cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Norepinephrine blocks a calcium current of adult rat sympathetic neurons via an α2-adrenoceptor

The effects of alpha-adrenoceptor agonist and antagonist drugs on the Ca2+ current of acutely isolated adult rat superior cervical ganglion (SCG) neurons were investigated to characterize the adrenoceptor which mediates a catecholamine-induced decrease of the Ca2+ current. Ca2+ currents were recorded using the whole-cell variant of the patch-clamp technique from neurons isolated enzymatically from adult rat SCG. Norepinephrine (1 microM) produced a rapid, reversible, and concentration-dependent decrease in Ca2+ current amplitude and slowed the rising phase of the Ca2+ current. These effects could be mimicked by clonidine (1 microM), an alpha 2-agonist but not by the alpha 1-agonist phenylephrine (1 microM). The norepinephrine-induced decrease in Ca2+ current amplitude was attenuated in the presence of idazoxan (1 microM), an alpha 2-antagonist, but was unaffected in the presence of the alpha 1-antagonist prazosin (1 microM). Neither antagonist displayed any Ca2+ current blocking activity. These results suggest that the alpha-receptor which mediates the norepinephrine-induced decrease of the Ca2+ current in adult rat SCG neurons is of the alpha 2-subtype.
PARASITISM OF RHINOCYLLUS CONICUS FROELICH (COLEOPTERA: CURCULIONIDAE) IN WYOMING

Rhinocyllus conicus Froelich was introduced into Wyoming in 1975 for the biological control of musk thistle, Carduus nutans L. A survey of 15 release sites was conducted in 1986 to determine parasitism of R . conicus . Eight species of parasitic Hymenoptera were identified. Parasitism of R . conicus infecting the flower heads of musk thistle was low (0.6%), but greater for weevils within the peduncles (17%). Parasitism varied among release sites, ranging from 0.0 to 1.3%, but was not significantly correlated with the duration of weevil establishment.
Nobody to shoot? Power, structure, and agency: A dialogue

In this dialogue, Clarissa Hayward and Steven Lukes debate the relation among power, social structure, and human agency. The authors converge on the view that not only moral responsibility, but also political responsibility is relevant to the study of power. They disagree about how to analyze difficult cases in which some agents are clearly subject to social constraints on freedom, but no powerful actors seem responsible for their constraint.
Impaction grafting of the acetabulum with a mixture of frozen, ground irradiated bone graft and porous synthetic bone substitute (Apapore 60)

The clinical and radiological results of 50 consecutive acetabular reconstructions in 48 patients using impaction grafting have been retrospectively reviewed. A 1:1 mixture of frozen, ground irradiated bone graft and Apapore 60, a synthetic bone graft substitute, was used in all cases. There were 13 complex primary and 37 revision procedures with a mean follow-up of five years (3.4 to 7.6). The clinical survival rate was 100%, with improvements in the mean Harris Hip Scores for pain and function. Radiologically, 30 acetabular grafts showed evidence of incorporation, ten had radiolucent lines and two acetabular components migrated initially before stabilising. Acetabular reconstruction in both primary and revision surgery using a 1:1 mixture of frozen, ground, irriadiated bone and Apapore 60 appears to be a reliable method of managing acetabular defects. Longer follow-up will be required to establish whether this technique is as effective as using fresh-frozen allograft.
Modulation and coding rate selection to improve successive cancellation reception in OFDM and spread OFDM MIMO systems

This paper presents a method to determine a different modulation and coding rate (MCR) to be applied by the transmitter to each MIMO data stream in frequency -selective communications to improve the performance of a successive cancellation receiver. In addition, the MCR selection method assumes a predetermined successive cancellation decoding order thus simplifying the receiver. Comparisons are made to BLAST with the same MCR level on each stream (with both equal power on each stream and different power on each stream). The "MCR selection BLAST" is tested for both OFDM and spread OFDM in a simulated 18.75 MHz channel. Simulation results for a spread OFDM system show up to a 4 dB improvement in frequency-selective channels over V-BLAST with equal power and the same MCR level on each stream. The results also show that in spread OFDM MCR selection with equal power is a viable alternative to allocating different power on each stream, but in OFDM the MCR selection with equal power performed worse than allocating a different power on each stream.
A general framework for low level vision

We introduce a new geometrical framework based on which natural flows for image scale space and enhancement are presented. We consider intensity images as surfaces in the (x,I) space. The image is, thereby, a two-dimensional (2-D) surface in three-dimensional (3-D) space for gray-level images, and 2-D surfaces in five dimensions for color images. The new formulation unifies many classical schemes and algorithms via a simple scaling of the intensity contrast, and results in new and efficient schemes. Extensions to multidimensional signals become natural and lead to powerful denoising and scale space algorithms.
Street Researchers: A New Paradigm Redefining Future Research with Street Children

To advance work with street children, realistic and effective programs must be based on prior research. Traditional research methods are not applicable to investigations with street children, thus ...
From First Drug Use to Drug Dependence: Developmental Periods of Risk for Dependence upon Marijuana, Cocaine, and Alcohol

The focal point of this paper is the transition from drug use to drug dependence. We present new evidence on risk for starting to use marijuana, cocaine, and alcohol, as well as risks for progression from first drug use to the onset of drug dependence, separately for each of these drugs. Data from the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS) were analyzed. The NCS had a representative sample of the United States population ages 15-54 years (n = 8,098). Survival analysis techniques were used to provide age- and time-specific risk estimates of initiating use of marijuana, cocaine, and alcohol, as well as of becoming dependent on each drug. With respect to risk of initiating use, estimated peak values for alcohol and marijuana were found at age 18, about two years earlier than the later peak in risk of initiating cocaine use. With respect to risk of meeting criteria for the clinical dependence syndrome, estimated peak values for alcohol and marijuana were found at age 17-18. Peak values for cocaine dependence were found at age 23-25. Once use began, cocaine dependence emerged early and more explosively, with an estimated 5-6% of cocaine users becoming cocaine dependent in the first year of use. Most of the observed cases of cocaine dependence met criteria for dependence within three years after initial cocaine use. Whereas some 15-16% of cocaine users had developed cocaine dependence within 10 years of first cocaine use, the corresponding values were about 8% for marijuana users, and 12-13% for alcohol users. The most novel findings of this study document a noteworthy risk for quickly developing cocaine dependence after initial cocaine use, with about one in 16 to 20 cocaine users becoming dependent within the first year of cocaine use. For marijuana and alcohol, there is a more insidious onset of the drug dependence syndrome.
Simvastatin rescues rats from fatal pulmonary hypertension by inducing apoptosis of neointimal smooth muscle cells.

Background—Pulmonary vascular injury by toxins can induce neointimal formation, pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), right ventricular failure, and death. We showed previously that simvastatin attenuates smooth muscle neointimal proliferation and pulmonary hypertension in pneumonectomized rats injected with the alkaloid toxin monocrotaline. The present study was undertaken to investigate the efficacy of simvastatin and its mechanism of reversing established neointimal vascular occlusion and pulmonary hypertension. Methods and Results—Pneumonectomized rats injected with monocrotaline at 4 weeks demonstrated severe PAH at 11 weeks (mean pulmonary artery pressure [mPAP]42 versus 17 mm Hg in normal rats) and death by 15 weeks. When rats with severe PAH received simvastatin (2 mg · kg 1 ·d 1 by gavage) from week 11, there was 100% survival and reversal of PAH after 2 weeks (mPAP36 mm Hg) and 6 weeks (mPAP24 mm Hg) of therapy. Simvastatin treatment reduced right ventricular hypertrophy and reduced proliferation and increased apoptosis of pathological smooth muscle cells in the neointima and medial walls of pulmonary arteries. Longitudinal transcriptional profiling revealed that simvastatin downregulated the inflammatory genes fos, jun, and tumor necrosis factor- and upregulated the cell cycle inhibitor p27Kip1, endothelial nitric oxide synthase, and bone morphogenetic protein receptor type 1a. Conclusions—Simvastatin reverses pulmonary arterial neointimal formation and PAH after toxic injury. (Circulation. 2003;108:1640-1645.)
Adaptive set pinning: managing shared caches in chip multiprocessors

As part of the trend towards Chip Multiprocessors (CMPs) for the next leap in computing performance, many architectures have explored sharing the last level of cache among different processors for better performance-cost ratio and improved resource allocation. Shared cache management is a crucial CMP design aspect for the performance of the system. This paper first presents a new classification of cache misses - CII: Compulsory, Inter-processor and Intra-processor misses - for CMPs with shared caches to provide a better understanding of the interactions between memory transactions of different processors at the level of shared cache in a CMP. We then propose a novel approach, called set pinning, for eliminating inter-processor misses and reducing intra-processor misses in a shared cache. Furthermore, we show that an adaptive set pinning scheme improves over the benefits obtained by the set pinning scheme by significantly reducing the number of off-chip accesses. Extensive analysis of these approaches with SPEComp 2001 benchmarks is performed using a full system simulator. Our experiments indicate that the set pinning scheme achieves an average improvement of 22.18% in the L2 miss rate while the adaptive set pinning scheme reduces the miss rates by an average of 47.94% as compared to the traditional shared cache scheme. They also improve the performance by 7.24% and 17.88% respectively.
Racial/ethnic variations in perineal length and association with perineal lacerations: a prospective cohort study.

AbstractObjective: To examine the association between race/ethnicity, perineal length and the risk of perineal laceration.Methods: This is a prospective cohort study of a diverse group of women with singleton gestations in the third trimester of pregnancy. Perineal length was measured and mean values calculated for several racial/ethnic groups. Chi-squared analyses were used to examine rates of severe perineal laceration (third or fourth degree laceration) by race/ethnicity among women considered to have a short perineal length. Further, subgroup analyses were performed comparing nulliparas to multiparas.Results: Among 344 study participants, there was no statistically significant difference in mean perineal length by race/ethnicity (White 4.0 ± 1.1 cm, African-American 3.7 ± 1.0 cm, Latina 4.1 ± 1.1 cm, Asian 3.8 ± 1.0 cm, and other/unknown 4.0 ± 0.9 cm). Considering parity, more multiparous Asian and African-American women had a short perineal length (20.7 and 23.5%, respectively, p = 0.05). Finally, th...
Calcium in Systemic Human Health

Low calcium intakes have been linked to a bewildering array of different diseases. In the chapters of this section, we describe the pathogenesis of the best attested of these disorders and review the evidence for the role of variations in calcium intake in their causation, prevention, and treatment. First, however, it is useful to establish the broad functional context in which calcium operates.
Monitoring molecular-specific pharmacodynamics of rapamycin in vivo with inducible Gal4→Fluc transgenic reporter mice

Rapamycin (Rap), a small-molecule inhibitor of mTOR, is an immunosuppressant, and several Rap analogues are cancer chemotherapeutics. Further pharmacologic development will be significantly facilitated if in vivo reporter models are available to enable monitoring of molecular-specific pharmacodynamic actions of Rap and its analogues. Herein we present the use of a Gal4→Fluc reporter mouse for the study of Rap-induced mTOR/FKBP12 protein-protein interactions in vivo with the use of a mouse two-hybrid transactivation strategy, a derivative of the yeast two-hybrid system applied to live mice. Upon treatment with Rap, a bipartite transactivator was reconstituted, and transcription of a genomic firefly luciferase reporter was activated in a concentration-dependent (K(d) = 2.3 nmol/L) and FK506-competitive (K(i) = 17.1 nmol/L) manner in cellulo, as well as in a temporal and specific manner in vivo. In particular, after a single dose of Rap (4.5 mg/kg, i.p.), peak Rap-induced protein-protein interactions were observed in the liver at 24 hours post treatment, with photon flux signals 600-fold over baseline, which correlated temporally with suppression of p70S6 kinase activity, a downstream effector of mTOR. The Gal4→Fluc reporter mouse provides an intact physiologic system to interrogate protein-protein interactions and molecular-specific pharmacodynamics during drug discovery and lead characterization. Imaging protein interactions and functional proteomics in whole animals in vivo may serve as a basic tool for screening and mechanism-based analysis of small molecules targeting specific protein-protein interactions in human diseases.
Permanent magnet-based dipole for a small storage ring

The authors designed and constructed a small dipole magnet driven by NdBFe permanent magnet material with iron for field shaping. The gap is 1.5 inches high and 4 inches wide; the magnet length is 8 inches. A central field value of 0.422 T has been measured and a computer prediction for a long magnet predicted 0.6 T. The central field is quite uniform in the horizontal midplane, and field integrals have been measured and are plotted. >
Corporate Philanthropy: What Is the Strategy?:

Strategic philanthropy, according to the literature, is becoming the state of the art in corporate contribution management. The term is defined in this study as the process by which contributions are targeted to meet business objectives and recipient needs. It represents the integration of philanthropy into the overall strategic planning of the corporation. Given this trend, this research examines the extent to which corporate philanthropy has become predominantly a business deal with direct and measurable financial returns to shareholders. The study presents the results of a national survey of corporate direct contribution programs. The 226 corporations that responded to the mailed questionnaire were primarily large corporations from over 20 different industries. The findings suggest that contributions made directly by corporations are primarily used in less tangible ways to meet responsibilities to employees and their communities. The management of corporate philanthropy continues to evolve (Young & Burlingame, 1996). During the days when corporate community relations was a series of balloon and T-shirt events, corporate executive officers limited their philanthropic management activity to hosting charity dinners and chairing fund-raising campaigns. Today, a new social contract between business and communities is reflected by advocacy movements in the areas of ethical investing and the environment. Companies are more aware of the direct impact of community social problems on the achievement of strategic busi
Buprenorphine Products for the Pharmacologic Management of Opioid Addiction: Why Shouldn't Advanced Practice Nurses Prescribe?

This paper describes the current legislative authority that permits office-based prescribing of buprenorphine products for the pharmacological treatment of opioid addiction by physicians with certain qualifications. It outlines ways prescribers can improve the quality of care, ensure safety, prevent diversion and abuse of the medications, and improve treatment outcomes. It advances the concept of enabling advanced practice nurses with prescriptive authority (nurse practitioners) to prescribe buprenorphine products for the treatment of opioid addiction, so as to improve access to this treatment and reduce the treatment capacity gap.
Sequential Fixed‐Width Confidence Interval for a Function of the Parameters

Summary Let X1…, Xm and Y1…, Yn be two independent sequences of i.i.d. random variables with distribution functions Fx(.|θ) and Fy(. | φ) respectively. Let g(θ, φ) be a real-valued function of the unknown parameters θ and φ. The purpose of this paper is to suggest a sequential procedure which gives a fixed-width confidence interval for g(θ, φ) so that the coverage probability is approximately α (preas-signed). Certain asymptotic optimality properties of the sequential procedure are established. A Monte Carlo study is presented.
Are drugs for rare diseases "essential"?

In 1977, the first report of the WHO Expert Committee on the Use of Essential Drugs defined essential drugs as those needed to satisfy the health-care needs of the majority of the population. This was done in order to fulfil a mandate to assist Member States in selecting and obtaining essential medicaments for their populations. The Expert Committee then developed criteria for determining if a drug fitted this definition and published a Model List of Essential Drugs as an example of how the concept of essential drugs could be implemented. A brief review of the state of medications at that time explains the need for this assistance: resources were limited in many countries, so the goal was to use them wisely, and many drugs marketed around the world were ineffective or irrational combination products. A review of the evidence of efficacy of all prescription drugs on the market in the United States starting in 1966 found that about one-third of the over 3000 marketed drugs were not effective. (1) In addition, there were frequently several effective drugs in the same therapeutic class: all did not need to be stocked by health service pharmacies. The essential drugs concept and the methods for its implementation were developed to help make decisions about which drugs to purchase to make the best use of the available health-care resources. WHO reported that, by the end of 1999, 156 Member States had medicine lists indicating acceptance of the essential medicines concept. Furthermore, there are a number of published examples of the favourable impact of this concept on various regions in the world. (2) While the procedures used by this WHO activity have evolved over time, (3) the definition of an essential medicine continues to be a medicine needed for the majority of the population. This appears to exclude systematically medicines for rare diseases. Is it time to change the definition? In this issue, Stolk et al. identify changes in the policies of some governments to facilitate the discovery and development of drugs for uncommon diseases. They propose an additional complementary Orphan Medicines Model List to include drugs for rare diseases in the Essential Medicines programme of WHO. (4) They propose seven criteria for including a drug in their suggested list; cost is not one of them. How should treatments for uncommon or rare diseases be considered, if at all, for an essential medicines list? After all, there are more than 6000 rare diseases and related conditions listed on the National Institutes of Health web site. (5) Aristotle raised the principle of distributive justice, the proper distribution of benefits and burdens, to address this question. (6) Is it right for one patient to benefit from a health service and another patient to be ignored only because of the prevalence of their illnesses? Is there a better way to select which medicines to purchase than to purchase only those for common problems? Are patients with rare diseases irrelevant to the health-care needs of a population? One way to make decisions about resource allocation is through cost--effectiveness analysis. …
Poxvirus deletion mutants: virulence and immunogenicity.

Abstract Post-vaccinial encephalitis and disseminated vaccinia are major concerns with the use of vaccinia virus recombinants as immunization vectors in man. To identify and characterize possible attenuated poxvirus vectors, rabbitpox virus (RPV) (closely related to vaccinia) and four deletion mutants of RPV were studied for organ tropism, neurovirulence, and protection from wild-type challenge in BALB/c mice. Intraperitoneal (IP) inoculation with 10 7 PFU wild-type (wt) RPV or with two mutants 8 sm and 28 (containing approximately 12 kilobase deletions) showed titers of > 10 3 PFU/g tissue in multiple organs. In contrast, IP inoculation of 10 7 PFU of mutants 31 or 23 (containing approximately 30 kilobase deletions) showed markedly reduced growth in all organs. Neurovirulence of wt and mutant RPV was determined by intracerebral (IC) inoculation of mice. Wt and mutants 8 sm, and 28 RPV had LD 50 2 PFU; in contrast, 31 and 23 had LD 50 > 10 5 PFU. Finally, 10 6 PFU of mutants 31 or 23, were administered to mice by scarification, the normal route of vaccinia immunization. Both 31 and 23 grew locally in the skin and protected mice challenged IC at 21 days with 100 LD 50 of wt RPV, while all unimmunized controls died. We conclude that deletion mutants 31 and 23 demonstrate markedly reduced invasiveness and neurovirulence while retaining immunogenicity. Similar deletion mutations in vaccinia may create avirulent, but effective vaccine vectors for man.
Piecewise-constant stabilization of nonlinear systems

With the help of topological necessary conditions for continuous stabilization it is shown that, in general, in order to stabilize continuous and discrete-time systems one has to use time-dependent or discontinuous feedback controls. On the other hand, the criterion of stabilization in the class of piecewise-constant feedback is established. In the context of this paper a piecewise-constant feedback is associated with a piecewise-constant function of the form u=u(x), where x /spl isin/ R/sub x//sup n/. The piecewise-constant feedback synthesis outlined here has several attractive features: 1) it can be effectively applied to design feedback stabilizers subjected to control constraints; and 2) the designed feedback laws do not cause sliding mode and/or chattering behavior in the closed loop system, i.e., on a finite interval of time the control in the closed loop system may have only finite number of jump discontinuities.
Dynamic path-planning for search and destroy missions - the Bay of Biscay scenario

Among the many modeling methods used for military applications, simulation modeling is one of the most popular as it offers flexibility and an ability to perform "what-if" analysis. In this paper, we discuss search and destroy missions in the context of the World War II Bay of Biscay u-boat scenario. We present a simulation architecture that supports integration of human reasoning with simulation-based optimization methods.
A unique human blood-derived cell population displays high potential for producing insulin.

Abstract Blood can provide a valuable source for the generation of stem cells. Herein we identified a novel cell population from adult human blood, designated peripheral blood insulin-producing cells (PB-IPC). Phenotypic analysis demonstrated that PB-IPC displayed the embryonic stem (ES) cell-associated transcription factors including Oct-4 and Nanog, along with the hematopoietic markers CD9, CD45, and CD117; but lacked expression of the hematopoietic stem cell marker CD34 as well as lymphocyte and monocyte/macrophage markers. Notably, in vitro and in vivo characterization revealed that PB-IPC demonstrated characteristics of islet β cell progenitors including the expression of β cell-specific insulin gene transcription factors and prohormone convertases, production of insulin, formation of insulin granules, and the ability to reduce hyperglycemia and migrate into pancreatic islets after transplantation into the diabetic mice. These findings may open up new avenues for autologous blood stem cell-based therapies for diabetes.
Durability of high performance concrete in magnesium brine

The durability of six concretes exposed to magnesium brine was monitored for 24 months. These concretes incorporated ground granulated blast furnace slag, silica fume, and fly ash. The Young's moduli, chloride penetrations, and median pore diameters were measured. There was a cyclic nature to these properties due to the complicated interaction of hydration with magnesium, chloride and sulfate attack. Mineral admixtures, in combination with a long initial cure, provided the most durable concrete. Concrete with 65% slag had the best overall durability to the brines tested.
Abnormality metrics to detect and protect against network attacks

Internet has been growing at an amazing rate and it becomes pervasive in all aspects of our life. On the other hand, the ubiquity of networked computers and their services has significantly increased their vulnerability to virus and worm attacks. To make pervasive systems and their services reliable and secure it becomes highly essential to develop on-line monitoring, analysis, and quantification of the operational state of such systems and services under a wide range of normal and abnormal workload scenarios. In this paper, we prevent several abnormality metrics that can be used to detect abnormal behaviors and also can be used to quantify the impact of attacks on pervasive system services. Our online monitoring approach is based on deploying software agents on selected routers, clients and servers to continuously monitor the measurement attributes and compute the abnormality metrics. Further, we use this metrics to quantify the impact of attacks on the individual components and on the system as a whole. This analysis leads to identify the most critical components in the system. We have built a test bed to experiment and evaluate the effectiveness of these metrics to detect several well-known network attacks such as MS SQL slammer worm attack, Denial of Service attack, and email worm spam.
The Role of Parents and Families in Teen Pregnancy Prevention An Analysis of Programs and Policies

Parent involvement (PI) is considered necessary in teen pregnancy prevention (TPP) and preventing other adolescent risk behaviors. However, controversy exists regarding the extent to which families are responsible for adolescent sexual decision making. We adapted two frameworks (Kirby’s risk and protective factors and the Parent–Child Connectedness model) to examine parent- and family-based programs and policies relevant to TPP. There is evidence that PI is an important and effective component of TPP; however, the evidence for PI programs is less strong. Although the United States has legislated various PI-related policies in the context of adolescent sexuality, most have hindered the health of adolescents. Furthermore, the United States falls behind other Western industrialized nations when it comes to healthy family-based policies. PI in TPP is important; however, TPP requires multiple levels of intervention beyond the involvement of parents. We make recommendations for how various stakeholders can effe...
Information infrastructure for integrated ecohydraulic and water resources modeling and assessment

Watershed management increasingly requires ecohydraulic modeling and assessment within a regional context, rather than on a project-by-project basis. Such holistic modeling and assessment require evaluation capabilities across multiple temporal and spatial scales. Thus, modeling and assessment tools must be integrated in a scientifically and computationally effective infrastructure. The US Army Engineer Research and Development Center, in concert with the Hydrologic Engineering Center and its academic partners, including Brigham Young University, is establishing a comprehensive set of hydroinformatics modeling and assessment tools for ecohydraulic and water resources management applications, all linked based on a common data and information infrastructure. This paper presents the attributes of this information infrastructure and compares it with the analogous integration initiatives elsewhere.
Leadership in Singapore

In this chapter, father leadership, the key success factors and the overall cultural support for such a leadership are discussed. Also, being examined is the problems and prospects of the father leadership way in the island-Republic. The topics in this chapter run in this sequence:
A medication algorithm for treatment of bipolar rapid cycling

Individuals with the rapid cycling form of bipolar disorder represent 13% to 20% of the bipolar population. Although lithium remains the treatment of choice for classic bipolar disorder, failure rates as high as 72% to 82% have been reported for lithium among those who have the rapid cycling variant. Treatment alternatives, including the use of divalproex sodium and carbamazepine, have shown promise for this often treatment-refractory group of patients. Predictors of positive outcome for the acute and prophylactic management of mania with divalproex sodium have emerged; they include nonpsychotic mania, the occurrence of decreasing or stable episode frequencies, mild mania, and mixed states. Predictors for positive acute and prophylactic antidepressant responses to divalproex sodium include nonpsychotic mania, increasingly severe mania, and the absence of borderline personality. Mixed results have been reported for studies using carbamazepine therapy for the treatment of rapid cycling bipolar disorder. Some investigators have reported success with carbamazepine in conjunction with other medications, while others have not. A psychopharmacologic algorithm for the treatment of rapid cycling bipolar disorder is proposed. There is a growing opinion among psychiatrists that patients who rapidly cycle should be treated with an anticonvulsant prior to lithium. However, until homogeneous cohorts of rapid cyclers undergo at least random assignment to different open treatments, these recommendations remain controversial.
Digitally Democratizing Congress? Technology and Political Accountability

The Internet has risen rapidly to become an important venue in our collective political life. How transformative it can or will be remains to be seen. The question I address in this essay, as part of a symposium on Congress, is whether the Internet and associated technologies might reasonably be expected to enhance congressional accountability. Against a background in which various structural factors create both deficits of, and asymmetries in, Congress’ political accountability, I suggest that the easy accessibility of political information enabled by new technologies can respond quite powerfully to some of these problems, but less so to others. I also argue that the ready dissemination of political information can create some new problems of its own. Finally, I conclude that it will take more time, evolution and experience to see to what extent the Internet might become an engine of political responsibility.
Improvement in Functioning and Psychological Distress in Adolescents With Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome Following Interdisciplinary Treatment

Significant functional impairment and psychological distress have been observed in adolescent patients with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). Interdisciplinary rehabilitation programs have been shown to be beneficial in the treatment of chronic pain in adults and adolescents. Only preliminary data have examined interdisciplinary rehabilitation efforts in patients with POTS. This study evaluated the impact of an interdisciplinary rehabilitation program on the functional impairment and psychological distress in 33 adolescents diagnosed with POTS. Patients included in the study were adolescents ages 11 to 18 diagnosed with POTS. Measures completed at admission and discharge from the program included the Functional Disability Index, Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression-Child scale, and the Pain Catastrophizing Scale for Children. After participation in the 3-week program, adolescents with POTS demonstrated a significant increase in overall functional ability and significant reductions in depression and catastrophizing.
PATIENT-REPORTED SYMPTOMS AND REVASCULARIZATION STATUS AFTER CORONARY ARTERY BYPASS GRAFT SURGERY IN DIABETICS AND NON-DIABETICS

In patients with multivessel coronary artery disease, bypass surgery improves long-term angina symptoms compared to percutaneous coronary intervention, presumably by providing a more complete revascularization (CR). However, data correlating patient-reported symptoms and CR post-bypass are lacking
Student laboratories as a component of a web-based curriculum.

OBJECTIVE: To enable place-bound working clinical laboratory technicians (CLTs) to benefit from hands-on student laboratory sessions taught in University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) facilities by UTMB professors. DESIGN: Weekend student laboratory sessions similar to “wet workshops” were implemented and integrated into regular coursework. Student laboratory sessions of 12 hours to 16 hours in length were provided. SETTING: The UTMB student laboratories. PARTICIPANTS: Web-based education in Clinical Laboratory Science (WEBCLS) students who are working CLTs in rural place-bound situations. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Course grades and certification examination scores on laboratory and comprehensive examinations given to both on-campus students and WEBCLS students. RESULTS: Of 68 WEBCLS students enrolled in laboratory courses during the calendar years 2003, 2004, and 2005, 66.2% earned grades of A or B in the course compared with 64.2% of students enrolled in the same laboratory courses on-campus. Over a three year period, the WEBCLS students averaged 564.8 on certification exam scores, while on-campus students averaged 470.9. ABBREVIATIONS: CAP = College of American Pathologists; CLSs = clinical laboratory scientists; CLTs = clinical laboratory technicians; RBCs = red blood cells; UTMB = University of Texas Medical Branch; WEBCLS = web-based education in Clinical Laboratory Science (a program designed for off-campus CLT students to pursue the Bachelor of Science degree in CLS through distance education using web-based materials).
The Epidemiology of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Associated with Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms: Prevalence and Incident Rates

This article assesses the reported prevalence and incidence rates for benign prostatic hyperplasia and lower urinary tract symptoms (BPH/LUTS) by age, symptom severity, and race/ethnicity. BPH/LUTS prevalence and incidence rates increase with increasing age and vary by symptom severity. The BPH/LUTS relationship is complex due to several factors. This contributes to the range of reported estimates and difficulties in drawing epidemiologic comparisons. Cultural, psychosocial, economic, and/or disease awareness and diagnosis factors may influence medical care access, symptom reporting and help-seeking behaviors among men with BPH/LUTS. However, these factors and their epidemiologic association with BPH/LUTS have not been thoroughly investigated.
Walī ad-Dīn 'Abdarraḥmān Ibn Ḫaldūn

Nach Studium in Tunis und Pesttod der Eltern zwischen 1350 bis 1375 bewegtes Leben an verschiedenen Furstenhofen in Nordafrika (Fez 1354–1362, 1372–1374, Bejaia 1365–1366 und Tlemcen 1353, 1368, 1375) und im muslimischen Spanien (Granada 1362–1365, 1375), sowie bei Beduinenstammen; seine politischen Ambitionen, wechselnde Loyalitaten und Teilnahme an Konspirationen verschafften ihm hohe Amter, brachten ihn aber 1357/58 auch ins Gefangnis; 1364 Gesandtschaft ins christliche Sevilla; 1375–1378 Ruckzug ins Gelehrtenleben in der Burg der Banū Salāma; 1378–1382 Aufenthalt in Tunis; 1382 Pilgerfahrt; ab 1383 Lehrer und mehrfach malikitischer Oberrichter in Kairo; 1400 Gesandtschaft zu Tamerlan in Damaskus.
Low Back Pain Prevalence and Related Workplace Psychosocial Risk Factors: A Study Using Data From the 2010 National Health Interview Survey

Abstract Objectives The objectives of this study were to estimate prevalence of low back pain, to investigate associations between low back pain and a set of emerging workplace risk factors, and to identify worker groups with an increased vulnerability for low back pain in the United States. Methods The data used for this cross-sectional study came from the 2010 National Health Interview Survey, which was designed to collect data on health conditions and related risk factors from the US civilian population. The variance estimation method was used to compute weighted data for prevalence of low back pain. Multivariable logistic regression analyses stratified by sex and age were performed to determine the odds ratios (ORs) and the 95% confidence interval (CI) for low back pain. The examined work-related psychosocial risk factors included work-family imbalance, exposure to a hostile work environment, and job insecurity. Work hours, occupation, and other work organizational factors (nonstandard work arrangements and alternative shifts) were also examined. Results The prevalence of self-reported low back pain in the previous 3 months among workers in the United States was 25.7% in 2010. Female or older workers were at increased risk of experiencing low back pain. We found significant associations between low back pain and a set of psychosocial factors, including work-family imbalance (OR 1.27, CI 1.15-1.41), exposure to hostile work (OR 1.39, CI 1.25-1.55), and job insecurity (OR 1.44, CI 1.24-1.67), while controlling for demographic characteristics and other health-related factors. Older workers who had nonstandard work arrangements were more likely to report low back pain. Women who worked 41 to 45 hours per week and younger workers who worked >60 hours per week had an increased risk for low back pain. Workers from several occupation groups, including male health care practitioners, female and younger health care support workers, and female farming, fishing, and forestry workers, had an increased risk of low back pain. Conclusions This study linked low back pain to work-family imbalance, exposure to a hostile work environment, job insecurity, long work hours, and certain occupation groups. These factors should be considered by employers, policymakers, and health care practitioners who are concerned about the impact of low back pain in workers.
Improving Care Transitions Management: Examining the Role of Accountable Care Organization Participation and Expanded Electronic Health Record Functionality.

Objective Examine the extent to which physician organization participation in an accountable care organization (ACO) and electronic health record (EHR) functionality are associated with greater adoption of care transition management (CTM) processes. Data Sources/Study Setting A total of 1,398 physician organizations from the third National Study of Physician Organization survey (NSPO3), a nationally representative sample of medical practices in the United States (January 2012—May 2013). Study Design We used data from the third National Study of Physician Organization survey (NSPO3) to assess medical practice characteristics, including CTM processes, ACO participation, EHR functionality, practice type, organization size, ownership, public reporting, and pay-for-performance participation. Data Collection/Extraction Methods Multivariate linear regression models estimated the extent to which ACO participation and EHR functionality were associated with greater CTM capabilities, controlling for practice size, ownership, public reporting, and pay-for-performance participation. Principal Findings Approximately half (52.4 percent) of medical practices had a formal program for managing care transitions in place. In adjusted analyses, ACO participation (p < .001) and EHR functionality (p < .001) were independently associated with greater use of CTM processes among medical practices. Conclusions The growth of ACOs and similar provider risk-bearing arrangements across the country may improve the management of care transitions by physician organizations.
Serum and Urine as Predictors of Sulfamethazine Levels in Swine Muscle, Liver and Kidney

Three field studies were done to determine the relationship between sulfamethazine levels in swine serum and urine, and those in swine muscle, liver and kidney. The 119 animals used in these studies were crossbreed Landrace, Yorkshire, White and Chester White pigs. The medication, Aureo-SP-250, was added to the ration to achieve a sulfamethazine feed concentration of 110 ppm. The swine were divided into groups, with the treatment groups receiving feed containing no medication for 0 to 8 d after being on the medicated feed for 19 to 20 d. Control groups also received nonmedicated feed. Results from the three studies were pooled and predictive relationships were developed in the form: Tissue Concentration = Ratio × Fluid Concentration. For serum, the mean tissue-fluid ratios in muscle, liver and kindey were 0.24, 0.90 and 0.53, respectively; the ratios for urine were 0.08, 0.27 and 0.16, respectively. Previous reports indicate serum can be used to predict sulfamethazine levels in muscle, liver and kidney. No reports concerning tissue-urine data have been published; however, the three studies reported here indicate that the tissue-urine relationship, although more variable, can also be used as a predictor. The observed variability caused by biological, analytical or other factors must be considered when using either urine or serum to predict muscle, liver or kidney sulfamethazine levels. These studies show promise for quality control or regulatory use by the slaughter plant, farm or laboratory as a predictor of sulfamethazine levels in tissues.
Intimate Partner Violence, Cumulative Violence Exposure, and Mental Health Service Use

Intimate partner violence (IPV) leaves victims with serious mental healthconsequences; some victims do not seek help even though they suffer from adverse mental health symptoms. Victims’ use of mental health services seems to be affected by sociocultural factors and their history of experiences with violence. This study used the collaborative psychiatric epidemiology surveys to examine the effects of cumulative violence on IPV victims’ mental health service use. The results showed that victims’ mental health needs were the most prominent predictor of their use of mental health services, and that cumulative violence exposure also predicted mental health service use.
Popular Culture and Political Agency in Early Modern England and Ireland: Essays in Honor of John Walter

John Walter is one of those historians best known by other historians: since 1976 he has written a series of important essays, co-edited several important collections of essays, as well as the book...
Participatory Action Research and Student Perspectives in a Rural Postsecondary Education Program

Students with intellectual disabilities have a unique pathway into college, and for many rural areas, this is a relatively new pathway. The reauthorization of the Higher Education Opportunity Act o...
Perfluorinated Materials in Tritium Service

Various perfluorinated materials are used at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory in support of the Deuterium-Tritium experimental program on the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR). For example, SF{sub 6} is used as a high dielectric gaseous insulator in the Neutral Beam sources, and Krytox, a perfluorinated polyether, is used as a lubricant in vacuum pumping systems. Each of these materials is robust and stable in the applications for which they are designed but may be a source of trouble when used in tritium systems. This paper reports on the observations made and experience gained operating tritium systems under conditions which degrade these perfluorinated materials. The possible degradation mechanisms and products are described, and the effect on the equipment and instrumentation is described. These observations have led to the conclusion that under certain circumstances perfluorinated materials are not suited for tritium service because of the degradation products from tritium decay and/or process conditions. 11 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab.
Individual Scenario Planning: A Therapeutic Tool for Clients Living in Environments Characterized by Uncertainty and Rapid Change

Abstract One of the many challenges of the employee assistance professional is helping persons working or living in environments characterized by uncertainty and rapid change. An emerging helping model is presented that combines organizational scenario planning and concepts related to panic response. This approach provides therapists with a fresh perspective and framework for understanding and processing employee struggles.
MAKING MUTATIONS IN VITRO AND PUTTING THEM BACK INTO YEAST

Publisher Summary This chapter presents the principles of three new experimental approaches that aid the analysis of yeast gene function and regulation in vivo by making it feasible to construct mutations in molecularly cloned genes and returning them to the yeast by DNA transformation. It reviews methods developed in the laboratory that allow the highly localized in vitro mutagenesis of plasmid DNAs. The chapter further presents a new method—gene disruption—that allows to construct null mutations by the insertion of a plasmid directly into the gene at its normal location in the yeast genome; these mutations can make it possible to assess the phenotype of such mutations and to learn about gene function. It also describes methods for the production of gene fusions between yeast genes and the E. coli β-galactosidase gene (lacZ), which allows to assess regulatory phenomena in yeast by assaying β-galactosidase; fusion also helps to define the regions of yeast genes that are required for normal regulation.