cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Detection of autoreactive CD4 T cells using major histocompatibility complex class II dextramers

Tetramers are useful tools to enumerate the frequencies of antigen-specific T cells. However, unlike CD8 T cells, CD4 T cells - especially self-reactive cells - are challenging to detect with major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II tetramers because of low frequencies and low affinities of their T cell receptors to MHC-peptide complexes. Here, we report the use of fluorescent multimers, designated MHC dextramers that contain a large number of peptide-MHC complexes per reagent. The utility of MHC dextramers was evaluated in three autoimmune disease models: 1) proteolipid protein (PLP) 139-151-induced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in SJL/J (H-2s) mice; 2) myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) 35-55-induced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in C57Bl/6 (H-2b) mice; and 3) cardiac myosin heavy chain (Myhc)-α 334-352-induced experimental autoimmune myocarditis in A/J (H-2a) mice. Flow cytometrically, we demonstrate that IAs/PLP 139-151, IAb/MOG 35-55 and IAk/Myhc-α 334-352 dextramers detect the antigen-sensitized cells with specificity, and with a detection sensitivity significantly higher than that achieved with conventional tetramers. Furthermore, we show that binding of dextramers, but not tetramers, is less dependent on the activation status of cells, permitting enumeration of antigen-specific cells ex vivo. The data suggest that MHC dextramers are useful tools to track the generation and functionalities of self-reactive CD4 cells in various experimental systems.
Binding of CO to myoglobin from a heme pocket docking site to form nearly linear Fe-C-O

The relative orientations of carbon monoxide (CO) bound to and photodissociated from myoglobin in solution have been determined with time-resolved infrared polarization spectroscopy. The bound CO is oriented < or = 7 degrees from the heme normal, corresponding to nearly linear FE-C-O. Upon dissociation from the Fe, CO becomes trapped in a docking site that orientationally constrains it to lie approximately in the plane of the heme. Because the bound and "docked" CO are oriented in nearly orthogonal directions CO binding from the docking site is suppressed. These solutions results help to establish how myoglobin discriminates against CO, a controversial issue dominated by the misconception that Fe-C-O is bent.
A Prospective Three-year Study of Response Properties of Normal Subjects and Patients during Automated Perimetry

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate prospectively the reliability characteristics of patients undergoing automated perimetry over a 3-year period and compare these results with the results of previous investigations. Methods: The subjects included 48 normal observers, 32 ocular hypertensive subjects, and 19 patients with early glaucomatous visual field loss. Both eyes were tested annually for 3 years with automated perimetry, using the standard procedures for the Humphrey Field Analyzer. Fixation losses, false-positive errors, false-negative errors, and short-term variability (double determinations) were evaluated. Results: Short-term variability was slightly higher for the early glaucoma group than for the normal observer and ocular hypertensive groups, but there were no meaningful changes in short-term variability over 3 years. False-positive errors were very low in all three groups throughout the investigation. False-negative errors were slightly higher in the early glaucoma group, but all three groups had relatively low false-negative error rates throughout the study. Fixation losses were the most common source of unreliable results. The number of fixation losses decreased for the second and third years of the study. Conclusion: Contrary to a previous report, a relatively low number of unreliable tests were found for both initial and follow-up visits. The majority of unreliable visual field tests were sporadic events. Only a few subjects repeatedly produced unreliable test results. The authors conclude that automated perimetry can provide a reliable means of following patients over extended periods of time.
Use of capacitance to measure surface forces. 2. Application to the study of contact mechanics

We performed capacitance measurements between silver layers on the back side of thin (<1 μm) mica substrates in surface force apparatus to determine the contact area with very high precision (<0.1% of the total area) and at a rate that is faster (∼1 kHz) than that in more traditional methods based on interferometry. To demonstrate the capabilities of the technique, we measured the adhesion and adhesion hysteresis between two mica surfaces. A peculiar discontinuous decrease in contact area, with decreasing load, between two dry mica surfaces is observed. We also studied the possible effect of shear forces on the value of the contact area due to adhesive forces, as in JKR theory.
Rb-Sr age of stony meteorites☆

Abstract A suite of samples of stony meteorites with a spread in Rb 87 Sr 86 ratios from about 0.02 to 3.0 has been analysed for Rb and Sr contents and Sr isotopic compositions. These whole-meteorite analyses all coincide within experimental error with a single isochron. The slope of this isochron yields an age of (4.52 ± 0.12) × 109yr using a decay constant of 1.39 × 10−11yr−1forRb87. The meteorites that form the isochron are all observed falls, and consequently are comparatively fresh (unweathered) samples. Each point on the isochron represents several analyses. On the same basis, the intercept of the isochron yields an initial Sr 87 Sr 86 ratio of 0.698 ± 0.001. This value is based on a normalization to 0.1194 of the meteoritic Sr 86 Sr 88 ratio, and is relative to a value of 0.7085 for the Sr 87 Sr 86 ratio in a standard sample of SrCO3 (Eimer and Amend, lot No. 492327) which was analysed alternately and repeatedly with the meteorite Sr samples during this investigation. It is inferred from this investigation that the source materials of the stony meteorites contained Sr whose Sr 87 Sr 86 ratio was 0.698, and that this source material was chemically differentiated into a variety of Rb-Sr systems. The close fit of the samples to a single isochron indicates that this chemical differentiation must have occurred within a relatively short interval of time, and that the individual meteorites are samples of systems that have remained closed ever since. This investigation favors a decay constant of about 1.38 × 10−11yr−1forRb87, in so far as this value is required to make the Rb-Sr age of the meteorites coincide with Patterson's (1956) Pb-isotope age for the meteorites and Earth of 4.55 × 109 years.
Delayed puberty in gilts in total confinement.

Two hundred fourteen crossbred gilts, born in January through March and June through July of two different years, were raised in total confinement until 100 to 120 days of age and then moved to an outside dirt lot (non-confined) or to a single pen in a confinement, finishing building (confined). Beginning at 150 days of age, estrus was checked daily with a boar to determine percentage of gilts that attained puberty and age at first estrus, and weekly blood samples were collected and analyzed for progesterone by radioimmunoassay to determine age at first ovulation. In the Jan.–Mar. born gilts, 75.4% of the non-confined gilts and 37.4% of the confined gilts attained puberty by 270 days of age (P<.001). Although differences were not significant in the gilts born in June–July, more non-confined gilts (62.6%) than confined gilts (50.9%) attained puberty. Of the 121 gilts that ovulated, only 1 non-confined and 3 confined gilts did not exhibit estrus. Average age at first estrus or at first ovulation were similar for confined and non-confined gilts. Adrenal gland weights at 250 to 270 days of age were similar also for confined and non-confined gilts. Based on the results of this study, we conclude that total confinement housing can reduce, by as much as 50%, the proportion of gilts that attain puberty by 8 to 9 months of age and that time of year may influence the extent of delayed puberty.
Methotrexate and misoprostol for early abortion: a multicenter trial. Acceptability

A prospective trial was conducted including 300 pregnant women seeking elective abortion to evaluate the efficacy and acceptability of methotrexate and misoprostol for abortion at < or = 56 days gestation. Subjects received methotrexate 50 mg/m2 intramuscularly followed 7 days later by misoprostol 800 micrograms vaginally. The misoprostol dose was repeated the next day if the abortion did not occur. Efficacy is reported elsewhere. Subjects were questioned before the study as to their reasons for choosing a medical abortion and past experience with surgical abortion. After the study was completed, the women were questioned about their medical abortion experience. All questions were asked in an open-ended manner. Main outcome measures included reasons for abortion and study participation, attitudes about the nonsurgical abortion experience, and feelings about preference of nonsurgical or surgical abortion. The most common reason cited as to why women chose to have a nonsurgical abortion was to avoid some aspect of the surgery (48.4%). The percent of women who cited that avoiding surgery was an important reason in their choice of nonsurgical abortion varied by study site and according to whether the woman had a prior surgical abortion. Upon completion of the study, 73.4% of women stated it was a good experience, 19.5% a neutral experience, 7.1% a bad experience, and 1.0% gave no response. When asked what method they would choose if they had to have another abortion, 83.5% would choose this method of medical abortion rather than a surgical abortion. Intramuscular methotrexate and vaginal misoprostol are an acceptable and desirable method of abortion.
Interpreting ASCII terminal input for 3270 protocol emulation

Abstract The attachment of ASCII-based terminals to EBCDIC-based hosts that use the 3270 device communication protocol requires the controller responsible for protocol conversion (the “front-end processor”) also to provide emulation for the supported devices. Usually such a controller must also include a means of customizing certain emulation parameters, thus allowing the user to add support for new terminal types. Terminal emulation is, however, a real-time task, and must not be allowed to create noticeable delays for the user. Particularly critical in this respect is the parsing of terminal input. This paper describes an effective method of parsing ASCII keyboard input that is based on a hierarchical table with hash tables used as subtables. The method has been used in a product that provides flexible attachment of ASCII devices to IBM S/370 systems.
Ernst Mayr, a retrospective

Many of the obituaries following his death credit Mayr with the solving the problems of species and speciation. Mayr was a great champion of the biological species concept, but he knew that it did not apply to the first 3 billion years of evolution on Earth, was less applicable to plants than it was to birds, and that the concept entailed focusing upon isolating factors in speciation. He had no idea how isolating factors evolved and thought of them as ad hoc factors that did not evolve through the causes of natural selection, and were not correlated with morphological differences. Closely related species with marked phenotypic differences can often interbreed easily and Mayr cited many examples of species that looked so similar that only experts could tell them apart, yet they could not interbreed.Mayr focused upon species and speciation and influenced many others to focus upon the same issues, all to the good of modern evolutionary biology. He often argued that his views on species and speciation were superior to those of Darwin. My suspicion is that Mayr's views did not advance as far from those of Darwin on species and speciation as he thought. Darwin's provisional hypothesis of pangenesis in 1868 is about as vague and biologically useless as Mayr's 1963 homeostatic gene pools.
Fundamental Limit to Optical Components

We prove an upper bound to performance for linear optical components, completely independent of detailed design. For one-dimensional dispersive and slow light structures, the bound depends only on length and maximum dielectric constant.
Impact of complications on patient satisfaction in breast reconstruction.

Background:The development of a complication after surgery can be difficult for both patient and surgeon. With a growing body of literature evaluating patient satisfaction after breast reconstruction, few studies directly focus on the impact of surgical complications on satisfaction. This study anal
ICE-ing the Heart

See related article, pages 1103–1109 In this issue of Circulation Research , Syed et al1 report that overexpression of caspase-1 (ICE) contributes to myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury. Transgenic mice were generated using the alpha-myosin heavy chair promoter to drive caspase-1 expression in the heart. The mice expressed caspase-1 30-fold more than the nontransgenics. Despite this massive overexpression, no spontaneous caspase activation or apoptosis was noted, and there was no apparent cardiac phenotype. However, endotoxin exposure and ischemia/reperfusion were associated with increased caspase-1 and -3 activation in the transgenic mice, suggesting that caspase-1 contributes to myocardial pathology in these settings. Cell culture studies were used to bolster the notion that caspase-1 activated caspase-3 directly rather than through upstream caspases. Missing from this study was any analysis of cytokine processing, although the primary role of caspase-1 is to process interleukin-1-beta (IL-1β) and IL-18, and potentially IL-1α, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor alpha-α (TNF-α). Enhanced caspase-1 activity and IL-18 have been reported after myocardial infarction, suggesting a role for caspase-1 in postischemic inflammation and injury.2 Frantz et al who showed that targeted deletion of caspase-1 was associated with reduced postoperative mortality and less left ventricular dilatation after myocardial infarction.3 The authors also noted reduced IL-18 levels and decreased matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) in the caspase-1-null animals after myocardial infarction, suggesting that cytokine signaling contributed to the injury process. Caspase-1 can be processed to the active form by caspase-11,4 which is activated in response to ischemia or endotoxin exposure. Caspase-11 is also capable of activating caspase-3 directly,5 although its significance in the heart is unknown. Caspase-1 is activated by oligomerization with adaptor proteins via the …
A Technique for Analyzing Optimal Relationships among Multiple Sets of Data Fields. Part 1: The Method

Abstract A multiple-set canonical correlation analysis (MCCA), which can be used to study atmospheric motions by analyzing the relationships among more than two sets of data fields, is proposed. By using the product or squared product of correlation matrices as the optimization criterion, this method generalizes the two-set canonical correlation analysis (CCA) and reduces the complications associated with the supermatrix approaches previously proposed in statistical textbooks. The final optimization equations can be greatly simplified to involve weighting functions of one field at a time. Furthermore, excluding or emphasizing correlations between special field pairs based on physical considerations can be easily implemented. The method is identical to a supermatrix approach based on maximizing the product of canonical correlation coefficients when the individual canonical correlation matrices are perfectly diagonal. This would be true for idealized data that contain only orthogonal motion systems so that ...
Mass transfer in a pulsed column

An analogy between mass and momentum transfer for pulsed flow was developed for predicting mass transfer coefficients. The method applies for mass transfer from the wall to a fluid in pulsed flow in a circular tube. Two dimensionless groups, , are needed to represent the effect of pulsation on the mass transfer coefficient. For a known system of tube and fluid, the information required to use the method are the frequency and amplitude of the pulse. Experimental data were obtained for steady and pulsed flow by measuring the rate of solution of β-naphthol into water in a 34 in. I.D. tube from NRe = 0 to 11,000. The theoretical equation, which contains no arbitrary constants, predicts the experimental results with an average deviation of 11 per cent. Increases in both frequency and amplitude of the pulse improve the mass transfer coefficient. The increase due to pulsation is significant at all NRe in the streamline flow region. In turbulent flow this is not the case, and at NRe = 11,000 no effect was observed at frequencies up to 50 c/min.
Stratigraphy and Paleoenvironment of the Phosphatic Miocene Strata of North Carolina

Foraminifera and Mollusca collected from the phosphatic Pungo River Formation and the overlying Yorktown Formation in eastern North Carolina were analyzed and interpreted for stratigraphic and environmental significance in order to determine optimum depositional sites for primary phosphorite. The Mollusca and benthonic foraminifera of the Pungo River Formation correlate with those of the Calvert Formation of Maryland, and the planktonic foraminifera in both of these formations correlate with the Globigerinatella insueta zone of Trinidad, postulated as late Aquitanian age. The paleoenvironment of the phosphorite deposition, interpreted primarily from the benthonic foraminifera, was of cool-temperate waters, ranging in depth from 100 to 200 m in the phosphatic beds to less than 70 m in the upper calcareous beds where phosphate is scarce. Phosphorite deposition occurred in an oceanic embayment located south of the Fort Monroe high in southern Virginia and north of a positive feature whose axis lies in the vicinity of New Bern, North Carolina. Cool-temperate waters in this area during Pungo River time indicate that circulation patterns of ocean currents and the resultant faunal provinces were not the same as those at present and later in the Miocene. In the Pungo River and its time equivalents of the Atlantic Coastal Plain, the presence of thick diatomaceous clay units, volcanic ash beds, shards, attapulgite clays, and other minerals probably derived from volcanic rocks, suggests a volcanic source somewhere off the coast during the Miocene. The Yorktown unconformably overlies the Pungo River Formation. The unconformity is marked by channels into the Pungo River, filled with phosphatic pebbles, vertebrate bones, and lower York-town molluscs and microfauna. The coarse-grained phosphatic material is derived from the underlying fine-grained primary phosphorite in the Pungo River and is abundant only in the lower part of the Yorktown Formation. Deposition of the lower part of the Yorktown occurred in waters about 100 m deep. The waters gradually became more shallow as deposition of the formation continued until depths of less than 15 m, and probable brackish conditions, were reached as the uppermost part of the formation was deposited. Temperature of the waters, cool-temperate during lower Yorktown deposition, became warm-temperate to subtropical in later Yorktown time. The faunal patterns suggest that circulation patterns reached their present state during late Yorktown time.
Who Needs Critical Agency?: Educational research and the rhetorical economy of globalization

Current critical pedagogical scholarship has theorized the epistemological and social intersection between globalization and educational technology according to two distinct positions. For some, this intersection offers new liberatory knowledges and opportunities that can subvert social homogenization and economic disparity. For others, this relationship is just another phase of neoimperialism that should be politically and ideologically resisted. In contrast, we argue that the intersection between globalization and educational technologies is rather a manifestation of larger economic and logical forces, and that resistance to such circumstances can neither be purely ideological or social. Instead, we contend that such a theoretical and pedagogical foreclosure dialectically actualizes conditions for real change—particularly when it complicates educational research technologies and their impact on epistemological multiplicity.
Good peasants: Two transformations of traditional agriculture, in Ethiopia and Hispanic North America

Wilken, Gene C. Good Farmers: Traditional Agricultural Resource Management in Mexico and Central America. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987. x + 302 pp. including references and index. $45.00 cloth. Dejene, Alemneh. Peasants, Agrarian Socialism, and Rural Development in Ethiopia. Boulder: Westview Press, 1987. xiii + 162 pp. including indices. $21.50 paper.
Buddhist ‘nuns’ (mae chi) and the teaching of Pali in contemporary Thailand*

This paper presents an ethnographic account of Buddhist ‘nuns’ involved in the teaching of Pali language and Abhidhamma in contemporary Thailand. It also reflects on both the emic-Buddhist (Pali and modern vernacular) and etic-interpretative (English-language) vocabularies which have been used to describe these women and their social role(s) and status(es). The aims of the paper are to go beyond the Weberian vocabulary usually used to describe what we will call ‘professionally celibate Buddhist women’, to escape from the ubiquitous emphasis on the issue of re-establising the Nuns’ Order (bhikkhunī-s) in the modern world in scholarship dealing with such women, and to encourage further ethnography and further civilizational interpretation of gender and asceticism.
Gait Control of a Six-Legged Robot on Unlevel Terrain Using a Cognitive Architecture

This paper discusses the use of the Soar cognitive architecture to control gait selection of a six-legged robot using force sensors attached to its feet. The hardware platform also incorporated sonar sensors, a GPS receiver, and a Webcam. The Soar cognitive architecture was used to control the robot, and the Java programming language was used as middleware between Soar and the hardware components. The force sensors were attached and the force profile was examined. Soar productions for controlling the gait were developed. Experiments were performed on terrain which has random holes and obstacles. Two cases were conducted: walking using Soar to select the gait, and using Soar with the chunking turned on for learning.
An all-polymer airflow sensor using a piezoresistive composite elastomer

This paper presents an all-polymer flexible micromachined flow sensor using a carbon-black based conductive composite elastomer as a piezoresistor. The device is composed of an out-of-plane curved flow sensing element formed using a polyimide film. The conductive composite elastomer combines a low Young's modulus (~1.72 MPa) and a high piezoresistive gage factor (~7.3), making it an ideal material for the sensing application. Moreover, the use of the polyimide film, which can be easily laser micromachined, as the material for device fabrication enables the use of planar micromachining techniques, which minimizes process complexities. The proposed fabrication sequence combines the benefits of the polymeric materials used, while simultaneously enabling a backside interconnect scheme for an array of devices, without additional processing steps. The backside interconnect scheme allows for flow field mapping with minimum interference due to the sensing circuitry. Individual sensors as small as 1.5 mm in length and 0.4 mm in width, with 70 µm wide and 20–50 µm thick piezoresistor lines, have been fabricated. Wind tunnel testing demonstrated sensitivities as high as 66Ω/(m s−1). The integration of polyimide films and conductive elastomers into a flow sensing device using the simple planar fabrication technologies discussed is suitable for reduced cost, large area sensor array development, and can also leverage traditional flexible circuit fabrication.
Rorschach test correlates of assaultive behavior.

(1955). Rorschach Test Correlates of Assaultive Behavior. Journal of Projective Techniques: Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 6-16.
Stanford University’s Experience With Managed Competition

Stanford University has a “managed competition” model of health insurance. Stanford contributes the cost of the low-cost plan, and employees are responsible for premium differences between this plan and other offerings. Each employee gets what he or she wants and is willing to pay for, and everyone has low-cost access to health insurance. Stanford risk-adjusts the premiums based on age and sex and plans soon to adjust including prescription drug data. In the past five years, premiums have risen rapidly, in line with the rest of the market. For competition to transform the delivery system, most employers in the region must adopt managed competition.
MESSAGE FORMAT AND AUDIENCE VALUES: INTERACTIVE EFFECTS OF UNCERTAINTY INFORMATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL ATTITUDES ON PERCEIVED RISK

Abstract The communication of risk assessment uncertainty to the public and to policy makers is a matter of increasing concern and debate. Although both past research and psychological theory predict that presenting information about the uncertainty associated with a risk estimate will increase perceived risk, recent work (Johnson & Slovic, 1995) suggests that it may in fact have a negligible impact on the average response to hazard risks. The present study argues that, when hazards are evaluated in the context of risk-benefits tradeoffs, uncertainty information interacts with individual value differences in its effects on perceived risk. One hundred and seventy-seven subjects evaluated five hypothetical environmental risk scenarios, with probabilistic risk information presented in one of four ways: (1) a single best estimate, (2) a best estimate with a verbal qualification of its associated uncertainty, (3) a numerical range centered on that estimate, and (4) a numerical range with the values explained as the conclusions of two different sources with opposing biases. Average level of perceived risk did not differ across these experimental groups, but type of uncertainty information and the individual's level of environmental concern had an interactive effect.
Interfacial Characterization of Multiple Layer Coatings on Thermoplastic Olefins (TPO)

Thermoplastic olefins (TPO) have made significant inroads as polymeric materials for interior and exterior automotive parts. Spray applied chlorinated polyolefins (CPO) are often used to improve paint adhesion to the low surface energy TPO substrates. The penetration of the CPO into the substrate is difficult to quantify, but is critical to achieving a good paint/TPO bond. The interphase between each layer in a coated TPO coupon was investigated using a combination of instrumented indentation and confocal Raman microscopy. The degree of CPO interpenetration was Thermoplastic olefins (TPO) have made significant inroads as polymeric materials for interior and exterior automotive parts. Spray applied chlorinated polyolefins (CPO) are often used to improve paint adhesion to the low surface energy TPO substrates. The penetration of the CPO into the substrate is difficult to quantify, but is critical to achieving a good paint/TPO bond. The interphase between each layer in a coated TPO coupon was investigated using a combination of instrumented indentation and confocal Raman microscopy. The degree of CPO interpenetration was altered by using three different CPOs exposed to two different manufacturing methods for the same TPO and base/clear coat system. It was found that the interfaces, CPO/base coat or CPO/TPO, were chemically and mechanically sharp at the 1 μm lateral resolution of both techniques. A gradient in the modulus through the thickness of the clear coat was observed using instrumented indentation.
A Comparison of Medium-Chain and Long-Chain Triglycerides in Surgical Patients Z. JIANG, S. ZHANG, X. WANG, ET AL Annals of Surgery 217:175–184, 1993

This study is based on the premises that (1) fat emulsions may be a valuable energy source for trauma and septic patients, and (2) whereas long-chain triglycerides (LCTs) may not be completely oxidized and some long-chain fatty acids may be reesterified to triglycerides in the liver, medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) are more rapidly cleared from the circulation than LCT emulsions and are metabolized faster. When MCTs are cleared, the authors cite published studies1,2 suggesting MCTs may enter cell mitochondria relatively independently of the carnitine acyltransferase transportation system and that MCTs are used in muscle at a twofold to threefold greater rate than LCTs.3 This suggests that MCTs may be a more efficient energy source for muscle.In addition, the authors cite other published studies suggesting MCTs are ketogenic and ketones may have protein sparing effects when used as an energy source.4 One commercial emulsion containing a 50:50 mixture of MCTs and LCTs is Lipofundin MCT 10% (B. Braun Inc, ...
Concurrent Antiviral and Immunosuppressive Activities of Leflunomide In Vivo

We previously reported that the immunosuppressive malononitrileamides leflunomide and FK778 exert antiviral activity against cytomegalovirus (CMV). In the current investigation, we tested the hypothesis that leflunomide exerts concurrent antiviral activity and immune suppression in CMV-infected cardiac allograft recipients. Lewis rats were transplanted with Brown Norway hearts and then inoculated with rat CMV. Plaque assay demonstrated that leflunomide (30 mg/kg/day) reduced viral loads by 4-6 logs, and that the reduction in viral load was unaffected by administration of uridine. Leflunomide was as effective as cyclosporine A (CsA) or tacrolimus in preservation of allograft integrity through day 28. These studies directly demonstrate the bifunctionality of leflunomide as concurrently immunosuppressive and antiviral, enhancing the promise of this agent as a clinical option for treatment of transplant recipients.
Agricultural water marketing, allocative efficiency, and drainage reduction

Abstract Water marketing is proposed to facilitate water exchange between agriculture and the urban sector. Water market effects on water conservation, economic efficiency, and drainage and environmental pollution reduction are investigated using a micro-level production model. The model is applied to conditions prevailing in the San Joaquin Valley of California, which is currently suffering agricultural drainage problems and environmental degradation. Results suggest that under a variety of conditions, a water market enables the farmer to both invest in an improved irrigation technology and pay for the safe disposal of drainage produced on his fields. Other societal benefits include the reduction in environmental pollution and benefits to the urban sector from additional water for its consumption.
HIV vaccines: brief review and discussion of future directions.

A major barrier to the design of a successful HIV vaccine is virus diversity,which is particularly apparent in the envelope glycoprotein, the target of neutralizing antibodies. An antibody generated to one envelope glycoprotein may not recognize an isolate bearing a different envelope glycoprotein. Thus, single-envelope glycoprotein vaccines have protected against homologous but not necessarily against heterologous challenge. Antigenic diversity has been addressed in the design of vaccines for other pathogens by the preparation of polyvalent vaccines. The poliovirus vaccine, for example, comprises three serotypes of poliovirus, a feature that was essential in providing full protection against polio infection. Similarly, the authors propose that overcoming HIV diversity is likely to require the administration of a cocktail of envelope glycoprotein antigens. Delivery of such an array of envelope glycoproteins will elicit a broad immune response that is potentially capable of recognizing the diverse populati...
An adjustable field shape electrostatic analyzer

Abstract An electric analyzer which permits the generation of any required field shape has been designed and constructed at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to be used with a broad range magnetic analyzer in the mass spectrometry program. The adjustable field shape electric lens is built using 20 elements in a 90° sector upon which voltages may be applied independently. First-order focusing theory for the generalized electric sector is developed using the principle of least action. The initial calculations involving determination of the potential distribution, the calculation of potentials for analyzer elements resulting in the most accurate field shape, and the studies of ion trajectories through the field of the lens are discussed. The details of the analyzer construction and operation are included as well as the techniques used to directly measure the focusing action of the lens during operation. Several related applications for this analyzer concept using modified designs are also mentioned.
RESPIRATORY AND GROWTH RESPONSES INDUCED BY GROWTH REGULATORS AND ALLIED COMPOUNDS

AVERY (1951) and Audus (1949) have reviewed and commented on the literature appearing before 1950 concerning stimulation of respiration in relation to growth, and Bonner and Bandurski (1952) have surveyed more recent developments and discussed their significance. The bulk of the experimental work has been done using the Avena coleoptile and it has now been shown in a number of laboratories that the application of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), in concentrations which induce growth stimulation, also elicits a respiratory response which may amount to a 20-40 per cent increase in oxygen uptake. However, in none of the previous work were measurements of growth and respiration carried out simultaneously and over a wide range of concentrations; frequently only a brief respiration determination was made before or at the end of the growth period. Yamaki (1949) has reported further experiments with Avena coleoptiles, in some of which respiration and growth were measured at the same time. He concluded that elongation and at least part of the respiration were influenced by IAA in a parallel manner.
Implantation techniques: A primary consideration in valve surgery☆

Clean site preparation for a prosthesis is mandatory to avoid tissue interference with the prosthesis. Oversizing of a prosthesis is fraught with peril. In all types of prostheses, orientation has importance. A prosthesis is designed with consideration for axial flow. Tilting the valve in implantation will likely result in a dysfunctional valve. The sewing ring serves not as a gasket but as an additional factor that increases the possibilities of success of a properly implanted valve by taking advantage of its naturally compliant features.
ZrO2 oxygen sensors: An evaluation of behavior at temperatures as low as 300°C

Abstract Y 2 O 3 -stabilized ZrO 2 sensors with simple Pt wire and foil electrodes permit accurate oxygen sensing as low as 300°C over an oxygen fugacity range of as much as 10 log units. These cells are non-Nernstian at least below 600°C, but they have been demonstrated to be reproducible enough to allow iterative calibration correction procedures based on known redox calibrants.
Two promoter elements are necessary and sufficient for expression of the sea urchin UI snRNA gene

The essential elements of the sea urchin L. variegatus U1 snRNA promoter were mapped by microinjection of a U1 maxigene into sea urchin zygotes. Two elements are required for expression: a distal sequence element (DSE) located between -318 and -300 and a proximal sequence element (PSE) centered at -55. Removal or alteration of other sequences conserved in different sea urchin snRNA U1 genes, including deletion of all sequence between -90 and -273, did not affect the expression. Sequences around the start site were not required for expression. Deletion of nucleotides between the PSE and the start site resulted in initiation inside the U1 coding region, suggesting that the PSE determines the start site of transcription. There is no obvious similarity between the sequences required for the sea urchin U1 snRNA expression and the sequences required for the expression of other sea urchin snRNAs.
Institutions and Interest Group Power: Agricultural Policy in the United States, France, and Japan

In 1933, the U.S. Congress passed the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA). A cornerstone of the New Deal, the AAA offered government payment to farmers who cut production of basic crops such as wheat, cotton, and corn. Originally designed to lift agriculture out of the depths of the Great Depression, government farm programs evolved over the next several decades into a complex policy regime of price supports, acreage controls, and government loans.
Flow–perfusion bioreactor system for engineered breast cancer surrogates to be used in preclinical testing

There is a need for preclinical testing systems that predict the efficacy, safety and pharmacokinetics of cancer therapies better than existing in vitro and in vivo animal models. An approach to the development of predictive in vitro systems is to more closely recapitulate the cellular and spatial complexity of human cancers. One limitation of using current in vitro systems to model cancers is the lack of an appropriately large volume to accommodate the development of this complexity over time. To address this limitation, we have designed and constructed a novel flow-perfusion bioreactor system that can support large-volume, engineered tissue comprised of multicellular cancer surrogates by modifying current microfluidic devices. Key features of this technology are a three-dimensional (3D) volume (1.2 cm3 ) that has greater tissue thickness than is utilized in existing microfluidic systems and the ability to perfuse the volume, enabling the development of realistic tumour geometry. The constructs were fabricated by infiltrating porous carbon foams with an extracellular matrix (ECM) hydrogel and engineering through-microchannels. The carbon foam structurally supported the hydrogel and microchannel patency for up to 161 h. The ECM hydrogel was shown to adhere to the carbon foam and polydimethylsiloxane flow chamber, which housed the hydrogel-foam construct, when surfaces were coated with glutaraldehyde (carbon foam) and nitric acid (polydimethylsiloxane). Additionally, the viability of breast cancer cells and fibroblasts was higher in the presence of perfused microchannels in comparison to similar preparations without microchannels or perfusion. Therefore, the flow-perfusion bioreactor system supports cell viability in volume and stromal contexts that are physiologically-relevant. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Good technologies gone bad: how and why the cost-effectiveness of a medical intervention changes for different populations.

Cost-effectiveness (CE) ratios vary considerably, not only across interventions, but within single interventions. Using a simple decision-tree model of the treat-vs no-treat decision to organize the analysis, four potential errors leading to these within-treatment differences in CE ratios are identified. These errors arise from estimates relating to 1) prior probabilities of disease; 2) treatment efficacies; 3) costs of treatment; and 4) patient preferences. Systematic biases, where present, suggest overuse of medical interventions. For diagnostic tests, two additional potential sources of error are con sidered (using a simple decision tree incorporating both test and treat decisions). These involve 5) sensitivity and specificity of the diagnostic test and 6) inappropriate choice of "cutoff" to determine abnormal patients, in part arising from errors in esti mating prior probability of disease. Key words: cost-effectiveness; biases; errors; re source use; utilities. (Med Decis Making 1997;17:107-117)
Proteomic approach to breast cancer.

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting women worldwide. Despite tremendous advances in screening, diagnosis, and treatment, the causes of this disease remain elusive and complex. Proteomics is a rapidly developing field that can explore the heterogeneity of breast cancer and supplement the wealth of information gained from genomics. Methods: This article serves as an overview of the application of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization source with a time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) proteomic techniques as applied to breast cancer. Examples of the clinical applicability of MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry are provided but represent only a fraction of the potential uses yet to be discovered. In addition, a brief summary of the bioinformatics issues that surround proteomics is included. Results: Mass spectrometry has provided new proteomic approaches to unravel the complexities of clinical specimens relevant to breast cancer diagnostics. In particular, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry analysis has been used to differentiate cancer profiles from benign profiles in samples from sera, plasma, tissue, nipple fluid, and ductal lavage. Some discriminating proteins have subsequently been identified. Conclusions: Mass spectrometry applications to breast cancer diagnostics continue to be developed but are evolving faster than bioinformatics/statistical analysis can adapt. The future of these techniques in terms of clinical investigation is limitless, but in terms of general applicability, these applications are currently cost-prohibitive.
Novel PEGylated Basal Insulin LY2605541 Has a Preferential Hepatic Effect on Glucose Metabolism

The impact of the novel basal insulin LY2605541 (LY) on hepatic and nonhepatic glucose uptake (non-HGU) was evaluated. Conscious dogs underwent euglycemic clamps with tracer and hepatic balance measurements. Clamp period infusions were peripheral venous regular insulin (0.1 nmol ⋅ kg(-1) ⋅ h(-1) [control], n = 6) or LY (bolus [nmol/kg], continuous [nmol ⋅ kg(-1) ⋅ h(-1)]: 0.5, 0.5 [n = 6]; 0.375, 0.375 [n = 5]; 0.25, 0.25 [n = 4]), somatostatin, and glucose, as well as intraportal glucagon (basal). During the clamp, the dogs switched from net hepatic glucose output to uptake (rates reached 2.1 ± 1.2, 0.9 ± 2.1, 8.6 ± 2.3, and 6.0 ± 1.1 µmol ⋅ kg(-1) ⋅ min(-1) within 5 h in control, LY0.25, LY0.375, and LY0.5, respectively). Non-HGU in LY increased less than in control; the ratio of change from basal in non-HGU to change in net hepatic glucose balance, calculated when glucose infusion rates (GIRs) were ~20 µmol ⋅ kg(-1) ⋅ min(-1) in all groups, was higher in control (1.17 ± 0.38) versus LY0.25 (0.39 ± 0.33), LY0.375 (-0.01 ± 0.13), and LY0.5 (-0.09 ± 0.07). Likewise, the change from baseline in glucose Rd-to-Ra ratio was greatest in control (1.4 ± 0.3 vs. 0.6 ± 0.4, 0.5 ± 0.2, and 0.6 ± 0.2 in LY0.25, LY0.375, and LY0.5, respectively). In contrast to exogenously administered human insulin, LY demonstrated preferential hepatic effects, similar to endogenously secreted insulin. Therefore, the analog might reduce complications associated with current insulin therapy.
Inflammatory aneurysms of the abdominal aorta: incidence, pathologic, and etiologic considerations.

Abstract Among 486 patients undergoing repair for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) during a 12-year period, 30 (6.2%) had evidence of "inflammatory" AAA. One patient (3%) had acute rupture, and six patients (20%) had chronic contained rupture. Ureteral obstruction was evident in 20% of the patients. In the early period of the study there were two postoperative deaths and operative time and blood loss were significantly increased. In the last period of the study, no attempt was made to separate the duodenum and the ureters from the aneurysm; there was no operative mortality, and operative time and blood loss were similar to that of patients with atherosclerotic aneurysms. In 23 of 100 specimens of atherosclerotic AAA, microscopic findings resembling inflammatory AAA were found. On the basis of our study we conclude the following: (1) Inflammatory AAAs are simply atherosclerotic aneurysms that show an unusual accentuation of the chronic inflammation observed in relation to atherosclerotic aneurysms. (2) Operative technique should be modified to avoid excessive dissection and lysis of ureters and duodenum. (3) Excellent early and late results can be expected with proper surgical technique. (4) The causes of AAA are multiple, and chronic contained rupture of the aneurysm and reactive lymphatic hyperplasia might play a role of greater significance than previously thought. (J Vasc Surg 1989;9:643–50.)
Kilowatts and Crisis: Hydroelectric Power and Social Dislocation in Eastern Panama

Kilowatts and Crisis: Hydroelectric Power and Social Dislocation in Eastern Panama. Alaka wali. Development, Conflict, and Social Change Series. Boulder: Westview Press, 1989. 205 pp. $26.50 paper). ISBN 0-8133-7298-4.
On Meyer and Lambert's quantificational calculus FQ

The semantical account that Meyer and Lambert give in [7] of their quantificational calculus FQ can be considerably simplified, and—supposing as the authors do at the close of their paper that ‘ = ’ counts as a primitive sign—so can their axiom system for FQ. (1) As the authors remark, axiom schema 102 can be simplified to read : A ⊃ (∀Χ)A , where Χ does not occur free in A . Following Tarski's [9], it can be further simplified: A ⊃ (∀Χ)A , where Χ does not occur in A .
Economic Mediation and the Power of Associations: Toward a Concept of Encompassment

Examining the incorporation of the Galician fishing sector into the European Community, this analysis seeks to articulate a concept of encompassment. We argue that a European anthropology must develop the theoretical resources and methods to explore the dialectical relationship between structures that are both hierarchically linked and of different magnitudes. In particular, it is necessary to grasp the emergence of new forms of social organization that mediate this relationship. This study seeks to provide an ethnography of such a socially meaningful link.
Determination of relevant neuron-neuron connections for neural prosthetics using time-delayed mutual information: tutorial and preliminary results.

Background Identification of functional dependence among neurons is a necessary component in both the rational design of neural prostheses as well as in the characterization of network physiology. The objective of this article is to provide a tutorial for neurosurgeons regarding information theory, specifically time-delayed mutual information, and to compare time-delayed mutual information, an information theoretic quantity based on statistical dependence, with cross-correlation, a commonly used metric for this task in a preliminary analysis of rat hippocampal neurons. Methods Spike trains were recorded from rats performing delayed nonmatch-to-sample task using an array of electrodes surgically implanted into the hippocampus of each hemisphere of the brain. In addition, spike train simulations of positively correlated neurons, negatively correlated neurons, and neurons correlated by nonlinear functions were generated. These were evaluated by time-delayed mutual information (MI) and cross-correlation. Results Application of time-delayed MI to experimental data indicated the optimal bin size for information capture in the CA3-CA1 system was 40 ms, which may provide some insight into the spatiotemporal nature of encoding in the rat hippocampus. On simulated data, time-delayed MI showed peak values at appropriate time lags in positively correlated, negatively correlated, and complexly correlated data. Cross-correlation showed peak and troughs with positively correlated and negatively correlated data, but failed to capture some higher order correlations. Conclusions Comparison of time-delayed MI to cross-correlation in identification of functionally dependent neurons indicates that the methods are not equivalent. Time-delayed MI appeared to capture some interactions between CA3-CA1 neurons at physiologically plausible time delays missed by cross-correlation. It should be considered as a method for identification of functional dependence between neurons and may be useful in the development of neural prosthetics.