cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Developmental pathways to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and disruptive behavior disorders: Investigating the impact of the stress response on executive functioning

A current theory suggests multiple pathways to the onset of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and comorbid oppositional defiant disorder or conduct disorder, proposing that heterogeneous factors lead to various patterns of behavior, cognitive impairments, and even physiological signs which are categorized as ADHD and comorbid disorders. This review focused on one proposed pathway to the onset of ADHD and ODD/CD in order to examine how low physiological arousal, as indicated by atypical hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and sympathetic adrenomedullary functioning, might be associated with cognitive impairment. First, the cognitive deficits associated with ADHD and disruptive behavior disorders were reviewed. In order to understand the atypical response, studies of the typical stress response and its relationship to cognition, particularly executive functioning, were then examined. Finally, this review summarized findings of an atypical stress response among children with ADHD and ODD/CD. Review of the literature led to the conclusion that the theorized pathway may be improved by taking into account the effects of stress on executive functioning given that an atypical stress response would likely be associated with impairment in this area. Future research directions needed to advance our understanding of the relationship between low arousal, ADHD, and ODD/CD were highlighted.
Effects of State Minimum Staffing Standards on Nursing Home Staffing and Quality of Care

The quality of nursing home care is an important policy issue, especially given the aging of the population. In response to concerns about persistent quality problems in the 1970s, Congress passed the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1987, which raised minimum quality standards and strengthened federal and state oversight (Wiener 2003). Among various regulatory processes, minimum staffing standards have become a major subject for debate because of the importance of nurse staffing to the processes and outcomes of care (Harrington 2005a,b). The federal government strengthened national standards through the Nursing Home Reform Act (NHRA) as part of OBRA 87, which required nursing facilities to have (1) licensed nurses on duty 24 hours a day; (2) a registered nurse (RN) on duty at least 8 hours a day, 7 days a week; and (3) an RN director of nursing. Yet many nursing homes have had continuing quality problems despite the OBRA standards (GAO 1998,1999,2000). Subsequently, many states mandated staffing standards, with some states pursuing a broad array of reforms to help providers recruit and retain a stable, well-trained workforce (PHI and NCDHHS 2004). By 2003, 36 states supplemented the federal guidelines with more stringent standards requiring either a certain number of nursing hours per resident day (HPRD) or a specified staff-to-resident or staff-to-bed ratio. From 1998 to 2001, 16 states implemented or expanded minimum staffing standards with the goal of improving quality of care. While research has found that higher nursing home staffing leads to higher quality of care (Cohen and Spector 1996,Harrington et al. 2000), information on effects of recent changes in state staffing standards is scanty. Researchers and policymakers had contradictory comments about the use of staffing standards (GAO 2002). This paper investigates how changes in state-mandated staffing standards from 1998 to 2001 affected the level of staffing and quality of care.
THE ANALYSIS OF THE DIVISION RATES OF CILIATES

1. Analysis of the division rates of Paramecium aurelia (mutant), Blepharisma undulans, and Histrio complanatus grown separately in pedigree isolation culture with the same culture medium, and in the same room at any given time, for a period of 3 years, discloses a secular trend and a seasonal rhythm for each organism. The seasonal rhythm is a yearly cycle with a maximum during July. 2. After removal of the effects of trend and seasonal rhythm, no correlation is found between the division rates of the several organisms. The distribution of the division rates is then one of chance order, except for large deviations known to be associated with changes in the culture technique. Each organism has a division rate varying independently of the others. 3. Consequently, seasonal rhythm alone has forced similar variations in the division rates of these three protozoans. The seasonal effect is gradually lost when the animals are raised for several years under laboratory conditions. Examination of the literature discloses other similar cases. 4. It is clear that unless all of the conditions of experiment are kept constant, one must analyze all protozoan division rate data in some such manner as that here presented before any conclusions may be drawn as to the existence of "cycles" or "rhythms."
Pathogenesis of Reflux Esophagitis

During the past decade considerable new information has accrued about reflux esphagitis and the physiology of esophageal motor function. Although numerous reports review the clinical, diagnostic, and therapeutic aspects of reflux esophagitis (1-6), few reports (7) focus primarily on the pathophysiology of esophagitis production. Our purpose here is to: (a) review critically recent findings relevant to the pathophysiology of reflux esophagitis, (b) analyze factors that may contribute to the production of reflux esophagitis, and (c) identify appropriate questions that merit further investigation. Throughout the report we will endeavor to alert the reader when the manuscript reflects our own opinion, speculation, or scientific bias as opposed to established observations. For this report the term reflux esophagitis is defined as esophageal inflammation caused by refluxed material. On endoscopy reflux esophagitis may cause visible discoloration, friability, ulceration, exudate, or luminal narrowing. In active reflux esophagitis, histologic sections demonstrate an acute polymorphonuclear or a mixed polymorphonuclear and round cell infiltrate, generally accompanied by epithelial erosion or ulceration. These gross or histologic findings are necessary for a specific diagnosis of reflux esophagitis. In some patients with clinical complaints suggesting GE reflux, the esophagus appears normal at endoscopy and no evidence of inflammation is present on biopsy. Biopsies
What Do AEFA Members Say? Summary of Results of an Education Finance and Policy Survey.

In the spring of 2008 the authors surveyed members of the American Education Finance Association (AEFA) to gain insight into their views on education policy issues. The results summarize opinions of this broad group of education researchers and practitioners, providing AEFA members and education leaders with access to views that may be helpful as they consider policies to analyze or pursue. This article reports the results in six areas of current policy interest. How should education aid be distributed? Is school choice a good thing? Does school finance reform work? What has accountability wrought? Can school policies close the blackwhite achievement gap? And how should teachers be compensated? Our findings identify areas of substantial agreement as well as areas where there is disagreement.Forexample,thereisconsiderableagreementthat stateandfederalgovernmentsshouldprovideadditional funding for disadvantaged students but disagreement on how to measure school finance adequacy.
Rabbit retinal ganglion cell responses to nicotine can be mediated by β2-containing nicotinic acetylcholine receptors

Acetylcholine (ACh) affects the response properties of many retinal ganglion cells (GCs) through the activation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). To date there have been few studies directly correlating the expression of specific nAChR subtypes with the physiological and morphological characteristics of specific retinal GCs. This study was designed to correlate responses to nicotine application with immunohistochemical evidence of nAChR expression in physiologically and morphologically identified ganglion cells. Extracellular recordings were used to physiologically identify rabbit retinal GCs, based on responses to light stimulation. Cells were then tested for responses to nicotine application and/or for expression of nAChRs, as judged by immunoreactivity to mAb210, an nAChR antibody. The morphologies of many physiologically identified cells were also determined by dye injection. More than three-fourths of ganglion cells tested responded to nicotine application under cobalt-induced synaptic blockade. The nicotine sensitivity was consistent with nAChR immunoreactivity and was also correlated with specific morphological subgroups of GCs. Overall, approximately two-thirds of all physiologically identified GCs that were processed for immunohistochemistry displayed immunoreactivity. In total, 18 of 22 physiologically identified cells demonstrated both sensitivity to nicotine application under synaptic blockade and mAb210 immunoreactivity (mAb210-IR). Thus, mAb210-IR is likely to represent functional nAChRs that can modulate retinal information processing and visual functioning via direct excitation of a number of GC classes.
High-Field Antiferromagnetic Resonance in Cr 2 O 3

Antiferromagnetic resonance (AFMR) experiments in single-crystal ${\mathrm{Cr}}_{2}$${\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ are summarized with specific emphasis on the high-field resonance mode. Most of the experiments involve pulsed magnetic fields and millimeter wavelength radiation. A brief description of the experimental techniques is included. The experimental results include AFMR as a function of temperature (from 4.2\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K to the N\'eel temperature), frequency (36 to 135 kMc/sec), magnetic field, and angle between the magnetic field and the $c$ axis. Results of the spinflop resonance mode are also presented as a function of temperature, field, frequency, and angle. Magnetic measurements at the spin-flop field and low-field static susceptibility measurement both parallel and perpendicular to the $c$ axis are also given as a function of temperature. Normalized plots of the AFMR based on the molecular field approximation are presented as a function of angle and field and compared with experiment. The AFMR experiments agreed with the molecular field results when the static susceptibility data were included in the calculations. The characteristic quantity ${(2{H}_{E}{H}_{A})}^{\frac{1}{2}}$, where ${H}_{E}$ is the exchange field and ${H}_{A}$ is the anisotropy field, is 60\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}3 kG from 4.2 to 235\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K. The unusual temperature independence of ${(2{H}_{E}{H}_{A})}^{\frac{1}{2}}$ is partly accounted for by the crystalline field contribution to ${H}_{A}$ which is only 700 G at 4.2\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K. Assuming only dipolar and crystalline field contributions to ${H}_{A}$ the crystalline field portion at low temperatures is 1000 G. This corresponds to an axial $D$ contribution which is 1/9 that of ${\mathrm{Cr}}^{3+}$ in ${\mathrm{Al}}_{2}$${\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ and of the opposite sign. More recent optical and related data which confirm this result are discussed and some possible mechanisms of the unusual temperature dependence are indicated. A nonzero value of the parallel static susceptibility at low fields is also observed and briefly discussed.
Carbon dioxide laser resurfacing of peri-oral rhytids in scleroderma patients.

background. The short pulse duration high-energy carbon dioxide (CO2) lasers have been used in the past for treating cutaneous pathology and more recently for cosmetic improvements of rhytids, photo-aging, and acne. objective. This study was undertaken to determine the benefits of CO2 laser resurfacing on the severe peri-oral rhytidosis commonly seen in patients with systemic scleroderma. methods. Three patients were studied and evaluated for satisfactory wound healing, improved cosmetic result, and lack of complications. results. All three patients experienced significant improvement following laser resurfacing. conclusion. The study demonstrated the safe and effective treatment for peri-oral rhytidosis in patients with generalized scleroderma utilizing CO2 laser resurfacing.
A blood test for acute rejection after renal transplantation? Commentary on “Osteopontin level correlates with acute cellular renal allograft rejection”

DOI of original article: 10.1016/j.jss.2012.0 * Corresponding author. Department of Sur Tel.: þ1 212 844 8570; fax: þ1 212 844 8440. E-mail address: mleitman@chpnet.org (I. 0022-4804/$ e see front matter a 2013 Elsev http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2012.08.056 End-stage renal disease affects over 500,000 patients each year in the United States. Currently, over 92,000 people wait on the kidney transplant list in the United States alone, where approximately 16,000 transplants occur annually [1]. With such a discrepancy between supply and demand, graft survival is critical. Yet, even with advances in transplantation technique and immunosuppression, year one acute rejection rates remain between 10% and 20% [2]. Acute rejection begins subclinically and progression may lead to irreversible organ damage or graft loss. Research has been focused on finding early markers of rejection. Traditionally, renal allografts have been monitored using urinalysis, serum creatinine levels, and renal biopsies. Urinalysis provides a basic substrate to monitor renal function and graft rejection. Proteinuria has long correlated with chronic kidney disease and is also positively associated with rejection. However, proteinuria is indicative of an inflammatory process that has already advanced to irreversible kidney injury. Evidence has emerged that shows a relationship between microproteinuria and rejection, which may prove beneficial in
Hole analysis for functional coverage data

One of the main goals of coverage tools is to provide the user with informative presentation of coverage information. Specifically, information on large, cohesive sets of uncovered tasks with common properties is very useful. This paper describes methods for discovering and reporting large uncovered spaces (holes) for cross-product functional coverage models. Hole analysis is a presentation method for coverage data that is both succinct and informative. Using case studies, we show how hole analysis was used to detect large uncovered spaces and improve the quality of verification.
Suicidal ideation and bipolar‐II depression symptoms

Objective The FDA issued a warning about a possible risk of suicidal behaviour related to ‘newer’ antidepressants. Suicidal behaviour is common in bipolar-II (BP-II) depression, which is frequent in outpatients, and often mixed (i.e. it has concurrent hypomanic symptoms). The study aim was to find major depressive episode (MDE) and intra-MDE hypomanic symptoms associated with suicidal ideation. Methods A total of 374 consecutive BP-II MDE outpatients were interviewed by the structured clinical interview for DSM-IV (SCID), the hypomania interview guide, and the family history screen. Results Suicidal ideation was present in 52.6%. Suicidal ideation and lower GAF (meaning more severity), more persistent MDE symptoms, more melancholic depressions were significantly associated. Multiple logistic regression of suicidal ideation versus MDE symptoms and intra-MDE hypomanic symptoms found, as significant independent predictors, decreased self-esteem, racing/crowded thoughts, psychomotor agitation. Discussion As expected, suicidal ideation and depression severity were associated. Racing/crowded thoughts and psychomotor agitation were independent predictors of suicidal ideation. While cross-sectional associations cannot show a causal association, some evidence from prospective studies supports the direction of the association. As BP-II depression is common and often mixed in outpatients, clinicians should assess intra-MDE racing/crowded thoughts and psychomotor agitation, as antidepressants alone may worsen these symptoms, and this may induce or increase suicidal behaviour. Mood stabilizing agents may be needed to control these excitement symptoms before using antidepressants. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Chemorheology relations for epoxy‐amine crosslinking

The goal of this study is to elucidate the relationship between the mechanism of bond formation, resulting structure, and the viscosity during the step polymerization of a thermoset. The system chosen for this work consists of a bifunctional epoxy, diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A, cured with a tetrafunctional amine, diaminodiphenyl sulfone. Steady shear and dynamic viscosity are measured as a function of extent of reaction throughout the epoxy-amine cure. Branching theory is used to relate the extent of reaction (i.e., conversion of epoxy groups) to certain structural parameters, including the weight-average molecular weight. The combination of the viscosity-conversion data with the branching theory enables the correlation between changes in rheological properties and network structure during polymerization. The steady shear viscosity rise is modeled as the product of a structure-dependent friction factor and weight-average molecular weight. The structural significance of the point in cure when the dynamic storage and loss modulus are equal (i.e., tan δ = 1) is also explored.
Vision during Voluntary Saccadic Eye Movements

Vision seems to be a continuous process even though eye movements occupy a portion of the time spent in reading or inspecting objects in the field of view. This observation has led to the supposition that a “blanking out” of vision occurs with saccadic eye movements. Some workers attribute this effect to the rapid motion of the image on the retina. Others have suggested a central inhibition, possibly related to the physiological mechanisms of attention. The present research compared vision during saccades with vision during fixation by means of three representative psychophysical tasks. Each stimulus pattern was presented to the fovea in the form of an instantaneous flash that was delivered before, during, or after an eye movement. The flash lasted only 20 μsec, so that retinal blur due to movement was reduced to a negligible amount. The time of the stimulus flash was signaled on a continuously moving film on which the eye movements were recorded by a corneal reflection technique. Detection thresholds for dot patterns and recognition thresholds for words were found to be about 0.5 log unit higher during saccades than during steady fixation. Similar differences, though smaller and less consistent, were found in the minimum angles for the resolution of gratings. It is concluded that vision is not “blanked out” during eye movements, but that it is significantly depressed even under conditions that minimize blur due to movement of the retinal image, and that assure foveal stimulation.
Wireless Capsule Endoscopy Color Video Segmentation

This paper describes the use of color image analysis to automatically discriminate between oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, and colon tissue in wireless capsule endoscopy (WCE). WCE uses ldquopill-camrdquo technology to recover color video imagery from the entire gastrointestinal tract. Accurately reviewing and reporting this data is a vital part of the examination, but it is tedious and time consuming. Automatic image analysis tools play an important role in supporting the clinician and speeding up this process. Our approach first divides the WCE image into subimages and rejects all subimages in which tissue is not clearly visible. We then create a feature vector combining color, texture, and motion information of the entire image and valid subimages. Color features are derived from hue saturation histograms, compressed using a hybrid transform, incorporating the discrete cosine transform and principal component analysis. A second feature combining color and texture information is derived using local binary patterns. The video is segmented into meaningful parts using support vector or multivariate Gaussian classifiers built within the framework of a hidden Markov model. We present experimental results that demonstrate the effectiveness of this method.
The Role of Direct-Fed Microbials in Conventional Livestock Production

Supplementation of direct-fed microbials (DFM) as a means to improve the health and performance of livestock has generated significant interest over the past 15+ years. A driving force for this increased interest in DFM is to reduce or eliminate the use of low-dose antibiotics in livestock production. This increased attention toward DFM supplementation has generated an extensive body of research. This effort has resulted in conflicting reports. Although there has been considerable variation in the design of these studies, one of the main causes for this lack of consistency may be attributed to the variation in the experimental immune challenge incorporated to evaluate DFM supplementation. Taking into account the experimental immune challenge, there is strong evidence to suggest that DFM supplementation may have an impact on the immune response, overall health, and performance of livestock.
A Pelagian Vision for Our Augustinian Constitution: A Review of Justice Breyer’s Active Liberty

Early in the fifth century, the Christian Church was divided by the “Pelagian Controversy.” Pelagius, a British monk, taught that individuals had the capability to repent their sins and achieve salvation. God’s grace is helpful, but it is unnecessary. In contrast, Augustine, a North African Bishop, taught that individuals lacked the capacity to repent their sins and achieve salvation. God’s grace is indispensable. Although framed in terms of a narrow - but fundamental - theological question, the “Pelagian Controversy” involved a much broader issue: the inherent nature of humanity. Essentially, the Pelagian view states that humanity is inherently good or virtuous. In contrast, the Augustinian view states that humanity is inherently bad, corrupt, or, yes, sinful.While the Christian Church resolved the theological issue in the fifth century, humanity continues to grapple with the broader question. For a nation, the collective answer to that question inevitably will determine how it organizes its government. If the nation - like Pelagius - assumes that humanity is inherently good and virtuous, then it will develop a constitution that largely defers to the democratic process, which is an expression of society’s collective will. Alternatively, if a nation - like Augustine - assumes that humanity is inherently bad and corrupt, then it will develop a constitution that will be distrustful of “any entity exercising power” and will check the exercise of power. When applied to all aspects of life rather than simply the government, the Augustinian vision results in power and responsibility being divided between family, guild, university, city, region, church, and nation with each exercising “sovereignty” in its own “sphere.”This distinction between a Pelagian constitutional vision and an Augustinian constitutional vision forms a basis for reviewing Justice Stephen Breyer’s new book, 'Active Liberty: Interpreting Our Democratic Constitution.' Although it is an important work and has many strengths, Active Liberty is flawed - it adopts a Pelagian vision of the Constitution, but our Constitution is Augustinian. In other words, Justice Breyer puts forth a vision that is directly contrary to the assumptions of our Constitution. The remainder of this review demonstrates this thesis. Part I discusses Justice Breyer’s “theme” of constitutional interpretation. Part II demonstrates why our Constitution conforms to an Augustinian vision. Part III explains why Justice Breyer’s theme of constitutional interpretation conforms to the Pelagian vision.
Institutionalizing Rights in the National Security Executive

The national security executive has grown explosively in size and power since September 11, 2001. This Article highlights a parallel development that has largely escaped notice: the rise in institutions within the executive branch charged with monitoring and protecting individual rights and liberties. Emerging out of dual political impulses to expand executive power and protect rights, these institutions have proliferated, and their paths have diverged. A civil rights office struggled for influence across multiple political administrations; an Inspector General exposed rights violations and triggered reform; a civil liberties board capitalized on the Snowden controversy to surmount presidential neglect but not partisan division. Together, these case studies suggest that internal rights oversight is constantly challenged; only with a rare confluence of leadership, design, and external political circumstances can these institutions succeed. From these accounts, the Article makes three claims on the challenges and constraints facing these institutions. First, rights-oversight institutions designed as “external reviewers,” rather than as “internal advisors,” may be better poised to reform policy. Second, both kinds of institutions face serious limitations in shaping executive legal interpretation on national security authority or the scope of legal rights. Third, these institutions are at perennial risk of mission drift — of shifting their attention from promoting rights to protecting national security. Ultimately, internal rights oversight plays a necessary but limited role in protecting rights at risk from the national security state.
Abstract MP101: Infection as a Trigger for Ischemic Stroke: The ARIC Study

Background and Purpose: Acute triggers for ischemic stroke, which may include infection, are poorly understood, as is whether background cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk modifies such triggering. We hypothesized that recent infection increases acute stroke risk, especially among those with low background CVD risk. Methods: Hospitalized strokes and infections were identified during follow-up of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) cohort of 15,792 men and women aged 45-64 years at baseline (visit 1) in 1987-89 through 2013. A case-crossover design and conditional logistic regression were used to compare acute hospitalized infections among stroke patients (14, 30, 42, and 90 days prior to stroke) with corresponding control periods 1 year and 2 years prior. Background CVD risk was assessed using the ACC/AHA equations at both visit 1 and the visit most proximal to the stroke, with risk dichotomized at the median (10.0% estimated 10-year risk for visit 1 and 15.4% for most recent visit). Results: A total of 1,008 adjudicated incident ischemic strokes were included. Compared to control periods 1 and 2 years before stroke, hospitalized infection was more common within 2 weeks before stroke (14 day odds ratio (OR) = 7.7 (95% confidence interval=2.1, 27.3)); the strength of association declined with increasing time in the exposure window before stroke (30 day OR = 5.7 (2.3, 14.3), 42 day OR = 4.5 (2.0, 10.2), and 90 day OR = 3.6 (2.1, 6.5) see Table). Stroke risk was higher among those with low compared with high background CVD risk, with this interaction (between hospitalized infection and CVD risk) reaching statistical significance for some exposure periods. Conclusions: These results suggest that hospitalized infection is a trigger of ischemic stroke, and may explain some cryptogenic strokes. Infection control efforts may prevent some strokes. CVD preventive therapies, including antiplatelet agents and statins, may prevent strokes if used in the peri-infection period but clinical trials are needed to evaluate this.
Functional potential of gut T and B cell subsets from mucosally primed mice

We have developed a number of in vivo and in vitro systems for testing the functional potential of gut T- and B- cells primed in vivo via acute or chronic stimulation of the intestinal mucosa with reovirus or Morganella morganii (M.m.) respectively. Reovirus type 3 given orally to neonatal, normal mice or adult severe, combined immunodeficient (scid) mice results in a disseminated fatal infection due to meningoencephalitis at 10–12 d in the pups and to focal hepatitis and liver failure at 4–6 wk. in the scid mice. IELs (106) from adult, immune mice given to pups challenged one d later can prevent development of brain lesions. The protective effect of IELs is decreased after treatment with anti-Thy1 + C’ and eliminated after treatment with anti-CD8 + C’. Transferred Peyer’s patch (PP) cells from immune, congenic normal donors can likewise prevent dissemination of viral infection in scid mice challenged 2 d later. The most effective subset of PP cells is Thy1+, CD8+, and GCT+.
Three years’ results using bordeaux mixture with reduced amounts of lime as a potato spray

The results both in upstate New York with Rural potatoes and un Long Island with Green Mountains seem to consistently favor a Bordeaux mixture with less lime than copper sulfate.
Abstract 2292: Loss of hCLCA2 promotes EMT in breast cancer

Proceedings: AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010‐‐ Apr 17‐21, 2010; Washington, DC Epithelial cells acquire mesenchymal characteristics by undergoing phenotypic and genotypic changes during cancer progression. An early step in the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is the disruption of intercellular connections due to loss of epithelial cadherins. We find that expression of tumor suppressor hCLCA2 is strongly associated with epithelial differentiation and that induction of EMT by mesenchymal transcription factors represses its expression. Moreover, we report here that knockdown of hCLCA2 by RNA interference results in disruption of cell-cell junctions by downregulating E-cadherin. This also imparts invasiveness and anoikis-resistance to epithelial cells but is insufficient to induce full EMT. However, activation of Ras oncogene in combination with hCLCA2 knockdown is sufficient to induce full EMT in vitro. These findings indicate that, like E-cadherin, hCLCA2 is required for epithelial differentiation and suggest that its loss during tumor progression contributes to metastasis. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2292.
A phase I-II evaluation of veliparib (NSC #737664), topotecan, and filgrastim or pegfilgrastim in the treatment of persistent or recurrent carcinoma of the uterine cervix: an NRG Oncology/Gynecologic Oncology Group study.

Purpose The aim of this study was to evaluate the tolerability and efficacy of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibition by veliparib during cytotoxic topotecan administration with filgrastim or pegfilgrastim neutrophil support in women with persistent or recurrent uterine cervix cancer. Experimental Design This phase I-II trial examined twice-daily oral veliparib (10 mg) given during once-daily intravenous topotecan (0.6 mg/m2) on days 1 to 5 of each treatment cycle. Cycles were repeated every 21 days until disease progression or until toxicity prohibited further therapy. Toxicity and objective response rate were primary endpoints. Results Twenty-seven women were enrolled. Frequently reported grade 3 or higher treatment-related toxicities were anemia (59%), thrombocytopenia (44%), leukopenia (22%), and neutropenia (19%). There were 2 partial responses (7% [90% confidence interval, 1%–22%]). Four patients had a disease progression date more than 6 months after the start of veliparib-topotecan therapy. Patients with low immunohistochemical expression (0–1+) of PARP-1 in their primary uterine cervix cancer were more likely to have a longer progression-free interval (hazard ratio, 0.25; P = 0.02) and survival (hazard ratio, 0.12; P = 0.005) after veliparib-topotecan therapy. Conclusions Clinical activity of a veliparib-topotecan combination was minimal in women with persistent or recurrent uterine cervix cancer. Women whose uterine cervix cancers express PARP-1 at low levels may benefit preferentially from PARP inhibitors combined with cytotoxic therapies, suggesting further study of PARP expression as an integral triage biomarker.
Effect of quantity and quality of environmental stress on multilocus heterozygosity-growth relationships in Eisenia fetida (Annelida: Oligochaeta)

The effects of environmental quantity (moderate soil moisture vs. low soil moisture) and quality (low soil moisture vs. low temperature) on multilocus heterozygosity (MLH)-growth relationships were tested in the earthworm Eisenia fetida. The control treatment was high soil moisture and high temperature. Fresh weight was measured weekly for 4 weeks; MLH was computed for eight polymorphic loci. Moderate moisture limited growth (change in fresh weight) to 50 per cent of control growth; both low moisture and low temperature limited growth to 25 per cent of control growth. MLH was not correlated with growth at any time in the control treatment. MLH was strongly correlated with growth (P<0.01) in three out of four weekly intervals in the moderate moisture treatment; MLH was weakly correlated with growth (P<0.05) in two out of four weekly intervals in the low moisture treatment. MLH was not correlated with growth at any time in the low temperature treatment. Moderate soil moisture produced significantly stronger MLH-growth relationships than high moisture or low temperature. Even though low soil moisture and low temperature depressed growth to the same extent, the former produced MLH-growth relationships whereas the latter did not. Thus both environmental quantity and quality affected the existence and recurrence of MLH-growth relationships.
Requirements of R&M&T&S parameters selection and index determination for acoustic system

By analyzing the operation, maintenance and support characteristics of acoustic system, the appropriate reliability, maintenance, testing and support parameters were selected and the reasonable and feasible index value was determined. The aim of the demonstration was to achieve high operational effectiveness with low life cycle cost. The article introduced the method and procedure of acoustic system′s index selection and determination, including operational requirements analysis,consultation with many sources of information,parameters selection and trade-off studies concerning the major parameters of sonar system.
Surgical Reconstruction for Complete Urinary Incontinence: A 10 To 22-year Followup

AbstractA 22-year followup study was performed on 27 children and 7 adults treated surgically for complete urinary incontinence. The etiology of the incontinence was iatrogenic, traumatic or congenital. The patients had undergone a urethral reconstruction that created a physiological sphincter by ureteral reimplantation and trigonal tubularization. Success was defined if a patient was dry with no leakage or stress urinary incontinence and partial success was noted if the patient wore 1 to 3 perineal pads per day that were moist to damp. Of 7 adults 4 (57 per cent) were dry and 2 (29 per cent) were considered a partial success, compared to 19 (70 per cent) and 1 (3 per cent), respectively, of 27 children. Postoperatively, no significant residual urine was present and the excretory urograms were normal. Failures and alternative treatments for failures are discussed.
The Essential Epidemiology of Cancer of the Endometrium: An Update

The central epidemiologic features of cancer of the endometrium are the following: a much increased risk associated with obesity, evident both in premenopausal and postmenopausal women; a decreased risk with increasing parity; a decreased risk with increasing duration of use of combination-type oral contraceptives (COCs); an increased risk with menopausal estrogen therapy (ET) use; and a marked reduction in this risk when a progestin is added to ET (estrogen–progestin therapy, EPT) and continuous-combined EPT may be associated with a decreased risk, especially in heavier women. These observations are readily explained by a simple “unopposed estrogen hypothesis”; that is, estrogen “unopposed” by a progestin increases risk. The basis for this hypothesis is that estrogen unopposed by a progestin increases cell division in the endometrium. Analysis shows that reducing the standard dose of ET by as much as a half will have no effect on the ET-associated risk of endometrial cancer. This hypothesis also provides an explanation of why 1 year of COC use has a smaller preventive effect than a birth. It also suggests that the recently introduced COCs with an increase in the number of days of active pill intake from 21 to 24 days per 28-day COC cycle will significantly increase the protective effect of COC use. Use of the progestin-containing intrauterine system (IUS) with its continuous release of progestin reduces the risk of endometrial cancer to a marked extent; a year of such use may provide as much protection as a birth. Some of this progestin-containing IUS effect may, however, not be due to the progestin as non-hormonal IU devices (IUDs) have also been shown to decrease endometrial cancer risk although to a lesser extent. It is now clear that the protective effect of parity is markedly affected by the age at which the last birth occurs: for the same number of total births, there is a 45 % greater effect of a last birth after age 40 than a last birth before age 25. It remains to be seen if this age effect is also seen with the protection afforded by hormonal IUSs or with COCs where the active pills are given for 12 weeks out of every 13.
Reactive Geochemical and Biochemical Transport

This chapter covers the basis of biogeochemical modeling and its coupling with fluid flow and hydrologic transport. The basis of biogeochemical modeling is the principle of mole balance, the law of mass action, and rate laws. The basis of reactive biogeochemical transport is the conservation principle and flux laws. We begin the chapter by introducing a simple example of geochemical equilibrium (Section 2.1). Then we derive equations governing generalized geochemical equilibrium (Section 2.2), basic and parallel geochemical kinetics (Section 2.3), and mixed chemical equilibrium and kinetics (Section 2.4) from a reaction point of view. Following the derivation of geochemical processes, we deal with reactive chemical transport (Section 2.5), and transport and fate of chemicals and microbes (Section 2.6). Finally, a variety of strategies to model multicomponent-multispecies reactive transport is presented (Section 2.7).
SARRE: Semantics-Aware Rule Recommendation and Enforcement for Event Paths on Android

This paper presents a semantics-aware rule recommendation and enforcement (SARRE) system for taming information leakage on Android. SARRE leverages statistical analysis and a novel application of minimum path cover algorithm to identify system event paths from dynamic runtime monitoring. Then, an online recommendation system is developed to automatically assign a fine-grained security rule to each event path, capitalizing on both known security rules and application semantic information. The proposed SARRE system is prototyped on Android devices and evaluated using real-world malware samples and popular apps from Google Play spanning multiple categories. Our results show that SARRE achieves 93.8% precision and 96.4% recall in identifying the event paths, compared with tainting technique. Also, the average difference between rule recommendation and manual configuration is less than 5%, validating the effectiveness of the automatic rule recommendation. It is also demonstrated that by enforcing the recommended security rules through a camouflage engine, SARRE can effectively prevent information leakage and enable fine-grained protection over private data with very small performance overhead.
Strategic and Tactical Planning of Outsourcing in MIS

This chapter lays out a set of steps for organizations to traverse in considering and crafting an outsourcing strategy for the firm. Outsourcing in management information systems (MIS) is defined. The chapter proceeds through the steps of strategic and tactical planning, addressing particular issues at each level, and concludes with operational level planning for outsourcing projects. These disciplines prepare an organization to manage and execute a MIS project or ongoing service that will be provided by an outsourcing partner. Lessons learned from good techniques for integrating planning across the firm are included. Planning serves as the introduction to outsourcing selected functions, services, or products. Best practice methods and decision models for outsourcing are crafted from both outsourcing success stories as well as numerous failures, and are covered in subsequent chapters. The chapter includes suggestions for how to address and consider the option of outsourcing MIS projects as part of an overall strategic plan. Project management considerations in this decision are included. Ethical considerations such as humanitarian consequences and theological considerations are addressed. 701 E. Chocolate Av nue, Suite 200, Hershey PA 17033, USA Tel: 717/533-8845; Fax 717/533-8661; URL-http://www.idea-group.com ITB13433 INFORMATION SCIENCE PUBLISHING This chapter appears in the book, Outsourcing Management Information Systems edited by Ashlyn Schniederjans , Dara Schniederjans , Marc Schniederjans © 2007, Idea Group Inc.
Challenges in applying ranking and selection after search

It is tempting to reuse simulation replications taken during a simulation optimization search as input to a ranking-and-selection procedure, especially when generating replications is computationally expensive. Yet when a search identifies new systems based on the observed performance of explored systems, the resulting search replications are conditionally dependent given the sequence of returned systems. This dependence can mislead the selection decisions of ranking-and-selection procedures that reuse search data, in some cases to the point of violating guarantees on the probabilities of correct and good selection.
Percutaneous Epiphysiodesis Using Transphyseal Screws: a Case Series Demonstrating High Efficacy.

Background Percutaneous epiphysiodesis using transphyseal screws (PETS) has been associated with implant failure, implant prominence, angular deformities, and delayed growth inhibition.
Birth Order, Aggression Training and Authoritarianism

First born children are thought to be serious, studious, adult-oriented and more punitively treated than second born children who are generally considered receiving more nurturance from parents. Because of these and other factors it was hypothesized that first born children would score higher on three personality scales measuring dogmatism, authoritarianism, and child aggression-training. In opposition to the prediction, second born children scored significantly higher on both dogmatism and child aggression-training.
Ultrasound Guidance for Thoracic Procedures

Ultrasound is an invaluable tool and its use for thoracic procedures continues to expand. This review evaluates current use and evidence of ultrasound with thoracic procedures. • Ultrasound guidance assists with proper device placement and reduces the risk of complications. • A low risk of pneumothorax can be achieved, even in high-risk populations, such as those receiving positive pressure ventilation. • Contraindications for high-risk bleeding conditions, including coagulopathy and/or clopidogrel use, deserve reconsideration because emerging evidence suggests ultrasound guidance may reduce complications to an acceptable risk profile. • Ultrasound-assisted pleuroscopy and ultrasound-guided biopsies performed by experienced users have low complication rates and high diagnostic yield similar to computed tomography-guided biopsies. Increased use of ultrasound may be attributed to its portability paired with real-time assessment. Integrating ultrasound guidance with thoracic procedures repeatedly demonstrates reductions in complication rates and is emerging as standard of care.
Cerebellar pathology in childhood-onset vs. adult-onset essential tremor

Although the incidence of ET increases with advancing age, the disease may begin at any age, including childhood. The question arises as to whether childhood-onset ET cases manifest the same sets of pathological changes in the cerebellum as those whose onset is during adult life. We quantified a broad range of postmortem features (Purkinje cell [PC] counts, PC axonal torpedoes, a host of associated axonal changes [PC axonal recurrent collateral count, PC thickened axonal profile count, PC axonal branching count], heterotopic PCs, and basket cell rating) in 60 ET cases (11 childhood-onset and 49 adult-onset) and 30 controls. Compared to controls, childhood-onset ET cases had lower PC counts, higher torpedo counts, higher heterotopic PC counts, higher basket cell plexus rating, and marginally higher PC axonal recurrent collateral counts. The median PC thickened axonal profile count and median PC axonal branching count were two to five times higher in childhood-onset ET than controls, but the differences did not reach statistical significance. Childhood-onset and adult-onset ET had similar PC counts, torpedo counts, heterotopic PC counts, basket cell plexus rating, PC axonal recurrent collateral counts, PC thickened axonal profile count and PC axonal branching count. In conclusion, we found that childhood-onset and adult-onset ET shared similar pathological changes in the cerebellum. The data suggest that pathological changes we have observed in the cerebellum in ET are a part of the pathophysiological cascade of events in both forms of the disease and that both groups seem to reach the same pathological endpoints at a similar age of death.
Role of WNT10A in failure of tooth development in humans and zebrafish

Background Oligodontia is a severe form of tooth agenesis characterized by the absence of six or more permanent teeth. Oligodontia has complex etiology and variations in numerous genes have been suggested as causal for the condition. Methods We applied whole-exome sequencing (WES) to identify the cause of oligodontia in a 9-year-old girl missing 11 permanent teeth. Protein modeling and functional analysis in zebrafish were also performed to understand the impact of identified variants on the phenotype. Results We identified a novel compound heterozygous missense mutation in WNT10A (c.637G>A:p.Gly213Ser and c.1070C>T:p.Thr357Ile) as the likely cause of autosomal recessive oligodontia in the child. Affected residues are located in conserved regions and variants are predicted to be highly deleterious for potentially destabilizing the protein fold and inhibiting normal protein function. Functional studies in zebrafish embryos showed that wnt10a is expressed in the craniofacies at critical time points for tooth development, and that perturbations of wnt10a expression impaired normal tooth development and arrested tooth development at 5 days postfertilization (dpf). Furthermore, mRNA expression levels of additional tooth development genes were directly correlated with wnt10a expression; expression of msx1, dlx2b, eda, and axin2 was decreased upon wnt10a knockdown, and increased upon wnt10a overexpression. Conclusions Our results reveal a novel compound heterozygous variant in WNT10A as pathogenic for oligodontia, and demonstrate that perturbations of wnt10a expression in zebrafish may directly and/or indirectly affect tooth development recapitulating the agenesis phenotype observed in humans.