cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Linking emotional intelligence abilities and transformational leadership styles

Today's business environment is changing tremendously due to economic forces that result in the redesign of systems to decrease cost, the need to speed up product development and the focused attention on satisfying customers. These conditions have caused organizations to utilize project management to implement strategic initiatives through projects. By utilizing a “big picture” systems approach to analyze how the system components interact, decisions can be made which are in the “best interest” of the overall project. Project management is ideally matched to this business environment. The study addressed 24 project managers and their associated projects in six organizations from varied industries. The results of the study found that a project manager's transformational leadership style has a positive impact on actual project performance, that emotional intelligence ability contributes to a project manager's transformational leadership style and subsequent actual project performance.
Diagnostic considerations in Guillain-Barré syndrome

Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) is a recognized entity for which the basis for diagnosis is descriptive in our present state of knowledge. Diagnosis rests upon pattern recognition of the clinical picture plus other features including elevated cerebrospinal fluid protein level, electrophysiological changes of marked slowing of conduction velocities, prolonged distal latencies, dispersion of the evoked responses, and frequent evidence of conduction block, together with pathological changes, when known, of low grade-inflammation and demyelination-remyelination in peripheral nerve. The precise diagnostic limits of GBS remain uncertain.
Type-II superlattice: Inversion of the dielectric function.

Explicit analytic results are presented here for the direct position-space inversion of the longitudinal dielectric function of a type-II biplane superlattice where electron-hole motions are confined to be on pairs of parallel two-dimensional planes. The results are expressed in terms of the dynamic nonlocal two-dimensional polarizabilities of the 2 two-dimensional planar electron-hole sheets constituting the biplane.
Systematic comparison of dendritic cell-based immunotherapeutic strategies for malignant gliomas: in vitro induction of cytolytic and natural killer-like T cells.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy of various immunotherapeutic strategies of loading dendritic cells (DCs) with whole-glioma cell antigens and characterize the effector responses induced. METHODS: DCs were either fused with major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-matched glioma cells (Fusion) or pulsed with apoptotic tumor cells (DC/Apo), total tumor ribonucleic acid (RNA) (DORNA), or tumor lysate (DCLys). These tumor-DC preparations were then assessed for their phenotype, cytokine profile, and capacity to stimulate autologous peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in vitro. Phenotype and tumor-specific cytolytic activities of various effector cell populations were characterized and compared. RESULTS: The various tumor-DC preparations exhibited similar phenotype and cytokine profiles irrespective of the method of loading tumor-cell antigens, However, the fusion, DC/Apo, and DC/RNA induced superior tumor cytolytic activities in PBMCs compared with DC/Lys or DC and tumor controls. DC/Apo induced the greatest expansion of tumor-specific lymphocytes, as detected by trypan blue exclusion and thymidine incorporation assays. Flow cytometric analyses also revealed the highest relative percentages of T helper cells (CD3 + CD4 + ), cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) (CD3 + CD8 + ), and natural killer (NK)-like T cells (CD3 + CD56 + ) in the DC/Apo group among all the groups studied, indicating that DC/Apo induced expansion of PBMcs bearing multiple T and NK cell markers. Interestingly, isolated NK-like T cells demconstrated significantly higher tumor cytotoxicity compared with CTLs isolated from the same groups and was also non-MHC-restocted. CONCLUSION: Apoptotic tumor cells may be an optimal source of whole-tumor-cell antigen for immunotherapy of gliomas. The study also demonstrates for the first time that both CTLs and NK-like T cells are expanded and stimulated by mature, tumor-pulsed DCs.
Feasibility study of integration of electro-optic polymer waveguide device with MOSFET circuitry on silicon

Systematic development of electro-optic (EO) polymers is leading to optical and material properties such that they present an increasingly viable alternative to crystalline-based technologies for integrated optics. EO polymers demonstrate an inherent velocity match between radio-frequency and optical waves, making them excellent candidates for applications in high-speed telecommunication switching and optical interconnects for VLSI circuitry. In addition, EO polymer devices are relatively simple to fabricate at conditions compatible with microelectronics industry processes, making same-substrate integration of optical and electronic circuitry possible. In this paper, we describe two vertical integration schemes whereby a polymer-based electro-optic modulator may be controlled by metal-oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) circuitry. One scheme described is an insitu integration on the same silicon (Si) substrate. The second scheme is the integration of a modulator built on a flexible substrate with a MOSFET circuit on a second Si substrate. Both schemes have potential applications for integrated electro-optics.
Numerical analysis of convecting, vaporizing fuel droplet with variable properties

Abstract Detailed analysis of a cold fuel droplet suddenly injected into a hot gas stream is examined. The effects of variable thermophysical properties, transient heating and internal circulation of liquid, deceleration of the flow due to the drag of the droplet, boundary-layer blowing, and moving interface are included. Several parametric studies are performed by changing the following quantities: initial droplet temperature, ambient temperature, initial Reynolds number, fuel type, and droplet heating model. The results show that for higher transfer numbers, the vaporization rate is larger and the drag coefficient is significantly reduced mainly due to a large reduction in friction drag. For lower transfer numbers, the boundary-layer blowing effect is weaker and the drag coefficient is dominated by the Reynolds number only. The results also indicate that the constant-property calculation overestimates the drag coefficient.
Conjugation in the ciliated protozoon, Dileptus gigas, with special reference to the nuclear phenomena

In conjugation fusion occurs along the entire oral surfaces of the proboscides of Dileptus gigas. Two size-reducing divisions occur in rapid succession immediately preceding conjugation. Only one of the many micronuclei takes part in the process of nuclear reorganization. All other chromatic material is massed at this time in the posterior portions of the conjugants. The pronuclei are derived from the single active micronucleus, and interchange occurs immediately preceding the separation of the mating individuals. The fertilization nucleus divides to form two nuclei of diverse size. The smaller one produces thirty-two or sixty-four micronuclei, while the larger one divides to produce a like number of macronuclei, each of which finally breaks up into many chromatic granules which form the numerous densely staining nuclear derivatives which are characteristic of the vegetative stage of Dileptus gigas. In the early stages of this reorganization process specimens are frequently found with from two to eight distinct nuclei often arranged in a series as in a beaded nucleus. This condition probably explains the frequent references in literature regarding such a nuclear condition in Dileptus. Dileptus gigas has, accordingly, in the vegetative stage, a multinucleate condition with reference to the micronucleus and a fragmented or distributed condition with reference to the macronucleus.
Service-based computing on manets: enabling dynamic interoperability of first responders

Mobile ad hoc networks will form a critical part of the first-responder communications infrastructure. Empirical data shows how network-aware, autonomous, mobile agents can manage information services on live manet environments. A multidisciplinary team in Drexel University's College of Engineering has been working with local law enforcement and transportation officials to identify problems in enabling police, fire, security, and other public protectors to effectively communicate and collaborate in first-response situations. Development of the Philadelphia Area Urban Wireless Network Testbed (PA-UWNT) is part of this effort. The PA-UWNT is a mobile ad hoc network (manet) comprising mobile computers (PDAs, tablets, and laptops) and Web service-based applications. Our experience in the PA-UWNT project indicates that constructing such systems will require new research developments in computer networking, agent and service-based computing, and security that integrate each of these disciplines at several fundamental levels. In this paper, we outline part of this approach through experiments demonstrating the utility of integrating the network and agent layers and enabling agents to reason about the current operating context. We posit that autonomous agents that can reason about the network's slate and services offer an effective means of meeting the manet environment's challenges.
Botox-induced prostatic involution.

BACKGROUND A simple approach to induced prostatic atrophy was explored. Surgical denervation is known to produce profound atrophy of the rat prostate. Because Botulinum toxin type A (Botox) produces a long-term chemical denervation, the potential to induce atrophy of the rat prostate was explored. METHODS Thirty rat prostates were injected with varying doses of Botox. Single and serial injections were used, and rats were subsequently sacrificed after either 1 or 4 weeks, respectively. The prostate glands were harvested, weighed, and histologically studied for morphologic and apoptotic changes. RESULTS The total prostate volume and weight were found to be reduced in all Botox-injected animals. Histologically, a generalized atrophy of the glands was observed with the H&E stain. There was also diffuse glandular apoptosis evident with the Tunel stain. There were no significant complications (e.g., urinary retention, weight loss, or hind/limb weakness). CONCLUSIONS Botulinum toxin type A injection into the prostate gland induces selective denervation and subsequent atrophy of the prostate. Apoptosis was seen diffusely throughout the gland. It may be possible that in the future, this long-acting neurotoxin could be used for the treatment of common pathologies of the human prostate. Prostate 37:44–50, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Dennis Kent Receives 2009 William Gilbert Award

Dennis Kent received the William Gilbert Award at the 2009 AGU Fall Meeting, held 14–18 December in San Francisco, Calif. The award recognizes outstanding and unselfish work in magnetism of Earth materials and of the Earth and planets.
Noble metal nanoparticle arrays: control of size, shape, and placement via chemical self-assembly

Selective patterning of chemical functional groups on polymer surfaces is utilized for controlled placement of monodisperse noble metal nanoparticles. Self-assembled diblock copolymer films deposited on hydrophobic silicon substrates are used as a template for metal nanoparticle organization. By varying the processing conditions of polymer templates, micelle and cylindrical polystyrene-b-poly(methyl methacrylate) diblock copolymer templates were fabricated. Functional groups on the surface of poly(methyl methacrylate) domains in the diblock copolymer films were chemically modified from an ester group to a carboxylate using a base catalyzed hydrolysis step. Gold and silver nanoparticles were fabricated in solution in order to achieve size and shape control. After gold nanoparticle synthesis, a ligand exchange reaction was performed to produce nanoparticles with amine functional groups for chemical attachment on chemically modified poly(methyl methacrylate) surfaces. Atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy images demonstrate that this fabrication route results in preferential attachment of metal nanoparticles on poly(methyl methacrylate) thin films and on poly(methyl methacrylate) domains in polystyrene-b-poly(methyl methacrylate) diblock copolymer thin films.
Small optic cup sizes among women using tamoxifen: assessment with scanning laser ophthalmoscopy.

Purpose: There is a substantial literature showing that the selective estrogen receptor modulator tamoxifen can block swelling-activated chloride channels, such as those in astrocytes. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that anatomic characteristics consistent with swelling may be measured within the optic nerve head (ONH) of tamoxifen users whose ONH appearance is considered within normal limits. Methods: Indices of ONH topography were measured using the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph II (HRT) for two populations of women ages 40–69 years: (1) subjects using tamoxifen (20 mg/day) as adjuvant therapy after successful primary treatment for breast cancer and (2) control subjects not using any hormonal medication. All subjects had excellent visual acuity (with 20/20 or better in the test eye), and all appeared to be free of eye disease, as based on conventional photographic assessment. The study design was cross-sectional. The various ONH indices were assessed as functions of the duration of tamoxifen use....
The binding of l-tryptophan in human plasma at 37 °C

Abstract The binding of l -tryptophan in human plasma at 37 °C in the presence and absence of other amino acids and urea was studied. The estimated unbound tryptophan concentration in fasting plasma from binding studies was 18 μmoles/kg. water. This is in good agreement with a mean value of 17 ± 2 obtained from ultrafiltrates of blood at pH 7.4 and 37 °C. Approximately 25% of the total tryptophan is present in fasting plasma as an unbound form. Examples of tryptophan concentrations in some plasmas of simulated small molecule and albumin composition are also given. It is indicated that the concentration of unbound tryptophan is the same in the plasma and the erythrocytes.
Detection of left ventricular thrombi with radionuclide angiography.

Abstract Apparent filling defects compatible with left ventricular thrombus are occasionally noted in equilibrium radionuclide angiocardlograms. To define the usefulness of the radionuclide angiogram in detecting left ventricular thrombus, the anterior and left anterior oblique radionuclide angiograms of 39 patients with proved presence or absence of thrombus were blindly interpreted. The presence of thrombus was proved at autopsy in 5 patients, at cardiac operation in 2, or on indium-111 platelet imaging in 6; the absence of thrombus was proved at autopsy in 24 or at cardiac operation in 2. Overall, 13 radionuclide angiograms were interpreted as posltive (n = 10) or equivocally positive (n = 3) for thrombus, and 26 studies were judged negative. The sensitivity of a positive or equivocally positive radionuclide angiogram for detection of thrombus was 77 percent (10 of 13 patients), the specificity 88 percent (23 of 26 patients), the positive predictive value 77 percent, the negative predictlve value 88 percent. If the three equivocal studies are instead considered negative for thrombus, the sensitivity was 62 percent, the specificity 92 percent, the positive predictive value 80 percent and the negative predictive value 93 percent. All thrombi were visualized in the anterior view in an area of akinetic or dyskinetic wall motion. A small group of 13 patients (8 with thrombus, 5 without) underwent two dimenslonal echocardiography, which was 100 percent sensitive and specific. The finding of a discrete filling defect or squared or cutoff ventricular apex in an area of abnormal wall motion in the anterior view of the radionuclide angiogram should suggest the diagnosis of ventricular thrombus, which may be confirmed by other noninvasive studies.
Leader effectiveness from self-directed learning and strategic thinking

The levels of self-directed learning readiness, strategic thinking and leader effectiveness in Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) directors were measured. The analysis of the 471 responses demonstrated robust correlations between self-directed learning readiness and strategic thinking (r = .58, p < .001). Leader effectiveness correlated similarly and significantly with these two constructs (r = .10, p < .05). These correlations present evidence of positive relationships between self-directed learning levels, strategic thinking levels and leader effectiveness. The relationships between self-directed learning, strategic thinking and leader effectiveness were analysed for moderation by the demographic variables. The respondents' self-identification of their ethnicity as a member of a non-white minority group moderated the correlation between strategic thinking and leader effectiveness.
A robotic system design based on electric passenger car battery quick-change

This paper designs a robotic system based on electric passenger car battery quick-change, in order to meet the development of the domestic electric car. The robot consists of X, Y, Z three freedoms and the R-axis freedom which can adjust the battery angle relative to vehicle chassis. In this paper, we design the robot motion control system by Siemens S7-300PLC, use of robot path planning, multi-axis motion control technology and multi-sensor technology to adjust the position of the battery, take place, angle correction relative to vehicle chassis and installation, make the electric vehicles energy supply more efficient.
Prenatal ganglioside GM1 treatment protects ethanol-induced sleep time in rats exposed to ethanol in utero during gestation days 7 and 8

Pregnant rats were treated with ethanol intragastrically (5.8 g/kg in two divided doses) spaced 4 hr apart on gestation days (GD) 7 and 8. Ganglioside GM1 was injected (10 mg/kg, IM) 24 hr and 1 hr prior to ethanol on GD7 and 1 hr prior on GD8. The controls received saline only. Maternal blood alcohol reached peak levels of 4.3 mg/ml within 2 hr in both groups. There were no significant differences between the groups gain body weight, gestation time, or the litter size. There were also no significant differences in birth weight and the brain weight of the pups. At the age of 45 days, equal number of male offspring from each group were tested for hypnotic effect (sleep time) of ethanol challenge dose (3.5 g/kg). Animals that received ethanol alone in utero had a shorter sleep time compared to no ethanol controls (81 ± 19 and 130 ± 28 min respectively, P<.01). Ganglioside GM1 treated animals had sleep time similar to that of controls (131 ± 21 min). There were no significant differences in wakeup blood alcohol the groups. These results indicate that pretreatment with GM1 ganglioside of maternal rats antagonized decrease in sleep time in offspring induced by prenatal ethanol exposure.
Correlations between parities for lactation traits in United States dairy goats.

Correlations between parities for milk yield, fat yield, and days in milk were calculated across and within does for five breeds of United States dairy goats; Alpine, LaMancha, Saanen, and Toggenburg, using lactation records to January 1981. Records were initiated during 1966 through 1979 and had between 125 and 305 d in milk. Parities were first through fourth, and fifth or greater. Overall phenotypic correlations between the three lactation traits averaged across breed were .95 between milk and fat yield and about .60 between milk or fat yield and days in milk. Within-herd phenotypic partial correlations between parities 1 and 2 (the two parities with most data) averaged .47 for milk yield, .42 for fat yield, and .07 for days in milk. Components of variance due to herd averaged about 34% for milk yield and for fat yield and 23% for days in milk. Components of variance due to doe/herd averaged 28% for milk yield, 25% for fat yield, and 17% for days in milk. Repeatabilities averaged .42 for milk yield, .38 for fat yield, and .22 for days in milk.
Microscopic theory of spin arrangements and spin waves in very thin ferromagnetic films

We present theoretical studies of the classical ground-state spin configuration and spin waves, in very thin ferromagnetic films, with thickness that ranges from a monolayer to a few tens of layers. The analyses are based on a microscopic model that includes dipolar and exchange interactions between the spins, surface (or interface) anisotropy of single-site character quadratic and quartic in the spin components, along with an external magnetic field applied at an arbitrary direction with respect to the film normal. Issues explored include the nature of spin canting induced by surface anisotropy in ultrathin (few-atomic-layer) films, and in films with thicknesses of up to 100 layers. Also, we explore the nature of spin waves in ultrathin films, in the presence of spin canting, and in thicker films with attention to the interplay between dipolar and exchange contributions to the excitation energy. Most particularly, in the thicker films, we examine the transition from the dipole-dominated Damon-Eshbach waves to the exchange-dominated surface spin waves that emerge from the Heisenberg model.
The iron-chelating drug triapine causes pronounced mitochondrial thiol redox stress

Triapine (Tp) is an iron chelator with activity against several types of cancer. Iron-Tp [Fe(III)(Tp)(2)] can be redox-cycled to generate reactive oxygen species that may contribute to its cytotoxicity. However, evidence for this mechanism in cells is limited. The cytosolic and mitochondrial thioredoxins (Trx1 and Trx2, respectively) are essential for cell survival. They are normally maintained in the reduced state, and support the function of many intracellular proteins including the peroxiredoxins (Prxs). Their redox status can indicate oxidant stress in their respective subcellular compartments. Tp treatment of human lung A549 cells caused almost complete oxidation of Trx2 and its dependent peroxiredoxin (Prx3), but there was no effect on Trx1 redox status. Significant inhibition of total TrxR activity did not occur until Tp levels were 4-fold above those needed to cause Trx2 oxidation. While Tp caused a 36-45% decline in reduced glutathione (GSH) levels, GSH accounted for >99% of the total glutathione in the absence and presence of Tp. In vitro studies demonstrated that cysteine reduces Fe(III)(Tp)(2) to Fe(II)(Tp)(2), and cysteine was faster and more efficient than reduced glutathione (GSH) in this regard. Fe(III)(Tp)(2) also mediated the oxidation of purified Trx2 in vitro. Thus, Fe(III)(Tp)(2) itself, and/or various reactive species that may result from its redox cycling, could account for Trx2 and Prx3 oxidation in Tp-treated cells. The striking difference between the effects on Trx2 and Trx1 implies a pronounced thiol redox stress that is largely directed at the mitochondria. These previously unrecognized effects of Tp could contribute to its overall cytotoxicity.
Nanosecond time-resolved magnetic resonance of the primary radical pair state PF of bacterial photosynthesis

Direct optical detection of magnetic resonance of the primary radical pair state in bacterial photosynthesis, P/sup F/, which possesses only a 15-ns lifetime is reported. The ability both to monitor and to control the dynamics of radical pair populations directly should prove very useful in determining structure and mechanism in electron-transfer reactions especially in important biological systems such as photosynthesis.
Prolactin levels in febrile and afebrile seizures.

Transient hyperprolactinaemia has been reported to follow unprovoked seizures, a finding proposed to be useful in the differential diagnosis of epilepsy. There is also evidence that patients with unprovoked seizures may have high baseline prolactin levels, which could be of value in detecting those predisposed to epilepsy after a first convulsive attack. The purpose of this study was to examine whether prolactin levels are elevated: (1) postictally in febrile seizures and (2) interictally in afebrile seizures. In 17 children with simple febrile seizures, mean postictal prolactin value (370±160 mU/l, mean±SD) was significantly higher (≈0.001) than the mean baseline value of 18 seizure-free controls (202±136 mU/l). The mean baseline prolactin values were not significantly different: (1) in ten children with afebrile versus ten seizure-free controls and (2) in 18 children with febrile seizures associated with high risk for subsequent afebrile seizures versus 23 children with febrile seizures but unlikely to suffer from afebrile seizures.
Architect for Research on Gender and Community Colleges

A quick search in the Community College Journal of Research and Practice for Barbara Townsend's name produces 62 entries. A handful of those entries are the articles that Barbara has authored, but ...
Loudness effects in pairs of tone bursts

The loudness of dichotic and monotic pairs of short tone bursts was investigated as a function of the interburst time interval. For short intervals, the loudness was increased relative ty the loudness of a single burst. However, the loudness of a burst pair was equal to the loudness of the second burst in the pair and, therefore, no loudness summation but only a loudness enhancement took place. In dichotic bursts, the loudness enhancement decayed monotonically as the time interval increased, and the rate of decay increased with sound intensity. In monotic bursts, the loudness enhancement decayed to a minimum at about 40 msec, independent of sound intensity. It had a tendency to rebound at longer time intervals and go through a relative maximum in the vicinity of 200 msec. The results are interpreted in terms of an interaction of peripheral and central poststimulatory inhibition with temporal summation.
Sequence-dependent enhancement of hydrolytic deamination of cytosines in DNA by the restriction enzyme PspGI.

Hydrolytic deamination of cytosines in DNA creates uracil and, if unrepaired, these lesions result in C to T mutations. We have suggested previously that a possible way in which cells may prevent or reduce this chemical reaction is through the binding of proteins to DNA. We use a genetic reversion assay to show that a restriction enzyme, PspGI, protects cytosines within its cognate site, 5 0 -CCWGG (W is A or T), against deamination under conditions where no DNA cleavage can occur. It decreases the rate of cytosine deamination to uracil by 7-fold. However, the same protein dramatically increases the rate of deaminations within the site 5 0 -CCSGG (S is C or G) by � 15-fold. Furthermore, a similar increase in cytosine deaminations is also seen with a catalytically inactive mutant of the enzyme showing that endonucleolytic ability of the protein is dispensable for its mutagenic action. The sequences of the mutants generated in the presence of PspGI show that only one of the cytosines in CCSGG is predominantly converted to thymine. Our results are consistent with PspGI ‘sensitizing’ the cytosine in the central base pair in CCSGG for deamination. Remarkably, PspGI sensitizes this base for damage despite its inability to form stable complexes at CCSGG sites. These results can be explained if the enzyme has a transient interaction with this sequence during which it flips the central cytosine out of the helix. This prediction was validated by modeling the structure of PspGI–DNA complex based on the structure of the related enzyme Ecl18kI which is known to cause base-flipping.
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF)-A: Role on Cardiac Angiogenesis following Myocardial Infarction

The current study is to determine the regulatory role of VEGF-A in cardiac angiogenesis following myocardial infarction (MI). Cardiac angiogenic response and temporal/spatial expression of VEGF-A/VEGF receptors (VEGFR) were examined at 1, 2, 6, 12 h and 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 14, and 28 days postMI. We found that following MI, newly formed vessels first appeared at the border zone between noninfarcted and infarcted myocardium as early as day 3 and subsequently in the infarcted myocardium. Vascular density in the infarcted myocardium peaked at day 7 and then gradually declined. VEGF-A mRNA started to increase at the border zone at 2 h postMI, reached peak at 12 h, declined at day 1, and returned to normal levels at day 2 and thereafter. VEGF-A protein levels at the border zone were only increased during day 1 postMI. VEGF-A within the infarcted myocardium levels, however, was persistently suppressed postMI. VEGFR expression was significantly increased only at the border zone at day 1, but not in the later stages. The expression of VEGF-A/VEGFR remained unchanged in the noninfarcted myocardium. Thus, the early rise of VEGF-A/VEGFR at the border zone suggests that VEGF-A initiates the cardiac angiogenic response postMI, but short-lived VEGF-A/VEGFR activation at the border zone and consistently suppressed VEGF-A within the infarcted myocardium suggests that VEGF-A may not be crucial to the later stages of angiogenesis.
Personal and Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status and Indices of Neighborhood Walk-ability Predict Body Mass Index in New York City

Past research has observed inverse associations between neighborhood and personal level measures of socioeconomic status and body mass index (BMI), but has not assessed how personal and neighborhood-level measures might interact together to predict BMI. Using a sample of 13,102 adult residents of New York City who participated in a health survey, cross-sectional multi-level analyses assessed whether personal income, education and Zip code-level poverty rates were associated with BMI. Demographic, income, education and objectively measured height and weight data were collected in the survey and poverty rates and the proportion of Black and Hispanic residents in the subject's Zip code were retrieved from the 2000 Census. Zip code-level population density and land use mix, indices of neighborhood walk-ability which are often higher in lower income neighborhoods and are associated with lower BMI, were also measured. After controlling for individual and Zip code-level demographic characteristics, increasing income was associated with lower BMI in women but not in men, and college and graduate level education was associated with lower BMI in both men and women. After control for income and individual and Zip code-level demographic characteristics, higher Zip code poverty rate was unassociated with BMI. However, as expected, indices of neighborhood walk-ability acted as substantial inverse confounders in the relationship between Zip code poverty rate and BMI. After further adjustment for indices of neighborhood walk-ability, Zip code poverty rate became significantly, and positively associated with BMI in women. Among women, the inverse association between income and BMI was significantly stronger in richer compared to poorer Zip codes. In men and women, the association between college and graduate education and lower BMI was significantly stronger in richer versus poorer Zip codes. These analyses suggest that neighborhood socioeconomic context influences how personal socioeconomic status interact in predicting boby size.
Serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase in cardiac with hepatic disease.

SummaryThe measurement of SGP-T alterations has been found to be a useful tool in the diagnosis and study of acute hepatic disease and appears to be more sensitive than SGO-T in depicting acute hep...
Assessment of Dysphagia with the Use of Pulse Oximetry

Recent anecdotal literature has shown a relation between arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2), as measured by pulse oximetry, and aspiration during eating. The present study was designed to determine whether bedside pulse oximetry has a role in the assessment of pharyngeal phase dysphagia. Forty-six adult patients with clinically suspected swallowing abnormalities underwent modified barium swallow to evaluate dysphagia. After determining baseline oxygen saturation by pulse oximetry, different consistencies of barium were sequentially ingested. Patients were monitored for radiographic evidence of penetration or aspiration, which was correlated with continuous SpO2 recording. Patients who exhibited aspiration or penetration without clearing had a significant decline in SpO2 compared with those patients who penetrated but cleared or in whom no penetration was observed. These relations were not associated with age, gender, or diagnosis. These preliminary data indicate that bedside pulse oximetry may be a useful tool in the evaluation of patients with dysphagia.
Capsulolabral augmentation increases glenohumeral stability in the cadaver shoulder

Multidirectional instability is not clearly understood. Excessive capsular laxity has been proposed as the key component. However, because ligaments fail to resist humeral head translation until they are tensioned, glenohumeral instability in the mid range of motion cannot be explained by capsuloligamentous pathology alone. Capsulolabral augmentation is designed to increase glenohumeral stability by 2 separate mechanisms: deepening the glenoid concavity and reducing capsular laxity. This is accomplished by shifting the capsule to buttress the glenoid labrum. Hence, the glenolabral concavity in which the humeral head is stabilized by compression throughout the entire range is enhanced. The purposes of this study were to examine glenolabral depth and glenohumeral stability before and after labral augmentation and to measure the effect of diminished capsular laxity on motion in clinically important positions. We compared glenolabral depth, resistance to humeral head displacement, and glenohumeral range of motion before and after capsulolabral augmentation. Glenolabral depth was measured as the lateral displacement of the center of the humeral head translating from the glenoid fossa. We recorded a mean increase in glenoid depth of 1.9 mm inferiorly, 2.0 mm posteroinferiorly, and 0.9 mm posteriorly (P <.02). Resistance to humeral head displacement was measured by use of the stability ratio, defined as the translatory force required to displace the humeral head divided by the force compressing the humeral head into the glenoid fossa. The mean stability ratio was increased by 0.24 inferiorly and 0.24 posteroinferiorly (P <.02). Motion was measured by achieving 30 degrees and 60 degrees elevation in the 0 degrees, 30 degrees, 60 degrees, and 90 degrees planes of elevation and measuring the extent of possible internal rotation for each of these 8 positions when the capsule was tensioned to exert 1000 N-mm of torque. Reduction of internal rotation in these positions was a mean of 15 degrees at 1000 N-mm of torque. This study demonstrates that humeral head stability within the glenolabral fossa is increased by local capsular augmentation. A simultaneous reduction in capsular laxity is achieved, which partially limits glenohumeral motion. Understanding the biomechanical effect of this procedure helps the physician to establish surgical goals and to explain to patients the rationale of why this procedure may be clinically efficacious.
Airborne Hyperspectral Imagery for Mapping Crop Yield Variability

Information concerning the spatial variation in crop yield has become necessary for site-specific crop management. Traditional satellite imagery has long been used to monitor crop growing conditions and to estimate crop yields over large geographic areas. However, this type of imagery has limited use for assessing within-field yield variability because of its coarse spatial resolution. Therefore, high-resolution airborne multispectral and hyperspectral imagery has been used for this purpose. This study presents an overview on the use of remote sensing imagery for mapping crop yield variability and illustrates how airborne hyperspectral imagery can be used for crop yield estimation based on the work conducted at the US Department of Agriculture’s Kika de la Garza Subtropical Agricultural Research Center at Weslaco, Texas. Some of the challenges and considerations on the use of hyperspectral imagery for yield mapping are discussed.
Rational Reserve Pricing in Sequential Auctions

A durable asset is sold in a sealed-bid first price auction. The seller sets an undisclosed reservation price. The seller has no prior information respecting the private valuations of the bidders. If no bid exceeds the reservation price, the asset is sequentially auctioned until it is sold. A rational seller will design an intertemporal series of reservation prices that maximize the discounted value of the transaction price. To accomplish this, the seller uses the history of unsuccessful bids to estimate the probability density functions governing the maximum bids at each hypothetical future auction date.
A note on SCSI bus waits

In the SCSI-2 standard, the unique IDs of devices on the bus define a fixed priority whenever several devices compete for the use of the bus. Although the more recent SCSI-3 standard specifies an additional fair arbitration mode, it leaves such fair mode an optional feature. Despite a number of allusions to potential unfairness of the traditional SCSI bus arbitration scattered in the trade literature, there seem to be few formal studies to quantify this unfairness.In this paper, we propose a simple model of SCSI bus acquisition in which devices on the bus are viewed as sources of requests with fixed non-preemptive priorities. We use the model to assess the expected extent of unfairness, as measured by the mean bus wait, under varying load conditions. Effects of tagged command queueing are not considered in this note. Numerical results obtained with our model show that there is little unfairness as long as the workload is balanced across devices and the bus utilization is relatively low. Interestingly, even for medium bus utilization a significant fraction of bus requests find the bus free which might correlate with the service rounds noted in a recent experimental study. For unbalanced loads and higher bus utilization, the expected wait for the bus experienced by lowest priority devices can become significantly larger than the one experienced by highest priority device. This appears to be especially true if the higher priority devices have higher I/O rates and occupy the bus for longer periods. As might be expected, even for balanced workloads, unfairness tends to increase with the number of devices on the bus.
Advanced Circularly Ruled Gratings for General Surface Metrology

The properties of a circularly ruled grating are discussed for the case in which the rulings are unequally spaced. This type of grating, which combines power and aberration control with conical mapping, is shown to be a key element in the design of the null corrector arm for an interferometer. Examples of test configurations are given for a non-linear axicon, a Wolter type telescope segment, and a fast aspheric.© (1983) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Coil Extension, Deformation and Compression during Excitation in Superconducting Accelerator Dipole Magnets

The measurement of conductor motion, caused by exciting a superconducting dipole magnet, is compared to the measured field quality.
The Prosaics of Catharsis in Aksenov’s Moscow Saga

"1 Just think of it-a traffic jam in Moscow during the eighth year of the Revolution! All of Nikol'skaia Street, flowing from Lubianka to the Red Square through the heart of Kitai-Gorod, is dammed up."' So begins Vasilii Aksenov's trilogy of historical novels, the Moscow Saga, a work encompassing the Stalinist period and disclosing the fortunes and misfortunes of the Gradovs, a fictional family of prominent Muscovite doctors, artists, and military men. The blockage imagery that begins with the jamming (probka), damming (zapruzhena), and corking (zakuporka) of the novel's first paragraph accumulates ponderously throughout the trilogy's first volume, The Generation of Winter (Pokolenie zimy), until it is resolved in the closing paragraphs by a disagreeably sensorial catharsis, as the central hero, Doctor Gradov, purges Stalin's constipated alimentary canal with laxative and enema (1:5).
Optogenetic approaches to cell migration and beyond

Optogenetics, the use of genetically encoded tools to control protein function with light, can generate localized changes in signaling within living cells and animals. For years it has been focused on channel proteins for neurobiology, but has recently expanded to cover many different types of proteins, using a broad array of different protein engineering approaches. These methods have largely been directed at proteins involved in motility, cytoskeletal regulation and gene expression. This review provides a survey of non-channel proteins that have been engineered for optogenetics. Existing molecules are used to illustrate the advantages and disadvantages of the many imaginative new approaches that the reader can use to create light-controlled proteins.
Recent Scholarship on the Structure of James

The letter of James, although often neglected in the history of New Testament scholarship, has received renewed interest in the last three decades. Much of the discussion has focused on the letter’s structure, and the result has been a significant departure from the old paraenetic, ‘unstructured’ view of James set forth by Martin Dibelius in favor of a view that sees much more unity and ordering within the composition. Since an assessment of structure virtually determines interpretation, one is not surprised to discover within recent scholarship a thorough re-evaluation of the letter. This shift in perspective raises important questions. Why has scholarship generally set aside Dibelius’s long-standing approach? What new structures have been offered? How crucial is a definitive ‘structure’ to our understanding of the content of the letter? While the overall question of the structure of James is far from settled, some areas of consensus have emerged, and the stage is set for further dialogue.
A structured teaching curriculum for medical students improves their performance on the National Board of Medical Examiners shelf examination in surgery.

Abstract Background The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a resident-driven, student taught educational curriculum on the medical students' performance on the National Board of Medical Examiners surgery subject examination (NBME). Methods On daily morning rounds, medical students or the chief resident delivered preassigned brief presentations on 1 or 2 of the 30 common surgical topics selected for the curriculum. An initial assessment of student knowledge and an end-rotation in-house examination (multiple choice question examination) were conducted. The mean scores on the NBME examination were compared between students in teams using this teaching curriculum and those without it. Results A total of 57 third-year medical students participated in the study. The mean score on the in-house postclerkship multiple choice question examination was increased by 23.5% ( P P Conclusion The implementation of a resident-driven structured teaching curriculum improved performance of medical students on the NBME examination.
ATSDR Science Panel on the Bioavailability of Mercury in Soils: Lessons Learned

On the basis of discussion and analysis during and following an ATSDR science panel on the bioavailability of mercury in soils, it is apparent that the default assumption of 100% relative bioavailability for mercury-contaminated soils is excessively conservative. However, current knowledge does not allow the development of default assumptions or guidelines for determining relative bioavailability of mercury in soils. Until such default assumptions or guidelines can be developed, site-specific assays of bioavailability, preferably using either animal bioassays or validated in vitro techniques, may provide the best approach for estimating soil-mercury bioavailability.
Causes of severe visual loss in the early treatment diabetic retinopathy study: ETDRS report no. 24

Abstract PURPOSE: To describe the causes of and risk factors for persistent severe visual loss occurring in the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS). METHODS: The ETDRS was a randomized clinical trial investigating photocoagulation and aspirin in 3,711 persons with mild to severe nonproliferative or early proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Severe visual loss, defined as best-corrected visual acuity of less than 5/200 on at least two consecutive 4-month follow-up visits, developed in 257 eyes (219 persons). Of these 257 eyes, 149 (127 persons) did not recover to 5/200 or better at any visit (persistent severe visual loss). Ocular characteristics of these eyes were compared with those of eyes with severe visual loss that improved to 5/200 or better at any subsequent visit. Characteristics of patients with severe visual loss that did and did not improve and those without severe visual loss were also compared. RESULTS: Severe visual loss that persisted developed in 149 eyes of 127 persons. In order of decreasing frequency, reasons recorded for persistent visual loss included vitreous or preretinal hemorrhage, macular edema or macular pigmentary changes related to macular edema, macular or retinal detachment, and neovascular glaucoma. Compared with all patients without persistent severe visual loss, patients with persistent severe visual loss had higher mean levels of hemoglobin A 1c (10.4% vs 9.7%; P = .001) and higher levels of cholesterol (244.1 vs 228.5 mg/dl; P = .0081) at baseline. Otherwise, patients with persistent severe visual loss were similar to patients with severe visual loss that improved and to those without severe visual loss. CONCLUSIONS: Persistent severe visual loss was an infrequent occurrence in the ETDRS. Its leading cause was vitreous or preretinal hemorrhage, followed by macular edema or macular pigmentary changes related to macular edema and retinal detachment. The low frequency of persistent severe visual loss in the ETDRS is most likely related to the nearly universal intervention with scatter photocoagulation (either before or soon after high-risk proliferative diabetic retinopathy developed) and the intervention with vitreous surgery when clinically indicated.
Migration and HIV risk: Life histories of Mexican-born men living with HIV in North Carolina

Latino men in the Southeastern USA are disproportionately affected by HIV, but little is known about how the migration process influences HIV-related risk. In North Carolina, a relatively new immigrant destination, Latino men are predominantly young and from Mexico. We conducted 31 iterative life history interviews with 15 Mexican-born men living with HIV. We used holistic content narrative analysis methods to examine HIV vulnerability in the context of migration and to identify important turning points. Major themes included the prominence of traumatic early-life experiences, migration as an ongoing process rather than a finite event, and HIV diagnosis as a final turning point in migration trajectories. Findings provide a nuanced understanding of HIV vulnerability throughout the migration process and have implications including the need for bi-national HIV-prevention approaches, improved outreach around early testing and linkage to care, and attention to mental health.