cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The management of acute cholecystitis

1. Acute cholecystitis is usually dependent on an obstruction to the outlet of the gall bladder with interruption in the blood supply to the organ. In over 92 per cent of cases the obstructing agent is a calculus. Secondary infection of the ischemic areas may or may not occur. 2. Acute cholecystitis is a dangerous condition. Under conservative treatment perhaps 25 per cent of the patients will get worse. Serious complications such as empyema, gangrene, perforation of the gall bladder and generalized peritonitis frequently occur. 3. Unfortunately in these cases there is no good correlation between the severity of the clinical manifestations and the severity of the disease. Furthermore, it is impossible to predict in any one case whether the disease will quiet down or get worse. 4. Statistics show that the mortality is great in the “early” operations done after the symptoms have been present for forty-eight hours. Operations done within forty-eight hours after the onset of the acute attack have had the lowest mortality rate. Unfortunately few patients reach a hospital within this interval. 5. It is inadvisable, however, to operate on every patient seen within forty-eight hours after the onset of acute symptoms. If such an early operation is done as a routine many diagnoses will be wrong and patients will be operated on unnecessarily. 6. Patients and the disease vary widely, and hence the treatment must be individualized. 7. A plan of procedure which has been employed successfully in the management of patients with acute cholecystitis is outlined.
Aerobactin Mediates Virulence and Accounts for Increased Siderophore Production under Iron-Limiting Conditions by Hypervirulent (Hypermucoviscous) Klebsiella pneumoniae

Hypervirulent (hypermucoviscous) Klebsiella pneumoniae (hvKP) strains are an emerging variant of "classical" K. pneumoniae (cKP) that cause organ and life-threatening infection in healthy individuals. An understanding of hvKP-specific virulence mechanisms that enabled evolution from cKP is limited. Observations by our group and previously published molecular epidemiologic data led us to hypothesize that hvKP strains produced more siderophores than cKP strains and that this trait enhanced hvKP virulence. Quantitative analysis of 12 hvKP strains in iron-poor minimal medium or human ascites fluid showed a significant and distinguishing 6- to 10-fold increase in siderophore production compared to that for 14 cKP strains. Surprisingly, high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC)-mass spectrometry and characterization of the hvKP strains hvKP1, A1142, and A1365 and their isogenic aerobactin-deficient (ΔiucA) derivatives established that aerobactin accounted for the overwhelming majority of increased siderophore production and that this was not due to gene copy number. Further, aerobactin was the primary factor in conditioned medium that enhanced the growth/survival of hvKP1 in human ascites fluid. Importantly the ex vivo growth/survival of hvKP1 ΔiucA was significantly less than that of hvKP1 in human ascites fluid, and the survival of outbred CD1 mice challenged subcutaneously or intraperitoneally with hvKP1 was significantly less than that of mice challenged with hvKP1 ΔiucA. The lowest subcutaneous and intraperitoneal challenge inocula of 3 × 10(2) and 3.2 × 10(1) CFU, respectively, resulted in 100% mortality, demonstrating the virulence of hvKP1 and its ability to cause infection at a low dose. These data strongly support that aerobactin accounts for increased siderophore production in hvKP compared to cKP (a potential defining trait) and is an important virulence factor.
Acute toxicity of the natural algicide, cyanobacterin, to Daphnia magna.

Abstract Cyanobacterin is a potent, photosynthetic inhibitor produced as a secondary metabolite by the filamentous, freshwater cyanobacterium Scytonema hofmanni. With a spectrum of activity encompassing species of cyanobacteria and eucaryotic algae as well as higher plants, cyanobacterin might be utilized as a commercial algicide for algae waterbloom control. As a component of the preliminary environmental risk/hazard evaluation of this proposed application, the acute toxicity of cyanobacterin to the planktonic crustacean, Daphnia magna, was assessed. Based on five trials, the 48-hr LC50 for D. magna was determined to be ∼ 1.37 μg/ml (range: 0.78–2.58 μg/ml). In addition, a significant percentage of the surviving daphnids were completely immobile at the end of the 48-hr exposure period. These results give strong indication that cyanobacterin and/or its residues exhibit some nontarget organism lethality at projected use-concentration levels. Furthermore, estimates of partition coefficients and bioconcentration factor, generated through quantitative structure-activity relationships, suggest that sediment, suspended particulates, and biota may serve as major compartments of cyanobacterin partioning in an aquatic ecosystem. Before cyanobacterin should be further considered for application as a commercial algicide, a rigorous evaluation of nontarget organism lethality and environmental fate is required.
Iran, Terrorism, and Weapons of Mass Destruction

This article reviews Iran's past and current use of terrorism and assesses why U.S. attempts to halt Iran's efforts have met with little success. With this assessment in mind, it argues that Iran is not likely transfer chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons to terrorist groups for several reasons. First, providing terrorists with such unconventional weapons offers Iran few tactical advantages as these groups are able to operate effectively with existing methods and weapons. Second, Iran has become more cautious in its backing of terrorists in recent years. And third, Tehran is highly aware that any major escalation in its support for terrorism would incur U.S. wrath and international condemnation. The article concludes by offering recommendations for decreasing Iran's support for terrorism.
Deploying complex decision technologies with APL to solve the daily output planning problem: a tale from two of the last of the Jedi Knights

A key decision faced each day, shift, or time period at a semiconductor manufacturing facility is how many wafers or lots it should commit to produce at each operation over a specified period of time to meet immediate demand and position the line to meet tomorrow's demand. This paper will describe an approach which integrates various decision technologies using APL to generate a “daily output plan” for low part number high volume wafer fabrication lines. A related approach for high part number logic lines using due dates is not described in this paper. The ability of the “APL Problem Solving environment” to easily handle very different decision technologies was critical to the development of this approach.
A note on trend-free block designs

Trend-free and nearly trend-free block designs were developed to eliminate polynomial trends across the plots of experimental designs. Yeh, Bradley and Notz (1985) proved that certain nearly trend-free designs are A- and D-optimal in a subclass of all competing designs. This article extends that result by enlarging the class of designs for which the optimality holds, and by increasing the class of optimality criteria from A- and D-optimality to the class of all Schur-convex nonincreasing functions.
Double stranded RNA- relative to other TLR ligand-activated dendritic cells induce extremely polarized human Th1 responses

To better understand the relative efficiencies of using different TLR ligand-activated DCs to induce human CD4(+) T lymphocyte responses, human DCs were activated with two viral and two bacterial TLR ligands, and their production of IL12, TNFalpha, and IL10 was examined. While the two viral TLR ligands (ssRNA and dsRNA) induced DC production of detectable levels of IL12p70, DCs activated by the two bacterial TLR ligands (LPS and flagellin) induced increased proliferation of human allogeneic naive CD4(+) T cells. dsRNA-activated DCs induced increased Th1 and decreased Th2 differentiation, resulting in extremely polarized responses relative to those induced by unstimulated and other TLR ligand-activated DCs. Neutralization of IL12p70 abrogated most of the Th1 skewing induced by all TLR ligand-activated moDCs. Collectively, these results demonstrate that dsRNA-activated DCs induce more highly polarized human Th1 responses than the other TLR ligand-activated DCs tested here. These results have implications for TLR ligands in immunotherapy.
On the definition of life: taking the Aristotelian approach

Despite numerous attempts, we still do not have a satisfactory definition of life. It is generally accepted that one of the essential features of life is the ability of an organism to reproduce. This implies that mules, workers ants, and other sterile individuals are not alive. To correct this apparent problem, we suggest that life should be defined in two ways. In the first way life is defined as a phenomenon, for which the reproduction of some, but not all individuals is essential. In the second way, life is defined as a set of characteristics of an individual organism, among which the reproduction is not essential. We explore Aristotle's classifications of things that exist, in which he placed individual living beings as primary substances, above their species and genera, which are secondary substances. Definition of life as a phenomenon needs to link life to its origins. Life presumably emerged from abiotic matter via chemical evolution. We have examined Aristotle's concept of change in which potentiality goes to actuality, and its variant, Kauffman's concept of adjacent possible, for their possible application in the prebiotic chemical evolution. We have found that these principles are somewhat useful in the back engineering process, but that they have very little predictive value.
Metal−Organic Frameworks as Sensors: A ZIF-8 Based Fabry−Pérot Device as a Selective Sensor for Chemical Vapors and Gases

A ZIF-8 thin film-based Fabry−Perot device has been fabricated as a selective sensor for chemical vapors and gases. The preparation of the ZIF-8 thin film and a series of ZIF-8 thin films of various thicknesses grown on silicon substrates are presented.
Analysis of angiotensin-stimulated sodium transport in cultured smooth muscle cells from rat aorta.

Angiotensin peptides (AI, AII, AIII) increased the rate of Na+ accumulation by smooth muscle cells (SMC) cultured from rat aorta. The stimulatory effect of All on Na+ uptake was observed which Na+ exodus via the Na+/K+ pump was blocked either by ouabain or by the removal of extracellular K+. All was at least ten times more potent than AIII and about 100 times more potent than AI in stimulating Na+ uptake. Saralasin had little effect on Na+ uptake by itself but almost completely blocked the increase caused by All. The stimulation of net Na+ entry by AI, but not AII, was prevented by protease inhibitors. The stimulation of Na+ uptake was almost completely blocked by amiloride. Tetrodotoxin, which prevented veratridine from increasing Na+ uptake, had no effect on the response to AII. Angiotensin increased the rate of ouabain-sensitive 86Rb+ uptake (Na+/K+ pump activity) but had no effect on ouabain-sensitive ATPase activity in frozen-thawed SMC or in microsomal membranes isolated from cultured SMC. The stimulation of ouabain-sensitive 86Rb+ uptake by All was blocked by saralasin. Omitting Na+ from the external medium prevented All from increasing 86Rb+ uptake. All had no effect on cell volume or cyclic AMP levels in the cultured SMC. These results suggest that angiotensin peptides activate an amiloride-sensitive Na+ transporter which supplies the Na+ /K+ pump with more Na+, its rate-limiting substrate.
Finite dimensional backward shift invariant subspaces of Arveson spaces

A description is given of finite dimensional backward shift invariant subspaces of Arveson spaces, which are certain multivariable analogues of the Hardy space of the unit disk.
Frequencies of HLA and Gm immunogenetic markers in Kaposi's sarcoma.

An outbreak of Kaposi's sarcoma in homosexual men has recently been observed in New York and California which differs from the “classic” North American disease with regard to younger age of onset and clinical prognosis. Although the exact mechanism for initiation of either disease is still unknown, a viral mechanism has been suggested in both cases. In order to investigate the possible role of HLA-as-sociated variations in genetic susceptibility, 39 patients with histologically documented Kaposi's sarcoma were typed for HLA-A,B,C antigens. Most of these patients were also typed for HLA-DR antigens and for Gm allotypes. A significant increase in DR5 occurred in both groups. Decreases in B8 and DR3 and an increase in homozygosity for the Gm haplotype 3;5,13 were also noted. These results suggest that HLA and Gm linked immune response factors may play a role in the induction of both these forms of the disease. These studies were supported in part by NIH Grants CA-08748 and CA-22507. The authors also wish to thank Dr. Joyce Wallace, St. Vincent's Hospital, New York, for referring several of the Kaposi's sarcoma patients for study and to acknowledge the expert technical assistance of Cynthia Galloway and the expert typing and editorial assistance of Seth Horowitz.
Jonathan Edwards Goes to Hell (House): Fear Appeals in American Evangelism

Abstract This article traces the argumentum ad baculum, or appeal to fear, from Jonathan Edwards in the eighteenth century to the contemporary fundamentalist Christian practice of staging morality plays, often called Hell House. In his scare-for-salvation sermons, Edwards used descriptions of the reality of hell to invoke psychosomatic reactions of terror in his audience, and we see similar rhetorical tactics at work in evangelical hell houses. In a post-9/11 world where leaders, governments, and media can exert considerable power over individuals by frightening them into impulsive behavior, and considering the New Testament's message of love, this strategy seems questionable.
Genetic organization and enzymatic activity of a superoxide dismutase from the microaerophilic human pathogen, Helicobacter pylori.

Abstract Helicobacter pylori (Hp) is a microaerobic human pathogen that has been implicated as a factor in the development of chronic type-B gastritis, gastric ulcers and gastric carcinoma. The enzyme Superoxide dismutase (SOD), a major defense mechanism against oxidative damage, catalyzes the breakdown of Superoxide radicals to hydrogen peroxide and dioxygen. A search for sod genes in Hp , employing PCR, revealed that this bacterium contained at least one sod gene. We cloned and sequenced a sod from this organism and determined that the deduced protein encoded by this gene was most similar to an iron SOD (FeSOD). Northern blot and primer extension analysis of Hp RNA showed that the cloned gene is monocistronic and is probably transcribed from a σ 70 -like promoter. Assays for SOD activities, accompanied by inhibition studies, demonstrated that Hp produces an FeSOD. No other SOD activities were seen.
Second-trimester angiogenic factors as biomarkers for future-onset preeclampsia.

Objective The purpose of this study was to determine whether second-trimester soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 and placenta growth factor (PlGF) are altered in patients who have preeclampsia develop compared with controls. Furthermore, soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 and placenta growth factor levels in patients with chronic hypertension are described. Study Design With the use of a research database, 21 patients who had severe preeclampsia develop, 34 controls, and 9 patients with chronic hypertension were enrolled. Placenta growth factor and soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 serum levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Appropriate statistical tests were used and results were reported as median (quartile 1-quartile 3) in picograms per milliliter. Results Placenta growth factor was significantly lower in patients in the second trimester who later had severe preeclampsia develop but soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 was unchanged compared with healthy pregnancies. In patients with chronic hypertension, placenta growth factor and soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 levels were not different compared with controls. Conclusion Second-trimester placenta growth factor levels are altered in patients who had severe preeclampsia develop.
Soft errors in advanced CMOS technologies

Soft errors produced by ionizing radiation pose significant challenges for integrated circuits and electronic devices. The challenges and solutions change significantly as feature sizes become smaller and device topologies change. This paper reviews soft errors in advanced electronics, with emphasis on highly scaled CMOS technologies.
Bergman’s Kernel function on a class of elliptic partial differential equations in four variables

In this paper, we apply the Bergman’s kernel function theory to solve the boundary value problems for a class of elliptic partial differential equations, and estimate the errors in using approximate solutions.
Development of the apical ectodermal ridge in the chick leg bud and a comparison with the wing bud

Histologic examination of the leg bud of stage-18 to stage-23 chick embryos was carried out with special reference to the development of the apical ectodermal ridge. The leg bud apical ectoderm, initially an irregular columnar epithelium with an overlying simple squamous periderm, began to thicken during stage 18 and was a pseudostratified epithelium by stage 19. A notch in the base of the thickened ectoderm was seen as early as stage 19. The notch represented the cross-sectional view of a groove, which developed in the base of the ridge. As development proceeded, the ridge and its associated groove lengthened. In addition, the groove became more prominent, and irregularities were seen in its width and depth along the apex. Ectodermal cell death was not consistently seen until stage 21 at which time most of the length of the thickened ectoderm had evidence of necrosis. Development of the leg bud ridge and wing bud ridge were compared. The temporal sequence of ectodermal thickening and ridge development was very similar in both the leg and wing buds with one exception; namely, that leg bud ridge development preceded wing bud ridge development by several hours. In addition, ectodermal cell death was not evident until stage 20 in the leg bud ridge, but could be seen at late stage 18 in the wing bud apical ectoderm. However, by stage 21, cell death was associated with most of the ridge in both the wing and leg buds. Finally, with respect to the axial line, the ridge with its associated groove extended further preaxially in the leg bud than in the wing bud, making the leg bud ridge more symmetrical.
Knowledge of Disease and Dietary Compliance in Patients with End-Stage Renal Disease

Noncompliance is a common problem in patients with end-stage renal disease. In this study, we assessed the relationship between knowledge of disease and dietary compliance in a cohort of 56 dialysis patients. Based on a health belief model of adherence, we predicted that dialysis patients who knew more about kidney disease and its treatment would be more complaint than those who knew less about these matters. We also examined the relationship between dietary compliance and patients' emotional well-being. We used a composite measure of compliance consisting of serum K, P, and interdialytic weight gain. A 30-item "Kidney Disease Questionnaire" was used to assess patients' knowledge of their illness. Contrary to prediction, compliers did not score higher on the knowledge questionnaire; in fact, the observed correlation of .32 was in the opposite direction. In the same vein, we found no relationship between compliance and emotional well-being. These results, although somewhat surprising, add to a growing body of research which indicates that medical compliance involves more than educating patients about the mechanisms and treatment of their illness.
Antioxidant Properties of Mesalamine in Colitis Inhibit Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase Signaling in Progenitor Cells

Background:Mesalamine, 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA), is a potent antioxidant and is known to enhance peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor γ activity in the intestine. Our previous studies suggested reduced Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase (PI3K)/β-catenin signaling as a mechanism for 5-ASA chemoprev
Dimer features in the translational depolarized raman spectra of molecular hydrogen pairs

Abstract We have calculated the (H 2 ) 2 dimer spectra superposed on the binary, depolarized, collision-induced Raman spectra of gaseous hydrogen. The dimer contributions are due to bound-free transitions and appear at low frequencies. They differ for para and equilibrium hydrogen. The calculations are based on the McConville potential and the DID model of the induced anisotropy of the polarizability which was seen previously to model the induced spectra fairly well. We conclude that while the results are qualitatively similar, they do not explain quantitatively the interesting differences between the induced spectra of equilibrium and parahydrogen observed by le Duff and Ouillon at low temperature (123 K).
Lessons Learned: Teaching the Race Concept in the College Classroom

For a faculty member of East Asian ancestry, raised in Latin America, race became a salient part of my identity during adulthood while living and working in the southern United States. Thus, unders...
The role of autoantibody and immune complexes in the pathogenesis of Guillain‐Barre syndrome

Evidence that Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) may be caused, at least in part, by antibodies to nerve tissue or soluble immune complexes is reviewed. Although insufficient proof exists at present to confirm a causal relationship between humoral factors and GBS, converging lines of evidence support this possibility.
Relative validity of food frequency questionnaire nutrient estimates in the Black Women's Health Study.

Abstract PURPOSE: The Black Women's Health Study (BWHS) was designed to investigate determinants of health and disease in US black women. More than 64,000 women are enrolled in the BWHS cohort. This study assessed the relative validity of the 68-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) used in the BWHS baseline questionnaire. METHODS: Four hundred and eight BWHS enrollees were asked to provide three telephone, 24-hour recalls and one written 3-day food diary over a one-year period. Means and Pearson correlations were computed to compare estimates for energy, total fat, saturated fat, protein, carbohydrate, dietary fiber, calcium, iron, vitamin C, folate, β-carotene, and vitamin E from the FFQ, recalls, and diaries. RESULTS: Mean energy intake (kcal) was higher for the diary (1716) than the FFQ (1601) or recalls (1510). Other nutrient estimates (% kcal or per 1000 kcal) were similar across methods, except β-carotene (FFQ higher). Correlations (energy-adjusted, except for energy, and corrected for intraperson variation) between the FFQ and the recalls were higher than for the diary data and were between 0.5 and 0.8, except for energy and vitamin E (both CONCLUSION: The BWHS FFQ will support meaningful analyses of diet-health associations for 10 of the 11 energy-adjusted nutrient intake variables analyzed.
Fabry-Perot with an absorbing etalon cavity

The properties of the Fabry-Perot interferometer with an absorbing medium in the cavity have been investigated. When very large reflective finesse etalons are used, the interferometer behaves as a long-path absorption cell with a gain, defined as the ratio of the measured absorption over the sample absorption for the same path as the etalon spacer, equal to C1/2. (C is the etalon contrast.) Practical considerations make the plane Fabry-Perot unsuitable for this use because of the rather large area and surface finesse requirements. The spherical Fabry-Perot, on the other hand, is not constrained in the area requirement and thus appears to be the choice etalon for a long-path absorption cell. The results also show that interference filters, because of their high reflective finesse, have absorption effects which degrade their ultimate performance.
Determinants of morbidity and disability trends in the united states, 1958–77

Macrodynamic structural-equation models are presented that show how changes in annual levels of aggregate indexes of several morbidity and disability conditions for the United States over the years 1958 to 1977 affect each other and are affected by other aggregate demographic and socioeconomic changes. After reviewing the record of annual changes in these indexes based on data from the National Health Interview Survey, patterns of temporal covariation in the time series are discussed and some tentative structural-equation models are constructed to account for their behavior. Statistically, the analyses reveal considerable variation in levels of year-to-year variance explained for these indexes-from 35 percent explained for days of school loss to 97 percent for all acute conditions. Substantive findings imply that a decreasing proportion of preschool children in the population contributes to a decline in the incidence of infective and parasitic diseases, and an increasing proportion of the population at the older ages results in increases in the prevalence of chronic conditions, days of bed disability, and days of restricted activity. Further, increases in economic prosperity lead to an increase in the incidence of injuries and a decrease in the incidence of viral conditions, while higher levels of unemployment produce more injuries and restricted activity days. These inferences corroborate, for the most part, results of prior studies that have been restricted to crosssectional analyses. In addition, however, they provide a basis for making explicit quantitative projections of future levels of morbidity and disability in the American population on the basis of exogenous demographic and socioeconomic conditions.
The role of the diffusion of oxygen and radiation on the spontaneous combustibility of a coal pile in confined storage

Abstract This paper deals with the spontaneous combustibility and ignition behavior of coal stored in confined spaces. The geometry, which views the stockpile to be sealed from all sides except the top (which is exposed to the ambient conditions), is of interest in the transport of coals in barges or in cars by rail. Semi-analytical solutions are developed with the assumption that the coal pile is isothermal. Finite-difference numerical calculations show that the steady-state temperature at the exposed surface from a nonisothermal model is approximately the same as that from the isothermal formulation. Based on this approximation, the maximum temperature in the nonisothermal stockpile is linked analytically to the temperature calculated from the isothermal formulation. This approximation also permits rapid evaluation of the critical behavior of the nonisothermal stockpile in terms of the isothermal formulation. Detailed numerical solutions are necessary, however, to evaluate the transient behavior of the nonisothermal stockpile. Results in previous literature suggest that diffusion in a one-dimensional stockpile can lead to a maximum temperature rise of ≈ 80 K. This conclusion is shown to be a consequence of the unrealistic boundary conditions imposed on the oxygen and energy balance equations—diffusion alone can lead to dangerous self-heating. It is also shown that inclusion of the radiation at the boundary is extremely important in determining the stability of the stockpile. Finally, the maximum temperature within the pile at steady state, as well as the safe transit time, are calculated for the transport of coal in barges. These calculations confirm the importance of bed compaction in enhancing the safety of the coal pile.
X-ray microcomputed tomography for the measurement of cell adhesionand proliferation in polymer scaffolds.

We have explored the use of X-ray microcomputed tomography (μCT) for assessing cell adhesion and proliferation in polymer scaffolds. Common methods for examining cells in scaffolds include fluorescence microscopy and soluble assays for cell components such as enzymes, protein or DNA. Fluorescence microscopy is generally qualitative and cannot visualize the scaffold interior. Soluble assays quantitatively measure cell number but do not yield information on cell spatial distribution. Herein, the ability of μCT to detect cells in scaffolds was compared with fluorescence microscopy and a soluble DNA assay. Comparisons were performed using polymer scaffolds that were seeded with cells at different densities and cultured for different times. The results showed that fluorescence microscopy had better resolution than μCT and that the soluble DNA assay was approximately 5× more sensitive than μCT under the conditions tested. However, μCT was able to image through opaque scaffolds to yield quantitative 3D imaging and analysis via a single, non-invasive modality. Quantitative μCT analysis of cell penetration into scaffolds was demonstrated. Further, quantitative μCT volume analysis required that the cell density in the scaffolds be greater than 1 million cells per mL indicating that μCT is best suited for quantifying cells at relatively high density during culture in scaffolds. In sum, the results demonstrate the benefits and limitations of using μCT for 3D imaging and analysis of cell adhesion and proliferation in polymer scaffolds.
Successful pregnancy after a liver transplant

The literature contains limited reports on successful pregnancy outcomes after a liver transplant. We report an uncomplicated pregnancy and delivery in a patient 35 months after liver transplantation because of chronic active hepatitis with resultant liver failure secondary to non-A non-B hepatitis.
The role of MCP-1 (CCL2) and CCR2 in multiple sclerosis and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE)

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the commonest inflammatory demyelinating disease of the human central nervous system (CNS). In MS, CNS inflammation is associated with demyelination and axonal degeneration, which leads to clinical presentation. Expression and cellular localization of CCL2/MCP-1 and CCR2 in MS have been described in the three compartments: brain, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood. Evidence from descriptive, transgenic, knockout and neutralizing studies of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) points towards a nonredundant role of CCL2 and CCR2 in the recruitment of inflammatory infiltrate into the CNS. Hence, CCL2 and CCR2 may be targets for specific and effective treatment in MS.
Semiclassical evaluation of sums of squares of hydrogenic bound-state wavefunctions

The sum over l and m of mod phi nlm(r) mod 2, where phi nlm(r) is a bound-state hydrogenic wavefunction with principal quantum number n(>>1) and angular momentum quantum numbers l and m, is evaluated approximately using the Thomas-Fermi statistical approach. This approach breaks down in the region near the nucleus and in the region near and beyond the classical edge of the nth shell at r=2n2a0/Z, with Z the atomic number. A simple correction, proposed recently by Englert and Schwinger (1984) in the context of heavy atoms, is investigated in the region near the edge. Results are presented. The sum over n and m of mod phi nlm(r) mod 2 and the sum over l and m of mod phi nlm(k) mod 2, where phi nlm(k) is the Fourier transform of phi nlm(r), are also evaluated using the Thomas-Fermi method.
Mixed formulations for plate bending elements

Abstract Plate bending elements, based on the Reissner-Mindlin plate theory, are formulated via the Hu-Washizu variational principle, including the Hellinger-Reissner functional as a special case. It is proven that these elements avoid the well-known shear locking behavior at the thin plate limit. To obtain this objective, the assumed stress and strain fields are constructed to satisfy a priori the homogeneous equilibrium equations in a weak sense. The proposed elements are shown to perform well on a set of standard problems.
The electrically small magnetically loaded multiturn loop antenna

An analytical model of a class of electrically small multiturn loop antennas has been formulated and compared with experimental measurements over a frequency range of 3 to 86 MHz. Both air core and magnetically loaded eases were examined. Transmitted signal enhancement as high as 10 dB was predicted and observed by magnetic loading. Several interesting properties of the transmitting antenna were investigated experimentally and by analysis based upon the model. It is concluded that transmitted signals can be enhanced in the 2-30 MHz range, at reasonable power levels, as much as 10 dB with state-of-art ferrite materials. Secondly, the analytical model described in this paper should prove an effective design aid for a volumetrically constrained antenna of the class.
Solar wind eddies and the heliospheric current sheet

Ulysses has collected data between 1 and 5 AU during, and just following solar maximum, when the heliospheric current sheet (HCS) can be thought of as reaching its maximum tilt and being subject to the maximum amount of turbulence in the solar wind. The Ulysses solar wind plasma instrument measures the vector velocity and can be used to estimate the flow speed and direction in turbulent 'eddies' in the solar wind that are a fraction of an astronomical unit in size and last (have either a turnover or dynamical interaction time of) several hours to more than a day. Here, in a simple exercise, these solar wind eddies at the HCS are characterized using Ulysses data. This character is then used to define a model flow field with eddies that is imposed on an ideal HCS to estimate how the HCS will be deformed by the flow. This model inherently results in the complexity of the HCS increasing with heliocentric distance, but the result is a measure of the degree to which the observed change in complexity is a measure of the importance of solar wind flows in deforming the HCS. By comparison with randomly selected intervals not located on the HCS, it appears that eddies on the HCS are similar to those elsewhere at this time during the solar cycle, as is the resultant deformation of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). The IMF deformation is analogous to what is often termed the 'random walk' of interplanetary magnetic field lines.
Telling other stories: heterodox critiques of supply in micro principles texts☆

Abstract This paper develops a common ground for heterodox critiques of the treatment of supply in neoclassical micro principles texts. The paper critiques both the textbooks’ formal analytic propositions and their rhetorical complement in metaphors and stories.
Pentoxifylline attenuates leukoreduced stored blood-induced neutrophil activation through inhibition of mitogen-activated protein kinases.

Context: Transfusion of packed red blood cells is an independent risk factor for postoperative bacterial infections and multiple organ failure.Materials and Methods: Whole blood was obtained from healthy volunteers to investigate the role of mitogen associated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways in PRBC-induced neutrophil respiratory burst, hypothesizing that the attenuating effects of pentoxifylline on this process are due to modulations in MAPK-associated signaling.Results: Pre-incubation of neutrophils with supernatant prior to fMLP stimulation increased p38 MAPK and ERK phosphorylation over fMLP alone pentoxifylline significantly reduced p38MAPK and ERK phosphorylation in similarly stimulated neutrophils.Conclusion: The addition of pentoxifylline stored red blood cells attenuates neutrophil activation.
The Future of National Service

Passage of the Serve America Act in 2009, reauthorizing the nation’s national and community service programs, represented an important milestone. It was the first time these programs and its parent government agency, the U.S. Corporation for National and Community Service, were reauthorized by Congress since the early 1990s. While advocates of national and community service have hailed the passage of this bill as evidence that these initiatives work and will play an increasingly important policy role, this level of enthusiasm is not well founded. The role that national and community service will play in public policy in the future is, at best, apt to be a modest one. The authors argue that national and community service will continue to underachieve and fall short of the claims made by advocates until it can gain true bipartisan support, clearly define program goals, and produce rigorous empirical evidence demonstrating the impact of these programs.
Dielectric Waveguide Theory

This chapter on dielectric waveguide theory is dedicated to Professor C.H. Papas who was my thesis advisor and mentor. He inspired me to be a daring and original researcher. Professor Papas has been truly a scholar and a gentleman, a rare breed indeed. I am honored to have known him.
Association of Coronary Heart Disease Incidence with Carotid Arterial Wall Thickness and Major Risk Factors: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study, 1987–1993

Few studies have determined whether greater carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) in asymptomatic individuals is associated prospectively with increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). In the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, carotid IMT, an index of generalized atherosclerosis, was defined as the mean of IMT measurements at six sites of the carotid arteries using B-mode ultrasound. The authors assessed its relation to CHD incidence over 4-7 years of follow-up (1987-1993) in four US communities (Forsyth County, North Carolina; Jackson, Mississippi; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Washington County, Maryland) from samples of 7,289 women and 5,552 men aged 45-64 years who were free of clinical CHD at baseline. There were 96 incident events for women and 194 for men. In sex-specific Cox proportional hazards models adjusted only for age, race, and center, the hazard rate ratio comparing extreme mean IMT (> or = 1 mm) to not extreme (< 1 mm) was 5.07 for women (95% confidence interval 3.08-8.36) and 1.85 for men (95% confidence interval 1.28-2.69). The relation was graded (monotonic), and models with cubic splines indicated significant nonlinearity. The strength of the association was reduced by including major CHD risk factors, but remained elevated at higher IMT. Up to 1 mm mean IMT, women had lower adjusted annual event rates than did men, but above 1 mm their event rate was closer to that of men. Thus, mean carotid IMT is a noninvasive predictor of future CHD incidence.
Clinical detection of viral infection on an optofluidic chip

We demonstrate strain-specific detection of single virus nucleic acid molecules from clinical influenza samples using an optofluidic chip. We observe a limit of detection of 104 virus copies/mL and 10 orders of magnitude dynamic range.
Corrigendum to “Surgical strategies and outcomes in patients with supraannular mitral ring: a single institution experience” [Eur. J. Cardiothorac. Surg. 38 (2010) 556–560]

Regarding, page 559, Section 4 (Discussion), paragraph 4 of the above article, the authors regret that this paragraph has not been referenced to the work of Collison and coauthors. The original paragraph said: ‘‘The cardiac anomalies associated with SMR have not been well described. From our study, we proposed that the associated cardiac anomalies can be grouped broadly into two categories: SMR associated with ventricular septal defect (VSD; including tetralogy of Fallot) and SMR associated with LVOT pathologies, especially subaortic membrane, bicuspid aortic valve and coarctation of aorta (Shone’s anomaly). In the first scenario, this is important in the context of patients with VSD and turbulence across the MV in which an SMR needs to be ruled out. In the second scenario, in patients with multi-level left heart obstructions, an SMR should be excluded to prevent residual defects, as has been excluded to prevent residual defects, as has been reported previously [13].’’ However, it should be corrected to say: ‘‘The cardiac anomalies associated with SMR have not been well described. Collison et al. proposed that the associated cardiac anomalies can be grouped broadly into two categories: SMR associated with ventricular septal defect (VSD; including tetralogy of Fallot) and SMR associated with LVOTpathologies,especiallysub-aorticmembrane,bicuspid aortic valve and coarctation of aorta (Shone’s anomaly). In thefirstscenario,thisisimportantinthe context ofpatients withVSDandturbulenceacrosstheMVinwhichanSMRneeds to be ruled out. In the second scenario, in patients with multi-level left heart obstructions, an SMR should be excluded to prevent residual defects as has been reported previously [7].’’ [7] Collison SP, Kaushal SK, Dagar KS, Iyer PU, Girotra S, Radhakrishnan S, Shrivastava S, Iyer KS. Supramitral ring: good prognosis in a subset of patients with congenital mitral stenosis. Ann Thorac Surg 2006;81:997—1001.
Nonsurgical Approaches to Colorectal Cancer

It is time to challenge the current orthodoxy that frowns upon surgical and nonsurgical methods of tumor reduction for patients with metastatic colon cancer. Although the studies conducted with radiofrequency ablation, chemoembolization, and radiation therapy in patients with metastatic colon cancer have tended to be small and may have been subject to selection bias, they have produced survival data that require careful consideration. At the very least, it is clear that locoregional approaches to debulking tumors are feasible and that their combination with systemic chemotherapy should be investigated.
Turning the tracking problem sideways: servo tricks for DVD+RW clock generation

This work describes a write clock generation scheme for rewritable DVD which eliminates a major issue for drop-in compatibility with DVD-ROMs. In order to do this, several tricks from servo systems are employed to improve the write clock. Fundamentally, the method used is to colocate a high frequency clock reference next to the data using a wobble groove. A variety of methods are considered to compensate for read-back signal distortion caused by different laser powers during reading, erasing and writing of data. Finally, harmonic compensation can be added to the clock to eliminate the effects of eccentricity and spindle variations. The result is the ability to do bit accurate edits on rewritable DVD media.
Microbial Methylation of Metalloids: Arsenic, Antimony, and Bismuth

A significant 19th century public health problem was that the inhabitants of many houses containing wallpaper decorated with green arsenical pigments experienced illness and death. The problem was caused by certain fungi that grew in the presence of inorganic arsenic to form a toxic, garlic-odored gas. The garlic odor was actually put to use in a very delicate microbiological test for arsenic. In 1933, the gas was shown to be trimethylarsine. It was not until 1971 that arsenic methylation by bacteria was demonstrated. Further research in biomethylation has been facilitated by the development of delicate techniques for the determination of arsenic species. As described in this review, many microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, and yeasts) and animals are now known to biomethylate arsenic, forming both volatile (e.g., methylarsines) and nonvolatile (e.g., methylarsonic acid and dimethylarsinic acid) compounds. The enzymatic mechanisms for this biomethylation are discussed. The microbial conversion of sodium arsenate to trimethylarsine proceeds by alternate reduction and methylation steps, with S-adenosylmethionine as the usual methyl donor. Thiols have important roles in the reductions. In anaerobic bacteria, methylcobalamin may be the donor. The other metalloid elements of the periodic table group 15, antimony and bismuth, also undergo biomethylation to some extent. Trimethylstibine formation by microorganisms is now well established, but this process apparently does not occur in animals. Formation of trimethylbismuth by microorganisms has been reported in a few cases. Microbial methylation plays important roles in the biogeochemical cycling of these metalloid elements and possibly in their detoxification. The wheel has come full circle, and public health considerations are again important.
Design and implementation of an integrated voice, data, and video services network

The design issues in implementing an integrated voice, data, and video services system on a token ring network are discussed. The presence of real-time traffic, namely voice, on the same network makes the implementation complicated. The performance requirements of these traffic types are different. Voice creates stream traffic on a network, whereas data traffic is bursty. Voice packets need to be delivered within a limited time interval, whereas the data emphasizes error-free delivery. A possible solution, supported by a simulation study, is discussed. >
An empirical test of two psychophysical models.

Abstract Two theoretical relationships between sensitivity measures (Weber fractions, Ekman fractions, and their logarithms) and the exponents of the psychophysical power function were tested empirically with the brightness attribute. One model was based on Weber and Ekman fractions, the other on the logarithms of these measures. The stimulus parameters were time interval between standard and comparison targets and position of the standard in the luminance series. Weber fractions were based on data obtained by the method of constant stimuli, whereas Ekman fractions and exponents were based on data obtained by magnitude estimation. The results were in closer agreement with the theoretical predictions generated by the logarithmic model when group data were analyzed. With individual subjects, a detailed correspondence between fact and theory was not found with either model.
Anti-glycosphingolipid autoantibodies in rheumatologic disorders.

Antibodies directed against ganglioside GM1 or sulfatides are frequently associated with motor or sensorimotor neuropathies. To establish the prevalence of such antiglycosphingolipid autoantibodies in autoimmune disorders and to determine whether they contribute to neurologic symptoms in those individuals, we measured these antibodies by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in serum samples from rheumatologic patients with and without peripheral neuropathies (PN). We tested 21 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (9 with PN), 26 with Sjogren's syndrome (12 with PN), 34 with scleroderma (28 with PN), and 14 with rheumatoid arthritis (4 with PN). Samples from 32 normal individuals were also tested. Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis had elevated concentrations of GM1 antibodies and scleroderma patients had lower levels of sulfatide antibodies compared to healthy individuals. The presence of ganglioside or sulfatide antibodies did not correlate with the development of peripheral neuropathy in these patients. These findings suggest that relatively low-titer glycosphingolipid antibodies may arise as part of a nonspecific polyclonal gammopathy in rheumatologic disorders but generally without clinical manifestation. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.