cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Hormonal, Metabolic, and Cellular Influences on Cardiovascular Disease in Women Trudy M. Forte, PhD. 365 pp. Armonk, NY: Futura Publishing Co Inc; 1997. $85.00. ISBN 0-87993-668-1.

A recent survey commissioned by the American Heart Association found that only 7% of all women identify heart disease as their greatest health threat, despite the fact that it is actually the leading cause of death in women. With increasing awareness in the medical as well as the lay community of the major role cardiovascular disease plays in morbidity and mortality of women, there has been mounting attention to gender differences in cardiovascular disease. It is striking that heart disease does not begin to appear in noticeable numbers in women until after menopause, a fact that stimulates discussion and investigation of the role of estrogen in warding off the ravages of atherosclerosis. This book is a comprehensive and scholarly discussion of the current state of knowledge of possible mechanisms for interaction between estrogen and cardiovascular disease in women. Although it has been known for some time that estrogen regulates lipoprotein binding and clearance by the liver with a favorable effect on the lipid …
Examination of Social Contact on Binegativity Among Lesbians and Gay Men

This study, which employed the use of cross-sectional intercept survey method research, explored the effects of social contact on measures of binegativity. Based upon previous research about social contact with stigmatized groups, the authors explored the impact of various types of social contact (e.g., dating, socializing, friendship, sex) on binegativity among lesbians and gay men. A convenience sample of 1,382 participants from two lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community events completed intercept surveys. Findings suggest that among gender and racial groups, different types of social contact predict binegativity. In all groups, except for lesbians of color, increased contact with bisexuals predicted higher levels of binegativity. These results are contrary to previous research on social contact with stigmatized groups, indicating the need for further research to fully understand binegativity among lesbians and gay men.
The effects of intermediate temperature irradiation on the mechanical behavior of 300-series austenitic stainless steels

Abstract Data in the literature on the microstructures and mechanical properties of solution annealed 300-series austenitic stainless steels irradiated under conditions relevant to the design of near term fusion reactors show consistent trends for a variety of alloys and environments. The yield stress increases rapidly approaching a saturation value of about 850 ±100 MPa, essentially identical to the ultimate stress. Visible irradiation-induced features, which are predominantly helium bubbles and dislocation loops, can account for only about 50 to 70% of these increases. The uniform elongation is reduced to less than 1% due to the decrease in strain hardening and severe flow localization following irradiation. The fracture toughness also decreases to values near or below 50 MPa m 1 2 . A simple critical strain model is shown to be qualitatively consistent with the observed toughness trends. These results suggest that more rigorous fracture models can be developed to permit quantitative predictions of toughness changes based on a variety of measurements made on small specimens.
Meta-analysis and review on the effect of bevacizumab in diabetic macular edema.

Systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the effect of bevacizumab (Avastin) in diabetic macular edema (DME) Pertinent publications were identified through systematic searches of PUBMED and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Change in central subfield macular thickness (CSMT) in μm and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) in log MAR equivalents were extracted at 6, 12 and 24 weeks, and results compared between groups receiving intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB), a combination of IVB and intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide (IVT), and macular laser photocoagulation or sham control groups. The summary mean difference indicated a statistically significant reduction in CSMT at 6 weeks when treated with bevacizumab compared to control. IVB treatment, however, lost significance at 12 weeks and 24 weeks. The summary mean difference in BCVA for IVB group compared to control reached significance only at 6 and 24 weeks. Combination therapy of IVB and IVT did not result in any significant reduction in CSMT or gain in vision compared to treatment with IVB alone at any point in time. Current data suggests that IVB is an effective short-term treatment for diabetic macular edema, and that its efficacy wanes after 6 weeks. More trials exploring the therapeutic role of intravitreal bevacizumab in DME need to be conducted to define the role of bevacizumab.
Joint Ventures and Family Labor Sized Farms

Family labor sized farmers are experimenting with joint ventures to improve their incomes and staying power. Joint ventures supplement but do not replace existing cooperatives. Joint ventures are defined and conditions for success are suggested. Research and educational activities, particularly for extension economists, are discussed.
Reduced channel dependence for speech recognition

Speech recognition systems tend to be sensitive to unimportant steady-state variation in speech spectra (i.e. those caused by varying the microphone or channel characteristics). There have been many attempts to solve this problem; however, these techniques are often computationally burdensome, especially for real-time implementation. Recently, Hermansy et al. [1] and Hirsch et al. [2] have suggested a simple technique that removes slow-moving linear channel variation with little adverse effect on speech recognition performance. In this paper we examine this technique, known as RASTA filtering, and evaluate its performance when applied to SRI's DECIPHER™ speech recognition system [3]. We show that RASTA filtering succeeds in reducing DECIPHER™'s dependence on the channel.
The semantic differential as a tool for measuring progress in therapy.

Progress through therapy can be evaluated by a factor analysis of responses to a semantic rating scale over occasions. Methodology is presented which offers a technique for measuring objectively a patient's progress under therapy.
Acute effects of estradiol and follicle-stimulating hormone on specific binding of human [125I]iodofollicle-stimulating hormone to rat ovarian granulosa cells in vivo and in vitro.

Twenty-four-day-old hypophysectomized and intact immature female rats were used to determine the time-dependent effects of estradiol on FSH stimulation of FSH receptor in granulosa cells. In hypophysectomized rats, a single 2 μg injection of human (h) FSH (LER-1577) given alone, concomitantly with, or 6 h after 1.5 mg estradiol caused a 50% increase in the available FSH receptor content in granulosa cells by 24 h. The same dose of hFSH given 12 or 24 h after estradiol caused a 300% increase in available FSH receptor by 24 h. To establish the accuracy of these in vitro FSH-binding assays, it was imperative to determine if the hFSH administered in vivo occupied binding sites and thereby masked increases in total available FSH receptor occurring within the first 24 h. Therefore, 20 × 106 cpm of 125I-labeled hFSH, equivalent to 250 ng hFSH LER-1577, was administered sc to estradiolpiimed hypophysectomized rats 1 h after an injection of saline or 2 μg hFSH. The amount of labeled hormone bound in vivo to 30,000...
Tracing the origins of Panamanian Congo speech: The pathways of regional variation

The Afro-descendents of Panama’s Caribbean coast maintain the tradition of the Negros Congos, a series of folkloric manifestations occurring during Carnival season, and including a special cryptolect based loosely on Spanish. According to oral tradition, Congo speech was devised among captive and maroon Africans in colonial Panama as a means of hiding their speech from their colonial masters. Widely felt — both by Congo participants and by outside observers — to consist only of deliberate deformations of Spanish words and semantic inversions, Congo speech in reality also contains numerous elements traceable to Afro-Hispanic communities in other former Spanish-American colonies. Data drawn from twenty-four Congo communities demonstrate systematic regional variation — phonetic and lexical — that verifies the status of Congo speech as a cryptolect undergoing natural language evolution. These data also contribute to the search for the geographical locus of the original Congo dialect.
BCL::Fold--de novo prediction of complex and large protein topologies by assembly of secondary structure elements.

Computational de novo protein structure prediction is limited to small proteins of simple topology. The present work explores an approach to extend beyond the current limitations through assembling protein topologies from idealized α-helices and β-strands. The algorithm performs a Monte Carlo Metropolis simulated annealing folding simulation. It optimizes a knowledge-based potential that analyzes radius of gyration, β-strand pairing, secondary structure element (SSE) packing, amino acid pair distance, amino acid environment, contact order, secondary structure prediction agreement and loop closure. Discontinuation of the protein chain favors sampling of non-local contacts and thereby creation of complex protein topologies. The folding simulation is accelerated through exclusion of flexible loop regions further reducing the size of the conformational search space. The algorithm is benchmarked on 66 proteins with lengths between 83 and 293 amino acids. For 61 out of these proteins, the best SSE-only models obtained have an RMSD100 below 8.0 A and recover more than 20% of the native contacts. The algorithm assembles protein topologies with up to 215 residues and a relative contact order of 0.46. The method is tailored to be used in conjunction with low-resolution or sparse experimental data sets which often provide restraints for regions of defined secondary structure.
Aftercare Service Development for Children in Residential Treatment

Increasingly, aftercare services for children returning home from residential treatment are recognized as vital to maintain a child's gains. However, to date, specific knowledge about effective aftercare services, as well as the actual delivery of such services continue to require development. This paper describes an empirically-based, concrete aftercare program that addresses these concerns.
Biomolecular Advances in Gastrointestinal Hormones

Gastrointestinal hormones are chemical messengers that regulate a broad range of physiologic functions. 1 Although primarily expressed within tissues of the gut, these peptide hormones are widely distributed throughout the body and act on multiple target tissues. 2 Furthermore, these regulatory peptides can exist in multiple molecular forms that may bind to multiple cell-surface receptors coupled to one of several possible signal transduction systems leading to diverse biologic responses. With such an expansive field to study, it is not surprising that gut endocrinologists have embraced the new techniques that are emerging from the revolution of molecular biology. Beginning with the first construction of a recombinant DNA molecule by Paul Berg in 1971, molecular biology has developed many new techniques 3 that have been rapidly adopted by gut endocrinologists to enable a more detailed understanding of gastrointestinal function. The merging of these two fields has led to a new area of research, molecular gut endocrinology, or the study of gut physiology and endocrinology at the level of individual molecules (ranging from polypeptide-surface receptors to small-molecule second messengers to DNA sequences). Gut cells are constantly bombarded by numerous hormones, and the tightly regulated physiologic status of each cell is becoming more clearly understood.
Brief, early treatment for ASD/PTSD following motor vehicle accidents

Early, brief interventions for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) secondary to motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) have historically been, with few exceptions, unsuccessful with single session or even very brief (3 to 6 sessions) interventions. In contrast, very intensive cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) applied over the first 6 to 8 weeks posttrauma has been found to be very effective in treating acute stress disorder. CBT has also been found to be very effective in treating chronic PTSD from MVAs in controlled studies. Drawing from that experience, a brief CBT therapy was given to 3 individuals who had developed ASD or subsyndromal ASD following an MVA. Results support that, for at least some individuals, a brief intervention may be effective. Benefits in terms of less time for therapist and MVA survivor, use of handouts, self-directed care, and telephone intervention were discussed. Although still in continuing development, this style of intervention appears to offer promise as an effective early treatment option for some individuals with PTSD. The need for larger scale, controlled studies is noted.
Effects of the energy of strong pulses of ionic current on micro-organisms in suspension.

IN a general survey of the lethal effects on micro-organisms of passing extremely strong but very brief pulses of current through solutions suspending them comparable attention has been given both to the biological effects and to the physical actions.
Analysis of r-7,t-8,9,c-10-tetrahydroxy-7,8,9,10-tetrahydrobenzo[a]pyrene in human urine: a biomarker for directly assessing carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure plus metabolic activation.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are believed to be causative agents for various types of cancers in humans. Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) is a prototypic carcinogenic PAH, which requires metabolic ac...
Identification of Lys-Pro-Gln as a novel cleavage site specificity of saliva-associated proteases.

The nonsterile environment of the oral cavity facilitates substantial proteolytic processing, not only of resident salivary proteins but also of dietary proteins. To gain insight into whole saliva enzymatic processes, the in vivo generated peptides in this oral fluid were subjected to nano-flow liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. The 182 peptides identified were predominantly derived from acidic and basic proline-rich proteins, statherin, and histatins. The proteolytic cleavages in the basic proline-rich proteins occurred preferentially after a Gln residue with predominant specificity for the tripeptide Xaa-Pro-Gln, where Xaa in the P3 position was mostly represented by Lys. Using the synthetic substrates Lys-Pro-Gln-pNA and Gly-Gly-Gln-pNA, the overall Km values were determined to be 97 ± 7.7 and 611 ± 28 μm, respectively, confirming glutamine endoprotease activity in whole saliva and the influence of the amino acids in positions P2 and P3 on protease recognition. The pH optimum of Lys-Pro-Gln-pNA hydrolysis was 7.0, and the activity was most effectively inhibited by antipain and 4-(2-aminoethyl) benzenesulfonyl fluoride, was metal ion-dependent, and not inhibited by cysteine protease inhibitors. A systematic evaluation of enzyme activities in various exocrine and nonexocrine contributors to whole saliva revealed that the glutamine endoprotease is derived from dental plaque and likely microbial in origin. The P1 site being occupied by a Gln residue is a nonarchetype with respect to known proteases and indicates the presence of novel glutamine-specific endoprotease(s) in oral fluid.
The angiotensin AT1 receptor antagonist CV-11974 regulates cerebral blood flow and brain angiotensin AT1 receptor expression.

We studied cerebral blood flow autoregulation by laser Doppler flowmetry, and expression of brain angiotensin II AT1 receptors by quantitative autoradiography, after administration of an angiotensin AT1 receptor antagonist, CV-11974 (Candesartan, 0.5 or 1.0 mg/kg.day) for two weeks via subcutaneously implanted osmotic pumps in adult normotensive Wistar Kyoto and spontaneously hypertensive male rats (SHR). In SHR, the autoregulation curve was shifted towards higher blood pressures, when compared with that of normotensive Wistar Kyoto rats. Administration of CV-11974 shifted the autoregulation curve toward lower blood pressures in both Wistar Kyoto and SHR, partially normalizing the autoregulation curve in SHR. CV-11974 treatment markedly decreased the expression of AT1 receptors in Wistar Kyoto rats, both in areas outside the blood brain barrier (subfornical organ, 95% decrease) and inside the blood brain barrier (nucleus of the tractus solitarius, 87% decrease, and paraventricular nucleus, 96% decrease). Our results demonstrate that blockade of AT1 receptors tends to normalize the shift to higher pressures in the autoregulation curve of genetically hypertensive rats, and has a profound modulatory role in brain angiotensin II AT1 receptors.
Beyond the Shadow of White Privilege?: The Socioeconomic Attainments of Second Generation South Asian Americans

Despite numerous studies of second generation minorities in recent years, South Asian Americans have been largely ignored. Using the most recent data available from the US Census Bureau, we investigate the socioeconomic attainments of second generation South Asian Americans. We find that their average levels of education, wages, and occupational attainment exceed those of non-Hispanic whites. Contrary to the “model minority myth” view, second generation South Asian Americans remain slightly advantaged relative to non-Hispanic whites in terms of labor market success net of age, education, and region of residence. These results are also inconsistent with discussions of white privilege that emphasize the socioeconomic disadvantages of minorities with darker skin tones. Our results suggest that theories of race relations should also incorporate South Asian Americans.
Obstructed ureterocele with milk of calcium

Milk of calcium is rare in the urinary tract. It is usually associated with stasis in pyelogenic cysts and infrequently with obstruction. This report describes radiographic and sonographic findings in a 15-year-old girl with milk of calcium in a simple ureterocele, ureter, and hydronephrotic kidney. Milk of calcium has not been previously reported in a ureterocele and is extremely rare in the pediatric age group.
RFID Privacy Issues in Healthcare: Exploring the Roles of Technologies and Regulations

AbstractWith the deployment and use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology in the healthcare domain, there are increasing privacy concerns regarding the technical designs of RFID systems vis-a-vis the requirements of the healthcare regulations. This paper reviews and analyzes the impact of privacy issues in the RFID adoption in the healthcare domain, and presents a conceptual framework for analyzing the relationship between technology and regulations in light of the Fair Information Practice (FIP) principles to ensure patients’ privacy. Our conceptual framework uses the FIP principles as a guideline to examine the design of Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) and analyze existing regulations to assess the compliance issues. The conceptual analyses show that current PETs fail to incorporate the FIP principles and thus organizations in the healthcare sector face complex challenges to comply with security and privacy standards and regulations. Using the groundwork laid down in this study, futu...
Evaluating the Role of Face-to-Face Residencies in Cross-National, Accessible Cyberlearning

This paper provides an analysis of the role face-to-face residencies play in online, cross-national, graduate degree programs. In 2011, taking a cyber learning approach, the IDPP developed the world's first fully online masters program in international and comparative disability policy, focused on students with disabilities in the ten countries of Southeast Asia. Using this online masters program as a case study, and incorporating pre-and post-residency survey data, the paper explores the impact of its face-to-face residency in building a sense of community, achieving learning outcomes, and highlight the role of culture and trust within the student cohort as a foundation for the online graduate learning experience. Finally, the paper discusses best practices in evaluating online graduate degree programs, emphasizing the importance of an evaluation committee and an iterative evaluation model. Using pioneering research on evaluating accessible cyber learning, it identifies what works in such settings as well as identifying future research needs.
Forecasting using automatic identification procedures: A comparative analysis

Abstract The goal of automatic forecasting procedures is to select models which are as accurate as those produced by competent modelers. A major step in this process is deciding upon the order of differencing. Two standard tests, based upon linear regression and autoregression respectively, are compared with a new procedure based upon the use of Walsh functions. All three are found to be effective in deciding upon the order of differencing required. Forecasts generated by automatic methods, without and with allowance for possible interventions, are then contrasted with those generated by experts. The goal of modeling competency is seen to be achieved by the proposed methods.
Integrating radio-to-router protocols into EMANE

In highly dynamic wireless environments, link metrics such as link quality, availability, and others have become increasingly important to enable smart multi-hop routing decisions. In recent years, a number of radio-to-router interface (R2RI) protocols such as Point-to-Point over Ethernet RFC5578, Dynamic Link Exchange Protocol (DLEP), and Radio-Router Control Protocol (R2CP) have emerged to address the need to have a common set of link metrics exposed from the radio to the router to enhance multi-hop routing decisions. In the past, testing R2RI required separate processes and proxies to convert layer 2 link metrics into R2RI standard formats. Although useful for allowing legacy radio systems to comply with R2RI formats, the proxy technique is difficult for building large-scale (100+ node) test environments with emulated radios and routers. In this paper, we describe modifications made to a popular open source link emulator, EMANE, to support emerging radio-to-router interface (R2RI) standards, DLEP and R2CP, on several EMANE MAC models including 802.11 and CommEffect. Additionally, a functional evaluation of the system is performed.1
First Astronomical Images Sharpened with Adaptive Optics using a Sodium Laser Guide Star

Adaptive optics with a sodium resonance laser guide star was used at the Multiple Mirror Telescope (MMT) in 1996 April to image the core of the globular cluster M13 (NGC 6205). A 23'' field was recorded in the Ks band with image resolution of 051, when the uncorrected resolution was 072. Global tilt, not sensed by the laser, was measured from the image motion of a star 35'' from the center of the field. Despite this separation, the star profiles do not vary significantly across the image. Many more stars fainter than Ks = 17.5 can be identified in the corrected image. The 05 imaging capability demonstrated here, though not reaching the performance of existing faster, higher order systems with natural star wave-front sensors, is significant because it can be generally realized for very faint objects under normal observing conditions. This characteristic will carry over to higher order laser-based systems, making them very powerful. Our current 05 resolution is much larger than the diffraction limit for the present MMT array (and its upcoming 6.5 m monolithic replacement) because discontinuities prevent the measurement of phase differences between the array elements. Furthermore, small-scale wave-front aberrations caused by atmospheric and static errors across individual mirrors were not corrected. But our system, by its simultaneous correction of differential slopes derived from the laser beacon and global tilt from the natural guide star, illuminates the principles and sources of error common to all future laser systems.
On the onset of convection in a water-saturated porous box: Effect of conducting walls

Abstract The critical Rayleigh number for the onset of convection in a water-saturated porous box, heated from below, has been determined by the Galerkin method and by an approximate analytical technique. The present problem differs from previous ones which have been published in that we consider the effect of conducting vertical boundaries on the critical number and on the cell pattern at the critical number. Moreover, we emphasize fault or fracture zone-like box geometries; that is, geometries in which one box dimension is much shorter than the other and much shorter than the height. The results indicate that for fault/fracture zone geometries, in which the long vertical walls are conducting and the short end walls are insulated, the critical Rayleigh number is roughly four orders of magnitude greater than the critical number for a horizontal porous slab. The flow at the onset of convection takes the form of a roll with its axis along the long horizontal dimension of the box. There is, however, little difference between the critical numbers for two and three dimensional cell patterns. These results indicate that convection may occur in naturally occurring faults and fracture zones in the earth's crust only if the permeability is of the order of Darcies. In natural systems, the Rayleigh number would probably not exceed the critical number greatly, and the flow may tend to be fully three dimensional.
A semi-automated remotely operated system for manipulation of radioactive gases

A remote and semi-automated system for hot cell processing of accelerator produced radioactive gases, such as123Xe,77Kr, and211Rn is described. Detailed construction plans and a listing of the mechanical and electronic components are provided.
Planar Liquid and Gas Visualization

Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence (PLIF) diagnostics based on the fluorescent intensity, lifetime, and/or quenching properties of organic molecules have been developed for a variety of applications: (1) Exciplex-Based Vapor/Liquid Visualization systems provide spectrally-separated emissions from the vapor and liquid phases and thus allow the separate visualization of the vapor and liquid phases of an evaporating fuel spray; (2) Exciplex Fluorescence Thermometry systems allow the measurement of liquid phase temperatures over the range 20–400 °C. Such systems have been used to measure the temperature of hydrocarbon droplets falling through heated nitrogen; (3) Streamlines by Oxygen Quenching, in combination with droplet-slicing-imaging, has allowed the visualization of internal circulation patterns within sub-millimeter droplets hydrocarbon droplets; and (4) Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging, a technique which uses two PLIF images, one obtained a few nanoseconds after the other, has been applied to the imaging of the fuel/oxygen equivalence ratio in isothermal methane jets and to the imaging of temperature in oxygen-free jets. This paper reviews the photophysical and diagnostic principles upon which the current systems are based and addresses their applications and limitations.
Effects of fuel reduction treatments on movement and habitat use of American toads in a southern Appalachian hardwood forest

Prescribed fire is a commonly used management technique for maintaining fire-adapted ecosystems, yet empirical data regarding its effects on amphibians are limited and contradictory. Anurans (frogs and toads) may be the amphibian taxa most negatively affected by fire due to their extensive use of the forest floor; however, short-term abundance studies suggest that terrestrial toads (e.g., Anaxyrus (Bufo) americ- anus) may benefit from fire-based ecosystem management. We used radio-telemetry to examine the effects of prescribed fire on movements, home range characteristics, mortality, and habitat selection of A. americanus in a southern Appalachian upland hardwood forest. We tracked 26 adult A. americanus between 27 January and 30 May 2012. Toads exhibited high non-breeding site fidelity and traveled 993.5 m (±265.9 m) mean (±SD) route distance between the breeding ponds and the last recorded loca- tion within their summer habitat. We found no evidence of direct mortality of A. americanus from a pre- scribed fire that occurred on 13 February 2012. Forward stepwise discriminant analysis (DA) revealed that the availability of coarse woody debris (CWD) was a significant discriminator between microhabitats used (i.e., location plots) and random plots (Wilk's lambda = 0.9852, F1, 661 = 9.9414, p = 0.002). Forward stepwise DA revealed that burned and unburned location plots were significantly different (Wilk's lambda = 0.2713, F1, 221 = 593.6863, p < 0.001) based on the percent of plot ground cover comprised of charred material (%char). When %char was excluded from the analysis due to its short-term nature, the percent of plot ground cover comprised of deciduous leaves, a cover item commonly used by toads in unburned locations, was the variable with the most discriminatory power (Wilk's lambda = 0.4243, F1, 221 = 299.8741, p < 0.001). Toads maintained greater distances from CWD in the unburned (mean ± SD = 119.50 ± 109.64 cm) than in the burned locations (mean ± SD = 86.05 ± 104.81 cm; v 2 1 ¼ 9:7055, p = 0.002). Our results indicate that prescribed fire as implemented in this study did not cause direct mortality, nor did it appear to inhibit migratory movements of adult A. americanus. However, fire reduced the diversity and availability of refugia, especially deciduous leaves, though the availability of alternative cover objects (e.g., CWD) in burned treatments allowed toads to inhabit those areas, sug- gesting the importance of noncombustible or semi-permanent refugia for A. americanus in fire-managed forests.
Primary hepatic gastrointestinal stromal tumor

Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GISTs) are non-epithelial mesenchymal tumors that usually occur in the GI tract. Included in this group are leiomyosarcomas and leiomyomas. Furthermore, CD117 (transmembrane receptor) is the best defining feature of GISTs. CD117 is continually bound which activates a tyrosine kinase and leads to tumorigenesis. In addition, this receptor is also expressed by the interstitial cells of Cajal. Although the GI tract is the most common location, there have also been reports of GISTs originating in the omentum and peritoneum. This case is of a 60 year-old white male who presented with weight loss and abdominal pain. Eventual work-up revealed a hepatic mass encompassing much of the right lobe of the liver. Biopsy revealed spindle elements in a fibrous stroma which stained positive for CD117. Furthermore, EGD, colonoscopy, small bowel enteroclysis, and bone scan were normal. The patient was started on Gleevec (tyrosine kinase inhibitor), but after three months developed pulmonary lesions/malignant pleural effusions and ultimately died of cardiorespiratory failure. As mentioned before, although GISTs have been reported to originate in the omentum and peritoneum, this is the first reported case of a primary hepatic GIST. This novel location emphasizes the current understanding regarding the origin of these tumors. Specifically, these tumors might comprise of a heterogenous group in respect to the cell of origin, cellular differentiation, and prognosis. In addition, GISTs may arise from the pluripotent stem cell which gives rise to the interstial cells of Cajal. This is based on the fact that both cells express CD117. The only approved treatment for non-resectable GIST is Gleevec (Imatinib mesylate) which is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor. Although initial studies show some promise, the long term outcomes are currently being studied.
Therapy after single oral agent failure: adding a second oral agent or an insulin mixture?

Abstract Aim: to compare the glycemic response to an insulin lispro mixture (25% insulin lispro and 75% NPL) twice daily plus metformin (Mix25+M) with glibenclamide plus metformin (G+M), in patients with type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled with a single oral agent. Methods: 597 patients treated in a randomized, open-label, 16-week parallel study. Variables evaluated: hemoglobin A1C (A1C) , patient symptoms, hypoglycemia rate (episodes/patient/30 days), and incidence (% patients experiencing ≥1 episode). For a subset of patients ( N =120), fasting, 1-h, and 2-h postprandial plasma glucose (FPG, 1-h ppPG, 2-h ppPG) in response to a standardized test meal (STM) and self-monitored blood glucose (BG) profiles were measured. Results: improved A1C at endpoint for both groups, and A1C changes from baseline to endpoint were not significantly different between treatments (Mix25+M, −1.87±1.35% vs. G+M, −1.98±1.28%; p =0.288). Among patients completing STM; endpoint 2-h ppPG was significantly lower with Mix25+M (9.05±3.32 mmol/l vs. 12.31±3.65 mmol/l; p ex )(0.38±3.23 mmol/l vs. 2.88±1.98 mmol/l; p p p p =0.007). Patients reported less polyuria with Mix25+M ( p Conclusion: in patients with type 2 diabetes failing on metformin or a sulfonylurea, Mix25+M provided similar overall glycemic control, lower ppPG, reduced nocturnal hypoglycemia, and fewer hyperglycemic symptoms compared to G+M.
A theory of income taxation where politicians focus upon core and swing voters

We construct an equilibrium model of party competition, in which parties are especially concerned with their core and swing voters, concerns which political scientists have focused upon in their attempts to understand party behavior in general elections. Parties compete on an inifinite-dimensional space of possible income-tax policies. A policy is a function that maps pre-fisc income into post-fisc income. Only a fraction of each voter type will vote for each party, perhaps because of issues not modeled here or voter misperceptions of policies. Each party’s policy makers comprise two factions, one concerned with maximizing the welfare of its constituency, or its core, and the other with winning over swing voters. An equilibrium is a pair of parties (endogenously determined), and a pair of policies, one for each party, in which no deviation to another policy will be assented to both its core and swing factions. We characterize the equilibria: they have the property that both parties propose identical treatment of a possibly large interval of middle-income voters, while the “left” party gives more to the poor and the “right” party more to the rich. An empirical section uses the data of Piketty and Saez on taxation in the US to assess the model’s predictions. We argue that the model is roughly confirmed.
Bayesian Calibration of the Community Land Model Using Surrogates

We present results from the Bayesian calibration of hydrological parameters of the Community Land Model (CLM), which is often used in climate simulations and Earth system models. A statistical inverse problem is formulated for three hydrological parameters, conditioned on observations of latent heat surface fluxes over 48 months. Our calibration method uses polynomial and Gaussian process surrogates of the CLM and solves the parameter estimation problem using a Markov chain Monte Carlo sampler. Posterior probability densities for the parameters are developed for two sites with different soil and vegetation covers. Our method also allows us to examine the structural error in the CLM under two error models. We find that accurate surrogate models could be created for the CLM in three out of the four cases we investigated. The posterior distributions lead to better prediction than the default parameter values in CLM. Climatologically averaging the observations does not modify the parameters' distributions sig...
Trace metal contamination initiates the apparent auto-aggregation, amyloidosis, and oligomerization of Alzheimer’s Aβ peptides

Nucleation-dependent protein aggregation (“seeding”) and amyloid fibril-free formation of soluble SDS-resistant oligomers (“oligomerization”) by hydrophobic interaction is an in vitro model thought to propagate β-amyloid (Aβ) deposition, accumulation, and incur neurotoxicity and synaptotoxicity in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and other amyloid-associated neurodegenerative diseases. However, Aβ is a high-affinity metalloprotein that aggregates in the presence of biometals (zinc, copper, and iron), and neocortical Aβ deposition is abolished by genetic ablation of synaptic zinc in transgenic mice. We now present in vitro evidence that trace (≤0.8 µM) levels of zinc, copper, and iron, present as common contaminants of laboratory buffers and culture media, are the actual initiators of the classic Aβ1–42-mediated seeding process and Aβ oligomerization. Replicating the experimental conditions of earlier workers, we found that the in vitro precipitation and amyloidosis of Aβ1–40 (20 µM) initiated by Aβ1–42 (2 µM) were abolished by chelation of trace metal contaminants. Further, metal chelation attenuated formation of soluble Aβ oligomers from a cell-free culture medium. These data suggest that protein self-assembly and oligomerization are not spontaneous in this system as previously thought, and that there may be an obligatory role for metal ions in initiating Aβ amyloidosis and oligomerization.
Conceptualization and treatment of rage in self psychology

This article presents a self-psychological understanding and treatment of anger. Angry reactions are based on various types of injury to self-esteem, and on disappointments in those one holds in special esteem—such as early caretakers and later important others. When these injuries and disappointments are massive—traumatic—the ensuing angry reaction is especially intense and often destructive. Treatment addresses the patient's vulnerability, the soil on which all these forms of anger arise, through an empathic entry into the subjective inner world of the angry or enraged individual rather than through direct confrontations. Empathic entry leads the therapist to the sources of anger, often precipitated by inadvertent, unempathic responses in the therapeutic encounter. Accepting nonjudgmentally, understanding uncritically, and explaining patiently the meaning and origin of the anger may lead to the amelioration of the vulnerability that gives rise to the anger. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Psychol 55: 283–293, 1999.
Lattice-Based Volumetric Global Illumination

We describe a novel volumetric global illumination framework based on the face-centered cubic (FCC) lattice. An FCC lattice has important advantages over a Cartesian lattice. It has higher packing density in the frequency domain, which translates to better sampling efficiency. Furthermore, it has the maximal possible kissing number (equivalent to the number of nearest neighbors of each site), which provides optimal 3D angular discretization among all lattices. We employ a new two-pass (illumination and rendering) global illumination scheme on an FCC lattice. This scheme exploits the angular discretization to greatly simplify the computation in multiple scattering and to minimize illumination information storage. The GPU has been utilized to further accelerate the rendering stage. We demonstrate our new framework with participating media and volume rendering with multiple scattering, where both are significantly faster than traditional techniques with comparable quality.
Modulating G-Protein Coupled Receptor/G-Protein Signal Transduction by Small Molecules Suggested by Virtual Screening

Modulation of interactions between activated GPCRs (G-protein coupled receptors) and the intracellular (IC) signal transducers, heterotrimeric G-proteins, is an attractive, yet essentially unexplored, paradigm for treatment of certain diseases. Regulating downstream signaling for treatment of congenital diseases due to constitutively active GPCRs, as well as tumors where GPCRs are often overexpressed, requires the development of new methodologies. Modeling, experimental data, docking, scoring, and experimental testing (MEDSET) was developed to discover inhibitors that target the IC loops of activated GPCRs. As proof-of-concept, MEDSET developed and utilized a model of the interface between photoactivated rhodopsin (R*) and transducin (Gt), its G-protein. A National Cancer Institute (NCI) compound library was screened to identify compounds that bound at the interface between R* and its G-protein. High-scoring compounds from this virtual screen were obtained and tested experimentally for their ability to st...
Multiple view image denoising

We present a novel multi-view denoising algorithm. Our algorithm takes noisy images taken from different viewpoints as input and groups similar patches in the input images using depth estimation. We model intensity-dependent noise in low-light conditions and use the principal component analysis and tensor analysis to remove such noise. The dimensionalities for both PCA and tensor analysis are automatically computed in a way that is adaptive to the complexity of image structures in the patches. Our method is based on a probabilistic formulation that marginalizes depth maps as hidden variables and therefore does not require perfect depth estimation. We validate our algorithm on both synthetic and real images with different content. Our algorithm compares favorably against several state-of-the-art denoising algorithms.
Interaction of HK and LK Goat Red Blood Cells with Ouabain

The characteristics of the interaction of Na-K pumps of high potassium (HK) and low potassium (LK) goat red blood cells with ouabain have been determined. The rate of inhibition by ouabain of the pump of HK cells is greater than the rate of inhibition of the pumps of LK cells. Treatment of LK cells with an antibody (anti-L) raised in HK sheep by injecting LK sheep red cells increases the rate of inhibition of the LK pumps by ouabain to that characteristic of HK pumps; reduction of intracellular K (Kc) in LK cells increases the rate at which ouabain inhibits their pumps and exposure of these low Kc cells to anti-L does not affect the rate of inhibition. There is considerable heterogeneity in the pumps of both HK and LK cells in the rate at which they interact with ouabain or the rate at which they pump or both. LK pumps which are sensitive to stimulation by anti-L bind ouabain less rapidly than the remainder of the LK pumps and exposure to antibody increases the rate at which ouabain binds to the sensitive pumps; the difference between the two types of pumps disappears if intracellular K is very low. The calculated number of ouabain molecules bound at 100% inhibition of the pump is about the same for HK and LK cells. Although exposure to anti-L increases the apparent number of ouabain binding sites in LK cells at normal Kc, it does not alter the apparent number of sites in LK cells when Kc has been reduced.
MEN OF THE WORLD: DIASPORIC MASCULINITIES IN TRANSIT(ION) IN MAXIM D. SHRAYER’S WAITING FOR AMERICA: A STORY OF EMIGRATION

Maxim D. Shrayerfs memoir centers on his familyfs sojourn in an Italian town of Ladispoli, where emigrants awaited admission into the United States in the 1970s and 1980s. As I will demonstrate, using contemporary scholarship located at the intersection of diaspora and gender studies, this species of narrative delayed gratification is central to the memoirfs representation of gender and sexuality. Ladispoli is a gdiaspora within diaspora,h a geographic, legal, and sexual grey zone, which both destabilizes the queer diaspora/heteronormative nation binary and allows non]normative sexualities and masculinities to flourish, only later to be (almost) subsumed by the marriage plot that habitually underlies the theme of national belonging.
Phase field calculus, curvature-dependent energies, and vesicle membranes

Lipid bilayer vesicles are membranes formed spontaneously in aqueous environments under suitable conditions. They have been extensively studied in literature as a simple model of cell membranes. In this work, we discuss some recent developments in the phase field modeling and simulations of vesicles. We describe how the equilibrium and dynamic properties of the vesicles can be effectively described by the phase field calculus which is a natural translation of the energy variations with respect to the vesicle geometry to the variations of the corresponding diffuse interfacial energy with respect to the phase field functions. We also illustrate how phase field techniques can be generalized to model a multi-component vesicle, a vesicle interacting with a surrounding fluid and the adhesion of a vesicle to a substrate.
Continuous Aortic Flow Augmentation Not Enough MOMENTUM

The study by Greenberg et al1 published in this issue of Circulation details the results of the randomized clinical trial known as the Multicenter trial of the Orqis Medical Cancion system for the ENhanced Treatment of heart failure Unresponsive to Medical therapy (MOMENTUM). The Orqis device is a new entry into the field of temporary mechanical circulatory support for severe heart failure. The authors point to the growing number of patients with this condition and the very high in-hospital and short-term mortalities that are typically associated with conventional medical or surgical therapy. Thus, new simple methods of providing temporary circulatory support to allow identification of individuals with reversible dysfunction to improve, while adequately supporting the circulation to prevent multiorgan failure and the high likelihood of death in those without improvement in cardiac function, would be a significant advance in management of this population. Article p 1241 Conducting clinical trials on patients who are this ill with very advanced heart failure is, understandably, very difficult, owing to the presence of multiple comorbidities with adverse events that are, potentially, not a direct result of the therapy being evaluated. The cohort of 168 patients enrolled in the MOMENTUM trial1 were typical of this population, with low blood pressure and cardiac output as well as impaired renal function despite intravenous inotrope and/or vasodilator therapy. The trial randomized patients to optimal medical therapy with or without addition of the continuous aortic flow augmentation device. The primary composite end point was a reduction in pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) and days alive out of hospital at 35 days post support. A modest goal of the study was that the device could provide an …
Wind turbine modeling overview for control engineers

Accurate modeling of wind turbine systems is of paramount importance for controls engineers seeking to reduce loads and optimize energy capture of operating turbines in the field. When designing control systems, engineers often employ a series of models developed in the different disciplines of wind energy. The limitations and coupling of each of these models is explained to highlight how these models might influence control system design.
IBM RISC chip design methodology

An overview is given of the chip design methodology of the IBM Austin, Texas Advanced Workstation Division. The primary components of this methodology are a high-level language (DSL); a common database (CDB); synthesis, simulation, and floor planning tools; and custom-built circuit elements. The methodology and tools support a top-down design that begins with a high-level logic specification. The hierarchical nature of the methodology permeates all aspects of the design environment, beginning with logic entry, proceeding through physical implementation, and terminating with checking. New additions to the methodology include a high-level language, a synthesis tool, a hardware simulator, a third metal layer for better IO handling, a new min-cut placement program, and an RC estimator/calculator. >