cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Model Analysis of Lactate Accumulation During Muscle Ischemia

Abstract Purpose: The mechanistic basis of the relationship between tissue [O2] and tissue or blood lactate (LA) concentration during tissue hypoxia are not fully understood. However, blood and tissue lactate accumulation are still used as indicators of tissue hypoxia in critically ill patients. To investigate this relationship, we applied a previously developed mathematical model of human bioenergetics to simulate the integrated responses (cellular, tissue, and whole body) to moderate (10% to 45%) and severe (50% to 80%) reductions in muscle blood flow. Materials and Methods: Model simulations of muscle ischemia predicted metabolite concentration changes in muscle, splanchnic bed, and other tissues, and were compared with experimental data in humans for model validation. Results: In general, simulations closely predicted the pattern of change in substrates and control metabolites to that observed experimentally. Specifically, simulations showed that most of the increase in muscle LA production during moderate ischemia was due to an increase in pyruvate (PY) and not to the change in redox state induced by a small decrease in O2 consumption. However, during severe ischemia, changes in [LA]APY] ratio in venous blood corresponded very closely to changes in tissue redox state. Because both blood [LA] and [LA]APY] tracked changes in tissue redox state very well, these can be used reliably as indices of tissue hypoxia during severe muscle ischemia. Conclusions: Based on the simulations, the commonly used threshold value for venous [LA]/[PY] = 14 as evidence of tissue hypoxia seems appropriate during severe ischemia.
Political Ideology and Perceptions of Social Justice Advocacy Among Members of the American Counseling Association

This study explored perceptions of social justice advocacy among liberal, moderate, and conservative members (N = 214) of the American Counseling Association (ACA). Results showed that conservative participants had somewhat less favorable perceptions of social justice advocacy, but generally did not differ statistically from liberal and moderate participants. Statistically significant differences, however, were found among extremely liberal participants. All participants generally supported the use of ACA resources for social activism. Implications and limitations are discussed.
Influence of side chain conformation and configuration on glycosyl donor reactivity and selectivity as illustrated by sialic acid donors epimeric at the 7-position

Two N-acetyl 4O,5N-oxazolidinone-protected sialyl thioglycosides epimeric at the 7-position have been synthesized and their reactivity and stereoselectivity in glycosylation reactions have been compared. It is demonstrated that the natural 7S-donor is both more reactive and more α-selective than the unnatural 7R-isomer. The difference in reactivity is attributed to the side chain conformation and specifically to the proximity of O7 to the anomeric center. In the natural 7S-isomer, O7 is closer to the anomeric center than in its unnatural 7R-epimer and, therefore, better able to support incipient positive charge at the locus of reaction. The difference in selectivity is also attributed to the side conformation, which in the unnatural 7R-series is placed perpendicularly above the α-face of the donor and so shields it to a greater extent than in the 7S-series. These observations are consistent with earlier conclusions on the influence of the side chain conformation on reactivity and selectivity derived from ...
Stable Visual Servoing Through Hybrid Switched-System Control

Visual servoing methods are commonly classified as image-based or position-based, depending on whether image features or the camera position define the signal error in the feedback loop of the control law. Choosing one method over the other gives asymptotic stability of the chosen error but surrenders control over the other. This can lead to system failure if feature points are lost or the robot moves to the end of its reachable space. We present a hybrid switched-system visual servo method that utilizes both image-based and position-based control laws. We prove the stability of a specific, state-based switching scheme and present simulated and experimental results.
Agency Under Stress: The Social Security Administration in American Government

Prize-winning author Martha Derthick draws on the recent experience of the Social Security Administration to examine the quality of policymaker's guidance and the feasibility of their policies. Derthick concludes that many structural features of American government hinder good administration, that policymakers lack concern for administration, and that they often miscalculate the administrative consequences of their policy choices. To illustrate this argument, Agency Under Stress analyzes two much-publicized cases of poor performance by one of the biggest and best established of U.S. government agencies, the Social Security Administration. The first case is that of the supplemental security income program to support needy blind, aged and disabled persons. Given responsibility of administering the program in 1974, the Social Security Administration was unequal to the task: many payments were made in error; many eligible persons were not paid; computer systems were not ready; field employees worked millions of hours of overtime; and other agency programs suffered. The second case is that of an eligibility review that Congress ordered the Social Security Administration to conduct for disability insurance recipients in the 1980s. The results were similarly traumatic: of over 1.2 million cases examined, 495,000 had benefits terminated, and, flooded with appeals, the courts ruled overwhelmingly against the agency. Derthick's analysis and conclusions have far-reaching implications for how the government can effectively serve its clients.
High-performance Liquid Chromatography Determination of Dextromethorphan and Dextrorphan for Oxidation Phenotyping by Fluorescence and Ultraviolet Detection

Summary To establish the usefulness of fluorescence detection to quantify urinary concentrations of dextromethorphan and dextrorphan for oxidation phenotyping, we determined the molar concentration ratio of dextromethorphan to dextrorphan in 38 subjects by UV and fluorescence detection. Dextromethorphan and dextrorphan concentrations were quantified after overnight hydrolysis of urine samples and organic solvent extraction with heptane and butanol. The compounds were separated by high-performance liquid chromatography using a phenyl column and a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile and an aqueous mixture of 0.01 M heptane sulfonic acid and 0.01 M phosphate buffer. The eluents were detected in series by a UV detector (280 nm) and fluorescence detector (excitation 280 nm and emission 310 nm). The dextromethorphan to dextrorphan molar concentration ratio by UV and fluorescence detection was highly correlated (r = 0.997) and not statistically different (p = 0.1036). However, increased sensitivity with fluorescence detection enabled detection of lower dextromethorphan and dextrorphan concentrations when compared with UV detection. Fluorescence detection was able to detect dextromethorphan as low as 0.02 μg/ml, which may be helpful in phenotyping individuals with extremely rapid metabolism of dextromethorphan. Fluorescence detection also produced chromatograms with significantly less interference and allows a more accurate quantitation of dextromethorphan and dextrorphan concentrations.
The impact of perceived hypertension status on anxiety and the white coat effect

Background: The white coat effect can lead to overdiagnosis of hypertension and unnecessary pharmacologic treatment. Mechanisms underlying the white coat effect remain poorly understood but are critical to improving the accuracy of clinic blood pressure measurement.Purpose: This study investigated whether perceived hypertension status was associated with state anxiety levels during a clinic visit and the magnitude of the white coat effect, independent of true blood pressure status.Methods: This observational study included 214 normotensive and mildly hypertensive participants who were 18 to 80 years old, had no cardiac history, and were willing to discontinue antihypertensive medications for 8 weeks. Participants underwent 36 hr ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and physician blood pressure measurement. Outcome measures were state anxiety reported during the clinic visit and the white coat effect.Results: An analysis of covariance indicated that participants who perceived themselves as hypertensive reported greater state anxiety (p<.001) and showed larger white coat effects (ps<.01) compared with those who perceived themselves as normotensive. True hypertension status based on ambulatory blood pressure was not related to either outcome. Anxiety accounted for approximately 19% of the association between perceived hypertension status and the white coat effect.Conclusions: These findings suggest that the perception of being hypertensive is associated with greater anxiety during clinic blood pressure measurement and a larger white coat effect, independent of the true blood pressure level. Anxiety appears to be a mechanism by which perceived hypertension status contributes to the white coat effect.
Hybrid solar forecasting method uses satellite imaging and ground telemetry as inputs to ANNs

This work describes a new hybrid method that combines information from processed satellite images with Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) for predicting global horizontal irradiance (GHI) at temporal horizons of 30, 60, 90, and 120 min. The forecast model is applied to GHI data gathered from two distinct locations (Davis and Merced) that represent well the geographical distribution of solar irradiance in the San Joaquin Valley. The forecasting approach uses information gathered from satellite image analysis including velocimetry and cloud indexing as inputs to the ANN models. To the knowledge of the authors, this is the first attempt to hybridize stochastic learning and image processing approaches for solar irradiance forecasting. We compare the hybrid approaches using standard error metrics to quantify the forecasting skill for the several time horizons considered. 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Exploring the influence of cultural elements on Chinese manufacturing quality

Purpose – The objective of this paper is to identify the reasons behind the recent issues of Chinese manufacturing quality. This paper aims to discuss the influence of American managers as well as Chinese business cultural effects on Chinese manufacturing quality.Design/methodology/approach – In this paper, two survey questionnaires have been prepared for the study based on literature review. Survey instruments were sent to American and Chinese business owners and managers who have a considerable amount of professional experience in the manufacturing area.Findings – It is found that both American managers and Chinese business culture have influence on Chinese manufacturing quality.Originality/value – This paper contributes to an understanding of the reasons behind the recent quality issues in Chinese manufacturing.
Decomposition of aqueous solutions of phenol using high energy electron beam irradiation—A large scale study

Abstract High-energy electron-beam irradiation was used to remove phenol from aqueous solution. The variables that affected phenol decomposition were solute concentration, absorbed dose and total alkalinity. Experiments were conducted at large scale (480 L min−1), at solute concentrations of 10.6, 106 and 531 μmol L−1 (1, 10 and 50 mg L−1) over the pH range 5–9, and in the presence and absence of solids (3% w/w kaolin clay). Absorbed doses ranged from 0–7 kGy (0–700 krad). At low absorbed doses, catechol, hydroquinone and resorcinol were identified as the major reaction byproducts. These compounds are consistent with hydroxyl radical (OH·) addition to phenol. Subsequent ring cleavage of hydroxylated phenolic radicals and continued oxidative processes resulted in the formation of formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, glyoxal and formic acid. At high doses only trace amounts of the carbonyl derivatives were observed. Two recirculation experiments were conducted at higher phenol concentrations (≈950 μmol L−1) and it was shown that phenol was removed while the total organic carbon of the solution decreased only slightly. These results suggest that phenol was not mineralized but, rather, that irradiation resulted in the possible formation of higher molecular weight polymers.
Functional diversity of Ia epitopes on macrophages

A panel of monoclonal antibodies directed against various epitopes of mouse Iak was used to block functions mediated by Iak on CBA/J macrophages in two different assay systems. The first system was the recently described proliferation inhibition of an H-2k T cell clone (8.1.11.2) by a combination of CBA/J (nonactivated) macrophages and anti-Iak (Kedar, I. et al. J. Immunol. 1986. 136: 3166). The second system was the well known macrophage cytotoxicity induced by interferon against various transformed cells. We found that anti-Iak antibodies directed against serological specificity number 2 (on the alpha chain of IA) blocked the proliferative stimulus of the macrophage Iak for the 8.1.11.2 T cell clone. Both an IgG and an IgM antibody with this specificity were effective, whereas seven other anti-Iak (including several for other specificities on the alpha chain of IA) were not. Conversely, two different monoclonal anti-Iak antibodies directed against serological specificity number 17 (on the beta chain of IA) inhibited the cytolytic activity of the activated macrophages for the 8.1.11.2 T cell clone as well as the P815 (H-2d) mastocytoma as target, whereas four other antibodies were ineffective in this regard. In addition to providing evidence that Ia may participate in the cytolytic activity of activated macrophages, these studies demonstrate that different epitopes of Iak on macrophages are differentially involved in different biological functions.
Cold Cratonic Roots and Thermal Blankets: How Continents Affect Mantle Convection

Two-dimensional convection models with moving continents show that continents profoundly affect the pattern of mantle convection. If the continents are wider than the wavelength of the convection cells (~3000 km, the thickness of the mantle), they cause neighboring deep mantle thermal upwellings to coalesce into a single focused upwelling. This focused upwelling zone will have a potential temperature anomaly of about 200°C, much higher than the 100°C temperature anomaly of upwelling zones generated beneath typical oceanic lithosphere. Extensive high-temperature melts (including flood basalts and late potassic granites) will be produced, and the excess temperature anomaly will induce continental uplift (as revealed in sea level changes) and the eventual breakup of the supercontinent. The mantle thermal anomaly will persist for several hundred million years after such a breakup. In contrast, small continental blocks (<1000 km diameter) do not induce focused mantle upwelling zones. Instead, small continental...
Thermal management of manycore systems with silicon-photonic networks

Silicon-photonic network-on-chips (NoCs) provide high bandwidth density; therefore, they are promising candidates to replace electrical NoCs in manycore systems. The silicon-photonic NoCs, however, are sensitive to the temperature gradients that typically occur on the chip, and hence, require proactive thermal management. This paper first provides a design space exploration of silicon-photonic networks in manycore systems and quantifies the performance impact of the temperature gradients for various network bandwidths. The paper then introduces a novel job allocation technique that minimizes the temperature gradients among the ring modulators/filters to improve the application performance. Experimental results for a single-chip 256-core system demonstrate that our policy is able to maintain the maximum network bandwidth. Compared to existing workload allocation policies, the proposed policy improves system performance by up to 26.1% when running a single application and 18.3% for multi-program scenarios.
Structure of the magnetoexciton and optical properties in fractional quantum Hall systems

We report calculated dependence of magneto-exciton energy spectrum upon electron-hole separation $d$ in Fractional Quantum Hall systems. We calculated the dependence of photoluminescence upon $d$, and we obtained the doublet structure observed recently. The Raman scattering spectrum around resonance is calculated: a robust resonance peak at $\nu=1/3$ around gap value is reported.
Technique and apparatus for strain measurements on rock in constant confining pressure experiments

Technique and Apparatus for Strain Measurements on Rock in Constant Confining Pressure Experiments An indirect scheme to measure radial strains on competent rock cylinders and joint deformations in jointed specimens subjected to conventional triaxial compression is described. The technique was first employed by Crouch (1970). It relies on the measurement of the volume changes of the confining pressure medium that are necessary to maintain a constant confining pressure during radial sample deformation. In the simplest case when the cross-sectional areas of the loading pistons and of the test sample are equal it is shown that radial strain is given by an expression of the form $$\varepsilon _2 = \frac{1}{{1 - \varepsilon _1 }}\left[ {\frac{{\Sigma \Delta V}}{{C_1 }} - \left( {C_{2 } \varepsilon _1 + C_3 } \right)F} \right]$$ whereΣ Δ V denotes cumulative volume adjustments of the confining pressure fluid. Similar equations in some cases define the effective normal and shear displacements on single joints. Equipment and procedures are described by which radial strains and joint displacements were monitored in quasi-static compression tests and in creep experiments up to 10,000 psi confining pressure.
The photometric periods of the nova-like cataclysmic variable LQ Pegasi (PG 2133+115)

Abstract We present a time-resolved differential photometric study and time series analysis of the nova-like cataclysmic variable star LQ Peg. We discover three periodicities in the photometry, one with a period of 3.42 ± 0.03 h, and another with a period of 56.8 ± 0.01 h. We interpret these to be the apsidal superhump and precessional periods of the accretion disk, respectively, and predict that the orbital period of LQ Peg is 3.22 ± 0.03 h. The third periodicity, with a period of 41.3 ± 0.01 h, we interpret to be the nodal precessional period of the accretion disk. We also report a flare that lasted four minutes and had an energy in visible light of (1.2 ± 0.3) × 1036 ergs, or 104–5 times more energetic than the largest solar flares, comparable to the most energetic visible-light stellar flares known. We calculate the absolute magnitude of LQ Peg to be MJ = 4.78 ± 0.54, and its distance to be 800 ± 200 pc.
The effect of nuclear motion on mesonic atom energies

Abstract Nuclear motion in mesonic atoms is shown to contribute to the atomic energies in the same way as in muonic atoms. An exception to this is found to occur in S-states.
Nitrogen and carbon isotopic composition of bone collagen from marine and terrestrial animals

The stable nitrogen and carbon isotope ratios of bone collagen prepared from more than 100 animals representing 66 species of birds, fish, and mammals are presented. The δ15N values of bone collagen from animals that fed exclusively in the marine environment are, on average, 9%. more positive than those from animals that fed exclusively in the terrestrial environment; ranges for the two groups overlap by less than 1%. Bone collagen δ15N values also serve to separate marine fish from the small number of freshwater fish we analyzed. The bone collagen δ15N values of birds and fish that spent part of their life cycles feeding in the marine environment and part in the freshwater environment are intermediate between those of animals that fed exclusively in one or the other system. Further, animals that fed at successive trophic levels in the marine and terrestrial environment are separated, on average, by a 3%. difference in the δ15N values of their bone collagen. Specifically, carnivorous and herbivorous terrestrial animals have mean δ15N values for bone collagen of + 8.0 and + 5.3%., respectively. Among marine animals, those that fed on fish have a mean δ15N value for bone collagen of + 16.5%., whereas those that fed on invertebrates have a mean δ15N value of + 13.3%. These results support previous suggestions of a 3%. enrichment in δ15N values at each successively higher trophic level. In contrast to the results for δ15N values, the ranges of bone collagen δ13C values from marine and terrestrial feeders overlap to a great extent. Additionally, bone collagen δ13C values do not reflect the trophic levels at which the animals fed. These results indicate that bone collagen δ15N values will be useful in determining relative dependence on marine and terrestrial food sources and in investigating trophic level relationships among different animal species within an ecosystem. This approach should be applicable to animals represented by prehistoric or fossilized bone in which collagen is preserved.
West Indians and Their Language

West Indians and Their Language. Peter A. Roberts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988. 224 pp. $39.50 (cloth), $10.95 (paper). ISBN 0-521-35136-7, ISBN 0-521-35955-4
Structured retrieval for question answering

Bag-of-words retrieval is popular among Question Answering (QA) system developers, but it does not support constraint checking and ranking on the linguistic and semantic information of interest to the QA system. We present anapproach to retrieval for QA, applying structured retrieval techniques to the types of text annotations that QA systems use. We demonstrate that the structured approach can retrieve more relevant results, more highly ranked, compared with bag-of-words, on a sentence retrieval task. We also characterize the extent to which structured retrieval effectiveness depends on the quality of the annotations.
Recent advances in direct methanol fuel cells at Los Alamos National Laboratory

Abstract This paper describes recent advances in the science and technology of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) made at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The effort on DMFCs at LANL includes work devoted to portable power applications, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA), and work devoted to potential transport applications, funded by the US DOE. We describe recent results with a new type of DMFC stack hardware that allows to lower the pitch per cell to 2 mm while allowing low air flow and air pressure drops. Such stack technology lends itself to both portable power and potential transport applications. Power densities of 300 W/l and 1 kW/l seem achievable under conditions applicable to portable power and transport applications, respectively. DMFC power system analysis based on the performance of this stack, under conditions applying to transport applications (joint effort with U.C. Davis), has shown that, in terms of overall system efficiency and system packaging requirements, a power source for a passenger vehicle based on a DMFC could compete favorably with a hydrogen-fueled fuel cell system, as well as with fuel cell systems based on fuel processing on board. As part of more fundamental studies performed, we describe optimization of anode catalyst layers in terms of PtRu catalyst nature, loading and catalyst layer composition and structure. We specifically show that, optimized content of recast ionic conductor added to the catalyst layer is a sensitive function of the nature of the catalyst. Other elements of membrane/electrode assembly (MEA) optimization efforts are also described, highlighting our ability to resolve, to a large degree, a well-documented problem of polymer electrolyte DMFCs, namely “methanol crossover”. This was achieved by appropriate cell design, enabling fuel utilization as high as 90% in highly performing DMFCs.
Synthesis and characterization of fillers of controlled structure based on polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane cages and their use in reinforcing siloxane elastomers

Four polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) cages with vinyl groups were linked to a central siloxane core by hydrosilylation. The goal was to obtain filler particles of sizes between those of the POSS cages themselves and the much larger silica particles typically used to reinforce elastomers. The hydrosilylation reaction was monitored with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and proton nuclear magnetic resonance, and the resulting structure was confirmed by mass spectrometry. Simply blending these POSS-based fillers into silanol-terminated poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) had little effect on the mechanical properties, but bonding them to PDMS provided considerable reinforcement. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 3314 -3323, 2003
Association between geomorphic attributes of watersheds, water temperature, and salmon spawn timing in Alaskan streams

Abstract Intraspecific variation in the seasonal reproductive timing of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus sp.) has important implications for the resilience of salmon and for organisms in freshwater and terrestrial communities that depend on salmon resources. Stream temperature has well known associations with salmon spawn timing but how stream and watershed geomorphology relates to the variation in salmon spawn timing is less understood. We used multivariate statistics applied to five environmental variables to compare conditions across 36 watersheds in the Wood River basin in southwest Alaska. We found that the environmental conditions in the first two axes of a principal components analysis (PCA) explained 76% of the variation in summer temperature among streams and 45% of the variation in spawn timing of sockeye salmon. The average habitat characteristics of streams that characterized three spawn timing groups of sockeye salmon were significantly distinct from one another. Sites supporting early spawning populations tend to have steeper and smaller watersheds, while late spawning populations occur in streams draining large, lower gradient watersheds with lakes in the drainage network. Finally, we show that stream temperature and spawn timing among streams have little spatial correlation across the landscape, thereby producing a fine-scale mosaic of spawn timing across the river basin. These results demonstrate that geomorphology and hydrology interact to produce a heterogeneous thermal template for natural selection to influence salmon spawn timing across river basins.
Analysis of sampling techniques for association rule mining

In this paper, we present a comprehensive theoretical analysis of the sampling technique for the association rule mining problem. Most of the previous works have concentrated only on the empirical evaluation of the effectiveness of sampling for the step of finding frequent itemsets. To the best of our knowledge, a theoretical framework to analyze the quality of the solutions obtained by sampling has not been studied. Our contributions are two-fold. First, we present the notions of e-close frequent itemset mining and e-close association rule mining that help assess the quality of the solutions obtained by sampling. Secondly, we show that both the frequent items mining and association rule mining problems can be solved satisfactorily with a sample size that is independent of both the number of transactions size and the number of items. Let θ be the required support, e the closeness parameter, and 1/h the desired bound on the probability of failure. We show that the sampling based analysis succeeds in solving both e-close frequent itemset mining and e-close association rule mining with a probability of at least (1 - 1/h) with a sample of size S = O(1/e2θ [Δ + log h/(1 - e)θ]), where Δ is the maximum number of items present in any transaction. Thus, we establish that it is possible to speed up the entire process of association rule mining for massive databases by working with a small sample while retaining any desired degree of accuracy. Our work gives a comprehensive explanation for the well known empirical successes of sampling for association rule mining.
Pulmonary Artery Balloon Counterpulsation for Treatment of Intraoperative Right Ventricular Failure

Pulmonary artery balloon counterpulsation was used in 3 patients who underwent open-heart operation for the treatment of acquired cardiac lesions. This form of support was initiated because the patients could not be weaned from cardiopulmonary bypass even with intraaortic balloon counterpulsation and maximal pharmacological support. After pulmonary artery balloon pumping was instituted, cardiopulmonary bypass was successfully terminated in all 3 patients. One of them is alive and well one year after operation.
Regulation of G protein-coupled receptor kinases by caveolin.

G protein-coupled receptor kinases (GRKs) have been principally characterized by their ability to phosphorylate and desensitize G protein-coupled receptors. However, recent studies suggest that GRKs may have more diverse protein/protein interactions in cells. Based on the identification of a consensus caveolin binding motif within the pleckstrin homology domain of GRK2, we tested the direct binding of purified full-length GRK2 to various glutathioneS-transferase-caveolin-1 fusion proteins, and we discovered a specific interaction of GRK2 with the caveolin scaffolding domain. Interestingly, analysis of GRK1 and GRK5, which lack a pleckstrin homology domain, revealed in vitro binding properties similar to those of GRK2. Maltose-binding protein caveolin and glutathione S-transferase-GRK fusion proteins were used to map overlapping regions in the N termini of both GRK2 and GRK5 that appear to mediate conserved GRK/caveolin interactions. In vivo association of GRK2 and caveolin was suggested by co-fractionation of GRK2 with caveolin in A431 and NIH-3T3 cells and was further supported by co-immunoprecipitation of GRK2 and caveolin in COS-1 cells. Functional significance for the GRK/caveolin interaction was demonstrated by the potent inhibition of GRK-mediated phosphorylation of both receptor and peptide substrates by caveolin-1 and -3 scaffolding domain peptides. These data reveal a novel mode for the regulation of GRKs that is likely to play an important role in their cellular function.
Convergence of the 5-LOX and COX-2 pathways: heme-catalyzed cleavage of the 5S-HETE-derived di-endoperoxide into aldehyde fragments.

Oxygenation of the 5-lipoxygenase product 5S-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid by cyclooxygenase-2 yields a bicyclic di-endoperoxide. The di-endoperoxide contains two peroxides spanning from carbons 9 to 11 and 8 to 12, and two hydroxyls at carbons 5 and 15 of arachidonic acid (Schneider C., et al. 2006. Convergent oxygenation of arachidonic acid by 5-lipoxygenase and cyclooxygenase-2. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 128: 720). Here, we report that treatment of the di-endoperoxide with hematin or ferrous chloride results in cleavage of both peroxide O-O bonds and of the bonds between the carbons that carry the peroxide groups, producing the aldehydes 4-hydroxy-2E-nonenal (4-HNE), 8-oxo-5S-hydroxy-6E-octenoic acid, and malondialdehyde (MDA). The hematin- and ferrous iron-catalyzed transformation of the di-endoperoxide proceeded with a similar yield of products as the cleavage of the prostaglandin endoperoxide PGH2 to 12S-hydroxy-5Z,8E,10E-heptadecatrienoic acid and MDA. Chiral phase HPLC analysis of the 4-HNE cleavage product showed greater than 98% 4S and thus established the S configuration of the 15-carbon of the di-endoperoxide that had not previously been assigned. This transformation of the 5-lipoxygenase/cyclooxygenase-2 derived di-endoperoxide invokes the possibility of a novel pathway to formation of the classic lipid peroxidation products 4-HNE and MDA.
Linseed and sunflower oil alkyd ceramers

Abstract New inorganic/organic hybrid coatings were prepared, using linseed and sunflower oil based alkyds with sol–gel precursors. Three sol–gel precursors, titanium (IV) i -propoxide (TIP), titanium di- i -propoxide, diacetylacetonate (TIA), and zirconium (IV) n -propoxide (ZRP), were used in this study. The goal of this study was to investigate the affects of the type of alkyd on the overall properties of the alkyd ceramer coating. Various coatings properties such as hardness, impact resistance, adhesion, tensile properties and flexibility were evaluated as a function of alkyd type and sol–gel precursor content. Thermal and mechanical properties were also investigated as a function of sol–gel precursor and alkyd type. Alkyd ceramers high in linolenic acid content produced harder, tougher films while maintaining the same degree of flexibility as the high linoleic acid alkyds. At low sol–gel precursor content, the tensile properties of both the sunflower and linseed oil based alkyd ceramers initially decreased. As the sol–gel content was increased, the tensile properties increased as a function of sol–gel content.
Differences in the electrostatic surfaces of the type III secretion needle proteins PrgI, BsaL, and MxiH.

Abstract Gram-negative bacteria use a needle-like protein assembly, the type III secretion apparatus, to inject virulence factors into target cells to initiate human disease. The needle is formed by the polymerization of ∼ 120 copies of a small acidic protein that is conserved among diverse pathogens. We previously reported the structure of the BsaL needle monomer from Burkholderia pseudomallei by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and others have determined the crystal structure of the Shigella flexneri MxiH needle. Here, we report the NMR structure of the PrgI needle protein of Salmonella typhimurium, a human pathogen associated with food poisoning. PrgI, BsaL, and MxiH form similar two helix bundles, however, the electrostatic surfaces of PrgI differ radically from those of BsaL or MxiH. In BsaL and MxiH, a large negative area is on a face formed by the helix α1–α2 interface. In PrgI, the major negatively charged surface is not on the “face” but instead is on the “side” of the two-helix bundle, and only residues from helix α1 contribute to this negative region. Despite being highly acidic proteins, these molecules contain large basic regions, suggesting that electrostatic contacts are important in needle assembly. Our results also suggest that needle-packing interactions may be different among these bacteria and provide the structural basis for why PrgI and MxiH, despite 63% sequence identity, are not interchangeable in S. typhimurium and S. flexneri.
Double Scattering Corrections to High-Energy Diffraction Scattering from Deuterons

The eikonal method is used to estimate the double scattering corrections to the differential cross sections for high-energy diffraction scattering from deuterons. By inverting the Fourier-Bessel transform the correction is expressed in terms of the amplitudes for scattering from free nucleons. Numerical estimates are made for the case of proton-deuteron scattering by assuming simple forms for the nucleon-nucleon scattering amplitudes and the deuteron form factor: Corrections to the differential cross sections are about -6% in the forward direction and increase in magnitude with increasing momentum transfer.
Kalecki and Keynes

Kalecki anticipated Keynes'sGeneral Theory with a more rigorously constructed, coherent, and general system which integrated the theory of aggregate output determination, value and distribution; dealt with an open, rather than closed, economy; and focussed on the dynamic properties of the economic process. Kalecki and Keynes were not rival inventors, they were rather coincidental discoverers. Aside from their analytical differences, the protagonists of the Keynesian Revolution differed in the conclusions they derived on the applicability of their theoretical models.
Diabetes and Depression: The Role of Social Support and Medical Symptoms

Depression in people with diabetes is linked to poor physical health. Social support and physical health have been linked to each other and to depression. The present study examined three possible models of the interrelationship among depression, social support, and diabetes-related medical symptoms. Eighty-six diabetes patients completed measures of diabetes symptoms, depression, and diabetes-related social support. Depression, social support, and diabetes-related medical symptoms were significantly related to each other. Mediation analysis indicated that the effect of social support on diabetes-related medical symptoms was fully accounted for by social support's adverse effect on depression. Consistent with theory and research on interpersonal aspects of depression, a bi-directional relationship between depression and social support was suggested. That is, while both diabetes-related medical symptoms and social support independently contributed to depression, depression also contributed to lower social support. Findings underscore the potential importance of interpersonal factors in the physical health of individuals with diabetes.
Aesthetic principles for instructional design

This article offers principles that contribute to developing the aesthetics of instructional design. Rather than describing merely the surface qualities of things and events, the concept of aesthetics as applied here pertains to heightened, integral experience. Aesthetic experiences are those that are immersive, infused with meaning, and felt as coherent and complete. Any transformative learning experience will have significant aesthetic qualities, and all instructional situations can benefit from attention to these qualities. Drawn from aesthetics theory and research and informed by current ID and learning theories, a set of five first principles and twelve guidelines for their application are described. The principles are not only compatible with existing ID theory bases but can complement and support that theory by offering ways to embody it in engaging learning experiences.
Marginal and dynamic regression models for longitudinal data.

Regression models for longitudinal data often employ random effects and serial correlation to account for residual variation between and within subjects. Most of these models are marginal models, separating the mean and covariance parameters. This paper discusses the use of dynamic models in which a lagged response serves as a predictor and compares these to marginal models. Regression parameters have a different interpretation in dynamic models as they describe changes in response levels, rather than the levels themselves. Lagged predictors are also useful with longitudinal data, explicitly quantifying the effect of previous levels of risk factors. These models are explored through analysis of data from the Childhood Respiratory Study, modelling lung function (FEV1) levels as a function of age, height, sex and smoking status in children measured over a five-year period. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Investigation of a Two-Stage Aqueous Reactor Design for Carbon Dioxide Sequestration Using Steelmaking Slag

Hydrous carbonate sequestration of carbon dioxide using steelmaking slag was studied using a METSIM process model to analyze experimental data and estimate the reactor operating results. Several scenarios of a two-stage system with water/slag contact in reactor 1 and leachate/carbon dioxide contact in reactor 2 were investigated. These scenarios included batch vs continuous processing and fresh water input vs water recirculation. The METSIM leaching and carbonation models were verified with results obtained from previous slag sequestration experiments. Fresh water additions to reactor 1 allowed the highest leaching efficiency and resulted in excellent carbonation in reactor 2, but a continuous system has a high water demand. Recirculation of the spent leachate minimizes the fresh water addition required, but inhibits the leaching process by producing a calcium carbonate product layer on the slag particles in reactor 1. Increasing the slag surface area, slag/solution ratio, or reactor residence time partially overcomes product layer “blinding.” Optimal residence times were defined for different process parameters and slag particle sizes.
INTERSTITIAL ORDER AND EMBRITTLEMENT IN Ta-C ALLOYS

Abstract The effects of carbon on the structure and mechanical properties of tantalum at 77 K, 196 K and 300 K have been investigated. The alloys contained 0.76, 1.27, 1.53 and 2.05 at.% C as determined by He-3 activation analysis. Interstitial ordering was observed in all alloys with the formation and growth of aligned particles in 〈110〉 causing tweed contrast in electron micrographs. Analyses of electron diffraction patterns indicated that the fully developed single phase structure which is attained in Ta 1.53 and 2 at.% C corresponds to a tetragonal or orthorhombic ordered lattice of composition Ta 64 C or Ta 32 C. A model to explain these structures based on carbon fluctuations on specific {110} Ta planes is suggested. The alloys become completely brittle and cleave along {110} when the ordered structure is fully developed, i.e. when the carbon content is 1.53 at.% or more. It is suggested that this embrittlement results from the severe elastic strains which arise due to ordering such that the restrictions on the elastic compliances can no longer be maintained.
A slow-release methotrexate formulation for intrathecal chemotherapy

Optimal anticancer treatment with cell cycle phase-specific antimetabolites requires a sustained maintenance of cytotoxic drug levels. However, drugs that can be administered intratheccally have short half-lives in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and require repeated administrations by lumbar punctures, which are painful and inconvenient. Implantable pumps are expensive and require surgery. In a rat model, a lipid-based formulation of methotrexate (Depo/methotrexate) was tested for extended maintenance of therapeutic CSF concentration after a single injection. The half-life of methotrexate in CSF after an intracisternal injection of Depo/methotrexate was 5.4 days compared to 0.30 days for unencapsulated methotrexate. This 18-fold increase in methotrexate half-life may make Depo/methotrexate useful for intrathecal chemotherapy of neoplastic meningitis.
The novel benzodiazepine inverse agonist RO19-4603 antagonizes ethanol motivated behaviors: neuropharmacological studies.

Abstract The novel imidazothienodiazepine inverse agonist RO19-4603 has been reported to attenuate EtOH intake in home cage drinking tests for at least 24 h post-drug administration after systemic administration. In the present study, selectively bred alcohol-preferring (P) rats were trained under a concurrent (FR4–FR4) operant schedule to press one lever for EtOH (10% v/v) and another lever for saccharin (0.05% or 0.75% g/v), then dose-response and timecourse effects of RO19-4603 were evaluated. Systemic RO19-4603 injections (0.0045–0.3 mg/kg; i.p.) profoundly reduced EtOH responding by as much as 97% of vehicle control on day 1. No effects were seen on saccharin responding except with the highest dose level (0.3 mg/kg). In a second experiment, microinjections of RO19-4603 (2–100 ng) directly into the nucleus accumbens (NA) suppressed EtOH responding on day 1 by as much as 53% of control: Control injections dorsal to the NA or ventral tegmental area did not significantly alter EtOH or saccharin responding. On day 2, rats in both experiments received no RO19-4603 treatments; however, all 7 of the i.p. doses, and all 3 of the intra-NA infusions continued to significantly suppress EtOH responding by 43–85% of vehicle control levels. In addition, i.p. injections of RO19-4603 produced a dose-dependent decrease in the slope of the cumulative record for EtOH responding, while concomitantly producing a dose-dependent increase in the slope for saccharin responding. RO19-4603's actions appear to be mediated via recognition sites at GABAA-BDZ receptors which regulate EtOH reinforcement, and not via mechanisms regulating ingestive behaviors. Based on recent in situ hybridization studies in our laboratory, we hypothesize that occupation of α4 containing GABAA diazepam insensitive (DI) receptors in the NA, may mediate in part, the RO19-4603 suppression of EtOH responding in EtOH-seeking P rats.
Analysis of toggle protocols

The paper deals with the problem of managing full and empty slots in a slotted ring network. Two solutions are formally described and proved correct. The first solution is deterministic; it recovers in O(N) round trips after the last error, where N is the number of nodes in the network. The second solution is randomized; the expected number of round trips to recovery after the last error is O(ln N).
A comment on drucker's postulate in the theory of plasticity

A general theory of an elastic-plastic continuum, valid for nonisothermal deformations and accompanied by explicit thermodynamical restrictions, was developed recently byGreen andNaghdi. A special case of this theory, assuming isothermal conditions, leads to constitutive relations which are equivalent to those which can be derived fromDrucker's postulate. Here, we discuss further the implication ofDrucker's postulate in connection with a set of constitutive equations for an elastic-plastic continuum in which the postulate need not be satisfied.
An alternative approach to reinforcement for applied researchers: Response deprivation

The empirical law of effect, the Premack principle, and the response deprivation hypothesis were evaluated for their ability to specify methods of establishing effective reinforcement schedules in applied settings. The advantages and short-comings of each were discussed in the light of practical considerations, contributions to a scientific analysis of behavior, and empirical support reflecting on the theories. While the empirical law of effect was seen as providing some practical advantages, it is limited as a reinforcer selection procedure due to its post hoc descriptive nature and failure to provide a scientific analysis of the variables controlling reinforcement. The Premack principle appeared to have both practical and scientific advantages over the empirical law of effect but is severely limited by the failure of applied researchers to fairly evaluate it and by data contrary to its predictions. The response deprivation hypothesis offers the theoretical and practical advantages of the Premack principle plus several more. In addition, recent empirical evidence has appeared consistent with the predictions of this theory suggesting it may be a viable alternative for establishing effective reinforcement schedules that improve our ability to understand and manage behavior.
Novel method for preventing solar ultraviolet-radiation-induced skin cancer

We used the Monte Carlo method to evaluate UV-A radiation penetration through human skin (epidermis and dermis). Calculations were performed for multilayered medium, refractive indices mismatch on boundaries of the sample and finite width of incident beam. The fluence rate distributions of UV-A radiation (wavelength 337 nm) within tissue are presented. In order to optimize the laser PUVA treatment of psoriasis were have developed the mathematical model of the dynamics of cell processed within epidermis. The task of optimal control for PUVA treatment is formulated© (1991) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.