cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Profitability of bovine somatotropin administration to increase first insemination conception rate in seasonal dairy herds with heat stress

Abstract A dairy farm simulation program was used to estimate the economic value of increased conception rate at first insemination (FCR) as a result of one administration of bovine somatotropin (BST) per lactation. Further, the economically optimal BST administration period in a year was investigated. Typical conditions in Florida were assumed, including reduced milk production and conception rates in the summer and early fall due to heat stress. Administration of a single dose of BST ($6 per dose) per lactation was incorporated into a timed AI protocol for first insemination at 61 days after calving. Increases in FCR of 0, 4, 8, and 12 percentage points (PP) were compared including changes in prices, fertility, and seasonality of cow performance. No direct effect of BST on milk production was assumed. With default inputs and an increase in FCR of 4 PP, the optimal administration period was February through June which resulted in a small gain in profitability of $0.80/slot/year. Typically, one administration of BST per lactation to increase FCR was profitable in the cooler winter and spring, but not the hotter season. The use of BST in the cooler winter and spring resulted in increased seasonality of herd performance and demographics. When no seasonality in milk production was assumed, administration of BST was profitable throughout the year when FCR increased at least 8 PP. In conclusion, increases in FCR were most profitable during the cooler season of the year when basic conception rates were already greater than in the hotter season.
Helicobacter pylori and Glycemia Control in Children with Type 1 Diabetes: Response to Treatment

Helicobacter pylori and Glycemia Control in Children with Type 1 Diabetes: Response to Treatment
Investigations of Anharmonic Low-Frequency Oscillations in Heme Proteins †

The technique of femtosecond coherence spectroscopy is applied to a variety of photostable and photochemically active heme protein samples. With the exception of cobalt-substituted myoglobin, strong oscillations are detected near 40 cm-1 in all of the samples studied. Additional modes near 80, 120, and 160 cm-1 are observed in the photochemically active samples. The amplitude and phase behavior of the low-frequency modes are studied by tuning the pump/probe carrier wavelength across the Soret absorption spectrum. A simple harmonic model is not able to account for the observed relative intensities of these modes or the carrier wavelength dependence of their frequency and phase. As a result, we develop an anharmonic model where the oscillatory signal is damped as the result of heterogeneity in the potential surface. The underlying source of the heterogeneity in the anharmonic potential surface is found to be correlated with the inhomogeneous broadening of the Soret band. The presence of the higher harmonics...
Cowpox virus employs a two-pronged strategy to outflank MHCI antigen presentation

Smallpox decimated humanity for thousands of years before being eradicated by vaccination, a success facilitated by the fact that humans are the only host of variola virus. In contrast, other orthopoxviruses such as cowpox virus can infect a variety of mammalian species, although its dominant reservoir appears to be rodents. This difference in host specificity suggests that cowpox may have developed promiscuous immune evasion strategies to facilitate zoonosis. Recent experiments have established that cowpox can disrupt MHCI antigen presentation during viral infection of both human and murine cells, a process enabled by two unique proteins, CPXV012 and CPXV203. While CPXV012 inhibits antigenic peptide transport from the cytosol to the ER, CPXV203 blocks MHCI trafficking to the cell surface by exploiting the KDEL-receptor recycling pathway. Our recent investigations of CPXV203 reveal that it binds a diverse array of classical and non-classical MHCI proteins with dramatically increased affinities at the lower pH of the Golgi relative to the ER, thereby providing mechanistic insight into how it works synergistically with KDEL receptors to block MHCI surface expression. The strategy used by cowpox to both limit peptide supply and disrupt trafficking of fully assembled MHCI acts as a dual-edged sword that effectively disables adaptive immune surveillance of infected cells.
Response of anestrous ewes to norgestomet and PMSG.

A 10-day treatment regime with a subcutaneous ear implant containing 3 mg of norgestomet, accompanied by an intramuscular injection of 1.5 mg norgestomet and 0.5 mg estradiol valerate (EV) on day 1 and 750 I. U. pregnant mares serum gonadotropin (PMSG) given intravenously on day 10, proved effective in eliciting estrus in 72% of 110 anestrous ewes within 5 days of treatment. Ewes which were treated in months closer in proximity to the normal breeding scason responded with significatly increased induction of estrus, with 71, 37, 59, 74, and 97% in estrus for ewes which were treated in February through June, respectively. Comparable estrous response in nontreated, control ewes was 0, 13, 0, 10, and 24% during February through June, respectively. (Treated vs controls, P .10). Overall pregnancy rate for all ewes in both groups was 36% in treated and 3% in control ewes during 5 or 16 days of breeding, respectively (P<.01).
Cloned receptors and cardiovascular responses to adenosine

Four subtypes of adenosine receptors have recently been cloned from thyroid, brain and testis. In this review we have summarised properties of these purinergic receptors. The cloned A1 and A2 subtypes are probably similar or identical to receptors that exist on cardiac and vascular tissues, respectively. A comparison of the amino acid sequences of A1, A2a, and A2b receptors reveals several stretches of conserved amino acids that are unique to adenosine receptors, primarily in the membrane spanning regions. Species differences in A1 receptors indicate that minor changes in receptor structure can produce marked changes in ligand binding properties and may facilitate the identification of amino acids involved in ligand recognition. A confusing A1 receptor subclassification system of putative A1a, A1b, and A3 subtypes has emerged based on subtle rank order potency differences for various ligands among tissues. cDNAs corresponding to these A1 subtypes have not yet been isolated. Atrial A1 receptors activate K+ channels and inhibit adenylyl cyclase. These two pathways appear to be independently up and down regulated, suggesting the existence either of atrial A1 receptor subtypes or of differential regulation of the coupling of a single receptor to distinct GTP binding proteins. An adenosine receptor distinct from A1 and A2 receptors has been cloned from testis and designated TGPCR, or A3, although it differs from the pharmacologically defined A3 receptor. We suggest that the current A1/A3 receptor subtype nomenclature be abandoned and superseded by a nomenclature based solely on receptor cDNAs. In addition to the cloned adenosine receptors, a novel A4 subtype has been proposed based on pharmacological and electrophysiological criteria.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
A glimmer of light for neuropsychiatric disorders

Understanding the pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric disorders is a substantial challenge for neurobiologists. It has long been hoped that identifying alleles that confer increased risk of such disorders would provide clues for neurobiological investigation. But this quest has been stymied by a lack of validated biological markers for characterizing and distinguishing the different disorders and by the genetic complexity underpinning these diseases. Now, modern genomic technologies have begun to facilitate the discovery of relevant genes.
Feeding Value of Dry Corn, Ensiled High Moisture Corn, and Propionic Acid Treated High Moisture Corn Fed with Hay or Haylage for Lactating Dairy Cows

Abstract Trial 1 . Fifty lactating Holstein and Brown Swiss cows were assigned to six groups in a 3×2 factorial design and fed one of six diets for 16 wk: (1) dry corn + hay, (2) dry corn + haylage, (3) ensiled high moisture corn + hay, (4) ensiled high moisture corn + haylage, (5) propionic acid treated corn + hay, and (6) propionic acid treated corn + haylage. Quantities equal in dry matter of dry corn, ensiled corn, and acid treated corn were offered in the ratio of 1kg concentrate (corn and supplement) for each 2.75kg milk produced. Forage was fed free choice. Means adjusted by covariance for cows fed diets 1 to 6 averaged: dry matter intake (kg/day), 16.7, 20.0, 17.4, 20.6, 17.1, 20.0; 4% fat-corrected milk (kg/day), 21.8, 21.1, 22.6, 23.5, 22.4, 23.4; milk fat percent, 3.54, 3.45, 3.63, 3.53, 3.62, 3.80; and acetate to propionate ratio 3.53, 3.85, 3.73, 3.66, 3.13, 3.32. Cows fed ensiled corn and acid treated corn produced more 4% fat-corrected milk than did cows fed dry corn. The molar percent acetate to propionate ratio in rumen fluid of cows fed acid treated corn was lower than for cows fed dry corn or ensiled corn. Trial 2 . Dry corn or propionic acid treated corn was fed to 12 cows in combination with a supplement, 4.54kg of hay, and ad libitum haylage. Means adjusted by covariance for cows fed dry corn and acid treated corn averaged: dry matter intake (kg/day), 18.2 and 17.7; 4% fat-corrected milk (kg/day), 20.6 and 20.1; and total digestible nutrients (%) 63.7 and 58.7. Any of these methods are acceptable for storing corn, and feeding this corn in properly supplemented diets will yield acceptable lactation performance.
Structural determinants of the PDE6 GAF A domain for binding the inhibitory γ-subunit and noncatalytic cGMP

Abstract Photoreceptor cGMP phosphodiesterases (PDE6 family) are modular enzymes with each catalytic subunit containing two N-terminal regulatory GAF domains, GAF A and GAF B. The GAF A domains contribute to dimerization of the PDE6 catalytic subunits and to binding of the inhibitory Pγ subunits, and represent candidate sites for noncatalytic binding of cGMP. We performed a mutational analysis of selected residues from the GAF A domain of cone PDEα′ to identify the cGMP-binding pocket and delineate the Pγ-binding surface. Results of this analysis establish the noncatalytic cGMP-binding site within the PDE6 GAF A domain and suggest that occupation of the pocket by cGMP is required for high-affinity binding of Pγ to the proximate contact surface.
A cross-sectional study of the change in mastoid geometry with age in children without a history of otitis media.

Objectives/Hypothesis: This study assessed the normal growth and development of mastoid air-cell system (MACS) geometry from infancy through adolescence. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: This cross-sectional study evaluated the change with age in MACS volume, surface area, and surface area/volume ratio in 36 (72 ears) individuals aged 1.6 to 18 years with no history of middle ear disease. The three MACS parameters were reconstructed using computed tomography (CT) scans judged by a radiologist to be normal. Linear regression was used to determine the relationship between the left and right values of each parameter, and between those parameters and age for male and female subjects. Results: For all three MACS parameters, the right and left values were highly correlated. MACS volume and surface area for male and female subjects showed an increase between 1 and 18 years. The surface area/volume ratio for males was independent of age but showed a shallow increase for females. When averaged across all ages, the ratio was similar to those previously reported. Conclusions: The growth trajectory for MACS volume observed in this study was not consistent with other cross-sectional studies employing planimetry or CT of normal subjects that reported inconsistent results. Because of its potential role as a susceptibility factor for otitis media and other otologic problems, it is important to describe the growth and development of MACS geometry. Additional well-controlled studies of this phenomenon are needed to clarify which of the growth trajectories actually describe the growth process for the three parameters of interest.
Microbial diversity of benthic mats along a tidal desiccation gradient

We investigated the influence of desiccation frequency, indicated by tidal position, on microbial community structure, diversity and richness of microbial mats. We independently characterized cyanobacterial, bacterial and archaeal communities, and their spatial variability for two distinct microbial mat systems: subtidal hypersaline mats and intertidal sand flat mats. Community fingerprints based on 16S rDNA were obtained via denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis using polymerase chain reaction primers specific for each group. Fingerprints for all three groups were consistently similar [> or =85% according to Weighted Pair Group with Arithmetic Mean (WPGMA) analysis] along a 1-km-long transect in subtidal mats. Here, pair-wise comparison analysis yielded minimal variation in diversity and richness for all groups. Fingerprints of three sites along an intertidal transect were heterogenous (> or =32% similarity according to WPGMA analysis) with clear shifts in community structure in all three microbial groups. Here, all groups exhibited statistically significant decreases in richness and diversity with tidal height (as desiccation frequency increases). Regression analysis yielded a strong correlation between diversity or richness estimates and position along the tidal gradient, for both Archaea and Bacteria, with Cyanobacteria exhibiting a weaker correlation. These results suggest that desiccation frequency can shape the structure of microbial mat communities, with Archea being least tolerant and Cyanobacteria most tolerant.
Immunotoxicologic evaluation of the respiratory system: Animal models for immediate- and delayed-onset pulmonary hypersensitivity☆

Abstract A wide variety of industrial materials is known to cause allergic pulmonary reactions. Respiratory symptoms may occur either immediately upon exposure to the agent (immediate-onset response), or several hours later (delayed-onset reaction). In order to determine both the mechanism of response, and a safe exposure level which would prevent development of pulmonary sensitization, animal models are currently being developed for both types of sensitivity responses. In the models, emphasis is placed on simulating conditions present in the industrial environment. For example, (1) exposure to agents is via the inhalation route, (2) animals are unrestrained and unanesthetized both during exposure and during elicitation of response, and (3) reactive chemicals, as opposed to hapten-protein conjugates, are used for exposure. In the model for immediate-onset sensitivity, concentration-response relationships have been observed between the concentration of agent inhaled and the percentage of animals becoming sensitized. Agents employed were bacterial subtilisin and toluene diisocyanate. Identification of “no observable effect” threshold concentrations implies that exposure levels can be proposed for industrial chemicals which will not result in sensitization of workers. Further development of the animal models, followed by calibration of the models to humans, should allow immunotoxicologic evaluation of chemicals for their respiratory sensitizing ability and recommendation of threshold-limit values (TLVs) which would prevent sensitization.
It only takes once: The absent-exempt heuristic and reactions to comparison-based sexual risk information

Three studies (N = 545) investigated the effects of social comparison on the "absent-exempt" (AE) heuristic (feeling exempt from future risk). Study 1 examined how comparison with an infected peer (comparison target) who was similar or nonsimilar in terms of sexual risk (number of partners, lack of condom use), influenced willingness and intentions to engage in sex without a condom, and conditional perceived vulnerability to an STD. Participants generally reported lower willingness and higher conditional vulnerability if they compared with a similar-risk level target. However, high-risk students who compared with a low-risk target engaged in what appeared to be AE thinking, reporting the highest willingness and lowest conditional vulnerability. Intentions to have sex without a condom were not influenced. Study 2 included a direct measure of AE thinking and compared the impact of a low-risk comparison target with a Public Service Announcement (PSA) stating that negative outcomes (STDs) can happen even to low-risk targets. Among high-risk participants, comparing with the low-risk target increased AE thinking. The effects in Studies 1 and 2 were strongest among participants high in tendencies to socially compare. Study 3 explored whether AE thinking could be decreased by encouraging more reasoned processing. Results indicated that asking participants to think about the illogicality of AE thinking reduces AE endorsement and increases STD testing intentions. Findings suggest that comparison-based information can have a stronger influence on health cognitions than analytic-based information (e.g., most PSAs). Implications for dual-processing models of decision-making and their applicability to health messages are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved)
Estimating Stock Composition of Anadromous Fishes from Mark-Recovery Data : Possible Application to American Shad

Abstract Information on the stock composition of mixed-stock fisheries is often needed to develop management regulations for anadromous fishes. Although several methods can be used to infer stock composition, marking studies have long been identified as a promising approach. Hatchery-reared larval American shad Alosa sapidissima are marked with a river-specific mark and released in stock enhancement programs along the U.S. East Coast. We describe and apply a mark–recovery method for inferring the proportion of the catch in a mixed-stock fishery that originates from a particular river. The method is based on comparing the proportion of the mixed-stock catch with marks from the river with the proportion of the fish returning to the river with marks. We explore the utility of using mass marking of hatchery-reared American shad larvae with tetracycline to determine the stock composition of mixed-stock fisheries of American shad in Virginia. Our analysis focuses on the impact of the former Virginia coastal oce...
An ONR young investigator project - predictive reconfiguration of shipboard power systems

Summary form only given. The development of a truly automated and effective reconfiguration method will require creative exploration of the domain of the operational and theoretical boundaries of shipboard power systems. The principal investigator proposes a unique redefinition of the reconfiguration problem that determines reconfiguration actions to prevent loss of supply as well as to restore power quickly to critical loads and change operating modes. This approach is termed "predictive reconfiguration" by the principal investigator. This presentation discusses the research findings related to the development of this predictive reconfiguration concept for shipboard power systems. This research brings advanced solutions to shipboard power systems with a goal of survivability and reduced manning. This work provides technology to address the Navy's prevalent need for automated and reconfigurable shipboard power systems.
Markov Characterization of the HF Channel

A simple partitioned Markov chain model was proposed recently for characterization of the HF channel. The model is uniquely determined by the gap distribution. In this paper a method is derived to calculate the burst distribution from the model. The calculated result is compared with the burst distribution simulated from the actual error data collected from the HF communication link between Chicago and San Diego by IIT Research Institute for the Naval Electronics Laboratory Center. The model is also applied to a random channel and the result is compared with the simulation from the error sequence generated by a random number generator. In both cases there is a good agreement between the calculated and simulated results. It is illustrated that the model can be used for evaluating and designing the error detecting and correcting codes for the HF channel. The model is flexible as the number of states is not rigidly fixed hence it could be applied to a wide variety of HF channels. There is some indication that the model correlates to the multipath reduction factor (MRF). If verified it could add significance to the model since the maximum usable frequency (MUF) can be determined many months ahead by the available propagation prediction.
Testing ΛCDM with Gravitational Lensing Constraints on Small-Scale Structure

This paper primarily addresses the question of whether recent lensing observations probing the small-scale structure in the universe are consistent with the ?CDM model. A conservative approach is taken, in which only the most difficult to explain cases of image flux anomalies in strong lenses are considered. Numerical simulations are performed to compare predictions for the ?CDM small-scale mass function with observed flux ratios. By simulating several representative cases, it is found that all the cusp caustic lens anomalies and the disagreements between monochromatic flux ratios and simple lens models can be explained without any substructure in the primary lenses' dark matter halos. Intergalactic ?CDM halos are enough to naturally explain these cases. However, thus far, spectroscopic gravitational lensing observations require more small-mass halos (~106 M?) than are expected in the ?CDM model.
Initial diagnosis of HIV/AIDS in a 56-year-old man with non-healing forearm lesion.

A 56-year-old Hispanic man with no significant medical problems presented with a 2-month history of a non-healing right forearm lesion that progressed despite several courses of empiric antibiotics. The patient underwent incision and drainage. Warthin-Starry stain with immunohistochemistry testing diagnosed bacillary angiomatosis secondary to Bartonella quintana. Subsequently, the patient was diagnosed with HIV, with a CD4 count of 68 cells/mm3, and a HIV viral load of 47, 914 copies/mL. The patient was treated with doxycycline and started on antiretroviral therapy. The lesion has resolved and he has had no recurrence after 16 months of treatment.
Comparison of REST Cistromes across Human Cell Types Reveals Common and Context-Specific Functions

Recent studies have shown that the transcriptional functions of REST are much broader than repressing neuronal genes in non-neuronal systems. Whether REST occupies similar chromatin regions in different cell types and how it interacts with other transcriptional regulators to execute its functions in a context-dependent manner has not been adequately investigated. We have applied ChIP-seq analysis to identify the REST cistrome in human CD4+ T cells and compared it with published data from 15 other cell types. We found that REST cistromes were distinct among cell types, with REST binding to several tumor suppressors specifically in cancer cells, whereas 7% of the REST peaks in non-neuronal cells were ubiquitously called and <25% were identified for ≥5 cell types. Nevertheless, using a quantitative metric directly comparing raw ChIP-seq signals, we found the majority (∼80%) was shared by ≥2 cell types. Integration with RNA-seq data showed that REST binding was generally correlated with low gene expression. Close examination revealed that multiple contexts were correlated with reduced expression of REST targets, e.g., the presence of a cognate RE1 motif and cellular specificity of REST binding. These contexts were shown to play a role in differential corepressor recruitment. Furthermore, transcriptional outcome was highly influenced by REST cofactors, e.g., SIN3 and EZH2 co-occupancy marked higher and lower expression of REST targets, respectively. Unexpectedly, the REST cistrome in differentiated neurons exhibited unique features not observed in non-neuronal cells, e.g., the lack of RE1 motifs and an association with active gene expression. Finally, our analysis demonstrated how REST could differentially regulate a transcription network constituted of miRNAs, REST complex and neuronal factors. Overall, our findings of contexts playing critical roles in REST occupancy and regulatory outcome provide insights into the molecular interactions underlying REST's diverse functions, and point to novel roles of REST in differentiated neurons.
Compressed Sensing for UWB Radar Target Signature Reconstruction

Ultra-wideband radar target impulse response is characterized by few significant scatterers that can be directly associated with the target geometry such as wing tip, engine inlet, etc. Although there are few scatterers of interest, the UWB nature of the radar sensor requires extensive frequency domain measurements or highly sampled time domain signatures. This requirement is simply a consequence of Nyquist sampling criterion despite the limited number of scatterers along the range (fuselage) of the target. This paper employs the relatively new concept of "compressed sensing" for generating an UWB target signature with as little measurements as possible. The paper applies the concept of compressed sensing to synthetic target models then extends the same approach to real radar signatures recorded in a compact range environment. The results indicate the feasibility of reducing the number of samples needed to accurately characterize and identify target scattering centers.
Understanding Application Performance on Shared Virtual Memory Systems

Many researchers have proposed interesting protocols for shared virtual memory (SVM) systems, and demonstrated performance improvements on parallel programs. However, there is still no clear understanding of the performance potential of SVM systems for different classes of applications. This paper begins to fill this gap, by studying the performance of a range of applications in detail and understanding it in light of application characteristics.We first develop a brief classification of the inherent data sharing patterns in the applications, and how they interact with system granularities to yield the communication patterns relevant to SVM systems. We then use detailed simulation to compare the performance of two SVM approaches---Lazy Released Consistency (LRC) and Automatic Update Release Consistency (AURC)---with each other and with an all-hardware CC-NUMA approach. We examine how performance is affected by problem size, machine size, key system parameters, and the use of less optimized program implementations. We find that SVM can indeed perform quite well for systems of at leant up to 32 processors for several nontrivial applications. However, performance is much more variable across applications than on CC-NUMA systems, and the problem sizes needed to obtain good parallel performance are substantially larger. The hardware-assisted AURC system tends to perform significantly better than the all-software LRC under our system assumptions, particularly when realistic cache hierarchies are used.
Hambone: A Bio-Acoustic Gesture Interface

Mobile input technologies can be bulky, obtrusive, or difficult to use while performing other tasks. In this paper, we present Hambone, a lightweight, unobtrusive system that affords quick access, subtlety, and multitasking capabilities for gesture-based mobile device interaction. Hambone uses two small piezoelectric sensors placed on either the wrist or ankle. When a user moves his hands or feet, the sounds generated by the movement travel to Hambone via bone conduction. Hambone then transmits the signals digitally to a mobile device or computer. The signals are recognized using hidden Markov models (HMMs) and are mapped to a set of commands controlling an application. In this paper, we present the hardware and software implementation of Hambone, a preliminary evaluation, and a discussion of future opportunities in bio-acoustic gesture-based interfaces.
The maturing of microbial ecology.

A.J. Kluyver and C.B. van Niel introduced many scientists to the exceptional metabolic capacity of microbes and their remarkable ability to adapt to changing environments in The Microbe's Contribution to Biology. Beyond providing an overview of the physiology and adaptability of microbes, the book outlined many of the basic principles for the emerging discipline of microbial ecology. While the study of pure cultures was highlighted, provided a unifying framework for understanding the vast metabolic potential of microbes and their roles in the global cycling of elements, extrapolation from pure cultures to natural environments has often been overshadowed by microbiologists' inability to culture many of the microbes seen in natural environments. A combination of genomic approaches is now providing a culture-independent view of the microbial world, revealing a more diverse and dynamic community of microbes than originally anticipated. As methods for determining the diversity of microbial communities become increasingly accessible, a major challenge to microbial ecologists is to link the structure of natural microbial communities with their functions. This article presents several examples from studies of aquatic and terrestrial microbial communities in which culture and culture-independent methods are providing an enhanced appreciation for the microbe's contribution to the evolution and maintenance of life on Earth, and offers some thoughts about the graduate-level educational programs needed to enhance the maturing field of microbial ecology.
School finance reform and voluntary fiscal federalism

California has transferred the financing of its public schools from localities to the state. In response, many families have supplemented the tax revenue of their local public schools with voluntary contributions. This paper analyzes that phenomenon. We propose a model of partial cooperation among parents in making voluntary contributions to their public schools. Under reasonable conditions, the model predicts that contributions per pupil should decline with school size. We estimate this relationship using data on contributions to California schools. Our estimates reveal that contributions per pupil do decline with size; however, the rate of decline is surprisingly slow.  2002 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Weight Gain After Lung Volume Reduction Surgery Is Not Correlated With Improvement in Pulmonary Mechanics

Study objectives: Malnutrition and low body weight are common in patients with emphysema. Previous work has demonstrated correlation between severity of airflow obstruction and body weight. Lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) is a recent advance in the treatment of patients with severe emphysema that results in improved pulmonary function. We formed the hypothesis that improved lung mechanics after LVRS would result in body weight gain. Design: Retrospective chart review. Patients: All patients who underwent bilateral LVRS for severe emphysema at the University of Michigan between January 1995 and April 1996 were eligible for the study. Measurements and results: Pulmonary function and body weight were measured preoperatively and at 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively for patients who underwent bilateral LVRS between January 1995 and April 1996. The average weight gain in 38 patients returning for 12 months of follow-up was 3.8 6 0.9 kg, or 6.2% of the preoperative weight. Women gained significantly more weight than men (9.2 vs 2.2%, respectively) at 1 year. Interestingly, there was no correlation between change in weight and postoperative change in FEV1, FVC, residual volume (RV), total lung capacity (TLC), or RV/TLC at 12 months. However, there was a statistically significant correlation between weight gained and improvement in diffusion of carbon monoxide measured 12 months postoperatively. Conclusions: This study shows that patients with severe emphysema gain weight after LVRS. These changes were independent of changes in pulmonary mechanics but may be a result of improved gas exchange. These findings provide further information about benefits of LVRS in patients with advance emphysema that are beyond simple changes in pulmonary function. (CHEST 1999; 116:1601‐1607)
Head Tracking Latency in Virtual Environments Revisited: Do Users with Multiple Sclerosis Notice Latency Less?

Latency (i.e., time delay) in a virtual environment is known to disrupt user performance, presence and induce simulator sickness. Thus, with emerging use of virtual rehabilitation, the target populations’ latency perception thresholds need to be considered to fully understand and possibly control the implications of latency in a Virtual Rehabilitation environment. We present a study that quantifies the latency discrimination thresholds of a yet untested population—a specific subset of mobility impaired participants where participants suffer from Multiple Sclerosis—and compare the results to a control group of healthy participants. The study was modeled after previous latency discrimination research and shows significant differences in latency perception between the two populations with MS participants showing lower sensitivity to latency than healthy participants.
Host Range of Western Flower Thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), with Special Reference to Leucaena glauca

Western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande), a known vector of tomato spotted wilt virus, was found to be associated with 48 plant species growing within the Kula vegetable-growing region on the island of Maui, Hawaii. High populations of F. occidentalis were found within the blossoms of three woody legume species, Leucaena glauca (L.) Benth., Prosopis pallida (Humb. & Bonpl ex Willd.), and Acacia decurrens Willd., and on crisphead lettuce, romaine, tomato, and cabbage. F. occidentalis also occurred on 12 common weed species of lettuce fields. Thrips populations associated with L. glauca were greatest at low elevations (200–450 m) in June and at higher elevations (500–640 m) in July.
Determinants of the Speed of Application of New Technology

Technological change is a fundamental factor in the development of the poorer countries, in the growth of the industrialised countries, and in the improvement of the well-being of all mankind. It is a tremendously powerful force that, used with wisdom, can promote great strides in man’s welfare. What are the basic factors that influence how rapidly new technology is applied? This is a very important question, and one that has been in the forefront of discussion and controversy in recent years. There has been a widespread feeling in many countries that new technology is being applied at an inappropriate rate — too slowly in the eyes of most, too rapidly in the eyes of some. Consequently, there has been considerable interest among economists, scientists, technologists and policy makers in the determinants of the speed of application of new technology. My purpose in this paper is to discuss the basic factors influencing the speed of application of new technology, the emphasis being on industrialised countries and much of the material being drawn from experience in the United States.
The Nauru Dilemma

The scale and complexity of global forced displacement has created enormous humanitarian, social, economic and political challenges across the globe. The Australian Government responded by putting in place a range of policies designed to deter people from seeking asylum in Australia through irregular maritime migration. A core feature of these policies is the highly contentious practice of offshore or ‘regional’ processing of asylum seekers in Nauru and Papua New Guinea. From August 2013 to October 2015, Save the Children was contracted by the Australian Government to provide welfare, education and recreation services to asylum seekers in Nauru. This paper explores the dilemmas facing organisations engaged in refugee issues using Save the Children’s experience in relation to Nauru as a case study. It argues that without a clearly articulated decision-making framework based on a realistic view about what can be achieved, and underpinned by a pragmatic, but ultimately principled, ethical position, the daunting humanitarian conundrums faced in such circumstances will overwhelm even the best intentioned humanitarian.
Coronary Artery Calcification Among Endurance Athletes: "Hearts of Stone".

Articles, see p 126 and p 138 > …cause you’ll never break, never break, never break, this heart of stone. > > —Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, The Rolling Stones, Heart of Stone , 1964 Routine moderate-intensity exercise reduces incident cardiovascular disease and increases longevity. The complex mechanisms by which exercise promotes favorable cardiovascular health outcomes include attenuation of traditional atherosclerotic risk factors including dyslipidemia, hypertension, central adiposity, and glucose intolerance. As such, current physical activity guidelines recommend either 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise or 75 minutes of higher-intensity exercise weekly.1 This recommendation is justified by a broad epidemiological and exercise intervention literature base and represents the current standard of cardiovascular care for all patients.2 However, the dose-response relationship between exercise and health outcomes, in particular, at exercise doses that exceed current recommendations, remains incompletely understood. For example, highly fit individuals have reduced risk of sudden cardiac death3 and development of heart failure,4 with little evidence of a plateau at high levels of fitness.5 Competitive athletes, people who in engage in very high levels of exercise over many years and in some cases a lifetime, typically live longer than sedentary and normally active people,6 and develop beneficial adaptive cardiovascular traits including physiological myocardial remodeling7,8 and increased myocardial9,10 and vascular compliance. Conversely, athletes and highly active people are not immune to cardiovascular disease. Sudden cardiac death certainly occurs among this population, and atherosclerotic coronary disease is the most common etiology of death during sport among those >35 years of age.11,12 Recent data have unexpectedly raised the possibility that long-term, high-volume endurance exercise may actually accelerate rather than reduce coronary atherosclerosis.13 This controversial hypothesis has been passionately debated and remains a key …
Naming “animal ambassadors” in an educational presentation: Effects on learner knowledge retention

ABSTRACTThis study examined the effect of naming animals used in education on the knowledge retention of college students. Researchers implemented owl educational presentations to students using a ...
Transportation and the Anomaly of Road Systems in Medieval Mainland Southeast Asia

Communication and movement were critical elements of the successful operation of mainland Southeast Asian states. This paper evaluates the primary mechanisms and archaeological evidence for transportation systems in the region (e.g., oceans, rivers, terrestrial). A general absence of formalized road networks is partially explained through a series of geographic factors and cultural decisions. The lone exception is the Angkorian Khmer who constructed a massive system that radiated over 1000 km2 and was interconnected with the natural riverine systems within its central territories. While the Angkorian example remains the only clearly visible evidence of an extensive road infrastructure, it is argued that future research into Southeast Asian states must consider how and where they communicated in the past and develop new techniques for identifying remains as rapid development continues to alter the archaeological landscape.
Surrogacy and Gendered Contexts of Infertility Management in India

The creation and use of in vitro fertilization (IVF) and other assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) since the 1970s have offered novel ways to control fertility, to overcome infertility, and to create families. Among the practices that have resulted from the use of ARTs, surrogate pregnancy has persisted as a topic of interest among feminist scholars for more than 30 years. This chapter links social science literature about infertility treatment and surrogacy to recent work on the development of surrogacy practice in India. Transnational gestational surrogacy conducted with fertile women from India and Nepal in Indian clinics has been the subject of extensive scholarly and popular media analysis. The focus on examining inequalities inherent in transnational surrogacy while downplaying other surrogacy arrangements in India provides a window into understanding how intersectional factors influence stratified reproduction in infertility management. Examining ARTs in practice necessitates considering confluences of and conflicts over women’s autonomy, reproductive ideologies and desires, and citizenship that matter in domestic and transnational contexts.
Neonatal and Pediatric Arrhythmias: Clinical and Electrocardiographic Aspects

Arrhythmias have acquired a specific identity in pediatric cardiology, but for pediatric cardiologists it has always been difficult to recognize and treat them. Changes in anatomy and physiology result in electrocardiogram features that differ from the normal adult pattern and vary according to the age of the child. Sinus arrhythmia, ectopic atrial rhythm, "wandering pacemaker," and junctional rhythm can be normal characteristics in children (15%-25% of healthy children can have these rhythms on the electrocardiogram). Tachyarrhythmias and bradyarrhythmias must be treated according to the severity of symptoms, and the patient's age and weight.
Coronary vessel wall MRI at 3.0 T using Time-Resolved Acquisition of Phase-Sensitive DIR (TRAPD): initial results in patients with risk factors for coronary artery disease

Background Technical challenges still hinder coronary wall imaging for routine clinical utilization. These challenges include image degradation due to aperiodic intrinsic cardiac and chest wall respiratory motions and residual motion due to uncompensated heart-rate variability. The purpose of this study was to 1) develop a time-resolved acquisition of phase-sensitive DIR coronary vessel wall MRI technique that overcomes the loss of the orthogonality due to uncompensated residual motions, 2) investigate the associated improvement in coronary wall imaging success rate when compared to that of single image coronary wall imaging, and to 3) assess the ability of the technique to show a difference in vessel wall thickness between healthy subjects and subjects with risk factors for coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods A 3T single-slice time-resolved free-breathing PS-DIR (TRAPD) coronary vessel wall imaging sequence was implemented, validated in a flow phantom. The coronary arterial wall, using 3 to 5 cine-image measurements, were obtained of 26 subjects with at least one Framingham CAD risk factors and 12 healthy subjects without history or risk factors for CAD. Image quality was scored and assessed, wall thickness was automatically measured, and qualitative and quantitative comparisons were made between TRAPD and conventional singleimage wall measurements. Results Time resolved coronary vessel wall imaging using TRAPD successfully restored the negative polarity of lumen signal and enhanced lumen-wall contrast in the cine images in
China's Growing Market for Large Civil Aircraft

China will likely become the largest market in the world for new large civil aircraft (LCA), with global LCA manufacturers expecting to sell 100 LCA per year in the Chinese market for the next twenty years, or one every three to four days, at a total value ranging up to $350 billion. The challenge for western LCA producers in meeting this demand comes less from each other than from the regulation of China's market by its government, the lack of adequate air transport infrastructure to serve its population, and China's nascent attempt at building its own LCA. Should China continue to aggressively address governmental and infrastructure restraints, it will benefit through increased trade and tourism, both of which will spur LCA sales to satisfy air transport demand. This paper describes China's growing market for LCA and the challenges for LCA producers in realizing China's potential market. It further discusses China's trade in LCA and parts, U.S. exports and imports with China, key infrastructure and regulatory challenges in China, and China's ambitions of building a domestic LCA by 2020.
Opening up the Black-Box: Information Systems and Organizational Agility

Successful organizations need to exhibit characteristics of agility, in order to stay ahead of their competition, and in some cases even survive in fiercely competitive environments. While the goal of any organization is to deploy its resources, using its processes, in an effective and efficient manner to meet market demands and stakeholder expectations; the agile organization must be able to deploy its resources, using its processes, in a proactive and reactive manner, under time-sensitive conditions. This agility requires a focus on continuous improvement and learning in order to increase the speed, lower the cost and effort, and improve the effectiveness of any changes. The objective of this paper is to examine how information systems can both enhance and suppress organizational agility.
Drug Release from Matrix Devices

In general, the term matrix device implies a drug delivery system in which the drug is dispersed, either molecularly or as solid drug particles, within a polymer network. Within this context at least four different types of devices can be envisioned. These include: i) dissolved matrix devices wherein the drug is dissolved within a crosslinked polymer at or below the saturation solubility of drug in the polymer; ii) dispersed matrix devices in which drug is dispersed as discrete solid particles within a polymer such that the concentration of the drug far exceeds its saturation solubility in the polymer; iii) porous matrix devices which are analogous to dispersed devices except that the initial drug load is sufficient to produce contiguous channels throughout the polymer network; and iv) surface treated devices which have a core which is analogous to types i)–iii) and a surface layer which is of much lower permeability to the drug than is the core.
Barriers to Work Stress: I. Social Support

In the last decade, the concept of “social support” has become increasingly prominent in both scientific and applied or policy-related discussions of stress and health. By the mid-1970s in the United States, social support was the topic of invited addresses to the American Public Health Association and Psychosomatic Society by two of our most distinguished social epidemiologists, the late John Cassel (5) and Sidney Cobb (6) respectively. The very first recommendation of the 1978 report of our President’s Commission on Mental Health (28, p. 15) was that: “A major effort be developed in the area of personal and community supports which will: (a) recognize and strengthen the natural network to which people belong and on which they depend; …”.
Dependent Dirichlet Process Modeling and Identity Learning for Multiple Object Tracking

We consider the problem of tracking multiple objects with unknown state parameter information, time-dependent cardinality, and object identity. The problem becomes even more challenging when the unordered measurements have a large number of false alarms due to high noise or clutter. We propose a new approach that exploits the dependent Dirichlet process as the prior on the evolving object-state distributions. At each time step, a Dirichlet process mixture model, integrated with a Markov chain Monte Carlo method, is also used to learn the object-state identity from the measurements and infer the time- dependent object cardinality. A radar tracking example, with ten targets that are present in the observation scene at different times, is used to evaluate the new approach. We also compare it to the labeled multi-Bernoulli filter and demonstrate its improved tracking performance.