cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Broken Promises: Equity Sensitivity as a Moderator Between Psychological Contract Breach and Employee Attitudes and Behavior

This study examined the moderating role of equity sensitivity in determining the relationship between psychological contract breach and employees' attitudes and behaviors. Entitled individuals were expected to have greater increases in negative affect toward their organization and greater decreases in job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior than benevolent individuals following a breach of extrinsic outcomes (i.e., pay, benefits). Conversely, benevolents were expected to respond more negatively than their entitled counterparts following a breach of intrinsic outcomes (i.e., autonomy, growth). Results supported most of the study's propositions. Practical implications as well as directions for future research are discussed.
Optimized watershed delineation library for server-side and client-side web applications

The advancements and new techniques in information technologies are making it possible to acquire large-scale spatial data through satellites, radars and sensor networks. The collection of vast amounts of environmental data increased the demand for applications which can manage and process large-scale and high-resolution data sets in real-time. One of the important tasks for organizing and customizing hydrological data sets is the delineation of watersheds on demand. Watershed delineation is a process for creating a boundary that represents the contributing area for a specific control point or water outlet, with the intent of characterization and analysis of portions of a study area. Although many GIS tools and software are available for watershed analysis on desktop systems, there is a need for optimized libraries for client-side and server-side web applications for creating a dynamic and interactive environment for exploring hydrological data. In this project, we developed and demonstrated several watershed delineation techniques on the web, with seven different use cases implemented on the client-side using JavaScript, WebAssembly, and WebGL and on the server-side using Python, Go, C, and Node.js. We also developed a client-side GPGPU (General Purpose Graphical Processing Unit) algorithm to analyze high-resolution terrain data for watershed delineation by benefiting from the parallelizable nature of GPUs. The web-based real-time analysis of watershed segmentation can be helpful for decision-makers and stakeholders while eliminating the need of installing complex software packages and dealing with large-scale data sets.
Abstract 107: Role of p53 Acetylation in Mediating Myocardial Angiogenesis and Diabetic Cardiomyopathy

The prevalence of diabetic heart failure (HF) is increasing at an alarming rate, it is therefore urgent to identify potential therapeutic targets. Accumulating evidence demonstrates the important r...
Reduced chronic pain: Another benefit of recovery at an inpatient rehabilitation facility over a skilled nursing facility?

Abstract Background We sought to compare outcomes 6–12 months post-injury between patients discharged to an inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) and a skilled nursing facility (SNF). Methods Trauma patients admitted to 3 Level-I trauma centers were interviewed to evaluate the presence of daily pain requiring medication, functional outcomes, and physical and mental health-related quality-of-life at 6–12 months post-injury. Inverse-probability-of-treatment-weighting (IPTW)–adjusted analyses were performed to compare outcomes between patients who were discharged to IRF vs SNF. Results A total of 519 patients were included: 389 discharged to IRFs and 130 to SNFs. In adjusted analyses, IRF was associated with a significant reduction in the likelihood of chronic pain after injury (28.3% vs. 44.7%; OR:0.49; 95% CI, 0.26–0.91; P = .02). However, there were no significant differences in functional outcome or SF-12 composite scores between groups. Conclusion Our findings suggest that injured patients discharged to an IRF as compared to a SNF had less chronic pain and analgesic use.
Drone-Assisted Fog-Cloud IoT Content Service Platform for Rural Communities

Although social media and contents are being generated and shared with an unprecedented scale and speed, rural and underdeveloped areas throughout the world have only limited access due to the lack of high-speed Internet. Connecting rural communities to the digital world and providing them with right contents will provide the much-needed bridge between urban and rural areas. In this paper, we propose a communication and information framework that utilizes simple Internet of Things (IoT) in a rural community to assist delay-tolerant content distribution. Specifically, a hybrid fog-cloud content distribution network is constructed by deploying low-end simple fog nodes and utilizing the movement of community vehicles. Moreover, drones are used to distribute content on demand as a compliment of the delay tolerant network for better delivery rate and lower delay time. A novel drone scheduling algorithm is proposed to plan drones’ tours optimally. Extensive simulation experiments have been performed to evaluate the performance of the proposed framework.
MABSTA: Collaborative Computing over Heterogeneous Devices in Dynamic Environments

Collaborative computing, leveraging resource on multiple wireless-connected devices, enables complex applications that a single device cannot support individually. However, the problem of assigning tasks over devices becomes challenging in the dynamic environments encountered in real-world settings, considering that the resource availability and channel conditions change over time in unpredictable ways due to mobility and other factors. In this paper, we formulate the task assignment problem as an online learning problem using an adversarial multi-armed bandit framework. We propose MABSTA, a novel algorithm that learns the performance of unknown devices and channel qualities continually through exploratory probing and makes task assignment decisions by exploiting the gained knowledge. The implementation of MABSTA, based on Gibbs Sampling approach, is computational-light and offers competitive performance in different scenarios on the trace-data obtained from a wireless IoT testbed. Furthermore, we prove that MABSTA is 1-competitive compared to the best offline assignment for any dynamic environment without stationarity assumptions, and demonstrate the polynomial-time algorithm for the exact implementation of the sampling process. To the best of our knowledge, MABSTA is the first online learning algorithm tailored to this class of problems.
Potential Use of Non-invasive Remote Monitoring of Electronically-measured S3 Heart Sounds for Heart Failure Management

Background The third heart sound (S3) is known as a very specific clinical sign for heart failure and is associated with worse clinical outcomes. In the context of heart failure (HF) the presence of a pronounced or audible S3 is a specific sign of elevated filling pressures and is suggestive of a restrictive filling pattern with a steep transmitral E‐wave. Recent work has demonstrated that implantable device-based S3 measurements in the inaudible range, in implantable devices, may be even more predictive of clinical outcomes. Methods Using the Nanowear wearable diagnostic device containing a directional microelectronic machine microphone and electrocardiogram (ECG) capability, we report a system that can effectively detect heart sounds. Results Heart sounds and ECG were measured in a 74-year-old female with Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction admitted for acute on chronic heart failure exacerbation. S3 was isolated using a search window using ECG tracing for identification of S1 and S2 (Figure 1A). Ensemble heart sounds were plotted and root mean square (RMS) mean, in mVolts (mV), were calculated for S3 in sitting (63 mV), supine (250.5 mV) and right lateral decubitus (135.2 mV) positions (Figure 1B, C). Conclusion We report an accurate method, using the Nanowear device, to electronically measure heart sounds that is positionally sensitive. Invasively-measured S3 heart sounds correlate with clinical outcomes, however their utility is limited to patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillator or cardiac resynchronization therapy devices. Future studies may validate non-invasive remote monitoring of S3 heart sounds as a management tool for heart failure patients.
Rab-E and its interaction with myosin XI are essential for polarised cell growth.

The fundamental process of polarised exocytosis requires the interconnected activity of molecular motors trafficking vesicular cargo within a dynamic cytoskeletal network. In plants, few mechanistic details are known about how molecular motors, such as myosin XI, associate with their secretory cargo to support the ubiquitous processes of polarised growth and cell division. Live-cell imaging coupled with targeted gene knockouts and a high-throughput RNAi assay enabled the first characterisation of the loss of Rab-E function. Yeast two-hybrid and subsequent in silico structural prediction uncovered a specific interaction between Rab-E and myosin XI that is conserved between P. patens and A. thaliana. Rab-E co-localises with myosin XI at sites of active exocytosis, and at the growing tip both proteins are spatiotemporally coupled. Rab-E is required for normal plant growth in P. patens and the rab-E and myosin XI phenotypes are rescued by A. thaliana's Rab-E1c and myosin XI-K/E, respectively. Both PpMyoXI and AtMyoXI-K interact with PpRabE14, and the interaction is specifically mediated by PpMyoXI residue V1422. This interaction is required for polarised growth. Our results suggest that the interaction of Rab-E and myosin XI is a conserved feature of polarised growth in plants.
Tourniquet Use in Animal Attacks: An Analysis of News Media Reports.

Background Animal attacks pose a significant public health problem in the United States. Non-venomous animals are the leading cause of mortality in these attacks, and extremity injuries leading to hemorrhage are a common pattern. The Stop the Bleed campaign advocates for public training in bleeding control tactics and public access to bleeding control kits. Controlling life-threatening bleeding, as promoted by the Stop the Bleed campaign, may be a method to reduce preventable death in these attacks. Methodology We searched the Nexus Uni database, which compiles international news media articles, to collect newspaper articles in the United States between 2010 and 2019 that referenced animal attacks on humans in which a tourniquet was applied. We screened articles to assess for inclusion criteria and isolated a single report for each attack. Results A total of 50 individual attacks met the inclusion criteria and were included for data collection. Overall, 92% (n = 46) of the victims survived the attacks, and the average victim age was 33. California was the most common location of the attacks (n = 12, 24%), sharks caused the most attacks (n = 26, 52%), and victims most often sustained isolated extremity injuries (n = 24, 48% for arm and n = 24, 48% for leg). Laypeople applied the most tourniquets (n = 29, 58%), and appliers most frequently used improvised tourniquets (n = 30, 60%). Conclusions While mortality in this series was low, there are hundreds of fatalities from non-venomous animal attacks each year. Equipping and training the at-risk public to stop bleeding may save additional lives. Future Stop the Bleed efforts should improve access to public hemorrhage control equipment and expand educational outreach to people engaged in high-risk activities with animals.
The mechanics of fibrillar collagen extracellular matrix

As a major component of the human body, the extracellular matrix (ECM) is a complex biopolymer network. The ECM not only hosts a plethora of biochemical interactions but also defines the physical microenvironment of cells. The physical properties of the ECM, such as its geometry and mechanics, are critical to physiological processes and diseases such as morphogenesis, wound healing, and cancer. This review provides a brief introduction to the recent progress in understanding the mechanics of ECM for researchers who are interested in learning about this relatively new subject of biophysics. This review covers the mechanics of a single ECM fiber (nanometer scale), the micromechanics of ECM (micrometer scale), and bulk rheology (greater than millimeter scale). Representative experimental measurements and basic theoretical models are introduced side by side. After discussing the physics of ECM mechanics, the review concludes by commenting on the role of ECM mechanics in healthy and tumorigenic tissues and the open questions that call for future studies at the interface of fundamental physics, engineering, and medical sciences.
A Topological-Attention ConvLSTM Network and Its Application to EM Images

Structural accuracy of segmentation is important for fine-scale structures in biomedical images. We propose a novel Topological-Attention ConvLSTM Network (TACLNet) for 3D anisotropic image segmentation with high structural accuracy. We adopt ConvLSTM to leverage contextual information from adjacent slices while achieving high efficiency. We propose a Spatial Topological-Attention (STA) module to effectively transfer topologically critical information across slices. Furthermore, we propose an Iterative Topological-Attention (ITA) module that provides a more stable topologically critical map for segmentation. Quantitative and qualitative results show that our proposed method outperforms various baselines in terms of topology-aware evaluation metrics.
Return to Play and Player Performance After Achilles Tendon Rupture in UEFA Professional Soccer Players: A Matched-Cohort Analysis of Players From 1999 to 2018:

Background:Achilles tendon rupture (ATR) is a potentially career-ending injury in professional athletes. Limited information exists regarding return to play (RTP) in professional soccer players aft...
Validity of breast cancer surgery treatment information in a state-based cancer registry.

Surgery is an important part of early stage breast cancer treatment that affects overall survival. Many studies of surgical treatment of breast cancer rely on data sources that condition on continuous insurance coverage or treatment at specified facilities and thus under-sample populations especially affected by cancer care inequities including the uninsured and rural populations. Statewide cancer registries contain data on first course of cancer treatment for all patients diagnosed with cancer but the accuracy of these data are uncertain. Patients diagnosed with stage I–III breast cancer between 2003 and 2016 were identified using the North Carolina Central Cancer Registry and linked to Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance claims. We calculated the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and Kappa statistics for receipt of surgery and type of surgery (breast conserving surgery or mastectomy) using the insurance claims as the presumed gold standard. Analyses were stratified by race, insurance type, and rurality. Of 26,819 patients who met eligibility criteria, 23,125 were identified as having surgery in both the claims and registry for a sensitivity of 97.9% (95% CI 97.8%, 98.1%). There was also strong agreement for surgery type between the cancer registry and the insurance claims (Kappa: 0.91). Registry treatment data validity was lower for Medicaid insured patients than for Medicare and commercially insured patients. Cancer registry treatment data reliably identified receipt and type of breast cancer surgery. Cancer registries are an important source of data for understanding cancer care in underrepresented populations.
Glycine Uptake in Escherichia coli I. GLYCINE UPTAKE BY WHOLE CELLS OF ESCHERICHIA COLI W+ AND A d-SERINE-RESISTANT MUTANT

Abstract These experiments were designed to investigate the defect in amino acid uptake in a d-serine-resistant mutant (WS) of Escherichia coli W that is deficient in the uptake of glycine. Under conditions in which there is insignificant metabolism of glycine (i.e. 0° under nitrogen), the wild type took up significant amounts of glycine, whereas the WS mutant did not equilibrate with the external glycine pool. The initial rate of glycine uptake by the wild type as a function of the external glycine concentration was nonlinear, increasing rapidly from 1.3 x 10-5 m to 2.6 x 10-4 m and decreasing at concentrations above 2.6 x 10-4 m. The WS mutant took up glycine at an initial rate which was 3- to 4-fold less than that of the wild type. The defect could not be attributed to an increased exit process in the WS mutant. Although the WS mutant was able to take up glycine from low external concentrations to the same extent as the wild type, it did so at a much slower rate. Membrane preparations from the wild type cells were found to take up glycine, and membrane preparations from the WS mutant were found to exhibit the defect in glycine uptake. It is concluded that the defect manifested by this d-serine-resistant mutant of E. coli is in the passage of glycine through the cell membrane.
What Does Understanding Mathematics Mean for Teachers?: Relationship as a Metaphor for Knowing

Preface Acknowledgments 1: Introduction to a Phenomenon 1.9: A Tangent Prior to the Rise (and Run) 2: Relationship As Reciprocity: Grace 3: A Bringing Forth Of Self: Will 4: Relationship as Interest 5: "Doing" Mathematics and Its Relation to the Life Path of Being a Mathematics Teacher/Educator An Epilogue in Two Parts Part 1: Returning to the Episode of the Straitjacket Part 2: Relationship as a Returning: Going Past "Understanding" Appendix: A Narrativized "Methodology" References
Distributed load-sensitive routing for computationally-constrained flows

A network that provides not only connectivity but also computational resources to application flows will enable a new array of network services. For example, applications that require content adaptation can be deployed more easily in a network that provides integrated communication and computational resources. In this paper, we study the problem of finding a path for a flow that has both computational and bandwidth constraints. We present a distributed load-resistive routing algorithm that generates precomputed routing information and optimizes the routing decisions for both applications and computational and communication resource providers. We show through simulations that our distributed approach performs comparably to a centralized algorithm and is more resilient to longer routing update intervals.
Characterization of dexamethasone-induced reactivation of latent bovine herpesvirus 1.

Synchronous reactivation of bovine herpesvirus type 1 in all latently infected rabbits was achieved following a single intravenous dose of dexamethasone. Reactivated latent virus was first present in ocular secretions between 48 and 72 h post-dexamethasone treatment (PT). Cell-free infectious virus, viral-antigen-containing neurons, and pathologic changes were detectable in trigeminal ganglia (TG) by 48 h PT. A shift from the viral transcriptional pattern characteristic of the latent state (latency-related RNA [LR RNA]) to one typical of that seen during acute infection was detected in a small number of neurons in latently infected TG between 15 and 18 h PT, with viral DNA first detectable by in situ hybridization at 18 to 21 h PT. The number of LR RNA-containing neurons in latently infected TG decreased significantly at 24 and 48 h PT but returned to near-normal levels by 72 h PT. Correlation of this decrease with viral reactivation suggests that altered regulation of LR RNA transcription is a significant event in the process of viral reactivation. Images
Partial Least Squares‐Background and Applications

Partial Least Squares (PLS), as described in this article, is a method of statistical analysis for characterizing and making inferences about the relationship(s) among two or more causally related blocks of variables in terms of pairs of latent variables. The methods of computation and inference for 2-block PLS analysis are described and illustrated for an application in behavioral teratology relating a block of 9 subscale scores on the WAIS-R IQ test measured on 419 subjects to a block of 13 measures of prenatal maternal alcohol consumption. Keywords: behavioral teratology; calibration; causal modeling; latent variables; permutation tests
Friendship characteristics, psychosocial development, and adolescent identity formation

Young adults (n = 702; 18–23 years old) completed measures of psychosocial development, identity status, and friendship. Friendship conflict and support were related with psychosocial development, and with the identity statuses. As per Erikson's prescription, early psychosocial stages were relevant to the identity statuses. After statistically controlling for the predictive variability contributed by trust, autonomy, initiative, and industry with the identity status measures, conflict and support within friendships contributed predictive variability to identity achievement (3.2%), moratorium (2.4%), and diffusion (2.5%), but neither conflict nor support within friendships was related to foreclosure scores. Conflict within friendships was positively related with moratorium and diffusion, and support within friendships was negatively related with diffusion.
Assessing Patellar Instability : Relating Tibial Tubercle Trochlear Groove Distance to Patient Specific Anatomy

Objectives:Patients with patellar instability and tibial tubercle to trochlear groove (TT-TG) distances ≥ 20 mm are often considered to have pathologic lateralization of the tibial tubercle (TT) re...
Ultra-thin film SOI/CMOS with selective-epi source/drain for low series resistance, high drive current

A self-aligned selective epitaxial technique is used to overcome the high source/drain resistance problem in ultra-thin film SOI/CMOS devices. Very low series resistances, comparable to those for bulk CMOS devices, are demonstrated with this selective-epi source/drain. >
Conjugated dimers of horseradish peroxidase as neuroanatomical tracers

Abstract Horseradish peroxidase dimer (HRP-HRP) and monomer (HRP) were compared in their ability to act as neuroanatomical tracers. Dimers exhibited less diffusion at the site of injection. At 48–72 h survival periods, there were no appreciable differences in the retrograde neuronal labeling produced by these two compounds. However, at 7 days survival, there was little retrograde labeling due to the presence of monomer while dimer labeling was still intense.
Effect of the composition of sodium dodecyl sulfate preparations on the renaturation of enzymes after polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.

The extent of renaturation of enzymes after polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate depended on the source of the detergent. Analysis of commercial preparations of sodium dodecyl sulfate revealed appreciable amounts of tetradecyl and hexadecyl sulfates in some preparations. Inhibition of renaturation was correlated with the amount of hexadecyl sulfate and, to a much lesser extent, of tetradecyl sulfate present. The higher alkyl sulfates appeared to bind more tenaciously to proteins in the gel. More extensive washing was required to remove them than to remove dodecyl sulfate, and they were inhibitory to enzyme activity at lower detergent concentrations. A system is described for gas chromatographic analysis of alkyl sulfates containing chains of 10 to 16 carbon atoms in length.
Decision support for acute problems: The role of the standardized patient in usability testing

For applications that require clinician use while interacting with patients, usability testing with standardized patients has the potential to approximate actual patient care in a controlled setting. We used hypothetical scenarios and a standardized patient to collect quantitative and qualitative results in testing an early prototype of a new application, the Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) Smart Form. The standardized patient fit well into the usability testing sessions. Clinicians had a positive response to the standardized patients and behaved as they normally would during a clinical encounter. Positive findings of the ARI Smart Form included that users thought it had impressive functionality and the potential to save time. Criticism focused on the visual design, which could be streamlined, and navigation, which was difficult in some areas. Based on these results, we are modifying the ARI Smart Form in preparation for use in actual patient care. Standardized patients should be considered for usability testing, especially if an application is to be used during the patient interview.
The diagonal hypergraph of a matrix (bipartite graph)

Let A be an n x n matrix of 0's and 1's (a bipartite graph). The diagonal hypergraph of A is the hypergraph whose vertices correspond to the 1's (edges) of A and whose edges correspond to the positive diagonals (1-factors) of A. The numerical invariants of this hypergraph are investigated.
Current research in timed release of repair chemicals from fibers into matrices

The subject of this research is the enhancement of properties beyond that available in an original hardened material by the release of 'healing' chemicals such as adhesives from hollow fibers into cementitious matrices in response to loading. Thus, the sensing of a crack by the fibers or the breaking of coating starts the activation of a remedial process (i.e., the release of a sealing or adhering chemical). This capacity for self-healing occurs whenever and wherever cracks are generated. In terms of fracture mechanics, this research concerns the repair of cracks and rebonding of fibers by chemicals released from hollow fibers at the fiber wall and into the adjacent cracks. The overall property change is an increased flexural toughening. The mechanisms for that appears to be an adhesive rebonding of the fibers and a crack-filling with adhesives which causes the material to become stronger when it is bonded inside cracks or pores.© (1994) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
The adsorptive chemostress effect

Using the double-time Green's function formalism of quantum-statistical mechanics, it is shown that the chemical potential of an adatom, for the van der Waals interaction of the adatom with the solid substrate, can change significantly when the substrate is subjected to mechanical stress. Es wird der Einflus mechanischer Spannung auf die Adsorption von Atomen an Festkorpern im Falle von van der Waals-Wechselwirkungen untersucht. Das chemische Potential (μ) des adsorbierten Atoms wird mit Hilfe der zweizeitigen Greenschen Funktionen der Quantenstatistik berechnet, wobei wesentliche Veranderungen von μ bei Kompression des Substrats festgestellt werden.
Relationship between amnesia and brain seizures in rats.

Abstract The brain stimulation intensity necessary to produce seizures and retrograde amnesia was examined at three locations: frontal cortex, posterior cortex, and a far posterior placement. Posterior cortex had the lowest brain seizure and retrograde amnesia thresholds; the far posterior placement had the highest brain seizure and retrograde amnesia thresholds. These results suggest that the amnesic properties of the brain stimulation may be linked in some way to brain seizures. However, the relationship is not a simple one; cortically elicited brain seizures are not always effective in disrupting memory.
Spectroscopic intensity measurement of atmospheric-pressure helium arcs

Abstract Intensity distribution of six HeI spectral lines have been measured across wall-confined helium arcs at atmospheric-pressure and arc currents of 100, 160 and 210 A. Examination of Abel-inverted absolute intensities of these lines shows that the populations of the upper excited states of the neutral atoms are in local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) with the free electrons at a common electron temperature, but are not in equilibrium with the ground-state population. The temperatures calculated from the absolute intensities are different for different lines and different from the temperature derived from the relative intensity method.
An Experimental Examination of Information Technology and Compensation Structure Complementarities in an Expert System Context

This paper investigates the interaction between compensation structures and expert system technology. One hundred twenty‐two participants selected a contract (fixed pay or performance‐contingent incentives) and performed one of two risk‐rating tasks either in the presence or absence of an externally valid expert system. For both tasks, the expert system increased decision accuracy only for participants selecting performance‐contingent incentives, and these incentives increased decision accuracy only in the presence of the expert system, consistent with a complementary interaction. The results support the view that expert system technology changes task requirements and, hence, may also change self‐selection and effort compensation contracting effects. The results provide evidence about the interdependence of organization, system, and individual factors in determining task performance, and suggest that organizational performance may be improved through the joint implementation of expert systems and performa...
Expression of human β-defensins in conjunctival epithelium : relevance to dry eye disease

Purpose - The goals of this study were to investigate whether β-defensins are differentially expressed in the conjunctival epithelium of patients with moderate dry eye when compared with normal subjects and whether proinflammatory cytokines or bacteria can modulate the expression of human β-defensins (hBDs)-1, -2, and -3 by conjunctival epithelial cells. Methods - RNA extracted from conjunctival impression cytology specimens of eight normal subjects and nine patients with moderate dry eye was used in RT-PCR to detect mRNA for hBDs-1, -2, and -3. Two conjunctival epithelial cell lines and primary cultured conjunctival epithelial cells were treated with proinflammatory cytokines or heat-killed Pseudomonas aeruginosa. RT-PCR and immunoblot analysis were used to detect mRNA for hBD-1, -2, and -3 and protein secretion of hBD-2, respectively. Results - hBD-2 message was detected in RNA samples of eight of nine patients with dry eye, but not in any of the normal subjects’ samples, whereas hBD-1 and -3 were detected in all subjects tested. RT-PCR revealed an upregulation of hBD-2 but no difference in expression of hBD-1 and -3 in cultured conjunctival cells after a 24-hour treatment with 10 ng/mL interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-1β and tumor necrosis factor-α (10 ng/mL) or heat-killed Pseudomonas aeruginosa (1 million colony-forming units; n = 3). hBD-2 expression was upregulated from 4 hours of treatment with IL-1β (at 10 ng/mL; (n = 2–3) and at a concentration of 0.1 ng/mL IL-1β (24-hour treatment; n = 2–3). Immunoblots demonstrated protein secretion results corresponding to the RT-PCR data. Conclusions - hBD-2 was expressed only in the conjunctival epithelium of patients with moderate dry eye. Because cytokines such as IL-1β and TNF-α induced the expression of hBD-2 by conjunctival epithelial cells and because increased proinflammatory cytokine activity is a feature of dry eye disease, it can be speculated that the hBD-2 upregulation observed in subjects with moderate dry eye is mediated by proinflammatory cytokine activity.
Cooperative Extension's public affairs tradition and community development

Abstract The author touches on the relationship of the Land Grant System to community development and briefly sketches the history of the public affairs approach. He also presents an outline of public affairs methodology. Some ideas on the relation of community development to public affairs are presented.
Rayleigh Linewidth Measurements on Binary Liquid Films near the Critical Point

The first measurements are reported of the Rayleigh linewidth of binary liquid films near the critical point for which the correlation length is comparable to the film thickness. The present data are in good agreement with the predictions of renormalization-group theory for binary liquids in three spatial dimensions with no adjustable fitting parameters. No influence of finite size or bounding surfaces on the linewidth are observed.
Altered IL-7Rα expression with aging and the potential implications of IL-7 therapy on CD8 + T cell immune responses

We investigated the effects of aging on the IL-7-mediated CD8+ T-cell survival pathway and of IL-7 therapy on T-cell immunity. Cells expressing IL-7 receptor (IL-7R) αhigh and αlow were identified in a CD45RA+ effector memory (EMCD45RA+, CD45RA+CCR7-) CD8+ T-cell subset. Elderly subjects (65 years and older) had an increased frequency of EMCD45RA+ IL-7Rαlow CD8+ T cells, leading to decreased STAT5 phosphorylation and survival responses to IL-7 compared with young subjects (40 years and younger). These EMCD45RA+ IL-7Rαlow cells were largely antigen experienced (CD27-CD28-), replicatively senescent (CD57+), and perforinhigh CD8+ T cells that had decreased IL-7Rα mRNA, independent of guanine and adenine binding protein α (GABPα) and growth factor independence-1 (GFI1) expression. In measuring T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoires of EMCD45RA+ CD8+ T cells, the elderly had a limited repertoire in IL-7Rαhigh and IL-7Rαlow cells, whereas the young had a diverse repertoire in IL-7Rαhigh but not in IL-7Rαlow cells. These findings suggest that aging affects IL-7Rα expression by EMCD45RA+ CD8+ T cells, leading to impaired signaling and survival responses to IL-7, and that IL-7 therapy may improve the survival of EMCD45RA+ CD8+ T cells with a diverse TCR repertoire in the young but not in the elderly.
The origins of fear of snakes

Abstract In the present study, a questionnaire about the nature and origin of fear of snakes was administered to 60 Phobic, 82 Low Fear and 35 High Fear college students. Phobic and High Fear subjects reported greater fear on a variety of components of snake fear. There was little evidence supporting the role of direct conditioning experiences in the acquisition of fear of snakes. Rather, the results suggested a variety of observational and instructional learning experiences as related to the acquisition of snake fear. Although preparedness for direct conditioning does not seem relevant, a preparedness for observational and instructional learning is possible.
Transitions In and Out of Alcohol Use Disorders: Their Associations with Conditional Changes in Quality of Life Over a 3-Year Follow-Up Interval†

Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate longitudinal changes in quality of life (QOL) as a function of transitions in alcohol use disorders (AUD) over a 3-year follow-up of a general US population sample. Methods: The analysis is based on individuals who drank alcohol in the year preceding the Wave 1 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions and were reinterviewed at Wave 2 (n = 22,245). Using multiple linear regression models, changes in SF-12 QOL were estimated as a function of DSM-IV AUD transitions, controlling for baseline QOL and multiple potential confounders. Results: Onset and offset of AUD were strongly associated with changes in mental/psychological functioning, with significant decreases in mental component summary (NBMCS) scores among individuals who developed dependence and significant increases among those who achieved full and partial remission from dependence. The increases in overall NBMCS and its social functioning, role emotional and mental health components were equally great for abstinent and nonabstinent remission from dependence, but improvements in bodily pain and general health were associated with nonabstinent remission only. Onset of abuse was unrelated to changes in QOL, and the increase in NBMCS associated with nonabstinent remission from abuse only was slight. Individuals with abuse only or no AUD who stopped drinking had significant declines in QOL. Conclusions: These results suggest the possible importance of preventing and treating AUD for maintaining and/or improving QOL. They are also consistent with the sick quitter hypothesis and suggest that abuse is less a mental disorder than a maladaptive pattern of behavior.
Micromechanic analysis of fatigue band crossing grain boundary

Displacement of dislocations in metals causes plastic strain which is often highly localized and produces fatigue bands under cyclic loadings. Inside these bands, highly concentrated dislocation pile-ups develop at the grain boundary, causing severe resolved shear stress exceeding the critical shearing stress. This excessive stress is relieved either by nucleation of crack at the grain boundary or by forming another fatigue band in the neighboring crystal. Micromechanic analyses were performed on a fatigue band in a most favorably oriented crystal and an adjacent crystal with a slightly different orientation. Two cases were analyzed: (1) The most favorably oriented crystal with a sliding direction making 45° with the free surface in an aluminum polycrystal; and (2) Two adjacent crystals with sliding directions parallel to the free surface of a copper polycrystal subject to variable loadings. Results show that the amount of slip that propagates across the grain boundary reduces rapidly with the difference in orientations between the two crystals. In (2), two sequences of loadings were calculated: one is a low-amplitude loading followed by a high-amplitude loading (LH) and the other is a high-amplitude loading followed by a low-amplitude loading (HL). The LH sequence shows that the low-amplitude loading has no significant effect on the deformation in the subsequent high-amplitude loading. On the other hand, in the HL sequence, the high-amplitude loading has significant effect on the deformation in the low-amplitude loading. All these analytical results agree well with experimental observations.
PATHOLOGY ASSOCIATED WITH Cryptobia INFECTION IN A SUMMER FLOUNDER (Paralichthys dentatus)

A laboratory-held summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus) became moribund and presented gross ulcerative and hemorrhagic lesions, concomitant with a space-occupying lesion in the abdominal cavity and a prolapsed rectum. Edema, hemorrhage, and necrosis of the intestine and edema of the stomach wall were noted upon post-mortem examination. Microscopic examination revealed large numbers of Cryptobia in the submucosa of the gut and in the liver.
Osteoclastic bone resorption around intraosseous screws in rat and pig mandibles.

This report describes osteoclastic bone resorption around intraosseous fixation screws in rat and pig mandibles. These screws supported distraction devices and provided for neutral fixation following the distraction period. Progressive clinical instability of bicortical screws and radiographic and histologic evidence of osseous resorption were frequent findings. In rats, clinical evaluation revealed screw loss and/or loosening in 50% of the rats between 11 and 30 days of neutral fixation. Radiographic signs of resorption were apparent around 60% of the screws that were in place at the end of the observation period. The total rate of resorption or loss was 64 of 80 screws (80%). Histologic examination showed partial or extensive osteolysis around the screw holes in 87% of screws that were clinically fixed in the bone at sacrifice. In histologic sections of porcine specimens, osseous resorption around identifiable screw holes was present in 75% of the cases, and showed progressive increase in resorption with time. Osteoclastic resorption was common around bicortical screws that were evaluated after they had served for osseous stability.
Polycomb Group proteins: an evolutionary perspective

The chromatin-associated Polycomb Group (PcG) proteins were first identified in genetic screens for homeotic transformations in Drosophila melanogaster. In addition to body patterning in metazoans, members of the PcG are now known to regulate epigenetic cellular memory, pluripotency and stem cell self-renewal. Here, we discuss the functional versatility of the PcG family and the evolutionary history of a subset of these proteins including Drosophila E(z), Pc, Psc, dRing and their homologs in plants and animals. We propose that PcG gene expansion and diversification contributed significantly to the complexity of heritable gene repression mechanisms in extant multicellular organisms.
Genetic and Structural Characterization of an L201P Global Suppressor Substitution in TEM-1 β-Lactamase

TEM-1 beta-lactamase confers bacterial resistance to penicillin antibiotics and has acquired mutations that permit the enzyme to hydrolyze extended-spectrum cephalosporins or to avoid inactivation by beta-lactamase inhibitors. However, many of these substitutions have been shown to reduce activity against penicillin antibiotics and/or result in loss of stability for the enzyme. In order to gain more information concerning the tradeoffs associated with active site substitutions, a genetic selection was used to find second site mutations that partially restore ampicillin resistance levels conferred by an R244A active site TEM-1 beta-lactamase mutant. An L201P substitution distant from the active site that enhanced ampicillin resistance levels and increased protein expression levels of the R244A TEM-1 mutant was identified. The L201P substitution also increases the ampicillin resistance levels and restores expression levels of a poorly expressed TEM-1 mutant with a core-disrupting substitution. In vitro thermal denaturation of purified protein indicated that the L201P mutation increases the T(m) value of the TEM-1 enzyme. The X-ray structure of the L201P TEM-1 mutant was determined to gain insight into the increase in enzyme stability. The proline substitution occurs at the N-terminus of an alpha-helix and may stabilize the enzyme by reducing the helix dipole, as well as by lowering the conformational entropy cost of folding due to the reduced number of conformations available in the unfolded state. Collectively, the data suggest that L201P promotes tolerance of some deleterious TEM-1 mutations by enhancing the protein stability of these mutants.
A "Near-Optimum" Multiple Path Routing Algorithm for Space-Based SDI Networks

This paper presents an adaptive routing algorithm for a mid-course, space-based SDI architecture. The goals include rapid recovery from both predictable and unpredictable outages as well as load balancing. Robust operation is critical. The routing table update algorithm is distributed, and it produces loop-free routes from periodic topology update information. In addition, multiple routes are found from source to destination nodes. This allows load splitting among these routes to achieve more effective load balancing. A heuristic is used to distribute the load among these routes. The basic algorithm also provides a mechanism to provide path diversity for added survivability. Recovery from failures detected locally occurs immediately through the use of alternate routes and an event-driven failure recovery algorithm. Simulation results are presented to demonstrate the algorithm behavior.
Radiation therapy as definitive treatment for localized carcinoma of prostate.

A progress report on the treatment of 116 patients with adenocarcinoma of the prostate treated by external irradiation is presented. Fifteen, 60, and 41 patients presented initially with Stages A, B, and C, respectively. The majority of the patients received 7,000–7,500 rads during a period of seven to eight weeks, locally to the prostate gland. The five-year actuarial survival were 90, 70, and 40 per cent for Stages A, B, and C, respectively. The five-year survival rates for patients with well and moderately differentiated tumors were significantly better (45 per cent) than for those with poorly differentiated tumors (24 per cent). The five-year survival rate in the patients who received prior or concomitant hormone manipulation was lower (33 per cent) as compared with those receiving radiation therapy alone (43 per cent). All of the above differences were statistically significant (0.01 level). Of the patients failing, distant metastases have developed in 88 per cent suggesting that subclinical distant metastases might have been present prior to initiation of radiotherapy. The local control rate was 82 per cent. The morbidity of this mode of therapy was found to be acceptable. Radical radiation therapy is an effective method for control of carcinoma of the prostate and is potentially curative.
Partial cortical devascularization results in elevations of cortical nerve growth factor and increases nerve growth factor protein within basal forebrain cholinergic neurons

Abstract Previous studies have demonstrated that partial cortical devascularization results in increased levels of nerve growth factor protein within the tissue immediately surrounding the infarcted region. In the present study, we have used this lesion model to further characterize the nerve growth factor increase by investigating: (i) the time course for this phenomenon; (ii) the impact of the devascularizing lesion on cortical regions not directly impinged upon by the lesion; and (iii) the response of nerve growth factor-sensitive nucleus basalis neurons providing afferent cortical innervation to the increased availability of nerve growth factor within their target territory. Our results indicate that, within the infarcted cortex, nerve growth factor levels increase rapidly following the lesion (up 51% by one day post lesion), reach a maximum of 136% above controls by three days and undergo a slow decline back to baseline levels by 23 days. Within the frontal and cingulate cortices, which are not devascularized by the lesion and show no signs of pathological damage, nerve growth factor levels increase over a similar time course, and with a similar magnitude, to those in the lesioned cortex. Nerve growth factor-sensitive nucleus basalis neurons on the side ipsilateral to the lesion respond to increased cortical nerve growth factor levels with an increased accumulation of nerve growth factor within their cell bodies (revealed by nerve growth factor immunohistochemistry and quantitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) which was apparent at three days following the lesion, but no longer discernible at seven or 14 days or later. The present study investigated a model of cortical devascularization for its ability to alter nerve growth factor levels within the cortex. Nerve growth factor levels were rapidly increased within the infarcted cortical tissue beneath the lesion but were also elevated to a similar extent, and with a similar time course, in cortical regions not directly impinged upon by the lesion. The retrograde impact of elevated cortical nerve growth factor levels was demonstrated by an increased accumulation of nerve growth factor within the cell bodies of nucleus basalis neurons providing innervation to the cortex. This lesion model should provide a potential avenue for investigating the functional role(s) of nerve growth factor in the intact and lesioned adult central nervous system, as well as the internal mechanisms for regulating its synthesis, release, uptake, and degradation.