cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effect of carnitine on myocardial function and metabolism following global ischemia.

Abstract Carnitine has therapeutic potential for the postischemic heart by facilitating the oxidation of acylated fatty acid metabolites, the intracellular accumulation of which has a deleterious effect on myocardial function and metabolism. To test this hypothesis, two groups of dogs were given preischemic treatment with carnitine, 50 mg per kilogram of body weight (Group 1) or 100 mg/kg (Group 2), and were compared with untreated controls (N = 12 for all groups). The canine hearts underwent 30 minutes of global 37°C ischemic arrest with reperfusion. Left ventricular systolic and diastolic function was assessed by an intracavitary balloon while metabolic derangements were quantitated by serial myocardial biopsies assayed for adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Comparable 49 to 53% ( p p p p
Determination of the speciation of chromium with an automated two-column ion-exchange system

An automated two-column ion-exchange system was developed to determine the speciation of chromium in water samples. The system is based on retention of cationic Cr(III) species by Chelex-100 resin and anionic Cr(VI) species by an anion resin. The chromium species retained by the resins are eluted sequentially with stripping reagents and are detected by an on-line flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Operation of valves and pumps, data acquisition, and data manipulation are controlled by a microcomputer. The detection limit with a 2 ml sample loop is 2 ng ml−1 for Cr(III) and Cr(VI). The fraction of Cr(III) retained by the Chelex-100 varies with the pH of the solution. In the presence of humic acid, Cr(III) forms negatively charged complexes, some of which are retained by the anion resin.
USGS46 Greenland ice core water – A new isotopic reference material for δ2H and δ18O measurements of water

Ice core from Greenland was melted, filtered, homogenised, loaded into glass ampoules, sealed, autoclaved to eliminate biological activity, and calibrated by dual-inlet isotope-ratio mass spectrometry. This isotopic reference material (RM), USGS46, is intended as one of two secondary isotopic reference waters for daily normalisation of stable hydrogen (δ2H) and stable oxygen (δ18O) isotopic analysis of water with a mass spectrometer or a laser absorption spectrometer. The measured δ2H and δ18O values of this reference water were −235.8 ± 0.7‰ and −29.80 ± 0.03‰, respectively, relative to VSMOW on scales normalised such that the δ2H and δ18O values of SLAP reference water are, respectively, −428 and −55.5‰. Each uncertainty is an estimated expanded uncertainty (U = 2uc) about the reference value that provides an interval that has about a 95-percent probability of encompassing the true value. This reference water is available in cases containing 144 glass ampoules that are filled with either 4 ml or 5 ml of water per ampoule. Une carotte de glace du Groenland a ete fondue, filtree, homogeneisee, chargee dans des ampoules en verre scellees, passee dans un autoclave afin d'eliminer l'activite biologique, et enfin calibree par spectrometrie de masse de rapport isotopique a double entree. Ce materiau de reference isotopique (RM) USGS46, est prevu pour etre l'une des deux eaux de reference isotopique secondaire pour la normalisation quotidienne des analyses des isotopes stable de l'hydrogene (δ2H) et de l'oxygene (δ18O) des eaux avec un spectrometre de masse ou un spectrometre d'absorption laser. Les valeurs mesurees δ2H et δ18O de cette eau de reference sont respectivement −235,8 ± 0,7‰ et -29,80 ± 0,03‰, par rapport au VSMOW et a des echelles normalisees de telle facon que les valeurs δH2 et δ18O de l'eau de reference SLAP soient respectivement −428 et −55,5‰. Chaque incertitude qui est une incertitude elargie estimee (U = 2uc) sur la valeur de reference fournit un intervalle ayant une probabilite d'environ 95 pour cent d'englober la valeur reelle. Cette eau de reference est disponible dans des caisses contenant 144 ampoules de verre qui sont remplis avec 4 ou 5 ml d'eau par ampoule.
Tectonic implications of remagnetized upper Paleozoic strata of the northern Sierra Nevada

A paleomagnetic study of a remagnetized Paleozoic terrane in the northern Sierra Nevada has provided new data on Cenozoic tectonics in the western United States. A combination of paleomagnetic and geologic evidence establishes that the remagnetization occurred during Late Jurassic time and that the rocks have experienced no major tectonic movement since. This conclusion establishes an eastern limit for the extent of large-scale tectonic rotations recently reported for Tertiary units on the western edge of the North American continent.
Virtual devices: tools to remotely develop virtual environments

Virtual environments as an aid for scientific discovery are becoming a topic of research for many visualization efforts. Virtual environments provide greater immersion into the world or environment of scientific data, thereby enhancing the researcher's perception of its features and forms. However, access to laboratories with the appropriate hardware for providing the immersive environments is currently limited. To make the best use of limited lab time a scientist will want to spend as much of it as possible actually looking at the data, and not debugging the virtual world source code. In an effort to get the scientist close to achieving this goal, we have developed software to emulate a suite of standard virtual environment hardware devices. Emulated hardware is designed such that it is indistinguishable to the application software. Communications with the `virtual devices' is via a serial port using the same protocol as the physical devices. Some `virtual devices' have already been written. We are now making efforts to have virtual environment programmers use them to design and test applications without using much of the increasingly precious time in the NCSA Virtual Reality Laboratory.© (1994) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Coil Occlusion Versus Conventional Surgical Closure of Patent Ductus Arteriosus

This retrospective cohort study evaluated the clinical outcome and cost-effectiveness of 2 treatment strategies for children with an isolated restrictive patent ductus arteriosus. Results indicate a superior cost-effectiveness of transcatheter coil occlusion compared with conventional surgery for these patients.
The Given in Experience: Comment on Gupta

In his preface, Anil Gupta notes that ambitious philosophical programs are often deeply flawed at the base (ix). I am sorry to say I think that is how things are with this enormously engaging book. Gupta offers his exploitation of revision sequences as the way to preserve the Insight of Empiricism, that "experience is our principal epistemic authority and guide" (3). But his version of empiricism can look compulsory, or even attractive, only if we do not get a better alternative into focus. Gupta organizes things around a supposed requirement to reconcile the Insight of Empiricism with what he introduces as a second truism, the Multiple-Factorizability of Experience, which says that how things are with the subject and how things are in the world cannot be recovered from individual experiences (5 and ff.). If how things are in the world cannot be recovered from individual experiences, there is no such thing as receptive knowledge. This idea gives Gupta's picture its distinctive shape. To say one perceives that such-and-such is the case is to claim epistemic credentials of a certain sort for believing that such-and-such is the case. Gupta's supposed truism implies that those credentials cannot be exhausted by what one's experience gives one; they have to be reconstructed out of that plus something not given by the experience itself. This is no truism.
Proterozoic granites of the Llano Uplift, Texas: A collision–related suite containing rapakivi and topaz granites

Proterozoic granites in the Llano Uplift, central Texas, intruded metamorphic rocks in a southern segment of the Grenville orogen. Three compositional groups of granite are present; two of these have not been previously recognized. The most widespread group occurs in three emplacement styles: (1) irregular plutons (synkinematic) were emplaced at 1119–1116 Ma during low-pressure Grenville metamorphism and deformation; (2) associated with these, there are volumetrically minor rhyolite dikes (1098–1093 Ma) and hypersolvus granite; and (3) large 1093–1072 Ma postkinematic circular to ovoid plutons are the most abundant of this compositional group, and many show rapakivi textures. A second, more felsic group has much higher light (L) to heavy (H) rare earth element (REE) ratios. The third group is highly fractionated, contains topaz locally, is enriched in Rb, Nb, and HREEs, and is depleted in Sr, Zr, and LREEs. No other igneous rocks were emplaced at the same time as the granites at the current level of exposure. Llano granites cannot be considered anorogenic or A-type on the basis of their tectonic setting, timing, or compositions. Sr, Nd, and Pb isotopic data indicate that these granites were derived from Proterozoic mantle and crust. The granites intruded thick continental crust at one margin of Laurentia and completed the consolidation of one segment of the Grenville orogen.
Self‐assembly of amphiphilic tris(2,2′‐bipyridine)ruthenium‐cored star‐shaped polymers

Amphiphilic tris(2,2′-bipyridine)ruthenium-cored star-shaped polymers consisting of one polystyrene block and two poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) blocks were prepared by the “arm-first” method in which RAFT polymerization and nonconvalent ligand–metal complexation were employed. The prepared amphiphilic star-shaped metallopolymers are able to form micelles in water. The size and distribution of the micelles were studied by dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy techniques. Preliminary studies indicate that the polymer concentration and the hydrophilic poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) block length can affect the morphologies of the formed metal-interfaced core–shell micelles in water. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 4204–4210, 2007
Relationship between leptin, adiponectin, bone mineral density, and measures of adiposity among pre-menopausal Hispanic and Caucasian women.

Objective. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between fasting serum leptin and adiponectin levels with bone mineral density (BMD) and body composition in pre-menopausal, middle-aged Hispanic and Caucasian women. Objective. Participants' (68 Hispanic and 36 Caucasian) BMD and bone mineral content were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and body density was measured by hydrodensitometry. Serum leptin was determined by enzyme immunoassay and adiponectin by ELISA. Results. Hispanic women had significantly higher leptin, BMD, and fat mass (FM), and lower adiponectin than Caucasian women. There was no significant correlation between leptin and BMD for Hispanic or Caucasian women; adiponectin was inversely correlated with BMD in Caucasian women only (p = 0.01). In both Hispanic and Caucasian women, lean body mass and adiponectin best explained the variance in BMD (r2 = 0.25, p < 0.001). Conclusion. These data demonstrate no significant relationship between leptin and BMD of pre-...
Applying International Law to the “War on Terrorism”

The “War on Terror” and the Framework of International Law. By Helen Duffy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. 488 pp., $110.00 cloth (ISBN: 0-521-83850-9), $50.00 paper (ISBN: 0-521-54735-0). In his January 25, 2002 memo to President Bush on the applicability of the Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War to the Al-Qaeda and Taliban detainees, then-Counsel to the President Alberto Gonzalez said, “this new paradigm [the war against terrorism] renders obsolete Geneva's strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners” (Gonzales 2002:2; see also Dycus et al. 2005:53). Three years later, the Bush administration reiterated this view that international law is not only inadequate but also dangerous in its 2005 National Defense Strategy of the United States of America (US Department of Defense 2005:5; see also Heymann 2006:86). That document describes the use of international fora, judicial processes, and terrorism as strategies of the weak and sources of vulnerability for the United States. Although she does not directly refer to these statements in The “War on Terror” and the Framework of International Law , Helen Duffy challenges this perception by clearly and methodically explaining how international law provides a necessary and adequate framework for addressing “the scourge of terrorism” (p. 451). As she explains, “promoting respect for international law is essential to ensuring that the ‘war on terror’ does not score a devastating goal by eroding permanently the rule of law and the international standards that protect us all” (p. 451). A lawyer and legal director for the International Centre for the Legal Protection of Human Rights, Duffy describes the role, relevance, and parameters of international law as it applies to the events of September 11 and responses thereto. She uses a standard legal format: first stating what the law says, and then examining how it applies to various aspects of the war on terror. By not assuming that the reader has prior understanding of international law, Duffy makes this …
The rereading effect: metacomprehension accuracy improves across reading trials.

Guided by a hypothesis that integrates principles of monitoring from a cue-based framework of metacognitive judgments with assumptions about levels of text representation derived from theories of comprehension, we discovered that rereading improves metacomprehension accuracy. In Experiments 1 and 2, the participants read texts either once or twice, rated their comprehension for each text, and then were tested on the material. In both experiments, correlations between comprehension ratings and test scores were reliably greater for participants who reread texts than for participants who read texts only once. Furthermore, in contrast to the low levels of accuracy typically reported in the literature, rereading produced relatively high levels of accuracy, with the median gamma between ratings and test performance being +.60 across participants from both experiments. Our discussion focuses on two alternative hypotheses—that improved accuracy is an artifact of when judgments are collected or that it results from increased reliability of test performance—and on evidence that is inconsistent with these explanations for the rereading effect.
Mangrove forest cover change in the Bangladesh Sundarbans from 1989-2000: A remote sensing approach

Abstract This paper quantifies mangrove forest cover change in the Sundarbans of southwest Bangladesh from 1989 to 2000 using Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite imagery. We used three image processing techniques: normalized differential vegetation index (NDVI), maximum likelihood classification, and subpixel classification. We compared change detection results using the three image processing methods. Traditional classifiers, such as maximum likelihood algorithms, do not reveal the true nature of this mixed water‐forest environment. Both NDVI and subpixel classification revealed similar spatial distributions of areas that were deforested from 1989 to 2000. These areas are in the southeastern comer and the western edge of the Bangladesh Sundarbans.
ESTIMATION OF THE PURITY OF PREPARATIONS OF ELEMENTARY BODIES OF VACCINIA.

A method of estimating the purity of preparations of elementary bodies of vaccinia is described. It depends on the comparison of the number of infective units of virus in a given material with the number of elementary bodies. The latter figure is estimated from the dry weight of the preparation by means of a calculated value for the weight of a single dehydrated elementary body. Values for the ratio of infective units of vaccine virus to elementary bodies varied between 1 : 2.4 and 1 : 9.2 in seven consecutive experiments; the average was 1:4.2. These ratios indicate a high degree of purity of the preparation. Moreover, they indicate that a relatively high percentage of the elementary bodies in the preparations was infective.
Evidence for solvation structural dependence of rotational diffusion anisotropy

Abstract The rotational diffusion behavior of tetracene in ethylene glycol and n -dodecanol was studied by fluorescence depolarization spectroscopy. The data show that the convolution of the anisotropy function with the instrument response has opposite signs for the two solvents. Computer simulations of the anisotropy functions indicate that the relative values of the diffusion constants must be solvent dependent. Tetracene exhibits much faster reorientation in its molecular plane in ethylene glycol than in dodecanol. These results suggest that solvation structure, in addition to solute geometry, influences the relative values of the diffusion constants.
Epistemological and theoretical challenges for studying power and politics in information systems

The study of the role of power in managing information systems (IS) still offers a major epistemological challenge to researchers in the field. Although significant work has been done, there is yet to emerge a research approach that permits a penetrating study of the phenomenon of power by virtue of adopting a Machiavellian stance. This paper proposes such an approach in the form of an interpretivist position combined with a theoretical framework whose origin lies in political science and the sociology of technology. In developing its philosophical argument, the paper compares three meta-theories that have been applied to study IS: Phenomenology, Critical Theory and Structuration Theory. All three are compared in terms of their epistemological position regarding the relationship between power and IS. We argue that, although enlightening, those meta- theories fail to unravel the hidden and strategic nature of power. The paper concludes by proposing a particular theoretical formulation that, rather than cen- soring power and politics, will provide the epistemological means for unravelling them.
Aldol addition reactions of chiral crotonate imides

Abstract Aldol addition reaction of the crotonate imides 1 and 2 affords the adducts 3 and 4 with high diastereoselecdon. Subsequent removal of the chiral auxiliary can be effected in good yield to provide a number of synthetically useful intermediates.
An evaluation of sediment rating curves for estimating suspended sediment concentrations for subsequent flux calculations

In the absence of actual suspended sediment concentration (SSC) measurements, hydrologists have used sediment rating (sediment transport) curves to estimate (predict) SSCs for subsequent flux calculations. Various evaluations of the sediment rating-curve method were made using data from long-term, daily sediment-measuring sites within large (>1 000 000 km 2 ), medium ( 1000 km 2 ), and small (<1000 km 2 ) river basins in the USA and Europe relative to the estimation of suspended sediment fluxes. The evaluations address such issues as the accuracy of flux estimations for various levels of temporal resolution as well as the impact of sampling frequency on the magnitude of flux estimation errors. The sediment rating-curve method tends to underpredict high, and overpredict low SSCs. As such, the range of errors associated with concomitant flux estimates for relatively short time-frames (e.g. daily, weekly) are likely to be substantially larger than those associated with longer time-frames (e.g. quarterly, annually) because the over- and underpredictions do not have sufficient time to balance each other. Hence, when error limits must be kept under s20%, temporal resolution probably should be limited to quarterly or greater. The evaluations indicate that over periods of 20 or more years, errors of <1% can be achieved using a single sediment rating curve based on data spanning the entire period. However, somewhat better estimates for the entire period, and markedly better annual estimates within the period, can be obtained if individual annual sediment rating curves are used instead. Relatively accurate (errors <s20%) annual suspended sediment fluxes can be obtained from hydrologically based monthly measurements/samples. For 5-year periods or longer, similar results can be obtained from measurements/samples collected once every 2 months. In either case, hydrologically based sampling, as opposed to calendar-based sampling is likely to limit the magnitude of flux estimation errors. Published in 2003 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Living-related kidney transplantation in pediatric recipients

Sirs, We appreciate the comments of Troppmann et al. [1] concerning our previous experience [2]. Their report confirms the high degree of satisfaction of parental donors with the decision-making process and the periand postoperative procedures in living-related kidney transplantation (LRKT). In addition, they highlight the fact that specific circumstances in pediatric transplantation, i.e., the parent-to-child bond, is the main driving force towards LRKT, even superseding medical concerns. Although the improved operating technique, i.e., laparoscopic donor nephrectomy, did not influence the donors’ perspective and decision towards LRKT, the beneficial effects of less pain and faster rehabilitation of the donors and reduced costs are welcome by all partners in the field of pediatric renal transplantation. However, the debate is still open regarding some concerns that laparoscopic donor nephrectomy might be a risk factor for delayed graft function and acute rejection in young recipients [3], although long-term graft function was not impaired [4, 5].
Student Politics in Contemporary Latin America

Just a decade ago student politics were considered extremely important by policy-makers, media, and social scientists. Whatever happened since? The question, properly posed for much of the world, is particularly poignant for Latin America. This region, after all, has generally been regarded as the archetypal example, as hero or villain, of student activism. "Of all national or regional groups," Seymour Martin Lipset notes, "the students of Latin America have been the most significant politically for the longest period of time."' And during the 1960's Latin Americanists devoted a remarkable portion of their research to student politics. The student may even qualify as the area's most overstudied political actor of the 1960's, though there had been very little prior work. I will not analyze the literature here; there are some useful review essays2 and regional overviews.3 Suffice it to recall that the roots of political activism were explored in such matters as ideology, anti-Americanism, the Cuban Revolution, antipathy to dictatorship, revulsion at inequality, unease about personal job prospects, gender, parental background, the generation gap, the youth culture, peer group socialization, lack of a sense of university community and extra-curricular activities, excessive academic rigidity, and also excessive academic laxity.
Predicting node proximity in ad-hoc networks: a least overhead adaptive model for selecting stable routes

This paper presents a strategy for quantifying the future proximity of adjacent nodes in an ad-hoc network. The proximity model provides a quantitative metric that reflects the future stability of a given link. Because it is not feasible to maintain precise information in an ad-hoc network, our model is designed to require minimal information and uses an adaptive learning strategy to minimize the cost associated with making a wrong decision under uncertain conditions. After computing the initial baseline link availability assuming random-independent mobility, the model adapts future computations depending on the expected time-to-failure of the link based on the independence assumption, and a parameter that reflects the the environment. The purpose for defining this metric is to enhance the performance of routing algorithms and better facilitate mobility-adaptive dynamic clustering in ad-hoc networks.
Genetic algorithms with cluster analysis for production simulation

This paper describes the application of a Genetic Algorithm to production simulation. The simulation is treated as a detailed, stochastic, multi-modal function that describes a performance statistic. Our aim is to optimize (or at least improve) the performance of the system. In our experiments, we modeled a real-world production line for printed circuit boards that has many products and must often be retooled or reconfigured. Since the product line is always changing, with half of the products turning over within a year, the job of configuring and fine tuning the production line is never ending. Our experiments show that a Genetic Algorithm when attached to the simulation model can provide excellent support for this process. This combination can be used to obtain quick and stable results that do indeed indicate the direction to improved production.
UNIVERSAL DESIGN: FROM POLICY TO ASSESSMENT RESEARCH AND PRACTICE

The ultimate purpose of this article is to delineate a much needed research agenda for the development of universal design performance assessments. A professional definition of univesal design is given, and a conceptual framework for universal design evaluations is outlined. The history of universal design research and practice is chronicled, and examples of critical research issues are cited. Some cultural, legislative and professional issues are presented, including relevant disciplines and subfields of universal design. Select worldwide practices, publications and current events are listed. Finally, as the basis for the creation of a universal design research agenda major issues and needed assessment methodologies are highlighted.
Pregnane X receptor as a master regulator of chemotherapy resistance in prostate cancer cells

A196 Prostate cancer is one of most common cancers affecting men in Western countries. Resistance to chemotherapy is a significant barrier to prostate cancer chemotherapy. The differential inductions or activities of drug metabolizing enzymes (DMEs) and efflux transporters have been regarded as one of major mechanisms of chemoresistance, but the precise mechanism involved remain unknown. Pregnane X receptor (PXR), an orphan nuclear receptor known for its activation by many important clinical drugs, is a major transcription factor regulating the expression of drug metabolism enzymes and transporters, such as Cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4), and multi-drug resistance genes(MDR-1). It is unknown whether PXR is a determinant of drug resistance in prostate cancer. In this study, the expression and cellular localization of PXR and its target gene, CYP3A4, in prostate cancer PC-3 cells were examined using immunocytochemical staining. Both PXR and CYP3A4 were detected in the cytosol of PC-3 cells. Pretreatment of SR12813 led to nuclear translocation of PXR in PC-3 cells and increased expression of CYP3A4 and MDR1. Immunihistochemiscal staining for PXR revealed a changed PXR expression level and nuclear localization in human normal or different grade prostate tumor specimens. To study the role of PXR activation in drug resistance, PC-3 cells were treated with SR12813, a potent and selective PXR agonist, for 12 hours followed by the 72-h treatment of two frequently used chemotherapeutics, taxol or vinblastine. SR12813 pretreatment increased resistance of PC-3 cells to taxol (10 nmol/L and 100 nmol/L) or vinblastine (300 nmol/L and 600 nmol/L), while no significant difference was noted at high concentration of vinblastine (6 μmol/L) or taxol (500 nmol/L). The colony formation of taxol or vinblastine-treated PC-3 cells after SR12813 pretreatment was also promoted. To further study the role of PXR in prostate cancer drug resistance, PXR expression was knocked down using PXR-targeting shRNA constructs. The knockdown of PXR expression in three clones was confirmed by immunocytochemical staining and RT-PCR. The activities of hPXR toward the promoter of CYP3A4 in hPXR-ablated clones decreased when compared with that of wild type PC-3 cells. Their sensitivities to taxol and vinblastine were enhanced by hPXR ablation. In summary, activation of PXR enhanced the resistance of PC-3 cells to taxol and vinblastine, and the inhibition of PXR expression sensitized PC-3 cancer cell lines to taxol and vinblastine. Our data here suggest that hPXR may play an important role in prostate cancer resistance to chemotherapeutics.
The Occurrence, Type and Location of Calcium Oxalate Crystals in the Leaves of Fourteen Species of Araceae

The occurrence, type and location of calcium oxalate crystals in the leaves of 14 species belonging to the family Araceae were studied by light microscopy. The Pizzolato test and the Rubeanic acid-silver nitrate test, used to chemically identify and locate the crystals in cross sections of laminae, showed the presence of four types of crystals: druses, raphides, prismatics and crystal sand. Styloids were not observed in any of the species. Crystals identified as calcium oxalate were observed in each tissue layer of the leaf blade, druses occurring more frequently in the palisade mesophyll layers, raphides more often in the spongy mesophyll. Prismatics were sparse, occurring in the mesophyll of only two species. Specialized spindle-shaped crystal idioblasts, located in the spongy mesophyll in all cases, were observed in seven of the 14 aroids. Crystal sand and variations in crystal forms were most frequently observed to be calcium compounds other than calcium oxalate.
Barrier effects of roads on an endangered forest obligate: influences of traffic, road edges, and gaps

University of Arizona, Arizona Agriculture Experiment Station; T&E Incorporated's Grants for Conservation Research
Analysis of viral nucleic aicd in 514 influenza patients in Laibin City

Objective: Carries on the viral nucleic acid examination to the Laibin 514 doubtful influenza A H1N1 flu patient specimens,to grasp influenza pandemic situation of Laibin during September,2009 to March,2011.Method: Collected throat swab of influenza-like cases,extracted viral RNA in throat swab specimens and detected the viral RNA by FQ-PCR.Results: 191 were positive in the 514 throat swab samples,Positive rate was 37.2%.127 were positive for influenza A H1N1 influenza virus nucleic acid,positive rate was 24.72%.47 were subtype A1 H1N1,positive rate was 9.14%.8 were influenza virus subtype A3(H3N2) positive,positive rate was 1.56%.6 were influenza B virus,positive rate was 1.17%.Conclusion: The epidemic virus was mainly influenza A H1N1 in LaiBin during 2009,seasonal nature type A1、type A3 and seasonal nature type B influenza were spread together during 2010.influenza A H1N1 is spread mainly during 2011.
U.S. Dental School Deans’ Views on the Value of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in Dentistry

There has historically been limited development and utilization of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) in clinical dentistry. However, in recent years PROMs have been recognized by other health care fields as valuable in the comprehensive assessment of patient outcomes. The aim of this study was to survey deans of U.S. dental schools to better understand their vision for the role of PROMs in the field of dentistry. A 13-question online survey was emailed to the deans of the 64 accredited U.S. dental schools at the time to gather their opinions about the value of patient-reported outcomes in dentistry. The survey consisted of questions in 12 domains such as treatment planning, perceived success/complications of surgery, identification/management of dental pain, psychological and oral function, and insurance payment/reimbursement. Of the 64 deans, 33 responses were received (51.5% response rate), but three surveys were excluded due to incomplete answers, resulting in a final response rate of 46.8%. All respondents reported there was value in utilization of PROMs for understanding a patient's satisfaction of a procedure, a patient's perceived success of dental surgery, identifying dental pain, and managing dental pain. However, there was disagreement among the respondents about utilization of PROMs for the purpose of determining insurance payment and/or reimbursement. Additional steps should be taken to develop clinically appropriate PROMs for dentistry and to determine the appropriate situations in which to use dental PROMs. This study suggests that PROMs should be incorporated into dental school curricula as they will likely play a role in future comprehensive treatment assessment.
Postoperative Cardiorespiratory Complications of Colonic Surgery: Prevention and Treatment

Cardiac and respiratory complications are the most common causes of morbidity and mortality following major abdominal surgery. Measures found by the authors to be most helpful in identifying, preventing, and treating these complications constitute a practical guide for the general surgeon.
The Longue Durée of German Religious Conflict

Is there a longue duree of religious conflict in modern German history? Or is it rather marked by caesura of such weight that historians must emphasize the breaks and the discontinuities in conflicts between Protestants and Catholics? Recently the distinguished historian Thomas A. Brady has argued that the ‘confessional culture of public life’ formed, if in radically changed shape, ‘the most important link between early modern and modern German histories’. He sees a ‘major strand of continuity’ in the transition from ‘an era of imperial convivencia, in which the confessions bound the Christian churches into an imperial legal and political framework, promoted discipline, and habituated themselves to coexistence’, to ‘the era of confessional rivalry and competition (1815–1918), in which the religious communities... strove to maintain or even enhance their positions in conditions of rapid political and social change’. In this transition, Brady places heavy emphasis on the great secularization of church property, completing, as he writes, ‘what the Reformation had begun’, but also bringing forth a religious revival, which was at the basis of ‘a culture of confrontation and competition’ between the major confessional groups ‘that arose with a movement toward a new Germany’.1
Kinetics of extracellular protease from the obligately psychrophilic vibrio OP7 of fish origin

The extracellular protease recovered from the obligately psychrophilic marine Vibrio OP7 of fish origin was able to degrade fish actomyosin at 5°C. The Vmax and the apparent Km values for the enzyme were 33.3 μg/ml/min and 2.5 mg/ml, respectively. Ethylenediamine tetracetic acid (EDTA) and sodium tripolyphosphate (TPP) were found to inhibit the enzyme's activity at concentrations of 0.075 mg/ml and 0.25 mg/ml, respectively. EDTA produced a noncompetitive inhibition, whereas TPP produced a mixed of noncompetitive and uncompetitive inhibitions of the enzyme.
Single dose oral analgesics for postoperative pain have few adverse events

Data sourcesThe Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews on the Cochrane Library.Study selectionAll Cochrane reviews of RCTs between 1999 to 2015, conducted in adults examining the adverse events associated with single dose oral analgesics used for acute post-operative pain were considered.Data extraction and synthesisStudies were searched, reviewed and assessed independently by two reviewers and standard data items extracted. Methodological quality was assessed using criteria adapted from AMSTAR (Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews).ResultsData from 39 Cochrane reviews of 41 different analgesics or analgesic combinations involving a total of 350 studies involving 35,000 adults were included. Most analgesics were tested in a narrow dose range. For most NSAIDs, paracetamol (acetaminophen), and combinations not containing opioids, the rates of adverse events were similar to that of placebos (NSAID 3% - 44% vs 4 - 46%; paracetamol 7-18% vs 6-16%; combination 11-30% vs 6-48%). However, for higher dosages, like 1000 mg aspirin, 1000 mg diflunisal, and opioids or drug combinations containing opioids, there was a statistically significant difference in the incidence of adverse events reported (NNH 7.7(95%CI; 4.8 - 20) for 1000 mg aspirin; 7.5(95%CI; 4.8-17) for 1000 mg diflunisal; 3.5-8.6 for opioids and combinations). Serious adverse events were rare, occurring at about 1 in 3,200.ConclusionsDespite ongoing problems with the measurement, recording and reporting of adverse events in clinical trials and in systematic reviews, the large amount of information available for single oral doses of analgesics provides evidence that adverse events rates are generally similar with active drug and placebo in these circumstances, except at higher doses of some drugs, and in combinations including opioids.
Psychology as an Evolving, Interdisciplinary Science: Integrating Science in Sensation and Perception from Fourier to Fluid Dynamics:

This article outlines the theoretical rationale and process for an integrated-science approach to teaching sensation and perception (S&P) to undergraduate psychology students that may also serve as...
Indian or Freedman?: Enrollment, Race, and Identity in the Choctaw Nation, 1896–1907

This article examines the standards of tribal membership in the Choctaw Nation (present-day Oklahoma) during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Although forced by the U.S. Congress to make rolls of its members, the Choctaw government willingly used race to trump other considerations when it came to determining citizenship, including long-held cultural practices.
GPER modulators: Opportunity Nox on the heels of a class Akt

The (patho)physiology of estrogen and its receptors is complex. It is therefore not surprising that therapeutic approaches targeting this hormone include stimulation of its activity through supplementation with either the hormone itself or natural or synthetic agonists, inhibition of its activity through the use of antagonists or inhibitors of its synthesis, and tissue-selective modulation of its activity with biased ligands. The physiology of this hormone is further complicated by the existence of at least three receptors, the classical nuclear estrogen receptors α and β (ERα and ERβ), and the 7-transmembrane G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER/GPR30), with overlapping but distinct pharmacologic profiles, particularly of anti-estrogenic ligands. GPER-selective ligands, as well as GPER knockout mice, have greatly aided our understanding of the physiological roles of GPER. Such ligands have revealed that GPER activation mediates many of the rapid cellular signaling events (including Ca2+ mobilization, ERK and PI3K/Akt activation) associated with estrogen activity, as opposed to the nuclear ERs that are traditionally described to function as ligand-induced transcriptional factors. Many of the salutary effects of estrogen throughout the body are reproduced by the GPER-selective agonist G-1, which, owing to its minimal effects on reproductive tissues, can be considered a non-feminizing estrogenic compound, and thus of potential therapeutic use in both women and men. On the contrary, until recently GPER-selective antagonists had predominantly found preclinical application in cancer models where estrogen stimulates cell growth and survival. This viewpoint changed recently with the discovery that GPER is associated with aging, particularly that of the cardiovascular system, where the GPER antagonist G36 reduced hypertension and GPER deficiency prevented cardiac fibrosis and vascular dysfunction with age, through the downregulation of Nox1 and as a consequence superoxide production. Thus, similar to the classical ERs, both agonists and antagonists of GPER may be of therapeutic benefit depending on the disease or condition to be treated.
A Functional Approach to Solubility Parameter Computations.

The determination of solubility parameters for solutes represents a challenging mathematical problem of locating the central tendency of solvent affinity based on a limited set of data taken from experimental observations. At present, the most commonly used methods for computing solubility parameters of a solute require a binary classification of solvent affinity for the solute and employ a spherical/ellipsoidal compatibility region in the three-dimensional Hansen solubility parameter space. Utilizing a binary classification requires an arbitrary solubility threshold, and an ellipsoidal fitting model imposes a symmetry on the intermolecular forces that is rarely reflected by the experimental data. To overcome these issues, an approach that makes use of accurate solubility data to describe a three-dimensional solubility function, f, is introduced. The principles of the approach are discussed in detail and the procedures for constructing the solubility function and computing solubility parameters are descri...
Performance Analysis of Applications using Singularity Container on SDSC Comet

Multiple nodes of the Comet supercomputer at the San Diego Supercomputer Center were used to analyse and compare (between Singularity and non-Singularity) performance of resource intensive applications of benchmark codes such as NEURON (a computational neuronal simulation tool), OSU Benchmarks, and Intel MPI Benchmarks (IMB). NEURON software was used to simulate a complex neuronal network model (Jones Model from ModelDB hosted at Yale University) and the IMB benchmarks were used to calculate the latency and performance of each method. communication efficiency of MPI. The containerized runtimes were directly compared with the corresponding non-containerized runtime of jobs to analyse the performance of each method. For future work, we plan to explore other technologies such as Shifter and study their performance on HPC.
Relaxation and the Role of Calcium in Isolated Contracting Myocardium From Patients With Hypertensive Heart Disease and Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction.

BackgroundRelaxation characteristics and Ca2+ homeostasis have not been studied in isolated myocardium from patients with hypertensive heart disease (HHD) and heart failure with preserved ejection ...
Consumer Bankruptcy in the United States: A Study of Alleged Abuse and of Local Legal Culture

This paper describes certain central aspects of the operation of the consumer bankruptcy system in the United States. It combines government data with the investigators' empirical data from two large studies done over a decade to explore two types of questions. The first area of investigation relates specifically to bankruptcy policy. The object is to identify the categories of persons principally served by the consumer bankruptcy system and to determine if suggestions of widespread abuse of that system by debtors are well-founded. The paper reports that the system is used primarily by the middle-class. It also reports that there is no evidence of widespread abuse. The second area of investigation is explanation of differences in the operation of the system in different regions of the country, differences that have persisted over twenty years despite major changes in legal rules and economic conditions. The paper argues that these differences are not explicable in terms of formal legal rules or a simple economic model and that a better explanation of the data is that the differences are the product of a "local legal culture" in each region.
Compressed gas combined single- and two-stage light-gas gun.

With more than 1 trillion artificial objects smaller than 1 μm in low and geostationary Earth orbit, space assets are subject to the constant threat of space debris impact. These collisions occur at hypervelocity or speeds greater than 3 km/s. In order to characterize material behavior under this extreme event as well as study next-generation materials for space exploration, this paper presents a unique two-stage light-gas gun capable of replicating hypervelocity impacts. While a limited number of these types of facilities exist, they typically are extremely large and can be costly and dangerous to operate. The design presented in this paper is novel in two distinct ways. First, it does not use a form of combustion in the first stage. The projectile is accelerated from a pressure differential using air and inert gases (or purely inert gases), firing a projectile in a nominal range of 1–4 km/s. Second, the design is modular in that the first stage sits on a track sled and can be pulled back and used in itself to study lower speed impacts without any further modifications, with the first stage piston as the impactor. The modularity of the instrument allows the ability to investigate three orders of magnitude of impact velocities or between 101 and 103 m/s in a single, relatively small, cost effective instrument.
Hexitol production by canine retinal microvessels.

Hexitol-producing activity has been quantitated in microvessels isolated from retina and cerebral cortex of dogs, a species known to develop a retinopathy similar to that seen in diabetic patients. Both the retinal and cerebral microvessels produce galactitol from galactose, but at a rate severalfold less than that seen in canine lens epithelium. This hexitol-producing activity of the microvessels is not an artifact of erythrocyte contamination and can be inhibited by the aldose reductase inhibitor, Sorbinil. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 26:382-384, 1985 Production and accumulation of the hexitols, sorbitol and galactitol, have been implicated in the pathogenesis of several complications of diabetes and galactosemia, including cataract and nerve conduction defects. Hexitol production might be related also to the development of the retinopathy that occurs in diabetes and in experimental galactosemia. 1 It is conceivable that hexitol is produced within microvascular cells during periods of elevated blood sugar, and that accumulation of the hexitol results in cell damage and, eventually, retinopathy. In the present study, the ability of retinal and cerebral microvessels to produce and accumulate galactitol from galactose has been examined. Microvessels were isolated for this purpose from dogs, a species known to develop a retinopathy in diabetes and in experimental galactosemia, which is morphologically similar to that characteristic of diabetic patients. 12
Steady State Response to Burgers’ Equation with Varying Viscosity

Burgers’ equation $${w_t} = \in {w_{xx}} - w{w_x}$$ (1.1) was first introduced by J.M. Burgers about fifty years ago when he studied fluid flow, particularly, modeling turbulence. However, it was later found that the equation is a very useful mathematical model for such diverse physical problems as shock flows, traffic flow, acoustic transmission in fogs, etc., [8]. The dissipation may arise from viscosity, heat conduction, chemical reaction, mass diffusion, thermal radiation, etc. In a typical application, i.e., fluid dynamics, ω is the velocity of the wave and є is the viscosity of the compressible flow. However, one should understand that the parameters may have different physical meanings in different applications.
Large Cell Carcinoma

This carcinoma represents about 10% of all lung cancers. Microscopically, its main feature is the high level of malignancy and lack of squamous or glandular features. However, on electron microscopy, features of either adenocarcinoma or squamous cell can be appreciated suggesting that large cell carcinomas are basically poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas or squamous cell carcinomas. Nonetheless, the clinical presentation and the radiographic appearance more closely resemble adenocarcinoma. The endoscopic appearance is not distinctive since most large cell carcinomas do not involve the proximal airways. Most present as fleshy hemorrhagic-looking masses such as those shown in this chapter.