cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Infection control policies and practices for Iowa long-term care facility residents with Clostridium difficile infection.

Objective To identify infection control policies and practices used by Iowa long-term care facilities (LTCFs) for residents with Clostridium difficile infection or C. difficile-associated diarrhea and to assess use of antimicrobial agents. Design Survey. Setting LTCFs in Iowa that responded between March 25, 2005 (ie, when surveys were mailed), and July 2005. Results Of the 418 LTCFs in Iowa, 263 (62.9%) responded. Most facilities (94.3%) reported that they accept persons known to have C. difficile infection. Few LTCFs reported that clusters of C. difficile infection had been identified. However, only 111 facilities (42.2%) had a protocol to identify residents with C. difficile infection, and most (77.5%) did not test for C. difficile unless a resident had severe diarrhea. Only 58.5% of the facilities placed residents with C. difficile infection in private rooms, and 60.9% cohorted residents infected with C. difficile with other residents with C. difficile colonization or infection. Only 66 facilities (25.1%) have a program to control the use of antimicrobial agents. Staff could use alcohol-based hand gel products after contact with residents known to have C. difficile infection (in 188 facilities [71.5%]) or diarrhea (in 173 [65.8%]). However, the survey did not ask whether the staff used alcohol-based products instead of soap and water. Conclusions C. difficile is present in Iowa LTCFs, but many C. difficile infections probably remain undiagnosed. Staff in LTCFs should be educated about this organism so that they can implement appropriate testing and preventive strategies.
Radiative Effects in Meson-Nucleon Scattering

An integral equation is derived which sums the contributions of a certain (infinite) set of radiative corrections to lowest-order meson-nucleon scattering. This equation for the S matrix is examined and an approximate treatment given. The resulting scattering amplitude is exhibited in the Thomson and high-energy limits.
Hepatitis B vaccination coverage among U.S. adolescents, National Immunization Survey-Teen, 2006.

Abstract Purpose To determine national estimates of hepatitis B vaccination among adolescents in the United States and factors associated with vaccination using provider-reported immunization histories. Methods Data were analyzed from the 2006 National Immunization Survey–Teen, a random-digit-dialed telephone survey sampling households with adolescents aged 13–17 years. Provider-reported immunization histories were obtained to determine hepatitis B vaccination coverage. Results The household response rate was 56.2% (n = 5468); provider data was obtained from 52.7% (n = 2882). Overall up-to-date hepatitis B vaccination coverage was 81.3%; older adolescents aged 15–17 years old had lower coverage than younger adolescents aged 13–14 years old, (77.6% vs. 87.1%, p Conclusions In 2006, adolescents 15–17 years old had lower hepatitis B vaccination coverage compared to those 13–14 years old. Younger adolescents likely benefited from universal recommendations in 1991 and received hepatitis B vaccination during early childhood. A healthcare visit at age 11–12 years has been recommended by professional organizations and was associated with hepatitis B vaccination in our survey. Parents and providers should routinely review adolescent immunizations.
Soil Water Repellency Development in Amended Sand Rootzones

Particulate organic matter (OM) and surface area-limited sands are associated with soil water repellency (SWR) in turfgrass systems. The increasing ubiquity of amended sand rootzones warrants investigation of factors contributing to SWR. Our objective was to identify how amendment type and/or inclusion rate affect rootzone SWR over a range of irrigation regimes. A U.S. Golf Association-specified sand was amended with dried turfgrass roots and either sphagnum peat moss (SPM), reed sedge peat (RSP), bio-solid compost (BSC), or calcined clay (CC) at 0, 0.1, or 0.2 m 3 m- 3 . Mixes were saturated, gravitationally drained, incubated under isothermal ventilation having mean vapor pressures of 1.78, 2.19, or 2.45 kPa, and reirrigated when matric tension exceeded 300 kPa. After 138 d, rootzone subsamples were eluted of particulate OM before measuring mineral-adsorbed hydrocarbon content (MAHC) by infrared spectroscopy. The repellency index was used to quantify SWR of intact (Rintact) and eluted (R eluted ) samples. Amendment rate (0.2 > 0.1 > 0 m 3 m -3 ) and type (BSC > RSP = SPM > CC) significantly affected R intact . Only CC-amended rootzones were more wettable than the control. Severely elevated R eluted and MAHC were observed in all sands amended by BSC. Inclusion of SPM or RSP at 0.1 m 3 m -3 resulted in R eluted and MAHC values statistically equivalent to the control rootzone. At 0.2 m 3 m- 3 inclusion, all organic amendments significantly increased R eluted and MAHC relative to the control (BSC > RSP = SPM).
Ab initio study of the self-assembly of phenosafranin to carbon nanotubes

We apply first-principles computational methods to study the interaction of functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes and phenosafranin. Equilibrium geometries, binding energies, and optical absorption spectra of the modeled structures are calculated in the framework of density-functional and time-dependent density-functional theory. The proposed theoretical model indicates the possibility of complex formation between phenosafranin molecules and carboxylated nanotubes. The computed bathochromic shift in the absorption maximum of phenosafranin is consistent with experiment. Our calculations suggest that the observed spectral shift can be partially explained by isomerization of phenosafranin.
Experiences with Violence in Mexican American and European American High School Dating Relationships

Violence in adolescent dating relationships has become increasingly normative in the United States, with the severity of the consequences increasing into adulthood. Minority youths are at an increased risk for experiencing moderate to severe forms of physical dating violence, yet they are less likely to seek professional services. This comparative study of Mexican American (MA) and European American (EA) youths was conducted to understand the lived experience of dating violence within the context of "romance." MA (n = 41) and EA (n = 34) adolescents (M = 16.04 years old, SD = 0.83; n = 40 girls) participated in focus groups (n = 12) on dating relationships. In order of saliency, four categories of violence emerged: relational (for example, gossip, intentional harming of a partner's reputation), emotional/verbal (for example, insults, controlling behavior), physical (for example, hitting), and sexual (for example, manipulation or coercion). MA girls were particularly vulnerable and noted experiences with sexual coercion and with emotional/verbal and physical violence, sometimes as the perpetrator. Experiences were contextualized as occurring alongside controlling or manipulative partners. An understanding of how MA and EA adolescents experience distinct types of dating violence should inform culturally relevant dating violence prevention strategies. Language: en
Testing Paternalism: Cash versus In-Kind Transfers

Welfare programs are often implemented in-kind to promote outcomes that might not be realized under cash transfers. This paper tests whether such paternalistically motivated transfers are justified compared to cash, using a randomized controlled trial of Mexico's food assistance program. In relation to total food consumption, the in-kind transfer was infra-marginal and nondistorting. However, the transfer contained ten food items, and there was large variation in the extent to which individual foods were extra-marginal and distorting. Small differences in the nutritional intake of women and children under in-kind transfers did not lead to meaningful differential improvements in health outcomes compared to cash.
Subtenures and Housing Outcomes for Low Income Renters in New York City

New York has devised a variety of policy approaches to improve the housing status of low-income households, including public housing, publicly subsidized private housing, rent vouchers, welfare she...
Movement Framing and Discursive Opportunity Structures: The Political Successes of the U.S. Women's Jury Movements

Collective actors typically attempt to bring about a change in law or policy by employing discursive tactics designed to convince key political decision-makers to alter policy, yet few systematic studies of the effects of social movement framing on political outcomes exist. We theorize that the cultural context in which framing takes place moderates the success of movement framing in winning changes in policy. We examine the efforts of organized women, during roughly the first half of the twentieth century, to convince lawmakers to broaden jury laws to give women the opportunity to sit on juries. To examine the combined effect of framing and the discursive opportunities provided by hegemonic legal principles, traditional gender beliefs, gendered political opportunities, opposition framing, and wartime, we use logistic regression. The findings provide substantial evidence that framing's influence is moderated by discursive elements in the broader context. Our results suggest that investigations of how citi...
Delay-Privacy Tradeoff in the Design of Scheduling Policies

Traditionally, scheduling policies have been optimized to perform well on metrics, such as throughput, delay, and fairness. In the context of shared event schedulers, where a common processor is shared among multiple users, one also has to consider the privacy offered by the scheduling policy. The privacy offered by a scheduling policy measures how much information about the usage pattern of one user of the system can be learned by another as a consequence of sharing the scheduler. We introduced an estimation error-based metric to quantify this privacy. We showed that the most commonly deployed scheduling policy, the first-come-first-served offers very little privacy to its users. We also proposed a parametric nonwork conserving policy, which traded off delay for improved privacy. In this paper, we ask the question, is a tradeoff between delay and privacy fundamental to the design to scheduling policies? In particular, is there a work conserving, possibly randomized, and scheduling policy that scores high on the privacy metric? Answering the first question, we show that there does exist a fundamental limit on the privacy performance of a work-conserving scheduling policy. We quantify this limit. Furthermore, answering the second question, we demonstrate that the round-robin scheduling policy (deterministic policy) is privacy optimal within the class of work-conserving policies.
A multi-Josephson junction qubit

Abstract We have designed a persistent supercurrent multi-Josephson junction (JJ) qubit whose circuit is based on a flattened JJ triangular prism. The Schrodinger equation for the 1D constrained system is equivalent to the Whittaker Hill equation, for which exact solutions have been found [1] . Symmetric or antisymmetric coupling of the qubit to an external magnetic field, will excite only the corresponding symmetric or antisymmetric terms in the Hamiltonian. This specificity allows coupling to a system bus comprised of an LC resonant loop. We indicate how separate buses might be coupled into a larger branching network.
A semi-parametric estimator for revealed and stated preference data—An application to recreational beach visitation

Abstract We present a semi-parametric approach for jointly estimating revealed and stated preference recreation demand models. The discrete factor method (DFM) allows for correlation across demand equations and incorporates unobserved heterogeneity. Our model is a generalized negative binomial with random effects; the random effect is composed of a discrete representation of unobserved heterogeneity and a factor loading that translates the heterogeneity measure into a demand effect. Our empirical application is to beach recreation demand in North Carolina. Statistical evidence supports our DFM specification, which imposes less restriction on model dispersion and incorporates unobserved heterogeneity in a flexible manner. Elasticity estimates are smaller than those derived from models with parametric specifications for unobserved heterogeneity, and welfare estimates are slightly larger (and less precise). While parametric models clearly dominate if the specification of unobserved heterogeneity is correct, the semi-parametric DFM provides a flexible alternative in cases where mis-specification is a potential problem.
Accelerated and Retarded Dental Plaster Setting Investigated by X-Ray Diffraction

Continuous monitoring of calcium sulfate hemihydrate and dihydrate X-ray diffraction peaks was done to determine the kinetics of gypsum-product formation during the setting of plaster mixtures containing various concentrations of accelerators and retarders. Amounts of product formation were then correlated to Gillmore setting times and to compressive strengths.
Fast spiral coronary artery imaging

A flow-independent method for imaging the coronary arteries within a breath-hold on a standard whole-body MR imager was developed. The technique is based on interleaved spiral k-space scanning and forms a cardiac-gated image in 20 heartbeats. The spiral readouts have good flow properties and generate minimal flow artifacts. The oblique slices are positioned so that the arteries are in the plane and so that the chamber blood does not obscure the arteries. Fat suppression by a spectral-spatial pulse improves the visualization of the arteries.© 1992 Academic Press,Inc.
Periodicity and Other Structure in a Colorful Family of Nim-like Arrays

We study aspects of the combinatorial and graphical structure shared by a certain family of recursively generated arrays related to the operation of Nim-addition. In particular, these arrays display periodic behavior along rows and diagonals. We explain how various features of computer-generated graphics depicting these arrays are reflections of the theorems we prove.
KNOWME: An Energy-Efficient Multimodal Body Area Network for Physical Activity Monitoring

The use of biometric sensors for monitoring an individual’s health and related behaviors, continuously and in real time, promises to revolutionize healthcare in the near future. In an effort to better understand the complex interplay between one’s medical condition and social, environmental, and metabolic parameters, this article presents the KNOWME platform, a complete, end-to-end, body area sensing system that integrates off-the-shelf biometric sensors with a Nokia N95 mobile phone to continuously monitor the metabolic signals of a subject. With a current focus on pediatric obesity, KNOWME employs metabolic signals to monitor and evaluate physical activity. KNOWME development and in-lab deployment studies have revealed three major challenges: (1) the need for robustness to highly varying operating environments due to subject-induced variability, such as mobility or sensor placement; (2) balancing the tension between achieving high fidelity data collection and minimizing network energy consumption; and (3) accurate physical activity detection using a modest number of sensors. The KNOWME platform described herein directly addresses these three challenges. Design robustness is achieved by creating a three-tiered sensor data collection architecture. The system architecture is designed to provide robust, continuous, multichannel data collection and scales without compromising normal mobile device operation. Novel physical activity detection methods which exploit new representations of sensor signals provide accurate and efficient physical activity detection. The physical activity detection method employs personalized training phases and accounts for intersession variability. Finally, exploiting the features of the hardware implementation, a low-complexity sensor sampling algorithm is developed, resulting in significant energy savings without loss of performance.
Adaptive load sharing and scheduling schemes for distributed continuous media delivery

The purpose of load sharing is to improve both the performance and readiness of non-interrupted continuous media delivery by redistributing workload among collaborating servers. We propose and evaluate a few adaptive load sharing policies where simple scheduling schemes are derived. The objectives are: to understand the potential load imbalance problem in distributed multimedia systems; to minimize the initial latency where system workload is constantly changing; and to maintain the stability of the overall system. We develop a two-phase list scheduling with partial reordering of incoming requests to meet the challenge. The end result suggests that migrating workload to a highly loaded continuous media server generates the best implementation alternative.
Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia associated with solid ectopic corticotropin-producing tumors.

To the Editor. —We read with interest the review of cases of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) occurring in patients with primary brain tumors who were treated with long-term dexamethasone therapy. 1 In their discussion, Henson et al 1 note the well-documented association of PCP with the use of high-dose corticosteroids and the appearance of clinical pneumonia as steroid doses are tapered. The authors state that reports of PCP among patients with solid tumors are rare and suggest that PCP may occur in a subset of patients with solid tumors, namely, those with brain tumors. They conclude that PCP in these patients is due to the use of high-dose corticosteroids. It is important to note that patients with solid ectopic corticotropin-producing tumors are also at risk for the development of PCP (and other opportunistic infections). Graham and Tucker 2 reviewed 23 cases of opportunistic infections (cryptococcosis, aspergillosis, nocardiosis, and PCP) in
The effect of cracks on the superconducting transport current in thin films: The analogy with two-dimensional elasticity and plasticity

Simulations of arrays of resistively shunted Josephson junctions containing a crack of uncoupled junctions indicate that the crack can distort the supercurrent flow and provide a nucleation site at the crack tip for the formation of superconducting vortices at applied currents below the critical current of the homogeneous material. An analogy is established between the supercurrent distribution in two dimensions and the stress field distribution around the crack for antiplane mechanical loading. The analogy is used to show that the supercurrent distribution can be described analytically in terms of a Westergaard function used in elasticity theory. In addition, using a correspondence between the forces acting on a vortex and a crystal dislocation, models for screw dislocation emission from a crack tip are transposed to describe vortex emission from a crack tip. These lead to predictions for the pinning force required to prevent dissipation by vortex emission from the crack tip, as well as for the size of a vortex zone ahead of the crack for different values of the ratio of the applied current to the pinning force.
Stigmergic Learning for Self-Organizing Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks (MANET's)

Mobile ad-hoc networks (MANET’s) [1] present challenges that overwhelm traditional network management. MANET’s are highly dynamic, severely constrained in processing and communications resources, distributed and decentralized. Centralized management approaches requiring accurate and detailed knowledge about the state of the overall system may fail, while decentralized distributed strategies become competitive. This paper explores the applicability of fine-grained agent algorithms used in biological systems [7] to MANET’s. A network of moving nodes communicate within a limited range, and may fail temporarily. The nodes might be foot soldiers, or rovers exploring Mars, equipped with line-of-sight radios. Every node carries a client process. Some nodes also carry a server process (e.g., long-range comms links; wide-range sensors; specialized databases). Weight and space constraints limit the power available for communications and processing. Some services impose high power demands, so servers should operate only when needed to support demands from other nodes. Node movement must both achieve mission objectives and maintain communication connectivity. The server management problem answers three questions: given the current network topology determined by node locations, communications ranges and node availability, decide 1) which server nodes should actually expend battery power to execute the server process; 2) to which server node a particular client should send its next service request; and 3) where to relocate server nodes to meet current demand. MANET’s are an active area of current research, until recently focused on issues such as routing [5], access control [3], and security [11]. Recent research considers the service discovery problem, using service brokers to maintain directories of available servers [2, 4, 6, 10]. This research addresses the second question of the server management problem but not the first and third, and does not contemplate highly dynamic situations that can frustrate directories. Our approach solves all three problems and does not require centralized directories. 2. Emergent MANET Management
Survival and Growth of Crangon nigricauda Larvae (Decapoda, Caridea) Raised on Experimental Diets

Newly hatched Crangon zoeae from different maternal shrimp were raised separately using an Imhoff cone larval-rearing system. Experimental diets were Chaetoceros gracile, live Artemia nauplii, lyophilized Arremia nauplii particles, calcium alginate microencapsulated (CAM) Artemia nauplii, lyophilized Daphnia magna and CAM Daphnia magna. A dependable “atomizer” design for lab oratory preparation of CAM diets was developed. Initially, survival rates of zoeae fed either Chaetoceros or live Artemia nauplii were evaluated in order to establish a suitable control diet for subsequent growth experiments, and the interbrood and intrabrood components of zoed survival variation were analyzed. Crangon zoeae ate every type of food offered to them, but only Chaeroceros-fed zoeae survived to metamorphosis. Zoeal survival rates were extremely variable. Interbrood variation was greater than intrabrood variation, but the difference was not statistically significant. Zoeae from smaller maternal shrimp were generally more active and had greater survival rates than zoeae from larger, presumably older and senescent shrimp. Zoeae that were fed Chaetoceros supplemented with CAM Artemia nauplii had significantly greater (P < 0.001) growth rates than siblings fed only Chaetoceros. Suspension feeding on Chaetoceros was probably more efficient than raptorial feeding on Artemia nauplii, resulting in greater survival rates. Supplementing a successful microalgal diet with CAM Artemia nauplii allowed greater use of zoeal feeding mechanisms, added an animal nutrient source to the diet, and affected growth rates by increasing the molt increment and decreasing the intermolt period.
Transcriptional profiling of CD133(+) cells in coronary artery disease and effects of exercise on gene expression.

AbstractBackground aims. Bone marrow (BM)-derived progenitor cells are under investigation for cardiovascular repair but may be altered by disease. Our aim was to identify differences in gene expression in CD133+ cells of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and healthy controls, and determine whether exercise modifies gene expression. Methods. CD133+ cells were flow-sorted from 10 CAD patients and four controls, and total RNA was isolated for microarray-based gene expression profiling. Genes that were found to be differentially regulated in patients were analyzed further to investigate whether exercise had any normalizing effect on CD133+ cells in CAD patients following 3 months of an exercise program. Results. Improvement in effort tolerance and increases in the number of CD133+ cells were observed in CAD patients after 3 months of exercise. Gene expression analysis of the CD133+ cells identified 82 differentially expressed genes (2-fold cut-off, 25% false-discovery rate and % present calls) in p...
Cutting Edge: Generation of Effector Cells That Localize to Mucosal Tissues and Form Resident Memory CD8 T Cells Is Controlled by mTOR

Mucosal tissues are subject to frequent pathogen exposure and are major sites for transmission of infectious disease. CD8 T cells play a critical role in controlling mucosa-acquired infections even though their migration into mucosal tissues is tightly regulated. The mechanisms and signals that control the formation of tissue-resident memory CD8 T cells are poorly understood; however, one key regulator of memory CD8 T cell differentiation, mammalian target of rapamycin kinase, can be inhibited by rapamycin. We report that, despite enhancing the formation of memory CD8 T cells in secondary lymphoid tissues, rapamycin inhibits the formation of resident memory CD8 T cells in the intestinal and vaginal mucosa. The ability of rapamycin to block the formation of functional resident CD8 T cells in mucosal tissues protected mice from a model of CD8 T cell-mediated lethal intestinal autoimmunity. These findings demonstrate an opposing role for mammalian target of rapamycin in the formation of resident versus nonresident CD8 T cell immunity.
Lantus Insulin Overdose: A Case Report

Abstract Background: Insulin glargine is a relatively new medication in the treatment of diabetes mellitus, and there have only been six case reports of overdoses in the literature with this specific insulin. Objectives: We present a unique case of insulin glargine overdose that presented with persistent hypoglycemia and required prolonged in-hospital treatment. Case Report: A 51-year-old woman with insulin-dependent diabetes and a history of suicide attempts by medication overdose presented to the Emergency Department the morning after she had self-administered 2700 units of her insulin glargine in an attempted suicide. She was treated with continuous intravenous dextrose infusion with liberal oral intake, and continued to have recurrent hypoglycemic episodes 96 h into her hospital stay. She was discharged on hospital day 5 after psychiatric clearance without any permanent complications. Conclusions: A single massive overdose of insulin glargine can present with prolonged hypoglycemia. Emergency physicians should have a low threshold for initiating continuous dextrose infusions and admitting these patients for frequent blood glucose and serum electrolyte monitoring, preferably in an intensive care setting.
Message Passing Versus Distributed Shared Memory on Networks of Workstations

The message passing programs are executed with the Parallel Virtual Machine (PVM) library and the shared memory programs are executed using TreadMarks. The programs are Water and Barnes-Hut from the SPLASH benchmark suite; 3-D FFT, Integer Sort (IS) and Embarrassingly Parallel (EP) from the NAS benchmarks; ILINK, a widely used genetic linkage analysis program; and Successive Over-Relaxation (SOR), Traveling Salesman (TSP), and Quicksort (QSORT). Two different input data sets were used for Water (Water-288 and Water-1728), IS (IS-Small and IS-Large), and SOR (SOR-Zero and SOR-NonZero). Our execution environment is a set of eight HP735 workstations connected by a 100Mbits per second FDDI network. For Water-1728, EP, ILINK, SOR-Zero, and SOR-NonZero, the performance of TreadMarks is within 10%of PVM. For IS-Small, Water-288, Barnes-Hut, 3-D FFT, TSP, and QSORT, differences are on the order of 10%to 30%. Finally, for IS-Large, PVM performs two times better than TreadMarks. More messages and more data are sent in TreadMarks, explaining the performance differences. This extra communication is caused by 1) the separation of synchronization and data transfer, 2) extra messages to request updates for data by the invalidate protocol used in TreadMarks, 3) false sharing, and 4) diff accumulation for migratory data in TreadMarks.
For ant-protected plants, the best defense is a hungry offense

Animal foraging has been characterized as an attempt to maximize the intake of carbon and nitrogen at appropriate ratios. Plant species in over 90 families produce carbohydrate-rich extrafloral nectar (EFN), a resource attractive to ants and other omnivorous insects. This attraction can benefit the plant if those arthropods subsequently attack herbivores. This protective response has been attributed to the increased visitation and "ownership" of plants that provide a predictable source of fuel. Here, we propose and test an alternative (but non-mutually exclusive) hypothesis, that access to C-rich carbohydrates increases the ants' desire for N-rich protein and hence the likelihood that they will attack herbivorous insects on the host plant. This "deficit hypothesis" would be rejected if (1) EFN were itself a sufficiently balanced food source in terms of C and N, (2) ant dietary preferences were similar in the presence vs. absence of EFN, (3) protein-hungry ants were not more predaceous, or (4) ants provided access to protein were more aggressive toward potential prey items than were ants provided access to carbohydrates. We test these predictions in a protective mutualism between a guild of desert ants and the barrel cactus Ferocactus wislizeni. C:N ratios of EFN exceeded that of ants or potential prey items by an order of magnitude (i.e., EFN is an N-poor food for ants). Baiting studies demonstrated that plant-tending ant species recruited more workers to N-rich protein baits than to C-rich sugar baits; this difference was more pronounced when the ants had access to F. wislizeni EFN. From these data, we infer that protein is a valuable resource and that its relative value increases when carbohydrates are readily available. Moreover, ant colonies provided access to supplemental carbohydrates responded more aggressively to surrogate herbivores than did control colonies (to which no additional resources were provided) or colonies provided protein. These results support the predictions of the "deficit" hypothesis, wherein plant protection is elicited by plant-mediated dietary imbalances.
The impact of T-ACASI interviewing on reported drug use among men who have sex with men.

Measurements of drug use and other illicit or stigmatized behaviors are subject to nontrivial underreporting biases. During in-person surveys, respondents are more likely to report such behaviors w...
IG20/MADD Plays a Critical Role in Glucose-Induced Insulin Secretion

Pancreatic β-cell dysfunction is a common feature of type 2 diabetes. Earlier, we had cloned IG20 cDNA from a human insulinoma and had shown that IG20/MADD can encode six different splice isoforms that are differentially expressed and have unique functions, but its role in β-cell function was unexplored. To investigate the role of IG20/MADD in β-cell function, we generated conditional knockout (KMA1ko) mice. Deletion of IG20/MADD in β-cells resulted in hyperglycemia and glucose intolerance associated with reduced and delayed glucose-induced insulin production. KMA1ko β-cells were able to process insulin normally but had increased insulin accumulation and showed a severe defect in glucose-induced insulin release. These findings indicated that IG20/MADD plays a critical role in glucose-induced insulin release from β-cells and that its functional disruption can cause type 2 diabetes. The clinical relevance of these findings is highlighted by recent reports of very strong association of the rs7944584 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of IG20/MADD with fasting hyperglycemia/diabetes. Thus, IG20/MADD could be a therapeutic target for type 2 diabetes, particularly in those with the rs7944584 SNP.
Divergent target recognition by coexpressed 5'-isomiRs of miR-142-3p and selective viral mimicry

Sequence heterogeneity at the ends of mature microRNAs (miRNAs) is well documented, but its effects on miRNA function are largely unexplored. Here we studied the impact of miRNA 5'-heterogeneity, which affects the seed region critical for target recognition. Using the example of miR-142-3p, an emerging regulator of the hematopoietic lineage in vertebrates, we show that naturally coexpressed 5'-variants (5'-isomiRs) can recognize largely distinct sets of binding sites. Despite this, both miR-142-3p isomiRs regulate exclusive and shared targets involved in actin dynamics. Thus, 5'-heterogeneity can substantially broaden and enhance regulation of one pathway. Other 5'-isomiRs, in contrast, recognize largely overlapping sets of binding sites. This is exemplified by two herpesviral 5'-isomiRs that selectively mimic one of the miR-142-3p 5'-isomiRs. We hypothesize that other cellular and viral 5'-isomiRs can similarly be grouped into those with divergent or convergent target repertoires, based on 5'-sequence features. Taken together, our results provide a detailed characterization of target recognition by miR-142-3p and its 5'-isomiR-specific viral mimic. We furthermore demonstrate that miRNA 5'-end variation leads to differential targeting and can thus broaden the target range of miRNAs.
Cracking the Code: Using Personal Narratives in Research

The use of personal narratives in research across the field of psychology has dramatically increased in recent years. In studies spanning a wide range of topics, personal event narratives have provided especially valuable insights into the processes and products of cognitive development. This article offers a guide for researchers who might use personal narratives in research currently or in the future. Issues and best practices surrounding collecting, transcribing, and coding personal narratives are presented. Practical challenges, commonly used methods, and recommended guidelines are described. Illustrations of different types of personal narrative coding systems are offered. The article also highlights benefits of and resources for conducting personal narrative research.
CT and MRI features

Patients with autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) commonly present with vague abdominal pain, jaundice, or weight loss, and CT is often the first imaging study obtained. Characteristic CT findings of AIP include diffuse parenchymal enlargement of the pancreas and capsule-like rim. The pancreatic border commonly becomes featureless with effacement of the lobular contour of the pancreas. However, it may present as focal or segmental enlargement of the pancreas or low-density mass, and differentiation with pancreatic cancer may be difficult. Vascular involvement may be sometimes seen. Differentiation from pancreatic cancer can be difficult in such atypical cases. Enhancement pattern of pancreatic parenchyma (decreased enhancement during early phase and increased enhancement during delayed phase of contrast administration), lack of pancreatic duct dilatation, as well as presence of other organ (extrapancreatic) involvement are helpful findings in making the correct diagnosis of AIP. Other uncommon findings include pancreatic pseudocyst and calcification. FDG-PET and MRI with diffusion-weighted imaging may be helpful when CT findings are inconclusive.
Prompt Production of Neutrinos By 400 GeV Protons on Tungsten: First Results from Fermilab E613

Data from Experiment E613, a Fermilab experiment to study prompt neutrino production, are now being analyzed. The experiment was specifically designed to study neutrinos from the decay of charmed (or other massive) particles. The detector, an 80 metric ton (fiducial volume) lead-scintillator calorimeter, is approximately 60 m from the target. As a result, the angular acceptance extends up to 40 mrad. We have run with a full density tungsten and 1/3 density tungsten target. We report on a sample of 938 neutrino 1μ events. If we parametrize the DD \( D\bar D \) production cross-section as proportional to (1-∣x∣)3 e-2p⊥ we find that our prompt neutrino 1μ events if interpreted as due to \( D\bar D \) production imply \( \sigma D\bar D \)17.2±3.2 (stat.) ±3.4 (sys) μb. For Ev greater than 25 GeV, the \( \bar \nu \) flux = \( \bar \nu \) flux =.8±.35 and the \( \bar \nu \) flux is 2.9σ from 0.
Using Improvement Methodology to Optimize Echocardiographic Imaging of Coronary Arteries in Children

Background According to the American Society of Echocardiography, coronary artery (CA) imaging is recommended in pediatric examinations to identify CA anomalies. A review of the authors' center's echocardiographic studies revealed that CA images were often nondiagnostic. The aim of this study was to utilize quality improvement methodology to increase the percentage of first-time pediatric studies with definitive CA identification from a baseline of 45% to a goal of at least 75% in 9 months. Methods A scoring system was developed to characterize the completeness of CA imaging. One point was scored for demonstration of each of the following: right CA origin by two-dimensional imaging, right CA origin by color flow Doppler imaging, left CA origin by two-dimensional imaging, and left CA origin by color flow Doppler imaging. A score of 4 was considered to represent definitive imaging. A baseline was obtained on 100 first-time echocardiograms with normal findings. During the intervention, 10 randomly selected first-time studies with normal findings were scored weekly for assessment of CA imaging. Interventions were focused on the following domains: excellence in image quality, shared ownership, transparency, and effective communication. Key interventions included labeling CA images, requiring two-dimensional and color Doppler images, optimization of settings, and elimination of macros for CA reporting. Results The percentage of definitive CA identification increased from 45% to 82.5% over 4 months and was sustained for 7 months. Accurate reporting of incomplete CA imaging increased from 17% to 77.5%. Conclusions Improved pediatric CA imaging and reporting were achieved through the implementation of key interventions.
Structure and Dynamics of Reactant Coadsorption on Single Crystal Model Catalysts by HP-STM and AP-XPS: A Mini Review

Understanding the reaction mechanism of various heterogeneous catalytic reactions is of fundamental importance in catalysis science. In the past, scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) have proved to be powerful surface-sensitive techniques to characterize surface reactions on model catalysts under UHV conditions. The recent development of high-pressure scanning tunneling microscopy (HP-STM) and ambient-pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (AP-XPS) has largely extended the application of these two excellent surface-sensitive imaging and electron spectroscopy techniques to a variety of catalytic systems under realistic conditions. In this mini review, we will review a series of catalytic systems studied by HP-STM and AP-XPS, including reactant coadsorption systems, coadsorption + reaction systems, and poisoned reaction systems. We will also illustrate one of the main difficulties in the practical execution of experiments where the initial surface cleanliness is easily compromised by the adsorption of adventitious contaminants. All of these examples will demonstrate that the combined use of HP-STM and AP-XPS can provide a deeper understanding of the structure and dynamics of reactant coadsorption on model catalysts, although great care has to been taken to maintain the cleanness of the in situ instrumentation.
HRTS Time Series Observations: Chromospheric and Coronal Heating

We have studied HRTS time series observations of solar network boundaries, cell interiors, sunspot and active regions. The results show that the intensities of C IV, Si II, Fe II and UV continuum in these features fluctuate constantly, sometimes with large amplitudes of a factor of 2 in 30 sec. Downflow velocities are most common in the transition region. The only place where there are noticeable upflows is in the cell interior. Often neighboring emission features show temporal changes independent of each other, implying a “correlation” length of less than 2″. The observations do not show evidence of regular periodic waves. However, there is evidence that temporal variations in the temperature minimum region, the chromosphere, and the transition region follow each other, indicating some “excitation” agent propagating at a speed > 500 km sec-1. The heating occurs irregularly in time, perhaps due to energy releases in locally stressed magnetic fields.
80. Erfahrungen mit operativen Eingriffen in Ambulanz und Poliklinik in den USA

1981 wurden an der Cleveland Clinic 2084 ambulante Eingriffe - etwa 10 aller Operationen - durchgefuhrt (Brust-, Haut, Lymphknotenbiopsien, Bruchluckenverschlusse, Abscesspaltungen, zentralvenose Katheter, plastische und anorectale Eingriffe). Die Letalitat war 0%. (n = 8 595), die Rate an postoperativen Komplikationen 0,8%, eine nachfolgende stationare Aufnahme in 0,7% notwendig. Schatzungsweise konnten etwa 20 aller stationar durchgefuhrten Operationen ambulant vorgenommen werden, was zu einer Einsparung von jahrlich bis zu 12 Mrd. Dollar in den USA fuhren wurde.
Computational study and molecular orbital analysis of NMR shielding, spin-spin coupling, and electric field gradients of azido platinum complexes.

195Pt, 14N, and 15N NMR data for five azido (N3–) complexes are studied using relativistic density functional theory (DFT). Good agreement with experiment is obtained for Pt and N chemical shifts as well as Pt–N J-coupling constants. Calculated 14N electric field gradients (EFGs) reflect experimentally observed trends for the line broadening of azido 14N NMR signals. A localized molecular orbital analysis of the nitrogen EFGs and chemical shifts is performed to explain some interesting trends seen experimentally and in the first-principles calculations: (i) 14N NMR signals for the Pt-coordinating (Nα) nuclei in the azido ligands are much broader than for the central (Nβ) or terminal (Nγ) atoms. The Nβ signals are particularly narrow; (ii) compared to Nγ, the Nα nuclei are particularly strongly shielded; (iii) Nβ nuclei have much larger chemical shifts than Nα and Nγ ; and (iv) The Pt–NαJ-coupling constants are small in magnitude when considering the formal sp hybridization of Nα . It is found that for Nα ...
Abstract 2582: In vitro effects of 4-OXO-docosahexaenoic ester on cell signaling in molecular subtypes of human breast cancer cell lines.

In vivo preclinical evidence of a heterogeneous effect of n-3 fatty acids (N3FA) on cell signaling pathways associated with the reduced growth of mammary carcinomas (Cancer Res. 2012 Aug 1;72(15):3795-806) is consistent with the expectation that N3FA will not exert uniform effects on all molecular subtypes of breast cancer. Similarly, available evidence indicates that specific metabolites of N3FA are synthesized by mammalian cells and that they exert metabolite specific biological activities. To begin to unravel the complex relationships among molecular subtype specific cell signaling and effects exerted by specific N3FA metabolites on those pathways, a series of proof-in-concept experiments were conducted using cell lines representing 5 molecular subtypes of human breast cancer (BT-474, MCF-7, SKBR-3, MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-468) and 4-oxo-docosahexaenoic keto ester (4-oxo-DHA), a putative metabolite of docosahexaneoic acid (DHA) that has superior activity to that of DHA in inducing PPARγ activation in vitro. 4-oxo-DHA induced dose dependent inhibition of cell number accumulation of all molecular subtypes but the dose and time responses varied markedly with MCF-7 cells being the least affected and MDA-MB-468 being inhibited to the greatest extent. Detailed mechanistic studies in BT-474, SKBR-3, and MDAMB-463 revealed subtype specific patterns of cell cycle inhibition and apoptosis induction with apoptosis induction dominating in BT-474 and SKBR-3 and inhibition of cell proliferation and apoptosis induction accounting for growth inhibition of MDA-MB-468. While some molecular subtypes were inhibited by mechanisms involving PPARγ activation, others underwent cell growth inhibition via modulation of multiple regulatory nodes in the mTOR signaling network. Evidence is consistent with differential sensitivity among cell types based on whether they are basal or luminal in origin. The experiments described offer a useful complementary approach to the in vivo experiments needed to resolve the N3FA-breast cancer conundrum. This work was supported by grant KG081632 from the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Citation Format: Henry J. Thompson, Weiqin Jiang, Zongjian Zhu, John P. Vanden Heuvel, Shantu Amin, Krishne Gowda, Andrea Manni, Karam El-Bayoumy. In vitro effects of 4-OXO-docosahexaenoic ester on cell signaling in molecular subtypes of human breast cancer cell lines. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2582. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-2582
Dual-layer surface coating of PLGA-based nanoparticles provides slow-release drug delivery to achieve metronomic therapy in a paclitaxel-resistant murine ovarian cancer model.

Development of drug resistance is a central challenge to the treatment of ovarian cancer. Metronomic chemotherapy decreases the extent of drug-free periods, thereby hindering development of drug resistance. Intraperitoneal chemotherapy allows for treatment of tumors confined within the peritoneum, but achieving sustained tumor-localized chemotherapy remains difficult. We hypothesized that modulating the surface properties of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA)-based nanoparticles could enhance their drug retention ability and extend their release profile, thereby enabling metronomic, localized chemotherapy in vivo. Paclitaxel was encapsulated in particles coated with a layer of polydopamine and a subsequent layer of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG). These particles achieved a 3.8-fold higher loading content compared to that of nanoparticles formulated from linear PLGA–PEG copolymers. In vitro release kinetic studies and in vivo drug distribution profiles demonstrate sustained release of paclitaxel. Although f...
Linguistic Barriers to International Marketing: Information Overload In Non-Dominant Languages

If consumers are given too much information, information overload is said to exist and the result is less effective consumer decision making. The relationship between information overload and linguistic ability was investigated in this study. American born/English speakers bilingual in Taiwanese and Taiwanese born speakers bilingual in English were presented with low and high levels of consumer information. As predicted, high levels of information can act as a stressor affecting consumer decision making in a non-native language prior to affecting decision making in a dominant language. If information overload occurs quicker in non-dominant languages, linguistic barriers to cross-cultural marketing must take into account the amount of information provided.
S-nitrosothiols inhibit neuronal norepinephrine transport

Although it has been recently shown that nitric oxide (NO) and its congeners (NO(x)), including nitrosothiols, may modify catecholamine turnover in the brain, it is not known whether NO(x) affect norepinephrine (NE) uptake by sympathetic neurons. The nitrosothiol NO donor S-nitroso-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP, 100 microM for 1 h) elicited a concentration-dependent reduction in desipramine-sensitive [3H]NE uptake into PC-12 cells (66 +/- 3%; P < 0.01) or cultured rat superior cervical ganglia (74 +/- 5%; P < 0.001), whereas desipramine-insensitive [3H]NE uptake was unaffected, indicating a selective effect on uptake-1-mediated transport. Short-term coculture of PC-12 cells with microvascular endothelial cells expressing the cytokine-inducible NO synthase (NOS2) also exhibited a reduction in [3H]NE uptake (33 +/- 3%, P < 0.001) that could be prevented by the addition of the NOS inhibitor N-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA, 1 mM). Endogenous production of NO(x) by nerve growth factor-pretreated PC-12 cells also e...