cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Musculoskeletal Injury Prevention for New Nurses

Nurses continue to sustain musculoskeletal injuries even with increased emphasis on safe patient handling and mobility (SPHM) and organizational cultures of safety to protect health care workers. Analysis of data from 2011-2014 registered nurse graduates explored hospital safety culture, SPHM education/training, and incidence of new-nurse musculoskeletal injury. Results indicated hospitals provided some type of SPHM education and training, but 46% of study participants were not informed or aware of national SPHM standards or guidelines. Merely 13.9% of participants stated a written "no manual lifting policy" had been implemented; only 32.9% indicated staffing was adequate for SPHM tasks; and only 39.4% stated the hospital had all of the equipment needed to perform SPHM safely. Thirty-nine percent of participants had already sustained a musculoskeletal injury with an additional 35% sustaining but not reporting an injury. More actions are needed to ensure a decrease in musculoskeletal injuries for new nurses.
Pre-service Teachers Identify Connections between Teaching-learning and Literacy Strategies

This study explores the transformation of pre-service teachers in their attainment of effective teaching skills. Pre-service teachers learn about the learning-to-read process and implementations of component skills of teaching reading within the practicum. More importantly, pre-service teachers achieve a meaningful understanding of the declarative, procedural and strategic knowledge of working with struggling readers as well as the merits, utilities and appropriate applications of important literacy skills. Through reflecting, rehearsing, and revising teaching/learning practices, pre-service teachers are able to augment scripted Direct Instruction curriculum to improve student reading performance, and further generate meaningful learning gains that promote sustainability for themselves and their students.
U.S. domestic cats as sentinels for perfluoroalkyl substances: Possible linkages with housing, obesity, and disease

Abstract Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), such as perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), are persistent, globally distributed, anthropogenic compounds. The primary source(s) for human exposure are not well understood although within home exposure is likely important since many consumer products have been treated with different PFAS, and people spend much of their lives indoors. Herein, domestic cats were used as sentinels to investigate potential exposure and health linkages. PFAS in serum samples of 72 pet and feral cats, including 11 healthy and 61 with one or more primary disease diagnoses, were quantitated using high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectroscopy. All but one sample had detectable PFAS, with PFOS and perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS) ranging from
Biochemical bone fracture healing process model

Abstract Presented are an abbreviated background, architecture, and computer simulation results of the biochemical component of an integrated bioelectrical, biochemical, and biomechanical bone fracture healing process model (Johnson, 2002a, b). Background information gleaned from clinical and medical research literature is used to develop model architecture and processes. Fuzzy logic, chaotic systems, and artificial neural networks are the principle abstract soft computing methods used to identify and realize modeled processes. A model reference control architecture is used to implement the model. Simulation results versus literary evidence provide model verification and validation. More complete treatments are found in references Johnson (2002a, c).
Partial Realization of Random Systems

Abstract An algorithm is presented for the recursive determination of certain lumped linear models that when driven by a white-noise sequence yield outputs whose covariances match increasing sections of a given covariance sequence.
Hyperbolic Modeling of Subthalamic Nucleus Cells to Investigate the Effect of Dopamine Depletion.

To investigate how different types of neurons can produce well-known spiking patterns, a new computationally efficient model is proposed in this paper. This model can help realize the neuronal interconnection issues. The model can demonstrate various neuronal behaviors observed in vivo through simple parameter modification. The behaviors include tonic and phasic spiking, tonic and phasic bursting, class 1 and class 2 excitability, rebound spike, rebound burst, subthreshold oscillation, and accommodated spiking along with inhibition neuron responses. Here, we investigate the neuronal spiking patterns in Parkinson’s disease through our proposed model. Abnormal pattern of subthalamic nucleus in Parkinson’s disease can be studied through variations in the shape and frequency of firing patterns. Our proposed model introduces mathematical equations, where these patterns can be derived and clearly differentiated from one another. The irregular and arrhythmic behaviors of subthalamic nucleus firing pattern under normal conditions can easily be transformed to those caused by Parkinson’s disease through simple parameter modifications in the proposed model. This model can explicitly show the change of neuronal activity patterns in Parkinson’s disease, which may eventually lead to effective treatment with deep brain stimulation devices.
The Impact of Perceptual and Situational Factors on Environmental Communication: A Study of Citizen Engagement in China

ABSTRACTThis study applied a situational approach to understanding an environmental problem: PM2.5 (its resulted haze and smog air pollution) in China. Based on a national sample of 374 citizens li...
Polynomials for $$\mathrm{GL}_p\times \mathrm{GL}_q$$ orbit closures in the flag variety

The subgroup $$K=\mathrm{GL}_p \times \mathrm{GL}_q$$ of $$\mathrm{GL}_{p+q}$$ acts on the (complex) flag variety $$\mathrm{GL}_{p+q}/B$$ with finitely many orbits. We introduce a family of polynomials specializing representatives for cohomology classes of the orbit closures in the Borel model. We define and study $$K$$ -orbit determinantal ideals to support the geometric naturality of these representatives. Using a modification of these ideals, we describe an analogy between two local singularity measures: the $$H$$ -polynomials and the Kazhdan–Lusztig–Vogan polynomials.
DNA repair and cell cycle checkpoint defects in a mouse model of ‘BRCAness’ are partially rescued by 53BP1 deletion

'BRCAness' is a term used to describe cancer cells that behave similarly to tumors with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations. The BRCAness phenotype is associated with hypersensitivity to chemotherapy agents including PARP inhibitors, which are a promising class of recently-licensed anti-cancer treatments. This hypersensitivity arises because of a deficiency in the homologous recombination (HR) pathway for DNA double-strand break repair. To gain further insight into how genetic modifiers of HR contribute to the BRCAness phenotype, we created a new mouse model of BRCAness by generating mice that are deficient in BLM helicase and the Exo1 exonuclease, which are involved in the early stages of HR. We find that cells lacking BLM and Exo1 exhibit a BRCAness phenotype, with diminished HR, and hypersensitivity to PARP inhibitors. We further tested how 53BP1, an important regulator of HR, affects repair efficiency in our BRCAness model. We find that deletion of 53BP1 can relieve several of the repair deficiencies observed in cells lacking BLM and Exo1, just as it does in cells lacking BRCA1. These results substantiate the importance of BRCAness as a concept for classification of cancer cases, and further clarify the role of 53BP1 in regulation of DNA repair pathway choice in mammalian cells.
Effects of arm weight on gait performance in healthy subjects.

Abstract Previous studies have investigated how additional arm weights affect gait. Although light weights (0.45 kg) seemed to elicit performance improvements in Parkinsonian patients, it was not studied how light weights affect gait parameters in healthy individuals. It is important to understand normal responses in a healthy population so that clinical effects might be better understood. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of arm weights on arm swing amplitude, gait performance, and muscle activity in healthy people. Twenty-two subjects walked overground at their preferred speed under different weight carriage conditions (C1: no weight; C2: unilateral arm weight; C3: bilateral arm weights; C4: waist weights). Gait speed increased in C2 (p = 0.018) and C4 (p = 0.013) when compared with C1(C1: 1.21 ± 0.08; C2: 1.25 ± 0.11; C3: 1.24 ± 0.11; C4: 1.25 ± 0.11 m/s) with an increase in cadence during C2 (p
Copyright Law as Mediational Means: Report on a Mixed Methods Study of U.S. Professional Writers

This article reports on an empirical study conducted among US professional writers composing in digital writing environments. The study explored US copyright law’s mediational influence on digital composing using a sequential transformative mixed methods research design. A digital survey (N=334) was administered to a randomly selected population of students and teachers in US technical and professional writing programs and interviews were conducted with select writers as well. The study examined three main areas of inquiry: 1) the status of knowledge and understanding of copyright law in the field of technical and professional writing; 2) the creative thinking processes, or rhetorical invention, of writers in these programs composing webtexts in light of copyright law; and 3) what happens to mediational means as writers leverage them in digital contexts. In this article the study’s six major findings and seven granular findings as well as implications are briefly summarized and discussed. The study hopes to provide a baseline that might be used for further research in cross-cultural or international contexts.
Orbital Dynamic Admittance and Earth Shadow

The effects of orbital dynamics on a velocity distribution from a point source — for example, a fragmentation — may be studied by Housen’s method. This technique permits the computation of a spatial density due to the velocity distribution as the sum over all routes between the source point and any point in space of the velocity density divided by the absolute value of the Jacobian determinant of the propagation map. The determination of all routes constitute finding all Lambert (orbital two point boundary value problem) solutions for the two points over a given elapsed time. In order to understand the observed density structures better, the dynamic admittance is introduced. It is the sum of the reciprocal absolute Jacobian determinants spanning all possible routes and is independent of the initial velocity distribution. The bands, pinch point and other features seen in the dynamic admittance plots are analyzed. The effects of the earth in reducing the number of routes, thereby casting a dynamic shadow, are demonstrated
Adverse Drug Event Detection from Electronic Health Records Using Hierarchical Recurrent Neural Networks with Dual-Level Embedding

Adverse drug event (ADE) detection is a vital step towards effective pharmacovigilance and prevention of future incidents caused by potentially harmful ADEs. The electronic health records (EHRs) of patients in hospitals contain valuable information regarding ADEs and hence are an important source for detecting ADE signals. However, EHR texts tend to be noisy. Yet applying off-the-shelf tools for EHR text preprocessing jeopardizes the subsequent ADE detection performance, which depends on a well tokenized text input. In this paper, we report our experience with the NLP Challenges for Detecting Medication and Adverse Drug Events from Electronic Health Records (MADE1.0), which aims to promote deep innovations on this subject. In particular, we have developed rule-based sentence and word tokenization techniques to deal with the noise in the EHR text. We propose a detection methodology by adapting a three-layered, deep learning architecture of (1) recurrent neural network [bi-directional long short-term memory (Bi-LSTM)] for character-level word representation to encode the morphological features of the medical terminology, (2) Bi-LSTM for capturing the contextual information of each word within a sentence, and (3) conditional random fields for the final label prediction by also considering the surrounding words. We experiment with different word embedding methods commonly used in word-level classification tasks and demonstrate the impact of an integrated usage of both domain-specific and general-purpose pre-trained word embedding for detecting ADEs from EHRs. Our system was ranked first for the named entity recognition task in the MADE1.0 challenge, with a micro-averaged F1-score of 0.8290 (official score). Our results indicate that the integration of two widely used sequence labeling techniques that complement each other along with dual-level embedding (character level and word level) to represent words in the input layer results in a deep learning architecture that achieves excellent information extraction accuracy for EHR notes.
Civic Republicanism, Place, Stability, and Climate Change: The Case for Mitigation (Previously Titled, Republican Virtue and Stability in an Era of Climate Disruption)

This paper makes a normative case for a continued focus on mitigation of climate change rather than a shift to a primary focus on adaptation. The paper argues that climate stability plays an important political role in enabling a key common good, place, and consequently, enabling a robust, civic republican conception of self-government. The discussion initially develops the concept of place and outlines civic republicanism and the importance of stability in republican thought. The paper then shows how place as a common good plays a key role in civic republican politics, and brings in capability theory to highlight the impact of climate instability on place and other republican values. Finally, the paper considers what a civic republican political approach to climate change might look like.
Using Music to Foster Engagement in Introductory Computing Courses

The importance of imaginative assignments and innovative curriculum design in computer science (CS) education has been researched for some time now. In this poster, the authors discuss an interdisciplinary K12 informal education course called Computational Thinking in Music. The goal is to engage students in computer science by prioritizing personal expression, creativity, and aesthetics. The research includes a creative curriculum based on modeling theory of evidence-based pedagogical research, and an empirical one: by the time of the SIGCSE Symposium, the authors expect to have comparative results for control courses, where active learning curriculum was not used at all, as well as for the course with active learning curriculum. The Computational Thinking in Music course intends to broaden the number of individuals, particularly from underrepresented groups, who show interest and persist in the field of computer science through the use of student's intrinsic interests. Specifically, this study built an authentic STEAM learning environment through the use of EarSketch (https://earsketch.gatech.edu/landing) and Scratch (https://scratch.mit.edu/) two creative computing programs. The poster will display our findings in a creative fashion convenient for drawing informative conclusions. Two measures are used in assessing the effectiveness of creative curriculum: student scores on typical assessment instruments and student perceptions on Likert scales. Thus far the data are remarkably consistent over the various settings and indicates that participants of this camp benefitted more from an authentic learning environment allowing for music, creativity, and imagination than from a more traditional computing camp without the addition of musical concepts.
Worst-case iteration bounds for log barrier methods for problems with nonconvex constraints

Interior point methods (IPMs) that handle nonconvex constraints such as IPOPT, KNITRO and LOQO have had enormous practical success. We consider IPMs in the setting where the objective and constraints have Lipschitz first and second derivatives. Unfortunately, previous analyses of log barrier methods in this setting implicitly prove guarantees with exponential dependencies on $1/\mu$, where $\mu$ is the barrier penalty parameter. We provide an IPM that finds a $\mu$-approximate Fritz John point by solving $\mathcal{O}( \mu^{-7/4})$ trust-region subproblems. For this setup, the results represent both the first iteration bound with a polynomial dependence on $1/\mu$ for a log barrier method and the best-known guarantee for finding Fritz John points. We also show that, given convexity and regularity conditions, our algorithm finds an $\epsilon$-optimal solution in at most $\mathcal{O}(\epsilon^{-2/3})$ trust-region steps.
Imaging and Management of Bladder Cancer.

Methods: Keyword searches of Medline, PubMed, and the Cochrane Library for manuscripts published in English, and searches of references cited in selected articles to identify additional relevant papers. Abstracts sponsored by various societies including the American Urological Association (AUA), European Association of Urology (EAU), and European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) were also searched. Background: Bladder cancer is the sixth most common cancer in the United States, and one of the most expensive in terms of cancer care. The overwhelming majority are urothelial carcinomas, more often non-muscle invasive rather than muscle-invasive. Bladder cancer is usually diagnosed after work up for hematuria. While the workup for gross hematuria remains CT urography and cystoscopy, the workup for microscopic hematuria was recently updated in 2020 by the American Urologic Association with a more risk-based approach. Bladder cancer is confirmed and staged by transurethral resection of bladder tumor. One of the main goals in staging is determining the presence or absence of muscle invasion by tumor which has wide implications in regards to management and prognosis. CT urography is the main imaging technique in the workup of bladder cancer. There is growing interest in advanced imaging techniques such as multiparametric MRI for local staging, as well as standardized imaging and reporting system with the recently created Vesicle Imaging Reporting and Data System (VI-RADS). Therapies for bladder cancer are rapidly evolving with immune checkpoint inhibitors, particularly programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) and programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitors, as well as another class of immunotherapy called an antibody-drug conjugate which consists of a cytotoxic drug conjugated to monoclonal antibodies against a specific target. Conclusion: Bladder cancer is a complex disease, and its management is evolving. Advances in therapy, understanding of the disease, and advanced imaging have ushered in a period of rapid change in the care of bladder cancer patients.
Beyond the Church Parties Model: A Reply

The historiography of sixteenth-century Church parties may have arisen from historians’ misinterpreting the use of the terms “band of Josephian monks” (cheti Osiflianskikh mnikhov) and the “non-possessor way of life” (nestiazhatel’noe zhitel’stvo) by the author of The History of the Grand Prince of Moscow. But he does not juxtapose these terms against each other. Those monks who live the non-possessor way of life are, instead, directly contrasted with those who love possession (liubostiazhatel’nye), but neither they nor the Josephians are described as a Church party, let alone one that had an “ideology”. The monks in The History who loved possessions are not identified with the Josephians, nor are the monks who follow the non-possessor way of life identified with the Trans-Volga elders. Another attempt to find the antecedent of the Church parties model were historians who cite the use by Zinovii Otenskii of the term nestiazhatel’ in relation to Vassian Patrikeev, but he too was not using the term in the sense of a Church party. These attempts are examples of “thick interpretation”; that is, imposing on the source testimony an outside construct that is not contained within it.
Modeling and Design of a 6-Phase Ultra-High-Speed Machine for ELF/VLF Wireless Communication Transmitter

This paper presents the modeling, design, and Multiphysics analysis of a 2000-W, 500000-rpm ultra-high-speed (UHS) machine for a mechanical-based antenna (AMEBA) application. The proposed machine will be utilized as a mechanical transmitter for extremely/very low frequency (0.3-3 kHz) communication, which will immediately enable the bidirectional communication between the earth surface to underground or undersea facilities. The design of a UHS machine for AMEBA application presents several special challenges because it requires a high shaft torque at UHS operation. Also, the UHS machine necessitates a high design-safety-margin to avoid any catastrophic failure at the UHS operation. However, a conventional 3-phase UHS machine cannot meet the torque requirement, thermal limit, structural integrity, and fails to provide enough safety margin at UHS operation. To overcome this limitation, this paper presents the design of a high-power UHS machine, which utilizes a multi- phase winding configuration and special materials to improve the torque density and the design-safety-margin. The machine geometry and design parameters are optimized using a Multiphysics loss minimization approach. The proposed design and its performance are analyzed using extensive finite element analysis (FEA). It is observed that the proposed design meets the electromagnetic, thermal, structural, and Rotordynamic performance with a greater design-safety-margin. Finally, a prototype of the proposed machine is developed and its performances (back-EMF and natural frequencies) are experimentally validated.
Cost-effectiveness of ipilimumab versus high-dose interferon as an adjuvant therapy in resected high-risk melanoma.

BACKGROUND Adjuvant ipilimumab was found to improve the overall survival and reduce toxicity compared to high-dose interferon (HDI) in patients with resected, high-risk melanoma. However, the cost of ipilimumab is substantially higher than HDI. This study evaluates the cost-effectiveness of ipilimumab as an adjuvant treatment in melanoma from a healthcare perspective. METHODS We designed a Markov model simulating resected, high-risk melanoma patients receiving either ipilimumab or HDI. Transition probabilities, including risks of survival, disease progression, and toxicity, were ascertained from clinical trial data. Costs and quality of life measurements (health utilities) were extracted from the literature. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs), defined as incremental costs divided by incremental quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), assessed cost-effectiveness. ICERs <$100,000/QALY were deemed cost-effective. We measured model uncertainty with one-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses. RESULTS In our base case model, ipilimumab increased costs by $107,100 and increased effectiveness by 0.43 QALY, yielding an ICER of $392,600/QALY. Our model was moderately sensitive to the costs of ipilimumab, though the cost of ipilimumab would need to decrease by 44% for ipilimumab to become cost-effective compared to HDI. The model was not sensitive to survival, toxicity, or other costs. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis showed that HDI would remain the cost-effective treatment option 96.2% of the time at a willingness-to-pay threshold of $100,000/QALY. CONCLUSIONS Adjuvant ipilimumab increases the survival and decreases the toxicity compared to HDI in resected, high-risk melanoma patients, though this would not be considered cost-effective due to the high price of ipilimumab.
Physicochemical studies of fractionated bovine heparin. IV. Cu(II) binding in relation to pH, molecular weight, and biological activity.

Abstract Commercial bovine heparin was fractionated by fractional precipitation, ethanol and dioxane were used as precipitants. The fractions varied in molecular weight from 4500 to 15,500. Cu (II) binding of the fractions was studied as a function of pH and biological activity. Cu (II) binding increases with increasing pH in the range examined (2.0–7.0), and increasing biological activity. The Cu (II) and biological activity as a function of molecular weight can be expressed by the relation 1 ϕ = a + b M , where ϕ is Cu (II) binding, or anticoagulant activity, M is molecular weight, and a and b are constants. Cu (II) binding involves the sulfate and carboxyl groups of heparin, which suggests the contribution of both to anticoagulant activity. The intrinsic viscosities of the fractions, at constant ionic strength, as a function of pH were also examined, including the relation to Cu (II) binding. Inactivation of heparin with HCl, under mild conditions where anticoagulant activity was reduced, was accompanied by reduction in (a) Cu (II) binding, (b) viscosity as measured in water, and (c) sulfation. The data suggest that the principal contributing factors of heparin as an anticoagulant are: (a) degree of dissociation of the ionizable groups, e.g., carboxyl, sulfate; and (b) molecular shape and size. Further, these factors contribute to the anticoagulant activity by virtue of their role in the binding process. Any outside forces that interfere with binding, such as pH, ionic strength, and hydrogen bonding, will affect the anticoagulant activity of heparin.
NEURAL NETWORK CLASSIFIERS TO GRADE PARTS BASED ON SURFACE DEFECTS WITH SPATIAL DEPENDENCIES

In many manufacturing operations, unfinished or unassembled parts are not necessarily accepted or rejected in their entirety. Oftentimes, they are given some qualifying grade that indicates their worth to potential buyers or their suitability for particular processing operations. The manufacture of hardwood lumber in sawmills follows this general procedure. Lumber is graded based on appearance because its end use is primarily furniture and other goods that have a large aesthetic aspect to their value. Lumber grades are used by sawmill operators (sellers) and furniture plants (buyers) as an estimate of how much clear wood material is in the lumber being traded, hence the lumber’s value. Also, certain sawmill operations treat a board differently based on actual or potential lumber grade. Therefore, accurate lumber grading is important to mill operators.
CLTV: Collaborative learning television

There is evidence that, contrary to popular assumption, television viewing and learning involve a high degree of social interaction. If so, then performance-motivated programing in educational television militates against learning. Collaborative learning television would promote learning by taking advantage of the social nature of watching television and the social nature of learning. Viewers would be organized into semiautonomous learning groups so that learning would occur through the focused conversation of a community of peers.
Gauging the Value of Suppliers′ Products

Posits that, by specifically examining price‐value relationship, buyers can avoid many of the problems inherent in comparing products/suppliers in terms of net delivered price. Provides background on economic value pricing, along with a detailed discussion of the steps and considerations for buyer‐side application to supplier price analysis and its managerial implications.
Architecting for Domain Variability

This paper addresses how domain analysis served to help create reusable achitectures and components in the development of a real-time embedded system. The resulting product is Motorola's FLEX™ Kernel, a set of components to support development of portable wireless communication devices. The paper discusses this experiences in terms of discovering and developing reusable frameworks for this domain. Our approach to incorporating tailorability into these components is described and compared with a recently published approach.
The restitution portrait: A new method for investigating rate-dependent restitution

Introduction: Electrical restitution, relating action potential duration (APD) to diastolic interval (DI), was believed to determine the stability of heart rhythm. However, recent studies demonstrate that stability also depends on long-term APD changes caused by memory. This study presents a new method for investigation of rate- and memory-dependent aspects of restitution and for assessment of mapping models of APD. Methods and Results: Bullfrog ventricular myocardium was paced with a “perturbed downsweep protocol.” Starting from a basic cycle length (BCL) of 1,000 ms, the tissue was paced until steady state was achieved, followed by single beats of longer and shorter cycle lengths. BCL was decreased by 50 to 100 ms and the process repeated. All APDs were plotted as a function of the preceding DI, which allowed simultaneous observation of dynamic, S1-S2, and two constant-BCL restitution curves in a “restitution portrait.” Responses were classified as 1:1 (stimulus:response), transient 2:2, or persistent 2:2 (alternans) and were related to the slopes of the restitution curves. None of these slopes approached unity for the persistent 2:2 response, demonstrating that the traditional restitution condition does not predict alternans. The restitution portrait was used to evaluate three mapping models of APD. The models with no memory and with one-beat memory did not produce restitution portraits similar to the experimental one. A model with two-beat memory produced a qualitatively similar portrait. Conclusion: The restitution portrait allows a more comprehensive assessment of cardiac dynamics than methods used to date. Further study of models with memory may result in a clinical criterion for electrical instability. (J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol, Vol. 15, pp. 1-12, June 2004)
Some Complicating Factors in the Study of the Calcium Metabolism of Teleosts

A number of factors which may complicate studies dealing with the calcium metabolism of teleosts are pointed out. Thus, low environmental levels of calcium markedly affect both gill RNA and sodium metabolism in dilute sea water, and the absence of monovalent cations affects calcium metabolism in dilute environments. Hypophysectomy is not always followed by the disappearance of cortisol from the plasma, and prolactin—which is required for the survival of either hypophysectomized or intact animals in a divalent ion-free environment—stimulates cortisol production. It is also pointed out that Fundulus kansae can be maintained in divalent ion-free environments for long periods, and that calcium is mobilized from internal reservoirs such as acellular bone and scales. Failure to survive in such environments is due to the regulatory effect of environmental calcium on sodium metabolism rather than on calcium metabolism per se . Finally, it is pointed out that while one parameter of calcium metabolism—such as plasma calcium levels in male fish—may remain constant throughtout the year, other parameters such as calcium uptake may vary considerably. Seasonal differencees in responses to mammalian calcitonin have also been noted.
Resident Assistant Training Program for Increasing Alcohol, Other Drug, and Mental Health First-Aid Efforts

In college and university residence halls, resident assistants (RAs) are expected to serve as first-aid providers to students who may have alcohol, other drug, mental health, and academic problems. Despite this responsibility, evidence-based, first-aid programs have not been developed and tested for the RA workforce. The current study examined effects of an investigational first-aid program designed specifically for RAs. The online Peer Hero Training program is a novel approach to RA training in its use of interactive video dramatizations of incidents involving substance-using or distressed residents. A 9-month randomized trial conducted on eight US campuses compared RAs who participated in the Peer Hero Training program to RAs who received training-as-usual. Participation in the Peer Hero Training program significantly increased RA first-aid efforts for residential students who may have had alcohol, other drug, mental health, or academic problems 6 months after baseline. Compared with those in the training-as-usual condition, RAs in the Peer Hero Training program made more than 10 times as many first-aid efforts for possible alcohol problems, almost 14 times the number of first-aid efforts for possible drug use, almost 3 times the number of first-aid efforts for possible mental health problems, and 3 times the number of first-aid efforts for academic problems. There was no evidence that measured RA attitudes mediated the effects of the intervention. Results of this preliminary evaluation trial suggest that online training using interactive video dramatizations is a viable approach to strengthening RAs’ ability to provide alcohol, other drugs, and mental health first-aid to undergraduates.
Genome-wide Association Studies Prospects and Challenges for Oral Health

The genomic era of biomedical research has given rise to the genome-wide association study (GWAS) approach, which attempts to discover novel genes affecting an outcome by testing a large number (i.e., hundreds of thousands to millions) of genetic variants for association. This article discusses the issues surrounding the GWAS approach with emphasis on the prospects and challenges relevant to the oral health research community.
Distribution of RNA binding protein MOEP19 in the oocyte cortex and early embryo indicates pre-patterning related to blastomere polarity and trophectoderm specification.

Abstract We report the cloning and characterization of MOEP19, a novel 19 kDa RNA binding protein that marks a defined cortical cytoplasmic domain in oocytes and provides evidence of mammalian oocyte polarity and a form of pre-patterning that persists in zygotes and early embryos through the morula stage. MOEP19 contains a eukaryotic type KH-domain, typical of the KH-domain type I superfamily of RNA binding proteins, and both recombinant and native MOEP19 bind polynucleotides. By immunofluorescence, MOEP19 protein was first detected in primary follicles throughout the ooplasm. As oocytes expanded in size during oogenesis, MOEP19 increased in concentration. MOEP19 localized in the ovulated egg and early zygote as a symmetrical spherical cortical domain underlying the oolemma, deep to the zone of cortical granules. MOEP19 remained restricted to a cortical cytoplasmic crescent in blastomeres of 2-, 4- and 8-cell embryos. The MOEP19 domain was absent in regions underlying cell contacts. In morulae, the MOEP19 domain was found at the apex of outer, polarized blastomeres but was undetectable in blastomeres of the inner cell mass. In early blastocysts, MOEP19 localized in both mural and polar trophectoderm and a subset of embryos showed inner cell mass localization. MOEP19 concentration dramatically declined in late blastocysts. When blastomeres of 4- to 8-cell stages were dissociated, the polarized MOEP19 domain assumed a symmetrically spherical localization, while overnight culture of dissociated blastomeres resulted in formation of re-aggregated embryos in which polarity of the MOEP19 domain was re-established at the blastomere apices. MOEP19 showed no evidence of translation in ovulated eggs, indicating that MOEP19 is a maternal effect gene. The persistence during early development of the MOEP19 cortical oocyte domain as a cortical crescent in blastomers suggests an intrinsic pre-patterning in the egg that is related to the apical–basolateral polarity of the embryo. Although the RNAs bound to MOEP19 are presently unknown, we predict that the MOEP19 domain directs RNAs essential for normal embryonic development to specific locations in the oocyte and early embryo.
Adenosine kinase inhibitors attenuate opiate withdrawal via adenosine receptor activation

Previous studies have demonstrated a role for adenosine in mediating opiate effects. This study examines the effects of indirect activation of adenosine receptors, via treatment with adenosine kinase inhibitors, on the expression of opiate withdrawal in mice. Mice receive chronic morphine treatment via implantation of subcutaneous morphine pellets (75 mg) for 72 h. Mice then receive parenteral treatment with adenosine kinase inhibitors, either 5'-amino-5'-deoxyadenosine (2, 5, 20, 40 mg/kg, intraperitoneal or i.p.) or iodotubericidin (1, 2, 5 mg/kg, i.p.), followed by naloxone injection and opiate withdrawal signs are measured over 20 min. Both adenosine kinase inhibitors significantly reduce the following opiate withdrawal signs in a dose-dependent manner compared to vehicle: withdrawal jumps, teeth chattering, forepaw tremors, and forepaw treads. Additionally, 5'-amino-5'-deoxyadenosine significantly reduces withdrawal-induced diarrhea and weight loss. Effects of 5'-amino-5'-deoxyadenosine (40 mg/kg) on opiate withdrawal signs appear to be mediated via adenosine receptor activation as they are reversed by pretreatment by adenosine receptor antagonist caffeine (20 mg, i.p.) but not by selective phosphodiesterase inhibitor Ro 20-1724 (10 mg/kg, i.p.). Adenosine receptor activation via adenosine kinase inhibitor treatment attenuates opiate withdrawal and these agents may be generally useful in the treatment of drug withdrawal syndromes.
Convergent validation of decomposed multi-attribute utility assessment procedures for risky and riskless decisions

Abstract For theoretical as well as practical reasons, applied decision analysts have shown considerable interest in decomposed multi-attribute utility assessment procedures. These procedures require that the decision maker first specify the value attributes of interest, then evaluate each outcome with respect to each attribute, and finally specify a composition rule and scaling factors so that utility may be arithmetically aggregated across attributes. The decomposition approach may be contrasted with holistic scaling procedures in which the decision-maker simply makes an over-all intuitive assessment of the utility of each multi-attribute outcome. The paper begins with a discussion of the relative merits of the two approaches. Then decomposition procedures for both risky and riskless decision-making are described. Finally, an experiment comparing holistic and decomposed assessment procedures is discussed in which the two approaches to scaling assigned very similar utilities to three-dimensional job descriptions for both risky and riskless decisions.
Baker's Cyst in a Patient with Rheumatoid Arthritis

A 45-year-old man with moderately severe erosive rheumatoid arthritis presented with a several-month history of a painful left calf. He had a 1.5-year history of rheumatoid arthritis affecting both elbows, wrists, metacarpophalangeal joints, proximal interphalangeal joints, knees, ankles and metatarsophalangeal joints. Examination of the joints revealed diffuse synovitis with bilateral knee effusions and a visibly enlarged left calf with a palpable mass extending inferiorly from the popliteal fossa (Panels A and B). The erythrocyte sedimentation rate was 58 mm per hour, and the C-reactive protein level was 37.6 mg per liter. Tests were positive for rheumatoid factor and antibodies against . . .
INITIAL EVIDENCE FOR RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF A BRIEF SCREENING INVENTORY FOR PERSONALITY TRAITS

A short inventory was developed to screen for avoidant, borderline, and dependent personality disorders in clinic settings. The Personality Concerns Inventory items, adapted from the DSM-IV criteria for these disorders, along with the Millon-III was administered to 86 undergraduate students. Reliability estimates for the three scales were .87, .81, and .80. Scores on the three scales also correlated .49 to .57 with scores on the Avoidant, Borderline, and Dependent scales of the Millon-III.
Learning with Hidden Information Using a Max-Margin Latent Variable Model

Classifier learning is challenging when the training data is inadequate in either quantity or quality. Prior knowledge hence is important in such cases to improve the performance of classification. In this paper we study a specific type of prior knowledge called hidden information, which is only available during training but not available during testing. Hidden information has abundant applications in many areas but has not been thoroughly studied. In this paper, we propose to exploit the hidden information during training to help design an improved classifier. Towards this goal, we introduce a novel approach which automatically learns and transfers the useful hidden information through a latent variable model. Experiments on both digit recognition and gesture recognition tasks demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in capturing hidden information for improved classification.
Biomechanical Implications of Extending Occipitocervical Instrumentation to Include the Subaxial Spine

BACKGROUND No clear biomechanical data exist regarding where to place the caudal end of a screw-rod occipitocervical instrumentation construct. OBJECTIVE This study examines whether range of motion (ROM) from the occiput to C2 is altered by subaxial extension of occipitocervical instrumentation constructs. METHODS Cadaver specimens underwent intact biomechanical testing followed by destabilization via an odontoid osteotomy. Subsequent biomechanical testing was performed of four occipitocervical constructs: occipital plate + C2 pars screws (construct 1), occipital plate + C2 pars screws + C4 lateral mass screws (construct 2), occipital plate + C1-C2 transarticular screws (construct 3), and occipital plate + C1-C2 transarticular screws + C4 lateral mass screws (construct 4). RESULTS All constructs significantly reduced occiput-C2 ROM in all loading modes compared with the intact cervical spine, with one exception (construct 1, lateral bending). No significant ROM differences were noted when C4 lateral mass screws (construct 4) were added to construct 3. Addition of C4 lateral mass screws (construct 2) to construct 1 decreased the ROM in the flexion mode only. No significant ROM differences were seen between construct 2 and construct 3 in any loading mode. CONCLUSION The addition of subaxial instrumentation to occipitocervical instrumentation constructs in this study decreased occiput-C2 ROM only when the construct was anchored by C2 pars screws and only in flexion. Screws that cross the C1 to C2 articulation provide stable fixation when combined with an occipital plate, and the addition of subaxial instrumentation to this construct for stabilizing the occipitocervical junction does not significantly decrease ROM.
Borders and Governance: An Analysis of Health Regulation and the Agri-food Trade

The contemporary dynamics of states, borders, and markets suggest the need for non-traditional methods of regulation and international cooperation in areas such as border inspections and management. The emerging literature on cross-border regions and multi-level governance suggests a framework to understand this development within the general transformation of states under globalisation. To explore these ideas, in this article we focus on the arena of health regulation and the international agricultural and food trade. Multilateral bodies such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), and the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) have endorsed the policy concept of “regionalisation” as a means by which states can preserve trade relations when sanitary (human or animal health) or phytosanitary (plant health) hazards threaten a country's trading status. In this paper, two cases – one historical and one contemporary – illustrate that regionalisation off...
First Record of Daphnia lumholtzi Sars in the Great Lakes

Adults of the cladoceran Daphnia lumholtzi, native to Australia, Africa, and parts of Asia, were first collected in August 1999 in Lake Erie. Individuals were collected near East Harbor State Park, Lakeside, Ohio from vertical plankton net tows. The average number of D. lumholtzi that were found (0.03/L) indicate that D. lumholtzi is beginning to establish itself in Lake Erie. The morphology of this Daphnia differs greatly from native species because of its elongated head and tail spine. This sighting is important because it acknowledges yet another exotic invader into the Great Lakes basin and it also shows that this, normally, warm water species continues to expand its range northward.
Transmission coefficient and heat conduction of a harmonic chain with random masses: Asymptotic estimates on products of random matrices

We find upper and lower bounds for the transmission coefficient of a chain of random masses. Using these bounds we show that the heat conduction in such a chain does not obey Fourier's law: For different temperatures at the ends of a chain containingN particles the energy flux falls off likeN−1/2 rather thanN−1.
Noninvasive assessment of the direct action of oral nifedipine and nicardipine on left ventricular contractile state in patients with systemic hypertension: Importance of reflex sympathetic responses

Abstract Objectives. This study was designed to noninvasively assess the direct action of calcium channel blockers on left ventricular contractility in humans and to establish a framework for determining the importance of reflex sympathetic responses to any pharmacologic intervention. Background. Assessment of left ventricular contractility in patients taking calcium channel blockers by using traditional indexes of systolic performance is difficult because of the afterload-reducing and reflex sympathetic effects of the drugs. Methods. Fifteen hypertensive patients (mean blood pressure 127 ± 15 mm Hg) were studied with Doppler echocardiography and calibrated subclavian pulse tracings while receiving placebo and 1 week after randomization to treatment with oral nifedipine (20 mg three times daily; n = 7) or nicardipine (30 mg three times daily; n = 8). Left ventricular circumferential end-systolic wall stress versus rate-corrected velocity of shortening (Vcfc) relations were generated over a range of loads using nitroprusside. Data were acquired before and during esmolol infusion, thereby allowing assessment of hemodynamic responses with the sympathetic nervous system functionally intact as well as ablated. The adequacy of sympathetic blockade was confirmed with isoproterenol challenges. In each case, left ventricular contractile state was measured relative to placebo and esmolol data as ΔVcfcat a common end-systolic wall stress. Increased and decreased contractility were defined as ΔVcfc> 0 and ΔVcfc Results. Nifedipne and nicardipine equally decreased blood pressure and end-systolic wall stress and increased left ventricular percent fractional shortening and stroke volume. Neither drug alone consistently altered ventricular contractility compared with placebo. Ablation of reflex sympathetic tone with esmolol unmasked a negative intropic effect for nifedipine (p = 0.03 vs. esmolol alone) but not nicardipine (p = 0.68 vs. esmolol alone). The difference between the contractility effects of nifedipine plus esmolol versus those of nicardipine plus esmolol approached statistical significance (p = 0.07). Conclusions. Totally noninvasive techniques showed a differential effect on left ventricular contractility between nifedipine and nicardipine when alterations in afterload and reflex sympathetic responses were eliminated as confounding variables. This diagnostic approach, based on the use of pharmacologic probes, should have wide applicability for assessing the direct inotropic effect of any agent, even in the presence of complex primary and secondary physiologic modes of action.