cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) radiation oncology data (1993-2003).

Abstract Purpose Radiation oncology continues to evolve as a specialty. In the early 1990s, issues of manpower oversupply, resource allocation, development of academic radiation oncology, and residency training curricula were fervently considered and evaluated. Much of this effort continues. This communication endeavors to examine the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP) results as they pertain to radiation oncology to identify and document applicant trends over the last decade. Methods and materials The NRMP database tables for inclusive dates 1993–2003 were evaluated. The database figures were supplied directly from the executive staff at the AAMC/NRMP. Data were reviewed for radiation oncology, and the following variables were evaluated for the study period (1993–2003): Training program participation, positions offered, applicant totals, proportion of US senior applicants, US seniors as a percentage of those who successfully matched, ratio of applicants to positions, and percentage of training program positions filled. Trends over the study period were analyzed. Data were also analyzed for all specialties collectively as a comparison group. Results The number of training programs has remained relatively stable between 1993 and 2003. In 2003, each radiation oncology program in the NRMP on average accepted two new candidates. The number of positions offered has fluctuated over time. There appeared to be a downward trend until 2003, during which 107 positions were offered. The number of applicants continues to rise with totals of 209 and 214 in 2003 and 2001, respectively. Percentage of US senior applicants compared with the total pool has remained relatively stable, but raw numbers are rising. The number of US seniors as a percentage of those who successfully matched escalated during 2001 compared with previous years. This value has been consistent over the past 3 years, at a level of approximately 94%. The ratio of applicants to positions, which is a broad indicator of level of competition for entrance, began to rise significantly in 2000 to a level of 1.9. It peaked at 2.6 in 2001, and the ratio for 2003 was approximately 2.0. For the first time, all positions offered were filled (100%) through the NRMP match process in 2003. Such positive trends have not been realized to the same degree for all specialties analyzed as a cohort. Conclusion Acceptance into radiation oncology training programs through the NRMP has become very competitive. The explanation for this trend is likely complex with many variables. These data may be helpful in training program development and will certainly be of service to advisors of medical students seeking entrance into the field in the near future.
International ice core community meets to discuss best practices for ice core curation

Several countries now have national ice core laboratories, or substantial ice core facilities, where these proxy archives of the Earth's past climate and atmosphere are safeguarded, processed, and analyzed. Australia, China, Denmark, Japan, Argentina, and the United States have formal, dedicated ice core repositories with laboratories. India's is under construction, in Goa. France, Germany, Russia, and the U.K. have long had substantial ice core holdings and facilities for analysis of ice cores. Brazil, Chile, Italy, and Switzerland have expanding field acquisition and analytical programs that require favorable storage conditions for ice cores. Representatives of 12 countries gathered in Milan, Italy, in late August for a first meeting, InterICE, of “international ice core establishments,” to compare and discuss ideas about best practices for acquisition, storage, curation, and distribution of the ice cores that have been drilled from the polar and temperate glaciers of the world, representing up to a half-million years of the Earth's most recent past.
Factors influencing nest success of songbirds in aspen and willow riparian areas in the Great Basin

Abstract ABSTRACT Recent studies have examined the effects oflivestock grazing, agriculture, and humanhabitation on nest predation and brood parasitismin riparian areas in the western United States.However, we know little about factors influencingnest success in riparian areas lacking suchanthropogenic influences, in part because theinfluences are so pervasive. We studied riparianbird communities in a 115 000 hawildlife refuge where livestock grazing wasdiscontinued >10 years ago, and which haslittle nearby agriculture or human habitation. Wemonitored nests on 24 aspen (Populustremuloides) and 10 willow(Salixspp.) plots. Brood parasitism rates weresubstantially lower than at other western sites anddid not differ between aspen and willow habitats.Nest success in aspen was relatively high comparedto that reported for other western sites and higherthan in willow. Predators may have been able tofind nests more efficiently in willow than in aspenbecause territory densities were higher in willow(40 versus 30 pa...
Chromosomes During Mitosis

As mentioned in Chapter 1, the essential facts of meiosis and fertilization in animals and plants were demonstrated by Beneden (1883), Strasburger (1884), Boveri (1890) and Oscar Hertwig (1890). These investigators found that the most important result of fertilization was the fusion of gametes of maternal and paternal origin. Since the nuclei of a particular species maintain their constant chromosome number (2n) from generation to generation, they concluded that a mechanism had to operate that would compensate for the increase of chromosome number during fertilization. This mechanism was found to be a reduction of chromosomes before fertilization, as it occurs in meiosis of higher plants and animals. Other essential characteristics of meiosis are the pairing of chromosomes, which makes reduction possible, and crossing over as discussed in Chapter 4, which provides for recombination.
Cataract extraction in eyes with congenital colobomata

Abstract Cataract surgery was performed in six eyes of four patients with typical colobomata of the iris, choroid, and retina. Contrary to previous reports of poor surgical results in these eyes, we saw no surgical or postoperative complications. Final visual acuity was excellent in four eyes. The other two had preexisting amblyopia. Most previous reports describe outmoded extracapsular techniques or contemporary intracapsular cataract extraction, all without an intraocular lens. Five of the six eves in this study had modern cataract surgery—phacoemulsification with a posterior chamber lens placed in the capsular bag.
The Use of Survey Methods Among the Navaho

informants, the use of life histories, participant observation, and the like. It merely means that as anthropologists venture into areas which seem less amenable to conventional methods, other techniques must be tried and perhaps adopted. In the area of field methods appropriateness is undoubtedly one of the basic criteria. The use of some adaptation of survey methods might enable anthropologists to follow Kluckhohn's suggestion of some years back: "If we are to deal with any problem (such as that of the acquisition of culture by individuals) in a way which is reducible to actual human behaviors, generalizations must be given a quantitative basis."' In this paper a survey is defined as a structured type of social investigation in which preferably a representative sample of respondents are asked a series of questions which are usually embodied in a written schedule or questionnaire. A questionnaire may consist of merely a few factual items or it may be a complicated form involving a battery of questions concerning both attitudes and behavior. LOCATION OF THE RESEARCH
Molecular structure of serum lipoproteins.

Abstract Recent data from electron microscopy permits the subdivision of the serum lipoproteins into two groups: those molecules with visible substructure and invariable particle size (group I) and those with no visible substructure and a wide variation in particle size (group II). Using data from the literature a concept has been developed to explain the molecular structure of the group I lipoproteins. To allow for the fact that these lipoproteins display evidence both of helical and non-helical peptide chains, a system of small repeating units called “lipotides” has been proposed. These units consist of two helical peptide chains enclosing a lipid core, each helix attached to another by a non-helical peptide connector. The conformation of the actual lipoprotein molecule is dependent upon how these lipotides fold upon one another which is not yet known. The model is based upon the ability of the helical peptide chains to bind to phospholipid, which in turn binds to cholesterol and its esters and to glycerides. Data to support this model have been gathered from the literature, but final proof for the proposal will depend upon the sequence of the amino acids composing the peptide chains, particularly the spatial interrelationships of the ionic and hydrophobic amino acids.
Feature fusion for mobile usage prediction using rank-score characteristics

The aim of this paper is to investigate feature fusion problem for mobile usage prediction using combinatorial fusion analysis (CFA). CFA uses the rank-score characteristics (RSC) function to guide the process of selecting score-based fusion (SF) or rank-based fusion (RF). We study the feature fusion of two mobile adaptive user interface applications: dynamic shortcuts for application launching and dynamic contact list, which improve the usability of mobile devices through usage predication. Our results confirm that for mobile usage prediction RSC function is useful for feature fusion decision. It also proves that RF outperforms SF when the features have unique scoring behavior and relatively high performance.
Regular expressions and the equivalence of programs

If we assume that the study and detection of equivalence for ALGOLl ike programs holds certain pragmatic interest, then it seems reasonable to pursue these matters despite the well-known undecidability of this property. Various efforts have been made to isolate decidable sub-cases of this equivalence problem (e.g., by Paterson [12] and this author [6]). Other efforts have been made to define weaker, and therefore decidable, sorts of equivalence (e.g., by Ianov [4] and Rutledge [14]). Our interest here is to develop equivalence detecting procedures applicable to programs for which equivalence is undecidable. These procedures always produce an answer when questioned as to the equivalence of two programs: either YES or MAYBE. We consider a sequence of these procedures, each more powerful than the preceding ones. Thus, if one procedure returns MAYBE, then perhaps a subsequent more powerful one will return YEs.
The injection laser system on the National Ignition Facility

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is currently the largest and most energetic laser system in the world. The main amplifiers are driven by the Injection Laser System comprised of the master oscillators, optical preamplifiers, temporal pulse shaping and spatial beam formatting elements and injection diagnostics. Starting with two fiber oscillators separated by up to a few angstroms, the pulse is phase modulated to suppress SBS and enhance spatial smoothing, amplified, split into 48 individual fibers, and then temporally shaped by an arbitrary waveform generator. Residual amplitude modulation induced in the preamplifiers from the phase modulation is also pre-compensated in the fiber portion of the system before it is injected into the 48 pre-amplifier modules (PAMs). Each of the PAMs amplifies the light from the 1 nJ fiber injection up to the multi-joule level in two stages. Between the two stages the pre-pulse is suppressed by 60 dB and the beam is spatially formatted to a square aperture with pre-compensation for the nonuniform gain profile of the main laser. The input sensor package is used to align the output of each PAM to the main laser and acquire energy, power, and spatial profiles for all shots. The beam transport sections split the beam from each PAM into four main laser beams (with optical isolation) forming the 192 beams of the NIF. Optical, electrical, and mechanical design considerations for long term reliability and availability will be discussed. Work performed under the auspices of the U. S. Department of Energy under contract W-7405-Eng-48.
Precedence probabilities and their applications

In precedence tests, the test powers are given by the probabilities P(Y(i) > X(j)) for some i and j, where X(j) and Y(i) are the order statistics of two independent random samples. Such probabilities can also arise in reliability theory. In this paper, we investigate the properties of these probabilities and their applications.
All-Trans Retinoic Acid in Combination with Primaquine Clears Pneumocystis Infection

Pneumocystis pneumonia (PcP) develops in immunocompromised patients. Alveolar macrophages play a key role in the recognition, phagocytosis, and degradation of Pneumocystis, but their number is decreased in PcP. Our study of various inflammatory components during PcP found that myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) accumulate in the lungs of mice and rats with Pneumocystis pneumonia (PcP). We hypothesized that treatment with all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), a metabolite of vitamin A, may effectively control Pneumocystis (Pc) infection by inducing MDSCs to differentiate to AMs. In rodent models of PcP, we found that 5 weeks of ATRA treatment reduced the number of MDSCs in the lungs and increased the number of AMs which cleared Pc infection. We also found that ATRA in combination with primaquine was as effective as the combination of trimethoprim and sulfamethaxazole for treatment of PcP and completely eliminated MDSCs and Pc organisms in the lungs in two weeks. No relapse of PcP was seen after three weeks of the ATRA-primaquine combination treatment. Prolonged survival of Pc-infected animals was also achieved by this regimen. This is the very first successful development of a therapeutic regimen for PcP that combines an immune modulator with an antibiotic, enabling the hosts to effectively defend the infection. Results of our study may serve as a model for development of novel therapies for other infections with MDSC accumulation.
Terrestrial mass extinctions, cometary impacts and the Sun's motion perpendicular to the galactic plane

An analysis of the data of Raup and Sepkoski (1984) is reported which suggests that the dominant cyclicity in major marine extinctions during at least the past 250 Myr is 30 + or - 1 Myr, with the standard deviation of an individual episode being + or - 9 Myr. This terrestrial cycle is found to be strongly correlated with the time needed for the solar system to oscillate vertically about the galactic plane. It is argued that galactic triggering or forcing of terrestrial biological crises may arise as a result of collisions or close encounters of the solar system with clouds of gas and dust, which would gravitationally perturb the solar system's family of comets and thereby increase the flux of comets and meteorites near the earth, leading to large-body impacts. A dominant cyclicity of 31 + or - 1 Myr is found for the observed age distribution of impact craters on earth, the phase of this cycle agreeing with the shown by the major biological crises.
DNA vaccines : safety and efficacy issues

DNA technology has been harnessed to produce a variety of plasmid-based vaccines designed to prevent viral, bacterial and parasitic infections. The rapid adoption and implementation of this novel vaccine strategy carries with it important safety and efficacy concerns. This review will focus on whether DNA vaccines (1) are likely to induce systemic or organ-specific autoimmune disease, (2) have the potential to induce tolerance rather than immunity, and (3) are as effective in individuals with depressed immune function as they are in healthy adults.
Gonorrhea in children and adolescents: a current review.

GONORRHEA remains the world's most commonly reported communicable disease; there are approximately 100 million new cases per year. 1 In the United States there are one million reported and an estimated two million unreported cases of gonorrhea yearly. 2 The majority of mass-screening studies are performed on patients attending public health or adult ambulatory Care facilities, leading to the widespread and erroneous notion that gonorrhea is exclusiveiy a disease of the poor and the adult. 3-6 Penicillin therapy probably accounts for the declZeaSe in repoi'ted cases which followed the post -World War II peak (Fig: 1).7 A steady increase since 1963, particularly in adolescents (Fig. 2), has occurred. 8 A number of explanations are offe/'ed for the increased incidence of gonorrhea: the observation that some strains of the gonococcus have become resistant to peniciiiin is the most popular among them. The resistance that has de-
Nafion-CNT coated carbon-fiber microelectrodes for enhanced detection of adenosine.

Adenosine is a neuromodulator that regulates neurotransmission. Adenosine can be monitored using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry at carbon-fiber microelectrodes and ATP is a possible interferent in vivo because the electroactive moiety, adenine, is the same for both molecules. In this study, we investigated carbon-fiber microelectrodes coated with Nafion and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to enhance the sensitivity of adenosine and decrease interference by ATP. Electrodes coated in 0.05 mg mL−1 CNTs in Nafion had a 4.2 ± 0.2 fold increase in current for adenosine, twice as large as for Nafion alone. Nafion–CNT electrodes were 6 times more sensitive to adenosine than ATP. The Nafion–CNT coating did not slow the temporal response of the electrode. Comparing different purine bases shows that the presence of an amine group enhances sensitivity and that purines with carbonyl groups, such as guanine and hypoxanthine, do not have as great an enhancement after Nafion–CNT coating. The ribose group provides additional sensitivity enhancement for adenosine over adenine. The Nafion–CNT modified electrodes exhibited significantly more current for adenosine than ATP in brain slices. Therefore, Nafion–CNT modified electrodes are useful for sensitive, selective detection of adenosine in biological samples.
Convection compensated electrophoretic NMR.

A novel method of convection compensated ENMR (CC-ENMR) has been developed to detect electrophoretic motion of ionic species in the presence of bulk solution convection. This was accomplished using a gradient moment nulling technique to remove spectral artifacts from heat-induced convection and using the polarity switch of the applied electric field to retain spin phase modulations due to electrophoretic flow. Experiments were carried out with a mixture of 100 mM L-aspartic acid and 100 mM 4,9-dioxa-1,12-dodecanediamine to demonstrate this new method of ENMR. CC-ENMR enhances our previously developed capillary array ENMR (CA-ENMR) in solving the convection problem. The combined CA- and CC-ENMR approach strengthens the potential of multidimensional ENMR in simultaneous structural determination of coexisting proteins and protein conformations in biological buffer solutions of high ionic strength. Structural mapping of interacting proteins during biochemical reactions becomes possible in the future using ENMR techniques, which may have a profound impact on the understanding of biological events, including protein folding, genetic control, and signal transduction in general.
Favorable Periodontal Regenerative Outcomes From Teeth With Presurgical Mobility: A Retrospective Study

Background: The relevance of tooth mobility on periodontal healing is still controversial. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of presurgical tooth mobility on periodontal regenerative outcomes. Methods: The data in this study were derived from three randomized clinical trials which evaluated regenerative procedures. Sixty-four patients with one intraosseous periodontal defect each received one of the following treatments: guided tissue regeneration (GTR) using expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE), GTR using a bioabsorbable membrane with or without demineralized freezedried bone allograft (DFDBA), or enamel matrix derivative with or without DFDBA. Probing depth (PD), clinical attachment level (CAL), recession (REC), and tooth mobility (TM) were recorded at baseline and 1 year after treatment by a calibrated examiner. The post-surgical follow-up and maintenance periods were designed to optimize plaque control. The teeth were grouped according to their baseline Miller index TM sc...
A Dissociation Between Ovarian Dependent Growth and Estrogen Sensitivity in Mammary Carcinoma

We have compared cytoplasmic estradiol-17β,6,7-3TH binding in an estrogen sensitive transplantable mammary carcinoma (R323OAC) which does not regress after ovariectomy with a Dimethylbenzanthracene (DMBA) induced mammary carcinoma which does regress after ovariectomy. Sephadex G100 chromatography, sucrose gradient centrifugation and binding analysis with dextran coated charcoal revealed high affinity cytoplasmic estradiol binding sites (Kd-2.9 X 10-10 M) in both tumors. The concentration of these sites in the R3230AC tumor was only 2.4 X 10-15 moles/mg of cytoplasmic protein compared to 26 X 10-15 moles/mg in the DMBA tumor cytosol. We suggest that this 90% reduction in specific estradiol binding sites does not permit the direct in vitro influence of estradiol on DNA replication that exists in normal mammary cells and this may in part explain why the R3230AC tumor appears sensitive to estradiol but does not regress after ovariectomy. (Endocrinology 89: 969, 1971)
Commonality of elastic relaxation times in biofilms

Biofilms, sticky conglomerations of microorganisms and extracellular polymers, are among the Earth's most common life forms. One component for their survival is an ability to withstand external mechanical stress. Measurements indicate that biofilm elastic relaxation times are approximately the same (about 18 min) over a wide sample of biofilms though other material properties vary significantly. A possible survival significance of this time scale is that it is the shortest period over which a biofilm can mount a phenotypic response to transient mechanical stress.
Effects of an Alibi Witness’s Relationship to the Defendant on Mock Jurors’ Judgments

Two studies tested the impact of an alibi witness’s relationship to a defendant on the perceived credibility of that witness. In the first study, 291 mock jurors estimated the frequency with which individuals would invent alibis, the frequency they themselves would do so, and the frequency of interpersonal contact among individuals of varying relationships. The degree of relationship between an alibi witness and a defendant remained a predictor of witness credibility when contact frequency was controlled. In the second study, 512 mock jurors were randomly assigned to case scenarios. Skepticism toward witnesses who are biologically or affinally related to a defendant was greater than skepticism toward a socially linked witness. Both studies supported predications from kinship theory and reciprocal altruism.
A Perinatal Center Based Antepartum Homecare Program

Homecare for the high‐risk antepartum client is a rapidly growing specialty of perinatal nursing. In a tertiary care center, a homecare component staffed by specially trained obstetric nurses with fetal monitoring expertise provides for comprehensive home visits. Home visits by nurses enable the client to remain safely in her own environment during the experience of a high‐risk pregnancy. Nursing care for this population includes the provision of physical care, home fetal monitoring, education, and support throughout the pregnancy.
Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome (HPS): A proposed block in glutathione peroxidase

Abstract An unusual form of oculocutaneous albinism associated with a mild hemorrhagic diathesis and the accumulation of a ceroidlike pigment in the reticuloendothelial system was recognized by Hermansky and Pudlak in 1959. Examination of oral mucosal scrapings, urinary sediment, and bone marrow macrophages from patients with Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome (HPS) demonstrates that two forms of lipid accumulate in this disease. Many patients with this disorder have had spontaneous gingival hemorrhage, epistaxis, and prolonged bleeding following tooth extraction, delivery, and surgical procedures. Aspirin administered to such patients may enhance the bleeding diathesis. Analysis of the pigment defect shows that tyrosinase activity is present and pheomelanin pigment accumulates in melanocytes. Platelets lack an adequate storage pool of serotonin and the nonmetabolic nucleotides. A ceriodlike pigment accumulates in reticuloendothelial cells, urinary sediment, and buccal mucosa. The postulated enzymatic block accounting for this traid of signs is a defect in glutathione peroxidase.
The use of ethidium bromide-circular DNA complexes for the fluorometric analysis of breakage and joining of DNA.

A new fluorometric method suitable for the analysis of cleavage and synthesis of phosphodiester bonds in closed circular duplex DNA's is described. The method depends upon the difference in the quantity of the intercalating dye, ethidium bromide, bound to fully closed circular DNA as compared with the same DNA which contains one or more single-strand breaks. The fluorometric method is extremely sensitive and can, for example, detect concentrations of pancreatic DNase as low as 2.5 × 10−5 μg/ml. Under properly standardized conditions it is also highly precise. Comparison of the kinetics of phosphodiester bond cleavage catalyzed by pancreatic DNase and Escherichia coli endonuclease I suggests that endonuclease I, unlike the pancreatic enzyme, may possess an exonucleolytic component. Similarly, an examination of the kinetics of phosphodiester bond synthesis by the E. coli joining enzyme indicates that the two breaks in cyclic DNA (“Hershey circles”) may be sealed at different rates. The fluorometric method can also be used to determine the molecular weight of any closed circular duplex DNA. Theoretical models are derived for the kinetics of breakage, joining as well as simultaneous breakage and joining of phosphodiester bonds in closed circular duplex DNA.
Thermal Stresses Around a Heated Hole in a Large Glass Plate

The problem of sealing a hole in a cool glass plate under conditions at or above annealing temperatures is examined. By use of the well-known equations for stresses in thin circular disks and the application of proper boundary conditions, the concept of a negative temperature distribution (a method of superposition used in stress analysis) that will represent the cooling leads to the conclusion that, under these conditions, the stress in the glass near the hole is independent of the temperature distribution around the hole and dependent only on the physical constants of the glass and the temperature of the lateral surface of the hole.
Slavery, Resistance, Freedom

edited by Gabor Boritt and Scott Hancock, New York, Oxford University Press, 2007, xix, 165 pp., $24.95, ISBN 978-0-19-510222-2 In this excellent collection, editors Gabor S. Boritt and Scott Hanco...
The limited applicability of block decomposition in cluster computing

This paper investigates the usefulness of block partitioning in cluster computing in light of recent network improvements such as FDDI and high-speed switch technology. Mathematical characterizations of the communication costs for contiguous partitioning and block decomposition in both a ring-connected and switched network are presented. Simulations of ring and switch technologies indicate that as network speeds increase and as the effects of message-preparation latency dominate, the advantages claimed for block decomposition diminish.
Real-Time Fault Detection and Diagnostics Using FPGA-based Architectures

A new methodology for radiation induced real-time fault detection and diagnosis, utilizing FPGA-based architectures was developed. The methodology includes a full test platform to evaluate a circuit while under radiation and an algorithm to detect and diagnose fault locations within a circuit using Triple Design Triple Modular Redundancy (TDTMR). An analysis of the system was established using a fault injection. Additionally a functional gamma irradiation analysis was performed to assess the effectiveness of the method. The detection and diagnosis algorithm was capable of detecting errors by switching dynamically during the analysis of an FPGA. However, only the injected fault test was able to properly diagnose the location of the fault. The results indicate that FPGA radiation induced fault production is dependent upon radiation dose rate. A fully interchangeable and operational testing platform has been established along with an algorithm that detects and diagnoses errors in real-time.
Compositional Tuning of Ultrathin Surface Oxides on Metal and Alloy Substrates Using Photons: Dynamic Simulations and Experiments

We report on the ability to modify the structure and composition of ultrathin oxides grown on Ni and Ni-Al alloy surfaces at room temperature utilizing photon illumination. We find that the nickel-oxide formation is enhanced in the case of oxidation under photo-excitation. The enhanced oxidation kinetics of nickel in 5% Ni-Al alloy is corroborated by experimental and simulation studies of natural and photon-assisted oxide growth on pure Ni(100) surfaces. In case of pure Ni substrates, combined x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis, and atomic force microscope current mapping support the deterministic role of the structure of nickel passive-oxide films on their nanoscale corrosion resistance. Atomistic simulations involving dynamic charge transfer predict that the applied electric field overcomes the activation-energy barrier for ionic migration, leading to enhanced oxygen incorporation into the oxide, enabling us to tune the mixed-oxide composition at atomic length scales. Atomic scale control of ultrathin oxide structure and morphology in the case of pure substrates as well as compositional tuning of complex oxide in the case of alloys leads to excellent passivity as verified from potentiodynamic polarization experiments.
AJR Teaching File: enlarging splenic mass after nephrectomy.

Radiologic Description MR images show a well-defined splenic mass with T1 isointensity (Fig. 1A) and mild heterogeneous T2 hypointensity (Fig. 1B). After administration of a superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) contrast agent, the lesion does not decrease in T2 signal intensity (Fig. 1C). After administration of gadolinium contrast material, the arterial phase image shows early peripheral enhancement with central stellate hypoenhancement (Fig. 1D). On serial delayed scans, heterogeneous peripheral enhancement and progressive enhancement of the central stellate region remain (Figs. 1E and 1F).
Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Dynamics During the Meiotic G2/MI Transition of Mouse Spermatocytes

Cellular and genetic approaches were used to investigate the requirements for activation during spermatogenesis of the extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases (ERKs), more commonly known as the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs). The MAPKS and their activating kinases, the MEKs, are expressed in specific developmental patterns. The MAPKs and MEK2 are expressed in all premeiotic germ cells and spermatocytes, while MEK1 is not expressed abundantly in pachytene spermatocytes. Phosphorylated (active) variants of these kinases are diminished in pachytene spermatocytes. Treatment of pachytene spermatocytes with okadaic acid (OA), to induce transition from meiotic prophase to metaphase I (G2/MI), resulted in phosphorylation and enzymatic activation of ERK1/2. However, U0126, an inhibitor of the ERK-activating kinases, MEK1/2, did not inhibit OA-induced MAPK activation or chromosome condensation. Analysis of spermatocytes lacking MOS, a mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase responsible for MEK and MAPK activation, revealed that MOS is not required for OA-induced activation of the MAPKs. OA-induced MAPK activation was inhibited by butyrolactone I, an inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases 1 and 2 (CDK1, CDK2); thus, these kinases may regulate MAPK activity. Additionally, spermatocytes lacking CDC25C condensed bivalent chromosomes and activated both MPF and MAPKs in response to OA treatment; therefore, there is a CDC25C-independent pathway for MPF and MAPK activation. These studies reveal that spermatocytes do not require either MOS or CDC25C for onset of the meiotic division phase or for activation of MPF and the MAPKs, thus implicating a novel pathway for activation of the ERK1/2 MAPKs in spermatocytes.
Highly potent cocaine analogs cause long-lasting increases in locomotor activity.

Three cocaine analogs were compared with cocaine for the capacity to affect: (1) dopamine transporter binding and function; and (2) locomotor activity. RTI-55 (3β-[4-iodophenyl]tropane-2β-carboxylic acid methyl ester tartrate), RTI-121 (3β-[4-iodophenyl]tropan-2β-carboxylic acid isopropyl ester hydrochloride) and RTI-130 (3β-[4-chlorophenyl-2β-[1,2,4-oxadiazol-3-phenyl-5-yl]tropane hydrochloride) competed for [3H]WIN 35428 binding in rat striatum in vitro, with IC50 values at least 50-fold less than that of cocaine. These analogs inhibited [3H]dopamine transport into rat striatal synaptosomes, with IC50 values again less (at least 100-fold) than that for cocaine. Intravenous RTI-55, RTI-121 or RTI-130 injection effected dose-related increases in locomotor activity in mice, with estimated relative potencies at least 10-fold greater than that of cocaine. These increases were long lasting: whereas increased activity ceased within 2 h after cocaine administration, increased locomotion was observed at least 10 h after RTI-55, RTI-121, or RTI-130 administration. Parallel line analysis indicated that the slopes of the ascending portion of the RTI-121 and RTI-130 dose-response curves differed from that of cocaine, suggesting the involvement of mechanisms different from that of cocaine.
Occupational Noise Exposure of Employees at Locally-Owned Restaurants in a College Town

While many restaurant employees work in loud environments, in both dining and food preparation areas, little is known about worker exposures to noise. The risk of hearing loss to millions of food service workers around the country is unknown. This study evaluated full-shift noise exposure to workers at six locally-owned restaurants to examine risk factors associated with noise exposures during the day shift. Participants included cooks, counter attendants, bartenders, and waiters at full-service restaurants with bar service and at limited-service restaurants that provided counter service only. Assessments were made on weekdays and weekends, both during the summer and the fall (with a local university in session) to examine whether the time of week or year affects noise exposures to this population in a college town. In addition, the relationships between noise exposures and the type of restaurant and job classification were assessed. One-hundred eighty full-shift time-weighted average (TWA) exposures were...
Biologically-inspired analysis in the real world: computing, informatics, and ecologies of use

Biological metaphors abound in computational modeling and simulation, inspiring creative and novel approaches to conceptualizing, representing, simulating and analyzing a wide range of phenomena. Proponents of this research suggest that biologically-inspired informatics have practical national security importance, because they represent a new way to analyze sociopolitical dynamics and trends, from terrorist recruitment to cyber warfare. However, translating innovative basic research into useful, usable, adoptable, and trustworthy tools that benefit the daily work of national security experts is challenging. Drawing on several years’ worth of ethnographic fieldwork among national security experts, this paper suggests that information ecology, activity theory, and participatory modeling provide theoretical frameworks and practical suggestions to support design and development of useful, usable, and adoptable modeling and simulation approaches for complex national security challenges.
Commentary: How Serious Is Getting a Diagnosis of Prostate Cancer?

In this issue of The Oncologist, Drs. Loeb and Catalona propose a more aggressive strategy of screening for prostate cancer with the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test than has generally been used in the U.S. [1]. The most controversial of these recommendations include beginning screening at the age of 40 (the “stopping age” is not addressed), routinely performing prostate biopsy on men with a total PSA level 2.5 ng/ml (regardless of age), and performing biopsies on men with lower total PSA levels who have a PSA velocity 0.4 ng/ml per year. Implicit in such recommendations is the growing concern about the sensitivity of the PSA test raised, for example, by data from the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT). The PCPT demonstrated that about 15% of men with a PSA level less than the traditional biopsy threshold of 4.0 ng/ml have prostate cancer at biopsy, with about 15% of those cancers being Gleason grade 7 or higher [2]. In truth, thanks to the PCPT, we now know that the PSA test is quite limited in terms of its ability to separate men with prostate cancer at biopsy from men without prostate cancer, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of 0.67, which means that just 67% of the time, a man with prostate cancer can be expected to have a higher PSA level than a man without prostate cancer (for a worthless test, the ROC curve area would be 0.5). Compare that discriminating ability with, for example, the ability of an atrial natriuretic peptide measurement to discriminate patients with heart failure from “all comers” with shortness of breath; 94% of the time, a patient with heart failure will have a higher level than a patient with another cause of dyspnea [3]. To compensate for the poor discriminating ability of total PSA, it is indeed tempting to lower biopsy thresholds and add new PSA derivative biopsy criteria to find as many prostate cancers that may be destined to cause future morbidity and mortality as early as possible. However, maximizing sensitivity comes at a price, and in this case, a double price. The first price is obvious, and is attributable to the deterioration in specificity that results from any attempt to increase sensitivity. This price will be paid by the additional men without prostate cancer who will undergo biopsy as a result of the more aggressive recommendations. In doing so, they will face the small but finite risks of complications a set of 10 –12 biopsies entails, and more importantly, subsequently live with the uncertainty and anxiety about whether their biopsy was a false negative, and the increased surveillance and subsequent testing that inevitably follows [4]. Welch and colleagues have estimated that the number of men in the U.S. aged 40 years and older requiring biopsy would increase from about 3 million with a biopsy threshold of 4.0 ng/ml to about 6 million with a biopsy threshold of 2.5 ng/ml [5]. And adding a relatively low PSA velocity threshold for biopsy would increase that number far further.
Physical aging behavior of the normal force and torque in polymer glasses

In prior work we reported results from torsion in stress relaxation experiments in which we measured simultaneously, torque and normal force for two types of amorphous polymers. In one set the materials, poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and poly(ethyl methacrylate) (PEMA), have large sub-vitreous β relaxations, while in the second set, polycarbonate (PC) and polysulfone (PSF), have weak β relaxations. It was found that the prominent β process influences the magnitude of the normal force modulus of PMMA and PEMA while the shear modulus is primarily affected by the α process. In the present work we have extended our study on the effect of the β and α relaxations on the normal force and torque in amorphous polymers by examining the aging behavior of both torque and normal forces of PMMA, PEMA and PC measured at various temperatures between the β and α transitions and at a given deformation (γ=0.04). It is found that for the PMMA the normal force shows aging behavior that is different from the torque response for the PMMA but ages in the same fashion as the torque for both the PEMA and the PC. These results are only partially consistent with the hypothesis that the β process is the cause of the differing behaviors.
Gene knockouts of c-src, transforming growth factor beta 1, and tenascin suggest superfluous, nonfunctional expression of proteins.

H~ technology of gene targeting is still in its infancy, but one astonishing theme is being seen over and over. Disruption of a supposedly important gene frequently produces a minimal phenotype. In some cases a phenotype is discovered in an unexpected tissue, but there is no disruption of the tissues where the protein is most highly expressed, and where its function was thought to be most important. A frequent explanation is that proteins are "redundant," in the sense that closely related proteins with duplicated functions might fill in for the one eliminated. However, the word redundant can also be used to mean superfluous, and this may be the more appropriate sense. Coexpression of proteins with duplicated functions is probably superfluous and wasteful but, as argued below, may be tolerated. The more extreme view of superfluous expression is that proteins may be prominently expressed in cells or tissues where they have no function at all. Over the last decade many proteins have been discovered through cloning or antibodies, leaving the investigators to determine the function. The search for function frequently begins with immunocytochemistry, to determine where and when the protein is expressed. The interpretation, that the protein is playing an important role at the sites where it is most prominently expressed, is almost universal. If, however, proteins are expressed superfluously, where they have no function, these interpretations need to be re-evaluated.
On the streaming model augmented with a sorting primitive

The need to deal with massive data sets in many practical applications has led to a growing interest in computational models appropriate for large inputs. The most important quality of a realistic model is that it can be efficiently implemented across a wide range of platforms and operating systems. In this paper, we study the computational model that results if the streaming model is augmented with a sorting primitive. We argue that this model is highly practical, and that a wide range of important problems can be efficiently solved in this (relatively weak) model. Examples are undirected connectivity, minimum spanning trees, and red-blue line segment intersection, among others. This suggests that using more powerful, harder to implement models may not always be justified. Our main technical contribution is to show a hardness result for the "streaming and sorting" model, which demonstrates that the main limitation of this model is that it can only access one data stream at a time. Since our model is strong enough to solve "pointer chasing" problems, the communication complexity based techniques commonly used in showing lower bounds for the streaming model cannot be adapted to our model. We therefore have to employ techniques to obtain these results. Finally, we compare our model to a popular restriction of external memory algorithms that access their data mostly sequentially.
Symmetry and dominance: A cross-linguistic study of signs and classifier constructions

In this paper we analyze the phonological and prosodic properties of two-handed classifiers in three sign languages—American Sign Language, Hong Kong Sign Language, and Swiss German Sign Language. Our analysis is two-fold—first we examine the restrictions these forms place on handshape choice, and then we look at their prosodic and morpho-syntactic structures by examining the interaction between the temporal relations of the two hands and other prosodic cues, such as eye blinks. From the point of view of well-formedness at the word level, our work shows that: (i) in the majority of cases, two-handed classifiers obey the Dominance Condition of Battison (1978) while all other forms limit their complexity in a similar way at the featural level; (ii) different classifier types exhibit systematic behavior with regard to their internal handshape complexity, in particular with regard to a difference between whole entity and handling classifiers, and (iii) in the majority of cases, two-handed classifiers have the same timing properties as prosodic words. With regard to larger prosodic units, we have found evidence of the prosodic–syntactic interface at work in classifier constructions in a number of systematic ways involving intonational phrases. Two-handed classifiers can be divided into four major groups with regard to their prosodic structure, one of which was found only in Hong Kong Sign Language, while the other three exhibit a general pattern that applied to all three of the sign languages in our study. Our general findings reveal that the phonological structures and principles that hold true in non-classifier forms are also obeyed by classifiers to a large extent.
Information Systems Tools, Data Security, And On-Line Database Usage Among Multinational Enterprises

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) are increasingly important to business activity in the United States and abroad. Developing technologies in e-business, information security, and electronic financial reporting are causing major changes in the accounting information systems of companies based in the U.S. and around the globe. The ability to communicate and process data efficiently and effectively is essential to the continued success of these firms. MNEs operate in diverse cultural environments. Research has demonstrated that culture affects the use of information technology, including how firms collect, sort, process, and distribute accounting information and other types of information. The efficiency and effectiveness of information systems depends on the appropriate use of information systems tools and techniques. This study examines the use of systems development tools and techniques, data security devices, and on-line databases among multinational firms.
Structural Behavior of Prestressed Concrete Reactor Vessels

Results of 16 tests of small-scale prestressed concrete vessels are described. The vessels were designed to represent the end slab and a portion of the wall of a cylindrical prestressed concrete reactor pressure vessel with flat end slabs. The major variables in the tests were the end slab thickness and the magnitude of longitudinal and circumferential prestressing forces. The behavior and types of failure are analyzed. Two types of failure of the end slabs occurred. There were failures characterized first by radial cracking and ultimately by fracture of the circumferential prestressing. Failures also occurred which were initiated by inclined cracking in the slab and resulted in a plug with the shape of a truncated cone being pushed from the center of the slab. All except two of the vessels were pressurized with gas and the resulting failures were explosive in nature. Approximate methods are described for predicting both types of failure.