cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Docetaxel (Taxotere) and estramustine versus mitoxantrone and prednisone for hormone-refractory prostate cancer: scientific basis and design of Southwest Oncology Group Study 9916.

Hormone-refractory prostate cancer is the terminal step in the natural history of prostate cancer. To date, no chemotherapeutic agents have been shown to impact clinical outcome at this stage. Recently, the Food and Drug Administration approved the combination of mitoxantrone and prednisone based solely on its superior palliative effects as compared to steroids alone in 2 randomized trials. Progress in biologically driven drug development has led to the identification of several estramustine-based regimens that, although based on single institution experience, appear to have at least a comparable but very promising level of activity in hormone-refractory prostate cancer patients. One such combination, estramustine plus docetaxel (Taxotere; Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, Collegeville, PA), is particularly attractive because of its convenient schedule and side effect profile. To objectively assess the therapeutic benefit of this combination, the Southwest Oncology Group is initiating a randomized phase III trial comparing estramustine and docetaxel with the standard arm of mitoxantrone and prednisone using time to progression and survival as the primary end points. Secondary end points will include toxicity profiles, assessments of quality of life parameters, and magnitude of decline of prostate-specific antigen levels between the two treatment arms.
Tripled critical current in racetrack coils made of Bi-2212 Rutherford cables with overpressure processing and leakage control

Author(s): Zhang, K; Higley, H; Ye, L; Gourlay, S; Prestemon, S; Shen, T; Bosque, E; English, C; Jiang, J; Kim, Y; Lu, J; Trociewitz, U; Hellstrom, E; Larbalestier, D | Abstract: We fabricated three racetrack coils (RC1, RC2, and RC3) from Bi-2212 Rutherford cables (17-strand, thickness × width = 1.44 mm × 7.8 mm, strand diameter = 0.8 mm) and applied overpressure processing heat treatment (OPHT). The quench currents of RC1 and RC2 reached 5268 A and 5781 A, respectively, despite them still, surprisingly, exhibiting some Bi-2212 leakage to the surface. After removing most of the leakages using a simple-to-implement insulation scheme, the quench current of RC3 improved to 6485 A, which is about three times the average quench current of a dozen racetrack coils that had been fabricated and reacted using the conventional 1 bar heat treatment. The results confirm the effectiveness of the OPHT technology and the new leakage control scheme for coils made from Bi-2212 Rutherford cables. Coils exhibited an increased quench current with increasing the current ramp rate from 5 to 200 A s-1; they were quite stable against point and transient disturbances, and were capable of adsorbing persistent Joule heating at ∼80 mW for g15 s before quenching. These behaviors are different from Nb-Ti and Nb3Sn accelerator magnets. Overall, our results provide a critical evaluation and verification of Bi-2212 wire and magnet technologies (wire, insulation, heat treatment, coil fabrication, and coil operation), reveal crucial new stability features of Bi-2212 magnets, and demonstrate technological options for it to become a practical high-field magnet technology.
Profile of hyperlexia: Reconciling conflicts through a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract It is believed that children with poor decoding skills and adequate listening comprehension skills exhibit a dyslexia-type syndrome. However, there is no consensus relating to the other problem that arises: children who have exceptional decoding but poor listening comprehension. Sometimes, these children have been labeled as “individuals exhibiting hyperlexia.” There is no clear understanding of the following aspects of hyperlexia: a) population criteria (e.g., typically vs. atypically developing children), b) specific criteria (e.g., precocity, definition of “good decoding”) on their associations with reading, and c) the applicability of reading theories to hyperlexia (e.g., phonemic awareness is critical in decoding; both decoding and listening comprehension contribute to reading comprehension). Therefore, we conducted a systematic and meta-analytic review to explore these questions. We found that despite good decoding and verbal short-term memory skills, individuals with hyperlexia exhibit poor listening, verbal working memory, and reading comprehension skills. Also, all but three studies identified hyperlexics from atypical developing populations; however, criteria to define “good decoding” varied and the onset of precocious decoding behavior was not consistently reported. Our meta-regression analysis suggests that decoding still predicted the performance of reading comprehension after controlling for listening comprehension, suggesting that the variations of defining “good decoding” led to different reading comprehension profiles (e.g., mild vs. severe reading comprehension deficit). Further, listening comprehension but not decoding is related to phonemic awareness, which may be due to the difficulty of understanding phonemic awareness tasks. However, it may also suggest that the current decoding theory is not applied to hyperlexia. Future suggestions for hyperlexia research are provided.
Real-World Technology Use Among People With Mental Illnesses: Qualitative Study

Background: There is growing interest in using technology-based tools to support mental health recovery. Yet, despite evidence suggesting widespread access to technology among people with mental illnesses, interest in using technology to support mental health, and effectiveness of technology-based tools developed by researchers, such tools have not been widely adopted within mental health settings. Little is currently known about how mental health consumers are using technology to address mental health needs in real-world settings outside of controlled research studies. Objective: This qualitative study examined current practices and orientations toward technology among consumers in 3 mental health settings in the United States. Methods: Ethnographic observations and semistructured interviews were conducted. Observations focused on if and how technology was salient within the setting and documented relevant behaviors, interactions, and dialogue in fieldnotes. Ethnographic data informed the development of a semistructured interview that inquired into technology use and interest among consumers (n=15) in a community mental health setting. Fieldnotes and interview transcripts were reviewed and coded by multiple researchers. Key concepts and patterns identified were refined by the research team to develop the main findings. Results: Ownership of technology, although common, was not ubiquitous and was varied across the sites. Participants had varying levels of awareness regarding the key capabilities of modern technologies. Participants used technology for many purposes, but there was limited evidence of technology use to support mental health. Technology-based tools specific to mental health were not routinely used, although some participants found widely available mobile apps to be helpful in recovery. Conclusions: Qualitative findings suggest that many, but not all, clients will be interested in using technology to support mental health needs. The variability in type and quality of technology owned by participants suggests the need to design for a range of functionality in the development of mental health tools. Findings also suggest thinking broadly about using existing platforms and widely available tools to support consumers in mental health recovery.
Parental problem drinking and children's adjustment: family conflict and parental depression as mediators and moderators of risk.

We examined marital conflict, parent–child conflict, and maternal and paternal depression symptoms as mediators and moderators in the associations between fathers' and mothers' problem drinking and children's adjustment. A community sample of 6–12-year-old boys and girls and their mothers, fathers, and teachers participated. Marital conflict, parent–child conflict, and maternal depression symptomatology each functioned as a mediator of the association between father's problem drinking and children's externalizing and internalizing problems, and maternal depression symptoms accounted partially for the link between father's problem drinking and children's social problems. For mother's problem drinking, marital conflict, parent–child conflict, and maternal depression symptoms each mediated the association with children's externalizing problems. Further, parent–child conflict explained partially the link between mother's problem drinking and internalizing problems, and marital conflict accounted for the association between mother's problem drinking and social problems. When the mediators were simultaneously examined, parent–child conflict was the most robust mediator of the association between parental problem drinking and externalizing problems, and maternal depression symptomatology was the most consistent mediator of the relation between parental problem drinking and internalizing problems. Further, parent–child conflict and paternal and maternal depression symptoms each interacted with parental problem drinking to moderate some domains of children's adjustment. The significant moderation effects indicate that parent–child conflict is a robust vulnerability factor for internalizing problems.
Effect of weaning diet on the ecology of adherent lactobacilli in the gastrointestinal tract of the pig.

Sixteen pigs were included in an investigation of the effects of weaning and weaning diet on the ecology of adherent Lactobacillus species in the gastrointestinal tract. At 28 d of age four pigs were killed and were designated as the preweaning control (PW). Four pigs remained on the sow (Sow), four pigs were fed a corn-soy-lactose (CSL) diet, and the remaining four pigs were fed a corn-soy (CS) diet. Pigs from the latter three treatments were killed at 38 d of age. Tissue samples were taken from the pars esophagus, ileum, and cecum and the adherent lactobacilli were enumerated using Rogosa SL agar. Bacterial colonies were randomly selected from Rogosa SL agar plates and speciated using cell type, morphology, and substrate fermentation tests. The species data were used to calculate the Shannon, Simpson, and evenness diversity indices. Shannon and Simpson diversity index values when averaged across tissues were lower (P < .05) for PW than for postweaning treatments (Sow, CSL, and CS) and lower (P < .05) when pigs receiving sow's milk (PW and Sow) were compared with pigs receiving the dry diets (CSL and CS). The diversity of adherent Lactobacillus is altered by the form of the diet fed to weanling pigs, and statistical ecological methods provide a powerful way of analyzing the ecology of the gastrointestinal tract.
Designing information ecosystems to process citizen input and improve public sector decision making

Recent advances in technology and social media have enabled average, individual citizens to forcefully voice their opinions on various public-sector issues. To fully harvest this new tide of technology-enabled activism, information ecosystems must be proactively designed and scientifically managed to receive and process citizen input. In this paper, an activist is a term broadly used to connote any citizen interested in engaging in participative government, usually mediated by the use of technology. The collective set of measures that need to be rigorously undertaken to bring citizen activism to fruition is referred to as activism science in this paper. This position paper examines five case studies wherein citizen activism has already proved successful. The learning's from these case studies leads to a synthetic proposal for managing activism scientifically, incorporating citizen inputs, management science models, technology and data architectures and suitable participative process design. The proposed activism science framework (ASF) is applied to envision improvements in the delivery of online education and urban services.
Dry Eye Syndrome in Glaucomatous Patients using Topical Anti-Glaucoma Therapy

Purpose: To determine the frequency of Dry eye in Glaucoma patients using topical anti-glaucoma therapy. Study Design: Descriptive Observational study. Place and Duration of Study: Study was conducted in outpatient department of Fatima Memorial Hospital Shadman, Lahore, from October 2016 to February 2017. Material & Methods: In this study, 61 diagnosed cases of glaucoma were included. Patients with significant dermatological problems that may be associated with dry eye such as rosacea and blepharitis were excluded from the study. The individuals were assessed by consultant Ophthalmologist for Dry eye syndrome having symptoms of stinging and burning sensations itching, watering, irritation, due to regular use of topical anti-glaucoma drugs. A written consent was taken from every patient before the test. The ocular surfaces of the patients were evaluated using Tear film break-up time test and Basal Schrimer’s test. Patients having TBUT less than 11 seconds were categorized as having dry eye. The degree of dryness was categorized as mild, moderate and sever Dry eye. Results: Among 61 patients of glaucoma using topical anti-glaucoma therapy, 22 (36.1%) were male and 39 (63.9%) were female. Mean age of the patients was 50.76 ± 15.67 years. On the basis of Tear film Break-up time test, 49 (81%) patients had Tear Break-up time less than 10 seconds and 12 (19%) patients were normal. On the basis of Schrimer`s test 51 (83.66%) patients had Dry eye. Conclusion: Topical use of anti-glaucoma therapy affects tear film stability and its functions leading to Dry eye syndrome.
Interest, Resources, and Preferences for Weight Loss Programs among Primary Care Patients with Obesity

Abstract Objective To examine interest, resources, and preferences for weight loss programs among primary care patients with obesity. Methods Primary care patients having a BMI ≥30 kg/m2 were recruited in the summer and fall of 2018. Eligible patients were invited to complete an anonymous survey assessing sociodemographic factors, interest in weight loss, resources, and preferences for weight loss programs. Descriptive statistics were used for analysis. Results A total of 77 patients completed the anonymous survey. Nearly 90% of patients were interested in participating in a weight loss program and reported having a smartphone. Approximately 80% had high-speed internet and a device with videoconferencing capabilities, whereas only 40% had a tablet or laptop computer. On average, patients preferred weight loss programs delivered in-person and led by a nutritionist or personal trainer. Patients’ top three preferences for weight loss content included goal setting, staying motivated, and finding ways to be more active. Conclusions Although primary care patients with obesity were interested in weight loss programs, availability of resources and preferred program characteristics varied. Practice Implications This study provides insight on patient interest, resources, and preferences for weight loss programs that may help guide the development of future programs.
After Initial Retrieval Practice, More Retrieval Produces Better Retention Than More Study in the Word Learning of Children With Developmental Language Disorder

Purpose Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) often have difficulty with word learning. Recent studies have shown that incorporating retrieval practice provides a significant benefit to this learning. However, we have not yet discovered the best balance between the amount of retrieval and the amount of study (hearing the word in the presence of the referent) that is provided. In this investigation, we compared a word learning procedure using more retrieval and less study with a procedure that used more study and less retrieval. Method Participants were 13 children with DLD and 13 same-age peers with typical language development (TD). Both groups ranged in age from 4 to 6 years. The children learned two sets of novel words, with each set taught in two sessions. During an initial criterion period, the children had the opportunity to retrieve all of the words. Following this period, the words were either retrieved without further study or studied without additional retrieval. Recall and recognition testing immediately followed the second learning session and was repeated 1 week later. Testing assessed the children's retention of both the word forms and their meanings. Results Better recall both immediately after learning and after 1 week was seen for the more retrieval/less study condition. This was seen for both groups of children for word form recall and for children with DLD for meaning. Group differences were not found. Conclusion This study served as a stringent test of the benefits of retrieval to children's word learning. Continued retrieval after initial retrieval practice appeared to be helpful even when further study was discontinued and when the comparison study condition had also provided retrieval practice in the initial stages. Further refinement of retrieval procedures might lead to the development of useful clinical tools to promote word learning.
Fibroscan liver stiffness after anti-viral treatment for hepatitis C is independently associated with adverse outcomes.

BACKGROUND Fibroscan-derived liver stiffness decreases after anti-viral treatment for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, which may affect the associations and interpretation of liver stiffness. AIMS To assess whether liver stiffness pre- or post-anti-viral therapy is associated with the development of decompensated cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or death. METHODS In this retrospective cohort study, we identified US veterans who initiated HCV treatment and had at least one liver stiffness before (n = 492) or after (n = 877) HCV therapy. We used Cox proportional hazards regression (adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, history of cirrhosis, body mass index, diabetes, FIB-4 score, Charlson comorbidity index, alcohol use disorder, Model for end-stage liver disease score and sustained virological response status) to determine the associations between pre- or post-treatment liver stiffness values and the development of decompensated cirrhosis, HCC, death or liver transplant. RESULTS In the post-treatment liver stiffness cohort, during a mean follow-up of 27.3 months, 21 (2.4%) developed decompensated cirrhosis, 26 (3.0%) developed HCC and 57 (6.5%) died or underwent liver transplant. Compared to patients with post-treatment liver stiffness ≤12.5 kPa, those with post-treatment liver stiffness >20 kPa, had higher rates of developing decompensated cirrhosis (adjusted HR 3.85, 95% CI 1.29-11.50) and the composite outcome of death, liver transplant, decompensated cirrhosis or HCC (adjusted HR 1.95, 95% CI: 1.07-3.56). There were no significant associations between pre-treatment liver stiffness and any outcomes on multivariable analysis. CONCLUSIONS Post-treatment liver stiffness >20 kPa, but not pre-treatment liver stiffness, was independently associated with the development of decompensated cirrhosis and the composite outcome in multivariable analyses. Measuring liver stiffness should be considered after anti-viral treatment because it predicts adverse outcomes even beyond routinely available clinical predictors.
Increased Use of Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Back Pain Following Statewide Medicaid Coverage Changes in Oregon

In 2016, Oregon introduced a policy to improve back pain treatment among Medicaid enrollees by expanding benefits for evidence-based complementary and alternative medical (CAM) services and establishing opioid prescribing restrictions. To examine changes in CAM utilization following the policy and variations in utilization across patient populations. A retrospective study of Oregon Medicaid claims data, examining CAM therapy utilization by back pain patients pre- vs post-policy. We used an interrupted time series analysis to evaluate changes in CAM use and examined the association between patient characteristics and CAM use post-policy using linear regression models. Adult Medicaid patients with back pain. The Oregon Medicaid back pain policy, administered through Coordinated Care Organizations (CCOs). Use of CAM services. Use of any CAM service increased from 7.9% (95% CI 7.6–8.2%) prior to the policy to 30.9% (95% CI 30.4–31.3%) after the policy. Acupuncture increased from 0.3 to 5.6%, chiropractic from 0.3 to 11.1%, massage from 1.6 to 14.8%, PT/OT from 6.0 to 17.7%, and osteopathic from 1.4 to 1.9%. Interrupted time series showed an overall increase in proportion of back pain patients who used CAM service following the policy. Among those who accessed CAM, the policy did not appear to increase the number of services used. In the post period, CAM services were accessed more often by female and older enrollees and urban populations. Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Hispanic enrollees were less likely to access CAM services; for Black enrollees, this was true for all types of services. CAM service utilization increased among back pain patients following implementation of Oregon’s policy. There was significant heterogeneity in uptake across service types, CCOs, and patient subgroups. Policymakers should consider implementation factors that might limit impact and perpetuate health disparities.
Welfare costs of COVID-19: Evidence from US counties.

Abtract Using daily U S county-level data on consumption, employment, mobility and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases, this paper investigates the welfare costs of COVID-19 The investigation is achieved by using implications of a model, where there is a trade-off between consumption and COVID-19 cases that are both determined by the optimal mobility decision of individuals The empirical results show evidence for about 11% of an average (across days) reduction of welfare during the sample period between February and December, 2020 for the average county There is also evidence for heterogeneous welfare costs across U S counties and days, where certain counties have experienced welfare reductions up to 46% on average across days and up to 97% in late March, 2020 that are further connected to the socioeconomic characteristics of the U S counties This article is protected by copyright All rights reserved
Pandemic of Fear or What Statistics Hide: Patients with Cardiovascular Disease are at Increased Risk During COVID-19

Insufficient statistical information on the structure of mortality in the era of the pandemic is disclosed in this article. It analyzes the statistics and the causes of death during the COVID-19 pandemic from a new coronavirus infection and cardiovascular disease. Actual international data on a decrease in the hospitalization rate of patients with acute coronary syndrome are presented. A comparative analysis of statistics from European countries and Russia shows that cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in populations, and patients with cardiovascular diseases are at increased risk for morbidity and mortality during the COVID pandemic.
Visible light bromide catalysis for oxazoline, pyrrolidine, and dihydrooxazine syntheses via Csp3–H functionalizations

A catalytic benzylic Csp3–H functionalization protocol is described here. This visible light-mediated process is centered on the utilization of a bromide catalyst and oxidant to generate a nitrogen (N)-centered radical for a site-selective hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) process. This strategy enabled the unconventional syntheses of a number of N-heterocycles dependent on the amide identity. We also discovered a nucleophilicity-dependent kinetic resolution for stereochemical differentiation of Csp3–H bonds that enabled the stereoselective synthesis of cis- and trans-oxazolines.
Scientific progress in psychodynamic formulation.

(1989). Scientific Progress in Psychodynamic Formulation. Psychiatry: Vol. 52, No. 3, pp. 245-249.
Predicting earth's dynamic changes

Given a suitable strategy for conducting measurements, satellite-based remote sensing of the earth can furnish valuable information on the dynamic changes of such planetary characteristics as ocean surface temperatures and atmospheric CO2. Observations must be global and synoptic, quantitatively validated, and consistent over the long term. A program spanning 20 years will study such critical variables as solar flux, stratospheric temperature, aerosols and ozone, cloud cover, tropospheric gases and aerosols, radiation balance, surface temperature, albedo, precipitation, vegetation cover, moisture, snow and ice, as well as oceanic color, topography, and wind stress.
Causal Inference for Statistics, Social, and Biomedical Sciences: An Introduction

Most questions in social and biomedical sciences are causal in nature: what would happen to individuals, or to groups, if part of their environment were changed? In this groundbreaking text, two world-renowned experts present statistical methods for studying such questions. This book starts with the notion of potential outcomes, each corresponding to the outcome that would be realized if a subject were exposed to a particular treatment or regime. In this approach, causal effects are comparisons of such potential outcomes. The fundamental problem of causal inference is that we can only observe one of the potential outcomes for a particular subject. The authors discuss how randomized experiments allow us to assess causal effects and then turn to observational studies. They lay out the assumptions needed for causal inference and describe the leading analysis methods, including, matching, propensity-score methods, and instrumental variables. Many detailed applications are included, with special focus on practical aspects for the empirical researcher.
Mantle Carbon: Concentration, Mode of Occurrence, and Isotopic Composition

The chemical forms in which carbon occurs in the mantle are numerous and their relative abundances highly variable. Carbon concentrations measured on mantle xenoliths and estimated for the average mantle vary between a few parts per million and a percent. In mantle samples the element has been observed in fluid inclusions, commonly in the form of CO2 , but also as the minor species CO, CH4, and COS. In addition, mantle carbon occurs as graphite, diamond, carbonates, moissanite, and carbonaceous films on cracks in minerals, and it has been proposed that the element is present in solid solution in silicates. The carbon isotopic composition of diamonds from kimberlites has a wide range from about 0 to — 30%o versus PDB which is comparable to that of the major reduced carbon phases in meteorites. The diamond S13C frequency distribution has a major mode at — 5.5%o and probably a minor one between —15 and — 19%o. The weighted mean of the distribution is — 7%o. The δ13C frequency distribution of carbonatite carbonates, a second major mantle carbon sample, shows very limited variability, is Gaussian, has a mean of — 5.4%o, and is distinct from that of diamonds. In comparison, the weighted mean δ13C value of meteoritic bulk carbon lies probably below — 10%o. There is evidence that carbon reservoirs of differing isotopic compositions exist in the mantle and that on the average δ13C values may be lower at greater mantle depth. Geochemical models which assume that the mantle can be represented by a reservoir that is uniform with respect to chemical form, concentration, and isotopic composition of carbon are bound to be unrealistic. If a limited variability of these parameters is assumed in mantle models, it will be necessary to test how sensitive any derived conclusions are to deviations from the assumed values.
Reactive Teaming for Intelligent Game Characters

Reactive methods for controlling intelligent agents have proven to be a very strong alternative to planning methods, especially in areas such as robotics and game agents, where real-time performance is critical. Despite this success, coordinating teams of reactive agents can be a nontrivial problem. In this work, we present our initial development of a novel method for coordinating reactive agents using behavior-based control by transferring layers between different agents.
Prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes during production and postharvest processing of cabbage.

From November 1999 to May 2000, analyses of 425 cabbage, 205 water, and 225 environmental sponge samples from four cabbage farms with packing sheds and from two packing sheds in the Rio Grande Valley and Uvalde, Tex., were conducted to determine whether Listeria monocytogenes was present. Samples were tested by the Food and Drug Administration method for the isolation of Listeria spp., and confirmed isolates were DNA fingerprinted by repetitive-element sequence-based polymerase chain reaction (rep-PCR). L. monocytogenes was isolated from 3% (26 of 855) of the samples. Twenty of these isolates were obtained from cabbage (7 isolates from farms and 13 from packing sheds). Three isolates were from water samples (two from farms and one from a packing shed), and three were from environmental sponge samples of packing shed surfaces. Rep-PCR-generated fingerprints of 21 of the isolates revealed 18 distinctive banding patterns. Four isolates from environmental sponge samples of conveyor belts and from cabbage samples shared identical banding patterns, suggesting common sources of contamination. These identical environmental isolates suggest that contact with packing shed surfaces may be a source of contamination of cabbage. However, the cabbage samples could have arrived contaminated, since they were not washed.
Sequences and Series of Real Numbers

The elementary theories of real-valued functions of a real variable and of numerical sequences and series are treated in any standard calculus text. In most cases, however, the proofs are given in appendices and omitted from the main body of the course. To give rigorous proofs of the basic theorems on convergence, continuity, and differentiability, one needs a precise definition of real numbers. One way to achieve this is to start with the construction of real numbers from the rational ones by means of Dedekind Cuts.
Pathways to Recovery: Adapting 12-Step Recovery to Methadone Treatment

Abstract Pathways to Recovery is a peerled, 12-step-based, self-help group with spiritual underpinnings that was developed to meet the needs of clients in a Methadone Treatment Program (MTP) based in a large municipal hospital. Pathways is facilitated by staff, but groups are patient-run. Pathways was adapted for the MTP population from our original Methadone Anonymous format because of the need for increased structure and to ensure the inclusion of women participating in substance abuse treatment that is predominantly male. A sample of 26 Pathways participants and a comparison group of 26 MTP clients who did not attend Pathways completed a battery of questionnaires to assess demographic characteristics, substance use, depression, anxiety, spiritual orientation, and 12-step beliefs. Preliminary findings on gender differences are presented.
Chapter 245 Cluster Compounds of Rare-Earth Elements

Abstract Polynuclear complexes of rare-earth elements characterized by their well-defined, cluster-like core structures are a class of interesting compounds with pleasing molecular structures and potential useful applications. Their synthetic and structural chemistry has been developed rapidly in the last two decades, and a review of this subject is therefore timely. Presented in this chapter are the large number of cluster compounds of rare-earth elements appeared in the literature up to 2008. The discussion of this vast number of cluster species is organized according to the distinct synthetic methods by which they are produced, that is, those obtained under conditions typical of organometallic synthesis and those by deliberate hydrolysis of mononuclear or lower-nuclearity precursors. The common driving force behind the assembly of these cluster species is the inherent tendency of the bulky metal atoms to satisfy their coordination number requirements. The clustering of the individual metal atoms is facilitated by the use of multidentate chelating and bridging ligands, mostly oxygen-based due to the oxophilicity of these unique metal elements. Other heteroatoms, including N, chalcogens, halogens, and H are also frequently found in the coordination sphere, generally in the form of small-unit ligands. With the unabated enthusiasm and efforts from researchers over the world, this cluster chemistry of rare-earth elements has now been developed into a unique research area, and a number of important applications (chemical, biomedical, and materials) have either been realized or envisioned. It is reasonable to predict that activities in this particular direction of chemical research will continue to grow with a high possibility of finding many new species with pleasing structures and useful applications.
DYNAMIC SCENARIOS IN FINANCE AND MANAGEMENT, LOOKING TO 2024

This research aims to study management skills in dynamic scenarios, taking as reference the theories: Dynamic – Systems (M. Vera, 2011), Fractal Catalysis (Davia, 2006) and Intelligence and Reason (X. Zubiri, 1983).The overall aim of this study is to identify the dynamic financial scenarios and management up to the year 2024 and to determine the profile of management skills suitable to these scenarios. The specific aims consist in: identifying the dynamic scenarios in finance and management with a projection to year 2024; identifying the main characteristics of the current financial-oriented management skills and management profiles; and determining a profile management with financial guidance skills and relevant management in dynamic scenarios. The methodology used applies an observational analytical design with a qualitative approach. The results indicate that professional scenarios used in profiles of current management skills are static and not dynamic;therefore, we can conclude that from the perspective of the national and international financial scenarios and the scenarios of financial experts up to 2024 show significant changes with an overall positive trend in the area of finance and management; more dynamics; and the need of better and more competent professionals. They also indicate that professionals need to develop new and better skills, use new strategies and ways to learn, and have to face difficulties in the development of its work related to the dynamics of the financial and economic system. Its functions will be developed with various new forms of work,such as in an environment of greater complexity, control, and automation. Their work will be more demanding, interdisciplinary, and within complex environments; it will require international experience.
Murine intestinal antibody response to heterologous rotavirus infection.

Abstract Rotavirus is the most important worldwide cause of severe gastroenteritis. Extensive efforts have been devoted to the design of a vaccine that will prevent disease, but development of a more effective vaccine strategy may require progress in the understanding of the mucosal immune response to replicating viral antigens. In this article, we report the characterization of the intestinal antibody response of a murine model to heterologous infection with the rhesus rotavirus vaccine strain. We have adapted the enzyme-linked immunospot assay to measure this response without the difficulties associated with measurement of antibodies in intestinal contents or the artifacts associated with culturing of lymphocytes. The predominant response in terms of antibody-secreting cells (ASC) is seen in the small intestine lamina propria, which can be measured within 4 days of infection, peaks 3 weeks after infection, and remains near that level for longer than 8 weeks. The magnitude of the immunoglobulin A (IgA) cell response is approximately 10 times greater than the intestinal IgG cell response, and IgM cells are rare. Virus-specific ASC constitute approximately 50% of all ASC in the gut at the peak of the virus-specific response. This response is considerably greater than responses to nonreplicating mucosal antigens measured by similar techniques. Enteral infection engenders minimal virus-specific ASC response in the spleen. Rhesus rotavirus-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and neutralization assays of serum and intestinal contents did not correlate with virus-specific ASC response.
Using a description classifier to enhance deductive inference

Descriptions are given of some of the emerging techniques and uses of classifier-based reasoning systems, specifically as they apply to the LOOM knowledge representation system. The author asserts that current generation expert system tools fail to achieve a satisfactory integration of frame knowledge and rule knowledge. He then describes a class of languages, exemplified by LOOM, that combine descriptions and rules to form a hybrid logic that does achieve a satisfactory level of integration. The use of classifier technology enables a form of unification over descriptions that fills a gap present in the frame-plus-rule (F+R) technology. In addition, classification-based inference technology is more powerful than the inference technology found in languages such as (pure) Prolog. A classifier's ability to automatically organize definitions and to detect many kinds of inconsistency can significantly benefit the task of knowledge acquisition. The unique capabilities of the classifier can be applied to enhance existing programming paradigms. The author highlights specific enhancements to the production rule and object-oriented programming paradigms. >
Progesterone suppresses the fetal inflammatory response ex vivo

Objective Progesterone supplementation has been shown to be efficacious in preventing preterm birth. We sought to investigate the effects of progesterone on fetal inflammatory responses. Study Design Fetal mononuclear cells were isolated from umbilical cord blood and exposed to vehicle or progesterone (P4) for 1 hour prior to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation. Supernatants were assayed for tumor necrosis factor-α. Similar experiments were performed using cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and progesterone modulators. The effect of P4 treatment on intracellular cAMP levels was also determined. Results LPS treatment led to a significant increase in cytokine production by fetal mononuclear cells. Despite the lack of detectable nuclear progesterone receptors, P4 suppressed this inflammatory response. R5020 (progesterone agonist), forskolin (cAMP inducer), and dibutyryl cAMP (cAMP agonist) all achieved immunosuppression. The cAMP antagonist, Rp-cAMP, blocked the inhibitory effect of progesterone. P4 significantly increased intracellular cAMP levels. Conclusion Progesterone rapidly suppresses the fetal inflammatory response, possibly via nongenomic activation of the cAMP cascade.
A Meta-analysis of Parental Satisfaction, Adjustment, and Conflict in Joint Custody and Sole Custody Following Divorce

The literature on parental satisfaction, adjustment, and relitigation in joint custody (JC) versus sole custody (SC) following divorce is reviewed. Findings are summarized for custody differences in parental demographics; time spent with father; the father–child relationship; parental satisfaction with custody; parental adjustment, including self-esteem and parenting stress or burden; conflict between ex-spouses; and relitigation. JC was associated with equivalent or better outcomes than SC in the father–child relationship, parenting stress, parental conflict and relitigation, and overall adjustment. Satisfaction with custody is greatest for both mothers and fathers when they have SC, less in JC, and least for noncustodial parents. Future researchers need larger, more representative samples followed over time.
Active machine learning for transmembrane helix prediction

Background: About 30% of genes code for membrane proteins, which are involved in a wide variety of crucial biological functions. Despite their importance, experimentally determined structures correspond to only about 1.7% of protein structures deposited in the Protein Data Bank due to the difficulty in crystallizing membrane proteins. Algorithms that can identify proteins whose high-resolution structure can aid in predicting the structure of many previously unresolved proteins are therefore of potentially high value. Active machine learning is a supervised machine learning approach which is suitable for this domain where there are a large number of sequences but only very few have known corresponding structures. In essence, active learning seeks to identify proteins whose structure, if revealed experimentally, is maximally predictive of others. Results: An active learning approach is presented for selection of a minimal set of proteins whose structures can aid in the determination oftransmembrane helices for the remaining proteins. TMpro, an algorithm for high accuracy TM helix prediction we previously developed, is coupled with active learning. We show that with a well-designed selection procedure, high accuracy can be achieved with only few proteins. TMpro, trained with a single protein achieved an F-score of 94% on benchmark evaluation and 91% on MPtopo dataset, which correspond to the state-of-the-art accuracies on TM helix prediction that are achieved usually by training with over 100 training proteins. Conclusion: Active learning is suitable for bioinformatics applications, where manually characterized data are not a comprehensive representation of all possible data, and in fact can be a very sparse subset thereof. It aids in selection of data instances which when characterized experimentally can improve the accuracy of computational characterization of remaining raw data. The results presented here also demonstrate that the feature extraction method of TMpro is well designed, achieving a very good separation between TM and non TM segments.
New anti-huntingtin monoclonal antibodies: implications for huntingtin conformation and its binding proteins.

We produced eight anti-huntingtin (Htt) monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), several of which have novel binding patterns. Peptide array epitope mapping shows that mAbs MW1–6 specifically bind the polyQ domain of Htt exon 1. On Western blots of extracts from mutant Htt knock-in mouse brain and Huntington’s disease lymphoblastoma cell lines, MW1-5 all strongly prefer to bind to the expanded polyQ repeat form of Htt, displaying no detectable binding to normal Htt. These results suggest that the polyQ domain can assume different conformations that are distinguishable by mAbs. This idea is supported by immunohistochemistry with wild type (WT) and mutant Htt transgenic mouse (R6) brains. Despite sharing the same epitope and binding preferences on Western blots, MW1–5 display distinct staining patterns. MW1 shows punctate cytoplasmic and neuropil staining, while MW2–5 strongly stain the neuronal Golgi complex. MW6, in contrast, stains neuronal somas and neuropil. In addition, despite their preference for mutant Htt on blots, none of these mAbs show enhanced staining of R6 brains over WT, and show no binding of the Htt-containing nuclear inclusions in R6 brains. This suggests that in its various subcellular locations, the polyQ domain of Htt either takes on different conformations and/or is differentially occluded by Htt binding proteins. In contrast to MW1–6, MW7, and 8 can differentiate transgenic from WT mice by staining nuclear inclusions in R6/2 brain; MW8 displays no detectable staining in WT brain and stains only inclusions in R6/2 brain. Epitope mapping reveals that MW7 and 8 specifically bind the polyP domains and amino acids 83-90, respectively. As with MW1-6, the epitopes for MW7 and 8 are differentially available in the various subcellular compartments where Htt is found.
Acoustooptic modulator intensity servo

A device has been constructed that combines optical isolation and amplitude noise reduction by the use of a servo controlled acoustooptc intensity modulator. The isolation can, in principle, be perfect while the noise reduction can be significant up to about 100 kHz and as large as 80 dB at low frequency. This performance is accomplished by applying negative feedback around an acoustooptc modulator, servoing the intensity of the Bragg diffracted beam to a constant value.
Immune Complexes in Uveitis

We determined the incidence of immune complex increases, the nature of immune complexes, and the correlation between the immune complex level and clinical uveitis status in patients with chronic iridocyclitis and chronic diffuse uveitis. Ten of 16 patients with chronic iridocyclitis had increased levels of immune complexes, and this correlated with disease activity. Immune complexes were detected in ten of 12 patients with chronic diffuse uveitis. These complexes have a molecular weight of approximately 2 X 10(6) daltons. The antibody component of immune complex is IgG; however; the antigenic component of the immune complexes is unclear.
Periodontal therapy: principles of pocket elimination

Because periodontal pockets interfere with the patient’s efforts to remove plaque, their elimination is an important component of periodontal therapy. The objectives of periodontal therapy are to arrest the disease process and to restore the periodontium to a state of health. Pockets are the result of periodontal disease. Since these pockets interfere with the removal of plaque, a major etiologic agent of the disease, pocket elimination is an important component of periodontal therapy.
Put your chips on transcriptomics.

The course of any disease is determined by a complex interplay between innate characteristics and environmental triggers. Accordingly, evidence-based risk factor assessment in heart disease requires a detailed family history to gauge inherited features and accurate estimates of smoking, diet, exercise, and other aspects that constitute important extrinsic disease modifiers. The value of traditional risk assessments for individual prognostication is limited, however, by lack of a precise family history to reveal specific genetic makeup on one hand and by interindividual variation in response to environmental events on the other. In diseases such as familial hypertrophic or dilated cardiomyopathies, in which the innate component is far more important than external factors in determining disease onset and progression, genetic testing is increasingly being used to assess individual risks for developing disease and to personalize therapy.1 However, although there have been some intriguing potential applications,2,3 the clinical utility of genetic profiling is less clear in nonischemic or idiopathic heart failure syndromes that are polygenic in origin or for which there is greater contribution of environmental factors. Thus, there is a need for clinical tests that not only will reveal a patient’s static genetic makeup but also will define the dynamic changes in gene transcript and protein expression that are a consequence of gene-environment interactions. Article p 238 The studies of Heidecker et al4 in this issue of Circulation help reveal the promise of transcriptional profiling to predict long-term heart failure outcome. Endomyocardial biopsies were obtained early in the course of heart failure from a well-characterized cohort of idiopathic cardiomyopathy patients5 and were the source of RNA used for microarray analysis of transcript levels. Forty-five differentially expressed genes were identified and incorporated into a panel of transcriptional biomarkers that predicted heart failure prognosis with 74% sensitivity and 90% specificity. No …
The D0 silicon tracker

The D0 silicon micro-strip tracker, which was installed for Run II of the Fermilab Collider, and an inner silicon micro-strip layer 0, which was installed for Run IIb of the Collider, are described.
Crystallographic Contrast Due to Primary Ion Channelling in the Scanning Ion Microscope

We observe large crystallographic contrast, in scanning ion micrographs of recrystallized Cu and Si, made by collecting secondary ions or electrons. The contrast is attributed to primary ion-channelling effects. Observed relative secondary ion and electron yields are discussed in relation to the rate of energy loss, calculated for various crystallographic directions.