cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Transmission studies of left-handed materials

Left-handed materials are studied numerically using an improved version of the transfer-matrix method. The transmission, reflection, phase of reflection, and absorption are calculated and compared with experiments for both single split-ring resonators with negative permeability and left-handed materials, which have both the permittivity \ensuremath{\epsilon} and permeability \ensuremath{\mu} negative. Our results suggest ways of positively identifying materials that have both \ensuremath{\epsilon} and \ensuremath{\mu} negative, from materials that have either \ensuremath{\mu} or \ensuremath{\epsilon} negative.
Plasminogen kringle 5 reduces vascular leakage in the retina in rat models of oxygen-induced retinopathy and diabetes

Retinal vascular leakage is an early pathological feature in diabetic retinopathy and can lead to macular oedema and loss of vision. Previously we have shown that plasminogen kringle 5 (K5), an angiogenic inhibitor, inhibits retinal neovascularisation in the rat model of oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR). The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of K5 on vascular leakage in the retina. Neonatal rats were exposed to hyperoxia to induce OIR. Diabetes was induced in adult rats by injecting streptozotocin. Vascular permeability was measured by Evans blue method. Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was evaluated using immunohistochemistry and western blot analysis. Rats with OIR and diabetes showed abnormal vascular hyperpermeability in the retina and iris. Intravitreal injection of K5, reduced vascular permeability in both animal models, but did not affect permeability in normal rats. K5 reduced vascular permeability at doses substantially lower than that required for inhibition of retinal neovascularisation. The K5-induced reduction in vascular permeability correlated with its down-regulation of VEGF expression in the retina. Moreover, K5 inhibited IGF-1-induced hyperpermeability, which is known to arise through up-regulation of endogenous VEGF expression. However, K5 had no effect on the hyperpermeability induced by injection of exogenous VEGF. Very low doses of K5 reduce pathological vascular leakage in the retina. K5 thus has therapeutic potential in the treatment of diabetic macular oedema. This effect can be ascribed, at least in part, to the down-regulation of endogenous VEGF expression.
HPLC and RIA of cholecystokinin peptides in the vertebrate neural retina.

Abstract On the basis of the results of radioimmunoassay, cholecystokinin-like activity (IR-CCK) was present in retinal tissue of several classes of vertebrates, including mammalia, teleostia, amphibia and reptilla. Partial characterization of the IR-CCK activity by reverse-phase high-pressure liquid chromatography revealed that the dominant form of CCK in the vertebrate neural retina is the sulfated form of CCK8.
Impact of the health care crisis on surgery: perspective of the dean.

The managed care revolution has crippled the ability of medical schools and their affiliated hospitals to accomplish their traditional goals of education, research, specialized clinical service, and innovation in clinical care. As academic health practice has had to become cost competitive, little time is left for teaching and research. Other factors, including the increasing focus on outpatient care, dropping numbers of residents, and the increasingly complex patient mix in academic health centers (AHCs), have contributed to the degradation of the surgical learning environment. In response, AHCs must develop mechanisms to adapt while at the same time preserving their core missions. Examples of adaptive mechanisms include remaining cost-effective, moving training to the outpatient setting, protecting teaching and scholarly activities of faculty by creating new mechanisms of funding, and training future surgeons in health care policy and administration.
A Discontinuous Galerkin Method for the Viscous MHD Equations

We present a new high-order method for the unsteady viscous MHD equations in two and three dimensions. The two main features of this method are: (1) the discontinuous Galerkin projections for both the advection and diffusion components, and (2) the polymorphic spectral/hp elements for unstructured and hybrid discretizations. An orthogonal spectral basis written in terms of Jacobi polynomials is employed, which results in a matrix-free algorithm and thus high computational efficiency. We present several results that document the high-order accuracy of the method and perform a systematic p-refinement study of the compressible Orszag?Tang vortex as well as simulations of plasma flow past a circular cylinder. The proposed method, which can be thought of as a high-order extension of the finite volume technique, is suitable for direct numerical simulations of MHD turbulence as well as for other traditional MHD applications.
Cleanroom Software Engineering Implementation of the Capability Maturity Model (CMMsm) for Software

The Capability Maturity Model for Software (CMM) developed by the Software Engineering Institute, and Cleanroom Software Engineering developed by Dr. Harlan Mills and his associates in IBM and other organizations, share a common concern with software quality and the effectiveness of software development. The principal focus of the CMM is on process management maturity; the principal focus of Cleanroom is on rigorous engineering processes. The CMM management processes and the Cleanroom engineering processes are complementary and mutually reinforcing. The Capability Maturity Model for Software describes the principles and practices underlying software process maturity. It is intended to help software organizations improve the maturity of their software processes through an evolutionary path from ad hoc, chaotic processes to mature, disciplined software processes. The CMM is organized into five maturity levels. The maturity levels are defined in terms of 18 key process areas (KPAs) that characterize project performance at each level. Cleanroom software engineering is a theory-based engineering process for development and certification of high-reliability software systems under statistical quality control. Cleanroom is intended to help software organizations improve their ability to apply engineering discipline to software development. Cleanroom is defined in terms of 14 processes that implement the technology and operations involved in Cleanroom software development.
Inflammatory mediators and mechanisms of release from purified human basophils and mast cells

It has now been slightly more than a century since Paul Ehrlich identified the mast cell as a highly granulated tissue-bound cell. In the twentieth century the mast cell and the basophil, its blood-borne counterpart, were found to contain the inflammation provoking mediator, histamine. These early observations stimulated interest in these cells as potential triggering elements in the elicitation of allergic disease, and subsequent studies have confirmed this concept. The demonstration that passive transfer of antigen-specific reagin, or immunoglobulin E, can transfer the allergic state combined with the observation that mast cells and basophils display high-affinity receptors for IgE and release potent mediators on exposure to antigens leaves little doubt as to the importance of these cell types in the allergic diathesis. This being the case, it is clearly important to study the pharmacologic control of these cells with the hope of understanding the anti-allergic mechanism of the drugs currently in use and to uncover new therapeutic modalities. Although important information has been gained through the study of highly purified rodent mast cells as well as human mast cells and basophils of low purity, it was necessary to obtain human mast cells and basophils of high purity in order to pursue relevant biochemical
Initiation of DNA synthesis in the parotid salivary gland of adult mice by a factor isolated from acellular fluid of the Ehrlich ascites carcinoma

The rate of DNA synthesis in the parotid salivary gland of adult mice is very low. We have purified about 5 000-fold a mitogen from the acellular ascitic fluid of the Ehrlich ascites carcinoma which stimulates DNA synthesis in the parotid salivary gland in vivo. This stimulation of DNA synthesis was produced with a protein concentration of this mitogen of 3 micrograms per 25 g of body weight. The purification procedure included ammonium sulfate fractionation and DEAE Sephacel column chromatography. This potent, heat-labile mitogen is presumed to be a protein with a mol.wt. of 3.5 X 10(3) to 1.3 X 10(4). The data indicate that this new factor is quite different from epidermal growth factor and tumor growth factor. Hypophysectomy did not prevent the stimulatory effect of this mitogen on the parotid salivary gland, indicating that the pituitary gland is not involved directly in mediating the mitogenic effect.
The effects of cyclooxygenase inhibition on chemiluminescence and aggregation in sheep neutrophils

Antiinflammatory actions of cyclooxygenase inhibitors may be related to inhibition of the synthesis and release of prostaglandins and thromboxane or to nonspecific actions of particular drugs. The role of cyclooxygenase products of arachidonic acid was studied in two leukocyte functions, free radical release and aggregation, after complement activation. Dose response curves were constructed after treatment with meclofenamate or ibuprofen. To differentiate between effects on free radical release from complement activated neutrophils and scavenging free radicals, additional experiments were made with a cell free system to generate free radicals. Both drugs inhibited complement initiated neutrophil chemiluminescence in a dose dependent manner. Meclofenamate acted primarily as a scavenger while ibuprofen inhibited free radical release. Neither drug had any inhibitory effects on complement induced leukocyte aggregation.
Oversight of financial conflicts of interest in commercially sponsored research in academic and nonacademic settings.

BACKGROUND Studies of conflicts of interest in clinical research have focused on academic centers, but most clinical research takes place in nonacademic settings.
Effective Thermal Conductivity of Lithium Ion Battery Electrodes Employing Fully Resolved Simulations for Use in Volume Averaged Models

Simulations of lithium ion batteries on a cell level are usually performed with volume averaging methods that employ effective transport properties. Bruggeman’s model, which is widely used to determine these effective properties, is solely based on the volume fraction of these porous electrodes. However, other factors like the topology and microstructure of electrodes also play a crucial role in determining effective properties. In this paper, a general derivation of the effective thermal conductivity of multiphase materials, which can be correlated with these factors, is derived using the volume averaging technique. For demonstration, three-dimensional microstructures of various porous materials are reconstructed from scanned images. These images are used to generate fully-resolved finite volume meshes representing the various constituents. The resulting mesh is then employed for numerical analysis of thermal transport, results from which are used for correlating the effective thermal conductivity with various parameters describing the microstructure. It is shown that commonly used power law exponents in the Bruggeman model for effective thermal conductivity must be recalibrated to fit the effective thermal conductivity computed from these detailed simulations.Copyright © 2013 by ASME
Initial observations of a human temporal bone with a multi-channel implant.

(1984). Initial Observations of a Human Temporal Bone with a Multi-channel Implant. Acta Oto-Laryngologica: Vol. 98, No. sup411, pp. 38-44.
Energy response of agar-alanine free radical dosimetry to therapeutic electron beams

Calculations of the energy response of an agar‐alanine phantom dosimeter (AAPD) to electrons in the energy range of 0.15–20 MeV together with experimental results at 16 MeV are presented. It is shown that the sensitivity of the EPR dosimeter (EPR signal/Gray) is independent of alanine crystal size and varies less than 2%, in the electron energy range indicated. Thus, the measured free radical density distribution may be used directly as an indication of the absorbed dose distribution in an irradiated phantom.
Profiling hydroxycinnamoyl-coenzyme A thioesters: Unlocking the back door of phenylpropanoid metabolism

In plants, 20 to 30% of photosynthetically fixed carbon is directed toward lignin and other phenylpropanoid compounds for which hydroxycinnamoyl-coenzyme A (CoA) esters are key intermediates. CoA thioesters, ubiquitous metabolites found in all living cells (often at trace levels), have traditionally been challenging to measure. Here we report a hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) method, coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS), that allows simultaneous sensitive quantification of previously undetectable hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA esters and an extended range of acyl-CoAs from plant tissues. This method provides rapid liquid chromatography (LC) analysis (10 min/sample) and the ability for qualitative assessment of acyl-CoAs by MS/MS precursor ion scanning.
Polymerization of aromatic nuclei. XXIII. Investigation of oligomer and pyrrole red from pyrrole and trichloroacetic acid

A reinvestigation of the oligomerization of pyrrole by trichloroacetic acid was carried out to establish the structure of the product. Comparison of spectral data with those of model compounds suggests that the oligomer is best represented by I. Further comparison was made to the known trimer I, dimer V, and other substituted pyrroles and pyrrolidines. In addition, microanalytical and molecular weight data were obtained. Structure I is in disagreement with that of Wassermann et al., who proposed the presence of units possessing aliphatic unsaturation for the same product. Mechanistic aspects are discussed. A limited study was carried out with pyrrole red.
The ground state of liquid helium four

Abstract A new trial function for the ground state of liquid helium four is proposed. This function accounts correctly for the low-lying phonon modes in the system.
Children's Behavior Problems in the United States and Great Britain

We analyze the effects of family capital on child behavior problems in the United States and Great Britain by comparing a longitudinal survey sample of 5- to 13-year-old children from the 1994 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (N = 3,864) with a similar sample of children from the 1991 National Child Development Study “British Child” (N = 1,430). Findings suggest that in both societies, male children, those with health problems, and those whose mothers are divorced are at increased risk for behavior problems, while those with stronger home environments are at reduced risk. Family structure effects are more pervasive in Great Britain than in the United States, although some of these findings are a function of our racially diverse U.S. sample. We conclude that parents are important in both societies in promoting child social adjustment, and evidence that the more developed welfare state in Great Britain may substitute for capital at home is weak.
Characterization and partial purification of a cytoplasmic glutathione : disulfide oxidoreductase (thioltransferase) from adenohypophysis

Abstract A glutathione-dependent thioltransferase (thiol : disulfide oxidoreductase) has been partially purified (70-fold) from anterior pituitary cytosol, and characterized. Purification was effected by differential centrifugation, precipitation between 30 and 60% (NH4)2SO4, and sequential chromatography on Sepharose 6B, DEAE-cellulose, and CM-cellulose. Enzyme activity, monitored by the disappearance of NADPH, was associated with a protein of molecular weight 170 000 both by gel filtration and by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in SDS. There was apparent charge heterogeneity after the gel filtration step, and only the major DEAE-cellulose peak was further purified on CM-cellulose. When SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was carried out in the presence of mercaptoethanol, the two predominant bands seen in its absence were converted to five major bands, all of different apparent molecular weights from the originals. Isoelectric focusing yielded two major peaks of enzyme activity, at pI 7.0 and pI 4.5–5.0. These peaks were shown to be interconvertible upon reelectrofocusing. Both low- and high-molecular weight disulfides could be reduced. The pH optimum was sharp, at pH 8.2. The Km values for glutathione and cystine (the standard assay disulfide) were 0.57 and 0.062 mM, respectively, each in the presence of saturating concentrations of the other substrate. N-Ethylmaleimide at 0.1 and 1.0 mM inhibited enzyme activity non-competitively, suggesting a non-catalytic role of enzyme thiol(s) for maintenance of optimal activity.
An 18O-labeling assisted LC/MS method for assignment of aspartyl/isoaspartyl products from Asn deamidation and Asp isomerization in proteins.

An 18O-labeling assisted LC/MS method was designed for unambiguous assignment of aspartyl/isoaspartyl products produced by Asn deamidation and Asp isomerization. By preparing the acid- and base-catalyzed deamidation standards in H218O, isomer-specific mass tags were introduced to aspartyl- and isoaspartyl-containing peptides, which could be easily distinguished by mass spectrometry (MS). In contrast to the traditional ways of assigning the isomers on the basis of their elution order in reverse phase HPLC, the new method is more reliable and universal. Furthermore, the new method can be applied to the entire protein digest, and is therefore more time- and cost-effective compared with existing methods that use synthetic aspartyl- and isoaspartyl-containing peptide standards. Finally, since the identification of isomers in the new method only relies on LC/MS analysis, it can be easily implemented using the most basic and inexpensive MS instrumentation, thus providing an attractive alternative to tandem MS ba...
Technology Use in Middle-Grades Teacher Preparation Programs

Changes in reading and reading comprehension precipitated by the emergence of the Internet and related to information and digital communication applications have been noted in the reading and literacy fields for some time now. Teacher-education programs play a special role in preparing teachers for instruction that capitalizes on such changes. The purpose of this study was to explore the ways in which teacher-education programs help teachers to embrace and critique technology, and literacies they engender, in teaching reading at the middle-school level. The study found the middle-grades teacher-education programs in this study encourage the use of a range of technology tools. Although traditional technology was viewed and used frequently for the purpose of teacher and student productivity (e.g., to record, display, or deliver information), information/communication as well as multimedia applications were viewed more often as sources of multimodal and interactive texts and as tools for meaning representati...
Mixed-effects models with random cluster sizes

Mixed effects models are often used in situations where responses are clustered. In this paper, we show that in the case of generalized linear mixed models where the cluster sizes are assumed to be independent random variables, whose joint distribution is unknown but does not depend on the parameters involved in the mixed model, the standard maximum likelihood estimation procedure assuming nonrandom cluster sizes can be applied without modification. Some extensions of the result are discussed.
Forecasting gas turbine Exhaust Gas Temperatures using Support Vector Machine Experts and Genetic Algorithm

One aspect of modern commercial aircraft engine maintenance involves monitoring recorded engine parameters. When these parameters exceed their respective threshold tolerances, appropriate maintenance actions are taken. Reducing these unscheduled maintenance actions would allow maintainers to more effectively plan their maintenance schedules which help in the reduction of costs. One way of accomplishing this is to learn the behavior of the statistics of parameters and the ability to reliably forecast their future values. The parameter studied in this paper is the Exhaust Gas Temperature. A hybrid algorithm called Support Vector Machine Experts and Genetic Algorithm is applied to the task of forecasting a statistic of EGT. The algorithm involves first partitioning the input space according to similar training examples through a procedure that uses a Self Organizing Map. A SVM is regressed onto each partition and the optimal parameters for SVM are found using Genetic Algorithm. This algorithm is shown to have an improved mean absolute error when forecasting EGT values over a single support vector regression machine. The study was conducted for both engines of two Boeing 737 commercial aircrafts
Race, Income, and Authority at Work: A Cross-Temporal Analysis of Black and White Men (1972-1994)

Using data from the 1972-1994 General Social Surveys, I examine racial differences in the effect of job authority on men's income. The research addresses three questions: (I) Does a racial gap in income between black and white men persist net of background factors? (2) Are there black-white differences in the amount of income returns to job authority?; and (3) does the black-white gap in income returns to job authority change over time? There is an income gap between black and white men even after controlling for education, experience, hours worked, occupation, authority, region, and city size. There is no difference in the income returns to job authority among men at the lowest levels of authority. However, among men at the highest level of authority, there is a substantial net difference favoring whites over blacks. Finally, there is little evidence that this income gap declined between 1972 and 1994. I discuss the implications for the importance of race as a factor affecting individual life chances.
Statistical analysis of residue variability in cytochrome c.

This paper presents a quantitative measure of residue variability patterns of the cytochrome c ensemble using statistical analysis. From variations of residues (localized or correlated) among sites in the available cytochrome c sequences, residue variability patterns are derived. Then with the chi-square contingency tables, quantitative and qualitative comparisons are drawn between (1) the residue variability patterns and (2) the molecular and taxonomical features of the molecules. The results, besides providing statistical evidence in support of some observations made by previous researchers, reveal new findings, including some significant conformational, chemical and taxonomical characteristics of several seemingly hypervariate sites. The correlation of the “internal” locations with invariant sites, and that of the “exterior” locations with the highly correlated sites, suggest that the selection pressure in general favors the conservation of localized chemical functions on the internal portion of the sequence, and point to the conservation of the correlated patterns in external locations for various taxonomical groups. The inclusion of the correlated variability patterns, the overall objective, comprehensive and systematic framework, together with the significant analytical results, yields a better understanding of the structure of the molecule and its conservatism.
Collusion-resistant query anonymization for location-based services

We address the problem of anonymizing user queries when accessing location-based services. We design a novel location and query anonymization protocol called MAZE that preserves the user privacy without relying on trusted parties. MAZE guarantees the user's anonymity and privacy in a decentralized manner using P2P groups. Compared to prior works, MAZE enables individual user authentication for the purpose of implementing a pay-peruse or membership subscription model and is resistant to collusion of the P2P users. We extend MAZE to L-MAZE, a multi-stage protocol that is resistant to collusion of the P2P users with the LBS, at the expense of higher communication overhead.
Religion and the Tragic

The idea for this special issue on religion and the tragic began in an American breakfast diner—a place as distant in tone from the tragic stage as can be imagined. And yet, as the essays gathered here argue (in surprisingly diverse ways), the stage is not the sole domain of the tragic; the tragic emerges as an integral part within the everyday, the commonplace, the ordinary. And so, in that unlikely, but not inappropriate setting, amidst mounted moose heads and mounds of pancakes, a plan was hatched to host a session responding to Terry Eagleton's recently published book, Sweet Violence: The Idea of the Tragic, at the American Academy of Religion's 2003 conference. Graham Ward, Kenneth Surin, and Regina Schwartz presented papers at that session. Despite it being scheduled on the last morning of the last day of the conference, the session drew a crowd, the conversation was lively, and the interest in the larger issues raised by the papers keen. Wanting to continue and expand the conversation, I asked the three participants to broaden the horizon of their papers from Eagleton's book to 'religion and the tragic'—a move that each of the papers had already begun in the AAR session—solicited a response from Eagleton himself, and added a paper by Larry Bouchard to the mix. The result is a collection of essays that intersect in surprising and fruitful ways. The essays form two overlapping circles: one constitutes a kind of dialogue between Ward, Surin, and Eagleton about Christianity, Marxism, modernity, and the tragic; the other, formed by Schwartz's and Bouchard's papers, revolves around concerns with representation, performance, theatre, and spectacle in response to tragic suffering—either Christ's or other humans'. In this issue, the tragic does not refer to the literary genre of tragedy, but rather to a facet of human life that that genre can be said to explore. Human suffering that calls for justice, a rupture in the established structures, a permanent aspect of our species, a complicated mix of contingency and culpability—the possible descriptions of the tragic proliferate in these pages, and they do so in ways that suggest a terrain, rather than a single object. Eagleton argues that 'no definition of tragedy more elaborate than "very sad" has ever worked'.1 On the one hand, this failure might suggest that the activity
ELASTIC SCATTERING OF 8-MEV POLARIZED PROTONS

The angular dependence of the polarization produced in the elastic scattering of 8-Mev protons by complex nuclei has been measured for 23 elements. The polarization exhibits a smooth dependence on mass number and scattering angle for most of the elements studied. The systematics in the angular distributions are reproduced by an optical model calculation in which only the radius is permitted to vary. (auth)
Effects of anesthetic agents on the adrenocortical system of female baboons

Invasive surgical procedures are often used to study the reproductive and adrenocortical endocrine systems in primates. Anesthetic agents must, therefore, be used that have the least confounding effects on these systems. The present study was designed to characterize various adrenocortical endocrine responses of female baboons (Papio anubis), each treated for 120 minutes with an infusion of ketamine HCl (6 mg/min) in 5% dextrose in water (0.40 ml/min), a combination of ketamine and acetylpromazine (0.6 mg acetylpromazine and 6 mg ketamine HCl/min) in 5% dextrose in water, or inhalation of vaporized halothane (1.0% halothane, N2O 25%, 1 liter/min; O2 75%, 3 liters/min). Blood samples were collected throughout the treatment period, and serum was assayed for prolactin (PRL), dehydroepiandrosterone (DHA), dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHAS), and cortisol (F). No significant elevations in DHA, F, or PRL concentrations were found following infusion of ketamine alone. Only serum DHAS concentrations were significantly altered after long-term exposure to ketamine. Acetylpromazine increased PRL concentrations tenfold to levels significantly greater than those in ketamine- and halothane-treated animals but had no effect on serum DHA, DHAS, or F. Treatment with halothane had no effect on serum PRL, DHA, or DHAS but did suppress F (>40%) concentrations over time. These data indicate that ketamine is best suited for the collection of biological samples when deep analgesia is not required but that halothane is preferable in the latter situation.
Treatment of inflammatory bowel disease in the elderly: An update

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is most common in young adults, but it can also present in the elderly. Furthermore, with the aging of the population, the number of elderly patients with IBD is expected to grow. Other conditions, such as diverticulitis and ischaemic colitis, may be more common in the elderly and need to be considered in the differential diagnosis. Management of elderly patients with IBD follows the same principles as in younger patients, with a few exceptions. For patients with mild-to-moderate colitis, a 5-aminosalicylate drug is often used (sulfasalazine, olsalazine, mesalazine, balsalazide). Topical therapy may be sufficient for those with distal colitis, whereas an oral preparation is used for more extensive disease. In those with more severe or refractory symptoms, corticosteroids are used, although the elderly appear to be at increased risk for corticosteroid-associated complications. For patients with corticosteroid-dependent or corticosteroid-refractory disease, immunosuppression with azathioprine or mercaptopurine may help avoid surgery. In patients with Crohn’s disease, a similar approach is followed, with the additional consideration that the formulation of drug used must ensure delivery of drug to the site of inflammation. In fistulising Crohn’s disease, antibacterials, immunosuppressive drugs, infliximab and surgery are often used in combination. Controlled trials and clinical experience have shown that infliximab is a significant addition to the therapeutic armamentarium for patients with Crohn’s disease.
Effects of ZD6169, a KATP channel opener, on bladder hyperactivity and spinal c-fos expression evoked by bladder irritation in rats

Cystometrographic recording and immunocytochemical techniques were used to examine the effects of ZD6169, an ATP-sensitive K+-channel opener, and capsaicin, an afferent neurotoxin, on urinary bladder hyperactivity and immediate early gene expression in the spinal cord induced by acetic acid (0.25%) irritation of the bladder. Chemical irritation of the bladder of the rat increased the frequency of voiding reflexes by 8 fold and increased c-fos expression in neurons in the dorsal commissure (DCM), sacral parasympathetic nucleus (SPN) as well as the medial and lateral dorsal horn (MDH, LDH) of L6 and S1 segments of the spinal cord. Pretreatment with ZD6169 (30 nM) for 1 h reduced the effect of acetic acid on voiding frequency as reflected by an increase in the intercontraction interval (ICI, 137+/-48% increase, P<0.05). ZD6169 also decreased the number of Fos positive neurons in the L6 spinal cord, in the DCM (62.1+/-7.1% decrease), SPN (48.8+/-7%), MDH (50+/-7.3%) and LDH regions (38. 8+/-10.5%). Similar reductions were noted in the S1 spinal cord: 65. 1+/-10.8% in DCM, 53.8+/-11% in SPN, 56+/-10.4% in MDH and 25.3+/-18. 1% in LDH. Capsaicin pretreatment (125 mg/kg, s.c., 4 days prior to the experiments) also reduced bladder hyperactivity (550% increase in ICI) and decreased the numbers of acetic acid-induced Fos positive neurons 78.8+/-6.3% in DCM, 73+/-7.8% in MDH, 59.2+/-16% in LDH and 45.2+/-17% in SPN of L6 segment of the spinal cord. These results suggest that ZD6169 can influence bladder hyperactivity by suppressing the firing of capsaicin-sensitive C-fiber bladder afferents which are known to modulate the micturition reflex.
NAD(P)H oxidase and renal epithelial ion transport

A fundamental requirement for cellular vitality is the maintenance of plasma ion concentration within strict ranges. It is the function of the kidney to match urinary excretion of ions with daily ion intake and nonrenal losses to maintain a stable ionic milieu. NADPH oxidase is a source of reactive oxygen species (ROS) within many cell types, including the transporting renal epithelia. The focus of this review is to describe the role of NADPH oxidase-derived ROS toward local renal tubular ion transport in each nephron segment and to discuss how NADPH oxidase-derived ROS signaling within the nephron may mediate ion homeostasis. In each case, we will attempt to identify the various subunits of NADPH oxidase and reactive oxygen species involved and the ion transporters, which these affect. We will first review the role of NADPH oxidase on renal Na+ and K+ transport. Finally, we will review the relationship between tubular H+ efflux and NADPH oxidase activity.
Morphological modification of polyaniline using polyelectrolyte template molecules

Abstract We report modification of polymer morphology for polyaniline by using different electrolytes to dissolve the aniline monomer before polymerization. Aqueous HCl, poly(vinylsulfonic acid), poly(acrylic acid), and poly(styrenesulfonic acid) were used as electrolytes for electrochemical polymerization of aniline. We found the morphology is strongly modified by using these polymer acids a electrolytes to replace the conventional aqueous HCl electrolyte. The observed variation in morphology among different polyelectrolytes is consistent with variation in binding of aniline to different polymer acids. The polymer acids appear to serve as a templates for polymerization.
Genetic relationships based on discrete dental traits: Basketmaker II and Mimbres

Investigations of the relationships between culture and biology among prehistoric populations of the southwestern United States can enhance our reconstruction of social interactions. The present study analyses the permanent dentition of Basketmaker II and Mimbres individuals from multiple sites using the Arizona State University dental anthropology system, and compares them with a regional sample. Discrete dental trait analysis provides a useful means for assessing the degree of genetic relatedness between populations when large comparative samples are available. Both in situ cultural change and population replacement have been posited as the dominant mechanism acting on Basketmaker and early Puebloan groups. We examine the relationship of these populations to probable Uto-Aztecan speakers in light of the Uto-Aztecan farmer migration hypothesis. The Basketmaker II complex, traditionally recognised as a distinct cultural unit, exhibits considerable population heterogeneity. Western Basketmakers appear to share biological ties with Uto-Aztecan speakers, while Eastern Basketmakers do not, as predicted by the model. The relationship of the Mimbres to probable Uto-Aztecan speakers is less clear because the Mimbres show only weak affinities to northern Mexican populations. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Oxytocin: use and abuse, science and art.

The amino-acid sequence of oxytocin was determined in 1953 by du Vigneaud et al.1 These authors received a Nobel Prize for this work. It was one of the first successful efforts at determining the amino-acid sequence of a peptide. Oxytocin had been used medicinally for several years before this d
The Kidney in Cardiovascular Disease

In this issue, Mann and colleagues report that ramipril safely reduced risk for cardiovascular disease in patients with mild renal insufficiency and that mild renal insufficiency is an independent ...
The Meaning of Neighborhood in the Modern City: Baltimore's Residential Segregation Ordinances, 1910—1913

From 1910 to 1917, the city of Baltimore engaged in the first American effort to separate black and white neighborhoods by law. Often interpreted as a component of early twentieth-century reform ag...
The Vitamin A Requirements of Young Chickens

Abstract THE vitamin A requirement of young chickens was investigated as early as 1927, when Hauge, Carrick and Prange attempted to determine the amount of yellow corn necessary to supply vitamin A. Since that date numerous investigations have been made. The requirements reported by investigators have ranged from 80 (Record, Bethke and Wilder, 1935) to 1,332 (Schroeder, Higgins and Wilson, 1935) International units of vitamin A per 100 grams of feed. Ewing (1947) presents an extensive review of the literature. It has been reported by Tepper and Durgin (1938) that there is an increased requirement for vitamin A as the chick increases in age. Most investigators except With and Wanscher (1939) have reported that carotene is as efficient as vitamin A in promoting chick growth. Bearse and Miller (1937) showed that the chick reserves of vitamin A at hatching time have a direct bearing upon livability. Bolin and co-workers (1943) reported . . .
Determination of Cocaine Concentrations in Plasma by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

We describe a procedure for measuring concentrations of cocaine in plasma by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography, with ion-pairing. The procedure involves solvent extraction followed by back-extraction with dilute acid. The n-propyl ester of benzoylecgonine is used as an internal standard. An evaporation step is not required, and concentrations as low as 5 micrograms/L can be quantified. Plasma concentrations of cocaine determined by high-performance liquid chromatography correlated well with those determined by a previously reported gas-chromatographic procedure with nitrogen detection.
Purine import into malaria parasites as a target for antimalarial drug development

Infection with Plasmodium species parasites causes malaria. Plasmodium parasites are purine auxotrophs. In all life cycle stages, they require purines for RNA and DNA synthesis and other cellular metabolic processes. Purines are imported from the host erythrocyte by equilibrative nucleoside transporters (ENTs). They are processed via purine salvage pathway enzymes to form the required purine nucleotides. The Plasmodium falciparum genome encodes four putative ENTs (PfENT1-4). Genetic, biochemical, and physiologic evidence suggest that PfENT1 is the primary purine transporter supplying the purine salvage pathway. Protein mass spectrometry shows that PfENT1 is expressed in all parasite stages. PfENT1 knockout parasites are not viable in culture at purine concentrations found in human blood (<10 μM). Thus, PfENT1 is a potential target for novel antimalarial drugs, but no PfENT1 inhibitors have been identified to test the hypothesis. Identifying inhibitors of PfENT1 is an essential step to validate PfENT1 as a potential antimalarial drug target.
Civil Society’s Barbarisms

Instead of arguing about elements and boundaries of civil society, recent discussions in social theory have focused on the concept of civil society itself as embedded in different currents of socia...
Endophytic Xylaria (Xylariaceae) among liverworts and angiosperms: phylogenetics, distribution, and symbiosis

Nuclear ribosomal 18S and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence data were used to identify endophytic fungi cultured from six species of liverworts collected in Jamaica and North Carolina. Comparisons with other published fungal sequences and phylogenetic analyses yielded the following conclusions: (1) the endophytes belong to the ascomycete families Xylariaceae, Hypocreaceae, and Ophiostomataceae, and (2) liverwort endophytes in the genus Xylaria are closely related to each other and to endophytes isolated from angiosperms in China, Puerto Rico, and Europe. Liverwort endophytes are expected to be foragers or endophytic specialists, although little is known about the role of these fungi in symbioses. Features that may indicate a mutualistic role for these endophytes are discussed.
Pegram's Significance for Managed Health Care

On June 12, 2000, in a unanimous opinion written by Justice Souter, the U.S. Supreme Court, reversing a decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, held in Pegram v. Herdrich that “mixed eligibility” decisions made by HMO physicians are not fiduciary decisions under ERISA. In so ruling, the Court upheld the concept that the reasonable sharing of financial risk with HMO network physicians for providing health care to a given patient population does not run afoul of ERISA’s fiduciary requirements. This result is a significant victory for managed health care plans, their network physicians, and their members. Although the decision’s impact on the viability of physician risk sharing is clearly positive, the decision’s impact on the question of HMO liability under ERISA remains less clear. Some, including the U.S. Department of Labor, argue that this case represents a shift in ERISA preemption law. They argue that Pegram now precludes ERISA preemption of state law causes of action aimed at HMO coverage determinations that involve questions of medical-necessity or experimental or investigational treatments. A more reasonable reading of the case, consistent with its facts, however, leads to the conclusion that Pegram represents nothing more than a common sense answer to a simple question. What law should apply when a treating physician makes a treatment decision that may arguably raise issues of eligibility for coverage? Pegram’s answer does not represent a shift in the law regarding ERISA preemption of HMO coverage decisions. The importance of Pegram does not end, however, with its resolution of the question of the scope of ERISA’s fiduciary requirements in the realm of a physician’s practice of medicine. The greater impact of the Pegram decision may lie in its language addressing the proper role of the courts in addressing the social and policy questions that arise from managed health care. In this regard, the Court in Pegram unambiguously stated that the debate about managed care belongs not in the courts, but in the legislature. This clear message already is having an impact in class action
Comparison of Isolates of Sporothrix schenckii Obtained from Fixed Cutaneous Lesions with Isolates from Other Types of Lesions

Thirty-four clinical isolates of Sporothrix schenckii were studied for their temperature sensitivity and morphology in vitro. Four selected isolates were also studied for their morphology and growth rate in vivo. Conidia from 26 clinical isolates obtained from lymphocutaneous or extracutaneous lesions formed colonies at both 35 C and 37 C in vitro within five days. Conidia from eight isolates obtained from fixed cutaneous lesions (nonlymphangitic) formed colonies at 35 C but failed to do so at 37 C during a two-week incubation period. Studies of the growth rate at 25 C and morphology in vitro did not show any clear differences between the two groups of isolates. When the isolates that grew at 37 C were injected into mice by the intraperitoneal route, the organisms multiplied well in the internal organs but multiplied even better in the testes. Mice developed skin lesions on paws and tails within 72 days after injection. When the isolates that did not grow at 37 C were injected into mice by the same route, the organisms did not multiply in the internal organs but grew well in the testes. These mice did not develop any skin lesions during the 72day observation period. Epidermal or intradermal inoculation of conidia into guinea pigs showed that the isolates capable of growth at 37 C produced skin lesions with a lower concentration of conidia than the isolates not growing at 37 C. Of four additional isolates from natural sources, three grew at 37 C in vitro. Cutaneous sporotrichosis is a chronic mycosis caused by Sporothrix schenckii. The most common method of acquisition is traumatic implan
Genealogical approaches to the temporal origins of the Central American gap: Speciation and divergence in Pacific Chthamalus (Sessilia: Chthamalidae)

A large section of the tropical Eastern Pacific coastline is nearly devoid of reef or consolidated habitat, and is known as the Central American Gap as it is associated with a biogeographic transition in fish and invertebrate species. We analyze phylogeographic data for intertidal barnacles (Chthamalus) to identify relevant temporal patterns that describe the origins of this biogeographic transition (the Mexican-Panamic Transition Zone). These contrasts of populations on either side of the transition zone include two pairs of closely related species (C. panamensis and C. hedgecocki; C. southwardorum and a Southern form of C. southwardorum), as well as gene flow data within one species (C. panamensis) that currently is found on both sides of the boundary between provinces. Using sequence data from a prior phylogenetic study, we used traditional (net nucleotide divergence) measures as well as coalescent analyses that incorporate the isolation-migration model to identify the likely time of separation between Northern and Southern taxa in two species pairs. A total of 67 individuals were sequenced at two mitochondrial (cytochrome c oxidase I, 16S) and one nuclear (elongation factor 1-alpha) gene regions. Our analyses indicate that the regional isolation of these intertidal barnacles occurred approximately 315-400kya, with subsequent expansion of C. panamensis from the Southern region into the North much more recently. There are insufficient survey data to conclusively document the absence of species from this group within the Central American Gap region near the Gulf of Tehuantepec. However, appropriate habitat is quite sparse in this region and other environmental factors, including upwelling and water temperature, are likely to be associated with isolation of many species in the Mexican and Panamic provinces sensu stricto. Some taxa may maintain gene flow across this region, but very few genetic studies have been completed on such taxa. Until further work is done, distinguishing between prior hypotheses of a faunal gap, or a faunal transition zone, is somewhat speculative. Additional taxonomic revision will be necessary in Chthamalus but is beyond the scope of this paper.
An adaptive zoom algorithm for tracking targets using pan-tilt-zoom cameras

We address the problem of configuring pan-tilt-zoom cameras to track a target maneuvering in three dimensions; in particular, we propose an adaptive zoom algorithm that minimizes target localization errors by adaptively changing the camera focal length. The target tracker is implemented using a Rao-Blackwellized particle filter; the camera focal length is adjusted so that the images of a given percentage of particles fall onto the camera image plane. The focal length adjustment is also modified by a confidence factor that reflects the accuracy of the target position estimate. We evaluate the performance of the adaptive zoom algorithm using Monte Carlo simulations. These simulations demonstrate that the adaptive zoom algorithm has a smaller average squared position estimate error than a comparable fixed zoom algorithm.
A dual-level adaptive supply voltage system for variation resilience

VLSI circuits of 45nm technology and beyond are increasingly affected by process variations as well as aging effects. Overcoming the variations inevitably requires additional power expense which in turn aggravates the power and heat problem. Adaptive supply voltage (ASV) is an arguably power-efficient approach for variation resilience since it attempts to allocate power resources only to where the negative effect of variations is strong. We propose a dual-level ASV system for designs containing many timing critical paths. This system can simultaneously provide adaptive supply voltage at both coarse-grained and fine-grained level, and has limited power routing overhead. The dual-ASV system is compared with conventional ASV through SPICE simulations on benchmark circuits. The results indicate that the dual-ASV system consumes significantly less power and achieves similar performance in presence of variations.