cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Decomposing racial/ethnic disparities in influenza vaccination among the elderly.

While persistent racial/ethnic disparities in influenza vaccination have been reported among the elderly, characteristics contributing to disparities are poorly understood. This study aimed to assess characteristics associated with racial/ethnic disparities in influenza vaccination using a nonlinear Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition method. We performed cross-sectional multivariable logistic regression analyses for which the dependent variable was self-reported receipt of influenza vaccine during the 2010-2011 season among community dwelling non-Hispanic African-American (AA), non-Hispanic White (W), English-speaking Hispanic (EH) and Spanish-speaking Hispanic (SH) elderly, enrolled in the 2011 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) (un-weighted/weighted N=6,095/19.2 million). Using the nonlinear Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition method, we assessed the relative contribution of seventeen covariates - including socio-demographic characteristics, health status, insurance, access, preference regarding healthcare, and geographic regions - to disparities in influenza vaccination. Unadjusted racial/ethnic disparities in influenza vaccination were 14.1 percentage points (pp) (W-AA disparity, p .8). The Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition method estimated that the unadjusted W-AA and W-SH disparities in vaccination could be reduced by only 45% even if AA and SH groups become equivalent to Whites in all covariates in multivariable regression models. The remaining 55% of disparities were attributed to (a) racial/ethnic differences in the estimated coefficients (e.g., odds ratios) in the regression models and (b) characteristics not included in the regression models. Our analysis found that only about 45% of racial/ethnic disparities in influenza vaccination among the elderly could be reduced by equalizing recognized characteristics among racial/ethnic groups. Future studies are needed to identify additional modifiable characteristics causing disparities in influenza vaccination.
Cell-Adhesive Star Polymers Prepared by ATRP

This study presents the synthesis and evaluation of cell adhesive poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) star polymers for potential biomedical applications. Star polymers with a size of approximately 20 nm and with relatively low polydispersities (Mw/Mn ≤ 1.6), containing GRGDS (Gly-Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser) segments, were prepared by atom transfer radical copolymerization of PEO methyl ether methacrylate macromonomer (MM), telechelic GRGDS-PEO-acrylate MM, and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA). Results from 1H NMR spectroscopy confirmed the covalent incorporation of the peptide into the star periphery. In vitro cytotoxicity experiments showed star polymers to be cytocompatible (≥95% cell viability) and GRGDS-star hybrid hydrogels supported the attachment of MC3T3.E1 (subclone 4) cells. Hybrid hydrogels were prepared by free radical photopolymerization based on 10% (wt/v) PEO dimethacrylates Mn = 4000 g/mol with 1% (wt/v) GRGDS-star polymers having different peptide content. Cell adhesiveness was also determined from th...
Patient-Held Maternal and/or Child Health Records: Meeting the Information Needs of Patients and Healthcare Providers?

Though improvements in infant and maternal mortality rates have occurred over time, women and children still die every hour from preventable causes. Various regional, social and economic factors are involved in the ability of women and children to receive adequate care and prevention services. Patient-held maternal and/or child health records have been used for a number of years in many countries to help track health risks, vaccinations and other preventative health measures performed. Though these records are primarily designed to record patient histories and healthcare information and guide healthcare workers providing care, because the records are patient-held, they also allow families a greater ability to track their own health and prevention strategies. A literature search was performed to answer these questions: (1) What are maternal information needs regarding pregnancy, post-natal and infant healthcare, especially in developing countries? (2) What is known about maternal information behavior in developing countries? (3) What is the history and current state of maternal and/or child patient-held healthcare records, do they provide for the information needs of the healthcare provider and what are the effects and outcomes of patient-held records in general and for maternal and/or child health in particular? Specific information needs of pregnant women and mothers are rarely studied. The small numbers of maternal information behavior results available indicate that mothers, in general, prefer to receive health information directly from their healthcare provider as opposed to from other sources (written, etc.) Overall, in developing countries, patient-held maternal and/or child healthcare records have a mostly positive effect for both patient and care provider. Mothers and children with records tend to have better outcomes in healthcare and preventative measures. Further research into the information behaviors of pregnant women and mothers to determine the extent of reliance on interpersonal information seeking is recommended before expending significant resources on enhanced patient-held maternal and/or child healthcare records including storage on mobile devices. In particular, research is needed to explore the utility of providing targeted health messages to mothers regarding their own health and that of their children; this might best be accomplished through mobile technologies.
‘IT IS MY HOME. I WILL DIE HERE’: TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AND THE POLITICS OF PLACE IN LIJIANG, CHINA

Although “home” is an established topic in the literature, what home means for an in situ, non‐travelling population that nevertheless is confronted by the influx of great numbers of tourists and m...
The Latino family and the politics of transformation

Introduction A Theory of Transformation The Politics of La Familia Latina Tracing the Inherited Stories of the Latino Family The Latino Family at Risk Latina Female/Latino Male Relationships: Creating New Archetypal Dramas in the Latino Family Bibliography Index
Reaction Pathways and Site Requirements for the Activation and Chemical Conversion of Methane on Ru−Based Catalysts

Kinetic and isotopic tracer and exchange measurements were used to determine the identity and reversibility of elementary steps required for CH4 reforming reactions on Ru-based catalyst. These studies provide a simple mechanistic picture and a unifying kinetic treatment for CH4/CO2 and CH4/H2O reforming reactions and CH4 decomposition. Forward kinetic rates were measured from net rates by correcting for the approach to equilibrium, after ruling out transport artifacts using pellet and bed dilution tests. The kinetic processes involved are exclusively limited by C−H bond activation, and CH4 reaction rates are unaffected by the identity or the concentration of co-reactants (H2O, CO2). Similar normal kinetic isotopic effects (kC-H/kC-D = 1.40−1.51) were measured for CO2 reforming, H2O reforming, and CH4 decomposition, consistent with kinetically relevant C−H bond activation steps. The ratio of CH4/CD4 cross-exchange to methane chemical conversion rates during the reaction of CO2 reforming with CH4−CD4 mixtur...
“How We Do it”—A Practical Approach to Hepatic Metastases Ablation Techniques

Secondary liver malignancies are associated with significant mortality and morbidity if left untreated. Colorectal cancer is the most frequent origin of hepatic metastases. A multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of hepatic metastases includes medical, surgical, radiation and interventional oncology. The role of interventional oncology in the management of hepatic malignancies continues to evolve and applies to a large and continuous spectrum of metastatic disease, from the relatively small solitary metastasis to larger tumors and multifocal liver disease. Within the past 10 years, several publications of percutaneous image-guided ablation indicated the effectiveness and safety of this minimally invasive therapy for selected patients with limited number (arguably up to 4 metastases) of relatively small (less than 5cm) hepatic metastases. Different image-guided procedures such radiofrequency, microwave, and laser cause thermal ablation and coagulation necrosis or cell death of the target tumor. Cryoablation, causing cell death via cellular freezing, has also been used. Recently, irreversible electroporation, a nonthermal modality, has also been used for liver tumor ablation. In the following section, we review the different liver ablation techniques, as well as indications for ablation, specific patient preparations, and different "tricks of the trade" that we use to achieve safe and effective liver tumor ablation. We also discuss appropriate imaging and clinical patient follow-up and potential complications of liver tumor ablation.
Blood flow measurement by cone-beam CT bolus imaging

Via angiographic injection, blood vessels become visible in X-ray imaging. Based on dynamic bolus tracking and static vessel volume depiction, this paper presents a three-dimensional (3D) imaging method for blood flow measurement. After angiographic injection, the bolus motion in vessels in a scan field of view can be described by wash-in, equilibrium, and wash-out phases in the order of time. The cone-beam scanning produces a sequence of projection images, of which the wash-in images are used for bolus tracking, and the equilibrium images for vessel volume reconstruction. From a vessel volume, not only can we depict the vessel diameter by digital anatomical analysis, but also extract vessel centerlines by volumetric vessel segmentation and 3D skeletonization. We assume that bolus travels along the vessel centerlines, and the 3D bolus passageways can be time ticked by consulting the bolus motion in a sequence of wash-in projection images. By splitting this sequence into two subsequences (different by a delay of a few frames) and considering them as two sequences of two-view image pairs, we can calculate a 3D bolus passageway by two-view stereo reconstruction and then correct the excursions by a nudge algorithm (3D bolus point adjustment in reference to 3D vessel skeleton). Alternatively, by cone-beam reprojecting the 3D skeleton and consulting the 2D bolus motion manifested in wash-in projection images, we can tick off the 3D skeleton by time and thereby calculating bolus pathlength and flow velocity. Numerical simulations and phantom experiments are reported.
The relationship between the valuation effect of equity financing and firm-specific characteristics

The findings of this study indicate that although the overall announcement effect of equity offerings is negative on the issuing firms' common stock prices, 23 percent of the sample firms have a positive two-day announcement period stock abnormal return (CAR). Further tests show that firms in the positive CAR group have significantly higher research and development (R&D) and profitability than firms in the negative CAR group, while the average leverage ratio of firms in the positive CAR group are significantly lower. Results of the regression analysis suggest a positive relation between the price effect and R&D as well as the profitability ratio. It also is found that only in the sample of large R&D firms is the magnitude of R&D significantly associated with the magnitude of announcement effect.
High-field ESR on aligned membranes: a simple method to record spectra from different membrane orientations in the magnetic field.

Abstract A combination of isopotential spin-dry ultracentrifugation (ISDU) and microtome techniques was used to facilitate the collection of high field/high frequency (170 GHz) ESR spectra corresponding to different orientations of the membrane normal relative to the magnetic field. This technique is particularly valuable for aligned biological samples in vitro. At 170 GHz, conventional sample preparation techniques based solely on ISDU constrained the sample to be oriented so that the membrane normal was parallel to the applied magnetic field due to the geometry and the millimeter wave field distribution of the Fabry–Perot resonator used in these experiments. This orientational constraint limited the information that could be obtained from aligned membranes at high field. The combined ISDU/microtome technique overcame this limitation. Spectra from spin-labeled Gramicidin A and the spin label cholestane in aligned DPPC membranes provide a demonstration of the technique. We also discuss some virtues of high field/high frequency ESR on aligned membranes compared to X-band.
New Approach for the Inversion of Structured Matrices via Newton’s Iteration

Newton’s iteration is a fundamental tool for numerical solutions of systems of equations. The well-known iteration ( ) 1 2 , 0 ii i X X I MX i + = − ≥ rapidly refines a crude initial approximation 0 X to the inverse of a general nonsingular matrix. In this paper, we will extend and apply this method to nn × structured matrices M , in which matrix multiplication has a lower computational cost. These matrices can be represented by their short generators which allow faster computations based on the displacement operators tool. However, the length of the generators is tend to grow and the iterations do not preserve matrix structure. So, the main goal is to control the growth of the length of the short displacement generators so that we can operate with matrices of low rank and carry out the computations much faster. In order to achieve our goal, we will compress the computed approximations to the inverse to yield a superfast algorithm. We will describe two different compression techniques based on the SVD and substitution and we will analyze these approaches. Our main algorithm can be applied to more general classes of structured matrices.
CBF/CMRO2 Coupling Measured with Calibrated-BOLD fMRI: Sources of Bias

The coupling between cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO2) during brain activation can be characterized by an empirical index n, the ratio of fractional CBF changes to fractional CMRO2 changes. Measurements of n have yielded varying results, and it is not known if the observed variability is due to measurement techniques or underlying physiology. The calibrated BOLD approach using hypercapnia offers a promising tool for assessing changes in CBF/CMRO2 coupling in health and disease, but potential systematic errors have not yet been characterized. The goal of this study was to experimentally evaluate the magnitude of bias in the estimate of n that arises from the way in which a region of interest (ROI) is chosen for averaging data and to relate this potential bias to a more general theoretical consideration of the sources of systematic errors in the calibrated BOLD experiment. Results were compared for different approaches for defining an ROI within the visual cortex based on: (1) retinotopically defined V1; (2) a functional CBF localizer; and (3) a functional BOLD localizer. Data in V1 yielded a significantly lower estimate of n (2.45) compared to either CBF (n=3.45) or BOLD (n=3.18) localizers. Different statistical thresholds produced biases in estimates of n with values ranging from 3.01 (low threshold) to 4.37 (high threshold). Possible sources of the observed biases are discussed. These results underscore the importance of a critical evaluation of the methodology, and the adoption of consistent standards for applying the calibrated BOLD approach to the evaluation of CBF/CMRO2 coupling.
Descriptive analysis of physical activity conversations on Twitter

This paper explores how people are using Twitter.com to manage and share information about health-promoting physical activity. We analyzed archived posts, called "tweets", from Twitter.com to learn about the range, patterns, and captured metadata associated with muscle-strengthening, aerobic, and flexibility-enhancing physical activities. The content analysis describes how people are using Twitter to post about their health-related fitness activities. These findings can support the design of supportive tools and applications connected with the social media platform.
Pin-ning down immune responses to RNA viruses

To prevent RNA virus–dependent tissue damage caused by interferon-regulatory factor 3 (IRF3)–induced type I interferons, proteasome-dependent destruction of IRF3 is orchestrated by the cytoplasmic prolyl isomerase Pin1.
Computational Study of the Effect of the Imidazole Ring Orientation on the EPR Parameters for Vanadyl-Imidazole Complexes

The vanadium hyperfine coupling constant for vanadyl−imidazole complexes depends on the orientation of the imidazole ring with respect to the vanadyl bond as illustrated by a recent electron parama...
A cDNA clone encoding an S-locus-specific glycoprotein from Brassica oleracea

The pollen–stigma interaction resulting in self-incompatibility in the cruciferous plant Brassica has been correlated with glycoproteins that display polymorphisms in all S genotypes examined. A complementary DNA clone encoding these glycoproteins has been isolated and characterized. Polymorphisms in homologous restriction fragments of Brassica genomic DNA segregate precisely with alleles at the S locus.
Comparative pathogenicity of streptococci of human origin in hamster caries.

A NUMBER of streptococci isolated from different host species, while possessing different antigenic and biochemical properties, appear to be related by their ability to induce experimental dental caries in animals. ORLAND (1955) induced experimental caries in germ-free rats with a strain of enterococcus; FITZGERALD, JORDAN and STANLEY (1960) also induced caries in germ-free rats, but with a different streptococcal strain (FA-1) of rat origin; and FITZGERALD and KEYES (1960) reported the development of experimental caries in hamsters with a streptococcal strain (HS-1) of hamster origin. The results of the work in experimental caries in animals suggested that dental caries in rodents was a specific bacterial disease in which certain strains of streptococci were of aetiologic significance. ZINNER et al. (1965a) reported the isolation of streptococcal strains from human carious lesions that were morphologically and antigenically similar to either the hamster (HS-1) or the rat (FA-1) strains. The human hamster-like strain, AHT, induced experimental caries in hamsters and the rat-like strain, BHT, induced caries in gnotobiotic rats (ZINNER et al. 1965b), both animal species requiring a special cariogenic diet (KEYES, 1959). In preliminary studies of human carious lesions it appeared that AHT-type strains were associated with severe, active, and rapidly progressive lesions while the BHTtype strains were associated with slowly progressive lesions (ZINNER ef al. 1965b). The present study compares the cariogenic activity of both strains in hamsters. Nineteen-day old hamsters, albino and golden, weighing 30 g, were maintained on a cariogenic diet (KEYES, 1959) and orally infected with AHT or BHT strains by established techniques (FITZGERALD et al. 1960). The albino hamsters were supplied originally by the National Institute of Dental Research and maintained at the National Children’s Cardiac Hospital for the past 5 years. The golden hamsters were purchased locally and the colony has been maintained since 1959.
Myeloradiculopathy: C8 and T1 radiculopathy

Abstract Due to rarity and overlap in sensory and motor contributions, diagnosis of C8 and T1 radiculopathies may be difficult. This may also be due, in part, to an incomplete knowledge and understanding of the brachial plexus and peripheral nerve anatomy. The C8 and T1 nerves provide sensory innervation proximal to the wrist, which is important when distinguishing between these radiculopathies and an ulnar compressive lesion. Understanding plexus anatomy will allow surgeons to distinguish between C8 and T1 radiculopathies, with particular attention to other pathologies that present with similar complaints.
Wireless MEMS-IDT based accelerometer and gyroscope in a single chip

Abstract MEMS-interdigital transducer-based accelerometers possess the typical advantages of MEMS sensors, as well as robustness, excellent sensitivity, surface conformability and durability. Another unique feature is that the acceleration can be read remotely by wireless transmission and reception. In this article a highly sensitive and wide dynamic range microsystem is presented by integrating both accelerometers and gyroscopes in a single chip.
Bhangra blues: Melancholy, memory, and history in Gurinder Chadha’s I’m British But …

Gurinder Chadha inaugurated her career in 1989 with the documentary film I’m British But … celebrating the South Asian music and dance form of bhangra as symptomatic of a new generation in the wake of the anti‐racist politics and cultural innovation of 1980s Thatcherite Britain. This article suggests that the film’s possibilities go beyond mapping out the reinventions of Asian British youth culture, as it offers more than an archive of the “politics of visibility”. Its aesthetic choices, the dialogue between interviews and bhangra music, and articulation of a historically weighted diasporic consciousness produce meaning that exceed Chadha’s stated intentions. Weaving together personal stories of displacement, love, family and kinship, labor, and hardship, I’m British But … presents the Asian British experience as a melancholic one, where history, memories, and hybridity are imbricated.
Developmental Patterns of ABO Isoagglutinins in Normal Children Correlated with the Effects of Age, Sex, and Maternal Isoagglutinins

The developmental patterns of ABO saline isoagglutinins were determined in 272 children between birth and 16 years of age. The frequency of saline isoagglutinins was significantly higher in group O-O maternal-cord pairs compared to group A-O paired sera. The anti-A and anti-B titers increased gradually from 3 to 12 months: 30 per cent of group O and B children attained adult median titers of isoagglutinin, whereas only 4 per cent of group A children acquired adult anti-B titers. This slow development of anti-B in group A children persisted through the second year. Maternal isoagglutinins may exert a suppressive influence on the development of specific isoagglutinins in the first year of life.
The Negativity Bias in Affective Picture Processing Depends on Top-Down and Bottom-Up Motivational Significance

It is widely believed that negative information is psychologically more meaningful than positive information, a phenomenon known generally as the negativity bias. However, findings concerning the possibility of a negativity bias in emotional picture processing have been mixed, with recent studies indicating the lack of such a bias in event-related brain potentials (ERPs) when pleasant and unpleasant images are equated for motivational relevance. Here, we investigated two factors that could influence the detection of a negativity bias: picture presentation paradigm and specific picture content. Across two studies, participants viewed pleasant-affiliative, pleasant-thrilling, unpleasant-threatening and neutral images presented in the context of oddball, blocked and random viewing paradigms. Across paradigms, emotional images elicited larger responses in the late positive potential (LPP) than did neutral images. A negativity bias was detected in the oddball paradigm and when thrilling, rather than affiliative, pleasant stimuli were used. Findings are discussed in terms of factors known to influence LPP amplitude and their relevance to differential effects across picture viewing paradigms.
MUSTARD GAS AS A CAUSE OF RESPIRATORY NEOPLASIA IN MAN

Abstract Factory workers engaged in the manufacture of mustard gas in 1929-45 have since 1952 experienced 33 deaths from neoplasia of the respiratory tract (30 histologically confirmed), compared with 0.9 expected. The neoplasms occurred centrally rather than peripherally, and were of squamous or undifferentiated cell type.
Effect of growth temperature on Eu incorporation in GaN powders

Abstract Eu-doped GaN powder is produced by a high-yield and low-cost method. The effect of growth temperature between 950 and 1030 °C on Eu effective incorporation and luminescence was investigated by photoluminescence, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy. The effective Eu concentration was extracted non-destructively by strain analysis of the correlated Raman and XRD data. A clear correlation between Eu incorporation and luminescence intensity was observed. The optimum Eu incorporation of 0.5 at% was obtained at 1000 °C. Samples grown at this temperature also displayed the best crystallinity.
Cytoplasmic ribonucleic acid synthesis in the prereplicative phase of isoproterenol-induced cell proliferation.

Abstract The appearance of radioactivity in cytoplasmic RNA was investigated in the salivary glands of mice injected with uridine-3H at various times after a single intraperitoneal administration of isoproterenol (IPR). The results showed that: (1) the minimum time required for the appearance of radioactivity in cytoplasmic ribosomal RNA was the same in unstimulated and stimulated glands; (2) the incorporation of uridine-3H into cytoplasmic rRNA was much higher in stimulated than in control glands, at 8, 18, and 20 hours after IPR; (3) the increase in incorporation of uridine-3H was essentially the same in free and membrane-bound ribosomes; (4) this increase was completely inhibited by inhibitors of IPR-stimulated DNA synthesis; and (5) the incorporation of uridine-3H into polydisperse (6S–16S) cytoplasmic RNA increases sharply at 8 hours after IPR. These results indicate that, in the IPR-stimulated salivary glands of mice, gene activation becomes detectable only several hours after the administration of IPR.
Phlegmasia cerulea dolens in a teenage boy found to have Factor V Leiden

A 16-year-old boy with morbid obesity and asthma presented with 1 week of progressive right leg pain, swelling and discolouration that started 1 week after a minor fall. Ultrasound and then CT with contrast revealed a large occlusive deep venous thrombosis (DVT) extending from the calf through the inferior vena cava bifurcation. Heparin was initiated and catheter-directed thrombolysis with tissue plasminogen activator and balloon angioplasty were performed with good flow postprocedure, however, the clot reaccumulated after several days and the procedure had to be repeated. After this occurred twice more, finally a right common iliac and femoral vein stent was placed to prevent clot reaccumulation and vein stenosis. Hypercoagability testing revealed activated protein C resistance and genetic testing confirmed homozygous Factor V Leiden (FVL). Family history was significant for maternal lower extremity DVT at age 21 and possible DVT in the patient's maternal grandmother.
Throughput-Oriented Power Control in MIMO-Based Ad Hoc Networks

Transmission power control (TPC) has been used in wireless ad hoc networks to improve channel reuse and/or reduce energy consumption. It has been mainly applied to single-input single-output (SISO) systems, in which each node is equipped with a single antenna. In this paper, we study MAC protocols for mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) with MIMO (multi-input multi-output) capability. In particular, we consider the integration of MIMO into two MAC protocols. The first protocol is the IEEE 802.11 standard, which is a conservative protocol that does not use TPC. The second protocol is POWMAC, which exploits TPC to maximize the perceived throughput. We refer to these protocols when applied to MIMO systems as MIMO-802.11 and MIMO-POWMAC. We compare the performance of MIMO-802.11 and MIMO- POWMAC with SISO-802.11 and SISO-POWMAC, in terms of the perceived throughput and energy consumption. Our simulations reveal that although the MIMO system doubles the bit rate per link over the SISO system, the network throughput is not necessarily doubled due a reduction in the number of concurrent transmissions. In addition, the throughput gains in the MIMO system come at a non-negligible energy cost.
Use of recombinant lentivirus pseudotyped with vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein G for efficient generation of human anti-cancer chimeric T cells by transduction of human peripheral blood lymphocytes in vitro.

Background Genetic redirection of lymphocytes that have been genetically engineered to recognize antigens other than those originally programmed in their germlines is a potentially powerful tool for immunotherapy of cancers and potentially also of persistent viral infections. The basis for this procedure is that both cancers and some viruses have developed strikingly similar mechanisms of evading attacks by host immune mechanisms. To redirect human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) with a chimeric T cell receptor (chTCR) so that they recognize a new target requires a high degree of transfection efficiency, a process that is regarded as technically demanding.
Xmap: A technology mapper for table-lookup field-programmable gate arrays

Conversion from BLIF to If-then-else DAGS This paper presents a new algorithm, Xmap, for doing mapping from multi-level logic to field-programmable gate arrays based on table-lookup gates, such as those used in the Xilinx chip. The algorithm is based on an if-then-else DAG represen- tation for the functions. The technology mapper differs from previous mappers in that the circuit is not decomposed into fan-out-free trees. The Xmap algorithm uses 7% fewer cells than Chortle, 11% fewer than misII, and 14% fewer than mis-pga, and is 4.5 times faster than Chortle, 17 times faster than misII, and at least 150 times faster than mis-pga.
A Strain-Specific Catalase Mutation and Mutation of the Metal-Binding Transporter Gene mntC Attenuate Neisseria gonorrhoeae In Vivo but Not by Increasing Susceptibility to Oxidative Killing by Phagocytes

The hallmark of gonorrhea is an intense inflammatory response that is characterized by polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) with intracellular gonococci. A redundancy of defenses may protect Neisseria gonorrhoeae from phagocyte-derived reactive oxygen species. Here we showed that a gonococcal catalase (kat) mutant in strain MS11 was more sensitive to H2O2 than mutants in cytochrome c peroxidase (ccp), methionine sulfoxide reductase (msrA), or the metal-binding protein (mntC) of the MntABC transporter. kat ccp and kat ccp mntC mutants were significantly more sensitive to H2O2 than mutants in any single factor. None of the mutants showed increased susceptibility to murine PMNs. Recovery of the mntC and kat ccp mntC mutants from the lower genital tract of BALB/c mice, but not the kat or kat ccp mutants, was significantly reduced relative to wild-type bacteria. Interestingly, unlike the MS11 kat mutant, a kat mutant of strain FA1090 was attenuated during competitive infection with wild-type FA1090 bacteria. The FA1090 kat mutant and MS11 mntC mutant were also attenuated in mice that are unable to generate a phagocytic respiratory burst. We conclude that inactivation of three well-characterized antioxidant genes (kat, ccp, and mntC) does not increase gonococcal susceptibility to the phagocytic respiratory burst during infection and that gonococcal catalase and the MntC protein confer an unidentified advantage in vivo. In the case of catalase, this advantage is strain specific. Finally, we also showed that an msrA mutant of strain MS11 demonstrated delayed attenuation in BALB/c but not C57BL/6 mice. Therefore, MsrA/B also appears to play a role in infection that is dependent on host genetic background.
Are Trust and Distrust Distinct Constructs? An Empirical Study of the Effects of Trust and Distrust among Online Banking Users

This study provides insights on the trust-related factors that influence consumer intentions to use online banking. Specifically, the study examines the relationships between trustworthiness, trust, distrust, and user intentions to use online banking services. Over 500 college students located across two different universities completed a survey designed to examine the effects of trustworthiness perceptions on trust and distrust, and the downstream influence of trust and distrust on intention to use. As hypothesized, results indicate that trust and distrust are distinct constructs, and that the established nomological network between trustworthiness, trust, and intention hold in the current context. Also supported is the new contention that trustworthiness is negatively related to distrust, and that distrust has a negative effect on intention to use. Finally, our hypothesis examining the relative contribution of trust and distrust on user intentions was not supported. In the context of this study, trust overwhelmed distrust.
A Review of Biomarkers and Physiomarkers in Pediatric Sepsis

Sepsis is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in critically ill pediatric patients. The early diagnosis of sepsis is often difficult. Clinical signs and symptoms consistent with established criteria often occur late in the course of illness. In addition, early manifestations of sepsis are often nonspecific and can occur in many other disease processes, which confound the clinical picture. Therefore, identifying markers that are both sensitive and specific would be extremely helpful to the clinician for definitive diagnosis of sepsis before progression to severe disease. The purpose of this review is to describe the more common physiomarkers and biomarkers used that may aid in the diagnosis of sepsis as well as describe promising biomarkers that may be more widely available in the future.
Recursive discrete functional expansion

New methods are given for the general recursive and ongoing calculation of discrete functional expansions. For any such transform of order n , each computational iteration updates the previous result to give the expansion based upon the most recent n data points.
Introduction: Superior Vena Cava and Innominate Vein Reconstruction in Thoracic Malignancies

322 published data show that SVC and IV resection and reconstruction might be accomplished through a variety of approaches and techniques with acceptable operative morbidity and mortality and might lead to improved long-term oncological outcomes in carefully selected patients.1-8 We have asked 3 experts in the field to offer their specific input on patient selection, operative technique, and postoperative management in a practical format. The goal is to provide readers with practical details that might be of value when presented with
Processes for obtaining nonmedical exemptions to state immunization laws.

A key strategy to ensure that children receive recommended vaccinations in the United States is the use of state legislative mandates to require proof of immunization upon school entry. State immunization laws are considered a critical element in efforts to increase vaccine coverage among the nation’s children, bringing many diseases to record low levels. 1 Mandatory laws for school entry and attendance have been credited with reductions in the incidence of several vaccine-preventable diseases within states 2,3 and nationwide 4,5 following enforcement of these laws. As new vaccines have become available, laws governing vaccination requirements have evolved within the states; there is no legislation at the national level pertaining to school immunization requirements. While there are national public health recommendations concerning immunizations, state laws have been maintained and expanded with support from state and local health officials. Compulsory immunization laws in the United States date back to state requirements designed to protect the public from smallpox through vaccination of the general population. 6 The vaccinations required by school laws are not provided free of cost by the government, as in some other countries with mandatory vaccination policies. However, childhood vaccinations are supported by government programs that assist lowincome families. The means of enforcement and the authority to whom enforcement is delegated vary among states and may influence the effectiveness of state laws. Local jurisdictions may vary in the vigilance applied to enforcement of the statutes as well as the relative incentives or backing to administer the laws. 2,5‐7 The penalty of exclusion from school for noncompliance with school immunization requirements is an effective method to ensure that parents obtain the necessary immunizations for their children. 5,8 However, the responsibility rests with school officials, often school nurses, to identify students in need of immunizations and to follow up after the state’s allotted period of time to comply has expired. 9
Quantitative measurement of allele-specific protein expression in a diploid yeast hybrid by LC-MS

Understanding the genetic basis of gene regulatory variation is a key goal of evolutionary and medical genetics. Regulatory variation can act in an allele-specific manner (cis-acting) or it can affect both alleles of a gene (trans-acting). Differential allele-specific expression (ASE), in which the expression of one allele differs from another in a diploid, implies the presence of cis-acting regulatory variation. While microarrays and high-throughput sequencing have enabled genome-wide measurements of transcriptional ASE, methods for measurement of protein ASE (pASE) have lagged far behind. We describe a flexible, accurate, and scalable strategy for measurement of pASE by liquid chromatography-coupled mass spectrometry (LC-MS). We apply this approach to a hybrid between the yeast species Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Saccharomyces bayanus. Our results provide the first analysis of the relative contribution of cis-acting and trans-acting regulatory differences to protein expression divergence between yeast species.
Avoidance of plant secondary compounds by European starlings: citronellyls

There is an ongoing need for nonlethal and environmentally safe vertebrate repellents for a variety of uses. One promising source of candidate repellents is plant secondary compounds, many of which have evolved to defend against invertebrate herbivory. In this study I tested six citronellyl compounds that are used in the human flavor and fragrance industry. Testing was conducted with an invasive and exotic avian pest species in North America, the European starling (Sturnus vulgaris). All six compounds tested were highly repellent to the birds and repellency was similar across treatment days. A dose–response experiment revealed that two of the six compounds, citronellyl acetate and citronellyl butyrate, tended to be repellent at lower concentrations (chow treated with 0.1:1 mixture of the citronellyl in ethanol) than the others (1:1 mixture). One compound, citronellyl valerate was also tested for within-day secondary repellency but no evidence was seen for this. It can be concluded that some plant derivatives are suitable for use as avian repellents and many other plant secondary compounds are promising resources for new and safe vertebrate repellents. r 2004 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
High-speed digital filtering: structures and finite wordlength effects

This paper is a study of high-throughput filter structures such as block structures and their behavior in finite precision environments. Block structures achieve high throughput rates by using a large number of processors working in parallel. It has been believed that block structures which are relatively robust to round-off noise must also be robust to coefficient quantization errors. However, our research has shown that block structures, in fact, have high coefficient sensitivity. A potential problem that arises as a result of coefficient quantization is a periodically time-varying behavior exhibited by the realized filter. We will demonstrate how finite wordlength errors can change a nominally time-invariant filter into a time-varying system. We will identify the block structures that have low coefficient sensitivity, and develop high-speed structures that are immune to the time-varying problems caused by coefficient quantization.
Manipulating the speed of sound in a two-component Bose-Einstein condensate

We consider a two-component weakly interacting Bose-Einstein condensate in the presence of an external field which couples the two components. We express the Hamiltonian in terms of the energy eigenstates of the single-body part of the Hamiltonian. These eigenstates are the atomic dressed states of quantum optics. When the energy difference between the two dressed states is much larger than the mean-field interactions, two-body interactions in the dressed state basis that do not conserve the number of atoms in each of the two dressed states are highly suppressed. The two-body interactions then take on a simplified form in the dressed basis with effective coupling constants that depend on the intensity and frequency of the external field. This implies that the chemical potential as well as the quasiparticle spectrum may be controlled experimentally in a simple manner. We demonstrate this by showing that one may achieve significant variations in the speed of sound in the condensate, a quantity which has been measured experimentally.
Greater sensitivity of the cortical face processing system to perceptually-equated face detection

Face detection, the perceptual capacity to identify a visual stimulus as a face before probing deeper into specific attributes (such as its identity or emotion), is essential for social functioning. Despite the importance of this functional capacity, face detection and its underlying brain mechanisms are not well understood. This study evaluated the roles that the cortical face processing system, which is identified largely through studying other aspects of face perception, play in face detection. Specifically, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the activations of the fusifom face area (FFA), occipital face area (OFA) and superior temporal sulcus (STS) when face detection was isolated from other aspects of face perception and when face detection was perceptually-equated across individual human participants (n=20). During face detection, FFA and OFA were significantly activated, even for stimuli presented at perceptual-threshold levels, whereas STS was not. During tree detection, however, FFA and OFA were responsive only for highly salient (i.e., high contrast) stimuli. Moreover, activation of FFA during face detection predicted a significant portion of the perceptual performance levels that were determined psychophysically for each participant. This pattern of result indicates that FFA and OFA have a greater sensitivity to face detection signals and selectively support the initial process of face vs. non-face object perception.
Dynamics and heterogeneity of a fate determinant during transition towards cell differentiation

Yan is an ETS-domain transcription factor responsible for maintaining Drosophila eye cells in a multipotent state. Yan is at the core of a regulatory network that determines the time and place in which cells transit from multipotency to one of several differentiated lineages. Using a fluorescent reporter for Yan expression, we observed a biphasic distribution of Yan in multipotent cells, with a rapid inductive phase and slow decay phase. Transitions to various differentiated states occurred over the course of this dynamic process, suggesting that Yan expression level does not strongly determine cell potential. Consistent with this conclusion, perturbing Yan expression by varying gene dosage had no effect on cell fate transitions. However, we observed that as cells transited to differentiation, Yan expression became highly heterogeneous and this heterogeneity was transient. Signals received via the EGF Receptor were necessary for the transience in Yan noise since genetic loss caused sustained noise. Since these signals are essential for eye cells to differentiate, we suggest that dynamic heterogeneity of Yan is a necessary element of the transition process, and cell states are stabilized through noise reduction.
ID: 134: Development of sample type specific surrogate matrices for dilution of blood samples to overcome matrix effects in multiplexing immunoassays

Beside the advantage of bead-based multiplex immunoassays being a high-throughput screening tool, saving time and sample volume and generating confer data that are internally consistent by sample, additional requirements in this technology are getting more and more important: since in recent years multiplexing assays got widespread in the clinical research field, the need of performance specifications comparable to those of classical ELISA assays – which are still the “golden standard” of immunoassays – is growing. Benchmark analysis of bead-based multiplex immunoassays from different vendors and different platforms all showed up the same limitations for these assays in regards of spike- and dilution-recovery performance in blood samples. Due to the complexities of the matrix, both serum and plasma show to inhibit the readout of many cytokines (low spike recovery) with some variations between different donors and also with differences between serum and plasma. Some of these data also conclude that dilution of samples should not be assumed to be linear. eBioscience/Affymetrix took the advantage of its long year expertise in high-validated immunoassay development to develop matrix type specific sample diluents for serum and plasma to overcome described matrix- and multiplexing-effects and to fulfill high performance specifications comparable to those of traditional ELISA. The newly developed surrogate matrices for dilution of serum or plasma samples give spike- and dilution-recovery results in the range of 70–130% and help to fulfill these specifications over the broadest individual assay range, with lowest variation between individual donors and the broadest portfolio on the market.
Adenovirus-Based Vaccines for the Treatment of Substance Use Disorders

Addictive drugs are a major worldwide problem, and for many there are few effective therapies. Based on the concept that high titers of drug-specific antibodies can bind to addictive drugs in the blood preventing them from crossing the blood–brain barrier, the development of anti-addictive drug vaccines can prevent the administered drugs from reaching their cognate receptors in the brain. Vaccine strategies against addictive drugs have included linking analogs of addictive small molecules to many macromolecules. These approaches have had some success, but the magnitude of the immune response has been a limiting factor to the development of a successful product. Our group has developed a novel platform strategy based on the adenovirus gene transfer vector, a very potent immunogen with an extensive safety record in over 20 years of clinical studies. Here we describe the development of this vaccine platform using cocaine and nicotine targets. Summaries are provided of the supporting data for efficacy in mice, rats, and non-human primates with phenotypes that include drug biodistribution, drug-induced locomotor behavior, drug self-administration, and positron emission tomography of drug access to the CNS. Finally, the results of safety and toxicology studies are reviewed for translation to clinical trials.
Comparison of acridine orange and Gram stains in bacterial keratitis.

We assessed the comparative sensitivities of acridine orange and Gram stains in the examination of corneal scrapings using an experimental model of Pseudomonas aeruginosa keratitis. Acridine orange was more sensitive than Gram stain, requiring concentrations of about 10 4 colony-forming units/mg of corneal tissue compared to approximately 10 5 colony-forming units/mg. Our clinical experience with 21 consecutive cases of suspected microbial keratitis showed a similar diagnostic accuracy of acridine orange and Gram stain. Acridine orange accurately predicted culture results in 15 of 21 specimens (71%) compared to a diagnostic accuracy of 62% (13 of 21 specimens) for Gram stain.
Analysis of RNA-Mediated Materials Synthesis Using Magnetic Selection

The products that result from the mediation of imidazole-modified RNA (imRNA) using FeCl2, CoCl2, NaCl, and KCl as starting materials for nanoparticle synthesis are studied using high resolution tr...