cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Classifying private landowners to improve understanding of management decisions and conservation opportunities in urbanizing forested landscapes.

Abstract Viewed as coupled natural and human systems, urbanizing forested landscapes exhibit fascinating and complex dynamics, where landowner decisions and biophysical processes together influence conservation and development outcomes. To improve understanding of land management decisions and conservation opportunities on private lands in these landscapes, we developed a landowner typology that accounts for heterogeneity among landowners that goes beyond ownership objectives and investigated its usefulness in predicting individual private landowners' stated intentions to implement diverse land management actions. Using survey responses collected from private landowners in two metropolitan areas in Maine, USA, we focused on understanding differences in owners' stated likelihood of implementing four conservation practices (i.e., forest management plan, conservation easement, water quality protection, and wildlife habitat conservation) and three land tenure actions (i.e., land sales and large and small subdivisions). Cluster analysis based on measures of place attachment values, stewardship beliefs, and forest production objectives revealed four distinct landowner classes that, in turn, increased the explanatory power of our predictive models of management intentions. Our findings support consideration of heterogeneity beyond production objectives to improve understanding of landowner decision-making, the design and performance of conservation programs, and engagement with landowners. Adjusting data, analysis, and communication strategies to recognize these multiple motivations of landowners has potential to advance the science and practice of conserving forested landscapes.
The Legendre Relation for Elliptic Integrals

In standard notation, the complete elliptic integrals of the first and second kinds are $$ \begin{gathered} K = K(k) = \int_{0}^{{\pi /2}} {\frac{{d\theta }}{{\sqrt {{1 - {{k}^{2}}{{{\sin }}^{2}}\theta }} }}} \hfill \\ = \int_{0}^{1} {\frac{{dt}}{{\sqrt {{1 - {{t}^{2}}}} \sqrt {{1 - {{k}^{2}}{{t}^{2}}}} }}} \hfill \\ \end{gathered} $$ and $$ \begin{gathered} E = E(k) = \int_{0}^{{\pi /2}} {\sqrt {{1 - {{k}^{2}}{{{\sin }}^{2}}\theta d\theta }} } \hfill \\ = \int_{0}^{1} {\frac{{\sqrt {{1 - {{k}^{2}}{{t}^{2}}}} }}{{\sqrt {{1 - {{t}^{2}}}} }}dt.} \hfill \\ \end{gathered} $$
Conflict and responsibility: Content analysis of American news media organizations’ framing of North Korea:

This article features a content analysis of the entire corpus of news articles published about North and South Korea by five major American news websites in 2016. It provides an insight into the mu...
Adenoidectomy and Sinus Lavage

Chronic rhinosinusitis affects individuals of all ages, but therapy varies based on the severity of disease in addition to the age of the patient. The sinonasal anatomy of children differs when compared to their adult counterparts, making directed treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis dependent on the available options for children. These surgical options include adenoidectomy, with and without sinus lavage, and endoscopic sinus surgery. Adenoidectomy with or without sinus lavage is often the first-line surgical therapy for children with CRS. In this chapter, we review the current literature and evidence of using this intervention.
Health information exchange: What matters at the organizational level?

Abstract The introduction of bundled payment reimbursement focuses on rewarding efficient and high-quality care. In order for bundled payment programs to be successful, collaboration across care settings is essential. Consequently, the introduction of this reimbursement program is expected to be associated with an increase of Health Information Exchange (HIE) among health providers. This paper aims at understanding how the use of HIE can be shaped by organization-specific factors such as trust, power, organizational culture, and leadership, especially when participating in bundled payment initiatives. The study was based on qualitative semi-structured interviews with hospital administrators. Very diverse opinions arose from the interviewees, which leads to the main conclusion that policymakers should take into account differences between diverse hospital settings when adopting policies regarding technological innovations.
Using Popular Culture as a Tool to Encourage Inclusive Discussions

The Politics of American Pop Culture, an upper level political science elective, uses theories of culture, intersectionality, and institutions to help students ask and answer critical questions around power in the American Political system. Through an analysis of film, television (both reality and scripted), music, musical theater, and professional athletics, students are forced to analyze power dynamics around race, class, and gender – why do some groups work outside the formal political system through popular culture to change the system so it works to their advantage. This paper/discussion will define what we mean by popular culture today, how students are exposed to various works of popular culture, and how using this framework has created more engaging discussions around oppression, representation, and engagement. Finally, it will discuss how students elevate their own understanding of popular culture in the American political discourse.
Effect of controlling group heterogeneity on student performance in a graphical programming course

This study assesses whether students perform better in an introductory programming course if they are placed in groups with people of the same or varying programming aptitude. Although the push for teaching code in U.S K-12 classrooms is growing, students arrive to college with a variety of coding experience because only not all schools include coding in their curriculum. Understanding what makes a group productive and efficient is important as the use of active-learning pedagogies across college classrooms grows. The studies presented here aim to 1) predict how well a student will perform in an introductory programming course based on a pre-assessment administered at the beginning of the course and 2) determine whether students perform better in an introductory programming course if they participate in team based projects with people of the same or varying programming aptitude. During the first week of class, students were administered a pre-assessment. Their score determined individual student programming aptitude. Students were assigned to groups based on their performance, where control groups consisted of students who only scored as high programming aptitude or only scored low programming aptitude, and experimental teams consisted of a mix of both. Evidence was found to indicate that the group formation pre-assessment was a good indicator of programming aptitude. It was also found that when completing individual tasks, students who were placed in groups with students of varying programming aptitude outperformed those who were placed in groups with students of the same programming aptitude. The positive findings and their effect on students’ abilities to learn a programming language demonstrated that the technique of a short assessment and assigned groups may become an important tool to create more effective groups in large introductory programming courses. Although further testing is required, this technique may shape the future of group formation in large programming courses.
Molecular Basis for Synaptotagmin-1-Associated Neurodevelopmental Disorder

At neuronal synapses, synaptotagmin-1 (syt1) acts as a Ca2+ sensor that synchronizes neurotransmitter release with Ca2+ influx during action potential firing. Heterozygous missense mutations in syt1 have recently been associated with a severe but heterogeneous developmental syndrome, termed syt1-associated neurodevelopmental disorder. Well-defined pathogenic mechanisms, and the basis for phenotypic heterogeneity in this disorder, remain unknown. Here, we report the clinical, physiological, and biophysical characterization of three syt1 mutations from human patients. Synaptic transmission was impaired in neurons expressing mutant variants, which demonstrated potent, graded dominant-negative effects. Biophysical interrogation of the mutant variants revealed novel mechanistic features concerning the cooperative action, and functional specialization, of the tandem Ca2+-sensing domains of syt1. These mechanistic studies led to the discovery that a clinically approved K+ channel antagonist is able to rescue the dominant-negative heterozygous phenotype. Our results establish a molecular cause, basis for phenotypic heterogeneity, and potential treatment approach for syt1-associated neurodevelopmental disorder.
Open Workflows: Context-Dependent Construction and Execution in Mobile Wireless Settings

Existing workflow middleware executes tasks or- chestrated by rules defined in a carefully handcrafted static graph. Workflow management systems have proved effective for service-oriented business automation in stable, wired in- frastructures. We introduce a radically new paradigm for workflow construction and execution called open workflow to support goal-directed coordination among physically mobile people and devices that form a transient community over an ad hoc wireless network. The quintessential feature of the open workflow paradigm is dynamic construction and execution of custom, context-specific workflows in response to unpredictable and evolving circumstances by exploiting the knowledge and services available within a given spatiotemporal context. This work introduces the open workflow approach, surveys open research challenges in this promising new field, and presents algorithmic, architectural, and evaluation results for the first practical realization of an open workflow management system.
Laboratory Colonization by Dirofilaria immitis Alters the Microbiome of Female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes

The ability of blood-feeding arthropods to successfully acquire and transmit pathogens of medical and veterinary importance has been shown to be interfered with, or enhanced by, the arthropod’s native microbiome. Mosquitoes transmit viruses, protozoan and filarial nematodes, the majority of which contribute to the 17% of infectious disease cases worldwide. Dirofilaria immitis, a mosquito-transmitted filarial nematodes of dogs and cats, is vectored by several mosquito species including Aedes aegypti. In this study, we investigated the impact of D. immitis colonization on the microbiome of laboratory reared female Ae. aegypti. Metagenomic analysis of the V3–V4 variable region of the microbial 16S RNA gene was used for identification of the microbial differences down to species level. We generated a total of 1068 OTUs representing 16 phyla, 181 genera and 271 bacterial species. Overall, in order of abundance, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria and Firmicutes were the most represented phylum with D. immitis-infected mosquitoes having more of Proteobacteria (71%) than uninfected mosquitoes (56.9%). An interesting finding in this study is the detection of Klebsiella oxytoca in relatively similar abundance in infected and uninfected mosquitoes, suggesting a possible endosymbiotic relationship, and has been previously shown to indirectly compete for nutrients with fungi on domestic housefly eggs and larvae. While D. immitis colonization has no effect on the overall species richness, we identified significant differences in the composition of selected bacterial genera and phyla between the two groups. We also reported distinct compositional and phylogenetic differences in the individual bacterial species when commonly identified bacteria were compared. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to understand the impact of a filarial infection on the microbiome of its mosquito vector. Further studies are required to identify bacteria species that could play an important role in the mosquito biology. While the microbiome composition of Ae. aegypti mosquito have been previously reported, our study shows that in an effort to establish itself, a filarial nematode modifies and alters the overall microbial diversity within its mosquito host.
Parametrized Fixed Points and Their Applications to Session Types

Abstract Parametrized fixed points are of particular interest to denotational semantics and are often given by “dagger operations” [Stephen L. Bloom and Zoltan Esik, Fixed-Point Operations on ccc's. Part I, Theoretical Computer Science (ISSN 0304-3975) 155 (1996), 1–38, https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3975(95)00010-0 ; Stephen L. Bloom and Zoltan Esik, Iteration Theories. The Equational Logic of Iterative Processes, in: EATCS Monographs on Theoretical Computer Science, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, ISBN 978-3-642-78034-9, 1993, xv+630 pp., https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-78034-9 ; Stephen L. Bloom and Zoltan Esik, Some Equational Laws of Initiality in 2CCC's, International Journal of Foundations of Computer Science 6 (1995) 95–118, https://doi.org/10.1142/S0129054195000081 .]. Dagger operations that satisfy the Conway identities [Stephen L. Bloom and Zoltan Esik, Fixed-Point Operations on ccc's. Part I, Theoretical Computer Science (ISSN 0304-3975) 155 (1996), 1–38, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3975(95)00010-0 .] are particularly useful, because these identities imply a large class of identities used in semantic reasoning. We generalize existing techniques to define dagger operations on ω-categories and on O-categories. These operations enjoy a 2-categorical structure that implies the Conway identities. We illustrate these operators by considering applications to the semantics of session-typed languages.
Assessing DNS Vulnerability to Record Injection

The Domain Name System (DNS) is a critical component of the Internet infrastructure as it maps human-readable names to IP addresses. Injecting fraudulent mappings allows an attacker to divert users from intended destinations to those of an attacker's choosing. In this paper, we measure the Internet's vulnerability to DNS record injection attacksincluding a new attack we uncover. We find that record injection vulnerabilities are fairly commoneven years after some of them were first uncovered.
Religious Freedom and the Churches: Contemporary Challenges in the United States Today

A crucial, but often overlooked, dimension of the human and constitutional right to religious freedom is the autonomy of religious institutions, associations, and societies with respect to matters of governance, doctrine, formation, and membership. Although the Supreme Court of the United States has affirmed this autonomy in the context of American constitutional law, it is vulnerable, and even under threat, for a variety of reasons, including a general decline in the health of civil society and mediating associations and a crisis of confidence and authority caused by clerical sexual abuse and churches' failure to respond to it.
Immune thrombocytopenic purpura and acute liver injury after COVID-19 vaccine.

A 26-year-old woman was sent to the emergency room by her primary care physician for a new petechial rash and thrombocytopenia 2 weeks after receiving the Moderna mRNA-1273 SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Her hospital course was complicated by transaminitis. Her platelet count improved to normal on hospital day 5 after receiving intravenous steroids and intravenous immunoglobulin to treat her suspected diagnosis of immune thrombocytopenic purpura. Extensive workup for her thrombocytopenia and transaminitis was unremarkable including ruling out infectious, autoimmune and toxic causes. A liver biopsy was unrevealing and her transaminitis was improved on discharge. Although not proven, the temporal relationship of her vaccination with thrombocytopenia and abnormal liver enzymes points towards the Moderna mRNA-1273 SARS-CoV-2 vaccine as the most likely inciting factor.
Theoretical and experimental study of the nitrogen-vacancy center in 4H-SiC

Using first-principles calculations and magnetic resonance experiments, we investigated the physical properties of the negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in 4H-SiC, a promising spin qubit. Our predictive theoretical model in conjunction with experimental measurements reveals a large sensitivity to strain and symmetry. The measured and computed zero-phonon lines (ZPLs) are in agreement and show a consistent trend as a function of the defect location in the crystal. The computed ZPLs are extremely sensitive to the geometrical configurations of the ground and excited states, and large supercells with more than 2 000 atoms are required to obtain accurate numerical results. We find that the computed decoherence time of the basal NV centers at zero magnetic field is substantially larger than that of the axial configurations. Furthermore, at natural nuclear spin abundance and zero field, the Hahn-echo coherence time of one of the basal configurations is similar to that of the axial divacancy in isotopically purified SiC.
Characteristics of ophthalmology procedural care during the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose : Describing the procedures conducted during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the department of ophthalmology at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, MI and understanding how the demographics of these patients compared to preceding years Methods : Electronic medical record data at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, MI was queried for all operative procedures. The procedures must have met three criteria: 1) scheduled from March 15th to May 19th, 2020, 2) A staff ophthalmologist as the primary surgeon, 3) The procedure status was completed. Parallel dates in the preceding three years 2017- 2019 were queried to use as controls. Information obtained for each procedure included: date, procedure completed, age, race, sex, primary insurer, class of procedure (inpatient vs. outpatient). 2-tailed equal proportions tests and 2-tailed T tests were used to determine statistical significance of 2020 vs. preceding years 2017-2019. Results : On average, there was a 94% decline in the number of procedures in 2020 compared to the average of the three preceding years. Over 800 surgical procedures were postponed during the pandemic. Retina procedures were most prevalent in 2020. Significantly younger patients were seen in 2020. There were no significant difference in race distributions by year. There was a significantly higher proportion of males who underwent operative procedures in 2020. Significantly more procedures were done with inpatient status compared to outpatient compared to preceding years Conclusions : It is estimated that there is a 80-100% reduction in ophthalmologic surgical cases during COVID, which was consistent with our study of 94% decrease. The younger age group seen in 2020 was likely multifactorial, partially thought to be secondary to cancelling routine cataract and lens procedures on a largely older population skews the average age of procedures to the right, as well as a higher incidence of trauma requiring emergent procedural intervention in younger individuals such as for orbital floor fractures. Regarding a higher proportion of men, retinal procedures more commonly occur in men, and ambulatory procedures like cataract extraction which were cancelled during the pandemic are more commonly occur in women. We found no differences by race, which requires further study, and may possibly related to differences in baseline characteristics.
An Intersection between Iron Availability and Candida albicans Invasive Filamentation

Candida albicans filamentation, the ability to convert from oval yeast cells to elongated hyphal cells, is a key factor in its pathogenesis. Previous work has shown that the integral membrane protein Dfi1 is required for filamentation in cells grown in contact with a semi-solid surface. Investigations into the downstream targets of the Dfi1 pathway revealed potential links to two transcription factors - Sef1 and Czf1. Sef1 regulates iron uptake and iron utilization genes in low iron conditions, leading us to hypothesize that there exists a link between iron availability and contact-dependent invasive filamentation. Here, we showed that Sef1 was not required for contact dependent filamentation, but it was required for WT expression levels of a number of genes during growth in contact conditions. Czf1 is required for contact-dependent filamentation and for WT levels of expression of several genes. Constitutive expression and activation of either Sef1 or Czf1 individually in a dfi1 null strain resulted in a complete rescue of the dfi1 null filamentation defect. Because Sef1 is normally activated in low-iron environments, we embedded WT and dfi1 null cells in iron-free agar medium supplemented with various concentrations of Ferrous Ammonium Sulfate (FAS). dfi1 null cells embedded in media with a low concentration of iron (20uM FAS) showed increased filamentation in comparison to mutant cells embedded in higher concentrations of iron (50-500uM). WT cells produced filamentous colonies in all concentrations. Together, this data indicates that Dfi1, Czf1, Sef1, and environmental iron regulate C. albicans contact-dependent filamentation. ImportanceCandida albicans is an opportunistic pathogen responsible for a larger proportion of candidiasis and candidemia cases than any other Candida species (CDC). The ability of C. albicans cells to invade and cause disease is linked to their ability to filament and form hyphae. Despite this, there are gaps in our knowledge of the environmental cues and intracellular signaling that triggers the switch from commensal organism to filamentous pathogen. Here we identified a link between contact-dependent filamentation and iron availability. Over the course of tissue invasion, C. albicans cells encounter a number of different iron microenvironments, from the iron-rich gut to iron-poor tissues. Increased expression of Sef1-depndent iron uptake genes as a result of contact-dependent signaling will promote the adaptation of C. albicans cells to a low iron availability environment.
Toward more accurate documentation in neurosurgical care

OBJECTIVE Accurate clinical documentation is foundational to any quality improvement endeavor as it is ultimately the medical record that is measured in assessing change. Literature on high-yield interventions to improve the accuracy and completeness of clinical documentation by neurosurgical providers is limited. Therefore, the authors sought to share a single-institution experience of a two-part intervention to enhance clinical documentation by a neurosurgery inpatient service. METHODS At an urban, level I trauma, academic teaching hospital, a two-part intervention was implemented to enhance the accuracy of clinical documentation of neurosurgery inpatients by residents and advanced practice providers (APPs). Residents and APPs were instructed on the most common neurosurgical complications or comorbidities (CCs) and major complications or comorbidities (MCCs), as defined by Medicare. Additionally, a "system-based" progress note template was changed to a "problem-based" progress note template. Prepost analysis was performed to compare the CC/MCC capture rates for the 12 months prior to the intervention with those for the 3 months after the intervention. RESULTS The CC/MCC capture rate for the neurosurgery service line rose from 62% in the 12 months preintervention to 74% in the 3 months after intervention, representing a significant change (p = 0.00002). CONCLUSIONS Existing clinical documentation habits by neurosurgical residents and APPs may fail to capture the extent of neurosurgical inpatients with CC/MCCs. An intervention that focuses on the most common CC/MCCs and utilizes a problem-based progress note template may lead to more accurate appraisals of neurosurgical patient acuity.
Beyond PACS: The Electronic Triage System

PACS is one element of an electronic triage system (ETS). Other elements under continuous development are MEDLINE, GRATEFULMED, RIS, HIS, telepathology, etc. There is ongoing research on artificial intelligence (expert systems), outcome probabilities, and practice guidelines as aids to diagnosis and treatment. Each research project and technological development is evolving independently of others, but to be cost effective in the clinical setting they need to be combined in an interactive system. An ETS, perhaps using PC-based computational agents such as knowbots, would integrate all data bases and contribute enormously to improving the capabilities of the diagnostician and the therapist. A review is made of the state of development of the numerous technologies, costs, and the time to diffuse ETS into clinical medicine. Gaps in knowledge must be filled, human resources identified, management systems determined, and the roles of the public and private sectors clarified.
Research Methods in Crime and Justice

Preface Acknowledgements Prologue: What's the point of this course? Part One - Getting Started Chapter 1 - The Research Practice Chapter 2 - The Research Process Chapter 3 - The Ethical Principles that Guide Researchers Part Two - Learning Research Design Basics Chapter 4 - Classifying Research Chapter 5 - Causality Chapter 6 - Measurement Chapter 7 - Variables and the Structure of Research Chapter 8 - Sampling Part Three - Acquiring and Analyzing Data Chapter 9 - Experimental Design Research Methods Chapter 10 - Survey/Interview Research Methods Chapter 11 -Non-Reactive Research Methods Chapter 12 - Qualitative Research Methods Chapter 13 - Evaluation Research Methods Chapter 14 - Data and Information Analysis Epilogue - How do you know what you know? References Glossary / Index
Learning in the First Year of Life

Publisher Summary Studies of learning within the first year of life are scarce and tend to be products of single attempts—some successful and some not—to demonstrate classical and operant conditioning phenomena. Few of these studies have involved systematic manipulation of variables known to affect the acquisition rate of learned behavior. Evidence seems ample that learning occurs within the first three weeks of human life, quite probably within the first few days, but experimental procedures for its stable establishment have not yet been explored fully or refined sufficiently. Recent advances in the design and construction of stimulating and recording equipment, as well as a current resurgence of interest in early learning behavior, will probably impel more intensive studies of infant learning by increasing the number of researchers. Infant learning techniques utilized by others—along with suggestive but as yet relatively inconclusive data—are presented in this chapter. Refinements in some of these techniques are required and could result in the acquisition of important knowledge about infant learning. In addition, such research is likely to make interesting contributions to general psychology, for no personality or developmental theory is without assumptions concerning the early learning process and the role of early learning in the determination of later behavior. Some observations are made concerning definitional and methodological issues within the field of learning that are or should be of as much concern to the experimental child psychologist as to researchers with animals.
Tyrosine aminotransferase. Purificaton and characterization.

Abstract Tyrosine aminotransferase was highly purified from rat livers in which the enzyme had been induced by a glucocorticoid hormone. The preparation eluted from a DEAE-cellulose column as a single peak gave a single precipitin line by the Ouchterlony double diffusion precipitin reaction and sedimented as a single boundary in the ultracentrifuge with an s20,w of 5.9. A molecular weight of 91,000 was determined by equilibrium sedimentation. Despite these indications of homogeneity, three enzymatically active bands were observed in disk-gel electrophoresis. The purified enzyme is yellow in solution and exhibits absorption maxima at 425 mµ and 327 mµ (at slightly acidic pH), which indicate an interaction of the enzyme with its cofactor, pyridoxal phosphate. Addition of tyrosine shifted the 425 mµ peak to 327 mµ, whereas α-ketoglutarate, the keto-acid substrate, reversed this shift. Separation of enzyme from coenzyme could be achieved by dialyzing holoenzyme with tyrosine in 0.1 m phosphate buffer. Addition of pyridoxal phosphate to apoenzyme caused return of the 425 mµ peak and full reconstitution of activity. One mole of pyridoxal phosphate is bound per 94,000 g of enzyme. Tyrosine aminotransferase has a bell-shaped pH-activity curve with a maximum near pH 7.5. The following "apparent" Michaelis constants were determined: tyrosine, 1.7 x 10-3 m, α-ketoglutarate, 7 x 10-4 m, pyridoxal phosphate, 1.7 x 10-8 m, and pyridoxamine phosphate, 1.5 x 10-7 m. Phosphate was shown to competitively inhibit the binding of the two cofactors to enzyme with Ki values of 1.1 x 10-3 m and 3.4 x 10-3 m for pyridoxal phosphate and pyridoxamine phosphate, respectively.
The utility and drawbacks of traditional approaches Comment 3

Narasimha's paper has touched on many important issues relative to the utility of the statistical approach to turbulence. I shall use his organization of topics, but will respond to only a few issues he raises. My own comments stress-perhaps more than his-two-point closures, and their possible contributions and defects.
Body mass index underestimates adiposity in women with spinal cord injury

Objective To assess the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and adiposity as well as the influence of injury level on this relationship in 24 women with spinal cord injury (SCI) and 23 able-bodied (AB) women with similar age, race, and BMI. Design and Methods Body composition was measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Analysis of covariance was performed to compare total and regional soft tissue percent fat (PF) measures between groups. Results Women with SCI had a higher soft tissue PF than AB women at any given BMI. The BMI-adjusted soft tissue PF (mean ± SE) was (44.4 ± 1.8)%, (37.8 ± 1.3)%, and (35.9 ± 1.1)% for tetraplegic, paraplegic, and AB women, respectively. The BMI explained about equal amounts of the variance in soft tissue PF among paraplegic and AB women (65%), but only 28% in tetraplegic women. Conclusion This study confirms a limited use of BMI in measuring adiposity in women with SCI, particularly among those with tetraplegia. Our observation of lower BMI cutoff points for defining obesity (28 kg/m2 for paraplegia and 21 kg/m2 for tetraplegia) needs further confirmation. The underweight/malnutrition issue also deserves the consideration while proposing the ideal weight and BMI range for persons with SCI.
Signal and noise in bridging PCR

Background In a variant of the standard PCR reaction termed bridging, or jumping, PCR the primer-bound sequences are originally on separate template molecules. Bridging can occur if, and only if, the templates contain a region of sequence similarity. A 3' end of synthesis in one round of synthesis that terminates in this region of similarity can prime on the other. In principle, Bridging PCR (BPCR) can detect a subpopulation of one template that terminates synthesis in the region of sequence shared by the other template. This study considers the sensitivity and noise of BPCR as a quantitative assay for backbone interruptions. Bridging synthesis is also important to some methods for computing with DNA.
Brentuximab Vedotin in Patients With Relapsed HIV-Related Lymphoma

Lymphoma is a well-recognized complication in patients infected with HIV. Although its incidence has declined since the advent of antiretroviral therapy, it remains higher than seen in the general population. Several recent studies have noted improvement in clinical outcomes with the use of modern chemoimmunotherapy regimens. In patients who experience relapse, however, fewer data are available on the role of immunotherapy and its impact on outcomes. This case report presents 2 patients with relapsed HIV-associated lymphoma who experienced a second complete remission after treatment with the immunotherapy agent brentuximab vedotin.
Oxidation of the Glutathione/Glutathione Disulfide Redox State Is Induced by Cysteine Deficiency in Human Colon Carcinoma HT29 Cells

Glutathione (GSH) has a central role in the maintenance of the thiol-disulfide redox state in mammalian cells. GSH synthesis can be physiologically limited by the availability of cysteine (Cys), and Cys and its precursors are variable in the human diet. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of severe Cys deficiency and readdition of Cys on the redox state of the GSH/glutathione disulfide (GSSG) pool in human colon carcinoma HT29 cells. Cells were cultured in Cys- (and cystine-)limiting medium for 48 h followed by culture in medium containing either Cys or cystine for 24 h. GSH and GSSG were measured by HPLC. Cys limitation decreased cellular GSH and GSSG concentrations with an associated >80 mV oxidation of the GSH/GSSG redox state. Upon addition of either Cys or its disulfide cystine (CySS), redox of GSH/GSSG recovered in 4 h, whereas GSH concentration continued to increase over 12 h. Maximal GSH concentrations attained were 200% of control cell values. These results show that severe Cys deficiency can have marked effects on cellular redox state but that redox recovers rapidly upon resupply. The magnitude of oxidation during Cys limitation in this cell model is sufficient to result in a >100-fold change in the reduced/oxidized ratio of redox-sensitive dithiol/disulfide motifs in proteins. If redox changes occur in vivo in association with variations in dietary Cys and its precursors, these changes could have important physiologic effects through altered redox signaling and control of cell proliferation and apoptosis.
Evaluating differences in cognitive appraisal and coping over stages of a transaction

Abstract We evaluated appraisal of and coping with a college examination over three stages of the transaction for 138 American undergraduate students. The transactional process approach allowed for the identification of differences in the magnitude and direction of appraisal and coping between adjacent stages and stages separated by an intervening stage. Repeated measures tests revealed that differences in appraisal and coping could occur between all pairs of stages, suggesting that, in research limited to investigating changes between adjacent stages only, the concept of a transactional process may be attenuated and important changes overlooked as the process of a stressful encounter unfolds.
Hole and electron mobilities in heavily doped silicon: comparison of theory and experiment

Abstract Most device models for npn or pnp transistors assume that hole (electron) mobilities in n-type and p-type silicon are equal. Partial-wave phase shift calculations for the contributions of carrier-dopant ion scattering to the carrier mobilities lead to unequal minority hole (electron) and majority hole (electron) mobilities at the same doping density. These calculations are valid over the doping range of 2 x 1019 to 8 x 1019 cm−3 in n-type and p-type silicon and contain the assumptions that the holes and electrons move in isotropic parabolic energy bands and are scattered by the screened Coulomb potentials of the dopant ions. When the effects of carrier-acoustic phonon and carrier-carrier scatterings are included, these calculations agree to within the spread of experimental value for the majority mobilities reported in the literature. This agreement is a substantial improvement by factors of 2–4 over the results of earlier theories such as first order Born and nondegenerate theories. The results of this work, particularly the inequality of minority and majority carrier mobilities, have implications for the modeling of both bipolar and field effect transistors.
Allogenic blood transfusion in the first 24 hours after trauma is associated with increased systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and death

Background: Previous studies have documented that blood transfusion incites a substantial inflammatory response with the systemic release of cytokines. Furthermore, blood transfusion is a significant independent predictor of multiple organ failure in trauma. The objective of this study was to assess the risk of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and intensive care unit (ICU) admission, length of stay (LOS), and mortality in trauma patients who require blood transfusion. Methods: Prospective data were collected on 9,539 trauma patients admitted to the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center over a 30-month period from January, 1997 to July, 1999. Complete SIRS data were available on 7,602 patients. Patients were stratified by age, gender, race, Glasgow coma scale (GCS), and injury severity score (ISS). A systemic inflammatory response to a wide variety of severe clinical insults (SIRS) was defined as a SIRS score of ≥2, as calculated on admission. Blood transfusion was assessed as an independent pr...
The Non-Random Brain: Efficiency, Economy, and Complex Dynamics

Modern anatomical tracing and imaging techniques are beginning to reveal the structural anatomy of neural circuits at small and large scales in unprecedented detail. When examined with analytic tools from graph theory and network science, neural connectivity exhibits highly nonrandom features, including high clustering and short path length, as well as modules and highly central hub nodes. These characteristic topological features of neural connections shape nonrandom dynamic interactions that occur during spontaneous activity or in response to external stimulation. Disturbances of connectivity and thus of neural dynamics are thought to underlie a number of disease states of the brain, and some evidence suggests that degraded functional performance of brain networks may be the outcome of a process of randomization affecting their nodes and edges. This article provides a survey of the nonrandom structure of neural connectivity, primarily at the large-scale of regions and pathways in the mammalian cerebral cortex. In addition, we will discuss how nonrandom connections can give rise to differentiated and complex patterns of dynamics and information flow. Finally, we will explore the idea that at least some disorders of the nervous system are associated with increased randomness of neural connections.
Antibiotic resistance caused by permeability changes of the archaebacterium Methanococcus vannielii

Spontaneous mutants of the methane-producing archaebacterium Methanococcus vannielii have been isolated which are resistant to bromoethane-sulphonate, A2315-A (a virginiamycin), neomycin and thiostrepton. Ultraviolet (UV) irradiation followed by growth in bacitracin led to the isolation of bacitracin-resistant mutants. In vitro translation reactions using ribosomes prepared from neomycin or A2315-A-resistant mutants were sensitive to neomycin or A2315-A indicating that the in vivo resistance of the mutants must reflect changes in the permeability of the M. vannielii proteinaceous cell envelope.
Does more sequence data improve estimates of galliform phylogeny? Analyses of a rapid radiation using a complete data matrix.

The resolution of rapid evolutionary radiations or “bushes” in the tree of life has been one of the most difficult and interesting problems in phylogenetics. The avian order Galliformes appears to have undergone several rapid radiations that have limited the resolution of prior studies and obscured the position of taxa important both agriculturally and as model systems (chicken, turkey, Japanese quail). Here we present analyses of a multi-locus data matrix comprising over 15,000 sites, primarily from nuclear introns but also including three mitochondrial regions, from 46 galliform taxa with all gene regions sampled for all taxa. The increased sampling of unlinked nuclear genes provided strong bootstrap support for all but a small number of relationships. Coalescent-based methods to combine individual gene trees and analyses of datasets that are independent of published data indicated that this well-supported topology is likely to reflect the galliform species tree. The inclusion or exclusion of mitochondrial data had a limited impact upon analyses upon analyses using either concatenated data or multispecies coalescent methods. Some of the key phylogenetic findings include support for a second major clade within the core phasianids that includes the chicken and Japanese quail and clarification of the phylogenetic relationships of turkey. Jackknifed datasets suggested that there is an advantage to sampling many independent regions across the genome rather than obtaining long sequences for a small number of loci, possibly reflecting the differences among gene trees that differ due to incomplete lineage sorting. Despite the novel insights we obtained using this increased sampling of gene regions, some nodes remain unresolved, likely due to periods of rapid diversification. Resolving these remaining groups will likely require sequencing a very large number of gene regions, but our analyses now appear to support a robust backbone for this order.
Creativity at the Fusion of Disciplines

The Editor in Chief discusses upcoming special issues, the launch of the MultiMedia video blog (see http://computer.org/multimedia, and the addition of a new Associate Editor in Chief.
Breast cancer mortality in relation to receipt of screening mammography: a case–control study in Saskatchewan, Canada

The efficacy of screening mammography in reducing breast cancer mortality continues to be controversial. In addition, few data exist on the efficacy of screening mammography in women 70 years of age or older. An organized screening mammogram program has existed in Saskatchewan since the mid-1990s. It offers mammography every 2 years to women ≥50 years of age. We conducted a population-based case–control study to evaluate the efficacy of screening mammography, as practiced in Saskatchewan, Canada. Cases (n = 501) were women who died of breast cancer during 1995–2008 and were at least 52 years of age at the time of their diagnosis. Controls (n = 5,009) were matched to cases on birth year and duration of healthcare coverage prior to the cases’ breast cancer diagnosis date. In cases and controls, receipt of screening mammography during the several years up to and including the date of the case’s diagnosis of breast cancer was ascertained from the records of the screening program. Receipt of a screening mammogram in the preceding 2 years was more common among controls (53 %) than cases (37 %), OR 0.51 (95 % CI 0.42–0.62). A decreased risk was observed among women in all age groups, including those 70–79 years (OR 0.40; 95 % CI 0.27–0.60). Our findings suggest that receipt of screening mammography among women in Saskatchewan has been associated with a decreased risk of death from breast cancer.
Pharyngo-Palatoplasty with free transplantation of the palmaris longus

Abstract In order to produce a valvular action in conjunction with velum elevation and sphincteric contraction, the denervated palmaris longus muscle with its tendon split into two has been transplanted to the posterior pharyngeal wall and the tendons passed around the lateral walls into the soft palate. The results in three cases have been good.
Mast-cell leukemia exome sequencing reveals a mutation in the IgE mast-cell receptor β chain and KIT V654A.

Mast-cell leukemia exome sequencing reveals a mutation in the IgE mast-cell receptor β chain and KIT V654A
Evaluation of the variation in thermal performance in a Na2SO4·10H2O phase change system

Abstract The relationship between the microstructural changes occurring in a nucleated and thickened Na2SO4·10H2O phase change system, the phase change temperature, and the number of thermal cycles has been investigated. With an increasing number of thermal cycles, the phase change on cooling becomes increasingly athermal in nature. Although this is accompanied by an increase in size of the Na2O4·10H2O crystals, these variations in phase change temperature appear to be more closely related to the segregation of the nucleating agent.
The HD Mutation Does Not Alter Neuronal Death in the Striatum of HdhQ92 Knock-in Mice after Mild Focal Ischemia

Huntington's disease, with its dominant loss of striatal neurons, is triggered by an expanded glutamine tract in huntingtin. To investigate a proposed role for increased activation of the apoptotic cascade in mutant huntingtin's trigger mechanism, we examined huntingtin cleavage and lesion severity after mild ischemic injury in HdhQ92 mice. We found activation of calpain and caspase proteases and proteolysis of huntingtin in lesioned striatum. However, huntingtin fragments resembled products of calpain I, not caspase-3, cleavage and turnover was accompanied by augmented levels of full-length normal and mutant protein. By contrast, the number of apoptotic cells, total and striatal infarct size, and degree of neurologic deficit were similar in HdhQ92 and wild-type mice, indicating that the disease process neither strongly protected nor sensitized striatal neurons to apoptotic death. Thus, our findings do not support a role for increased apoptosis or caspase-3 cleavage in the mechanism by which mutant huntingtin triggers disease. However, they suggest that calpain activation and huntingtin regulation merit investigation as modifiers of disease progression in neurons injured by the harmful consequences of full-length mutant huntingtin.
The inhibition in vitro of rat cerebral glutamine synthetase by an exotoxin from Pseudomonas tabaci

A toxin elaborated by Pseudomonas tabaci, which causes wildfire disease in tobacco, has recently been shown to cause convulsions in mice and rats. Its formula is thought to be lactyl diamino hydroxy pimelic acid. It was shown that the toxin in vitro is a competitive inhibitor of cerebral glutamine synthetase. Preincubation studies with the toxin indicate that it is irreversibly bound to the glutamine synthetase molecule in the presence of ATP and Mg2+. The action of the toxin in vitro on glutamine synthetase resembles in many respects the effects of methionine sulfoximime.
Economists and drug policy

Abstract Economists have made a substantial contribution to understanding the illegal drug market and the probable effects of alternative drug policies, despite the lack of adequate price and consumption data. Current patterns of drug use are primarily dependent on personal characteristics. Drug legalization, however, would substantially reduce the price and increase the demand for drugs, possibly doubling the consumption of the now illegal drugs. The major effects of drug legalization would be large net benefits to drug users, the elimination of the rents to illegal suppliers, and a reduction in crime and social control costs. The effects on the health status of drug users may be either positive or negative but are likely to be small.
Seasonal variations in plasma concentrations of 11‐ketotestosterone and testosterone in male rainbow trout, Salmo gairdnerii Richardson

Measurements were made of plasma 11-ketotestosterone and testosterone in control and sex-reversed male rainbow trout, before and during their first spawning season (winter 1978/1979). Plasma concentrations of both androgens (in both groups) were 2–3 ng ml-1 in January 1978 (apart from some precocious spawners), rose slowly to 9–11 ng ml-1 in April and July and then increased rapidly to 100–150 ng ml-1 in November. From this time, testosterone levels declined but those of 11-ketotestosterone continued to rise to a peak of 260 ng ml-1 in February 1979. No significant differences in hormone levels were found between control male and masculinized female fish.