Rule Induction for Group Decisions with Statistical Data — An Example

An expert system was desired for a group decision-making process. A highly variable data set from previous groups' decisions was available to simulate past group decisions. This data set has much missing information and contains many possible errors. Classification and regression trees (CART) was selected for rule induction, and compared with multiple linear regression and discriminant analysis. We conclude that CART's decision rules can be used for rule induction. CART uses all available information and can predict observations with missing data. Errors in results from CART compare well with those from multiple linear regression and discriminant analysis. CART results are easier to understand.     

Farnesyl transferase inhibitors: the successes and surprises of a new class of potential cancer chemotherapeutics

Proteins that transmit abnormal growth signals offer enticing points of intervention for the treatment of cancer. The discovery that isoprenoid attachment is required for the aberrant biological activity of oncogenic Ras proteins has provided just such a target.     

An iterative row-action method for interval convex programming

The iterative primal-dual method of Bregman for solving linearly constrained convex programming problems, which utilizes nonorthogonal projections onto hyperplanes, is represented in a compact form, and a complete proof of convergence is given for an almost cyclic control of the method. Based on this, a new algorithm for solving interval convex programming problems, i.e., problems of the form minf(x), subject to γ≤Ax≤δ, is proposed. For a certain family of functionsf(x), which includes the norm ∥x∥ and thex logx entropy function, convergence is proved. The present row-action method is particularly suitable for handling problems in which the matrixA is large (or huge) and sparse.     

C-AFM-based thickness determination of thin and ultra-thin SiO2 films by use of different conductive-coated probe tips

The influence of the probe tip type on the electrical oxide thickness result was researched for four differently coated conductive tip types using SiO₂ (oxide) films with optical thickness of 1.7-8.3 nm. For this purpose, conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) was used to measure more than 7200 current-voltage (IV) curves. The electrical oxide thickness was determined on a statistical basis from the IV-curves using a recently published tunnelling model for C-AFM application. The model includes parameters associated with the probe tip types used. The evolution of the tip parameters is described in detail. For the theoretical tip parameters, measured and calculated IV-curves showed excellent agreement and the electrical oxide thickness versus the optical oxide thickness showed congruent behaviour, independent of the tip type. However, differences in the electrical oxide thickness were observed for the different tip types. The theoretical parameters were modified experimentally in order to reduce these differences. Theoretical and experimental tip parameters were compared and their effect on the differences in the electrical oxide thickness is discussed for the different tip types. Overall, it is shown that the proposed model provides a comprehensive framework for determining the electrical oxide thickness using C-AFM, for a wide range of oxide thicknesses and for differently coated conductive tips.     

195Pt NMR--theory and application

This critical review highlights the progress in (195)Pt NMR over the last 25 years. In particular, some of the recent applications of (195)Pt NMR in catalytic and mechanistic studies, intermetallics and drug binding studies are discussed. (195)Pt NMR chemical shifts obtained from both theoretical studies and experiments are presented for Pt(0), Pt(II), Pt(III) and Pt(IV) complexes. (195)Pt coupling with various nuclei (viz. coupling constants) have also been collected in addition to data on (195)Pt relaxation. The latest developments in the theoretical knowledge and experimental advances have made (195)Pt NMR into a rich source of information in many fields. (164 references.).     

Regioselective Synthesis of Allyl Trimethylsilanes from Allylic Halides

Treatment of an allylic halide 1 with a trimethylsilyl metal reagent affords either trans allyl trimethylsilane 4 or the regioisomeric allyl trimethylsilane 3 with proper choice of reaction conditions.     

Thermodynamic and physical interactions between novel polymeric surfactants and lipids: toward designing stable polymer-lipid complexes

Surfactant amphiphilic macromolecules (AMs) were complexed with a 1:1 ratio of 1,2-dioleoyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane (DOTAP) and 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (DOPE), either by a coevaporation (CE) or postaddition (PA) method, to form AM-lipid complexes with enhanced drug delivery applications. By characterizing the surfactant-lipid interactions, these heterogeneous drug delivery systems can be better controlled and engineered for optimal therapeutic outcomes. In this study, the physical interactions between DOPE:DOTAP liposomes and AM surfactants were investigated. Langmuir film balance and isothermal calorimetry studies showed cooperative intermolecular interactions between pure lipids and AM in monolayers and high thermostability of structure formed by the addition of AM micelles to DOTAP:DOPE vesicles in buffer solution respectively. Increasing the AM weight ratio in the complexes via the CE method led to complete vesicle solubilization--from lamellar aggregates, to a mixture of coexisting vesicles and micelles, to mixed micelles. Isothermal calorimetry evaluation of AM-lipid complexes shows that, at higher AM weight ratios, PA-produced complexes exhibit greater stability than complexes at lower AM weight ratios. Similar studies show that AM-lipid complexes produced by the CE methods display stronger interactions between AM-lipid components than complexes produced by the PA method. The results suggest that the PA method produces vesicles with AM molecules associated with its outer leaflet only (i.e., an AM-coated vesicle), while the CE method produces complexes ranging from mixed vesicles to mixed micelle in which the AM-lipid components are more intimately associated. These results will be helpful in the design of AM-lipid complexes as structurally defined, stable, and effective drug delivery systems.