cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The influence of ACTH and corticosterone on [3H]GABA receptor binding in rat brain

Bilateral adrenalectomy (ADX) induces a significant, regionally selective, increase in GABA, but not cholinergic muscarinic or alpha1-adrenergic, receptor binding in rat brain. The increase in GABA receptor binding in the midbrain occurs within 72 h of surgery, whereas that found in the corpus striatum becomes evident between 1 and 2 weeks later. These ADX-induced receptor changes are counteracted by the administration of corticosterone, a reversal which can occur within 24 h following a single administration of steroid. Unlike ADX, hypophysectomy causes a significant reduction in [3H]GABA receptor binding in these two brain areas, an action that is not reversed by corticosterone treatment. Furthermore, systemic administration of either ACTH1-39 or ACTH4-10 in unoperated animals causes an increase in midbrain and striatal GABA receptor binding similar to that observed in ADX animals. The increase in [3H]GABA binding observed after ACTH administration appears to be due to the appearance of low affinity, high capacity binding sites not observed in untreated animals. ADX had no effect on high affinity of GABA uptake, glutamic acid decarboxylase or GABA content in the brain regions where receptor modifications were noted. These findings indicate that GABA receptor binding in rat brain can be modified by changes in the circulating levels of ACTH.
P-glycoprotein expression in the cells of the immune system during aging

Abstract P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is a member of adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-binding cassette transporter superfamily that is expressed in a variety of hematopoietic cells. Although a role of P-gp in multidrug resistance in cancer is well-established, its physiological role in immune cells remains unclear. A role for P-gp in the secretion of cytokines and in cytotoxic effector functions has been suggested; however, knock out experiments suggest that P-gp may not be required for cytokine secretion or effector functions. There is no linear correlation between the expression of P-gp and hyporesponsiveness to antigens in aging. A recently discovered role of P-gp in T-cell survival has been discussed in the context of the aging process. A functional role for P-gp in the context of aging of memory subsets of CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells remains to be investigated. The use of a combination of P-gp expression and efflux of substrate dyes in the presence or absence of modulators of P-gp function to determine the structure-functional relationship and some of the limitations in the use of efflux of fluorescent dyes alone as a measure of the expression of P-gp have been reviewed.
Dietary nucleotide requirements of the mosquito, Culex pipiens

Abstract Dietary nucleic acid, or certain constituents thereof, is essential for full development of the mosquito Culex pipiens. Yeast RNA, whole or hydrolysed, is fully effective. Sperm DNA is totally ineffective on its own, but becomes fully effective when supplemented with uridylic acid. RNA can be replaced with only partial success by a mixture of its component nucleotides (adenylic, guanylic, cytidylic, and uridylic acids), but with the addition of thymidylic acid (characteristic of DNA but present in RNA only as a minor component of transfer RNA), the resulting five-nucleotide mixture is a fully adequate replacement for yeast RNA. Single and multiple deletions from this five-nucleotide mixture showed a minimal requirement for three nucleotides: adenylic acid (a purine ribonucleotide) and thymidylic acid (a pyrimidine deoxyribonucleotide) were both specifically required; as the third nucleotide, either cytidylic or uridylic acid (both pyrimidine ribonucleotides) was equally satisfactory. Mixtures of the five nucleosides or five deoxynucleotides corresponding in base composition to the effective five-nucleotide mixture were only partially effective substitutes.
VISCOSITY IN KEPLERIAN DISKS : STEADY-STATE VELOCITY DISTRIBUTION AND NON-LOCAL COLLISION EFFECTS

Abstract A kinetic model based on a numerical algorithm, rather than Boltzman's equation, yields the viscosity and velocity distribution for colliding, finite-size particles in a planetary ring. Results are similar to those of many-particle simulations, and show that non-local effects due to the finite size are dominant in many cases of interest. Only for small particles does the viscosity decrease with increasing optical thickness sufficiently for the standard ringlet instability model to apply. This numerical kinetic theory will allow study of multi-size particle distributions, as well as scattering due to gravitational interactions or alternative collision models.
Ternary GeSiSn alloys: New opportunities for strain and band gap engineering using group-IV semiconductors

Ternary GeSiSn alloys have been recently demonstrated on Ge- and GeSn-buffered Si substrates. These alloys, with a two-dimensional compositional space, make it possible to decouple lattice constant and electronic structure for the first time in a group-IV system. This paper reviews the basic properties of the GeSiSn alloy, presents some new results on its optical properties, and discusses the approach that has been followed to model heterostructures containing GeSiSn layers for applications in modulators, quantum cascade lasers, and photovoltaics.
Jnk2 Effects on Tumor Development, Genetic Instability and Replicative Stress in an Oncogene-Driven Mouse Mammary Tumor Model

Oncogenes induce cell proliferation leading to replicative stress, DNA damage and genomic instability. A wide variety of cellular stresses activate c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) proteins, but few studies have directly addressed the roles of JNK isoforms in tumor development. Herein, we show that jnk2 knockout mice expressing the Polyoma Middle T Antigen transgene developed mammary tumors earlier and experienced higher tumor multiplicity compared to jnk2 wildtype mice. Lack of jnk2 expression was associated with higher tumor aneuploidy and reduced DNA damage response, as marked by fewer pH2AX and 53BP1 nuclear foci. Comparative genomic hybridization further confirmed increased genomic instability in PyV MT/jnk2−/− tumors. In vitro, PyV MT/jnk2−/− cells underwent replicative stress and cell death as evidenced by lower BrdU incorporation, and sustained chromatin licensing and DNA replication factor 1 (CDT1) and p21Waf1 protein expression, and phosphorylation of Chk1 after serum stimulation, but this response was not associated with phosphorylation of p53 Ser15. Adenoviral overexpression of CDT1 led to similar differences between jnk2 wildtype and knockout cells. In normal mammary cells undergoing UV induced single stranded DNA breaks, JNK2 localized to RPA (Replication Protein A) coated strands indicating that JNK2 responds early to single stranded DNA damage and is critical for subsequent recruitment of DNA repair proteins. Together, these data support that JNK2 prevents replicative stress by coordinating cell cycle progression and DNA damage repair mechanisms.
Corrupting activities and economic development

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationships of different types of corruption and selected economic measures that appear to contribute to a country’s sustainable economic development. Design/methodology/approach – The research used selected data from the World Economic Forum Executive Opinion Survey on corruption activities (Irregular Payments and Bribes, the Diversion of Public Funds, Organised Crime, and Favouritism in Decisions of Government Officials) and Ethical Behaviour of Firms. The economic data (FDI, GDP, GDP Growth and Capital Formation among others) is from the World Bank database. A series of statistical models were developed to examine the relationships among different types of corruption and a country’s economic development. Findings – The findings are mixed, showing that some types of corruption have greater negative impact on specific aspects of economic development. Research limitations/implications – The research is limited by the availability of data from reliabl...
Immunopathology and Pathogenesis of Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystem disease of unknown etiology. It may be acute and fulminating or slowly progressive, with characteristic exacerbations and remissions. Most investigators agree that the clinical expression of lupus erythematosus forms a spectrum from chronic cutaneous lupus erythematosus (known as discoid LE or DLE) to the often fatal, multisystem LE with nephritis. In studying this clinical spectrum, we have examined clinical and serological data from several distinct subsets of patients with LE. These studies indicate that LE may be viewed not only in a spectrum, or continuum, from a clinicopathological standpoint, but also in a related spectrum of immunological responses. An understanding of these clinical, serological, and immunopathological relationships is helpful in the diagnosis and management of these patients and provides insight into the pathogenesis of the disease.
Oxidation mechanism of δ-hydroxyisoprene alkoxy radicals: hydrogen abstraction versus 1,5 H-shift

The competing pathways of H-abstraction by oxygen molecules and 1,5 H-shift of the d-alkoxy radicals with the Zconfiguration arising from OH-initiated reactions of isoprene have been investigated using density functional theory (DFT) and ab initio molecular orbital calculations. The activation and reaction energies of the alkoxy radical reactions were obtained with B3LYP, CCSD(T), and MPW1K and various basis sets. Kinetic calculations employing variational RRKM/ME formalism and separate statistical ensemble (SSE) theory show that a significant fraction of the chemically excited alkoxy radicals undergo prompt 1,5 H-shift. The results also reveal that 1,5 H-shift of thermalized d-alkoxy radicals dominates over H-abstraction by O2. 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Interpretation of postseismic deformation with a viscoelastic relaxation model

A viscoelastic relaxation model is used to interpret postseismic surface deformation for the large-magnitude Aleutian earthquakes of 1957 and 1965. The lithosphere and asthenosphere are modeled as elastic solids with an anomalous viscoelastic inclusion below the island arc volcanoes. It is found that the observed postseismic surface deformation is a corollary of the known island arc structure. A satisfactory fit to the uplift following the 1957 earthquake is found for a viscoelastic volume with 80-km width extending from a depth of 50 to 200 km.
Atomic-scale insight into the formation, mobility and reaction of Ullmann coupling intermediates

The Ullmann reaction of bromobenzene, the simplest coupling reagent, to form biphenyl on a Cu surface proceeds via a highly mobile organometallic intermediate in which two phenyl groups extract and bind a single surface Cu atom.
Progress and prospects for the development of computer generated actors for military simulation: part 3--The road ahead

The development of realistic computer-generated synthetic environments, also called distributed virtual environments, relies heavily upon computer-generated actors (CGAs) to provide accurate behaviors at reasonable cost so that the synthetic environments are useful affordable, complex, and high fidelity. Unfortunately, the pace of synthetic environment development and the level of desired CGA performance continue to rise at a much faster rate than CGA capability improvements. This insatiable demand for realism in CGAs for synthetic environments arises from the growing understanding of the significant role that modeling and simulation can play in a variety of uses. These uses include training, analysis, procurement decisions, mission rehearsal, doctrine development, force-level and task-level training, information assurance, cyberwarfare, force structure analysis, sustainability analysis, life cycle costs analysis, material management, infrastructure analysis, and many other uses. In these and other uses of military synthetic environments, CGAs play a central role because they have the potential to increase the realism of the environment while also reducing the cost of operating the environment. The progress made in addressing the technical challenges that must be overcome to realize effective and realistic CGAs for military simulation environments and the technical areas that should be the focus of future work are the subject of this paper, which surveys the technologies and progress made in the construction and use of CGAs. In this, the third installment in the series of papers discussing CGAs, we conclude our discussion of CGA technologies by concluding the discussion of human behavior modeling for CGAs, and we present some suggested future research directions for CGA technologies.
Novel parametric phenomena in the strong exciton-photon coupling regime

Summary form only given. We theoretically discuss the giant nonlinearities of semiconductor microcavities in the strong exciton-photon coupling regime. Within a model of interacting bosons, we describe the polariton nonlinear dynamics in the case of resonant excitation. The theory treats polariton parametric amplification, luminescence, oscillation, the role of anomalous pair correlations and the appearance of peculiar collective modes. Potential applications involving long-lived coherence and ultrafast control are also discussed.
The Theory of Ideal Bodies for Gravity Interpretation

Summary Ambiguity in gravity interpretation is inevitable because of the fundamental incompleteness of real observations; it is, however, possible to provide rigorous limits on possible solutions even with incomplete data. In this paper a systematic theory is developed for finding such bounds, including an upper bound on depth of burial; the bounds are discovered by constructing the unique body achieving the extreme parameter, e.g. depth; such a body is called the 'ideal' one associated with the given data. Ideal bodies can also be constructed for bounding density, thickness of layer and lateral extent. General properties of ideal bodies are derived and numerical methods for modest numbers of observations are discussed. Some artificial examples, where the buried system is exactly known, are given and it is shown how relatively good bounds can be reached with only a few measurements. A Bouguer anomaly from the Swiss Alps is then considered and it is concluded that the mountain roots are unusually shallow there.
Interference suppressing OFDM UWB system with multiple users and MMSE receivers

In this letter we extend the use of interference suppressing (IS) OFDM UWB system from single user to multiuser scenarios. Multiple access capabilities are obtained by employing Multi-Carrier (MC) CDMA in the transmitter along with MMSE multiuser receivers. We illustrate the performance of the multiuser IS-OFDM UWB system with numerical results obtained from simulations.
No effect of systemic isocapnic hypoxia on α-adrenergic vasoconstrictor responsiveness in human skin.

UNLABELLED Hypoxia impairs body temperature regulation and abolishes the decline in skin temperature associated with cold exposure, suggesting that cutaneous vasoconstriction is impaired. AIM The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that cutaneous vasoconstriction to intradermal tyramine, an index of post-junctional vasoconstrictor responsiveness, is reduced during hypoxia. METHODS Twelve subjects (six males, six females) had three microdialysis fibres placed in the ventral forearm. Fibres received either lactated ringers, 5 mm yohimbine (α-adrenergic blockade), or 10.5 μm BIBP-3226 (to antagonize neuropeptide Y Y(1) receptors). Skin blood flow was assessed at each site (laser-Doppler flowmetry) and cutaneous vascular conductance (CVC) was calculated (red blood cell flux/mean arterial pressure) and scaled to baseline. Vasoconstrictor responses to tyramine (173 μm) were tested during normoxia and steady-state isocapnic hypoxia (SaO(2) = 80%) in random order. RESULTS During normoxia, tyramine reduced CVC by 56.0±5.6 and 50.3±8.0% in control and BIBP-3226 sites (both P 0.05 vs. normoxia). CONCLUSION We conclude that post-junctional α-adrenergic vasoconstrictor responsiveness is not affected by hypoxia in non-acral skin.
Teenage pregnancy: A multiracial sociologic problem

Teenage pregnancy is not an epidemic in the United States. Because this is an emotional topic that receives high-decibel publicity in the press and on television, we wish to present the most recent factual information available on the subject and a more balanced perspective of the problem for physicians and other health professionals who care for women at the youngest age of the reproductive spectrum. Pregnancy during adolescence is a multiethnic sociologic problem that crosses all socioeconomic, ethnic, cultural, and geographic boundaries. Pregnancies in teenagers are decreasing (except in teenagers under age 15), not accelerating. New approaches for premature adolescent pregnancy and childbearing focus on adolescent peer pressure for behavior modification, prevention of pregnancy at a younger age, continuation of secondary education, and job training for both adolescent fathers and mothers.
Laughter in the Clinic: Humor as Social Organization

While humor has been studied empirically in a wide variety of organizational settings, other than Coser’s (1 959) study of a private psychiatric hospital, its actual usage in medical locales has barely been addressed. This article extends Coser’s analysis by examining humor as a central dimension of social organization in a university-based outpatient clinic. Using observational data gathered during a two-year period, we examine interactions between key participants in clinic life: attending physicians and residents; the residents themselves; residents and nurses; residents/attending physicians and patients; and finally, the researchers and clinic personnel. We demonstrate how humor may bond members through laughter about common concerns and problems, while also marking them off from others with differing concerns. As such, it ideally illustrates the micro/macro interplay of face-to-face relations and structural contexts.
Overview and Status of the Transverse-Field Focusing (TFF) Accelerator

The Transverse Field Focusing (TFF) system described here is a prototype for a negative-ion based neutral beam line with possible applications in the U. S. magnetic fusion energy program. The prototype system consists of four main modules: H/sup -/ source, 80 keV pre-accelerator, TFF matching/pumping (M/P) section, and 180 keV TFF accelerator. The first three modules have been installed on the beam line, with the fourth to follow soon. The crucial module, invoking the most difficult (and interesting) physics and engineering issues, is the M/P section. It performs: gas removal from the beam by differential pumping, electron removal, beam thickness reduction to match the TFF accelerator parameters, and beam-edge confinement. The four beamline modules are discussed in this survey, with emphasis on design features of the M/P section.
Substituent Effects in C6F6-C6H5X Stacking Interactions

Parallel displaced and sandwich configurations of hexafluorobenzene-substituted benzene dimers are studied by ab initio molecular orbital methods up to the MP2(full)/aug-cc-pVDZ level of theory to reveal how substituents influence π−π interactions. Two minimum energy configurations are found, one with the substituent group away from the π-face of the hexafluorobenzene ring (2a−f) and the other with the substituent group on top of the π-face of the hexafluorobenzene (3a−f). Higher binding energies are predicted for dimers with the substituent on the π-face (3a−f). All sandwich dimers (4a−e) are found to be saddle points on the potential energy surfaces. A parallel-displaced minimum energy configuration is also predicted for the parent complex, C6F6−C6H6, which is in contrast to predictions based on quadrupole moments of benzene and hexafuorobenzene. The preference for the parallel displaced, rather than the sandwich configuration, is rationalized based on the smaller interplanar distance in the former. The...
A 2.4GHz, 20dBm class-D PA with single-bit digital polar modulation in 90nm CMOS

Polar transmitters are a promising alternative to traditional Cartesian architectures in terms of flexibility and power efficiency. Such systems are often difficult to implement due to wideband amplitude and phase signals and may require predistortion to meet EVM and spectral requirements. This work demonstrates a highly-linear digital-polar system implemented in 90 nm CMOS. The amplitude is controlled with pulse-density modulation of the RF carrier. Phase information is provided with the RF clock. The class-D PA achieves peak efficiency of 38.5% at 2.4 GHz, including power of the PA drivers and insertion loss of the bandpass filter. The system does not require predistortion, and achieves rms-EVM levels of 1.8-2.1% for pi/4DQPSK and 8DPSK test vectors. The spectral mask for Bluetooth 2.1+EDR is satisfied under normal operating conditions.
Effects of perfluoro-n-decanoic acid on the respiratory activity of isolated rat liver mitochondria.

The toxic responses of rats to a single dose of perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA) include reduced food consumption, severe body weight loss (“wasting syndrome”), and hypothermia. Recent studies have suggested that some of these effects may be due to alterations of basic metabolic processes in animals treated with PFDA. In order to test this hypothesis the effects of PFDA on respiratory activity of isolated rat liver mitochondria were examined. PFDA concentrations up to 87.5 μg/ml produced a linear increase in oxygen consumption during state 4 (nonphosphorylating) respiration. This suggested uncoupling of electron transport and oxidative phosphorylation was supported by the observation that PFDA released mitochondrial state 3 respiration from inhibition by oligomycin and stimulated latent ATPase activity. Concentrations of PFDA greater than 87.5 μg/ml produced progressively less increase in state 4 oxygen consumption, and a single high concentrations (150 μg/ml) completely inhibited state 3 respiration and pre...
New mechanism for a classic folate inhibitor

Metabolomics reveals new insights into the mechanism of an antimicrobial agent and folate metabolism.
Disclosure standards for vertical contracts

In this article, we investigate the welfare consequences of disclosure of vertical contracts. When much of retail competition is among products provided by a dominant supplier, disclosure provides a means through which the supplier can use its prices to coordinate the retail behavior of its wholesale customers. From the retail consumers' perspective, such coordination is unwanted, leading them to favor opacity of contracts. When retail competition is across brands made by different suppliers, disclosure becomes a conduit through which suppliers compete indirectly via their retail surrogates. Consumers welcome the increased competition accompanying such disclosures. In short, the efficacy of disclosure standards depends critically on the suppliers’ market reach and the relative intensity of intrabrand versus interbrand retail competition.
Option valuation by using discrete singular convolution

This paper explores the utility of a discrete singular convolution (DSC) algorithm for solving the Black-Scholes equation. Both European and American style options, which include all nontrivial plain option pricing problems, are considered to test the accuracy and to examine the efficiency of the present algorithm. Adaptive meshes are constructed to enhance the performance of the DSC algorithm. All the present results are validated either by the analytical solution or by the standard binomial tree method. Extensive comparisons are carried out with two standard finite difference schemes and two binomial models of high speed convergence. Numerical experiments reveal that the present approach is accurate, efficient and reliable for financial derivative valuations.
Characterization of enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis by a toxin-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

Within the past decade, certain strains of Bacteroides fragilis have been associated with diarrhea in humans and cytotoxic activity on certain colon carcinoma cell lines. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detecting the enterotoxin of B. fragilis in cultures and stools was developed by using high-titer monospecific goat and rabbit antitoxins in an indirect format. The lower limit of detection for purified toxin was approximately 0.05 micrograms/ml; the linear range was from 0.05 to 10 microgram/ml. Using the ELISA to screen cultures of toxigenic and nontoxigenic strains of B. fragilis, we observed 100% correlation with 16 known toxigenic strains which had various cytotoxic activities on HT-29 cells. In addition, we found 6 of 62 previously untested strains also to be positive in both assays. Stability studies revealed that although the cytotoxic activities of crude and purified toxin preparations incubated at elevated temperatures were rapidly lost, the ELISA responses were not significantly reduced. Sodium dodecyl sulfate(SDS)-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and SDS-capillary electrophoresis showed that the purified toxin autodigested to several stable peptides. Studies on partially purified membranes from the toxigenic strains revealed the presence of several membrane-associated components which were noncytotoxic but strongly immunoreactive in the ELISA. Preliminary studies with spiked feces indicated that the ELISA may be useful for screening not only cultures for the enterotoxigenic B. fragilis but also stool specimens. Ongoing studies are focusing on determining the nature of the toxin's apparent proteolytic capabilities and investigating the feasibility of using the ELISA on stool specimens from healthy and diarrheic humans.
Mesos: a platform for fine-grained resource sharing in the data center

We present Mesos, a platform for sharing commodity clusters between multiple diverse cluster computing frameworks, such as Hadoop and MPI. Sharing improves cluster utilization and avoids per-framework data replication. Mesos shares resources in a fine-grained manner, allowing frameworks to achieve data locality by taking turns reading data stored on each machine. To support the sophisticated schedulers of today's frameworks, Mesos introduces a distributed two-level scheduling mechanism called resource offers. Mesos decides how many resources to offer each framework, while frameworks decide which resources to accept and which computations to run on them. Our results show that Mesos can achieve near-optimal data locality when sharing the cluster among diverse frameworks, can scale to 50,000 (emulated) nodes, and is resilient to failures.
Two different signals regulate repression and induction of gene expression by glucose

In addition to being the universal carbon and energy source, glucose also regulates gene expression in many organisms. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae glucose regulates gene expression via two different pathways known as the glucose repression and glucose induction pathways. The signal for glucose induction of hexose transporter (HXT) genes is generated via two glucose-transporter like molecules, Snf3 and Rgt2. A strain lacking both sensors is unable to induce HXT gene expression and is defective in glucose uptake. The snf3 rgt2 double mutant is also defective in glucose repression of transcription, raising the possibility that Snf3 and Rgt2 are also involved in generating the glucose repression signal. In this report, I show that induction and repression of gene expression by glucose in yeast is regulated by two independent signals. While the signal for induction of HXT gene expression is generated by Snf3 and Rgt2 glucose receptors, the repression signal requires the uptake and metabolism of glucose. In addition, the glucose induction of the HXT genes is required for repression of gene expression by glucose. Therefore the glucose repression defect of the snf3 rgt2 strain is indirect and is due to the lack of glucose uptake in this double mutant.
Erectile Dysfunction: Extended Evaluation

In the ED: Initial Evaluation algorithm the patient had a thorough history, physical examination, and laboratory testing performed. At this stage the patient is ready to be treated (see ED Treatment algorithm). The purpose of the extended evaluation is twofold: (1) to define if the patient has underlying pathology that will impact upon the clinician’s management and (2) to attempt to give the patient a prognosis for his ED (i.e., to determine if the patient is curable or not.) The classic example of the former is a patient diagnosed with venous leak who has used PDE5i without much success. In this scenario, we would move this patient directly to penile injections and not reeducate him about PDE5i use or attempt any other PDE5i. Another example of this concept, based on the recent finding that ED is a harbinger of occult or future coronary artery disease, is the middle-aged healthy man who presents without overt vascular risk factors but has underlying arteriogenic ED revealed on testing. We would suggest to this patient that he seek cardiologic consultation. There is evidence that such men are at greater risk for having an abnormal cardiac stress test. From a prognostic standpoint, the classic example is someone who the clinician believes may have psychogenic ED, as all of such patients are potentially curable. From a causation standpoint, the vast majority of patients with ED have primarily organic ED and this is usually vasculogenic in nature. It is estimated that about 70 % of all men with primarily organic ED have underlying vascular risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, cigarette smoking, or the metabolic syndrome. Such patients sometimes, although not always, have a prior history of vascular disease (myocardial infraction, peripheral vascular disease, or stroke). Other major causes of organic ED include (with approximate estimates) medications (10 %), pelvic surgery (10 %), endocrine problems (3 %), neurological problems (2 %), and other conditions (5 %, lower urinary tract symptoms related to BPH, sleep apnea syndrome, collagen vascular diseases). Thus, a good history and physical examination, combined with judicious use of laboratory testing, will help make most of the nonvascular diagnoses.
Oritavancin Combinations with β-Lactams against Multidrug-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci

Oritavancin possesses activity against vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) and methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus(MRSA).In vitrodata suggest synergy between beta-lactams (BLs) and vancomycin or daptomycin, agents similar to oritavancin. We evaluated the activities of BLs combined with oritavancin against MRSA and VRE. Oritavancin MICs were determined for 30 strains, 5 each of MRSA, daptomycin-nonsusceptible (DNS) MRSA, vancomycin-intermediate MRSA (VISA), heteroresistant VISA (hVISA), vancomycin-resistantEnterococcus faecalis, and vancomycin-resistantEnterococcus faecium Oritavancin MICs were determined in the presence of subinhibitory concentrations of BLs. Oritavancin combined with ceftaroline, cefazolin, or nafcillin was evaluated for lethal synergy against MRSA, and oritavancin combined with ceftaroline, ampicillin, or ertapenem was evaluated for lethal synergy against VRE in 24-h time-kill assays. Oritavancin at 0.5× the MIC was combined with BLs at 0.5× the MIC or the biological free peak concentration, whichever one was lower. Synergy was defined as a ≥2-log10-CFU/ml difference between the killing achieved with the combination and that achieved with the most active single agent at 24 h. Oritavancin MICs were ≤0.125 μg/ml for all MRSA isolates except three VISA isolates with MICs of 0.25 μg/ml. Oritavancin MICs for VRE ranged from 0.03 to 0.125 μg/ml. Oritavancin in combination with ceftaroline was synergistic against all MRSA phenotypes and statistically superior to all other combinations against DNS MRSA, hVISA, and MRSA isolates (P< 0.02). Oritavancin in combination with cefazolin and oritavancin in combination with nafcillin were also synergistic against all MRSA strains. Synergy between oritavancin and all BLs was revealed against VRE strain 8019, while synergy between oritavancin and ampicillin or ertapenem but not ceftaroline was demonstrated against VRE strain R7164. The data support the potential use of oritavancin in combination with BLs, especially oritavancin in combination with ceftaroline, for the treatment of infections caused by MRSA. The data from the present study are not as strong for oritavancin in combination with BLs for VRE. Further study of both MRSA and VRE in more complex models is warranted.
Impedance control based force-tracking algorithm for interaction robotics tasks: An analytically force overshoots-free approach

In the presented paper an analytically force overshoots-free approach is described for the execution of robotics interaction tasks involving a compliant (of unknown geometrical and mechanical properties) environment. Based on the impedance control, the aim of the work is to perform force-tracking applications avoiding force overshoots that may result in task failures. The developed algorithm shapes the equivalent stiffness and damping of the closed-loop manipulator to regulate the interaction dynamics deforming the impedance control set-point. The force-tracking performance are obtained defining the control gains analytically based on the estimation of the interacting environment stiffness (performed using an Extended Kalman Filter). The method has been validated in a probing task, showing the avoidance of force overshoots and the achieved target dynamic performance.
Carbon dioxide in an ionic liquid: Structural and rotational dynamics

Ionic liquids (ILs), which have widely tunable structural motifs and intermolecular interactions with solutes, have been proposed as possible carbon capture media. To inform the choice of an optimal ionic liquid system, it can be useful to understand the details of dynamics and interactions on fundamental time scales (femtoseconds to picoseconds) of dissolved gases, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2), within the complex solvation structures present in these uniquely organized materials. The rotational and local structural fluctuation dynamics of CO2 in the room temperature ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (EmimNTf2) were investigated by using ultrafast infrared spectroscopy to interrogate the CO2 asymmetric stretch. Polarization-selective pump probe measurements yielded the orientational correlation function of the CO2 vibrational transition dipole. It was found that reorientation of the carbon dioxide occurs on 3 time scales: 0.91 ± 0.03, 8.3 ± 0.1, 54 ± 1 ps. The initial two are attributed to restricted wobbling motions originating from a gating of CO2 motions by the IL cations and anions. The final (slowest) decay corresponds to complete orientational randomization. Two-dimensional infrared vibrational echo (2D IR) spectroscopy provided information on structural rearrangements, which cause spectraldiffusion, through the time dependence of the 2D line shape. Analysis of the time-dependent 2D IR spectra yields the frequency-frequency correlation function (FFCF). Polarization-selective 2D IR experiments conducted on the CO2 asymmetric stretch in the parallel- and perpendicular-pumped geometries yield significantly different FFCFs due to a phenomenon known as reorientation-induced spectraldiffusion (RISD), revealing strong vector interactions with the liquid structures that evolve slowly on the (independently measured) rotation time scales. To separate the RISD contribution to the FFCF from the structural spectraldiffusion contribution, the previously developed first order Stark effect RISD model is reformulated to describe the second order (quadratic) Stark effect—the first order Stark effect vanishes because CO2 does not have a permanent dipole moment. Through this analysis, we characterize the structural fluctuations of CO2 in the ionic liquid solvation environment, which separate into magnitude-only and combined magnitude and directional correlations of the liquid’s time dependent electric field. This new methodology will enable highly incisive comparisons between CO2 dynamics in a variety of ionic liquid systems.
Mesostructures of Polyaniline Films Affect Polyelectrochromic Switching

The dynamics of polyelectrochromic switching in films of polymer-acid-doped polyaniline (PANI) having different internal film structures – and thus different extents of exposed surface area – was i...
Crossover scaling phenomena for glaciers and ice caps

While the terms ‘glacier’ and ‘ice cap’ have distinct morphological meanings, no easily defined boundary or transition distinguishes one from the other. Despite this, the exponent of the power law function relating volume to surface area differs sharply for glaciers and ice caps, suggesting a fundamental distinction beyond a smoothly transitioning morphology. A standard percolation technique from statistical physics is used to show that valley glaciers are in fact differentiated from ice caps by an abrupt geometric transition. The crossover is a function of increasing glacier thickness, but it owes its existence more to the nature of the underlying bedrock topography than to specifics of glacier mechanics: the crossover is caused by a switch from directed flow that is constrained by surrounding bedrock topography to unconstrained radial flow of thicker ice that has subsumed the topography. The crossover phenomenon is nonlinear and rapid so that few if any glaciers will have geometries or dynamics that blend the two extremes. The exponents of scaling relationships change abruptly at the crossover from one regime to another; in particular, the volume/area scaling exponent will switch from γ = 1.375 for glaciers to γ = 1.25 for ice caps, with few, if any, ice bodies having exponents that fall between these values.
Aquinas, Seligman, and positive psychology: A Christian approach to the use of the virtues in psychology

AbstractThis article addresses the significance of using virtues in psychology for research and interventions. It compares Martin Seligman’s secular or genetic approach to positive psychology and Thomas Aquinas’s Christian virtue theory, observing that amidst the similarities between these approaches, there are marked differences that are rooted in their philosophical and theological assumptions and are seen in their accounts of virtues and character strengths. Explicitly acknowledging suppositions opens the way to distinguish the three dimensions of virtue: the reason-based (moral aims and spiritual goals), act-based (acts and behavior), and agent-based (habits and dispositions) dimensions. It also permits identifying the uniqueness of the human person as both an object of study and an acting subject in therapy. The article explores the significance of these dimensions for research and good practices by comparing flourishing in Aquinas’s Christian approach to the ‘connection of the virtues’ and Seligman’...
How to Write a Clinical Problem Solving Manuscript

A clinical problem solving (CPS) exercise highlights the process by which an experienced clinician approaches a diagnostic puzzle. Compared to a traditional case report, a CPS article places greater emphasis on conveying and analyzing clinical reasoning. CPS manuscripts are more likely to be published if they adhere to a standard framework. Identifying a suitable case and constructing a CPS manuscript requires thoughtful planning and commitment. Writing and editing the case discussion, selecting coauthors, and formatting the manuscript may take up to a year from start to finish. This chapter is a step-by-step guide to writing a successful CPS manuscript.
Chapter 1 The Genesis of Caribbean Voices: People and Policies

This chapter provides a chronology of the development of Caribbean Voices, indicating that Jamaican journalist and poet, Una Marson was instrumental in conceiving the idea for the program that would become a bona fide literary radio program under Henry Swanzy’s stewardship. The initial chapter also examines the somewhat strained relationship between Swanzy, given his abiding interest in Anglophone Caribbean “local color,” and his more conservative sub-editor, Cedric Lindo, in Jamaica. Lindo’s literary tastes often ran counter to the sort of work that Swanzy highlighted on the program. The first chapter concludes by examining the role that radio broadcast played in encouraging aspiring writers in the region to focus on national vernaculars as a critical aspect of engaging verisimilitude in their writing.
Roadmap to a successful quality improvement project

Although the benefits of quality improvement initiatives are largely understood by practicing neonatologists and perinatologists, the vast majority have not received any formal training in quality improvement methodology. Even as reporting requirements of quality metrics has increased from a number of outside agencies and public reporting entities, education for physicians regarding how to carry out quality improvement projects has largely remained the individual's responsibility. The first in a series of quality improvement education papers, we focus on the reasons why quality improvement matters and how to develop a team of stakeholders that will be functional and productive in addressing specific quality and safety concerns.
From a Random Polygon in $$\mathbb {R}^m$$ R m to an Ellipse: A Fourier Analysis of Iterated Circular Convolutions

We consider random, skew, N-gons in $$\mathbb {R}^m$$ , having zero centroids. We investigate a normalized, midpoint averaging transformation, repeatedly applied to the original polygon, which we identify with a normalized circular convolution modulo N. The paper has two parts: the first part investigates the case of a repeated circular convolution applied to m-dimensional polygons without normalization, and the second part investigates the more difficult case with normalization. We prove that if the normalized convolution is repeated sufficiently many times, then the limiting shape is that of a planar affine-regular polygon, inscribed in an ellipse, embedded in a 2-dimensional subspace of $$\mathbb {R}^m$$ , spanned by a basis specified by the principal harmonic components of the discrete Fourier transforms of the initial vectors of vertex coordinates. We provide a compact analytical description of the limiting elliptical form, as well as the limiting plane, using the language of circular convolutions and the tools of discrete Fourier analysis. In this paper, we generalize to the higher-dimensional case, previous results obtained in the planar case.
Advanced Model Predictive Feedforward/Feedback Control of a Tablet Press

In continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing, real-time precise control of critical quality attributes (CQAs) is necessary for quality by design (QbD)-based manufacturing and real-time release (RTR) with minimum consumption of time, space, and resources. Pharmaceutical tablets can be produced through different routes with a common tablet press unit operation always placed at the end of the manufacturing process. Therefore, the tablet press is a crucial unit operation directly influencing the CQAs irrespective of manufacturing routes. Despite this, little attention has been paid to the development of an advanced efficient control system for the tablet press. Process modeling can be used as an efficient virtual experimentation tool to design, compare, and evaluate different control systems. We developed a model in Simulink (Mathworks) that includes two master control loops for tablet weight and hardness and a slave feedback loop controlling the compaction force applied to each tablet. We examined the performance of different control strategies based on proportional integral derivative (PID) control and model predictive control (MPC), as well as feedforward/feedback control. We found that a hybrid MPC-PID control strategy outperforms the PID-only control strategy. We also observed that the addition of a feedforward controller further improves the performance of the hybrid MPC-PID control strategy.
Are gynecologic oncology patients interested in weight loss surgery

e20622 Background: The aim of this study was to assess knowledge about obesity’s effects on cancer-related and overall health, as well as the impact of that knowledge on decisions regarding various...
CMS with Large Contact Patches

Component Mode Synthesis (CMS) and specifically Craig-Bampton Reductions (CBRs) are popular methods for constructing reduced-complexity models of substructures for structural dynamics modeling. When the interfaces between these substructures are of limited complexity, such as a discrete set of bolts, these approaches work well, providing compact and portable models. With large interfaces relative to the volume, such as contact patches, these approaches become less convenient. Interfaces are generally represented as a series of nodes that do not retain element face (interface) topology that may be critical to using more advanced contact algorithms or providing for contact between substructures. The interface may also lead to sufficient model complexity that each reduced model should be decomposed into multiple domains when included in system level models. In this work we outline the construction of a CBR where interface topology is retained so that models with CBR-CBR contact can be constructed and demonstrated with a set of example problems. We also investigate simple approaches to decomposing the CBR into multiple domains for parallel computing and their relative efficiency.
Synthesis of a Fluorescent Analogue of Paclitaxel That Selectively Binds Microtubules and Sensitively Detects Efflux by P-Glycoprotein.

The anticancer drug paclitaxel (Taxol) exhibits paradoxical and poorly understood effects against slow-growing tumors. To investigate its biological activity, fluorophores such as Oregon Green have been linked to this drug. However, this modification increases its polarity by approximately 1000-fold and reduces the toxicity of Taxol towards cancer cell lines by over 200-fold. To construct more drug-like fluorescent probes suitable for imaging by confocal microscopy and analysis by flow cytometry, we synthesized derivatives of Taxol linked to the drug-like fluorophore Pacific Blue (PB). We found that PB-Gly-Taxol bound the target protein β-tubulin with both high affinity in vitro and high specificity in living cells, exhibited substantial cytotoxicity towards HeLa cells, and was a highly sensitive substrate of the multidrug resistance transporter P-glycoprotein (P-gp).