cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Pulmonary interstitial glycogenosis: Diagnosis and follow-up

Background: Pulmonary interstitial glycogenosis (PIG) is a form of Children9s Interstitial and Diffuse Lung Disease that is reportedly responsive to systemic corticosteroids and has good outcomes. Aims and objectives: We aimed to describe our patients with PIG to better understand presentation, evaluation, cardiac findings, computed tomography assessments, and outcomes. We also sought to classify pathologic findings to differentiate between patchy and diffuse PIG as well as any additional co-travelers such as alveolar simplification and vascular remodeling. Methods: With institutional review board approval, we performed a retrospective review of patients with biopsy-proven PIG. Biopsies, chest computed tomography, and cardiac evaluations were reviewed and characterized by experts in each field. Infant pulmonary function tests were compared to diseased controls. Results: Most of the 24 patients were male (15), Caucasian (14) and non-Latino (13). The mean gestational age was 35.1 weeks (range 27-40). The mean age at biopsy was 2.2 months (range .3-6.0 months). Most (19) patients had congenital and/or acquired cardiac disease. Most patients were treated with systemic corticosteroids. Average age at last follow up was 37.9 months (range 1.2-169.8 months). At the time of last follow up, 11 patients were off all support, 3 were mechanically ventilated, one underwent lung transplantation, and one died. Conclusions: PIG is a disease of early infancy that frequently co-travels with bronchopulmonary dysplasia and cardiac disease. Without life-threatening cardiac complications, many patients do well, although respiratory symptoms may persist into adolescence.
Reinvigorating strategic planning An inclusive, collaborative process

This article describes a redesigned inclusive planning process put into place at the University Library System (ULS) of the University of Pittsburgh, a state-related university in Pennsylvania. While we write from the perspective of a large, research library with a staff of 200, we believe that our experience with the principles and practices of participatory planning can apply in many library sizes and contexts.
Personal Safety of the Plastic Surgeon: Keeping Yourself Healthy While You Work.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading this study, the participant should be able to: 1. Recognize the primary physical and mental risks faced by the practicing plastic surgeon. 2. State the primary risk factors for cervical spine disease and back pain. 3. State the critical steps for protection from ionizing and nonionizing radiation. 4. List the characteristics of a surgeon exhibiting signs of burnout. 5. Develop a plan for mitigating personal risk of musculoskeletal, exposure, and other injuries. SUMMARY Health care workers are exposed to significant occupational hazards, and have a risk of injury similar to that of construction, mining, and manufacturing employees. Plastic surgeons must have a clear understanding of the types of risks they face and the techniques for mitigating them. Exposure to some risks is attributable to unavoidable occupational conditions, but others can be avoided completely. The sources of injury risk from musculoskeletal, exposure, and other causes are discussed in this article, and evidence-based recommendations to ameliorate these risks are presented.
Adaptive Sampling for Process Control

Statistical process control procedures typically entail monitoring the process by selecting rational subgroups of equal size at equal time intervals. A generalization of this standard paradigm removes the restriction of equal waiting times between subgr..
Mobile contraceptive application use in a clinical setting in addition to standard contraceptive counseling: A randomized controlled trial.

Abstract Objective To evaluate the effect of miPlan, a waiting-room contraceptive counseling mobile application (app), on interest in discussing long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) during the clinical encounter and LARC uptake. Study design This randomized controlled trial evaluated the miPlan contraceptive counseling app. African American and Latina young women ages 15–29 years attending four family planning clinics in a large Midwestern city were randomized to either: (1) use miPlan (intervention) prior to the contraceptive clinic visit or (2) contraceptive clinic visit alone (control). Groups were compared on knowledge of contraceptive effectiveness, interest in discussing LARC, behavioral intentions to use LARC, and LARC uptake. Results From February 2015 to January 2016, 207 young women were randomized to intervention (n=104) or control (n=103) group. Immediately following app use, the intervention group had an increase in knowledge and interest in learning about the implant. Immediate post visit, there was no significant difference in uptake of LARC between the two groups (p>.05). At three months post intervention, app users reported more knowledge of IUD effectiveness (52.3% vs 30.8%, p=.001) compared to controls. There was no significant difference in LARC use. Conclusion App use was not associated with an increase in using LARC methods. It was associated with increased knowledge of contraceptive effectiveness, an interest in learning about the implant, and behavioral intentions to use LARC methods. Implications The miPlan app is a feasible clinic adjunct for increasing contraceptive knowledge and intentions, however, it is not associated with increased LARC use. Mobile applications can offer an accessible complement to the contraceptive counseling visit.
RINGS AND DOMAINS

This chapter emphasizes on rings and domains in fundamental mathematics. A ring is a nonempty set R, whose elements are denoted by a, b, c,…, x, y, z, …, together with two operations, addition and multiplication, and such that the following properties hold: (1) closure under addition, (2) associative law for addition, (3) identity for addition, (4) inverse for addition, and (5) cumulative law for addition. A nonzero element a in the commutative ring R is said to be a zero-divisor when there exists b ≠ 0 in R, such that, ab = 0. A commutative ring with unity element e ≠ 0 and no zero-divisors is known as an integral domain; it is usually denoted by D. The ring Z m is an integral domain ⇔ m is prime. The definitions of ring and integral domain involve isolating certain properties of Z—namely, properties concerning addition and multiplication—and using them as axioms for a general system. In the ordered domain { D, P }, the set of positive elements P is said to be well ordered when every nonempty subset of P has a smallest element, and in this case {D, P} is said to be well ordered.
Radiation-Induced Neoplastic Transformation of Human Cell Hybrids

In vitro cell systems are well established in the study of mechanisms of neoplastic transformation by a variety of agents including chemicals, ultraviolet light and ionizing radiation (for recent reviews see references 1-4). However, with few exceptions, systems that are used for quantitative studies are rodent-derived cell lines, usually of fibroblastic origin. This situation exists for the very good reason that human cells in culture are extremely difficult to transform, and where this has been achieved the frequency of transformation is three to four orders of magnitude less than that typically seen for rodent cells (2). There is an obvious need for a human cell system(s) for use in in vitro investigations of neoplastic transformation.
Weaning from the Ventilator

While mechanical ventilation may be necessary to support ventilation and gas exchange, prolonged time on the ventilator is associated with significant complications, including lung injury, infections, and neuromuscular weakness. Therefore, in patients deemed to no longer require ventilatory support, it is important to discontinue mechanical ventilation as soon as possible. However, prematurely discontinuing mechanical ventilation may necessitate reintubation, a procedure that is associated with increased risk of adverse outcomes. The weaning process begins with an assessment of readiness to wean, followed by a diagnostic test, known as the spontaneous breathing trial, to determine the likelihood of successful extubation.
Long-term follow up of treatment with interferon beta 1-b: a 23-year observational study in a single center cohort of 87 patients with multiple sclerosis (P6.355)

Objective: To describe outcomes of a cohort of patients treated with interferon (IFN) beta-1b 23 years ago. Background: IFN-beta-1b is the first disease-modifying therapy approved for MS. Data from short and 10 year follow up of patients enrolled in clinical trials with IFN-beta demonstrated a safe profile and 30% reduction in relapses with early treatment that may improve long term outcome. Design/Methods: The study setting was an integrated health care system in southeastern Michigan. Electronic and chart medical records of patients who started treatment with IFN beta-1b in 1993–1994 were reviewed. Sociodemographic, relapses, EDSS and treatment data were collected. Descriptive statistics were used. Results: Of the 87 patient, 71% were female, 86% were white, the mean age at diagnosis was 35 years (s.d.=9), and the mean age at the start of IFN beta 1-b treatment was 40.4 years (s.d.=8.2). In the 79 patients with known duration of IFN beta-1b use, 29% used for Conclusions: We present the longest follow up of a clinical practice cohort of patients started on IFN beta-1b 23 years ago. While short term effect of interferon beta treatment is well known from clinical trials, understanding long term effect and benefit of treatment is important for this lifelong disease that affects young adults. Study Supported by: Henry Ford Hospital Disclosure: Dr. Bulka has nothing to disclose. Dr. Siddiqi has nothing to disclose. Dr. Schultz has nothing to disclose. Dr. Freeman has nothing to disclose. Dr. Elias has nothing to disclose. Dr. Cerghet has nothing to disclose.
Feasibility of interleaved Bayesian adaptive procedures in estimating the equal-loudness contour.

A Bayesian adaptive procedure, the interleaved-equal-loudness contour (IELC) procedure, was developed to improve the efficiency in estimating the equal-loudness contour. Experiment 1 evaluated the test-retest reliability of the IELC procedure using six naive normal-hearing listeners. Two IELC runs of 200 trials were conducted and excellent test-retest reliability was found at both the group and individual levels. Using the same group of listeners, Experiment 2 compared the IELC procedure to two other procedures that required frequency-by-frequency testing. One of these procedures was the commonly adopted interleaved staircase (ISC) procedure from Jesteadt [(1980). Atten. Percept. Psychophys. 28, 85–88]. The other procedure, the interleaved maximum-likelihood (IML) procedure, was a modification of the updated maximum-likelihood procedure [Shen and Richards (2012). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 132, 957–967]. For each of the ISC and IML procedures, two runs of approximately 500 trials were conducted, followed by one additional IELC run. The test-retest reliability of the IELC procedure was comparable to that of the ISC and IML procedure. The accuracies of all three procedures measured in Experiment 2 were similar, which was superior to the accuracies of the IELC runs from Experiment 1, indicating a potential training effect.A Bayesian adaptive procedure, the interleaved-equal-loudness contour (IELC) procedure, was developed to improve the efficiency in estimating the equal-loudness contour. Experiment 1 evaluated the test-retest reliability of the IELC procedure using six naive normal-hearing listeners. Two IELC runs of 200 trials were conducted and excellent test-retest reliability was found at both the group and individual levels. Using the same group of listeners, Experiment 2 compared the IELC procedure to two other procedures that required frequency-by-frequency testing. One of these procedures was the commonly adopted interleaved staircase (ISC) procedure from Jesteadt [(1980). Atten. Percept. Psychophys. 28, 85–88]. The other procedure, the interleaved maximum-likelihood (IML) procedure, was a modification of the updated maximum-likelihood procedure [Shen and Richards (2012). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 132, 957–967]. For each of the ISC and IML procedures, two runs of approximately 500 trials were conducted, followed by one ...
Explaining the Variance in Federal Immigration Prosecution: Should National Policy Control a Largely Local Endeavor?

One element of the rule of law requires that individuals facing similar circumstances are treated the same under a country’s legal system. Policy makers striving for this ideal have sought to standardize national immigration policy through the use of the United States Sentencing Guidelines and reform to these Guidelines. However, whether these efforts have been successful for achieving this equal treatment aspect of the rule of law have remained elusive. By analyzing the five busiest judicial districts handling federal criminal immigration violations, we find that these districts still vary widely in their prosecution of immigration cases and that variation between districts is greater than variation within any of the five districts. Further, variations in prosecution persist notwithstanding Congressional and Presidential actions to control prosecutors and judges. We find that variations are due primarily to politics, law, and resources allocated to particular districts.
Abstract 2812: Triple-negative breast cancer cell-intrinsic glucocorticoid receptor activity and modulation of the immune microenvironment

Background: Variation in the infiltration of TNBC immune microenvironment is not well understood. Our lab previously demonstrated that high glucocorticoid receptor (GR; nuclear hormone receptor) activity in TNBC models is associated with tumor cell-intrinsic anti-inflammatory gene expression pathways. In addition, high GR expression in early-stage TNBC is associated with a significantly lower rate of recurrence-free survival suggesting a role for GR-associated mechanisms in TNBC progression. GR activation in lymphocytes is well known to result in their apoptosis; however, a current gap in knowledge regarding GR biology is whether tumor-cell intrinsic GR activity modulates immune cells in the microenvironment. We hypothesized that TNBC cell-intrinsic GR activity may inhibit antitumor T cell activity in the tumor microenvironment. Methods and Results: We divided TCGA primary TNBC RNAseq expression data based on GR expression and determined enrichment for immune cells using two transcriptome parsing algorithms. We found that TNBCs with high GR expression are significantly enriched for the T cell-inflamed gene expression signature, suggesting the presence of T cells in the microenvironment. The xCell algorithm found that TNBCs with high GR expression are significantly enriched for the CD4+ naive T cell transcriptome, which is absent in TNBCs with low GR-expression. To begin to determine whether GR activation in TNBC cells induces the secretion of cytokines and/or growth factors that result in the chemotaxis of CD4+ naive T cells, we collected conditioned cell culture media from control versus GR-active TNBC cells and performed multiplex cytokine ELISA. We found that G-CSF secretion by TNBC cells was significantly increased following GR activation; G-CSF has been shown to promote immunosupressive Treg cell differentiation. Conclusions: Prior data suggest that breast tumor-infiltrating immunosuppressive Tregs arise from chemotaxis of circulating naive CD4+ T cells that differentiate into Tregs in situ. Thus targeting GR in TNBC may be an important therapeutic approach to potentiate antitumor T cell responses and suppress the Treg population in the tumor microenvironment. Ongoing work is aimed at further delineating a mechanism by which GR can modulate the immune tumor microenvironment. Citation Format: Deniz N. Dolcen, Diana West Szymanski, Ananth Panchamukhi, Xiaomeng Wang, Randy F. Sweis, Rita Nanda, Suzanne Conzen. Triple-negative breast cancer cell-intrinsic glucocorticoid receptor activity and modulation of the immune microenvironment [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2812.
Its complicated: The relationship between alcohol and microglia in the search for novel pharmacotherapeutic targets for alcohol use disorders

Abstract Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a chronic relapsing disorder with wide-ranging health consequences. Alcohol targets the central nervous system producing neurodegeneration and subsequent cognitive and behavioral deficits, but the mechanisms behind these effects remain unclear. Recently, evidence has been mounting for the role of neuroimmune activation in the pathogenesis of AUDs, but our nascent state of knowledge about the interaction of alcohol with the neuroimmune system supports that the relationship is complicated. As the resident macrophage of the central nervous system, microglia are a central focus. Human and animal research on the interplay between microglia and alcohol in AUDs has proven to be complex, and though early research focused on a pro-inflammatory phenotype of microglia, the anti-inflammatory and homeostatic roles of microglia must be considered. How these new roles for microglia should be incorporated into our thinking about the neuroimmune system in AUDs is discussed in the context of developing novel pharmacotherapies for AUDs.
Multiple transmission routes sustain high prevalence of a virulent parasite in a butterfly host.

Understanding factors that allow highly virulent parasites to reach high infection prevalence in host populations is important for managing infection risks to human and wildlife health. Multiple tr...
Comment on "Quantum transport with electronic relaxation in electrodes: Landauer-type formulas derived from the driven Liouville-von Neumann approach" [The Journal of Chemical Physics 153, 044103 (2020)]

In a recent article, Chiang and Hsu [The Journal of Chemical Physics 153, 044103 (2020)] examine one and two site electronic junctions identically connected to finite reservoirs. For these two examples, they derive analytical solutions, as well as provide asymptotic analyses, for the steady-state current from the driven Liouville-von Neumann (DLvN) equation - an open system approach to transport in non-interacting systems where relaxation maintains a bias. The two site junction they examine has destructive interference, which they show leads to slow convergence of the DLvN to the Landauer limit with respect to reservoir size and relaxation. We previously derived the general solution for the steady-state current in both the DLvN and its many-body analog [Gruss et al., Scientific Reports 6, 24514 (2016)]. The many-body analog is a Lindblad master equation, which, when restricted to non-interacting systems, is exactly the DLvN. Here, we demonstrate that applying the more general expression to identical left and right reservoirs (i.e., finite reservoirs with the same density of states and coupling to the system) and Markovian relaxation provides a simple analytic form that applies to arbitrary, but identically connected, junctions. Moreover, we briefly discuss the convergence of the current to the Landauer and Meir-Wingreen result for non-interacting and interacting systems, respectively. Convergence occurs as the reservoirs' lesser Green's functions begin conforming to the fluctuation-dissipation theorem. Our approach sheds light on the behavior Chiang and Hsu observe for destructive interference. Finally, we show that the analytical results yield the asymptotic formulas derived in Gruss et al.
The meaning that emerges from combining words is robustly localizable in space but not in time

Abstract To study a core component of human intelligence—our ability to combine the meaning of words—neuroscientists look for neural correlates of meaning composition, such as brain activity proportional to the difficulty of understanding a sentence. However, little is known about the product of meaning composition in the brain—the combined meaning of words beyond their individual meaning. We term this product “supra-word meaning” and devise a computational representation for it by using recent neural network algorithms and a new technique to disentangle composed-from individual-word meaning. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we find that supra-word meaning is processed in the bilateral anterior and posterior temporal lobes. Surprisingly, we cannot detect supra-word meaning in magnetoencephalography. These results suggest that composed meaning is maintained through a different neural mechanism that does not consist of synchronized cell firing. This difference in sensitivity has implications for past neuroimaging results and future neuroimaging studies.
Vacant lot plant establishment techniques alter urban soil ecosystem services

Abstract Vacant residential lots are ubiquitous in cities. While there is increasing interest in enhancing the aboveground habitat and biodiversity of vacant lots via restoration, vacant lot restoration may also affect the properties of and ecosystem services provided by soil. We assessed the effects of four vacant lot plant community establishment techniques (seed bombing, broadcast seeding, plug planting, and intensive gardening) and unaltered lawn on three critical ecosystem services provided by urban soils: carbon sequestration, nutrient retention, and water infiltration. We found that aboveground-focused treatments had belowground consequences. Consistent with other “urban grassland” studies, lawns exhibited the highest carbon storage among our treatments. However, soil carbon may increase in our other treatments over time – a common phenomenon in disturbed urban soils. We also found that nutrient retention – particularly nitrogen retention – increased with treatment intensity, likely due to increased plant uptake and microbial immobilization in our plots with prairie plantings. Finally, our most investment-intensive treatment, intensive gardening, resulted in decreased water infiltration, likely due to soil disturbance and increased bare soil resulting from frequent watering and weeding. Thus, treatments did not have consistent positive or negative effects on soil ecosystem services, emphasizing the multifunctionality and trade-offs associated with urban soil ecosystem processes. However, assuming low soil carbon and organic matter pools in our broadcast seeding and plug planting treatments recover over time, these two treatments may optimize aboveground plant community establishment and belowground ecosystem service provision in urban vacant lots.
Effective host-directed therapy for tuberculosis by targeted depletion of myeloid-derived suppressor cells and related cells using a diphtheria toxin-based fusion protein.

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are present in elevated numbers in TB patients and have been found to be permissive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) proliferation. To determine whether depletion of MDSCs may improve host control of TB, we used a novel diphtheria toxin-based fusion protein known as DABIL-4 that targets and depletes IL-4-receptor positive cells. We show that DABIL-4 depletes both PMN-MDSCs and M-MDSC, increases IFNγ + T-cells, and reduces the lung bacillary burden in the mouse TB model. These results indicate that MDSC-depleting therapies targeting the IL-4 receptor are beneficial in TB and offer an avenue towards host-directed TB therapy.
China’s Western Frontier and Eurasia: The Politics of State and Region-Building

China has emerged as a dominant power in Eurasian affairs that not only exercises significant political and economic power, but increasingly, ideational power too. Since the founding of the People’s Republic, Chinese Communist Party leaders have sought to increase state capacity and exercise more effective control over their western frontier through a series of state-building initiatives. Although these initiatives have always incorporated an international component, the collapse of the USSR, increasing globalization, and the party’s professed concerns about terrorism, separatism, and extremism have led to a region-building project in Eurasia. Garcia traces how domestic elite-led narratives about security and development generate state-building initiatives, and then region-building projects. He also assesses how region-building projects are promoted through narratives of the historicity of China’s engagement in Eurasia, the promotion of norms of non-interference, and appeals to mutual development. Finally, he traces the construction of regions through formal and informal institutions as well as integrative infrastructure. By presenting three phases of Chinese domestic state-building and region-building from 1988-present, Garcia shows how region-building projects have enabled China to increase state capacity, control, and development in its western frontier. Recommended for scholars of China’s international relations and development policy.
Ultrasound and Influenza: The Spectrum of Lung and Cardiac Ultrasound Findings in Patients with Suspected Influenza A and B.

Abstract In patients with influenza, cardiac and lung ultrasound may help determine the severity of illness and predict clinical outcomes. To determine the ultrasound characteristics of influenza and define the spectrum of lung and cardiac findings in patients with suspected influenza A or B, we conducted a prospective observational study in patients presenting to the emergency department at a tertiary care academic institution. An ultrasound protocol consisting of cardiac, lung and inferior vena cava scans was performed within 6 h of admission. We compared the ultrasound findings in cases with positive and negative influenza polymerase chain reaction, while controlling for comorbidities. We enrolled 117 patients, 41.9% of whom (49/117) tested positive for influenza. In those with influenza, ultrasound confirmed preserved left ventricular and right ventricular (RV) function in 81.3% of patients. The most common cardiac pathology was RV dilation (10.4%), followed by left ventricular systolic dysfunction (8.3%). Patients with negative influenza polymerase chain reaction with RV dysfunction demonstrated higher hospital admission than those those with normal RV function (45.1%, 23/51, vs. 17.9%, 5/28; p = 0.016). B-lines were prevalent in both influenza and non-influenza groups (40.8% and 69.1%, respectively; p = 0.013). Lung consolidation was identified in only 8.25% of patients with influenza. In conclusion, in patients with influenza we were unable to define distinct ultrasound features specific to influenza A or B, suggesting that ultrasound may not be beneficial in diagnosing influenza nor in evaluating its severity.
Combinatorial CRISPR/Cas9 Screening Reveals Epistatic Networks of Interacting Tumor Suppressor Genes and Therapeutic Targets in Human Breast Cancer

The majority of cancers are driven by multiple genetic alterations, but how these changes collaborate during tumorigenesis remains largely unknown. To gain mechanistic insights into tumor-promoting genetic interactions among tumor suppressor genes (TSGs), we conducted combinatorial CRISPR screening coupled with single-cell transcriptomic profiling in human mammary epithelial cells. As expected, different driver-gene alterations in mammary epithelial cells influenced the repertoire of tumor suppressor alterations capable of inducing tumor formation. More surprisingly, TSG interaction networks were comprised of numerous cliques-sets of three or four genes such that each TSG within the clique showed oncogenic cooperation with all other genes in the clique. Genetic interaction profiling indicated that the predominant cooperating TSGs shared overlapping functions, rather than distinct or complementary functions. Single-cell transcriptomic profiling of CRISPR double knockouts revealed that cooperating TSGs that synergized in promoting tumorigenesis and growth factor independence showed transcriptional epistasis, whereas non-cooperating TSGs did not. These epistatic transcriptional changes, both buffering and synergistic, affected expression of oncogenic mediators and therapeutic targets, including CDK4, SRPK1 and DNMT1. Importantly, the epistatic expression alterations caused by dual inactivation of TSGs in this system, such as PTEN and TP53, were also observed in patient tumors, establishing the relevance of these findings to human breast cancer. An estimated 50% of differentially expressed genes in breast cancer are controlled by epistatic interactions. Overall, our study indicates that transcriptional epistasis is a central aspect of multigenic breast cancer progression and outlines methodologies to uncover driver gene epistatic networks in other human cancers.
Effect of pellet quality and biochar litter amendment on male turkey performance

Abstract Bedding (litter) is essential to poultry performance and health and can have an environmental impact after use in the poultry facility such as a soil amendment or as an alternative energy source. Pine shavings are the most common bedding used for turkey production. However, the increase in its price and its increasing scarcity in some areas have created new research opportunities for reusing litter as bedding. Improvement in feed pellet quality has been reported to improve poultry performance. However, the reports for turkeys are limited and dated. This study's objective was to determine how the improvement of feed pellet quality and the use of biochar added to a combination of used turkey brooder house litter and Miscanthus grass as bedding affects turkey performance, small intestine morphology, and ammonia production. Nicolas Select (Aviagen Turkeys, Lewisburg, WV) male poults (816) were randomly assigned to 48 concrete litter floor pens on the day of hatch. The experiment used a completely randomized block design with a 2 × 4 factorial arrangement of treatments: 2 levels of fines in the feed and 4 bedding treatments. The bedding treatments were a constant level of used turkey brooder house litter combined with a varying combination of biochar and Miscanthus grass. Turkey's body weight (BW), body weight gain (BWG), feed intake (FI), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were determined. Differences in treatment means were considered to be statistically significant at P ≤ 0.05 using a mixed model in SAS 9.4. Turkeys fed the feed with improved pellet quality had a higher BW from 3 to 17 wk (17.0 ± 0.1 kg) than turkeys fed an increased abundance of fines (16.72 ± 0.1 kg). Turkeys fed feed with increased pellet quality had a lower FI (45.6 vs. 48.1 ± 0.4 kg) and improved FCR (2.20 vs. 2.31 ± 0.01) from 0 to 20 wk. Litter treatment with 20% biochar resulted in higher BW at 20 wk (20.91 ± 0.16 kg) because of increased BWG at 11 wk over the rest of the biochar levels (3.7 ± 0.1 kg). Strategies to reduce the abundance of fines in feed through feed formulation, feed manufacturing, feed transport, and in-house feed management should be considered to increase male turkeys' performance. There may be opportunities to use biochar as a litter amendment to improve turkey health and performance.
Determination of the mouse brain FDG rate constants for calculation of cerebral glucose metabolic rates in mice

1117 Objectives: The operational equation reported by Sokoloff was modified and has been used to calculate the cerebral glucose metabolic rate (cMRglc) with FDG autoradiography or PET imaging for decades. The FDG rate constants, the K*1, k*2 and k*3, of murine brain tissue, were not available, so researchers used the values from rat brains to calculate the cMRglc when mice were studied. The aim of this study was to determine the FDG rate constants of mouse brain so that cMRglc in mice can be calculated more reliably. Methods: Thirteen normoglycemic C57/BL6 male mice (19-28.5g) were studied by small animal PET imaging. Anesthetized with 1.5% isoflurane, each mouse was scanned for 60 minutes. Eighteen blood samples, 0.2 µL each, were taken from the femoral artery by a microfluidic blood sampling device. The FDG in plasma were estimated from the blood samples by using an equation reported previously. To derive tissue time activity curves (TACs), the regions of the parietal cortex were drawn on fused PET-CT images and superimposed to the 60-minute dynamic PET images. The K*1, k*2, k*3 and k*4 were estimated by a three-compartment FDG model by using the Kinetic Imaging System (KIS). For comparison, the cMRglc were also calculated by using the equation cMRglc = [Glc] *K*FDG/LC, where K*FDG=K*1*k*3/ (k*2+k*3). LC is the lumped constant and [Glc] is the glucose concentration. Results: FDG model fitted well the brain TAC (r=0.94±0.03; n=13) in all studies. The K*1, k*2, k*3, k*4 and K*FDG are 0.22±0.05 ml/min/g, 0.48±0.09 min-1, 0.059±0.018 min-1, 0.025±0.010 min-1 and 0.024±0.007 ml/min/g, respectively. The cMRglc are 24.4±7.7 umol/100g/min, using a LC value of 0.625. Conclusions: We reported the FDG rate constants for normal mouse brain for the first time. The determined cMRglc based on these values were comparable to those (26.3±6.1 umol/100g/min, n= 7) reported by Toyama et al. (2004). Using the mean values of the rate constants in the operational equation improves reliability of the calculation of cMRglc. Research Support (if any): This work was supported by the UC Discovery Grant bio05-1050, RO1-EB001943 and DOE DE-FC03-02ER63420.
Brain Drain Between CounterTerrorism and Globalization

The aftermath of September 11, 2001, may certainly be on its way toward affecting the “brain drain” from Africa. The 19 dead Arabs who were accused of having blown up the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and of hijacking the fourth plane were all cases of the brain drain from their own countries in one way or another. The effect of September 11 on immigration policies in the Western world appears to be greater scrutiny and reduced Western hospitality. There was a time when high scientific and technological qualifications were regarded as attractive credentials for immigration into the West.
The Chemistry of Alcoholic Beverages

Hundreds of thousands of years ago, people presumably became aware that a strange metamorphosis occurred when honey, fruits, berries, cereals and other plant materials were mixed with water and left in the warmth of the sun. The products made from fermented honey were the first meads (perhaps the earliest alcoholic beverages known to human beings; Gayre, 1948), those from fruits and berries were the first wines, and those from cereals were the first beers (Leake, 1963; Roueche, 1960). By the time ancient man was carving his earliest historical reports, these beverages were long known, accepted, and often prized as foods, as magic fluids, and as medicines (Lutz, 1922).
Transmit-receive array design for high resolution source location

An approach is presented to super-resolution imaging of point sources using active arrays of transmit/receive elements. The usual techniques of high resolution imaging using passive receive arrays often fail for coherent point sources. Data obtained from transmit/receive arrays may be arranged to form observation matrices to which eigenspace direction of arrival estimation may be successfully applied, even in the presence of coherent sources. This approach provides great flexibility, which derives from the variety of arrangements available for the observation matrix, and it provides insight into the design of the array. >
Effects of minor alloying additions on the strength and swelling behavior of an austenitic stainless steel

A set of 32 alloys consisting of various additions of the elements Mo, W, Al, Ti, Nb, CI and Si to an Fe-7.5 Cr-20 Ni alloy were made in order to investigate'the effects of these solute additions on alloy swelling and strength. Both single and multiple additions were examined. ' The influence of various solute elements on the swelling behavior in the range 500 to 730°C was investigated using 4 MeV Ni ion bombard­ ment to a dose 170 dpa. It was found that on an atomic percent basis, the elements may be arranged in order of decreasing effectiveness in reducing peak temperature swelling as follows: Ti, C, Nb, Si, and Mo. Small amounts of aluminum enhance swelling. Additions of Si, Ti, or Nb truncate the high temperature swelling regime of the ternary alloy. Mo, W, and C do not have a strong effect on the temperature dependence of swelling. The results may be interpreted in terms of the effect of point defect trapping on void growth rates, and it is suggested that the changes in peak temperature are the result of small changes in the free vacancy formation energy. A method for treating certain multiple additions is proposed. The effect of these alloying additions on short time high temperature strength properties was estimated using hot hardness measurements over the temperature range 22 to 8S0°C. On an atom percent basis Nb and Ti were most effective in conferring solid solution strengthening and Si the least effective. In the regime 22 to 'v650°C, the hardness data was found to fit an equation of the form where H is the hardness, T is the temperature, and and b are constants for a given alloy. An empirical method was devised to estimate the hot hardness of alloys containing more than one solute addition.
A Biologically Plausible Approach to Cat and Dog Discrimination

The paper describes a computational model of human expert object recognition in terms of pattern recognition algorithms. In particular, we model the process by which people quickly recognize familiar objects seen from familiar viewpoints at both the instance and category level. We propose a sequence of unsupervised pattern recognition algorithms that is consistent with all known biological data. It combines the standard Gabor-filter model of early vision with a novel cluster-based local linear projection model of expert object recognition in the ventral visual stream. This model is shown to be better than standard algorithms at distinguishing between cats and dogs.
Core-satellite ZnS-Ag nanoassemblies: Synthesis, structure, and optical properties.

Abstract We synthesized hollow core–satellite nanoassemblies comprised of hollow zinc sulfide (ZnS) shells decorated with silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs). This was achieved by solution-phase attachment of Ag NPs to hollow ZnS nanospheres (NSs) prepared by spray pyrolysis. This produces an aqueous dispersion of ZnS–Ag hybrid structures, 50–500 nm in overall diameter. We characterized the nanostructures by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) to elucidate the ZnS (core)–Ag (satellite) morphology and optimize conditions for producing such structures. Optical spectroscopy showed that photoluminescence of ZnS was quenched by Ag while absorbance was enhanced. This work provides a simple and general means of producing hollow core–satellite structures that could be of broad applicability.
Open Trial of an Acceptance-Based Behavior Therapy Intervention to Engage Newly Diagnosed HIV Patients in Care: Rationale and Evidence of Feasibility and Acceptability

Successful linkage and retention in care of newly diagnosed individuals in the United States remains a significant gap in the HIV care continuum. This study assessed the acceptability and feasibility of an acceptance-based behavior therapy (ABBT) intervention to engage patients newly diagnosed with HIV in medical care. Nine patients were recruited over 4 months for this brief ABBT intervention, which consisted of two brief sessions, each lasting less than 20 min. The intervention was developed to promote psychological acceptance of the HIV diagnosis, thereby increasing patients' willingness to make informed disclosure of their status. Eight patients completed a 1-month follow-up assessment, and all approved of the intervention and its components. Over the 1-month period, participants showed increased acceptance, reduced perceptions of HIV stigmatization, and increased disclosure of HIV status to social supports. This pilot study provided support for the continued investigation of ABBT as an adjunctive intervention for newly diagnosed HIV patients who are at high-risk of dropping out of HIV care.
Interpreting Excess Mortality in a Prevention Trial for Older Adults

Background. In a randomized trial evaluating preventive services for older adults excess mortality was observed in the treatment group. We examined four explanations : unbalance of baseline characteristics, unintended effects of the intervention, consequence of an autonomy intervention (including increased number of living wills in the treatment group), and chance. We focus here on the effects of the autonomy intervention. Methods. Preparation of living wills in the treatment and control groups was compared both at baseline and follow-up. A linear predictor of mortality was used to identify participants at high risk of dying. Charts of these 200 participants were reviewed for evidence of serious medical events and resuscitation decisions. Rates of life-sustaining treatment were compared between treatment and controls using logistic regression. Results. More living wills (65%) were noted for the treatment group than control group (47%) at follow-up. Thirty-six per cent of participants were identified as having a serious medical event ; of these, participants in the treatment group were over twice as likely not to receive life-sustaining treatment. Conclusions. Advance directives contributed to excess deaths, indicating the success of the autonomy intervention.
Endophyte differentiation in Casuarina actinorhizae

This is an ultrastructural study of development of infected cells in nitrogen fixing root nodules ofCasuarina spp. While several aspects of development are similar to those found in many other actinorhizae, unusual aspects of development of the host cell and differentiation of the endophyte inCasuarina are correlated with unusual changes in the wall of the infected cell. Instead of vesicles the endophyte forms atypical hyphae in mature infected cells. These unusual hyphal forms are termed intracellular hyphae. Intracellular hyphae are nonseptate hyphae which originate and terminate within the same host cell, and have a varying diameter and a multidirectional growth and branching pattern. A laminate surface layer previously undescribed on hyphae ofFrankia is a feature common to mostCasuarina endophytic hyphae and is probably similar chemically to the laminae comprising the multilamellate envelope of endophytic vesicles in other actinorhizae.
Modeling viscoelastic behavior of glasses during physical aging

The generalization of a multiordering parameter model to treat physical aging in polymeric glasses is more fully explored. In the past, this model has successfully rationalized most aspects of time dependent volume and enthalpy behavior; however, only qualitative agreement between predictions of the generalized model and experiment were previously achieved for physical aging. Now, by paying strict attention to the specific analytical form of the shift factor expression, quantitative predictions have been realized for physical aging behavior based on evaluations of the shift factor parameters using volumetric data. The model also reproduces the observed behavior of glasses subjected to more complex thermal treatment such as those which evoke “memory” in glasses, e.g., shift reversal and nonmonotonic variations of the steepness of relaxation curves in the primary transition region.
Intracellular potentials of microperfused human sweat duct cells

Intracellular potentials of cells from isolated segments of microperfused human sweat ducts were measured in order to determine the electrical profiles of these cells under resting, transporting, and inhibited conditions. Even though the cells are relatively small (ca. 6–8 μm), continuous recordings of intracellular potentials from the same impalement were stable for up to 2 h. In the resting condition in normal Ringer's solution when the lumen of the duct was collapsed and not perfused, the intracellular potential measured across the basal membrane was 34.6±1.5 mV (n=31; mean±SE). In the same bathing medium, when the duct lumen was also perfused with normal Ringer's solution, the basolateral membrane potential (V b), the apical membrane potential (V a) and transepithelial potential (V t) was −33.8±0.47 mV, −23.7±0.48 mV and −9.6±0.9 mV (n=73), respectively. The average input impedence (R i) of these cells was 19.6±0.4 MΩ (n=36). The frequency distribution ofV b was unimodal suggesting that only one functional cell type exists in this tissue. Amiloride (0.1 mM) in the lumen hyperpolarized bothV a andV b by −40.5±3.6 mV and −33.2±3.7 mV (n=15), respectively, with a slight but significant increase inR i (15%), while abolishingV t. Removing luminal Cl− depolarizedV a by +37.0±4.2 mV and hyperpolarizedV b by −19.0±4.2 mV (n=11). Removing Cl− from the bath hyperpolarizedV a by −3.3±2.3 mV and depolarizedV b by +24.3±2.7 mV (n=15). Ouabain caused an initial fast depolarization (+8 mV) followed by a prolonged slow depolarization ofV b, and an increase inR i of about 84%. These results not only provide the first electrical profile of the human sweat duct tissue, but they also show that its cell membrane potentials are unusually low. This unusual property of this epithelium appears to be due to the combination of a significant Na+ conductance at the apical membrane and a remarkably high tissue Cl− conductance.
Galantamine reverses scopolamine-induced behavioral alterations in Dugesia tigrina

In planaria (Dugesia tigrina), scopolamine, a nonselective muscarinic receptor antagonist, induced distinct behaviors of attenuated motility and C-like hyperactivity. Planarian locomotor velocity (pLMV) displayed a dose-dependent negative correlation with scopolamine concentrations from 0.001 to 1.0 mM, and a further increase in scopolamine concentration to 2.25 mM did not further decrease pLMV. Planarian hyperactivity counts was dose-dependently increased following pretreatment with scopolamine concentrations from 0.001 to 0.5 mM and then decreased for scopolamine concentrations ≥ 1 mM. Planarian learning and memory investigated using classical Pavlovian conditioning experiments demonstrated that scopolamine (1 mM) negatively influenced associative learning indicated by a significant decrease in % positive behaviors from 86 % (control) to 14 % (1 mM scopolamine) and similarly altered memory retention, which is indicated by a decrease in % positive behaviors from 69 % (control) to 27 % (1 mM scopolamine). Galantamine demonstrated a complex behavior in planarian motility experiments since co-application of low concentrations of galantamine (0.001 and 0.01 mM) protected planaria against 1 mM scopolamine-induced motility impairments; however, pLMV was significantly decreased when planaria were tested in the presence of 0.1 mM galantamine alone. Effects of co-treatment of scopolamine and galantamine on memory retention in planaria via classical Pavlovian conditioning experiments showed that galantamine (0.01 mM) partially reversed scopolamine (1 mM)-induced memory deficits in planaria as the % positive behaviors increased from 27 to 63 %. The results demonstrate, for the first time in planaria, scopolamine's effects in causing learning and memory impairments and galantamine's ability in reversing scopolamine-induced memory impairments.