cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Attribute Control Charts with Optimal Limits

A new attribute control chart is presented to monitor processes that generate count data. The economic objective of the chart is to minimize the total cost of its errors, a linear function of errors Type I and II. The proposed chart can be applied to Poisson, geometric, and negative binomial assumptions. Control limits are calculated optimally, because they are based on exact probability distributions and used to detect defined directional shifts in a process. Some numerical results are provided, and expected costs of the new chart are compared with those of a one-sided c-chart. Other effects such as changing the cost structure are shown graphically. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Diamond field emitter pressure sensor

We report the design and fabrication technology of a diamond field emitter pressure sensor using a five mask fabrication process. Photoresist is used as a sacrificial layer to produce a vacuum gap between aluminum diaphragm anode and diamond cathode. Current versus voltage (I-V) data, measured at 10/sup -6/ Torr, shows Fowler-Nordheim (F-N) field emission behavior. The current density measured at 0.2 MV/cm is approximately 0.5 A/cm/sup 2/.
NGOs and Women's Capabilities in Post-War Settings: The Case of Sierra Leone

Following a situation of conflict, international aid agencies are among the first to move in to help countries rebuild and transition into sustained peace and democracy. Among the priorities for rebuilding has been programs targeted toward women, as convention states that women are often the most affected by civil war. In response to growing recognition of the importance of including gender components in development activities, most NGOs now have specific gender mandates as well as programs where women are the central beneficiaries. This paper analyzes the role of select NGOs in Sierra Leone such as International Rescue Committee (IRC) and American Refugee Council (ARC) to see whether changing discourse is reflected in practice. Findings reveal that despite specific mandates to address women’s needs, women-focused projects are limited in scope, with an emphasis on micro-credit and skills training projects with some counseling components. Although implemented projects appear to reflect women’s self-identified needs, the study concludes that development organizations should incorporate programs that address both practical as well as strategic interests and address the wider underlying structural inequalities that present barriers to women’s equality.
Biosynthesis of insulin and glucagon.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the biosynthesis of the islet cell hormones insulin and glucagon. It was widely believed that insulin was formed by the combination of separately synthesized A and B chains. The discovery of pro-insulin disproved this hypothesis, and it is now known that a connecting peptide attaches the COOH terminus of the B chain to the NH 2 terminus of the A chain in the single-chain precursor. The C peptide connects the two insulin chains by pairs of dibasic amino acid residues (Lys–Arg and Arg–Arg at the A and B chains, respectively) and forms a bridge between the two portions of the insulin molecule. Studies on the translation of insulin messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) extracted from rat islets in cell-free systems have shown that the product is not pro-insulin but is a larger peptide that bears a 24-residue, NH 2 -terminal extension on the prohormone sequence. This molecule, called “preproinsulin,” has also been identified during the cell-free translation of insulin mRNA from cattle, anglerfish, sea raven, hagfish, and humans. An early indication of proglucagon structure arose from an examination of crystalline glucagon for higher molecular weight, hormone-related peptides. Because the COOH-terminal sequence is connected to the hormone structure by a pair of dibasic amino acid residues (Lys–Arg), both trypsin- and carboxypeptidase B-like enzymes would be necessary to convert this proglucagon fragment to glucagon. The use of trypsin and carboxypeptidase B digestions to probe the structures of glucagon-related peptides is discussed in the chapter.
Protein Intake, Hepatic Purine Enzyme Levels and Uric Acid Production in Growing Chicks

Changes in hepatic purine enzyme activities of chicks fed diets containing 11%, 20%, 43% and 80% protein were correlated with protein intake and uric acid production in order to identify those enzymes with activities that parallel closely and may regulate uric acid production. Nucleoside phosphorylase, xanthine dehydrogenase, adenylosuccinate syn- thetase and adenosine kinase correlated positively with protein intake and uric acid production. Adenosine deaminase, 5'-nucIeotidase(AMP), adenyl- ate deaminase and adenine phosphoribosyltransferase correlated negatively with protein intake and uric acid production. Hypoxanthine phosphoribo syltransferase and 5'-nucleotidase ( IMP ) were unaffected by protein intake and did not correlate with uric acid production. The ratio of adenosine kinase to adenosine deaminase correlated positively with protein intake and uric acid production. The increased activities of adenylosuccinate synthetase and adenosine kinase, along with the reduced activities of 5'-nucleotidase and adenylate deaminase, in liver from chickens fed the 80% compared with the 11% protein diet demonstrate enhanced synthesis of adenine nucleotides. Since adenine nucleotides are essential cofactors for de novo purine synthesis, it is proposed that adenylosuccinate synthetase, adenosine kinase, 5'-nucleotidase and adenylate deaminase are key enzymes involved in the regulation of purine biosynthesis. J. Nutr. 108: 46-54, 1978.
The development of thermal etch pits on cleaved NaCl crystals in the presence of an electric field

The development of thermal etch pits on cleaved (100) surfaces of sodium chloride crystals was investigated in relation to an external DC electric field applied along the [100] direction. Measurements of pit size and density were made after isothermal and isochronic evaporation in fields with gradients ranging up to 130 kV m-1. Below a minimum (threshold) value of field gradient, the size and density of pits were unaffected by the presence of the field. In the presence of a threshold field gradient, evaporation resulted in the enhancement of nucleation of pits as judged by a marked increase in their density with no change in their size. At higher fields, enhanced pit nucleation and pit growth are evident. The field gradient threshold observed in relation to thermal pit development corresponded to previously reported threshold phenomena for enhanced evaporation from cleaved (100) surfaces of NaCl. Measurements of dislocation densities in regions below the evaporated surface showed a decrease in density with increasing field strength beyond the threshold value. These results are interpreted as suggesting a migration of charged dislocations in the presence of the DC field.
Effect of cocaine on leakage of creatine kinase from isolated fast and slow muscles of rat

Since patients with cocaine overdose were reported to develop rhabdomyolysis involving skeletal muscle damage leading to elevated levels of serum creatine kinase (CK), we determined whether cocaine can directly act on isolated rat skeletal muscles and increase the leakage of CK. In the fast-twitch muscle such as the extensor digitorum longus (EDL), following exposure to normal physiological solution for 1, 2, 3, and 4 hr, the mean leakage of CK was 0.6, 0.7, 0.9, and 1.2 units/mg of muscle respectively. On exposure of EDL to 0.1, 0.5, and 1.0 mM cocaine, there was no significant change in CK leakage. In the slow-twitch muscle such as the soleus, following exposure to normal physiological solution for 1, 2, 3, and 4 hr, the mean leakage of CK was 1.5, 2.2, 2.7, and 3.1 units/mg, which was significantly greater (P < 0.001) than in EDL at each time interval. On exposure of soleus to 0.1 mM cocaine, the CK leakage did not increase significantly, but on exposure to 0.5 mM cocaine, it significantly increased to 2.4, 3.4, 4.4, and 5.7 units/mg, and on exposure to 1.0 mM cocaine, it further increased to 2.7, 4.9, 6.5, and 7.6 units/mg. The CK activity of fresh muscle homogenate was 115.5 units/mg in EDL and 51.9 units/mg in soleus. These results indicate that cocaine can directly act on skeletal muscle and increase the leakage of CK especially from slow-twitch muscle like soleus, but not from fast-twitch muscle like EDL.
Remote sensing and weather information in cotton yield prediction

If farmers could predict yield on a spatially variable basis, they could better understand risks and returns in applying costly inputs such as fertilizers, etc. To this end, several remotely sensed images of a cotton field were collected during the 2002 growing season, along with daily high and low temperatures. Image data were converted to normalized-difference vegetation index (NDVI), and temperature data were used to normalize NDVI changes over periods between image collections. Remote-sensing and weather data were overlaid in a geographic information system (GIS) with data from the field: topography, soil texture, and historical cotton yield. All these data were used to develop relationships with yield data collected at the end of the 2002 season. Stepwise regression was conducted at grid-cell sizes from 10 m square (100 m2) to 100 m square (10,000 m2) in 10-m increments. Relationships at each cell size were calculated with data available at the beginning of the season, at the first image date, at the second image date, and so on. Stepwise linear regression was used to select variables at each date that would constitute an appropriate model to predict yield. Results indicated that, at most dates, model accuracy was highest at the 100-m cell size. Remotely sensed data combined with weather data contributed much information to the models, particularly with data collected within 2.5 months of planting. The most appropriate model had an R2 value of 0.63, and its average prediction error was about 0.5 bale/ha (0.2 bale/ac, or roughly 100 lb/ac).
Influence of patch, habitat, and landscape characteristics on patterns of Lower Keys marsh rabbit occurrence following Hurricane Wilma

Degradation of coastal systems has led to increased impacts from hurricanes and storm surges and is of concern for coastal endemics species. Understanding the influence of disturbance on coastal populations like the endangered Lower Keys marsh rabbit (Sylvilagus palustris hefneri) is important to understanding long-term dynamics and for recovery planning. We evaluated the effect of disturbance on the rabbits by determining which patch, habitat, and landscape characteristics influenced habitat use following Hurricane Wilma. We determined patch-level occurrence 6–9 months prior to Hurricane Wilma, within 6 months following the hurricane, and 2 years after the storm to quantify rates of patch abandonment and recurrence. We observed high patch abandonment (37.5% of used patches) 6 months after Hurricane Wilma and low rates of recurrence (38.1% of abandoned patches) 2 years after the storm, an indication that this storm further threatened marsh rabbit viability. We found the proportion of salt-tolerant (e.g., mangroves and scrub mangroves) and salt-intolerant (e.g., freshwater wetlands) vegetation within LKMR patches were negatively and positively correlated with probability of patch abandonment, respectively. We found patch size and the number of used patches surrounding abandoned patches were positively correlated with probability of recurrence. We suggest habitat use following this hurricane was driven by the differential response of non-primary habitats to saline overwash and habitat loss from past development that reduced the size and number of local populations. Our findings demonstrate habitat use studies should be conducted following disturbance and should incorporate on-going effects of development and climate change.
Developmental aspects of sleep apnoea in northern elephant seals, Mirounga angustirostris

Northern elephant seals, Miroungu angustirostris, breathe irregularly while sleeping on land, alternating bouts of breath-holding (apnoea) that can last up to 25 min with periods of breathing (eupnoea). Our aims were to quantify changes in this behaviour during development and to determine the correspondence between these ontogenetic changes and those independently recorded in the dive durations of free-ranging seals. We observed 163 seals during periods of apparent sleep, ranging in age from new-born to adult. at Ano Nuevo, California. Mean length of apnoea and percentage time spent in apnoea were 3·1 min and 59%, in neonates (0–4 days old). These values decreased to 1·8 min and 37% in suckling pups (5–28 days old), then increased with age thereafter, reaching about 8·0 min and 60% in adults of both sexes. Sleep apnoea duration and percentage time spent in sleep apnoea increased most markedly after weaning, when the animals were learning to swim and dive. Mean sleep apnoea duration and mean dive duration increased in a similar way during the first year of life; thereafter. mean sleep apnoea duration reached an asymptote while mean dive duration continued to increase. We conclude that the elephant seal's ability to sustain long apnoeas is not only an adaptation for foraging underwater but also a means for conserving water and energy while fasting on land.
Clinical reasoning: A woman with subacute progressive confusion and gait instability

A 20-year-old healthy woman developed sudden-onset, fluctuating gait unsteadiness. She became progressively confused over a 2-week time period and was sent home after she was found wandering the halls of her college dormitory. Her parents noted personality changes and slowed thinking. Several days later she developed a left facial droop and left-sided arm and leg weakness, prompting evaluation at her local emergency department.
Study Group Report on the Impact of Television on Adolescent Nutritional Status

Obesity, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, dietary excesses and deficiencies, iron deficiency, and dental caries have been identified as the major nutrition-related problems affecting youth in the United States. Of particular interest currently are the potential effects of dietary patterns established during childhood and adolescence on the later development of heart disease, hypertension, cancer, and osteoporosis. Concern has been raised regarding the impact television advertising and programming has on the nutritional health of youth. In children, excessive television viewing has been linked to obesity, increased between-meal snacking, consumption of low nutrient-dense foods and attempts by children to influence their parents’ food purchases (l-4). Research Directions There exists no published research on the influence that food advertising and food programming may have on adolescent food preferences, eating habits, food purchasing practices, or body satisfaction. Research has centered primarily on young children; specifically, food advertising on Saturday mornings (l-3). For young children, the time spent viewing television is directly linked to consumption of foods advertised on television, as well as influencing parent purchases of these foods in the supermarket (4). These, as well as other aspects, need to be examined with respect to adolescents.
Anaerobic subsurface soil microcosms: Methods to monitor effects of organic pollutants on indigenous microbial activity

We report the results of an experiment designed to study the effects of organic pollutants on microbial populations indigenous to subsurface soil. Subsurface soil from a pristine short grass prairie, collected aseptically and anaerobically, was used to construct microcosms. The microcosms were divided into three groups: control, biotic chemical, and abiotic chemical. The chemical groups received additions of three organic pollutants in varying concentrations: phenothiazine, chloronapthalene, and polychlorinated biphenyl. The microbial activity of the abiotic chemical group was inhibited with mercuric chloride. The control group received only water. Microbial activity was monitored in all groups using several enzyme assays and a biomass estimate: amylase, dehydrogenase, esterase, phosphatase, protease, and soil protein concentration. Eh and pH were also monitored. Throughout the 32 weeks, overall reducing conditions prevailed in the biotic chemical and control groups. The Eh of the abiotic group remained high. Significant differences were seen among groups in specific enzymatic activities on specific sample dates. However, fluctuating values through time due to succession of microbial consortia made it impossible to make predictions about the overall effects of the pollutants on individual activity measurements. This study is the first report of the effects of a mixture of organic pollutants on microbial consortia indigenous to subsurface soils.
Shadow based texture registration for 3D modeling of outdoor scenes

This paper presents a novel method for the registration of texture images with a 3D model of outdoor scenes. We pose image registration as an optimization problem that uses knowledge of the sun’s position to estimate shadows in a scene, and use the shadows produced as a cue to solve for the registration parameters. Results are presented on a controlled experiment and for a large scale model of an archaeological site in Sicily.
Long-tail Longitudinal Modeling of Insurance Company Expenses

Abstract The insurance industry is known to have high operating expenses in the financial services sector. Insurers, investors and regulators are interested in models to understand the behavior of expenses. However, the current practice ignores skewness, occasional negative values as well as their temporal dependence. Addressing these three features, this paper develops a longitudinal model of insurance company expenses that can be used for prediction, to identify unusual behavior, and to measure firm efficiency. Specifically, we use a three-parameter asymmetric Laplace density for the marginal distribution of insurers’ expenses in each year. Copula functions are employed to accommodate their temporal dependence. As a function of explanatory variables, the location parameter allows us to analyze an insurer’s expenses in light of the firm’s characteristics. Our model can be interpreted as a longitudinal quantile regression. The analysis is performed using property–casualty insurance company data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners of years 2001–2006. Due to the long-tailed nature of insurers’ expenses, two alternative approaches are proposed to improve the performance of the longitudinal quantile regression model: rescaling and transformation. Predictive densities are derived that allow one to compare the predictions for individual insurers in a hold-out-sample. Both predictive models are shown to be reasonable with the rescaling method outperforming the transformation method. Compared with standard longitudinal models, our model is shown to be superior in identifying insurers’ unusual behavior.
Participation in Voluntary Youth-Serving Associations and Early Adult Voting Behavior*

Objective. We investigate adolescent membership in voluntary associations and whether participation in these activities influences voting behavior during early adulthood. Methods. Weighted logistic regression models predicting membership in voluntary associations and voting behavior were estimated using data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988‐1994 (NELS). Results. Our findings suggest that membership in voluntary associations varies by race and socioeconomic status (SES). In addition, membership in organizations historically rooted in moral development and civic socialization positively predict voter-registration status and whether or not young adults participated in the first national election that they were eligible to vote in, but this relationship is moderated by both race and SES. Conclusions. Our findings suggest that a large proportion of U.S. teenagers still participate in community-based programs, many of which foster later civic participation, but that all youth do not equally benefit from participation. Voluntary institutions form a foundation for democracy by promoting civic participation (Tocqueville, 1945). Putnam (1995) argues that the erosion in the family and community resulted in a decline in shared activity that fosters civic socialization. It is generally accepted that membership in certain voluntary associations has declined, but there is disagreement about the nature of the decline and whether it indicates communitywide decreases in civic activity (Putnam, 1995; Ladd, 1999; Wuthnow, 1997). Ladd (1999) argues that this concern is overstated, and that children and adolescents still participate in voluntary organizations not represented in most trend
Simulation of the combined effects of solar cycle, quasi-biennial oscillation, and volcanic forcing on stratospheric ozone changes in recent decades

[1] Stratospheric ozone responses to the 11-year solar flux variation are calculated from two different decadal scale satellite ozone data sets by multiple regression analysis. The results show consistent dipole structures with solar regression coefficients that are positive in midlatitudes and negative in the equatorial lower stratospheric region. Because of the limited duration of the data record, the regression analysis may not completely separate variability from other processes. Other phenomena that could contribute to the observed pattern include the ozone variations associated with the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) and with two major volcanic eruptions: El Chichon in 1982 and Mount Pinatubo in 1991. A fully interactive NCAR two-dimensional chemical-dynamical-radiative model (Simulation of Chemistry, Radiation, and Transport of Environmentally Important Species (SOCRATES)) is used to investigate the effects of the equatorial QBO and the major volcanic eruptions on the 11-year solar cycle analysis. When both effects are considered in the model simulation, the resulting ozone solar signal shows a dipole pattern similar to that observed. When the 11-year solar flux variation is considered as the only external forcing, the resulting ozone solar cycle shows a monopole structure whose maximum is located in the equatorial upper stratosphere and whose response is uniformly positive.
Catalyzed oxidation of sulfur dioxide in solution: The iron-manganese synergism☆

Abstract At concentrations of sulfur(IV) of 10 −5 molesl −1 and lower, there is a synergism between iron(III) and manganese(II) catalysis of the autoxidation. This synergism has a different rate law from the synergism seen at higher concentrations of sulfur. At pH 3.0, we obtained the rate law: −d[S(IV)]/[S(IV)]d t = k 1 [Fe(III)]+ k 3 [Fe(III)][Mn(II)], where k 1 =2600 M −1 s −1 , k 3 =750 M −1 s −1 , and k 3 =1.0 × 10 10 M −2 s −1 . A similar relation is found at pH 5.0. This is in substantial agreement with the work of Ibusuki and Takeuchi ( Atmospheric Environment 21 , 1555 (1987)). We estimate that this effect will raise the catalyzed oxidation rate of sulfur in clouds several times over the iron rate taken separately, for typical atmospheric concentrations of iron, sulfur, and manganese.
DNA bending by thyroid hormone receptor: influence of half-site spacing and RXR

Transcriptional activation by thyroid hormone (T3) requires interactions between the T3 receptor (TR) and T3 response elements (TREs) composed of two copies of sequences related to AGGTCA. Direct repeats of this sequence are a functional TRE when spaced by 4 but not by 5 bp (DR4 versus DR5). TR bound as monomers, homodimers and heterodimers with retinoid X receptor (RXR) to both DR4 and DR5, with an approximately 10-fold greater affinity for DR4 due to reduced dissociation of the protein-DNA complex. We explored DNA bending as an additional variable which could influence the transcriptional outcome of the TR-TRE interaction. Circular permutation indicated a large distortion of the DNA following TR binding, but phasing analysis strongly suggested that this was due only in small part to DNA bending. Phasing analysis indicated that both TR/RXR and TR homodimer induced bends of approximately 10 degrees in DR4, but caused little bending of DR5. Moreover, the TR homo- and heterodimers bent DR4 in opposite directions. These results indicate that in addition to regulating the affinity and spacing requirement for DNA binding by TR, the TR dimer partner may also modulate transcription by influencing the direction of the bending induced by TR binding to DNA, although this effect may be subtle, due to the modest degree of bending.
Etravirine: a second-generation NNRTI for treatment-experienced adults with resistant HIV-1 infection.

Etravirine, a second-generation non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI), was approved in the USA in January, 2008, with approval in Europe expected later this year. It is dosed at 200 mg (two 100 mg tablets) twice daily foll owing a meal. It is approved for treatment of HIV-1 infection in adults failing a stable antiretroviral regimen with resistance to other NNRTIs and other antiretroviral agents. Etravirine is active against HIV with single mutations in the reverse transcriptase (e.g., K103N) that confer class resistance to first-generation NNRTIs. Clinical efficacy in Phase III trials has been demonstrated for up to 48 weeks of follow-up. In these Phase III trials, rash was the only adverse event that was significantly more prevalent with etravirine than with placebo. Etravirine has a tolerability and safety profile comparable to placebo with the exception of rash. Rash was generally grade 1 or 2, was not associated with prior NNRTI-related rash, was more common in women than in men, app...
The effect of cortisone on experimentally produced myocardial infarcts.

Administration of a moderately large or large dose of cortisone to dogs having acute myocardial infarctions inhibited slightly the rate of removal of necrotic muscle fibers in these animals as compared with untreated animals. Delay was appreciable at four and six days after production of the infarct in animals receiving 2.5 mg. of cortisone per kilogram of body weight and at 4, 6, 12 and 21 days in animals receiving 10 mg. per kilogram. At all other periods up to essentially complete healing of the infarcts as defined at 60 days, no appreciable differences existed between treated and untreated animals.
Feminization as a result of both peripheral conversion of androgens and direct estrogen production from an adrenocortical carcinoma

A 45-year-old man presented with gynecomastia, hypertension and a large left adrenal mass. Further evaluation revealed elevated serum concentrations of estrogen, estrone sulfate, androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, deoxycorticosterone, and aldosterone and increased 24-hour urinary 17-ketosteroid and free cortisol excretion. Removal of a 10 kg adrenocortical carcinoma led to normalization of the hormone concentrations and partial resolution of the gynecomastia. There was no clinical evidence of metastases. Incubation of tumor slices demonstrated that the tumor had an active aromatase and sulfotransferase. We estimated that about half the serum estrone arose from peripheral conversion of androstenedione. Feminizing adrenocortical carcinomas are rare and this case is unusual given the lack of clinical metastases and the probable dual source of estrogen from tumor as well as from the peripheral conversion of tumor-derived androgens.
Frozen Section Control in the Surgery of Basal Cell Carcinoma of the Eyelid

Two groups of patients, 37 with primary basal cell carcinoma of the eyelid and 16 with basal cell carcinoma of the eyelid previously treated by other physicians were reviewed. All of the tumors were excised with at least 3 to 4 mm of normal-appearing tissue at each margin of resection. All of the excised specimens were submitted for frozen section studies of the margins. A total of 20 (54.04%) of the previously untreated tumors and eight of the previously treated tumors had at least one margin involved with tumor cells. Repeated excisions under frozen section control were done until all of the margins were free of tumor cells. To date, none of the patients treated in this manner had a recurrence of the tumor.
Design of the high-speed framing, FEC, and interleaving hardware used in a 5.4km free-space optical communication experiment

The forward error correction (FEC) and interleaver realizations used in a 5.4 km horizontal-path link experiment incorporated several unique elements that were specifically tailored to address turbulence-induced fading. To facilitate optimization studies, this hardware was designed to afford a high degree of flexibility in the FEC code structure and interleaver length. An essential aspect of this structure was the standards-compliant client interface, which provided seamless connectivity to fiber-based terrestrial networks. Through the use of an OTU1 (2.667 Gbaud) architecture with nonstandard interleaving, error-free transmission was achieved in the presence of strong scintillation that produced fade events that frequently exceeded 10 ms in duration. This work was sponsored by the Department of Defense, RRCO DDR&E, under Air Force Contract FA8721-05-C-0002. Opinions, interpretations, conclusions and recommendations are those of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the United States Government.
Cysteine proteinases from distinct cellular compartments are recruited to phagocytic vesicles by Entamoeba histolytica

Cysteine proteinases, which are encoded by at least seven genes, play a critical role in the pathogenesis of invasive amebiasis caused by Entamoeba histolytica. The study of these enzymes has been hampered by the inability to obtain significant quantities of the individual native proteinases. We have now expressed functionally active recombinant ACP1 (EhCP3) and ACP2 (EhCP2) proteinases in baculoviral expression vectors. The purified recombinant ACP1 and ACP2 proteinases exhibited similar activities for fluorogenic peptide substrates, especially in their preference for an arginine residue at the P2 position. Although ACP1 and ACP2 are structurally cathepsin L, homology modeling revealed that the aspartic acid in the S2 pocket would result in a substrate specificity for positively charged amino acids, like cathepsin B. The hydrolysis of peptide substrates was strongly inhibited by small peptidyl inhibitors specifically designed for parasitic cysteine proteinases. Confocal and immunoelectron microscopy localization of the proteinases with monoclonal and monospecific antibodies raised to the recombinant enzymes and peptides demonstrated that ACP2 was membrane-associated while ACP1 was cytoplasmic. Following phagocytosis of erythrocytes, ACP1, as well as the membrane-associated cysteine proteinase, ACP2, were incorporated into phagocytic vesicles. These studies suggest that E. histolytica has a redundancy of cysteine proteinases for intracellular digestion and that they may be recruited from different cellular compartments to the site of digestion of phagocytosed cells. The production of active proteinases in baculovirus and large scale recombinant enzymes in bacteria should further our understanding of the role of different cysteine proteinase gene products in virulence.
Ranking and classification of monotonic emphysema patterns with a multi-class hierarchical approach

Emphysema has distinct and well-defined visually apparent CT patterns called centrilobular and panlobular emphysema. Existing studies concentrated on the classification of these patterns but they have not looked at the complete evolution of this disease as the destruction of lung parenchyma progresses from normal lung tissue to mild, moderate, and severe disease with complete effacement of the lung architecture. In this paper, we discretize this continuous process into five classes of increasing disease severity and construct a training set of 1161 CT patches. We exploit three solutions to this monotonic multi-class classification problem: a global rankSVM for ranking, hierarchical SVM for classification and a combination of these two, which we call a hierarchical rankSVM. Results showed that both hierarchical approaches were computationally efficient. The classification accuracies were slightly better for hierarchical SVM. However, in addition to classification, ranking approaches also provided a ranking of patterns, which can be utilized as a continuous disease progression score. In terms of the classification accuracy and ratio of pair-wise constraints satisfied, hierarchical rankSVM outperformed the global rankSVM.
Nonlinear Flexural-Flexural-Torsional Dynamics of Inextensional Beams. I. Equations of Motion

Abstract This paper is divided into two parts. The authors’ purpose in Part I is to formulate a set of mathematically consistent governing differential equations of motion describing the nonplanar, nonlinear dynamics of an inextensional beam. The beam is assumed to undergo flexure about two principal axes and torsion. The equations are developed with the objective of retaining contributions due to nonlinear curvature as well as nonlinear inertia. A priori ordering assumptions are avoided as much as possible in the process. The equations are expanded to contain nonlinearities up to order three to facilitate comparison with analogous equations in the literature, and to render them amenable to the study of moderately large amplitude flexural-torsional oscillations by perturbation techniques. The utilization of the order-three equations in the analysis of nonlinear beam oscillations is the subject of Part II.
Rounds versus time for the two person pebble games

Abstract We show the following results for rounds/time trade-offs in the two person pebble game: 1. 1. For every R and n ( R = O( n log n ) ), there is a bounded degree graph of n vertices for which the Pebbler can win in R rounds only in time Ω( n log R ) . 2. 2. There is a graph that exhibits almost tight round/time trade-offs for all rounds. 3. 3. There is no graph with tight round/time trade-offs for all rounds. As a consequence, we improve the simulation of bounded fan-in circuits by unbounded fan-in circuits, extending the size/depth trade-off of Paterson and Valiant.
Syria's State Bourgeoisie: An Organic Backbone for the Regime

Despite the political turmoil that has engulfed Syria since March 2011, the one constant has been the remarkable coherence and cohesion of the regime elite and their immediate circles. This cohesio...
Provision of services and care for HIV-exposed infants: a comparison of maternal and child health clinic and HIV comprehensive care clinic models.

OBJECTIVE: Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV programs require follow-up of HIV-exposed infants (HEI) for infant feeding support prophylactic medicines and HIV diagnosis for at least 18 months. Retention in care and receipt of HIV services are challenging in resource-limited settings. This study compared infant follow-up results when HEI services were provided within Maternal and Child Health (MCH) clinics or in specialized HIV Comprehensive Care Clinics (CCCs) in Kenya. METHODS: This observational prospective cohort study enrolled HEI at 6-8 weeks of age in 2 purposively selected hospitals with similar characteristics but different models of service delivery. In the CCC model HEI received immunization and growth monitoring in MCH but cotrimoxazole prophylaxis and infant HIV testing in the CCC. In the MCH model all services were provided in the MCH. Data were collected at enrollment 14 weeks and 6 9 and 12 months. RESULTS: From April 2008 to April 2009 184 HEI were enrolled in the CCC cohort and 179 in the MCH cohort. Infants in MCH were 1.14 1.42 1.95 and 1.29 times more likely to attend 14-week 6- 9- and 12-month postnatal visits respectively and 2.24 times (95% confidence interval: 1.57 to 3.18) more likely to attend all 4 visits. Although infants in MCH were 1.33 times (95% confidence interval: 1.10 to 1.62) more likely to have HIV antibody testing at 1 year than CCC there were no differences for polymerase chain reaction test or cotrimoxazole initiation at 6-8 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: HIV services integrated in MCH yield better follow-up of HEI than CCC.
An Interactive Excel VBA Example for Teaching Statistics Concepts

It is often challenging for business students to learn abstract statistical concepts and apply these concepts to their work. Three concepts in particular that we have found difficult to communicate effectively are the Central Limit Theorem, interval estimation and hypothesis testing. To improve the effectiveness of teaching these fundamental statistical concepts, we developed a Visual Basic for Applications VBA driven Excel spreadsheet that is built around one simple business scenario. The scenario involves setting the filling speed in a cereal filling plant. The faster the filling speed, the larger the variation in cereal box weights and the higher the chance of having an out-of-control filling process. On the other hand, the lower the filling speed, the less efficient the plant is at utilizing capacity. Through interactively finding the optimal filling speed, students are exposed to these key statistics concepts as well as random sampling techniques. Hence, we integrate the illustration of three important statistical concepts in one simple yet practical business scenario. Moreover, the Excel VBAdriven example demonstrates several Excel statistical formulae that are useful to business students. We conducted an in-class open-book quiz to two sections of professional MBA students to assess teaching effectiveness of this interactive example. The results showed that the scores of those using the interactive VBA demo were superior to those exposed to more traditional techniques at 10% significance level. A follow-up on-line feedback survey further supported the usage of the Excel VBA-driven example in enhancing student learning.
Development and evaluation of a categorization methodology for occupational back and shoulder injuries using claims data

Administrative claims datasets have great potential for health services researchers who wish to evaluate patient care on a large scale across providers, but categorizing patients’ primary health conditions from these data can be challenging. The goal of this work is to describe and evaluate a methodology to assign workers compensation claimants to meaningful groups within back and shoulder injuries using claims data. Claims data from a large multi-state workers compensation insurance dataset were used to assign eligible claimants to condition and subcondition groups using available ICD9 codes. Assignments were evaluated against body part indicators, severity indicators, resource utilization, and specific clinical interventions. Of the 575,967 claimants who met inclusion criteria, 54,066 claimants were designated as shoulder injuries and 118,772 were designated as back injuries. Within back and shoulder injuries, claimants were assigned to more specific groups known as subconditions. For both back and shoulder injuries, there were statistically significant differences between subconditions in several categories of resource utilization (p < 0.01 for all). For each of nine specific clinical interventions, the hypothesized corresponding subcondition had statistically significantly higher utilization than other subconditions (p < 0.01). This methodology could be an important tool to health services researchers who wish to target interventions or examine trends in cost and service utilization among meaningful groups of claimants.
The Johari Window—Solving Sport Management Communication Problems

Abstract Seeing interpersonal relationships through the Johari Window will enhance relationships, which in turn will create a climate in which communication can improve.
Mach number scaling of single-component, two-phase flow

A simple two-fluid formulation is used to investigate compressibility effects and Mach number scaling for equilibrium, evaporating two-phase flow. The definition of the local two-phase Mach number emerges from a critical flow analysis. Comparisons of the theoretical critical mass flux with existing experimental data obtained in steam-water flows show very good agreement for moderate and high qualities over a wide critical pressure range. Within this quality range the predicted critical mass flux is quite insensitive to the velocity ratio. The analysis confirms previous observations, based on homogeneous flow models, indicating that in variable area ducts the critical state does not occur at a geometrical throat
Imaging: Safety of spinal angiography.

Spinal angiography has historically been associated with a high risk of complications, but up-to-date safety reports are lacking. A recent retrospective review found a low complication rate of catheter angiography of the spine, and suggests that MRI performs poorly as an alternative approach to the diagnosis of spinal vascular disorders.
Scaling rule for target ionization by highly charged ions at low-to-intermediate velocities

Cross sections for ionization of He by highly charged ${\mathrm{Cl}}^{\mathit{q}+}$, ${\mathrm{Cu}}^{\mathit{q}+}$, and ${\mathrm{I}}^{\mathit{q}+}$ (q=6\char21{}10) impact at velocities from 1.6 to 3.1 a.u. were measured. These results are compared with other experimental and theoretical results available over a wide velocity range. A universal scaling rule for target ionization by nearly bare, highly charged ions at low to intermediate velocities (0.2\char21{}3.5 a.u.) is reported. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.
A comparison of tactile and auditory time judgment.

Recent experiments (Goldstone, Boardman, & Lhamon, 1959; Goldstone, Jernigan, Lhamon, 8: Boardman, 1959) demonstrated that a longer visual rhan auditory input is likely to be judged equivalent to Ss' concept of one clock second. Other studies (Behar & Bevan, 1960; Behar & Bevan, 1961 ) verified the tendency to judge longer lights than sounds equivalent to an internal temporal norm using different standards of time. This investigation extended the intersensory comparisons of temporal judgments by including the tactile mode. Tactile and auditory Second Estimation Points (SEP) were obtained as before (Goldstone, Boardman, & Lhamon, 1959) from 11 Ss' judgments of ascending and descending durations as more or less than a clock second. Tactile durations were applied to the midpoint dorsal surface of the proximal phalanx of the third finger, left hand through a phonograph recording head stylus terminating in a 1-mm. button vibrating at 250 cps resting on the skin with a force of 1.7 gm. Auditory input was the same as in earlier experiments (Goldstone, Boardman, & Lhamon, 1959). A background masking tone of 250 cps was used. Five Ss received the auditory series first and six had the tactile series first. No order effects were obtained and data were combined. The auditory and tactile SEPs were compared, using the Wilcoxon matched pairs test. The auditory SEPs (Median, .45 sec.) were significantly longer ( P < .05) than the tactile SEPs (Median, .35 sec.). Only two Ss showed a reversal. The tactile-auditory difference is not as great as the visual-auditory difference, but these data again emphasize the need to consider the mode of input as a relevant variable in time judgment.
Fully Automated Adipose Tissue Measurement on Abdominal CT

Obesity has become widespread in America and has been associated as a risk factor for many illnesses. Adipose tissue (AT) content, especially visceral AT (VAT), is an important indicator for risks of many disorders, including heart disease and diabetes. Measuring adipose tissue (AT) with traditional means is often unreliable and inaccurate. CT provides a means to measure AT accurately and consistently. We present a fully automated method to segment and measure abdominal AT in CT. Our method integrates image preprocessing which attempts to correct for image artifacts and inhomogeneities. We use fuzzy cmeans to cluster AT regions and active contour models to separate subcutaneous and visceral AT. We tested our method on 50 abdominal CT scans and evaluated the correlations between several measurements.
Anatomical Relationships of Intracavernous Internal Carotid Artery to Intracavernous Neural Structures

The objective is to correlate the intracavernous internal carotid artery (ICA) with the position of the intracavernous neural structures. The cavernous sinuses of nine injected cadaveric heads were dissected bilaterally. As measured on computed tomographic angiograms from 100 adults, anatomical relationships and measurements of intracavernous ICA and neural structures were studied and correlated to the intracavernous ICA curvature. Intracavernous ICAs were classified as normal and redundant. The meningohypophyseal trunk (MHT) of normal ICAs appeared to be closely related to the abducens nerve compared with redundant ICAs (5.5 ± 2.1 mm versus 10.0 ± 2.5 mm, respectively; p = 0.001). The position of the inferolateral trunk (ILT) varied along the horizontal segment of the intracavernous ICA. On imaging studies the ICA curvature correlated with the kyphotic degree of the skull and similarity of the ICA curvature between sides. The safety margin for preventing iatrogenic intracavernous nerve injury during surgical exploration or transarterial embolization of vascular lesions around the MHT is high with redundant ICAs. In contrast, a transvenous endovascular approach via the inferior petrosal sinus may be too distant to reach the MHT when ICAs are redundant. Approaching lesions of the inferolateral trunk may be the same regardless of ICA type.
Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy in the Management of Vulvar Carcinoma, Cervical Cancer, and Endometrial Cancer

The treatment of gynecologic malignancies can include surgery, systemic therapy, and radiation. Depending on the primary site of disease and the extent of the disease, these treatment strategies are applied alone or in combination. Trends over the past few decades have concentrated on performing more comprehensive staging procedures for a large percentage of patients with gynecologic malignancies. The surgical techniques available for comprehensive staging have facilitated a greater understanding of stage and prognosis overall, and better tailoring of postsurgical treatment. One such technique is regional lymphadenectomy. Although the role of regional lymphadenectomy as a therapeutic procedure in some gynecologic cancers is debated and challenged (regional lymphadenectomy and multimodality therapy increases adverse side effects and long-term sequelae without proven survival benefit), there is no controversy regarding the staging and prognostic benefit of the evaluation of regional lymph nodes. The sentinel lymph node (SLN) concept was successfully introduced in melanoma. It has since become the standard of care in breast cancer and has had a significant impact on postoperative morbidity for a large percentage of breast cancer patients. Interest in using SLN techniques in gynecologic cancers was thus a natural progression. In light of the growing body of evidence in the literature opposing the therapeutic benefit of systematic lymphadenectomy, the SLN concept will continue to play an important role in the treatment of gynecologic malignancies. This technique can provide accurate staging information in some gynecologic cancers. Increased use of this technique could potentially impact the quality of life of gynecologic cancer survivors while still providing important staging information without compromising oncologic safety. In this review, we examine the body of literature related to gynecologic cancer malignancies and SLN biopsy.
“Blocks test” of multiple response

A simple test of multiple serial response is proposed which makes use of materials that are inexpensive and easily prepared, and that do not get out of order. The test employs twenty-four colored blocks placed in two rows on a table. The total equipment needed consists of the blocks and a watch.
Widely wavelength tunable optical filters using characteristics of long-range surface plasmon polaritons

We report widely tunable optical band-pass filters based on long-range surface plasmon polaritons. A 210nm of wavelength tuning is achieved with a 0.004 variation in the refractive index of the top filter cladding dielectric.