cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
PREOPERATIVE BIOMARKERS TO PREDICT POSTOPERATIVE OUTCOMES IN CHILDREN: SERUM NT-PROBNP IS ELEVATED IN PATIENTS WITH POSTOPERATIVE ARRHYTHMIAS FOLLOWING CONGENITAL HEART SURGERY

Postoperative arrhythmias complicate approximately half of surgeries to correct congenital heart defects. Postoperative arrhythmias are often poorly tolerated in this patient population and are associated with prolonged mechanical ventilation, hospital stay, and mortality. NT-proBNP is a well-
Environment-Wide Association Studies (EWAS) and Gene-by-Environment Wide Association Studies (GEWAS) to find genetic and environmental factors in disease

Background: The promise of the “exposome” – the totality of environmental exposures encountered from birth to death– includes ascertaining complex influence of the personal environment in disease. ...
Modeling the Importance of Within- and Between-County Effects in an Ecological Study of the Association Between Social Capital and Mental Distress

INTRODUCTION Levels of mental distress in the United States are a health policy concern. The association between social capital and mental distress is well documented, but evidence comes primarily from individual-level studies. Our objective was to examine this association at the county level with advanced spatial econometric methods and to explore the importance of between-county effects. METHODS We used County Health Rankings and Roadmaps data for 3,106 counties of the contiguous United States. We used spatial Durbin modeling to assess the direct (within a county) and indirect (between neighboring counties) effects of social capital on mental distress. We also examined the spatial spillover effects from neighboring counties based on higher-order spatial weights matrices. RESULTS Counties with the highest prevalence of mental distress were found in regional clusters where levels of social capital were low, including the Black Belt, central/southern Appalachia, on the Mississippi River, and around some Indian Reservations. Most of the association between social capital and mental distress was indirect, from the neighboring counties, although significant direct effects showed the within-county association. Models also confirmed the importance of county-level socioeconomic status. CONCLUSION We found that county social capital is negatively related to mental distress. Counties are not isolated places and are often part of wider labor and housing markets, so understanding spatial dependencies is important in addressing population-level mental distress.
Policy uncertainty and the maturity structure of corporate debt

Abstract This study examines the effect of policy uncertainty on corporate debt maturity structure. We find that elevated levels of policy uncertainty lead firms to shorten debt maturity, indicating that firms become more cautious to committing to long-term debt obligations and is suggestive of increased risk aversion during high policy uncertainty periods. However, not all firms react similarly. In contrast to Myers' (1977) prediction, high growth firms lengthen debt maturity during high policy uncertainty periods. The evidence regarding the relationship between debt maturity and credit quality is not non-monotonic as firms with highest and lowest credit quality diverge in terms of debt maturity when policy uncertainty is elevated. Further, larger firms increase their debt maturity, while financially-constrained firms and firms with greater exposure to domicile political environment obtain short-term debt. The results are robust to a battery of tests including the use of instrument variable and placebo analysis.
A microwave and computational study of trifluoroacetic anhydride

Abstract The microwave spectrum of trifluoroacetic anhydride (CF3COOCOCF3) has been recorded by chirped-pulse and cavity Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy. A dense b-type spectrum containing several P, Q, and R branch progressions has been assigned and fit to the Watson A-reduced asymmetric rotor Hamiltonian. No evidence of tunneling or internal rotation of the CF3 groups was observed. DFT calculations of the rotational constants are in good agreement with experimental results.
Cancer Treatment-Induced Arrhythmias: Focus on Chemotherapy and Targeted Therapies.

With the development of newer drugs and improvements in established treatment protocols, prognosis for many types of cancer has improved dramatically. Some cancers that were historically associated with high fatality rates now have high cure rates or successful palliation, turning the malignancy into a chronic disease. Given this improved prognosis, more patients will face the adverse effects of cancer treatment. Cancer therapy can result in cardiac toxicity, such as cardiomyopathy. Cardiotoxicity with chemotherapeutic agents in the form of cardiomyopathy was first described in 1966 in patients receiving anthracyclines.1 However, cancer treatment–induced arrhythmia (CTIA) has not attracted specific attention until recently.2 CTIA is a complex entity with multiple factors involved in its pathogenesis. It can be divided into primary CTIA (caused by a drug disrupting specific molecular pathways critical for the development of a specific arrhythmia) and secondary CTIA (caused by damage to the endocardium/myocardium/pericardium through ischemia, inflammation, or radiation therapy (RT), with arrhythmia as a secondary phenomenon). Secondary CTIA is much more common. The distinction between primary and secondary CTIA is not well defined, with many contributing and confounding factors, and the exact mechanisms for many drugs are still to be elucidated (Figure). Figure. Mechanisms of arrhythmias in cancer patients. AC indicates anthracyclines; ATO, arsenic trioxide; HA, histamine; hERG, human Ether-a-go-go -Related Gene; PI3K, phosphotidyl inositol 3–kinase; PKI, protein kinase inhibitors; SB, sinus bradycardia; and 5-FU, 5-fluorouracil. Heart image reprinted with permission from Marieb and Hoehn.3 Copyright © 2013, Pearson Education, Inc. The incidence of CTIA with many chemotherapeutic agents is yet to be firmly established as most chemotherapy trials have not had adequate numbers of patients enrolled to study this problem. In addition, most cancer treatment trials have excluded patients with preexisting cardiac disease, which is the most vulnerable population for CTIA. The National Cancer Institute …
Randomized Trial of a Virtual Reality Tool to Teach Surgical Technique for Tibial Shaft Fracture Intramedullary Nailing

Introduction Active learning methods have accumulated popularity due to improved results in knowledge acquisition as opposed to passive learning methods. For surgical resident physicians with limited training opportunities outside of the operating room due to time constraints, virtual reality (VR) is a relatively inexpensive and time-efficient active training method for procurement of surgical skills. We conducted a simulated intramedullary nailing (IMN) of a tibia to demonstrate VR training programs as a more effective modality of learning orthopedic surgical techniques compared to passive learning tools such as a standard guide (SG) through trained novice medical students performing a SawBones simulation of intramedullary nail fixation. Materials and Methods First and second-year medical students without prior experience of procedure were recruited and randomized to SG or VR training. Participants were observed performing simulated tibia IMN procedure immediately after training and evaluated by a blinded attending surgeon using procedure-specific checklist and 5-point global assessment scale. Participants returned after 2-weeks for repeat training and evaluation. Results 20 participants were recruited and randomized into VR (n = 10) and SG (n = 10) groups. All 20 participants completed the first phase and 17 completed the second phase of the study. Aggregate global assessment scores were significantly higher for VR than SG group (17.5 vs. 7.5, p Discussion VR training was more effective than a passive SG in our model of simulated tibia IMN for novice medical students. Virtual reality training may be a useful method to augment orthopedic education.
Gender differences in confidence during number-line estimation

Prior research has found gender differences in spatial tasks in which men perform better, and are more confident, than women. Do gender differences also occur in people’s confidence as they perform number-line estimation, a common spatial-numeric task predictive of math achievement? To investigate this question, we analyzed outcomes from six studies (N = 758 girls/women and boys/men with over 20,000 observations; grades 1–5 and adults) that involved a similar method: Participants estimated where a provided number (e.g., ¾, 37) was located on a bounded number line (e.g., 0–1; 0–100), then judged their confidence in that estimate. Boys/men were more precise (g = .52) and more confident (g = .30) in their estimates than were girls/women. Linear mixed model analyses of the trial-level data revealed that girls’/women’s estimates had about 31% more error than did boys’/men’s estimates, and even when controlling for precision, girls/women were about 7% less confident in their estimates than were boys/men. These outcomes should encourage researchers to consider gender differences for studies on math cognition and provide pathways for future research to address potential mechanisms underlying the present gender gaps.
Exploring Multi-Objective Transmission Planning for Investment-Constrained Power Systems

In power systems comprised of a small number of generators and lines, additional investment significantly affects reliability, debt burden, and operating costs. Wise selection of candidate investments balancing multiple objectives is crucial, especially in developing countries where load shedding may already be in effect. In this work, a static transmission expansion methodology is presented using a multi-objective optimization framework, where investment cost, operating cost, and load shedding cost are combined. Pareto fronts are computed and examined to demonstrate trade-offs and sensitivities evident in the 6-bus Garver model, showing the applicability of the proposed approach.
Variability in the assessment of children's primary healthcare in 30 European countries.

Background The high variability in the types and number of measures adopted to evaluate childcare across European countries makes it necessary to investigate country practices to identify trends in setting national priorities in the assessment of child well-being. Objective This paper intends to investigate country practices under the lens of variability to explore possible trends in setting national priority in the evaluation of childcare. In particular, it analyses variability considering to what extent this depends on the tendency of adopting a broad vision (i.e. selecting measures for a larger variety of aspects) or whether this is influenced by the choice of adopting an in-depth approach (i.e. using more measures to analyse a specific aspect). Methods An ad hoc questionnaire was administered to a national expert in each country and yielded 352 measures. To analyse variability, the breadth in the number of aspects considered was explored using a convergence index, while the depth in the distribution of measures in each aspect was investigated by computing a coefficient of variation. Countries were grouped by adopting a hierarchical clustering approach. Results There is a high variability across countries in the selection of measures that cover different aspects of childcare. Preferences in the distribution of measures are significant even at the domain level and in countries that use a limited number of measures and become more evident at the category and sub-category levels. The statistical analysis clusters countries in four main groups and two outliers. The in-depth distribution of measures focused on a specific aspect shows a homogeneous pattern, with the identification of two main groups of countries. Conclusions A limited set of measures are shared across countries hampering a robust comparison of paediatric models. The selection of measures shows that the evaluation is closely related to national priorities as resulting from the number and types of measures adopted. Moreover, a range of a reasonable number of measures can be hypothesized to address the quality of childcare under a multi-dimensional perspective.
Analysis of the adverse events following immunization with inactivated quadrivalent influenza vaccine from 2018 to 2020 in Zhejiang province, with a comparison to trivalent influenza vaccine.

To summarize reports to the national adverse event following immunization surveillance system (NAEFISS) following inactivated quadrivalent influenza vaccine (QIV) in Zhejiang province from 2018 to ...
Echocardiographic assessment of dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs.

Abstract Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a frequent cause of cardiac disability, congestive heart failure (CHF), and arrhythmic death in dogs. The etiology of DCM is usually idiopathic/genetic, but some causes of a DCM phenotype are reversible. The disease is classified into preclinical (occult) and clinical (overt) stages; the latter stems from heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. DCM is further characterized by clinical, electrocardiographic, circulating biomarker, and imaging abnormalities. The diagnosis of clinical DCM with CHF is straightforward; however, identification of the preclinical stage can be challenging. Echocardiography is central to the diagnosis of both stages and characterized by left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction with progressive chamber dilation and variable enlargements of the left atrium and right-sided chambers. Left ventricular dilation is defined by increased LV end-diastolic volumes, areas, and internal dimensions normalized to body size or indexed to the aorta. Systolic dysfunction is characterized by decreased LV ejection fraction, increased end-systolic volume, and reduced shortening across minor and longitudinal LV axes. Dyssynchrony can confound the interpretation of linear indices of systolic function. A comprehensive echocardiogram in DCM includes two-dimensional and M-mode studies, spectral and tissue Doppler imaging, and potentially three-dimensional echocardiography and myocardial strain imaging. Echocardiographic findings should be interpreted within the context of identifiable risks and comorbidities, physical diagnosis, complementary diagnostic testing, and limitations of current reference intervals. Ambiguous examinations should be repeated. Specific echocardiographic criteria for the diagnosis of DCM are proposed to encourage discussion and additional outcome and breed-specific echocardiographic studies of canine DCM.
Childhood Suicide Trends in the United States, 2010-2019.

Suicides are among the 10 leading causes of death in U.S. children 12 years of age and younger. The purpose of this study was to examine trends and methods of suicide in children by race and gender from 2010 to 2019, the most recent years of data available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Child suicides statistically significantly increased for black (95%), white (158%), male (95%), and female (300%) children during the decade. Additionally, the methods children used to commit suicide did not significantly differ by race or gender. The leading method of suicide used by children was strangulation/suffocation depending on race and gender (67%-85%). The second most common method of suicide was by the use of a firearm, again depending on race and gender (11%-30%). Northeastern states had the fewest child suicides during the decade and Texas and California had the most child suicides. Policymakers need to commit more resources and research funding to better detect risk factors, protective factors, and effective interventions for reducing child suicides.
Development and Characterization of Potent Peptide Inhibitors of p60c-src PTK Using Pseudosubstrate-Based Inhibitor Design Approach

The cytoplasmic protein p60c-src is a ubiquitous non-receptor protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) that is over-expressed and/or activated in several cancer types making it an important anti-cancer target [1]. In addition, c-src knockout mice have a phenotype consistent with osteopetrosis suggest that inhibitors against this enzyme may be therapeutic for osteoporosis. In the past few years, we have developed a pseudo-substrate-based inhibitor strategy [2,3] to target the peptide-substrate binding site of p60c-src PTK. This strategy has led to the identification of highly selective and potent inhibitors of p60c-src PTK [2]. By screening a random “one-bead one-compound” combinatorial peptide-bead library with a functional phosphorylation assay [4], we identified MIYKYYF as a very inefficient peptide substrate for this enzyme. However, MIYKYYF was found to be a moderately potent inhibitor (IC50 = 6 μM) of p60c-src PTK using YIYGSFK (Km = 55 μM) as a substrate. In this study, we describe the development and characterization of potent pseudosubstrate-based inhibitors (IC50 = 0.14–0.6 μM) of p60c-src PTK, using MIYKYYF as the template.
Simulations of the Neutral-beam-induced Rotation, Radial Electric Field, and Flow Shearing Rate in Next-step Burning Plasmas

Toroidal rotation of plasmas in present tokamaks is beneficial for increasing the stability to wall-induced MHD and appears to reduce the anomalous transport associated with micro-turbulence. This paper calculates the toroidal rotation expected from neutral-beam injection in the proposed FIRE and ITER-FEAT tokamak reactors. Self-consistent burning plasmas for these tokamaks have been constructed using the TRANSP plasma analysis code. Neutral-beam injection has been proposed for FIRE and ITER-FEAT. The neutral-beam-induced torques are computed, and assumptions for the anomalous transport of toroidal angular momentum are used to calculate the toroidal rotation profiles. The central Mach numbers are about 3-8%. The ratio of the rotation speed to the Alfvin speed is less than 1%. Assuming neoclassical poloidal rotation and force balance, the radial electric field and flow shearing rate are calculated. Peak shearing rates near the outboard edge are in the 10-100 krad/s range.
Occupy Wall Street on the Public Screens of Social Media: The Many Framings of the Birth of a Protest Movement

Amid a dizzying array of social media, the ground of activism has fractured into decentered knots creating a cacophony of panmediated worlds. Our analysis of Occupy Wall Street (OWS) offers a preliminary charting of the fragmenting of the old media world into a proliferation of social media worlds. On old media, OWS was stillborn, first neglected, and then frivolously framed. On social media, OWS's emergence was vibrant, its manifestations much discussed, celebrated, and attacked. Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube create new contexts for activism that do not exist in old media. Plus, social media foster an ethic of individual and collective participation, thus creating a norm of perpetual participation. In OWS, that norm creates new expectations of being in the world.
Learning the “what?” “how?” and “why?”: A necessary introduction to becoming a reflective practitioner of professional communication

Perhaps no one group of engineering educators is more aware of the differences and therefore the difficulties with making connections between the worlds of the classroom and the workplace than those of us tasked with teaching professional communication. A new approach is needed that will prepare students to learn to learn how to communicate throughout the rest of their professional lives. This paper illustrates such a new approach. Two research methodologies were used to assess this approach: action research and grounded theory. The results suggest that across the team e-portfolios students were learning about the communicative actions of practicing professionals and that they could identify key concepts, describe their relevance, research these concepts in actual, authentic professional situations and assess their importance. In addition, the results of the grounded theory research suggest that the students employed a range of different semiotic resources and designs for communicating their learning and representing themselves as rhetors.
Beauty as a measurement of performance: an introduction to the calculus of predispositions

Such seemingly unlike problems as the evaluation of a position in chess, the nonclassical analysis of the behavior of corporations, and the concept of perception of art works elaborated by G. Birkhoff reveal that all of these cases lend themselves to the same formal treatment as the calculus of predispositions. The major thrust of this calculus is to bring out the degree of development by means of the weight function whose value is the degree of beauty. This function involves the material parameters, weighted by unconditional evaluations, and in addition, relational parameters as independent variables with corresponding subjective evaluations. The essence of the aesthetic method and its applications to economics are discussed. >
Traffic Jam: A Compendium of Human Diseases that Affect Intracellular Transport Processes

As sequencing of the human genome nears completion, the genes that cause many human diseases are being identified and functionally described. This has revealed that many human diseases are due to defects of intracellular trafficking. This 'Toolbox' catalogs and briefly describes these diseases.
Optimal public good provision in the Ramsey tax model: A generalization

Abstract For the single-consumer Ramsey tax model, the use of distortionary taxation to finance public good provision is shown to lower the optimal level of public good provision below its optimal value ina first-best economy, where lump sum taxation is available. The assumptions used in the proof include a previous Cobb-Douglas example as a special case.
Therapeutic Change Viewed through Behavior Analytic Lenses

As we struggle with evaluating our many forms of psychotherapy, we are met with a panoply of differing means of introducing change. To compare these various ...
Gefangen im „Blumenzwiebel“-Modell: Hebbel und die Frauen

Bei Hilmar Grundmann steht das im Mittelpunkt, was Friedrich Hebbel in seinem Tagebuch den grosen Prozess der Geschlechter nennt: „Das Weib und der Mann in ihrem reinen Verhaltnis zu einander.“ Nach einem Einblick in Hebbels pantragisches Welt- und Dramenverstandnis begibt sich der Autor auf die spannende Spur nach dem Umgang mit Geschlechterverhaltnissen in Hebbels Tagebuchern und Tragodien. Dabei geht Grundmann auch Hebbels Modell der tragischen Heldin auf den Grund. Er kann das Phanomen der ‚entzwiebelten Blumenzwiebel‘ aber letztlich nicht ganz entschlusseln.
Gene activity in primary T cells infected with HIV89.6: intron retention and induction of genomic repeats.

Background HIV infection has been reported to alter cellular gene activity, but published studies have commonly assayed transformed cell lines and lab-adapted HIV strains, yielding inconsistent results. Here we carried out a deep RNA-Seq analysis of primary human T cells infected with the low passage HIV isolate HIV89.6.
δ-opioid-induced liberation of Gβγ mobilizes Ca2+ stores in NG108- 15 cells

Activation of delta-opioid receptors in NG108-15 cells releases Ca2+ from an intracellular store through activation of a pertussis toxin-sensitive G protein. We tested the hypothesis that activation of delta-opioid receptors mobilizes inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP(3))-sensitive Ca2+ stores via liberation of Gbetagamma. Fura-2-based digital imaging was used to study the mechanism of opioid-induced increases in [Ca2+](i) in NG108-15 cells. Exposure to D-Ala(2)-D-Leu(5) enkephalin (100 nM) for 90 s induced increases in [Ca2+](i) that were blocked by microinjection of the IP(3) receptor antagonist heparin (pipette concentration = 100 mg/ml) but not by sham injection. Microinjection of a peptide that binds Gbetagamma (QEHA, 1 mM) decreased the D-Ala(2)-D-Leu(5) enkephalin-evoked response. Microinjection of an inactive peptide (SKEE, 1 mM) that does not bind to Gbetagamma failed to inhibit the opioid-induced increase in [Ca2+](i). Microinjection of a peptide (QLKK, 15 mM) that binds to free Galpha(q) blocked the increase evoked by 3 nM bradykinin, but microinjection of an inactive peptide (ADRK, 15 mM) did not. Microinjection of QLKK did not significantly affect the opioid-induced increase in [Ca2+](i). Collectively, these data demonstrate that activation of delta-opioid receptors induces the release of Ca2+ from IP(3)-sensitive stores in NG108-15 cells through activation of the betagamma subunits of inhibitory G proteins.
An Experimental Study of Three-Dimensional Turbulent Boundary Layer and Turbulence Characteristics Inside a Turbomachinery Rotor Passage

Three-dimensional boundary layer and turbulence measurements of flow inside a rotating helical channel of a turbomachinery rotor are described. The rotor is a four-bladed axial flow inducer operated at large axial pressure gradient. The mean velocity profiles, turbulence intensities and shear stresses, and limiting stream-line angles are measured at various radial and chordwise locations, using rotating triaxial hot-wire and conventional probes. The radial flows in the rotor channel are found to be higher compared to those at zero or small axial pressure gradient. The radial component of turbulence intensity is found to be higher than the streamwise component due to the effect of rotation. Flow near the annulus wall is found to be highly complex due to the interaction of the blade boundary layers and the annulus wall resulting in an appreciable radial inward flow, and a large defect in the mainstream velocity. Increased level of turbulence intensity and shear stresses near the midpassage are also observed near this radial location.
Bilateral proximal delta phalanges: an unusual presentation of familial congenital clinodactyly

We report a unique case of bilateral proximal delta phalanges with secondary distal accessory ossification centers of the long fingers in a 16-month-old boy. The bony anomalies presented as severe ulnar deviation at the proximal interphalangeal joints bilaterally. This is a unique occurrence of congenital clinodactyly which has not been previously reported. Several family members show similar deformity, although to lesser degrees, suggesting an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance with incomplete penetrance and variable expressivity.
Ovarian metastases from cancer of the lung: Problems in interpretation—A report of seven cases

Seven women, 26 to 66 (average 42) years of age, from whom ovarian tumors were removed before (three cases), synchronously with (three cases), or less than 1 year after (one case) the discovery of a pulmonary neoplasm are the subjects of this report. The ovarian tumor was unilateral in six cases and bilateral in one case and was unassociated with intraabdominal spread. The lung tumors, which were similar to the ovarian tumors on microscopic examination, were central in six cases and peripheral in one; three of them were small cell undifferentiated carcinomas, two large cell undifferentiated carcinomas, one a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma, and one an atypical spindle cell carcinoid tumor. In each case the question of the primary site of the tumor had been raised clinically. The histological similarity of the ovarian and pulmonary tumors in all the cases to well-recognized forms of pulmonary neoplasia as well as additional clinical and pathological features of the cases led to an interpretation of a pulmonary origin of the tumors in all the cases.
Adsorption/Deposition of the Ligands 9,10-Phenanthroline-5,6-dione and 9,10-Phenanthroline-5,6-diol and Their Metal Complexes on Pyrolytic Graphite Electrodes

Metal complexes of the electroactive ligand 9,10-phenanthroline-5,6-dione (pdon) are receiving extensive study because of their demonstrated potential as electrocatalysts for the oxidation of NADH and other substrates. In aqueous media, the reduced ligand, 9,10-phenanthroline-5,6-diol (pdol), and its complexes with transition metals are only slightly soluble and tend to accumulate on the surfaces of electrodes, where they are generated by reduction of pdon. The adsorbed (or precipitated) molecular layers can interfere with the continued electroreduction of the more soluble, oxidized precursors from which they are generated. The use of freshly cleaved basal plane pyrolytic graphite electrodes allowed the surface coordination chemistry and electrochemistry of pdon, pdol, and their complexes to be inspected in more detail than in previous studies. The results revealed several general trends: (i) Coordination of pdon to transition metals shifts its reduction potential to more positive values. (ii) The affini...
Environmental modulation of a central pattern generator in freely behaving Aplysia.

A stereotyped contraction of the gill, siphon, mantle shelf, and parapodia of Aplysia californica is mediated by a central pattern generator, the Interneuron II network. Activity of the central pattern generator was monitored with chronically implanted electrodes on the siphon nerve of intact animals. A characteristic patterned burst of activity in siphon motoneurons is associated with spontaneous Interneuron II contractions and is clearly different from heightened motor activity associated with other siphon movements. The Interneuron II contraction can also be modulated by tactile stimulation of the siphon and other environmental stimuli. We examine the time course of effects of siphon stimulation, and show that changes in illumination and feeding cause longer lasting modulation of burst frequency.
Electrogenerated chemiluminescence. Direct heterogeneous formation of the triplet state by reduction of rubrene radical cation at an n-type zinc oxide electrode

Abstract The electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) of rubrene resulting from direct electron transfer from a zinc oxide semi- conductor electrode to rubrene radical cation to form the triplet state of rubrene is reported. ECL characteristic of rubrene fluorescence occurs following triplet—triplet annihilation. Emission is observed at electrode potentials insufficient to form the radical anion of rubrene,although the more intense radical ion annihilation ECL is observed when the ZnO is held at more negative potentials.
LANGUAGE ENHANCEMENT IN THE DEVELOPMENTALLY DELAYED CHILD THROLIGH A COGNITIVE/RECEPTIVE MODE

An approach to enhancing the language comprehension of young developmentally delayed children utilizing receptive language tasks presented in a cognitive, 'problem-solving' context is described. Over a 2 year period 16 language impaired and developmentally delayed children were provided with 8 weeks of concentrated instruction in five language areas: nouns, verbs, adjectives, prepositions and syntax. Instruction consisted of systematic verbal stimulation without overt attempts to elicit expressive language. Responses by the subjects were in the form of motor behaviours of picture/object identifications. Results indicated a marked increase in the number of stimuli to which these children could provide appropriate responses at the end of the 8 week instructional period. The gains were also maintained 3 months after termination of instruction and the learned material was considered to have become part of these children's verbal repertoire.
A study of perceptron based branch prediction on Simplescalar platform

This paper presents a perceptron based branch prediction approach. The method of implementation of the perceptron approach on the Simplescalar platform is provided. Mibench benchmark sets have been run to prove the optimal branch prediction rate of perceptron predictors comparing with conventional predictors. Further investigations have been outlined to indicate the impact of history table length and number of perceptron on the proposed branch predictors. Results show that perceptron based prediction scheme outperforms the other existing methods. Furthermore, the history table, within a certain bound, has an obvious impact on the prediction result, while the number of perceptron's impact is trivial.
Gender Identity Disorder in an Adult Male with Asperger’s Syndrome

This report describes an individual with gender identity disorder and Asperger’s Syndrome. Although a growing body of information exists related to these conditions, a recent literature search only described a few cases of children where both disorders were present. A MEDLINE search failed to produce any cases of adult males with both Asperger’s syndrome and gender identity disorder. The interaction of both conditions and possible relationship with obsessive traits or obsessive compulsive disorder may provide a better understanding of a possible linkage between the two disorders and support more rationale treatment approaches.
Nickelocene: A universal quencher of organic triplets

Organic triplets, with energies in the range 0.9–3.2 eV, are quenched by nickelocene with rate constants in the limit of diffusion control ((1.3–11) × 109 M−1s−1 in benzene). The efficient quenching, explainable in terms of a combination of energy and electron transfer, suggests the existence of a low-lying spin-forbidden transition (< 0.9 eV) in nickelocene.
Small Image Shifts in Plane Mirror Systems

In plane mirror systems with infinitely distant objects, and to a limited extent with finite objects, the image shift, resulting from a small rotation of a group of mirrors as a unit, is calculated using a matrix theory. General conditions which must be fulfilled for a required image shift to be realizable are given. The connection between the space-transforming properties of a mirror group and the possible image shifts is obtained. Equations are given, from which the axis of rotation of the mirror group, corresponding to a required shift, may be solved if it exists. The results may be applied in the design of mirror group or prism mounts with convenient adjustments.
Chaucer's Pardoner, the Scriptural Eunuch, and the Pardoner's Tale

A RECENT article in SPECULUM suggested that Chaucer's Pardoner may best be understood in terms of Augustinian theology.' It is po,ssible that the principles discussed there may be profitably elaborated. The intent of this paper is to indicate that the tradition of which St Augustine was perhaps the most influential expositor provides more than a general climate of idea: specifically, that Scriptural imagery, utilized by Chaucer in the portrait and tale of the Pardoner, serves to illuminate quite precisely the nature of the man and the "moralite" of his sermon. We are learning that the mediaeval author sought to build up the surface or cortex of his work in such a way as to indicate some particular nucleus, or inner meaning.2 For this purpose he had at his command two main sources of material: the Book of Nature or God's Creation the data of sense perception, and another Book the Bible which offered the unperceived data of revelation. Both "Books" provided the opportunity to achieve by study and interpretation a better knowledge of their Author. The Old Testament foreshadowed the "New Law" of charity under a series of types or figures, and was consequently to be reinterpreted in this light. Both the Bible and the Book of Nature provided a type of surface reality a series of signs which, if properly understood, reflected the will and the law of God. The compaignye created by Geoffrey Chaucer for the most famous fourteenthcentury literary pilgrimage has been almost microscopically examined by the modern scholar in the effort to arrive at the most satisfactory understanding possible of the text of the Canterbury Tales. The characters are so firmly conceived that attempts have been made to identify the actual prototypes whom Chaucer may himself have known; and considerable study has been devoted to the various mediaeval sciences which provided details of psychological or physiognomical characteristics. It is surprising, however, to find scholarly effor-t directed so intensively upon what the mediaeval author called the cortex of his work, without an equally persistent effort to discover what nucleus might lie beneath. What we now call realism was of itself only a point of departure in a
Structure function relationships in diphtheria toxin channels. II: A residue responsible for the Channel's dependence on Trans pH

Ion-conducting channels formed in lipid bilayers by diphtheria toxin are highly pH dependent. Among other properties, the channel's single channel conductance and selectivity depend on proton concentrations on either side of the membrane. We have previously shown that a 61 amino acid fragment of DT is sufficient to form a channel having the same pH-dependent single channel properties as that of the intact toxin. This region corresponds to an a-helical hairpin in the recently published crystal structure of DT in solution; the hairpin contains two α-helices, each long enough to span a membrane, connected by a loop of about nine residues. This paper reports on the single channel effects of mutations which alter the two negatively charged residues in this loop. Changing Glutamate 349 to neutral glutamine or to positive lysine has no effect on the DT channel's single channel conductance or selectivity. In contrast, mutations of Aspartate 352 to neutral asparagine (DT-D352N) or positive lysine (DT-D352K) cause progressive reductions in single channel conductance at pH 5.3 cis/7.2 trans (in 1 m KCl), consistent with this group interacting electrostatically with ions in the channel. The cation selectivity of these mutant channels is also reduced from that of wild-type channels, a direction consistent with residue 352 influencing permeant ions via electrostatic forces. When both sides of the membrane are at pH 4, the conductance difference between wild-type and DT-D352N channels is minimal, suggesting that Asp 352 (in the wild type) is neutral at this pH. Differences observed between wild-type and DT-D352N channels at pH 4.0 cis/7.2 trans (with a high concentration of permeant buffer in the cis compartment) imply that residue 352 is on or near the trans side of the membrane. Comparing the conductances of wild-type and DT-D352K channels at large (cis) positive voltages supports this conclusion. The trans location of position 352 severely constrains the number of possible membrane topologies for this region.
The Sense in Which a 'Weak Measurement' of a Spin 1/2 Particle's Spin Component Yields a Value 100

We give a critical discussion of a recent Letter of Aharonov, Albert, and Vaidman. Although their work contains several flaws, their main point is valid: namely, that there is a sense in which a certain "weak measurement" procedure yields values outside the eigenvalue spectrum. Our analysis requires no approximations and helps to clarify the physics behind the effect. We describe an optical analog of the experiment and discuss the conditions necessary to realize the effect experimentally.
Influence of deprivation on axial ocular growth: A novel mechanism of emmetropization

A 24-year-old myopic woman with familial, bilateral, congenital cataracts underwent cataract extraction and intraocular lens implantation in her left eye, with resulting 20/20 visual acuity. She postoponed cataract surgery on her right eye for 4 years. Axial myopia progressed in the right eye from 27.99 to 29.11 mm, and the left eye also elongated, from 28.25 to 28.72 mm, as indicated by A-scan ultrasonography. Axial elongation apparently is not a purely local phenomenon.
Long-Range Dichoptic Interactions in the Human Visual Cortex in the Region Corresponding to the Blind Spot

The region of the visual field of one eye that corresponds to the blind spot of the contralateral eye is believed to be monocular. We measured dichoptic contour interaction in this region of the visual field in humans by having observers report the orientation of a test letter "T" presented to this region, in the presence of flanking T's presented around the blind spot of the fellow eye. A large drop in performance was seen because of the flanks, showing clearly the existence of dichoptic contour interaction in this "monocular" region of the visual field. This suggests that the cortical representation of the region of the visual field that corresponds to the contralateral eye's blind spot is not strictly monocular. The absence of direct retinal afferents from one eye to this region of cortex suggests the involvement of horizontal cortical connections in the contour interaction phenomenon. Our estimates of the extent of contour interaction in mm of striate cortex are comparable to the reported lengths of the long-range horizontal connections in the striate cortex of monkeys. Our results are consistent with the proposition that long-range horizontal connections of the striate cortex may mediate the contour interaction phenomenon.
Divergent effects of oncostatin M on astroglioma cells: influence on cell proliferation, invasion, and expression of matrix metalloproteinases.

Oncostatin M (OSM), a cytokine of the interleukin-6 (IL-6) family, can either promote or inhibit cell growth in various normal and tumor cells. We addressed the effects of exogenous OSM on the proliferation and invasion of human astroglioma cells. In addition, we investigated one of the possible mechanisms involved: modulation of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) expression and enzymatic activity. We found that OSM inhibited the proliferation of two human astroglioma cell lines (CH235-MG and U87-MG), and that this effect was not due to apoptosis. The inhibitory effect of OSM on proliferation was mediated through the gp130/OSMRβ receptor complex. To extend these findings, we analyzed the effects of OSM on primary tumor cells from glioblastoma patients. OSM suppressed the proliferation of primary glioblastoma cells, but not that of normal astrocytes. Interestingly, OSM did not suppress astroglioma cell invasion. This may be due to the differential regulation of MMPs by OSM. We found that OSM inhibited the constitutive expression of MMP-2, while MMP-9 expression was enhanced in astroglioma cell lines. We conclude that OSM inhibits proliferation of human astroglioma cells and primary glioblastoma cells via the gp130/OSMRβ receptor complex. However, OSM does not affect the invasive capacity of the astroglioma cells, which may be due to the divergent effects of OSM on MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression. Collectively, these findings suggest a complex role for OSM in astroglioma biology. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Methods of deconditioning persisting avoidance: Intracranial stimulation as a counterconditioner

Rats were fixed with a chronically indwelling electrode for intracranial stimulation (ICS) of the lateral hypothalamus. Subsequent to verification that rats would barpress for ICS, they were trained in an automated one-way avoidance chamber to avoid footshock by climbing to a ledge. After 50 daily training trials on 3 consecutive days, the footshock was terminated. One of three treatments was then programmed: (a) response prevention (retracting the ledge, forcing the rat to stay on the previously shocking grid), (b) periodic ICS during response prevention, or (c) ICS outside the chamber without response prevention. Three days later, persisting avoidance behavior in the rat was measured. It was concluded that ICS during response prevention was most effective in reducing persisting avoidance, followed by response prevention alone, and finally ICS outside the chamber.
The Effects of Spring Burning on Rodent Populations in a Brush Prairie Savanna

Small mammals were collected on six study areas, three of which had been burned (two, four, and 11 times) during the past 15 years and three of which had not been burned for 35 years. Each area was equally productive but the species composition varied, indicating a specific preference for either the brush prairie savanna (created and maintained by burning) or the oak forest (resulting from lack of fire). Peromyscus leucopus noveboracensis and Clethrionomys gapperi gapperi were common in the unburned forest, and Peromyscus maniculatus bairdii and Spermophilus tridecemlineatus tridecemlineatus responded to the prairie created by burning. Burning of the forest did not significantly reduce the numbers of rodents present.
Bacterial diversity in three distinct sub-habitats within the pitchers of the northern pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea

Pitcher plants have been widely used in ecological studies of food webs; however, their bacterial communities are poorly characterized. Pitchers of Sarracenia purpurea contain several distinct sub-habitats, namely the bottom sediment, the liquid, and the internal pitcher wall. We hypothesized that those three sub-habitats within pitcher plants are inhabited by distinct bacterial populations. We used denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and 16S rRNA gene sequencing to characterize bacterial populations in pitchers from three bogs. DGGE and sequencing revealed that in any given pitcher, the three sub-habitats contain significantly different bacterial populations. However, there was significant variability between bacterial populations inhabiting the same type of habitat in different pitchers, even at the same site. Therefore, no consistent set of bacterial populations was enriched in any of the three sub-habitats. All sub-habitats appeared to be dominated by alpha- and betaproteobacteria in differing proportions. In addition, sequences from the Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes were obtained from all three sub-habitats. We conclude that container aquatic habitats such as the pitchers of S. purpurea possess a very high bacterial diversity, with many unique bacterial populations enriched in individual pitchers. Within an individual pitcher, populations of certain bacterial families may be enriched in one of the three studied sub-habitats.
Pyrophosphate contamination in crystalline phosphocreatine: a source of error in kinetic studies using coupled enzymes.

Abstract Commercial crystalline phosphocreatine generally contains a contaminant, probably pyrophosphate, that can inhibit nucleoside triphosphatases and may therefore cause errors in steady-state kinetic studies of creatine kinase-coupled r reactions. Ion-exchange chromatography reveals the presence of pyrophosphate in some batches of phosphocreatine sufficient to account for the observed inhibition. Chromatographically purified phosphocreatine shows no inhibitory effect.
Advanced topics in neuropsychological assessment following sport-related concussion

AbstractObjective: This study examined seven topics relating to neuropsychological assessment following sport-related concussion: (i) traditional vs. computerized tests; (ii) the value of baseline, pre-season testing; (iii) invalid baseline scores and poor effort; (iv) when to assess following injury; (v) the reliability of neuropsychological tests; (vi) reliable change methodology; and (vii) new methods for identifying cognitive impairment.Main results: Baseline testing can be helpful for quantifying cognitive deficits following injury and for assessing recovery. At present, however, there is insufficient evidence to conclude that having baseline test results is clearly superior to not having baseline test results. Although invalid baseline test performance can be detected in some athletes, validity indicators cannot determine the extent to which the results were due to deliberately poor performance, confusion or misunderstanding regarding some aspect of the test, distractions in group testing environmen...