cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Management and outcome of stage 3 neuroblastoma

Abstract Purpose The management of patients with International Neuroblastoma Staging System (INSS) stage 3 neuroblastoma (NB) is not consistent worldwide. We describe a single centre approach at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre (MSKCC) from 1991 to 2007 that minimises therapy except for those patients with MYCN -amplified NB. Methods In this retrospective analysis of 69 patients, tumour MYCN was not amplified in 53 and amplified in 16. Event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) were determined by Kaplan–Meier analysis. Results Fourteen patients with non- MYCN -amplified tumours were treated with surgery alone (group A) and the remaining 39 (group B) with surgery following chemotherapy that was initiated and administered at non-MSKCC institutions. Chemotherapy was discontinued after surgery in 38/39 of the latter. The 10-year EFS and OS for all patients with MYCN -non-amplified NB were 74.9 ± 16.9% and 92.6 ± 5.5%, respectively. There was no difference in OS between groups A and B ( p = 0.2; 10-year OS for groups A and B was 84.6 ± 14% and 97.1 ± 2.9%, respectively). Patients with MYCN -amplified disease (group C) underwent dose-intensive induction, tumour resection and local radiotherapy: 13 achieved complete or very good partial remission, and 10 received myeloablative chemotherapy. 11/16 patients also received 3F8-based immunotherapy: 10 remain free of disease. The 10-year EFS and OS for patients with MYCN -amplified neuroblastoma treated with immunotherapy were both 90.9 ± 8.7%. Conclusion Patients with MYCN -non-amplified stage 3 NB can be successfully treated with surgery without the need for radiotherapy or continuation of chemotherapy. Combination of dose-intensive chemotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy and immunotherapy was associated with a favourable outcome for most patients with MYCN -amplified stage 3 NB.
First report of infection of honeydew with Acidovorax avenae subsp. citrulli.

Honeydew fruits (Cucumis melo var. inodorus Jacq. ‘Morning Ice,’ ‘Honeybrew,’ and ‘Green Flesh’) with circular, 3- to 10-mm-diameter lesions that did not extend into the flesh of the fruit were collected from a field in Frio County, TX, in October 1996. Lesions were either water-soaked or had a scabby center with a water-soaked edge. Non-fluorescent, gram-negative bacteria were consistently isolated from lesions. Eleven representative bacterial strains had 0.835 to 0.950 similarity to Acidovorax avenae subsp. citrulli, using Biolog GN Microplates and the MicroLog data base release 3.50 (Biolog, Hayward, CA). Strains were tested for pathogenicity on watermelon (C. lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai ‘Royal Sweet’) and honeydew seedlings (cv. Morning Ice) by daubing suspensions (approximately 108 CFU/ml) of bacteria onto cotyledons of 1-week-old transplants. Water soaking, followed by necrosis, occurred after 3 to 5 days. A. avenae subsp. citrulli, the causal agent of bacterial fruit blotch of watermelon, was ...
Plasmin-sensitive dibasic sequences in the third fibronectin-like domain of L1-cell adhesion molecule (CAM) facilitate homomultimerization and concomitant integrin recruitment.

L1 is a multidomain transmembrane neural recognition molecule essential for neurohistogenesis. While moieties in the immunoglobulin-like domains of L1 have been implicated in both heterophilic and homophilic binding, the function of the fibronectin (FN)-like repeats remains largely unresolved. Here, we demonstrate that the third FN-like repeat of L1 (FN3) spontaneously homomultimerizes to form trimeric and higher order complexes. Remarkably, these complexes support direct RGD-independent interactions with several integrins, including αvβ3 and α5β1. A pep- tide derived from the putative C-C′ loop of FN3 (GSQRKHSKRHIHKDHV852) also forms trimeric complexes and supports αvβ3 and α5β1 binding. Substitution of the dibasic RK841 and KR845 sequences within this peptide or the FN3 domain limited multimerization and abrogated integrin binding. Evidence is presented that the multimerization of, and integrin binding to, the FN3 domain is regulated both by conformational constraints imposed by other domains and by plasmin- mediated cleavage within the sequence RK↓HSK↓RH846. The integrin α9β1, which also recognizes the FN3 domain, colocalizes with L1 in a manner restricted to sites of cell–cell contact. We propose that distal receptor ligation events at the cell–cell interface may induce a conformational change within the L1 ectodomain that culminates in receptor multimerization and integrin recruitment via interaction with the FN3 domain.
Behavioral toxicity of chronic postweaning lead exposure in the rat.

Abstract Effects in the rat of chronic postweaning exposure to 50, 300, or 1000 ppm lead acetate in drinking water were assessed on responding maintained by a fixed-interval 30-s food reinforcement schedule. On this schedule, food reinforcement followed the first lever press response occurring at least 30 s after the preceding food delivery. Exposure to 50 and 300 ppm lead acetate increased response rates and intersubject variability, while latency, or time to initiation of responding in the interval, decreased. Exposure to 1000 ppm initially decreased rates and increased latency values. Following termination of exposure to 50 ppm, response rates and latency values gradually returned to control levels. Behavioral effects produced by exposure to 50 and 300 ppm lead were similar in magnitude but varied in time to onset and decline, suggesting time-dependent, rather than concentration-dependent effects of lead.
Gastroesophageal reflux disease in lung transplant patients with cystic fibrosis.

Abstract Background Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in lung transplant patients is being increasingly investigated because of its reported association with chronic rejection. However, information concerning the characteristics of GERD in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients is scarce. Methods We compared esophageal pH monitoring, manometry, gastric emptying studies, and barium swallow of 10 lung transplant patients with CF with those of 78 lung transplant patients with other end-stage pulmonary diseases. Results In lung transplant patients with CF, the prevalence of GERD was 90% (vs 54% controls, P = .04), of whom 70% had proximal reflux (vs 29% controls, P = .02). Conclusions Lung transplant patients with CF have a significantly higher prevalence and proximal extent of GERD than do other lung transplant recipients. These data suggest that CF patients in particular should be routinely screened for GERD after transplantation to identify those who may benefit from antireflux surgery, especially given the risks of GERD-related aspiration and chronic allograft injury.
Infrared spectral observation on the PO group vibration of some homogeneous series of organic derivatives of P (V)

Abstract Wave numbers for i.r. frequencies of PO vibrations in complete series of neutral organic derivatives of phosphoric acid for groups n -butyl, 2-ethylhexyl, n -octyl and phenyl are presented, together with values for the diester acids, phosphonic acid half-esters and phosphinic acids. These data have been used to evaluate generalizations relating group electronegativity and PO frequency. There is no direct correlation between pK and PO frequency.
Laboratory diagnosis of human hepatitis viruses

Conventional serologic methods of antigen or antibody detection are now widely applied for diagnosis of hepatitis viruses A, B, C, and D. Nucleic acid quantitation has become very useful for monitoring response to antiviral therapy in cases of hepatitis B and C. Special confirmatory testing of HCV serologies can be quite specific, but overall serologies for HCV lack sensitivity for early diagnosis. Thus HCV RNA detection may ultimately be the preferred method for HCV diagnosis and for screening blood donors. Unfortunately, HEV diagnosis may rest on the efforts of research laboratories for electron microscopy, Western blot, or nucleic acid detection.
Hürthle cell adenoma arising in a thyroglossal duct cyst.

A 18-year-old black woman was initially seen with a 1-year history of a slowly enlarging midline neck mass. On physical examination this was consistent with a thyroglossal duct cyst. Histologic examination following a Sistrunk procedure revealed a Hurthle cell adenoma arising in a thyroglossal duct cyst. This is the second reported case of a Hurthle cell adenoma arising in a thyroglossal duct cyst. Neoplasms of thyroglossal duct cysts are reviewed.
A General Formula for the Capacity of Stationary Nonanticipatory Channels

A general formula for the capacity of stationary nonantic~patory channels is known. However, it is difficult to use this formula to calculate the capacities of the particular channels that have been considered in the literature. In this paper we derive a different formula for the capacity of stationary nonantieipatory channels. We then use this formula to calculate the capacities of several channels. In this way we obtain a unified approach to the calculation of the capacity. This approach avoids having to prove a coding theorem and a weak converse for each special type of channel.
Computed tomography of the face and paranasal sinuses: Part I. Normal anatomy.

Computed tomographic (CT) scanning of the face and sinuses has improved markedly with modern equipment and methods. Expertise in facial and sinus anatomy as seen by CT is invaluable to the clinician. A review of normal CT anatomy is presented as a basis for diagnosing, pathologic conditions.
Evidence for a Siphon Flow Ending near the Edge of a Pore

Observations of NOAA AR 9431, taken with the Vacuum Tower at Kitt Peak on 2001 April 18 in the Ca II 854.21 nm line in both circular polarizations, show evidence for a strong supersonic downflow ending near the edge of a magnetic pore. The observed supersonic motion is interpreted as a siphon flow along a magnetic loop connecting a patch of weaker field to the pore of opposite polarity in the same active region. The 854.21 nm line data reveal the upflow at one footpoint of the loop, as well as the acceleration of the flow toward the footpoint at the pore, where the flow reaches line-of-sight velocities of well over 20 km s-1, substantially larger than the critical speed. Numerical radiative transfer modeling of the 854.21 nm line indicates the presence of a strong discontinuity in the flow velocity, which we interpret as evidence for a tube shock in the downwind leg of the siphon.
Applicants' opinions about the selection process for Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Programs

Abstract Purpose: This study was conducted to investigate the characteristics of and opinions about the selection process of applicants to residency programs in oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMS) in the year 2000. The current investigation paralleled a survey completed in the 1970s, with additional questions to assess contemporary curriculum and surgical training evolution. Differences from the previous (1976) survey, a profile of applicants in 2000, and characteristics of OMS residency programs that applicants view as attractive are discussed. Subjects and Methods: Questionnaires were sent to 307 applicants to OMS residency programs registered in the dental matching program. To provide a more direct comparison of the study completed in 1977, the current questionnaire used the original survey as a model. It was divided into 6 sections: general information, information from the formal application and letters of recommendation, the interview, the selection process, the characteristics applicants were seeking in a program, and a retrospective review of programs visited. Results: In this study, 118 responses were received, representing 38% of the total. Respondents were predominately men (86%) and single, and attended dental school in all regions of the United States and the world. Respondents listed geographic location (65%) and national reputation (58%) as important factors for selecting programs to which to apply. Many respondents felt that a previous dental internship (85%), national board scores (83%), and class rank (79%) would be considered important in screening applicants for interview. A program's reputation, personalities of residents and attending staff, and clinical material were ranked as important factors contributing to program selection. Fifty-three of the 79 successful applicants reported that they were matched with their first-choice institution. Sixty percent of programs were considered worthy of revisiting by the respondents. Conclusions: Respondents in 2000 had more knowledge of the selection process before interviewing and submitted 2 times the number of applications than applicants in 1977. When selecting programs to which to apply, current applicants were less influenced by geographic location and the recommendations of other dentists. Applicants were attracted to programs that they perceive to have a good reputation and abundant clinical material. Residencies that convey a friendly atmosphere, favorable interpersonal skills of enrolled residents, and appealing personalities of the faculty were more attractive to candidates. © 2003 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons J Oral Maxillofac Surg 61:608-614, 2003
Shifting insulator boundaries

A new study shows that poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation of CTCF regulates its activity as a transcriptional insulator without altering its DNA binding properties. This mechanism provides cells with the flexibility to regulate gene expression without altering fundamental epigenetic programs.
Nanophases of binary and multicomponent alloys

Abstract I present a theory which explains the appearance of an amorphous-like, disordered phase in nanoparticles of binary alloys. The theory claims that this phase represents a transition state between two bulk phases of the binary system. While the transition state is completely unstable in the conditions of an open system, where exchange of the species between the particle and its surrounding is not limited, it may become stabilized in the closed system where the species exchange is prohibited. I derive the material-parameters criterion, which is the condition for the stabilization. The transition state represents a shallow minimum of the molar Helmholtz free energy as a function of the order parameter and is not significant in a large system because the global optimum there is delivered by the heterogeneous mixture of the two bulk phases connected by the common-tangent construction. However, in a particle of the size below the critical, the transition state becomes the global optimizer because of the prohibitively large energy “cost” of the phase separating interface. Thus the theory explains the effect as due to the free energy of the phase separating interface, not the energy of the free surface of the particle. The theory sheds light on the structure of the critical nuclei in the process of nucleation of one phase from another one. New experiments to verify the theory are suggested.
Interaction of Stress, Smoking, and Dietary Restraint in Women

Abstract MITCHELL, S. L. AND K. A. PERKINS. Interaction of stress, smoking, and dietary restraint in women. Physiol Behav 64(1) 103–109, 1998. Smoking cessation often results in weight gain but certain subtypes of smokers may be more likely than others to gain weight. Women high in dietary restraint (“restrainers”) increase food intake and gain more weight than nonrestrainers during smoking cessation. Restrainers have also been reported to increase food intake following laboratory stressors. Therefore, the present study was designed to measure the influence of stress on food intake and subjective distress during acute smoking abstinence in restrained and nonrestrained women. Participants were 48 women, 18–40 years old, comprising six groups ( n = 8 per group) in a 2 × 3 × 2 design. Groups consisted of two levels of restraint (restrained and nonrestrained) and three levels of smoking (ad lib. smokers, abstinent smokers, and nonsmokers), whereas the within-participant manipulation involved two sessions differing in stress (stress and control). Snack foods were available for consumption. Results showed that distress, measured by the Stress-Arousal Checklist and visual analogue measures of tension and anxiety, was higher in the stress session for all groups except for restrainers who smoked ad lib. Furthermore, distress was significantly higher in smoke-abstinent restrainers during the stress session than all other conditions. However, despite differences in distress, no effect was observed for food intake. Desire for a cigarette showed a sharper increase over the stress session for restrainers compared with nonrestrainers but did not differ in the control session. These data suggest that restrainers may use smoking to reduce distress and may increase smoking, but not eating, during stress.
How some research mathematicians and statisticians use proof in undergraduate mathematics

Abstract The paper examines the roles and purposes of proof mentioned by university research faculty when reflecting on their own teaching and teaching at their institutions. Interview responses from 14 research mathematicians and statisticians who also teach are reported. The results suggest there is a great deal of variation in the role and purpose of proof in and among mathematics courses and that factors such as the course title, audience, and instructor influence this variation. The results also suggest that, for this diverse group, learning how to prove theorems is the most prominent role of proof in upper division undergraduate mathematics courses and that this training is considered preparation for graduate mathematics studies. Absent were responses discussing proof's role in preparing K-12 mathematics teachers. Implications for a proof and proving landscape for school mathematics are discussed.
IDENTITY SHIFTS: QUEERING TEACHER EDUCATION RESEARCH

In conducting a study on the programmatic experiences of lesbian and bisexual preservice teachers, narratives of the silenced identity categories of participants led researchers to consider more queer approaches in their own research practices. In this article, we use queer theory and autoethnography to explore what queer research in teacher education could look like and how research with queer subjects by queer subjects can inform teacher education practices. That the participants in this study identify as lesbian and bisexual set the context—their identities informed and, indeed, enabled us to realize the queerness of the work that we did. Our focus in this article, however, is not the identities of the participants, but how, through work with queer preservice teachers, our identities as researchers and teachers were queered.
Sea Surface Temperature and Wind Stress Curl Variability near a Cape

AbstractThe coupling between sea surface temperature (SST), SST gradients, and wind stress curl variability near a cape off Brazil is investigated using satellite observations and several different SST high-resolution analyses. The cape is characterized by strong SST fronts year-round, associated with upwelling and advection of warm water offshore in a western boundary current. Observations reveal a strong coupling between crosswind SST gradients and wind stress curl variability, with the predominantly negative crosswind gradients leading to negative, upwelling favorable wind stress curl anomalies. The spatial correlation between empirical orthogonal functions (EOF) of those variables is ~0.6, while the correlation between the EOF amplitude time series of the wind stress curl and crosswind SST gradients is larger than 0.7. The coupling occurs during summer and winter and is strongly modulated by variations in the wind stress directional steadiness. The intensity of the coupling is weaker than around capes...
Cavernous angioma of the posterior fossa dura mimicking a meningioma: Case report and review of literature

A cavernous angioma of the posterior fossa dura was discovered incidentally on neuroimaging studies. The clinical and pathologic features of this lesion are described. Although it has been reported to arise in the posterior fossa and the tentorium cerebelli, we present the first case of such a malformation arising from the dura of the posterior fossa.
The effect of unsaturated fatty acids on membrane composition and signal transduction in HT-29 human colon cancer cells

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of membrane fatty acid (FA) composition on the activity of phospholipase C (PLC) in HT-29 human colon cancer cells. The membrane FA composition was altered by supplementing cultured cells with FAs of different composition. The FAs were stearic acid (18:0; SA), gamma linolenic acid (18:3 omega 6; gamma LnA); alpha linolenic acid (18:3 omega 3; alpha LnA;); eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5 omega 3; EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6 omega 3; DHA). The fatty acids were supplemented as a FA/BSA complex. Cells supplemented with SA served as the control. Tumor growth was followed by counting the number of cells in culture. The results indicate that polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) supplementation had no consistent effect on tumor growth from 1 day to another throughout the 15 days of growth. The fatty acid composition of membranes indicates that cells incorporated and modified the supplemented fatty acids by desaturation, elongation and retroconversion. The unsaturation index (UI) of membranes of cells supplemented with EPA and DHA was higher than other groups. PLC activity; measured in the absence of GTP gamma(S) in the assay mixture; was not influenced by membrane FA modification. However, in the presence of GTP gamma(S) PLC of cells supplemented with 18:3(omega 6) was the lowest among the groups. It has been shown that 18:3(omega 6) accumulated the most in the phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) fraction. There was a negative correlation between the activity of PLC in the presence of G protein activation and PE 18:3 (omega 6) content without affecting UI. It was concluded that G protein may be sensitive to the level of 18:3(omega 6) content and not to the general fluidity of the membranes.
Phase transformations in melt-spun Y-Ba-Cu-O bulk superconductor

Powders of YBa/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub 7/ (Y123) and compositions around Y123 were heated by a containerless process and melt-spun in 21% oxygen atmosphere at temperatures of 1400/spl deg/C to 1650/spl deg/C. Homogeneous materials were obtained with micron and submicron crystalline phases uniformly dispersed in an amorphous matrix. For Y123, the crystalline phases are identified by XRD as BaCu/sub 2/O/sub 2/ and Y/sub 2/O/sub 3/ when the melt-spinning temperature is below 1600/spl deg/C. At 1650/spl deg/C, the crystalline phases are Y/sub 4/Ba/sub 3/O/sub 9/, BaCu/sub 2/O/sub 2/ and Y/sub 2/O/sub 3/. The phase composition of the solidified melt is directly related to the oxygen content of the melt and can be related to the equilibrium phase diagrams at lower oxygen partial pressures. Isothermal annealing in oxygen at temperatures 500/spl deg/C to 950/spl deg/C reveals that the crystallization sequence is: Y123 begins to form at 500/spl deg/C, Y123 with minor amount of Y/sub 2/BaCuO/sub 5/ at 800/spl deg/C, Y123 with very minor amount of CuO at 900/spl deg/C, and single phase Y123 at 950/spl deg/C. >
Formation of spherulitic structure in polyhexamethylene adipamide (66 nylon). I. Structure and optical properties of spherulites at room temperature

It is found in studies with the polarizing microscope that 66 nylon spherulites form readily at temperatures near the melting point and grow until they are stopped by the presence of other spherulites. They possess a radially positive birefringence of approximately 0.01. X-ray diffraction studies confirm conclusions, drawn from the birefringence results, that the polymer chains are oriented approximately in the tangential plane and that the hydrogen bonds are oriented approximately along the radii. Spherulites are composed of the same type of crystallites as nonspherulitic, crystalline regions of the polymer. The formation of the “transcrystalline” region on the surface of the polymer in the temperature range where spherulites form has been observed at the interface between nylon and a wide variety of other substances. This is taken as evidence that spherulite nuclei form more readily on the surface than inside of the polymer. It is decided, on the basis of x-ray melting point studies, that the true thermodynamic melting point of 66 nylon must be higher than the normally accepted fusion temperature. From the shapes of interfaces between spherulites, it is concluded that the radial growth rate is constant for any isotherm.
VMD: Visual molecular dynamics

VMD is a molecular graphics program designed for the display and analysis of molecular assemblies, in particular biopolymers such as proteins and nucleic acids. VMD can simultaneously display any number of structures using a wide variety of rendering styles and coloring methods. Molecules are displayed as one or more "representations," in which each representation embodies a particular rendering method and coloring scheme for a selected subset of atoms. The atoms displayed in each representation are chosen using an extensive atom selection syntax, which includes Boolean operators and regular expressions. VMD provides a complete graphical user interface for program control, as well as a text interface using the Tcl embeddable parser to allow for complex scripts with variable substitution, control loops, and function calls. Full session logging is supported, which produces a VMD command script for later playback. High-resolution raster images of displayed molecules may be produced by generating input scripts for use by a number of photorealistic image-rendering applications. VMD has also been expressly designed with the ability to animate molecular dynamics (MD) simulation trajectories, imported either from files or from a direct connection to a running MD simulation. VMD is the visualization component of MDScope, a set of tools for interactive problem solving in structural biology, which also includes the parallel MD program NAMD, and the MDCOMM software used to connect the visualization and simulation programs. VMD is written in C++, using an object-oriented design; the program, including source code and extensive documentation, is freely available via anonymous ftp and through the World Wide Web.
Applying static analysis to high-dimensional malicious application detection

Signature based anti-virus systems inherently restrict the detection of new and previously unknown types of malicious attacks. To that end researchers are searching for methodologies to combat this problem. One potential method is the use of static application analysis. Using this methodology the applications are not executed to determine whether or not they contain malicious functionality. This paper presents a static application analysis methodology using the information retrieval technique of n-gram analysis and the dimensionality reduction techniques of randomized projection and mutual information to create a malicious application detection model. For this effort, a data set was extracted from Microsoft Windows applications that were either benign or possessed malicious functionality. Dimensionality and prediction methodology was then applied. Initial results show promise when comparing the prediction to expected outcomes. In one performance evaluation, the Boosted J48 algorithm achieved an accuracy of 99.08%.
Repairing The World Through Law: A Reflection On Robert Cover's Social Activism

(1996). Repairing The World Through Law: A Reflection On Robert Cover's Social Activism. Law & Literature: Vol. 8, A Commemorative Volume for Robert M. Cover, pp. 1-14.
Studies on the mechanism of action of 2-β-d-ribofuranosylthiazole-4-carboxamide (NSC 286193)-II. Relationship between dose level and biochemical effects in P388 leukemia in vivo

Abstract Administration of the novel thiazole C-nucleoside, 2-β- d -ribofuranosylthiazole-4-carboxamide (NSC 286193), to BDF 1 mice bearing subcutaneous implants of P388 leukemia provoked a sharp depression in the concentration of intratumoral guanine nucleotides and a correspondingly large expansion of the IMP pools. Measurements of IMP dehydrogenase in the tumors of treated mice revealed that this enzyme was inhibited in a dose-responsive way, with ∼50% inhibition engendered by the administration of the drug at a dose of 25 mg/kg and > 90% inhibition by all doses > 100 mg/kg. The inhibition of enzyme activity, seen after a dose of 250 mg/kg, reached a maximum 120 min after treatment and had subsided substantially 8 hr after dosing; by 24 hr, enzyme activity was fully restored. These results, coupled with the observation that the antitumor activity of the drug could be prevented in large part by the simultaneous administration of guanosine, support the conclusion that 2-β- d -ribofuranosylthiazole-4-carboxamide, after anabolism, exerts its antineoplastic effects via a state of guanine nucleotide depletion. In extracts of the tumors of mice given parenteral injections of the thiazole nucleoside, a potent dialyzable inhibitor of IMP dehydrogenase was demonstrable; its concentration fluctuated in parallel with enzyme inhibition. Although the chemical identity of the proximate inhibitory species has yet to be established, it is concluded on kinetic grounds that it is neither the native nucleoside nor its 5′-monophosphate.
Personal Networks of Women and Minorities in Management: A Conceptual Framework

Despite voluminous research indicating that women and minorities have limited access to or are excluded from organizational networks, two central questions remain unanswered: (a) In what specific ways, if any, do the interaction networks of men and women and whites and racial minorities differ? and (b) What mechanisms produce those differences? The central thesis of the article is that the organizational context in which interaction networks are embedded produces unique constraints on women and racial minorities, causing their networks to differ from those of their white male counterparts in composition and characteristics of their relationships with network members. Organizational context is hypothesized to affect personal networks directly, as well as through its impact on individuals' strategies for managing constraints. A theoretical perspective that views women and minorities as active agents who make strategic choices among structurally limited alternatives is offered.
Applications of ammonium formate catalytic transfer hydrogenolysis--IV1: a facile method for dehalogenation of aromatic chlorocarbons

Abstract Ammonium formate catalytic transfer hydrogenolysis, in the presence of palladium on carbon, has shown utility for the rapid dehalogenation of mono-or polychlorinated aromatic compounds in neutral media under ambient conditions of temperature and pressure.
Physician as Hospital Chief Executive Officer

The vast majority of hospitals in the United States today are led by nonphysicians. This is in sharp contrast to the turn of the 20th century, when over a third of the hospitals in the United States were physician led. As the pendulum swings back from lay leader to clinician leader, there is a strong and appropriate opportunity for physicians to reinsert themselves into a leadership role. In fact, the time has perhaps never been more appropriate than today. In a health care system that is complex, troubled, and challenging, the physician CEO brings a unique set of skills to the business of medicine. The successful physician leader, however, must understand the business of medicine as well as or better than he or she understands the practice of medicine. Training, developing, and equipping our future physician leaders with the necessary skill sets will be one of medicines' many challenges as it expands into the 21st century.
Erythropoietin: A Potent Inducer of Peripheral Immuno/Inflammatory Modulation in Autoimmune EAE

Background: Beneficial effects of short-term erythropoietin (EPO) therapy have been demonstrated in several animal models of acute neurologic injury, including experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE)-the animal model of multiple sclerosis. We have found that EPO treatment substantially reduces the acute clinical paralysis seen in EAE mice and this improvement is accompanied by a large reduction in the mononuclear cell infiltration and downregulation of glial MHC class II expression within the inflamed CNS. Other reports have recently indicated that peripherally generated antiinflammatory CD4 + Foxp3 + regulatory T cells (Tregs) and the IL17-producing CD4+ T helper cell (Th17) subpopulations play key antagonistic roles in EAE pathogenesis. However, no information regarding the effects of EPO therapy on the behavior of the general mononuclear-lymphocyte population, Tregs or Th17 cells in EAE has emerged. Methods and Findings: We first determined in vivo that EPO therapy markedly suppressed MOG specific T cell proliferation and sharply reduced the number of reactive dendritic cells (CD11c positive) in EAE lymph nodes during both inductive and later symptomatic phases of MOG35–55 induced EAE. We then determined the effect in vivo of EPO on numbers of peripheral Treg cells and Th17 cells. We found that EPO treatment modulated immune balance in both the periphery and the inflamed spinal cord by promoting a large expansion in Treg cells, inhibiting Th17 polarization and abrogating proliferation of the antigen presenting dendritic cell population. Finally we utilized tissue culture assays to show that exposure to EPO in vitro similarly downregulated MOG-specific T cell proliferation and also greatly suppressed T cell production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Conclusions: Taken together, our findings reveal an important new locus whereby EPO induces substantial long-term tissue protection in the host through signaling to several critical subsets of immune cells that reside in the peripheral lymphatic system.
Family-School Strategies for Responding to the Needs of Children Experiencing Chronic Stress

Children experience chronic stress in ways that can impair their brain functioning and overall development. This article articulates the unique needs of children experiencing chronic stress and discusses strategies that families and schools can use to support and strengthen children’s development across the social, emotional, and cognitive domains.
Effects of wild type and mutant estrogen receptors on DNA flexibility, DNA bending, and transcription activation.

We examined the ability of wild type (WT) estrogen receptor (ER) and mutant ERs to induce distortion and directed bends in DNA fragments containing estrogen response elements and then monitored the ability of these receptors to activate transcription. The ER mutants had either 108 (109-595 ER) or 175 (delta AB ER) amino acids deleted from the amino terminus; 42 (delta F ER) or 65 (1-530 ER) amino acids deleted from the carboxy terminus; or a single point mutation at amino acid 380 (glu-->gln) in the ER hormone binding domain (E380Q ER). Circular permutation analysis was used to determine the degree of distortion induced in estrogen response element-containing DNA fragments (65 degrees for WT ER and E380Q ER, 56 degrees for 109-595 ER, 54 degrees for delta AB ER, 63 degrees for delta F ER, and 60 degrees for 1-530 ER). Phasing analysis delineated the magnitude of directed DNA bends (8.3 degrees for WT ER, 6.9 degrees for 109-595 ER, 6.5 degrees for delta AB ER, 10.6 degrees for delta F ER, 12.4 degrees for...
Index of refraction of molecular nitrogen for sodium matter waves

We calculate the index of refraction of sodium matter waves propagating through a gas of nitrogen molecules. We use a recent ab initio potential for the ground state of the NaN_2 Van der Waals complex to perform quantal close-coupling calculations and compute the index of refraction as a function of the projectile velocity. We obtain good agreement with the available experimental data. We show that the refractive index contains glory oscillations, but that they are damped by the averaging over the thermal motion of the N_2 molecules. These oscillations appear at lower temperatures and projectile velocity. We also investigate the behavior of the refractive index at low temperature and low projectile velocity to show its dependence on the rotational state of N_2, and discuss the advantage of using diatomic molecules as projectiles.
Mechanism of Degradation of Methyl Bromide and Propargyl Bromide in Soil

The degradation of methyl bromide (MB) and propargyl bromide (PB) was investigated in soil and water to obtain information on the mechanism of degradation. It has been suggested that primary alkyl halides (including MB and the potential alternatives PB and methyl iodide) can undergo S N 2 nucleophilic substitution with nucleophilic sites on soil organic matter (i.e., -NH 2 , -NH, -OH, -SH). The pattern of product formation observed in this study provides more direct evidence that fumigants that are primary alkyl halides can alkylate soil organic matter and that this may be a significant mechanism of degradation in soil. Degradation in water samples (hydrolysis) formed Br and the corresponding alcohol (propargyl alcohol from PB, methanol from MB) in equimolar amounts. The rate of hydrolysis was not significantly different from the rate of Br formation for both MB and PB. Degradation in two soils resulted in the formation of Br - , but very little production of the corresponding alcohol, indicating that some mechanism other than hydrolysis must be occurring in the soil. Degradation of MB and PB was much more rapid in the higher-organic-matter clay loam soil than in the sandy loam soil. Spiking 14 C-labeled MB to soil resulted in the formation of nonextractable (soil-bound) 14 C, which increased as the extractable 14 C decreased. Microbial oxidation was not significant in these soil samples, which were sterilized through autoclaving andlor treatment with high concentrations of fumigants. These results provide further experimental evidence that MB, PB, and similar compounds can alkylate soil organic matter.
The Utah Fly's Eye detector

Abstract We report the details of the design, operation and performance of the University of Utah Fly's Eye detector which was built to record the passage of ultra-high energy cosmic rays through the atmosphere via atmospheric fluorescence. Emphasized in the presentation are (1) light production by charged particles in the atmosphere, (2) kinematics of an EAS as seen by the Fly's Eye, (3) signal to noise considerations and its impact on detector design, (4) details of detector hardware and software, (5) detector calibration, (6) techniques employed in measurement of shower longitudinal development profiles and primary particle energy, and (7) assessment of detector performance by a comparison of Monte Carlo and real data distributions.
Vegetation east of the rocky mountains 18,000 years ago☆

The various lobes and segments of the southern periphery of the Laurentide ice sheet reached their maximum extension at different times between 21,000 and 14,000 yr ago, but the CLIMAP date of 18,000 yr ago is taken as a reference level to review the distribution of major vegetational formations in central and eastern United States. Tundra was apparently confined to a narrow belt peripheral to the ice margin only in the Minnesota area and from northern Pennsylvania to New England, with extensions down the crest of the Appalachian Highlands at least as far as Maryland. Some areas south of the Great Lakes may later have been marked by treeless vegetation briefly as the ice retreated. The boreal forest to the south in the central United States was dominated by spruce; the jack pine that had prevailed during previous times was apparently eliminated by the time the ice reached its maximum. In the Appalachian Highlands and the Atlantic Coastal Plain, however, jack pine occurred along with spruce, which decreased in importance southward. The southern limit of the boreal forest in the Southeast was perhaps somewhere in southern Georgia and Alabama. Oak and other temperate deciduous trees were minor components of the boreal coniferous forests especially in the southern Appalacchians, but there is no evidence yet in the southeastern states for a relic mixed mesophytic forest 18,000 yr ago similar to the rich modern deciduous forests of the region, except possibly in the Lower Mississippi Valley. The climate in much of the Southeast was apparently dry as well as cool at that time; in Florida oak/pine scrub and prairie-like openings prevailed, and all but the deepest lakes dried up.
Towards a Mobile Cloud-Enabled Personalized and Context-Aware Drug Safety Advisory Framework for Mitigating Pharmaceutical Accidents

Accidents involving prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medications have increased at alarming rates in recent decades. In the United States, 38,329 people died from drug-related incidents in 2010 alone. Causes of drug accidents include: complicated medication warnings, overdoses resulting from failure of patients to accurately account for their recent medicine intake, and lack of effective communication channels from regulatory authorities to patients. Towards mitigating pharmaceutical accidents, in this paper we propose a personalized, context-aware, and user-friendly drug safety advisory framework that harnesses smartphone/tablet platforms in conjunction with cloud computing technology. This system is intended to provide timely advice to a patient on whether a medicine she is considering taking is safe for her under current circumstances. This paper outlines a high-level architecture for such a framework. We also discuss the research challenges involved in designing various components of the framework and explore possible solutions.
Detection of cirrus clouds at 1.13 μm in AVIRIS scenes over land

Scattered solar radiance from cirrus clouds has traditionally been detected over land at 1.37 micrometer, a wavelength that is ordinarily opaque to the surface due to water vapor absorption. We describe a new pairwise regression method for spectral imagery that retrieves cloud signals in the vicinity of a partially transmitting band, such as the 1.13 micrometer band, over any type of spatially structured terrain. The method, which uses spatial filtering and linear regression to cancel the surface background, has been applied to several rural and urban AVIRIS scenes. With a single cloud or cloud layer in the scene, the 1.13 micrometer and 1.37 micrometer cloud signals are closely correlated. Since the two signals are absorbed differently by water vapor, the slope of the correlation plot indicates the column water vapor above the cloud and thus the approximate cloud altitude. The less strongly absorbed 1.13 micrometer signal is closely related to the cloud optical thickness and can be used by itself or in combination with the 1.37 micrometer signal to correct apparent surface reflectance spectra for cirrus cloud effects.
Lactogenic hormones increase epidermal growth factor messenger RNA content of mouse mammary glands.

Abstract Epidermal growth factor (EGF) is known to stimulate mammary epithelial proliferation, has been identified in milk and is expressed in lactating mammary epithelia. This study examined hormonal control of EGF mRNA in mammary glands of mice. Prepro-EGF mRNA (4.7 kb) was detected during lactation (and increased significantly during this period), whereas a smaller EGF-like RNA (.5 kb) was at highest levels in mammary glands of virgin and pregnant mice. The 4.7 kb RNA was polyadenylated, whereas .5 kb RNA was not. In mammary gland organ cultures from steroid-primed mice, the combinations of insulin+hydrocortisone and insulin+prolactin+hydrocortisone increased both prepro-EGF and β-casein mRNA expression. When hydrocortisone was present there was a decrease in mammary gland content of EGF-like RNA (.5 kb band). We conclude that prepro-EGF mRNA expression in mouse mammary tissue is under the control of the lactogenic hormones prolactin and hydrocortisone.
A Hybrid Parallel Implementation of Model Selection for Support Vector Machines

The Model Selection (MS) is an important part of any statistical analysis, and for Support Vector Machine becomes crucial in order to reach the best performance. However, the MS is a compute intensive and non-convex problem, therefore an efficient parallelization is highly desirable. For this reason, in this work we compare two different approaches in MS parallelization, based on the use of MPI and hybrid MPI+OpenMP composition. Results show a clear and considerable advantage in using the latter solution.
Gravity currents impinging on bottom-mounted square cylinders: flow fields and associated forces

The unsteady drag and lift generated by the interaction of a gravity current with a bottom-mounted square cylinder are investigated by means of high-resolution Navier–Stokes simulations. Two-dimensional simulations for Reynolds numbers (Re) O(1000) and three-dimensional simulations for Re = O(10000) demonstrate that the drag coefficient increases exponentially towards a maximum as the current meets the cylinder, then undergoes strong fluctuations and eventually approaches a quasi-steady value. The simulation results show that the maximum drag coefficient can reach a value of 3, with the quasi-steady value being O(1), which should aid in selecting a design drag coefficient for submarine structures under the potential impact of gravity currents. The transient drag and lift fluctuations after impact are associated with the Kelvin–Helmholtz vortices in the mixing layer between the gravity current and the ambient fluid. As these vortices pass over the cylinder, they cause the convection of separated flow regions along the bottom wall towards the cylinder. In two-dimensional simulations at Re = O(10000), these flow structures are seen to be unrealistically coherent and to persist throughout the interaction, thus resulting in a noticeable overprediction of the drag and lift fluctuations. On the other hand, the impact of the current on the cylinder is seen to be very well captured by two-dimensional simulations at all Re values. Three-dimensional simulations lead to excellent agreement with available experimental data throughout the flow/structure interaction. They show that the spanwise variation of the drag is determined by the gravity current's lobe-and-cleft structure at impact and by an unsteady cellular flow structure similar to that found in constant-density flows at later times. A comparison between gravity-current flows and corresponding constant-density flows shows the hydrostatic drag component to be important for gravity currents.
Self-Care Deficit with Etiologies: Reliability of Measurement

The purpose of the present study is to examine the reliability of items in an assessment guide for a specific diagnostic label, self-care deficit, and its etiologies/contributing factors. Subjects assessed were 30 patients from an acute orthopedic unit in a large medical center. First, an estimate of internal consistency as a measure of reliability was obtained for items measuring self-care deficit (Cronbach's alpha, 0.83). Second, inter-rater reliability was obtained for the formulation of complete diagnostic statements; that is, self-care deficit with etiologies. An 88% agreement was found with respect to the diagnosis self-care deficit, bathing related to immobility. Overall, agreement on the five most commonly found nursing diagnoses with their etiologies was 69%. The use of an assessment instrument that has reliability and validity may contribute to more accurate diagnostic decisions and impact on appropriate and effective nursing interventions. Further work on assessment parameters for both the diagnostic labels and their etiologies/contributing factors, and the linking of diagnoses to interventions is recommended.