cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Stressful manipulations that elevate corticosterone reduce blood-brain barrier permeability to pyridostigmine in the Rat.

Pyridostigmine bromide (PB), a reversible inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), is used for the treatment of myasthenia gravis. PB has also been provided to military personnel for preexposure protection against potential soman release. The entry of PB into the brain is typically minimal, but recently published data in mice suggest that a brief forced swim stress increases the permeability of the blood-brain barrier to PB. From these results, PB administered under stressful conditions was proposed to induce long-lasting central cholinergic deficits, potentially explaining the neurological and neuropsychological symptoms presented by some Gulf War veterans. In undertaking to replicate these results in the Long-Evans rat, no evidence of a stress-potentiated central effect of PB, administered at doses up 5.0 mg/kg ip, was found. Three stress protocols were used: restraint, forced swim, or a combined restraint/forced swim. Wistar rats were also tested in some of the protocols to ensure that the results were generalizable across rat strains, and plasma corticosterone levels were measured to test the effectiveness of the stressors employed. In contrast to the previously reported findings in the mouse, stress significantly reduced the entry of PB into rat brain, as measured by reduced inhibition of AChE activity: a 12.5% reduction in whole brain AChE activity after treatment with 5.0 mg/kg PB under control conditions declined to 9% after stress exposure. It is apparent, therefore, that the interaction between stress and PB requires further study, and previous data should be reassessed before they are used as a basis for interpreting symptoms presented by veterans.
Do Board Characteristics Impact Firms' Environmental Performance?

The article reports on a study pertaining to the impact of a board's characteristics on a firm's environmental performance. The results of the study showed that governance variables played a stronger deterrent role than external stakeholders. Firms with smaller boards appeared to do a better job of monitoring managers and motivating them to comply with environmental laws than bigger boards. The implication is that larger boards act less cohesively and are less likely to get involved with strategic planning.
Simulating regional medical record systems (student poster)

This poster describes ongoing work to model and simulate a Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO) to improve researchers' ability to evaluate RHIO-related algorithms and processes. The model was derived using communication theory, and data mining is used to determine simulator parameters.
On the ratio of Pearson type VII and Bessel random variables

The exact distribution of the ratio | X / Y | is derived when X and Y are, respectively, Pearson type VII and Bessel function random variables distributed independently of each other. The work is motivated by previously published approximate relationships between these two distributions. An application of the result is provided by computing “correction factors” for some of these approximations.
Effect of Layer Charge on the Intercalation of Poly(ethylene oxide) in Layered Silicates: Implications on Nanocomposite Polymer Electrolytes

The effect of layer charge on the intercalation of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) was investigated using a series of reduced-charge montmorillonites and smectites with varying layer charge. The amount of intercalated polymer initially increases with layer charge but then decreases. In contrast, the amount of water present continuously increases. This water is mostly coordinated with the gallery cations. When PEO is intercalated, it replaces water molecules filling the space between the hydrated exchangeable cations. Molecular simulations confirm the experiments and show that the polymer oxygen atoms do not directly associate with the exchangeable cations, which are mostly coordinated to water molecules and surface oxygen atoms.
Cross‐modal generality of the gating deficit

Auditory P50/M50 paired-click studies have established an association between schizophrenia and impaired sensory gating in the auditory modality. However, the presumed cross-modal generality of the gating deficit has received little study. The present study examined gating in area 3b of primary somatosensory cortex to evaluate patients' somatosensory gating at this first stage of cortical processing. One hundred twenty-two channels of magnetoencephalography (MEG) data were collected from 27 subjects with chronic schizophrenia and 21 controls during a somatosensory paired-pulse paradigm with a 75- or 500-ms interstimulus interval. M20 somatosensory responses were localized using magnetic source imaging, and a gating ratio was calculated. In a subset of these subjects, MEG was also done for the standard auditory paradigm to assess M50 gating. Patients showed abnormal auditory M50 gating but normal somatosensory M20 gating. Results argue against a cross-modal gating deficit in primary somatosensory cortex.
Test generation for current testing (CMOS ICs)

Current testing is useful for testing CMOS ICs because it can detect a large class of manufacturing defects, including defects that traditional stuck-at fault testing misses. The effectiveness of current testing can be enhanced if built-in current sensors are applied on-chip to monitor defect-related abnormal currents in the power supply buses. Such sensors have proved effective for built-in self-test. However, current testing requires the use of a special method to generate test vectors. The authors describe this method, which differs from that for traditional voltage-oriented testing, and postulate a test-generation algorithm for both on-chip and off-chip current testing. The algorithm uses realistic fault models extracted directly from the circuit layout. >
The Association Between Serum Copper and Anaemia in the Adult Second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES II) Population

Though common in older adults, anaemia is unexplained in about one-third of cases. As a rare cause of anaemia and neutropenia, Cu deficiency could account for some cases of unexplained anaemia. We examined the relationship between serum Cu and unexplained anaemia among 11,240 participants in the Second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES II): 638 (5.7% of all adults) were anaemic; 421 (3.7%) were not explained by deficiencies of vitamin B12, folate or Fe, chronic illness or renal disease. Spline regression showed a U-shaped relationship between serum Cu levels and unexplained anaemia, indicating that both high and low serum Cu levels are associated with unexplained anaemia in adults. Chronic inflammation and mild Fe deficiency could account for the association between unexplained anaemia and elevated Cu levels. On the other hand, the finding of hypocupraemia in a subset of adults with unexplained anaemia suggests that Cu deficiency may be a common reversible cause of anaemia in adults.
Discovery of interesting episodes in sequence data

There is considerable body of work on sequence mining of transactional data. Most of the related work on point data (not significant intervals) makes several passes over the entire dataset in order to discover frequently occurring (sequential) patterns. But Hybrid apriori, proposed in this paper, as the name implies is an apriori-class of mining algorithm in SQL and takes a different approach. Significant intervals for each event (or device) is computed first and used for detecting frequent event patterns. The advantages of this approach are that the data set is compressed to find significant intervals thereby reducing the size of input used. Also, each event/device is processed individually allowing for parallel computation of individual events. Then the hybrid apriori algorithm works on the significant intervals using an apriori-style algorithm adapted to intervals. Our approach has significant advantages over the traditional mining algorithms in terms of its efficiency, scalability and storage requirements.
Dynamic determinacy and the existence of sunspot equilibria

This paper relates the existence of stationary sunspot equilibria in the vicinity of a conventional stationary state to the phase diagram surrounding the latter. We find that the local condition required for a unique equilibrium path returning to the stationary state following any slight disturbance of initial conditions is also sufficient to exclude stationary sunspot equilibria in the stationary state’s immediate vicinity. In that sense, an eigenvalue condition familiar from dynamic analysis can tell us something about the possibilities of local sunspot activity as well. Journal of
Vitellogenin induction in painted turtle, Chrysemys picta, as a biomarker of exposure to environmental levels of estradiol.

Abstract Ponds within cattle farms often support turtle and fish populations and are impacted by manure runoff. Cattle excrete metabolized (glucuronide-conjugated) hormones in feces and urine into these ponds, and bacteria cleave the glucuronide metabolites to active steroids, which can be stable for several weeks in wastewater. The objectives of this study were to (1) assess levels of xenoestrogens found in ponds near livestock pastures; and (2) assess whether these levels of xenoestrogens induce vitellogenin (VTG) in painted turtles in the laboratory and field. We collected water twice, 6 weeks apart, and placed turtle traps weekly into two ponds, which receive runoff from beef cattle pastures, and into one pond with no cattle farm effluents. Water E2 levels were analyzed using C18 solid phase extraction disks and detected in a radioimmunoassay (RIA). Plasma was collected from painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) captured from these ponds and VTG levels were measured via enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Nine additional turtles were collected from a pond at the South Carolina Botanical Gardens, which receives no farm runoff, and were exposed in the laboratory to nominal concentrations of 0.15, 1.5, and 15 ng/l estradiol (static renewal) over a 28-day period, followed by 14 days in clean water. Plasma samples were taken weekly for VTG measurement via ELISA. Levels of free estradiol in the water column of farm ponds range from 0.05 to 1.80 ng/l, as measured by RIA, and up to 7.4 ng/l as measured by ER-β binding affinity. This is similar to what has been reported in streams receiving sewage treatment works (STW) effluents. In the laboratory, plasma VTG in male painted turtles could not be induced even at the high E2 dose (9.45 ng/l) after 28 days. In the field, VTG levels were induced only in females when compared with animals from the SC Botanical Gardens. Adult male turtles need to be primed with high doses of E2 prior to being able to respond to exogenous E2. Given that males would not typically be sensitized in the wild, environmentally relevant levels of E2 may not be sufficient to affect them. However, higher VTG levels in females could potentially change their reproductive fitness by altering egg size or by shifting energy allocations away from other survival needs. Long-term studies are needed to study potential impacts of VTG induction on female turtle reproductive success.
Rapidly progressive quadriparesis secondary to cervical epidural hematoma – A rare complication of epidural injection

A 64-year-old man presented with rapidly progressive quadriparesis one day after receiving cervical epidural steroid injection (ESI) for chronic neck pain. He was taking daily aspirin and clopidogr...
Implication of Chromosome Structure and Replication on Hazard of Tritiated Thymidine and the Interpretation of Data on Cell Proliferation

LABELLING of chromosomal deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) with tritium-labelled thymidine (H3TDR) demands consideration of the probabilities of long-term retention of the label and damage to somatic and genetic cells. These are important for the interpretation of results and for consideration of hazards associated with the use of tritiated thymidine in human beings. The model proposed by Taylor, Woods and Hughes1 permits prediction of the persistence of the label, an implication which has not been adequately explored in previous publications by ourselves and others2–4. The model is based on autoradiographic observations on plant chromosomes labelled with H3TDR during replication. In this model each chromosome is considered to consist of two halves (chromatids), both of which replicate. If H3TDR is available during DNA synthesis for a finite period, both half-chromosomes will be labelled in their newly formed replicas. On division, all chromosomes of the daughter cells will contain the label in the newly replicated chromatid. Subsequent DNA synthesis proceeds without further availability of H3TDR, and newly formed replicas of both labelled and unlabelled chromatids will be unlabelled.
Straight alley acquisition drive and ad lib test performance

Five groups of 10 rats received 20 one-per-day acquisition trials in a straight alley. Beginning with Trial 1 either 0, 2, 4, 8, or 20 successive trials were given under high hunger drive and the remainder under low drive. Following eight days of ad lib feeding all Ss received six further test trials. Three of the four groups receiving high drive acquisition trials ran significantly faster in ad lib testing than the group receiving only low drive acquisition trials.
Performance Comparison of Mirrored Disk Scheduling Methods with a Shared Non-Volatile Cache

Mirrored disks or RAID1 is a popular disk array paradigm, which in addition to fault-tolerance, doubles the data access bandwidth. This is important in view of rapidly increasing disk capacities and the slow improvement in disk access time. Caching of dirty data blocks in a non-volatile storage (NVS) cache allows the destaging of dirty blocks to be deferrable, so as to improve the response time of read requests by giving them a higher priority than write requests. Destaging of dirty blocks in batches to take advantage of disk geometry entails in lowered disk utilization due to writes and improved performance for reads. Polyzois et al. [12] propose a scheduling policy for mirrored disks equipped with an NVS cache, so that one disk processes read requests, while the other disk is processing a write batch according to the CSCAN policy. We propose an improved scheduling policy as follows: (i) eliminating the forced idleness caused by the batch processing paradigm for write requests, i.e., allowing write requests to be processed individually; (ii) using SATF or even an exhaustive search, to reduce destaging time compared to CSCAN; (iii) introducing a threshold for the number of read requests, which when exceeded defers the destaging of dirty blocks. We compare these two scheduling policies with each other and also against prioritizing the processing of reads versus writes: (i) the head-of-the-line (HOL) priority queueing discipline, (ii) SATF with conditional priorities. It follows from simulation results that the new method outperforms Polyzois' method, which is even outperformed by the HOL priority policy. SATF with conditional priorities slightly outperforms the proposed method from the viewpoint of its throughput and response time, but is susceptible to more variability in response time.
A sensitive assay for elastase employing radioactive elastin coupled to Sepharose

Abstract A method for the determination of elastolytic activity is described. The method employs soluble elastin radiolabeled with either 125I or 3H coupled to Sepharose beads. The assay can detect as little as 1 ng/ml of elastase.
Efficacy of Surgical Treatment for Paralytic Ectropion

Paralytic ectropion can be corrected with numerous procedures. Advocates of particular procedures have previously been unable to quote statistical rates of success for each procedure over significant lengths of time. This study reviews over 200 cases of paralytic ectropion, representing the spectrum of seventh nerve disease seen at an eye and ear specialty hospital and a general medical facility. Of all eyelid implantation devices 93 to 95% failed to work or needed reoperation by 3 years postoperatively. Soft tissue surgery without prosthetic implants or exoplants provided 60% success after a 3-year follow-up. Eyelid elevation or tightening coupled with surgery for facial reanimation produced a higher rate of success at 3 years (83%). An overwhelming number of patients (62%) complained of some degree of epiphora after any or all procedures. Based on these findings, soft tissue surgery without prosthetic implants or exoplants has a higher rate of success.
Thymic Selection of T Cells as Diffusion with Intermittent Traps

T cells orchestrate adaptive immune responses by recognizing short peptides derived from pathogens, and by distinguishing them from self-peptides. To ensure the latter, immature T cells (thymocytes) diffuse within the thymus gland, where they encounter an ensemble of self-peptides presented on (immobile) antigen presenting cells. Potentially autoimmune T cells are eliminated if the thymocyte binds sufficiently strongly with any such antigen presenting cell. We model thymic selection of T cells as a random walker diffusing in a field of immobile traps that intermittently turn “on” and “off”. The escape probability of potentially autoimmune T cells is equivalent to the survival probability of such a random walker. In this paper we describe the survival probability of a random walker on a d-dimensional cubic lattice with randomly placed immobile intermittent traps, and relate it to the result of a well-studied problem where traps are always “on”. Additionally, when switching between the trap states is slow, we find a peculiar caging effect for the survival probability.
Juror interpretations of ambiguous evidence

In the context of a mock jury study, we tested the hypothesis that people's interpretations of ambiguous evidence depend on how (i.e., by whom) that evidence is introduced. Subjects watched a 45-min interrogation of a murder suspect who emphatically asserted her innocence but told an imperfect story. Before the tape, subjects read either the prosecution or defense lawyer's arguments concerning the suspect's interrogation performance; after the tape, they read counter-arguments from the opposing side. Results indicated that subjects high in the need for cognition (NC) were influenced more by arguments that preceded the evidence, whereas low-NC subjects were more influenced by arguments that followed the evidence. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
Research in Progress - Defending Android Smartphones from Malware Attacks

Smart phones are becoming enriched with confidential information due to their powerful computational capabilities and attractive communications features. The Android smart phone is one of the most widely used platforms by businesses and users alike. This is partially because Android smart phones use the free, open-source Linux as the underlying operating system, which allows development of applications by any software developer. This research study aims to explore security risks associated with the use of Android smart phones and the sensitive information they contain, the researcher devised a survey questionnaire to investigate and further understand security threats targeting Android smart phones. The survey also intended to study the scope of malware attacks targeting Android phones and the effectiveness of existing defense measures. The study surveyed the average Android users as the target population to understand how they perceive security and what security controls they use to protect their smart phones.
Management of localized prostate cancer in men over 65 years.

Author(s): Cooperberg, Matthew R; Konety, Badrinath R | Abstract: Purpose of reviewWith the pervasive use of prostate-specific antigen-based screening, many men in the US are now diagnosed with prostate cancer in their 50s or earlier. However, the majority of tumors are still detected among men over 65-years-old. The appropriate management of localized disease among these older men is controversial.Recent findingsThe US Preventive Services Task Force recently strengthened its recommendation against screening men over 75 years old. To date, however, screening among older patients remains common, and does not adequately reflect patient life expectancy. Older men are more likely to be diagnosed with higher-risk tumors, but are less likely to receive curative local therapy, and are more likely to be managed with primary androgen deprivation therapy. Careful active surveillance is an increasingly viable option for selected older men with low-risk tumors; focal therapy and low-intensity medical therapy may be emerging alternatives in the near future.SummaryDecisions regarding both screening and treatment should consider patient comorbidity, life expectancy, and treatment preferences rather than chronologic age. Treatment also must be tailored to the level of tumor risk. Increased use of active surveillance, together with diet and lifestyle intervention, is appropriate for many older men with lower-risk tumors. Conversely, those with high-risk disease should not be denied the opportunity for curative local therapy on the basis of age alone.
In vitro conversion of DDT to DDD by the intestinal microflora of the Northern anchovy, Engraulis mordax.

THE tissues of many species of fish contain DDT and two of its derivatives, DDE and DDD. Fish which feed on plankton, such as the northern anchovy Engraulis mordax, acquire DDT residues primarily through the assimilation of food1–3. The reductive dechlorination of DDT to DDE and DDD has been demonstrated in three species of salmonid fishes: Atlantic salmon4,5, cutthroat trout6, and rainbow trout7. The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether the intestinal microflora of the northern anchovy is capable of dechlorinating DDT and to elucidate the relative importance of bacteria and fungi in this process.
Construction and Characterization of a Conditionally Active Version of the Serine/Threonine Kinase Akt

Akt is a serine/threonine kinase that requires a functional phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase to be stimulated by insulin and other growth factors. When directed to membranes by the addition of a src myristoylation sequence, Akt becomes constitutively active. In the present study, a conditionally active version of Akt was constructed by fusing the Akt containing the myristoylation sequence to the hormone binding domain of a mutant murine estrogen receptor that selectively binds 4-hydroxytamoxifen. The chimeric protein was expressed in NIH3T3 cells and was shown to be stimulated by hormone treatment 17-fold after only a 20-min treatment. This hormone treatment also stimulated an approximate 3-fold increase in the phosphorylation of the chimeric protein and a shift in its migration on SDS gels. Activation of this conditionally active Akt resulted in the rapid stimulation of the 70-kDa S6 kinase. This conditionally active Akt was also found to rapidly stimulate in these cells the phosphorylation of properties of PHAS-I, a key protein in the regulation of protein synthesis. The conditionally active Akt, when expressed in 3T3-L1 adipocytes, was also stimulated, although its rate and extent of activation was less then in the NIH3T3 cells. Its stimulation was shown to be capable of inducing glucose uptake into adipocytes by stimulating translocation of the insulin-responsive glucose transporter GLUT4 to the plasma membrane.
Hybrid systems for telepresence: experimental platform design

This paper describes a proposed collaborative research effort between the University of Illinois at Chicago and Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island. The goal of this research effort is to develop a conceptual framework and an experimental test bed for analysis and design of systems through which a human can have haptic interaction with geographically remote environment. This paper discusses the initial efforts in the development of an experimental test bed for a Haptic Information Communication System (HICS) at Roger Williams University. We present considerations for designing a system capable of remote haptic interaction and present initial conceptual designs of the experimental platform.
Measuring small air pressure gradients by a flow sensor

In this article, I discuss very small air pressure gradients: on the order of a millimeter of water (9.806 Pa, or 0.001422 psi). Conventional pressure sensors, as a rule, are not quite suitable for this purpose because their input signal spans are several orders of magnitude larger than the pressure gradients we try to measure. Thus, high gain amplification would be required with all its negative baggage, including a high level of noise.
National Coalition for Health Professional Education in Genetics

With the explosion of genetic information, there has been a recognized need for more genetic knowledge among health care professionals. The National Coalition for Health Professional Education in Genetics (NCHPEG) was established in 1996 to address this need. This article briefly outlines the mission of this Coalition and gives an overview of its relationship to acute and critical care nurses.
Corrections to the thin-wall approximation in general relativity.

The question is considered whether the thin wall formalism of Israel applies to the gravitating domain walls of a lambda phi(exp 4) theory. The coupled Einstein-scalar equations that describe the thick gravitating wall are expanded in powers of the thickness of the wall. The solutions of the zeroth order equations reproduce the results of the usual Israel thin wall approximation for domain walls. The solutions of the first order equations provide corrections to the expressions for the stress-energy of the wall and to the Israel thin wall equations. The modified thin wall equations are then used to treat the motion of spherical and planar domain walls.
Geometrical reasoning based on attributed graph grammar for prismatic parts

Modern manufacturing systems rely on a smooth and quick transformation of the design specification into manufacturing instructions. The shift towards feature-based design and manufacturing supports this effort. One of the weak links in this chain of activities is the conversion of the design features into the manufacturing features. This article presents a method based on graph grammar parsing that converts design geometrical features into manufacturing geometrical features. These features can then be used in process planning activities. The method presented extends the state of the art of syntactic graph-based features recognition by supporting embedding transformations, attribute transfer algorithms, decomposition of overlapping features and removal of empty volumes. In addition, the analysis provided by the graph parsing algorithms implicitly treats the features as solid models without the need to perform complicated geometrical analysis. The system was implemented for prismatic components such that they can be produced on a triple axis vertical milling machine, and currently contains 20 rules.
Understanding the value and limits of government information in policy informatics: a preliminary exploration

Policy informatics is an emergent area of study that explores how information and communication technology can support policy making and governance. Policy informatics recognizes that more kinds, sources and volumes of information, coupled with evolving analytical and computational tools, present important opportunities to address increasingly complex social, political, and management problems. However, while new types and sources of information hold much promise for policy analysis, the specific characteristics of any particular government information resource strongly influences its fitness and usability for analytical purposes. We therefore contend that information itself should be a critical research topic in policy informatics. This poster presentation shows how different aspects of information conceptualization, management, quality, and use can affect its "fitness" for policy analysis.
The Effects of Ion and Histone Modification on Tetra-Nucleosome Array Conformation

Chromatin conformation and dynamics is central to gene functions including packaging, regulation, and repair. At the molecular level, the basic building block of chromatin is a nucleosome core particle (NCP) made of ∼147 base pairs (bp) of dsDNA wrapped around an octamer of histone proteins. These NCPs are connected by short 20-80 bps of linker DNA as beads on a string. Key factors determining the packaging of NCP arrays to form chromatin include ionic condition, linker DNA length, and epigenetic modification, especially of the histone tails. We have investigated how the conformations of model tetra-NCP arrays are modulated by these factors using small angle x-ray and neutron scattering. Here we present recent studies of the effects of ion (KCl, up to 200 mM) and histone modification (tail deletions) on NCP arrays. Our combined x-ray and neutron scattering measurement makes it possible to learn about both the global compaction of NCP arrays and local inter-NCP spatial correlations within the same array. With the experimentally determined NCP-NCP interaction potentials from our previous studies, we further make connections between the tetra-NCP conformations and the underlying driving forces under varied conditions.
Thoughts Associated with Unprotected Anal Intercourse Among Men at High Risk in San Francisco 1997-1999

Men who had high-risk sex with men in the previous year ( N = 124) were asked to recall their thought processes at the time they last had unprotected anal sex with a man who was HIV-positive or of unknown serostatus. Self-justifications for non-condom use were examined individually and in internally validated scales. The most common single self-justification was I want to have unprotected sex because it feels good , endorsed by 76%. Other common thoughts included the notion that it is only human to slip up occasionally (59%) and the resolution to withdraw before ejaculation (59%). For scaled items, the most strongly endorsed themes were: (1) that condoms reduce sexual pleasure (any of 6 items endorsed at least slightly by 90%); (2) fatalism or leaving it to chance (11 items, 81%); and (3) loss of control (9 items, 77%). The thoughts and themes identified may be useful in planning individual and community prevention messages.
Risk of Clostridium difficile Infection in Hospitalized Patients Receiving Metronidazole for a Non–C difficile Infection

Background & Aims Antibiotics often are given to prevent infections but also constitute a risk factor for Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). Metronidazole is an effective treatment for CDI. We investigated whether prophylactic administration of metronidazole to patients before they receive other antibiotics reduces the risk of CDI. Methods We performed a retrospective cohort analysis of data collected from 12,026 high-risk patients admitted to Cleveland Clinic Foundation Hospitals from 2008 through 2012. High-risk patients were defined as age 55 or older who received a broad-spectrum antibiotic (piperacillin-tazobactam or ciprofloxacin) and a gastric acid suppressant (a proton pump inhibitor or a histamine-2 receptor blocker) during their hospitalization. Development of CDI was compared between patients who received metronidazole for non-CDI indications before broad-spectrum antibiotics (n = 811) and those who did not (n = 11,215). Logistic regression was used to control for patient demographics and comorbidities. Results The rate of CDI was 1.4% (n = 11) among the patients who received metronidazole for non-CDI indications and 6.5% (n = 728) among those who did not. This was observed to be an 80% reduction in CDI among patients who received metronidazole (odds ratio, 0.21; 95% confidence interval, 0.11–0.38; P Conclusions Based on a retrospective analysis, metronidazole might be used to prevent CDI in certain high-risk patients. Prospective controlled trials are necessary before making further recommendations.
An electronic wattmeter for nonsinusoidal low power factor power measurements

The development of an electronic wattmeter for use in power circuits with very low power factors and nonsinusoidal waveforms is reported. The wattmeter is constructed of commercially available components which include a high-accuracy electronic multiplier and appropriate amplifying, averaging, and compensating circuitry. It is a portable laboratory instrument with provisions for direct reading of both instantaneous and average power. A thermal standard has been used to calibrate the wattmeter over a wide range of current pulse magnitudes and pulsewidths and at power factors down to 0.01. Several applications of power measurements in typical solid-state power controller circuits are discussed.
Frodo Links Dishevelled to the p120-Catenin/Kaiso Pathway: Distinct Catenin Subfamilies Promote Wnt Signals

Summary p120-catenin is an Arm repeat protein that interacts with varied components such as cadherin, small G proteins, kinases, and the Kaiso transcriptional repressor. Despite recent advances in understanding the roles that p120-catenin and Kaiso play in downstream modulation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling, the identity of the upstream regulators of the p120-catenin/Kaiso pathway have remained unclear. Here, we find that p120-catenin binds Frodo, which itself interacts with the Wnt pathway protein Dishevelled (Dsh). In Xenopus laevis , we demonstrate that Wnt signals result in Frodo-mediated stabilization of p120-catenin, which, in turn, promotes Kaiso sequestration or removal from the nucleus. Our results point to Dsh and Frodo as upstream regulators of the p120-catenin/Kaiso signaling pathway. Importantly, this suggests that Wnt signals acting through Dsh regulate the stability of p120-catenin in addition to that of β-catenin, and that each catenin promotes its respective signal in parallel to regulate distinct, as well as shared, direct downstream gene targets.
Optical excitation of the eosin-human serum albumin complex.

The excitation of the eosin-human serum albumin complex has been investigated with spectral and photochemical techniques. Measurements of the changes in absorption and fluorescence spectra induced by complexing have shown that the first eosin molecule is held more strongly than the next few and that multiple binding leads to an enhanced fluorescence self-quenching. Flash photolytic measurements indicate that dye-dye quenching interactions enhance triplet eosin formation, and that oxygen quenching of the triplet is suppressed when the dye is singly bound. The quantum yield for aerobic photobleaching of the complex has been measured and is interpreted in terms of these findings.
Smooth Principal Component Analysis with Application to Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Multivariate methods such as Principal component analysis (PCA) and Independent component analysis (ICA) have been found to be useful in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) research. They are often able to decompose the fMRI data so that the researcher can associate their components to some biological processes of interest such as the brain response resulting from a stimulus. In this paper we develop a new smooth version of the PCA derived from a maximum likelihood framework. We are thus led to an unusual use of AIC, BIC namely to choose two (rather than one) parameters simultaneously; the number of principal components and the degree of smoothness. The algorithm is applied to real fMRI data.
Diabetes and Obesity-Related Genes and the Risk of Neural Tube Defects in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study

Neural tube defects (NTDs) are among the most common, most costly, and most deadly of all human congenital anomalies whose etiologies remain largely unknown (1, 2). NTDs include a range of malformations (e.g., spina bifida, anencephaly), which further complicates the identification of risk factors. Two well-established risk factors for NTDs are maternal pregestational diabetes and prepregnancy obesity (3–12). Although mechanisms underlying these risks remain unclear, there is evidence that infants born to obese mothers and infants born to diabetic mothers may share some common underlying pathogenic exposures, including alteration of glucose homeostasis and hyperglycemia (13–18). Glucose is monitored and regulated by the pancreas and is an essential fuel for oxidative metabolism. During early organogenesis, there is high demand for glucose, since the embryo is dependent on uninterrupted anaerobic glycolysis before the chorioallantoic placenta is developed. Evidence suggests that the early embryo does not have pancreatic function until the development of β cells, which occurs after the seventh week of gestation (19). Thus, at the time of neural tube closure (approximately the fourth week of gestation), mothers with poorly regulated glucose levels are likely to have an altered in utero environment, which cannot be managed by the developing embryo, leading to abnormal organogenesis (20–22). Several genes related to glucose homeostasis have been previously identified in human and animal studies. Furthermore, genes related to glucose homeostasis have been associated with type 2 diabetes and obesity risk in genome-wide association studies (23, 24). A few studies have investigated some of these genes in relation to NTD risk, with positive findings (25, 26); however, these analyses have been limited to a small number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) or have not assessed the role of maternal genetic effects. Therefore, our objective in this study was to investigate the roles of several maternal and offspring genes related to glucose homeostasis in the risk of NTDs.
Development of a Continuous Finishing Chemistry Process for Manufacture of a Phosphorylated Cotton Chronic Wound Dressing

A phosphorylated form of cotton gauze for treatment of chronic wounds was designed to improve the wound dressing's capacity to remove harmful proteases from the wound and facilitate healing. Development of the fabric finishing chemistry of the wound dressing with a process suitable for textile mill production required adapting the stationary finishing chemistry of the cotton phosphorylation from a batch-type pad-dry-cure finishing treatment to a continuous pilot scale finishing process. Issues in optimizing the cotton finishing process took into consideration dressing sterilization, the effect of city water versus de-ionized water, retention of the fabric whiteness index and protease sequestration capacity of the dressing, which is the index of the dressing's efficacy. Three types of sterilization approaches were assessed, including gamma ray, ethylene oxide and steam sterilization to determine the effect of sterilization on the phosphorylated cotton dressing and the subsequent efficacy of the sterilized ...
Web services-based data management: evaluating the performance of UDDI registries

With the advancement of Web services technologies, online businesses have the ability to offer their capabilities to larger, lesser known communities of potential collaborators. Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI) specification and supporting technologies support open frameworks for businesses to store, advertise and retrieve pertinent services. Many researchers investigate approaches that ubiquitously create higher-level processes by composing services discovered in and retrieved from UDDI registries. However, there are few studies that consider the impact of registry performance on future service automation. This work focuses on evaluating the performance of UDDI registries considering variability and concurrent load of publish and inquiry requests.
In Silico models for the Human α4β2 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor

The neuronal alpha4beta2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) is one of the most widely expressed nAChR subtypes in the brain. Its subunits have high sequence identity (54 and 46% for alpha4 and beta2, respectively) with alpha and beta subunits in Torpedo nAChR. Using the known structure of the Torpedo nAChR as a template, the closed-channel structure of the alpha4beta2 nAChR was constructed through homology modeling. Normal-mode analysis was performed on this closed structure and the resulting lowest frequency mode was applied to it for a "twist-to-open" motion, which increased the minimum pore radius from 2.7 to 3.4 A and generated an open-channel model. Nicotine could bind to the predicted agonist binding sites in the open-channel model but not in the closed one. Both models were subsequently equilibrated in a ternary lipid mixture via extensive molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Over the course of 11 ns MD simulations, the open channel remained open with filled water, but the closed channel showed a much lower water density at its hydrophobic gate comprised of residues alpha4-V259 and alpha4-L263 and their homologous residues in the beta2 subunits. Brownian dynamics simulations of Na+ permeation through the open channel demonstrated a current-voltage relationship that was consistent with experimental data on the conducting state of alpha4beta2 nAChR. Besides establishment of the well-equilibrated closed- and open-channel alpha4beta2 structural models, the MD simulations on these models provided valuable insights into critical factors that potentially modulate channel gating. Rotation and tilting of TM2 helices led to changes in orientations of pore-lining residue side chains. Without concerted movement, the reorientation of one or two hydrophobic side chains could be enough for channel opening. The closed- and open-channel structures exhibited distinct patterns of electrostatic interactions at the interface of extracellular and transmembrane domains that might regulate the signal propagation of agonist binding to channel opening. A potential prominent role of the beta2 subunit in channel gating was also elucidated in the study.
Lifestyle factors associated with cognitive functioning in breast cancer survivors.

Author(s): Hartman, Sheri J; Marinac, Catherine R; Natarajan, Loki; Patterson, Ruth E | Abstract: ObjectiveWeight, physical activity, and sleep are modifiable lifestyle factors that impact cognitive functioning in noncancer populations but have yet to be examined in cancer survivors. The aim of the study was to assess the relationship of obesity, physical activity, and sleep, with cognitive functioning among breast cancer survivors.MethodsParticipants were 136 early-stage postmenopausal breast cancer survivors who completed an assessment of neuropsychological testing, height, weight, physical activity, and sleep. Linear regression models examined the associations of the seven neuropsychological domains with obesity, physical activity, and sleep. Logistic regression models examined odd of impairment in each domain. All models controlled for breast cancer treatment variables and relevant demographic and clinical variables.ResultsObese participants had significantly worse performance (β = -5.04, standard error (SE) = 2.53) and were almost three times more likely to be impaired (odds ratio (OR) = 2.87; 95% CI: 1.02-8.10) on the Information processing domain. The highest tertile of physical activity was significantly related to better performance on the executive functioning domain (β = 5.13, SE = 2.42) and attention domain (β = 4.26, SE = 2.07). The middle tertile of physical activity was significantly related to better performance (β = 9.00, SE = 3.09) and decreased odds of impairment (OR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.07-0.91) on the visual-spatial domain. More hours of sleep per night was significantly associated with better performance (β = 2.69, SE = 0.98) and decreased odds of impairment (OR = 0.52; 95% CI: 0.33-0.82) on the verbal functioning domain.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that obesity, physical activity, and sleep are related to cognitive functioning among breast cancer survivors and have potential to be intervention targets to improve cognitive functioning.
An ENA state council's triage course for experienced and novice nurses: Massachusetts' 2-year experience.

F ew resources are available to help ED nurses learn or refine triage skills. Some hospitals offer a formalized triage course to new employees. Occasionally, refresher courses are offered, and several continuing education companies offer packaged triage courses. Several texts are available to assist in the development of triage guidelines. However, most often, triage is a “learn while you do it” skill (Table 1). Nurses rarely receive adequate constructive feedback in the evaluation of their triage skills. In addition to requesting feedback from experienced nurses, novice triage nurses should be encouraged to review the outcomes and disposition of the patients they triaged to assess their prioritization in relation to outcome. Clearly a need exists for comprehensive and ongoing triage education. In 1998, the Massachusetts ENA State Council identified the provision of formal triage education as a priority. The Nurse Practice and Education Committees accepted the charge of developing a triage course for experienced as well as novice emergency nurses, to be offered annually to nurses in the New England area. An ENA State Council’s Triage Course for Experienced and Novice Nurses: Massachusetts’ 2-year Experience
Confronting the Present: Towards a Politically Engaged Anthropology

Confronting the Present: Towards. Politically Engaged Anthropology. Gavin Smith. Oxford: Berg, 1999. ix. 296 pp., references, index.
PIML: the Pathogen Information Markup Language

MOTIVATION A vast amount of information about human, animal and plant pathogens has been acquired, stored and displayed in varied formats through different resources, both electronically and otherwise. However, there is no community standard format for organizing this information or agreement on machine-readable format(s) for data exchange, thereby hampering interoperation efforts across information systems harboring such infectious disease data. RESULTS The Pathogen Information Markup Language (PIML) is a free, open, XML-based format for representing pathogen information. XSLT-based visual presentations of valid PIML documents were developed and can be accessed through the PathInfo website or as part of the interoperable web services federation known as ToolBus/PathPort. Currently, detailed PIML documents are available for 21 pathogens deemed of high priority with regard to public health and national biological defense. A dynamic query system allows simple queries as well as comparisons among these pathogens. Continuing efforts are being taken to include other groups' supporting PIML and to develop more PIML documents. AVAILABILITY All the PIML-related information is accessible from http://www.vbi.vt.edu/pathport/pathinfo/
All-cause and cause-specific mortality associated with diabetes in prevalent hemodialysis patients

Diabetes is the most common risk factor for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and has been associated with increased risk of death. In order to better understand the influence of diabetes on outcomes in hemodialysis, we examine the risk of death of diabetic participants in the HEMODIALYSIS (HEMO) study. In the HEMO study, 823 (44.6%) participants were classified as diabetic. Using the Schoenfeld residual test, we found that diabetes violated the proportional hazards assumption. Based on this result, we fit two non-proportional hazard models: Cox’s time varying covariate model (Cox-TVC) that allows the hazard for diabetes to change linearly with time and Gray’s time-varying coefficient model. Using the Cox-TVC, the hazard ratio (HR) for diabetes increased with each year of follow up (p = 0.02) for all cause mortality. Using Gray’s model, the HR for diabetes ranged from 1.41 to 2.21 (p <0.01). The HR for diabetes using Gray’s model exhibited a different pattern, being relatively stable at 1.5 for the first 3 years in the study and increasing afterwards. Risk of death associated with diabetes in ESRD increases over time and suggests that an increasing risk of death among diabetes may be underappreciated when using conventional survival models.