cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Herpes simplex virus 2 and syphilis among young drug users in Baltimore, Maryland.

Objectives: To examine the sex specific seroprevalence and correlates of herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) and syphilis among a cohort of young drug users. Methods: Drug users aged 15–30 years old who used heroin, cocaine, or crack were recruited between October 1999 and August 2002. Baseline interviews gathered information on sociodemographics, drug use and sexual behaviours. Serum was tested at baseline for HSV-2 and syphilis seroreactivity. For each sexually transmitted infection (STI), infected and non-infected participants were stratified by sex and compared using χ2, Mann-Whitney tests, and logistic regression. Results: Of the 543 participants recruited, 42.4% were female and 39.3% were African-American. The seroprevalence of STIs among females and males, respectively, were HSV-2: 58.7% and 22.0%; syphilis: 4.3% and 0.3%. In multivariate models, older age, African-American race, having over 30 lifetime sex partners, current HIV infection and previous incarceration were independently associated with HSV-2 infection among males. For females, older age, African-American race, sex trade, and daily heroin use were independently associated with HSV-2. For females, only a self reported previous syphilis diagnosis was associated with current syphilis seroreactivity in multivariate analyses. Conclusions: Examination of this cohort revealed a particularly high seroprevalence of HSV-2 and syphilis, especially among female drug users. Few infected participants had been previously diagnosed with these infections.
Romantic attraction and adolescent smoking trajectories

Research on sexual orientation and substance use has established that lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals are more likely to smoke than heterosexuals. This analysis furthers the examination of smoking behaviors across sexual orientation groups by describing how same- and opposite-sex romantic attraction, and changes in romantic attraction, are associated with distinct six-year developmental trajectories of smoking. The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health dataset is used to test our hypotheses. Multinomial logistic regressions predicting smoking trajectory membership as a function of romantic attraction were separately estimated for men and women. Romantic attraction effects were found only for women. The change from self-reported heterosexual attraction to lesbian or bisexual attraction was more predictive of higher smoking trajectories than was a consistent lesbian or bisexual attraction, with potentially important differences between the smoking patterns of these two groups.
Management of patients with schwannomatosis: report of six cases and review of the literature.

Abstract Background Schwannomatosis is a rare tumor syndrome characterized by the presence of multiple schwannomas without the stigmata of neurofibromatosis (NF) Type 1 or 2. To better understand the natural history and clinical management of the syndrome, a retrospective review was conducted of patients diagnosed with schwannomatosis over an 11-year period at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center (UPMC). Methods Between 1990 and 2001, 131 patients underwent surgery for resection of spinal or peripheral nerve schwannomas in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center. Among the 131 patients, there were 6 who had two or more pathologically proven schwannomas without radiographic or clinical evidence of vestibular schwannomas. The hospital charts, clinic notes, radiology films, operative reports, pathology slides, and reports from all 6 patients were retrospectively reviewed. Results The patient population consisted of 6 patients with a mean age of 48.7 (3 male: 3 female). All patients had enhanced brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans that were negative for vestibular schwannomas. Ophthalmological and general physical examinations did not reveal any findings suggestive of NF. There was no family history of NF or schwannomatosis. The locations of the schwannomas included intraspinal (multiple sites), paraspinal, brachial plexus, femoral nerve, sciatic nerve, calf, forearm, retroperitoneum, and middle cranial/infratemporal fossa region. The common presenting symptoms included paresthesias, palpable mass, pain, or weakness. All 6 patients underwent surgical resection of symptomatic lesions. Conclusions For patients with schwannomatosis, surgery is indicated for symptomatic lesions, while asymptomatic tumors are followed conservatively. Because these patients are at increased risk for developing multiple schwannomas, we recommend regular surveillance and offer genetic counseling even though the pattern of inheritance is unknown.
Intralesional verapamil for the treatment of Peyronie's disease: a review

Multiple treatment options have been used for Peyronie's disease (PD) including intralesional injection of the calcium antagonist verapamil. The use of verapamil is based on its capacity to alter fibroblast function at several levels, including cell proliferation, extracellular matrix protein synthesis and secretion, as well as collagen degradation. Consequently, calcium antagonists may have the capacity to slow, prevent, or even reverse plaque formation and the progression of PD. The multicenter international experience with intralesional verapamil injection suggests that the majority of men with PD that receive treatment demonstrate durable reduction in pain, decrease in curvature, and improved sexual function. We review the scientific rationale, published literature, clinical experience, and technique of intralesional injection of verapamil.
Monumentalizing disaster and wreak-construction: a case study of Haiti to rethink the privatization of public education

This paper is a theoretical effort to support but complicate critiques of disaster capitalism and neoliberal strategies to profit from public education. We put into conversation a discursive analysis following Michel Foucault and a spatial analysis following Henri Lefebvre that focus on monumentalized disasters. We argue that neoliberalism carries out its agenda of privatization through public spaces that are never fully dismantled. We draw on empirical research into spaces that exemplify the usefulness of our reading of neoliberal privatization, including aspects of post-Katrina New Orleans and a more thorough case study of a pre- and post-earthquake Haiti and its highly privatized education system.
Provably-Efficient Job Scheduling for Energy and Fairness in Geographically Distributed Data Centers

Decreasing the soaring energy cost is imperative in large data centers. Meanwhile, limited computational resources need to be fairly allocated among different organizations. Latency is another major concern for resource management. Nevertheless, energy cost, resource allocation fairness, and latency are important but often contradicting metrics on scheduling data center workloads. In this paper, we explore the benefit of electricity price variations across time and locations. We study the problem of scheduling batch jobs, which originate from multiple organizations/users and are scheduled to multiple geographically-distributed data centers. We propose a provably-efficient online scheduling algorithm -- Gre Far -- which optimizes the energy cost and fairness among different organizations subject to queueing delay constraints. Gre Far does not require any statistical information of workload arrivals or electricity prices. We prove that it can minimize the cost (in terms of an affine combination of energy cost and weighted fairness) arbitrarily close to that of the optimal offline algorithm with future information. Moreover, by appropriately setting the control parameters, Gre Far achieves a desirable tradeoff among energy cost, fairness and latency.
National animal health surveillance: Return on investment

Abstract A weighted benefit–cost analysis (BCA) supports prioritization of animal health surveillance activities to safeguard animal agriculture industries and reduce the impact of disease on the national economy. We propose to determine the value of investment in surveillance by assessing benefits from: avoiding disease incursion and expansion modified by the probability of occurrence of the disease event, the sensitivity of systems to detect it, and the degree to which we can mitigate disease impact when detected. The weighted benefit–cost ratio is the modified value of surveillance as laid out above divided by the cost of surveillance. We propose flexible, stream-based surveillance that capitalizes on combining multiple streams of information from both specific pathogen based and non-pathogen based surveillance. This stream-based type of system provides high value with lower costs and will provide a high return for the funds invested in animal health surveillance.
Defect-induced variations in the local electric fields in inhomogeneous media

Using a finite element representation of a dielectric film, we have examined the effects of surface defects on the local electric field and its intensity. Surface defects possess the potential to affect the local electric fields in a dielectric film in a manner similar to those introduced in the bulk solid. Both raised and removed regions tend to focus the electric field vector about the defect, and the interaction of two defects can lead to an enhanced local electric field intensity. In these cases, effective medium methods would approximate the film by an idealized defect-free structure, and thus would not note the sensitivity of the electric field to surface structure.
Possible leap ahead in filovirus therapeutics

In a recent study published in Nature, Warren et al. describe the generation of a novel synthetic adenosine analogue, BCX4430, a synthetic drug-like small molecule that provides protection from Ebola and Marburg virus infection in animal models.
Scaling Caribbean (in)dependence

Abstract Recently there has been much ado about the territorial implications of globalization. Geographers have made a significant contribution to these debates, pointing to the tension between forces of deterritorialization and those of re-territorialization. In particular, there is a growing body of work in political and economic geography that draws attention to processes of re-scaling where, at the same time as scales such as the nation-state appear threatened, new scales of economic, political and social regulation emerge. Much of this literature, however, focuses on the ability of already powerful states to re-scale their activities and manage the border crossing abilities of global capital. In this paper I examine the process of supra-national regional integration in the Caribbean as an example of re-scaling and re-territorialization in a post-colonial context. I draw attention to the historic permeability of Caribbean states and argue regionalism in the Caribbean needs to be viewed as part of a longer process of defining economic, political and cultural independence in what, for post-colonial states, has always been an interdependent world economy. This analysis suggests that while new scales can be understood as spatialized attempts to manage changing global economics, they are also ambivalent productions, and as such, sites of resistance as well as domination and regulation.
Flow Recovery Downstream from Nanoposts Grown at the Wall of a Microchannel

In this article, hydraulic responses to a linear array of finite-length nanoposts attached at the bottom wall of square microchannels under viscous flow conditions are investigated with lattice Boltzmann simulations. Different configurations of the array are considered because these changes can directly contribute to flow pattern deformation. Simulation results indicated that the flow structure strongly depends on nanopost height and space between two adjacent nanoposts in the nanopost line but not on the Reynolds number in the range examined. However, if nanoposts are grown far apart from each other, a fully developed velocity profile can be recovered at sufficiently long distance downstream and an empirical correlation for calculating the recovery length is proposed. In the studied low Reynolds number regime, energy loss due to friction drag was found to be inversely proportional to an appropriately defined Reynolds number that accounts for both the channel size and the nanopost aspect ratio.
A Magnetic Coulter Counting Device for Wear Debris Detection in Lubrication

A device based on a magnetic Coulter counting principle to detect metal particles in lubrication oil is presented. The device detects the passage of ferrous and non ferrous particles by monitoring inductance change in a coil. First, the sensing principle is demonstrated at the mesoscale using a solenoid. Next, a microscale device is developed using a planar coil. The device is tested using iron and aluminum particles ranging from 100μm to 500μm. The testing results show the device is capable of detecting and distinguishing ferrous and non-ferrous metal particles in lubrication oil. The design concept demonstrated here can be extended to a microfluidic device for online monitoring of ferrous and non-ferrous wear debris particles.Copyright © 2009 by ASME
A Naturally Buffered Bulk Retentate Starter from Ultrafiltered Milk

Abstract Whole milk was ultrafiltered to approximately 4:1 protein concentration, heated to 85°C for 30min, and cooled to 22°C. It was inoculated with a commercial frozen concentrated lactic starter to give approximately 10 7 cfu/ml and incubated at 22°C for 12h. A commercial phage inhibitory medium and 11% nonfat dry milk were used as controls. After 12h, retentate had significantly higher colony forming units per milliliter (3.2×10 9 ) and pH (5.21) than phage inhibitory medium (2.5×10 9 and pH 5.02) and nonfat dry milk (2.4×10 9 and pH 4.58). Retentate starter and phage inhibitory medium starter had equal activity in skim milk (.3% developed acidity in 4h at 32°C) whereas nonfat dry milk starter had significantly lower activity (.26% developed acidity). After a further 8h incubation at 22°C, retentate starter had the highest pH (4.95) compared with phage inhibitory medium (4.76) and nonfat dry milk (4.51). At this time retentate starter activity was higher (.3%) than phage inhibitory medium (.27%) and nonfat dry milk (.19%). In highly concentrated retentates (3.5:1 and 5:1), retentate starter lowered pH considerably quicker than nonfat dry milk starter.
Changes in gap-junction permeability, phosphorylation, and number mediated by phorbol ester and non-phorbol-ester tumor promoters in rat liver epithelial cells.

The effects of three tumor promoters on gap-junction permeability; connexin 43 and 26 mRNA levels, protein levels, and phosphorylation; and the numbers of gap-junctional membrane plaques were studied in the rat liver epithelial cell line WB-F344 to determine whether changes in these parameters correlated with the inhibition of gap-junction function. 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA; 10 ng/mL), dieldrin (10 μg/mL), and heptachlor epoxide (10 μg/mL) inhibited gap-junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) assayed by fluorescent dye transfer by 80–90% after a 5-min exposure and by more than 90% within 1 h. Decreases in steady-state connexin 43 mRNA levels were detected by northern blot analysis within 1 h and paralleled changes in steady-state β-actin mRNA, but these changes did not occur rapidly enough to account for the rapid loss of gap-junction function. A substantial loss in the number of connexin 43 immunostained gap-junctional membrane plaques was detected after a 15-min exposure to all three promoters, but little change had occurred at 5 min. Western blot analyses using connexin 43-specific antibodies showed changes in the degree of connexin 43 phosphorylation for all three tumor promoters. TPA induced the appearance of a fourth connexin 43-im-munoreactive band (P3) and a concomitant decrease in the relative intensity of the unphosphorylated (P0) band within 5 min of treatment. P3, in addition to bands P1 and P2, disappeared after treatment with alkaline phosphatase. In contrast, dieldrin and heptachlor epoxide induced loss of P2 with a concomitant increase in the relative staining intensity of P0 within 1 h of exposure, but no changes were seen after 5 min. Connexin 43 phosphorylation levels recovered in parallel with the recovery of GJIC for all three tumor promoters. Connexin 26 mRNA levels showed little change after a 1-h exposure to the three promoters, but reductions in connexin 26 immunofluorescent staining were observed. These results suggest that (i) TPA-induced hyperphosphorylation of connexin 43 occurred fast enough to account for inhibition of GJIC, (ii) dieldrin and heptachlor epoxide modulated connexin phosphorylation in a manner different from TPA by promoting hypophosphorylation of connexin 43, (iii) redistribution of plasma membrane gap-junctional plaques after treatment with phorbol ester and non-phorbol-ester tumor promoters occurred subsequent to changes in gap-junction permeability, and (iv) changes in connexin mRNA levels could not account for the losses in fluorescent dye coupling induced by these promoters. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Toward linking weather and climate in the interactive ensemble NCAR climate model

[1] Diagnosing how much low frequency climate variability is due to intrinsic coupled (i.e., interactions among the components of the climate system) modes and how much is stochastically forced by internal dynamics (e.g., weather noise forcing ocean variability or ocean dynamics associated with western boundary current forcing atmospheric variability) remains a challenge in climate research. Here we present a methodology for separating the intrinsic coupled modes from the stochastically forced variability that can be applied at the air-sea, air-land, air-ice or ice-ocean interface. In the results presented here, we focus on the air-sea interface and apply the approach to the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Climate System Model. We find that coupled ocean-atmosphere feedbacks contribute to a significant fraction of the sea surface temperature variability worldwide with increasing importance in the tropics. One of the by-products of the experiments presented here is an improved diagnostic tool for understanding atmospheric teleconnections. In this regard, we find that the mid-latitude atmospheric response to tropical forcing is not simply a function of the magnitude of the forcing.
Las Vegas Today - Rome in a Day: Corporate Development Practices and the Role of Professional Designers

Abstract This article considers a specific corporate history, land use practices, and the role of professional designers. It argues that large-scale corporate development of space for public use employs tactics that participate fully in the visitors' active process of lifestyle creation, and that this entangles to the same degree commerce, desire, and professional designers. By investigating Circus Circus Enterprises and its Monte Carlo Casino Resort in Las Vegas, this article analyzes the ways in which professional designers are embedded in a dominant development paradigm that can be seen across building types, in both tourist and cultural developments.
«Quotation and Literary Echo as Structural Principles in Gabriele Wohmann's Frühherbst in Badenweiler.»

In her novel of 1978, Wohmann uses the montage technique—quotations, literary echoes, erudite allusions—of the «classics of modernism» to put the contemporary West German phenomenon of «New Inwardness» in an ironic light. Her protagonist, the composer Hubert Frey, retreats from the stresses of contemporary life to the Black Forest spa of Badenweiler. New Inwardness in him appears allied to New Conservatism which, in reaction to the New Left of the sixties, revives the old German ideal of the «APolitical Man.» Echoing a work of restaurative mentality, Stifter's Nachsommer, Frey's Fruhherbst looks back nostalgically on Goethe's classicist phase. As Goethe put his Storm and Stress behind him, Frey analogously repudiates the turbulent youth of the sixties. He sums up his ethos of withdrawal by quoting a passage from one of Goethe's letters. He quotes inaccurately and his self-identification with Goethe rests on shaky foundations. By revealing her protagonist's erudition as faulty and confused, Wohmann unmasks his whole stance as—literally—false. Another of Frey's models, Conrad Aiken, a writer of inwardness and subjectivity, turns out to have been the wrong author for Frey's choice of Badenweiler. The American writer who had actually sojourned there turns out to have been the realist Stephen Crane. Inwardness thus proves literally incorrect and inappropriate to the protagonist's needs. The displacement of the symbolist Aiken by the realist Crane points ahead to the conclusion of the novel. Whereas a World War had been needed to dislodge Thomas Mann's Hans Castorp from his retreat, a mere mouse, invading Frey's hotel room, serves the analogous function in Wohmann's novel. Literary echo, a structural device, functions thematically as both the symptom and the cure of her protagonist's passing relapse into German inwardness. This article is available in Studies in 20th Century Literature: http://newprairiepress.org/sttcl/vol5/iss1/7 QUOTATION AND LITERARY ECHO AS STRUCTURAL PRINCIPLES IN GABRIELE WOHMANN'S FROHHERBST IN BADENWEILER WALTER H. SOKEL University of Virginia Gabriele Wohmann's novel, Frllhherbst in Badenweiler, (Early Autumn in Badenweiler) (1978), is unusually interesting for at least three reasons. First, it is one of the most delightfully ironic depictions of the so-called New Inwardness (Neue Innerlichkeit) of recent German literary and intellectual life. Second, it reaches back in a most striking and successful manner to a long-past period of modernist literature to which the term Alexandrian (or, in Gottfried Benn's version, «Ptolemaeic») applies. Nourished by encyclopaedic erudition, this literature thrived on a pessimistic conviction that one belonged to the terminal phase of Western civilization, and utilized quotations, allusions, and cultural-historical references to fashion its ironic vision of modern man. Third, with the montage technique inherited from these «classics of modernism,» Gabriele Wohmann sketches the contemporary artistintellectual's dilemma in the German Federal Republic of the
Structural Basis of M3 Muscarinic Receptor Dimer/Oligomer Formation

Class A G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are known to form dimers and/or oligomeric arrays in vitro and in vivo. These complexes are thought to play important roles in modulating class A GPCR function. Many studies suggest that residues located on the "outer" (lipid-facing) surface of the transmembrane (TM) receptor core are critically involved in the formation of class A receptor dimers (oligomers). However, no clear consensus has emerged regarding the identity of the TM helices or TM subsegments involved in this process. To shed light on this issue, we have used the M(3) muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (M3R), a prototypic class A GPCR, as a model system. Using a comprehensive and unbiased approach, we subjected all outward-facing residues (70 amino acids total) of the TM helical bundle (TM1-7) of the M3R to systematic alanine substitution mutagenesis. We then characterized the resulting mutant receptors in radioligand binding and functional studies and determined their ability to form dimers (oligomers) in bioluminescence resonance energy transfer saturation assays. We found that M3R/M3R interactions are not dependent on the presence of one specific structural motif but involve the outer surfaces of multiple TM subsegments (TM1-5 and -7) located within the central and endofacial portions of the TM receptor core. Moreover, we demonstrated that the outward-facing surfaces of most TM helices play critical roles in proper receptor folding and/or function. Guided by the bioluminescence resonance energy transfer data, molecular modeling studies suggested the existence of multiple dimeric/oligomeric M3R arrangements, which may exist in a dynamic equilibrium. Given the high structural homology found among all class A GPCRs, our results should be of considerable general relevance.
Predicting perceived racism and acceptance of negative behavioral intergroup responses: Validating the JLS in a college and community sample of Blacks

Abstract The present study provides a replication and extension of the validity of a measure of anti-White attitudes in Blacks. A college and community sample of Black participants completed the recently developed Johnson–Lecci Scale (JLS) and subsequently made responses to scenarios involving ambiguously racist behavior, direct confrontation with a perceived racist, and Black anti-White discrimination. The results indicated that Black intergroup attitudes involving expectations of racism factors did predict perceived racism in the ambiguously racist scenario and acceptance of direct confrontation with a racist, but they did not predict acceptance of anti-White discrimination. However, anti-White discrimination was predicted by the attitudes associated with outgroup-directed negative responses. Moreover, the findings indicate that there are a number of differences between the college and community samples on both the nature of their anti-White attitudes and intergroup responses towards Whites.
Development of vaccines toward the global control and eradication of foot-and-mouth disease

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is one of the most economically and socially devastating diseases affecting animal agriculture throughout the world. Although mortality is usually low in adult animals, millions of animals have been killed in efforts to rapidly control and eradicate FMD. The causing virus, FMD virus (FMDV), is a highly variable RNA virus occurring in seven serotypes (A, O, C, Asia 1, Sat 1, Sat 2 and Sat 3) and a large number of subtypes. FMDV is one of the most infectious agents known, affecting cloven-hoofed animals with significant variations in infectivity and virus transmission. Although inactivated FMD vaccines have been available for decades, there is little or no cross-protection across serotypes and subtypes, requiring vaccines that are matched to circulating field strains. Current inactivated vaccines require growth of virulent virus, posing a threat of escape from manufacturing sites, have limited shelf life and require re-vaccination every 4-12 months. These vaccines have aided in the eradication of FMD from Europe and the control of clinical disease in many parts of the world, albeit at a very high cost. However, FMDV persists in endemic regions impacting millions of people dependent on livestock for food and their livelihood. Usually associated with developing countries that lack the resources to control it, FMD is a global problem and the World Organization for Animal Health and the United Nations' Food Agriculture Organization have called for its global control and eradication. One of the main limitations to FMDV eradication is the lack of vaccines designed for this purpose, vaccines that not only protect against clinical signs but that can actually prevent infection and effectively interrupt the natural transmission cycle. These vaccines should be safely and inexpensively produced, be easy to deliver, and also be capable of inducing lifelong immunity against multiple serotypes and subtypes. Furthermore, there is a need for better integrated strategies that fit the specific needs of endemic regions. Availability of these critical components will greatly enhance the chances for the global control and eradication of FMDV.
The isolation of triosephosphate dehydrogenase from pea seeds.

Abstract Triosephosphate dehydrogenase (TPD) was isolated from an acetone powder prepared from pea seeds. The enzyme was purified by the following steps: a moderate heat treatment, two ammonium sulfate fractionations, and a dilution treatment. The maximum purification achieved, as determined by the specific activity computed with a bimolecular rate equation, was 5.75 × 10 8 ml. 2 /min./mg./mole, which is of the same order of magnitude of activity (6.5 × 10 8 ) as the crystalline rabbit muscle TPD.
LinkClus: efficient clustering via heterogeneous semantic links

Data objects in a relational database are cross-linked with each other via multi-typed links. Links contain rich semantic information that may indicate important relationships among objects. Most current clustering methods rely only on the properties that belong to the objects per se. However, the similarities between objects are often indicated by the links, and desirable clusters cannot be generated using only the properties of objects.In this paper we explore linkage-based clustering, in which the similarity between two objects is measured based on the similarities between the objects linked with them. In comparison with a previous study (SimRank) that computes links recursively on all pairs of objects, we take advantage of the power law distribution of links, and develop a hierarchical structure called SimTree to represent similarities in multi-granularity manner. This method avoids the high cost of computing and storing pairwise similarities but still thoroughly explore relationships among objects. An efficient algorithm is proposed to compute similarities between objects by avoiding pairwise similarity computations through merging computations that go through the same branches in the SimTree. Experiments show the proposed approach achieves high efficiency, scalability, and accuracy in clustering multi-typed linked objects.
Three-Dimensional Flow in the Storative Semiconfining Layers of a Leaky Aquifer

An analytical solution for three-dimensional (3D) flow in the storative semiconfining layers of a leaky aquifer fully penetrated by a production well is developed in this article to provide a method from which accurate hydraulic parameters in the semiconfining layers can be derived from aquifer test data. The analysis of synthetic aquifer test data with the 3D analytical solution in the semiconfining layers provided more accurate optimal hydraulic parameters than those derived using the available quasi-two-dimensional (2D) solution. Differences between the 3D and 2D flow solutions in the semiconfining layers become larger when a no flow boundary condition is imposed at either at the top of the upper semiconfining layer or at the bottom of the lower semiconfining layer or when the hydraulic conductivity ratio of the semiconfining layer to the aquifer is larger than 0.001. In addition, differences between the 3D and 2D flow solutions in the semiconfining layers are illustrated when the thickness ratio of the semiconfining layer to the aquifer is changed. Analysis of water level data from two hypothetical and one real aquifer test showed that the 3D solution in the semiconfining layers provides lower correlation coefficients among hydraulic parameters than the 2D solution.
Molecularly Targeted Therapies for Breast Cancer

Background:The management of patients with localized and advanced breast cancer continues to evolve. Chemotherapy, endocrine therapy, and trastuzumab are effective therapies but leave considerable ...
Antioxidative and Anti‐Inflammatory Neuroprotective Effects of Astaxanthin and Canthaxanthin in Nerve Growth Factor Differentiated PC12 Cells

Nerve growth factor differentiated PC12 cells were used to examine the antioxidative and anti-inflammatory effects of astaxanthin (AX) and canthaxanthin (CX). PC12 cells were pretreated with AX or CX at 10 or 20 muM, and followed by exposure of hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) or 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium ion (MPP(+)) to induce cell injury. H(2)O(2) or MPP(+) treatment significantly decreased cell viability, increased lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release, enhanced DNA fragmentation, and lowered mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) (P < 0.05). The pretreatments from AX or CX concentration-dependently alleviated H(2)O(2) or MPP(+)-induced cell death, LDH release, DNA fragmentation, and MMP reduction (P < 0.05). Either H(2)O(2) or MPP(+) treatment significantly increased malonyldialdehyde (MDA) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) formations, decreased glutathione content, and lowered glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and catalase activities (P < 0.05). The pretreatments from AX or CX significantly retained GPX and catalase activities, and decreased MDA and ROS formations (P < 0.05). H(2)O(2) or MPP(+) treatment significantly decreased Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase activity, elevated caspase-3 activity and levels of interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha (P < 0.05); and the pretreatments from these agents significantly restored Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase activity, suppressed caspase-3 activity and release of IL-1, IL-6, and TNF-alpha (P < 0.05). Based on the observed antioxidative and anti-inflammatory protection from AX and CX, these 2 compounds were potent agents against neurodegenerative disorder.
Hermite spline multiwavelets for image modeling

An image model based on Hermite spline multiresolution analysis ins considered. To compute image representations, the algorithm of fast biorthogonal multiwavelet transform is used. The transform depends on the choice of multi-scaling functions biorthogonal to Hermite splines. An algorithm for the construction of such functions is given and examples for cubic Hermite splines are shown.© (1998) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Extending the software-defined network boundary

Given that Software-Defined Networking is highly successful in solving many of today's manageability, flexibility, and scalability issues in large-scale networks, in this paper we argue that the concept of SDN can be extended even further. Many applications (esp. stream processing and big-data applications) rely on graph-based inter-process communication patterns that are very similar to those in computer networks. To our mind, this network abstraction spanning over different types of entities is highly suitable for and would benefit from central (SDN-inspired) control for the same reasons classical networks do. In this work, we investigate the commonalities between such intra-host networks and classical computer networking. Based on this, we study the feasibility of a central network controller that manages both network traffic and intra-host communication over a custom bus system.
PAIS: A Proximity-Aware Interest-Clustered P2P File Sharing System

Efficient file query is important to the overall performance of Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file sharing systems. Clustering peers by their common interests can significantly enhance the efficiency of file query. On the other hand, clustering peers by their physical proximity can also improve file query performance. Few current works are able to cluster peers based on both peer interest and physical proximity. It is even harder to realize it in structured P2Ps due to their strictly defined topologies, although they provide higher file query efficiency than unstructured P2Ps. In this paper, we introduce a proximity-aware and interest-clustered P2P file sharing system (PAIS) based on a structured P2P. It groups peers based on both interest and proximity. PAIS supports sophisticated routing and clustering strategies based on a hierarchical topology. Theoretical analysis and simulation results demonstrate that PAIS dramatically reduces the overhead and enhances efficiency in file sharing.
Existential Counseling as a Vehicle to Support Latina Breast Cancer Survivors

Latinas in the United States experience high incidences of breast cancer diagnosis (American Cancer Society, 2012). Researchers (e.g., Abraido-Lanza, Chao, & Gammon, 2004; Ashing-Giwa, Padilla, Bohorquez, Tejero, & Garcia, 2006) indicated that Latinas report heightened levels of psychological distress (i.e., depression, anxiety, existential concerns) when compared with other cancer survivors. The purpose of this article is to (a) provide an overview of the mental health concerns of Latina breast cancer survivors and their families, (b) discuss the use of existential counseling to decrease psychological distress, and (c) integrate cultural variables to support cancer recovery from a culturally sensitive perspective.
Cultural Variation in Biomedicine: The Kur in West Germany

Variations within Western biomedicine reveal different cultural styles of therapy, particularly for medical conditions either of uncertain etiology or with diverse and diffuse symptoms. The West German biomedical system consists of an eclectic set of therapies, all offered under physicians' care. The Kur, spa treatments that are part of rehabilitation medicine, exemplifies a form of biomedical care that reflects a distinct cultural style. Though ideal standards of German biomedicine devalue traditional treatments like the Kur, a variety of cultural, economic, and political factors support its persistence.
Responsiveness: Emotion and information dynamics in dyadic service interactions

This research poses the following basic research question: What is the value of emotional and informational responsiveness in service interactions and what are their antecedents? Through a cross-sectional study of 250 service interactions, this dissertation provides evidence regarding individual and environmental differences in emotional and informational responsiveness in service interactions. The research design is multi-method and field-based. The data include transcribed and coded audio recordings of the service interactions, as well as surveys and standardized tests of individual service representatives. In addition to the recordings, organizational and customer evaluations of the interactions are used to answer the research questions. Participant observation and focus groups are used to get a richer sense of the nature of the work in general, and of the emotional and informational labor performed. In preliminary analyses, tests of the models of the antecedents and outcomes of emotional and informational responsiveness explain between 18% and 48% of the variance in service quality and duration of the interaction. Interesting differences between antecedents of customer rated quality and organization rated quality are identified.
Groundwater Resources: Investigation and Development

A glance through the table of contents of this volume might suggest that it is yet another introductory text on principles of groundwater hydrology. All of the usual basic topics are covered including definitions of terms and concepts, aquifer types, drilling methods, and pumping tests. But partly because this book is intended for practicing groundwater consultants rather than students, other less elementary topics such as environmental isotope techniques, geochemical methods, interpretation and utilization of spring flow, geophysical methods, and groundwater balances are also included. According to the preface, ‘practical applicability’ is stressed ‘to show how groundwater investigations should be conducted using a systematic, well-directed effort’ and to describe ‘… what to do, what to avoid, and what kind of results one can reasonably expect …’ While this book was published as part of a series of monographs on water pollution, it is more in the nature of a handbook than a true monograph. That is, it is not an in-depth treatment of a single topic but presents a broad introduction to the ways in
Developing Cognitive-Social-Emotional Competencies to Enhance Academic Learning.

This preliminary study examined intervention effects of a universal prevention program offered by classroom teachers to public elementary school students. The Unique Minds School Program (M.B. Stern, 1999) is a teacher-led program designed to promote cognitive-social-emotional (CSE) skills, including student self-efficacy, problem solving, social-emotional competence, and a positive classroom climate, with the dual goal of preventing youth behavioral problems and promoting academic learning. During 2 consecutive school years, 119 students and their teachers were assessed in the fall and spring of Grade 4 and again in the spring of Grade 5. As compared to students in the comparison school, students in the intervention showed gains in student self-efficacy, problem solving, social-emotional competencies, and math grades. Incremental gains within CSE domains were found after 1 and 2 years of intervention. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 42: 405–417, 2005.
Rapid Recovery in Human Diploid Fibroblasts

SummaryRapid split dose and single dose recovery were examined in exponentially growing and in density inhibited, stationary phase cultures of human diploid fibroblasts. The cultures were exposed to cobalt-60 gamma rays at a dose-rate of 50 rad/s: 0–90 min were allowed between exposures or following a single exposure prior to subculture at low density. A rapid phase of recovery occurred which was of greater magnitude in the plateau phase cultures. Dose-dependent rapid recovery occurred within 2–10 min of the initial exposure, and was greater following single dose versus split dose irradiations. When the post-irradiation temperature was maintained at 37°C, two phases of recovery were observed, one at early times (2–10 min) and one later (30–90 min). No recovery was observed with incubation at 4°C, whereas incubation at room temperature (25°C) allowed rapid recovery (2–10 min) to take place, but not the slower process (30–90 min). The hypothesis that this rapid recovery phenomenon is related to cell-to-cell...
Life course socioeconomic status and DNA methylation in genes related to stress reactivity and inflammation: The multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis

Epigenetic changes, such as DNA methylation, have been hypothesized to provide a link between the social environment and disease development. The purpose of this study was to examine associations between life course measures of socioeconomic status (SES) and DNA methylation (DNAm) in 18 genes related to stress reactivity and inflammation using a multi-level modeling approach that treats DNAm measurements as repeat measures within an individual. DNAm and gene expression were assessed in purified monocytes for a random subsample of 1,264 non-Hispanic white, African-American, and Hispanic participants aged 55-94 from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). After correction for multiple testing, we found that low childhood SES was associated with DNAm in 3 stress-related genes (AVP, FKBP5, OXTR) and 2 inflammation-related genes (CCL1, CD1D), low adult SES was associated with DNAm in one stress-related gene (AVP) and 5 inflammation-related genes (CD1D, F8, KLRG1, NLRP12, TLR3), and social mobility was associated with DNAm in 3 stress-related genes (AVP, FKBP5, OXTR) and 7 inflammation-related genes (CCL1, CD1D, F8, KLRG1, NLRP12, PYDC1, TLR3). In general, low SES was associated with increased DNAm. Expression data was available for 7 genes that showed a significant relationship between SES and DNAm. In 5 of these 7 genes (CD1D, F8, FKBP5, KLRG1, NLRP12), DNAm was associated with gene expression for at least one transcript, providing evidence of the potential functional consequences of alterations in DNAm related to SES. The results of this study reflect the biological complexity of epigenetic data and underscore the need for multi-disciplinary approaches to study how DNAm may contribute to the social patterning of disease.
The Quest for Prosperity: How Developing Economies Can Take Off

The Quest for Prosperity is an interesting and enjoyable read. Its central message is simple: poor countries can catch up with richer countries in per capita income by following the principle of dynamic comparative advantage. It is an old message but is difficult to actually put into practice, and hence ‘the need’ for a book on this topic. Justin Lin, a former chief economist at the World Bank (2008–2012), draws on experiences from a wide variety of countries to provide numerous practical suggestions about how to march on the road to prosperity.
Neighborliness at the Co-op: Community and Biospheric Literacy

In this ethnographic study of an organic foods cooperative, I examine community through three different facets—the Voluntary Association, the Lifestyle Enclave, and the Neighborhood. I use fieldnote examples to show how each of these community facets corresponds with the three visions of discourse for social change considered by Wayne Campbell Peck, Linda Flower, and Lorraine Higgins. Peck et al.’s most powerful discouse, community literacy, corresponds to the Neighborhood facet of community. The neighborhood holds promise for developing a Biospheric Literacy as developed by Anne Mareck in the introduction to this special issue. The kinds of meanings that she says acknowledge biospherically interdependent human and non-human community members are, I suggest, ritually enacted through neighborly communication. Further, it is through the cordial talk of neighbors that we communicate the kinds of understandings needed to affect positive social change and limit damage to our biosphere.
Coercivity in Granular Fe - Al2O3

We present the results of a comparison between the magnetic properties of granular Fe–Al2O3 and Fe–SiO2. Granular Fe-SiO2 was found earlier to display an anomalous increase in coercivity which appears to scale with the Fe grain size. The Fe-Al2O3 samples were prepared under similar conditions and their magnetic properties determined. The coercivity in granular Fe-Al2O3 is also seen to increase with increasing grain size, showing that the effect is not unique to the Fe-SiO2 system. A major difference between granular Fe–Al2O3 and Fe–SiO2 is the size of the Fe grains, which are smaller in Al2O3.
Principles and techniques of non-disclosure by the therapist during psychotherapy.

The current controversy between the psychodynamic and humanistic-existential perspectives of psychotherapy has involved the use of self-disclosure by the therapist. This practice is uniformly contraindicated in the former and consistently recommended in the latter. Less attention has been paid, however, to specifying the systematic procedures by which a “blank screen” orientation—a posture in which the clinician's anonymity is maintained—is implemented. The present discussion enunciates the principles and techniques of non-disclosing psychotherapy in which the over-all therapeutic style and specific procedures by which a “blank screen” attitude may be executed with increased uniformity and precision, minimizing adverse effects, e.g., the therapist's presentation as “cold,” “enigmatic,” or “aloof”—inferences which may attenuate the therapeutic relationship. The non-disclosing techniques presented may be used by therapists of different orientations and with various treatments.
Civil commitment standards and patient mix in England/Wales, Italy, and the United States

Although England/Wales, Italy, and the United States share a common policy of deinstitutionalization, their mental health systems differ considerably. Each country's civil commitment standards define patient eligibility criteria along one of two primary dimensions--need for treatment or degree of dangerousness. These differential selection criteria result in mental health systems serving different subgroups of the total population. The criteria in England/Wales target older women; in the United States, younger men; and in Italy, a group balanced in age and sex. Implications for the current debate on civil commitment policies are considered.
Wear resistance of complex reinforced coating with aluminum borate whisker and graphite powder

In order to improve wear resistance of coating, a hybrid reinforced paint was prepared by adding well-dispersed aluminum borate whisker and graphite powder to epoxy phenolic paint. The wear resistance of the coating was tested using a ring-on-disc friction-abrasion tester. The results indicated that the nailing whisker and lubricating graphite improve the wear resistance of the hybrid reinforced paint. The optimal mixture composition is 5% aluminum borate whisker and 2% graphite powder (mass fraction). A minimal wear loss of hybrid reinforced paint, 0.164 6 g, is reached, being 30% of that of the epoxy phenolic paint.