cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Greater adherence to a Mediterranean-like diet is associated with later breast development and menarche in peripubertal girls

Objective To examine adherence to a Mediterranean-like diet at age 9-10 years in relation to onset of breast development (thelarche) and first menstruation (menarche). Design We evaluated the associations of adherence to a Mediterranean-like diet (measured by an adapted Mediterranean-like Diet Score, range 0-9) with thelarche at baseline, age at thelarche and time to menarche. Data were collected at baseline during a clinic visit, complemented with a mailed questionnaire and three 24 hour telephone dietary recalls, followed by annual follow-up questionnaires. Multivariable Poisson regression, linear regression and Cox proportional hazards regression were used to evaluate timing of pubertal development in relation to diet adherence. Setting New Jersey, USA. Participants Girls aged 9 or 10 years at baseline (2006-2014, n 202). Results High Mediterranean-like diet adherence (score 6-9) was associated with a lower prevalence of thelarche at baseline compared with low adherence (score 0-3; prevalence ratio = 0·65, 95 % CI 0·48, 0·90). This may have been driven by consumption of fish and non-fat/low-fat dairy. Our models also suggested a later age at thelarche with higher Mediterranean-like diet adherence. Girls with higher Mediterranean-like diet adherence had significantly longer time to menarche (hazard ratio = 0·45, 95 % CI 0·28, 0·71 for high v. low adherence). Further analysis suggested this may have been driven by vegetable and non-fat/low-fat dairy consumption. Conclusions Consuming a Mediterranean-like diet may be associated with older age at thelarche and menarche. Further research is necessary to confirm our findings in other US paediatric populations and elucidate the mechanism through which Mediterranean-like diet may influence puberty timing.
Physician Assistant Program Goals: A Thematic Analysis.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to provide a descriptive analysis of the goals of the accredited physician assistant (PA) programs across the country in order to obtain a baseline understanding of their themes. METHODS Initial review of the goals resulted in the identification of recurring themes. The goals were evaluated relative to meeting the requirements specified in Standard A3.14 of the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, including listing the goal with the defined benchmark expected and the program's progress in reaching the goal. Accreditation status was compared. RESULTS Of the 238 accredited PA programs at the time of the study, 157 (66%) had Accreditation-Continued status, 56 (24%) were Accreditation-Provisional, and 25 (11%) had Accreditation-Probation status. The median number of 5 goals per program did not vary dependent on accreditation status. Only 43 of 238 PA programs (18%) provided goals with required benchmarks and supporting outcomes on their webpages. Almost all programs included at least one goal (and often more than one) with the theme of student acquisition of knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to be a PA. Other commonly included themes in programmatic goals included the "capacity" of students to graduate from the PA program and become employed, valuing diversity and cultural differences, a comprehensive and strong curriculum, as well as alumni who are self-directed, lifelong learners. CONCLUSION Program goals should be reviewed to ensure they include benchmarks that define success and report progress or outcomes in achieving those goals. Thematic analysis provides a powerful summary that then can be used to make conclusions across a large set of program data.
Addressing the Robustness of Resource Allocation in the Presence of Application and System Irregularities via PEPA Based Modeling

Applications executing in heterogeneous parallel and/or distributed computing (PDC) environments are often prone to unpredictable runtime due to variations in problem, algorithm, and system characteristics. This serves as a key motivation towards a study of the robustness of resource allocations required to maintain and guarantee a desired level of performance. Performance modeling and evaluation is often utilized to understand and predict the behavior of the application and the computational system from a performance point of view. In prior work, performance modeling for evaluating response times of static resource allocations in PDC systems was introduced by the authors as a proof of concept for validating the use of the performance evaluation process algebra (PEPA) for analyzing the robustness of static resource allocations. Herein, the authors present numerical modeling of several static resource allocations to evaluate their robustness in the presence of compound perturbations generated as combinations of variations in application workload and machine availability. The novelty of the approach is to introduce the compound effect as the variability of both, application workload and processor/machine availability, into the performance modeling of the overall computational system. The performance is obtained as a parallel execution time via a numerical analysis of the modeled execution of applications on non-dedicated parallel computational resources. A significant improvement in the robustness value (up to 143%) among the mappings yielding equal parallel execution times has been demonstrated via the analysis of the results. This notable difference in the robustness values strongly indicates the benefit of selecting one mapping versus the other for guaranteeing the best execution performance.
In climate news, statements from large businesses and opponents of climate action receive heightened visibility

Whose voices are most likely to receive news coverage in the US debate about climate change? Elite cues embedded in mainstream media can influence public opinion on climate change, so it is important to understand whose perspectives are most likely to be represented. Here, I use plagiarism-detection software to analyze the media coverage of a large random sample of business, government, and social advocacy organizations’ press releases about climate change (n = 1,768), examining which messages are cited in all articles published about climate change in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today from 1985 to 2014 (n = 34,948). I find that press releases opposing action to address climate change are about twice as likely to be cited in national newspapers as are press releases advocating for climate action. In addition, messages from business coalitions and very large businesses are more likely than those from other types of organizations to receive coverage. Surprisingly, press releases from organizations providing scientific and technical services are less likely to receive news coverage than are other press releases in my sample, suggesting that messages from organizations with greater scientific expertise receive less media attention. These findings support previous scholars’ claims that journalistic norms of balance and objectivity have distorted the public debate around climate change, while providing evidence that the structural power of business interests lends them heightened visibility in policy debates.
Trending diversity: Reviewing four-decades of graduating fellows and the current leadership in pediatric surgery.

Abstract Purpose Diversity in the physician workforce remains a priority in healthcare as it has been shown to improve outcomes. Decisions for choosing specific fields in medicine are partly influenced by mentors, which tend to be the same sex or ethnicity. Females are starting to outnumber males in medical school and minorities are targeted for recruitment. We hypothesized that diversity in pediatric surgery has increased over time. Methods The recently published A Genealogy of North American Pediatric Surgery was utilized to identify graduating pediatric surgery fellows from 1981 to 2018. Organization websites were used to identify past and current leaders. A web-based analysis, including online facial recognition software, was performed. A year-to-year and decade-to-decade demographic comparison was completed. Results 1217 pediatric surgery fellows graduated between 1981 and 2018. When comparing graduates from the first and last decades, an increase from 16.9% to 39.5% for female graduates was observed (p = 0.046). A significant increase in nonwhite graduates was seen for all races (p Conclusion There was a significant increase in diversity in pediatric surgery fellowship graduates. There were increasing trends in female graduates and all nonwhite racial groups. Focusing on enhancing the pipeline and mentoring underrepresented minorities will continue to enhance this trend for the field of pediatric surgery. Level of Evidence III; Retrospective Review.
Two Friends and a Bike

In her “Ask Marilyn” article in Parade Magazine of May 2 2010 [2], one of Marilyn vos Savant’s readers posed the question, “A friend and I once went from his house to mine with one bike. I started ...
Target Architecture of Distribution Network Monitoring System towards Energy Revolution and Digitization

In order to adapt to the energy revolution and digitization, a new design for the distribution network monitoring system is proposed to achieve data lifecycle management. Firstly, the current practices and limitations of existing monitoring systems are presented. According to the development trend, the reconstruction strategy is presented involving three feedback local-computing loops and data interaction between distributed intelligent agents and cloud-based master station. To support the huge scale of sensed data integration and transmission, the reference framework of data interaction is established, and the main monitoring information is presented. Then some technical evolution trends towards the new architecture are described in the fields of unified model, new generation of intelligent terminal, network interconnection, edge-cloud computing and security system.
First reported case of a histiocytic sarcoma in an Armenian hamster (Cricetulus migratorius).

A 14-month-old male Armenian hamster (Cricetulus migratorius) presented with a spontaneous, subcutaneous, firm mass (4.0 × 2.0 × 1.5 cm) on the ventral neck extending towards the cheek pouch causin...
Tolerance Is Different in T and B Cells

The 1960s were revolutionary in many ways, including in immunology. Immunologists had just begun to appreciate the importance of recirculating lymphocytes as mediators of immunity from the seminal work of Gowans et al. ([1][1], [2][2]) in Oxford. The central role of the thymus in immune responses
Determination of the local structure in Ba1-xKxBiO3 by x-ray-absorption spectroscopy.

The local structure around Bi atoms has been studied in Ba{sub 1{minus}{ital x}}K{sub {ital x}}BiO{sub 3} (0.0{lt}{ital x}{lt}0.4) via x-ray-absorption spectroscopy. The structure is determined in terms of coordination numbers and interatomic distances around the Bi atoms between 300 and 13 K from Bi {ital L}{sub 3} extended x-ray-absorption fine-structure data. The charges on Bi and O have been measured as a function of K doping using Bi {ital L}{sub 3}, and O {ital K}-edge x-ray-absorption near-edge-structure spectroscopy. It was found that the ordered breathing-mode-type distortion in BaBiO{sub 3} is replaced by a disordered distortion of the same type when K is substituted into the Ba site, which persists down to 13 K for {ital x}=0.2 and disappears for the {ital x}=0.4 composition. The overall Bi valence increases only slightly whereas O 2{ital p} orbitals are doped with holes with increasing K content. As the insulator-metal boundary is crossed for {ital x}=0.35 these holes become delocalized, and contribute to the metallic behavior of the Ba{sub 0.6}K{sub 0.4}BiO{sub 3} compound.
GOMA - A full-Newton finite element program for free and moving boundary problems with coupled fluid/solid momentum, energy, mass, and chemical species transport: User`s guide

GOMA is a two- and three-dimensional finite element program which excels in analyses of manufacturing processes, particularly those involving free or moving interfaces. Specifically, the full-Newton-coupled heat, mass, momentum, and pseudo-solid mesh motion algorithm makes GOMA ideally suited for simulating processes in which the bulk fluid transport is closely coupled to the interfacial physics. Examples include, but are not limited to, coating and polymer processing flows, soldering, crystal growth, and solid-network or solution film drying. The code is based on the premise that any boundary can be (1) moving or free, with an apriori unknown position dictated by the distinguishing physics, (2) fixed, according to a global analytical representation, or (3) moving in time and space under user-prescribed kinematics. The goal is to enable the user to predict boundary position or motion simultaneously with the physics of the problem being analyzed and to pursue geometrical design studies and fluid-structure interaction problems. The moving mesh algorithm treats the entire domain as a computational Lagrangian solid that deforms subject to the physical principles which dictate boundary position. As an added benefit, the same Lagrangian solid mechanics can be exploited to solve multi-field problems for which the solid motion and stresses interact with other transport phenomena, either within the same material phase (e.g. shrinking coating) or in neighboring material phases (e.g. flexible blade coating). Thus, analyses of many fluid-structure interaction problems and deformable porous media problems are accessible. This document serves as a user`s guide and reference for GOMA and provides a brief overview of GOMA`s capabilities, theoretical background, and classes of problems for which it is targeted.
Understanding Patients' Perspectives on Opt-Out, Incentivized, and Mandatory HIV Testing

Background: Currently, widespread HIV testing is the best preventive action against further spread of the HIV epidemic. However, over 40% of the U.S. population has never been tested for HIV and 25% of those with HIV have never been tested. To increase testing rates, in 2006 the CDC advised healthcare settings to conduct testing on an opt-out basis. Methods: Qualitative, semi-structured interviews with ten seropositive patients and ten seronegative were conducted to address the lack of studies investigating patientsâ€™ acceptance of and attitude towards this and more novel testing models, e.g. incentivized or anonymous mandatory testing. Participants were asked about their HIV testing history and attitudes towards opt-out, incentivized, and mandatory anonymous HIV testing. Results: Major themes were identified using grounded theory data analysis. All participants were receptive to opt-out testing, and saw the removal of separate written consent as beneficial as long as patients were given the opportunity to consent in some form. Conclusion: Ultimately, both mandatory and opt-out testing were equally indicated by participants as being the most effective testing model at increasing testing rates. A firm understanding of patientsâ€™ perspectives allows for development of effective HIV testing initiatives that are patient-sensitive and can substantially reduce HIV infection rates. Keywords: HIV testing, opt-out HIV testing, incentivized HIV testing, mandatory HIV testing, patient education. Â
Public, patient, and professional attitudes towards the diagnosis and treatment of enlarged prostate: A landmark national US survey.

Summary This US national survey evaluated beliefs and attitudes towards the enlarged prostate (EP) and its treatment among the men of a national sample aged ≥50 years in the US (400 with and 700 without EP), and a national sample of 100 primary care doctors and 100 urologists. The principal risk of EP was considered to be acute urinary retention among the majority of physicians, while the majority of patients believed it to be prostate cancer. In contrast to physicians’ beliefs, the majority of patients with moderate-to-severe symptoms are more concerned with long-term effects of EP than acute symptoms. Furthermore, they are willing to wait up to 3 months for symptom relief if treatment of the underlying condition is achieved. Doctors and patients agree that most patients want to avoid surgery but only 18% of surgery patients were told about drugs that could reduce the risk of surgery. These findings demonstrate significant differences between the beliefs and attitudes of patients and physicians towards EP.
A 0.08 /spl mu/m/sup 2/-sized 8F/sup 2/ stack DRAM cell for multi-gigabit DRAM

The first 8F/sup 2/ stack DRAM cell with 0.08 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ size has been successfully integrated by employing a poly plug scheme for landing plug contacts and W/poly gates and Ru MIM capacitors, of which cell working has been proven under easy function check mode. The cell transistor with W gate technology exhibits sufficient saturation current (I/sub OP/) of /spl sim/40 /spl mu/A with threshold voltage (V/sub tsat/) of 0.9 V and satisfactory ring oscillator delay characteristics of /spl sim/50 ps.
Gamma-ray transitions in 106Pd following the decay of 106mAg

Abstract The gamma-ray spectrum following the decay of 106m Ag to 106 Pd was investigated with a Ge(Li) detector. The energies and relative intensities of 35 gamma rays were detemined. A new level scheme for 106 Pd is proposed. Using the conversion electron intensities measured by previous investigators, the internal conversion coefficients of the transitions were calculated and used to assign spin and parities to the levels.
Phase dynamics and interference in EIT

In this paper, we investigate various aspects of electro-magnetically induced transparency (EIT) that are associated with quantum interference. In the first half of this paper, we investigate two cascade schemes and demonstrate two possible absorption pathways in one, which leads to interference, and only one pathway in the other scheme, which does not exhibit EIT. In the second part of this paper, we demonstrate how EIT can be changed into enhanced absorption by changing the phase of either the coupling or probe fields.
Out-of-reactor studies of fission product-silicon carbide interactions in HTGR fuel particles

Abstract The interactions of several high-yield fission products with the SiC coating were studied in laboratory experiments by doping simulated fuel kernels with selected fission product elements before Triso coating. The resulting particles were annealed in a thermal gradient and SiC-fission product interactions were observed and quantified using metallography, radiography, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, and electron microprobe analysis. The results of these studies are discussed in terms of predicting SiC performance and fuel behavior during irradiation.
Thiophene-Linked Polyphenylquinoxaline: A New Electron Transport Conjugated Polymer for Electroluminescent Devices

Abstract : A new n-type conjugated polymer, poly2,2'-(THIOPHENE-2,5-DIYL)-6,6'-BIS(3-PHENYLQUINOXALINE) (PTQx), was synthesized, characterized, and shown to be an excellent electron transport polymer for electroluminescent devices. PTQx thin films had a reversible electrochemical reduction but an irreversible oxidation, confirming its n-type nature. Electron affinity and ionization potential of PTQx thin films were estimated from cyclic voltammetry to be 3.0 and 5.54 eV, respectively. Poly(phenylene vinylene) (PPV) based light emitting diodes using PTQx as an electron transport layer, ITO/PPV/PTQx/Al, combined low turn-on voltage (3.6 eV) and high brightness (710 cd/sq m) with good efficiency (0.4%). The performance of PTQx as an electron transport material in electroluminescent devices was found to be far superior compared to all previously reported n-type polymers.
Primary Intracranial Germ Cell Tumors: Clinicopathologic Review of 32 Cases

Primary intracranial germ cell neoplasms are rare tumors and constitute a heterogeneous group. We have reviewed 32 cases, over a 21-year period, from the University of Florida. The cases include 22 germinomas, 6 mixed germ cell tumors, and 4 teratomas. The clinical presentations in these cases were more closely related to the location of the tumor, that is, pineal or suprasellar, rather than the histologic subtype. Neuroimaging evaluation was useful in distinguishing between germinomas, teratomas, and other mixed germ cell tumors (MGCTs), primarily by evaluation of cystic versus solid lesions (teratoma versus germinoma), contents of cysts (teratoma versus MGCT), and infiltrative nature of the tumors (MGCT), although cytologic-histopathologic confirmation remains necessary. Germinomas responded favorably to radiation therapy with survival periods of over 16 years; MGCTs were treated with combination chemotherapy and radiation, with a markedly poorer prognosis. This study underlines the critical significance of histopathologic evaluation of the tumor in determining therapeutic interventions as well as prognosis.
Mechanisms of heparin transport through expanded poly(tetrafluoroethylene) vascular grafts.

Thrombosis and neointimal hyperplasia limit the utility of small-caliber artificial vascular grafts. Surface modifications and adjunctive pharmacological therapy might mediate these complications. We examined the mechanisms by which a model vasoactive compound, heparin, transverses porous graft materials and how material modifications alters this drug's transport. The effective permeance of [ 3 H]heparin was measured after application of a uniform concentration of drug to either the internal or external surface of the graft and in the presence or absence of pressure-driven physiologic hydraulic flows. Transgraft permeance was equivalent to those observed in normal arteries and, while enhanced by convection, was mediated in major part by diffusion. Peclet numbers under the various conditions examined ranged from 0.05 to 1.2, indicating that diffusive forces were equal to or exceeded convective forces in governing transmural heparin motion. Heparin traversed the graft even when applied from the outer perivascular surface, against adverse hydraulic flows. Modifications of the grafts that included a yarn barrier of spun poly(tetrafluoroethylene) or chemical modification of surface tension energy altered permeances as well. A unifying model for interpretation of these data incorporates the concept of entrapped air and surface tension energy in the graft. These characterizations allow for the design of vascular grafts that are optimized for pharmacotherapy to help prolong graft patency, especially in small-caliber vascular beds.
Interpolating between quenched and annealed disorder

Abstract A host-impurity system is considered, and the effect on the host due to a slow relaxation of the impurity is studied, when each can be described by a continuous field. Langevin dynamics are assumed for each field, along with a special choice of initial conditions that corresponds to a quenched equilibrium. Equal-time correlation functions interpolate between the limiting cases of a quenched and annealed impurity. An effective critical temperature may be defined, which is dependent on the relaxation rate of the impurity and the duration of the experiment. A simulation for the case of a conserved impurity and nonconserved host is used to demonstrate how a coexistence curve can become smeared when the relaxation rate of the impurity is small. The impurity enslaves the host, causing it to phase separate with a pattern that is more reminiscent of a conserved field. Also, it is suggested that the approach used could shed some light on the difficulties with one of the fixed points of Model C.
Ages and Nature of Volcanic Activity on the Southern High Plains, New Mexico and Colorado

The intrusive rocks of the Spanish Peaks, south-central Colorado, range in age from 22 to 25 m.y., as shown by four K-Ar dates. These rocks as well as other intrusions in the Sangre de Cristo Range and southern high plains appear to be correlated in time with the early Miocene maximum of igneous activity in the Basin and Range province. The volcanic fields of northeastern New Mexico are products of a distinct 8-m.y.-to-Holocene phase of activity. Widespread olivine basalt 2 to 5 m.y. in age was erupted in these fields during approximately the same period that similar basalt was erupted west of the Sangre de Cristo Range in the Rio Grande depression. Feldspathoidal basanite and nephelinite were erupted about 1.9 m.y. ago in the Raton-Clayton field. The Capulin basalt flows are of Holocene age, and are characterized by the presence of resorbed plagioclase phenocrysts. These rocks resemble the Hinsdale basalt of a much earlier period that are located west of the Rio Grande depression. The relation of basalt magma type and position relative to the depression is complex, or asymmetric in time and space.
Biodiversity Loss in the Temperate Zone: Decline of the Native Fish Fauna of California

In proportion to the entire fauna, loss of species may be as great in temperate regions as in tropical regions. To test the validity of this statement we analyzed the status of the native fish fauna of California, using a methodology that quantifies expert knowledge. Of 113 native taxa, 6 percent are extinct, 12 percent are officially listed as threatened or endangered 6 percent deserve immediate listing I7 percent may need listing soon, 22 percent show declining populations but are not yet in serious trouble, and 36 percent appear to be secure. Much of the faunal decline has taken place in recent years; it has included unexpectedly rapid declines of once abundant species. Fish taxa in serious trouble are most likely to be (1) endemic to California, (2) restricted to a small area, (3) occupants of just one drainage basin, (4) part of a fish assemblage of less than five species, and (5) found in isolated springs, warm water streams, or big rivers. Water diversions and introduced species, acting in concert, seem to be the principal causes of the decline of the native fauna, although other types of habitat degradation have contributed as well. The situation in California, with its high degree of endemism (60 percent), may be regarded as extreme but fish faunas in other temperate regions show signs of being nearly as stressed. It is likely that the situation with fish reflects a more general decline of the biota of temperate regions of the world.
Purification and characterization of an insect hemolymph lipoprotein ice nucleator: evidence for the importance of phosphatidylinositol and apolipoprotein in the ice nucleator activity

A lipoprotein with ice nucleator activity was purified from the hemolymph of the freezetolerant larvae of the craneflyTipula trivittata. Characterization of this lipoprotein ice nucleator (LPIN) showed that it differed from other previously described insect hemolymph lipoproteins which lack ice nucleator activity, by the presence of phosphatidylinositol (PI) at 11.0% by weight of the total phospholipid content. The potential roles of PI and other lipoprotein components in the ice nucleating activity were examined using various phospholipases, proteases, LPIN antibodies, borate compounds and various lipid-protein reconstitutions. It was found that phosphatidylinositol specific phospholipase C was the most effective phospholipase in eliminating the activity of the LPIN. Borate compounds effectively depressed activity. Treatment of the LPIN with protease also eliminated ice nucleator activity but the binding of LPIN specific antibody did not. Reconstitutions consisting of the native LPIN lipids, PI specific phospholipase-treated native LPIN lipids, or pure standard phospholipids with the apolipoproteins of the LPIN andManduca sexta larval lipoproteins gave evidence that both the apolipoproteins of the LPIN and PI are necessary for the ice nucleating activity.
Mechanical independence of wingbeat and breathing in starlings.

Abstract The pectoral muscles in birds comprise up to a third of the body weight and provide the principal drive to the wing. Their attachment to the sternum suggests that they could compress the thorax and assist ventilation during flight. Most, but not all, birds have an integer ratio relationship between wingbeat and breathing frequency, but no measurements of the respiratory flow associated with the act of wingbeat are available. We recorded respiratory flow and wing timing in three starlings that flew at 22 knots (11 m·s −1 ) for up to 5 min in a wind tunnel. Triggering on wingbeat, we ensemble averaged flow records for many wingbeats in each flight. Because wingbeats occured throughout the respiratory cycle, breathing flow tended to average to zero, and a small flow event related to wingbeat emerged. The volume change associated with wingbeat ranged from 3 to 11% of tidal volume, and this is probably an overestimate. We conclude that wingbeat and breathing in starlings are essentially mechanically independent, despite the direct attachment of the locomotor muscles to the thorax.
How magnetic is the Dirac neutrino

We derive model-independent, "naturalness" upper bounds on the magnetic moments µnu of Dirac neutrinos generated by physics above the scale of electroweak symmetry breaking. In the absence of fine-tuning of effective operator coefficients, we find that current information on neutrino mass implies that |µnu|<~10-14 bohr magnetons. This bound is several orders of magnitude stronger than those obtained from analyses of solar and reactor neutrino data and astrophysical observations.
Effect of dermasorbed oxygen on the catalytic activity of platinum indicator electrodes

Abstract Both the reduction of ferric ion and the oxidation of ferrous ion in 2N H 2 SO 4 solutions were carried out on reduced and pre-anodized Pt and Au electrodes. From an analysis of the steady-state polarization data it is concluded that the presence of dermasorbed oxygen in the skin of the Pt metal facilitates the transfer of electrons from the metal to reactants in the double layer. Since Au does not dissolve oxygen, these effects were not observed on reduced and pre-anodized Au electrodes. In addition, oxygen adsorbed on the surface of either Pt or Au electrodes inhibits the transfer of electrons due to the layer of negative dipoles of the MO bonds. Similar effects were obtained in the investigation of the reduction of ceric or vanadate ions on reduced and pre-anodized Pt electrodes.
A Modified pBluescript-based vector for facile cloning and transcription of RNAs.

We report here the generation of a vector that would permit efficient in vitro transcription of RNAs and ensure that unwanted additional sequences at the 59 termini are minimized in the final transcripts. Several vectors (such as the Bluescript and GEM series) are currently available for cloning genes under the control of a bacteriophage RNA polymerase promoter and subsequent in vitro transcription. During the cloning process, if recognition sequences for the type IIS restriction enzymes (e.g., FokI, BsmAI) are adroitly placed at the end of the coding region, templates with the desired 39 end for runoff transcription can be easily generated (1, 2). In contrast to the precision with which the 39 end can be engineered, the use of restriction enzymes for directional cloning downstream to the promoter sequence frequently results in additional nucleotides being introduced 59 to the sequence encoding gene of interest. Consequently, the 59 end of the resulting transcript has unwanted sequences. The commercially available LITMUS vectors (New England Biolabs) sought to address this limitation by engineering restriction sites into the 26 to 21 region of the T7 RNA polymerase promoter (PT7) sequence (3). However, this approach resulted in reductions in transcriptional efficiency owing to modifications in the consensus sequence of PT7 that is required for initiation (3, 4). Yet another solution to circumvent addition of unwanted 59 sequences in the transcript is by including the PT7 sequence in the sense primer used in PCR-based cloning of the gene of interest (1). Al-
Ethical review of research involving human subjects: when and why is IRB review necessary?

Requirements for ethical review of research involving human subjects are based on widely accepted international standards that are implemented by various national regulations and institutional policies. In the United States, most human research is reviewed by institutional review boards (IRBs) applying federal standards. Researchers may not realize the variety of studies that should be submitted for review. Studies involving interventions must be reviewed regardless of whether these are standard interventions, nonmedical interventions, or retrospective studies. Quality improvement activities require IRB review if the results may be published. Research use of information from medical records or of biomedical specimens requires review unless no identifiers are recorded. Review must be sought at least annually and whenever the research changes. Even human research that is technically exempt from Federal regulations usually needs to have that exemption certified by someone other than the researcher.
Compression and pressure-induced amorphization of Co(OH)2 characterized by infrared vibrational spectroscopy.

The infrared-active (${\mathit{A}}_{2\mathit{u}}$) O-H vibration of Co(OH${)}_{2}$ decreases in frequency under hydrostatic compression to 51 GPa at 290 K. Similarly, the bond anharmonicity, determined from the ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{1}$\ensuremath{\rightarrow}${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{2}$ absorption-band difference, increases by more than a factor of 2 between 0 and 20 GPa. Both changes are attributed to an increase in the O-H bond length due to enhanced hydrogen bonding under pressure. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the fundamental absorption band increases abruptly by \ensuremath{\sim}100 ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}$ at 11.2 (\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.3) GPa, and continues to increase at a rate of \ensuremath{\sim}3.3 ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}$/GPa up to 36 GPa. Above 36 (\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2) GPa and below the onset of amorphization, the FWHM changes at a slower rate, 0.8 (\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.1) ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}$/GPa. The abrupt change in FWHM is reversible on decompression, and is interpreted in terms of a pressure-induced crystal-to-glass transition exhibiting a small hysteresis compared to similar compounds. The rapid variation in FWHM above the transition pressure suggests that the amorphous structure is continuously modified between 11.3 and 36 GPa.
Home Numeracy Environments of Preschoolers: Examining Relations Among Mathematical Activities, Parent Mathematical Beliefs, and Early Mathematical Skills

Research Findings: Early mathematical skills and knowledge are strongly related to long-term achievement, and yet the knowledge base regarding the mechanisms through which young children develop these skills and knowledge is limited. Although research has examined the relation of the home numeracy environment and children's early mathematics performance, results have been equivocal. The purpose of this study was 2-fold: (a) to describe parent-reported home mathematical activities and beliefs about mathematics and (b) to examine the relation between these constructs and preschool-age children's general school readiness skills as well as specific numeracy-related skills. Practice or Policy: Descriptive results suggest that parents engage in a range of mathematical activities in the home with varying frequency. Furthermore, results indicate relations between parent-reported mathematical activities and beliefs, but no statistically significant relations with preschool children's early mathematics performance ...
A Simple Method for Sampling In-Phase and Quadrature Components

We present a method of developing in-phase and quadrature samples of a band-limited RF waveform. The problem of matching gain and phase response differences between the two components is avoided by a combination of mixing to an IF frequency, sampling and digitizing, and digital filtering. The novelty of the method is in the design of the digital filter, which is realized as a pair of 900 phase splitting networks with several symmetries which are exploited to save computation.
Scheduling operations on parallel machine tools

We introduce unique scheduling problems that arise for multiple spindle machine tools. The ability of these machines to perform simultaneous operations on more than one part creates constraints that are not found in the traditional scheduling literature. Two types of solution procedures are introduced for these problems. The first uses priority dispatching rules and a delay factor concept, while the second uses a genetic algorithm with a random keys encoding. The effectiveness of these methods is demonstrated on test problems with comparisons to lower bounds.
Antioxidant protection of LDL by physiologic concentrations of estrogens is specific for 17-beta-estradiol

Abstract Risk for coronary artery disease is reduced by exposure to estrogens, although the mechanisms of protection are not fully defined. Recent observations have shown that physiologic concentrations of 17-beta-estradiol (E 2 ) exhibit antioxidant activity in vitro, slowing the formation of atherogenic, oxidized low-density lipoprotein (LDL). Using concentrations physiologically relevant for premenopausal women, we compared the antioxidant potency of estrone (E 1 ), E 2 , and estriol (E 3 ) as measured by their ability to inhibit LDL oxidation. Plasma was incubated with 10 nmol/l estrogens for 4 h at 37°C, followed by LDL isolation and Cu 2+ -mediated oxidation in conjugated diene assays. Only E 2 demonstrated antioxidant activity at these physiologic concentrations. Resistance to oxidation was not associated with sparing of endogenous α -tocopherol during plasma incubations. Incubation of plasma with radiolabeled estrogens yielded similar association of E 1 and E 2 with LDL which was 5–8-fold greater than the association of E 3 . Chromatographic analysis revealed the association of authenic E 1 with LDL, while plasma-derived E 2 esters were the major form of E 2 associated with LDL which was resistant to oxidation. Thus, conjugation in plasma and association of E 2 esters with LDL appear to be specific for E 2 among these estrogens and render this LDL resistant to oxidation by Cu 2+ . This antioxidant activity may be another means whereby E 2 protects against coronary artery disease in women.
Treatment of potato tubers with the synthetic cytokinin 1-(α-ethylbenzyl)-3-nitroguanidine results in rapid termination of endodormancy and induction of transcripts associated with cell proliferation and growth

Perennial plants undergo repression of meristematic activity in a process called dormancy. Dormancy is a complex metabolic process with implications for plant breeding and crop yield. Endodormancy, a specific subclass of dormancy, is characteristic of internal physiological mechanisms resulting in growth suppression. In this study, we examine transcriptional changes associated with the natural cessation of endodormancy in potato tuber meristems and in endodormant tubers treated with the cytokinin analog 1-(α-ethylbenzyl)-3-niroguanidine (NG), which terminates dormancy. RNA-sequencing was used to examine transcriptome changes between endodormant and non-dormant meristems from four different harvest years. A total of 35,091 transcripts were detected with 2132 differentially expressed between endodormant and non-dormant tuber meristems. Endodormant potato tubers were treated with the synthetic cytokinin NG and transcriptome changes analyzed using RNA-seq after 1, 4, and 7 days following NG exposure. A comparison of natural cessation of dormancy and NG-treated tubers demonstrated that by 4 days after NG exposure, potato meristems exhibited transcriptional profiles similar to the non-dormant state with elevated expression of multiple histones, a variety of cyclins, and other genes associated with proliferation and cellular replication. Three homologues encoding for CYCD3 exhibited elevated expression in both non-dormant and NG-treated potato tissues. These results suggest that NG terminates dormancy and induces expression cell cycle-associated transcripts within 4 days of treatment.
Heparin-coated bypass circuits reduce pulmonary injury

Abstract Heparin coating of the extracorporeal circuit not only reduces heparin requirements during cardiac operations but also may reduce organ injury associated with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). To examine this possibility, pulmonary injury and neutrophil adhesion molecule expression after CPB were studied in pigs undergoing CPB with a standard extracorporeal circuit (group S, n=6) or a heparin-coated CPB circuit (Carmeda BioActive Surface) (group HC, n=6). Pigs received heparin sodium (300 U/kg intravenously) and then underwent 90 minutes of hypothermie (28 °C) CPB using membrane oxygenators, followed by 2 hours of observation. Blood samples were obtained for determination of neutrophil number and expression of the neutrophil adhesion molecule subunit CD18 (by immunofluorescence flow cytometry). The CPB-associated injury was less in group HC. Two hours after CPB, the arterial oxygen tension group was higher in group HC (597.2 ± 31.2 versus 220.5 ± 42.3 mm Hg; p −5 ; p = 0.02), and the static compliance was higher in group HC (66.4 ± 5.4 versus 39.8 ± 5.8 mL/mm Hg; p = 0.004). After 60 minutes of CPB, both groups had similar increases in expression of the neutrophil adhesion molecule subunit CD18 (29.4% ± 19.5% versus 26.0% ± 24.4%, group S and group HC, respectively) and similar decreases in neutrophil counts (6,056 ± 1,285 to 2,453 ± 979 cells/μL versus 6,010 ± 1,748 to 3,197 ± 1,225 cells/μL, group S and group HC, respectively). This study demonstrates that heparin coating improves pulmonary function after CPB and that this effect is not mediated by altered neutrophil kinetics or adhesion molecule expression.
Speech-like vocalized lip-smacking in geladas.

Summary Recently, we have seen a surge of interest in identifying possible evolutionary links between primate facial communication and human speech (for example [1]). One suggestion is that primate ‘lip-smacking' — a non-vocal, rhythmic movement of lips usually given in conjunction with affiliative behavior — may have been a precursor to speech [1]. This idea arose because lip-smacking shares several production features with human speech that the vocalizations of non-human primates lack, most notably a 3–8 Hz rhythm [1]. Evidence that non-human primates are indeed able to vocalize while simultaneously producing rhythmic facial movements would lend initial, but important, support to the notion that lip-smacking is a plausible evolutionary step towards speech. Here, I report that a wild primate, the gelada ( Theropithecus gelada ), makes a derived vocalization (the vocalization is absent in their close relatives, the Papio baboons) that is produced while lip-smacking, called a ‘wobble'. The rhythm of wobbles (6–9 Hz) closely matches that of human speech, indicating that a vocalized lip-smack produces sounds that are structurally similar to speech. Geladas are highly gregarious primates with a relatively large vocal repertoire. Their independent evolution of a speech-like vocalization involving complex facial movements provides initial support for the hypothesis that lip-smacking was a precursor to the emergence of human speech.
Quadruple valve replacement in patients with carcinoid heart disease.

with interarterial course and no intramural component, we favor pulmonary artery translocation to create space between the aortic and pulmonic roots, thereby decreasing the risk of pulmonary compression of the coronary artery. Intraoperative inspection determines which procedure will be performed. If the orientation of the aortic and pulmonic roots is such that anterior movement of the MPAwill create space, a LeCompte maneuver is done. Alternatively, if moving the MPA laterally will create space, the MPA is translocated distally toward the left pulmonary artery. At the current time there is not sufficient data to form firm management guidelines for asymptomatic children with ACAs from the contralateral sinus. Because of the documented risk of sudden death without antecedent symptoms, our policy is to surgically correct all lesions at risk, regardless of symptoms. Although we believe pulmonary artery translocation is protective of subsequent ischemic episodes, long-term follow-up has not been achieved. Whether it will
Diffraction-limited performance of grazing incidence optical systems

Diffraction effects of X-ray optical systems are often (justifiably) ignored due to the small wavelength of the X-ray radiation. However, the extremely large obscuration ratio inherent to grazing incidence optical systems produces a profound degradation of the diffraction image over that produced by a moderately obscured aperture of the same diameter. The contradictory requirements of large collecting area and relatively short length of optical elements has tended to result in proposed designs containing many concentric shells with increasingly higher obscuration ratios. In this paper it is shown that diffraction effects in such systems can significantly affect the achievable optical performance at the low energy (long wavelength) end of the intended operating spectral range. Parametric diffraction-limited performance predictions for both imaging and spectrographic applications will be presented and compared to AXAF performance goals and/or BBXRT fabrication techniques.
Contactless dielectrophoresis: a new technique for cell manipulation

Dielectrophoresis (DEP) has become a promising technique to separate and identify cells and microparticles suspended in a medium based on their size or electrical properties. Presented herein is a new technique to provide the non-uniform electric field required for DEP that does not require electrodes to contact the sample fluid. In our method, electrodes are capacitively-coupled to a fluidic channel through dielectric barriers; the application of a high-frequency electric field to these electrodes then induces an electric field in the channel. This technique combines the cell manipulation abilities of traditional DEP with the ease of fabrication found in insulator-based technologies. A microfluidic device was fabricated based on this principle to determine the feasibility of cell manipulations through contactless DEP (cDEP). We were able to demonstrate cell responses unique to the DEP effect in three separate cell lines. These results illustrate the potential for this technique to identify cells through their electrical properties without fear of contamination from electrodes.
The dependence of weak field susceptibility on applied magnetic field

Abstract Weak field (or initial) susceptibility is used for a variety of rock magnetic and paleomagnetic purposes. Depending on the instrument used, it may be measured at a variety of field strengths, based on the common assumption that, for sufficiently low fields (less than 0.1 mT or so), the magnetization is linear in the applied field, implying that susceptibility is constant. Measurements of susceptibility of samples of dispersed natural magnetite at field strengths ranging from 0.001 to 0.1 mT show that this assumption is in fact incorrect, with samples ranging in domain state from single domain to large multidomain showing a distinct decrease in susceptibility between 0.001 and 0.01 mT becoming constant only above this field. This implies that the apparent potentials that control wall motion are not harmonic but superhamonic for small displacements which contradicts recent domain wall resonance measurements. The discrepancy is apparently caused by interactions between individual grains in the samples studied by domain wall resonance.