cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The bovine immune response to tick-derived Babesia bovis infection: serological studies of isolated immunoglobulins.

Abstract A cryopreserved stabilate was prepared from Babesia bovis-infected Boophilus microplus ticks. The stabilate was used to infect a group of mature Bos taurus—Bos indicus cows. The survivors of the initial infection were rechallenged with the homologous stabilate 65 days later. All cows reacted parasitologically after primary challenge, and most responded serologically. With the exception of two cows, those not responding serologically died of acute babesiosis. The two that survived the primary challenge, but did not produce detectable antibody, died after secondary challenge. All serologically-positive cows survived the secondary challenge. Complement fixation and indirect fluorescent antibody tests were performed on all cow's sera and, in addition, immunoglobulin fractions were prepared and analyzed from selected sera. Both IgM and IgGl were important in the initial response. A secondart IgM response was noted by complement fixation assays. No activity was detected in any IgG2 fraction.
Collectins: pattern recognition molecules involved in first line host defense

A group of chimeric molecules comprising globular heads, which contain the carbohydrate recognition domain, and collagen tails are defined as collectins. The mannose-binding proteins, pulmonary surfactant apoproteins A and D and conglutinin all qualify as members of this family, whose function appears to be as pattern recognition molecules involved in the first line of defense in the pre-immune host.
Dimensionality crossover of spin-orbit scattering observed via localization effects

In the temperature range 1.3–50 K, ultrathin films of Pd/Pd2Si (6–55 A) show a positive, anisotropic magnetoresistance which is logarithmic in field at high magnetic fields, characteristic of two-dimensional localization with strong (three-dimensional) spin-orbit scattering. At lower temperatures, the magnetoresistance saturates to a field-independent value. We interpret this change as due to a crossover of spin-orbit scattering from its bulk value to a form characteristic of a 2D film. The resulting magnetoresistance is consistent with the theoretical results of Hikami, Larkin and Nagaoka. Below ~0.5 K, our analysis is complicated by superconducting effects in the Pd2Si.
Dual-Purpose Bone Grafts Improve Healing and Reduce Infection

Objective:To determine if a dual-purpose bone graft can regenerate bone and reduce infection in highly contaminated bone critical size defects in rats.Methods:Biodegradable polyurethane (PUR) scaffolds were loaded with recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) and vancomycin (Vanc). The
Choice of violent vs nonviolent methods for suicide by immigrants.

Immigrants from seven nations who were living in Australia used violent vs nonviolent methods for suicide in a similar proportion to residents of their home nations although the association did not reach statistical significance.
The effect of staurosporine, a protein kinase inhibitor, on asialoglycoprotein receptor endocytosis

Receptor-mediated endocytosis via coated pits is modulated by the activity of protein kinases and protein phosphorylation. We examined the effects of the potent protein kinase inhibitor staurosporine (SSP) on endocytosis of the asialoglycoprotein (ASGP) receptor in HepG2 cells. Staurosporine caused a rapid (<2 min) inhibition of ligand internalization from the cell surface. In contrast the rate of receptor exocytosis from intracellular compartments to the cell surface was not altered (t12 = 8 min). This resulted in increased ASGP receptors at the plasma membrane (140% of control) while the total number of receptors per cell was unchanged. Receptor up-regulation was half-maximal at 30 nM SSP. At this concentration staurosporine also inhibited the internalization of iodinated transferrin by HepG2 cells and SK Hep-1 cells, another human hepatoma-derived cell line. Staurosporine was without effect on the non-receptor-mediated uptake of Lucifer yellow by pinocytosis. We investigated the possible involvement of protein kinase C in the inhibitory effects of staurosporine on receptor endocytosis. The active protein kinase C inhibitor H7 did not inhibit ASGP receptor internalization. Furthermore depletion of cellular protein kinase C by overnight incubation with 1 μM phorbol myristate acetate did not abrogate the SSP effect. Together these data suggest that the mechanism of SSP action is independent of the inhibition of protein kinase C. In conclusion staurosporine is a potent and rapid inhibitor of receptor trafficking which is specific for receptor internalization from the plasma membrane.
The occupation of funeral director: A research note on work orientations

Abstract Factor analysis of responses of funeral directors to work orientation items is interpreted first as specifying major orientational themes and second as to how well the theoretical value components of professionalism and a business orientation hold together empirically. The analysis revealed that the professionalism model as operationalized in this study has no single underlying dimension which would define this orientation. It is thus suggested that the meaning of professionalism be altered to refer only to involvement in the occupational structure and not include service and autonomy. The business orientation model, however, appears to be fairly well supported by the data.
Immunoprecipitation isolates multiple TSH receptor forms from human thyroid tissue.

Attempts to purify the thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor (TSHR) have been complicated by its susceptibility to proteolysis and its low level of expression in thyrocytes and many transfected cell...
Proactive interference in retention of nondiscriminative learning

Experiment 1 found considerable within-S recovery of an approach response previously extinguished by substitution of a quinine mixture for the initial incentive. Experiment 2 involved independent groups including controls that received only the quinine. Little change in behavior (forgetting) occurred over 60 min unless Ss had prior experience with the positive reinforcer.
Psychogenic Seizures: A Focused Clinical Review for the Emergency Medicine Practitioner

Psychogenic seizures sometimes mimic neurogenic seizures and may occur concomitantly. Unlike neurogenic seizures, psychogenic seizures do not have abnormal electrical discharges on electroencephalogram, and their presence generally reflects an underlying psychiatric disorder. No single clinical observation can definitively distinguish psychogenic from neurogenic seizures. Evidence in support of the diagnosis includes asynchronous extremity movements, rapid turning of the head from side to side, forward pelvic thrusting, out-of-phase limb movements, presence of a light reflex, and geotropic eye movements. Video electroencephalogram monitoring is a particularly valuable method of distinguishing psychogenic from neurogenic seizures. When the diagnosis is suspected by history, physical examination, maneuvers, and laboratory tests, and after the proper stabilization steps have been taken, the emergency medicine practitioner should consult a neurologist and a psychiatrist to assist in the patient's further evaluation and management. Although the diagnosis of psychogenic seizures cannot always be secured in the emergency department, identifying patients with this condition is important because it can obviate unnecessary pharmacologic interventions and help patients obtain proper psychiatric care.
From Intermediate Value Theorem To Chaos

Continuous functions of a single variable have been studied extensively for over 200 years. Great mathematicians such as Newton (1642-1727), Leibniz (1646-1716), and Euler (1707-1783) have left enduring monuments in this field. Their rich achievements (for example, Euler published 886 papers and books in his 76 years of life) now comprise the major part of the calculus with which every student of science and engineering is familiar. It is hard to believe that in such a field, ploughed and cultivated repeatedly by so many great masters, there is still some virgin land. In 1975, the article: "Period three implies chaos, was published in the American Mathematical Monthly by Li and Yorke. (Here, the word "period" is used in a different way from that seen in elementary mathematics. For example, period three means that there is a point xo such that f3(x0) =f(f(f(xO))) = x0, fk(Xo) 0 x0 for k = 1,2; in other words, the image of xo comes back to xo after three iterations.) In that article, Li and Yorke announced that a new theorem for continuous functions of a single variable was discovered. The theorem states that if a continuous function has period three, it must have period n for every positive integer n. Soon afterwards, it was found that Li and Yorke's theorem is only a special case of a remarkable theorem published a decade earlier by Soviet mathematician A. N. Sarkovskii, in a Ukrainian journal. Sarkovskii reordered the natural numbers and proved that if 1 <1 m (which means 1 is "less than" m in Sarkovskii's ordering) and if a function has period 1 then it must have period m. The number 3 is the "smallest" in Sarkovskii's ordering. So, obviously, period 3 implies all the other periods, and Li-Yorke's theorem was not a new one. However, it was in Li-Yorke's article that the new concept of chaos was first introduced into mathematics. People were surprised that iterations of even a very simple continuous function of a single variable can display extremely complicated chaotic behavior. The original proof of Sarkovskii's theorem is quite difficult. More recently, several authors have simplified the proof (see for example, [3, 5]), however, their proofs are still overly complicated. In this article, we introduce a proof that is based on the inteimnediate value theorem, accessible to readers with some knowledge of calculus.
Network Traffic Control in Cyber-Transportation Systems Accounting for User-Level Fairness

This research identifies the advantage of connected vehicle environment in cyber-transportation systems (CTS) and proposes control strategies that can yield benefits from system and user perspectives. Particularly, the focus is to minimize the total stopped delay at signalized intersections for the entire trip of a user. Further, we define and assess the notion of fairness from the user perspective. We develop and implement a vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I)-based signal controller within the framework of CTS. The test results from a network containing 15 signalized intersections show that the proposed fair queuing (FQ) algorithm performs better than the fixed control and real-time adaptive control in terms of both efficiency (system travel time) and fairness (minimizing the difference between maximum and mean intersection delay) across users.
3,3′-Disubstituted bipolar biphenyls as inhibitors of nuclear receptor coactivator binding

A series of bipolar biphenyl compounds was synthesized as proteomimetic analogs of the LXXLL penta-peptide motif responsible for the binding of coactivator proteins to the nuclear hormone receptor coactivator binding domain. These compounds were subjected to multiple in vitro assays to evaluate their effectiveness as competitive binding inhibitors. The results from this initial study indicate that these proteomimetics possess the ability to inhibit this protein-protein interaction.
Many-body effects on extended x-ray absorption fine structure amplitudes

Careful extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) measurements at various temperatures have been made on Pt, Cu, Mn${\mathrm{Cl}}_{2}$, Fe${\mathrm{Cl}}_{2}$, Co${\mathrm{Cl}}_{2}$, Ge, GaAs, ZnSe, and CuBr. Care was taken to minimize experimental errors in the measurements. The thermal variation in the disorder about the average shell distance was determined and found to agree well with calculation. Analysis of EXAFS data showed explicitly that the standard independent particle model formulation of the EXAFS equation is in error. The measurement can be accommodated by modifying the equation and adding many-body effects. The modifications consisted of adding the overlap factor ${S}_{0}^{2}$ which introduces a dependence on the type of center atom and subtracting from the path length of the photoelectron a term $\ensuremath{\Delta}$ in the exponential containing the mean free path $\ensuremath{\lambda}$. It is found that the atomic value of ${S}_{0}^{2}$ enters into EXAFS, that $\ensuremath{\lambda}$ varies significantly from material to material, and that $\ensuremath{\Delta}\ensuremath{\approx}{r}_{1}$, the distance to the first coordination shell of atoms. The new EXAFS equation containing many-body effects permits more accurate EXAFS structure determination when standards used for comparison do not closely approximate the unknown.
Joint SAR image compression and coherent change detection

Fine details revealed by synthetic aperture radar (SAR) coherent change detection (CCD), such as foot prints, require SAR imagery with both high resolution and precision. These large data requirements are at odds with the low bandwidths often available for SAR change detection systems such as those that utilize small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Here we investigate the interplay between SAR data compression and SAR CCD performance. As the data are compressed further, the ability to detect changes decreases. However, there is redundant information contained in SAR imagery that is not necessary for change detection, and removing it makes SAR compression possible. In this paper, we introduce a new model-based compression method that leverages the known distribution of SAR data for a compact storage, while improving change detection performance. We show experimentally that the CCD using the decompressed SAR pair after our proposed method not only yields significant improvement in change detection over the CCD using the decompressed SAR after block adaptive quantization (BAQ) method, but also over the CCD using the original SAR data. Experimental results are presented to show the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed algorithm for SAR compression and change detection.
Investigation of the relationship between gross tumor volume location and pneumonitis rates using a large clinical database of non-small-cell lung cancer patients

Purpose Studies have suggested that function may vary throughout the lung, and that patients who have tumors located in the base of the lung are more susceptible to radiation pneumonitis. The purpose of our study was to investigate the relationship between gross tumor volume (GTV) location and pneumonitis rates using a large clinical database of 547 patients with non–small-cell lung cancer. Methods and Materials The GTV centroids of all patients were mapped onto one common coordinate system, in which the boundaries of the coordinate system were defined by the extreme points of each individual patient lung. The data were qualitatively analyzed by graphing all centroids and displaying the data according to the presence of severe pneumonitis, tumor stage, and smoking status. The centroids were grouped according to superior–inferior segments, and the pneumonitis rates were analyzed. In addition, we incorporated the GTV centroid information into a Lyman–Kutcher–Burman normal tissue complication probability model and tested whether adding spatial information significantly improved the fit of the model. Results Of the 547 patients analyzed, 111 (20.3%) experienced severe radiation pneumonitis. The pneumonitis incidence rates were 16%, 23%, and 21% for the superior, middle, and inferior thirds of the lung, respectively. Qualitatively, the GTV centroids of nonsmokers were notably absent from the superior portion of the lung. In addition, the GTV centroids of patients who had Stage III and IV clinical staging were concentrated toward the medial edge of the lung. The comparison between the GTV centroid model and the conventional dose–volume model did not yield a statistically significant difference in model fit. Conclusions Lower pneumonitis rates were noted for the superior portion of the lung; however the differences were not statistically significant. For our patient cohort, incorporating GTV centroid information did not lead to a statistically significant improvement in the fit of the pneumonitis model.
A shear-free turbulent boundary layer

A simple wall-turbulence interaction has been studied experimentally. In the idealized model an infinite flat plate is suddenly inserted into a pre-existing field of homogeneous isotropic turbulence, and subsequent changes in the turbulence field examined. The experiment involved passing grid-produced turbulence over a wall moving at the mean speed. Mean velocity gradients vanish in both the model and experiment, and hence production of new turbulence is absent. This allowed the inhibiting effects of the wall to be studied separately. The growth of the ‘inhomogeneity layer’ into the impressed turbulence field and other statistical features of the turbulence were measured.
Cultural Perspectives of Academia: Toward a Model of Cultural Complexity

This chapter describes and analyzes studies of organizational culture in higher education through the perspectives of integration, differentiation, and fragmentation. Cultural analyses are reviewed that perceive culture as unitary at the organizational level-of-analysis, differentiated and conflict-driven, such as the cultures of academic disciplines and academic versus administrative subcultures, and cultural analyses that describe the ambiguity and enduring tensions within higher education organizations. These studies are compared to conceptualizations of colleges and universities as loosely-coupled systems, professional bureaucracies, and multiversities. Based on this literature review, a framework of cultural complexity is proposed. The implications of the framework and perspectives are explored, including whether better knowledge is a result of interdisciplinary scholarship, differentiated inquiry, or the pervasiveness of ambiguity and unclear goals.
Ordinal Preference Games: An Analysis of Legislative Coalition Formation Without Transferable Utility

Two important findings from n-person game theory are that coalition formation is superadditive if and only if a game possesses an empty core, and Riker's size principle. Up to the present, both theorems have been proved and critiqued under the assumption of transferable cardinal utility. This analysis eliminates the cardinal utility assumption on the grounds that it is generally inconsistent with the conditions that characterize collective choice on political issues. Instead, a model of collective decision making is set forth in terms of ordinal preferences, and the two theorems are reconsidered. The superadditivity theorem survives intact, whereas the size principle is weakened. Circumstances are identified in which there is no incentive to reduce an oversized winning coalition; however, under no condition is there an incentive to increase the size of a winning coalition. A number of coalition-size hypotheses are tested using roll-call data from the U.S. Senate. The results raise new questions about the role of coalition formation in legislative voting strategy.
Forward production of charm states and prompt single muons in 278 GeV π− Fe interactions

Abstract The forward production of charm states in 350 GeV p-Fe interactions has been studied via the production of prompt single muons with momentum p ≳ 20 GeV/ c . The data indicate equal production of single μ + and μ − events. The observed momentum distributions can be fit with the hypothesis that D mesons are produced with an invariant cross section proportional to (1 − x F ) 5.0±0.8 exp[−(2 ± 0.3) P t ] and do not favor a large diffractive cross section predicted by intrinsic charm models. Extrapolation of the distributions to x F = 0 yields a total D D production cross section of 22.6 ± 2.1(±3.6)ωb/nucleon on the assumption of a linear A dependence and 8% average semileptonic branching ratio of charm states.
Role for phospholipase D in receptor-mediated endocytosis.

Phospholipase D (PLD) is a widely distributed enzyme that hydrolyzes phosphatidylcholine, a major phospholipid in the cell membrane, to form phosphatidic acid (PA) and choline. PLD activity, which can be detected in virtually all cell types as well as in most cellular organelles, is believed to play an important role in the regulation of cell physiology by extracellular signals, such as hormones, neurotransmitters, growth factors, and cytokines (8). Multiple PLD activities have been characterized in mammalian cells, and more recently, two mammalian PLD genes (PLD1 and PLD2) have been cloned (6, 11, 18, 22, 30). Recent studies indicate that PLD has many different functions in signal transduction, vesicle trafficking, and cytoskeletal dynamics (21). Vesicle budding in the Golgi network was shown to be mediated in part by Arf family GTPases (35). The discovery that Arf family GTPases regulate PLD activity (3, 5) suggested the possibility that PLD was also involved in vesicle transport. Consistent with this idea, PA formation by PLD-mediated hydrolysis of phosphatidylcholine has been reported to be required for the formation of Golgi vesicles (20) and for the transport of vesicles from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi complex (1). PLD has also been reported to stimulate the release of secretory vesicles from the trans-Golgi network (4). It was therefore proposed that the role that Arf plays in vesicle budding in the Golgi network is to regulate PLD activity and PA production (15, 33, 34). However, there is controversy on this point (2, 40, 41), and it still is not clear how PLD and its primary metabolite, PA, might contribute to vesicle formation. PLD activity is elevated in response to many extracellular signals (8). Our laboratory has investigated the role PLD plays in the transduction of intracellular signals initiated by epidermal growth factor (EGF) (13, 23, 38). In response to EGF, the EGF receptor is internalized and then degraded (10). The internalization of the EGF receptor is a process that involves endocytic vesicles (10). Since PLD has been implicated in vesicle formation and membrane traffic as discussed above, we hypothesized that PLD might play a role in receptor endocytosis as well.
Co‐ordinate expression of virulence genes by ToxR in Vibrio cholerae

Summary Evolution of complex regulatory pathways that control virulence factor expression in pathogenic bacteria indicates the importance to these organisms of being able to distinguish time and place. In the human intestinal pathogen Vibrio cholerae., control over many virulence genes identified to date is the responsibility of the ToxR protein. ToxR, in conjunction with a second regulatory protein called ToxS, directly activates the genes encoding the cholera toxin; other ToxR regulated genes are not activated directly by ToxR. For some of these genes, ToxR manifests its control through another activator called ToxT. Expression of toxT, which encodes a member of the AraC family of bacterial transcriptional activators, is ToxR dependent and is modulated by in vitro growth conditions that modulate expression of the ToxR virulence regulon. Thus, as in other regulatory circuits, co-ordinate expression of several genes in V. choierae results from the activity of a cascading system of regulatory factors.
Stabilization and performance analysis for a class of switched systems

This paper investigates stability and control design problems with performance analysis for discrete-time switched linear systems. The switched Lyapunov function method is combined with Finsler's lemma to generate various tests in the enlarged space containing both the state and its time difference, allowing extra degree of freedom for stability analysis and control design. Two performance measures being considered are the decay rate and the input-output performance. A new LMI based stability test for the existence of switched Lyapunov functions is first developed. If a switched Lyapunov function exists, asymptotic stability of the switched system also implies its exponential stability. An LMI optimization problem is then formulated to find a bound on the decay rate of the system. To attain the bound, state feedback control gains are designed. Using the same framework and the well-known S-procedure, a generalized sufficient LMI condition is obtained which guarantees a /spl gamma/-performance of the closed-loop switched systems subject to input disturbances.
Shorter Lines Facilitate Reading in Those Who Struggle

People with dyslexia, who ordinarily struggle to read, sometimes remark that reading is easier when e-readers are used. Here, we used eye tracking to observe high school students with dyslexia as they read using these devices. Among the factors investigated, we found that reading using a small device resulted in substantial benefits, improving reading speeds by 27%, reducing the number of fixations by 11%, and importantly, reducing the number of regressive saccades by more than a factor of 2, with no cost to comprehension. Given that an expected trade-off between horizontal and vertical regression was not observed when line lengths were altered, we speculate that these effects occur because sluggish attention spreads perception to the left as the gaze shifts during reading. Short lines eliminate crowded text to the left, reducing regression. The effects of attention modulation by the hand, and of increased letter spacing to reduce crowding, were also found to modulate the oculomotor dynamics in reading, but whether these factors resulted in benefits or costs depended on characteristics, such as visual attention span, that varied within our sample.
Are inhaled vasodilators useful in acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome

In patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), inhaled vasodilator can result in important physiologic benefits (eg, improved hypoxemia, lower pulmonary arterial pressure, and improved right-ventricular function and cardiac output) without systemic hemodynamic effects. Inhaled nitric oxide (INO) and aerosolized prostacyclins are currently the most frequently used inhaled vasodilators. Inhaled prostacyclins are as effective physiologically as INO and cost less. Randomized controlled trials of INO in the treatment of ARDS have shown short-term physiologic benefits, but no benefit in long-term outcomes. No outcome studies have been reported on the use of prostacyclin in patients with ARDS. There is no role for the routine use of inhaled vasodilators in patients with ARDS. Inhaled vasodilator as a rescue therapy for severe refractory hypoxemia in patients with ARDS may be reasonable, but is controversial.
Primary Mediastinal Large Cell Lymphoma in Children: A Report from the Childrens Cancer Group

Malignant lymphomas arising in the mediastinum account for approximately 60% of all mediastinal tumors in children; two-thirds are non-Hodgkin's lymphomas and one-third represent Hodgkin's disease. In contrast to adults, in children mediastinal non-Hodgkin's lymphomas are usually synonymous with lymphoblastic lymphoma, and nonlymphoblastic lymphomas are rare. We describe nine children with primary mediastinal large cell lymphoma who were treated with the Children's Cancer Group protocol CCG-503, a randomized phase III protocol for disseminated nonlymphoblastic lymphoma. Histologic subclassification revealed three immunoblastic lymphomas, three multilobated large cell lymphomas, one with clear cell features, and two large noncleaved cell lymphomas. Sclerosis, of variable degrees, was seen in all tumors. Immunophenotyping revealed all tumors to be of B cell lineage. Thymic epithelial cells could be demonstrated, utilizing antibody to keratin, in two of nine patients, suggesting that some of the tumors are of thymic origin. None of the patients had central nervous system or bone marrow involvement. It appears that primary mediastinal nonlymphoblastic lymphomas in children, although much less common, are similar to those seen in adults. These tumors must be differentiated from lymphoblastic lymphoma and Hodgkin's disease, as the therapeutic approach may depend on histologic subtype. Primary mediastinal large cell lymphoma in children appears curable with aggressive treatment in the majority of patients.
Braving Jim Crow to Save Willie McGee: Bella Abzug, the Legal Left, and Civil Rights Innovation, 1948–1951

This article considers the role of Bella Abzug, lead counsel for Willie McGee from 1948–1951, in shaping the defense of this Cold War era Mississippi rape case. Representing McGee left an indelible mark on Abzug: she made her first trip south, wrote her first Supreme Court petition, and faced her first death threat. Participation in the Left legal bar—especially the National Lawyers Guild and Left feminist circles—shaped Abzug's legal consciousness as she redirected the McGee defense significantly in 1950. By joining race and sex, Abzug's legal argument zeroed in on the taboo of interracial sexual relations at the heart of Southern rape cases, thereby exposing the innermost sexual color line. She urged the courts and cause lawyers—albeit unsuccessfully—to pursue a more radical civil rights agenda than outlawing public segregation, as ultimately achieved in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), and typically recognized in Cold War civil rights scholarship.
The Effect of Female Athletes' Perceptions of Their Coaches' Behaviors on Their Perceptions of the Motivational Climate

A growing body of literature has examined Nicholls' Theory of Achievement Motivation and revealed a number of positive benefits for athletes when they perceive a highly task- rather than a highly e...
Endemic Toxoplasmosis in Pigs on a Farm in Maryland: Isolation and Genetic Characterization of Toxoplasma gondii

The prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii was investigated on a poorly managed pig farm in Maryland. Serum and tissue samples from 48 of the 100 pigs on the farm were available for T. gondii evaluation. Serological testing was performed using both ELISA and the modified agglutination test (MAT). Antibodies to T. gondii were detected by ELISA in 12 of 48 animals, while antibodies were detected in 34 of 48 pigs by MAT with titers of 1:10 in 1, 1:20 in 4, 1:40 in 7, 1:80 in 3, 1:160 in 8, 1:320 in 3, 1:640 in 4, and 1:1,280 in 4. Hearts of 16 pigs with MAT titers of 1:10 or higher were bioassayed for T. gondii in cats; 11 cats shed T. gondii oocysts. Hearts of 22 pigs were autolyzed and bioassayed only in mice; T. gondii was isolated from 3 of these 22 pigs. Genetic typing of the 14 T. gondii isolates using the SAG1, SAG2, SAG3, BTUB, GRA6, c22-8, c29-2, L358, PK1, and Apico loci revealed 4 genotypes; 10 isolates belonged to type II lineage (genotypes 1 and 2), 3 belonged to genotype 3, and 1 belonged to genotype 4. Genotype 1 and 2 have type II alleles at all genetic loci, except the former has type II allele and the latter has a type I allele at locus Apico. Both genotypes 1 and 2 are considered to belong to the clonal type II lineages. Genotype 3 and 4 are nonclonal isolates. Results document high prevalence of T. gondii in pigs on a farm in Maryland.
Indigenous People in a Multicultural Society: Unique Issues for Human Services

Indigenous peoples have a unique place within a multicultural society. The history of indigenous people in the United States differs from those who came here as immigrants. For many Native Americans a primary goal has been self-preservation through separation and isolation rather than seeking a place within a multicultural society. Many people are not aware that the federal government and some state governments have specific moral and legal rights and responsibilities toward Native Americans, unlike other groups in the United States. Human services providers who work with Native Americans must understand the issues specific to indigenous people in a multicultural society. This article examines the unique status of Native Americans in the United States and explores the practice implications of that status. The article begins with an overview of the components of culturally competent social work with Native Americans, then examines specific issues such as historical trauma and sovereignty with which social workers and other human services workers should be familiar to serve Native American clients effectively.
Quantifying effect of network latency and clock drift on time-driven key sequencing

Time-driven key sequencing (TKS) is a key management technique that synchronizes the session key used by a set of communicating principals based on time of day. This relatively low cost method of session key synchronization has been used in specialized distributed systems with low-end communicating devices where sessions are sparse and each session spans a short time period comprising a small number of messages. In this paper, we describe how TKS may be useful in several scenarios involving high speed computer networks. More importantly, we present a performance model of TKS and conduct a detailed analysis to determine the impact of clock drift and network latency on the required key refresh rate. We give the exact conditions for determining the range of adequate key refresh rates, and demonstrate that the derived conditions are sufficient to ensure that data are both protected and deliverable. Interestingly, these conditions may be used to obtain a key refresh rate that can tolerate a maximum amount of clock drift after other parameters in the system are fixed.
DHARMA: distributed home agent for robust mobile access

Mobile wireless devices have intermittent connectivity, sometimes intentional. This is a problem for conventional Mobile IP, beyond its well-known routing inefficiencies and deployment issues. DHARMA selects a location-optimized instance from a distributed set of home agents to minimize routing overheads; set management and optimization are done using the PlanetLab overlay network. DHARMA's session support overcomes both transitions between home agent instances and intermittent connectivity. Cross-layer information sharing between the session layer and the overlay network are used to exploit multiple wireless links when available. The DHARMA prototype supports intermittently connected legacy TCP applications in a variety of scenarios and is largely portable across host operating systems. Experiments with DHARMA deployed on more than 200 PlanetLab nodes demonstrate routing performance consistently better than that for best-case Mobile IP.
Reporting of meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials with a focus on drug safety: An empirical assessment:

BackgroundDue to the sparse nature of serious drug-related adverse events (AEs), meta-analyses combining data from several randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate drug safety issues are increasingly being conducted and published, influencing clinical and regulatory decision making. Evaluation of meta-analyses involves the assessment of both the individual constituent trials and the approaches used to combine them. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) reporting framework is designed to enhance the reporting of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. However, PRISMA may not cover all critical elements useful in the evaluation of meta-analyses with a focus on drug safety particularly in the regulatory-public health setting.PurposeThis work was conducted to (1) evaluate the adherence of a sample of published drug safety–focused meta-analyses to the PRISMA reporting framework, (2) identify gaps in this framework based on key aspects pertinent to drug safety, and...
The chromosomes in the maturation of the germ cells of two species of triclad Turbellarians

The maturation of the germ cells of the two hermaphroditic species, Curtisia foremanii (Girard) and Bdelloura candida (Girard) has supplied the material for this chromosome study. Both species of flatworms are believed by the author to possess a diploid number of twelve chromosomes and a haploid number of six, although Curtisia foremanii has previously been reported as having a smaller and variable number of chromosomes. A tendency of the chromatids comprising individual chromosomes to separate from one another at certain times was noted in both species. This action results in giving the appearance of a larger number of chromosomes than the germ cells actually possess. A further source of apparent increase in chromosome number in the Curtisia oocytes, after treatment with the usual Allen's B3 and B15 and Heidenhain's iron haematoxylin, is the presence of some deeply staining, non-chromatin material. No significant differences in number, form and behavior of chromosomes of male and female complexes were noted, with the possible exception of the tendency of the chromatids to separate from one another, to be greater in the female than in male germ cells.
The Effects of Prairie Habitat Loss and Land-Use Changes on Loggerhead Shrike Populations in Kansas

Abstract The vast expanse of North American prairie has been reduced by at least 90% of its original area. As a result, the populations of many grassland birds are in serious decline. This study investigated Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus) population trends in Kansas by comparing two Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) routes (16 and 17) in north-central Kansas showing more stable shrike populations, with two BBS routes (06 and 07) in southern Kansas showing more dramatic declines during the last 30 years. With the exception of large increases in pesticide use, there have been few land-use changes the last 30 years along the two northern routes. Along the southern routes, land-use changes include large decreases in pasture, urbanization, loss of tree rows, and large increases in pesticide use. Our land-use survey showed more pasture, woodland, scattered trees and shrubs, and barbed-wire fences in the north, and more wheat, residential areas, and tree rows in the south, indicating significant differences be...
A Microeconomic Analysis of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

The most important public-policy issues raised by government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (F&F), revolve around their charters and the perception of government support that goes those charters. The perception of government support gives GSEs "embedded options" (conjectured guarantees and conjectures about conjectured guarantees) that are not available to most other businesses. The options should be structured so that the benefits of GSEs exceed their costs. The author concludes that it is difficult to draw conclusions about the effects of F&F because of the ambiguity of the welfare economics, the shakiness of available data, and the paucity of relevant empirical work. But, he argues, it is difficult to believe two contradictory things about F&F, namely, that F&F convey distortionary subsidies to the mortgage markets, making mortgage rates too low, and that F&F also stifle competition, making mortgage rates too high.
Statistical methods for cardiovascular researchers

Rationale: Biostatistics continues to play an essential role in contemporary cardiovascular investigations, but successful implementation of biostatistical methods can be complex. Objective: To present the rationale behind statistical applications and to review useful tools for cardiology research. Methods and Results: Prospective declaration of the research question, clear methodology, and study execution that adheres to the protocol together and serve as the critical foundation of a research endeavor. Both parametric and distribution-free measures of central tendency and dispersion are presented. T testing, ANOVA, and regression analyses are reviewed. Survival analysis, logistic regression, and interim monitoring are also discussed. Finally, common weaknesses in statistical analyses are considered. Conclusions: Biostatistics can be productively applied to cardiovascular research if investigators (1) develop and rely on a well-written protocol and analysis plan, (2) consult with a biostatistician when necessary, and (3) write results clearly, differentiating confirmatory from exploratory findings.
Degree Elevation and Reduction of Periodic Surfaces

Recently we developed a periodic surface model to assist the construction of nano structures parametrically for computer-aided nano-design. In this paper, we study the properties of periodic surfaces for degree elevation and reduction. Degree elevation approaches are developed to incrementally increase shape complexities, including native, variational, and boundary constrained elevations. A generic degree reduction operation is defined for surface approximation based on an algebraic distance. The goal is to enhance the flexibility of the periodic surface model and allow for multi-resolution representation.
Multi-pack Disposal Concepts for Spent Fuel (Rev. 0)

At the initiation of the Used Fuel Disposition (UFD) RD and 2) develop small canisters (up to 4-PWR size) that can be grouped in larger multi-pack units for convenience of storage, transportation, and possibly disposal (should the disposal concept permit larger packages). A recent resultmore » from the second line of investigation is the Task Order 18 report: Generic Design for Small Standardized Transportation, Aging and Disposal Canister Systems (EnergySolution, 2015). This report identifies disposal concepts for the small canisters (4-PWR size) drawing heavily on previous work, and for the multi-pack (16-PWR or 36-BWR).« less
Stability of parenteral solutions of tobramycin sulfate

The stability and physical compatibility of tobramycin sulfate in commonly used intravenous fluids were evaluated; in addition, pH values were obtained on 1 mg/ml tobramycin solutions, and microbiological potencies were obtained on 1 mg/ml and 0.2 mg/ml concentrations for 24- and 48-hour periods at 25 C. Most solutions were stable for 48 hours at room temperature. However, it is recommended that solutions of tobramycin sulfate be discarded after 24 hours to minimize the potential for inadvertent introduction of microorganisms during manipulations in the hospital environment.
Evaluation of the effectiveness of anti-retroviral therapy on AIDS patients in Fujian province and the current status of their drug-resistance pattern

To evaluate the effectiveness of anti-retroviral therapy on AIDS patients in Fujian province and the current status of their drug-resistance pattern in order to provide experimental evidences for anti-reteroviral therapy,counts of the CD4 + T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of 25 AIDS patients receiving anti-retroviral therapy and the virus load of HIV in plasma of these patients were determined,in which the whole sequence of gene coding the pol protein of HIV and the partial reverse transcriptase gene were amplified by RT-PCR,and then the amplified fragments were edited by using Contig Express software and submitted to the website http//hivdb.Stanford.edu./to analyze the drug-resistance status.Meanwhile,their phylogenesis was analyzed by Bio-Edi,clustal and Mega softwares.It was found that 68%(17/25)of the patients treated with anti-retroviral therapy showed the level of virus load(VL)below 1000 cp/ml and in 40%(10/25)of the treated patients the VL even dropped below the detectable limit(50 cp/ml).The amplified fragments were obtained in 10 cases of patients treated by means of RT-PCR and their sequence subtype analysis demonstrated that 7 cases belonged to the HIV-1 AE,2 cases were HIV-1 B and one was HIV-1 D.As demonstrated by the results in drug-resistance analysis,the sequences obtained from 10 cases was found to be sensitive to the action of protease inhibitors(PI),however,those from 8 cases were highly resistant to at least 3 anti-retroviral drugs of nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors(NRTI)and non-nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors(NNRTI).The commonly observed loci of mutations were G190A,K103N and M184V,thus causing high or medium level of resistance to NVP and 3TC.From these observations,it is evident that the types and amount of developing mutations on drug-resistance in AIDS patients during treatment with anti-retroviral therapy are definitely increased,although their immune function would be gradually recovered after treatment.The result of these will be the development of drug-resistance to certain first-line drugs.Therefore,it is necessary to motivate patients to keep them highly compliance to the first line regimes and to have the second line regimes available besides performing timely evaluation of the drug-resistance of patients.
The combined effect of transferrin saturation and low density lipoprotein on mortality.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Evidence suggests that cardiovascular disease (CVD) is accelerated by the oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) in the presence of iron. This study examined whether adults with elevated iron, as measured by transferrin saturation (TS), and elevated LDL are at an increased risk for mortality. METHODS This is a cohort study of the adult US population using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1976-1980 (NHANES II) merged with the NHANES II Mortality Study in 1992. Multivariate Cox regression was performed to determine hazard ratios (HR) for CVD and all-cause mortality for high (>55%) or low ( 160 mg/dl) or low (<160 mg/dl) levels of LDL. RESULTS An elevated LDL alone did not significantly increase CVD mortality or all-cause mortality in the adjusted model. Individuals with elevated LDL and elevated TS had a statistically significant increase in both CVD mortality and all-cause mortality (HR=5.74 and 3.53, respectively) compared to the low LDL and low TS group. CONCLUSIONS The results of this study indicate an increased risk associated with the combination of elevated LDL and elevated TS, which suggests that iron-mediated oxidation of LDL may be a significant factor in the progression of CVD.
Neural fetal tissue transplantation. Should we do what we can do

The following factors are relevant to ethical considerations regarding fetal tissue transplantation for treatment of neurological disorders: the empirical status of human fetuses or abortuses, different purposes and sites of tissue retrieval or implantation, the therapeutic potential of the technique, the means through which tissue becomes available, possible motives, and possible donors and recipients of transplant tissue. After examining each of these, the author concludes that (1) only dead fetuses should be used as tissue sources, (2) decisions regarding abortion and transplantation should be kept separate, (3) anonymity between donor and recipient should be observed, and (4) buying and selling of fetal tissue should not be permitted.
Coronary Artery Development: Progenitor Cells and Differentiation Pathways

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the number one cause of death worldwide and involves the accumulation of plaques within the artery wall that can occlude blood flow to the heart and cause myocardial infarction. The high mortality associated with CAD makes the development of medical interventions that repair and replace diseased arteries a high priority for the cardiovascular research community. Advancements in arterial regenerative medicine could benefit from a detailed understanding of coronary artery development during embryogenesis and of how these pathways might be reignited during disease. Recent research has advanced our knowledge on how the coronary vasculature is built and revealed unexpected features of progenitor cell deployment that may have implications for organogenesis in general. Here, we highlight these recent findings and discuss how they set the stage to interrogate developmental pathways during injury and disease.