cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Rams Have Heart, a Mobile App Tracking Activity and Fruit and Vegetable Consumption to Support the Cardiovascular Health of College Students: Development and Usability Study.

Background: With the increasing use of mobile devices to access the internet and as the main computing system of apps, there is a growing market for mobile health apps to provide self-care advice. Their effectiveness with regard to diet and fitness tracking, for example, needs to be examined. The majority of American adults fail to meet daily recommendations for healthy behavior. Testing user engagement with an app in a controlled environment can provide insight into what is effective and not effective in an app focused on improving diet and exercise. Objective: We developed Rams Have Heart, a mobile app, to support a cardiovascular disease (CVD) intervention course. The app tracks healthy behaviors, including fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity, throughout the day. This paper aimed to present its functionality and evaluated adherence among the African American college student population. Methods: We developed the app using the Personal Health Informatics and Intervention Toolkit, a software framework. Rams Have Heart integrates self-reported health screening with health education, diary tracking, and user feedback modules to acquire data and assess progress. The parent study, conducted at a historically black college and university-designated institution in southeastern United States, consisted of a semester-long intervention administered as an academic course in the fall, for 3 consecutive years. Changes were made after the cohort 1 pilot study, so results only include cohorts 2 and 3, comprising a total of 115 students (n=55 intervention participants and n=54 control participants) aged from 17 to 24 years. Data collected over the study period were transferred using the secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure protocol and stored in a secure Structured Query Language server database accessible only to authorized persons. SAS software was used to analyze the overall app usage and the specific results collected. Results: Of the 55 students in the intervention group, 27 (49%) students in cohort 2 and 25 (45%) in cohort 3 used the Rams Have Heart app at least once. Over the course of the fall semester, app participation dropped off gradually until exam week when most students no longer participated. The average fruit and vegetable intake increased slightly, and activity levels decreased over the study period. Conclusions: Rams Have Heart was developed to allow daily tracking of fruit and vegetable intake and physical activity to support a CVD risk intervention for a student demographic susceptible to obesity, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. We conducted an analysis of app usage, function, and user results. Although a mobile app provides privacy and flexibility for user participation in a research study, Rams Have Heart did not improve compliance or user outcomes. Health-oriented research studies relying on apps in support of user goals need further evaluation.
Bridge-Enhanced Anterior Cruciate Ligament Repair Is Not Inferior to Autograft Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction at 2 Years: Results of a Prospective Randomized Clinical Trial:

Background:Preclinical studies suggest that for complete midsubstance anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries, a suture repair of the ACL augmented with a protein implant placed in the gap betwee...
On the Theory of Cognitive Processes

Within a number of disciplines ranging from psychology to computer science, the subject of cognitive processes is now being given a great deal of attention and discussion. Many of the problems and viewpoints expressed about cognitive processes have a very old ring in philosophy, and clearly have a very respectable ancestry in the history of philosophy. It is not too difficult to cite a number of definitions of what cognitive processes are taken to be. Even the man in the street may often have a fairly ready answer, namely, that talk about cognitive processes is just a fancy way of talking about thinking. This man-in-the-street answer is not a bad one. It makes quite clear that the central problem of a theory of cognitive processes must be to develop the theory of how we think. Philosophers and psychologists have had almost as much to say about thinking as they have about perception, and consequently, it might be assumed that we can rapidly move to consideration of current systematic theories of thinking, and consider their various strengths and weaknesses.
Academic Nurse-Managed Community Clinics Transitioning to Telehealth: Case Report on the Rapid Response to COVID-19.

Background: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many health care organizations have adopted telehealth. The current literature on transitioning to telehealth has mostly been from large health care or specialty care organizations, with limited data from safety net or community clinics. Objective: This is a case report on the rapid implementation of a telehealth hub at an academic nurse-managed community clinic in response to the national COVID-19 emergency. We also identify factors of success and challenges associated with the transition to telehealth. Methods: This study was conducted at the George Mason University Mason and Partners clinic, which serves the dual mission of caring for community clinic patients and providing health professional education. We interviewed the leadership team of Mason and Partners clinics and summarized our findings. Results: Mason and Partners clinics reacted quickly to the COVID-19 crisis and transitioned to telehealth within 2 weeks of the statewide lockdown. Protocols were developed for a coordination hub, a main patient triage and appointment telephone line, a step-by-step flowchart of clinical procedure, and a team structure with clearly defined work roles and backups. The clinics were able to maintain most of its clinical service and health education functions while adapting to new clinic duties that arose during the pandemic. Conclusions: The experiences learned from the Mason and Partners clinics are transferable to other safety net clinics and academic nurse-led community clinics. The changes arising from the pandemic have resulted in sustainable procedures, and these changes will have a long-term impact on health care delivery and training.
Participation-Based Student Goals in School-Based Physical Therapy Practice: Influence on Service Delivery and Outcomes.

Aims: Legislation, perspectives, and guidelines support the use of goals that address student participation in school. The purpose of this study was to determine if students with participation-base...
Security Interests in Virtual Currencies

The growth of virtual, digital or crypto currencies has surged in the 21st Century. Accompanying that growth has been an increased level of awareness that Internet-related cyberassets have become critically important in the field of secured financing. There is no reason to believe that this trend will change any time soon. One of the problems financers face, however, is that while the pace of cyberasset-based financing accelerates, the law governing those transactions seems to fall further behind. This is especially the case with the use of virtual currencies as collateral. This paper attempts to identify and clarify some of the most fundamental legal doctrines that are likely to be most important to lenders operating in this field.The paper begins with a discussion of how virtual currencies could be classified for the purpose of creditors asserting claims to them. Assuming that they are personal property subject to Article 9, what attributes and characteristics of these assets are important for creditors to understand when they obtain security interests in them, perfect that interest, attempt to ensure priority, and enforce the interest upon the debtor’s default? Can virtual currencies qualify as “investment property” under Article 8, as “money” or a “deposit account” under Article 9, or are they by default placed in the catch-all category of “general intangibles” for Article 9 purposes? Because of the unique nature of these assets and their relatively new status as important business assets, the answers to these questions are not always clear. As more courts and legislatures decide issues related to the use of virtual currencies as collateral, we hope to find more clarity in the years to come.
Micropatterned Coculture With 3T3-J2 Fibroblasts Enhances Hepatic Functions and Drug Screening Utility of HepaRG Cells

Human liver models are useful for assessing compound metabolism/toxicity; however, primary human hepatocyte (PHH) lots are limited and highly variable in quality/viability. In contrast, cell lines, such as HepaRG, are cheaper and more reproducible surrogates for initial compound screening; however, hepatic functions and sensitivity for drug outcomes need improvement. Here, we show that HepaRGs cocultured with murine embryonic 3T3-J2 fibroblasts, previously shown to induce PHH functions, could address such limitations. We either micropatterned HepaRGs or seeded them "randomly" onto collagen-coated plates before 3T3-J2 coculture. Micropatterned cocultures (HepaRG-MPCCs) secreted 2- to 4-fold more albumin and displayed more stable cytochrome P450 activities than HepaRG conventional confluent monocultures (HepaRG-CCs) and HepaRG micropatterned hepatocytes (HepaRG-MPHs) for 4 weeks, even when excluding dimethyl sulfoxide from the medium. Furthermore, HepaRG-MPCCs had the most albumin-only positive cells (hepatic), lowest cytokeratin 19 (CK19)-only positive cells (cholangiocytic), and highest mean albumin intensity per cell than HepaRG random cocultures and monocultures; however, 80%-84% of HepaRGs remained bipotential (albumin+/CK19+) across all models. The 3T3-J2s also induced higher albumin in HepaRG spheroids than HepaRG-only spheroids. Additionally, although rifampin induced CYP3A4 in HepaRG-MPCCs and HepaRG-CCs, only HepaRG-MPCCs showed the dual omeprazole-mediated CYP1A2/3A4 induction as with PHHs. Lastly, when treated for 6 days with 47 drugs and evaluated for albumin and ATP to make binary hepatotoxicity calls, HepaRG-MPCCs displayed a sensitivity of 54% and specificity of 100% (70%/100% in PHH-MPCCs), whereas HepaRG-CCs misclassified several hepatotoxins. Ultimately, HepaRG-MPCCs could be a more cost-effective and reproducible model than PHHs for executing a tier 1 compound screen.
Heartbeat optical coherence elastography: corneal biomechanics in vivo.

Significance: Mechanical assessment of the cornea can provide important structural and functional information regarding its health. Current clinically available tools are limited in their efficacy at measuring corneal mechanical properties. Elastography allows for the direct estimation of mechanical properties of tissues in vivo but is generally performed using external excitation force. Aim: To show that heartbeat optical coherence elastography (Hb-OCE) can be used to assess the mechanical properties of the cornea in vivo. Approach: Hb-OCE was utilized to detect Hb-induced deformations in the rabbit cornea in vivo without the need for external excitation. Furthermore, we demonstrate how this technique can distinguish corneal stiffness between untreated (UT) and crosslinked (CXL) tissue. Results: Our results demonstrate that stiffness changes in the cornea can be detected using only the Hb-induced deformations in the cornea. Additionally, we demonstrate a statistically significant difference in strain between the UT and CXL corneas. Conclusions: Hb-OCE may be an effective tool for assessing the mechanical properties of the cornea in vivo without the need for external excitation. This tool may be effective for clinical assessment of corneal mechanical properties because it only requires optical coherence tomography imaging and data processing.
The isolation and characterization of mutants of the integration host factor (IHF) of Escherichia coli with altered, expanded DNA-binding specificities.

Abstract The integration host factor (IHF) of Escherichia coli is a small, basic protein that is required for lambda site-specific recombination and a variety of cellular processes. It is composed of two subunits, alpha and beta, that are encoded by the himA and hip (himD) genes, respectively. IHF is a sequence-specific DNA-binding protein and bends the DNA when it binds. We have used the bacteriophage P22-based challenge phage selection to isolate suppressor mutants with altered, expanded DNA binding specificities. The suppressors were isolated by selecting mutants that recognize variants of the phage lambda H'IHF recognition site. Two of the mutants recognize both the wild-type and a single variant site and contain amino acid substitutions at positions 64 (Pro to Leu) or 65 (Lys to Ser) of the alpha subunit. These substitutions are in a region of the protein that is predicted to contain a flexible arm that interacts with DNA. Three other mutants, which recognize the wild-type and a different variant site, contain amino acid substitutions at position 44 (Glu to Lys, Val or Gly) of the beta subunit. These substitutions are in the middle of a predicted beta-strand of the subunit. We discuss the possible mechanisms of suppression by the mutants in terms of a model of the IHF-DNA complex proposed by Yang and Nash [Cell, 57, 869-880 (1989)].
23 Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding: Controversies

It’s now 18 years since the LAGB was first used to help morbidly obese patients. Much has changed in that time. Larger, softer, lower pressure bands are placed higher on the stomach, often with a concomitant crural or hiatal hernia repair. Bands are adjusted slowly, aiming to control hunger, and increase satiety, rather than act purely as a restrictive tool. All bariatric operations have their strengths and weaknesses. The band’s strength is its safety, adjustability, and ease of removal. Its weakness is the need for reoperation. However, that problem is decreasing in frequency with the changes mentioned above. Band revision is safer than alternate procedures. A band can be safely revised, and patients then continue their journey to control their weight. All the various procedures can and do fail. If a band fails, alternate procedures can be offered. LAGB is still a very effective weight loss tool. Given the enormous surge in obesity, it will remain attractive to many patients who are nervous of more aggressive procedures and their complications. Adequate band adjustment in long-term follow-up is the cornerstone of success with a lap band.
Theory & Methods: Comparison of Four New General Classes of Search Designs

A factor screening experiment identifies a few important factors from a large list of factors that potentially influence the response. If a list consists of m factors each at three levels, a design is a subset of all possible 3m runs. This paper considers the problem of finding designs with small numbers of runs, using the search linear model introduced in Srivastava (1975). The paper presents four new general classes of these ‘search designs’, each with 2m−1 runs, which permit, at most, two important factors out of m factors to be searched for and identified. The paper compares the designs for 4 ≤ m ≤ 10, using arithmetic and geometric means of the determinants, traces and maximum characteristic roots of particular matrices. Two of the designs are found to be superior in all six criteria studied. The four designs are identical for m= 3 and this design is an optimal design in the class of all search designs under the six criteria. The four designs are also identical for m= 4 under some row and column permutations.
The Emergence of Rock and Roll: Music and the Rise of American Youth Culture

1. The Early Years of Rock and Roll 2. Decline and Renewal 3. The Beatles and the British Invasion 4. Psychedelia 5. Rock Splinter Docments
Effect of Draft and Season on Physiological Responses of Bullocks

The study on the physiological responses of medium sized Surungi (non-descript breed of Orissa) bullocks showed that the pulse rate (PR) increased sharply after one hour of work at all drafts in all seasons except at 10% body weight draft. But sharp rise of respiration rate (RR) was observed in summer only. Thereafter, the rise of PR and RR were gradual. The PR and RR increased significantly with draft in summer and rainy season but not in winter season. Comparison of the PR and RR within seasons at a particular draft and duration showed that PR and RR were significantly higher in summer compared to rainy and winter season. The body temperature (BT) increased gradually with duration of work in summer and rainy season but not in winter season. However, sharp rise of BT was observed in winter after 1st hour of work. The interaction of draft and duration at a particular season was non significant, whereas within season there was significant variation in BT and was highest in summer at a particular draft and duration. The PR and RR recovered to its resting values after the rest during the noon exceptin case of respiration rate in summer at higher draft (14% of body weight). The body temperature did not recover to its resting values after the rest period in the noon in all seasons.
Multidimensional Assessment of Chronic Low Back Pain: Predicting Treatment Outcomes

This study explored responses of chronic low back pain patients to treatment for different types of patients (“dysfunctional,” “interpersonally distressed,” and “minimizer/adaptive coper”), as classified using the Multidimensional Pain Inventory (MPI). In addition, changes in MPI scores during treatment were examined separately for each patient type. Finally, this study explored the relationships between changes in MPI scores and physical improvement. Between-group differences in improvement were significant, with “dysfunctional” patients showing the most improvement on several scales. MPI scales that best predicted physical improvement differed according to patient type. Implications for treatment of low back pain patients are suggested, based upon differential reactions to treatment and different predictors of physical improvement for each patient group.
Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies and Globular Clusters

Recent observational results for dwarf spheroidal galaxies are reviewed and discussed. In particular, the differences in stellar populations between dwarf spheroidal galaxies and globular clusters are highlighted. It seems most probable that the origin and evolution of dwarf spheroidal galaxies was very different from that of globular clusters.
Time-resolved measurement of phonon bottleneck in self-organized quantum dot relaxation

Summary form only given. A "phonon bottleneck," or a suppression of carrier relaxation rates, is predicted for semiconductor self-assembled quantum dots because single-phonon-mediated scattering processes will be inhibited due to energy and momentum conservation requirements. However, many groups, including our own, observed fast interlevel relaxation and attributed it to Auger-type processes, intradot electron-hole scattering, or multi-phonon processes. We observe the bottleneck when we remove all of these fast relaxation processes by performing a differential transmission (DT) carrier capture experiment at low carrier densities. The sample is an undoped heterostructure with four layers of In/sub 0.4/Ga/sub 0.6/As quantum dots grown by molecular beam epitaxy.
Blunted Phase-Shift Responses to Morning Bright Light in Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder

Patients with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) respond therapeutically to sleep deprivation and light therapy. They have blunted circadian rhythms of melatonin. The authors sought to test the hypothesis that these disturbances are a reflection of a disturbance in the underlying circadian pacemaker or, alternatively, that they reflect a disturbance in the input pathways to the clock. To test these hypotheses, after a 2-month diagnostic evaluation, 8 patients who met DSM-IV criteria for PMDD and 5 normal control (NC) subjects underwent two studies to determine whether PMDD subjects showed (1) altered melatonin sensitivity to light suppression (Study 1) and (2) altered phase-shift responses to morning light as a measure of the functional capacity of the underlying pacemaker (Study 2). In both studies, measurements were made during asymptomatic follicular and symptomatic luteal menstrual cycle phases in PMDD patients. The results of Study 1 showed no significant effect of group or menstrual cycle phase on the amount or percentage of suppression of melatonin by light. The results of Study 2 showed that with respect to the variable of offset time, PMDD subjects, when symptomatic, showed a reduced and directionally altered melatonin phase-shift response to a morning bright light stimulus; in 4 of 5 NC subjects, melatonin offset was advanced by bright morning light, whereas in PMDD subjects, it was delayed (3 subjects) or not shifted (5 subjects) (group effect, p = .045). Study 2 also revealed that area under the curve also changed differentially in PMDD versus NC subjects. In summary, the primary findings from this pilot study suggest that in PMDD there is a maladaptive (directionally altered and blunted) response to light in the symptomatic luteal phase. Because the suppressive effects of light were similar in PMDD and NC subjects, the previously observed low melatonin levels in this disorder do not likely represent a disturbance in pineal reactivity to suprachiasmatic nucleus efferents. Instead, the findings support a possible disturbance in PMDD in the clock itself or its coupling mechanisms.
Calibrate Your Eyes to Recognize High-Dimensional Shapes from Their Low-Dimensional Projections

This paper provides a suite of datasets from standard multivariate distributions and simple high-dimensional geomtric shapes that can be used to visually calibrate new users of grand tours. It contains animations of 1-D, 2-D, 3-D, 4-D and 5-D grand tours, links to starting XGobi or XLispStat on the calibration data sets, and C code for generating a grand tour. The purpose of the paper is two-fold: providing code for the grand tour that others could pick up and modify (it is not easy to code this version which is why there are very few implementations currently available), and secondly, provide a variety of training datasets to help new users get a visual sense for high-dimensional data.
Are central bank preferences asymmetric when policy targets vary over time

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of time varying monetary policy targets on the asymmetric preferences hypothesis for US monetary policy. Recent literature suggests that monetary policy responds asymmetrically to fluctuations in either an output gap or unemployment gap. Most of these studies impose the assumption of constant inflation and interest rate targets. This paper models both of these target rates as time varying parameters using a nested specification to test for constancy in the target rates. Additionally, the paper examines the estimation strategy needed to estimate all of the policy maker’s structural or deep parameters for the asymmetric preferences model. The model is estimated via maximum likelihood using an iterative Kalman filter. Results show that asymmetric policy response over the output gap disappears for all sample periods when the joint underlying dynamics of inflation and interest rate data are accounted for. Additionally, the results indicate that policy target rates are not well represented by constants for all sample periods examined. As a whole, the empirical exercise suggests that conclusions about monetary policy behavior might be sensitive to modeling assumptions about target policy rates.
High-speed packaging of second level caches

With the ever increasing speed of complex set instruction computer (CISC) and reduced instruction set computer (RISC) microprocessors board wiring delays and package delays are becoming the speed limiting entities in the microprocessor/second level cache systems. These delays are investigated, and approaches to achieve the best performance and cost/performance solutions are presented. >
Feasibility of GPS-based warning system for roadside workers

Roadside workers and emergency responders, such as police and emergency medical technicians, are at significant risk of being struck by vehicular traffic while performing their duties. While recent work has examined active and passive systems to reduce pedestrian collisions, current approaches require line of sight using either laser, infrared, or vision based systems. We address this problem by developing a GPS-based solution that equips roadside workers and vehicles with GPS units to estimate the trajectory of oncoming traffic, and estimate whether worker strike is imminent. The results of our study show that our approach is 91% accurate in alerting the worker and vehicle of collisions and near misses. Furthermore, accurate warnings can be provided 5–6 seconds before any potential collision, allowing time for mitigating solutions.
Gene therapy: current status and future directions.

The pluripotent stem cell is a rare cell, estimated to be approximately 0•001% of nucleated marrow cells (Harrison et al. 1988). Therefore, any method of introduction of exogenous DNA needs to be extremely efficient. To date recombinant retrovirus vectors appear to be the most promising technology to effect DNA transfer into this rare cell type
Urothelial tumors of upper tract following treatment of primary bladder transitional cell carcinoma

We studied, retrospectively, the incidence of upper tract urothelial tumors following the treatment of primary transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder in 638 patients. Subsequent tumor development was found in 20 patients (3.1%) with a mean latency interval between initial treatment of the bladder cancer and diagnosis of the upper urinary tract tumor of eighty months. We did not find a significant difference among treatment modalities on the incidence of upper tract occurrences. Other than carcinoma in situ, tumor stage was not an independent predictive variable.
Ralph Brush Cleghorn of St. Kitts (1804–1842)

A first biography of a St. Kitts antislavery free coloured activist who campaigned for the twin objectives of free coloureds' civil rights and slave emancipation. Cleghorn's service as Stipendiary Magistrate, Member of the Assembly, and finally president and senior member of Council of Nevis casts light on both the possibilities available to well-connected ‘qualified’ free coloureds and the persistence of racial prejudice in post-emancipation St. Kitts and Nevis.
In Defense of the Moral Significance of Empathy

It is commonly suggested that empathy is a morally important quality to possess and that a failure to properly empathize with others is a kind of moral failure. This suggestion assumes that empathy involves caring for others’ well-being. Skeptics challenge the moral importance of empathy by arguing that empathy is neither necessary nor sufficient to care for others’ well-being. This challenge is misguided. Although some forms of empathy may not be morally important, empathy with another’s basic well-being concerns is both necessary and sufficient to care for another’s well-being, provided that one’s empathy is both cognitive and affective. I further defend the idea that empathy of this form is a moral virtue. In doing so, I address three challenges to empathy’s status as a virtue: (1) that empathy is unnecessary for being ethical, (2) that it is not useful for promoting ethical behavior, and (3) that an empathetic person can lack other traits central to being virtuous, such as being motivated by the moral good and being disposed to do virtuous things whenever appropriate opportunities arise. I argue that these challenges are mistaken.
Adrenoleukodystrophy: evidence that abnormal very long chain fatty acids of brain cholesterol esters are of exogenous origin.

A terminal patient with adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) was given 10 mg by mouth of [3,3,5,5,-2H4]hexacosanoic acid (26:0) daily for 100 days until autopsy. Cholesterol esters were isolated from mildly involved white matter and severely degenerated white matter of autopsied brain, then methanolyzed. Gas chromatograph-mass spectroscopic analysis of the fatty acid methyl esters indicated that the deuterated fatty acid was incorporated into the cholesterol esters of these tissues. The proportion of the labeled 26:0 to nonlabeled 26:0 was highest in the area of mild involvement. This demonstrates that at least some of the abnormal very long chain fatty acids which accumulate in brains of ALD patients are of dietary origin and suggests that nutritional therapy of the disease may be feasible.
Calculation of Free Energy Barriers to the Fusion of Small Vesicles

The fusion of small vesicles, either with a planar bilayer or with one another, is studied using a microscopic model in which the bilayers are composed of hexagonal- and lamellar-forming amphiphiles. The free energy of the system is obtained within the self-consistent field approximation. We find that the free energy barrier to form the initial stalk is hardly affected by the radius of the vesicle, but that the barrier to expand the hemifusion diaphragm and form a fusion pore decreases rapidly as the radius decreases. As a consequence, once the initial barrier to stalk formation is overcome, one which we estimate at 13 kBT for biological membranes, fusion involving small vesicles should proceed with little or no further input of energy.
Comparative absorption, electroabsorption and electrochemical studies of intervalence electron transfer and electronic coupling in cyanide-bridged bimetallic systems: Ancillary ligand effects

Abstract Electroabsorption or Stark spectroscopy has been used to evaluate the systems (NC) 5 M II –CN–Ru III (NH 3 ) 5 1− and (NC) 5 M II –CN–Ru III (NH 3 ) 4 py 1− , where M II =Fe II or Ru II . When a pyridine ligand is present in the axial position on the Ru III acceptor, the effective optical electron transfer distance – as measured by the change in dipole moment, |Δ μ | – is increased by more than 35% relative to the ammine substituted counterpart. Comparison of the charge transfer distances to the crystal structure of Na[(CN) 5 Fe–CN–Ru(NH 3 ) 4 py] · 6H 2 O reveals that the Stark derived distances are ∼50% to ∼90% of the geometric separation of the metal centers. The differences result in an upward revision in the Hush delocalization parameter, c b 2 , and of the electronic coupling matrix element, H ab , relative to those parameters obtained exclusively from electronic absorption measurements. The revised parameters are compared to those, which are obtained via electrochemical techniques and found to be in only fair agreement. We conclude that the absorption/electroabsorption analysis likely yields a more reliable set of mixing and coupling parameters.
Fischer–Tropsch synthesis: accounting for chain-length related phenomena

The attempts to explain the deviations from Anderson–Schulz–Flory (ASF) distribution, the strong dependency of olefin content on molecular size, and the negative deviations from a constant molar activity for an initiator in Fischer–Tropsch synthesis (FTS) have led to a two-active-site model, models related to olefin readsorption, and the vapor–liquid equilibrium based explainations. However, none of these theories is able to adequately explain all of these chain-length related problems. Based on the studies of accumulated products in FTS reactions conducted in a continuously stirred autoclave reactor, we proposed that the apparent products of the FTS reaction is a mixture of freshly produced FTS products (Φ) and the products left in the reactor (Δ), Sn = Δn + Φn. Using this concept, all of the chain-length related problems were accounted for. Based on the results of calculations, we predict that the correct α-value of hydrocarbons greater than C8 will be smaller than currently reported value, that the paraffin to olefin ratios will be much smaller than the values reported, and that the product distribution and the paraffin to olefin ratios of a FTS reaction may depend on the molecular size but to a much lesser degree than claimed. According to our model, we conclude that in order to obtain the correct product distribution and the paraffin to olefin ratio of a FTS reaction, it is necessary to find a way to evaluate or eliminate the term Δ, which requires conducting FTS research in a different way.
Community hospital carotid endarterectomy in patients over age 75

We compared the prevalence of stroke and death in 133 patients aged 75 and older in whom 170 carotid endarterectomies were performed with that in 501 patients less than age 75 in whom 640 carotid endarterectomies were performed. There were three strokes (2%) in patients aged 75 and older and nine strokes (1%) in younger patients (p = 0.7). There were 8 deaths (5%) in patients aged 75 and older and 14 deaths (2%) in younger patients (p = 0.1). After controlling for the possible confounding effects of diabetes, prior stroke, history of angina, prior carotid artery disease, previous vascular surgery, history of myocardial infarction, preoperative hypertension requiring medication, and female gender, a logistic regression model showed that patients aged 75 and older were no more likely to have a stroke or death than patients under age 75. We conclude that age alone is not a contraindication to the safe performance of carotid endarterectomy in the community hospital.
Stability of air cells in ice cream during hardening and storage

Abstract Air cells in ice cream were monitored, with either a light microscope technique or cryo-SEM, during hardening and storage at different temperatures. Ice cream samples were: (1) held at −6.0 or −15.0 °C on a microscope stage for observation of air cells; (2) hardened at different rates to −28 °C; and (3) stored at −15 °C for four months. At temperatures above about −18 °C, three main mechanisms of air cell instability (disproportionation, coalescence and drainage) were observed. As temperature of storage decreased, the rate of change in air cells decreased. Disproportionation of air cells was inhibited by addition of emulsifiers or stabilizers, although the mechanisms for this inhibition were different. During long-term storage of ice cream, interconnection between air cells led to severe channeling. However, cryo-SEM was needed to observe this channeling behavior since the optical microscopy technique did not preserve the true structures of the air cells in ice cream under these conditions.
Prolactin Activates ERα in the Absence of Ligand in Female Mammary Development and Carcinogenesis in Vivo

Resistance of estrogen receptor positive (ERα+) breast cancers to antiestrogens is a major factor in the mortality of this disease. Although activation of ERα in the absence of ligand is hypothesized to contribute to this resistance, the potency of this mechanism in vivo is not clear. Epidemiologic studies have strongly linked prolactin (PRL) to both development of ERα+ breast cancer and resistance to endocrine therapies. Here we employed genetically modified mouse models to examine the ability of PRL and cross talk with TGFα to activate ERα, using a mutated ERα, ERα(G525L), which is refractory to endogenous estrogens. We demonstrate that PRL promotes pubertal ERα-dependent mammary ductal elongation and gene expression in the absence of estrogen, which are abrogated by the antiestrogen, ICI 182,780 (ICI). PRL and TGFα together reduce sensitivity to estrogen, and 30% of their combined stimulation of ductal proliferation is inhibited by ICI, implicating ligand-independent activation of ERα as a component of their interaction. However, PRL/TGFα-induced heterogeneous ERα+ tumors developed more rapidly in the presence of ICI and contained altered transcripts for surface markers associated with epithelial subpopulations and increased signal transducer and activator of transcription 5b expression. Together, these data support strong interactions between PRL and estrogen on multiple levels. Ligand-independent activation of ERα suggests that PRL may contribute to resistance to antiestrogen therapies. However, these studies also underscore ERα-mediated moderation of tumor phenotype. In light of the high expression of PRL receptors in ERα+ cancers, understanding the actions of PRL and cross talk with other oncogenic factors and ERα itself has important implications for therapeutic strategies.
A comparison of techniques for introducing macromolecules into living cells

Flow cytometry has been used to evaluate several techniques for introducing macromolecules into large numbers of living cells. One technique is cell fusion with red blood cell ghosts loaded with a fluorescent reporter molecule (RBCF). The second technique, termed osmotic lysis of pinosomes (OLP), involves a brief exposure of cells to a hypertonic solution containing the reporter molecule; subsequently, a hypotonic media is added which lyses the pinosomes formed during the hypertonic treatment. A third technique, scrape loading (SL), involves the creation of transient holes in the cell membrane through the application of mechanical forces, which allows for the passage of reporter molecules into cells. A comparison of these techniques is presented here. OLP appears to offer several advantages: It is a simple procedure, virtually all cells are fluorescently labelled, and it is capable of loading larger amounts of material more uniformly into cells while maintaining excellent viability. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Variational famework for Retinex

Retinex theory addresses the problem of separating the illumination from the reflectance in a given image and thereby compensating for non-uniform lighting. This is in general an ill-posed problem. In this paper we propose a variational model for the Retinex problem that unifies previous methods. Similar to previous algorithms, it assumes spatial smoothness of the illumination field. In addition, knowledge of the limited dynamic range of the reflectance is used as a constraint in the recovery process. A penalty term is also included, exploiting a-priori knowledge of the nature of the reflectance image. The proposed formulation adopts a Bayesian view point of the estimation problem, which leads to an algebraic regularization term, that contributes to better conditioning of the reconstruction problem. Based on the proposed variational model, we show that the illumination estimation problem can be formulated as a Quadratic Programming optimization problem. An efficient multi-resolution algorithm is proposed. It exploits the spatial correlation in the reflectance and illumination images. Applications of the algorithm to various color images yield promising results.© (2002) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Colony integration in honey bees: genetic, endocrine and social control of division of labor

This paper reviews our understanding of the mechanisms that enable adult worker honey bees to show plasticity in age polyethism in response to changing environmental conditions. There are genotypic differences in rate of behavioral development, which predispose individu- als to respond to changing conditions in predictable ways. For example, genotypes that have relatively fast rates of behavioral development under more typical conditions are more inclined to show precocious foraging in the absence of foragers of normal age. Juvenile hormone influences rate of behavioral development, and environmentally induced changes in JH titers are thought to underlie changes in age polyethism. Results of recent experiments indicate that changes in the age at onset of foraging caused by changes in colony age demography are at least partially a conse- quence of social interactions in which older bees inhibit the rate of behavioral development of younger bees. Chemical signals are suspected to feature prominently in these interactions, and pre- liminary evidence supporting this notion is presented. © Inra/DIB/AGIB/Elsevier, Paris
The effect of Rho kinase inhibition on long-term keratinocyte proliferation is rapid and conditional

Introduction We previously demonstrated that the lifespan of primary human keratinocytes could be extended indefinitely by culture in the presence of the Rho kinase (ROCK) inhibitor Y-27632. This technique has proven to be very useful in diverse areas of basic and clinical research.
Calculating scaling function coefficients from system response data for new discrete wavelet families

Abstract In this paper, a formula derived from the wavelet dilation equation is presented as a means to calculate scaling function coefficient values for arbitrary waveforms. The performance of this formula is assessed by analyzing the scaling functions of multiple Daubechies wavelets. With the goal of developing new discrete wavelet families that possess the characteristics of a specific system, the formula is applied to analytical and experimental response data. The relationship between the number of coefficients and their ability to successfully capture the features of the signal is studied. Further, a technique is developed for determining the requisite number of coefficients when applying the formula. This formula may serve as the foundation for the development of new families of discrete wavelets which can be based on the nominal characteristics of a given system for use in signal processing and model discretization applications.
Flour Pasting Properties of Wild-Type and Partial Waxy Soft Wheats in Relation to Growing Environment-Induced Fluctuations in Starch Characteristics

ABSTRACT To relate growing environment-induced differences in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) flour pasting properties with fluctuations in starch characteristics, starch characteristics of flours milled from wild-type and partial waxy wheat genotypes grown at two diverse locations (irrigated vs. rainfed) over two successive crop years (2000, 2001) were analyzed. The crop year or growing location that possessed the highest peak and breakdown viscosity values exhibited the highest mean flour total starch (FTS) content, while that exhibiting the highest trough, final, and setback viscosities possessed the highest mean A-type granule content. Correlation analysis across growing environments provided additional evidence for associations between flour pasting properties and flour/starch characteristics. Fluctuations in mean FTS content were associated with flour peak (r = 0.95) and breakdown (r = 0.93) viscosity differences, while variability in A-type granule content was strongly correlated with fluctuations in ...
Effects of oleate and fatty acids from omental adipocytes on insulin uptake in rat liver cells.

Hyperinsulinemia in central type (upper body) obesity has been related to reduced hepatic insulin uptake caused by fatty acids reaching the portal vein directly from the omental (visceral) fat depot. We investigated the effect of sodium oleate and fatty acid-rich buffer recovered from incubation of omental adipocytes with 10(-7) M epinephrine on specific [125I]insulin uptake (at 37 C) in freshly prepared and cultured hepatocytes and nonparenchymal liver cells isolated from 200-250 g rats. In hepatocytes, insulin uptake was studied after standard cell isolation and washing and after additional repeated 30-min washings at 37 C. In the vigorously washed hepatocytes, both fatty acid rich buffer (from 0.08-1.3 mM) and sodium oleate (from 0.0125-1.2 mM) decreased insulin uptake maximally by approximately 30% and approximately 40%, respectively (P < 0.005); a biphasic effect of fatty acids was observed, with maximal inhibition occurring at 0.08-0.1 mM. Without vigorous washing, oleate had no effect on insulin up...
The Creative Use of Poetry in the Counseling Process

Poetry is an effective, creative tool in counseling. This article enumerates the advantages of using poetry and poetic methods (e.g., such language makes use of a natural system of communication) and mentions techniques for incorporating either the poem as a whole or in part. Ways of creating poetic awareness in counseling are emphasized. Guidelines for when to use poetry in counseling are suggested along with cautions on the incorporation of this method.
Oil backout and the price of electricity

Abstract In this paper, we examine the probable effect on electricity rates of an overbuilding strategy for several different types of utility companies. A computer simulation model is used to project the price of electricity that a hypothetical, oil-dependent, investor-owned, electric utility would have to charge in order to recover its annual costs and earn the allowed return on investment. The final results take the form of penalty/cost curves showing the values of the oil backout cost ratio for which overbuilding would lead to higher/lower rates.
Integrated assessment: Missing link in the acid rain debate?

The United States is finding it difficult to develop a coherent policy on acid rain. Despite more than a decade of scientific research and policy initiatives, no clear course of action has been identified. This article argues that what is missing is an integrated assessment of the scientific knowledge that will guide the political process. The role of the integrated assessment is described, and a conceptual framework presented that would accomplish the desired goal. Currently available acid rain assessment models are compared against this framework and found to be less than satisfactory. The article concludes by stressing the opportunity now available to the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program to perform such an assessment and break the logjam.
The 1997–1999 abrupt change of the upper ocean temperature in the north central Pacific

The abrupt warming of the north central Pacific Ocean from 1997 to 1999 is studied using an ocean data assimilation product. During this period, the average mixed-layer temperature in the region of 170-210(deg)E, 25-40(deg)N rises by 1.8 K. The major contributors to the warming are surface heat flux (1.3 K), geostrophic advection (0.7 K), and entrainment (0.7 K). For the geostrophic advection, the contributions by the zonal, meridional, and vertical components are 0.4, -0.1 and 0.3 K, respectively. Mixing and meridional Ekman advection have cooling effect. The significance of the geostrophic advection indicates the importance of ocean dynamics in controlling the abrupt warming tendency during the 1997-99 period and the inadequacy of a slab-mixed-layer model in simulating such warming tendency.
Increased hexokinase levels in endosperm of mutant maize

Abstract Hexokinase activity was measured in endosperms of shrunken-2 (sh2) and starchy maize. Initial increases in hexokinase were observed for developing endosperms of both genotypes, and the enzyme declined in both as the seeds matured. A higher level of hexokinase was observed in developing sh2 than in starchy endosperm. This difference persisted throughout maturation and occurred also in germinating seeds. Soluble hexokinase activity per endosperm continued to increase in sh2 for about 8 days (22–30 days after pollination) after the enzyme in starchy endosperm had attained maximum activity and begun to decline. Hexokinase was predominantly soluble in both genotypes so the differences observed are not due to altered distribution of enzyme between particulate and soluble fractions.