cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Methyl guanine isomer distinction by hydrogen / deuterium exchange using a fourier transform mass spectrometer.

Analytical Chemistry Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA Differentiation of the seven isomers of methyl guanine has been accomplished by monitoring gas-phase hydrogen/deuterium (H/D) exchange reactions of the protonated molecular ions with deuterium oxide (D2O) in a Fourier transform mass spectrometer. In each case a distinctive reaction rate for the first H/D exchange was observed, and exchanges of up to three deuterium atoms occurred with characteristic ion abundances that could be used to differentiate the isomers. O6-Methyl guanine, for example, showed only one slow H/D exchange with D2O, whereas l-methyl guanine exchanged two hydrogen atoms at a significantly faster rate. On comparison of the possible resonance structures of each protonated isomer with the experimental information about the number and rate of H/D exchanges observed, a reaction mechanism involving a concerted proton abstraction-deuterium cation donation was proposed.
Dark-adaptation testing for diagnosis of subclinical vitamin-A deficiency and evaluation of therapy.

Abstract Thirteen patients with chronic small-intestinal disease without overt evidence of nutritional deficit were found to have abnormal dark-adaptation tests. Ten patients were receiving 3500 to 10,000 units of vitamin A daily in oral multivitamin preparations. Dark adaptation did not change in five patients after a week of oral vitamin-A therapy (25,000 units per day). Normal dark adaptation was restored in two of four patients after a single dose of parenteral vitamin A (50,000 units) and in five of seven patients after 30 days of oral therapy (50,000 units per day). The high frequency of subclinical vitamin-A deficiency found in this group suggests that occult nutritional deficiency may be more prevalent in patients with intestinal disease than is commonly appreciated. Routine vitamin supplementation cannot be relied upon to prevent the functional deficit demonstrated in this study.
An efficient higher-order plate theory for laminated composites

Abstract An efficient higher-order plate theory for laminated composites is developed. The theory for symmetric laminated composites is obtained by superposing a cubic varying displacement field on a zig-zag linearly varying displacement. The theory has the same number of dependent unknowns as first-order shear deformation theory, and the number of unknowns is independent of the number of layers. The displacement satisfies transverse shear stress continuity conditions at the interface between layers as well as shear free surface conditions. Thus an artificial shear correction factor is not needed. To demonstrate and compare with other theories, the analytical solution for cylindrical bending is obtained. The present theory gives deflections and stresses which compare well with other known theories.
Clitoral surgery and sexual outcome in intersex conditions.

See page 1252 Parents who are confronted with a newborn baby with ambiguous genitalia are overwhelmed because they have probably never before heard of such a condition. They need good information about surgical procedures and the effect of the operation on body image, self-concept, and gender identity of their daughter during childhood and her sexual life in adolescence and adulthood. Professionals treating these patients also lack this essential information. There are not many studies about the sexual outcome of genital surgery in women born with ambiguous genitalia. 1–3 Patients are not motivated to participate in research because of fear of stigmatisation and often refuse physical examinations because of previous traumatic experiences and shame. In this week’s Lancet, Catherine Minto and colleagues report on sexual outcome after clitoral surgery in individuals with intersex conditions and ambiguous genitalia. The subsamples are small and only 44 of the 81 patients returned the questionnaires, but the study still provides important information. The 18 women who had had clitoral surgery had higher rates of non-sensuality and of failure to achieve orgasm than did the ten who had not had surgery. Minto and colleagues conclude that sexual function can be compromised by clitoral surgery, but are hesitant to advise against such surgery—they advocate an ethical debate about the use of such surgery and stress the need for good information about the potential risks on sexual functioning. Sexual functioning can also be compromised by other factors, such as sexual shyness due to a negative genital body-image. Mureau and colleagues 4
Enabling Technology for Microvascular Stenting in Ophthalmic Surgery

Microstenting is a potentially revolutionary approach to surgical treatment of microvascular retinal disorders that do not resolve using pharmaceutical treatment. This article presents a novel device called a stent deployment unit (SDU) that aims at enabling microstent placement in ophthalmic surgery. The clinical motivation for this work is highlighted in context of microvascular retinal surgery. The proposed SDU is designed for intraocular adjustment of the approach angle and the position of the stent with respect to the retina. The feasibility of this device is experimentally evaluated on chick chorioallantoic membranes and on agar vascular models. Experiments show dependency on the approach angle with respect to the vasculature and on the mobility of the vasculature. Successful placement of stents was achieved in both experimental media. To the best of our knowledge, this pioneering work is the first to demonstrate successful stent deployment in a scale suitable for retinal surgery. We believe that this technique has the promise of enabling effective vascular treatments for blinding conditions such as central and branch retinal vein occlusion.
Attributions of male college students to variations in facial features in the line drawing of a woman’s face

Twenty college students were asked to rate and then rank a set of nine line drawings of a woman’s face in which three mouth angles by three pupil diameters had been varied. For these stimuli, the facial feature variations that determined affective attributions were the mouth angles. These data are thought to be instructive in the sense that they clearly indicate the need to covary important facial features when assessing the role of a facial feature, such as pupil size, in nonverbal communication.
Cross-cultural considerations in u.s. Research ethics education.

Demand among graduate and postdoctoral trainees for international research experience brings together students and investigators from increasingly diverse cultural backgrounds around the world. Educators in research ethics and scientific integrity need to address the cultural aspects of both science and ethics to help all trainees learn ethical practices for effective collaboration with a diverse array of partners. NIH and NSF’s mandates for instruction in the responsible conduct of research do not specifically address the needs of international trainees or U.S. trainees who undertake research projects abroad. Nonetheless, research ethics educators’ typical focus on policy and professional standards can offer trainees and faculty investigators helpful insights into differing ethical values and priorities in research. Examination of linguistic differences can also reveal important conceptual frameworks that shape ethical practice. New resources for teaching research integrity in cross-cultural settings can be a valuable addition to the development of shared understanding of the goals of scientific research.
Effect of High Glucose on Fetal Lung Maturation at Different Times in Gestation

Hyperglycemia has been implicated as a cause of delayed fetal lung maturation in the diabetic pregnancy. It has been previously demonstrated that high glucose levels inhibit biochemical and morphological maturation of fetal rat lung in vitro. To explore whether there is a critical period for maximal effects of high glucose, fetal rat lung explants from day 18-22 (term) were examined after culture for 44 h in media containing 10 or 100 mM glucose. Rate of choline incorporation into PC and DSPC was significantly decreased in explants derived from day 20-22 fetuses after culture with high glucose. Paradoxically, in explants derived from day 18-19 fetuses choline incorporation rate was increased. Significant decreases in total PC and DSPC were seen in the high glucose group on days 20-21; however, earlier in gestation no differences in PC and DSPC were noted, despite the higher rate of choline incorporation into PC and DSPC, suggesting an increased turnover rate. High glucose levels also resulted in significantly decreased incorporation of labeled glycerol and palmitate into PC. Morphologic analysis of right upper lobe explants revealed significant decreases in the number of type II pneumocytes and lamellar bodies per alveolar lining cell in high glucose treated explants derived from days 19-20, but not before or after that time in gestation. Prior to day 20 there were few luminal lamellar bodies in potential airspaces. By day 20, the high glucose group had significantly fewer luminal lamellar bodies, although by day 21 the difference was no longer significant. These results suggest that high glucose may have a greater inhibitory effect late in gestation and that there may be critical periods in lung development when differences in substrate availability and utilization have differing effects.
Parent-Child Interaction Styles Between Gay and Lesbian Parents and Their Adopted Children

SUMMARY While myths exist that call into question the parenting ability of gay and lesbian parents as well as the impact of such parenting on children in their care, there is an ever increasing body of literature that clearly demonstrates the capabilities of these parents with their birth children. However, there continues to be a dearth of research on gay and lesbian adoptive parents and their children. To address this deficiency in the literature, this article explores the parenting styles of gay and lesbian adoptive parents and strengths of their children between the ages of 5–9 years (N = 94), using scores from the Parent-as-a-Teacher Inventory and the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale. Results illustrate that the gay and lesbian adoptive parents in this sample fell into the desirable range of the parenting scale and their children have strength levels equal to or exceeding the scale norms. Finally, various aspects of parenting style significantly predicted the adoptive parents' view of their chil...
Female mate value at a glance: relationship of waist-to-hip ratio to health, fecundity and attractiveness.

A fundamental assumption of adaptive explanations of female attractiveness is that bodily features that males judge as attractive reliably signal youthfulness, healthiness, and fertility or female mate value. One of the bodily features, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), is a reliable indicator of a female’s reproductive age, sex hormone profi le, parity and risk for various diseases. Systematic variation in the size of WHR also systematically affects the judgment of female attractiveness, healthiness, and youthfulness. This article summarizes recent fi ndings about the relationship between female’s WHR and various factors affecting reproductive capability and risk for diseases. Research on the relationship between attractiveness and WHR is discussed in light of some methodological objections to previous research. Finally, cross-cultural and historical data are presented that suggest that the relationship between WHR and female attractiveness is not culture-specifi c and not inculcated by modern Western fashion dictates or media.
The Drinking Context Scale. A confirmatory factor analysis.

Abstract The current article examines the development and validation of the Drinking Context Scale through the use of confirmatory factor analysis. The scale measures the self-reported likelihood of excessive drinking across a number of specific social–cognitive drinking contexts. Five-hundred-and-five college students adjudicated for breaking university drinking rules filled out the anonymous questionnaire. Three factors including convivial, intimate, and negative coping contexts were confirmed, and these factors demonstrated good reliability and evidence of concurrent validity with other substance abuse indices, including the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test and the College Alcohol Problem Scale. Implications for the DCS as an assessment tool for prevention and early intervention with young people are discussed.
Television Spectroscopy of Biological Fluorescence

Fluorescence emission spectra were obtained from single unfixed ascites tumor cells stained at 3.3 × 10-7 M to 3.3 × 10-4 M concentrations of the vital fluorochrome, acridine orange. The new RCA Intensifier Image Orthicon television camera tube was used as the light detector and afforded approximately a one-hundredfold increase in sensitivity over a standard image orthicon in this application. The light from the microscope was dispersed by a Leitz ``High Power'' Monochromator (exit slit removed) and the spectrum focused on the faceplate of the Intensifier Image Orthicon. Spectral curves were obtained by applying appropriate corrections to recordings of line selected oscilloscope traces. These curves show two emission peaks which indicate the presence of two molecular species in close agreement with in vitro data. Advantages of the technique and some implications of the results are discussed.
Knockdown of ACAT-1 reduces amyloidogenic processing of APP

Abstract Previous studies have shown that acyl-coenzyme A:cholesterol acyl transferase (ACAT), an enzyme that controls cellular equilibrium between free cholesterol and cholesteryl esters, modulates proteolytic processing of APP in cell-based and animal models of Alzheimer’s disease. Here we report that ACAT-1 RNAi reduced cellular ACAT-1 protein by ∼50% and cholesteryl ester levels by 22% while causing a slight increase in the free cholesterol content of ER membranes. This correlated with reduced proteolytic processing of APP and 40% decrease in Aβ secretion. These data show that even a modest decrease in ACAT activity can have robust suppressive effects on Aβ generation.
Detecting protein dissimilarities in multiple alignments using Bayesian variable selection

Motivation: We present an application of Bayesian variable selection to the novel detection of sequence elements that confer negative design to protein structure and function. As an illustration, we analyze the different dimer interfaces between the CXCL8 chemokine family with the CCL4 and CCL2 chemokine families to discover the changes that disfavor CXCL8 of quaternary structure. Results: In comparison with known experimental results, our method identifies evolutionarily conserved sequence changes in the CC families that inhibit CXCL8 quaternary structure. Therefore, we find positive selection of negative design elements. Furthermore, our approach predicts that a two-residue deletion conserved in the CCL4 chemokine family disfavors CXCL8 dimerization. Availability: The Matlab code for the Bayesian variable selection is freely available at http://stat.tamu.edu/~mvannucci/webpages/codes.html Contact: mvannucci@stat.tamu.edu
Contemporary Contradictions of the Global Development Project: geopolitics, global ecology and the ‘development climate’

Abstract The global development project faces newly evident challenges in the combination of energy, climate and food crises. Their interrelationships create a powerful moment in world history in which analysts and practitioners grope for solutions, limited by the narrow market episteme. This contribution argues that official development, in advocating green market solutions, recycles the problem as solution—a problem rooted in the geopolitics of an unsustainable global ‘metabolic rift’ and a discourse of global ecology reinforcing international power relations through monetary valuation, and deepening the North's ‘ecological debt’.
Ethanol's Effects on Cortical Adenylate Cyclase Activity

The effects of ethanol on beta-adrenergic receptor-coupled adenylate cyclase (AC) of mouse cerebral cortex were examined. The addition of ethanol (20-500 mM) to incubation mixtures containing cortical membranes demonstrated that ethanol could increase AC activity and potentiate the stimulatory effects of guanylyl-imidodiphosphate [Gpp(NH)p] on AC activity. Ethanol increased the rate of activation of AC by guanine nucleotides and concomitantly decreased the EC50 for magnesium required to achieve maximal stimulation of cortical AC. The EC50 values for Gpp(NH)p and isoproterenol stimulation of AC activity were also altered by ethanol. Ethanol was capable of stimulating AC extracted by use of digitonin. The AC activity in the digitonin extract was no longer sensitive to the addition of Gpp(NH)p or NaF, but was still stimulated by ethanol. We propose multiple sites of action for ethanol in stimulating cortical AC activity. These sites include actions at the beta-adrenergic receptor, at the G/F coupling proteins, and at the catalytic unit of cortical AC. Comparison of ethanol's actions on cortical beta receptor coupled AC activity with prior reported actions of ethanol on striatal dopamine (DA)-sensitive AC indicated differential sensitivities of these two AC systems to ethanol. These differences may be determined by specific coupling characteristics of the striatal and cortical AC systems or by differences in the plasma membranes in which striatal and cortical AC systems are located.
Coevolution of the Hepatitis C Virus Polyprotein Sites in Patients on Combined Pegylated Interferon and Ribavirin Therapy

Genotype-specific sensitivity of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) to interferon-ribavirin (IFN-RBV) combination therapy and reduced HCV response to IFN-RBV as infection progresses from acute to chronic infection suggest that HCV genetic factors and intrahost HCV evolution play important roles in therapy outcomes. HCV polyprotein sequences (n = 40) from 10 patients with unsustainable response (UR) (breakthrough and relapse) and 10 patients with no response (NR) following therapy were identified through the Virahep-C study. Bayesian networks (BNs) were constructed to relate interrelationships among HCV polymorphic sites to UR/NR outcomes. All models showed an extensive interdependence of HCV sites and strong connections (P ≤ 0.003) to therapy response. Although all HCV proteins contributed to the networks, the topological properties of sites differed among proteins. E2 and NS5A together contributed ∼40% of all sites and ∼62% of all links to the polyprotein BN. The NS5A BN and E2 BN predicted UR/NR outcomes with 85% and 97.5% accuracy, respectively, in 10-fold cross-validation experiments. The NS5A model constructed using physicochemical properties of only five sites was shown to predict the UR/NR outcomes with 83.3% accuracy for 6 UR and 12 NR cases of the HALT-C study. Thus, HCV adaptation to IFN-RBV is a complex trait encoded in the interrelationships among many sites along the entire HCV polyprotein. E2 and NS5A generate broad epistatic connectivity across the HCV polyprotein and essentially shape intrahost HCV evolution toward the IFN-RBV resistance. Both proteins can be used to accurately predict the outcomes of IFN-RBV therapy.
The Effect of Adjuvanting Cancer Vaccines with Herpes Simplex Virus Glycoprotein D on Melanoma-Driven CD8+ T Cell Exhaustion

Two vaccines expressing CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cell epitopes of melanoma-associated Ags (MAAs) by a chimpanzee-derived replication-defective AdC68 vector were compared in a mouse model of melanoma. In one vaccine, termed AdC68-gDMelapoly, the epitopes were expressed as a fusion protein within HSV-1 glycoprotein D (gD), which blocks immunoinhibitory signaling through the herpes virus entry mediator pathway. The other vaccine, termed AdC68-Melapoly, expressed only the MAA epitopes. AdC68-gDMelapoly induced more potent MAA-specific CD8(+) T cell responses especially to the subdominant MAA epitopes. Upon prophylactic vaccination, mice that developed CD8(+) T cell responses to the two vaccines that were comparable in magnitude showed equal protection against tumor challenge. When mice were first challenged with tumor cells and then vaccinated results differed. In animals with comparable CD8(+) T cell responses, the AdC68-gDMelapoly vaccine was more efficacious compared with the AdC68-Melapoly vaccine in delaying tumor growth. This effect was linked to reduced expression of 2B4, LAG-3, and programmed death-1 on tumor-infiltrating MAA-specific CD8(+) T cells elicited by the gD-adjuvanted vaccine, suggesting that CD8(+) T cells induced in presence of gD are less susceptible to tumor-driven exhaustion.
Glass Fiber-Reinforced Composites: From Formulation to Application

Glass fiber-reinforced composite materials are attractive because their properties can be tailored to meet the specific needs of a variety of applications. The mechanical and thermal properties of a composite generally follow the rule of mixtures. As glass fiber is the major component at 70–75% by weight (50–60% by volume), selection of the correct glass product is critical. Glass fiber reinforcement is available in many forms, including continuous rovings, chopped fibers, fabrics, and nonwoven mats. In addition to form, selection of a reinforcement product involves choosing a glass type, chemistry on the glass (sizing) filament diameter, and tex. Glass formulation or type governs mechanical, thermal, and corrosion properties, whereas sizing protects the glass during handling and gives compatibility with the resin system. Filament diameter and strand tex are chosen to balance physical properties and manufacturing efficiency. A significant amount of tensile strength, up to 50%, may be lost from a pristine single filament to a multi-filament roving. To minimize this degradation, the utmost care and consistency must be exercised in the fiber forming process. This, coupled with selection of a high-performance glass formulation, enables use of composites in highly demanding applications, such as pressure vessels and ballistic armor.
Conformations within soluble oligomers and insoluble aggregates revealed by resonance energy transfer

A fluorescently labeled 20-residue polyglutamic acid (polyE) peptide 20 amino acid length polyglutamic acid (E20) was used to study structural changes which occur in E20 as it co-aggregates with other unlabeled polyE peptides. Resonance energy transfer (RET) was performed using an o-aminobenzamide donor at the N-terminus and 3-nitrotyrosine acceptor at the C-terminus of E20. PolyE aggregates were not defined as amyloid, as they were nonfibrillar and did not bind congo red. Circular dichroism measurements indicate that polyE aggregation involves a transition from α-helical monomers to aggregated β-sheets. Soluble oligomers are also produced along with aggregates in the reaction, as determined through size exclusion chromatography. Time-resolved and steady-state RET measurements reveal four dominant E20 conformations: (1) a partially collapsed conformation (24 A donor–acceptor distance) in monomers, (2) an extended conformation in soluble oligomers (>29 A donor–acceptor distance), (3) a minor partially collapsed conformation (22 A donor-acceptor distance) in aggregates, and (4) a major highly collapsed conformation (13 A donor–acceptor distance) in aggregates. These findings demonstrate the use of RET as a means of determining angstrom-level structural details of soluble oligomer and aggregated states of proteins. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers 93: 299–317, 2010. This article was originally published online as an accepted preprint. The “Published Online” date corresponds to the preprint version. You can request a copy of the preprint by emailing the Biopolymers editorial office at biopolymers@wiley.com
Frontier Democracy: The Turner Thesis Revisited

to dismiss him. Perhaps the truest objection to Turner, and the one most often spoken and unspoken, was best expressed in a study of the Midwest where the authors wrote: "We need our own story.''38 As an iconoclast, Turner would not find that idea objectionable. As he wrote, and put in italics, in his essay on "The Significance of History": after all "Each age writes the history of the past anew with reference to the conditions uppermost in its own time."
Polyantigenic expansion of basement membrane constituents in diabetic nephropathy

The immunohistopathology of the intrinsic basement membrane-associated antigens were examined in diabetic nephropathy. In early and moderate stages of disease there was polyantigenic expansion of all the intrinsic components of mesangium, glomerular basement membrane (GBM), and tubular basement membrane (TBM) assessed by polyclonal antisera to collagen types IV and V, laminin, and by monoclonal antibodies to type IV collagen and fibronectin and to four other intrinsic components of normal renal extracellular matrices (MBM10, 11, 12, and 15). In the mesangium the first intrinsic antigens to increase were fibronectin and type V collagen. In late stages of disease, there was a diminution in the mesangium of all of these antigens with the exception of type V collagen, which persisted. Additionally, antigens appeared in the mesangium, recognized by MBM11 and MBM15, which are normally present in fetal but not adult mesangial regions. Similarly, in the GBM in late stages of disease, there was a decrease in all of the antigens, except for a persistence of the antigen recognized by MBM15. However, in TBM all of the antigens assessed increased in early, moderate, and severe disease. These studies document the complexity of polyantigenic alterations in the development of diabetic nephropathy.
Introducing the CPU and assembly language concepts via a model instruction set architecture

This paper describes a simple 16 instruction Model Instruction Set Architecture, used to introduce the CPU, program execution concepts, and assembly language in an introductory computing course. The Model Instruction Set Architecture demonstrates CPU components in action and lets students view each step in the Fetch, Decode, and Execute cycle as the program instructions execute. This enables faculty to present both high level-language instructions and low-level language translations to the students.
How to Create Advertising Without Creating Lawsuits

Over twenty-five years of representing agencies and advertisers, the author has seen different clients suffer from the same recurring mistakes that could have been easily avoided. Because agencies and advertisers should spend their time creating ads and not defending them in court, the author discusses some of the most frequent legal errors, tips on how to avoid them and a few new wrinkles that are causing industry headaches.
Improved Phrase Translation Modeling Using MAP Adaptation

In this paper, we explore several methods of improving the estimation of translation model probabilities for phrase-based statistical machine translation given in-domain data sparsity. We introduce a hierarchical variant of maximum a posteriori (MAP) adaptation for domain adaptation with an arbitrary number of out-of-domain models. We note that domain adaptation can have a smoothing effect, and we explore the interaction between smoothing and the incorporation of out-of-domain data. We find that the relative contributions of smoothing and interpolation depend on the datasets used. For both the IWSLT 2011 and WMT 2011 English-French datasets, the MAP adaptation method we present improves on a baseline system by 1.5+ BLEU points.
Expanding the Boundaries of Ethics Education: Preparing Social Workers for Ethical Advocacy in an Organizational Setting

Abstract Educators have traditionally taught ethics by using models of ethical reasoning, which assume that ethical reasoning skills are sufficient tools for helping social workers to effectively voice clients' and patients' needs in diverse settings. Using hospitals as an example, the authors argue that contextual barriers often prevent social workers from ensuring that patients' and clients' perspectives are adequately represented in ethical deliberations. The authors propose that educators also teach students strategies for how to engage in effective ethical advocacy. Specific strategies that educators can incorporate into course discussions are presented.
Performance of deaf and hearing children on a short term memory task

Twenty four deaf children performed less well than a matched group of hearing children on a response-alternation memory task which was hypothesized to be facilitated by auditory imagery. Older Ss did better than younger. For all groups errors increased with increase in number of intervening trials between repetitions of the same stimulus.
Sustaining Versus Losing Love: Factors Discriminating the Two

ABSTRACTIn this research, using a formulation of romantic love derived from previous research, we state a series of hypotheses regarding specific relational characteristics that are predicted to discriminate between those individuals who remain in love with their partners and those who, though once in love, have ceased to love them. Results obtained strongly support both the overall formulation of romantic love and the more specific predictions derived from it. We conclude by discussing some implications of these results, with an emphasis on clinical ones, as well as some strengths and limitations of the present research.
Current-driven nanowire formation on surfaces of crystalline conducting substrates

The formation and precise manipulation of nanoscale features by controlling macroscopic forces is essential to advancing nanotechnology. Toward this end, we report here a theoretical study on formation of nanowires with precisely controlled widths, starting from single-layer conducting islands on crystalline conducting substrates under the controlled action of macroscopic forcing provided by an externally applied electric field that drives island edge electromigration. Numerical simulations based on an experimentally validated model and supported by linear stability theory show that large-size islands undergo a current-induced fingering instability, leading to nanowire formation after finger growth. Depending on the substrate surface crystallographic orientation, necking instabilities after fingering lead to the formation of multiple parallel nanowires per island. In all cases, the axis of the formed nanowires is aligned with the direction of the externally applied electric field. The nanowires have const...
Impact of changes in height measurements on longitudinal SUV calculations

2317 Objectives Body habitus is increasingly used to normalize patient (pt) size in SUV calculations, which require reliable height measurement. We evaluated variability in height measurements of pts scheduled for PET exams in longitudinal studies and across different age groups. Methods We reviewed the changes in recorded height from a database of 21,025 PET scans in 5,268 pts, and compared them over time across 3 age groups ( 60 yo, n=1,882). The impact of changes in height on BMI, BSA, and LBM corrections in the absence of changes in weight were evaluated using measured height at each visit and a constant weight from the first visit. Results A Kolmogorov-Smirnov test confirmed that none of the data were normally distributed, so non-parametric tests were performed. The median and maximum difference between the measured maximum height and the minimum height of each pt was 2 cm (1%) and 89 cm (62%), respectively, which revealed data entry errors in several visits that were then removed to evaluate measurement error in the remaining 5070 patients. The resulting maximum difference was 20 cm (15%). Using the Wilcoxon rank sum tests, the original and constant weight values of percent variability was compared for BMI, BSA, and LBM, respectively. In all comparisons, the original percent variability was significantly different from the constant weight percent variability (ps Conclusions Height measurements are important to obtain at each visit in young and older patients since they may show real changes in height. However, when comparing longitudinal SUV measurements in most adult patients, the same height should be used for all time points since measurement and human errors can introduce a significant source of variability
Investigating Principals’ Knowledge and Perceptions of Second Language Programs for English Language Learners

This study examined principals’ knowledge and perceptions of second language programs for English language learners (ELLs) operating in their schools. An open-ended survey and in-depth interviews were used to examine elementary school principals’ knowledge of the second language programs implemented at their schools. The survey asked principals about the strengths and challenges accompanying the program model currently implemented in their school(s), both anticipated and unanticipated of the program, and the staffing and professional development needed to improve the program. The interview asked similar questions to those on the survey and additional questions about the specific second language program(s) operating in their schools. Results indicated that principals had very limited knowledge about how the second language program(s) operating in their schools. Generally, principals attributed the success of their second language programs to the teachers in the program. The lack of knowledge about how to properly implement second language program is of concern since it is important for principals to be instructional leaders in their schools. Knowing how teachers should implement second language programs appropriately can assist principals in providing support to teachers as well as determining the type of training that their teachers may need in working more effectively with second language students.
A Re-Examination of Near-Bankruptcy Investment Incentives

The traditional justification for American corporate bankruptcy law is that bankruptcy's stay of individual creditor collection keeps the wolves at bay. Without bankruptcy, the story goes, creditors might fail to negotiate for united action and in their attempts to claim limited assets dismember an insolvent but viable firm. Anticipation and conduct of this race, moreover, would require creditors to expend resources unnecessarily. Accordingly, the accepted wisdom is that bankruptcy's collective proceeding protects the "common pool" of debtor assets for the aggregate benefit of creditors and consequently saves creditors the expense of strategic positioning. An important component of this exegesis has been that bankruptcy law must protect firms from creditors not only after the onset of bankruptcy but also immediately before it. Thus, in many instances, a firm can recapture transfers to creditors if made while the firm is insolvent and within the ninety-day period prior to the firm's bankruptcy. These recapturable transfers are called voidable preferences. In the leading volume on modern bankruptcy theory, Thomas Jackson explains that voidable preference law "is essentially a transitional rule designed to prevent individual creditors from opting out of [bankruptcy's] collective proceeding once that event becomes likely. It is part of the attempt to ameliorate the effects of a common pool problem that justifies a collective proceeding in the first place."1 On close analysis, however, preference law may not serve the purpose given in this standard justification. Preference law as guardian of the common pool is a notion based on a view of the firm as a static pool of assets that exists independently of the
Book and Media Recommendations: Enlightenment (Lather, Rinse, Repeat)

Under the surface of new narratives, we tell and retell the same stories and relearn the same lessons. From the reasons we teach in the first place, to recalling that progress is not always made linearly, openly, or transparently, and on through to the daily decisions we face as educators, we are in the business of providing enlightenment to the next group that comes through the door, over and over again. This selection of book and media recommendations visits (and revisits) the theme of how we need to learn (and relearn) the important lessons we wish to convey.
TCT-80 Favorable effect of optimal lipid-lowering therapy on neointimal tissue characteristics after drug-eluting stent implantation: Qualitative optical coherence tomographic analysis

Serial follow-up optical coherence tomography (OCT) was used to evaluate the effect of optimal lipid-lowering on qualitative changes in neointimal tissue characteristics after drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation. 218 DES-treated patients who received statin therapy were examined with serial
A Low Power 128Mb Pseudo SRAM Using Hyper Destructive Read Architecture

A 128Mb pseudo SRAM is developed using a special type of architecture with the purpose of effectively reducing the standby current. Standby current, especially the off leakage current is becoming more difficult problem to handle in modern devices because shorter channel length in high density and high speed devices are at a point where off leakage is the major source. In order to solve this issue, hyper destructive read architecture (HyDRA) is developed. HyDRA is a special DRAM architecture enabling destructive reading of DRAM cells using global bitline and extra tag memory. The paper demonstrates HyDRA utilizing its fast row cycle capability to instead minimize standby power to 150muA @ 2.1V and 90degC while maintaining the speed and chip area of the conventional scheme using the same process technology
Conductivity mechanisms in complex fluids

The present paper describes the results of a study of the electrical conductivity of residual petroleum oils. These oils are chemically complex mixtures and the particular type chosen for the study consisted of about 70% aromatic hydrocarbons, one half of which are PNA's (polynuclear aromatics) containing mostly 2 to 7 fused rings, 25% heterocyclic aromatic molecules (usually polar molecules containing nitrogen and oxygen), and the remainder aliphatic compounds. This liquid is almost black in color and highly viscous (η > 10,000 cps at 20°C), typical of a tar-like substance. The oil was mixed with a number of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbon solvents, which allowed us to probe the mechanism of conductivity in these complex liquids.
Iterative Construction of Fixed Points of Contractive Type Mappings in Banach Spaces

Introductory remarks. It is known that the problem of finding solutions of nonlinear functional equations (e.g., nonlinear integral equations, boundary value problems for nonlinear ordinary and partial differential equations, etc.) can be formulated in terms of finding fixed points of a given nonlinear mapping defined on some subset of an infinite dimensional functional space. For compact mappings a general existence theory of fixed points based upon topological arguments has been constructed over a number of decades (associated with the names of Brouwer, Poincar#x00E9;, Lefschetz, Schauder, Leray, Tichonoff, Rothe, Krasnoselsky, Altman, and others). More recently, there has begum a systematic study of fixed points (their existence and actual construction) of various classes of noncompact mappings (Brodski-Milman [2], De Marr [28], Browder [3a, 3b, 5, 6, 4], Kirk 23, Kachurovsky [2l], Edelstein [11,12,13], Belluce-Kirk [1], Gohde [l9, 20], De Prima [l0], Lions and Stampacchia [27], Browder-Petryshyn [8, 9], Kaniel [22], Shinbrot [40], Petryshyn [31, 32, 33, 35, 36], Opial [30], Lees-Schultz [26], de Figueiredo [15, 16], Browder-de Figueiredo [7], Petryshyn-Tucker [37], and others).
Disrupt or Die: Mobile Health and Disruptive Innovation as Body Politics:

This article examines mobile health as a venue for disruptive innovation. It theorizes disruption as a discursive strategy and a business model that permeates and constructs Silicon Valley. The cur...
Globalization and the Middle Class

The most important question for social policy today is: can the United States participate in global trade while maintaining a robust middle class? Ordoes expanded global trade necessarily mean doom for the U.S. middle class and others in advanced industrial nations? This question might have sounded provocative, incendiary, or just plain silly a decade ago, but it can no longer be ignored. Several different approaches have been advocated to preserve the living standards of the middle class in advanced countries in the face of expanded global trade. This essay examines three clusters of policies that are the most promising, policies to (1) encourage a race to the top that cancounterbalance a race to the bottom; (2) promote the creation of local and regional agglomeration economies that will act as counterweights to a race tothe bottom, and (3) foster firm-level innovation and develop the skills andhuman capital of the local population. It concludes that we adopt policies thatbraid these three together in order to preserve the U.S. middle class.
Sex and Sexual Differentiation

The sexual phenotype, or gender, of vertebrates is determined through either one of two main mechanisms. In most forms, it is determined by genetic factors such as the presence of certain genes that reside on particular combinations of specialized chromosomes. In others, maleness or femaleness is not as clearly rooted in genotype and is acquired independently of chromosomal composition. The sexual phenotype of such forms is under epigenetic control and is the result of environmental influences that act on the genes and regulatory mechanisms involved in sexual differentiation. Many species have evolved ways of taking advantage of this epigenetic nature of sexual differentiation. In a few species, individuals are even capable of switching from one gender to another according to the environmental conditions that they encounter.
Isolation of five rice nonendosperm tissue-expressed promoters and evaluation of their activities in transgenic rice.

Using promoters expressed in nonendosperm tissues to activate target genes in specific plant tissues or organs with very limited expression in the endosperm is an attractive approach in crop transgenic engineering. In this article, five putative nonendosperm tissue‐expressed promoters were cloned from the rice genome and designated PO s NETE 1, PO s NETE 2, PO s NETE 3, PO s NETE 4 and PO s NETE 5. By qualitatively and quantitatively examining GUSplus reporter gene expression in transgenic rice plants, PO s NETE 1‐PO s NETE 5 were all found to be active in the roots, leaves, stems, sheaths and panicles but not in the endosperm of plants at different developmental stages. In addition, PO s NETE 2, PO s NETE 4 and PO s NETE 5 were also inactive in rice embryos. Among these promoters, PO s NETE 4 and PO s NETE 5 exhibited higher activities in all of the tested tissues, and their activities in stems, leaves, roots and sheaths were higher than or comparable to those of the rice Actin1 promoter. We also progressively monitored the activities of PO s NETE 1‐PO s NETE 5 in two generations of single‐copy lines and found that these promoters were stably expressed between generations. Transgenic rice was produced using PO s NETE 4 and PO s NETE 5 to drive a modified Bt gene, mC ry1Ab. Bt protein expressed in the tested plants ranged from 1769.4 to 4428.8 ng/g fresh leaves, whereas Bt protein was barely detected in the endosperm. Overall, our study identified five novel nonendosperm tissue‐expressed promoters that might be suitable for rice genetic engineering and might reduce potential social concern regarding the safety of GMO crops.
Temporal Modulation Detection Depends on Sharpness of Spatial Tuning

Prior research has shown that in electrical hearing, cochlear implant (CI) users’ speech recognition performance is related in part to their ability to detect temporal modulation (i.e., modulation sensitivity). Previous studies have also shown better speech recognition when selectively stimulating sites with good modulation sensitivity rather than all stimulation sites. Site selection based on channel interaction measures, such as those using imaging or psychophysical estimates of spread of neural excitation, has also been shown to improve speech recognition. This led to the question of whether temporal modulation sensitivity and spatial selectivity of neural excitation are two related variables. In the present study, CI users’ modulation sensitivity was compared for sites with relatively broad or narrow neural excitation patterns. This was achieved by measuring temporal modulation detection thresholds (MDTs) at stimulation sites that were significantly different in their sharpness of the psychophysical spatial tuning curves (PTCs) and measuring MDTs at the same sites in monopolar (MP) and bipolar (BP) stimulation modes. Nine postlingually deafened subjects implanted with Cochlear Nucleus® device took part in the study. Results showed a significant correlation between the sharpness of PTCs and MDTs, indicating that modulation detection benefits from a more spatially restricted neural activation pattern. There was a significant interaction between stimulation site and mode. That is, using BP stimulation only improved MDTs at stimulation sites with broad PTCs but had no effect or sometimes a detrimental effect on MDTs at stimulation sites with sharp PTCs. This interaction could suggest that a criterion number of nerve fibers is needed to achieve optimal temporal resolution, and, to achieve optimized speech recognition outcomes, individualized selection of site-specific current focusing strategies may be necessary. These results also suggest that the removal of stimulation sites measured with poor MDTs might improve both temporal and spectral resolution.
Stage II Oral Tongue Cancer: Survival Impact of Adjuvant Radiation Based on Depth of Invasion.

ObjectiveTo determine if adjuvant radiation therapy for patients with pT2N0 oral cavity tongue cancer affects overall survival.Study DesignRetrospective cohort study.SettingNational Cancer Database...
Characterizing the balance-dexterity task as a concurrent bipedal task to investigate trunk control during dynamic balance.

Abstract The purpose of the study was to characterize the Balance-Dexterity Task as a means to investigate a concurrent bipedal lower-extremity task and trunk control during dynamic balance. The task combines aspects of single-limb balance and the lower-extremity dexterity test by asking participants to stand on one limb while compressing an unstable spring with the contralateral limb to an individualized target force. Nineteen non-disabled participants completed the study, and performance measures for the demands of each limb – balance and dexterous force control – as well as kinematic and electromyographic measures of trunk control were collected. Given five practice trials, participants achieved compression forces ranging from 100 to 139 N (mean 121.2 ± 12.3 N), representing 14.4–23.0% of body weight (mean 18.7 ± 2.4%), which were then presented as target forces during test trials. Dexterous force control coefficient of variation and average magnitude of the center of pressure (COP) resultant velocity were associated such that greater variability in force control was accompanied by greater COP velocity (R = 0.598, p = 0.007). Trunk coupling, quantified as the coefficient of determination (R2) of a frontal plane thorax and pelvis angle-angle plot, varied independently of any measure of balance or dexterous force control. The Balance-Dexterity Task is a continuous, dynamic balance task where bipedal coordination and trunk coupling can be concurrently observed and studied.