cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sexual behaviors, relationships, and perceived health among adult men in the United States: results from a national probability sample.

ABSTRACT Introduction To provide a foundation for those who provide sexual health services and programs to men in the United States, the need for population‐based data that describes men's sexual behaviors and their correlates remains. Aims The purpose of this study was to, in a national probability survey of men ages 18–94 years, assess the occurrence and frequency of sexual behaviors and their associations with relationship status and health status. Methods A national probability sample of 2,522 men aged 18 to 94 completed a cross‐sectional survey about their sexual behaviors, relationship status, and health. Main Outcome Measures Relationship status; health status; experience of solo masturbation, partnered masturbation, giving oral sex, receiving oral sex, vaginal intercourse and anal intercourse, in the past 90 days; frequency of solo masturbation, vaginal intercourse and anal intercourse in the past year. Results Masturbation, oral intercourse, and vaginal intercourse are prevalent among men throughout most of their adult life, with both occurrence and frequency varying with age and as functions of relationship type and physical health status. Masturbation is prevalent and frequent across various stages of life and for both those with and without a relational partner, with fewer men with fair to poor health reporting recent masturbation. Patterns of giving oral sex to a female partner were similar to those for receiving oral sex. Vaginal intercourse in the past 90 days was more prevalent among men in their late 20s and 30s than in the other age groups, although being reported by approximately 50% of men in the sixth and seventh decades of life. Anal intercourse and sexual interactions with other men were less common than all other sexual behaviors. Conclusion Contemporary men in the United States engage in diverse solo and partnered sexual activities; however, sexual behavior is less common and more infrequent among older age cohorts. Reece M, Herbenick D, Schick V, Sanders SA, Dodge B, and Fortenberry JD. Sexual behaviors, relationships, and perceived health among adult men in the United States: Results from a national probability sample. J Sex Med 2010;7(suppl 5):291–304.
Detection and Characterization of a Protein Isoaspartyl Methyltransferase Which Becomes Trapped in the Extracellular Space During Blood Vessel Injury

Injury to rat blood vessels in vivo was found to release intracellular pools of protein D-aspartyl/L-isoaspartyl carboxyl methyltransferase (PIMT) into the extracellular milieu, where it becomes trapped. This trapped cohort of PIMT is able to utilize radiolabeled S-adenosyl-L-methionine (AdoMet) introduced into the circulation to methylate blood vessel proteins containing altered aspartyl residues. As further shown in this study, methylated substrates are detected only at the specific site of injury. In vitro studies more fully characterized this endogenous PIMT activity in thoracic aorta and inferior vena cava. Methylation kinetics, immunoblotting, and the lability of methylated substrates at mild alkaline pH were used to demonstrate that both types of blood vessel contain an endogenous protein D-aspartyl/L-isoaspartyl carboxyl methyltransferase (PIMT). At least 50% of the PIMT activity is resistant to nonionic detergent extraction, suggesting that the enzyme activity becomes trapped within or behind the extracellular matrix (ECM). Quantities of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), another soluble enzyme of presumed intracellular origin, were found to be similarly trapped in the extracellular space of blood vessels.
Constructing a Discourse of Inquiry: Findings from a Five-Year Ethnography at One Elementary School.

Background/ContextIn an age of test-driven accountability, many schools are returning to banking pedagogies in which students passively take in content. Inquiry-based instruction offers one approac...
Using the Pregnancy Perception of Risk Questionnaire to Assess Health Care Literacy Gaps in Maternal Perception of Prenatal Risk

In order to make appropriate decisions, patients must be able to understand and use the context-specific health information with which they have been provided, and health providers must be able to convey information to patients who possess varying degrees of health literacy. Adherence to medical recommendations often depends on patient perception of their medical risks and the importance they attach to those risks. In obstetrics, maternity patients are generally identified as high risk or non-high risk (routine). Conferring the designation of "high risk" may confer additional benefits in educational efforts, literacy evaluation, and relief of educational barriers to care that are reflected in high-risk patients' higher assessments of their risks. In this study, medically identified risk factors were reviewed for patients in the high-risk and routine obstetrical clinics. Patients labeled as "routine" might still possess significant numbers and types of medically identified risk factors (MIFs) due to patients' socioeconomic status and health risks. If prenatal risk is a spectrum, adaptation of obstetrical health care materials and culturally appropriate counseling may mitigate gaps between patient understanding of their MIF number and type and patient risk perception in order to reach the goal of universally improved patient adherence to medical recommendations.
Black Parenting Couples’ Discussions of the Racial Socialization Process: Occurrence and Effectiveness

Racial socialization (RS) is one of the most important practices Black parents undertake to promote the well-being of Black children. However, research has not examined how Black coparents navigate RS together. Integrating principles from the RS and coparenting literatures, this study investigated whether individual (e.g., racial identity), couple (e.g., relationship satisfaction), and contextual (e.g., neighborhood composition) correlates influenced the occurrence and effectiveness of inter-parental dialogue about RS. Forty-four couples completed surveys and responded to two RS vignettes, which were videotaped and coded. Actor-partner interdependence models (APIM) revealed significant actor and partner effects at all levels. Implications of the current study are discussed in terms of future research on how parents traverse the RS process are presented.
Factors Associated With Designation of a Substitute Decision-Maker in Older Asian Americans: The Role of Cultural Factors.

The present study examined the prevalence of and factors associated with the designation of a substitute decision-maker (SDM) in a sample of older Asian Americans. Particular emphasis was placed on...
Programmable Synthesis of 2-Deoxyglycosides

Control of glycoside bond stereochemistry is the central challenge in the synthesis of oligosaccharides. 2-Deoxyglycosides, which lack a C2 substituent to guide stereoselectivity, are among the most difficult classes of glycoside bond constructions. Here we present a method to synthesize 2-deoxysaccharides with specified glycoside bond stereochemistry using a nucleophilic carbohydrate residue and the synthetic equivalent of an alcohol electrophile. Because the configuration of the nucleophile can be precisely controlled, both α- and β-glycosides can be synthesized from the same starting material in nearly all cases examined. Stereoselectivities in these reactions are often greater than 50:1 and yields typically exceed 70%. This strategy is amenable to the stereocontrolled syntheses of trisaccharide diastereomers, and a tetrasaccharide. This method may be extensible to other classes of carbohydrates.
Amphetamines signal through intracellular TAAR1 receptors coupled to Gα13 and GαS in discrete subcellular domains

The extensive use of amphetamines to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorders in children provides a compelling rationale for understanding the mechanisms of action of amphetamines and amphetamine-related drugs. We have previously shown that acute amphetamine (AMPH) regulates the trafficking of both dopamine and glutamate transporters in dopamine neurons by increasing activation of the small GTPase RhoA and of protein kinase A. Here we demonstrate that these downstream signaling events depend upon the direct activation of a trace amine-associated receptor, TAAR1, an intracellular G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) that can be activated by amphetamines, trace amines, and biogenic amine metabolites. Using cell lines and mouse lines in which TAAR1 expression has been disrupted, we demonstrate that TAAR1 mediates the effects of AMPH on both RhoA and cAMP signaling. Inhibition of different Gα signaling pathways in cell lines and in vivo using small cell-permeable peptides confirms that the endogenous intracellular TAAR1 couples to G13 and to GS α-subunits to increase RhoA and PKA activity, respectively. Results from experiments with RhoA- and PKA-FRET sensors targeted to different subcellular compartments indicate that AMPH-elicited PKA activation occurs throughout the cell, whereas G13-mediated RhoA activation is concentrated near the endoplasmic reticulum. These observations define TAAR1 as an obligate intracellular target for amphetamines in dopamine neurons and support a model in which distinct pools of TAAR1 mediate the activation of signaling pathways in different compartments to regulate excitatory and dopaminergic neurotransmission.
Long-Term Utilization Patterns of Topical Therapy and Clinical Outcomes of Oral Chronic Graft-versus-Host Disease.

ABSTRACT An open-label phase 2 study of topical dexamethasone versus tacrolimus solutions in new-onset oral chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) revealed the superior efficacy of dexamethasone. The objective of this study was to report long-term patterns of topical therapy utilization and clinical outcomes in this cohort after completing the 30-day trial. A retrospective record review was performed from the date of study completion to January 2017. Topical therapies, systemic immunosuppressive therapies, objective measurements (National Institutes of Health severity score, oral mucosal scores), patient- reported outcomes (dryness, sensitivity, pain), and adverse events were recorded for oral cGVHD-related outpatient visits. Follow-up (FU) periods were defined as FU1 (0-1 month), FU2 (1-3 months), FU3 (3-6 months), FU4 (6-12 months), FU5 (12-18 months), and FU6 (18-24 months). Forty patients (52.5% males, median age, 56 years) completed the clinical trial and were included in the analysis. Topical therapies used were dexamethasone, tacrolimus, clobetasol, or a combination of these agents. At FU1, all 40 patients were receiving topical therapy, which decreased to 54.5% (12 out of 22) at FU6. Clinician-reported oral mucosal scores (0-12) and patient-reported sensitivity scores (0-10) decreased over time from FU1 (median mucosal score, 3; sensitivity, 3) to FU6 (mucosal score, 1; sensitivity, 2). Intralesional steroid therapy was provided to 6 patients for management of refractory oral ulcerations, all within the first year of follow-up. Patients with de novo symptomatic oral cGVHD may require long-term care with topical immunomodulatory therapy for up to 2 years, if not longer. Topical steroid and tacrolimus therapies are safe and effective in managing symptomatic oral cGVHD. Second-line topical therapy for refractory oral cGVHD requires further investigation.
A Note on Quantum Markov Models

The study of Markov models is central to control theory and machine learning. A quantum analogue of partially observable Markov decision process was studied in (Barry, Barry, and Aaronson, Phys. Rev. A, 90, 2014). It was proved that goal-state reachability is undecidable in the quantum setting, whereas it is decidable classically. In contrast to this classical-to-quantum transition from decidable to undecidable, we observe that the problem of approximating the optimal policy which maximizes the average discounted reward over an infinite horizon remains decidable in the quantum setting. Given that most relevant problems related to Markov decision process are undecidable classically (which immediately implies undecidability in the quantum case), this provides one of the few examples where the quantum problem is tractable.
Social Science Professions and Professionalization

This article focuses on social science professions in the United States. It addresses the nature of these professions, the process of professionalization, degree production and graduate enrollment in social sciences fields, degree completion, and time-to-degree. Moreover, this article examines diversity and the social sciences doctoral degree, international comparisons in social sciences doctoral degree production, and the contours of the labor force in these fields.
A quantitative measure of treatment response in recent‐onset type 1 diabetes

Introduction This paper develops a methodology and defines a measure that can be used to separate subjects that received an experimental therapy into those that benefitted from those that did not in recent-onset type 1 diabetes. Benefit means a slowing (or arresting) the decline in beta-cell function over time. The measure can be applied to comparing treatment arms from a clinical trial or to response at the individual level. Methods An analysis of covariance model was fitted to the 12-month area under the curve C-peptide following a 2-hour mixed meal tolerance test from 492 individuals enrolled on five TrialNet studies of recent-onset type 1 diabetes. Significant predictors in the model were age and C-peptide at study entry. The observed minus the model-based expected C-peptide value (quantitative response, QR) is defined to reflect the effect of the therapy. Results A comparison of the primary hypothesis test for each study included and a t test of the QR value by treatment group were comparable. The results were also confirmed for a new TrialNet study, independent of the set of studies used to derive the model. With our proposed analytical method and using QR as the end-point, we conducted simulation studies, to estimate statistical power in detecting a biomarker that expresses differential treatment effect. The QR in its continuous form provided the greatest statistical power when compared to several ways of defining responder/non-responder using various QR thresholds. Conclusions This paper illustrates the use of the QR, as a measure of the magnitude of treatment effect at the aggregate and subject-level. We show that the QR distribution by treatment group provides a better sense of the treatment effect than simply giving the mean estimates. Using the QR in its continuous form is shown to have higher statistical power in comparison with dichotomized categorization.
Supreme Court Strips States of Their Power Over the World's Second Most Important Technology

The Supreme Court recently stripped 47 or the 50 the states of legal power that the states thought that they possessed over power. The Court re-etched in great relief the most important “bright line” in American law. This article analyzes every important step of how the Supreme Court arrived at the legal point to reset the architecture of American power and did so through a unanimous decision. The article charts key implications for U.S. law going forward. Recent other decisions issued by the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 7th, 8th, and D.C. Circuit Courts of Appeals — a majority of circuits — reinforce an increasingly exclusive federal architecture for certain power regulation into the future. This article analyzes a palette of decisions rendered by the Supreme Court, half of the federal Courts of Appeals, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, each of which apply and reinterpret the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution to determine the future of American power law and regulation. The result is that the states have ceded much of their assumed power in these decisions. The fulcrum of legal power has shifted fundamentally, as analyzed in detail in this article.
Geomechanical effects of carbon sequestration as CO2 hydrates and CO2-N2 hydrates on host submarine sediments

Over the past 10 years, more than 300 trillion kg of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) have been emitted into the atmosphere, deemed responsible for climate change. The capture and storage of CO2 has been therefore attracting research interests globally. CO2 injection in submarine sediments can provide a way of CO2 sequestration as solid hydrates in sediments by reacting with pore water. However, CO2 hydrate formation may occur relatively fast, resulting decreasing CO2 injectivity. In response, nitrogen (N2 ) addition has been suggested to prevent potential blockage through slower CO2 -N2 hydrate formation process. Although there have been studies to explore this technique in methane hydrate recovery, little attention is paid to CO2 storage efficiency and geomechanical responses of host marine sediments. To better understand carbon sequestration efficiency via hydrate formation and related sediment geomechanical behaviour, this study presents numerical simulations for single well injection of pure CO2 and CO2 -N2 mixture into submarine sediments. The results show that CO2 -N2 mixture injection improves the efficiency of CO2 storage while maintaining relatively small deformation, which highlights the importance of injectivity and hydrate formation rate for CO2 storage as solid hydrates in submarine sediments.
The Effect of External Monitoring on Accrual-Based and Real Earnings Management: Evidence from Venture-Backed Initial Public Offerings*

This paper investigates the effect of venture capitalist (VC) quality on earnings management in firms conducting initial public offerings of their equity stock, focusing on manipulation of both accruals and real activities. I develop a measure of VC quality based on a principal components factor analysis using data that are obtainable for virtually all VC firms. This metric is highly correlated with VC funds’ financial returns, and with the likelihood of successful exits through initial public offerings or trade sales. After going public, companies backed by higher quality VCs have lower abnormal accruals, lower earnings management through real activities manipulation, and a lower likelihood of financial restatement. Companies backed by top-quartile VCs do not appear to engage in real activities manipulation as a substitute for accruals manipulation. Companies backed by lower-tier VCs exhibit earnings management behaviors which are indistinguishable from those of non-VC-backed companies. The results continue to hold when controlling for endogeneity. Overall, the results suggest that higher quality VCs are better able to constrain opportunistic financial reporting by their portfolio companies going public.
Internet Traffic and Portfolio Returns

We examined whether traffic data on sites owned by publicly listed Internet companies provide information about the future of those companies that is useful in portfolio management. The study shows that when Internet companies are classified into portfolios according to above-median and below-median traffic data, the more popular sites provide significantly better stock returns than the less popular sites. These results may be explained by the superior ability of popular sites to attract advertising revenues and extract greater compensation from affiliated sites. They may also indicate investors' perceptions that the more popular sites have greater network externalities (in which the value of being a part of the network increases with the number of members already in the network) and have the ability to generate higher future profits and cash flows. These results carried through to offline companies with Internet sites in 1999 but not in 2000, possibly because the online operations of offline companies were still not a material component of the companies' revenues and cash flows.
Interactions of nanoscale plastics with natural organic matter and silica surfaces using a quartz crystal microbalance

Abstract Interactions of nanoscale plastics with natural organic matter (NOM) and silica surfaces were investigated using a quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D). Polyethylene and polystyrene are the most used plastic polymers and most likely to accumulate in the environment, and thus their nano-scale interactions were investigated in this study. Deposition and release of polyethylene and polystyrene nanoscale plastics were investigated on silica and NOM-coated surfaces in the presence of different salt types (NaCl, CaCl2, MgCl2) and ionic strengths (IS). Polyethylene nanoscale plastics showed negligible deposition on silica surface, while significant deposition of polystyrene nanoscale plastics was observed on silica surface. However, both polyethylene and polystyrene nanoscale plastics showed significant deposition on NOM-coated surfaces, with polystyrene showing higher deposition. Increased IS resulted in greater deposition of both polyethylene and polystyrene nanoscale plastics on NOM-coated surfaces due to the functional groups, following DLVO theory. Deposited polyethylene nanoscale plastics on NOM-coated surfaces can be remobilized whereas deposition of polystyrene nanoscale plastics was irreversible on both silica and NOM-coated surfaces. Overall, higher deposition of nanoscale plastics on NOM-coated surfaces indicates that fate and mobility of nanoscale plastics in the environment will be significantly governed by their interactions with NOM.
Development of an open hardware 3-D printed conveyor device for continuous cryopreservation of non-batched samples

Abstract A great challenge among communities participating in germplasm repository development is to obtain suitable cryopreservation equipment and devices. Commercial programmable freezers are costly and thus unaffordable to many users. Self-made devices have substantial variability , resulting in few opportunities for standardization across communities. The development of open hardware with the increasing accessibility of three-dimensional (3-D) printing offers rapid prototyping and easy fabrication of devices by users around the world at low cost. The present study explored the feasibility of developing operational prototypes of 3-D printed motorized cryopreservation devices for continuous freezing of non-batched samples. A controlled cooling conveyor device (CCCD) was designed and fabricated to cryopreserve sperm samples in straws that were loaded onto chain links suspended over liquid nitrogen held in a Styrofoam box. Cooling rates of 5–34 °C/min for 0.5-mL French straws were produced by adjusting the height of conveyor chains, slopes, and liquid nitrogen mass. The plunge temperature (−47 °C to −61 °C) was controlled by adjustment of conveyor speed. The cooling curves from the CCCD were comparable to a commercial programmable freezer. There were no significant differences in post-thaw motility of sperm from ornamental (Koi) common carp (Cyprinus carpio) among samples frozen with the CCCD and those frozen with a commercial programmable freezer. The post-thaw sperm motility was consistent among samples frozen in the CCCD across a 15-min time span. The CCCD prototypes in the present study proved to be feasible and functional as low-cost, customizable, portable, and yet standardizable options for freezing of individual (non-batched) samples. Additional design alternatives are proposed to facilitate further adaptation and development by diverse user communities.
Transgenesis and Gene Replacement

The advent of transgenic and gene replacement technologies has revolutionized the understanding of gene function and regulation. Precisely manipulating the genome of mammals by introducing or deleting genes gives a unique understanding into how these genes functionally integrate into biology in their endogenous setting. The landscape of genetic manipulation is vast, providing seemingly endless variations of basic methods that are easily adapted to determine specific roles of genes in vivo . Here an overview of the most widely used and informative techniques will be discussed mainly in the context of mouse models.
The Metropolitan Revolution: The Rise of Post-Urban America by Jon C. Teaford

Jon C. Teaford, The Metropolitan Revolution: The Rise of Post-Urban America (New York: Columbia University Press, 2006).In “A Pure Theory of Local Expenditures,” the 1956 article for which he becam...
DUCTILE FRACTURE INITIATION, PROPAGATION, AND ARREST IN CYLINDRICAL VESSELS

Presented is a discussion of an hypothesized analytical explanation of ductile fracture initiation, propagation, and arrest in cylindrical pressure vessels and piping. The hypothesized analytical treatment is an attempt to predict initiation and arrest conditions for ductile fractures using Charpy V-notch plateau energy as a means of determining the toughness of the material. Data from a number of full-scale experiments on gas transmission pipe, nuclear reactor piping, and other cylindrical vessels are presented and are shown to be in agreement with the hypothesis. /Author/
Comment on "Biological effects of stellar collapse neutrinos"

A Comment on the Letter by J.I. Collar, Phys.Rev.Lett.{bold 76}, 999 (1996). The authors of the Letter offer a Reply. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}
An empirical examination of disclosure horizon : evidence from the term structure of implied equity volatilities

We develop and test measures of the horizon of firm uncertainty and of the horizon of managers’ corporate disclosures. The measures exploit information in the term structure of implied equity volatilities to gauge the relative extent to which the information underlying securities prices reflects long-term versus short-term uncertainty. We find that the horizon of firm uncertainty measure is associated with variables that are likely to capture the extent to which firms’ business models result in differing degrees of uncertainty about the long-term versus the short-term. The horizon of managers’ corporate disclosures measure allows us to characterize managers’ disclosures in terms of whether they provide information about long-term business strategies or are more oriented towards short-term operating results. We find that earnings announcements containing management forecasts have shorter disclosure horizons than earnings announcements not containing management forecasts.
Spatial Simulations of Tree Islands for Everglades Restoration

The Florida Everglades, a vast wetland dotted with diverse tree islands, is a uniquely difficult wetland to manage because of competing urban, agricultural and environmental water demands. Tree islands in certain sections of the Everglades have experienced altered hydroperiod due to water management practices that has, at times, caused tree island vegetation to die. This study uses the Everglades Landscape Vegetation Model (ELVM) to investigate whether an observed trend in tree island loss is reversible, and if tree islands can be used as performance measures or ecological indicators for the success of Everglades restoration actions. The ELVM was developed and designed to be a tool to understand the spatial and temporal interactions among vegetation, water, fire and nutrients. Simulation results from this model suggest that hydroperiod is a major factor contributing to tree island development and stability in the Everglades. Simulations of the ELVM indicated that tree island water depths greater than 30 cm and hydroperiods longer than 150 days were decreasing tree island survival rates. According to the model, about 60% of tree islands lost in the Water Conservation Area 2A (WCA-2A) in the last few decades can be recovered by restoring the natural hydrological regimes. As a result, tree island health could be used as a performance measure to evaluate the effects of various hydrological restoration alternatives in the Everglades.
Performance Modeling of a Solar Thermal System for Cooling and Heating in Carnegie Mellon University’s Intelligent Workplace

The Robert L. Preger Intelligent Workplace (IW) is a 650 m2 living laboratory of office space at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA). The IW has received the first commercially available solar absorption system for air-conditioning with integrated controls as a donation from BROAD in August 2006. The IW is now testing this solar thermal system. A TRNSYS model has been developed and used to assist the design of the system, evaluate its performance throughout an entire year, and optimize its initial configuration. The components of the system are a 52 m2 parabolic trough high temperature solar array, a 16 kW hot water and gas fired absorption chiller, and an overall control system. This model predicts the energy required to cool and heat the south part of the IW (around 10 MWh in winter, 15 MWh in summer) and the fraction of that energy that can be provided by solar energy. The effects of significant system parameters — orientation of the receivers, volume of hot/chilled water thermal storage and insulation thicknesses on the piping and tank — on the fraction of solar provided energy have been calculated by the model. This study emphasizes on two significant aspects: - the impact of system integration during the preliminary building design on the energy performance, - the importance of the energy modeling to assist and optimize the design of the system and its operation but also to reduce the investment and operation costs.Copyright © 2007 by CBPD
A device to facilitate combined analog-digital computation

Many computing problems present characteristics which appear to call for both digital and analog-type computers. To the operator of a small computing facility, such problems present a dilemma, for the analog-digital conversion equipment available is generally expensive, highly specialized, or both. This paper describes a device developed at Battelle Memorial Institute which can resolve this problem for a certain (admittedly rather limited) class of problems. Some applications are given.
SU-8 focus control mirrors released by XeF 2 dry etch

SU8-2002 deformable membrane mirrors for primary focus control and compensation of focus-induced spherical aberration have been fabricated using a surface micromachining process with dry etching of silicon in XeF 2 . This process has a higher yield and realizes larger mirrors with a twofold improvement in stroke, relative to a wet release etch process previously described. The use of 3 mm x 4.24 mm elliptical mirrors for 45° incidence focus control in microscopy is described.
Rapid prenatal diagnosis of sickle cell diseases using oligonucleotide ligation assay coupled with laser-induced capillary fluorescence detection.

Prenatal diagnosis of sickle cell diseases has been available for several years, and our laboratory has performed over 1000 prenatal diagnoses. However, currently available techniques are labor-intensive and time-consuming, and thus the diagnosis is delayed, making the mother's decision difficult. We describe a rapid, high-throughput technique based on the ligation assay coupled with automated capillary fluorescence detection. This new approach allows the diagnosis of both Hgb S and Hgb C to be available in a few hours. We have utilized this technique in 30 prenatal diagnoses and found it to be in complete agreement with the standard diagnoses.
Immediate hypersensitivity reactions to food antigens. Detection of human IgE antibodies in vitro and exploration of immunologic mechanisms using the rat mast cell system.

Abstract Sera from 25 subjects with clear-cut clinical histories of immediate-type hypersensitivity reactions to foods (fish, peanut, chocolate, milk, egg, walnut, and shellfish) were studied with the use of the in vitro rat mast cell system in a series of controlled experiments. Significant rat mast cell alteration was produced by the sera in presence of either the suspected antigen or a preparation of monospecific anti-IgE. No degranulation occurred with unrelated food antigens or with anti-IgG, IgA, or IgM preparations in equivalent concentrations. The rat mast cell results correlated well with the clinical histories and the skin tests, except in 3 patients in whom significant degranulation occurred despite negative skin tests. In one patient no degranulation occurred despite a positive skin test. Specific degranulation was shown to occur as a result of either passive sensitization with reaginic serum or of the possible formation of antigen-antibody complexes. Complement seems to play no role in either mechanism. Heating the reaginic sera at 56° C. for 2 hours to abolish the cell-fixing properties of IgE resulted in the loss of the degranulatiog property of the sera in passive sensitization experiments. This test is proposed as a useful adjunct in the diagnosis of immediate hypersensitivity reactions to foods.
Age-Related Changes in the Anatomy of Language Regions in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Impairments in language and communication are core features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The anatomy of critical language areas has been studied in ASD with inconsistent findings. We used MRI to measure gray matter volume and asymmetry of Heschl’s gyrus, planum temporale, pars triangularis, and pars opercularis in 40 children and adolescents with ASD and 40 typically developing individuals, each divided into younger (7–11 years) and older (12–19 years) cohorts. The older group had larger left planum temporale volume and stronger leftward asymmetry than the younger group, regardless of diagnosis. The pars triangularis and opercularis together were larger in ASD than controls. Correlations between frontal language areas with language and symptom severity scores were significant in younger ASD children. Results suggest similar developmental changes in planum temporale anatomy in both groups, but group differences in pars triangularis and opercularis that may be related to language abilities and autism symptom severity.
An architectural framework for mobile device interaction with consumer home network appliances

With the proliferation of digital contents and the expanding variety of connected and IP-enabled consumer electronics (CE) devices, consumers are increasingly seeking ways to efficiently integrate their mobile devices with home networked devices. Expanding wireless coverage is enabling exciting new set of consumer-focused applications between CE devices, mobile handsets, home appliances and personal computers. In this paper, we discuss an architectural framework for mobile device interaction with consumer home network appliances and devices. A number of technological elements such as service discovery, addressing and numbering, control and data transport protocols and security requirements are presented and discussed. A realization of this framework will allow mobile devices to interact with home appliances and other consumer electronic devices in a heterogeneous network from remote locations.
Measuring the Orbit Length of the Tevatron

The orbit length in the Tevatron was measured when coasting beam was first obtained. The method was time-of-flight, using a vernier phase comparison between beam pickup signals and a synthesizer sine wave. Some effort was spent making a stable phase detector so that it would not be a limiting factor. The results exhibited a repeatability of a few Hz at 53 MHz, corresponding to a mean radius measurement to 0.1 mm.
Comparison of induced versus expectorated sputum for diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis by acid-fast smear

Abstract Objective: To evaluate the sensitivity of induced versus expectorated sputum for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis by acid-fast smear. Methods: We performed a retrospective review of data on patients with cultures from respiratory secretions that were positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis . We analyzed data on the 114 patients with positive cultures during a 4-year period in an urban tertiary care academic medical center. Results: Sputum samples had been obtained for 103 of the 114 patients with cultures positive for tuberculosis. Forty-four of the 114 patients were HIV seropositive. Overall 33 of 79 patients (42%) had positive acid-fast smears of expectorated sputum, and 6 of 24 (25%) had positive smears of induced sputum ( p = 0.21). When data were analyzed for subgroups by HIV serostatus, there was no significant difference in the results. Estimated cost of sputum induction for 1 year was approximately $45,000. Conclusions: We found sputum induction to be costly, and induced sputum offered no advantage over routine expectorated sputum for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis.
Application of selective saturation to image the dynamics of arterial blood flow during brain activation using magnetic resonance imaging

A saturation-based approach is proposed to image the arterial blood flow signal with temporal resolution of 1 to 2 s and in-plane spatial resolution of a few millimeters. Using a saturation approach to suppress the undesired background stationary signal allows the blood water that enters the slice to be imaged at some specified later time. Since the blood protons that are being imaged are not restricted to the intravascular space, this technique is also sensitive to tissue perfusion signal contributions. The signal uptake characteristics of the saturation method proposed were used to study the different signal contributions as a function of the acquisition parameters. A typical perfusion acquisition (FAIR) was also used for comparison. The proposed method was demonstrated in a functional motor activation experiment and the observed signal changes were smaller than those obtained using the FAIR acquisition. The dynamics of the saturation method and FAIR temporal signal changes were investigated and time constants between 2 and 44 s were estimated. The tissue signal contribution to the saturation method's signal was small over the range of acquisition parameters that sensitized it to the arterial compartment.
Alternative Measures of Price Perceptions: Implications for Service Evaluation Models

This study investigates the role of perceived price and the effects of alternative measures of perceived price (noncomparative or comparative) on the strengths of the relationships in service evaluation models. An extended service evaluation model is tested using alternative price measures with data from a sample of customers of a national retailer of automotive parts and services. The findings suggest that the way perceived price is measured affects the relationships in the model. Implications of the results are discussed and future research avenues are offered.
An Architectural Pattern for Goal-Based Control

Time-based command sequencing is the traditional paradigm for control of spacecraft and rovers in NASA's robotic missions, but this paradigm has been increasingly strained to accommodate today's missions. Goal-based control is a new paradigm that supports time-driven and event-driven operation in a more natural way and permits a melding of sequencing and fault protection into a single control paradigm. This paper describes one approach to goal-based control as an architectural pattern in terms of purpose, motivation, structure, applicability, and consequences. This paper is intended to help flight and ground software engineers understand the new paradigm and how it compares to time-based sequencing.
Post-transplantation nephrotic syndrome

CASE PRESENTATION A 60 year-old Caucasian female who developed chronic renal failure from focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) received a living-related renal allograft from her 28year-old son. The patient presented initially at age 48 with signs of nephrotic syndrome (peripheral edema, hypoalbuminemia, and hypercholesterolemia) and a serum creatinine of 1.5 mg/dl (132mmol/l) (normal range 0.6–1.2 mg/dl (52.8–105.6mmol/l)). She was treated with prednisone for six months, followed by cyclosporine A, with only partial remission of proteinuria. Renal function slowly declined over the ensuing decade. At the time of initial presentation, serologic test results were negative or within normal limits for antinuclear antibody, C3 and C4 complement levels, hepatitis B surface antigen, hepatitis C antibody, and serum and urine protein electrophoreses. Her past medical history was significant for hypertension for 25 years, and hypothyroidism. She had no history of childhood urinary tract infections or urinary reflux and she denied regular intake of over-the-counter medications. The patient’s post-operative course was unremarkable and she was discharged seven days post-transplantation with a serum creatinine of 1 mg/dl. Immunosuppressive medications included FK506, mycophenolate mofetil, and prednisone. Four weeks post-transplant, the patient noted worsening lower extremity edema. A 24-hour urine collection contained 4.5 g protein (normal range 0–150 mg/day). Serum albumin was 3.6 g/dl (36 g/l) (normal range 3.5–5.0 g/dl (30–50 g/l)) and serum creatinine was 1.0 mg/ dl (88.4mmol). FK506 levels were within therapeutic range. A renal ultrasound showed no signs of urinary tract outflow obstruction and normal venous and arterial blood flow. A renal biopsy was performed. RENAL BIOPSY FINDINGS Twenty-four glomeruli were sampled for light microscopy, none of which showed segmental or global glomerulosclerosis (Figure 1). Peripheral capillary lumina were fully patent and glomerular basement membranes were uniformly normal in thickness, contour and texture. There was a minimal patchy interstitial mononuclear inflammatory cell infiltrate, involving o5% of the cortical area, with rare foci of mild tubulitis (o5 mononuclear inflammatory cells/ tubular cross-section). There was no significant tubular atrophy or interstitial fibrosis. Features of isometric tubular vacuolization or viral inclusions were not identified. Arterial vessels were unremarkable. Immunofluorescence microscopy showed no staining of peritubular capillaries for C4d and no glomerular staining for IgG, IgM, IgA, C3, C1, fibrinogen, albumin, kappa, or lambda. Electron microscopic examination of two glomeruli revealed diffuse (100%) podocyte foot process effacement and no other significant ultrastructural abnormalities (Figure 2).
Hydrogenase in N2-fixing cyanobacteria.

Abstract Hydrogenase has been examined in two species of aerobically grown cyanobacteria (blue-green algae), Nostoc muscorum and Anabaena cylindrica, with respect to H2 production and consumption. These activities are found both in heterocysts and in vegetative cell preparations, but the characteristics of the enzyme in the two cell types differ. H2 production requires an artificial electron mediator such as methylviologen, and it can be driven by artificial electron donors with and without light and by a wide variety of organic substrates for which enzymes exist for NADP and methylviologen reduction. This activity is similar in heterocysts and vegetative cells of both species and is mainly found in the soluble rather than membrane fraction. H2 consumption, however, occurs without added mediators or acceptors at 10-fold higher rates than H2 production and 10-fold greater activity in heterocysts. H2 consumption activity is membrane bound, has a high affinity for H2 (Km = 50μM), and is augmented by light and low concentrations of oxygen. This activity of hydrogenase is mainly found in heterocysts and is poised unidirectionally toward H2 consumption. Since nitrogenase activity is localized in heterocysts, it suggests that H2 leaked by nitrogenase during N2 fixation can be recycled by hydrogenase.
Aerodynamic shape design and optimization - Status and trends

A limited number of aerodynamic shape design concepts have been surveyed and an attempt has been made to classify them. Characteristics, both positive and negative, of the more prominent methods were outlined. Future research is expected to concentrate on the use of Navier-Stokes equations and applications to threedimensional configurations. Interdisciplinary constrained optimization is expected to play a more prominent role in the immediate future. Adjoint operator/control theory and its variations are the most promising concepts for interdisciplinary aerodynamic shape design which involves a large number of variables. This theory is expected to constitute the major development area in future research.
Serologic Precursors of Cancer. Retinol, Carotenoids, and Tocopherol and Risk of Prostate Cancer

We investigated the associations of serum retinol, the carotenoids beta-carotene and lycopene, and tocopherol (vitamin E) with the risk of prostate cancer in a nested case-control study. For the study, serum obtained in 1974 from 25,802 persons in Washington County, MD, was used. Serum levels of the nutrients in 103 men who developed prostate cancer during the subsequent 13 years were compared with levels in 103 control subjects matched for age and race. Although no significant associations were observed with beta-carotene, lycopene, or tocopherol, the data suggested an inverse relationship between serum retinol and risk of prostate cancer. We analyzed data on the distribution of serum retinol by quartiles, using the lowest quartile as the reference value. Odds ratios were 0.67, 0.39, and 0.40 for the second, third, and highest quartiles, respectively.
Effects of chronic trifluoperazine administration in multiple dosages on rat offspring behavior.

Summary.-A learning deficit was demonstrated on 48 albino rat offspring of females chronically drugged in infancy with Trifluoperazine. Duration of administration to the parent animal was not a critical factor in the offsprings' learning. The hypothesis that offspring of highest dosage level females would display a more significant deficit was not confirmed. Previous research has demonstrated that an early parental chronic experience with tranquilizing drugs does affect the learning ability of undrugged offspring (Gauron & Rowley, 1968, 1969, 1970). The purposes of this paper were: (1) to replicate previous findings with respect to one specific drug, Trifluoperazine, (2) to determine the significance of duration of parental administration on the offspring learning effect, and (3) to assess the significance of parental drug dosage level on the offspring learning effect. We hypothesized that the offspring of animals under higher dosages would display a more significant deficit on avoidance conditioning than offspring under lower dosages. Ss were 24 male and 24 female albino rat offspring from successful breedings of chronically drugged and Saline females. The offspring derived from six different litters. The mothers had received 25 days of Trifluoperazine administration from Days 5 to 30 in the following dosages: .16, .22, and .33 mg./kg. The duration of administration was a departure from previous methodology in which 50-day durations were utilized. The offspring of these mothers were undrugged and experimentally naive until 75 days of age when avoidance conditioning training was initiated. Our training procedure has been extensively described (Gauron & Rowley, 1968, 1969). Briefly, the animals were tested in a two-level shuttlebox, 10 trials daily. A criterion of 90% correct responding was employed. When animals attained this criterion, they were discontinued from the study. Recorded for statistical purposes were failures to avoid shock until the attainment of criterion or 150 trials, whichever occurred first. Analyses of variance were computed on body weights and error scores across groups. The analysis of body weights showed significant main effects attributable to Sex and Dosage level. A Sex effect was observed related to the heavier body weights of the males than the females. The source of the Dosage effect was associated with the heavier body weights of offspring of the Saline group than offspring of the three drug groups (F = 7.18, df = 3/24, p < .01). No significant interactions were obtained. The analysis of variance on error scores indicated a significant main effect of Dosage level (F = 7.64, df = 3/24, p < .05 ) and a significant Sex X Dos