiments that allow unravelling of the basic biological functions of DSE fungi when they colonise their hosts.
Multi-metric and multi-entity characterization of applications for early system design exploration

At system level, intensively analyzing the system application will produce a variety of useful characteristics and provide designers valuable exploration indications. In this paper, we present such an analysis approach based on the instrumentation-based profiling. The proposed approach analyzes complex system application and generates multi-metric and multi-entity characteristics. Experimental results show the applicability of the approach for efficient early design space exploration.
Sustainability and Environmental Economics: Some Critical Foci

There are some seminal concepts of environmental economic thought that provide insight into the economist’s view of sustain ability. I have chosen them as the focus of this essay because there is much debate among economists, ecologists, and others about their appropriate place and application in the study of sustainability. These five are: maximum sustainable yield (MSY) and steady state, the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC), substitutability, discount rate and intergenerational equity, and green accounting and intergenerational transfer. These concepts are discussed in relation to their applicability to the tenets of sustainability.
Task specification and monitoring for uncalibrated hand/eye coordination

Most of the work in robotic manipulation and visual servoing has emphasized how to specify and perform particular tasks. Recent results have formally shown what tasks are possible with uncalibrated imaging systems. This paper extends those results by characterizing in a constructive manner the set of tasks which can be performed with different types of uncalibrated camera models. The tasks resulting structure provides a principle foundation both for a specification language and for automatic execution monitoring in uncalibrated environments.
Biofeedback Applications for Psychiatric Nursing

Abstract Americans increasingly are becoming disillusioned with traditional medical treatment and are seeking relief in complementary or alternative medicine (CAM) treatments for chronic physical or mental health problems. Biofeedback is a CAM approach that has important implications for holistic psychiatric nursing practice. This article covers the basics of clinical biofeedback and its potential applications for clients with psychiatric mental health issues. Information is provided about the availability of training, supervision, and certification in this expanding field. (J Am Psychiatr Nurses Assoc [2002]. 8, 109-13.)
Coding of Amplitude Modulation in Primary Auditory Cortex

Conflicting results have led to different views about how temporal modulation is encoded in primary auditory cortex (A1). Some studies find a substantial population of neurons that change firing ra...
Effect of dilation on the Knight shift in liquid alloys

Abstract A formalism based on the atomic distribution function and phase shift has been applied to a number of liquid alloys at different solute concentrations, and the fractional change of the Knight shift, ΔS S , of In atom in dilute liquid InHg, InGa, InTl, InPb and InSn alloys has been determined. The main contributions of this paper are, (a) an introduction of a simple method based on the isotropic-homogeneous-model of the fluid to account for the structural change of the solvent surrounding with added solute concentration, (b) an evaluation of the phase shifts for s-, p- and d-electron scattering appropriate to the conditions set up in a given solvent, and (c) a critical testing of the Odle-Flynn theory for the Knight shift in dilute liquid alloys. The initial slopes, Γ, of the plots between ΔS S and the solute concentration, are in reasonable agreement with the recent experimental results. For example, Γ(exp)/Γ(the) is about 1·2, suggesting a remarkable improvement over the previous estimates.
Descriptions and Records of Bees - XL

(1911). LXXXIX.—Descriptions and records of bees.—XL. Annals and Magazine of Natural History: Vol. 8, No. 48, pp. 763-770.
Variations in Low-Latitude Circulation and Extreme Climatic Events in the Tropical Americas

Abstract Departure characteristics of the general circulation in the tropical Atlantic and eastern Pacific are studied in relation to extreme climatic events identified from collectives of long-term rainfall stations and other hydrometeorological parameters, with emphasis to the Central American-Caribbean region (CARIB). Ship observations during 1911–72 compiled with a 1° square latitude-longitude resolution and extending between 30°N–30°S from the African coast to the eastern Pacific form a major observational basis. The quality of the rainy season in CARIB has a large negative correlation with annual precipitation in the U.S. Central Great Plains, and with rainfall and sea surface temperature along the Ecuadorian/Peruvian littoral; in addition there are weak negative correlations with northeastern Brazil rainfall and with discharge and water level in northern tributaries of the Amazon, and a strong positive correlation with hydrometeorological events in Subsaharan Africa. Northeastern Brazil rainfall is...
The Status of Quantum Electrodynamical Precision — Theoretical Points of View

The most precise QED calculations1 of atomic energy levels (one-electron Lamb shifts for small atomic numbers Z) will be reviewed and compared with current precision measurements2. The nature of the Zα dependence of these calculations will be considered in detail, including its validity and uncertainty for arbitrary energy levels and values of Z, comparison with results of complete numerical calculations3 for a few levels at separate larger values of Z, and possible improvements using strong-field results near Zα = 1.
Regulation of erythroid cell differentiation by transcription factors, chromatin structure alterations, and noncoding RNA

Abstract The red blood cell is specialized for gas transport from the lungs to the tissues and back. This specialized function requires the activation of genes encoding specific cell membrane proteins, enzymes for heme synthesis, and components of hemoglobin. The process of erythropoiesis is regulated by a complex interplay between cis -regulatory DNA elements, trans -acting proteins, and noncoding RNA. These activities mediate epigenetic as well as chromatin structure alterations and organize erythroid-specific gene loci within subdomains in the nucleus, leading to high-level transcription during differentiation of erythroid cells. At the same time that erythroid-specific genes are activated, a large number of genes that encode functions not required for the erythroid cells are repressed. The globin gene loci have been intensively studied over the last 30 years, and the discoveries have shaped understanding of cell-type-specific gene control and alterations in chromatin structure associated with activation and repression of gene loci. This chapter will focus on components of the red blood cells and how expression of these components is regulated during the process of erythropoiesis.