cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Idiotype Immunization Following High-Dose Therapy and Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

The treatment of low- and intermediate-grade subtypes of malignant lymphoma continues to evolve. Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) accounts for 6% of all non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and is generally considered incurable. Although high response rates can be achieved with initial chemotherapy, median survival is only 3-4 years. Intensified consolidation with high-dose therapy (HDT) and autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) has been reported to improve progression-free survival (PFS), but most patients eventually relapse. Indolent lymphoma accounts for 35% of all NHL and is associated with a median survival of 9 years. Similar to MCL, it is also generally considered incurable, and the PFS also appears to be improved following HDT/ASCT. We initiated a pilot study to evaluate idiotype (Id) vaccination following HDT and ASCT for patients with MCL, indolent, and transformed NHL to evaluate the ability of Id-keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) to induce immune responses, and to evaluate overall survival (OS) and PFS. We treated 15 patients: 8 with MCL, 4 with follicular lymphoma, 1 with small lymphocytic lymphoma, and 2 with transformed lymphoma. After a median follow-up of approximately 6.3 years (range: 1-9), PFS and OS at 9.05 years from time of ASCT are 59% and 52%, respectively.
Mass transfer trends occurring in engineered ex vivo tissue scaffolds

In vivo the vasculature provides an effective delivery system for cellular nutrients; however, artificial scaffolds have no such mechanism, and the ensuing limitations in mass transfer result in limited regeneration. In these investigations, the regional mass transfer properties that occur through a model scaffold derived from the human umbilical vein (HUV) were assessed. Our aim was to define the heterogeneous behavior associated with these regional variations, and to es- tablish if different decellularization technologies can modulate transport conditions to improve microenvironmental condi- tions that enhance cell integration. The effect of three decellu- larization methods (Triton X-100 (TX100), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and acetone/ethanol (ACE/EtOH)) on mass trans- fer, cellular migration, proliferation, and metabolic activity were assessed. Results show that regional variation in tissue structure and composition significantly affects both mass transfer and cell function. ACE/EtOH decellularization was shown to increase albumin mass flux through the intima and proximate-medial region (0-250 lm) when compared with sec- tions decellularized with TX100 or SDS; although, mass flux remained constant over all regions of the full tissue thickness when using TX100. Scaffolds decellularized with TX100 were shown to promote cell migration up to 146% further relative to SDS decellularized samples. These results show that depend- ing on scaffold derivation and expectations for cellular integra- tion, specificities of the decellularization chemistry affect the scaffold molecular architecture resulting in variable effects on mass transfer and cellular response. V C 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 100A: 2194-2203, 2012.
Atrial Fibrillation Ablation in Octogenarians: Where Do We Stand?

The prevalence of atrial fibrillation increases significantly with age, affecting nearly 10 % of adults greater than 80 years of age. Complications from atrial fibrillation, including stroke, also increase with age. Medical therapy includes anticoagulation, ventricular rate control, and if symptoms persist, maintenance of sinus rhythm with antiarrhythmic drugs. However, anticoagulation and antiarrhythmic therapy is often challenging in the elderly due to side effects, comorbidities, and heightened sensitivity to medications. Catheter based ablation of atrial fibrillation is an effective treatment for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. However, the major randomized controlled trials, such as Thermocool AF and STOP-AF studies, have excluded the elderly patients. Current guidelines suggest caution when considering ablation for elderly patients due to a lack of available data. We will review recent studies that have observed the outcomes of atrial fibrillation ablation in the elderly, specifically those studies that included octogenarians.
Thomas Paine (1737‐1809) and Thomas Spence (1750‐1814) on land ownership, land taxes and the provision of citizens' dividend

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to outline and compare the land ownership, land taxes and citizens' dividend proposals by Thomas Paine and Thomas Spence.Design/methodology/approach – Paine wrote “Agrarian justice” in which he argued that every proprietor of cultivated land owes to the society a ground‐rent for the land which the person holds because it is common property. This ground rent would take the form of a tax per year of 10 per cent on inheritances. It is this ground‐rent that would fund the payments made to every person based on some age restrictions. In response, Spence wrote “The rights of infants” in which he went a step further as he recommended the abolition of aristocracy. As a result, there would have been common ownership of land and revenue derived from land would be administered by the parishes and distributed to everyone equally.Findings – In assessing the two proposals using the citizens' dividend criterion, each proposal has consistent and inconsistent elements.Practical implicati...
Quantitative Histology and Mechanical Testing of a Biodegradable Bone Cement

We have developed a particulate composite bone cement consisting of a particulate phase of tricalcium phosphate (TCP) particles bound together by a polymeric matric phase (PPF). This matrix hardens through a free radical polymerization reaction in vivo within several minutes after mixing. The initial mechanical strength of our particulate composite bone cement results from the matrix, but over time this degrades and the strength is augmented by bone ingrowth and incorporation of the tricalcium phosphate particles. Possible orthopaedic applications include fixation of fractures, augmenting fixation of implants in osteoporetic bone, and temporary stabilization of bone ingrowth prostheses.
Securitisation and its Footprint: The Rise of the U.S. Securities Industry Centres 1998-2007

This paper conceptualises securitisation from an economic geographic perspective, and documents dynamic but volatile growth of the securities industry and its distribution in the U.S.A. between 1998 and 2007. The industry has spread across states and metropolitan areas, within which it has enhanced its position in central districts, crowding out credit and insurance industry. Corporate headquarters have become more concentrated and their distribution has become more similar to the location of the securities industry centres. The results have implications for a revision of the global city theory, and corroborate research on the geography of stock markets and financialisation.
Dimerization of the extracellular domain of the erythropoietin (EPO) receptor by EPO: one high-affinity and one low-affinity interaction.

Although there is considerable evidence that signaling by the erythropoietin (EPO) receptor is initiated when it is dimerized by binding EPO, it has been previously reported that the soluble extracellular domains of the EPO receptor (sEPOR) are not dimerized in the presence of EPO and are able to form only 1:1 complexes with EPO. We have now shown unambiguously by light scattering, sedimentation equilibrium, and titration calorimetry that two molecules of sEPOR can bind to a single EPO monomer but that the binding of the second sEPOR is ∼1000-fold weaker than that of the first. Because this second binding interaction is quite weak (Kd of ∼1 μM), the 2:1 sEPOR·EPO complexes are easily dissociated during chromatography (forming the 1:1 complexes reported previously) and cannot be isolated in pure form. Global analysis of the sedimentation equilibrium data has enabled us to determine the binding constants and is consistent with a model in which EPO has two independent binding sites for sEPOR but cannot exclu...
Influence of sample collection and storage on the detection of platelet factor 4-heparin antibodies.

Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia is a life-threatening thrombotic disorder caused by antibodies to platelet factor 4 (PF4) and heparin. Commercial immunoassays are frequently used for the detection of PF4-heparin antibodies, and several studies have reported that higher antibody titers are more frequently associated with adverse events. It is not known if conditions involving sample preparation and/or storage affect the operational characteristics of PF4-heparin immunoassays. We compared the detection of PF4-heparin antibodies from 48 patient samples collected concordantly in serum separator tubes or tubes containing EDTA or sodium citrate. We also examined the effects of extended sample storage on whole blood collected in serum separator, EDTA, or citrate tubes at 4°C for up to 96 hours on antibody detection. We noted that serum or plasma anticoagulated with sodium citrate or EDTA yielded comparable results. In addition, we could not demonstrate any significant sample deterioration after storage at 4°C in any medium for up to 4 days. These findings suggest that PF4-heparin antibodies are largely insensitive to the effects of sample preparation and storage.
Narrow-band ultraviolet B is a useful and well-tolerated treatment for vitiligo.

Abstract Background: The treatment of vitiligo remains a challenge. Objective: The purpose of this article is to review our results and experience with narrow-band ultraviolet (UV) B phototherapy for vitiligo. Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of our experience and results with patients with vitiligo who were treated with narrow-band UVB between November 1998 and November 1999. Narrow-band UVB phototherapy was given as monotherapy 3 times a week. The starting dose was 280 mJ/cm 2 , with 15% dose increments at each subsequent treatment. Results: Seven patients were able to be evaluated for the purposes of this analysis. Their ages ranged from 19 to 59 years (mean, 37.6 years). Three patients had Fitzpatrick skin phototype IV and V, and 4 had phototypes II and III. Five of the 7 patients achieved more than 75% repigmentation with a mean of 19 treatments; the mean duration of disease was 13 months. The remaining two patients had 50% and 40% repigmentation after 46 and 48 treatments, respectively. Their mean duration of disease was 132 months. Adverse effects were mild erythema and pruritus. Conclusion: This treatment protocol resulted in rapid repigmentation in many patients, including those with skin phototypes IV and V. In accordance with previous studies, this report indicates that narrow-band UVB is a useful and well-tolerated therapy for vitiligo. (J Am Acad Dermatol 2001;44:999-1003.)
Radiological Changes in Vermiculite Workers Exposed to Tremolite

Abstract Complementary radiographic studies were conducted independently by groups from McGill University and NIOSH among employees of a Montana mine where the vermiculite ore is contaminated by amphibole fibres. In the McGill study, 173 current and 80 past employees were X-rayed in 1983. The x-rays were read by three experienced readers using the ILO (1980) classification. In the NIOSH study, the most recent routinely taken chest x-rays from 184 men who were employed 5 years or more and at some time since 1975 were similarly classified by three qualified readers. In the McGill studies, prevalence of small parenchymal opacities (≥ 1/0), pleural thickening on the chest wall and pleural calcification were 18.4%, 27.9% and 11.9%. The corresponding figures from NIOSH were lower at 9.8%, 13.0% and 3.8%. Both studies found small opacities to be independently related to age, smoking and fibre-years. The increase in prevalence of small opacities at age 65 following exposure to 100 f.y. predicted from the McGill and NIOSH studies were similar, at 7.3% and 5.2%. The relationship between pleural changes and fibre-years was weaker and reached statistical significance in the McGill study only.
Creating a Culture of Academic Success in an Urban Science and Math Magnet High School.

This paper reports on a 3-year study of a half-day urban magnet high school founded upon a desire to provide rigorous science, math, and technology experiences to students who would not otherwise have access to such educational opportunities. Using the theoretical lens of how a model of an educated person gets culturally produced within the school setting, I attended to: (1) the institutional construction of preferred student identity, (2) ways in which students in the school both took up and transformed this identity, and (3) how these student initiatives played a role in gradual institutional shifts in student expectations. Four constructs—learning, achievement, resistance, and success—were found to play significant roles in how the qualities of an educated person were negotiated through practice in attempts to create a culture of academic success in science and mathematics. These findings have implications for teaching and learning in other urban school settings. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed, 89:392–417, 2005
Quantifying the Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions Associated with Recycling Hot Mix Asphalt

ABSTRACT Market based policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have become increasingly popular in the last decade. These policies provide economic incentives for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. A life-cycle inventory model was developed to evaluate three alternatives for the management of waste hot mix asphalt (HMA) including, (1) recycling as new aggregate, (2) recycling as new HMA, and (3) disposal in a landfill. Global warming potential, environmental emissions, and total energy use were quantified for each management alternative. The recycling of used asphalt into new HMA results in a reduction of 16 kg CO2e compared to landfilling. Recycling used HMA as aggregate reduced GHG emissions by 9 kg CO2e A Monte Carlo analysis on the alternatives showed that the range of reduction for recycling as HMA was 12 to 26 kg CO2e and for recycling as aggregate 6 to 11 kg CO2e.
Hypopituitarism, hypoadrenalism, and hypogonadism in the newborn infant.

Summary A case is presented of a normal-appearing newborn infant except for small genitalia and cryptorchidism who apparently had no pituitary gland, and had secondary anatomic hypoplasia of the adrenal glands and testes. The case reported has many histologic features in common with both anencephalic monsters and some species of animals decapitated in utero that are subsequently brought to term: (1) the patient had no pituitary gland demonstrable, although the possibility that an aberrant gland may have been present cannot be disproved; (2) the adrenal glands were hypoplastic and had fat-staining qualities similar to those found in the adrenal glands of anencephalic monsters; (3) the thymus gland was moderately enlarged; (4) the thyroid was histologically and quantitatively normal; (5) the pancreas was grossly normal; and (6) the testes of the anencephalic monster and of the case reported were identical in the extensive increases in connective tissue, although such an increase has not previously been reported in anencephalic monsters or hypopituitary animal fetuses. Thorough investigation of the pituitary and hypothalamus is indicated in future cases of infants with adrenal insufficiency, hypogonadism, or incomplete external genital development dying in the newborn period. Further investigation of the endocrine glands and hypothalamus of anencephalic monsters is also indicated. Studies of this type may be of further benefit in understanding fetal endocrinology.
Immunohistochemical Detection of an Immediate Early Antigen of Human Cytomegalovirus in Normal Tissues

As a member of the herpesvirus family, human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) induces a life-long latent infection in most individuals infected with it. This latent infection is subject to periodic reactivations that serve as an important source of disease and death in patients with defective immunologic responses. The specific types of cells that harbor latent HCMV have not yet been identified. To detect latent HCMV and identify the host cells carrying it, tissue sections from nine HCMV-seropositive normal individuals were examined using a murine monoclonal antibody specific for one of the immediate early (IE) antigens of HCMV. Cells expressing the IE antigen were detected in several different tissues from six of the subjects. Tissues found to contain positively stained cells included brain, kidney, spleen, lung, and liver. No positively stained cells were found in any tissue from seven HCMV-seronegative individuals studied by the same procedures. Cells undergoing productive infection with HCMV could not be detected in any of the tissues containing IE antigen-positive cells. It is proposed that these IE antigen-expressing cells represent at least some of the sites of HCMV latency in normal seropositive individuals.
Cell-Mediated Immunity to Cytomegalovirus Infection

We have already discussed the humoral immune response to CMV infection in Chapter 6. Immunopathology mediated by specific antibody and humoral substances is discussed in the chapter on pathology (Chapter 10). The immunosuppressive effects of CMV infection in the human and in mice are treated, respectively, in Sections 13.1.5 and 16.6.3. Here we concentrate on changes in specific and nonspecific cell-mediated immunity (CMI) following infections with CMV.
Molecular Characterization of the Diversity and Distribution of a Thermal Spring Microbial Community by Using rRNA and Metabolic Genes

The diversity and distribution of a bacterial community from Coffee Pots Hot Spring, a thermal spring in Yellowstone National Park with a temperature range of 39.3 to 74.1°C and pH range of 5.75 to 6.91, were investigated by sequencing cloned PCR products and quantitative PCR (qPCR) of 16S rRNA and metabolic genes. The spring was inhabited by three Aquificae genera—Thermocrinis, Hydrogenobaculum, and Sulfurihydrogenibium—and members of the Alpha-, Beta-, and Gammaproteobacteria, Firmicutes, Acidobacteria, Deinococcus-Thermus, and candidate division OP5. The in situ chemical affinities were calculated for 41 potential metabolic reactions using measured environmental parameters and a range of hydrogen and oxygen concentrations. Reactions that use oxygen, ferric iron, sulfur, and nitrate as electron acceptors were predicted to be the most energetically favorable, while reactions using sulfate were expected to be less favorable. Samples were screened for genes used in ammonia oxidation (amoA, bacterial gene only), the reductive tricarboxylic acid (rTCA) cycle (aclB), the Calvin cycle (cbbM), sulfate reduction (dsrAB), nitrogen fixation (nifH), nitrite reduction (nirK), and sulfide oxidation (soxEF1) by PCR. Genes for carbon fixation by the rTCA cycle and nitrogen fixation were detected. All aclB sequences were phylogenetically related and spatially correlated to Sulfurihydrogenibium 16S rRNA gene sequences using qPCR (R2 = 0.99). This result supports the recent finding of citrate cleavage by enzymes other than ATP citrate lyase in the rTCA cycle of the Aquificaceae family. We briefly consider potential biochemical mechanisms that may allow Sulfurihydrogenibium and Thermocrinis to codominate some hydrothermal environments.
Non-linear viscoelastic models predict fingertip pulp force-displacement characteristics during voluntary tapping.

Abstract We evaluated whether lumped-parameter non-linear viscoelastic models of human fingertip tissue can describe fingertip force-displacement characteristics during a range of rapid, dynamic tapping tasks. Eight human subjects tapped with their index finger on the surface of a rigid load cell while an optical system tracked fingertip position using an infra-red LED attached to the fingernail. Four different tapping conditions were tested: normal and high-speed taps with a relaxed hand, and normal and high-speed taps with the other fingers co-contracted. A non-linear viscoelastic model comprised of an instantaneous stiffness function and viscous relaxation function was capable of predicting fingertip tissue force response due to measured pulp compression under these four different loading conditions. The model could successfully reconstruct very rapid (less than 5 ms) force transients, and forces occurring over time periods greater than 100 ms, with errors of 10%. Model parameters varied by less than 20% over the four conditions, despite almost 3-fold differences in average forces and 38% differences in fingertip velocities. Energy dissipation by the fingertip averaged 81%, and varied little (
Historical Prospective: Therapeutic Catheterization Procedures in Congenital Heart Disease

The development of pediatric and congenital therapeutic (“interventional”) catheterization procedures is traced from the earliest attempts to the current procedures. Therapeutic cardiac catheterization procedures for pediatric and congenital heart disease have grown from a dream to a reality during only the last three decades. Although some of the technology has come from the adult interventions and has paralleled the development of adult catheter interventions, most of the therapeutic procedures for congenital lesions were developed by a dedicated and persistent group of pediatric cardiologists and originated in the pediatric cardiac catheterization laboratories. Many of the common congenital lesions, which three decades ago required cardiac surgery for treatment, now, as standard accepted therapy, are managed in the catheterization laboratory. The most successful advances have been in the opening of stenotic valves, opening and fixing stenotic vessels with intravascular stents, and, at the opposite extreme, the closure of PDAs, secundum ASDs, some VSDs, and numerous miscellaneous abnormal communications. Although many of these therapies are now the standard of care, all of the catheter therapies in pediatric and congenital lesions are in the infancy of their development and will undergo many improvements and refinements in the future.
Interactions between highly conserved U2 small nuclear RNA structures and Prp5p, Prp9p, Prp11p, and Prp21p proteins are required to ensure integrity of the U2 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Abstract Binding of U2 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (snRNP) to the pre-mRNA is an early and important step in spliceosome assembly. We searched for evidence of cooperative function between yeast U2 small nuclear RNA (snRNA) and several genetically identified splicing (Prp) proteins required for the first chemical step of splicing, using the phenotype of synthetic lethality. We constructed yeast strains with pairwise combinations of 28 different U2 alleles with 10 prp mutations and found lethal double-mutant combinations with prp5, -9, -11, and -21 but not with prp3, -4, -8, or -19. Many U2 mutations in highly conserved or invariant RNA structures show no phenotype in a wild-type PRP background but render mutant prp strains inviable, suggesting that the conserved but dispensable U2 elements are essential for efficient cooperative function with specific Prp proteins. Mutant U2 snRNA fails to accumulate in synthetic lethal strains, demonstrating that interaction between U2 RNA and these four Prp proteins contributes to U2 snRNP assembly or stability. Three of the proteins (Prp9p, Prp11p, and Prp21p) are associated with each other and pre-mRNA in U2-dependent splicing complexes in vitro and bind specifically to synthetic U2 snRNA added to crude splicing extracts depleted of endogenous U2 snRNPs. Taken together, the results suggest that Prp9p, -11p, and -21p are U2 snRNP proteins that interact with a structured region including U2 stem loop IIa and mediate the association of the U2 snRNP with pre-mRNA.
Network architecture to support QoS in mobile ad hoc networks [video streaming applications]

We present a quality of service (QoS) architecture for supporting real-time data transmission in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). The QoS architecture includes a QoS transport layer, QoS routing, queue management and a priority MAC protocol. Through simulations, we find that the QoS architecture reduces packet delay and greatly improves the quality of real-time video streams in MANETs.
Survival of spumavirus, a primate retrovirus, in laboratory media and water

The persistence of a previously characterized spumavirus strain (strain SV-522) was investigated utilizing various laboratory media and waters, including Eagle's minimal essential medium (EMEM) plus 0% fetal bovine serum (EMEM-0%), EMEM-2%, EMEM-10%, Chlamydia transport medium (CTM), phosphate-buffered saline, distilled, estuarine, and marine water, human serum, and the germicides, ethyl alcohol (70%) and sodium hypochlorite (10%). Experiments were performed at 4°C and/or 23°C. Infectivity endpoints were determined in stock aliquots upon initiation of testing and then after 3, 5, 7, and 10 days. The virus was reisolated from all diluents after 5 days at 23°C and in EMEM-10% after 7 days. The virus was detected in CTM, EMEM-2%, EMEM-10%, and estuarine and marine waters after 7 days at 4°C. Differences in the persistence of the virus may be ascribed to temperature and organic load. Water ionic strengths (e.g., estuarine vs. marine water) had no effect on modifying persistence of viral particles. Infectivity of spumavirus was undetectable after 30 s in 70% ethanol or 10% sodium hypochlorite. After 30 min at 23°C, spumavirus infectivity in normal but not heat-inactivated human serum increased by almost 100-fold. Persistence of infectivity of primate spumavirus after 7 days in media and waters, and the agent's infectious potential in the human host, emphasize a need for cautious recognition during the manipulation of primate cells/organs and in the handling of primates themselves.
Identification of Intracellular Carbonic Anhydrase in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii with a Carbonic Anhydrase-Directed Photoaffinity Label

A carbonic anhydrase (CA)-directed photoaffinity reagent, 125I-labeled p-aminomethylbenzenesulfonamide-4-azidosalicylamide,was synthesized and shown to derivatize periplasmic CA in the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. The photoderivatization of purified C. reinhardtii periplasmic CA or intact C. reinhardtii cells with the reagent resulted in the modification of the large (37 kD) subunit of the enzyme. Photoderivatization of proteins in lysed C. reinhardtii cells also resulted in the specific labeling of a polypeptide of 30 kD. Centrifugation of the cell extract prior to photoaffinity labeling revealed that the labeled peptide was present predominantly in a particulate fraction. The photoaffinity-labeled 30-kD polypeptide was not observed in extracts from a mutant of C. reinhardtii that is believed to be deficient in an intracellular form of CA. These results provide evidence that the 30-kD polypeptide, which is photoaffinity labeled in lysed C. reinhardtii cells, is an intracellular form of CA.
A fraud-prevention framework for software defined radio mobile devices

The superior reconfigurability of software defined radio mobile devices has made it one of the most promising technology on the wireless network and in the mobile communication industry. The evolution from a static and rigid system to a highly dynamic environment, which offers many advantages over current systems, has been made possible thanks to the concepts of programmability and reconfigurability introduced by the software defined radio technology and the higher level of flexibility and openness of this technology's devices. Clearly, the software defined radio mobile device's flexibility is a great advantage since the customer is able to use the same device in different parts of the world, with different wireless technologies. Despite the advantages, there are still issues to be discussed regarding security. According to the Software Defined Radio Forum some of the concerns are the radio configuration download, storage and installation, user's privacy, and cloning. To address the SDR Forum concerns a fraud-prevention framework is proposed. The framework is composed by new pieces of hardware, new modules and new protocols that together greatly enhance the overall security of software defined radio mobile devices and this new highly dynamic environment. The framework offers security monitoring against malicious attacks and viruses that may affect the configuration data; protects sensitive information through the use of protected storage; creates and protects an identity for the system; employs a secure and efficient protocol for radio configuration download and update; and finally, establishes an anticloning scheme, which not only guarantees that no units can be cloned over the air but also elevates the level of difficulty to clone units if the attacker has physical access to those units. Even if cloned units exist, the anti-cloning scheme is able to identify them and deny any service.
Chemical Reactions at the in Vacuo Au/Inp Interface

Abstract : The reaction between a gold film and an indium phosphide substrate occurs much more readily in vacuo than under an atmosphere pressure of an inert gas. At high pressures, the compounds Au2P3 and the Y intermetallic compound (at times designated Au7In3, Au9In4, or Au2In) are formed at 450 C and remain fairly stable even when annealed at 500 C for hours. Under ultra-high vacuum conditions, phosphorus readily escapes from the film when a sample is annealed at 300 C for 15 minutes, and the major reaction products are the psi phase (Au3In2) and an unidentified Au-InP behaves more like a closed thermodynamic system under pressure than in a vacuum. Keywords: Phosphorus escape, Composition shift, Layered islands, Four solid phases, Ternary phase diagram, Intense reflections.
Residential Amenities, Firm Location and Economic Development:

Amenities are regarded as increasingly important to the location decisions of certain types of firm. Yet they are often ignored in economic development research because of the assumption that they attract only workers, and that this workforce, in turn, attracts firms. This paper argues for a reduced form model of the impact of amenities on corporate location. When testing such a model at the intra-metropolitan scale, it will be necessary to measure amenities not only at the potential worksite, but also where employees are likely to live. This paper tests such a firm location model using a sample of municipalities in northern New Jersey. Results support the hypothesis that firms evaluate certain amenities with respect to the likely residential locations of their employees.
Severe acute thrombocytopenia following rituximab therapy.

Rituximab (Rituxan®) is a chimeric monoclonal antibody directed against the CD20 antigen found on the surface of normal and malignant B lymphocytes. Rituximab is indicated for the treatment of pati...
Dramatically Reducing Training Data Size Through Vocabulary Saturation

Our field has seen significant improvements in the quality of machine translation systems over the past several years. The single biggest factor in this improvement has been the accumulation of ever larger stores of data. However, we now find ourselves the victims of our own success, in that it has become increasingly difficult to train on such large sets of data, due to limitations in memory, processing power, and ultimately, speed (i.e., data to models takes an inordinate amount of time). Some teams have dealt with this by focusing on data cleaning to arrive at smaller data sets (Denkowski et al., 2012a; Rarrick et al., 2011), “domain adaptation” to arrive at data more suited to the task at hand (Moore and Lewis, 2010; Axelrod et al., 2011), or by specifically focusing on data reduction by keeping only as much data as is needed for building models e.g., (Eck et al., 2005). This paper focuses on techniques related to the latter efforts. We have developed a very simple n-gram counting method that reduces the size of data sets dramatically, as much as 90%, and is applicable independent of specific dev and test data. At the same time it reduces model sizes, improves training times, and, because it attempts to preserve contexts for all n-grams in a corpus, the cost in quality is minimal (as measured by BLEU ). Further, unlike other methods created specifically for data reduction that have similar effects on the data, our method scales to very large data, up to tens to hundreds of millions of parallel sentences.
Sleeping on the Couch: Interpretation-in-Action in Infant-Parent Psychotherapy

Various types of action are prevalent in infant mental health work, not only in the practice of infant-parent psychotherapy as originally conceived by Selma Fraiberg (Fraiberg & Fraiberg, 1980), bu...
Energy efficient navigation management for hybrid electric vehicles on highways

Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) are gaining popularity due to their economical efficiency as well as their contribution to environmental preservation. PHEVs allow the driver to use exclusively electric power for 30-50 miles of driving, and switch to gasoline for longer trips. The more gasoline a vehicle uses, the higher cost is required for the trip. However, a PHEV cannot go long with its stored electricity without being recharged. Thus, it needs frequent recharging as compared to traditional engine vehicles powered by gasoline. Moreover, the battery recharging time is usually long, which leads to longer delays on a trip. Therefore, for the deployment of the PHEV technology it is necessary to provide a flexible navigation management scheme considering an efficient recharging scheduling, which allows choosing an optimal route based on the fuel-cost and time-to-destination constraints. In this paper, we show that this PHEV navigation management problem is NP-Complete and present a formal model to solve the problem using Satisfiability Modulo Theories (SMT) that provides a vehicle driver a routing plan, as well as the potential charging points that satisfy the requirements (e.g., the maximum fuel cost and the maximum waiting time). We also present a price-based navigation control technique to achieve better load balance for the system. Our evaluations show that the formalization can be efficiently solved even with large sizes of highway topologies and large number of charging stations.
The Wall Becomes Surmountable

Perhaps of all the cellular structures in plants, the cell wall has been the slowest to reveals its secrets. In no small part, this is because the classical tools of biochemistry have often proven to be too crude to effectively elucidate structures as biochemically complex and ornate as the plant
Linear MMSE multiuser receivers: MAI conditional weak convergence and network capacity

We explore the performance of minimum mean-square error (MMSE) multiuser receivers in wireless systems where the signatures are modeled as random and take values in complex space. First we study the conditional distribution of the output multiple-access interference (MAI) of the MMSE receiver. By appealing to the notion of conditional weak convergence, we find that the conditional distribution of the output MAI, given the received signatures and received powers, converges in probability to a proper complex Gaussian distribution that does not depend on the signatures. This result indicates that, in a large system, the output interference of the MMSE receiver is approximately Gaussian with high probability, and that systems with MMSE receivers are robust to the randomness of the signatures. Building on the Gaussianity of the output interference, we then take the quality of service (QoS) requirements as meeting the signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) constraints and identify the network capacity of single-class systems with random spreading. The network capacity is expressed uniquely in terms of the SIR requirements and received power distributions. Compared to the network capacity corresponding to the optimal signature allocation, we conclude that at the cost of transmission power, the gap between the network capacity corresponding to optimal signatures and that corresponding to random signatures can be made arbitrarily small. Therefore, from the viewpoint of the network capacity, systems with MMSE receivers are robust to the randomness of signatures.
The effects of preoperative therapy with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors on clinical outcome after cardiovascular surgery

Objective To determine the effect of preoperative therapy with angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors on clinical outcome after cardiovascular surgery. Study Inception cohort. Setting A tertiary care 54-bed cardiothoracic ICU. Patients All admissions to an ICU over a 42-month period after cardiovascular surgery. Intervention Extraction of preoperative, operative, and ICU data from a database. Outcome measures Incidence of acute organ dysfunction, length of mechanical ventilation, ICU stay, and death after cardiovascular surgery. Results The study cohort consisted of four groups: normal or moderately impaired left ventricular function control (group A, n=6,400); normal or moderately impaired left ventricular function treated with ACE inhibitors (group B, n=1,375); severe left ventricular dysfunction control (group C, n=1,905); and severe left ventricular dysfunction treated with ACE inhibitors (group D, n=1,650). The incidence of three or more organ dysfunction was similar on comparison of group A vs group B (5% vs 6%) or group C vs group D (15% vs 13%). There were no differences in the total duration of mechanical ventilation or length of stay in the ICU in group A vs group B or group C vs group D. Death occurred in 2% of groups A and B, and at 6% in groups C and D. Preoperative severe left ventricular dysfunction in both groups C and D was associated with an increased incidence of three or more organ dysfunction, duration of mechanical ventilation, length of stay in ICU, and death after surgery. Multivariate analysis indicated that therapy with ACE inhibitors did not affect the clinical outcome after cardiovascular surgery. Conclusion Preoperative therapy with ACE inhibitors did not influence the clinical outcome after cardiac surgery. It is unlikely that therapy with ACE inhibitors can alter the clinical sequelae of cardiopulmonary bypass and cardiac surgical procedures performed in high-risk patients because of underlying severe left ventricular dysfunction.
Simultaneous Trajectory Tracking and Stiffness Control of Cable Actuated Parallel Manipulator

Cable-actuated parallel manipulators combine benefits of large workspaces, significant payload capacities and high stiffness by virtue of the cable actuation. However, redundant/surplus cables are required to overcome the unidirectional nature of forces exertable by cables. This leads to actuation redundancy which needs to be resolved in order to realize some of the benefits. We study the implication of using actuation redundancy to tailor the workspace (task space) stiffness of the cable robot system. Suitable trajectory tracking control schemes are developed that additionally achieve secondary goal of active stiffness control to improve disturbance rejection, under positive control input constraint We demonstrate the performance of these control schemes using a point-mass cable robot system modeled within a virtual prototyping (VP) implementation framework.Copyright © 2009 by ASME
Care of the Adult Patient after Sexual Assault

This article reviews the treatment of patients presenting for care after sexual assault, including guidance for evidence collection in case of prosecution, psychological support for the victim, and prevention of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.
Pharyngeal pH and Impedance Monitoring

Gastroesophageal reflux disease is increasingly associated with ear, nose, and throat symptoms, including laryngitis. Recent studies have assessed the increasing role of pharyngeal pH and impedance in the diagnosis of patients with laryngopharyngeal reflux and other disorders thought to be due to supraesophageal reflux of gastric and duodenal ­contents. Gastroenterology and otolaryngology specialty societies have released various guidelines in recent years addressing diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to these prevalent and often difficult to treat ­conditions. Further outcome studies are needed to assess the role of ­pharyngeal impedance and pH monitoring in this group of patients and to determine who might symptomatically benefit from medical or surgical intervention.
Chapter 5 Mechanisms and Functional Role of Glycosylation in Membrane Protein Synthesis

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the mechanisms and functional role of glycosylation in membrane protein synthesis. The lipid moiety of the glycosylation intermediates in bacterial glycan synthesis is known to be a phosphorylated polyisoprenol lipid (undecaprenyl phosphate). As dolichol—a family of lipids characterized by having 16–22 isoprene units with the α-isoprene unit saturated—is the abundant polyisoprenol lipid in mammalian tissues, even the earliest report of glycosylation intermediates in mammalian tissues implicated dolichyl phosphate as the lipid carrier. There are three general approaches used to determine the role of protein-bound carbohydrate. First, the properties of glycosylated and nonglycosylated forms of an isolated protein are examined. Second, the function and compartmentalization of a protein in an untreated cell can be compared to that in a cell treated with an inhibitor of glycosylation. Then, the function of a glycoprotein in a normal cell can be compared with that in a mutant cell defective in glycosylation. The synthesis of asparagine-linked glycoproteins involves a complex series of reactions catalyzed by soluble and membrane-associated enzymes in at least three cellular compartments. Dolichyl phosphate is clearly involved in glycosylation; it remains to be determined whether other polyisoprenoids are as well.
STEPS: A Spatio-temporal Electric Power Systems Visualization

As the bulk electric grid becomes more complex, power system operators and engineers have more information to process and interpret than ever before. The information overload they experience can be mitigated by effective visualizations that facilitate rapid and intuitive assessment of the system state. With the introduction of non-dispatchable renewable energy, flexible loads, and energy storage, the ability to temporally explore system states becomes critical. This paper introduces STEPS, a new 3D Spatio-temporal Electric Power Systems visualization tool suitable for steady-state operational applications.
Significance of the Urogomphal Abnormality as a Criterion in the Test Method for Susceptibility to JH Mimics in Tribolium confusum

A test method was developed to measure susceptibility of the confused flour beetle to JH mimics in terms of EC50, based on treating larvae and examining surviving adults. Persistence of the larval urogomphi is the principal adult abnormality used as a criterion of effect. This was found to be a valid indicator of the reproductive ability of the affected adults. This inhibition seems to be due to a combination of mechanical interference with the mating process and gonadal deficiencies which restrict fertilization.
The “Lid” in the Streptococcus pneumoniae SrtC1 Sortase Adopts a Rigid Structure that Regulates Substrate Access to the Active Site

Many species of Gram-positive bacteria use sortase enzymes to assemble long, proteinaceous pili structures that project from the cell surface to mediate microbial adhesion. Sortases construct highly stable structures by catalyzing a transpeptidation reaction that covalently links pilin subunits together via isopeptide bonds. Most Gram-positive pili are assembled by class C sortases that contain a "lid", a structurally unique N-terminal extension that occludes the active site. It has been hypothesized that the "lid" in many sortases is mobile and thus capable of readily being displaced from the enzyme to facilitate substrate binding. Here, we show using NMR dynamics measurements, in vitro assays, and molecular dynamics simulations that the lid in the class C sortase from Streptococcus pneumoniae (SrtC1) adopts a rigid conformation in solution that is devoid of large magnitude conformational excursions that occur on mechanistically relevant time scales. Additionally, we show that point mutations in the lid induce dynamic behavior that correlates with increased hydrolytic activity and sorting signal substrate access to the active site cysteine residue. These results suggest that the lid of the S. pneumoniae SrtC1 enzyme has a negative regulatory function and imply that a significant energetic barrier must be surmounted by currently unidentified factors to dislodge it from the active site to initiate pilus biogenesis.
Quality Control and Quality Assurance in Solid Tumor Molecular Genetic Testing

During the past decade, a vast amount of knowledge has been gained regarding genes, gene products, and their role in human disease. This knowledge has allowed us to better understand many disease processes in terms of their molecular pathogenesis. Molecular diagnostics testing is a relatively recent specialty of laboratory medicine and is still in a state of flux on many levels, such as the choice of test, technology, automation, and reimbursement. Routine molecular diagnostics determinations of tumor specimens in the pathology laboratory have been performed since the late ‘90s, and these determinations have been mainly for classification of tumors, clonality determinations and tests such as microsatellite instability analysis to select patients for referral to clinical geneticists. Increasing number of targeted therapies have become available and enable treatment decisions based on the molecular features of the malignancy. Precision medicine has rapidly gained access to daily practice and for certain tumors, molecular tests have become at the corner stone of the treatment decision making. This has led to the development of new clinical molecular assays for use in diagnosis, prognosis, selection of therapeutic modalities, and monitoring of disease. The technologies that constitute molecular diagnostics such as first-generation amplification, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) probes, fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH), second-generation such as biochips and microfluidics, next-generation sequencing, and biosensors are influencing the discovery of therapeutic molecules, the screening and diagnosis of patients, and the optimization of drug therapy. Whereas testing for inherited genetic diseases, cancer diagnosis, viral load, and infectious diseases continues to predominate, the impact of pharmacogenomics on molecular diagnostics is unknown. The operation of a clinical molecular pathology laboratory requires integration of expertise in medical, scientific, and clinical molecular pathology; resources, including facilities, equipment, and personnel; and skills in organization, administration, management, and communication.
A comparative study of HPLC fingerprints of Radix Scrophulariae

Objective:To develop a method for determining HPLC fingerprints of Radix Scrophulariae and analyze and determine HPLC fingerprints of the samples processed by different methods and the commercial decoction pieces of Radix Scrophulariae.Methods: A Zorbax SB-C18(4.6 mm×250 mm,5 μm) column was used.The mobile phase of the gradient elution were 0.025% phosphoric acid and acetonitrile.The detection wavelength was set at 210 nm.The velocity was 1 mL·min-1.The column temperature was maintained at 25 ℃.Results: It was found that 16 peaks were common for the commercial decoction pieces.The ranges of the relative retention time and the relative peak area of the common peaks were determined.The fingerprints showed that the similarities of the 20 batches of Radix Scrophulariae ranged from 0.488 to 0.929,indicating great difference in quality;the chemical components of the samples processed by different methods were also quite different,implying difference in quality between Radix Scrophulariae soaked before being cut and that steamed before being cut.Conclusion:This method can be used for the quality control of Radix Scrophulariae and its decoction pieces.