cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Should Low-quality Evidence Dominate High-level Evidence? A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Systematic Reviews of Musculoskeletal Physical Therapy Interventions

Objectives: To determine the: 1) quality of articles cited in systematic reviews (SRs); 2) methodological quality of the SRs; and 3) impact of quality on level 1A evidence. Methods: SRs related to ...
Anisotropic plasticity model forms for extruded Al 7079: Part I, calibration

Abstract This is the second part of a two-part contribution on modeling of the anisotropic elastic-plastic response of aluminum 7079 from an extruded tube. Part I focused on calibrating a suite of yield and hardening functions from tension test data; Part II concentrates on evaluating those calibrations. A rectangular validation specimen with a blind hole was designed to provide heterogeneous strain fields that exercise the material anisotropy, while at the same time avoiding strain concentrations near sample edges where Digital Image Correlation (DIC) measurements are difficult to make. Specimens were extracted from the tube in four different orientations and tested in tension with stereo-DIC measurements on both sides of the specimen. Corresponding Finite Element Analysis (FEA) with calibrated isotropic (von Mises) and anisotropic (Yld2004-18p) yield functions were also conducted, and both global force-extension curves as well as full-field strains were compared between the experiments and simulations. Specifically, quantitative full-field strain error maps were computed using the DIC-leveling approach proposed by Lava et al. The specimens experienced small deviations from ideal boundary conditions in the experiments, which had a first-order effect on the results. Therefore, the actual experimental boundary conditions had to be applied to the FEA in order to make valid comparisons. The predicted global force-extension curves agreed well with the measurements overall, but were sensitive to the boundary conditions in the nonlinear regime and could not differentiate between the two yield functions. Interrogation of the strain fields both qualitatively and quantitatively showed that the Yld2004-18p model was clearly able to better describe the strain fields on the surface of the specimen compared to the von Mises model. These results justify the increased complexity of the calibration process required for the Yld2004-18p model in applications where capturing the strain field evolution accurately is important, but not if only the global force-extension response of the elastic–plastic region is of interest.
Assault Deterrents and Educators’ Risk of Physical Assault: A Case–Control Study

The study purpose was to identify associations between assault deterrent presence in kindergarten through 12th (K–12) grade schools and physical assaults (PAs) against educators. Data collected thr...
Sex Moderates Treatment Effects of Integrated Collaborative Care for Comorbid Obesity and Depression: The RAINBOW RCT.

BACKGROUND Sex influences health and related behaviors due to biological and psychosocial/socioeconomic factors. Assessing sex-specific responses to integrated treatment for comorbid obesity and depression could inform intervention targeting. PURPOSE To test (a) whether sex moderates the effects of integrated collaborative care on weight and depression outcomes through 24 months and (b) whether treatment response at 6 months predicts 12 and 24 month outcomes by sex. METHODS Secondary data analyses on weight and depression severity (SCL-20) measured over 24 months among 409 adults with obesity and depression in the Research Aimed at Improving Both Mood and Weight trial. RESULTS Men achieved significantly greater weight reductions in intervention versus usual care than women, whereas women achieved significantly greater percentage reductions in SCL-20 than men at both 12 and 24 months. In logistic models, at 80% specificity for correctly identifying participants not achieving clinically significant long-term outcomes, women who lost <3.0% weight and men who lost <4.1% weight at 6 months had ≥84% probability of not meeting 5% weight loss at 24 months. Similarly, at 80% specificity, women who reduced SCL-20 by <39.5% and men who reduced by <53.0% at 6 months had ≥82% probability of not meeting 50% decrease in SCL-20 at 24 months. CONCLUSIONS Sex modified the integrated treatment effects for obesity and depression. Sex-specific responses at 6 months predicted clinically significant weight loss and depression outcomes through 24 months. Based on early responses, interventions may need to be tailored to address sex-specific barriers and facilitators to achieving healthy weight and depression outcomes at later time points. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NCT02246413 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02246413).
The Monthly Operating Cost of an Institutional COVID-19 Airway Response Team: A Financial Model and Sensitivity Analysis Based on Experience at an Academic Medical Center.

Abstract Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) airway response teams concentrate equipment and expertise while minimizing the number of providers exposed to aerosol generating procedures. These airway teams were implemented in various hospitals around the world to respond to the acute increase of critical ill patients requiring ventilatory support. We created a financial model to estimate the costs for staffing and maintaining a dedicated COVID-19 airway response team based on the experience at an urban academic hospital in the Northeastern United States between March and June of 2020. Methods The institutional review board at Brigham and Women's Hospital approved this protocol and the requirement for informed consent was waived. The average reimbursement for 125 COVID-19 airway consultations was measured. Our team estimated the costs of consumable items for each airway based on previously published recommendations for equipment and personal protective equipment. A sensitivity analyses was performed for variable numbers of monthly airway consults and different staffing patterns based on a literature review of available COVID-19 airway team structures. Results Based on the average reimbursements and estimates of the consumable costs, each airway procedure represented a net loss of $34 to the institution. The overall estimated cost of staffing a dedicated airway team was between $109,472 and $204,575 per month. Conclusions Development and implementation of a dedicated COVID-19 airway response teams represents a significant institutional expense. Institutions should establish necessary cost sharing, consider volume and team structure, and identify reimbursement opportunities that mitigate the necessary expense associated with airway response programs.
Parallel Semidefinite Programming and Combinatorial Optimization

The use of semidefinite programming in combinatorial optimization continues to grow. This growth can be attributed to at least three factors: new semidefinite relaxations that provide tractable bounds to hard combinatorial problems, algorithmic advances in the solution of semidefinite programs (SDP), and the emergence of parallel computing. Solution techniques for minimizing combinatorial problems often involve approximating the convex hull of the solution set and establishing lower bounds on the solution. Polyhedral approximations that use linear programming (LP) methodologies have been successful for many combinatorial problems, but they have not been as successful for problems such as maximum cut and maximum stable set. The semidefinite approximation for the stable set problem was proposed by Grotschel, Lovasz, and Shrijver [32] and further developed by Alizadeh [1], Polijak, Rendl, and Wolkowicz [48], and many other authors. The Lovasz number [43] is the solution of an SDP that provides an upper bound to the maximum clique of a graph and a lower bound to its chromatic number. Tractable bounds have also been provided for MAXCUT [30], graph bisection [47], MAX k-CUT [27, 24], graph coloring [33], and the quadratic assignment problem [61]. Many more combinatorial problems can be relaxed into a semidefinite program, and some of these relaxations offer a projection back to a feasible solution that is guaranteed to be within a specified fraction of optimality. These combinatorial problems are NP hard in the general case, so even approximate solutions are difficult to find. Most polyhedral relaxations do not offer a performance guarantee, but Geomans and
Comparison of Algorithms for Determining Lyapunov Exponents from Experimental Data

Two methods for estimating the Lyapunov exponents of attractors reconstructed from a time series are compared. A method due to Wolf et al. for computing the largest Lyapunov exponent λ1 is found to be robust with reasonable changes in input parameters. In contrast, a least-squares method suggested by Eckmann and Ruelle yields estimates for the Lyapunov exponents that vary considerably depending on the embedding dimension of the attractor. It appears that only the Wolf algorithm is suitable for the analysis of experimental data.
Programming Language Design

I can still find no better way to express my thoughts on this subject than the following [McKeeman 66]: “The universe and its reflection in the ideas of man have wonderfully complex structures. Our ability to comprehend this complexity and perceive an underlying simplicity is intimately bound with our ability to symbolize and communicate our experience. The scientist has been free to extend and invent language whenever old forms became unwieldy or inadequate to express his ideas. His readers however have faced the double task of learning his new language and the new structures he described. There has therefore arisen a natural control: a work of elaborate linguistic inventiveness and meager results will not be widely read.”
Evolving neural network controllers to produce leg cycles for gait generation

The generation of gaits for hexapod locomotion controllers can be divided into two main parts: the cyclic action of a single leg (leg cycles) and the coordination of all legs to combine individual leg cycles to produce forward movement. In this paper, we use a genetic algorithm (GA) to evolve the structure of an artificial neural network (NN) that produces leg cycles in a hexapod robot. The movement of the robot's leg is controlled by a horizontal servo and vertical servo. The servos are controlled by a NN that generates a cycle of pulses. With minimal restrictions on the structure of the NN a GA is used to find the parameters of neurons and the connections between them. The pulse sequences generated by the evolved NNs resulted in leg cycles that produced efficient forward movement.
Low birth weight and longitudinal trends of cardiovascular risk factor variables from childhood to adolescence: the bogalusa heart study

Background Several studies have linked low birth weight to adverse levels of cardiovascular risk factors and related diseases. However, information is sparse at a community level in the U.S. general population regarding the effects of low birth weight on the longitudinal trends in cardiovascular risk factor variables measured concurrently from childhood to adolescence.
Institutional Responses to State Merit Aid Programs: The Case of Florida Community Colleges

This study estimates the effects of a state merit aid program on community colleges by using the introduction of the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship program as a natural experiment. It examines the effects of the program in terms of institutional aid, tuition pricing, and as a resorting mechanism for high ability students. The results suggest that community colleges do not increase students’ charges to capture additional revenues, nor do they substitute state aid for institutional aid. Contrary to what was expected, institutions apparently use the scholarship program as an ―ability marker‖ to provide additional financial aid to high ability students. Although we find no statistical evidence that the community college system is losing high ability students, there is strong support for heterogeneity in the program effect across institutions that depends on measures of the level of competition within each college’s educational marketplace.
THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY SITUATION

AS YOUR CHAIRMAN mentioned, I have just returned from a journey to Europe, where I visited France, Switzerland, Finland, and Sweden -and in each case paid close attention to the monetary problems. Four months earlier I had made a journey to a number of LatinAmerican countries in connection with the Buenos Aires Economic Conference in August, visiting-besides the Argentine-Brazil, Chile, and Peru. Now there are, of course, many differences between the older European and the younger Latin-American countries, but in one respect I found a pronounced similarity: in Latin America, as in Europe, I found that the people in general are getting increasingly tired of inflation. This does not only mean that they dislike rising prices; that they have done for quite a time. But it means that now they begin to recognize the reasons for the price increases and thus to feel that stable money is something worth striving for, even something worth making sacrifices for. It is this feeling that has made it possible for the authorities to take steps to defend the currency which only a few years ago would have been politically unthinkable. Thus the Bank of England has raised the bank rate to 7 per cent, which is the opposite to cheap money. In Finland the official discount rate is as high as 10 per cent, which it also is in France for any commercial bank that exceeds by more than 10 per cent the quota of rediscounting allotted to it by the Bank of France. As far as Latin America is concerned, it is interesting to find that the fall in the prices of most of the products which these countries sell, leading to difficulties in their balances of payments, has not diminished their desire for currency stability but in several cases has led them to take more decisive steps in their struggle against corrosive inflation. There seems to have been a change in the climate of opinion almost all over the world. People begin to realize that an inflationary
Natural and Fission-Produced Gamma-Ray Emitting Radioactivity in Soil

The gamma-ray spectrum of topsoil collected in 1950 is compared with that of topsoil collected in the same area in 1957. The gamma-ray spectrum emitted by present-day surface soil reveals the presence of radioactive fission products from fall-out. Individual fission zed. Counting methods are described. (C.H.)
414: The effect of clenbuterol on skeletal muscle, cardiac function and exercise capacity in patients with chronic heart failure

Purpose: Mechanical unloading by ventricular assist devices (VAD) leads to significant gene-expression changes often summarized as reverse remodeling. However, little is known on individual transcriptome changes during VAD-support and its relationship to non-failing hearts (NF). In addition no data are available for the transcriptome regulation during non-pulsatile VAD-support. Therefore we analysed gene-expression patterns of 34 paired samples from VAD-supported (including 6 non-pulsatile VADs) and 10 non-failing control hearts (NF). We used the first total human genome-array available. Methods and Materials: Transmural myocardial samples were collected for RNA-isolation. RNA was isolated by commercial methods. Total RNA was processed according to chip-manufacturer recommendations. cRNA were hybridized on Affymetrix HG-U133 Plus 2.0 arrays, providing coverage of the whole human genome (47,000 transcripts and variants; 38,500 characterized human genes; 54,000 probe sets). Array data were analyzed using Microarray-Analysis-Suite 5.0 (Affymetrix) and clustered by Expressionist software (GeneData). Results: 5092 transcripts were differentially regulated between samples from VAD-implantation and NF, whereas 6810 were regulated during VAD-support (paired t-test p 0.05, fold change 1.4). A minor fraction of 1069 transcripts was regulated in HF and during VADsupport. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering of paired VADand NF-samples revealed separation of NFand HF-samples, however individual differentiation of VAD-implantation and VAD-transplantation was not accomplished. Clustering of pulsatile and non-pulsatile VAD did not lead to robust gene expression patterns. Conclusions: During VAD-support gene expression changes are not due to reversal of the HF-phenotype, but provide a distinct HF-pattern. Pulsatile and non-pulsatile VAD-support did not provide evidence for a pump-system specific transcriptome pattern.
On Spiking Models for Synaptic Activity and Impulsive Differential Equations

We illustrate the problems that can arise in writing differential equations that include Dirac delta functions to model equations with state-dependent impulsive forcing. Specifically, difficulties arise in the interpretation of the products of distributions with discontinuous functions. We suggest several methods to resolve these ambiguities, such as using limiting sequences and asymptotic analysis, with applications of the results given for discrete maps. These suggestions are applied to a popular model describing synaptic connections in the brain.
Ligand-Accelerated Cross-Coupling of C(sp2)–H Bonds with Arylboron Reagents

A ligand-accelerated Pd(II)-catalyzed C(sp2)–H/arylboron cross-coupling reaction of phenylacetic acid substrates is reported. Using Ac-Ile-OH as the ligand and Ag2CO3 as the oxidant, a fast, high-yielding, operationally simple, and functional group-tolerant protocol has been developed for the cross-coupling of phenylacetic acid substrates with aryltrifluoroborates. This ligand scaffold has also been shown to improve catalysis using 1 atm O2 as the sole reoxidant, which sheds light on the path forward in developing optimized ligands for aerobic C–H/arylboron cross-coupling.
Visualization of improved sweep with foam in heterogeneous porous media using microfluidics

We demonstrate the use of foam to divert flow from high permeable to low permeable regions in a PDMS heterogeneous porous microfluidic system. Foam is generated using a flow-focusing microfluidic device with co-flowing gas and aqueous surfactant streams. Foam quality (gas fraction) is modulated by adjusting the flow rate of the aqueous surfactant solution while keeping the gas inlet pressure fixed. The foam is then injected into an aqueous-solution filled heterogeneous porous media containing a high and low permeable region and sweep of the saturated aqueous phase is monitored. Compared with 100% gas injection, surfactant-stabilized foam is shown to effectively improve the sweep of the aqueous fluid in both high and low permeable regions of the porous micromodel. The best performance of foam on fluid diversion is observed in the lamella-separated foam regime, where the presence of foam can enhance gas saturation in the low permeable region up to 45.1% at the time of gas breakthrough. The presented results are useful in understanding and designing foam injection in porous underground formations for aquifer remediation and enhanced oil recovery processes.
Multimodality Imaging of Biliary Malignancies

Detection, accurate staging, and optimal management of biliary malignancies continue to present a significant challenge. This article reviews the current capabilities and roles of the various imaging modalities available in clinical practice, followed by a discussion of their integrated use at initial presentation, particularly with respect to potential surgical management of central hilar and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. The main imaging modalities include MRI, CT, ultrasound, positron emission tomography, and conventional cholangiography. Alternative and emerging imaging methods, problematic diagnostic imaging issues, and other rarer bile duct malignancies are also briefly discussed.
Effect of ageing on the response of the rat isolated testicular capsule to norepinephrine, acetylcholine and prostaglandins

Abstract The response of the rat isolated testicular capsule to norepinephrine (NE), acetylcholine (ACh) and prostaglandins (PG) was found to be age-dependent. The testicular capsular contractions attributable to smooth muscle cells located within the tunica albuginea may be involved in the transport of non-motile spermatozoa from the testis and into the epididymis. With an increase in age of the rat there was a concomitant increase in mass of the testis, thickness of the capsule and the amount of smooth muscle fibers present in the tunica albuginea. The response to the addition of equimolar concentrations of NE and PGA2 became progressively greater as the age of the animal increased. However, the response of the testicular capsule to ACh remained constant throughout adulthood, while PGF2α became progressively less stimulatory as the age of the animal increased. These findings suggest that neurohumoral agents may have an important role in the maintenance of testicular capsular contractions with regard to ageing.
Implantation of Exogenous Enzymatic Activity in Isolated Alveolar Macrophages

Alveolar macrophages acquired the capacity to oxidize uric acid after exposure to uricase. Presumably this resulted from intracellular incorporation of the enzyme by endocytosis. This approach may provide a general method for (i) testing regulatory biochemical mechanisms, (ii) therapeutic replacement of deficient regulatory macromolecules, and (iii) studying environmental factors that produce genetic alterations.
The nature of the compact X-ray source in the supernova remnant G27.4+0.0

High-resolution X-ray imaging data obtained with ROSAT is used to constrain the nature of the central compact source in the supernova remnant G27.4+0.0. Diffuse emission is seen from throughout the approximately 4 min diameter radio shell, while the central source remains unresolved at approximately 3 sec. We combine archival data from the Einstein HRI, IPC, and MPC with the ROSAT HRI data to define the X-ray spectra of the diffuse and point-like emission. The bulk of the shell radiation is consistent with that of a approximately 10(exp 7) K plasma, although a higher temperature component is also suggested by the data; coupled with the remnant's size and distance, we derive an age of between 500 and 2500 yr. The point source has a substantially harder spectrum, with a power-law photon index less than or approximately equal to 1. A search for periodic modulation from the point source yields upper limits ranging from 10%-35% for periods between 0.025 and 1000 s, depending on the assumed pulse shape. No aperiodic variability on timescales of from 10(exp 3) to 10(exp 8) s is required, although a factor of approximately 2 change between the Einstein and ROSAT eras is possible. We show that the point source cannot represent thermal emission from the surface of a young neutron star and is unlikely to be explained as nonthermal, Crab-like X-ray pulses or a small synchrotron nebula. The most likely models involve accretion-powered systems -- either a wind-fed neutron star with a massive companion or a low-mass X-ray binary. In all probability, this is the youngest X-ray binary in the Galaxy.
Foundations and Health Policy: Identifying Funding Strategies in Health Programming

This article analyzes the role of one important element of the nonprofit sector in public policymaking by examining the pattern of foundation giving in the health area. It examines the timing of foundation funding in six health policy areas: AIDS, Alzheimer's, cost containment, outcome-based research, minority health care, and the uninsured. Four major foundations funding health are examined: the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts. We find that while some foundations can be classified into different groupings based on the timing and levels of funding, foundations differ greatly in their policy choices and some do not display consistent funding strategies across policy areas. While some foundations are early funders of policy before Congress recognizes the issue, foundation funding levels often pattern congressional interest, with funding peaking concurrent with the peak in the number of congressional hearings.
Serum concentrations and safety of rimantadine in paediatric patients.

Rimantadine has been shown to be more active in vitro and less toxic than amantadine in adults with influenza A disease. Because of a lack of studies in pediatric patients, we designed a study to evaluate serum concentrations and adverse effects of rimantadine in infants receiving repeated doses. Fourteen hospitalized infants (ages 1–10 months) were given rimantadine syrup at 3 mg/kg/dose in single daily doses during influenza season. Blood samples were obtained prior to dose and at various intervals up to 8 h after doses on the fifth to ninth days of therapy. Adverse effects were assessed based on clinical status, activity level, hematologic and biochemical parameters during 10-day therapy. Steady-state rimantadine peak serum concentration ranged from 100 to 574 ng/ml and time to achieve peak concentration ranged from 2.5 to 6.0 h after the doses. No adverse effects were seen except hematuria in one infant; this patient had the highest rimantadine concentration and longest treatment duration. Hematuria resolved during a follow-up evaluation on the ninth day after stopping therapy. Our data suggest that 1. rimantadine can be given safely at repeated doses of 3 mg/kg/dose in a convenient once-daily regimen; 2. the steady-state peak serum concentrations and time to achieve peak concentration may vary substantially in infants receiving same oral doses; and 3. possible association of adverse effects and high serum concentration or long treatment duration of rimantadine needs further evaluation in small infants.
The BAAM and Endotrol endotracheal tube for blind oral intubation

Blind oral intubation in a spontaneously breathing patient can be facilitated with a combination of two devices used mainly for nasotracheal intubation, the BAAM (Beck Airway Air Flow Monitor, Great Plains Ballistics, Lubbock, TX) and the Endotrol endotracheal tube (Mallinckrodt Critical Care, Inc., St. Louis, MO). We describe a case in which intubation of a spontaneously breathing intensive care unit patient was unsuccessful by traditional methods. In the successful approach we describe, the tube was passed through the oral cavity and pharynx in a blind fashion, using the BAAM's whistling sound for guidance and the plastic ring of the Endotrol tube to help positioning. This equipment combination may be useful in certain difficult intubation situations.
OXOPAP assay: for selective amplification of aminoacylated tRNAs from total cellular fractions.

Transfer RNA (tRNA) plays a pivotal role in protein synthesis within cells, where it is recognized by one cognate aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase, in competition with the remaining non-cognate synthetases, and esterified with an amino acid. For many years the levels of tRNA aminoacylation, in a given population of cellular RNA, have been analyzed using methods that include northern analysis and/or oxidation techniques to separate aminoacylated from non-aminoacylated species. In the present report we describe an approach recently developed by us that combines oxidation-protection with polyadenylation and PCR. The OXOPAP approach permits the amplification of tRNA species that are nearly identical and that evade differential identification by more classical northern hybridization methods. Our approach also allows the identification of aminoacylatable "naive" species, where no prior knowledge of sequence content is necessary for amplification.
Mitotic internalization of planar cell polarity proteins preserves tissue polarity

Planar cell polarity (PCP) is the collective polarization of cells along the epithelial plane, a process best understood in the terminally differentiated Drosophila wing. Proliferative tissues such as mammalian skin also show PCP, but the mechanisms that preserve tissue polarity during proliferation are not understood. During mitosis, asymmetrically distributed PCP components risk mislocalization or unequal inheritance, which could have profound consequences for the long-range propagation of polarity. Here, we show that when mouse epidermal basal progenitors divide PCP components are selectively internalized into endosomes, which are inherited equally by daughter cells. Following mitosis, PCP proteins are recycled to the cell surface, where asymmetry is re-established by a process reliant on neighbouring PCP. A cytoplasmic dileucine motif governs mitotic internalization of atypical cadherin Celsr1, which recruits Vang2 and Fzd6 to endosomes. Moreover, embryos transgenic for a Celsr1 that cannot mitotically internalize exhibit perturbed hair-follicle angling, a hallmark of defective PCP. This underscores the physiological relevance and importance of this mechanism for regulating polarity during cell division.
HUMAN PANCREAS-SPECIFIC ISOANTIGENS.

PANCREAS-SPECIFIC isoantigens have been detected in rabbits1 and rhesus monkeys2 following experimental isoimmunization. It has also been reported that isoantibodies and autoantibodies occur in the sera of patients with various types of pancreatic disease3–5. Attempts were made in this laboratory to confirm the findings in man using the same techniques of agar-precipitation and indirect haemagglutination. Difficulty was experienced since normal serum or globulin often gave precipitin lines in agar. Any specific effect from the interaction of serum from patients with pancreatic disease and human pancreas extracts could therefore not be distinguished from nonspecific precipitation.
A stochastic model of tumor growth

Abstract A stochastic model for tumor growth is derived as a diffusion approximation of a continuous-time, density dependent branching process with a Gompertz growth law as the deterministic part. For the diffusion process, the conditional probabilities of extinction, reaching a size c , and doubling are computed along with the expected time of these events. The results are given in terms of integrals, which are evaluated by numerical methods that account for the logarithmic singularity introduced by the Gompertz growth law. When the variance of the branching process is small compared to the deterministic term, simplified asymptotic expressions are given using methods that are modified for the Gompertzian logarithm. The results are used to find the probability of implant take in limiting-dilution assay experiments and the probability of a tumor becoming detectable in carcinogenesis.
The Impact of Sexual Harassment on Military Personnel: Is It the Same for Men and Women?

Research in the civilian workplace has documented the serious psychological, health-related, and job-related outcomes of sexual harassment of women by men. The question of whether men experience se...
Elizabeth Blackburn and the Story of Telomeres: Deciphering the Ends of DNA

Catherine Brady, Elizabeth Blackburn and the Story of Telomeres: Deciphering the Ends of DNA. Cambridge, MA and London: MIT Press, 2007. ix + 392 pp. 8 plts. $29.95/£19.95. ISBN-13 978-0-262-02622-...
Optimization of biomass energy production in a village.

Abstract An energy and resource-assessment survey of all the households in the village of Islamnagar in the Bhopal district (Central India) was used to compute the coefficients of a linear programming model of village agriculture. The model's objective function seeks to maximize biomass energy production through optimum selection of crop areas under two types of linear constraints. The first group of constraints defines resource limitations with regard to land, irrigation, fertilizer, labor, animal power, electricity and diesel fuel. The second group of constraints accounts for the minimum production requirements of food and feed needed to support the human and animal populations of the village and to maintain the present export levels. The model was run with three different scenarios, namely, base year (1981), increased Kharif season area, and increased Rabi season area. The base year biomass energy production of the village was 74% of the optimum value for the same cultivated area and supply levels of limiting material inputs. Biomass energy production and energy productivity of land indicated large potential increases by increasing cropping areas at the present supply levels of limiting material inputs. The model analysis showed that the under-utilized human and animal labor of the village could be employed to greater extents to realize the above potentials. The optimum selection of crop areas under all three scenarios indicated a positive effect on gross economic revenue from agriculture.
Women's perception of pain and distress during intravenous catheterization and urethral mini-catheterization

A study was done to prospectively compare the pain and distress of urethral mini-catheterization (MC) with the pain and distress of intravenous (IV) catheterization in women. Ten-centimeter visual analog scales were used on which the left end represented "no pain" or "no distress" and the right "the worst pain imaginable" or "extreme distress." Distress was defined to include embarrassment, anxiety, or fear. A convenience sample of 40 adult women who presented to a university emergency department and were undergoing both procedures as part of their management appraised pain and distress after IV placement and urethral MC. The mean IV pain score was 4.2 cm, whereas the mean MC score was only 2.6 cm (P = .02). The IV and MC distress score means were similar (2.3 v 2.6 cm, P = .55). These results suggest that patients perceive urethral MC as less painful than IV placement. The distress scores of these two procedures did not differ and were low in both instances.
The transmembranous domain of CD40 determines CD40 partitioning into lipid rafts

Stimulation of CD40 has been previously shown to result in a release of ceramide in small sphingolipid-enriched rafts in the cell membrane [Grassme et al., J. Immunol. 168 (2002) 298–307]. Those rafts fused to larger signaling platforms that served to cluster CD40. Here, we defined molecular mechanisms of CD40 clustering in membrane platforms. To this end, we replaced the transmembranous domain of CD40 with that of CD45, a molecule known to be excluded from lipid rafts. Murine T cells were stably transfected with wild-type CD40 or chimeric CD40/CD45. Flow cytometry confirmed normal binding properties of the mutant to CD40 ligand. Stimulation with CD40 ligand resulted in clustering of wild-type CD40, while the chimeric CD40/45 receptor failed to cluster. This correlated with a deficiency of the chimeric receptor to activate JNK, p38 MAP kinase and SAPK, known signaling molecules of the intracellular pathway initiated by CD40. Forced crosslinking of the CD40/45 chimeric receptor restored, at least partially, these signaling events. The results suggest that the transmembranous domain of CD40 is central for the recruitment to and clustering of CD40 in membrane platforms.
Comparative ecology of the African pike, Hepsetus odoe, and tigerfish, Hydrocynus forskahlii, in the Zambezi River floodplain

The ecology of sympatric African pike, Hepsetus odoe (Hepsetidae), and tiger fish, Hydrocynus forskahlii (Characidae), were compared during high (May-August) and falling water (September-December) conditions in the Upper Zambezi R. drainage of Zambia. Both species were common in the central and southern regions of the river and associated floodplain, and Hydrocynus was common in the northern region in swift flowing tributaries where Hepsetus was rare. Hepsetus inhabited vegetated environments of river backwaters, lagoons, and sluggish tributaries, whereas Hydrocynus occupied the open water of the main river channel almost exclusively. During the period of annual flooding, juveniles of both species coexist in flooded savanna regions. Size distributions of adult Hydrocynus and Hepsetus changed relatively little between high and low water conditions. Stomach contents analysis indicated that adult size classes of both species are almost entirely piscivorous, and both show diet shifts with changes in size. Only very small seasonal diet shifts were noted. Approximately 50% of the diet of Hepsetus consisted of haplochromine cichlid fishes, but also included large numbers of tilapine cichlids and mormyrids, Hydrocynus consumed primarily cichlid fishes, but also consumed large percentages of Hepsetus and small characid fishes. Small size classes of Hepsetus fed heavily on small machokid catfishes (Synadontis spp.) and later shifted to a diet of cichlids and mormyrids, and small Hydrocynus preyed heavily on Barbus spp. (Cyprinidae), small characids, and mormyrids. Ratios of prey length-predator length averaged approximately 0·26 for Hydrocynus and nearly 0·40 for Hepsetus. The large potential for food resource competition appears not to be realized due to a very high degree of habitat partitioning between larger size classes of the two species. At the interface between river backwaters and channel habitats, Hydrocynus is a significant predator of Hepsetus, a factor that should further restrict the occurrence of the latter in open areas of the main channel.
Cellular retinol binding protein and breast carcinoma

Cellular retinol binding protein (C-RBP) levels were measured in 87 malignant and 18 non-malignant breast cancer tissues. C-RBP, sedimenting in the ‘2S’ region on 5–20% sucrose density gradients, was detectable in 70% of malignant tissues examined. None of the non-malignant tissues contained detectable C-RBP. No significant association between tumour steroid receptors status, patients' obesity or menopausal status and C-RBP contents was observed. However, patients with stage IV disease had higher C-RBP levels than patients at stages II and III (P < 0.0001), which suggested altered intracellular mobilization of retinol in the tumour, probably as an indirect consequence of inadequate nutrient intake.
Human and animal cognition: continuity and discontinuity.

Microscopic study of the human brain has revealed neural structures, enhanced wiring, and forms of connectivity among nerve cells not found in any animal, challenging the view that the human brain is simply an enlarged chimpanzee brain. On the other hand, cognitive studies have found animals to have abilities once thought unique to the human. This suggests a disparity between brain and mind. The suggestion is misleading. Cognitive research has not kept pace with neural research. Neural findings are based on microscopic study of the brain and are primarily cellular. Because cognition cannot be studied microscopically, we need to refine the study of cognition by using a different approach. In examining claims of similarity between animals and humans, one must ask: What are the dissimilarities? This approach prevents confusing similarity with equivalence. We follow this approach in examining eight cognitive cases—teaching, short-term memory, causal reasoning, planning, deception, transitive inference, theory of mind, and language—and find, in all cases, that similarities between animal and human abilities are small, dissimilarities large. There is no disparity between brain and mind.
Systems research and innovation in data ONTAP

Over the last 20 years, there have been many changes in the data storage industry. NetApp® products have kept pace and pushed the boundary in various areas. Staying at the forefront requires attentiveness to emerging technology trends and a disciplined approach to analyzing them. By understanding the trends and how they affect our customers, we can focus our efforts on delivering the best products possible. In this issue of OSR, we highlight some of the research and innovation that have helped us stay at the forefront of these technological changes.
Recovery of Protein and DNA Trapped in Stone Tool Microcracks

Abstract Microcracks produced during the manufacture of stone tools may harbour ancient biological residues. Our studies test this hypothesis using light, scanning electron, fluorescence, and confocal microscopy to characterize microcracks produced in obsidian microblades by pressure flaking. Cell-sized fluorescent latex beads penetrated microcracks to depths exceeding 50 μm below the microblade surface. Fluorescently labelled blood protein and DNA were trapped in microcracks within 5 min of exposure. Washing artifacts with water did not remove blood residues from microcracks. However, 60–80% of trapped blood protein and DNA were released by an 18-hour incubation in 4M guanidine hydrochloride or by sonication in 5% ammonium hydroxide. These experiments suggest that residues trapped in artifact microcracks represent an important and often overlooked source of ancient DNA and protein.
Analysis of periodic data using Walsh functions

Data often contain periodic components plus random variability. Walsh analysis reveals periodicities by fitting rectangular functions to data. It is analogous to Fourier analysis, which represents data as sine and cosine functions. For many behavioral measures, Fourier transforms can produce spurious peaks in power spectra and fail to resolve separable components. Walsh analysis is superior for strongly discontinuous data. The strengths and weaknesses of each transform are discussed, and specific algorithms are given for the newer Walsh technique.
Persistent heteroplasmic cells for mitochondrial genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Genes in mitochondria and chloroplasts segregate rapidly during vegetative reproduction. Models to explain this vegetative segregation invoke either random segregation of organelle DNA molecules, or nonrandom segregation with random recombination events. All such models are basically stochastic. To look at vegetative segregation we took heteroplasmic (HET) cells containing mitochondrial mutations at the cap1, eryl and olil loci from several crosses. HETs were repeatedly selected and subcloned. Even after three to five successive subclonings (approximately 60–100 generations) some cells remained heteroplasmic. This confirms and extends previous observations of persistent HETs by Rank and Bech-Hansen (1972) and Forster and Kleese (1975), and by Bolen et al. (1980) for chloroplast genes in Chlamydomonas.
High-Temperature Sodium Hypochlorite Effects on Viability of Tilletia Controversa Teliospores and Wheat Seed

Contamination of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grain by Tilletia controversa Kuhn teliospores is a constraint to expanding international markets for U.S. Pacific Northwest wheat. Developing a method to kill teliospores on wheat grain and seed could be very beneficial for the region's agricultural economy. This study was conducted to evaluate high-temperature NaOCl as a disinfestant for T. controversa teliospores and to ascertain the effect of NaOCl treatment on wheat seed viability. Contaminated ‘Stephens’ and ‘Daws’ winter wheat seed lots were exposed for 15, 30, or 60 s to 0, 0.07, 0.13, 0.27, or 0.67 M NaOCl solutions heated to 50, 55, or 60 °C. Wheat seed quality and teliospore viability were determined by standard germination tests and by lipase assays, respectively. Maximum teliospore mortality was achieved when the NaOCl concentration was ≥0.13 M. Stephens germination was generally not reduced by NaOCl heated to 50 and 55 °C, regardless of exposure time, but was reduced at 60 °C when exposed for 60 s. Germination was proportionally reduced by increased NaOCl concentration and time of NaOCl exposure. Daws was more susceptible to high-temperature NaOCl treatment than Stephens. Seedling coleoptile length of both cultivars was not reduced when seed was exposed for ≤30 s to 0.13 M NaOCl when treatment temperature was ≤55 °C. The safest NaOCl concentration for killing teliospores on seed of both cultivars was 0.13 M when treatment temperature was ≤55 °C. Germination was similar regardless of seed moisture content prior to NaOCl treatment. The high-temperature NaOCl treatment may be an important tool for solving phytosanitary restrictions imposed due to the presence of teliospores of T. controversa on wheat grain and seed. Contribution of the Oregon Agric. Exp. Stn., Corallis. Technical Paper no. 9306.
Interference Mitigation through Successive Cancellation in Heterogeneous Networks

We present a practical interference management scheme for heterogeneous networks (HetNets). The underlying ideas are based on (i) Han-Kobayashi-type message splitting (MS) where the receivers decode and cancel “part” of the interference which is accordingly optimized by the transmitters to ensure decoding and (ii) opportunistic interference cancellation (OIC) where the interfering transmitters act independently of the receivers that employ interference cancellation. We develop a novel transmission and reception scheme, called joint MS and OIC (MS-OIC), that engages both MS and OIC to account for a practical HetNet system with multiple macrocells and femtocells. The MS component includes a precoder design that judiciously maximizes the weighted sum throughput via the enabling of interference cancellation. A system design along with a novel scheduler that facilitates MS-OIC in a general HetNet system is also developed. System level simulations for a general HetNet system are presented, and the proposed MS-OIC scheme is compared with benchmark schemes such as Coordinated Beamforming (CBF) and joint CBF and Almost Blank Subframes (CBF-ABS). It is observed that the proposed MS-OIC scheme improves the macrocell throughput substantially, balances the achievable rates between the macrocell and femtocell users, and provides significant outage performance improvement in the system.
Temperature Tolerance of Early Life History Stages of Black Mangrove Avicennia germinans: Implications for Range Expansion

Avicennia germinans (L.) L. (black mangrove) grows at its North American latitudinal limit in coastal salt marshes of Louisiana, USA. To assess low-temperature tolerance of A. germinans, we evaluated the survival and developmental progress of three early life history stages (dispersal, stranded, and seedling stages) to three temperatures (5.7°C, 2.5°C, and −6.5°C) of four durations (2, 6, 12, and 24 h). Duration and temperature of exposure decreased mangrove survivorship, particularly 24-h exposure at −6.5°C. Although there was not a significant effect of stage on survivorship overall, both survival analysis and final mortality analysis indicate that dispersal stage had the greatest survivorship. Treatments had little impact on developmental progress of surviving propagules, but propagules exposed to −6.5°C were most susceptible to fungal infection. Greater cold temperature tolerance of the dispersal stage may be a mechanism for northward range expansion in Louisiana.
Rent seeking implications for salary increments in academe

Abstract In many environments, salary increments consist of two parts: an ‘across the board’ component and a ‘merit’ component. These increments are usually funded from a wages pool which rarely bears any relationship to overall increases in productivity. The resulting competition for limited monies results in two forms of behavior: productive and predatory (or rent seeking). This paper develops a model which considers institutionally controllable variables and their influence on these behaviors in an academic environment. It is found that an increase in a wages fund will not necessarily lead to an increase in either total or productive faculty effort.