cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Time-Dependent Processes in Stem Cell-Based Tissue Engineering of Articular Cartilage

Articular cartilage (AC), situated in diarthrodial joints at the end of the long bones, is composed of a single cell type (chondrocytes) embedded in dense extracellular matrix comprised of collagens and proteoglycans. AC is avascular and alymphatic and is not innervated. At first glance, such a seemingly simple tissue appears to be an easy target for the rapidly developing field of tissue engineering. However, cartilage engineering has proven to be very challenging. We focus on time-dependent processes associated with the development of native cartilage starting from stem cells, and the modalities for utilizing these processes for tissue engineering of articular cartilage.
Evaluation of an Auger electron spectrometer for 200 mm semiconductor defect review

Elemental and chemical microanalysis offered by Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) provides detailed elemental characterization of the typical films, particles and defects found in the ULSI regime. In this paper, an AES defect review tool (DRT) capable of accepting full 200 mm wafers is evaluated in a clean room installation to determine the performance and applicability of the tool to current in-line analytical needs of semiconductor manufacturing and process development. To meet these needs, an AES DRT must offer precise wafer positioning, maximum throughput and minimum contamination. The instrument under evaluation was a beta site installation of the first SMART 200 AES DRT manufactured by Physical Electronics (PHI). The vacuum components were designed to accept large samples on a 200 mm wafer-capable UHV stage manufactured by Raith GmbH (Germany). Based on this evaluation, it was found that the SMART 200 has the potential to handle moderate production volumes and become a valuable tool for timely defect analysis and process monitoring.
Edmund Phelps: Macroeconomist and Social Scientist

Edmund Phelps helped change the way we think about macroeconomic theory and policy, by introducing imperfect information and costly communication into the theory, and deriving their implications for the dynamics of inflation and unemployment.' Phelps treated macroeconomics as a social science, whose subject matter is not just the choices people make but how people interact in groups. His pioneering efforts in developing a formal theory of the coordination mechanisms governing interactions led the way to a new kind of macroeconomics, one that was based on the interplay between the actions and expectations of individual actors, instead of being based on postulated relationships between macro aggregates. Mainstream macroeconomics today projects a view of the economy that differs in important respects from Phelps's original vision. Whereas he portrayed economic interactions as being problematical and uncertain, leading to outcomes that intelligent people can adapt to but not anticipate, much of macroeconomics now is about the representative agent, content to interact with only himself and nature, or perhaps at arm's length with "the market" through an unspecified agency that calculates equilibrium prices and executes preharmonized transactions. And people are typically portrayed now as understanding completely, up to stochastic error with known distribution, all economic forces. Indeed, Phelps himself has changed his view on the significance of imperfect anticipation, having adopted a structural approach to unemployment that attaches only momentary importance to disappointed expectations as a driving force. Even so, macroeconomics today has a connection with microeconomic reasoning that it never did before Phelps and a handful of others transformed the subject, and many of the concepts that Phelps himself introduced while making these contributions in the 1960s and 1970s remain in
Sensitivity To Information Specifying the Line of Gaze of Humans in Sparrows (Passer Domesticus)

For species with frontal eye placement, looking at an object usually involves orienting the face and eyes toward the object. Thus, the face and eyes of the looker are usually visible from the point occupied by the object or individual being observed. Since many predators control their attacks with vision it is of interest to determine whether prey animals are responsive to information that specifies the orientation of other animals' visual systems. To determine whether wild-caught sparrows are sensitive to the looking behavior of other animals, they were exposed to the experimenter's head held at various orientations relative to the birds. Aspects of the experimenter's visage, as well as that of an artificial face, were manipulated in order to identify the features of the human face relevant to the perception of line of gaze. Sparrows responded most strongly while the face of the experimenter was oriented toward them, but were indifferent to the direction in which the eyes gazed. Tests using a model human face showed that sparrows are responsive to changes in the number of visible eyes, but not to changes in the symmetry of the nose between the eyes.
Abstract 2717: Higher MN1 expression is an unfavorable prognosticator in older patients (Pts) with cytogenetically normal acute myeloid leukemia (CN-AML): A CALGB study

Proceedings: AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010‐‐ Apr 17‐21, 2010; Washington, DC In younger ( 60 y) requires further evaluation. Pre-therapy bone marrow samples from 140 older de novo CN-AML pts (median age 68 y; range 60 – 81 y) enrolled on cytarabine/daunorubicin-based protocols were studied centrally by RT-PCR. Using the median expression value for MN1, as a cutoff pts were grouped as high & low MN1 expressers. Analysis of the mutation status for FLT3-ITD, FLT3-TKD, NPM1, CEBPA & WT1 & gene & microRNA (miR) expression profiling using, respectively, Affymetrix U133 plus 2.0 & OSU CCC v4.0 arrays, were performed centrally. At diagnosis, higher MN1 associated with wild-type NPM1 (P<.001). Median follow-up was 4.0 y for pts alive. High MN1 expressers had lower complete remission (CR; 53% v 80%, P=.001), shorter event-free (EFS; P=.004; 3y 6% v 14%) & overall survival (OS; P=.03; 3y 10% v 23%; Table) rates. In multivariable models, higher MN1 expression independently associated with a lower CR rate & shorter EFS. Comparison of age groups (60-69 y v ≥70 y) revealed that MN1 expression had a stronger prognostic impact on pts ≥70 y (n=61; Table). Gene (294 genes) & miR (21 miRs) expression signatures associated with high MN1 expression were derived. High MN1 pts had higher expression of precursor markers (CD34, PROM1, CD44, KIT, HLA-DRB1, DNTT), known adverse outcome predictors (BAALC, ERG, HGF), anti-apoptotic BCL2, & miR-101 & miR-126, which are linked to hematologic differentiation. Underexpressed were HOX genes, their co-regulators (MEIS1) & HOX-gene embedded miRs (miR-10a, miR-10b). In conclusion, higher MN1 associated with adverse outcome in older CN-AML pts independently of other established prognosticators & had a stronger impact on ≥70 y pts. The expression signatures provide novel information that may elucidate how MN1 contributes to leukemia & help design new therapeutic approaches. View this table: Table. Outcomes according to MN1 expression of all pts and, separately, those age 60-69 y and ≥70y Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2717.
Access of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) to the extracellular spaces of the maturation zone of the rat incisor enamel organ.

Abstract Adult rats received a single dose of HRP intravenously and were killed from 10 min to 6 hr after injection. Following fixation with glutaraldehyde, the enamel organs were treated with a Graham-Karnovsky-type procedure for peroxidase activity, post-osmicated, and embedded in plastic. Sections were studied with light and electron microscopes. Ten minutes after injection, reaction product was found in all extra-cellular spaces of the enamel organ, at the enamel-ameloblast interface over smooth-ended and intermediate ameloblasts, and in apical surface invaginations and vesicles of the latter cell types. The enamel-ameloblast interface over the ruffle-ended aemlo-blasts and the extracellular spaces within the ruffled border were free of reaction product and remained so for up to 6 hr. The apical terminal bars of the ruffle-ended ameloblasts functioned as a barrier to HRP. The basal terminal bars of the smooth-ended ameloblasts likewise seemed to prevent the passage of the HRP. Possibly, HRP flows in a lateral direction from groups of ruffle-ended into groups of smooth-ended ameloblasts. Between 10 min and 6 hr, HRP was cleared more rapidly from the extra-cellular spaces of the papillary layer than from those of the ameloblast layer, and there was little backflow of tracer from the ameloblast into the papillary layer. Eventually, tracer was cleared also from the extracellular spaces of the ameloblast layer, probably mainly through micropinocytosis by the ameloblasts. A working model is proposed regarding the handling of large molecules by the enamel organ in the maturation zone.
Hypochlorous acid is a potent inactivator of human plasminogen at concentrations secreted by activated granulocytes.

BACKGROUND Myeloperoxidase (MPO) neutrophils have been considered an important pathophysiological factor in oxidative stress. Mainly through generation of hypochlorous acid in the phagosome, unchecked activity may lead to inactivation of important proteins through modification of tyrosine and other residues. This has been shown for low-density lipoprotein, apolipoprotein AI and paraoxonase 1 (PON-1). Notably, plasminogen has 29 tyrosine residues and we previously demonstrated that it can be inactivated by nitration of these residues. METHODS We hypothesized that plasminogen can also be inactivated by HOCl/OCl(-) in a similar manner to PON-1, and that this inhibition can be counteracted by cysteine or taurine. In the present study we compared the effects of HOCl/OCl(-) on these two plasma proteins and explored the effects of inhibitors. RESULTS Our study revealed that HOCl/OCl(-) inhibits streptokinase-induced plasmin activity at low micromolar concentrations that may well occur in vivo at sites of inflammation (IC(50)=40 micromol/L). This inhibitory effect occurs at much lower concentrations than those that inhibit PON-1 activity (IC(50) 120 micromol/L). The inhibition is paralleled by an increase in 3-chlorotyrosine adducts in the protein. HOCl/OCl(-) inhibition of plasminogen and 3-chlorotyrosine formation are blocked by cysteine; taurine shows much lower protection. HOCl/OCl(-) does not modify the activation of plasminogen by streptokinase, leaving inactivation of active site Tyr 614 (possibly directed by Lys 615) as a very attractive hypothesis to explain the effect and the high sensitivity found. CONCLUSIONS Since neutrophils have been shown to secrete HOCl/OCl(-) up to 100 micromol/L, inactivation of plasmin molecules by neutrophil-generated HOCl/OCl(-) could partly explain the increased thrombo-genicity observed in inflammatory conditions, in smokers and in other diseases. Thus, dietary intervention or the use of thiols or large doses of taurine compounds may be useful as coadjuvant therapeutic measures.
Systems integration for PACS

A successful PACS (Picture Archiving and Communications System) implementation requires an eclectic integration of a number of key technologies. Among these are equipment interfaces, communications, storage, and display. Coincident with this, the software architecture must support a distributed system of heterogeneous structures, provide for protocol and format conversions to a unified system standard, be scalable to accommodate expansion, and provide a measure of fault tolerance. In this paper we survey the current state of the UCLA PACS components and architecture.
Uridylation of miRNAs by HEN1 SUPPRESSOR1 in Arabidopsis

HEN1-mediated 2'-O-methylation has been shown to be a key mechanism to protect plant microRNAs (miRNAs) and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) as well as animal piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) from degradation and 3' terminal uridylation [1-8]. However, enzymes uridylating unmethylated miRNAs, siRNAs, or piRNAs in hen1 are unknown. In this study, a genetic screen identified a second-site mutation hen1 suppressor1-2 (heso1-2) that partially suppresses the morphological phenotypes of the hypomorphic hen1-2 allele and the null hen1-1 allele in Arabidopsis. HESO1 encodes a terminal nucleotidyl transferase that prefers to add untemplated uridine to the 3' end of RNA, which is completely abolished by 2'-O-methylation. heso1-2 affects the profile of u-tailed miRNAs and siRNAs and increases the abundance of truncated and/or normal sized ones in hen1, which often results in increased total amount of miRNAs and siRNAs in hen1. In contrast, overexpressing HESO1 in hen1-2 causes more severe morphological defects and less accumulation of miRNAs. These results demonstrate that HESO1 is an enzyme uridylating unmethylated miRNAs and siRNAs in hen1. These observations also suggest that uridylation may destabilize unmethylated miRNAs through an unknown mechanism and compete with 3'-to-5' exoribonuclease activities in hen1. This study shall have implications on piRNA uridylation in hen1 in animals.
Correlation image formation with an axicon

We consider the problem of image formation in incoherent light from nonimage distributions, and choose the right circular axicon as an example. It is found that image formation is achievable by either a volume correlation in the Fresnel region of the axicon or by correlation on a surface inscribed in the Fresnel region.
Chaos and nonunitary evolution in nonintegrable Hamiltonian systems

The Hamilton-Jacobi canonical transformation theory is extended to treat nonintegrable Hamiltonian systems with a continuous Fourier spectrum. By a natural analytic continuation of the Fourier variable to the complex plane, a nonunitary operator for the canonical transformation is obtained. We apply this transformation to describe Chirikov's diffusion process near a separatrix in nonlinear systems with two degrees of freedom. Our formalism shows a clear distinction between the irreversible evolution of an ensemble with a finite measure from the reversible evolution of a trajectory in nonintegrable systems with chaotic motion. The condition for obtaining the irreversible kinetic equation in Hamiltonian systems is connected to the condition for the existence of homoclinic points around the separatrix. We also show that Prigogine's dissipativity condition in nonequilibrium statistical systems is equivalent to the nonintegrability condition for nonlinear systems with a few degrees of freedom.
Anomalously confined tokamak reactor

The implication of the wide range of possible plasma behavior on fusion reactor design and performance is examined. The thermal stability of such a system is also studied bv solving the underlying dynamic equations. It is shown that, for a low-beta tokamak-type reactor, anomalous diffusion characterizing drift-wave turbulence is especially desirable since it provides a self-regulating mechanism consistent with steady-state operation. (MOW)
A note on the electrostatic ion cyclotron instability in dusty plasmas: comparison with experiment

Abstract An analytical and numerical kinetic analysis of the collisionless electrostatic ion cyclotron instability in dusty plasmas (Chow and Rosenberg, Planet. Space Sci. , 43 , 613–618, 1995) is compared with recent experimental results (Barkan et al., Planet. Space Sci. , 43, 905–908, 1995). The analysis uses standard linear Vlasov theory to predict the critical drift required to drive the instability. It is shown that the results are consistent with the observations of the laboratory experiment.
Feasibility study for image guided kidney surgery: assessment of required intraoperative surface for accurate image to physical space registrations

Currently, the removal of kidney tumor masses uses only direct or laparoscopic visualizations, resulting in prolonged procedure and recovery times and reduced clear margin. Applying current image guided surgery (IGS) techniques, as those used in liver cases, to kidney resections (nephrectomies) presents a number of complications. Most notably is the limited field of view of the intraoperative kidney surface, which constrains the ability to obtain a surface delineation that is geometrically descriptive enough to drive a surface-based registration. Two different phantom orientations were used to model the laparoscopic and traditional partial nephrectomy views. For the laparoscopic view, fiducial point sets were compiled from a CT image volume using anatomical features such as the renal artery and vein. For the traditional view, markers attached to the phantom set-up were used for fiducials and targets. The fiducial points were used to perform a point-based registration, which then served as a guide for the surface-based registration. Laser range scanner (LRS) obtained surfaces were registered to each phantom surface using a rigid iterative closest point algorithm. Subsets of each phantom's LRS surface were used in a robustness test to determine the predictability of their registrations to transform the entire surface. Results from both orientations suggest that about half of the kidney's surface needs to be obtained intraoperatively for accurate registrations between the image surface and the LRS surface, suggesting the obtained kidney surfaces were geometrically descriptive enough to perform accurate registrations. This preliminary work paves the way for further development of kidney IGS systems.
The next-generation Internet: unsafe at any speed?

Speed alone will not make future Internet applications secure. I propose a new networking isolation capability, termed a virtual overlay network (VON). Such software-based virtual networks, layered on top of physical networks, may provide the isolation that critical applications need. Although a VON offers a response to the reliability and security needs of critical applications, it would be prohibitively costly to implement using contemporary technologies. Extending an existing router feature and coupling it with well-understood group communication techniques, however, could support VONs at low cost, with good scalability.
Estimation techniques of the background and detailed portion of an object in image superresolution

The extent of bandwidth extrapolation obtainable in a superresolution algorithm depends on the spatial extent of the object. However, in most of the problems encountered in real-world applications, the object is not spatially limited. To circumvent this problem, one can decompose the estimation problem into estimating the smooth background and then incorporating this knowledge to estimate the `sparsely distributed' detailed portion of the object. For example, in astronomical applications, the low photon count background is estimated initially, followed by the binary stars embedded in the background. In this paper we propose an iterative method to implement the two-step estimation technique. Further, we propose a modified version of the Richardson/Lucy algorithm to incorporate this two-step estimation. Some preliminary results on one-dimensional objects for the proposed algorithms are included.
Maintenance treatment outcomes in older patients with bipolar I disorder.

Objective The efficacy and tolerability of mood stabilizers in older adults with bipolar disorder remains understudied. Authors retrospectively examined response to lamotrigine, lithium, and placebo in older (≥age 55) adults with Bipolar I disorder (DSM-IV) who participated in two mixed-age, maintenance studies examining time to intervention for an emerging mood episode (manic/hypomanic/mixed or depressed) and drug tolerability. Methods In all, 588 patients received double-blind lamotrigine (LTG, 100 mg–400 mg/day), lithium (Li, 0.8 mEq/L–1.1 mEq/L), or placebo (PBO); data from 98 older adults (LTG: 33, Li: 34, PBO: 31) were examined. Mean modal total daily doses were LTG 240 mg and Li 750 mg. Results LTG significantly delayed time to intervention for any mood episode and for a depressive episode, compared with placebo. Li significantly delayed time to intervention for mania/hypomania/mixed compared with placebo. Back pain and headache were the most common adverse events during LTG treatment; rash: LTG, 3%; Li, 6%; and PBO, 0; no serious rash was reported. The most common adverse events (>10%) during lithium treatment were dyspraxia, tremor, xerostomia, headache, infection, amnesia, dizziness, diarrhea, nausea, and fatigue. Conclusion Lamotrigine and lithium may be effective and well-tolerated maintenance therapies for older adults with Bipolar I depression.
Partial Activation of the Cardiac Myofilament by Ca2

The cardiac myofilament is a protein assembly that enable the heart to undergo alternating periods of contraction and relaxation, the driving force regulated by Ca2+. Troponin, a three-member protein assembly within the myofilament, acts as a Ca-sensitive switch. In this work, we used single molecule FRET technique to monitor whether the Troponin complex functions as a Ca2+ -sensitive regulatory switch . The results show a population of unactivated troponin under saturating Ca2+ conditions. We propose that the population of unactivated troponin comprises a form of cardiac reserve that is regulated by signaling pathways that target the myofilament.
“Cooperation Gets It Done”: Social Capital in Natural Resources Management along the Kaskaskia River

We present findings from an interpretive study of social capital in a natural resource management setting within the Kaskaskia River Watershed in Illinois. Forty-one semi-structured interviews with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) personnel and local community members were completed and analyzed. Findings emerged from the analysis related to the connected network of natural resource management players. This article explores the intertwined reliance among these players, the development of common community goals, and the role of the Corps in creating social capital and other benefits in the Kaskaskia River Watershed. A conceptual model provides insight into how social capital is linked between multiple entities within this context. The study findings expand on the current understanding of social capital and suggest ways researchers might approach future studies of social capital in similar settings. The findings have natural resource management implications, including ways of focusing management, increa...
The Government Communication Decision Wheel: Toward a Public Relations Model for the Public Sector

We argue that the existing public relations and communication models do not adequately account for the unique environmental characteristics of the public sector. By reviewing the public sector environment literature, we identify 8 attributes that affect government public relations: politics, focus on serving the public, legal constraints, extreme media and public scrutiny, lack of managerial support for public relations practitioners, poor public perception of government communication, lagging professional development, and federalism. We then review 5 existing public relations models, arguing that none of these models fully incorporates the unique environmental characteristics of the public sector. We conclude by proposing a new model: the government communication decision wheel.
An evaluation of film detection methods for weak β-emitters, particularly tritium

Abstract A sensitive film detection method for the visualization of weak β-emitters on chromatograms is reported. The method allows one to visualize 2–3 nanocurie 3H/cm2/day (about 1 nanocurie/day for an average thin-layer spot). It is thus 25–50 times more sensitive than known procedures for film detection of tritium on chromatograms. Exposure at low temperature and in the presence of an optimum amount of seintillator is essential. The data presented for tritium are compared with data on the film detection of 14C-labeled compounds and analyzed in terms of the reciprocity failure of photographic emulsions at low intensities of light. Our results indicate that, in the presence of scintillator, the visualization of tritium is primarily due to the interaction of photons with the emulsion (fluorography), whereas the detection of low activities of 14C (
Conditioned Pain Modulation in Children and Adolescents: Effects of Sex and Age

Abstract Conditioned pain modulation (CPM) refers to the diminution of perceived pain intensity for a test stimulus following application of a conditioning stimulus to a remote area of the body, and is thought to reflect the descending inhibition of nociceptive signals. Studying CPM in children may inform interventions to enhance central pain inhibition within a developmental framework. We assessed CPM in 133 healthy children (mean age = 13 years; 52.6% girls) and tested the effects of sex and age. Participants were exposed to 4 trials of a pressure test stimulus before, during, and after the application of a cold water conditioning stimulus. CPM was documented by a reduction in pressure pain ratings during cold water administration. Older children (12–17 years) exhibited greater CPM than younger children (8–11 years). No sex differences in CPM were found. Lower heart rate variability at baseline and after pain induction was associated with less CPM, controlling for child age. The findings of greater CPM in the older age cohort suggest a developmental improvement in central pain inhibitory mechanisms. The results highlight the need to examine developmental and contributory factors in central pain inhibitory mechanisms in children to guide effective, age appropriate pain interventions. Perspective In this healthy sample, younger children exhibited less CPM than did older adolescents, suggesting a developmental improvement in CPM. Cardiac vagal tone was associated with CPM across age. The current findings may inform the development of targeted, developmentally appropriate pain interventions for children.
An ultra-short pulse laser lathe for axisymmetric micromachining of explosives

Engineers have devised a novel ultra-short pulse laser lathe system for bulk micromachining of axisymmetric features in energetic material samples with three-dimensional cylindrical geometry. One hundred twenty femtosecond pulses from an 800-nm Ti:sapphire laser were utilized to machine hexanitrostilbene (HNS) rods with diameters less than 200 micrometers and greater than 5:1 aspect ratio without ignition and subsequent bulk combustion or detonation. To date, this work represents the smallest energetic material rod structures fabricated by this technology. Results indicate that surface roughness is dependent upon rotation speed and feed rate. Valuable explosive nano-particles were discovered, collected, and analyzed as a byproduct of fabrication.
Analytic energy second derivatives for general correlated wavefunctions, including a solution of the first-order coupled-perturbed configuration-interaction equations

Abstract The first theoretical method for the analytic determination of energy second derivatives for configuration-interaction wave-functions is presented. Several test cases are reported, the largest being an 8385 configuration formaldehyde wavefunction.
Design, construction and instrumentation of a machine to measure tension and impact forces in roller chain drives☆

Most previous experimental investigations of chain drive dynamics have been completed on the classical four-square test machine (also referred to as a chain speeder in the industry). In this paper we discuss the design and construction of a new test machine configuration that offers some advantages over the traditional design. The new machine and attendant instrumentation provide more realistic chain loading, and allow link tension and roller-sprocket impact monitoring during normal operation. The incorporation of an idler sprocket allows independent adjustment of test span length and preload. The angle at which rollers approach an instrumented sprocket can also be adjusted. Drawbacks of the new configuration (compared to the four-square design) are that the support structure may not be as rigid and the additional sprockets (idler sprocket and instrumented sprocket) add kinematic complexity.
Compromise is so … compromised: Goldilocks, go home

Purpose – This paper aims to discuss issues concerning the desirability of finding ways to close the gap between academic research and management practice – especially in the case of marketing and consumer research.Design/methodology/approach – The issues are addressed by means of a personal essay.Findings – The discussion adopts the extreme viewpoint that achieving a reconciliation or resolution of the differences between scholarly inquiry and managerial relevance in either research or teaching constitutes an undesirable or even deplorable form of compromise.Originality/value – The essay concludes that – contrary to the wisdom of Goldilocks – compromise between academic scholarship and practical relevance merits opprobrium rather than approbation.
Modeling Of Blending/Transloading Facilities For Use In Optimal Fuel Scheduling

Environmental constraints, scarcity of certain fuels, wide differences in the fuel prices, nature of fuel contracts, etc. have complicated the optimal fuel scheduling problem. Coal trauisloading facilities with the capability of blending different fuels is one method used to obtain added flexibility in controlling the sulfur content of coal delivered to various generating plants. This paper demonstrates that such a facility can be modeled and the optimization of deliveries obtained by the use of some general linear programming techniques but that some other desirable algorithms commonly used are excluded.
Base pairing involving deoxyinosine: implications for probe design

The thermal stability of oligodeoxyribonucleotide duplexes containing deoxyinosine (I) residues matched with each of the four normal DNA bases were determined by optical melting techniques. The duplexes containing at least one I were obtained by mixing equimolar amounts of an oligonucleotide of sequence dCA3XA3G with one of sequence dCT3YT3G where X and Y were A, C, G, T, or I. Comparison of optical melting curves yielded relative stabilities for the I-containing standard base pairs in an otherwise identical base-pair sequence. I:C pairs were found to be less stable than A:T pairs in these duplexes. Large neighboring-base effects upon stability were observed. For example, when (X,Y) = (I,A), the duplex is eight-fold more stable than when (X,Y) = (A,I). Independent of sequence effects the order of stabilities is: I:C greater than I:A greater than I:T congruent to I:G. This order differs from that of deoxyguanosine which pairs less strongly with dA; otherwise each deoxyinosine base pair is less stable than its deoxyguanosine counterpart in the same sequence environment. Implications of these results for design of DNA oligonucleotide probes are discussed.
An ab initio calculation of the rotation and internal-rotation energy levels of the ethyl radical

Abstract By ab initio calculation at ten values of the internal-rotation angle we have determined the minimum energy path for internal-rotation in the ethyl radical C 2 H 5 . Bond-length and bond-angle relaxation are allowed via full optimization, using unrestricted second-order Moller–Plesset perturbation theory, for each choice of torsional dihedral angle. We find that the only significant relaxation is a wagging (or inversion) of the CH 2 group through ±9° about a planar C–CH 2 geometry as the internal-rotation proceeds. The torsional potential can be accurately fitted to a V 6 function and the barrier to internal-rotation is calculated to be 26 cm −1 . Using our general rotation–contortion Hamiltonian and computer program we have calculated the rotation–torsion energy levels of the molecule using this minimum-energy path. Brief comparison is made to recent experimental measurements of the rotational fine structure of the ν 9 =1 fundamental.
Pulse-coupled neural networks for medical image analysis

Pulse-coupled neural networks (PCNNs) have recently become fashionable for image processing. This paper discusses some of the advantages and disadvantages of PCNNs for performing image segmentation in the realm of medical diagnostics. PCNNs were tested with magnetic resonance imagery (MRI) of the brain and abdominal region and nuclear scintigraphic imagery of the lungs (V/Q scans). Our preliminary results show that PCNNs do well at contrast enhancement. They also do well at image segmentation when each segment is approximately uniform in intensity. However, there are limits to what PCNNs can do. For example, when intensity significantly varies across a single segment, that segment does not properly separate from other objects. Another problem with the PCNN is properly setting the various parameters so that a uniform response is achieved over a set of imagery. Sometimes, a set of parameters that properly segment objects in one image fail on a similar image.
The geography of fertility reduction in Kenya

Abstract Record high fertility levels were recorded for Kenya in the late 1970's; however, a fertility reversal was experienced during the 1980's. Recent studies by Njoru, Robinson and the National Research Council and data from the 1989 and 1993 KDHS indicate that the fertility decline is real and pervasive. The release of the 1989 census data provides researchers with an additional source to document the fertility decline and to identify the spatial pattern of fertility reduction at the province and district level. The geography of fertility reduction is explored by addressing differences in the annual rate of population growth for each province and district.
Preliminary Observations on the Development of Auditory Sensitivity in Infants with Down Syndrome

Objective: Hearing loss commonly is associated with Down syndrome, but little is known about the development of auditory sensitivity in individuals with Down syndrome. This study had two objectives: 1) to determine whether an observer-based procedure can be used to assess the behavioral sensitivity of infants with Down syndrome, and 2) to provide preliminary information about the early course of hearing development among infants with Down syndrome. Design: Behavioral measures of sensitivity were made in 16 infants with Down syndrome using an observer-based procedure. Ten of the infants were followed longitudinally between 2 and 12 mo of age. All infants passed a screening auditory brain stem response at 20 dB nHL during the study and completed screening tympanometry at each test session. The infants detected a 4000 Hz tone at levels ranging from 25 to 50 dB SPL; psychometric functions and thresholds for the tone were obtained. Results: Infants with Down syndrome completed 80% of the test sessions they began, a rate similar to that seen in normally developing infants in the same type of study. Performance improved with increasing stimulus level, as one would expect, and thresholds were obtained from 15 of 16 infants for at least one age. The performance of infants with Down syndrome generally improved with age. The sensitivity of 2- to 3-mo-olds was poorer than that of older infants, but little if any improvement in sensitivity occurred between 4 and 12 mo. This pattern is similar to that seen in normally developing infants. Thresholds of infants with Down syndrome were 10 to 25 dB higher than those reported for normally developing infants. The psychometric functions of infants with Down syndrome were shallower than the psychometric functions of normally developing infants, and the slope of the psychometric functions did not change with age. Infants with Down syndrome achieved only 75 to 80% correct at any of the levels tested, 5 to 10% poorer than reported for other infants. These characteristics of the psychometric functions of the infants with Down syndrome suggest that they are inattentive during testing more often than are normally developing infants. Conclusions: An observer-based procedure can be used to obtain reasonable thresholds from infants with Down syndrome who are as young as 2 mo of age. Both sensory and nonsensory factors could contribute to the threshold elevation seen in infants with Down syndrome. At least on preliminary examination, the course of auditory sensitivity development of infants with Down syndrome is qualitatively similar to that seen in normally developing infants.
Determination of N-nitrosamines by high-performance liquid chromatographic separation with voltammetric detection

The highly polar, nonvolatile N-nitrosamines, N-nitrosoproline and N-nitrosodiethanolamine, are determined by high-performance liquid Chromatographic separation with electrochemical detection using d.c. voltammetry, normal pulse voltammetry, and differential pulse voltammetry. The influence of flow rate and pulse time are determined, and detection limits on the order of 10-7 M are obtained.
Quick methods for evaluating the closed-loop poles of feedback control systems

An evaluation of the closed-loop poles of a feedback control system is almost necessary if one desires an accurate knowledge of its time response. If these poles are known, the response of the system to any kind of input can be determined fairly simply. However, evaluation of the closed-loop poles has long been a stumbling block in feedback control design, because it often requires finding the roots of a polynomial of high order. In 1947 Evans1 presented the root-locus method which facilitates this evaluation, but yet is still quite cumbersome. In 1951 Kusters and Moore2 simplified Evans' approach by utilizing generalized frequency-response plots. This paper extends this method of Kusters and Moore, and supplements it with a method for estimating by inspection approximate values of the closed-loop poles from the open-loop transfer function, and a numerical method for evaluating the closed-loop poles exactly.
Imaging of the calf vocal fold with high-frequency ultrasound.

Objectives/Hypothesis: High-frequency ultrasound imaging offers the potential for assisting in the diagnosis and treatment of vocal fold pathology if it allows aspects of vocal fold microstructure to be visualized noninvasively. The objective of this study was to assess the ability of high-frequency ultrasound to image vocal fold anatomy and injected biomaterials. Study Design: The vocal folds of two excised calf larynges were imaged ex vivo and compared with corresponding histological sections. Methods: High-frequency ultrasound imaging was performed under saline submersion using 40 and 50 MHz transducers, and corresponding cryostat cross-sections were stained with H&E, Trichome, and Verhoeff’s Van Gieson stains. Results: The epithelial surface, lamina propria, and underlying muscle were easily identified with the highfrequency ultrasound as verified with histological sections representing each imaged region. The arytenoid cartilage vocal process can also be clearly distinguished from the surrounding tissue, as can the full extent of injected biomaterials within the superficial lamina propria. Useful ultrasound resolution was obtained to depths of at least 10 mm within the tissue with the 40 MHz transducer. Conclusions: This preliminary study demonstrates the capability of high-frequency ultrasound to image the layered anatomy of the calf vocal fold and to discern materials injected into the superficial lamina propria, indicating that this technology holds a strong potential for use in phonosurgery.
Protocol design for effective communication among silicon or carbon-based nodes

In this talk I will discuss some of the lessons I've discovered about network protocol design; how to make protocols self-stabilizing, how to make networks self-configuring, how to provide optional configuration in such a way that misconfiguration does no harm, and how to design within constraints such as backward compatibility and politics. I'll also talk about some of my recent work. It is confusing enough that forwarding is done at both layers 2 and 3. Why am I designing a layer 2 1/2? And having spent most of my life in the world of computer network communication protocol design, I will share my observations about ways in which communication protocols in other areas could be improved.
Diconic addition of failsafe fault-tolerance

We present a divide-and-conquer method, called DiConic, for automatic addition of failsafe fault-tolerance to distributed programs, where a failsafe program guarantees to meet its safety specification even when faults occur. Specifically, instead of adding fault-tolerance to a program as a whole, we separately revise program actions so that the entire program becomes failsafe fault-tolerant. Our DiConic algorithm has the potential to utilize the processing power of a large number of machines working in parallel, thereby enabling automatic addition of failsafe fault-tolerance to distributed programs with a large number of processes. We formulate our DiConic synthesis algorithm in terms of the satisfiability problem and demonstrate our approach for the Byzantine Generals problem and an industrial application.
The Great War and America: Civil-Military Relations in World War I – By Nancy Gentile Ford

In this study, the author claims that “the traditional interaction between the armed forces of the United States and the larger society significantly transformed during the Great War,” requiring th...
Quality function deployment-'a comprehensive tool for planning and development'

The central theme of the quality function deployment (QFD) methodology is identification of the 'voice of the customer' and using this voice as a basis for planning and development. This methodology has been applied successfully to products, services, and software. The QFD methodology and how this methodology furnishes a planning framework are examined. A brief history of QFD introduction and growth both in Japan and in the US is included. In addition, how QFD fits with or relates to systems engineering, design reviews, value analysis, and product process planning and analysis is discussed. >
Explicit multicasting within a unicast infrastructure

Explicit multicasting (xcasting) is a type of multicasting that allows packets to be addressed to multiple destinations. Unfortunately, special routers and hosts for replicating and directing these packets are typically needed to deploy xcasting. One alternative approach to deployment is to use devices that can examine packets queued at routers and recode unicast traffic as xcast traffic. These devices allow xcasting to be added to the Internet incrementally and can optimize existing unicast traffic without requiring changes to existing hosts or applications. Simulations show that this type of xcasting performs well in reducing bandwidth usage and can even reduce network latency in certain situations. Although traditional multicasting offers superior scalability to xcasting, xcasting has many appealing properties worthy of further examination.
Inhibition of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate-induced tumor promotion markers in CD-1 mouse skin by oleandrin

Oleandrin, derived from the leaves of Nerium oleander, has been shown to possess anti-inflammatory and tumor cell growth-inhibitory effects. Here, we provide evidence that oleandrin could possess anti-tumor promoting effects. We determined the effect of topical application of oleandrin to CD-1 mice against l2-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), a widely studied skin tumor promoter, -induced conventional and novel markers of skin tumor promotion. Topical application of oleandrin (2 mg per mouse) 30 min before TPA (3.2 nmol per mouse) application onto the skin afforded significant inhibition, in a time-dependent manner, against TPA-mediated increase in cutaneous edema and hyperplasia, epidermal ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity and ODC and cyclooxgenase-2 (COX-2) protein expression. In search for novel markers of skin tumor promotion, we found that TPA application to mouse skin resulted, as an early event, in an increased expression of phosphatidyinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), phosphorylation of Akt at threonine308 and activation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB). Topical application of oleandrin before TPA application to mouse skin resulted in significant reduction in TPA-induced expression of PI3K and phosphorylation of Akt, and inhibition of NF-kappaB activation. NF-kappaB is a eukaryotic transcription factor that is critically involved in regulating the expression of specific genes that participate in inflammation, apoptosis and cell proliferation. Employing Western blot analysis, we found that oleandrin application to mouse skin resulted in inhibition of TPA-induced activation of NF-kappaB, IKKalpha and phosphorylation and degradation of IkappaBalpha. Our data suggest that oleandrin could be a useful anti-tumor promoting agent because it inhibits several biomarkers of TPA-induced tumor promotion in an in vivo animal model. One might envision the use of chemopreventive agents such as oleandrin in an emollient or patch for chemoprevention or treatment of skin cancer.
Colonial Labor in Twentieth‐Century Angola

For most of the twentieth century, Portuguese colonial rule in Angola relied on forced labor. The state acted as labor recruiter and ensured pr ivate enterprise a reliable supply of migrant workers. The line between coerced and voluntary labor was often an ambiguous one, though it is clear that slavery existed as late as the 1910s and that a migrant labor system without any coercion only emerged in the 1960s. Unfortunately, African slaves and forced laborers did not write about their experiences. We ar e for tunate, however, to have glimpses of ho w w orkers experienced labor in the form of several investigative reports. Angola differed from neighboring British and French colonies in central and southern Africa only in the extent to which colonial authorities relied on forced labor.
Premature cardiac contractions and risk of incident ischemic stroke.

Background The etiologies of ischemic stroke remain undetermined in 15% to 40% of patients. Apart from atrial fibrillation, other arrhythmias are less well-characterized as risk factors. Premature cardiac contractions are known to confer long-term cardiovascular risks, like myocardial infarction. Ischemic stroke as cardiovascular risk outcome remains a topic of interest. We examined the prospective relationships in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study, to determine whether premature atrial (PAC) or ventricular (PVC) contractions are associated with increased risk for incident ischemic stroke. Methods and Results We analyzed 14 493 baseline stroke-free middle-aged individuals in the ARIC public-use data. The presence of PAC or PVC at baseline was assessed from 2-minute electrocardiogram. A physician-panel confirmed and classified all stroke cases. Average follow-up time was 13 years. Proportional hazards models assessed associations between premature contractions and incident stroke. PACs and PVCs were identified in 717 (4.9%) and 793 (5.5%) participants, respectively. In all, 509(3.5%) participants developed ischemic stroke. The hazard ratio (HR) (95% confidence interval [CI]) associated with PVC was 1.77 (1.30, 2.41), attenuated to 1.25 (0.91, 1.71) after adjusting for baseline stroke risk factors. The interaction between PVC and baseline hypertension was marginally significant ( P =0.08). Among normotensives, having PVCs was associated with nearly 2-fold increase in the rate of incident ischemic stroke (HR 1.69; 95% CI 1.02, 2.78), adjusting for stroke risk factors. The adjusted risk of ischemic stroke associated with PACs was 1.30 (95% CI 0.92, 1.83). Conclusions Presence of PVCs may indicate an increased risk of ischemic stroke, especially in normotensives. This risk approximates risk of stroke from being black, male, or obese in normotensives from this cohort.
National Athletic Trainers' Association Position Statement: Preventing Sudden Death in Sports

Objective: To present recommendations for the prevention and screening, recognition, and treatment of the most common conditions resulting in sudden death in organized sports. Background: Cardiac c...