cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
FLUCTUATIONS EFFECTS IN DIBLOCK COPOLYMER FLUIDS : COMPARISON OF THEORIES AND EXPERIMENT

The analytic Polymer Reference Interaction Site Model (PRISM) theory of structurally and interaction symmetric Gaussian diblock copolymer fluids is reformulated, extended, and applied to make predictions for experimentally observable equilibrium properties of the disordered state. These include the temperature, degree of polymerization, copolymer composition, and polymer density or concentration dependences of the peak scattering intensity, effective chi-parameter, and heat capacity. The location of the order-disorder transition is empirically estimated based on the disordered, strongly fluctuating state scattering function. Detailed numerical applications of PRISM theory demonstrates it provides an excellent and consistent description of the data. An in depth comparison of the mathematical structure and predictions of PRISM theory with the highly coarse-grained, incompressible Brazovski–Leibler–Fredrickson–Helfand (BLFH) fluctuation corrected field theory is also carried out. Under some conditions (nearl...
Experimental tests and modeling of the optimal orifice size for a closed cycle 4He sorption refrigerator

Abstract Closed cycle 4 He sorption refrigerators are an increasingly popular choice for remote cryogenic operations. The presence of a superfluid film on the inner walls of the evaporation pot limits their performance. We present a simple model of the gas, film, and heat flow in a 4 He sorption refrigerator, taking into account the effects of an orifice to limit superfluid film flow. The model serves as a useful guideline for optimizing cryogenic performance. We also present a diagram of hold time vs. steady state temperature as a function of the radius of the orifice and compare the model to measurements.
Compound specific radiocarbon content of lignin oxidation products from the Altamaha river and Coastal Georgia

Abstract Compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA) is a powerful tool in organic geochemistry by providing detailed information about an individual organic compound’s history with regard to its source and process of formation. Most CSIA involves measurement of the stable isotope ratio of carbon (13C/12C) and hydrogen (D/H) following separation by gas or liquid chromatography. New applications are being developed using compound-specific radiocarbon (14C) content for delineating age of materials, rates of decomposition and residence time in various environments. This paper details the isotopic work on specific lignin monomers derived from terrestrial plants transported and deposited within the Altamaha River, estuary and off-shore Georgia in the Atlantic Ocean. By using gas chromatographic separation and identification of selected lignin oxidation products (LOP), the harvesting of these compounds using preparative fraction collection, and measurement of their 14C content using accelerator mass spectrometry, details of the age and presence of specific biomarkers unique to a given terrestrial source are revealed. Radiocarbon ages determined from water-column particulate organic carbon and sediment LOPs indicate a range of ages from modern to well over 5,000 years for the former and latter respectively. Transport mechanisms and particle size associations on mineral grains may play a significant role in 14C distribution in estuary and near-shore coastal environments. This data indicates higher than modern 14C activities in large particle-size sediment fractions in contrast to older LOP 14C ages found associated with the same coarse grain sediments. Individual LOP ages substantiate older terrestrial materials persist in the off-shore environment even though in the presence of modern marine 14C sources.
Direct determination of the mass of an underpotentially deposited monolayer of lead on gold

Mesures de la masse de la couche monomoleculaire de plomb adsorbe sur l'or a l'aide d'une microbalance de quartz
Cholera : molecular basis for emergence and pathogenesis

Cholera clearly knows well the role of the grim reaper. It is one of the first diseases most people think of when calamity strikes and civilization breaks down. We have seen this happen several times in the last decade, with the most dramatic example being the cholera deaths of 80 000 people in the Rwandan refugee camps of Goma, Zaire, in 1994. While cholera as a disease is probably not as old as others like tuberculosis or smallpox, it clearly has been around for at least a thousand years. Although there are many diarrheal diseases, the intensity of cholera and the explosiveness of cholera epidemics clearly is unmistakable and must have impressed ancient observers. For example, there are descriptions that could only be cholera in ancient Greek and Chinese literature. As noted by Pollitzer, the translation by Schmidt of a Sanskrit work whose origin is believed to be Tibet around 802 AD clearly suggests cholera: “When the strength of virtues and merits decreases on earth, there appears amongst the people, first among those living on the shores of big rivers, various ailments which gives no time for treatment, but prove fatal immediately after they appear.… The various vessels secrete water so that the body becomes empty.… Its first signs are dizziness, a numb feeling in the head, and then the most violent purging and vomiting (Trans.)” [1]. Pollitzer also noted that in 1543 the explorer Gaspar Correa described a cholera victim in an outbreak in India in which the fatality rate exceeded the survivors' ability to bury the dead: “So grievous was the throe, and so bad a sort that the very worst poison seemed to take effect, as proved by vomiting, with drought of water accompanying it, as if the stomach were parched up, and cramps that fixed …
Measuring Primary Care Physician Visit Continuity and Patients’ Experiences of Visit Continuity.

To the Editor:— Dr. Wasson asserts that patient-reported visit continuity measures are valuable because they provide important information about how patients interpret the continuity of care they receive. We agree that patient-reported information is important. And we absolutely did not intend to cause the “elimination of patient reports” as Dr. Wasson says he fears. Patient-reported care experience information is key to a balanced portfolio of quality measures and indispensable to the goal of getting to a patient-centered health care system. However, our analytic findings led us to caution against relying on patient reported continuity of care measures in isolation — given evidence that they capture a combination of information about continuity along with information about other dimensions of the patient’s experience. Administrative continuity measures have proven, in our study and others,1 to provide a purer, more valid view of that dimension of care. Our results indicate that widely-used patient-reported visit continuity measures do not substitute for administrative data,2 especially if the goal is to understand how visit continuity with primary care physicians (PCPs) affects quality and outcomes of care.
Towards reliable multi-pathogen biosensors using high-dimensional encoding and decoding techniques

Advances in micro-nano-biosensor fabrication are enabling technology that can integrate a large number of biological recognition elements within a single package. As a result, hundreds to millions of tests can be performed simultaneously and can facilitate rapid detection of multiple pathogens in a given sample. However, it is an open question as to how to exploit the high-dimensional nature of the multi-pathogen testing for improving the detection reliability a typical biosensor system. In this paper, we discuss two complementary high-dimensional encoding/decoding methods for improving the reliability of multi-pathogen detection. The first method uses a support vector machine (SVM) to learn the non-linear detection boundaries in the high-dimensional measurement space. The second method uses a forward error correcting (FEC) technique to synthetically introduce redundant patterns on the biosensor which can then be efficiently decoded. In this paper, experimental and simulation studies are based on a model conductimetric lateral flow immunoassay that uses antigen-antibody interaction in conjunction with a polyaniline transducer to detect presence or absence of pathogen in a given sample. Our results show that both SVM and FEC techniques can improve the detection performance by exploiting cross-reaction amongst multiple recognition sites on the biosensor. This is contrary to many existing methods used in pathogen detection technology where the main emphasis has been reducing the effects of cross-reaction and coupling instead of exploiting them as side information.
Role of protein kinase C in arginine vasopressin-stimulated ERK and p70S6 kinase phosphorylation.

We previously showed in rat renal glomerular mesangial cells, that arginine vasopressin (AVP)-stimulated cell proliferation was mediated by epidermal growth factor receptor (EGF-R) transactivation, and activation (phosphorylation) of ERK1/2 and p70S6 kinase (Ghosh et al. [2001]: Am J Physiol Renal Physiol 280:F972-F979]. In this paper, we extend these observations and show that different protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms play different roles in mediating AVP-stimulated ERK1/2 and p70S6 kinase phosphorylation and cell proliferation. AVP treatment for 0-60 min stimulated the serine/threonine phosphorylation of PKC isoforms alpha, delta, epsilon, and zeta. The activation of PKC was dependent on EGF-R and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) activation. In addition, inhibition of conventional and novel PKC isoforms by chronic (24 h) exposure to phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) inhibited AVP-induced activation of ERK and p70S6 kinase as well as EGF-R phosphorylation. Rottlerin, a specific inhibitor of PKCdelta, inhibited both ERK and p70S6 kinase phosphorylation and cell proliferation. In contrast, a PKCepsilon translocation inhibitor decreased ERK1/2 activation without affecting p70S6 kinase or cell proliferation, while a dominant negative PKCzeta (K281W) cDNA delayed p70S6 kinase activation without affecting ERK1/2. On the other hand, Go6976, an inhibitor of conventional PKC isoforms, did not affect p70S6 kinase, but stimulated ERK1/2 phosphorylation without affecting cell proliferation. Our results indicate that PKCdelta plays an important role in AVP-stimulated ERK and p70S6 kinase activation and cell proliferation.
Structural Defects and the Origin of the Second Length Scale in SrTiO 3

To understand the origin of the second long-length scale in SrTiO{sub 3}, we studied structural defects in Verneuil-grown single crystals by transmission electron microscopy. The density of the dislocations was observed to decrease with increasing depth from the original cut surface of the crystals. The high density of dislocations in the skin region is most likely responsible for the second length scale. {copyright} {ital 1998} {ital The American Physical Society}
Energy levels of a hydrogenic donor in GaAs−GaAlAs quantum well structures in a magnetic field

Binding energies of the ground state (1s) and of excited states (2p±) of a hydrogenic donor associated with the lowest electron subband in a GaAs quantum well sandwiched between two semi-infinite layers of Ga1−xAlxAs, are calculated as a function of the size of the well in the presence of an arbitrary magnetic field. A variational approach is followed and these energy levels are calculated for a finite value of the height of the potential barrier. The positively charged ion of the donor atom is assumed to be located at the center of the well and the applied magnetic field is taken to be parallel to the axis of growth of the quantum well structure. As expected, for a given value of the magnetic field, the binding energies are found to be larger than their values in a zero magnetic field. The contribution to the binding energy of a given state due to the magnetic field, at a given field, increases slowly as the well size is reduced.
Modeling supersonic combustion using a fully-implicit numerical method

A fully-implicit finite-volume algorithm for two-dimensional axisymmetric flows has been coupled to a detailed hydrogen-air reaction mechanism (13 species and 33 reactions) so that supersonic combustion phenomena may be investigated. Numerical computations are compared with ballistic-range shadowgraphs of Lehr (1972) that exhibit two discontinuities caused by a blunt body as it passes through a premixed stoichiometric hydrogen-air mixture. The suitability of the numerical procedure for simulating these double-front flows is shown. The requirements for the physical formulation and the numerical modeling of these flowfields are discussed. Finally, the sensitivity of these external flowfields to changes in certain key reaction rate constants is examined.
Teaching Teachers of Writing: Workshops on Writing as a Collaborative Process.

Like many college teachers of com position, I am frequently asked to conduct inservice sessions for colleagues in English departments, fac ulty members across the college curric ulum, and even elementary and second ary language arts teachers. Usually, my charge is to help English teachers make the transition from traditional methods of teaching English to the "process" approach or to help teachers across the curriculum integrate more writing into their courses. Frequently, I also have a personal goal: to provide a model for teachers themselves to use in conduct ing inservice sessions for their col leagues. I invariably begin sessions with a se quence of activities that, to borrow a phrase or two from Steven Zemelman and Harvey Daniels (1986), "immerse teachers in experiences analogous . . . to those of student writers," a critical responsibility of an inservice leader. In "Authorship and Authority: Helping Writing Teachers Grow," Zemelman and Daniels argue that "writing teach ers must back away from their tradi tionally directive, sometimes authori tarian role in writing instruction, and act more as facilitators, coaches, and collaborators." To help them do that, inservice leaders should provide
Propagation coefficient of the transverse electric mode in a rectangular waveguide with sinusoidally varying width

An analytical expression is deduced for the propagation coefficient of the transverse electric mode in a rectangular waveguide with sinusoidally corrugated sidewalls by a perturbation procedure. The accuracy of the present treatment is of the same order as that of the previously obtained numerical results.
The regular 4-dimensional 57-cell

Both the 11-Cell and the 57-Cell are abstract 4-D polychora (multi-cells) bounded by all identical 3-D “surface” cells. Most people in the computer-graphics community are familiar with the 5 completely regular 3-D polyhedra: the Platonic solids. It is also fairly well known that by using these solids as boundary elements, one can construct 6 different, completely regular polychora in 4-D space (the hypercube, and the 5-, 16-, 24-, 120-, and 600-Cell). Most of these objects have been known for more than a century. The 11-Cell [Grunbaum 1976] and the 57-Cell [Coxeter 1982] are much more recent discoveries. They have received very little exposure outside the hardcore mathematics community ‐ mostly because these two objects cannot be represented in 3-D space in any reasonable way. These objects are highly self-intersecting even in 4-D space, because their boundary cells are single-sided manifolds like a Moebius band or a Klein bottle. [Sequin and Lanier 2007] have tried to make the 11-Cell accessible to nonmathematicians. Here we focus on the even more complicated 57cell and try to foster an understanding of this fascinating object. We start by presenting a visualization of the building blocks that comprise the 3-D “surface” or “crust” of this object.
Efferent connections of the substantia nigra and ventral tegmental area in the rat

Small injections of tritiated leucine and proline confined to the ventral tegmental area (AVT) were found to label fibers ascending: (a) to the entire ventromedial half of the striatum, but most massively to the ventral striatal zone that includes the nucleus accumbens; (b) to the thalamus: lateral habenular nucleus, nuclei reuniens and centralis medius, and the most medial zone of the mediodorsal nucleus; (c) to the posterior hypothalamic nucleus and possibly the lateral hypothalamic and preoptic region; (d) to the nuclei amygdalae centralis, lateralis and medialis; (e) to the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, the nucleus of the diagonal band, and the medial half of the lateral septal nucleus; (f) to the anteromedial (frontocingulate) cortex; and (g) to the entorhinal area. Further AVT efferents descend to the medial half of the midbrain tegmentum including an anterior region of the median raphe nucleus, to the ventral half of the central grey substance including the dorsal raphe nucleus, to the parabrachial nuclei, and to the locus coeruleus.
The role of common “context” in signaling

In order to signal effectively, is it sufficient for decentralized agents to share a signaling protocol, a common language? In this paper, we argue that the agents also need a common signaling “context” that can depend on the environment. Paralleling traditional communication, where mapping of information-sequence to codewords can be thought of as a “language”, the meaning attached to points in the state-space defines a signaling-language. In this framework, the coordinate-axes of an agent can be viewed as its signaling-context. By investigating the impact of context-misalignment in the minimalist signaling problem, the Witsenhausen counterexample, we show that significant context-misalignment can lead to lack of coordination despite agreement on the signaling-language. While Witsenhausen's counterexample is a single-shot problem, decentralized agents often act for longer time-horizons. By formulating a multi-shot extension of Witsenhausen's counterexample, we show that the agents can arrive at a common context by observing the costs arising due to their actions at previous time-steps, and are then able to use their common language to coordinate effectively.
Guys and "the Rest of Us": Tales of Gendered Aptitude and Experience in Educational Carework.

A history of framing the teaching of young children as a matter of ‘natural’ female aptitude has led a number of researchers and educators to oversimplify men's experiences as a foil or antidote to the ills of schooling. In this qualitative study of men, women, and ‘feminisation’ in early education and care environments, interview data (N = 4) are discursively analysed to provide a more nuanced understanding of how male and female careworkers construct and orient themselves in relation to masculinity and maleness.
Porphyrin Nanotubes by Ionic Self-Assembly

Porphyrin nanotubes are made by ionic self-assembly of two oppositely charged synthetic porphyrin molecules. The diameter of the nanotubes can be altered by modifying the structure of one of the porphyrin tectons. The nanotubes are photocatalytically active, mechanically responsive to light, and are composed of J-aggregates that exhibit resonance light scattering.
Evidence of Early B-Cell Dysregulation in Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Infection: Rapid Depletion of Naïve and Memory B-Cell Subsets with Delayed Reconstitution of the Naïve B-Cell Population

Despite eliciting a robust antibody response in humans, several studies in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients have demonstrated the presence of B-cell deficiencies during the chronic stage of infection. While several explanations for the HIV-induced B-cell deficit have been proposed, a clear mechanistic understanding of this loss of B-cell functionality is not known. This study utilizes simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection of rhesus macaques to assess B-cell population dynamics beginning at the acute phase and continuing through the chronic phase of infection. Flow cytometric assessment demonstrated a significant early depletion of both naive and memory B-cell subsets in the peripheral blood, with differential kinetics for recovery of these populations. Furthermore, the altered numbers of naive and memory B-cell subsets in these animals corresponded with increased B-cell activation and altered proliferation profiles during the acute phase of infection. Finally, all animals produced high titers of antibody, demonstrating that the measurement of virus-specific antibody responses was not an accurate reflection of alterations in the B-cell compartment. These data indicate that dynamic B-cell population changes in SIV-infected macaques arise very early after infection at the precise time when an effective adaptive immune response is needed.
Wide-field neurons in somatosensory thalamus of domestic cats under barbiturate anesthesia.

A sample of 392 somatosensory thalamic neurons from barbiturate-anesthetized cats, all responsive to stimulation of the contralateral forepaw (CFP), was compared with a previously described sample from chloralose-anesthetized animals with respect to (i) the functional properties of CFP-responsive neurons isolated within nucleus ventralis posterolateralis (VPL), (ii) the spatial distributions of distinguishable neuronal subsets within VPL, and (iii) the distribution of CFP-evoked single-unit discharge along the mediolateral dimension of the nucleus and over time. Eighty-two percent of the barbiturate neurons were responsive only to CFP; their receptive fields were small, usually confined to one or two digits or an area on the paw dorsum. Members of this sa subset were predominantly excited by light touch or deflection of hairs. The other 18% responded to stimulation of at least one “off-focus” limb in addition to CFP. These ∼sa neurons possessed larger receptive fields (though not as large as those observed under chloralose), which were bilaterally disposed in 32% of this subset. Fifty-eight percent of the ∼sa neurons were excited by light touch or hair deflection. The proportion of the barbiturate sample subject to corticofugal influences (62%) was smaller than that under chloralose (74%), with inhibitory influences predominating on both sa and ∼sa neurons in contrast to an excitatory effect on ∼sa neurons under chloralose. Compared with chloralose data, impulse discharge reached peak intensity earlier and overall duration of response was reduced for all subsets. Although the spike density distribution for ∼sa neurons was particularly abbreviated, this subset was well represented among VPL neurons responding to stimulation of the forepaw. As they are seen in barbiturate preparations also, wide-field somatosensory thalamic neurons are not an artifact of chloralose anesthesia.
Adenylate cyclase activity in chick retina

Abstract 1. 1. The enzymes in the biosynthetic pathway for dopamine, tyrosine hydroxylase and DOPA-decarboxylase, as well as dopamine itself are present in chick ( Gallus domesticus ) retina, whereas neither dopamine-β-hydroxylase nor its product, norepinephrine, are detectable. 2. 2. The membrane fraction of cell-free homogenates of the retina possesses an adenylate cyclase activity which is stimulated by low concentrations (1–50 μM) of apomorphine, dopamine, isoproterenol and norepinephrine; this activation is completely blocked by 1 μM fluphenazine but is relatively insensitive to the β-blocker, propanolol. In contrast, the adenylate cyclase activity of retinal slices is not activated by dopamine or apomorphine but is stimulated by isoproterenol, an effect that is completely blocked by 1 μM propanolo but not fluphenazine.
Action of a bacterial transeliminase on normal and unsaturated oligogalacturonic acids

Abstract The endo-pectic acid transeliminase of Bacillus polymyxa was shown to attack unsaturated tetragalacturonic acid (the terminal unit on the reducing end is a 4,5-dehydrogalacturonide) only at the middle glycosidic bond (bond 2). Since unsaturated tetragalacturonic acid has a greater affinity for the enzyme and was attacked more rapidly than normal trigalacturonic acid, it was concluded that the presence of the unsaturated bond inhibited or decreased affinity of the enzyme for bond 3 but enhanced affinity for and attack of bond 2. It was shown that unsaturated trigalacturonic acid was cleaved at the bond adjacent to the unsaturated unit but apparently at a much slower rate than normal trigalacturonic acid. The Km and Vm values were determined with the following results: Km, acid soluble pectic acid tetragalacturonic acid or unsaturated tetragalacturonic acid > trigalacturonic acid. These results support the conclusion that the transeliminase cleaves polygalacturonic acid in a random manner.
Saving the Axions in Superstring Models

In the effective four-dimensional supersymmetric theories derived from the superstring theories, we investigate a possible way to evade the cosmological bound ƒa≲1012GeV on the axion decay constant. A significant amount of entropy could be produced by the out-of-equilibrium decay of the Higgs field which is responsible for the breaking of the extra gauge symmetry at an intermediate mass scale MI. The appearance of such a Higgs fiield is a general feature of the superstring models. We find that if the gravitino mass m32∼1−102 GeV and MI∼107−1010 GeV, the axions are diluted efficiently by the entropy production, and ƒa∼O(1016 GeV) will still be acceptable.
Atypical Presentation of a Vaginal Epithelial Inclusion Cyst

Vaginal masses can have numerous different presentations and causes. Physicians can often make an empiric diagnosis of these masses on the basis of their clinical presentation and location. Most of these diagnoses are correct, with the rare exception of the occasional urethral diverticulum or hydrocele. In this case report, we discuss the initial diagnosis of a suspected infected Bartholin gland duct cyst that was in fact a 10 × 8 × 7.5-cm epithelial inclusion cyst that extended through the ischiorectal fossa and down to the gluteal region, requiring extensive dissection. Also presented is a detailed description of the anatomical landmarks encountered at dissection through the vaginal sidewall and ischiorectal fossa.
Synthesis of sodium dizirconium triphosphate from α-zirconium phosphate

Abstract Heating sodium ion exchanged zirconium phosphates, ZrNa x H 2−x (PO 4 ) 2 , yields mixtures of phases which include NaZr 2 (PO 4 ) 3 . When x is less than one, the second phase is ZrP 2 O 7 . At values of x > 1 the products are Zr(NaPO 4 ) 2 , NaZr 2 (PO 4 ) 3 and possibly NaPO 3 + Na 2 O. At x = 1 the products are NaZr 2 (PO 4 ) 3 + NaPO 3 . Hydrothermal treatment of ZrNa x H 2−x (PO 4 ) 2 also yields triphosphates which contain some protons and zeolitic water. Zirconium phosphate treated hydrothermally in the presence of sodium silicates yields sodium zirconium silicophosphates.
Reactivity and phenotype of mononuclear leukocytes from nongravid heifers after in vitro exposure to 9,13-di-cis-retinoic acid.

Abstract The predominant isomer of retinoic acid in the plasma of dairy cows during the periparturient period is 9,13-di- cis -retinoic acid. Because retinoic acids influence the activity of cells in a variety of tissues, including the immune system, the potential for this isomer to modulate the bovine immune system during the periparturient period must be considered. The present study examined the in vitro effects of 9,13-di- cis -retinoic acid on the reactivity and phenotype of blood mononuclear leukocytes from nongravid Holstein heifers that were sensitized to antigens and that had naturally low plasma concentrations of 9,13-di- cis -retinoic acid. In this system, 9,13-di- cis -retinoic acid, approximating the highest plasma concentrations occurring in vivo during the periparturient period, had no effect on DNA synthesis, secretion of interleukin-2 or interferon-γ, or secretion of immunoglobulin by unstimulated cultures or cultures stimulated by mitogen (pokeweed mitogen) or antigen (ovalbumin). The composition of unstimulated and stimulated mononuclear leukocyte populations, based on percentages of specific cell types, was unaffected by 9,13-di- cis -retinoic acid at the physiologic concentration of 10 –8 M . 9,13-di- cis -Retinoic acid did not affect the actual number of cells in unstimulated cultures and cultures stimulated by antigen but did cause a moderate reduction in the number of cells, primarily CD4 + lymphocytes, in cultures stimulated by mitogen. Overall, these results suggest that the elevated concentration of 9,13-di- cis -retinoic acid in maternal plasma may have a negligible effect on the reactivity and phenotype of cells constituting the circulating mononuclear leukocyte population.
Comparison of renal tubular transport of urate and PAH in water snakes: Evidence for differences in mechanisms and sites of transport

Abstract 1. 1. Relationship between renal tubular transport of urate and p -aminohippurate (PAH) in water snakes of genus Natrix was studied in vivo and in vitro . 2. 2. PAH did not inhibit endogenous urate secretion in vivo . PAH did not inhibit uptake of urate, and urate did not inhibit uptake of PAH by kidney slices in vitro . Probenecid inhibited tubular secretion of urate and PAH in vivo and their uptake by kidney slices in vitro , but inhibition of urate transport was more marked than that of PAH transport. These data suggest that transport mechanisms for these two organic acids may differ. 3. 3. Ligation of renal portal vein had little effect on tubular urate secretion but tended to eliminate net tubular PAH secretion, suggesting that tubular transport sites for these two organic acids may differ.
Beta2-adrenoceptor Thr164Ile polymorphism is associated with markedly decreased vasodilator and increased vasoconstrictor sensitivity in vivo.

Background The uncommon Thr164Ile polymorphism of the beta2-adrenoceptor is associated with profoundly altered responses to agonist in vitro; however its effects on vascular responses in vivo are not known. Altered adrenergic vascular sensitivity may contribute to the decreased survival observed in patients with congestive heart failure carrying the Ile164 allele. Methods and results We used the linear variable differential transformer dorsal hand vein technique to compare vasodilation in response to the beta-adrenergic receptor agonist, isoproterenol, and vasoconstriction in response to the alpha-adrenergic receptor agonist, phenylephrine, in healthy homozygous (Thr164/Thr164) (n = 21) and heterozygous Thr164/Ile164 (n = 5) women. The dose of isoproterenol required to achieve 50% venodilation (geometric mean; 95% CI) was significantly higher in women with the Ile164 allele (82.5 ng/min; 17.3-394 ng/min) than those without (15.8 ng/min; 11-25 ng/min; P = 0.004). The maximum response to isoproterenol was not different (102 +/- 1% and 102 +/- 3%, respectively, P = 0.9). The dose of phenylephrine needed to induce 50% venoconstriction was significantly lower in women with the Ile164 allele (151 ng/min; 42-543 ng/min) than those without (540 ng/min; 350-835 ng/min; P = 0.02). Conclusions The Thr164Ile polymorphism of the beta2-adrenergic receptor is associated with a five-fold reduction in sensitivity to beta2 receptor agonist-mediated vasodilation; vasoconstrictor sensitivity is increased. The overall effect of the Thr164Ile polymorphism is to shift the balance of adrenergic vascular tone toward vasoconstriction. This suggests a mechanistic explanation for the clinical observation of decreased survival in patients with congestive heart failure heterozygous for the Thr164Ile polymorphism.
The dilution effect: judgmental bias, conversational convention, or a bit of both?

This study explored competing normative interpretations of the dilution effect: the tendency for people to underutilize diagnostic evidence in prediction tasks when that evidence is accompanied by irrelevant information. From the normative vantage point of the intuitive statistician, the dilution effect is a judgmental bias that arises from the representativeness heuristic (similarity-matching of causes and effects). From the normative prospective of the intuitive politician, however, the dilution effect is a rational response to evidence presented in a setting in which Gricean norms of conversation are assumed to hold. The current experiment factorially manipulated conversational norms, the degree to which diagnostic evidence was diluted by irrelevant evidence, and the accountability of subjects for their judgments. Accountable subjects demonstrated a robust dilution effect when conversational norms were explicitly primed as well as in the no-priming control condition, but no dilution when conversational norms were explicitly deactivated. Non-accountable subjects demonstrated the dilution effect across norm activation conditions, with the strongest effect under the activation of conversational norms. Although the results generally support the conversational-norm interpretation of dilution, the significant dilution effect among non-accountable subjects in the norm-deactivated condition is more consistent with the judgmental-bias interpretation.
Pulmonary embolism following rotator cuff repair

Background: Previous studies have provided data on the incidence of pulmonary embolism following shoulder arthroplasty and repair of fractures of the proximal humerus. However, there is no information on the risk of pulmonary embolism following the surgical management of rotator cuff tears. Methods: We performed a review of 1176 patients who underwent operative procedures for rotator cuff tears between January 1 st , 2001 and December 31 st , 2005 to identify all patients who developed a symptomatic pulmonary embolism postoperatively. Results: Three patients developed pulmonary embolisms that were diagnosed with computed tomography angiography. The overall incidence was calculated to be 0.26%. None of the patients died as a result of the pulmonary embolism. Conclusions: The data from this review indicates that the risk of pulmonary embolism following surgery for rotator cuff repair is low, but not nonexistent. The most common presenting symptoms of pulmonary embolism were chest pain, shortness of breath, and hypoxia. This study should raise surgeons' awareness about this possible complication following rotator cuff repair surgery.
Adaptation of the Barton Reaction to Carborane Chemistry: The Synthesis and Reactivity of 2‐Hydroxyimino‐1‐hydroxymethylnona‐B‐methyl‐1,12‐dicarba‐closo‐dodecaborane(12)

Just one of the ten methyl groups of deca-B-methyl-1,12-dicarba-closo-dodecarborane(12) (1) is selectively functionalized in a reaction sequence in which photolysis of a nitrite of 1 is the key step. Reduction of the resulting aldoxime with LiAlH4 generates, by way of the first Beckmann rearrangement of a boron-substituted oxime, the methylamino alcohol 2.
Robust speaker adaptation using a piecewise linear acoustic mapping

In a large vocabulary speech recognition system, it is desirable to make use of previously acquired speech data when encountering new speakers. The authors describe an adaptation strategy based on a piecewise linear mapping between the feature space of a new speaker and that of a reference speaker. This speaker-normalizing mapping is used to transform the previously acquired parameters of the reference speaker onto the space of the new speaker. This results in a robust speaker adaptation procedure which allows for a drastic reduction in the amount of training data required from the new speaker. The performance of this method is illustrated on an isolated utterance speech recognition task with a vocabulary of 20000 words. >
Tocopherol metabolism, oxidation and recycling under high light stress in Arabidopsis

SUMMARY Tocopherols are synthesized and accumulated by all plants and many cyanobacteria. The quenching and scavenging of reactive oxygen species and lipid peroxy radicals by tocopherols can result in the formation of various tocopherol oxidation compounds. A targeted GC/MS profiling method was developed to quantify all tocopherols and pathway intermediates, and 23 potential alpha- and gamma-tocopherol oxidation products. This method was used to study the response of wild-type Arabidopsis (Col) and the tocopherol biosynthetic mutants vte1, vte2 and vte4 during 12 h low- and high-light treatments (LL and HL, 90 and 1500 mumol photon m(-2) sec(-1), respectively) and a subsequent 12 h dark recovery period. All tocopherols and pathway intermediates exhibited HL-dependent increases except 2,3-dimethyl-6-phytyl-1,4-benzoquinone (DMPBQ) in vte1 and beta-tocopherol in Col. Profiling of potential tocopherol oxidation products during HL treatment indicated the presence of only alpha-tocopherolquinol (alpha-TQH(2)) in Col and only gamma-tocopherolquinol (gamma-TQH(2)) in vte4, both of which accumulated to similar levels and with similar kinetics the two genotypes. However, during dark recovery, the level of alpha-TQH(2) in Col decreased several times faster than that of gamma-TQH(2) in vte4, suggesting the presence of biochemical processes with higher specificity for alpha-TQH(2). (14)C-labeled alpha-tocopherolquinone (alpha-TQ) applied to isolated Col chloroplasts was converted to (14)C-alpha-tocopherol, demonstrating the existence of a plastid-based system for recycling oxidized alpha-tocopherol. The accumulation of (14)C-trimethylphytylbenzoquinone (TMPBQ) by isolated vte1 plastids treated with (14)C-labeled alpha-TQ is consistent with the tocopherolquinone-recycling pathway utilizing a yet to be identified plastid-localized dehydratase that converts tocopherolquinone to TMPBQ.
Simulated Sudden Stratospheric Warming; Synoptic Evolution

An analysis is presented of a sudden stratospheric warming event which occurred spontaneously during a general circulation model simulation of the global atmospheric circulation. Two separate warming pulses exhibit the same dynamical evolution with a 'cycle' of about two weeks. Two distinct phases of the warming cycle are apparent: (1) the generation of an intense localized warm cell in conjunction with significant adiabatic heating associated with cross-isobar flow which has been induced by vertically propagating long wave disturbances; and (2) the northward transport of that warm cell via advection by the essentially geostrophic windfield corresponding to an intense, offset polar cyclone, in conjunction with a strong Aleutian anticyclone. During the first warming pulse in January, a moderate Aleutian anticyclone was in place prior to the warming cycle and was intensified by interaction with an eastward traveling anticyclone induced by the differential advection of the warm cell. The second warming pulse occurred in early February with a strong Aleutian anticyclone already established. In contrast to the January event, the warming in February culminated with reversal of the zonal westerlies to easterlies over a significant depth of the stratosphere.
Patterns of Self-Reported Alcohol Use, Depressive Symptoms, and Body Mass Index in a Family Sample: The Buffering Effects of Parentification

Although the impact of parentification on children and adolescents’ psychological health and outcomes has long been studied and well documented, little is known about the impact of parentification on children and adolescents’ physical health and medical outcomes. Moreover, the potential buffering effects of parentification have been examined very rarely. The data in the current study were collected from an understudied, high-priority adolescent population (N ¼ 51 rural adolescent–parent dyads). The authors examined the bivariate relations between parent health (alcohol use, depressive symptoms, and body mass index [BMI]), adolescent health (alcohol use, depressive symptoms, and BMI), and parentification. The effect size of the significant bivariate correlations ranged from small to large (r ¼ .29 to r ¼ .62). Parentification was positively associated with parent BMI and adolescent depressive symptoms. Parent alcohol use was strongly associated with adolescent alcohol use. Regression analyses were performed to determine if parentification moderates the relation between parental health and adolescent health. Parentification was found to function as a buffer of the relation between parent alcohol use and adolescent alcohol use. Parentification did not function as a moderator of the relation between parent depressive symptoms and adolescent depressive symptoms nor in the relationship between parent BMI and adolescent BMI. However, parentification did moderate the association between parent alcohol use and adolescent depressive symptoms.
Clinical consultations using store-and-forward telemedicine technology.

Objective To investigate the potential role of a store-and-forward (SAF) telemedicine system in specialty consultations initiated by primary care physicians. Materials and Methods In this pilot telemedicine study, patients needing consultations in cardiology, dermatology, endocrinology, and orthopedics had both standard face-to-face (FTF) consultations and SAF consultations. Results Fifteen patients had both FTF and SAF consultations, 4 had echocardiograms transmitted for an SAF consultation only, and 1 had an SAF consultation but no FTF appointment. Of 19 diagnoses made, all were essentially the same in both types of consultations; 14 of 15 FTF consultations and 15 of 19 SAF consultations resulted in additional treatment recommendations. Conclusions While it was possible to develop a desktop system for SAF consultations, the equipment was not adequately integrated. Without total digital input, including electronic patient medical records, packaging of information is laborious and impractical. Seamlessly adapting to existing clinical practice is vital. Issues such as increasing work for the physicians or office staff, gathering adequate patient information, and designing a referral process were more difficult than we had anticipated. Patient acceptance was high, but the clinical pilot had very small numbers.
Humeral torsion revisited: A functional and ontogenetic model for populational variation

Anthropological interest in humeral torsion has a long history, and several functional explanations for observed variation in the orientation of the humeral head have been proposed. Recent clinical studies have revived this topic by linking patterns of humeral torsion to habitual activities such as overhand throwing. However, the precise functional implications and ontogenetic history of humeral torsion remain unclear. This study examines the ontogeny of humeral torsion in a large sample of primarily immature remains from six different skeletal collections (n = 407). The results of this research confirm that humeral torsion displays consistent developmental variation within all populations of growing children; neonates display relatively posteriorly oriented humeral heads, and the level of torsion declines steadily into adulthood. As in adults, variation in the angle of humeral torsion in immature individuals varies by population, and these differences arise early in development. However, when examined in the context of the developing muscles of the shoulder complex, it becomes apparent that variation in the angle of humeral torsion is not necessarily related to specific habitual activities. Variability in this feature is more likely caused by a generalized functional imbalance between muscles of medial and lateral rotation that can be produced by a wide variety of upper limb activity patterns during growth.
The story of The Guide to Simulations/Games for Education and Training

The Guide to Simulations/Games for Education and Training was the authoritative reference book for the field from 1970 to 1980. The editor who conceived and managed the series off our editions reviews the genesis and transformations of the guide and considers how it reflected the growth of the field of simulation/gaming.
Nonhomogeneous ventricular wall strain: analysis of errors and accuracy.

Nonhomogeneous distributions of strains are simulated and utilized to determined two potential errors in the measurement of cardiac strains. First, the error associated with the use of single-plane imaging of myocardial markers is examined. We found that this error ranges from small to large values depending on the assumed variation in stretch. In variations in stretch are not accompanined by substantial regional changes in ventricular raduis, the associated error tends to be quite small. However, if the nonuniform stretch field is a result of substantial variations in local curvature from their reference values, large errors in stretch and strain occur
System assessement and distributed control system architecture

Cooperation tasks among distributed and autonomous systems require: 1) assessments of the systems current capabilities in relation to the goal and, 2) assessments of the systems current actions in relation to the goal. These assessments should lead to decisions and/or actions in relation to the completion of the cooperation task. In this paper, an assessment strategy is presented for implementation in a distributed control system architecture that focuses on a cooperation task. The assessment strategy was developed for high level decision-making and was based on fuzzy logic type-I. The assessment strategy and the distributed control architecture were implemented in a Matlab environment and tested using a group of simulated differential-drive mobile robots to perform a specific cooperation task.
Conformation of oligo(ethylene glycol) grafted poly(norbornene) in solutions: A small angle neutron scattering study

The conformation of newly synthesized amphiphilic poly(methoxyoligo(ethylene oxide) norbornenyl esters) macro-homopolymers in dilute solutions of toluene-d8 and D2O was investigated by small angle neutron scattering (SANS). The macro-homopolymers consist of a polynorbornene (PNB) backbone with a degree of polymerization (DP) of 50, and each repeat unit has a grafted ethylene glycol (EG) side chain with an average DP of 6.6. The hydrophobic backbone and hydrophilic side chains interact differently with solvents of different polarity, which makes the polymer conformation very sensitive to the solvent quality. It was found that in a 0.5 wt.% toluene solution the polymers assume coil-like conformation and gradually contract and become more compact with increasing polymer concentration. In D2O, the conformation of the polymers were studied at different concentrations: 0.1, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 wt.% and at different temperatures: 25, 44, 60 and 74 C. The polymers are partially contracted in D2O and their shape can be described by the form factor of a rigid cylinder. The second virial coefficient A2 was extracted at three temperatures
Altered connexin expression in nitric oxide synthase knockout mice: a potential mechanism for delayed wound healing

Introduction: Nitric oxide (NO) plays a key role in normal wound repair, as evidenced by delayed excisional wound closure in both inducible (iNOS) and endothelial (eNOS) nitric oxide synthase null mice; however, the mechanisms by which NO acts in wound repair remain undefined. Connexins, the proteins that form gap junctions, have been shown to play key roles in coordination of cell growth and differentiation. Down-regulation of connexins is required for the dissociation of cells during growth and proliferation. We hypothesized that decreased levels of NO in NOS null mice may result in altered expression of C 5 43 (expressed prominently in skin) thereby contributing to delayed wound repair.
Regression analysis of group testing samples.

This paper develops a general regression methodology that relates the group testing responses to individual covariate information. It can be used to study samples from a group testing procedure and to deal with a wide range of regression problems. A detailed illustration of the methodology is provided for a group testing procedure proposed by Gastwirth and Hammick. To demonstrate the utility of the method, simulation studies are performed on an HIV antibody testing data set published by Nusbacher et al.