cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Test-retest reliability and practice effects for the ANAM General Neuropsychological Screening battery.

AbstractObjective: As the use of computer-based neurocognitive assessment is rapidly expanding, the need to systematically study and document key psychometric properties of these measures has become increasingly more salient. To meet this aim, this study examined test–retest reliability and practice effects for the Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics General Neuropsychological Screening battery (ANAM GNS) in a sample of 94 community dwelling adults. Method: ANAM GNS was administered and then repeated (alternate form) after 30 days. Test–retest reliability, practice effects, and the standard error of measurement were calculated. Using these estimates, reliable change indices were calculated to determine degree of performance change needed to exceed chance and measurement error (with 90% confidence interval). Results: The test–retest reliability for the ANAM composite score was .91. Performance significantly improved upon retest, but the effect size was small consistent with minimal practice eff...
A unified materials approach to mitigating optical nonlinearities in optical fiber. I. Thermodynamics of optical scattering

Sustained progress in the development of optical fibers has led to the present state where further improvements in performance are limited by intrinsic optical nonlinearities. In order to circumvent such limitations, the user community has adopted two general approaches: (i) engineer the enabled systems accordingly; and/or (ii) microstructure the fiber to shift nonlinear thresholds to high optical power levels. In both cases, the nonlinearities are accepted as they are and performance is enhanced through added system or fiber design complexity. This paper, the first in a trilogy, along with two companion articles (in 3 parts) (Int J Appl Glass Sci. 2018 (not available); Int J Appl Glass Sci. 2018 (not available); Int J Appl Glass Sci. 2018 (not available)), treats a third option, which is to mitigate optical nonlinearities at their fundamental origin: the materials with which the light interacts. As will be shown, such a materials approach permits greater reductions to nonlinearities including, in some cases, their complete elimination, than do the two present methods. Simpler fiber geometries and ease of manufacturing are additional benefits of this unified materials approach.
PARTIALLY DECOUPLED EXPLOSION CAVITIES

The teleseismic amplitude resulting from an underground explosion is proportional to the asymptotic value of the reduced displacement potential (Ψ∞) or, in physical terms, to the permanent change in volume measured anywhere beyond the range at which the outgoing wave has become elastic. It is known that Ψ∞ decreases with increasing initial cavity size (r0) until the cavity is large enough to preclude inelastic behavior in the surrounding rock, at which point no further decrease occurs. Earlier calculations suggested that Ψ∞ was not a monotonic function of the initial energy density, implying that the seismic amplitude might actually decrease in certain cases by decreasing the initial cavity size. We have examined this question from an analytical point of view and have derived the seismic response for a simple elastic-plastic medium as r0 → 0. In this limit, an exact, power-law relationship is found between Ψ∞/W and r0W−1/3 where W is the yield. We have also identified some key parameters that control the process and discuss the significance of these results in connection with the accuracy obtainable with seismic monitoring methods.
Choice of coordinate system for left ventricular FE-mesh generation

Given the ellipsoid shape of the left ventricle (LV), prolate spheroidal coordinates are often adopted to construct a finite element (FE) -mesh of the left ventricle. However, a Cartesian reference frame is needed to define these coordinates. The aim of this study was therefore to examine whether the fitting of a FE-mesh to the LV-surfaces is influenced by the choice of cardiac cycle phase used to define the frame of reference. In 6 MRI datasets of pig hearts the LV borders were manually segmented at end-diastole (ED) and at end-systole (ES). Based on these segmentations, 3 reference systems were defined using the ED contours (EDRF), the ES contours (EDRF) and the average of the two (AVRF). In each reference system, FE-meshes of the LV-surfaces were fitted to the segmentation data of both the ES- and ED-phase. The root mean square Euclidean distance (RMSE) between the data points and their radial projections was assessed as a measure of the goodness of fit. The RMSE over the entire fitted surface was < 1 mm in all cases. The average RMSE between corresponding points on the meshes in the different reference frames was 0.06 mm. Comparison of the RMSE showed no significant difference between the three choices of reference frames. Based on these results, no preferred reference frame was found and the resulting meshes are independent of the frame chosen.
The Jittery Baby and Seizures

Seizure-like activity is common in the neonatal period. However, epilepsy (a group of neurological disorders characterized by epileptic seizures) makes up only a small fraction of these events. It is important for providers of newborn care to be aware of and recognize nonepileptic activity that resembles seizures in order to avoid unnecessary diagnostic tests and treatment. This chapter reviews the presentation and treatment, when indicated, of neonatal seizure-like events including secondary apnea, jitteriness, neonatal encephalopathy, benign neonatal sleep myoclonus, and neonatal abstinence syndrome.
Sensory: Please "Touch" the Art.

VISUAL ARTS have the potential to enrich both human experience and society by inviting individuals to engage in creative expression. Art exploration should be available to any individual, regardles...
The first species of Eutheia (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae) in Pakistan.

Eutheia Stephens, 1830 is distributed in Holarctic and Neotropical regions, with a majority of species known to occur in the Palaearctic. Recent studies focused on the Russian Far East, China, Taiwan and Japan yielded many new species (Hoshina 2007; Jaloszynski 2004, 2008a, 2008b, 2010a, 2010b, 2013; Kurbatov 1990, 1991). Central and South Asia are very poorly studied, as these areas include several countries whose geopolitical situation makes field studies difficult. Besides two Himalayan species of Eutheia discovered in Nepal (Franz 1974, 1985), the scydmaenine fauna of the vast area comprising Afghanistan, Pakistan and some of the former Soviet republics is very poorly known. Southern areas of this region (mostly India) are better studied, but as Eutheia prefers temperate climate and even in the Neotropics and in Taiwan can be found only in high mountains (Jaloszynski 2008b, 2011), it is not very likely to find this genus far south of the mountain arc formed by the Himalayas, Karakoram and Hindu Kush. Pakistan, with its potentially species-rich, forested sub-Himalayan region with a subtropical highland climate, is exceptionally poorly studied, with only four species of Scydmaeninae recorded: Scydmoraphes gartneri (Franz, 1979), Scydmoraphes hastipes Vit, 1999, Stenichnus fallax Vit, 1999 (all Glandulariini), Scydmaenus minangkabauensis C. Blattný, 1926 and Scydmaenus ravalpindii Franz, 1970 (Scydmaenini). However, some of these species remain problematic. The identity of Pakistani material of Sc. minangkabauensis remains unclear, as this species was described from Sumatra, and recorded from Vietnam, southern China, Java, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Pakistan (e.g., Franz 1982). Such a broad distribution seems unlikely, especially that many species of Scydmaenus share very uniform appearance and their aedeagi were often studied and illustrated by Franz just in any possible view, depending on how they solidified in euparal, without making any attempt to obtain repeatable preparations. Stenichnus fallax, in turn, is very likely a junior synonym of Stenichnus rothangensis (Franz, 1981), a species redescribed by Jaloszynski (2015) and known to occur in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, not far from the type locality of St. fallax.
Finite-population evolution with rare mutations in asymmetric games☆

Abstract We model evolution according to an asymmetric game as occurring in multiple finite populations, one for each role in the game, and study the effect of subjecting individuals to stochastic strategy mutations. We show that, when these mutations occur sufficiently infrequently, the dynamics over all population states simplify to an ergodic Markov chain over just the pure population states (where each population is monomorphic). This makes calculation of the stationary distribution computationally feasible. The transition probabilities of this embedded Markov chain involve fixation probabilities of mutants in single populations. The asymmetry of the underlying game leads to fixation probabilities that are derived from frequency-independent selection, in contrast to the analogous single-population symmetric-game case ( Fudenberg and Imhof, 2006 ). This frequency independence is useful in that it allows us to employ results from the population genetics literature to calculate the stationary distribution of the evolutionary process, giving sharper, and sometimes even analytic, results. We demonstrate the utility of this approach by applying it to a battle-of-the-sexes game, a Crawford–Sobel signalling game, and the beer-quiche game of Cho and Kreps (1987) .
A Fully Three-Dimensional Printed Inchworm-Inspired Soft Robot with Magnetic Actuation

In the field of robotics, researchers are aiming to develop soft or partially soft bodied robots that utilize the motion and control system of various living organisms in nature. These robots have the potential to be robust and versatile, even safer for human interaction compared to traditional rigid robots. Soft robots based on biomimetic principles are being designed for real life applications by paying attention to different shape, geometry, and actuation systems in these organisms that respond to surrounding environments and stimuli. Especially, caterpillars or inchworms have garnered attention due to their soft compliant structure and crawling locomotion system making them ideal for maneuvering in congested spaces as a transport function. Currently, there are two major challenges with design and fabrication of such soft robots: using an efficient actuation system and developing a simple manufacturing process. Different actuation systems have been explored, which include shape memory alloy based coils and hydraulic and pneumatic actuators. However, the intrinsic limitations due to overall size and control system of these actuators prevent their integration in flexibility, lightweight, and compact manner, limiting practical and untethered applications. In comparison, magnetic actuation demonstrates simple wireless noncontact control. In terms of manufacturing process, additive manufacturing has emerged as an effective tool for obtaining structural complexity with high resolution, accuracy, and desired geometry. This study proposes a fully three-dimensional (3D) printed, monolithic, and tetherless inchworm-inspired soft robot that uses magnetic actuation for linear locomotion and crawling. Its structure is multimaterial heterogeneous particle-polymer composite with locally programmed material compositions. This soft robot is directly printed in one piece from a 3D computer model, without any manual assembly or complex processing steps, and it can be controlled by an external wireless force. This article presents its design and manufacturing with the novel magnetic field assisted projection stereolithography technique. Analytical models and numerical simulations of the crawling locomotion of the soft robot are also presented and compared with the experimental results of the 3D printed prototype. The overall locomotion mechanism of the magnetically actuated soft robot is evaluated with friction tests and stride efficiency analysis.
Experimental verification and validation of nonlocal peridynamic approach for simulating guided Lamb wave propagation and damage interaction

In this article, experimental verification and validation of a peridynamics-based simulation technique, called peri-elastodynamics, are presented while simulating the guided Lamb wave propagation a...
[166-POS] : Urine levels of MMP2, MMP9, NGLA, and KIM-1 are significantly increased in women with severe preeclampsia

Objectives To determine if urine MMP levels were increased in women with PE. Urine levels of kidney injury biomarkers neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) and kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) were also determined. Methods Urine specimen were collected from 86 pregnant women (28 normotensive, 15 complicated with chronic hypertension, 11 mild PE, and 32 severe PE) at the time of recruitment before delivery and 6–8 weeks postpartum. Urine concentrations of MMP2, MMP9, metallopeptidase inhibitor 2 (TIMP2), NGAL, and KIM-1 were measured by ELISA. All samples were assayed in duplicate. Urine creatinine concentration was also determined. Data are expressed as mean ± SE ng/mg creatinine and analyzed by ANOVA with Newman–Keuls as the post hoc test. A probability level less than 0.05 was considered statistically different. Results Urine concentrations of MMP2, MMP9, NGAL, and KIM-1 were significantly higher in women with severe PE than in normotensive pregnancies, MMP2: 3.033±0.612 vs. 1.411 ± 0.219 ng/mg creatinine, p p p p Conclusions NGAL and KIM-1 are biomarkers used to evaluate risk of renal damage in kidney diseases. Podocyte shedding is significantly increased in severe PE. The findings of increased urine levels of MMP2 and MMP9 associated with increased NGAL and KIM-1 in women with severe PE suggest that increased renal matrix metallopeptidase production may contribute to the glomerular barrier injury and podocyte shedding in PE. NGAL and KIM-1 could also be used as biomarkers to evaluate kidney dysfunction in PE. Disclosures Y. Wang: None. Y. Gu: None. S. Loyd: None. L.J. Groome: None.
Novel method to stratify elderly patients with prostate cancer.

9532 Background: Standard prognostic methods do not optimally stratify patients according to the risk of cancer death relative to competing events. In contrast, competing event (CE) models (ref: PM...
Mechanistic Dissection of RNA-Binding Proteins in Regulated Gene Expression at Chromatin Levels

Eukaryotic genomes are known to prevalently transcribe diverse classes of RNAs, virtually all of which, including nascent RNAs from protein-coding genes, are now recognized to have regulatory functions in gene expression, suggesting that RNAs are both the products and the regulators of gene expression. Their functions must enlist specific RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) to execute their regulatory activities, and recent evidence suggests that nearly all biochemically defined chromatin regions in the human genome, whether defined for gene activation or silencing, have the involvement of specific RBPs. Interestingly, the boundary between RNA- and DNA-binding proteins is also melting, as many DNA-binding proteins traditionally studied in the context of transcription are able to bind RNAs, some of which may simultaneously bind both DNA and RNA to facilitate network interactions in three-dimensional (3D) genome. In this review, we focus on RBPs that function at chromatin levels, with particular emphasis on their mechanisms of action in regulated gene expression, which is intended to facilitate future functional and mechanistic dissection of chromatin-associated RBPs.
Heavy metal removal from industrial wastewater and runoff discharge using modified diatomite as filtration medium

The adsorption of copper and zinc ions onto the modified diatomite with sodium hydroxide and manganese oxide (Mn-DM) was studied in isotherm batch solutions. The analysis of Cu (II) and Zn (II) results showed the effect of contact time and adsorbent dosage on the adsorption process performed in solutions with individual and combined metal ions, allowing observations of the selectivity and preference of modified diatomite in capturing Cu (II) and Zn (II). The paper also analysed the effect of supplementing peat on the adsorption process, at various ratios to the modified diatomite, to obtain the optimised filter composition with highest adsorption efficiency. The obtained data was used to model the kinetics of the adsorption processes for both metal ions.
Evaluation of an intervention targeted with predictive analytics to prevent readmissions in an integrated health system: observational study.

Abstract Objectives To determine the associations between a care coordination intervention (the Transitions Program) targeted to patients after hospital discharge and 30 day readmission and mortality in a large, integrated healthcare system. Design Observational study. Setting 21 hospitals operated by Kaiser Permanente Northern California. Participants 1 539 285 eligible index hospital admissions corresponding to 739 040 unique patients from June 2010 to December 2018. 411 507 patients were discharged post-implementation of the Transitions Program; 80 424 (19.5%) of these patients were at medium or high predicted risk and were assigned to receive the intervention after discharge. Intervention Patients admitted to hospital were automatically assigned to be followed by the Transitions Program in the 30 days post-discharge if their predicted risk of 30 day readmission or mortality was greater than 25% on the basis of electronic health record data. Main outcome measures Non-elective hospital readmissions and all cause mortality in the 30 days after hospital discharge. Results Difference-in-differences estimates indicated that the intervention was associated with significantly reduced odds of 30 day non-elective readmission (adjusted odds ratio 0.91, 95% confidence interval 0.89 to 0.93; absolute risk reduction 95% confidence interval −2.5%, −3.1% to −2.0%) but not with the odds of 30 day post-discharge mortality (1.00, 0.95 to 1.04). Based on the regression discontinuity estimate, the association with readmission was of similar magnitude (absolute risk reduction −2.7%, −3.2% to −2.2%) among patients at medium risk near the risk threshold used for enrollment. However, the regression discontinuity estimate of the association with post-discharge mortality (−0.7% −1.4% to −0.0%) was significant and suggested benefit in this subgroup of patients. Conclusions In an integrated health system, the implementation of a comprehensive readmissions prevention intervention was associated with a reduction in 30 day readmission rates. Moreover, there was no association with 30 day post-discharge mortality, except among medium risk patients, where some evidence for benefit was found. Altogether, the study provides evidence to suggest the effectiveness of readmission prevention interventions in community settings, but further research might be required to confirm the findings beyond this setting.
Racial Disparities Affecting Postoperative Outcomes After Brain Tumor Resection

Objective To investigate racial disparities in 30-day postoperative outcomes of craniotomy for glioma resection. Methods 2006–2019 American College of Surgeons' National Surgical Quality Improvement Program files were queried for all patients who underwent a craniotomy for a supratentorial glioma resection. Racial disparities in preoperative variables were studied between the demographic cohorts of Asian, African Americans, Hispanics, and Caucasian. Fisher exact tests were used to examine association of preoperative variables with race. Multivariable logistic regression models, adjusted for all preoperative variables associated with race, were used to determine the odds ratios of postoperative outcomes for each demographic cohort in comparison with Caucasian patients. Results A total of 12,544 patients were identified: 4% Asian, 5% African American, 7% Hispanic, and 85% Caucasian. African American patients had significantly higher adjusted odds than Caucasian patients of major adverse cardiovascular events (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 1.827, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.155–2.891, P = 0.01), pulmonary events (aOR: 1.683, 95% CI: 1.145–2.473, P = 0.008), and urinary tract infection (aOR: 2.016, 95% CI: 1.221–3.327, P = 0.006). Asian patients had significantly higher odds than Caucasian patients of requiring a transfusion (aOR: 2.094, 95% CI: 1.343–3.266, P = 0.001). All demographic cohorts had higher odds of having an extended length of stay than Caucasian patients. Conclusions African American patients who undergo a craniotomy for glioma resection have almost twice the odds of Caucasian patients of having a postoperative major cardiovascular complication, pulmonary complication, or urinary tract infection. All minority groups have higher odds of an extended length of stay as compared with Caucasian patients.
Role of the Coordinating Committee on Energy

A Coordinating Committee on Energy (CCE) has been formed by the Presidents of major professional and technical Societies serving over 600,000 members. Its role is to enhance inter-Society cooperation within the profession, respond to policy issues affecting engineers, advise Societies of impending problems, and to communicate with the public. It seeks to improve the credibility of engineers with legislators, explain national policies to its membership, and to create a new ethic based on the careful husbanding of energy resources by combination of development and conservation. The CCE has organized a major program called the Energy Initiative with two major objectives: (1)Vehicle for unity within the profession, and (2)it will serve as a means for explaining the options to the general public. It has acted as a liaison group in the formation of the newly created Engineering Societies Commission on Energy (ESCOE) and has attempted to provide a balanced perspective on the trade-off between increased use of coal and the role of nuclear power.
The Impact of Strategy And Structure On The Organizational Performance of Restaurant Firms

There is an increased emphasis in the management literature on the use of strategic management as the primary means of adapting organizations to their changing environments. for firms in the maturi...
Blood coagulation in acute iron intoxication

Acute intestinal iron intoxication was produced in rabbits and the levels of serum were correlated with changes in blood coagulation. Acute intestinal iron intoxication resulted in a prolongation of the coagulation time or a complete absence of coagulation, thrombocytopenia, hypoprothrombinemia, and qualitative changes in the fibrinogen. Clot retraction was decreased to absent. The most marked defect occurred in fibrinogen. In the postiron period the fibrin clot was rust-colored, friable, and fragmented easily. The iron content of the fibrin was tremendous. The physiologic activity of the fibrinogen was decreased and coagulation prolonged. Fibrinolytic studies revealed no increase in the lysis of the fibrin. The decrease in the physiologic activity of the fibrinogen frequently produced a hemorrhagic level of prothrombin as measured by the one-stage method. The prothrombin as measured by the two-stage method, although decreased, was not in the hemorrhagic zone. Modification of the one-stage method, correlated with the prothrombin values as determined by the two-stage technic, revealed a defect in both prothrombin and fibrinogen.
Abstract 299: Inducible Depletion of TGF-ß1 Exerts Differential Regional Effects on AngII-Induced Aortic Aneurysms

Introduction and Objectives: Infusion of AngII into normolipidemic mice leads to uniform expansion of the ascending aorta and a low incidence of abdominal aortic aneurysms. Co-administration of the monoclonal antibody 1D11, which recognizes TGFβ 1, 2, and 3, leads to greatly increased incidences of aortic rupture in both the ascending and abdominal aorta. The purpose of this study was to determine the role of TGFβ1 in AngII-induced aortic diseases. To perform this study, TGFβ1 floxed mice were bred to express an inducible form of Cre under control of the ubiquitous promoter, chicken α- actin. Methods and Results: Experimental mice were produced by breeding male Cre-ERT2 to female TGF-β1 floxed mice. At 8 weeks of age, male and female non-Cre littermates (N=16 male, 21 female) and TGF-β1 x Cre-ERT2 (N=11 male, 22 female) mice were injected with tamoxifen (25-75 mg/kg, i.p.) daily for 5 consecutive days. After 3 weeks, serum TGF-β1 was measured by ELISA. Serum concentrations of TGF-β1 decreased significantl...
α1- Adrenoceptors in Small Blood Vessels

α1- Adrenoceptors in Small Blood Vessels The relative importance of the different α1-adrenoceptor subtypes in regulation of peripheral resistance and systemic arterial blood pressure is not clear, as the contribution of different subtypes to vasoconstriction varies with species and resistance vascular bed. A further factor which may influence the subtypes involved in vasoconstriction physiologically is the manner of receptor activation, i.e., whether by circulating catecholamine or by neurally-released noradrenaline. Previous studies on adrenoceptors have suggested a topological difference between postsynaptic α1-adrenoceptor subtypes and sympathetic nerves.
Lower vertebral-epidural spinal arteriovenous fistulas: a unique subtype of vertebrovertebral arteriovenous fistula, treatable with coil and Penumbra Occlusion Device embolization

A vertebral-epidural spinal arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is an abnormal arteriovenous shunt connecting the vertebral artery to the spinal epidural venous plexus, and may occur spontaneously or secondary to a variety of causes. These unique lesions are uncommon in adults and rarer still in children. Previous reports have grouped together a heterogeneous collection of such arteriovenous lesions, including arterial contributions from the upper and lower vertebral artery, with venous drainage into a variety of spinal and paraspinal collectors. Here, through two cases, we delineate a distinct entity, the lower vertebral-to-epidural AVF. The salient clinical and anatomic features are summarized and contextualized within the broader constellation of vertebrovertebral AVF, the utility of a transarterial intravenous/retrograde intra-arterial endovascular approach is highlighted, and a new use of the Penumbra Occlusion Device (Penumbra Inc) for this purpose is reported.
Evidential Constraints on Singular Thought

In this article, I argue that in typical cases of singular thought, a thinker stands in an evidential relation to the object of thought suitable for providing knowledge of the object's existence. Furthermore, a thinker may generate representations that purport to refer to particular objects in response to appropriate, though defeasible, evidence of the existence of such an object. I motivate these constraints by considering a number of examples introduced by Robin Jeshion in support of a view she calls ‘cognitivism’ (Jeshion, 2010b). Although I agree with Jeshion that acquaintance is not required for all cases of singular thought, I argue that her account doesn't go far enough in rejecting semantic instrumentalism, the view that we can generate singular thoughts arbitrarily, by manipulating the mechanisms of direct reference.
Antioxidant therapy of cobalt and vitamin E in hemosiderosis

The protective effects of cobalt and vitamin E in iron overloaded rats were investigated. Rats were divided into four groups: group 1 as control, group 2 received only iron; group 3 iron and cobalt, group 4 iron and vitamin E. All injections were given 3 times per week for 3 weeks. Biochemical and histopathologic studies were done on samples of blood and liver, spleen, and intestine. The results showed that the administration of iron with cobalt or vitamin E decreased lipid peroxidation and the levels of hypoxanthine in all tissues (P < .001). Tissue associated myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity was increased in all iron-overloaded animals. However, vitamin E and cobalt decreased MPO activity (P < .001) in all tissues with the exception of the intestines, where cobalt was ineffective. Cobalt therapy increased hemoglobin, hematocrit, and MCV (P < .05). In contrast to SGPT activity, SGOT activity was significantly increased in all groups but more so in group 3 animals. The increased activity of serum SGOT levels might be related to the mechanical injury by cardiac puncture. The most striking histopathologic finding was the presence of granulomas in the livers of 71% of the animals of group 2 and in 66.6% of group 3. Interestingly, granulomas developed in only 33.3% of group 4 animals, whereas no granulomas were found in the livers of control animals (group 1). In this article we report that cobalt is as effective as vitamin E in significantly reducing iron-induced biochemical changes in an iron-overload in vivo model. We further describe for the first time the presence of extensive granuloma formation in iron-overloaded liver tissue and the greater efficiency of vitamin E over cobalt in protecting against granuloma formation in iron overload.
The Cytoplasmic Tail of Rhodopsin Acts as a Novel Apical Sorting Signal in Polarized MDCK Cells

All basolateral sorting signals described to date reside in the cytoplasmic domain of proteins, whereas apical targeting motifs have been found to be lumenal. In this report, we demonstrate that wild-type rhodopsin is targeted to the apical plasma membrane via the TGN upon expression in polarized epithelial MDCK cells. Truncated rhodopsin with a deletion of 32 COOH-terminal residues shows a nonpolar steady-state distribution. Addition of the COOH-terminal 39 residues of rhodopsin redirects the basolateral membrane protein CD7 to the apical membrane. Fusion of rhodopsin9s cytoplasmic tail to a cytosolic protein glutathione S -transferase (GST) also targets this fusion protein (GST–Rho39Tr) to the apical membrane. The targeting of GST–Rho39Tr requires both the terminal 39 amino acids and the palmitoylation membrane anchor signal provided by the rhodopsin sequence. The apical transport of GST–Rho39Tr can be reversibly blocked at the Golgi complex by low temperature and can be altered by brefeldin A treatment. This indicates that the membrane-associated GST–Rho39Tr protein may be sorted along a yet unidentified pathway that is similar to the secretory pathway in polarized MDCK cells. We conclude that the COOH-terminal tail of rhodopsin contains a novel cytoplasmic apical sorting determinant. This finding further indicates that cytoplasmic sorting machinery may exist in MDCK cells for some apically targeted proteins, analogous to that described for basolaterally targeted proteins.
Cardiac Ion Channels

The analysis of the molecular basis of the inherited cardiac arrhythmias has been the driving force behind the identification of the ion channels that generate the action potential. The genes encoding all the major ion channels have cloned and sequenced. The studies have revealed greater complexity than heretofore imagined. Many ion channels function as part of macromolecular complexes in which many components are assembled at specific sites within the membrane. This review describes the generation of the normal cardiac action potential. The properties of the major ionic currents are the examined in detail. Special emphasis is placed on the functional consequences of arrhythmia-associated ion channel mutations. The review concludes with a glimpse of the directions in which this new electrophysiology may lead. The normal sequence and synchronous contraction of the atria and ventricles require the rapid activation of groups of cardiac cells. An activation mechanism must enable rapid changes in heart rate and also respond to the changes in autonomic tone. The propagating cardiac action potential fulfils these roles. Figure 1 illustrates the 5 phases of the normal action potential: 1. Phase 4, or the resting potential, is stable at ≈−90 mV in normal working myocardial cells. 2. Phase 0 is the phase of rapid depolarization. The membrane potential shifts into positive voltage range. This phase is central to rapid propagation of the cardiac impulse (conduction velocity, θ=1 m/s). 3. Phase 1 is a phase of rapid repolarization. This phase sets the potential for the next phase of the action potential. 4. Phase 2, a plateau phase, is the longest phase. It is unique among excitable cells and marks the phase of calcium entry into the cell. 5. Phase 3 is the phase of rapid repolarization that restores the membrane potential to its resting value.1 Figure 1. Membrane currents that generate the a normal …
Morphology of the transition to flowering in mustards

Abstract Members of the mustard family of flowering plants are predominately weedy annuals and short-lived perennials, and are often able to flower after a brief period of vegetative growth. Flowering within florally induced plants typically proceeds downward through the shoot(s) after first occurring at the primary meristem(s). Analyses of teratological flowering shoots — which commonly develop during the transition to flowering — indicate that flowering is not an all-or-nothing developmental step in mustards, and that both leaf and flower primordia are progressively specified.
Do More Hospital Beds Lead to Higher Hospitalization Rates? A Spatial Examination of Roemer’s Law

Background Roemer’s Law, a widely cited principle in health care policy, states that hospital beds that are built tend to be used. This simple but powerful expression has been invoked to justify Certificate of Need regulation of hospital beds in an effort to contain health care costs. Despite its influence, a surprisingly small body of empirical evidence supports its content. Furthermore, known geographic factors influencing health services use and the spatial structure of the relationship between hospital bed availability and hospitalization rates have not been sufficiently explored in past examinations of Roemer’s Law. We pose the question, “Accounting for space in health care access and use, is there an observable association between the availability of hospital beds and hospital utilization?”
Stair climbing elicits a lower cardiovascular demand than walking in claudication patients.

Purpose Peripheral arterial disease patients limited by claudication pain frequently have concomitant-cardiovascular problems during exercise, such as hypertension and myocardial ischemia. Thus, for testing and rehabilitation purposes, exercise which elicits lower heart rate and blood pressure at a given metabolic intensity would be preferred over a more demanding task. The purpose of this study was to compare the cardiovascular responses of claudication patients during walking and stair climbing at a similar level of oxygen uptake. Methods Ten patients limited by claudication pain performed treadmill walking and stair climbing tests. Results Oxygen uptake was similar (P > .05) during walking and stair climbing (13.7 vs. 13.5 mL/kg/min, respectively). The times to onset and to maximal claudication pain, as well as the peripheral hemodynamic measurements of ankle systolic pressure, ankle-to-brachial systolic pressure index, and foot transcutaneous oxygen tension were also similar between the two tests (P > .05). However, heart rate, systolic pressure, diastolic pressure, mean arterial pressure, and rate-pressure product values were lower during and following stair climbing than compared to walking (P Conclusion Stair climbing may offer an advantage over treadmill walking for claudication patients because similar metabolic, claudication, and peripheral hemodynamic measurements are obtained with concomitantly less demand placed on the cardiovascular system. The stair climbing test was well tolerated and safely performed by each patient.
Differential effects of science attitudes and science achievement in Australia, Cyprus, and the USA

The purpose of this study was to investigate the ‘locality’ of the relationship between attitudes towards science, self‐beliefs and science achievement for senior high school students in Australia, Cyprus and the USA. These relationships were examined with the use of the structural equation modeling software, AMOS. The data for this study were obtained from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study database. The results of this study demonstrated the differential effects that science achievement and science attitudes can have on each other, depending on the characteristics of the educational systems within each of country. Furthermore, these findings provide a number of directions for further research.
Image-Guided Sinus Surgery: Practical Considerations

The availability and use of image-guidance systems for sinus surgery will probably continue to increase in the years ahead. Surgeons who use this technology must do so with an appreciation of its potential benefits, as well as its possible pitfalls.
Scales of exception: Experiments with knowledge and sheer life in tropical Southeast Asia

New political spaces, I suggest, are generated by varied strategies that govern populations in and through multiple scales of exception. I identify biopolitical assemblages as a space of inquiry into the situated play of exceptions that territorializes different kinds of value. Scales of exception are produced when a neoliberal logic of economic growth articulates biopolitical problems of population security. Neoliberal and biopolitical decisions not only focus on accumulating values in space, but also anticipate the value of currently devalued spaces. By invoking exceptions, states alternately favour neoliberal or biopolitical values, thus investing spaces with different kinds of value. The interplay of biopolitical and neoliberal logics and the resulting configuration of scales of exception are well illustrated in Southeast Asia in an age of pandemics. In Singapore, a technomedical hub assembles networks for capturing knowledge capital and property rights, configuring an ecology of expertise. This is a site of scientific prowess in a region increasingly viewed as a space of ‘third world’ exception to global health norms. In Indonesia, health crises have prompted a logic of ethical sensibility to basic human survival whereby political leaders invoke bio-sovereignty, configuring a national scale of ethical exception that challenges the global power of biocapital and the World Health Organization over the supply of vaccines. In contrast to approaches that foreground spaces of capital accumulation, I attend to diverse logics that differently valorize scales of exception, thus giving visibility to situated mechanisms that animate and mutate political cartography.
Enhancement of light absorption efficiency of amorphous-silicon thin-film tandem solar cell due to multiple surface-plasmon-polariton waves in the near-infrared spectral regime

The reflectances of a thin-film solar cell were computed, using the rigorous coupled-wave approach, as functions of the angle of incidence and the free-space wavelength for illumination by linearly polarized plane waves. A tandem solar cell made of amorphous-silicon alloys was considered. The metallic back-reflector was taken to be periodically corrugated. Both the simple and the compound periodic corrugations of the metallic back-reflector (surface-relief gratings) were investigated. Low-reflectance bands in the reflectance spectrums were correlated with the solutions of the underlying canonical boundary-value problem to delineate the excitation of multiple surface-plasmon-polariton (SPP) waves. For the standard AM1.5 solar irradiance spectrum, we found that the light absorption efficiency in the near-infrared spectral regime can be increased up to 100% when multiple SPP waves of both linear polarization states are excited.
Visions, scale, tempo, and form in China’s emerging city-regions

Abstract In the last three decades the percentage of China’s population living in cities has nearly tripled and this massive urbanization is continuing. This paper examines three aspects of recent and projected Chinese urban development: scale, tempo, and form in relation to urban visions. Issues Western urban theorists like Ebenezer Howard, Albert Soria y Mata, Frank Lloyd Wright, LeCorbusier, and Clarence Perry addressed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries are fundamental: city size, the relationship of cities to peri-urban areas, the impact of the built environment on the natural environment, transportation infrastructure and land use, urban governance and finance, property rights, aesthetics, and community. As China struggles to plan cities with Chinese characteristics it must work at scales ranging from small towns to megacities, decide how rapidly to urbanize under enormous pressure, and determine the physical forms urbanization will take. Understanding and adapting Western visions can help.
Relationships between hepatic neoplasms and related lesions and exposure to toxic chemicals in marine fish from the U.S. West Coast.

English sole (Parophrys vetulus) inhabiting polluted waterways and embayments of Puget Sound, Washington, are affected with a variety of multiple, co-occurring idiopathic hepatic lesions, including unique degenerative conditions, putatively preneoplastic foci of cellular alteration, and neoplasms. Results of a statistical analysis of the patterns of co-occurrence of these lesions in wild English sole are consistent with the concept that these lesions represent morphologically identifiable steps forming a sequence of progression ultimately leading to the development of hepatic neoplasms. This progressive sequence parallels the pattern identified in experimental models of chemically induced hepatocarcinogenesis in rodents. The rationale for the hypothesis that these lesions in wild English sole can be caused by exposure to certain hepatoxic and hepatocarcinogenic xenobiotic compounds in the marine environment is based on the demonstration of significant and consistent statistical associations between levels of aromatic hydrocarbons (AHs) in sediment and prevalences of these idiopathic liver lesions; a significant contribution by sediment AHs to the variability in hepatic neoplasm prevalence in a logistic regression model; significantly increased probabilities for several idiopathic lesions in sole from chemically contaminated sites in Puget Sound; significant correlations between uptake of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, as measured by levels of fluorescent metabolites of aromatic compounds in bile of sole, and prevalences of several hepatic lesion types; and experimental induction of unique degenerative, proliferative, and putatively preneoplastic focal lesions in English sole injected with either benzo(a)pyrene or a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) enriched fraction of an extract from a contaminated urban sediment from Puget Sound.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Comparison of molecular dynamics and variational transition-state-theory calculations of the rate constant for H-atom association with the diamond {111} surface.

The quasiclassical trajectory method was used to study the dynamics and kinetics of H-atom association with a C-atom radical site on the diamond {111} surface. The calculations employed an analytic potential-energy surface derived previously [P. de Sainte Claire, P. Barbarat, and W. L. Hase, J. Chem. Phys. 101, 2476 (1994)] from high-level ab initio calculations. The trajectory rate constant calculated here of 1.7±0.3×1013 cm3 mol-1 s-1 for temperatures of 1000 and 2000 K is in excellent agreement with the one calculated previously on the same analytic potential-energy surface using canonical variational transition-state theory. For H atoms impinging perpendicularly and directly onto the C-atom radical site, the association probability is sensitive to the frequencies of the diamond lattice and the treatment of the lattice's zero-point energy. However, trajectories with this orientation make a negligible contribution to the thermal rate constant, which is found to be nearly insensitive to the lattice frequencies and zero-point energy. Trajectories, for which H atoms move toward the surface with a small angle relative to the surface plane and pass above the C-atom radical site before associating, make an important contribution to the association rate constant.
Behavior of a threatener: retaliation vs. fixed opportunity costs

Harsanyi (1962) has suggested that costs are usually incurred by the wielder of power in his attempts to enforce compliance in the social influence process. For example, should one country attempt to impose its will upon another country by an act of war, certain costs related to the loss of men and materials would be incurred. Harsanyi refers to these losses as opportunity costs. Opportunity costs constitute, in effect, the self-imposed price paid by source as a function of his own influence attempts; as such, these costs are fixed and relatively voluntary. On the other hand, if the target of the influence attempt possesses retaliatory power, additional costs may be imposed upon the source which are neither voluntarily incurred, nor certain of occurrence, from source's point of view. The behavior sequence when the target is recalcitrant in a unilateral threat situation is threat, noncompliance, and punishment; but in a bilateral threat situation the sequence is threat, noncompliance, punishment, and retaliation. The additional target behavior of retaliation in a bilateral threat situation should either exacerbate the conflict or deter the sending of threats and/or their enforcement, and thus provide opportunities for conciliatory behavior. In either case, the target possessing retaliatory capacity should be perceived as more potent than the target who does not possess such power. In a relevant study, Deutsch and Krauss (1960) had pairs of subjects play a bargaining game in which they were told that each was an operator of a trucking company and that operating costs would be assessed on the basis of the time taken to deliver goods to a fixed destination. Conflict between the subjects was generated from the layout of available delivery routes; the shortest and hence most profitable route was a one-lane road which only one subject might traverse at a time. Given the basic paradigm, three conditions of threat were employed by providing gates to one, both, or neither of the subjects, which could be lowered to prevent the other from reaching his destination. Thus the three conditions of no threat, unilateral threat, and bilateral threat were established. The ability of subjects to reach agreements, as reflected by the magnitude of their joint payoffs, was inversely related to the amount of threat present. The power of the adversary is not easily determinable by the threatener in the trucking game studies. There is the possibility, for instance, of retaliation by the subject not possessing gates; he can park his truck in the one-lane road and thereby prevent the use of the shorter route by the subject who possesses a gate. There was also the uncertainty of retaliatory actions and their associated costs in the bilateral threat condition. Thus the opportunity costs to the source of threats are