cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Pulmonary reinterventions after complete unifocalization and repair in infants and young children with tetralogy of Fallot with major aortopulmonary collaterals.

Abstract Background Our institutional approach to tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) with major aortopulmonary collaterals (MAPCAs) emphasizes unifocalization and augmentation of the reconstructed pulmonary arterial (PA) circulation and complete intracardiac repair in infancy, usually in a single procedure. This approach yields a high rate of complete repair with excellent survival and low right ventricular (RV) pressure. However, little is known about remodeling of the unifocalized and reconstructed pulmonary circulation or about reinterventions on the reconstructed PAs or the RV outflow tract conduit. Methods We reviewed patients who underwent complete repair of TOF with MAPCAs at our center at Results The study cohort included 272 patients. There were 6 early deaths and a median of follow-up of 3.6 years after complete repair. Reinterventions on the pulmonary circulation were performed in 134 patients, including conduit interventions in 101 patients, branch PA interventions in 101, and closure of residual MAPCAs in 9. The first conduit reintervention consisted of surgical conduit replacement in 77 patients, transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement with a Melody valve in 14, and angioplasty or bare metal stenting in 10. Surgical PA reinterventions were performed in 46 patients and transcatheter reinterventions in 75 (both in 20). Most PA reinterventions involved a single lung, and most transcatheter reinterventions a single vessel. Freedom from conduit replacement or transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement was 70 ± 3% at 5 years and was shorter in patients with smaller initial conduit size. Freedom from any PA reintervention was 64 ± 3% at 5 years, with the greatest rate during the first year. On multivariable analysis, factors associated with longer freedom from any PA reintervention included lower postrepair RV:aortic pressure ratio and larger original conduit size. Conclusions We were able to obtain follow-up data for the majority of patients, which demonstrated freedom from PA reintervention for two thirds of patients. The time course of and risk factors for conduit reintervention in this cohort appeared similar to previously reported findings in patients who received RV-PA conduits in early childhood for other anomalies. Relative to the severity of baseline pulmonary vascular anatomy in TOF with MAPCAs, reinterventions on the reconstructed PAs were uncommon after repair according to our approach, and major reinterventions were rare. Nevertheless, PA reinterventions are an important aspect of the overall management strategy.
Beliefs of Applied Studio Faculty on Desirable Traits of Prospective Music Education Majors

The purpose of this study was to examine the beliefs of applied music faculty on desirable traits of prospective music education majors. Respondents (N = 326), who were sampled from 73 National Ass...
Neyman-Pearson classification algorithms and NP receiver operating characteristics

In many binary classification applications, such as disease diagnosis and spam detection, practitioners commonly face the need to limit type I error (that is, the conditional probability of misclassifying a class 0 observation as class 1) so that it remains below a desired threshold. To address this need, the Neyman-Pearson (NP) classification paradigm is a natural choice; it minimizes type II error (that is, the conditional probability of misclassifying a class 1 observation as class 0) while enforcing an upper bound, α, on the type I error. Despite its century-long history in hypothesis testing, the NP paradigm has not been well recognized and implemented in classification schemes. Common practices that directly limit the empirical type I error to no more than α do not satisfy the type I error control objective because the resulting classifiers are likely to have type I errors much larger than α, and the NP paradigm has not been properly implemented in practice. We develop the first umbrella algorithm that implements the NP paradigm for all scoring-type classification methods, such as logistic regression, support vector machines, and random forests. Powered by this algorithm, we propose a novel graphical tool for NP classification methods: NP receiver operating characteristic (NP-ROC) bands motivated by the popular ROC curves. NP-ROC bands will help choose α in a data-adaptive way and compare different NP classifiers. We demonstrate the use and properties of the NP umbrella algorithm and NP-ROC bands, available in the R package nproc, through simulation and real data studies.
Multifocal stroke with proliferation of small cerebral arteries in hepatopulmonary syndrome.

Cirrhosis of the liver has been linked to several changes in risk of cerebrovascular disease and may increase the risk of hemorrhage while reducing the risk of ischemic stroke.1,2 The pathophysiology underlying these changes remains unclear, though intracranial hemorrhage and vascular malformations related to liver disease have been described.1,3 Cirrhosis may be complicated by hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS), in which distal pulmonary arteries dilate, become tortuous, produce shunt physiology, and often produce arteriovenous (AV) malformations.4
Surgical Treatment of Primary Malignant Tumors

The primary goal of treatment for patients with malignant primary spine tumors is to provide cure, or the best chance of cure, if possible. If cure is not possible, we seek to palliate pain and provide early return to function and activity, to maintain or improve neurological function, and to provide a stable spinal column. The “upside” to an aggressive resection of a primary spinal malignancy has never been higher, making the “downside” to a poorly planned or executed surgery all the more unacceptable. With improved medical and radiotherapies, the treating physician now has the opportunity—and the obligation—to carefully tailor treatment to the biology and stage of each specific spine tumor (Table 1). The role of surgery differs depending on tumor type, stage, and location.
Measuring Quality of Life in Border Cities: The Border Observatory Project in the US-Mexico Border Region

Beginning in 2004, the Border Observatory Project started to collect quality-of-life data in the US-Mexico border region especially in the urban areas along the border. Up to that time, the various efforts to measure urban conditions in the border were limited, piecemeal, or not systematic, and replete with serious data shortfalls. This made drawing meaningful comparisons between cities on either side of the border a challenging process. Several urban indicators were available, but the full array of possible measures for quality-of-life assessments were not available because of missing data, scale inconsistencies between the two countries, as well as the complications engendered by inconsistent definitional uses. The Observatory collected both “objective” measures and “subjective” indicators up to 2010 to complete the first phase of the project for four pairs of sister cities – eight cities in total. Subjective measures were developed through household surveys in each of the cities, and the study examined longitudinal changes in these measures for two sister pairs. Two other analyses were developed contributing to the quality-of-life measurement approaches – an index based on economic, social and environmental indicators, and a happiness or social well-being measure for each city. As border regions are developing, this case provides a successful and comprehensive approach to bi-national quality-of-life border indicators.
Through the Physician's Eyes: A First-Year Resident's Obstetrical Ethical Dilemma.

A first-year resident in obstetrics and gynecology is faced with legal and ethical issues when a patient who has been pregnant for 40 weeks requests induction of labor. Virtual Mentor is a monthly bioethics journal published by the American Medical Association.
Conducting and presenting qualitative research in pharmacy education

Abstract Situation The evolution of practices in healthcare and the content and delivery of pharmacy education have generated new challenges for practitioners and academicians. Fittingly, pharmacy education research in the academic setting has grown rapidly to provide innovative solutions to these challenges. One approach for addressing these challenges includes the collection and analysis of qualitative research (QR). Though a useful methodological tool, many pharmacy educators are not trained to appropriately conduct QR and present the findings of their work. Methodological literature review QR offers many advantages for pharmacy education researchers. However, prior to delving into QR projects it is important to understand the key distinctions of the approach, role of the researcher, and the significance of situating the study so that the research question, data collection techniques, and analysis procedures are aligned. Recommendations We provide recommendations for several key components for conducting QR, articulating the process, and presenting and contextualizing the findings. Implications This article serves as a primer on QR methods, offering relevant background information, ways to apply this approach in pharmacy education research, and recommendations for presenting qualitative findings. Employing rigorous qualitative approaches in pharmacy education and appropriately presenting the procedures and findings will increase the visibility of QR and provide an opportunity for scholars to become familiar with the approach.
Generative Adversarial Networks for Lupus Diagnostics

The recent boom of Machine Learning frameworks like Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN), Deep Convolution Generative Adversarial Networks (DCGAN) and the development of high-performance computing for big data analysis has the potential to be highly beneficial in many domains and fittingly in the early detection of chronic diseases. The clinical heterogeneity of one such chronic autoimmune disease like Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), commonly referred to as Lupus, makes it difficult for medical diagnostics. This research employs unsupervised deep learning mechanisms to identify clinical manifestations of lupus from publicly available anonymous pictures of persons who present with cutaneous lesions like the butterfly rash, commonly seen in patients diagnosed with Lupus. We demonstrate the use of artificially generated butterfly rash images generated from GAN to train the discriminator model that differentiates Lupus from its other counter skin diseases using a Neural Network Classifier, as a use-case example. The expected outcomes are to help reduce the time in detection and treatment by gathering insights from its huge heterogeneous data clusters.
Experimenting with New Crops at the Peri-Urban Fringe

As the world’s human population increases, so too does the demand for food and fibers. However, our ability to meet such demand is challenged by the decline in high quality farmland due to soil degradation, de-agrarianisation and the expansion of urban development [1]
Racial/Ethnic Disparities/Differences in Hysterectomy Route in Women Likely Eligible for Minimally Invasive Surgery.

ABSTRACT Study Objective Evaluate racial/ethnic variation in hysterectomy surgical route in women likely eligible for minimally invasive hysterectomy. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Multistate including Colorado, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York. Patients Women aged ≥18 years without diagnoses of leiomyomas, obesity, or previous abdominopelvic surgery who underwent hysterectomy for benign conditions from the State Inpatient and Ambulatory Surgery Databases, 2010–2014. Interventions None. Primary exposure is race/ethnicity. Measurements and Main Results Racial/ethnic variation in annual hysterectomy rates and surgical route. To calculate hysterectomy rates per 100 000 women/year, denominators were adjusted for the proportion of women with previous hysterectomy. A marginal structural log binomial regression model was used to estimate adjusted standardized prevalence ratios (aPRs) for vaginal or laparoscopic vs abdominal hysterectomy, controlling for clustering within hospitals. In addition, hospitals were stratified into quintiles to examine surgical route in hospitals that serve a higher vs lower proportion of African American patients. A total of 133 082 adult women underwent hysterectomy for benign conditions from 2010 to 2014. Annual laparoscopic rates increased more slowly for African Americans (1.6-fold) than for whites (1.8-fold) and Hispanics (1.9-fold). African American and Hispanic women were less likely to undergo vaginal (aPR = 0.93; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.90–0.96 and aPR = 0.95; 95% CI 0.93–0.97, respectively) and laparoscopic hysterectomy (aPR = 0.90; 95% CI, 0.87–0.94 and aPR = 0.95; 95% CI, 0.92–0.98, respectively) than white women; Asian/Pacific Islander women were less likely to undergo vaginal hysterectomy (aPR = 0.88; 95% CI, 0.81–0.96). Hospitals serving a higher proportion of African American persons performed more abdominal and fewer vaginal procedures across all groups, and more racial/ethnic minority women sought care at those hospitals than white women. Conclusion African American, Hispanic, and Asian/Pacific Islander women eligible for minimally invasive hysterectomy were more likely than white women to receive abdominal hysterectomy. The proportion of all women undergoing abdominal hysterectomy was highest at hospitals serving higher proportions of African American persons. This difference in treatment type can lead to disparities in outcomes, in part owing to their association with complications.
Intergenerational Associations and the Fertility Transition

Evolutionary theorists have long noted that intergenerational transmission in fertility may counteract aggregate fertility decline through a process of natural selection. I study this evolutionary process by estimating how intergenerational associations in fertility vary over the fertility transition and feed back into the level of average fertility. Microdata from 40 developing countries indicate that intergenerational persistence breaks down at the onset of the fertility transition but then strengthens as the transition progresses. These changes are attributable to a reversal of fertility differences by skill, as predicted by economic models of long-run demographic change. As fertility approaches the replacement level, rising intergenerational associations reweight the population to raise aggregate fertility rates, pushing back against aggregate fertility decline.
Prognostic significance of additional cytogenetic abnormalities at diagnosis of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic granulocytic leukemia

Of 661 patients with Philadelphia chromosome (Ph)-positive, nonblastic chronic granulocytic leukemia, 58 had cytogenetic abnormalities in addition to the Ph at the time of diagnosis. Twenty patients had reduplication of the Ph in one or more metaphases. Twenty-one patients with a single Ph exhibited hyperdiploidy in one or more metaphases. Eleven patients had two or more hypodiploid metaphases as their only numerical abnormality. The remaining six patients had a variety of abnormalities. Many patients had more than one type of abnormality. Survival of patients in the different subgroups was similar, but these 58 patients had a shorter course than the 603 patients without additional cytogenetic abnormalities (P less than .02). Survival curves for the two populations did not diverge until the 2-year point, after which the annual death rate among patients with additional cytogenetic abnormalities was approximately 40% higher than that of patients without such abnormalities. The two populations had similar relative risk values according to a hazard ratio formula previously described by the International CGL Prognosis Study Group. Thus, they would have been expected to have essentially identical survival curves. We conclude that the presence of additional cytogenetic abnormalities at the time of diagnosis constitutes an independently significant prognostic feature with an unusually delayed influence on survival.
Undergraduate Research on Design Considerations for a GMD Mitigation System

Geomagnetic disturbances (GMDs) are the result of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from the sun. CMEs, such as solar flares, alter the magnetic and electric field of the earth. These changes induce DC voltage sources superimposed on transmission lines. The voltages result in the introduction of quasi-DC geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) to the AC synchronous power grid. These currents can cause half cycle saturation of transformers, harmonics, reactive power losses, and in extreme situations, widespread power outages. In this work, a planning-based GMD mitigation strategy is developed for large power systems. GIC blocking devices and system topology are leveraged in the design of strategies and systems to maintain preferable system operations despite a GMD. Simulation cases based on GIC blocking device installation and islanding plans will be used to create a strategy to minimize the effects of GMDs on the power grid.
The Effectiveness of Foreign Aid to Women’s Equality Organizations in the MENA : Does Aid Promote Women’s Political Participation?

In this paper, we address the question of whether official development assistance promotes gender equality in the Middle East and North Africa region by examining the effects of aid to Women Equality Organizations and Institutions on women political empow
Bank Board Structure and Loan Syndication

We study the impact of bank board structure on loan syndication and find both monitoring quality and connections of the lead bank’s board have a positive effect on three measures of the ability to syndicate a larger portion of a loan. Board monitoring quality plays a more dominant role during the financial crisis and following a negative reputation shock to the lead arranger. Board member connectedness is dominant for lower reputation lead arrangers. Our results are robust to an instrumental variable approach for endogeneity. Overall, we conclude that lead arranger board quality serves as a credible signal to participant banks.
Fair Stable Matchings Under Correlated Preferences (Student Abstract)

Stable matching models are widely used in market design, school admission, and donor organ exchange. The classic Deferred Acceptance (DA) algorithm guarantees a stable matching that is optimal for one side (say men) and pessimal for the other (say women). A sex-equal stable matching aims at providing a fair solution to this problem. We demonstrate that under a class of correlated preferences, the DA algorithm either returns a sex-equal solution or has a very low sex-equality cost.
Holding water for the city: Emergent geographies of storage and the urbanization of nature:

In the US West, water stories are often aqueduct stories, narratives of moving the vital resource from one place to another. This paper, in contrast, explores nascent efforts to keep the water stil...
Rebuilding International Law after the September 11 Attack: Contrasting Agendas of High Priests and Legal Realists

This talk at the dedication of a chair in international law at Loyola in Chicago focused on what might be done to rebuild international law after September 11 and the Bush administration's rejection of many potentially progressive international obligations. It suggests that the way forward is not necessarily to revive uncritically the supposedly emerging global consensus developing prior to September 11. It argues that a renewed focus on what it takes to legitimate international law requires more of the insights of the "new legal realism" than the pronouncements of the "high priests" of international law.
Chapter 11 Biogeochemical Uranium Redox Transformations: Potential Oxidants of Uraninite

Abstract In aerobic environments, uranium is generally found in the hexavalent oxidation state, is quite soluble, and readily forms complexes with calcium and carbonate. However, under anaerobic conditions, common metal respiring bacteria can enzymatically reduce U(VI) to U(IV), resulting in the formation of sparingly soluble UO 2 (uraninite). Uranium(VI) reduction, therefore, has a prominent role in natural attenuation of uranium and is being explored as a potential remediation option for this hazardous element. The stability of biologically precipitated uraninite is critical for determining the long-term fate of uranium and is not well characterized within soils and sediments. Given their environmental predominance, Fe(III) (hydr)oxides, which act as both U(VI) reductants and U(IV) oxidants, exert a prominent role in determining uranium chemical fate and associated mobility. Here, we examine several factors controlling the extent of uraninite oxidation by Fe(III) (hydr)oxides, including iron oxide and bicarbonate concentration, in addition to iron oxide type. Our analysis reveals that the extent of uraninite oxidation increases under conditions that increase the thermodynamic probability of the reaction; however, recrystallization of poorly crystalline Fe(III) (hydr)oxides to more crystalline forms may ultimately limit the uraninite oxidation reaction. Nevertheless, uraninite oxidation by Fe(III) (hydr)oxides may be a limiting factor on uraninite stability in the environment.
Design for performance of broadband signalling and services

As the telecommunications industry evolves, and broadband services start to arrive, customers are increasingly coming to expect the perception of instantaneous access to service providers, together with transparency to network failures. System performance dictates that response times need to be minimised, sufficient redundant capacity be installed in case of failure, and controls be embedded within the design to manage the exceptional situations (such as media-stimulated events) that continually threaten network integrity. A vital part of this system is the broadband signalling network, which underpins the dialogue with the customer, and which enables the delivery of the service. Network design based on a ‘top-down‘, ‘end-to-end‘ methodology plays a fundamental role in delivering solutions that meet customers‘ performance needs. Simple, approximate performance models at an early stage in this life cycle are valuable to uncover major performance problems which affect the design of the architecture. Performance issues identified can then be fed back into the design process in an iterative way, to ensure that the design solution will conform to performance requirements. This paper outlines performance studies of a number of design scenarios for providing broadband services. These studies consider interactive multimedia services, looking at service demand, physical network topology, signalling message flows, the mapping of functional entities to physical components, and routeing, as part of the network design process. The most significant performance issues identified relate to bottle-necks, capacity requirements, and load-dependent response times as perceived by the customer.
STEREOCHEMICAL DETERMINATION OF SELEGILINE METABOLITES IN POSTMORTEM BIOLOGICAL SPECIMENS

In this study, findings related to an aircraft accident are reported. Biological specimens collected at autopsy from the pilot of the fatal accident and two types of tablets found at the accident scene were submitted for toxicological evaluation. It was determined that the pilot was dead at the crash site and the cause of death was multiple traumatic injuries. The tablets were identified as selegiline and levodopa, commonly prescribed for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. Selegiline, a stereospecific compound, is biotransformed into (-)-N-desmethylselegiline, (-)-methamphetamine, and (-)-amphetamine. The latter two levorotatory metabolites cannot be easily distinguished by routine analysis from their dextrorotatory isomers, which are controlled substances. It was, therefore, prudent to differentiate these isomers to determine if they resulted from the ingestion of a controlled substance, (+)-methamphetamine. Initial immunoassay drug screenings revealed the presence of amphetamine class drugs (867 ng/mL) in urine, amphetamine/methamphetamine (261 ng/mL) in urine, and methamphetamine (46 ng/mL) in blood. The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) results revealed the presence of methamphetamine in the concentrations of 76 ng/mL of blood and 685 ng/mL of urine. The concentration of amphetamine was 52 ng/mL in blood and 320 ng/mL in urine. To determine the stereospecificity of these amines, the isolated amines from the biosamples were derivatized by a stereospecific agent, (S)-(-)-N-(trifluoroacetyl)-prolyl chloride, and characterized by a GC/MS method to be levorotatory. The 2.14 ratio of (-)-methamphetamine to (-)-amphetamine concentrations in the urine was consistent with a selegiline study in the recent literature. The stereospecific analysis, in conjunction with the history of the pilot being on Parkinson's medications, suggests that the source of these amines was selegiline. This conclusion substantiates the importance of the identification of enantiomers in evaluating and interpreting related analytical results for accident investigations.
Early Biogeochemical Systems

Biogeochemical systems are a product of the interacting evolutions of biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere. They began with the appearance of life on Earth. But the appearance of objects we would unhesitatingly pronounce to be living is itself presumably only the end stage of a transitional process whose nature and antecedents are important parts of the story. If we include prebiotic chemistry, the process may have started in the space between the stars. That follows from the discovery by X-ray astronomers of interstellar hydrogen cyanide, formaldehyde, and the other important polyatomic organic molecules listed in Table 1.
Evaluation of optical surrogates for the characterization of DOM removal by coagulation

Optical surrogates (i.e., absorbance and fluorescence) are of interest to monitor drinking water treatment processes due to their potential for implementation as online sensors. This study compares the use of different optical surrogates to model dissolved organic carbon (DOC) removal by coagulation with aluminum sulfate in the dose range of 5 to 120 mg L−1 in 22 source waters with a wide range of water qualities (specific UV absorbance (SUVA254) – 1.0 to 4.0 L mgC−1 m−1). Linear regressions were developed relating percent DOC removal to percent fluorescence decrease at discrete wavelength pairs in an excitation-emission matrix (2029 wavelength pairings). DOC removal was modeled with an average 95% prediction interval between 10.5–15% at all emission wavelengths greater than 375 nm, suggesting that wavelength selection for use in fluorescence monitoring is relatively unimportant. Fluorescence data without inner filter corrections led to a decrease in model performance, but prediction intervals were still between 12–15% at emission wavelengths greater than 400 nm. By comparison, the average prediction interval for an analogous model with UV absorbance at 254 nm was 10.5% (DOCr% = 0.7 UVr%, R2 = 0.91), performing the same as the best possible fluorescence wavelength combinations. Additional modeling found that tracking multiple optical surrogates in tandem does not improve model performance due to correlated independent variables. Raw water optical properties (SUVA254 and fluorescence ratios) modeled DOC removal at a single coagulant dose (~40 mg L−1), but fluorescence indicators did not significantly outperform SUVA254. A PARAFAC model built with 112 fluorescence samples with six validated components demonstrated the range of fluorescence behaviors in the dataset and guided the selection of fluorescence ratios to predict removal based on raw water characteristics. These results demonstrated that fluorescence wavelength is relatively unimportant for online monitoring approaches that measure both raw and clarified samples, but emission wavelength is a driving factor for predicting removal based solely on raw water characteristics.
The Way Out: A General Nuclear Settlement

50,000 nuclear weapons. The Soviet tank armies stand poised on the borders of Europe; we are, in return, deploying first-strike weapons in a game of nuclear "chicken." Although communications have been restored at a high level, arms control negotiations are still inadequate and the nuclear arms buildup on both sides is accelerating. After thirteen years of negotiations about cuts, the number of strategic warheads on both sides has tripled.1 There is generalized distrust, hostility and invective between our two countries. The political and ideological struggle between the U.S. and the USSR has a potential outcome that, while still unlikely, is intolerable nuclear war.
Increased pericardial fat accumulation is associated with increased intramyocardial lipid content and duration of highly active antiretroviral therapy exposure in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus: a 3T cardiovascular magnetic resonance feasibility study.

Background The aim of the current study was to examine whether the use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in patients with HIV is associated with changes in pericardial fat and myocardial lipid content measured by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR).
Rate distortion performance of VQ and PVQ compression algorithms

Summary form only given. This paper investigates the performance for memoryless sources and sources with memory by using vector quantization to encode and decode the source data. By modeling an image to be a Markov source, the authors suggest a lower bound estimate of the rate-distortion function for the image with memory which can be used to evaluate the performance of VQ (Vector Quantization) and predictive VQ. For the latter, the residual image, which is the difference between the original and the predictive image, is used to generate codebooks. In the encoder, three previous encoded pixels are used to predict the current pixels. The errors between a codevector and the corresponding predictive vector are compared and the minimum criterion is used to select the codevector. >
Multiple activating and repressive cis-promoter regions regulate TNFSF15 expression in human primary mononuclear cells.

TL1A/TNFSF15 has been associated with IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) in GWAS (genome-wide association study) and plays a role mediating mucosal inflammation in IBD. Higher TL1A expression is associated with disease severity in both patients and mouse models. Although TL1A has been studied extensively for IBD-associated SNPs, the cis/trans-regulatory regions are poorly defined. Herein we identify response elements regulating TNFSF15 in primary human myeloid cells. Peripheral mononuclear cells transfected with TNFSF15 promoter constructs displayed 30-fold enhanced promoter activity in a minimal −74 bp region. Transactivation was mediated partly by AP-1, since mutation of the AP-1 site resulting in loss of promoter activity. Monocytes transfected with c-Jun siRNA or treated with TAT-TI-JIP (JNK Inhibitor VII TAT-TI-JIP) demonstrated reduced TL1A mRNA and protein levels. Surprisingly, constructs larger than −74 bp did not increase promoter expression (expression of −1275 bp construct was 25% of −74 bp activity), suggesting the presence of both activating and repressing TL1A promoter elements. In fact, mutation of the −210 bp NFκB site enhanced promoter activity (60-fold) suggesting a repressive role for this site. DNA–protein binding to the TL1A AP-1 and NFκB elements was inhibited by excess consensus or TL1A oligonucleotides and binding and confirmed by chromatin immuno-precipitation analysis. Yet, despite the fact that the −210 bp NFκB site acts as a suppressor element, overall mRNA and protein expression were inhibited in monocytes treated with MG132 (NFκB/proteasome inhibitor) or SN50 (NFκB-p50 blocking peptide), suggesting that NFκB acts as both an activator and silencer of TL1A expression. These data suggest that modulation of TL1A expression involves a complex interplay between positive and negative signals, binding to distinct regulatory regions.
Biological monitoring of controlled toluene exposure

Objectives: Widespread exposure to toluene occurs in the printing, painting, automotive, shoemaking, and speaker-manufacturing industries. The relationship between air concentrations and the absorbed dose is confounded by dermal exposure, personal protective devices, movement throughout the workplace, and interindividual differences in toluene uptake and elimination. Methods: To determine the best biological indicator of exposure we examined the blood and alveolar breath concentrations of toluene as well as the urinary excretion rates of hippuric acid and of o-, m-, and p-cresols from 33 controlled human inhalation exposures to 50 ppm for 2 h. Results: Among the metabolites, o-cresol was least influenced by background contributions, whereas the p-cresol and hippuric acid rates were obscured by endogenous and dietary sources. Toluene levels in alveolar breath proved to be the most accurate and noninvasive indicator of the absorbed dose. A physiologic model described blood and breath data using four measured anthropometric parameters and the fit values of extrahepatic metabolism and adipose-tissue blood flow. Conclusions: After breathing rate and extrahepatic metabolism had been set to conservative (protective) values (the 97.5th and 2.5th percentiles, respectively) the model predicted that pre-final-shift breath levels of ≤10 μmol/m3 and post-final-shift levels of ≤150 μmol/m3 corresponded to average workplace exposure levels of ≤50 ppm toluene. Alternately, we used the distributions and covariances of the measured and fit model parameters to yield conservative pre-final-shift levels of ≤7.3 μmol/m3 and post-final-shift breath levels of ≤120 μmol/m3 that were reflective of workplace exposure levels of ≤50 ppm toluene.
Gradient sensitivity to within-category variation in words and syllables

Five experiments monitored eye movements in phoneme and lexical identification tasks to examine the effect of within-category subphonetic variation on the perception of stop consonants. Experiment 1 demonstrated gradient effects along voice-onset time (VOT) continua made from natural speech, replicating results with synthetic speech (B. McMurray, M. K. Tanenhaus, & R. N. Aslin, 2002). Experiments 2-5 used synthetic VOT continua to examine effects of response alternatives (2 vs. 4), task (lexical vs. phoneme decision), and type of token (word vs. consonant-vowel). A gradient effect of VOT in at least one half of the continuum was observed in all conditions. These results suggest that during online spoken word recognition, lexical competitors are activated in proportion to their continuous distance from a category boundary. This gradient processing may allow listeners to anticipate upcoming acoustic-phonetic information in the speech signal and dynamically compensate for acoustic variability.
Electromagnetic structure functions and neutrino nucleon scattering

Electromagnetic structure functions for electron-proton scattering are used as a test of the QCD improved parton model at low and moderate ${Q}^{2}$. Two parametrizations which work well in $ep$ scattering at low ${Q}^{2}$ are used to evaluate the inelastic muon neutrino-nucleon and muon antineutrino-nucleon cross sections for energies between 1--10 GeV, of interest in long baseline neutrino oscillation experiments. Cross sections are reduced when these low-${Q}^{2}$ extrapolations are used.
Worker reentry into captan-treated grape fields in California.

Loader/mixers/applicators and workers engaged in thinning and harvesting grapes in the central valley of California, were monitored for exposure to captan. Urinalyses for the captan metabolite, tetrahydrophthalimide (THPI), was intended to be the biological, index for exposure to captan. Dislodgeable residues of captan and THPI on foliage and grapes were measured as well as levels found in high volume air samplers placed in the field at the time of foliage sampling. Loader/mixer/ applicators were monitored following an application of a 10% dust and a wettable powder (W.P.) formulation just prior to thinning operations, and again at harvest with a W.P. formulation. Loader/ mixer/applicators were also monitored with and without respiratory protection with each treatment. The half-life of captan for the dust application was 12.8 days, and 19.6 days for W.P. Tetrahydrophthalimide levels were very low in all the field and clothing samples and were not a significant factor in worker exposure. Levels of captan in the air during the loading/mixing operation were higher. Although there were exceptions, gloves contained the highest levels of residues in the loader/mixer/applicators and the field workers. The relative levels found on the patches were reflective of the work habits of the workers. The applicators of the 10% dust had the highest captan levels in the personnel air samplers and on their mask or respirator pads. The results from the urine analysis, although THPI was found, showed no significant differences in trends between the pre- and post-exposure samples except possibly the individual who wore the respirator during the dusting operation. Pre- and post-exposure urine samples of field workers engaged in the thinning and harvesting operation showed no significant differences except workers engaged in the dusted plot. Dislodgeable foliage levels and glove residues from workers are used to measure potential dermal exposure, and since these two parameters were lowest in the dusted plots coupled with the same or slightly higher levels found in the high volume air samples in the dusted plot, they support the importance of investigating inhalation as a primary source of exposure to captan. Estimated dermal exposure in mg/person in relation to each pound of captan applied by loader/mixer/applicators was highest with those engaged in the dusting operation; the applicators during the harvest operation had much lower levels compared to the loader/ mixer/applicators during the thinning operation.
Optical Turbulence In The Sea

By "optical turbulence" is meant small inhomogeneities in the index of refraction of seawater, their origins, and the effects they have on underwater optical systems. For most conventional underwater photographic and TV imaging systems as normally used, these effects are negligible most of the time-only under exceptional circumstances do they make an appreciable difference. However, they become a more significant factor as more sophisticated imaging systems are constructed that must function over longer ranges with high resolution.© (1971) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
The Influence of Large Stake Family Control on Performance: Is It Agency or Entrenchment?

Agency theory posits that the greater degree of control by those with decision‐making authority, the greater the overall organizational performance. Conversely, entrenchment theory implies that at ...
An unusual case of meconium peritonitis associated with perforated hydrocolpos

Meconium peritonitis results from intestinal wall perforation with meconium spillage into the peritoneum during intrauterine life. Anal atresia is associated with meconium peritonitis and is also associated with cloacal malformation. A female neonate presented with a distended abdomen, anal atresia, and meconium peritonitis as diagnosed by calcification in the peritoneal cavity on abdominal radiograph. Sonography and cystography demonstrated a cloacal malformation with perforation of the hydrocolpos and resultant spillage of meconium into the peritoneum. There was no evidence of further perforation of bowel at surgery. This unusual case of meconium peritonitis is reported.
Acute abdominal vagotomy reduces drinking to peripheral but not central angiotensin II.

Abstract Rats were tested two or three days after bilateral abdominal vagotomy or a laparotomy control procedure for their drinking responses to subcutaneous (1 mg-kg−1) or intracerebroventricular (100 ng) injections of angiotensin II. Vagotomy delayed the initiation of drinking and decreased 60-min water intake after subcutaneous, but not after intracerebroventricular, angiotensin II. This is the shortest postoperative interval in which the decrease in drinking after systemic injection of angiotensin II by abdominal vagotomy has been observed. The failure of vagotomy to decrease the response to intracerebroventricular angiotensin II demonstrates that the deficit after subcutaneous injection was not a nonspecific effect of recent vagotomy. These results, therefore, suggest that the abdominal vagus is necessary for normal drinking in response to circulating angiotensin II. Furthermore, the selective and acute onset of the deficit is consistent with the loss of a specific, rather than tonic facilitatory, vagal mechanism for drinking after elevation of circulating angiotensin II levels. Finally, the results imply that the physiological mechanisms which mediate the drinking responses to central and peripheral angiotensin are not identical.
Activation of myocardial beta-adrenoceptors by the nitrogen-free low affinity ligand 3',4'-dihydroxy-alpha-methylpropiophenone (U-0521).

The effect of 3′,4′-dihydroxy-α-methylpropiophenone (U-0521) on the rate of spontaneously contracting cultured rat heart cells and right atria of rats and kittens was investigated. The action of U-0521 on the cellular content of cyclic AMP and on the adenylyl cyclase of heart membrane particles was also studied. 1. U-0521 caused positive chronotropic effects on single cultured heart cells and right atria of the rat. U-0521 was about 105 times less potent than (-)-isoprenaline. The maximum effect of U-0521 was smaller than the maximum effect of (-)-isoprenaline. A small positive chronotropic effect of U-0521 was also observed on kitten atria. 2. The β-adrenoceptor blocker (-)-bupranolol antagonized the positive chronotropic effects of U-0521 to the same extent as the effects of (-)-isoprenaline on single cells and atria of the rat. The effects of both U-0521 and (-)-isoprenaline appear therefore mediated through the same β-adrenoceptors. The positive chronotropic effects of U-0521 on kitten atria were also blocked by (-)-bupranolol. 3. Up to 0.1 mM U-0521 did not block the effects of (-)-isoprenaline on rat atria, not even in the presence of corticosterone or hydrocortisone. 4. 1 min incubations with equieffective (increase in cellular beating rate) concentrations of U-0521 (0.1 mM) and (-)-isoprenaline (1 nM) caused a significant increase in the cellular content of cAMP; this effect of both drugs was antagonized by 10 nM (-)-bupranolol. 5. 0.1–3.3 mM U-0521 did not stimulate the adenylyl cyclase of cell-free membrane particles of kitten ventricles. The cyclase was depressed by 10 mM U-0521. 3.3 mM U-0521 caused a 20% decrease of the maximum cyclase-stimulating effect of (-)-isoprenaline and a 1.6-fold increase of its apparent Km. 6. The results with U-0521 suggest that β-adrenoceptors can be activated by agonists devoid of nitrogen. However, the affinity of U-0521 for the β-adrenoceptor is very low (KU-0521 ≈ 5.5 mM). The concentration of U-0521 (0.1 mM) causing maximal increases in beating rate of cultured cells probably occupies less than 7% of the available β-adrenoceptors.
What progress have we made since Rio? Results from the 2012 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) and Pilot Trend EPI

Abstract This paper demonstrates how quantitative indicators and indices of environmental performance help gauge progress toward global policy goals identified as priorities two decades ago. This study uses the most recent performance and trend data from the 2012 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) and Trend EPI to answer two main questions: What progress has been made on the environmental issues identified by high-level leaders at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 and subsequently in the Millennium Development Goal 7 (MDG7)? What are some of the factors that can help to explain differences in performance on these issues? To answer these questions, this paper introduces pared-down versions of the 2012 EPI and Trend EPI indices to evaluate performance and progress over the last decade on the five policy categories related to objectives specified in MDG7: Water (Effects on Human Health), Biodiversity and Habitat, Forestry, Fisheries, and Climate Change and Energy. The results presented in this paper demonstrate that progress on the MDG7 environmental goals is uneven – by country, region, and issue. While income, social development, and institutional factors explain some of these differences, we suggest that variable global environmental performance can partly be attributed to challenges within the processes and institutions of the MDGs.
Sustained Activation of Nuclear Erythroid 2-Related Factor 2/Antioxidant Response Element Signaling Promotes Reductive Stress in the Human Mutant Protein Aggregation Cardiomyopathy in Mice

Abstract Inheritable missense mutations in small molecular weight heat-shock proteins (HSP) with chaperone-like properties promote self-oligomerization, protein aggregation, and pathologic states such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in humans. We recently described that human mutant αB-crystallin (hR120GCryAB) overexpression that caused protein aggregation cardiomyopathy (PAC) was genetically linked to dysregulation of the antioxidant system and reductive stress (RS) in mice. However, the molecular mechanism that induces RS remains only partially understood. Here we define a critical role for the regulatory nuclear erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)-Kelch-like ECH-associated protein (Keap1) pathway—the master transcriptional controller of antioxidants, in the pathogenesis of PAC and RS. In myopathic mice, increased reactive oxygen species signaling during compensatory hypertrophy (i.e., 3 months) was associated with upregulation of key antioxidants in a manner consistent with Nrf2/antioxidant response ele...
Prognosis of Patients with AIDS Requiring Intensive Care

The Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II classification, a measure of severity of illness in patients requiring intensive care, was devised before the rapid expansion of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic. To determine the applicability of the APACHE II system to AIDS, we related observed in-hospital death rates to those predicted by APACHE II in S3 patients with AIDS. In a control group of patients without AIDS (n = 166) mean predicted and observed death rates (34.1 vs 31.3 percent) were similar. For the AIDS group overall observed mortality (63.9 percent) was significantly greater than that predicted by APACHE II (45.8 percent). The subgroup with Pneumocystis pneumonia requiring mechanical ventilation (n=37) had an observed mortality (86.5 percent) that significantly exceeded the predicted value (44.3 percent), whereas all other AIDS patients (n = 46) showed similar predicted and observed death rates (47.0 vs 45.7 percent). APACHE II prediction of death rate also matched observed mortality in mechanically ventilated patients without Pneumocystis infection. The discrepancy between predicted and observed mortality in patients with Pneumocystis pneumonia requiring mechanical ventilation is most likely due to the lack of an APACHE II diagnostic category that accurately reflects the severity of this disease. A new diagnostic category that provides accurate outcome prediction in this patient group would form a basis for evaluation of new therapeutic interventions.