cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Improved Prognosis of Treatment Failure in Cervical Cancer with Non-Tumor Positron Emission Tomography / Computed Tomography Radiomics.

Background: Radiomics has been applied to predict recurrence in several disease sites, but current approaches are typically restricted to analyzing tumor features, neglecting non-tumor information in the rest of the body. The purpose of this work was to develop and validate a model incorporating non-tumor radiomics, including whole body features, to predict treatment outcomes in patients with previously untreated locoregionally advanced cervical cancer. Methods: We analyzed 127 cervical cancer patients treated definitively with chemoradiotherapy and intracavitary brachytherapy. All patients underwent pretreatment whole body 18F-FDG PET/CT. To quantify effects due to the tumor itself, the gross tumor volume (GTV) was directly contoured on the PET/CT. Meanwhile, to quantify effects arising from the rest of the body, the planning target volume (PTV) was deformably registered from each planning CT to the PET/CT, and a semi-automated approach combining seed-growing and manual contour review generated whole body muscle, bone, and fat segmentations on each PET/CT. A total of 965 radiomic features were extracted for GTV, PTV, muscle, bone, and fat. 95 patients were used to train a Cox model of disease recurrence including both radiomic and clinical features (age, stage, tumor grade, histology, and baseline complete blood cell counts), using bagging and split-sample-validation for feature reduction and model selection. To further avoid overfitting, the resulting models were tested for generalization on the remaining 32 patients, by calculating a risk score based on Cox regression and evaluating the c-index (c-index > 0.5 indicates predictive power). Results: Optimal performance was seen in a Cox model including one clinical biomarker (whether or not a tumor was stage III-IVA), two GTV radiomic biomarkers (PET gray-level size-zone matrix small area low gray level emphasis and zone entropy), one PTV radiomic biomarker (major axis length) and one whole body radiomic biomarker (CT Bone root mean square). In particular, stratification into high- and low-risk groups, based on the linear risk score from this Cox model, resulted in a hazard ratio [95% CI] of 0.019 [0.004, 0.082], an improvement over stratification based on clinical stage alone, which had a hazard ratio of 0.36 [0.16, 0.83]. Conclusion: Incorporating non-tumor radiomic biomarkers can improve the performance of prognostic models compared to using only clinical and tumor radiomic biomarkers. Future work should look to further test these models in larger, multi-institutional cohorts.
A Method for Improving the Precision and Coverage of Atomicity Violation Predictions

Atomicity violations are the most common non-deadlock concurrency bugs, which have been extensively studied in recent years. Since detecting the actual occurrences of atomicity violations is extremely hard and exhaustive testing of a multi-threaded program is in general impossible, many predictive methods have been proposed, which make error predictions based on a small number of instrumented interleaved executions. Predictive methods often make tradeoffs between precision and coverage. An over-approximate predictive method ensures coverage but lacks precision and thus may report a large number of false bugs. An under-approximate predictive method ensures precision but lacks coverage and thus can miss significant real bugs. This paper presents a post-prediction analysis method for improving the precision of the prediction results obtained through over-approximation while achieving better coverage than that obtained through under-approximation. Our method analyzes and filters the prediction results of over-approximation by evaluating a subset of read-after-write relationships without enforcing all of them as in existing under-approximation methods. Our post-prediction method is a static analysis method on the predicted traces from dynamic instrumentation of C/C++ executable, and is faster than dynamic replaying methods for ensuring precision.
The perils of pervasive legal instrumentalism

In contemporary U.S. legal culture, the law is widely seen as an instrument to serve ends. Many legal theories construe law in instrumental terms (law is an instrument to maximize wealth, law is an instrument of male patriarchy, etc.). Law professors indoctrinate students to reason instrumentally using legal rules and policy arguments. Practicing lawyers manipulate legal rules and processes instrumentally when serving clients. Cause lawyers use litigation as an instrument to bring about social change. Judges increasingly engage in instrumental analysis when deciding cases. Judicial appointments are viewed instrumentally by groups within society dedicated to seating like-minded judges who will render decisions consistent with their preferred ends. Legislation and administrative regulations are seen as empty vessels that can be filled in and applied to achieve whatever ends might be desired. A law that is seen in purely instrumental terms has no integrity onto itself. It is simply a tool - a powerful tool - to be used in pursuit of the tasks or goals at hand. So pervasive is an instrumental view of law today that we seldom recognize that it is relatively new - having become entrenched in the course of the late 19th and 20th Centuries - and we have forgotten how radically different it is from previous understandings of law. In a real sense, we have embarked upon a social experiment of the greatest magnitude, with no predecessors to offer guidance or to warn of pitfalls. There are now plentiful signs that this experiment may be ill-fated. The core thesis of this essay is this: if the law is viewed in instrumental terms in a context of sharp disagreement over the social good, what will follow is a Hobbsean war of all against all that takes place within the legal order over control of the legal apparatus. Opposing groups within society will attempt to seize or co-opt the law in every context possible, and in every way possible, to enlist or wield it on behalf of achieving the ends they desire. Even those groups that might prefer to abstain from seizing the law are forced nevertheless to engage in the contest, if only defensively to keep it out of the hands of their less restrained opponents. Spiraling conflicts will ensue with no evident halting point or termination (short of exhaustion of resources or total victory by one side). This essay, a written version of the inaugural Montesquieu Lecture delivered at the University of Tilburg, liberally mixes intellectual history and rational reconstruction to demonstrate this thesis. The first half of the essay is a historical exploration that begins with non-instrumental views of law and traces the emergence of instrumental views of law; the second half provides a brief survey of contemporary legal instrumentalism in several of the areas set forth above, offering examples and drawing out worrisome implications.
How Did We Get from There to Here? An Evolutionary Perspective on Embodied Cognition

Publisher Summary The human capacities for language, long-term plans, manipulation of abstract concepts, and accretion of knowledge and skills across generations simply have no competitors in other animals. The embodied cognition perspective is fundamentally an evolutionary one, viewing cognition as a set of abilities that built upon, and still reflects, the structure of our physical bodies and how our brains evolved to manage those bodies. But the embodied cognition literature has sometimes taken a very strong stance that cognition is fundamentally and directly bound to the body in its immediate physical environment. Instead, it is argued here that the value of the embodied cognition approach is not to deny the existence of abstract and de-contextualized thought, but to explain how it grew out of previously existing sensorimotor abilities. This chapter considers a cluster of possibly linked capacities that may have driven human embodied cognition, including the ability to exert flexible voluntary control over particular effectors, the ability to see analogies, and the ability to imitate. The story to be told is one of escape from situation-bound cognition to a more flexible, abstract, and “general purpose” form of cognition.
Pediatric falls from buildings: defining the burden of injury in Hawai'i

Falls from buildings, including houses, are an important cause of childhood injury in the United States; however, no study has previously examined the impact of this problem in Hawai‘i. The objective of this study is to categorize the demographics and injury circumstances of pediatric falls from buildings in Hawai‘i and compare to other US cities. Patients age 10 and under who were injured in nonfatal accidental falls from buildings in Hawai‘i between 2005 and 2011 were identified retrospectively from a statewide repository of hospital billing data. The Hawai‘i death certificate database was searched separately for deaths in children age 10 and under due to falls from buildings, with data available from 1991 through 2011. Data was reviewed for demographics, circumstances surrounding the injury, and level of hospital treatment. During the 7-year period for nonfatal injuries, 416 fall-related injuries were identified in children age 10 and younger. Of these, 86 required hospitalization. The rate of nonfatal injury in Hawai‘i County was twice that of Honolulu and Maui Counties, and three times that of Kaua‘i County. There were 9 fatal falls over a 21-year period. The population based incidence for nonfatal injuries was three-fold higher than that reported in the city of Dallas. The rate of hospitalizations following building falls was more than twice as high as the national average, and that of New York City, but similar to that of California. Strategies for education and environmental modification are reviewed, which may be helpful in reducing the incidence of pediatric falls from buildings in Hawai‘i.
Uncertainty quantification for evaluating the impacts of fracture zone on pressure build‐up and ground surface uplift during geological CO2 sequestration

A series of numerical test cases reflecting broad and realistic ranges of geological formation and fracture zone properties was developed to systematically evaluate the impacts of fracture zone on pressure build-up and ground surface uplift during CO2 injection. Numerical test cases were conducted using a coupled hydro-geomechanical simulator, eSTOMP-RBSM (extreme-scale Subsurface Transport over Multiple Phases, rigid-body-spring model). For efficient sensitivity analysis and reliable construction of a reduced-order model, a quasi-Monte Carlo sampling method was applied to effectively sample a high-dimensional input parameter space to explore uncertainties associated with hydrologic properties. The uncertainty quantification results show that the impacts on geomechanical response from the fracture zone mainly depend on reservoir and fracture zone permeability. When the fracture zone permeability is two to three orders of magnitude smaller than the reservoir permeability, the fracture zone can be considered as an impermeable block that resists fluid transport in the reservoir, which causes pressure increase near the fracture zone. When the fracture zone permeability is close to the reservoir permeability, or higher than 10−15 m2 in this study, the fracture zone can be considered as a conduit that penetrates the caprock, connecting the fluid flow between the reservoir and the upper rock.© 2014 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Modeling sub‐grid‐block‐scale dense nonaqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) pool dissolution using a dual‐domain approach

[1] A dual-domain approach is developed for calculating the advective and dispersive mass flux of chemical leaving one or more sub-grid-block-scale DNAPL pool(s) in an integral finite difference numerical simulation. The contaminated zone in a simulation is divided into two fractions: one that contains DNAPL pools and one in which DNAPL is not present. With a dual-permeability formulation the two regions may have the same or different flow properties depending on the conceptual model for pool formation, and fluids can freely flow through both domains. The local dispersive flux of contaminant away from the DNAPL pool is calculated using a well-known analytical solution for steady state advection and dispersion. This expression is integrated analytically to give a first-order mass transfer relationship for the total dissolution rate inside a grid block as a function of the horizontal water velocity, the transverse dispersivity, the DNAPL solubility, and the dissolved concentration in the media not containing the DNAPL. The calculated interphase mass transfer rate using a single dual-domain integral finite difference grid block is shown to match experimental data and an analytical solution for DNAPL pool dissolution.
On exploring the connection between music classification and evoking emotion

The relationship between music and emotion is very difficult to define. Listening to a musical selection can cause different individuals to respond in different ways. Measuring physiological responses to music covers only one part of how an individual experiences music. Listening to a favorite sports team's song often evokes feelings of pride and enthusiasm while a rival team's fan might feel antagonism. This type of induced emotion is obviously learned behavior. For this reason, rather than being a nature vs nurture discourse, research on emotions elicited by music is really a combination of nature and nurture.
Shaping the Future of a Globalized World: A Qualitative Study of How Undergraduate International Students' Everyday Cross-Cultural Experiences Were Impacted by University Diversity Initiatives.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand how everyday cross-cultural interactions affected the adjustment of undergraduate international students attending a private university in the northeastern United States of America. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected primarily through interviews with nine international students and observations at “Eastern University”. Students were purposively selected to balance gender and world regions. Analysis used constant comparison until findings emerged, which were member-checked with study participants (Merriam, 2009). Findings – Findings show that the impact of university diversity initiatives for promoting everyday cross-cultural interactions is described as creating an us/them divide, promoting solidarity and establishing a cultural presence. It is concluded that formal university events foster recognition of the campus diversity international students help provide, but their impact on everyday cross-cultural interactions is both positive and...
Understanding Cross Talk on the NPOI Multibeam Combiner

We present the results of tests done with the Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer (NPOI) multibeam combiner, designed to study the effects of fringe cross talk resulting from multiple baselines being recorded by the same spectrograph. We find that in most cases cross talk is not a significant issue, except when the fringes are separated by only one wavenumber.
Identification of three isozyme proteins of the catalytic subunit of the Na,K-ATPase in rat brain.

Abstract Molecular genetic evidence indicates that there should be three different (Na+ + K+)-stimulated ATPase (Na,K-ATPase) alpha subunit isozymes in the brain where previously only two ("alpha" and "alpha(+)") were resolved as proteins. To detect and identify alpha 1, alpha 2, and alpha 3 isozymes, polypeptides made by cell-free translation (Schneider, J.W., Mercer, R.W., Gilmore-Hebert, M., Utset, M.F., Lai, C., Greene, A., and Benz, E.J., Jr. (1988) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 85, 284-288) were analyzed by gel electrophoresis and proteolytic fingerprinting. Synthetic alpha 1 comigrated with tissue alpha 1, while alpha 2 and alpha 3 comigrated with the leading and trailing edges, respectively, of tissue "alpha(+)." Proteolytic fingerprints of newborn rat brain Na,K-ATPase labeled in vivo with L-[35S]methionine indicated the presence of alpha 1 and alpha 3, and a low level of alpha 2. Monoclonal antibodies were characterized by the electrophoretic mobility of their antigens and by their ability to recognize the Na,K-ATPases of kidney, brain, and skeletal muscle. The antibodies were used to assess isozyme expression in the brain. All three isozymes increased in abundance during development from the 18-day fetus to the adult. Small changes were seen in the relative level of expression of alpha 1 and alpha 3 at different developmental ages, while alpha 2 expression increased markedly between the neonate and adult. In adult brain, all three isozymes were found in all brain regions examined. We conclude that all three isozymes are expressed as proteins and that their expression and distribution must be under complex control. No single developmental age or macroscopic brain region provides an exclusive source of any of the isozymes.
New approaches for the reconfiguration of two-dimensional VLSI arrays using time-redundancy

Two novel approaches are presented in which no spare cells are used. They are based on the full processing utilization of fault-free cells by exploiting the single-product-step of a systolic array. This results in a reconfigured array with no degradation of computational speed. The basic principles of the time-redundancy technique are discussed, with particular emphasis on the selection and allocation processes for finding the reconfiguration-solution in real-time. The first approach is based on a distributed execution of the reconfiguration process. The immediate advantages of this approach are its simplicity of implementation and the fast execution time. The second approach is based on a more complex reconfiguration procedure that accounts for an iterative execution of the first approach. Appropriate conditions for its correct execution are presented. >
Using PTSD Coach in primary care with and without clinician support: a pilot randomized controlled trial

Abstract Objective This study aims to evaluate the feasibility and potential effectiveness of two approaches to using the PTSD Coach mobile application in primary care: Self-Managed PTSD Coach and Clinician-Supported PTSD Coach. This study also aims to gather preliminary data to investigate if clinician support improves the benefits of using PTSD Coach on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) severity and specialty mental healthcare utilization. Method Twenty primary care veterans with PTSD symptoms were randomized to either Self-Managed PTSD Coach consisting of one 10-min session providing instructions for application use or Clinician-Supported PTSD Coach consisting of four 20-min sessions focused on setting symptom reduction goals and helping veterans fully engage with application content. Results Research procedures and intervention conditions appear feasible as indicated by high rates of assessment and intervention retention and high clinician fidelity and satisfaction. Both treatments resulted in reductions in PTSD symptoms, with 7 Clinician-Supported PTSD Coach and 3 Self-Managed PTSD Coach participants reporting clinically significant improvements. Clinician-Supported PTSD Coach resulted in more specialty PTSD care use postintervention and possibly greater reductions in PTSD symptoms. Conclusions Both PTSD Coach interventions are feasible and potentially helpful. The addition of clinician support appears to increase the effectiveness of self-management alone. A larger-scale randomized controlled trial is warranted to confirm these encouraging preliminary findings.
An analysis of Precision Electroweak Measurements : Summer 98 Update

We update our analysis of precision electroweak measurements using the latest data announced at Moriond, March 1998. Possible oblique corrections from new physics are parametrized using the STU formalism of Ref.[1], and non-oblique corrections to the Zbb vertex are parametrized using the xi_b zeta_b formalism of Ref.[2]. The implications of the analysis on minimal SU(5) grand unification is discussed.
Rite of passing: Bureaucratic encounters, dramaturgy, and Jewish conversion in Israel

On the basis of an ethnographic analysis of the state-run Jewish conversion project in Israel, I address the question of how bureaucrats come to know the subjects they serve. By analyzing how state agents construct the bureaucratic encounter with converts as a dramaturgical exchange, I theorize performance as an institutional mechanism through which bureaucratic knowledge is produced. The notion of “dramaturgy” sheds light not only on the everyday practices of state governmental power but also on the fragile, collaborative dynamics that underwrite the bureaucratic encounter. Such an analysis offers to complicate the notion of “power/knowledge” so often associated with bureaucratic institutions. [bureaucracy, ethnography of the state, Israel, passing, performance, power/knowledge, religious conversion]
Multicellular redox regulation: integrating organismal biology and redox chemistry.

Early in the 20th century, Charles Manning Child attributed organismal gradients in metabolism to interactions among groups of cells. Metabolic gradients are now firmly grounded in redox chemistry, yet modern work on metabolic signaling has consistently focused on the cellular level. Multicellular redox regulation, however, may occur when redox state is determined by the behavior of a group of cells. For instance, typically an abundance of substrate will shift the redox state of mitochondria in the direction of reduction, leading to increased reactive oxygen species (ROS). These ROS, in turn, may modify the conformation and activity of proteins involved in signaling pathways, resulting in phenotypic changes. In contrast, if substrate triggers the contractions of a muscular structure comprising mitochondrion-rich cells, the resulting metabolic demand may shift the redox state in the direction of oxidation, with a corresponding decrease of ROS and different phenotypic effects. Indeed, colonial hydroids exemplify this process. Parallel examples may occur whenever mitochondria are concentrated in cells of structures that can respond to environmental perturbations with increased metabolic demand. In these circumstances, predicting the direction of metabolic signaling may require an understanding of events at the organismal level. BioEssays 28:72–77, 2006. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
ICa(TTX) Channels Are Distinct from Those Generating the Classical Cardiac Na+ Current

The Na(+) current component I(Ca(TTX)) is functionally distinct from the main body of Na(+) current, I(Na). It was proposed that I(Ca(TTX)) channels are I(Na) channels that were altered by bathing media containing Ca(2+), but no, or very little, Na(+). It is known that Na(+)-free conditions are not required to demonstrate I(Ca(TTX).) We show here that Ca(2+) is also not required. Whole-cell, tetrodotoxin-blockable currents from fresh adult rat ventricular cells in 65 mm Cs(+) and no Ca(2+) were compared to those in 3 mM Ca(2+) and no Cs(+) (i.e., I(Ca(TTX))). I(Ca(TTX)) parameters were shifted to more positive voltages than those for Cs(+). The Cs(+) conductance-voltage curve slope factor (mean, -4.68 mV; range, -3.63 to -5.72 mV, eight cells) is indistinguishable from that reported for I(Ca(TTX)) (mean, -4.49 mV; range, -3.95 to -5.49 mV). Cs(+) current and I(Ca(TTX)) time courses were superimposable after accounting for the voltage shift. Inactivation time constants as functions of potential for the Cs(+) current and I(Ca(TTX)) also superimposed after voltage shifting, as did the inactivation curves. Neither of the proposed conditions for conversion of I(Na) into I(Ca(TTX)) channels is required to demonstrate I(Ca(TTX)). Moreover, we find that cardiac Na(+) (H1) channels expressed heterologously in HEK 293 cells are not converted to I(Ca(TTX)) channels by Na(+)-free, Ca(2+)-containing bathing media. The gating properties of the Na(+) current through H1 and those of Ca(2+) current through H1 are identical. All observations are consistent with two non-interconvertable Na(+) channel populations: a larger that expresses little Ca(2+) permeability and a smaller that is appreciably Ca(2+)-permeable.
Anion-mediated phase transfer of Zinc(II)-coordinated tyrosine derivatives.

Tyrosine-derived Zn2+ coordination complexes and their fluorescent NBD conjugates are synthesized in a short, high-yielding procedure. The Zn2+ complexes are highly water soluble, but in the presence of sodium laurate they readily transfer into an octanol layer. Furthermore, the NBD-labeled bis-Zn2+ complex can partition into vesicle membranes containing anionic phospholipids.
The effect of point mutations on the free energy of transmembrane alpha-helix dimerization.

Abstract Glycophorin A forms homodimers through interaction of the single, helical transmembrane domains of the monomers. The dimers are stable in sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS), permitting a number of studies that have identified a critical motif of residues that mediates dimer formation. We have used analytical ultracentrifugation to measure the energy of dimerization in a non-denaturing detergent solution and have observed the changes in energy arising from two of the mutants previously studied. Use of the detergent pentaoxyethylene octyl ether (C8E5) is a great advantage, since its micelles are neutrally buoyant and the detergent allows a reversible association to occur between monomer and dimer states of the glycophorin A transmembrane helices during the time-scale of sedimentation equilibrium. Use of this detergent in analytical ultracentrifugation may enable a wide range of studies of molecular association events in membrane proteins. We find that the glycophorin A transmembrane helix dimerizes with a dissociation constant of 240(±50) nM, corresponding to a free energy of dissociation of 9.0(±0.1) kcal mol−1. Point mutants that were found to be disruptive in SDS (L75A, I76A) reduced the dimer affinity in the C8E5 detergent environment (Kd = 1.7(±0.2) μM and 4.2(±0.9) μM, respectively). Thus, the earlier findings are placed on a quantitative, relative energy scale of association by our measurements. Molecular modeling and simulations suggest that the energy differences can be accounted for as changes in van der Waals interactions between helices.
Artificial cells: building bioinspired systems using small-scale biology

Artificial cells have generated much interest since the concept was introduced by Aleksandr Oparin in the 1920s, and they have had an impact on the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry in various areas, including potential therapeutic applications. Here, we discuss the development of small-scale, bio-inspired artificial cell components that recreate the function of key cellular and physiological systems. We describe artificial cells, selected current applications and how small-scale biology could be used to provide what might be a next-generation approach in this area. We believe that this type of work is in its infancy and that exploiting small-scale biological inspiration in the field of artificial cells has great potential for successes in the future.
Interactions between two introduced species: Zostera japonica (dwarf eelgrass) facilitates itself and reduces condition of Ruditapes philippinarum (Manila clam) on intertidal flats

Dwarf eelgrass (duckgrass; Zostera japonica) and Manila clams (Ruditapes philippinarum) are two introduced species that co-occur on intertidal flats of the northeast Pacific. Through factorial manipulation of clam (0, 62.5, 125 clams m−2) and eelgrass density (present, removed by hand, harrowed), we examined intra- and interspecific effects on performance, as well as modification of the physical environment. The presence of eelgrass reduced water flow by up to 40% and was also observed to retain water at low tide, which may ameliorate desiccation and explain why eelgrass grew faster in the presence of conspecifics (positive feedback). Although shell growth of small (20–50 mm) clams was not consistently affected by either treatment in this 2-month experiment, clam condition improved when eelgrass was removed. Reciprocally, clams at aquaculture densities had no effect on eelgrass growth, clam growth and condition, or porewater nutrients. Overall, only Z. japonica demonstrated strong population-level interactions. Interspecific results support an emerging paradigm that invasive marine ecosystem engineers often negatively affect infauna. Positive feedbacks for Z. japonica may characterize its intraspecific effects particularly at the stressful intertidal elevation of this study (+1 m above mean lower low water).
Deficiency in plasma membrane calcium ATPase isoform 2 increases susceptibility to noise-induced hearing loss in mice

Abstract Susceptibility to noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is poorly understood at the genetic level. Mice homozygous for a null mutation in the plasma membrane Ca2+-ATPase isoform 2 (PMCA2) gene are deaf (Kozel et al., 1998). PMCA2 is expressed on outer hair cell stereocilia (Furuta et al., 1998). Fridberger et al. (1998) observed that the outer hair cell cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration rises following acoustic overstimulation. We hypothesized that Pmca2+/− mice may be more susceptible to NIHL. Since the auditory brainstem response (ABR) thresholds of Pmca2+/− mice vary with the presence of a modifier locus (Noben-Trauth et al., 1997), Pmca2+/− mice were outcrossed to normal hearing CAST/Ei mice. The pre-exposure ABR thresholds of the resulting Pmca2+/+ and Pmca2+/− siblings were indistinguishable. Groups of these mice were exposed to varying intensities of broadband noise, and ABR threshold shifts were calculated. Fifteen days following an 8 h, 113 dB noise exposure, the Pmca2+/− mice displayed significant (P≤0.0007) permanent threshold shifts at 16 and 32 kHz that were 15 or 25 dB greater than those observed in Pmca2+/+ littermates. Pmca2 may be the first gene with a known mutated protein product that confers increased susceptibility to NIHL.
Detection of thromboxane B2 in peripheral blood of patients with Prinzmetal's angina.

The plasma levels of thromboxane B2 (TxB2) were determined by radioimmunoassay in 6 consecutive patients with Prinzmetal's angina and in 9 healthy volunteers. In the normal group TxB2 was not detectable (< 0.5 pmoles/ml), while in patients with variant angina TxB2 was consistently detected (1.5–140 pmole/ml).
Unions and technology adoption: A qualitative analysis of the use of real-time control systems in U.S. coal firms.

In recent decades, many manufacturing firms have adopted new technologies, such as computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), computer numerical control (CNC), and just-in-time production (JIT) systems. Implementation of these diffuse technologies can have a dramatic impact on the work environment since they may simultaneously result in downsizing (labor-saving innovations), retraining of the remaining work force ("skill upgrading"), and changes in job responsibilities resulting from integration across the functional areas of business (marketing, manufacturing, R&D, accounting/finance, logistics, purchasing, and product design). A concomitant trend in manufacturing industries is a precipitous decline in the rate of private sector unionization (Potter, 2001), which has been especially steep in the coal mining industry. Thus, a natural question arises as to the nature of the relationship between unions and implementation of these new technologies.[ 1]
Variables and risk factors associated with child abuse in daycare settings.

Abstract Objective: This article was developed to identify the variables associated with abuse of children in daycare centers and homes, and to specify risk factors to guide professionals and parents. Method: The literature regarding child abuse (physical [PA], sexual [SA], and ritual [RA]) was reviewed, with emphasis on identification of variables associated with victims, perpetrators, and settings. Three factors increased the complexity of the review: (1) differences in definition and categorization complicated study comparison; (2) emotional tone affected some reviewers’ definitions, methodology, and conclusions; and (3) some aspects of child abuse in daycare homes and centers have not been well researched. Results: PA most frequently occurred in the form of over discipline, was a response to prior conflict with the child, and may have been inadvertently supported by parental permission for corporal punishment. Although SA occurred less frequently in centers than in homes, effects on the victim seemed worse in centers. SA often included PA. A Satanic overtone was frequently associated with RA, and RA coupled with SA was most devastating. Unfortunately, effects were not temporary. Males predominated the perpetrator profile. Multiple perpetrator abuse was worse (e.g., severity of intrusion). Failure of center staff to report suspicion of abuse by fellow staff or parents was cited as a worry by several researchers. Conclusions: Although research regarding abuse in daycare settings is sparse, one cannot wait for more or better research in order to identify risk factors. Based on literature reviewed, the authors provide risk factors for faculty, caregivers, parents, children, and professionals.
Invertible smoothing preconditioners for linear discrete ill-posed problems

The solution of large linear discrete ill-posed problems by iterative methods has recently received considerable attention. This paper presents invertible smoothing preconditioners which are well suited for use with the GMRES, RRGMRES and LSQR methods.
Membrane estrogen receptors activate metabotropic glutamate receptors to influence nervous system physiology.

Until recently, the idea that estradiol could affect cellular processes independent of nuclear estrogen receptors was often dismissed as artifact. This in spite of a large number of carefully controlled studies performed both within and outside the nervous system demonstrating estrogens regulate various intracellular signaling pathways by acting at the membrane surface of cells and/or at biological rates incompatible with the time course of genomic-initiated events. The concept that estradiol can act on surface membrane receptors to regulate nervous system function is now far less controversial. However, there is evidence that there may be multiple types of estrogen receptors on the membrane surface of cells. Determining the physiological relevance of each of these receptors is currently underway. Two important membrane estrogen receptors are in fact the classical estrogen receptor-alpha (ERα) and estrogen receptor-beta (ERβ) proteins, which is somewhat surprising based upon their well-established role in nuclear gene transcription. This review will focus on the mechanism by which surface-localized ERα and ERβ stimulate intracellular signaling events in cells of the nervous system through activation of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs). This mechanism of estrogen receptor function also requires caveolin proteins, which provide the subcellular compartmentalization of the particular signaling components required for appropriate cell stimulation. The review will conclude with several examples of physiological processes under the apparent regulation of ER/mGluR signaling.
Stress Echocardiography Versus Radionuclide Stress Techniques

The different modalities of stress echocardiography and stress thallium-201 imaging have comparable sensitivity, specificity, and overall predictive accuracy in the diagnosis and prognosis of coronary artery disease. They are also comparable in the assessment and follow-up of patients treated with thrombolytic therapy or who have undergone percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty and coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Stress radionuclide ventriculography has a lower sensitivity and specificity as compared to stress echocardiography and stress thallium. Dipyridamole thallium has a higher sensitivity as compared to dipyridamole echocardiography in the diagnosis and prognosis of coronary artery disease. New techniques such as dobutamine echocardiography, adenosine stress thallium-201, and adenosine echocardiography have individually shown high sensitivities, specificities, and accuracy. However, further studies are needed on their comparative value. The major advantages of stress echocardiography over radionuclide stress techniques are: lack of radiation exposure; less expense; less time consumption; less personnel required; and greater availability. Its major disadvantage, however, is the inability to obtain adequate studies in all patients.
Evaluation of a Potential Flow Model for Propeller and Wind Turbine Design

A three-dimensional, potential flow based, unsteady panel code was used to model the flow over rotating propeller blades. It is assumed that for best performance, flow separations must be avoided on the rotating blades of propellers and wind turbines. In this case, idealized tools such as the one used here are significantly faster and simpler for calculating the surface pressure distribution and the resulting performance parameters. Similar experimental data on the surface pressures and on common performance parameters are widely available on propellers (and less on wind turbines) and, therefore, the validation was performed on a two-blade NACA propeller. In the first part of this study, computed results were validated and were found to compare favorably with the experimental data for a wide range of performance parameters. In the second part of this study, a rotor optimization is performed using a generic rotor blade shape. For simplicity, a rectangular blade with several taper ratios and linear twist was used. The computed results indicate that even with this simple geometry, a more efficient design (than the baseline) is possible. It is concluded therefore that by using this tool more complex blade shapes and customized airfoil sections can be developed, leading to additional improvements in performance and efficiency.
Octreotide: A Long-Acting Somatostatin Analog

One of the exciting recent developments in endocrinology research has been the introduction of the somatostatin analog, octreotide into clinical practice. Octreotide provides a new therapeutic tool for diseases in which somatostatin or somatostatin-like products are secreted abnormally. Unfortunately, early experience was obtained largely with uncontrolled, compassionate drug use. When clinical information regarding octreotide is critically reviewed, evaluation is hampered by the lack of long-term studies with adequate numbers of patients and controls. Nevertheless, the information available does indicate that octreotide is promising in the acute treatment of some of the manifestations of the carcinoid syndrome, including carcinoid crisis. Similarly, octreotide ameliorates symptoms of other gut neuroendocrine tumors, particularly vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP)-secreting tumors. Octreotide also has potential in the management of growth-hormone-secreting tumors. Long-term treatment with octreotide for these diseases requires more information regarding alterations in disease progression and development of adverse effects including variable effects on blood sugar regulation and steatorrhoea. Octreotide also has been used in nonmalignant gastrointestinal disorders, but larger studies are necessary before recommendations regarding these applications can be made. The cost of octreotide, as may be expected, is high but is justified for patients with the specific indications outlined in this review. These indications may change as understanding of the drug increases. Octreotide offers promise, particularly as acute treatment for the troublesome symptoms of several neuroendocrine disorders.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Asymmetrical Duty Cycle Control and Decoupled Power Flow Design of a Three-port Bidirectional DC-DC Converter for Fuel Cell Vehicle Application

This paper proposes a new asymmetrical duty cycle control method for a three-port bidirectional DC-DC converter with two current-fed ports interfacing with low voltage battery and ultracapacitor in a fuel cell vehicle. Along with the phase shift control managing the power flow between the ports, asymmetric duty cycle is applied to each port to maintain a constant DC bus voltage at low voltage side, which as a result will achieve wide zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) range for each port under varied ultracapacitor and battery voltages. The ZVS range analysis of different duty cycle control methods as well as the circulation power loss between the ports have been analyzed. In addition, the power flow design featuring the reduced coupling factors between the ports have been developed for the three-port bidirectional DC-DC converter. A fuel cell vehicle power train including a 2.5 kW three-port DC-DC converter interfacing a 12 V battery and ultracapacitor was built in the laboratory. The proposed asymmetrical duty cycle control and power flow design was implemented and verified on the hardware test bed under urban driving cycle. The experimental results validated that proposed asymmetrical duty cycle method has higher efficiency than other methods; furthermore, they also validated the reduced coupling factor between phase shift control and duty cycle control.
The Influence of the Spatial Distribution of Snow on Basin-Averaged Snowmelt

Spatial variability in snow accumulation and melt owing to topographic effects on solar radiation, snow drifting, air temperature and precipitation is important in determining the timing of snowmelt releases. Precipitation and temperature effects related to topography affect snowpack variability at large scales and are generally included in models of hydrology in mountainous terrain. The effects of spatial variability in drifting and solar input are generally included only in distributed models at small scales. Previous research has demonstrated that snowpack patterns are not well reproduced when topography and drifting are ignored, implying that larger scale representations that ignore drifting could be in error. Detailed measurements of the spatial distribution of snow water equivalence within a small, intensively studied, 26-ha watershed were used to validate a spatially distributed snowmelt model. These observations and model output were then compared to basin-averaged snowmelt rates from a single-point representation of the basin, a two-region representation that captures some of the variability in drifting and aspect and a model with distributed terrain but uniform drift. The model comparisons demonstrate that the lumped, single-point representation and distributed terrain with uniform drift both yielded poor simulations of the basin-averaged surface water input rate. The two-point representation was a slight improvement, but the late season melt required for the observed stream-flow was not simulated because the deepest drifts were not represented. These results imply that representing the effects of subgrid variability of snow drifting is equally or more important than representing subgrid variability in solar radiation.
Secondary Sexual Characteristics and Menses in Young Girls

To the Editor. The study by Herman-Giddens and associates on “Secondary Sexual Characteristics and Menses in Young Girls seen in Office Practice” in the April 1997 issue is a welcome addition to normative data on the growth of children in this country.1 It illustrates the importance of developing normative data from all racial groups. It is also a good example of the types of studies that can be done by combining samples from many different practice settings. Our general pediatric clinic has enrolled a large number of East African immigrant children as well as African-American children. We frequently see early onset of pubic hair and breast development in African-American and African girls in our practice. We have found that a careful evaluation of the genitalia, particularly for evidence of estrogenization of the hymen and labia,2 is very helpful for distinguishing this benign premature thelarche and adrenarche from true precocious puberty. Because we commonly find young girls with early development of pubic hair and breasts without any evidence of estrogenization of the hymen or labia, we do not think that estrogen is producing these premature physical changes. We doubt that exogenous estrogens in hair products are related to these changes as suggested in the article. Instead, it is likely that premature pubic hair and breast development are due to an early increase in androgen production by the adrenal gland and ovaries. Several studies have demonstrated higher mean androgen levels in girls with premature adrenarche and thelarche than in controls of the same age.3-8 In all studies levels overlap between subjects and controls. This suggests that there are genetically controlled differences in end organ sensitivity to androgens that produce the early pubic hair and breast development seen in African-American girls in the Herman-Giddens study. In our own practice we've …
Psychiatric disorders in a U.S. community. The application of research diagnostic criteria to a resurveyed community sample.

Point prevalence rates of psychiatric disorders, risk factors, and treatment sought for the disorders are presented, based on a 1975–1976 follow-up of a community probability sample originally surveyed in 1967. These data, while preliminary because of the limitations of a follow-up study, demonstrate the first application to a community sample of new psychiatric diagnostic techniques (SADS-RDC), which are being used with increasing frequency in the United States. The forthcoming DSM-III will be based on these diagnostic techniques. These results, consistent with other reports, show that depression is the most common psychiatric disorder in the community; that schizophrenia and bipolar disorders both have low frequency; and that psychiatric disorders are heterogeneous by age, sex, race, social class, marital status. While persons with a psychiatric disorder tend to use the health care system in the United States, they do not specifically seek help for emotional problems. Since the majority of psychiatric disorders are untreated in the mental health system, prevalence rates of psychiatric disorders based on cases receiving treatment in psychiatric facilities are a gross underestimate.
Magnetic field configuration of the heliosphere in interstellar space

An improved model of the heliospheric magnetic field configuration is presented by including a uniform interstellar magnetic field and by adopting different values for a few magnetic field parameters. All the basic expressions for the magnetic field components remain the same as in Akasofu et al. (1980). In the magnetic arcade field, the magnetic field of the spherical dipoles is changed from 500 to 50 G. In the field of an extensive current disk around the sun lying in the ecliptic plane, the solar current disk extends from a distance of 1.5 solar radii instead of 10 solar radii. A uniform and southward directed interstellar magnetic field of 0.22 gamma is included. The total magnetic field configuration is constructed for the northward and southward orientation of the solar dipole field.
Pentaquark search at HERMES

An experimental search for possible Θ + and Θ + + resonances was performed using the decay modes pK S and pK + . We report evidence for a Θ + with a statistical significance of 4 σ . The absence of a peak in the pK + spectrum in the vicinity of the Θ + mass yields an estimate of the upper limit for the production cross section of the Θ + + .
Primary cortisol resistance: a family study.

Primary cortisol resistance is an autosomal disease characterized by increased plasma cortisol concentration and high urinary free cortisol, resistance to adrenal suppression by dexamethasone, and the absence of clinical stigmata of Cushing's syndrome. The proband with the severe form had hypertension and hypokalemic alkalosis. In subjects with a less severe resistance to cortisol, there are no clinical abnormalities and the condition is revealed only by detailed examination of several parameters of cortisol secretion. (J Clin Endocrinol Metab 56: 1243, 1983)