cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Beliefs Regarding Development and Early Intervention Among Low-Income African American and Hispanic Mothers.

OBJECTIVES: Understand the role of health beliefs in shaping maternal decisions regarding help-seeking for children with developmental delay (DD) and explore differences between African American and Hispanic mothers. METHODS: Open-ended, semistructured interviews were conducted with African American and Hispanic mothers of children aged 0 to 36 months with DD. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed by using inductive content analysis. RESULTS: Mothers ( n = 22) were African American (36%) or Hispanic (64%), 25 to 34 years old (64%), had less than a high school education (59%), and had children receiving public insurance (95%). Five major themes emerged describing the role of maternal health beliefs in shaping key stages of the help-seeking pathway for children with DD: (1) “I can see” (observing other children and making comparisons); (2) “Children are different and develop in their own time” (perceiving that their child might be different, but not necessarily delayed); (3) “It’s not that I don’t trust the doctor” (relying on social networks rather than pediatricians to inform the help-seeking pathway); (4) “I got so much going on” (difficulty prioritizing early intervention [EI] because of competing stressors); and (5) limited and conflicting information (delaying or forgoing EI because of limited or conflicting information). Differences between African American and Hispanic mothers are also described. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding maternal health beliefs and expectations regarding DD and EI, acknowledging the influence of social networks on help-seeking, and addressing social and financial stressors are critical to ensuring that children with DD are identified and supported at an early age.
MaSS-Simulator: A highly configurable MS/MS simulator for generating test datasets for big data algorithms

Mass Spectrometry (MS) based proteomics has become an essential tool in the study of proteins. The big data from MS machines has led to the development of novel serial and parallel algorithmic tools. However, the absence of data benchmarks and ground truth makes the algorithmic integrity testing and reproducibility a challenging problem. To this end, we present MaSS-Simulator, which is an easy to use simulator and can be configured to generate MS/MS datasets for a wide variety of conditions with known ground truths. MaSS-Simulator offers a large number of configuration options to simulate control datasets with desired properties thus enabling rigorous and large scale algorithmic testing. We assessed 8,031 spectra generated by MaSS-Simulator by comparing them against the experimentally generated spectra of same peptides. Our results showed that MaSS-Simulator generated spectra were very close to the real-experimental spectra and had a relative-error distribution centered around 25%. In contrast the theoretical spectra for same peptides had relative-error distribution centered around 150%. Source code, executables and a user manual can be downloaded from https://github.com/pcdslab/MaSS-Simulator
Resilient Design and Operations of Chemical Process Systems

Abstract Resilience in response to disruption events is critical to the economic performance of process systems, but this concept has received limited attention in the literature. We propose a general framework for resilience optimization to incorporate an improved quantitative measure of resilience and a comprehensive set of resilience enhancement strategies for process design and operations. The proposed framework identifies a set of disruptive events for a given system, and then formulates a multiobjective two-stage adaptive robust mixed-integer fractional programming model to optimize the resilience and economic objectives simultaneously. The model accounts for network configuration, equipment capacities, and capital costs in the first stage, and the number of available processes and operating levels in each time period in the second stage. A tailored solution algorithm is developed to tackle the computational challenge of the resulting multi-level optimization problem. We demonstrate the applicability of the proposed framework through applications on a shale gas processing system.
Food Security and Adaptation to Climate Change: What Do We Know?

The potential for agricultural systems to adapt to climate change is at once both promising and poorly understood. This chapter reviews possible producer and consumer responses to a changing climate, the ability of these responses to offset otherwise negative impacts on food security, and the role of public and private institutions in investing in adaptation where individual responses are insufficient. Accumulated evidence suggests that wealthier societies and households will be better able to adapt to a changing climate because of their greater availability of alternatives and their ability to take advantage of them. Accordingly, investments that improve options for the poor, such as improved agricultural production technologies, financial instruments, and off-farm income opportunities, will likely be critical for adapting food security to a changing climate.
Section 8's Failure to Integrate: The Interaction of Class-Based and Racial Discrimination

In his book, As Long as They Don't Move Next Door, Stephen Grant Meyer examines the history of housing segregation in the United States. He asserts that, while African Americans have made great advancements toward equal citizenship, the continued tendency of VVhites and African Americans to live in separate neighborhoods remains a significant impediment to improving race relations in the United States. Meyer concludes that the negative perception many Whites have of African Americans is responsible for the lack of integration found in America's neighborhoods. This Book Review takes Meyer's analysis a step further and argues that in order to promote long-term change in neighborhood integration, it is also necessary to address the underlying class-based fears, grounded in the protection of their property, that cause many white Americans to discriminate against
Introduction to Assessing Properties of Conventional and Specialized Materials

The basic properties of materials play a dominant role in their processing. It is important not only to obtain quantitative values for the behavioral properties of a given material during a process, but also to understand how the properties were measured. The goal of this volume of the work is to provide pertinent information on how some important material properties are measured, as well as to provide a degree of insight into some developing (i.e., specialized) materials so that manufacturing engineers can begin to meet the challenges of industrial production by taking advantage of the unique properties for these emerging materials.
Monoclonal Antibodies in the Study of Mammary Development and Neoplasia

We discuss briefly the general characteristics of the monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) useful for identifying cell types in the mammary gland, and the problem of cross-reactivity. We discuss the cell types recognized in the rat mammary gland by MoAbs and polyclonal sera and their possible connections in two separate lineages, lumenal and basal-myoepithelial. Emphasis is given to the identification of stem cells present in the end buds. On the basis of marker distribution the very early ducts are made up of stem cells. Stem cells are not present only in end buds. Transplantation experiments show that they are also present in ducts, where they can be identified by marker distribution. There is some evidence that in addition to these pluripotent stem cells, there is a second type, committed to producing ducts and alveoli. We have studied the distribution of the markers in rat mammary cancers induced by NMU. They show that cancers derive from stem cells, but it cannot be decided which kind. Even in cancers with relatively typical mammary organization, the expression of the markers is irregular. Transplanted cancers are much more abnormal. They express Thy-1, which is also expressed by cells of early ducts. This suggests that cancer progesssion follows backwards the developmental pathway. We also describe two MoAbs with considerable specificity for human breast cancer of possible clinical usefulness.
Pharmacotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) increasingly is being recognized as common, often chronic, and requiring a multidimensional treatment approach. Psychopharmacologic treatment is valuable both as a primary modality and also as an integral part of a combined approach using individual, group, or family therapy. Increasingly, medication treatment is based on a growing understanding of the biology of PTSD, although treatment recommendations continue to be dependent primarily on controlled studies with clinical populations. Although scientific data are incomplete, it is possible to make sensible recommendations both as to specific agents likely to be useful in a given patient as well as to the course and duration of treatment.
DeskTop: a design guideline to creating a multi-touch desk prototype

In many multi-touch tables, a projector is used to project an image onto the surface and a camera is used to detect user touches. The optical paths for both the camera and projector limits the physical design of multitouch tables. Our research focuses on the creation of a multi-touch desk that improves on the physical design of past multi-touch tables by using a combination of multiple cameras and a liquid crystal display to create a physical design that is ergonomic, mobile, collaborative/scalable and simplistic in design.
On Lattice Path Counting and the Random Product Representation, with Applications to the E r /M/1 Queue and the M/E r /1 Queue

We explain how lattice-path counting techniques can be used in conjunction with the random-product representations from Buckingham and Fralix (Markov Process Related Field 21:339–368 2015) to study both the stationary and time-dependent behavior of Markovian queueing systems, and continuous-time Markov chains in general. We illustrate how the approach works by applying it to both the Er/M/1 queue, and the M/Er/1 queue. Interestingly, through this approach we show that the stationary distributions, as well as the Laplace transforms of the transition functions associated with both the Er/M/1 queue and the M/Er/1 queue, can be expressed explicitly in terms of generalized binomial series from Chapter 5 of the text Concrete Mathematics of Graham, Knuth, and Patashnik.
Uncovering Consciousness in Unresponsive ICU Patients: Technical, Medical and Ethical Considerations.

Over a decade ago, researchers published the first case of a patient who had been clinically unresponsive for years after traumatic brain injury (TBI) and demonstrated command following using motor imagery paradigms visualized by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) [1]. The term “cognitive motor dissociation” is gaining popularity to describe this scenario of an inability to behaviorally express preserved cognitive processes [2]. Alternative labels are covert or hidden consciousness and functional locked-in syndrome [3] (see Table 34.1). A flurry of subsequent studies using fMRI and functional electroencephalogram (fEEG) approaches explored the boundaries of human consciousness following brain injury. This growing body of knowledge is now being discussed in the lay press and is starting to affect clinical medicine, challenging the classical taxonomy of disorders of consciousness ([4] see Table 34.1). Until very recently, researchers have focused their attention on patients suffering from chronic disorders of consciousness and have generated estimates of cognitive motor dissociation of around 15% using convenience samples of these patients [5]. Detection of cognitive motor dissociation in the acute phase of brain injury may have prognostic significance as these patients are more likely to also recover behavioral command following and have better long-term functional outcomes.
Survey of Suspended Solids in Irrigation Water of Ornamental Plant Nurseries and Effects of Filtration

AbstractThe objectives of this study are to (1) characterize the consistency of laser diffraction (LD) and automated dynamic image analysis (DIA) instruments in estimating the size of suspended pea...
Getting the Food List “Right”: Leveraging Household Consumption and Expenditure Surveys for Food Security and Nutrition

BackgroundThere is growing interest in leveraging the consumption data collected in Household Consumption and Expenditure Surveys (HCES) to inform food and nutrition policies. However many HCES foo...
Peano Curves in Complex Analysis

A Peano curve is a continuous function from the unit interval into the plane whose image contains a nonempty open set. In this note, we show how such space-filling curves arise naturally from Cauch...
Pyoderma gangrenosum underrepresentation in non-dermatological literature.

BACKGROUND Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is a chronic, ulcerative neutrophilic dermatosis. PG presents a diagnostic challenge, largely due to the many mimicking diseases, the lack of confirmatory laboratory or biological markers, and the absence of widely accepted diagnostic criteria. In particular, PG is often mistaken for necrotizing soft tissue infections (NSTI). METHODS We reviewed four major textbooks each in general surgery, plastic surgery, trauma surgery, vascular surgery, emergency medicine, and dermatology. We also performed a search of review articles addressing NSTI and necrotizing fasciitis (NF). RESULTS Ten out of the 20 non-dermatology textbooks did not list PG anywhere, and only two listed a differential diagnosis for PG. None of the non-dermatology textbooks indicated PG in the NSTI differential diagnosis, while three of the dermatology textbooks included PG in the NSTI differential diagnosis. PG was listed in all of the dermatology textbooks. Only one of the NSTI and NF articles mentioned PG in the differential diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS There is an underrepresentation in major textbooks of surgery and emergency medicine and in NSTI and NF review articles when it comes to diagnosing PG. This might be leading to trainees and advanced providers in these fields being uninstructed on PG, and likely contributes to PG misdiagnosis and mismanagement. We recommend PG be included in the differential diagnosis of chronic ulcers and NSTI in non-dermatology textbooks. We also suggest adding identification and diagnosis of inflammatory mimickers of NSTI (e.g. PG) in teaching modules in surgical and emergency specialties to address this knowledge gap.
Is or ought? Reactions to violations help children to distinguish norms and regularities

Abstract Humans have a natural tendency to treat regularities (what people often do) as norms (what people ought to do). This tendency to move from is to ought introduces bias into our social reasoning because nonconformity to regularities is treated as wrong rather than uncommon. How then can children distinguish norms and regularities? This study investigated whether children use others’ distinct reactions to violations of norms and regularities to distinguish the two. Children (103 4- to 8-year-olds) observed a group of demonstrators consistently use one pathway of a novel apparatus, establishing it as the conforming pathway. Then, an additional demonstrator used an alternative (i.e., violating) pathway while bystanders reacted to the violation. In the Norm condition (n = 48) bystanders were visibly irritated and disapproving of the violation, whereas in the Regularity condition (n = 55) bystanders were surprised or confused but ultimately accepting of the violation. Children then completed three tasks in which they used the apparatus themselves, observed a puppet using the violating pathway, and evaluated the wrongness of using the violating pathway on a Likert scale. Children used the conforming pathway more often in the Norm condition than in the Regularity condition, disapproved of violations more in the Norm condition than in the Regularity condition, and rated violations as more impermissible in the Norm condition than in the Regularity condition. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that children use others’ reactions when distinguishing norms and regularities.
EC comics: race, shock, & social protest: by Qiana Whitted, New Brunswick, NJ, Rutgers University Press, 2019, 175 pp., $99.95 (cloth), $29.95 (paperback), ISBN: 978-0-8135-6632-0

The comics of the 1950’s were a reactionary sort. The popularity of the superhero had gone into hibernation, the world was fresh off the brink of near destruction with the end of WWII, and social a...
Correction to: Water–food–energy–climate nexus and technology productivity: a Nigerian case study of organic leafy vegetable production

In the original publication of the article, the fourth author name was published incorrectly using a moniker/nickname.
Wearable Devices Suitable for Monitoring Twenty Four Hour Heart Rate Variability in Military Populations

Heart rate variability (HRV) measurements provide information on the autonomic nervous system and the balance between parasympathetic and sympathetic activity. A high HRV can be advantageous, reflecting the ability of the autonomic nervous system to adapt, whereas a low HRV can be indicative of fatigue, overtraining or health issues. There has been a surge in wearable devices that claim to measure HRV. Some of these include spot measurements, whilst others only record during periods of rest and/or sleep. Few are capable of continuously measuring HRV (≥24 h). We undertook a narrative review of the literature with the aim to determine which currently available wearable devices are capable of measuring continuous, precise HRV measures. The review also aims to evaluate which devices would be suitable in a field setting specific to military populations. The Polar H10 appears to be the most accurate wearable device when compared to criterion measures and even appears to supersede traditional methods during exercise. However, currently, the H10 must be paired with a watch to enable the raw data to be extracted for HRV analysis if users need to avoid using an app (for security or data ownership reasons) which incurs additional cost.
Identification and Characterization of Chemical Compounds that Inhibit Leucyl-tRNA Synthetase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Background Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic multi-drug resistance pathogen implicated as the causative agent in a high-percentage of nosocomial and community acquired bacterial infections. The gene encoding leucyl-tRNA synthetase (LeuRS) from P. aeruginosa was overexpressed in Escherichia coli and the resulting protein was characterized. Methods LeuRS was kinetically evaluated and the KM values for interactions with leucine, ATP and tRNA were 6.5, 330, and 3.0 μM, respectively. LeuRS was developed into a screening platform using scintillation proximity assay (SPA) technology and used to screen over 2000 synthetic and natural chemical compounds. Results The initial screen resulted in the identification of two inhibitory compounds, BT03C09 and BT03E07. IC50s against LeuRS observed for BT03C09 and BT03E07 were 23 and 15 μM, respectively. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) were determined against nine clinically relevant bacterial strains. In time-kill kinetic analysis, BT03C09 was observed to inhibit bacterial growth in a bacteriostatic manner, while BT03E07 acted as a bactericidal agent. Neither compound competed with leucine or ATP for binding LeuRS. Limited inhibition was observed in aminoacylation assays with the human mitochondrial form of LeuRS, however when tested in cultures of human cell line, BT03C09 was toxic at all concentration whereas BT03E07 only showed toxic effects at elevated concentrations. Conclusion Two compounds were identified as inhibitors of LeuRS in a screen of over 2000 natural and synthetic compounds. After characterization one compound (BT03E07) exhibited broad spectrum antibacterial activity while maintaining low toxicity against human mitochondrial LeuRS as well as against human cell cultures.
Drug resistance in diploid yeast is acquired through dominant alleles, haploinsufficiency, gene duplication and aneuploidy

Previous studies of adaptation to the glucose analog, 2-deoxyglucose, by Saccharomyces cerevisiae have utilized haploid cells. In this study, diploid cells were used in the hope of identifying the distinct genetic mechanisms used by diploid cells to acquire drug resistance. While haploid cells acquire resistance to 2-deoxyglucose primarily through recessive alleles in specific genes, diploid cells acquire resistance through dominant alleles, haploinsufficiency, gene duplication and aneuploidy. Dominant-acting, missense alleles in all three subunits of yeast AMP-activated protein kinase confer resistance to 2-deoxyglucose. Dominant-acting, nonsense alleles in the REG1 gene, which encodes a negative regulator of AMP-activated protein kinase, confer 2-deoxyglucose resistance through haploinsufficiency. Most of the resistant strains isolated in this study achieved resistance through aneuploidy. Cells with a monosomy of chromosome 4 are resistant to 2-deoxyglucose. While this genetic strategy comes with a severe fitness cost, it has the advantage of being readily reversible when 2-deoxyglucose selection is lifted. Increased expression of the two DOG phosphatase genes on chromosome 8 confers resistance and was achieved through trisomies and tetrasomies of that chromosome. Finally, resistance was also mediated by increased expression of hexose transporters, achieved by duplication of a 117 kb region of chromosome 4 that included the HXT3, HXT6 and HXT7 genes. The frequent use of aneuploidy as a genetic strategy for drug resistance in diploid yeast and human tumors may be in part due to its potential for reversibility when selection pressure shifts.
Is EGJOO a Purely Manometric Diagnosis

The diagnosis of esophagogastric outlet obstruction (EGJOO) includes a heterogenous group of disorders with a wide variation in clinical course ranging from spontaneous resolution to achalasia. EGJ...
Dynamic Shear Moduli for Dry Sands

Using the Torsional Simple Shear Device, the writers investigated the relationship between the equivalent dynamic shear moduli, G sub eg and shear strain gamma for Ottawa sand, Del Monte sand, Golden Gardens, and Seward Park sands. Based on their experimental findings, the writers propose two equations relating shear moduli to shear strain (below and above 0.03%) as a function of the soil angle of internal friction phi and the effective confining pressure sigma sub c. Also, a relationship is proposed that considers the effects of the number of stress cycles on equivalent shear moduli. A nomograph is proposed to assist in the easy determination of equivalent shear moduli for sands. A comparison is made between the writers' findings and the results of previous researchers. /ASCE/
Extracranial-Intracranial Bypass Surgery

This chapter discusses the extracranial–intracranial bypass surgery. There are different types of “bypass” that can be from any donor branch in the neck or bases of skull to any recipient vessel in the intracranial cavity. The complications of bypass include ischemic damage to the brain occurring during the time of construction of the graft, which can take from 1/2 h to more than 1 h depending on the complexity of the situation. Most neurosurgeons with experience in the area feel that bypass procedures are sometimes indicated in the treatment of Moya moya disease if there are donor and recipient cortical arteries of sufficient caliber. Some form of bypass should also continue to be seriously considered for any patient who is immediately intolerant of deliberate proximal vessel occlusion in the treatment of an aneurysm. It should be remembered that the flow through a recent superficial temporal to the middle cerebral artery bypass is probably only one-third or one-quarter of the flow through a normal middle cerebral artery. This may be the principal explanations for the failure of the extracranial–intracranial bypass study to demonstrate benefit from surgery.
Non-blocking PMI extensions for fast MPI startup

An efficient implementation of the Process Management Interface (PMI) is crucial to enable fast start-up of MPI jobs. We propose three extensions to the PMI specification: 1) a blocking all gather collective (PMIX_Allgather), 2) a non-blocking all gather collective (PMIX_Iallgather), and 3) a non-blocking fence (PMIX_KVS_Ifence). We design and evaluate several PMI implementations to demonstrate how such extensions reduce MPI start-up cost. In particular, when sufficient work can be overlapped, these extensions allow for a constant initialization cost of MPI jobs at different core counts. At 16,384 cores, the designs lead to a speedup of 2.88 times over the state-of-the-art start-up schemes.
High-intensity exercise of short duration alters bovine bone density and shape

The ability of short-duration high-intensity exercise to stimulate bone formation in confinement was investigated using immature Holstein bull calves as a model. Eighteen bull calves, 8 wk of age, were assigned to one of three treatment groups: 1) group-housed (GR, which served as a control), 2) confined with no exercise (CF), or 3) confined with exercise (EX). The exercise protocol consisted of running 50 m on a concrete surface once daily, 5 d/wk. Confined calves remained stalled for the 42-d duration of the trial. Blood samples were taken to analyze concentrations of osteocalcin and deoxypyridinoline, markers of bone formation and resorption. At the completion of the trial, calves were humanely killed, and both forelegs were collected. The fused third and fourth metacarpal bone was scanned using computed tomography for determination of cross-sectional geometry and bone mineral density. Three-point bending tests to failure were performed on metacarpal bones. The exercise protocol resulted in the formation of a rounder bone in EX as well as in increased dorsal cortex thickness compared with those in the GR and CF. The exercised calves had a significantly smaller medullary cavity than CF and GR (P < 0.01) and a larger percentage of cortical bone area than CF (P < 0.01). Dorsal, palmar, and total bone mineral density was greater in EX than in CF (P < 0.05), and palmar and total bone mineral densities were greater (P < 0.05) in EX than in GR. There was a trend for the bones of EX to have a higher fracture force than CF (P < 0.10). Osteocalcin concentrations normalized from d 0 were higher in EX than CF (P < 0.05). Therefore, the exercise protocol altered bone shape and seemed to increase bone formation comparison with the stalled and group-housed calves.
Characterization of mutations in the b subunit of F1F0 ATP synthase in Escherichia coli.

Abstract Site-directed mutagenesis was used to investigate the restrictions on Ala-79 of the b subunit in F1F0 adenosine triphosphate synthase. This amino acid had been previously identified as particularly sensitive to mutation (McCormick, K. A., and Cain, B. D. (1991) J. Bacteriol. 173, 7240-7248). Mutant uncF (b) genes were placed under control of the lac promoter and monitored for F1F0 ATP synthase function in an uncF(b) deletion strain. Three deleterious bAla-79 mutations were moved to the unc operon in the chromosome by homologous recombination. Decreases in enzymatic activity in the uncF (b) mutant strains resulted from reduced amounts of enzyme. With the exception of the bAla-79-->Pro mutation, high expression of mutant uncF (b) genes resulted in increases in F1F0 ATP synthase activity which were sufficient to overcome the defects. In addition to the decrease in the amount of enzyme, the bAla-79-->Lys mutation affected ATP synthesis to a much greater extent than ATP-driven proton translocation. The evidence supports our earlier hypothesis, in which bAla-79 was proposed to play an important, but not essential, structural role in F1F0 ATP synthase assembly or stability.
Enhancement of neutrophil function by granulocyte-macrophage colony- stimulating factor involves recruitment of a less responsive subpopulation

Human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) enhances numerous functions of mature neutrophils (PMN) including phagocytosis, superoxide responses to chemotaxins, antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity, and expression of complement receptors. A central question concerns whether the mechanism of enhancement involves quantitative increases in the response of all cells v subpopulation recruitment. The effects of GM-CSF on individual cell light scatter changes, membrane potential, and oxidant responses induced by the chemoattractant N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP) were assessed by flow cytometry and by scoring individual cells for nitroblue tetrazolium dye (NBT) reduction. GM-CSF produced a dose- and time-dependent shift in forward light scatter that was very similar in character to that seen with FMLP or leukotriene B4 stimulation. Although not capable of depolarizing the cells directly, GM-CSF primed PMNs for enhanced membrane potential responses to FMLP by significantly increasing the proportion of depolarizing cells when compared with diluent-treated controls after a 60-minute incubation at 37 degrees C (79.4% +/- 3.4% v 29.5% +/- 4.7% GM-CSF v diluent, mean +/- SE, P less than .005, n = 11). Subpopulation recruitment by GM-CSF treatment was also demonstrated by the FMLP-elicited NBT test. Taken together, these results indicate that GM-CSF can modulate the function of mature PMN by enhancing the proportion of responsive cells.
Plasma cholecystokinin is associated with subjective measures of satiety in women

Background Cholecystokinin is associated with satiety. Fat stimulates cholecystokinin release, and fiber appears to prolong cholecystokinin elevation during the alimentary period. Objective We tested whether adding fiber or fat to a low-fat, low-fiber meal increases cholecystokinin release and enhances subjective measures of satiety and whether the cholecystokinin response correlates with subjective measures of satiety. Design Three isoenergetic breakfast meals were tested in a randomized crossover design: low fiber, low fat; high fiber, low fat; and low fiber, high fat. Blood samples were drawn from fasted subjects (7 men and 8 women) before and at different time points after test meal consumption for 6 h. Plasma was analyzed for cholecystokinin, insulin, glucose, and triacylglycerols. Visual analogue scales were used to assess subjects' hunger, desire to eat, fullness, and prospective consumption. Results In the women, the meals higher in fiber or in fat resulted in greater feelings of satiety and in significantly higher cholecystokinin responses than did the low-fat, low-fiber meal. In the men, the increase in cholecystokinin concentration did not differ between meals, but the 2 low-fat meals elicited a greater feeling of satiety than did the high-fat meal. The insulin response was significantly higher for the low-fiber, low-fat meal than for the other 2 meals, and the triacylglycerol response was greatest for the high-fat, low-fiber meal. Conclusion In women, the feeling of satiety caused by cholecystokinin release is enhanced by increasing either the fiber or fat content of a low-fat, low-fiber meal.
China's children of smoke.

The article presents information on an environmental molecular epidemiological study conducted in Tongliang, China, which indicated that children born in the city in 2002, when a large coal-fired power plant was still operating, have smaller heads, lower scores on developmental tests and higher levels of pollution-related genetic abnormalities than those born a year after the plant closed. INSETS: DEVELOPMENTAL DELAYS;WHAT'S NEXT;MUTING GENES.
Excess Podocyte Semaphorin-3A Leads to Glomerular Disease Involving PlexinA1–Nephrin Interaction

Semaphorin-3A (Sema3a), a guidance protein secreted by podocytes, is essential for normal kidney patterning and glomerular filtration barrier development. Here, we report that podocyte-specific Sema3a gain-of-function in adult mice leads to proteinuric glomerular disease involving the three layers of the glomerular filtration barrier. Reversibility of the glomerular phenotype upon removal of the transgene induction provided proof-of-principle of the cause-and-effect relationship between podocyte Sema3a excess and glomerular disease. Mechanistically, excess Sema3a induces dysregulation of nephrin, matrix metalloproteinase 9, and αvβ3 integrin in vivo . Sema3a cell-autonomously disrupts podocyte shape. We identified a novel direct interaction between the Sema3a signaling receptor plexinA 1 and nephrin, linking extracellular Sema3a signals to the slit-diaphragm signaling complex. We conclude that Sema3a functions as an extracellular negative regulator of the structure and function of the glomerular filtration barrier in the adult kidney. Our findings demonstrate a crosstalk between Sema3a and nephrin signaling pathways that is functionally relevant both in vivo and in vitro .
Crystallization of polyethylene from o‐xylene

The upper limit of platelike growth of polyethylene from a 0.1% solution by weight in o-xylene can be represented by the equation T′ = M × 103/(2.747M + 170.6). This equation was derived on kinetic and thermodynamic arguments. Dendritic growth occurs 8–10°C. below T′. Higher molecular weights give more irregular and more branched dendrites. The ratio of heterogeneously nucleated hedgehog dendrites is constant for any one preparation crystallized at different temperature. Polymethylene can crystallize in a different morphology above T′. Interference microscopy was used as a main tool in this research.
Inflammatory Cells and Mediators in Nasal Secretions during Early Response to Ragweed Challenge: Correlation between Type of Cellular Influx and Mediator Release

The early and late phase responses in nasal tissues exhibit release of lipid-derived mediators, granule-associated mediators, and a mixed cellular influx in separate nasal challenges. To explore this phenomenon further, concentrations of inflammatory mediators were measured along with characterization of cell influx during dose-dependent ragweed challenges. Ten allergic rhinitis subjects underwent two unilateral nasal lavages using incremental 3-fold concentrations of short ragweed antigen. Low doses of ragweed (0.016–0.114 units Amb a I) rarely induced cell influx (1/18 challenges), whereas moderate doses (0.432–1.3 units Amb a I) caused cell influxes in 7/18, and high doses (3.39–11.7 units Amb a I) resulted in cell influxes in 8/17. The eluent contained >50% neutrophils in 7 challenges; >50% eosinophils in 3; and a mixed pattern in 6. There was a significant association between the dose of antigen and the level of histamine, prostaglandin D2 (PGD2), and leukotriene C4/D4/E4 (LTC4/D4/E4). Challenges wit...
New twists in X-chromosome inactivation

Dosage compensation, the mechanism by which organisms equalize the relative gene expression of dimorphic sex chromosomes, requires action of a diverse range of epigenetic mechanisms. The mammalian form, 'named X-chromosome inactivation' (XCI), involves silencing of one X chromosome in the female cell and regulation by genes that make noncoding RNAs (ncRNA). With large-scale genomic and transcriptome studies pointing to a crucial role for noncoding elements in organizing the epigenome, XCI emerges as a major paradigm and a focus of active research worldwide. With more surprising twists, recent advances point to the significance of RNA-directed chromatin change, chromosomal trans-interactions, nuclear organization, and evolutionary change. These findings have impacted our understanding of general gene regulation and are discussed herein.
Afterloading and radium substitutes

Abstract The Heyman packing technique is the most useful intracavitary method of irradiating endometrial cancer. The main disadvantage of the classical Heyman technique is the unnecessary exposure of personnel to radiation. Substitution of radium by cesium-137 permits afterloading. The endometrial cavity can be packed with hollow tubes with bulbous ends dimensionally similar to Heyman applicators, but able to be afterloaded with miniaturized sources of cesium-137. Afterloading reduces exposure of personnel to radiation, allows more accurate placement of radioactive material, and permits better teaching of the procedure.
Photonic band mixing in linear chains of optically coupled microspheres.

The paper deals with optical excitations arising in a one-dimensional chain of identical spheres due to optical coupling of whispering gallery modes (WGM). The band structure of these excitations depends significantly on the intermixing between WGMs characterized by different values of angular quantum number, $l$. We develop a general theory of the photonic band structure of these excitations taking these effects into account and applied it to several cases of recent experimental interest. In the case of bands originating from WGMs with the angular quantum number of the same parity, the calculated dispersion laws are in good qualitative agreement with recent experiment results. Bands resulting from hybridization of excitations resulting from whispering gallery modes with different parity of $l$ exhibits anomalous dispersion properties characterized by a gap in the allowed values of wave numbers and divergence of group velocity.
Microscopic observation of a NAPL in a three-fluid-phase soil system

Abstract The focus of this study was to observe the location and form of a NAPL in a three-fluid-phase (air-NAPL-water) soil system utilizing an advanced microscopic technique, cryo-scanning electron microscopy (cryo-SEM) with X-ray analysis. A sandy aquifer material was brought to residual water (NaCl saturated) saturation (∼4% by pore volume) followed by NAPL (iodobenzene) saturation, ranging from ∼1% to 80%, using modified Tempe® pressure cells. A small intact soil core was obtained from the pressure cell and quickly frozen in liquid nitrogen. The core was fractured and chromium coated at a high vacuum and −130°C. Secondary electron images (SEI) and X-ray dot maps (Si, Cl and I) were made of samples with different NAPL saturations. Photomicrographs and X-ray dot maps confirmed the existence of continuous NAPL films on soil (containing a residual water saturation) at high NAPL saturations. Photomicrographs revealed v-shaped wedges, pendular rings and films on irregular shaped sand grains. At low NAPL saturations (∼1% by pore volume), iodine was virtually nondetectable in the overall X-ray analysis of the sample. This suggests that the small quantity of NAPL present in the sample probably existed as thin films or small isolated lenses or blobs.
Motion correction using coil arrays (MOCCA) for free-breathing cardiac cine MRI

In this study, we present a motion correction technique using coil arrays (MOCCA) and evaluate its application in free-breathing respiratory self-gated cine MRI. Motion correction technique using coil arrays takes advantages of the fact that motion-induced changes in k-space signal are modulated by individual coil sensitivity profiles. In the proposed implementation of motion correction technique using coil arrays self-gating for free-breathing cine MRI, the k-space center line is acquired at the beginning of each k-space segment for each cardiac cycle with 4 repetitions. For each k-space segment, the k-space center line acquired immediately before was used to select one of the 4 acquired repetitions to be included in the final self-gated cine image by calculating the cross correlation between the k-space center line with a reference line. The proposed method was tested on a cohort of healthy adult subjects for subjective image quality and objective blood-myocardium border sharpness. The method was also tested on a cohort of patients to compare the left and right ventricular volumes and ejection fraction measurements with that of standard breath-hold cine MRI. Our data indicate that the proposed motion correction technique using coil arrays method provides significantly improved image quality and sharpness compared with free-breathing cine without respiratory self-gating and provides similar volume measurements compared with breath-hold cine MRI.
Networks of venture capital firms in Silicon Valley

By comparing the network structure of venture capital (VC) firms in Silicon Valley (California) to that of VC firms in Route 128 (Massachusetts), the present study challenges any market-centred theory of regional development. I show that there are advantages in examining the structure of social networks of cooperation within the venture capital industry to understand the level of development of a region. I support two distinctive propositions regarding the regional advantage of Silicon Valley over other US hightechnology regions such as Route 128. First, collaboration among VC firms in Silicon Valley is more pronounced and dense than in Route 128. Second, the number of investments and amount of money invested by VCs in Silicon Valley staying local are much higher than the number of investments and moneys invested locally by Route 128 VC firms. I argue that historical development as well as the particular structure of the social networks in Silicon Valley is precisely what has fostered relatively higher growth and development of the region compared to many other regions of the world.
ACORN's Accelerated Income Redistribution Project: A Program Evaluation

Objective: This study evaluated the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now’s (ACORN) efforts to increase the uptake of families claiming the earned income tax credit through door-to-door canvassing and managing free tax preparation clinics in three pilot cities. Method: The mixed-method program evaluation included administrative record review, a telephone survey (N = 1,063), and individual and focus group interviews. Results: During the 2003 tax year, ACORN prepared taxes at no charge for 3,850 families who collected a total of $4 million in earned income tax credit and other tax credits. In two pilot cities, ACORN led all other free sites in number of returns filed. Canvassing and word of mouth were the most productive marketing tools for the free tax preparation sites. Conclusions: Canvassing appears to be effective outreach in getting families to take advantage of free tax preparation. ACORN’s approach to combining services and direct action organizing appears to be a good fit and sustainable.
A Novel Fault Localization Technique Based on Deconvolution and Calibration of Power Pad Transients Signals

This paper describes a new fault localization method that is based on the analysis of power supply transient signals. Impulse response functions derived from the power grid are used to de-construct the measured power port transient signals into a set of gate level transients generated by the logic gates as signals propagate along paths in the circuit. By comparing these gate transients with those obtained from a defect-free chip or simulation model, it is possible to identify anomalies produced by defects and to locate them to specific path segments in the layout. Impulse response functions are used to significantly reduce both the attenuation effects of the power grid on the gate-generated transients and the chip-to-chip impedance variations in the power grid and test environment. Non-linear calibration techniques are proposed to reduce the chip-to-chip variations in path delays introduced by process variations. The procedure is demonstrated using simulation experiments to locate the position of defects to one or a small group of gates.
Lateral Packing of the Pancreatic Lipase Cofactor, Colipase, with Phosphatidylcholine and Substrates†

The interaction of the pancreatic lipase cofactor colipase with a diacylphosphatidylcholine, acylglycerols, and free fatty acid was investigated by monitoring its adsorption to monomolecular lipid films. Surface pressure and colipase surface concentration were measured as a function of the initial lipid concentration and composition. Colipase adsorbs to a level of 28−30 pmol/cm2 to form a close-packed monolayer of protein and interacts strongly with all lipids when the lipid chain:colipase ratio is ≤3. Consideration of the size difference between the protein and acyl groups suggests that in this regime the lipid is occupying the voids between tightly packed protein molecules. At lipid chain:colipase ratios >3, the triacylglycerol is excluded from the monolayer phase. Phosphatidylcholine, diacylglycerols, and free fatty acid remain in the monolayer phase up to ≤25 lipid chain:colipase ratios. Geometrically over this range of compositions, the colipase molecules should be separated by up to 0−2 acyl chains....
BTB Readers Guide: Kinship

The social domain of kinship covers a broad range of institutions: genealogy and descent, marriage and divorce, and dowry-systems and inheritance. Because kinship in the ancient Mediterranean impacted virtually every part of life and every other social domain, it is fundamental for readers of the Bible to have a solid grasp of how kinship functioned in these cultures. While one might assume that "family" is a straightforward concept determined by biology, it is, in fact, a social construction. Kinship studies provide analytical frameworks within which to interpret the biblical texts that assume the reader's knowledge of kinship transactions. This "Reader's Guide" introduces the secondary literature most helpful in beginning kinship analysis of these biblical texts.
A closer look of the HECTic ubiquitin ligases

In comparison with previous studies, a new crystal structure of a HECT ubiquitin ligase catalytic domain has revealed the structural basis of the conformational flexibility of the enzyme and provides insights into the mechanism underlying the ubiquitin transfer reaction in the polyubiquitination pathway.
An Administrative Perspective Of A Two-Way Bilingual Immersion Program

Abstract This article is an interview of a female Hispanic administrator who has successfully lead the implementation of both a 50/50 and a 90/10 two-way bilingual immersion model in a predominantly Hispanic community in an urban setting. The interview was conducted at the beginning of the fifth and last year of the State Department of Education pilot. Through the interview, the administrator candidly shares her perspective on crucial questions about the implementation of the program. Included in the discussion is information on how the program came about and challenges encountered, as well as the resources and support available for such an endeavor. The administrator’s leadership style is then analyzed and described utilizing Blackmore’s (1989) leadership model of leadership from a feminist perspective.
The Quest of the Mysterious Engine

More than a quarter of a century ago I published an article with the not very imaginative title “Milton's Two-Handed Engine.“1 I began with the now standard statement of the importance of the image and a list of several earlier interpretations, and set down nine conditions which it seemed to me the “engine” must meet in order to satisfy the demands of the poem itself as to meaning and propriety. I ended with my own suggestion that the engine was the lock on the door to Heaven, to which St. Peter carries the keys. Professor Merritt Hughes gave me credit for having turned attention from earthly instruments (such as the two houses of Parliament, etc.) “to the now prevailing tendency to interpret it theologically.” But (unintentionally I am sure) he misrepresented my interpretation by saying that the lock represented “the two sanctions of death and damnation.“2 Of course it should have been “salvation and damnation.“