cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Traumatic Joint Injury Induces Acute Catabolic Bone Turnover Concurrent with Articular Cartilage Damage in a Rat Model of Post-Traumatic Osteoarthritis

Objective: Assess acute alterations in bone turnover, microstructure, and histomorphometry following noninvasive anterior cruciate ligament rupture (ACLR). Methods: Twelve female Lewis rats were randomized to receive noninvasive ACLR or Sham loading (n=6/group). In vivo microCT was performed at 3, 7, 10, and 14 days post-injury to quantify compartment-dependent subchondral (SCB) and epiphyseal trabecular bone remodeling. Near-infrared (NIR) molecular imaging was used to measure in vivo bone anabolism (800 CW BoneTag) and catabolism (Cat K 680 FAST). Metaphyseal bone remodeling and articular cartilage morphology was quantified using ex vivo microCT and contrast-enhanced microCT, respectively. Calcein-based dynamic histomorphometry was used to quantify bone formation. OARSI scoring was used to assess joint degeneration, and osteoclast number was quantified on TRAP stained-sections. Results: ACLR induced acute catabolic bone remodeling in subchondral, epiphyseal, and metaphyseal compartments. Thinning of medial femoral condyle (MFC) SCB was observed as early as 7 days post-injury, while lateral femoral condyles (LFC) exhibited SCB gains. Trabecular thinning was observed in MFC epiphyseal bone, with minimal changes to LFC. NIR imaging demonstrated immediate and sustained reduction of bone anabolism (~15-20%), and a ~32% increase in bone catabolism at 14 days, compared to contralateral limbs. These findings were corroborated by reduced bone formation rate and increased osteoclast numbers, observed histologically. ACLR-injured femora had significantly elevated OARSI score, cartilage thickness, and cartilage surface deviation. Conclusion: ACL rupture induces immediate and sustained reduction of bone anabolism and overactivation of bone catabolism, with mild-to-moderate articular cartilage damage at 14 days post-injury.
Poison If You Don’t Know How to Use It: Facebook, Democracy, and Human Rights in Myanmar:

Internet access in Myanmar has exploded from less than 1 percent in 2001 to more than 30 percent in 2018 and of those who have access, 40 percent list Facebook as their primary source of news. Coin...
Pre-meiotic, 24-nt reproductive phasiRNAs are abundant in anthers of wheat and barley but not rice and maize

ABSTRACT Two classes of pre-meiotic (21-nt) and meiotic (24-nt) phasiRNAs and their patterns of accumulation have been described in maize and rice anthers. Their precise function remains unclear, but some studies have shown that they support male fertility. The important role of phasiRNAs in anthers underpins our current study to their characterization in wheat and barley anthers. In this study, we staged anthers at every 0.2 mm of development for one wheat and two barley varieties. We isolated pre-meiotic (0.2 mm, 0.4 mm and 0.6 mm), meiotic (0.8 mm, 1.0 mm and 1.4 mm) and post-meiotic (1.8 mm) anthers for which we then investigated accumulation patterns of RNAs, including reproductive phasiRNAs. We annotated a total 12,821 and 2,897 PHAS loci in the wheat and barley genomes, respectively. When comparing the total number of PHAS loci in genomes of maize, rice, barley and wheat, we characterized an expansion of reproductive PHAS loci in the genomes of Poaceae subfamilies from Panicoideae to Oryzoideae and to Poideae. In addition to the two classes of pre-meiotic (21-nt) and meiotic (24-nt) phasiRNAs, previously described in maize and rice anthers, we described a group of 24-nt phasiRNAs that accumulate in pre-meiotic anthers. The absence of pre-meiotic 24-nt phasiRNAs in maize and rice suggests a divergence in grass species of the Poideae subfamily. Additionally, we performed a co-expression gene analysis describing the regulation of phasiRNA biogenesis in wheat and barley anthers. We highlight AGO9 and AGO6 as candidate binding partners of pre-meiotic and meiotic 24-nt phasiRNAs, respectively. One sentence summary In wheat and barley anthers, 24-nt reproductive phasiRNAs are abundant in both meiotic and pre-meiotic stages.
Neogene to recent evolution of the Southern Gulf of Mexico basin: Tectonic controls on deep‐water sediment dispersal systems

[Abstract Newly available two‐dimensional (2D) and limited three‐dimensional (3D) reflection seismic data coupled with publicly available well and core data were used to generate the first comprehensive regional basin evolution model for the deep‐water Neogene to recent southern Gulf of Mexico (GoM). This evolution is presented in the context of contemporaneous onshore tectonic drivers and predecessor basin tectonic history. Dynamic uplift to the west in North America, transpression to the south and tectonically influenced salt tectonics to the east served to collapse the margins of the southern Gulf of Mexico Basin throughout the late Neogene and into the modern. This collapse and salt inflation served to shut off efficient sediment transport into the axial deep basin. Newly developed nearshore extensional accommodation along both the western margin of the basin and salt‐rooted orogenic structures to the south and east appear to have baffled coarser‐caliber sediment input from southern (Mexican) sediment sources into the deep Gulf of Mexico Basin beginning in the late Miocene. This sequence is recorded in the southern GoM basin by a transition from large early–mid Miocene submarine channel belts to late Miocene–recent sediment wave fields and mass transport deposits. Improved resolution of new 2D and 3D subsurface seismic reflection data shows that sediment waves of the southern Gulf of Mexico are supercritical bedforms, long wavelength antidunes and cyclic steps, not contourites. These supercritical bedforms are among the most spatially expansive and morphologically largest documented globally. The location and evolution of these bedforms appears closely tied to the tectonically driven history of margin collapse, salt inflation and the starving of the deep basin of coarse‐grained sediment. Cumulatively, the tectonic drivers that intuitively should have increased sediment flux into the deep southern Gulf of Mexico acted to ‘pinch off’ the basin, starving it of sediment supplied from southern sediment sources., The evolution of southern Gulf of Mexico deep‐marine depositional systems was strongly controlled by onshore dynamic and transpressional tectonics through the Neogene and into the modern. Nearshore extensional accommodation generated by margin collapse and salt inflation served to progressively starve the deep southern Gulf of sediment. This is recorded in the deep‐water basin center as a transition from large Miocene submarine channel systems to late Miocene to modern mass transport deposits and supercritical sediment waves. ]
States of water in recast Nafion® films

Abstract The amount and states of water in a polymer electrolyte significantly affect the material's morphology as well as its mechanical and transport properties, and thus determine performance in many important applications such as fuel cells, electrolyzers, and other electrochemical energy conversion devices. In this study, recast H+-Nafion® films were characterized using attenuated total internal reflection FTIR (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy before and after thermal annealing and subsequent rehydration. The states of water in the hydrated films were determined by analyzing the O–H stretching band of water using principle component analysis and multivariate curve resolution. It was found that annealing at a temperature above the glass transition temperature caused the water hydrogen-bonding networks in the water-ionic clusters to become restricted, suggesting that annealing forms a robust polymer matrix confining the water-ionic clusters. The evolution of film morphology with increasing thermal-annealing temperature was confirmed with small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and CO2 diffusion measurements. Fuel cell performance tests using annealed and unannealed Nafion® in the cathode catalyst layer found improved stability when the cathode catalyst was annealed, indicating that thermal history is an important design parameter in electrochemical energy conversion device fabrication.
Second Amendment: The Dozen Yardsticks for Measuring its Scope

There will be 12 functioning, proposed, or allegedly rebuffed benchmarks to choose from when the U.S. Supreme Court finally drafts its Second Amendment blueprint. The Court’s 2008 precedent confirmed the fundamental nature of the constitutional right to keep guns in the home for self-defense. The Court’s 2010 McDonald decision extended Heller to all cities and states−via selective incorporation. But neither Heller nor McDonald embedded a template for future legal challenges to the nation’s gun regulations. In the interim, the Supreme Court has refused to determine any of the proffered Second Amendment decisions from state and federal courts. At some point, the Court will presumably unholster its reluctance to adjudicate this legal gunfight. The Courts will hopefully tender a full-throated test for assessing the general reach of the Second Amendment. Thus, the objective of this essay is to: (a) present the dozen possible approaches, drawn from various judicial precedents; and (b) spotlight the extraordinary challenge the Court will face−given the perhaps naive assumption that one size fits all.
The Effects of Ancillary Ligands on Metal–Carbon Bond Strengths as Determined by C–H Activation

The activation of C–H bonds by oxidative addition in about 30 different substrates has been examined with three closely related metal species, [Tp′RhL], where L = CNneopentyl, PMe3, and P(OMe)3. Kinetic studies of the reductive elimination of R–H provided data to ascertain the relative metal–carbon bond strengths for a wide range of compounds. Trends in these bond strengths reveal that there are two classes of C–H substrates: parent hydrocarbons and substituted methanes. DFT calculations are used to support the observed trends, and some generalizations are made by comparison to other metal systems.
Gating of Limbic Input to the Ventral Striatum

Publisher Summary This chapter explores that the nucleus accumbens (NAc) is a hub for information related to reward, motivation, and decision-making. As a striatal region, it receives cortical inputs and sends infor­mation back to the cortex and subcortical structures via disinhibitory projections through the ventral pallidum, but what distinguishes this division of the ventral striatum is the integration of inputs originated in areas as diverse as the prefrontal cortex (PFC), amygdala and hippocampus. Several models of the behavioral role of the NAc and its involvement in psychiatric disorders have indeed been built with this gating mechanism as a critical component. The chapter also reviews the observations that led to the limbic gating hypothesis, its limitations, as well as recent and ongoing work that may help us re-conceptualize the gating idea, proposing that afferent interactions in the NAc are dynamic. Emerging data from awake animals indicate that the NAc is driven by the dominant cortical region during any given behavior, and this drive is reflected in transiently correlated activity. Thus, the NAc can be envisioned as a behavioral switchboard in which the impact of afferent inputs and local mechanisms can determine the ensemble of active neurons, thereby contributing to decision-making and selecting the most appropriate behavioral repertoire for a given set of goals and context.
Operator Language: A Program Generation Framework for Fast Kernels

We present the Operator Language (OL), a framework to automatically generate fast numerical kernels. OL provides the structure to extend the program generation system Spiral beyond the transform domain. Using OL, we show how to automatically generate library functionality for the fast Fourier transform and multiple non-transform kernels, including matrix-matrix multiplication, synthetic aperture radar (SAR), circular convolution, sorting networks, and Viterbi decoding. The control flow of the kernels is data-independent, which allows us to cast their algorithms as operator expressions. Using rewriting systems, a structural architecture model and empirical search, we automatically generate very fast C implementations for state-of-the-art multicore CPUs that rival hand-tuned implementations.
Getting Off the Back of a Tiger: The Deposit Insurance Crisis in the United States

Crises in financial markets and widespread failures of financial institutions are marked characteristics of the 1980s. These phenomena may be more prevalent in the United States than in the other financially important centres. As a result, the seemingly irresistible drive to deregulate the financial services industries that dominated policy in the United States since the 1970s has been replaced by a search for an appropriate structure of intervention and regulation to maintain the orderly functioning of financial institutions and markets.
Précis of Depth

Many scientic explanations have the form of deductive derivations from laws or other generalizations. Hempel and Oppenheim’s (1948) equation of explanation with law-involving deduction is stymied, however, by cases such as the agpole and the shadow: two deductions, formally almost identical, have quite dierent explanatory properties. e length of the agpole’s shadow can be explained by deriving it from the height of the agpole and the position of the sun, but the height of the agpole is certainly not explained by deriving it from the length of its shadow. e former derivation owes its explanatoriness, apparently, to something that goes beyond mere logical deduction. e modern reaction to this case (not so dierent from that insinuated by Aristotle in Posterior Analytics 1.13) is that the deduction is only a representational instrument: the meat of the explanation inheres in what the deduction stands for, which is almost universally taken to be a causal relation. A deduction of the length from the height, if done right, represents the causal process by which the agpole and sun together cause the shadow. e reverse deduction fails to represent a causal process, because there is no such process running from shadow to pole. What explains, in short, are the causal facts—the facts that constitute the process causing the explanandum
Mice as Experimental Organisms

The mouse is extensively used as a model system to understand the genetic control of human development and disease. Keywords: mice; breeding; inbred; genetics; development; mammals
The Biosynthesis of UDP-d-QuiNAc in Bacillus cereus ATCC 14579

N-acetylquinovosamine (2-acetamido-2,6-di-deoxy-d-glucose, QuiNAc) is a relatively rare amino sugar residue found in glycans of few pathogenic gram-negative bacteria where it can play a role in infection. However, little is known about QuiNAc-related polysaccharides in gram-positive bacteria. In a routine screen for bacillus glycan grown at defined medium, it was surprising to identify a QuiNAc residue in polysaccharides isolated from this gram-positive bacterium. To gain insight into the biosynthesis of these glycans, we report the identification of an operon in Bacillus cereus ATCC 14579 that contains two genes encoding activities not previously described in gram-positive bacteria. One gene encodes a UDP-N-acetylglucosamine C4,6-dehydratase, (abbreviated Pdeg) that converts UDP-GlcNAc to UDP-4-keto-4,6-d-deoxy-GlcNAc (UDP-2-acetamido-2,6-dideoxy-α-d-xylo-4-hexulose); and the second encodes a UDP-4-reductase (abbr. Preq) that converts UDP-4-keto-4,6-d-deoxy-GlcNAc to UDP-N-acetyl-quinovosamine in the presence of NADPH. Biochemical studies established that the sequential Pdeg and Preq reaction product is UDP-d-QuiNAc as determined by mass spectrometry and one- and two-dimensional NMR experiments. Also, unambiguous evidence for the conversions of the dehydratase product, UDP-α-d-4-keto-4,6-deoxy-GlcNAc, to UDP-α-d-QuiNAc was obtained using real-time 1H-NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. The two genes overlap by 4 nucleotides and similar operon organization and identical gene sequences were also identified in a few other Bacillus species suggesting they may have similar roles in the lifecycle of this class of bacteria important to human health. Our results provide new information about the ability of Bacilli to form UDP-QuiNAc and will provide insight to evaluate their role in the biology of Bacillus.
Poverty, Health Insurance Status, and Health Service Utilization Among the Elderly

Research on health service utilization among the elderly is unambiguous in finding that those who are the most heavily insured use the most health services. What is less clear, however, is whether the favorable effect of health insurance coverage holds for low-income populations. As such, this study uses data from the Rand version of the Health Retirement Study spanning the years 2002 to 2010 to examine the extent of heterogeneous use of health services within the population of elderly poor and the degree to which health insurance status moderates the effect of poverty on health service utilization.
Formal analysis of a non-repudiation protocol

The paper applies the theory of communicating sequential processes (CSP) to the modelling and analysis of a non-repudiation protocol. Non-repudiation protocols differ from authentication and key-exchange protocols in that the participants require protection from each other, rather than from an external hostile agent. This means that the kinds of properties that are required of such a protocol, and the way it needs to be modelled to enable analysis, are different to the standard approaches taken to the more widely studied class of protocols and properties. A non-repudiation protocol proposed by Zhou and Gollmann (1996) is analysed within this framework, and this highlights some novel considerations that are required for this kind of protocol.
Therapeutic use of granulocyte colony-stimulating factors for established febrile neutropenia: effect on costs from a hospital perspective.

The prophylactic use of granulocyte colony-stimulating factors (G-CSFs) reduces the severity and duration of neutropenia and reduces the incidence of febrile neutropenia after cancer chemotherapy. However, the use of G-CSFs, particularly filgrastim, to treat established neutropenia remains controversial. A recent meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating G-CSF treatment for established febrile neutropenia demonstrated a reduction in prolonged hospitalisations. Because more than one-third of patients in the analysis were hospitalised for at least 10 days, this finding has broad pharmacoeconomic and clinical significance. This analysis presents the potential cost implications of G-CSF treatment for established neutropenia among hospitalised patients. Direct medical costs ($US, year 2003 values) related to hospitalisation for established neutropenia were modelled using a hospital perspective and according to two treatment options: (i) no use of G-CSF during the neutropenic episode (control); and (ii) addition of daily G-CSF until neutrophil recovery. Within each option, we modelled the probability of a long stay (≥10 days) and patient survival. The model used three data sets: discharge data from a consortium of academic medical institutions, drug cost data (filgrastim) from Federal payers, and estimates of G-CSF efficacy derived from a meta-analysis of RCTs of treatment in patients with established febrile neutropenia. The lowest expected total cost was predicted for both treatment options; sensitivity analyses and Monte Carlo simulations were used to evaluate the robustness of the model. The G-CSF arm produced the lowest expected cost, and predicted net estimated savings of $US1046 per neutropenic episode compared with the control strategy. G-CSF was less expensive than the control for most reasonable estimates of cost per day and all lengths of stay (LOS) ≥10 days. G-CSF was the least costly strategy for 73.5% of 10 000 Monte Carlo iterations, while the no-G-CSF control strategy predicted savings in 26.5% of iterations. This pharmacoeconomic model suggests that therapeutic use of G-CSF should be considered for patients with established neutropenia in order to reduce overall hospital cost. G-CSF treatment may offer substantial potential savings for hospitalised patients with established neutropenia over a wide range of model assumptions. Therapeutic G-CSF use among patients hospitalised for established neutropenia may complement the recommended prophylactic use of these agents for the prevention of neutropenic episodes.
Manual Titration of Positive Airway Pressure in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Positive airway pressure (PAP) devices are used to treat patients who have sleep-related breathing disorders including obstructive sleep apnea. After a patient is diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea, the current standard of practice involves performing attended polysomnography, during which positive airway pressure is adjusted throughout the recording period to determine the optimal pressure for maintaining upper airway patency. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and bilevel positive airway pressure (BPAP) represent the two most common forms of PAP that are titrated manually during polysomnography to determine the single fixed pressure of CPAP, or the fixed inspiratory and expiratory PAPs of BPAP for subsequent nightly usage in the home. I recently cochaired the PAP Titration Task Force of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, which reviewed the available literature on PAP titration protocols and strategies and, based on this analysis and expert consensus, developed recommendations for conducting CPAP and BPAP titrations. This article serves to review the task force recommendations and to provide a practical approach to using selected recommendations in the course of laboratory titration of PAP.
Dorsally Derived Oligodendrocytes Come of Age

Abstract While oligodendrocyte precursors have previously been localized to the ventral midline, two papers in this issue of Neuron (Cai et al. and Vallstedt et al.) provide compelling evidence for a second dorsal origin of oligodendrocyte precursors in the spinal cord and hindbrain. These cells share expression of the PDGFα receptor and Olig2 with their ventral counterparts but differ in the requirement for Nkx6 and hedgehog signaling.
Enhanced antinociceptive response to intracerebroventricular kyotorphin in Pept2 null mice.

l-Kyotorphin (l-KTP), an endogenous analgesic neuropeptide, is a substrate for aminopeptidases and a proton-coupled oligopeptide transporter, PEPT2. This study examined the CSF efflux, antinociceptive response, and hydrolysis kinetics in brain of l-KTP and its synthetic diastereomer d-kyotorphin (d-KTP) in wild-type and Pept2 null mice. CSF clearance of l-KTP was slower in Pept2 null mice than in wild-type animals, and this difference was reflected in greater l-KTP-induced analgesia in Pept2 null mice. Moreover, dose-response analyses showed that the ED50 of l-KTP in Pept2-deficient animals was one-fifth of the value observed in Pept2-competent animals (4 vs. 21 nmol for null vs. wild-type mice, respectively). In contrast, the ED50 of d-KTP was very similar between the two genotypes (9–10 nmol). Likewise, there was little difference between genotypes in slope factor or baseline effects of l-KTP and d-KTP. The enhanced antinociceptive response to l-KTP in Pept2 null mice could not be explained by differences in neuropeptide degradation as Vmax and Km values did not differ between genotypes. Our results demonstrate that PEPT2 can significantly impact the analgesic response to an endogenous neuropeptide by altering CSF (and presumably brain interstitial fluid) concentrations and that it may influence the disposition and response to exogenous peptide/mimetic substrates.
Telling and the remembered self: Linguistic differences in memories for previously disclosed and previously undisclosed events

Prior work suggests that disclosing experiences may provide people with more distance, more positive emotion, greater cognitive elaboration, and greater certainty regarding those experiences. Two studies (n=58 undergraduates and n=123 community-living adults) examined linguistic indicators of such differences between previously disclosed and previously undisclosed memories elicited on subsequent, solitary occasions using the LIWC text analysis program (Pennebaker & Francis, 1999). Disclosure was associated with differences in the linguistic features of subsequent memories. Potential mechanisms and implications of those differences are discussed.
Turkana material culture viewed from an archaeological perspective

Abstract While ethnographic accounts of material culture are important to the archaeologist, quantitative studies approached from the perspectives most appropriate for archaeological site analysis are rare. This paper introduces one such study and examines the material culture of the Turkana, a pastoral tribe of northern Kenya. The study is based on an inventory of the contents of an inhabited compound. It compares the contents of the inhabited dwelling with a series of abandoned settlements. Results indicate (1) 63% of the items in the inhabited compound were, in archaeological terms, perishable objects, (2) 48% of the entire material culture in the modern compound consisted of containers, (3) very little, if any, evidence of the artefacts present in the inventory would be found within a year after abandonment of the settlement.
A technically simple “non-lethal” vital staining procedure for viral plaque and cell transformation assays

The widely used tetrazolium dye, MTT, has several advantages as a vital stain in the identification of viral plaques. First, since the yellow colored dye MTT stains live cells dark blue, viral plaques can be counted without removal of the phenol red containing agar overlay. Secondly, the high contrast between live and dead cells afforded by MTT permits one to readily detect small plaques at an early time after infection. Thirdly, since cells intensely stained with MTT remain viable, MTT vital staining can be used to isolate cells which are either transformed or resistant to viruses. Thus, MTT vital staining should be useful in several types of viral plaque assays.
HER2-Mediated Effects on EGFR Endosomal Sorting: Analysis of Biophysical Mechanisms

Overexpression of HER2, a receptor-like tyrosine kinase and signaling partner for the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), has been implicated in numerous experimental and clinical studies as promoting the progression of many types of cancer. One avenue by which HER2 overexpression may dysregulate EGFR-mediated cell responses, such as proliferation and migration, downstream of EGF family ligand binding, is by its modulation on EGFR endocytic trafficking dynamics. EGFR signaling is regulated by downregulation and compartmental relocalization arising from endocytic internalization and endosomal sorting to degradation versus recycling fates. HER2 overexpression influences both of these processes. At the endosomal sorting stage, increased HER2 levels elicit enhanced EGFR recycling outcomes, but the mechanism by which this transpires is poorly understood. Here, we determine whether alternative mechanisms for HER2-mediated enhancement of EGFR recycling can be distinguished by comparison of corresponding mathematical models to experimental literature data. Indeed, we find that the experimental data are clearly most consistent with a mechanism in which HER2 directly competes with EGFR for a stoichiometrically-limited quantity of endosomal retention components (ERCs), thereby reducing degradation of ERC-coupled EGFR. Model predictions based on this mechanism exhibited qualitative trends highly similar to data on the fraction of EGF/EGFR complexes sorted to recycling fate as a function of the amount of internalized EGF/EGFR complexes. In contrast, model predictions for alternative mechanisms—blocking of EGFR/ERC coupling, or altering EGF/EGFR dissociation—were inconsistent with the qualitative trends of the experimental data.
An empirical study of the effectiveness of publicly-funded ‘structured on-site training’: implications for policy and practice

Abstract This article reports findings from an assessment of the effectiveness of privately administered ‘structured on-site training’ (SOST) programs funded by the California Employment Training Panel. It reports on the characteristics of SOST programs that increased trainees' competitiveness in the internal and external labor markets. In addition, it provides implications for on-the-job training (OJT) programs that are funded privately and offers additional implications unique to OJT funded with public dollars.
Effect of Chlorpromazine treatment on Monoamine Oxidase activity in platelets isolated by the Corash method

The effect of chlorpromazine treatment on platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity was compared in platelets isolated by the Corash method, which harvests essentially all the platelets in a blood sample, and a single centrifugation method, which yields 45-65% of the platelets. A highly significant decrease in platelet MAO activity following chlorpromazine was found in platelets obtained from the same subjects by both methods. The decrease observed by the two methods was significantly correlated. These results indicate the degree of decrease in MAO activity associated with chlorpromazine is not due to isolation of a subpopulation of platelets with low MAO activity by the single centrifugation method.
Time course of viremia and antibody seroconversion following human immunodeficiency virus exposure

Rational application of diagnostic assays in the management of healthcare workers (HCWs) following occupational exposure is needed to rule out pre-existing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, detect HIV infection or seroconversion as early as possible in the small proportion individuals who become infected, and to rule out infection in the high proportion of individuals who remain uninfected following occupational exposure to HIV. An understanding of the time course of viremia and seroconversion following HIV exposure is essential in developing recommendations for management of occupational exposure among HCWs. Several data sources that address the timing and dynamics of HIV viremia and seroconversion following primary infection are reviewed. The implications of each data source for management of occupational exposure among HCWs is assessed. Although the majority of infected HCWs seroconvert within 2 months of exposure, the possibility of delayed seroconversion is well established, with approximately 5% of infected HCWs estimated to seroconvert >6 months after exposure. In contrast, the period of viremia (detectable by p24 antigen or RNA assays) preceding antibody seroconversion is consistently brief (1-3 weeks). Animal inoculation studies indicate that a variable period of localized viral replication in lymphoid tissue draining inoculation sites exists prior to systemic viremia and subsequent seroconversion.
Characterization of the basal promoter element of the human type 5 17beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase gene.

Abstract Testosterone biosynthesis from androstenedione is carried out by androgenic 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (17β-HSD) activity. Of the androgenic 17β-HSD isoenzymes, only type 5 (17β-HSD5) is expressed ubiquitously, including the human adrenal gland and ovary. To characterize this gene promoter, luciferase constructs of the human 5′-flanking region were transiently transfected into the H295R human adrenal carcinoma cell line. A series of fragment deletion constructs and electrophoretic mobility shift assays suggested that a sequence of CCTCCTCCT at −65 to −58 bp is the core sequence and demonstrated Sp1/Sp3 binding to this CCT repeat. Forskolin stimulated the promoter activity of the HSD17B5 gene through this Sp1/Sp3 binding site. Mutation of this site resulted in a significant reduction of HSD17B5 promoter basal and forskolin-induced activity. Mithramycin A, which inhibits the binding of Sp1 and Sp3 to DNA, also remarkably decreased HSD17B5 mRNA expression in the H295R cell line. These results indicate that members of the Sp family of transcription factors play an important role in regulating constitutive and stimulated expression of the HSD17B5 gene in H295R cells.
Pion charge radius from current algebra sum rule and short range correlation model

Abstract Starting from the Fubini-Dashen-Gell-Mann sum rule, we relate the slope of the pion electromagnetic form factor at t = 0 to the rotational properties of the photopion production amplitudes. When the pion's charge radius is calculated with a simple short range correlation model for the production amplitudes (diffractive processes being forbidden), the result is 〈r π 2 〉 1 2 = 0.8 fm .
The application of materials science to the design of engineering alloys. A review

Abstract The functional roles of materials science and materials engineering in modern alloy design are discussed. It is suggested that following the end of World War II evolutionary trends in both methodology and language have tended to divide, rather than unite, these two branches of knowledge. Over a period of several decades the net effect has been, on the one hand, to isolate materials scientists from materials engineers, and thereby prevent them from making greater contributions to technology and, on the other hand, to deny to materials engineers the potential benefits of the vast understanding achieved by the materials scientist. Several new programs in the materials education field are described which have as their aim a partial redress of this undersirable situation. The current state of development of alloy design, as seen from an academic viewpoint, is described with the aid of four illustrative examples taken from current student theses research. These examples are: (1) a b.c.c. iron alloy having unusual toughness at temperatures of liquid nitrogen and below; (2) a series of medium alloy steels whose strength and toughness are equivalent to those of the high alloy maraging steels; (3) an ultrahigh-strength Fe - Cr - C steel of great toughness which was developed from fundamental considerations of microstructure and substructure; and (4) b.c.c. iron alloys which utilize intermetallic compounds, rather than alloy carbides, for elevated temperature dispersion hardening.
A quantifier for matroid duality

A quantifier is introduced on the elements of a matroid which, given an element e, says ''for all elements (except possibly e) of some circuit containing e,...''. The matroid dual of this quantifier is shown to be identical with its logical dual, and this provides an elegant reformulation of Minty's self-dual axiomatization of matroids. This approach also provides a practical, and in a sense optimal, means of taking a statement in terms of circuits and constructing its dual, still in terms of circuits.
Infinite Coxeter groups virtually surject onto$ \Bbb {Z} $

We prove that any infinite Coxeter group has a subgroup of finite index which homomorphically surjects onto the integers. This implies the known result that infinite Coxeter groups do not have property (T) of Kazhdan.
Prolyl isomerase requirement for the expression of functional homo-oligomeric ligand-gated ion channels

Ligand-gated ion channel subunits show a striking abundance of highly conserved proline residues. We, therefore, tested the hypothesis that peptidyl-prolyl isomerases may be involved in the maturation of these channels. Cyclosporin A, a selective blocker of a ubiquitous isomerase cyclophilin, reduced the surface expression in Xenopus oocytes of functional homo-oligomeric receptors containing nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit alpha 7 without blocking alpha 7 polypeptide synthesis. This effect could be generalized to the homo-oligomeric 5-hydroxytryptamine type 3 receptor but not to the hetero-oligomeric muscle nicotinic receptor. An alpha 7 receptor could be rescued from cyclosporin A blockade by coexpressed muscle non-alpha subunits. The effect of cyclosporin A was reversed by overexpression of exogenous rat brain cyclophilin. These findings indicate that cyclophilins may play a critical role in the maturation of homo-oligomeric receptors, acting directly or indirectly as prolyl isomerases or as molecular chaperones.
Homocysteine levels and glucose metabolism in non-obese, non-diabetic chronic schizophrenia.

Objective: We studied a sample of schizophrenia out-patients to test the hypotheses that serum homocysteine concentrations would correlate positively with measures of glucose metabolism. Method: Subjects underwent a nutritional assessment and fasting plasma, serum insulin and homocysteine tests. Results: Males had a significantly higher homocysteine levels than females (7.69 ± 1.42 μm vs. 6.63 ± 1.40 μm; P = 0.02). Comparing subjects with normal fasting glucose (NFG) (glucose <100 mg/dl) and impaired fasting glucose (IFG) (≥100 mg/dl) subjects with IFG (mean 8.2 ± 1.5 μm) had significantly higher homocysteine levels than those with NFG (mean 7.2 ± 1.4 μm, P = 0.03). IFG was also associated with greater mean values for a Homeostatic Model Assessment-Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) (P = 0.002) and diastolic blood pressure (P = 0.045). Conclusion: The group with IFG had higher fasting serum homocysteine concentrations than those with NFG which supports a connection to an important cardiovascular risk factor.
Mixed convection experiments about a horizontal isothermal surface embedded in a water-saturated packed bed of spheres

The experimental results document the dependence of the growth of the thermal boundary-layer and the variation of the local heat flux on the parameter Ra x 1/3 /Pe X 1/2 . This parameter was obtained from scaling analysis of the Darcy model and it describes the transition between forced and natural convection
Documentary Evidence for the Availability of Japanese Imagery in Europe in Nineteenth-Century Public Collections

This study identifies the Japanese images acquired by selected European museums and libraries in the nineteenth century. Since the emphasis in the field of japonisme has traditionally been placed on the French discovery, the Japanese holdings of French — in particular Parisian — institutions are examined in greatest depth. (These include the Bibliotheque Nationale and the Musee des Arts Decoratifs.) The collections of two British institutions, the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, are also discussed.Japanese images were acquired by the Bibliotheque Nationale as early as 1795. Two significant early collections were added in 1843 and 1855, even before trade between France and Japan was officially established. Among these works a broad spectrum of Japanese styles was represented, although a majority of the prints were contemporaneous publications, and the drawings were copies after historic paintings. The article concludes with a discussion of these popular images in the context of European ...
Commentary: Public Health and Health Care Quality Assurance—Strange Bedfellows?

What is the role of governmental public health in ensuring the quality of medical care? With some notable exceptions, state and local public health departments have taken a passive role in medical care system quality assurance. Yet medical care can contribute much to improving the health of populations and at least some to reducing health disparities. The article in this issue of The Milbank Quarterly by Chamany and colleagues describes one public health agency's novel approach to the clinical management of adult diabetics: working with health care providers. The authors regard their work as filling a temporary gap, pointing out that most providers are not equipped to automatically remind patients to consult their doctor when laboratories report high glycosylated hemoglobin (A1C) levels. But clinical decision support systems’ broader use of electronic health records, which is now a federal priority, should, at least in theory, make it unnecessary for public health agencies to assume this role.
Blogger Engagement Ethics: Dialogic Civility in a Digital Era

The role of social media as a vital component in an effective public relations plan has expanded strategic communication into digital space. Despite the rapid advancements of public relations opportunities within social media such as the blogosphere, guidelines for a prudent entry into this often personalized online territory are difficult to locate. This article extends beyond individual relationships characteristic of public relations practitioner-blogger discourse and promotes a dialogic approach to blogger outreach ethics. It ends with several recommendations for public relations practitioners seeking to facilitate dialogic civility within their own blogger engagement efforts.
Synchronization of Estrus in Dairy Heifers with Prostaglandin F2α with or without Estradiol Benzoate

Abstract Efficiency of prostaglandin F 2 α with and without estradiol benzoate for synchronizing estrus in dairy heifers was examined in two field trials involving 33 herds and 909 heifers. Heifers were observed for estrus twice daily for 4 days, palpated rectally for reproductive status, and injected with 25mg prostaglandin F 2 α if they were not pregnant and had a palpable corpus luteum. Forty to forty-eight hours later, 194 of the treated heifers were injected with 400 μ g of estradiol benzoate. Heifers were observed for estrus through 96h. Of the heifers treated with prostaglandin, 179 were assigned to be bred 12h after observation of estrus. One hundred and ten were assigned to be bred at 80h after prostaglandin treatment in trial 1 and 112 at 72h after treatment in trial 2. Treatment with estradiol benzoate did not affect the percentage of animals showing estrus (86.7 versus 84.3%) or conceiving (54.7 versus 57.5%). A greater proportion of heifers bred at 80h conceived when previously treated with estrogen (52.9 versus 39.0%). Conception rates after breeding at 72h were low and not improved by estrogen treatment (29.7 versus 38.7%). Of the heifers presented for synchronization, 9.4% were pregnant to an unknown breeding, 2.2% had anomalies of the reproductive tract, and 12.1% were immature. Puberal status of heifers varied widely among herds and was more dependent on body weight than height at withers or frame size. Heifers as young as 12 mo were puberal in some herds, and heifers as old as 22 mo were prepuberal in other herds.
A NMR technique for the analysis of pore structure: Numerical inversion of relaxation measurements

Abstract NMR spin—lattice relaxation measurements of fluids contained in porous solids could be a powerful tool for pore size/structure analysis. It does not suffer from many of the inherent disadvantages of mercury porosimetry/nitrogen condensation such as the necessity of a pore shape assumption, measuring only the smallest constriction in a pore, sample compression (porosimetry), and limited pore size range (condensation). However, the successful extraction of the desired pore volume distribution from experimental spin—lattice relaxation measurements requires the solution of an “ill-posed” problem. A recently developed nonnegatively constrained least-squares (NNLS) algorithm was used to approach this problem. Two methods were used including matching relaxation data in real time using the NNLS algorithm and transforming both the data and the governing equations into the frequency time domain and subsequent matching with NNLS. Numerical experiments were conducted using artificial pore size distribution data generated for a variety of distribution types. The two methods were used to analyze both the exact generated data and the generated data containing 5% random error. Direct analysis of the data was more accurate in reproducing the artificial pore structures than the Fourier transform analysis except in the limit of high experimental noise. Deconvolution of the artificial pore structure from exact data gave nearly exact results. Analysis of data after introducing 5% random error to the data yielded less accurate, yet stable results. Small oscillations in the calculated distributions were noted but these are on the same order of or smaller than those normally encountered in porosimetry/condensation experiments.
Update on sudden infant death syndrome.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: With the introduction of the Back to Sleep campaign by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 1992, the incidence of Sudden infant death syndrome has decreased by almost 50%. Despite this success, SIDS continues to be the most common cause of unexplained infant death in Western countries. This article will briefly review the definition, etiology, and risk factors of SIDS. Attention will then focus on ways to target specific associated risk factors and at risk populations to promote a continued downward trend in the number of SIDS deaths. RECENT FINDINGS: Recent literature in SIDS research has focused on identifying infants at continued risk for SIDS. Children attending child care centers have an increased risk for SIDS, which is of particular concern as the number of infants in child care continues to rise. The reasons for this, along with strategies to decrease this risk, will be reviewed. In addition, the SIDS rate among black infants continues to be more than twice that of white infants. A review of the reasons for this disparity and ways to intervene through targeted campaigns will be discussed. Recent data has also suggested that the prevention of SIDS should not be an indication for use of home cardiorespiratory monitoring. The use of home monitoring may be warranted for some infants and will be reviewed. SUMMARY: Our jobs as pediatricians should be to ensure that the incidence of SIDS continues to decline. This can be done through parent education at each and every well child visit, lobbying to enforce state law to implement SIDS education campaigns for child care centers and within African-American communities, and continued review of the most current literature in SIDS research to keep ourselves current and well informed.
Functional MRI-guided resection of low grade gliomas

Abstract The purpose was to define the safety and efficacy of using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to guide the resection of low grade gliomas (LGG). From 9/1997 to 2/2003, fMRI was performed in 16 patients (age, 15–43 years) prior to an attempted surgical resection of LGG. Functional imaging was used to identify eloquent cortices for motor (10), speech (3), motor and speech (2), and short-term memory and speech (1) activation with respect to the tumor using a 1.5-T interventional MRI system. Intraoperative MRI (ioMRI) was used to assess the completeness of surgical resection. Tumors were oligodendrogliomas (10), astrocytomas (4), dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor (1), and pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma (1). After surgery, one patient had a transient hemiparesis and another had a temporary apraxia. Ten patients had radiographically complete resections and five with oligodendrogliomas had incomplete resections because of the proximity of their tumors to functional areas. One astrocytoma patient with motor strip involvement received postoperative radiation therapy (RT). Radiographic tumor progression has not yet been seen in any patient with a median follow-up of 21 months (range, 8–83 months). fMRI was accurate in all cases for identifying neurologic function before surgery. Patients with complete resections or incompletely resected oligodendrogliomas were safely followed radiographically after surgery. Radiation therapy was used for unresectable astrocytomas.
POCKETS FULL OF MISTAKES: THE PERSONAL CONSEQUENCES OF RELIGIOUS CHANGE IN A TORAJA VILLAGE

This paper analyses the personal consequences of religious change in a Toraja village, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. It describes how Toraja villagers traditionally define and respond to wrongdoing and then examines their ambivalent reactions to alternatives suggested by Christianity. The paper argues that studies which attempt to evaluate the relative costs and benefits of religious change should specify the subjectively perceived ‘fit’ between old and new religious conceptions and should examine the manner in which individuals use cultural symbols and institutions to order and make sense of their everyday experience.