cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abstract 5055: Earlier birth cohort, lower BMI, and increased FEV1are risk factors for cancer in adults with cystic fibrosis

Introduction: Adults with cystic fibrosis (CF) have a higher risk of multiple cancer types compared to the general population, and this risk appears to be particularly increased in transplant recipients. However, other risk factors for malignancy have not been well-described. This study assessed patient factors associated with cancer in adults with CF. Methods: This was a retrospective study of prospectively collected data from the CF Foundation Patient Registry from 1992 - 2015. All adults cancer-free at 18 years of age were followed until either their most recent year in the registry or the year of their cancer diagnosis. Age, sex, CFTR mutation class, history of transplant, birth cohort, and BMI and FEV1 five years prior to cancer diagnosis or most recent registry entry were assessed as predictors of cancer using multivariable logistic regression. Analyses were repeated stratified by history of transplant. Data on cancer type was unavailable in the registry. Results: Of 26,453 adults with CF, 525 (2.0%) had cancer diagnosed by histology at a mean age of 40.5 (SD=12.8) years. Of cancer patients, 183 (35.1%) were transplant recipients and 302 (64.7%) had a severe CFTR mutation (Class I-III). Among all CF adults, factors independently associated with cancer included lower BMI, higher FEV1, history of transplant, and birth cohort (Table). Among non-transplanted patients, cancer was associated with higher FEV1, unknown mutation class, and birth cohort. Among transplanted patients, cancer was only associated with birth cohort. Conclusion: A history of transplant, lower BMI, higher FEV1, and earlier birth cohorts are associated with cancer in adults with CF. More recent birth cohorts have lower risks of cancer even after adjustment for age, possibly related to major improvements in CF care. Future studies are warranted to identify risk factors associated with specific cancer types and to better refine cancer screening recommendations in this patient population. Citation Format: John B. Doyle, Rita M. Knotts, Claire L. Keating, Emily A. DiMango, Julian A. Abrams. Earlier birth cohort, lower BMI, and increased FEV1 are risk factors for cancer in adults with cystic fibrosis [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 5055.
Graft-Versus-Host Disease After Pancreatic Transplantation

Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a common complication of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation but can rarely occur after solid organ transplants. Small bowel and liver transplants are typically implicated, but solid organ transplant-associated GVHD has also been associated with other organs. We present a 40-year-old diabetic woman who underwent renal followed by pancreatic transplantation over a span of 21 months and ultimately developed acute classic GVHD. The diagnosis proved to be challenging in the context of confounding infections and inconclusive bone marrow and skin biopsy findings. She had multiorgan failure at the time of endoscopic confirmation and died after having minimal response to aggressive immunosuppression.
Analyzing Power for Proton-Elastic Scattering from 208Pb Near the Low-Lying Isobaric Analog Resonances

The isobaric analogs of the low-lying states of 209Pb, seen as resonances in elastic and inelastic scattering of protons from 208Pb, have been shown to involve relatively simple configurations,1,2 This has led to interest in making precise comparisons between experimental and theoretical values of the elastic partial widths (Γp) of these states. Such comparisons provide information on the extent to which the shell model can reliably predict the details of nuclear structure in this region. It has been difficult, however, to extract unique values for the Γp from the available differential cross-section data because the total widths of these isobaric anolog resonances (IAR) are approximately the same as the spacings between them. This has resulted in a large variety of extracted Γp with large uncertainties. These ambiguities can, in principle, be resolved by measurement of more than one observable near IAR.
Teaching and research of plasma/fluid mechanics to undergraduate students at a US university

We narrate our experiences of teaching plasma and fluid mechanics to undergraduate students at Bowie State University and Virgin Tech and comment on possible pathways for future improvements in pla...
Social sensing: towards social media as a sensor for resilience in power systems and other critical infrastructures

Improving Critical Infrastructure (CI) resilience is a key challenge facing modern society. Increased integration of sensors into infrastructure systems, combined with modern computational capabili...
Crystal Structure, Magnetism, and Electronic Properties of a Rare-Earth-Free Ferromagnet: MnPt5As

The design and synthesis of targeted functional materials have been long-term goals for materials scientists. Although a universal design strategy is difficult to generate for all types of material...
Optimal Speed Scheduling with Arrival Time Constraint for Solar-Augmented Aircraft

Improvements in solar cell weight and performance have enabled the development of small solar-powered aircraft that operate at low altitudes. Unlike high-altitude pseudosatellites, these aircraft m...
A Material Selection Criterion for Electrostatic Switches Based on Stability Considerations

Abstract Recent impressive advances of MEMS technology thanks to integration of emerging materials exhibiting exclusive properties, has led to fabrication of numerous high performance devices. Further development of the field necessitates more accurate analytical models capable of precisely accounting for all existing physical phenomena affected by new materials properties. In this regard, the present paper investigates how finite electrical conductivity of the composing materials may affect the pull-in instability of an electrostatically actuated cantilever MEMS switch. The governing coupled nonlinear equations of an equivalent lumped parameter model are derived by introducing an assumed mode solution to the extended Hamilton’s principle. A Lyapunov-based method is then employed to derive an estimation for the basin of attraction of the stable equilibrium and determine the minimum voltage needed for the cantilever to escape the attractor and touch the contact. Results indicate the substantial effect of electrical resistivity on both instability range and maximum switching frequency of the device. As evidenced by the presented findings the material selection for this type of switches should be made with a broader view bringing into focus the effect of electrical conductivity of the material on stability characteristics of the device.
How Clinical Scholarship Impacted the Family Defense Clinic

This is the story of the creation of the Family Defense Clinic at NYU in 1990 and how clinical scholarship, especially the work of Gary Bellow, influenced the choice to select an area of the law that did not already have a place on the map. In choosing an area of the law in which clients were unable to secure high quality legal representation, the clinic's original goals were simply to use clinical education as a means to provide legal services to an underserved community. The community the clinic served was parents accused of maltreating their children. The article explains the many benefits of starting a clinic where there wasn't already a vibrant legal services community. Unable to imitate or build on the work of others, we had to invent how to practice and discover what was needed for our clients to achieve their objectives. In doing so, we came to realize the importance to paying close attention to our clients even when the case was not in court and to accompany our clients to all of the out-of-court meetings they had to attend. That, in turn, meant we had to expand the professionals on our legal team and needed to include social workers as partners in the work. Over the course of 20 years, a new field was formed — the field of family defense. The article ends by briefly describing the remarkable transformation of family defense in New York city, beginning in 2007 and leading to today where almost all parents are represented by multi-disciplinary law offices which are able to prevent the needless separation of children from their families at an unprecedented rate.
Self-re-adhering alkali-activated cement composite and its ability to mitigate corrosion of carbon steel in 300 °C hydrothermal environment

Abstract Cement-steel interface is a weak point of cement sheath integrity under the environments of high-temperature geothermal wells. This paper presents carbon steel (CS) adherence behaviors of 300 °C-autoclaved alkali-activated Calcium-Aluminate-Cement (CAC)/fly ash F (FAF) (Thermal Shock Resistant Cement, TSRC), granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS)/SiO2, and Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC)/SiO2 blends. The composites’ ability to preserve the bond under the conditions of thermal shock (TS) and strong acid attack (pH 0.6 H2SO4/brine at 90 °C) as well as their ability to recover the damaged bond and provide steel corrosion protection after additional short-time 5-day curing at 300 °C were evaluated. GBFS/SiO2 sheath underwent catastrophic failure in the first TS cycle; OPC/SiO2 lost 78 % and TSRC 51 % of the bond strength in 6 cycles. Only TSRC-CS bond survived 30 days of strong acid exposure; OPC/SiO2 bond failed after 18 days and GBFS/SiO2 after 20 days. Addition of micro-glass fibers (MGF) to TSRC further improved its bond strength and CS corrosion protection. Samples of TSRC-CS cured for 30 days at 300 °C before the bond damage recovered 49 % of the damaged bond strength after additional short-time curing. The CS protected by the re-adhered TSRC showed low corrosion rate of 0.13 mm/year (TSRC-MGF), 0.2 mm/year (TSRC) vs. 0.64 mm/year for OPC/SiO2 protected CS.
Reproductive performance of rams that failed breeding soundness evaluation: The need to reconsider the evaluation.

Abstract Breeding soundness evaluations for sires closely followed the introduction of electro-ejaculation as a tool for the measurement of bull fertility in 1950. Quickly following the establishment of bull breeding soundness evaluations, similar criteria were established for rams. It is intuitive that structural soundness, body condition, testes size and palpable consistency, as well as semen parameters are important for fertility. The value of a breeding soundness evaluation as evidenced by ram fertility is lacking. Rams (n = 55) were subjected to an industry standard breeding soundness evaluation (BSE). Regardless of the BSE outcome rams were placed in a competitive breeding environment (approximately 1:30 ram:ewe). Genomic DNA was extracted from rams and approximately one-third of the lambs (n = 468) and their dams (n = 379). Microsatellite markers were used to determine parentage. Rams that passed the BSE (n = 37) did not (P = 0.86) sire more lambs (8.7 ± 1.7) than rams that failed BSE (n = 18; 8.2 ± 2.3). Both rams that passed or failed the BSE had zero identified offspring (32.4% of rams with passed; 22.2% of rams with failed) and did not differ (P = 0.54) by BSE status. Notably, the ram with the greatest number of identified offspring had a failed BSE siring more than three times the 99% confidence interval for expected number of lambs. While this small study does not warrant wholesale dismissal of BSE, it does give pause to the ram BSE and perhaps what constitutes a satisfactory breeder should be reconsidered.
CALPAIN, A CATABOLIC MEDIATOR IN SPINAL CORD TRAUMA

Spinal cord trauma causes tissue damage and necrosis with neurological dysfunction proportional to the severity of injury. The traumatic morphology in the cord lesion correlates with the extent of the neurochemical alterations. The changes include axonal granular degeneration, myelin vesiculation and phagocytosis, losses of axonal and myelin protein and lipids and an accumulation of calcium. Subsequently, there is an increased activity of lysosomal and neutral proteinase in the lesion with the greatest change an elevated activity of neutral proteinase. Although no single factor has been implicated in the pathogenesis of secondary injury, calcium is clearly one of the most important players in spinal cord injury tissue degeneration. Calcium plays many roles in cell function; an important one being enzyme activation of both proteinase and lipase. Lipase activation releases arachidonic acid and initiates a cascade of reactions that are also observed following vascular injury. Calcium also activates the neutral proteinase, calpain, which degrades endogenous substrate cytoskeletal and myelin protein and is associated with neuronal death, axonal degeneration and myelinolysis. This tightly linked series of events suggest a pivotal role for calpain in the tissue destruction of spinal cord trauma. This short chapter deals with the importance of calpain as a catabolic mediator in spinal cord injury. This may serve as a model for events occurring in other brain degenerative disorders.
Implementation of a multiuser customized oblivious RAM

Outsourcing data to cloud storage has become popular. Example systems such as Google Drive, Amazon S3 and Microsoft Azure are affordable and convenient, and provide scalable storage space. However, since the data management is left to third party, users no longer have physical control of their sensitive data, which raises new challenges in terms of data privacy. Data encryption provides confidentiality, but encryption alone is not enough since information may be leaked through the pattern in which users access the data. In this thesis, we implemented a Customized ORAM(C-ORAM) system that allows oblivious access to remotelystored data in multi-user scenario. Experiments have shown that C-ORAM can effectively protect user’s privacy as well as achieve low communication overhead at individual users.
Trajectory mapping for landmine detection training

A head-mounted camera is a useful tool for studying the usability of mobile devices in the field. In this paper, a computerized visualization method is presented. It includes the target trajectory mapped with the deformable template-based tracking algorithm and landmarks-based relative object registration. A landmine detection training video is used for the case study. The results show that this approach has advantages over optical flow and overhead camera methods.
A feedback perspective on the LMS disturbance feedforward algorithm

Much of the recent active noise control research uses a least means squares (LMS) adaptive disturbance feedforward algorithm evolved from signal processing. In contrast, many other similar vibration control problems rely on linear feedback control techniques. The distinction between the two approaches is discussed. It is well known that for harmonic disturbances, the LMS algorithm is precisely LTI feedback of the error, and thus in this case, both approaches are identical. The primary differences are the implicit sensor placement in the LMS approach, differing modelling requirements, and the handling of changing disturbance characteristics. Understanding the similarities and differences between the approaches is important, as some results are more clearly obtained using one approach or the other. Similarities, differences, and common misconceptions are illustrated by means of two noise control examples.
Development of an Enhanced Emergency Locator Transmitter for General Aviation

This paper describes the development of an Enhanced Emergency Locator Transmitter (E 2 LT) for general aviation craft. The E 2 LT will supplement existing Emergency Locator Transmitter systems which broadcast a simple radio beacon in the event of an aircraft crash. Unlike existing devices, however, the E 2 LT device will transmit the crash site location and crash severity directly to Emergency Response Teams. The paper describes the design, development, and testing of an advanced emergency location system that combines inexpensive crash sensors, Web-enabled wireless communications and Global Positioning Systems to transmit crash site location to an Emergency Base Station. The purpose of the system is not only to shorten the time it takes for authorities to respond to the crash site, but to improve the quality of the response.
Design of 2-D IIR digital filters with circular symmetry by transformation of the variable

This paper deals with the design of 2-D IIR digital filters having circular symmetry in the 2-D plane. The design is based on the transformation of the variable z of 1-D IIR digital filter into a function f of two variables z 1 and z 2 to obtain a 2-D filter. The transformation proposed is such that the resulting 2-D filter has an elliptical symmetry in the 2-D plane. In order to obtain a circular symmetry, one has to cascade two filters rotated with respect to each other by 90°. The rotation is achieved by a suitable choice of the transformation f(z 1 ,z 2 ). It is also shown how to choose the values of the coefficients of the transformation f(z 1 ,z 2 ) so that circular symmetry can be obtained. Stability test is easy to carry out since the filter is assumed to be in cascade form.
Review of websites of particular use to social work students and social workers

Purpose – This paper aims to provide a rationale for seeking out and making federal, state and non-governmental Web sites available to social work students and social workers and describe a number of valuable resources, primarily from the non-governmental agencies, as they can be more difficult to identify. Design/methodology/approach – Resources included here include those that illuminate policy issues in general followed by those dealing with specific populations or issues. They have been identified both by systematic study and the serendipity that results from 27 years of experience seeking resources for undergraduate and graduate students in social work. Findings – These Web sites provide timely and authoritative information of particular interest to social work students or practitioners: first, Web sites that help illuminate policy and practices related to supporting low income people; and then, Web sites focusing on specific (geographically or topically) information needs. Research limitations/impli...
Quantum magic bullets via entanglement

Summary form only given. Entanglement is a peculiar quantum phenomenon in which two quantum systems exhibit a greater degree of correlation than is permitted classically. One of the earliest and most striking pictures of entanglement was given by Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen (EPR) in their original paper on entangled states! In contrast with the majority of subsequent work, which has focused on discrete systems such as quantum bits or qubits, the original EPR paper concentrated on entanglement of continuous variables, position and momentum. In this paper we show that entanglement of continuous variables exhibits several significant properties in the context of scattering theory.
Attitudes on DNA ancestry tests

The DNA ancestry testing industry is more than a decade old, yet details about it remain a mystery: there remain no reliable, empirical data on the number, motivations, and attitudes of customers to date, the number of products available and their characteristics, or the industry customs and standard practices that have emerged in the absence of specific governmental regulations. Here, we provide preliminary data collected in 2009 through indirect and direct participant observation, namely blog post analysis, generalized survey analysis, and targeted survey analysis. The attitudes include the first available data on attitudes of those of individuals who have and have not had their own DNA ancestry tested as well as individuals who are members of DNA ancestry-related social networking groups. In a new and fluid landscape, the results highlight the need for empirical data to guide policy discussions and should be interpreted collectively as an invitation for additional investigation of (1) the opinions of individuals purchasing these tests, individuals obtaining these tests through research participation, and individuals not obtaining these tests; (2) the psychosocial and behavioral reactions of individuals obtaining their DNA ancestry information with attention given both to expectations prior to testing and the sociotechnical architecture of the test used; and (3) the applications of DNA ancestry information in varying contexts.
Effect of dorsomedial hypothalamic lesions before and after placement of obesity-producing ventromedial hypothalamic lesions in the weanling male rat.

Abstract Bilateral electrolytic lesions in the ventromedial hypothalamic nuclei (VMN) were produced in two groups of weanling male rats. Two groups of rats received lesions in the dorsomedial hypothalamic nuclei (DMN). Six days later, one of the VMN groups received DMN lesions (VMN and DMN), while VMN lesions were produced in one of the DMN groups (DMN and VMN). Sham-operated animals served as controls. The animals were maintained for 18 days during which time food intake was measured. On the 19th day they were decapitated and the following parameters determined: carcass fat, plasma insulin, glucose, triglyceride and cholesterol, and body weight and length. DMN lesions failed to attenuate the ‘principal’ parameters of the weanling rat ventromedial syndrome: hyperinsulinemia, hyperlipidemia and increased carcass fat. This was irrespective of the sequence of the two hypothalamic operations. Food intake, body weight and length proved amenable to DMN lesions only when DMN were produced prior to VMN lesions, but it is noteworthy that in these animals plasma insulin and lipid levels remained elevated despite a reduced food intake. Neither of the groups with double lesions had glucose values which were significantly different from those of the controls. The data point to a profound autonomy of the ventromedial hypothalamic nuclei and their related circuits in the development of the weanling rat VMN syndrome.
Permissive Role of Nitric Oxide in Endothelin-induced Migration of Endothelial Cells

Endothelin (ET) synthesis is enhanced at sites of ischemia or in injured vessels. The purpose of this study was to explore the possibility of autocrine stimulation of endothelial cell migration by members of the endothelin family. Experiments with microvascular endothelial cell transmigration in a Boyden chemotactic apparatus showed that endothelins 1 and 3, as well as a selective agonist of ETB receptor IRL-1620, equipotently stimulated migration. Endothelial cell migration was unaffected by the blockade of ETA receptor, but it was inhibited by ETB receptor antagonism. Based on our previous demonstration of signaling from the occupied ETB receptor to constitutive nitric oxide (NO) synthase (Tsukahara, H., Ende, H., Magazine, H. I., Bahou, W. F., and Goligorsky, M. S. (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269, 21778-21785), we next examined the contribution of ET-stimulated NO production to endothelial cell migration. In three independent cellular systems, 1) migration and wound healing by microvascular endothelial cells, 2) wound healing by Chinese hamster ovary cells stably expressing ETB receptor with or without endothelial NO synthase, and 3) application of antisense oligodeoxynucleotides targeting endothelial NO synthase in human umbilical vein endothelial cells, an absolute requirement for the functional NO synthase in cell migration has been demonstrated. These findings establish the permissive role of NO synthesis in endothelin-stimulated migration of endothelial cells.
Umvu estimators for the population mean and variance based on random effects models for lognormal data

Cross-classified data are often obtained in controlled experimental situations and in epidemiologic studies. As an example of the latter, occupational health studies sometimes require personal exposure measurements on a random sample of workers from one or more job groups, in one or more plant locations, on several different sampling dates. Because the marginal distributions of exposure data from such studies are generally right-skewed and well-approximated as lognormal, researchers in this area often consider the use of ANOVA models after a logarithmic transformation. While it is then of interest to estimate original-scale population parameters (e.g., the overall mean and variance), standard candidates such as maximum likelihood estimators (MLEs) can be unstable and highly biased. Uniformly minimum variance unbiased (UMVU) cstiniators offer a viable alternative, and are adaptable to sampling schemes that are typiral of experimental or epidemiologic studies. In this paper, we provide UMVU estimators for t...
Molecular “Tuning” of Crystal Growth by Nacre-Associated Polypeptides

The formation and stabilization of the aragonite polymorph in the nacre layer of mollusks is an intriguing process, yet very little is known with regard to the participation of proteins in this process. Previously, we identified the 30 AA N-terminal mineral binding domains (AP7-N, AP24-N, nl6-N) of three different nacre-specific proteins (AP7, AP24, nl6). These three domains differ in primary sequence and induce morphological changes in CaCO 3 crystals in vitro. Using AFM microscopy, we investigated the adsorption of AP7-N, AP24-N, and nl6-N onto calcite dislocation hillocks. We observe that both AP7-N and AP24-N are multifunctional; they not only inhibit obtuse step advance but also induce rounded, amorphous-appearing deposits on hillock terraces. In contrast, n16-N pins comer sites at the junction of acute and obtuse steps and promote the emergence of a new set of steps approximately oriented along a line joining the obtuse-obtuse and the acute-acute corners. Random scrambling of the nl6-N and AP7-N sequences resulted in substantially reduced mineral modification activities, indicating that the primary sequence of both polypeptides is crucial for correct recognition of surface features. These findings indicate that nacre proteins evolved specialized mineral interaction domains that either recognize different surface features (AP7-N, AP24-N versus n16-N), or recognize the same features, but with different binding and catalytic activities (AP24-N versus AP7-N). These functional differences may arise from the differences in primary and secondary structure specific to each N-terminal domain. Hypothetically, this molecular diversity would allow complementary and simultaneous protein control (molecular tuning) of different features of the crystal growth process.
Correlations between physician-perceived functional status, patient-perceived health status, and cardiopulmonary exercise results in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Dyspnea and the resulting functional impairment are a common complication in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). The relationship between physician-perceived functional status, patient-perceived health status, and objective exercise test results has not been evaluated in this condition. To evaluate the correlation between the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ) and (1) physician’s perceived (NYHA class) and (2) objective measurement (cardiopulmonary exercise test) of functional capacity in patients with HCM. In 24 outpatients with HCM at a single, referral center, the KCCQ instrument was administered and cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPX) was performed. Severity of symptoms as determined by physician (NYHA classification) and patient (KCCQ instrument) was obtained before exercise test results were known. Pearson correlation was used to assess the independent correlation between KCCQ score and the various exercise parameters; Spearman correlation was used to assess correlation between KCCQ score and NYHA class. KCCQ results demonstrated moderate reductions in all domains, with greatest reduction in quality-of-life domain. CPX testing showed reduction in peak oxygen consumption (mean absolute VO2 20.5 ± 7.8 ml/kg/min and percent predicted VO2 76.8 ± 4.1 %). There were negative correlations between NYHA class and all KCCQ components except the self-efficacy score. The strongest correlations were between NYHA class and the overall summary score (r = −0.623, p = 0.001) as well as the physical limitation score (r = −0.604, p = 0.002). Similarly, there were statistically significant positive correlations between the KCCQ components and percent predicted peak VO2. The strongest correlation was between percent predicted peak VO2 and the physical limitation score (r = 0.474, p = 0.019), but there was also correlation between percent predicted peak VO2 and the quality-of-life score (r = 0.456, p = 0.025), the functional status score (r = 0.455, p = 0.025), and the clinical summary score (r = 0.444, p = 0.030). The multiple domains of the KCCQ provide data on patient-perceived health status, which correlate with physician-perceived and objective measurement of functional capacity in HCM. Additional studies are needed to evaluate the sensitivity of the KCCQ to changes in functional capacity over time or in response to therapies for this condition.
SKOPE: a framework for modeling and exploring workload behavior

Understanding workload behavior plays an important role in performance studies. The growing complexity of applications and architectures has increased the gap among application developers, performance engineers, and hardware designers. To reduce this gap, we propose SKOPE, a SKeleton framework for Performance Exploration, that produces a descriptive model about the semantic behavior of a workload, which can infer potential transformations and help users understand how workloads may interact with and adapt to emerging hardware. SKOPE models can be shared, annotated, and studied by a community of performance engineers and system designers; they offer readability in the frontend and versatility in the backend. SKOPE can be used for performance analysis, tuning, and projection. We provide two example use cases. First, we project GPU performance from CPU code without GPU programming or accessing the hardware, and are able to automatically explore transformations and the projected best-achievable performance deviates from the measured by 18% on average. Second, we project the multi-node scaling trends of two scientific workloads, and are able to achieve a projection accuracy of 95%.
The Epidemiology of Adverse and Unexpected Events in the Long-Term Care Setting

Objective: To describe the adverse and unexpected events reported by staff over a 1-year period in a large, long-term care institution. Design: A retrospective review of resident incident reports. Setting: A 703-bed, academically oriented, long-term care facility. Patients: Residents of the facility have a mean age of 88.5 years, are 76% female, and have an average length of stay of 4.3 years. Measurements and Main Results: Of the 3,390 adverse and unexpected events reports over the 1-year study period, falls (with and without associated injury) were the most frequently reported incidents, followed by non-fall-related injuries, medication-related events, and wandering episodes. While a large proportion of falls occurred in ambulating residents (47%), the majority occurred under different circumstances including falls from bed, wheelchair, and commode/toilet. Bruises and skin tears were the most frequently reported fall-and non-fall-related injuries. The annual incidence rates for falls, fall-related injuries, and non-fall-related injuries varied according to resident care unit level, with semi-dependent residents experiencing the highest rates of falls and dependent residents experiencing the highest rates of non-fall-related injuries. Circadian patterns in the incidence of these events varied according to resident care level. Conclusions: Information regarding adverse and unexpected events in the long-term care setting can be organized into databases that allow analysis of patterns and trends. The results of these analyses may be helpful in targeting limited resources to areas of greatest need within an individual institution and for comparing quality of care across different long-term care facilities. J Am Geriatr Soc 42:33–38, 1994
Determination of chromium in biological matrices by neutron activation: Application to standard reference materials

Chromium is recognized to be an essential trace element in several biological systems. It exists in many biological materials in a variety of chemical forms and very low concentration levels which cause problems for many analytical techniques. Both instrumental and destructive neutron activation analysis were used to determine the chromium concentration in Orchard Leaves, SRM 1571, Brewers Yeast, SRM 1569, and Bovine Liver, SRM 1577. Some of the problems inherent with determining chromium in certain biological matrices and the data obtained here at the National Bureau of Standards using this technique are dicussed.
Protein Kinase C Activation Increases Binding of Transcription Factor PU.1 in Murine Tissue Macrophages

Abstract PU.1 is a transcription factor found in macrophages, B cells, neutrophils, and hemopoietic stem cells. In macrophages PU.1 regulates a number of genes, including c-fms, CD11b, CD18, and FcγR1b. Previously, in primary macrophages PU.1 binding to the sequence GAGGAA was found to be induced by treatment with bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and interferon-γ (IFN-γ). Here we investigated the role of protein kinase C (pKC) in the induction of PU.1 binding in macrophages. We report that pharmacological activation of pKC increases PU.1 binding, while inactivation of pKC inhibits the increases in PU.1 binding by agents which activate pKC in macrophages (LPS and tumor necrosis factor-α), but not by an agent which does not activate pKC (IFN-γ). pKC activation may therefore be one pathway by which PU.1 binding may be increased in primary macrophages.
Mesoscopic hydrogel molding to control the 3D geometry of bioartificial muscle tissues.

This protocol describes a cell/hydrogel molding method for precise and reproducible biomimetic fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) muscle tissue architectures in vitro. Using a high aspect ratio soft lithography technique, we fabricate polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) molds containing arrays of mesoscopic posts with defined size, elongation and spacing. On cell/hydrogel molding, these posts serve to enhance the diffusion of nutrients to cells by introducing elliptical pores in the cell-laden hydrogels and to guide local 3D cell alignment by governing the spatial pattern of mechanical tension. Instead of ultraviolet or chemical cross-linking, this method utilizes natural hydrogel polymerization and topographically constrained cell-mediated gel compaction to create the desired 3D tissue structures. We apply this method to fabricate several square centimeter large, few hundred micron-thick bioartificial muscle tissues composed of viable, dense, uniformly aligned and highly differentiated cardiac or skeletal muscle fibers. The protocol takes 4–5 d to fabricate PDMS molds followed by 2 weeks of cell culture.
Stimulating hair cell regeneration: on a wing and a prayer.

Identifying the mechanisms that regulate hair cell regeneration may contribute to developing treatments for hearing loss in humans (pages 1136–1139).
Performance of Active and Passive Methods for Measuring Low-Frequency Surface Wave Dispersion Curves

This paper examines the consistency between surface wave dispersion curves measured at wavelengths of up to 600 m using active and passive methods at sites in the Mississippi Embayment. Large-diameter (200 m) circular receiver arrays were deployed at five deep soil sites located in Tennessee, Arkansas, and Missouri to record ambient ground vibrations at low frequencies. Measurements were performed at the same locations using linear receiver arrays and actively generated low-frequency energy using the recently developed Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) field vibrator (termed Liquidator). Characteristics of the ambient wavefield measured at the five sites in the Mississippi Embayment are presented along with comparisons between the surface wave dispersion curves obtained from the active and passive measurements at each site. The ambient wavefield measurements exhibited peak levels in the frequency range of 1–5 Hz. Surface wave dispersion curves developed from frequency-wavenumber (f-k) processing of the active and passive methods were in good agreement at four of the sites, with phase velocities from the passive measurements within 5–10 % of the active-source measurements out to wavelengths of about 550 m. Improved comparisons were obtained at the fifth site by applying high-resolution f-k processing.
Arts in education: Professional development integrating the arts and collaborating with schools and community

Teachers and faculty from elementary, secondary and higher education institutions in a south eastern United States metropolitan area are in their ninth year of a collaborative investigation into the integration of the Arts into content areas via a professional development grant program known as the Arts in Education (AiE). In this paper, the authors examine AiE's goal of training teachers to more effectively integrate the Arts in the classroom by using dance, music, theater and visual arts to teach English-language arts, mathematics, science and social studies. Through extensive and intensive professional development and individual mentoring classroom teachers have the opportunity to collaborate with educators across key learning areas. The analysis of outcomes and description of this program may assist those seeking to pursue university-community collaborations through professional development and grants and thereby provide insight into the characteristics of a long-term, successful, and collaborative endeavor.
The Preparation of Second Language Teachers Through Post‐Baccalaureate Education

Implementation of a graduate program for training second language teachers began in the fall of 1987. Components of the program include: (1) intensive 9-month on-site clinical experiences in a school district; (2) the development of skills in self-examination and teacher observation in which students utilize skills as reflective teachers to examine classroom processes and outcomes; and (3) a research component which allows them to consider questions of second language teaching and learning in actual classroom settings.
Two Saccharomyces cerevisiae JmjC Domain Proteins Demethylate Histone H3 Lys36 in Transcribed Regions to Promote Elongation

Histone methylation is a reversible modification regulated by the antagonistic functions of residue-specific histone methyltransferases and demethylases. Although methylation of histone H3 at lysines 4 and 36 is linked to transcription, the roles of histone demethylases in transcription regulation are not understood. Here we show that overexpression of either Jhd1 or Rph1, two JmjC-domain proteins, bypasses the requirement for the positive elongation factor gene BUR1. Biochemical analysis and chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments indicate that Rph1 functions as a specific demethylase for H3 K36me3 and K36me2, directly regulating Lys(36) methylation in transcribed regions. Both Jhd1 and Rph1 are required for normal levels of RNA polymerase II cross-linking to genes. Taken together, these findings indicate that a general function of histone demethylases for H3 Lys(36) is to promote transcription elongation by antagonizing repressive Lys(36) methylation by Set2.
THE LI INTERCALATION POTENTIAL OF LIMPO4 AND LIMSIO4 OLIVINES WITH M = FE, MN, CO, NI

Abstract The Li intercalation potential of LiMPO 4 and LiMSiO 4 compounds with M = Fe, Mn, Co and Ni is computed with the GGA + U method. It is found that this approach is considerably more accurate than standard LDA or GGA methods. The calculated potentials for LiFePO 4 , LiMnPO 4 and LiCoPO 4 agree to within 0.1 V with experimental results. The LiNiPO 4 potential is predicted to be above 5 V. The potentials of the silicate materials are all found to be rather high, but LiFeSiO 4 and LiCoSiO 4 have negligible volume change upon Li extraction.
Problems in diagnosing attention and activity.

In this month's Pediatrics electronic pages is an important report by Wasserman and associates entitled “Identification of Attentional and Hyperactivity Problems in Primary Care: A Report From PROS and ASPN.” This extensive, valuable study describes how a sample of 401 primary care pediatricians and family practice physicians with a patient cohort of over 22 000 children found that 18.7% of them had behavioral difficulties and about half of these, or 9.2% of the total sample, showed evidence of attentional or hyperactivity problems (AHPs). Another main conclusion of the project was that the diagnosis was not made more frequently with children from “disadvantaged backgrounds.” This commentary explores the third principal result of the work, that “primary care assessment of AHPs lacks standardization.” A great strength of the report is the large and diverse sample of children studied. If anyone needs proof of the value of the Pediatric Research in Office Settings (PROS) Network, here it is. It makes available an enormous cohort of the general population. Instead of the generally skewed samples typically used in studies based at tertiary academic centers, the Network provides a more realistic cross section of children in the community. Questions of incidence and prevalence are among the issues that can be investigated more accurately in primary care than at referral centers.1 Another important conclusion of the report is that pediatricians can and do pick up a substantial number of behavioral problems in their practices.2 Perhaps this detection is sometimes not as thorough as it should be, but it is probably not as negligent as some nonpediatric critics have claimed.3 One need not dwell at length on the methodologic issues in the study, because every such effort has them. The fact that the physician participants were volunteers may have meant that they were not a …
Collagen metabolism in ultraviolet irradiated hairless mouse skin and its correlation to histochemical observations

Early biochemical studies of ultraviolet (UV) irradiated human skin reported a loss of insoluble collagen with a concomitant increase in the soluble fraction. Recent work has described an early increase in type III collagen during chronic irradiation of hairless mice as determined by cyanogen bromide digests of whole skin. In order to understand the correlation of these events and those seen with histochemistry, in the present study we irradiated hairless mice for up to 24 weeks with -4 minimal erythema doses (MEDs) of UVB thrice weekly with Westinghouse FS-40 bulbs. Skin samples were taken at 4-week intervals from irradiated and age-matched control mice. Collagen was isolated from other skin proteins by acid extraction, pepsin digestion, and salt precipitation. Estimates of types I and III collagen were made by interrupted polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and densitometric scanning. Compared with unirradiated controls, there was a small increase in the ratio of type III to total collagen after 8 weeks of UV. There were no significant increases at later time points until after 24 weeks of radiation. Total collagen in normal mouse skin, determined by hydroxyproline content, remained constant over the 24 weeks, white UV radiation produced significant increases at 4, 8, 12, and 16 weeks, returning to control levels at week 20. There was no change in the degree of hydroxylation at any time point in either group. Thus, chronic UV exposure resulted in increased collagen synthesis until late in the course of irradiation. Because there is a lack of consistent change in the ratio of type III to total collagen, the early increases in collagen content may represent both types I and Ill, synthesized in relatively unchanging proportions.
A brief review of potential mechanisms of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome in HIV following antiretroviral therapy

A subset of HIV-infected individuals who receive antiretroviral therapy (ART) develop a paradoxical pathological response that significantly increases morbidity and sometimes mortality. Following the induction of highly active ART, a rapid decline in the viral load results within weeks and coincides with a steep rise in the CD4+ T-cell counts and immune hyperactivation. Although no mechanistic pathway has been elucidated for the development of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS), it is thought that change in the nature of the immune response is a predominant factor in the development of reconstitution disease. In this article, we review the current state of knowledge in this field and provide a model for the development of IRIS.
Clinical conference on management dilemmas: bullous hand pustules in a patient treated for lung cancer.

P ulmonary clinicians are often faced with management problems for which there are no answers at hand, either because there is no literature that definitely gives answers or because the circumstances surrounding the clinical cases are unusual enough to prevent the application of existing scientific knowledge. When faced with these problems, clinicians are forced to make decisions based on a logical extension of their scientific knowledge into uncharted clinical waters. They are forced to make judgments based on the conviction of their speculations and the prior experiences of others and of themselves. This case conference addresses difficult management problems without singularly correct decisions; its object is not necessarily to seek consensus. Defining the exact issues, formulating rationales for decision making, and committing to the decisions themselves are all equally important in this presentation. This is a real case in which the decisions were made by the “Treating Pulmonologist” without input from the other participants. The “Responses of Pulmonary Experts” are given only with the knowledge of the case presentation up to the moment at which each expert gives his or her decision and without the knowledge of any of the other opinions rendered. The last “Commentary” is given only with the knowledge of the full case presentation and the “Follow-up by the Treating Pulmonologist” but without the knowledge of any of the other opinions rendered. The “Commentary” is the last opinion in the sequence of this presentation, but it is not necessarily offered as the definitive solution to the problems posed in the case. The reader is the ultimate arbiter in this presentation of decisionmaking alternatives.
Wormholes and goldstone bosons

The quantum theory of a complex scalar field coupled to gravity is considered. A formalism for the semiclassical approach in Euclidean time is developed and used to study wormhole physics. The conserved global charge plays an essential role. Wormhole physics turns on only after the symmetry is spontaneously broken. An effective self-interaction for Goldstone bosons due to wormholes is shown to be a cosine potential, whose vacuum energy will be reduced by the cosmic expansion. Some implications and questions are discussed.
Genetic analysis of idiopathic torsion dystonia in Ashkenazi Jews and their recent descent from a small founder population.

We have examined data on six closely linked microsatellite loci on chromosome 9q34 from 59 Ashkenazi Jewish families with idiopathic torsion dystonia (ITD). Our data show that the vast majority (>90%) of early–onset ITD cases in the Ashkenazi population are due to a single founder mutation, which we estimate first appeared approximately 350 years ago. We also show that carriers preferentially originate from the northern part of the historic Jewish Pale of settlement (Lithuania and Byelorussia). The recent origin of this dominant mutation and its current high frequency (between 1/6,000 and 1/2,000) suggest that the Ashkenazi population descends from a limited group of founders, and emphasize the importance of genetic drift in determining disease allele frequencies in this population.