cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Nonthyroidal Illness Syndrome and Euthyroid Sick Syndrome in Intensive Care Patients

This article reviews the pathophysiology of non-thyroidal illness syndrome (NTIS) and euthyroid sick syndrome (ESS), a multifactorial phenomenon characterized by suppression of thyroid hormone levels that has been described in several disease states, probably due to different causes in different patients. It also describes the laboratory values of thyroid function tests (TFTs), relevant animal studies, the association of NTIS and ESS with cardiovascular problems and sepsis, and the rationale for treatment.
Effect of wind and sandblast injury on nitrate accumulation and on nitrate reductase activity in soybean seedlings 1

Abstract Exposing soybean seedlings to wind or to wind plus sand at a windspeed of 13.4 m/sec for up to 40 minutes decreased nitrate reduciase activity and increased nitrate content immediately after exposure. Enzyme activity immediately after exposure was lower in damaged seedlings than in the untreated check, but after 24 hours the check had the lower activity. The enzyme activity and nitrate concentration remained higher in damaged seedlings than in the check for up to 40 days after exposure.
Dayglow spectra of the planets

Abstract After a brief summary of the night and twilight airglow of the earth, the different categories of day airglow are outlined. References are provided to the rapidly growing literature on theoretical studies of planetary dayglow as well as to recent observations of the Earth's dayglow.
Direct Numerical Simulation of Turbulence with a PC/Linux Cluster: Fact or Fiction?

Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) of turbulence requires many CPU days and Gigabytes of memory. These requirements limit most DNS to using supercomputers, available at supercomputer centres. With the rapid development and low cost of PCs, PC clusters are evaluated as a viable low-cost option for scientific computing. Both low-end and high-end PC clusters, ranging from 2 to 128 processors, are compared to a range of existing supercomputers, such as the IBM SP nodes, Silicon Graphics Origin 2000, Fujitsu AP3000 and Cray T3E. The comparison concentrates on CPU and communication performance. At the kernel level, BLAS libraries are used for CPU performance evaluation. Regarding communication, the free implementations of MPICH and LAM are used on fast-ethernet-based systems and compared to myrinet-based and supercomputer networks. At the application level, serial and parallel simulations are performed on state of the art DNS, such as turbulent wake flows in stationary and moving computational domains.
Effect of solvent environment on the CO band position in the infrared spectrum of trans-[FeII(CN)4(CO)2]2−

Abstract Density functional theory (DFT) is used to understand the effect of hydrogen bonding solvents on the CO band position in the infrared (IR) spectrum of a mono-iron complex, trans-[FeII(CN)4(CO)2]2−. This mono-iron complex has received much attention recently due its potential relation to the biosynthesis of Fe-only hydrogenase enzymes. Our calculations show that the polar solvent molecules preferentially hydrogen bond to the cyano ligands in this complex. The effect of such hydrogen bonding on the electron density distribution is analyzed in terms of the population in natural bond orbitals (NBO). Our results show that the presence of hydrogen bonding to the cyano ligands decreases the extent of back bonding from the metal to the carbonyl ligand. This results in decreased electron density in the π∗ orbitals of the carbonyl bond leading to a strengthening of the CO bond and a consequent blue shift in the IR band position of the carbonyl group. We also show that the extent of blue shift correlates with the number of nearest neighbor solvent molecules.
Pharmacokinetic considerations in the adolescent: Non-cytochrome P450 metabolic pathways

The non-oxidative metabolic reactions of methylation, acetylation, sulfation, glucuronidation, conjugation with amino acids (primarily with glycine), glutathione conjugation and esterase hydrolysis function to detoxify and enhance the elimination of drugs and pro-drugs, many of them as phase II reactions subsequent to oxidation. While the influence of maturation has been recognized in the development of hepatic oxidative capacity and specific pathways studied, considerably less attention has focused on the maturational effect in non-oxidative metabolism despite its role in drug deactivation, detoxification, and elimination. Consequently phase II metabolic capacities during adolescence remain primarily speculative. Conflicting data about one of these pathways, glucuronidation, suggest unexplored puberty- or gender-related phenomena influencing function in this system.
Theory of sedimentation for ligand-mediated dimerization

Abstract The theory of sedimentation for ligand-mediated dimerization of a macromoleoule has been extended to take cognizance of the hydrodynamic dependence of the sedimentation coefficients of the reacting species upon concentration. The calculations are for rapid reequilibration during differential transport of macromonomer, dimer and ligand. For appropriate ratios of protein to ligand concentration the theoretical sedimentation patterns show bimodal reaction boundaries even when the concentration dependence of the sedimentation coefficients is severe. The boundaries are subject, however, to a Johnston-Ogston-type effect which accentuates the discrepancy between the relative areas of the two peaks and the relative, equilibrium concentrations of monomer and dimer. Nor do the peaks migrate with velocities per unit centrifugal field commensurate with the sedimentation coefficients of the monomer and dimer. Moreover, these quantities cannot be determined by extrapolation of the velocities of the peaks per unit field to infinite dilution of macromolecule at constant total ligand concentration.
The 5-HT1A agonist 8-OH-DPAT increases attachment maintenance but decreases suckling-related intake in 17-18-day-old rat pups.

Abstract Deprived and nondeprived preweanling (17–18 days of age) Sprague-Dawley rat pups were injected with 0, 0.03, 0.06, 0.1, or 0.5 mg/kg of the 5-HT 1A agonist 8-hydroxy-2(di- n -propylamino)tetralin (8-OH-DPAT) and observed in a suckling test using a milk replete anesthetized dam, with milk let-downs being intermittently precipitated via IV infusions of oxytocin. In experiment 1, the 0.5 mg/kg dose of 8-OH-DPAT was observed to increase the proportion of nondeprived animals which attached to a nipple; no dose effect was seen in deprived animals, who generally all attached. Deprived pups given the 0.5-mg/kg dose exhibited a lower frequency of nipple disattachment/reattachment following milk let-downs and had significantly lower percent body weight gains when compared with saline controls. In experiment 2a, the 0.5-mg/kg dose of 8-OH-DPAT was observed to decrease the overall incidence of nipple disattachment/reattachment as well as to suppress nipple shifting per se in both deprived and nondeprived 17–18-day-old rat pups; this dose also suppressed body weight gains in both the deprived and nondeprived pups. The suppression in weight gain by 8-OH-DPAT does not appear to be primarily related to a drug-induced reduction in nipple shifting. In experiment 2b, where pups were given access to only one nipple, an 8-OH-DPAT-related reduction in body weight gain was still evident. These experiments, which demonstrate that attachment maintenance and suckling ingestion are altered in opposite ways by 8-OH-DPAT, provide strong evidence that these two suckling-related phenomena are subject to different physiological controls.
Models for thiol protection of DNA in cells.

It is generally assumed that death of a cell from exposure to ionizing radiation results primarily from damage to DNA, although the exact relationship between the two endpoints is not clear. Furthermore, the relationship between modification of DNA damage by the addition of thiols and modification of cell killing is not understood. Various models have been used to study DNA damage and the effects of thiols on it. These include studies of radiation chemistry of DNA constituents, physical damage such as strand break and crosslink production in DNA irradiated in solution, biological activity of DNA irradiated in solution, and physical damage in DNA from irradiated cells. It is difficult to compare the results obtained in these various studies and to extrapolate from them to cell killing, in part at least, because very different radiation conditions (e.g. dose, dose rate, buffer, pH, thiol compound, etc.) are often used. Over the past several years we have performed studies with thiols using a number of systems: pulse radiolysis of DNA constituents (Held et al., 1985), biological activity of bacterial transforming DNA (Held et al. , 1981, 1984a,b), DNA strand breaks in mammalian cells (Held et al., 1986), and mammalian cell killing (Held, 1985). In all these studies the thiol compound dithiothreitol (DTT) was used, and this should help in making comparisons and extrapolations from one system to the next. In this paper these studies will be reviewed and compared with other relevant literature in an attempt to address the question: Is DNA the 'target' for thiol modification of radiation-induced cell killing? A number of different hypotheses have been proposed to account for radioprotection by thiolcontaining compounds. These have been listed and discussed previously (e.g. Klayman and Copeland, 1975) and include OH radical scavenging by thiols; hydrogen atom donation from thiols to radiation-induced organic free radicals in competition with reaction of those radicals with oxygen [the repair-fixation model (Alexander and Charlesby, 1955)]; hypoxia induction by oxidizing thiols (e.g. Durand, 1983); chelation of metals; and production of disulfides. The second question to be addressed is whether DNA protection can be explained by these various hypotheses in relation to the data presented, with particular emphasis given to the first two hypotheses. This review is limited to discussion of initial damage induced in DNA by ionizing radiation; discussion of biochemical or enzymatic repair processes is beyond the scope of this paper. Furthermore, only effects on DNA itself will be discussed; although membranes or the DNAmembrane complex may be involved in radiation-induced cell killing (Alper, 1979; Patrick, 1977), these effects will not be addressed.
Direct-write dispenser-printed energy storage devices

The simultaneous decrease in electronic device form factors yet increase in functionality has motivated a shift in energy storage design and manufacture to accommodate novel and unconventional materials, new device geometries, and nontraditional fabrication methods. We are developing a simple, low-cost, solution-based method for integrating custom energy storage components directly onto a device. A direct write dispenser printing system is used to pattern solutionsbased materials into multilayer devices. Along with this fabrication method, we discuss the materials design and device characterization of two printed energy storage devices: a carbon electrochemical microcapacitor and a zinc-metal oxide microbattery. The two components will be used as a hybrid energy storage system, capable of providing an energy dense storage buffer while also being able to address high power pulse loads, all within a limited footprint area.
Design considerations for DC SQUIDs fabricated in deep sub-micron technology

Practical SQUIDs with well-coupled input coils of usable inductance have generally been fabricated at the 2-5 mu m level of lithography. Other technologies, silicon in particular, are now routinely practised at the 0.5 mu m level of lithography with impressive demonstrations at the 0.1-0.25 mu m level not uncommon. The implications of applying such a fabrication capability to advance DC SQUID technology are explored. In particular, the issues of scaling practical DC SQUIDs down to the 0.1-0.25 mu m regime are examined, using as a prototype design the basic washer SQUID with a spiral input coil. A technical path is mapped out that leads to a practical SQUID less than 0.05 mm/sup 2/ in area with a tightly coupled 2- mu H input coil, user-friendly voltage-flux characteristics, minimal flux creep related hysteresis, and coupled energy sensitivity approaching the quantum limit at 4.2 K.
Influence of surface waves on subsurface current measurements in shallow water1

Aanderaa current-meter readings were taken at 43 m at two sites 0.2 km apart in water 50 m deep near the central Oregon coast. The uppermost extensions of the subsurface moorings were about 3 and 18 m deep. During a 25-day period in July and August 1973, mean speeds differed by about 47%. For low frequencies (<0.7 cph) there was a 1 : 1 correspondence between the shapes of the kinetic-energy density spectra. For all frequencies, spectral density estimates of the data recorded beneath the deeper placed topmost float were lower than the estimates of the other data. The effect of surface wave motion on Aanderaa current measurements is discussed.
Evaluating measures of semantic similarity and relatedness to disambiguate terms in biomedical text

Display Omitted HighlightsObjective: to develop a method that can disambiguate terms in biomedical text.WSD method exploits similarity and relatedness information extracted from the UMLS.Evaluates the efficacy of similarity and relatedness measures on WSD.IC-based measures obtains higher accuracy than path-based and relatedness measures. IntroductionIn this article, we evaluate a knowledge-based word sense disambiguation method that determines the intended concept associated with an ambiguous word in biomedical text using semantic similarity and relatedness measures. These measures quantify the degree of similarity or relatedness between concepts in the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS). The objective of this work is to develop a method that can disambiguate terms in biomedical text by exploiting similarity and relatedness information extracted from biomedical resources and to evaluate the efficacy of these measure on WSD. MethodWe evaluate our method on a biomedical dataset (MSH-WSD) that contains 203 ambiguous terms and acronyms. ResultsWe show that information content-based measures derived from either a corpus or taxonomy obtain a higher disambiguation accuracy than path-based measures or relatedness measures on the MSH-WSD dataset. AvailabilityThe WSD system is open source and freely available from http://search.cpan.org/dist/UMLS-SenseRelate/. The MSH-WSD dataset is available from the National Library of Medicine http://wsd.nlm.nih.gov.
Winter atmospheric circulation in the Arctic Basin and possible relationships to the great salinity anomaly in the northern North Atlantic

Variations in synoptic activity are assessed in terms of potential influences on ice transport and indicators of shifts in the Arctic atmospheric circulation related to the “Great Salinity Anomaly” of the northern North Atlantic. Winter pressure anomalies suggest an increased contribution to the Fram Strait sea ice flux by multiyear ice from along the northern coasts of Greenland and Ellesmere Island. This may be related to a teleconnection involving changes in anticyclonicity over the central Arctic Ocean and Canadian Arctic Archipelago.
Facilitating factors in implementing four evidence-based practices: reports from addiction treatment staff.

In this Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded study (2009–2011), treatment staff (n = 178) from 330 federally funded U.S. addiction treatment programs provided data through semistructured telephone interviews about factors that facilitated their implementation of four evidence-based practices (EBPs). Such studies can assist the addiction field in improving EBP implementation and ultimately, client care. Research questions: What factors were identified as facilitating implementation of the four EBPs? And, Do facilitating factors vary by EBP? Coders classified facilitating factors (n = 518) using a six-category schema. Results showed that although facilitating factors varied by EBP, organization-related factors dominated. Study implications and limitations are described.
“All men are created equal”: Waiting for Godot in the culture of inequality

Since 1976, we have been celebrating centennials and bicentennials of major symbols and documents of American ideology, and we will continue to do so in the coming years. Juxtaposed with these milestones, however, is the increasing problem of American citizens without basic shelter. With the conjunction of celebration and increasing homelessness, this rhetorical criticism examines one of the few speeches given by a homeless person and preserved. The essay details the despair and sense of betrayal by ideology and rhetoric that are part of being homeless. It highlights three major problems in ideological rhetoric deserving programmatic research, and suggests rhetorical criticism as a way of remedially exploring democratic ideology in crisis.
World Wide Web public access: notes on the debate

ABSTRACT More and more libraries are confronting the question of whether or not to offer public access to the World Wide Web. There are reasons why a library might be reluctant to do so, but there are also more compelling incentives to move ahead with such an undertaking. This article examines the many pros and cons of providing access to the Web for library patrons as well as suggesting solutions to problems. In addition, the establishment of a library policy governing the use of the Web is discussed.
Production of arteriosclerosis in dogs by cholesterol and thiouracil feeding

Abstract 1. 1. The production of arteriosclerosis in an omniverous mammal, the dog, by the feeding of cholesterol and thiouracil has been confirmed. 2. 2. The resultant arteriosclerotic lesions in the dog have the same anatomical distribution and sites of predilection as do lesions in man, including the occurrence of cerebral arteriosclerosis. 3. 3. The morphological features of the arteriosclerotic lesions in dogs resemble those of human arteriosclerosis in that infiltration of the intima with foam cells and proliferation of the endothelium of the intima occurs in the early lesions, while extension into the media, hyalinization, hemorrhage, and calcification develop in the more advanced placques. 4. 4. It has been demonstrated that thiouracil in the dosage used does not lead to arterial lesions. 5. 5. The feeding of 10 Gm. of cholesterol daily, in addition to the regular diet, containing less than 5.0 per cent fat, without thiouracil, resulted in a moderate hypercholesterolemia and early arteriosclerosis in one dog.
An erythrocyte encapsulator dialyzer used in preparing large quantities of erythrocyte ghosts and encapsulation of a pesticide in erythrocyte ghosts.

Abstract An erythrocyte encapsulator dialyzer has been fabricated and tested for preparing large quantities of animal blood for encapsulation. Less than 25 min is required to dialyze 150 ml of erythrocytes for encapsulation. Data are presented showing ca 30% encapsulation of added substances for bovine, equine, and porcine erythrocytes. Encapsulation parameters such as osmolality and temperature are discussed. Data are presented on the encapsulation of the pesticide diflubenzuron in bovine erythrocytes.
Programs for supporting the teaching of digital speech processing

This paper describes a set of about 60 MATLAB®-based speech processing exercises designed to give students and instructors hands-on experience with digital speech processing algorithms and systems. This result is achieved by providing MATLAB code with a graphical user interface (GUI) for ease of use and understanding of the code. For each MATLAB exercise we provide a description of the code and GUI structure, an explanation of key technical aspects of the solution, a description of the organization of the Lite Graphical User Interface,1 a scripted run of the software with an extensive set of speech files for processing, one or more results figures generated by the provided code, and a set of technical issues for further experimentation with the code. Our goal with these exercises was to provide a useful and unique set of speech processing tools for the instructor and a set of speech processing exercises (denoted as “Issues for Further Experimentation”) that students can use to develop their understanding of the relevant technical content of each speech processing exercise. This paper describes the resulting set of speech processing exercises and shows how they can be used to enhance the teaching of digital speech processing.
Simplified dynamical system for the gauss-galerkin method

An approximation of the law of the solution of a stochastic differential equation, using the Fokker-Plank equation, has been discussed in the literature by several methods. The Gauss-Galerkin method provides approximations to the well-known Gauss-Christoffel measure of the exact distribution. However, it results in a very ill-conditioned dynamical system. We introduce a simplified dynamical system which leads to a numerically stable procedure for a larger number of nodes. As an outcome of the analysis, we also show that the approximation is a probability measure
Impact of Socioeconomic Status and Sociodemographic Factors on Melanoma Presentation Among Ethnic Minorities

Minority melanoma patients have worse survival. In this study, we evaluated the impact of socioeconomic and demographic factors on minority melanoma patients presenting to two different New York City hospitals (one public and one private) managed by the same multidisciplinary team. Sociodemographic and clinicopathologic characteristics were retrieved for melanoma patients presenting to Bellevue Hospital Center (BHC), a public hospital, and the New York University Cancer Institute (NYUCI), a private cancer center. Socioeconomic data was obtained from the United States Census Bureau database. The Kruskal-Wallis and chi-square tests were used to evaluate the associations between race/ethnicity and continuous and categorical variables (e.g. income, stage at presentation), respectively. Minorities comprised 2% (27/1296) of melanoma patients at the NYUCI compared to 42% (50/119) at BHC. Those presenting to the NYUCI were more likely to have a higher median household income (P = 0.05), a higher educational level (P = 0.04), and an earlier stage at presentation (P = 0.02) than those at BHC. NYUCI patients were predominantly covered by commercial insurance (70%), whereas Medicaid (62%) was common among BHC patients. Only 19% of Hispanic patients at BHC chose English as their preferred language. Our data demonstrate that language and health care system factors affect melanoma presentation in minorities.
Spatial and temporal patterns of bovine anaplasmosis as reported by Illinois veterinarians

Spatial analysis was used in combination with more traditional epidemiologic methods to study patterns of anaplasmosis in a transitional area between anaplasmosis endemic and non-endemic regions. Data were collected using a mail survey from 179 veterinarians with practice areas including 100102 Illinois counties. The pattern of anaplasmosis reported by practitioners did not follow the general distribution of cattle and was clustered, with two major endemic foci. Endemic counties (22100 counties) were bordered by areas of intermediate endemicity (36100 counties) with only sporadic cases occurring in the remainder of the state (42100 counties). Clinical disease occurred mainly in late summer and early fall with a small number of new herds diagnosed during the winter. Illinois practitioners most commonly identified horseflies and other biting flies as the vectors of anaplasmosis but also believed mosquitos, ticks and iatrogenic means could account for transmission in their practice areas. Ries were most often reported in summer while iatrogenic transmission was more commonly reported with winter outbreaks. Vaccination and low level antibiotics were used in endemic areas but only by a small proportion of respondents (12%). Veterinarians in endemic and marginal areas also used antibiotics to clear infection from herds more often than did those experiencing sporadic cases in non-endemic areas. Many practitioners expressed uncertainty about the actual extent of the problem in their areas. Wooded land area was used as a proxy to test for co-distribution of general vector habitat with anaplasmosis. Significantly more anaplasmosis was found in the more wooded parts of the state (based on the Kappa statistic). Respondents from western Illinois reported carrier cattle to be the source of infection for most new outbreaks while white-tailed deer were considered to be as important a reservoir as cattle in southern Illinois. Spatial analysis did not support an important role for white-tailed deer.
Three ways electronic health records increase transparency in diabetes care

As in society as a whole, the computer is becoming a pervasive feature of our offices and clinic exam rooms. Electronic health records are becoming the standard framework for storing, retrieving an...
In vivo imaging of axonal transport using MRI: aging and Alzheimer’s disease

In neurons, the process of axonal transport helps maintain health and homeostasis for normal neuronal functions. Protein products, synthesized in the cell body and organelles such as mitochondria, are transported via molecular “motors” to the synapse for incorporation into membranes or cytoskeletal architecture, release into the synaptic cleft, or use in synaptic functioning. Retrograde transport occurs when substances, such as trophic factors, are taken up from the synaptic cleft via endocytosis and are transported back to the cell body to modulate further protein synthesis. Although retrograde transport is an important neuronal process, this chapter will focus on imaging of anterograde axonal transport and the effects of aging and neurodegeneration. Because axonal transport mechanisms become even more critical to maintain neuronal function in neuronal populations with long axonal projections, perturbations of axonal transport may contribute to the selective vulnerability of cortical projection neurons in neurodegenerative processes such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). With the increasing longevity of the world’s population, aging and age-related diseases are becoming a major healthcare issue. Research in the areas of brain aging is critical, not only to maintaining life, but also to maintaining quality of life and sustaining a fully functional, independent, elderly population. Aging is also known to be a major risk factor for AD. According to pathological observations, cortical projection neurons are particularly vulnerable to AD pathophysiology (Hof et al., 1990). In such neurons, the process of axonal transport is particularly crucial to sustaining neuronal homeostasis and functions. Certain systems can be challenging to investigate non-invasively due to the relative inaccessibility of some brain regions and the technical challenges inherent in studying dynamic, sub-cellular processes. Therefore, the methodology to study axonal transport in living brains has been limited. This chapter will present on-going efforts to investigate this critical process using recently developed in vivo imaging techniques.
Thermal and radiation stability of the argon clathrate of hydroquinone

Abstract Argon release from the dilute clathrate, containing 1.7 wt. per cent argon, was studied at temperatures up to 100°C and at room temperature after irradiation. Above room temperature, release is rapid, confirming the low thermal stability of the clathrate. Radiation increases clathrate stability. After a dose of 1 × 107 rad, no argon release is observed during 25 days at room temperature.
Symmetry considerations in the two‐fluid theory of the gradient drift instability in the lower ionosphere

A general dispersion relation for the gradient drift instability (GDI) in the lower ionosphere is derived and solved analytically for the oscillation frequency and growth rate of unstable GDI waves. The approach presented is applicable in the broad range of altitudes, both within the E region and the lower F region, and for an arbitrary background density gradient. The ion and electron fluids are treated in the same way, and linearized system of fluid equations is solved exactly, with no geometry- or altitude-specific approximations required. It is demonstrated that, in the short-wavelength limit, the GDI growth rate is maximized along the bisector between the electric current and the cross product of the gradient vector and magnetic field. This result holds at all considered altitudes, including a transitional region between the E and F regions. Symmetries of the resulting expression for the growth rate are discussed, and numerical calculations for representative gradient and current configurations are presented to illustrate and validate analytical results.
Scientific career renewal

Finding time to explore new research areas can be beneficial for science and scientists, says Peter Fiske.
Testing for bias in the audit committee

Establishing an audit committee presumably strengthens the external auditor’s independence. Several studies have examined how audit committees affect the selection of the company’s external auditor, negotiate audit fees and enhance the auditor’s independence. But what of the independence of the audit committee members themselves? Do audit committee members exhibit biases when they select their company’s auditors? The relationship between the entity’s external auditor and the audit committee member’s affiliated company’s auditors has not been examined. For example, are audit committee members prone to select or remain with audit firms with which they have developed a formal relationship within their own company? This study of 247 New York Stock Exchange firms finds significant relationships (at the 0.05 level of significance) between CPA firms selected by audit committees and by the CPA firm which audits the audit committee member’s own organization. Results indicate that audit committee members exhibit conscious or unconscious biases in their selection or retention of their companies’ auditors.
New tools for weight-loss therapy enable a more robust medical model for obesity treatment: rationale for a complications-centric approach.

ABSTRACT Objective Recent advances in lifestyle intervention programs, pharmacotherapy, and bariatric surgery have enabled the development of medical models for the treatment of obesity. Regarding pharmacotherapy, in 2012 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved two new effective and safe weight-loss medications, phentermine/ topiramate extended release and lorcaserin, which has greatly augmented options for medically assisted weight loss. Methods The rationale for advantages of a complications-centric medical model over current body mass index (BMI)-centric indications for therapy is examined. Results Currently, the baseline BMI level is the principle determinant of indications for obesity treatment using medication and surgery. However, the BMI-centric approach fails to target therapy to those obese patients who will benefit most from weight loss. In contrast, a complications-centric medical model is proposed that will earmark the modality and intensity of the therapeutic intervention based on the presence and severity of complications that can be ameliorated by weight loss. Conclusion The complications-centric approach to “medicalizing” obesity care employs weight loss primarily as a tool to treat obesity-related complications and promotes the optimization of health outcomes, the benefit/risk ratio, and the cost-effectiveness of therapy. (Endocr Pract. 2013;19:864-874)
Marijuana and the Use of Other Drugs

IT is well established that the use of marijuana by young people is positively correlated with at least the experimental use of other drugs1. The probability that an individual uses the strong hallucinogens such as LSD and other drugs rises sharply with increasing frequency of marijuana use2. Such associations are not, of course, sufficient to establish causal relationships between the use of one drug and another. It seems quite likely that important sociological factors contribute to the progression from marijuana to more hazardous drugs. Goode has found that frequent marijuana users tend to limit their social life to persons in the illicit drug subculture and thus frequently have the opportunity of trying other drugs2. Chronic marijuana intoxication may also contribute to the generally poor reality orientation manifested by many adolescent drug users. This, in turn, can lead to poor judgment concerning the use of the more dangerous drugs. On the other hand, it has been found that older users of marijuana, introduced to the drug about 20 years ago, contain a much higher than average proportion of heavy alcohol users, which suggests that personality and other pre-existing variables are also related to the use of multiple intoxicants3.
DIFFERENTIAL EFFECT OF OREXINS (HYPOCRETINS) ON SEROTONIN RELEASE IN THE DORSAL AND MEDIAN RAPHE NUCLEI OF FREELY BEHAVING RATS

Orexin (hypocretin)-containing neurons in the perifornical hypothalamus project to widespread regions of the brain, including the dorsal and median raphe nuclei [Peyron C, Tighe DK, van den Pol AN, de Lecea L, Heller HC, Sutcliffe JG, Kilduff TS (1998) Neurons containing hypocretin (orexin) project to multiple neuronal systems. J Neurosci 18:9996-10015; Wang QP, Koyama Y, Guan JL, Takahashi K, Kayama Y, Shioda S (2005) The orexinergic synaptic innervation of serotonin- and orexin 1-receptor-containing neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus. Regul Pept 126:35-42]. Orexin-A or orexin-B was infused by reverse microdialysis into the dorsal raphe nucleus or median raphe nucleus of freely behaving rats, and extracellular serotonin was simultaneously collected by microdialysis and analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography. We have found that orexin-A produced a dose-dependent increase of serotonin in the dorsal raphe nucleus, but not in the median raphe nucleus. However, orexin-B elicited a small but significant effect in both the dorsal raphe nucleus and median raphe nucleus. Orexins may have regionally selective effects on serotonin release in the CNS, implying a unique interaction between orexins and serotonin in the regulation of activities including sleep-wakefulness.
HIGH TEMPERATURE CYCLIC DEFORMATION OF DS‐NICKEL

— High temperature cyclic deformation in nickel is investigated by comparing its cyclic hardening curves at constant strain amplitudes at four temperatures with the monotonic hardening curves and by detailed electron microscopic examination of the bulk. Just as at ambient temperature, there are broad similarities between the cyclic and monotonic hardening of nickel at high temperatures, but there are also significant differences in detail. It is shown that, as in monotonic deformation, increased dynamic recovery with increasing temperature is the main cause for the reduction in flow stress at high temperatures. However, the increased vacancy concentration produced by cyclic straining causes a linear reduction in flow stress (as distinct from the “athermal” behavior observed in monotonic deformation over a limited temperature range). Also the tendency for dislocations to agglomerate into sign-balanced, low energy configurations requires a temperature higher than that observed for monotonic deformation before high temperature softening is observed.
The stability of pure weights under conditioning

In [1], we showed how a collection of physical operations or experiments could be represented by a nonempty set of nonempty sets satisfying certain conditions (irredundancy and coherence) and we called such sets . We also introduced “complete stochastic models” for the empirical universe of discourse represented by such a manual , namely, the so-called weight functions for . These weight functions form a convex set the extreme points of which are called pure weights. We also showed that there is a so-called logic ∏() affiliated with a manual and that each weight function for induces a state on this logic.
PACAP-38, a novel peptide from ovine hypothalamus, is a potent modulator of amylase release from dispersed acini from rat pancreas

Despite studies indicating the presence of specific pancreatic acinar receptors for PACAP-38, a peptide that was recently isolated from ovine hypothalamus, the actions of the new peptide on pancreatic enzyme secretion have not been examined. The present study demonstrates that in terms of cAMP production and amylase release from dispersed acini from rat pancreatic acini, PACAP-38 and an N-terminal fragment, PACAP-27, have the same potency and efficacy as vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP). As with VIP, these actions are potentiated by adding an inhibitor of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase, and combination of PACAP-38 with bombesin, CCK-8, carbachol or the calcium ionophore A23187 results in 2-fold augmentation of the secretory actions of these agents. Inhibition of PACAP-38-induced cAMP production and amylase release by two VIP-receptor antagonists indicates that the secretory effects of PACAP-38 are mediated by interaction with VIP receptors. PACAP-38, a new brain-gut peptide, may be a physiological modulator of pancreatic enzyme secretion.
How organisms respond to environmental changes: from phenotypes to molecules (and vice versa)

The ability of organisms to produce different phenotypes under different environmental conditions (phenotypic plasticity) has been an object of evolutionary and ecological studies since the neodarwinian synthesis. Yet, until lately, our knowledge in this field was limited to statistical approaches based on the classical tools of quantitative genetics. In recent years, however, a new dialog between organismal biologists and researchers interested in uncovering the mechanistic details of physiological and phenotypic responses has yielded several new insights. Some classic examples of phenotypic plasticity have now been traced to specific alterations in DNA transcription and RNA translation rates, and to changes in patterns of protein expression. Conversely, the explicit use of evolutionary and ecological theory is helping us to put a panoply of molecular data into a coherent historical and organismal perspective.
Immune Complex-Dependent Remodeling of the Airway Vasculature in Response to a Chronic Bacterial Infection

Chronic inflammation in the airways is associated with dramatic architectural changes in the walls of the airways and in the vasculature they contain. In this study, we show that the adaptive immune system is essential for airway remodeling that occurs in mice that are chronically infected with the respiratory pathogen Mycoplasma pulmonis. Angiogenesis, lymphangiogenesis, and epithelial remodeling were greatly reduced in mice that lacked B cells. Substantiating a role for Ab and airway immune complexes, we found that the transfer of immune serum to B cell-deficient mice could reconstitute pathogen-induced angiogenesis. Inflammatory cells recruited to the infected airways were activated by the humoral response, and this activation correlated with the induction of genes for remodeling factors such as vascular endothelial growth factor-D. The results reveal a novel pathway whereby T cell-dependent humoral immunity to a persistent airway infection can induce inflammation-dependent angiogenesis, lymphangiogenesis, and chronic airway pathology.
Crystal plasticity analysis of earing in deep-drawn OFHC copper cups

The theory of thermally-activated slip is used to derive a crystal-plasticity materials constitutive model for deformation of OFHC copper single crystals. The mechanical response of the polycrystalline material is next determined from the single-crystalline materials constitutive relations using the classical Taylor approximation for apportionment of the deformation gradient between grains. Simulations of the deep drawing of cylindrical cups from as-rolled OFHC-copper blanks are next carried out using an explicit finite element formulation. The results obtained show that the crystallographic texture in as-rolled sheets, which can be accounted for through the use of crystal-plasticity, gives rise to rim-earing in fully-drawn cups. It is further shown that the extent of rim-earing can be greatly reduced by properly modifying the shape of the blank. A procedure is next proposed for optimization of the blank shape.
Complete virion assembly with scaffolding proteins altered in the ability to perform a critical conformational switch

In the phiX174 procapsid, 240 external scaffolding proteins form a nonquasiequivalent lattice. To achieve this arrangement, the four structurally unique subunits must undergo position-dependent conformational switches. One switch is mediated by glycine residue 61, which allows a 30 degrees kink to form in alpha-helix 3 in two subunits, whereas the helix is straight in the other two subunits. No other amino acid should be able to produce a bend of this magnitude. Accordingly, all substitutions for G61 are nonviable but mutant proteins differ vis-a-vis recessive and dominant phenotypes. As previously reported, amino acid substitutions with side chains larger than valine confer dominant lethal phenotypes. Alone, these mutant proteins appear to have little or no biological activity but rather require the wild-type protein to interact with other structural proteins. Proteins with conservative substitutions for G61, serine and alanine, have now been characterized. Unlike the dominant lethal proteins, these proteins do not require wild-type subunits to interact with other viral proteins and cause assembly defects reminiscent of those conferred by the lethal dominant proteins in concert with wild-type subunits. Although atomic structures suggest that only a glycine residue can provide the proper torsion angle for assembly, mutants that can productively utilize the altered external scaffolding proteins were isolated, and the mutations were mapped to the coat and internal scaffolding proteins. Thus, the ability to isolate strains that could utilize the single mutant D protein species would not have been predicted from past structural analyses.
Supporting resource discovery among public Internet archives using a spectrum of information quality

Wide area networks offer access to an increasing number and variety of resources. Yet, it is difficult to locate resources of interest, because of the scale and decentralized nature of the environment. The authors are interested in supporting a global confederation of loosely cooperating systems and users that share far more resources than can be completely organized. Therefore, mechanisms are needed to support incremental organization of the resources, based on the efforts of many geographically decentralized individuals, and a range of different information sources of varying degrees of quality. The authors describe a prototype implementation of a set of mechanisms intended to explore this problem in the specific domain of public Internet archives, accessible via the anonymous file transfer protocol. This is an interesting test case, because it encompasses a very large scale, administratively decentralized collection of resources, with considerably practical value. >
Visualization of Java workloads using ternary diagrams

In this paper we investigate the use of ternary diagrams for visualization of Java workloads, and show how to use this technique for an analysis of JVM98 SPEC benchmarks. Ternary diagrams present workloads as points in plane with respect to three characterization parameters. They can be combined with other visualization techniques based on dendrograms, histograms, pie charts, and Kiviat graphs. Java workloads are characterized using dynamic frequencies of bytecodes (or timed bytecodes). Related bytecodes are grouped, and their frequencies aggregated, to reduce dimensionality. We propose four ways for grouping Java bytecodes and use them to analyze properties of Java workloads. Our methodology is generally applicable in all cases where workload characterization is based on compiler-generated intermediate or machine code.
FLT3 Inhibition as Therapy in Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Record of Trials and Tribulations

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a hematologic malignancy with a poor prognosis. Approximately one quarter of the patients with AML also carry an internal tandem duplication (ITD) mutation in the gene encoding FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3), which has a significantly deleterious impact on prognosis. The ITD mutation renders FLT3 constitutively active and leads to uncontrolled proliferation of the leukemic blast. Over the course of the last decade, a variety of compounds have been developed in preclinical and clinical studies as potent inhibitors of FLT3. Many of the earlier agents under investigation, such as lestaurtinib, midostaurin, and sunitinib, were initially developed as inhibitors of other tyrosine kinases and as targeted therapies in a variety of malignancies. These compounds have been demonstrated to have some efficacy in clinical trials of AML, mainly manifesting as transient decreases in circulating blasts correlating with effective in vivo suppression of the FLT3 target. Nevertheless, the cumbersome pharmacokinetics of some compounds and the suboptimal specificity and potency of others have limited their therapeutic efficacy. In the last few years, newer, more potent and specific agents have been under investigation, with the leading example being AC220. This agent has shown significant promise in early phases of clinical investigation, and is currently in more advanced clinical trials. Hope remains that FLT3 inhibition will be become an effective therapeutic adjunct to our current treatment approach to AML.