cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Identification of Amino Acids Contributing to High and Low Affinity d-Tubocurarine Sites in the TorpedoNicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor

Abstract d-Tubocurarine (dTC) is a potent competitive antagonist of the Torpedo nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) that binds non-equivalently to the two agonist sites (K d values of 30 nm and 8 μm). When nAChR-rich membranes equilibrated with [3H]dTC are irradiated with 254 nm UV light, [3H]dTC is covalently incorporated into the α-, γ-, and δ-subunits in a concentration-dependent and agonist-inhibitable manner, consistent with the localization of the high and low affinity dTC binding sites at the α-γ- and α-δ-subunit interfaces, respectively (Pedersen, S. E. and Cohen, J. B. (1990) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A.87, 2785–2789). We report on the amino acids within α-, γ-, and δ-subunits that are the sites of specific photoincorporation of [3H]dTC. Subunits isolated from nAChR-rich membranes photolabeled with [3H]dTC were subjected to enzymatic digestion, and peptides containing 3H were isolated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and/or reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography. Isolated peptides were then subjected to NH2-terminal sequence analysis to identify specifically labeled residues. Within the α-subunit, 95% of specific incorporation was contained within a 20-kDa proteolytic fragment beginning at Ser-173, with αTyr-190 the primary site of [3H]dTC photoincorporation and αCys-192 and αTyr-198 labeled at lower efficiency. Within γ- and δ-subunits, specific labeling was contained within proteolytic fragments of 14 and 21 kDa, respectively, beginning at γAla-49 and δThr-51. γTrp-55 and δTrp-57 were identified as the sites of specific [3H]dTC photoincorporation. Sequence alignment studies reveal γTrp-55 and δTrp-57 to be homologous residues at whose position in receptor subunit primary structure a unique pattern of conservation exists in all nAChR (neuronal and muscle). Specifically, all subunits that associate with an α-subunit to form an agonist site contain a tryptophan homologous to γTrp-55/δTrp-57. This pattern of conservation may indicate a functional significance for tryptophan at that location in all nAChR agonist sites.
The Urban Plume as Seen at 80 and 120 km by Five Different Sensors

Abstract The records from pollutant sensors abroad two aircraft are compared. The aircraft flew along arcs of either 80 or 120 km radius from the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. One aircraft contained a light-scattering instrument which determined the concentrations of particles with radii between 0.15 and 0.30 μm and between 0.30 and 1.3 μm. The other airplane contained an integrating nephelometer, a condensation nucleus counter, and an ozone monitor. It appears that neither the concentration of the condensation nuclei nor the ozone concentration are as reliable indicators of the location of the St. Louis plume at these distances as are data from the light-scattering particle counter or the nephelometer.
Optical Constants of Metals in the Extreme Ultraviolet. II. Optical Constants of Aluminum, Magnesium, and Indium at Wavelengths Shorter than Their Critical Wavelengths*

Measurements of the index of refraction of Al, Mg, and In as a function of wavelength have been made from 300 A to their critical wavelengths. The measurements, made on films evaporated onto glass substrates, were obtained by using a “critical-angle” technique. It was found that the index of refraction of Al and Mg in this wavelength range can be described to a good approximation by the free-electron theory of Drude, while that of In cannot. The extinction coefficient was calculated for Al and Mg on the basis of the free-electron theory and, in the case of Al, compared with measured values. The optical properties of Al over a wavelength range from 300 to 6000 A are discussed and compared with results predicted by the free-electron theory.
Autonomous Computer Controlled Ice Drill Perfomance Tests

A series of tests of the Advanced Development Model (ADM) thermal ice drill, were conducted at the U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, New Hampshire, during August of 1982, as part of the Arctic Air Deployed Oceanographic Mooring (ADOM) project. The drill is part of an autonomous system intended to facilitate the collection of oceanographic data in inaccessible regions of the Arctic. This paper describes the drill operation and test results.
The Nordstrom-Robinson code: representation over GF(4) and efficient decoding

We show that the Nordstrom-Robinson (1968) code may be represented as the union of binary images of two isomorphic linear (4,2,3) codes over GF(4). Certain symmetries of the unique quaternary (4,2,3) quadracode are discussed. It is shown how the properties of the Nordstrom-Robinson code itself, such as weight distribution, distance invariance, and the well-known representation as the union of eight cosets of the (16,5,8) Reed-Muller code, may be easily rederived from these symmetries. In addition we introduce a decoding algorithm for the Nordstrom-Robinson code which involves projecting its codewords onto the codewords of the quadracode. The algorithm is simple enough to enable hard-decision decoding of the Nordstrom-Robinson code by hand. Furthermore we present an algorithm for maximum-likelihood soft-decision decoding of the Nordstrom-Robinson code based on its representation over GF(4). The complexity of the proposed algorithm is at most 205 real operations. This is, to the best of our knowledge, less than the complexity of any existing decoder, and twice as efficient as the fast maximum-likelihood decoder of Adoul (1987). We also investigate several related topics, such as bounded-distance decoding, sphere-packings, and the (20,2048,6) code. >
Concordance in Self and Ascribed Ethnic Labels Among Asian American Adolescents

The process of identity formation can involve interactions between an individual’s self-views and the views that are imposed by others. Focusing on an understudied sample of Asian American adolescents residing in emerging immigrant communities (N 133; 58% female; 22% first generation), the goal of this study was to determine whether the ethnic labels that adolescents choose for themselves converge with the ethnic labels that are ascribed to them from their European American, Asian, and non-Asian ethnic minority peers. Although the concordance of self/ascribed ethnic labeling was modest at best (ranging from 22–36% depending on the relationship), labeling discrepancies were generally not maladaptive for adolescents’ adjustment, either concurrently or over time. One exception was that adolescents who chose a heritage label, but reported that their European American peers would likely ascribe a different heritage label or nonheritage label, tended to also report low quality relationships with European Americans. While modest concordance between self and ascribed ethnic labeling may theoretically provide challenges to identity development, youth appear largely able to take such discrepancies in stride.
Hierarchical image segmentation using a watershed scale-space tree

The watershed transformation is a useful morphological segmentation tool which has been used in a variety of grey-scale image processing applications. However, a major problem with the watershed transformation is that it produces a severe over-segmentation due to the great number of minima embedded in the image or its gradient, and therefore it is rarely applied directly to images. In this paper we discuss modifications to the basic watershed transformation that enable watershed scale trees to be produced and we illustrate the approach with some example segmentations taken from a medical image processing application. The mapping between image and scale tree allows the user to overcome the over-segmentation by either setting a global threshold or interactively editing the tree description of the image.
CARPO: Correlation-aware power optimization in data center networks

Power optimization has become a key challenge in the design of large-scale enterprise data centers. Existing research efforts focus mainly on computer servers to lower their energy consumption, while only few studies have tried to address the energy consumption of data center networks (DCNs), which can account for 20% of the total energy consumption of a data center. In this paper, we propose CARPO, a correlation-aware power optimization algorithm that dynamically consolidates traffic flows onto a small set of links and switches in a DCN and then shuts down unused network devices for energy savings. In sharp contrast to existing work, CARPO is designed based on a key observation from the analysis of real DCN traces that the bandwidth demands of different flows do not peak at exactly the same time. As a result, if the correlations among flows are considered in consolidation, more energy savings can be achieved. In addition, CARPO integrates traffic consolidation with link rate adaptation for maximized energy savings. We implement CARPO on a hardware testbed composed of 10 virtual switches configured with a production 48-port OpenFlow switch and 8 servers. Our empirical results with Wikipedia traces demonstrate that CARPO can save up to 46% of network energy for a DCN, while having only negligible delay increases. CARPO also outperforms two state-of-the-art baselines by 19.6% and 95% on energy savings, respectively. Our simulation results with 61 flows also show the superior energy efficiency of CARPO over the baselines.
Link Error Control and Network Route Selection

Military networks must deliver messages during periods of high noise. On a link basis, character reliability can be increased using decision feedback for error control. Two specific decision feedback schemes are described in detail. The improved reliabilities and the reduced capacities for information transfer are computed. A method is then given for determining the optimal message route between each origin and destination-that is, the route whose capacity is maximum such that the route character reliability is adequate. Using a typical military network as an example, and typical jamming noise, optimal routes are determined from a station to each of six stations. The routes thus chosen are compared with routes chosen by another criterion.
Multidimensional adaptive sampling and reconstruction for ray tracing

We present a new adaptive sampling strategy for ray tracing. Our technique is specifically designed to handle multidimensional sample domains, and it is well suited for efficiently generating images with effects such as soft shadows, motion blur, and depth of field. These effects are problematic for existing image based adaptive sampling techniques as they operate on pixels, which are possibly noisy results of a Monte Carlo ray tracing process. Our sampling technique operates on samples in the multidimensional space given by the rendering equation and as a consequence the value of each sample is noise-free. Our algorithm consists of two passes. In the first pass we adaptively generate samples in the multidimensional space, focusing on regions where the local contrast between samples is high. In the second pass we reconstruct the image by integrating the multidimensional function along all but the image dimensions. We perform a high quality anisotropic reconstruction by determining the extent of each sample in the multidimensional space using a structure tensor. We demonstrate our method on scenes with a 3 to 5 dimensional space, including soft shadows, motion blur, and depth of field. The results show that our method uses fewer samples than Mittchell's adaptive sampling technique while producing images with less noise.
A Unified Theory of 28 U.S.C. Section 1331 Jurisdiction

Title 28, section 1331 of the United States Code provides the jurisdictional grounding for the majority of cases heard in the federal courts, yet it is not well understood. The predominant view holds that section 1331 doctrine both lacks a focus upon congressional intent and is internally inconsistent. I seek to counter both these assumptions by re-contextualizing the Court's section 1331 jurisprudence in terms of the contemporary judicial usage of right (i.e., clear, mandatory obligations capable of judicial enforcement) and cause of action (i.e., permission to vindicate a right in court). In conducting this reinterpretation, I argue that section 1331 jurisdiction is best understood as a function of the federal right and cause of action plaintiff asserts. Under my view, these two concepts, when weighed against each other, offer strong evidence of congressional intent to vest the federal courts with jurisdiction and form the foundational elements for the federal question jurisdictional analysis. This principle underlies three standards which offer both a better explanation of the Court's past section 1331 cases and better guides for future decisions than the Holmes test. Under the first standard, section 1331 jurisdiction lies when a plaintiff makes an assertion of a non-judicially created federal cause of action and a mere colorable assertion to a federal right. Under the second standard, section 1331 lies when a plaintiff alleges a state-law cause of action and asserts a more weighty substantial federal right. Finally, under the third standard, section 1331 jurisdiction lies when plaintiff asserts a cause of action created as a matter of federal common law and plaintiff asserts a substantial federal common law right coupled with a sufficient showing to support the right.
E-Sourcing: Buyer's Efficient Structure for Purchasing Preparation Process

E-sourcing, or buying using online reverse auctions, is playing an ever increasing role in a firm's global sourcing strategy, partly due to an ever increasing pressure on cost competitiveness. Using queuing techniques, this paper develops a stylized model that captures fundamental trade-offs in a firm's purchasing preparation process (PPP) as characterized by internal and external communication complexity, frequency of use, and cost of delay. This allows us to compare two widely adopted structures for e-sourcing: the centralized structure versus the decentralized structure. Conditions under which the centralized structure is favored over the decentralized structure and vice versa are identified, followed by managerial implications and case evidence.
Preserving Row Buffer Locality for PCM Wear-Leveling under Massive Parallelism

Phase Change Memory (PCM) is a promising alternative technology for DRAM because of its advantages in terms of transistor density and energy consumption. It has been exploited to work in concert or alone inside various memory systems to meet the growing bandwidth needs of massive parallelism. PCM memory cells, however, have a common problem of limited write endurance. Various wear-leaving techniques have been employed for uniform distribution of memory writes, typically through address transformation schemes such as randomization to avoid hot writes. Unfortunately, such address transformation can have the undesirable consequence of disrupting the row buffer locality in sequential memory accesses, resulting in the loss of memory performance. Our analysis reveals that this situation is particularly severe under massive parallelism of manycore processors such as GPUs. In this paper, we introduce a combination of two techniques, matrix-based partial randomization and rowbuffer locality-aware rotation, to alleviate the locality disruption of address transformation and preserve the row buffer locality of PCM-based global memory in GPU. Our evaluation results show that, compared to existing techniques, our techniques can adequately preserve the row buffer locality and minimize the loss of memory performance, while achieving similar endurance and better energy efficiency for a variety of GPGPU applications.
Thermal Gradient Aware Clock Skew Scheduling for FPGAs

FPGAs are gradually becoming an essential flexible-digital solution for automotive and military applications, where operating at extreme ambient temperature conditions reaching 125?C are not uncommon. Operating FPGAs under such high-temperature environments require adequate timing margin to compensate potential delay increase, which worsens the performance of FPGAs. To minimize the performance degradation, we propose a thermal gradient aware clock skew scheduling technique which allocates temperature-adaptive timing margins considering worst case thermal gradients and junction temperature ranges of logic-paths in the design, instead of assigning a worst case timing margin to the entire design. The experimental results shows that our technique extends the operating ambient temperature range with an average about 20% performance improvement.
The Political Psychology of Electoral Campaigns: Introduction to the Symposium

The foundation of virtually all conceptions of democratic government is the occurrence of free and fair elections, together with citizens’ participation in the electoral process. Elections serve as the mechanism through which the populace chooses their representatives. As such, they serve as the key linkage between the governed and their governors. How elections actually occur—that is, who participates, what voters know, and who wins—depends in fundamental ways on candidates’ campaigns. Understanding the conduct and impact of electoral campaigns is thus fundamental to political science. This symposium brings together six young scholars who demonstrate the unique contributions of political psychology to the study of electoral campaigns and participation. The impetus for the symposium comes from the methodological and substantive transformation that has taken place in the study and understanding of campaigns (e.g., Iyengar & Simon, 2000). For example, over the past 15 years, scholars have moved beyond abstract spatial modeling and crosssectional voter surveys toward content analyses and experimental techniques. Even more important, researchers have begun to incorporate a more sophisticated psychological portrait of voters and candidates. Historically, most work on campaigns assumed either that voters and candidates are rational actors with exogenously defined transitive preferences, or that voters interpret campaign information on the basis of their prior attitudes and/or tune out most campaign information as a result of selective exposure and attention. As Lodge, Stroh, and Wahlke (1990) put it, these approaches amount to “black-box models because they are silent about the processes that drive their explanations” (p. 13). Until recently, scholars paid little attention to how voters actually process information or make Political Psychology, Vol. 25, No. 4, 2004
Feline uveitis. An 'intraocular lymphadenopathy'.

Practical relevance Feline uveitis can be a subtle, insidious, painful, vision-threatening disease with causes that can sometimes be fatal. It is essential that clinicians remain alert to its various clinical presentations, thoroughly diagnose cases once detected, and treat the primary cause whenever possible. Clinical challenges In the majority of patients, a cause is not found and aggressive immunomodulating therapy of what may become a chronic or recurrent immune-mediated disease must be instigated. As with immune-mediated disease elsewhere, this involves local or systemic immunosuppression with slow tapering and frequent monitoring. The aim of this review is to aid diagnosis and therapy of uveitis by likening it to inflammation elsewhere (because it is more similar than it is different) while highlighting differences (because these are helpful). Global importance Feline uveitis is similar in its presentation throughout the world. Although the list of infectious causes may vary in composition or order of likelihood, idopathic, immune-mediated and neoplastic causes of feline uveitis are univerasal. Patient group Patients of either gender and all ages and breeds are affected by uveitis. Evidence base Despite the fact that feline uveitis is a serious and common disorder, the peer-reviewed literature regarding this disease is somewhat limited. Approximately half the publications are review articles, case reports or case series. The majority of prospective and retrospective research describes epidemiologic surveys of antibodies, antigens and organism DNA in serum and aqueous humor.
Is Maternal and Child Health Service use a Causal Gatewayto Subsequent Contraceptive use?: A Multi-Country Study

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between MCH service utilization and contraceptive use in five countries: Bolivia, Guatemala, Indonesia, Morocco, and Tanzania. The analysis is carried out at the level of the individual woman, with contraceptive-use status modeled as a function of: (1) the availability, quality, and packaging of MCH and family planning services; (2) community- and individual-level determinants of health service and contraceptive use; and (3) intensity of prior MCH service use. Data for the analysis comes from DHS data on women of reproductive age linked with data from service-availability surveys. We use full-information, maximum-likelihood regression techniques to control for the effects of unobserved heterogeneity that might otherwise bias our estimates. In three of the five countries (Morocco, Guatemala, and Indonesia) the results of the analysis suggest that the intensity of MCH service use is positively associated with subsequent contraceptive use among women, even after controlling for observed and unobserved individual- and community-level factors. This result lends support to the proposition that, at least in the context of these three countries, the intensity of MCH service per se use does have a “causal” impact on subsequent contraceptive use, even after controlling for factors that “predispose” sample women to use health care services.
Photovoltaics and solar thermal conversion to electricity - Status and prospects

Photovoltaic power system technology development includes flat-plate silicon solar arrays and concentrating solar cell systems, which use silicon and other cell materials such as gallium arsenide. System designs and applications include small remote power systems ranging in size from tens of watts to tens of kilowatts, intermediate load-center applications ranging in size from tens to hundreds of kilowatts, and large central plant installations, as well as grid-connected rooftop applications. The thermal conversion program is concerned with large central power systems and small power applications.
The next database revolution

Database system architectures are undergoing revolutionary changes. Most importantly, algorithms and data are being unified by integrating programming languages with the database system. This gives an extensible object-relational system where non-procedural relational operators manipulate object sets. Coupled with this, each DBMS is now a web service. This has huge implications for how we structure applications. DBMSs are now object containers. Queues are the first objects to be added. These queues are the basis for transaction processing and workflow applications. Future workflow systems are likely to be built on this core. Data cubes and online analytic processing are now baked into most DBMSs. Beyond that, DBMSs have a framework for data mining and machine learning algorithms. Decision trees, Bayes nets, clustering, and time series analysis are built in; new algorithms can be added. There is a rebirth of column stores for sparse tables and to optimize bandwidth. Text, temporal, and spatial data access methods, along with their probabilistic reasoning have been added to database systems. Allowing approximate and probabilistic answers is essential for many applications. Many believe that XML and xQuery will be the main data structure and access pattern. Database systems must accommodate that perspective. External data increasingly arrives as streams to be compared to historical data; so stream-processing operators are being added to the DBMS. Publish-subscribe systems invert the data-query ratios; incoming data is compared against millions of queries rather than queries searching millions of records. Meanwhile, disk and memory capacities are growing much faster than their bandwidth and latency, so the database systems increasingly use huge main memories and sequential disk access. These changes mandate a much more dynamic query optimization strategy - one that adapts to current conditions and selectivities rather than having a static plan. Intelligence is moving to the periphery of the network. Each disk and each sensor will be a competent database machine. Relational algebra is a convenient way to program these systems. Database systems are now expected to be self-managing, self-healing, and always-up. We researchers and developers have our work cut out for us in delivering all these features.
Gamma interferon prevents the inhibitory effects of oxidative stress on host responses to Escherichia coli infection.

Oxidative stress occurs in animals challenged with bacterial endotoxin and can affect the expression of important host inflammatory genes. However, much less is known about the effects of oxidative stress on responses to gram-negative bacteria. The current study compared the effects of redox imbalance on hepatic responses of mice to Escherichia coli bacteria versus purified endotoxic lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Oxidative stress induced by glutathione depletion virtually eliminated hepatic tumor necrosis factor alpha responses to both E. coli and LPS. Inducible NO synthase (iNOS) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) expression was also markedly inhibited by glutathione depletion in LPS-challenged mice, but was unaffected in E. coli-infected animals. Three findings suggested that gamma interferon (IFN-γ) production explained the differences between LPS and bacterial challenge. Glutathione depletion completely inhibited the IFN-γ response to LPS, but only partially inhibited IFN-γ production in infected mice. Exogenous IFN-γ restored iNOS and ICAM-1 responses to LPS in stressed mice. Conversely, IFN-γ-deficient, glutathione-depleted mice showed a marked decrease in iNOS and ICAM-1 expression when challenged with E. coli. These findings indicate that both the nature of the microbial challenge and the production of IFN-γ can be important in determining the effects of redox imbalance during gram-negative bacterial infections.
Effects of the Trilemma Policies on Inflation, Growth and Volatility in Bulgaria

This paper finds evidence of the trilemma for Bulgaria, suggesting that exchange rate stability, monetary independence and free capital mobility are binding and constrained. The policy combination of exchange rate stability and monetary independence has been prevalent. More exchange rate stability increases the growth rate of real GDP whereas more monetary independence or free capital mobility reduces the growth rate. The inflation rate, inflation volatility and output volatility are not affected by either one of the three trilemma policies.
Fungi on Juncus and Spartina: New marine species of Anthostomella, with a list of marine fungi known on Spartina*

All 39 marine species described so far from Spartina spp. are listed. Anthostomella torosa sp. nov. is described from culms of Juncus roemerianus in North Carolina, and A. spissitecta sp. nov. is described from leaf sheaths of saltmarsh Spartina alterniflora in the USA (Connecticut, Florida, North Carolina, Rhode Island) and from S. densiflora in Argentina (Buenos Aires). Both species occur close to the rhizome and are classified as obligate marine fungi. The new species are compared with similar taxa, and a table comprises characteristics of the nine known aquatic Anthostomella species.
Lower hemoglobin levels in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients with a positive direct antiglobulin test (DAT): relationship with DAT strength and clinical stages.

BACKGROUND: There are conflicting opinions regarding the effect of positive direct antiglobulin test (DAT) on hemoglobin (Hb) levels in human immunodeficiency virus–infected (HIV+) patients. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A total of 166 samples from HIV+ outpatients were studied. The DAT was performed with the tube test and column agglutination technology (CAT). RESULTS: The DAT was positive in 18.67 percent with the tube method and 33.73 percent with the CAT. Patients with DAT-positive results showed lower Hb levels than DAT-negative patients, 12.3 g per dL versus 14.3 g per dL (p = 0.0002). The univariate logistic regression enabled us to study the phenomenon better and fit the probability of having a DAT-positive result on the basis of the Hb levels. The relationship between the CAT and the tube test when washing the red blood cells (RBC) at 4°C was stronger than when washing these at room temperature (φ = 0.8156; p = 0.000). The Hb levels were significantly lower in the positive DATs of Stage C (acquired immune deficiency syndrome [AIDS]) and Stage B (symptomatic non-AIDS patients), which showed decreasing Hb values for increasing agglutination strengths (p = 0.000). Anemia was related with the DAT results (odds ratio [OR], 8.005; p = 0.000) but not to the AIDS condition (OR, 1.741; p = 0.221). DISCUSSION: Our study indicates that the DAT-positive results may be specifically related to lower Hb levels in HIV+ patients. The immunologic RBC clearance could be part of the anemic multifactorial condition in HIV+ patients.
Use of the genetic sonogram in the United States in 2001 and 2007

Objective. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there have been changes in the use of second-trimester genetic sonograms and in the second-trimester sonographic markers used to screen for fetal aneuploidy by maternal-fetal medicine specialists in the United States from 2001 to 2007. Methods. A survey was mailed to Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine members in the United States in April 2007 inquiring about their practice patterns regarding the genetic sonogram. Specific sonographic markers used for risk adjustment as part of the genetic sonogram were also assessed. The responses from 2007 were compared with responses from a similar survey administered in 2001 (Am J Obstet Gynecol 2002; 187:1230-1234) using descriptive statistics, the X 2 test, and the Wilcoxon rank sum test. Results. A total of 991 responses were analyzed: 543 of 1638 (32%) in 2001 and 448 of 1756 (26%) in 2007. Significant increases (P <.0001) were noted in the number of specialists who used the genetic sonogram as a screening tool for Down syndrome and for every single sonographic marker used to adjust a woman's risk for having a fetus with Down syndrome during a genetic sonogram, except for choroid plexus cyst, clinodactyly, sandal gap toes, and widened pelvic angle. Conclusions. Practitioners in the United States are using an increasing number of second-trimester sonographic markers to help identify aneuploid fetuses. The growing acceptance of sonography to screen for fetal aneuploidy and the recommendation by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists for universal screening suggest that more resources may be necessary to meet the growing demand for second-trimester sonograms.
Adolescent Obesity Increases Significantly in Second and Third Generation U.S. Immigrants: The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health

Little is known concerning obesity patterns of ethnic subpopulations in the U.S. and the effects of acculturation on these patterns. Adolescent obesity, a major public health problem, has important health, social and economic consequences for the adolescent. The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health survey is unique in the size of the adolescent sample and in its ability to provide large representative samples of Anglo, African-American, Hispanic and Asian-American adolescents. A nationally representative sample of 13,783 adolescents was studied. Measurements of weight and height collected in the second wave of the survey were used to study adolescent obesity. Multivariate logit techniques were used to provide an understanding of the ethnic, age, gender and intergenerational patterns of adolescent obesity. Comparisons are presented between the NHANES III results and those from the Adolescent Health Survey. The smoothed version of the NHANES 1 85th percentile cut-off was used for the measure of obesity in this paper. For the total sample, 26.5% were obese. The rates were as follows: white non-Hispanics, 24.2%; black non-Hispanics, 30.9%; all Hispanics, 30.4%; and all Asian-Americans, 20.6%. Important variations within the Hispanic and Asian-American subpopulations are presented. The Chinese (15.3%) and Filipino (18.5%) samples showed substantially lower obesity than non-Hispanic whites. All groups showed more obesity among males than among females, except for blacks (27.4% for males and 34.0% for females). Asian-American and Hispanic adolescents born in the U.S. are more than twice as likely to be obese as are first generation residents of the 50 states.
Women's Roles and Problem Drinking Across the Lifespan

Data from a 1981 national survey of women's drinking show that women's problem drinking is associated with different configurations of roles at different ages. For women drinkers under 65, risks of problem drinking increase with age-specific patterns of role deprivation: the lack or loss of marital, employment, and childrearing roles. The demands of multiple roles do not appear to be a major cause of women's problem drinking at any age. Close role relationships with other drinkers may become a more important factor in risks of problem drinking among women drinkers after age 50. The complex findings demonstrate the need for age-specific analyses of the effects of women's roles and role relationships on patterns of problem drinking.
Family, religion, and work among Arab American women

Using data from a national survey of 501 Arab American women, this study examines the extent to which family behavior mediates the influence of religion on women's labor force activity. Prior research on families has largely overlooked the role of religion in influencing women's labor force decisions, particularly at different stages of the life cycle. The analysis begins to address this gap by examining whether religious affiliation and religiosity have direct relationships to women's work behaviors, or whether they primarily operate through family behaviors at different phases of the life course. The results show that religiosity exerts a negative influence on women's labor force participation, but only when children are present in the home. Among women with no children, religiosity has no effect on employment.
Effect of Relative Humidity, Temperature and Gaseous and Particulate Contaminations on Information Technology Equipment Reliability

The energy used by information technology (IT) equipment and the supporting data center equipment keeps rising as data center proliferation continues unabated. In order to contain the rising computing costs, data center administrators are resorting to cost cutting measures such as not tightly controlling the temperature and humidity levels and in many cases installing air side economizers with the associated risk of introducing particulate and gaseous contaminations into their data centers. The ASHRAE TC9.9 subcommittee, on Mission Critical Facilities, Data Centers, Technology Spaces, and Electronic Equipment, has accommodated the data center administrators by allowing short period excursions outside the recommended temperature-humidity range, into allowable classes A1-A3. Under worst case conditions, the ASHRAE A3 envelope allows electronic equipment to operate at temperature and humidity as high as 24°C and 85% relative humidity for short, but undefined periods of time. This paper addresses the IT equipment reliability issues arising from operation in high humidity and high temperature conditions, with particular attention paid to the question of whether it is possible to determine the all-encompassing x-factors that can capture the effects of temperature and relative humidity on equipment reliability. The role of particulate and gaseous contamination and the aggravating effects of high temperature and high relative humidity will be presented and discussed. A method to determine the temperature and humidity x-factors, based on testing in experimental data centers located in polluted geographies, will be proposed.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Is learning styles-based instruction effective? A comprehensive analysis of recent research on learning styles:

In an influential publication in 2009, a group of cognitive psychologists revealed that there was a lack of empirical evidence supporting the concept of learning styles-based instruction and provid...
The neuromuscular impact of symptomatic SMN restoration in a mouse model of spinal muscular atrophy

Abstract Background Significant advances in the development of SMN-restoring therapeutics have occurred since 2010 when very effective biological treatments were reported in mouse models of spinal muscular atrophy. As these treatments are applied in human clinical trials, there is pressing need to define quantitative assessments of disease progression, treatment stratification, and therapeutic efficacy. The electrophysiological measures Compound Muscle Action Potential and Motor Unit Number Estimation are reliable measures of nerve function. In both the SMN ∆ 7 mouse and a pig model of spinal muscular atrophy, early SMN restoration results in preservation of electrophysiological measures. Currently, clinical trials are underway in patients at post-symptomatic stages of disease progression. In this study, we present results from both early and delayed SMN restoration using clinically-relevant measures including electrical impedance myography, compound muscle action potential, and motor unit number estimation to quantify the efficacy and time-sensitivity of SMN-restoring therapy. Methods SMA ∆ 7 mice were treated via intracerebroventricular injection with antisense oligonucleotides targeting ISS-N1 to increase SMN protein from the SMN2 gene on postnatal day 2, 4, or 6 and compared with sham-treated spinal muscular atrophy and control mice. Compound muscle action potential and motor unit number estimation of the triceps surae muscles were performed at day 12, 21, and 30 by a single evaluator blinded to genotype and treatment. Similarly, electrical impedance myography was measured on the biceps femoris muscle at 12 days for comparison. Results Electrophysiological measures and electrical impedance myography detected significant differences at 12 days between control and late-treated (4 or 6 days) and sham-treated spinal muscular atrophy mice, but not in mice treated at 2 days (p Conclusions The incomplete effect of symptomatic treatment is accurately identified by both electrophysiological measures and electrical impedance myography. There is strong correlation between these measures and with weight and righting reflex. This study predicts that measures of compound muscle action potential, motor unit number estimation, and electrical impedance myography are promising biomarkers of treatment stratification and effect for future spinal muscular atrophy trials. The ease of application and simplicity of electrical impedance myography compared with standard electrophysiological measures may be particularly valuable in future pediatric clinical trials.
Mechanism of influenza A M2 transmembrane domain assembly in lipid membranes.

M2 from influenza A virus functions as an oligomeric proton channel essential for the viral cycle, hence it is a high-priority pharmacological target whose structure and functions require better understanding. We studied the mechanism of M2 transmembrane domain (M2TMD) assembly in lipid membranes by the powerful biophysical technique of double electron-electron resonance (DEER) spectroscopy. By varying the M2TMD-to-lipid molar ratio over a wide range from 1:18,800 to 1:160, we found that M2TMD exists as monomers, dimers, and tetramers whose relative populations shift to tetramers with the increase of peptide-to-lipid (P/L) molar ratio. Our results strongly support the tandem mechanism of M2 assembly that is monomers-to-dimer then dimers-to-tetramer, since tight dimers are abundant at small P/L’s, and thereafter they assemble as dimers of dimers in weaker tetramers. The stepwise mechanism found for a single-pass membrane protein oligomeric assembly should contribute to the knowledge of the association steps in membrane protein folding.
Vein harvest ischemia: a peripheral vascular complication of coronary artery bypass grafting.

Lower-extremity ischemia can lead to impaired healing of saphenous vein excision sites in patients with significant peripheral vascular disease (PVD). Five patients who required infrainguinal revascularization for wound necrosis of the harvest site after coronary artery bypass grafting are described. The male/female ratio was 2:3 with a mean age of 67 (range 45-87) years. The most commonly associated problems were insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (80%) and congestive heart failure (60%). The saphenous vein was harvested from the thigh and leg in three patients and exclusively from the leg in the others. Manifestations of ischemia ranged from persistent ulceration to complete wound disruption threatening limb loss. Impaired healing was isolated to infragenicular wounds in all patients. Pedal pulses were not detected in any of the affected extremities. Determination of the ankle/brachial pressure indices (ABI) revealed values of 1.0 in the remaining two limbs; however, Doppler waveform analysis in these patients demonstrated significant PVD. Aggressive wound care and antibiotic therapy were continued for mean of 9 weeks before operative intervention. Infrainguinal reconstruction included femoropopliteal (two), femorotibial (two) and popliteal-tibial bypass (one). Autologous arm and saphenous veins in addition to expanded polytetrafluoroethylene grafts were used effectively. Limb salvage and wound healing were achieved in 100% of the patients without untoward sequelae. It is concluded that unrecognized PVD in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting can lead to significant morbidity. Patients at risk may be identified with a combination of history, physical examination and non-invasive testing.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Sorting of metabolic pathway flux by the plasma membrane in cerebrovascular smooth muscle cells

We used β-escin-permeabilized pig cerebral microvessels (PCMV) to study the organization of carbohydrate metabolism in the cytoplasm of vascular smooth muscle (VSM) cells. We have previously demons...
The Interpretation of Japan's National Defense Program Outline of 2010 Edition

On December 17,2010,Japanese government adopted a new "National Defense Program Outline",building direction of Japan's national security strategy and defense policy for the next decade.The "New defense Plan",for the first time,explicitly pointed out that "China's military development matters regional and international concern",and decided to make a series of specific adjustments: The defense plan will target directly at China,defense means will be adjusted from "basic" to "mobile",defense's focus area will be shifted from local and north to "southwest islands",intending embark reform on intelligence agency and try to build multilateral alliance system around Asia-Pacific,and so on.In this paper,descriptions and comments will be made on Japan's "New Defense Plan",reasons will be digged out and implications to local situation will be analyzed.
Spinal cord lesions caused by arteriovenous malformation: clinical course and risk of cancer.

PURPOSE Patients with nontraumatic myelopathy caused by arteriovenous malformation (AVM) are encountered in cohorts of traumatic myelopathy (SCI) patients. The study describes the clinical course of SCI secondary to AVM and compares the incidence of cancer with that in SCI patients. PARTICIPANTS Twenty-three patients with AVM and 219 patients with SCI patients aged 50 years and older. METHODS The 2 groups were described by the character of paralysis and compared for the incidence of cancer in a retrospective review of records from the index year 1989. RESULTS Twenty-three patients with AVM became paralyzed, with onset from age 22 years to 85 years (mean, 53 years). The presenting symptoms were pain (usually back pain), paresthesias, and weakness. The clinical picture varied, with evolution of symptoms reported over a wide period ranging from minutes to 27 years (median, 6 months). Levels of the spinal cord damage were thoracic in 74% of the AVM group vs 40% for the SCI group, P = .004. For patients with AVM, grade of paralysis was American Spinal Injury Association D (some significant use of the legs) in 26% vs 16% for patients with SCI, P = .38. Nine patients with AVM (39%) developed cancer (skin, brain, blood, thyroid, liver, bladder, and prostate at age 66 +/- 7 years) with an incidence of 5.92 cancers/100 patient years. Thirty-five patients with SCI (9%) had cancer (skin, blood, lung, bowel, bladder, and prostate, age 67 +/- 5 years) develop at a rate of 1.70 cancers/100 patient years, 95% confidence interval = 1.89-6.51 for the difference, P = .001. CONCLUSION Patients with nontraumatic spinal cord lesions caused by AVM often present with pain, may have a protracted clinical course, and have cancer develop more often than do those with traumatic SCI.
Influenza prevention and treatment: The primary care physician's role

PreviewThe toll exacted by influenza each year in the United States is needlessly burdensome. According to Dr Douglas, primary care physicians can lighten the burden considerably by incorporating some practical strategies for control into their office practices. In this article, he explains how, why, and when vaccination and amantadine (Symmetrel) therapy should be used to ward off or minimize an influenza outbreak.
LYT Phenotype and Lectin Binding Properties of Mouse Lymphocytes which Enter Lymph Nodes

The objective of this study was to determine how Lyt phenotype and specific lectin binding properties influenced the ability of thymus-derived lymphocytes to enter lymph nodes. Both short term 51Cr quantitative migration experiments and tissue autoradiography experiments using 3H-adenosine labeled cells were done. Results demonstrate that Lyt phenotype per se is insufficient to determine migration pattern and that other factors, including surface carbohydrate composition, are involved.
Emerging therapeutic agents for lung cancer

Lung cancer continues to be the most common cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Recent advances in molecular diagnostics and immunotherapeutics have propelled the rapid development of novel treatment agents across all cancer subtypes, including lung cancer. Additionally, more pharmaceutical therapies for lung cancer have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in the last 5 years than in previous two decades. These drugs have ushered in a new era of lung cancer managements that have promising efficacy and safety and also provide treatment opportunities to patients who otherwise would have no conventional chemotherapy available. In this review, we summarize recent advances in lung cancer therapeutics with a specific focus on first in-human or early-phase I/II clinical trials. These drugs either offer better alternatives to drugs in their class or are a completely new class of drugs with novel mechanisms of action. We have divided our discussion into targeted agents, immunotherapies, and antibody drug conjugates for small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We briefly review the emerging agents and ongoing clinical studies. We have attempted to provide the most current review on emerging therapeutic agents on horizon for lung cancer.