cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Paleodeltas and Preservation Potential on a Paraglacial Coast — Evolution of Eastern Penobscot Bay, Maine

The bedrock framework of the northern Gulf of Maine coast, USA (Fig. 1), controls the geometry of headlands and embayments (Shipp et al., 1985, 1987; Kelley, 1987). Quaternary continental glaciers sculpted this paraglacial coast, culminating in the latest Wisconsinan Laurentide Ice Sheet, which reached its maximum extent in the region 20–22 ka (Hughes et al., 1985). This ice sheet was marine-based in much of the Gulf of Maine 20–15 ka (Schnitker et al., 2001) and during later stages of retreat through the Maine coastal lowlands (Stuiver and Borns, 1975; Dorion et al., 2001). Sediments of a wide variety of (Thompson and Borns, 1985) were deposited duringeglacial retreat, interpreted in a sequence-stratigraphic model by Belknap and Shipp (1991) and Barnhardt et al. (1997). Sediment sources to the evolving Holocene coast included reworking from glacial and glaciomarine outcrops, as well as limited fluvial inputs.
Immediate Unilateral Breast Reconstruction using Abdominally Based Flaps: Analysis of 3,310 Cases

Background The abdomen is the most common area from which tissue is harvested for autologous breast reconstruction. We sought to examine national data to determine the differences in total hospital charges, length of stay (LOS), and early postoperative complications following pedicled transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous flap (pTRAM), free TRAM (fTRAM), deep-inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP), and superficial inferior epigastric artery perforator (SIEA) flaps. Methods The 2009–2013 Nationwide Inpatient Sample Database was used to identify patients who underwent a unilateral mastectomy and only one type of abdominally based autologous flap (pTRAM, fTRAM, DIEP, and SIEA) during the same hospital admission. Outcomes of interest included total charges, LOS, and complications including revision of vascular anastomosis and hematoma. Results A total of 3,310 cases were identified, corresponding to 15,991 abdominally based unilateral immediate breast reconstructions after standard weighting was applied; 5,079 (31.8%) were pTRAM flaps, 4,461 (27.9%) were fTRAM flaps, 6,206 (38.8%) were DIEP flaps, and 245 (1.5%) were SIEA flaps. The mean total charges for pTRAM, fTRAM, DIEP, and SIEA flaps were $17,765.5, $22,637.6, $25,814.6, and $26,605.2, respectively (p Conclusions There is variation in the total charges, LOS, and early complications between pTRAM, fTRAM, DIEP, and SIEA flap-based breast reconstruction. fTRAM, DIEP, and SIEA flaps incur higher hospital total charges, have longer lengths of stay, and experience more immediate complications compared with pTRAM. Well-designed prospective trials are required to better understand the findings from this study with the inclusion of other critical outcomes such as patient satisfaction, aesthetic results, and long-term outcomes such as abdominal wall morbidity.
High-throughput multi-parallel enteropathogen quantification via nano-liter qPCR

Abstract Quantitative molecular diagnostic methods, such as qPCR, can effectively detect pathogen-specific nucleic acid sequences. However, costs associated with multi-pathogen quantitative molecular diagnostics hinder their widespread use. Nano-liter qPCR (nL-qPCR) is a miniaturized tool for quantification of multiple targets in large numbers of samples based on assay parallelization on a single chip, with potentially significant cost-savings due to rapid throughput and reduced reagent volumes. We evaluated a suite of novel and published assays to detect 17 enteric pathogens using a commercially available nL-qPCR technology. Assay efficiencies ranged from 88-98% (mean 91%) and were reproducible across four operators at two separate facilities. When applied to complex fecal material, assays were sensitive and selective (99.8% of DNA amplified were genes from the target organism). Detection limits were 1-2 orders of magnitude higher for nL-qPCR than an existing enteric TaqMan Array Card (TAC), due to nanofluidic volumes. Compared to the TAC, nL-qPCR displayed 97% (95% CI 0.96, 0.98) negative percent agreement and 63% (95% CI 0.60, 0.66) overall positive percent agreement. Positive percent agreement was 90% for target concentrations above the nL-qPCR detection limits. nL-qPCR assays showed an underestimation bias of 0.34 log10 copies/gram of stool [IQR -0.41, -0.28] compared with the enteric TAC. Higher detection limits, inherent to nL-qPCR, do not hinder detection of clinically relevant pathogen concentrations. With 12 times higher throughput for a sixth of the per-sample cost of the enteric TAC, the nL-qPCR chip described here is a viable alternative for enteropathogen quantification for studies where other technologies are cost-prohibitive.
Starting Early Program Impacts on Feeding at Infant 10 Months Age: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Disparities in obesity-promoting feeding patterns begin in pregnancy and infancy, underscoring the need for early primary prevention in high-risk groups. We sought to determine the impa...
Discovery of PROTAC BCL-X L degraders as potent anticancer agents with low on-target platelet toxicity.

Anti-apoptotic protein BCL-XL plays a key role in tumorigenesis and cancer chemotherapy resistance, rendering it an attractive target for cancer treatment. However, BCL-XL inhibitors such as ABT-263 cannot be safely used in the clinic because platelets solely depend on BCL-XL to maintain their viability. To reduce the on-target platelet toxicity associated with the inhibition of BCL-XL, we designed and synthesized PROTAC BCL-XL degraders that recruit CRBN or VHL E3 ligase because both of these enzymes are poorly expressed in human platelets compared to various cancer cell lines. We confirmed that platelet-toxic BCL-XL/2 dual inhibitor ABT-263 can be converted into platelet-sparing CRBN/VHL-based BCL-XL specific degraders. A number of BCL-XL degraders are more potent in killing cancer cells than their parent compound ABT-263. Specifically, XZ739, a CRBN-dependent BCL-XL degrader, is 20-fold more potent than ABT-263 against MOLT-4 T-ALL cells and has >100-fold selectivity for MOLT-4 cells over human platelets. Our findings further demonstrated the utility of PROTAC technology to achieve tissue selectivity through recruiting differentially expressed E3 ligases.
Scheduling Irregular Dataflow Pipelines on SIMD Architectures

Streaming computations often exhibit substantial data parallelism that makes them well-suited to SIMD architectures. However, many such computations also exhibit irregularity, in the form of data-dependent, dynamic data rates, that makes efficient SIMD execution challenging. One aspect of this challenge is the need to schedule execution of a computation realized as a pipeline of stages connected by finite queues. A scheduler must both ensure high SIMD occupancy by gathering queued items into vectors and minimize costs associated with switching execution between stages. In this work, we present the AFIE (Active Full, Inactive Empty) scheduling policy for irregular streaming applications on SIMD processors. AFIE provably groups inputs to each stage of a pipeline into a minimal number of SIMD vectors while incurring a bounded number of switches relative to the best possible policy. These results apply even though irregularity forbids a priori knowledge of how many outputs will be generated from each input to each stage. We have implemented AFIE as an extension to the MERCATOR system [6] for building irregular streaming applications on NVIDIA GPUs. We describe how the AFIE scheduler simplifies MERCATOR's runtime code and empirically measure the new scheduler's improved performance on irregular streaming applications.
The impact of immunotherapy on the survival of pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients who do not receive definitive surgery of the tumor.

Abstract Background and Purpose Immunotherapy has shown great efficacy in many cancers, but its role in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains unclear. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of immunotherapy on the overall survival of PDAC patients who did not receive definitive surgery of the pancreatic primary tumor site using the National Cancer Database (NCDB). Materials and Methods Patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma who did not receive surgery were identified from NCDB. Cox proportional hazard models were employed to assess the impact of immunotherapy on survival after adjusting for age at diagnosis, race, sex, place of living, income, education, treatment facility type, insurance status, year of diagnosis, and treatment types such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Results Of 263,886 patients who were analyzed, 911 (0.35%) received immunotherapy. Among patients who received chemotherapy (101,546), and chemoradiation (30,226) therapy, 555/101,546 (0.55%) received chemotherapy plus immunotherapy, and 299/3,022 (9.9%) received chemoradiation plus immunotherapy. In a multivariable analysis adjusted for the factors mentioned above, immunotherapy was associated with significantly improved OS (HR: 0.866 (0.800–0.937); P Conclusion In this study, the addition of immunotherapy to chemotherapy and chemoradiation therapy was associated with significantly improved OS in PDAC patients without definitive surgery. The study warrants future clinical trials of immunotherapy in PDAC.
Benchmarking Automated and Autonomous Vehicle Policies in the United States

Autonomous vehicles (AV) have dramatic potential not only to reshape cities. This research surveys 602 US cities to investigate how they are preparing for urban autonomy. To conduct this evaluation, roughly 20 key indicators are evaluated. Based on the evaluation most cities in the United States do not have AV policies. Of these the majority have some sort of white paper or policy acknowledgement. Key themes are in management (of transit, systems, parking, curb, data, etc.) and design (primarily streets and electric vehicle infrastructure), but not on travel behavior or demand management. This offers an opportunity for planners, engineers, policy makers and innovators in the coming years.
SPAM: Stateless Permutation of Application Memory.

In this paper, we propose the Stateless Permutation of Application Memory (SPAM), a software defense that enables fine-grained data permutation for C programs. The key benefits include resilience against attacks that directly exploit software errors (i.e., spatial and temporal memory safety violations) in addition to attacks that exploit hardware vulnerabilities such as ColdBoot, RowHammer or hardware side-channels to disclose or corrupt memory using a single cohesive technique. Unlike prior work, SPAM is stateless by design making it automatically applicable to multi-threaded applications. We implement SPAM as an LLVM compiler pass with an extension to the compiler-rt runtime. We evaluate it on the C subset of the SPEC2017 benchmark suite and three real-world applications: the Nginx web server, the Duktape Javascript interpreter, and the WolfSSL cryptographic library. We further show SPAM's scalability by running a multi-threaded benchmark suite. SPAM has greater security coverage and comparable performance overheads to state-of-the-art software techniques for memory safety on contemporary x86_64 processors. Our security evaluation confirms SPAM's effectiveness in preventing intra/inter spatial/temporal memory violations by making the attacker success chances as low as 1/16!.
Comparing Model Selection Criteria to Distinguish Truncated Operational Risk Models

In this paper three information criteria are employed to assess the truncated operational risk models. The performances of the three information criteria on distinguishing the models are compared. The competing models are constructed using Champernowne, Frechet, Lognormal, Lomax, Paralogistic, and Weibull distributions, respectively. Simulation studies are conducted before a case study. In the case study, certain distributional models conform to the external fraud type of risk data in retail banking of Chinese banks. However, those models are difficult to distinguish using standard information criteria such as Akaike Information Criterion and Bayesian Information Criterion. We have found no single information criterion is absolutely more effective than others in the simulation studies. But the information complexity based ICOMP criterion says a little bit more if AIC and/or BIC cannot kick the Lognormal model out of the pool of competing models.
Rotation and Activity in Mid-M to L Dwarfs

We analyze rotation velocities and chromospheric (H-alpha) activity, derived from multi-year, high-resolution spectra, in 56 mid-M to L dwarfs. Rotational velocities are found to increase from mid-M to L. This is consistent with a lengthening of spin-down timescale with later type, though in the L types the trend may also be a function of stellar age. From M5 to M8.5, a saturation-type rotation-activity relation is seen, similar to that in earlier types. However, the saturation velocity in our case is much higher, at about 12 km/s. A sharp drop in activity is observed at about M9, with later types showing little or no H-alpha emission, in spite of rapid rotation. This may be due to the very high resistivities in the predominantly neutral atmospheres of these cool objects.
Treatment patterns and survival in patients with early-onset pancreatic cancer

BACKGROUND Pancreatic cancer is uncommon in patients younger than 50 years, although its incidence is increasing. This study characterizes treatment utilization for early-onset pancreatic cancer (EOPC) versus average-age-onset pancreatic cancer (AOPC) and identifies factors associated with failure to receive treatment. METHODS The National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) was queried for patients with EOPC (age < 50 years) or AOPC (age ≥ 50 years) from 2004 to 2016. Multinomial regression was used to compare utilization (single modality vs multimodal treatment with or without surgery vs no treatment) between EOPC and AOPC. Kaplan-Meier methods were used to estimate overall survival (OS). RESULTS Of 248,634 patients, 15,710 (6.3%) had EOPC. There were more male patients (56% vs 50%), non-White patients, and privately insured patients (61% vs 30%) with EOPC versus AOPC, without notable differences in clinical stage distribution. Patients with EOPC received more chemotherapy (38% vs 29%), surgery (9% vs 6.9%), chemoradiation (12% vs 9.2%), and multimodal treatment (21% vs 15%). The odds of receiving multimodal curative therapy were significantly higher for patients with EOPC versus patients with AOPC after adjustments for confounders (odds ratio, 3.89; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.66-4.15; P < .001). Nineteen percent of patients with EOPC, in contrast to 39% of patients with AOPC, received no treatment. Patients with AOPC more frequently declined chemotherapy (15% vs 9.5%). One-year OS was higher for EOPC versus AOPC across each stage (0/I/II, 72% [95% CI, 71%-74%] vs 53% [95% CI, 53%-54%]; III, 48% [95% CI, 45%-50%] vs 38% [95% CI, 37%-38%]; IV, 25% [95% CI, 24%-26%] vs 15% [95% CI, 15%-15%]) and treated patients (0/I/II, 75% [95% CI, 74%-77%] vs 64% [95% CI, 63%-64%]; III, 51% [95% CI, 49%-54%] vs 47% [95% CI, 47%-48%]; IV, 29% [95% CI, 28%-31%] vs 23% [95% CI, 23%-24%]). CONCLUSIONS Patients with EOPC receive more oncologic therapy than patients with AOPC, although the intensity, type, and duration of chemotherapy are not available in the NCDB; however, 19% and 39%, respectively, receive no therapy. Underutilization may explain suboptimal oncologic outcomes. Efforts to improve access and treatment utilization in all age groups are warranted.
Scoping Review of Critical Thinking Literature in Healthcare Education.

Critical thinking is the process of analyzing and evaluating thinking to make decisions. Critical thinking exposes assumptions, biases, and beliefs that influence clinical reasoning. This scoping r...
Endocrinology of the maternal-fetoplacental unit. I. Use of serum estrogens as a practical index of fetal well-being.

Abstract A serum estrogen assay was evaluated for use in an indigent population in terms of its practicality as well as accuracy, precision, and other statistical parameters. Seventy patients were chosen retrospectively from the obstetric high-risk clinic at the University of Alabama Medical Center on the basis of delivery of a normal infant (Apgar score of 7 or greater). Twenty-four-hour total urinary estrogen (UE), the estrogen/creatinine ratio (E/C), and serum estrogen (SE) were determined on these patients throughout the third trimester of pregnancy. Correlation coefficients for 218 paired samples were highly significant ( p r = 0.31), SE and E/C ( r = 0.28), and UE and E/C r = 0.72). The over-all means and standard deviations for UE, E/C, and SE, respectively, were 27.5 ± 15.3 mg. per 24 hours, 22.1 ± 11.2 mg. per gram, and 26.0 ± 11.6 ng. per milliliter while the equations for the best-fit regressions were y=−31.94 + 1.79x, −30.37 + 1.57x, and −16.46 + 1.26x, demonstrating that the rise in weekly SE levels is slower than for UE parameters. Since only one case of overscreening existed in 70 patients, it can be concluded that SE is a most useful clinical aid in screening the high-risk obstetric population for indications of possible fetal compromise. This assay system has the necessary practicability to be useful under the conditions presented by an indigent population seen predominantly as outpatients.
Picasso: real-time estimation of network delay over a tele-robotic link

The purpose of the work presented is to create a tele-robotic system that reacts to the user's input in real-time. This is accomplished by modeling the network delay online as a linear system using a recursive prediction error method. The model is then used to predict the time it will take for the system to receive its next command and to adjust the speed of the system accordingly. The system used is the Mitsubishi's RV-2AJ robotic arm with 5 degrees of freedom.
Web tutorials workflows: How scholarship, institutional experiences, and peer institutions' practices shaped one academic library's online learning offerings

Purpose – This article examines a structured redesign of one academic library's offering of its online learning objects. This process considered both improving the online learning objects and developing a feasible workflow process for librarians. The findings for both processes are discussed. Design/methodology/approach – The scholarship on online library learning objects and web tutorials, beginning with Dewald's seminal study, was examined for trends, patterns, and best practices. From this research, informal interviews were conducted with library faculty members. Once this information had been collected, other public university libraries in the state of Michigan – 14 in all – were considered in terms of if, and how, they offered online learning objects and web tutorials. These three areas of inquiry provide a foundation for the best practices and workflows developed. Findings – Based on the scholarship, librarian feedback, and informal assessment of other public university libraries' practices, best pr...
Measuring acoustic-prosodic entrainment with respect to multiple levels and dimensions

In conversation, speakers become more like each other in various dimensions. This phenomenon, commonly called entrainment, coordination, or alignment, is widely believed to be crucial to the success and naturalness of human interactions. We investigate entrainment in four acoustic and prosodic dimensions. We explore whether speakers coordinate with each other in these dimensions over the conversation as a whole as well as on a turn-by-turn basis and in both relative and absolute terms, and whether this coordination improves over the course of the conversation.
Substance use behaviors among college students with same-sex and opposite-sex experience: results from a national study.

Abstract Objectives: This study seeks to describe the population of college students with same-sex sexual experience and determine if these students report more substance use than their peers with only opposite-sex experience. Methods: Questionnaires were completed by a national random sample of college students on 119 campuses in 1999. A total of 10,301 sexually active students were categorized as having only opposite-sex, only same-sex, or both-sex partners, and their smoking, binge drinking, and marijuana use behaviors were compared. Results: Students who report same-sex sexual experiences comprise 6.1% of respondent. Women with both-sex partners were approximately twice as likely to smoke, binge drink, and use marijuana as women with only opposite-sex partners (OR=1.41–2.78), but women with only same-sex partners were not at increased risk for these behaviors. Men with both-sex partners were less likely to binge drink (OR=0.54) than men with only opposite-sex partners. Conclusions: Students with same-sex experience are present at every type of college. College women with both-sex partners appear to be an appropriate target for health interventions; outreach to these students and further study of related behaviors are warranted.
Methods in avian embryology experimental and molecular manipulation of the embryonic chick limb

Publisher Summary This chapter presents methods in avian embryology experimental and molecular manipulation of the embryonic chick limb. The developing limb appendage, from a vertebrate or an invertebrate animal, studies many questions in developmental biology such as pattern formation, skeletal development, cell fate, morphogenesis, signaling, gene regulation, and cell and molecular interactions. Limb development can be perturbed without affecting the development of other tissues or the animal itself and hence, provides a simple system to test the function of genes that may be required more generally during embryonic development. Focusing on the developing chick limb, classical experimental embryology studies discuss the critical organizing centers that govern the three axes of the limb—namely, proximal–distal (Pr–D; shoulder to tips of digits), anterior–posterior (A–P; thumb to little finger), and dorsal– ventral (D–V; knuckle to palm). The experiments that lead to these exciting discoveries are discussed in the chapter.
Lack of introns in the ribosomal protein gene S14 of trypanosomes.

Abstract Introns are almost always present in ribosomal protein genes, even in organisms in which introns are rare. Although trans spliced, the trypanosome ribosomal protein gene S14 apparently does not have cis introns, which supports the notion that such introns are absent in this organism.
Relationship Between Pumping-Test and Slug-Test Parameters: Scale Effect or Artifact?

In most field investigations, information about hydraulic conductivity (K) is obtained through pumping or slug tests. A considerable body of data has been amassed that indicates that the K estimate from a pumping test is, on average, considerably larger than the estimate obtained from a series of slug tests in the same formation. Although these data could be interpreted as indicating a natural underlying scale dependence in K, an alternate explanation is that the slug-test K is artificially low as a result of incomplete well development and, to a much lesser extent, failure to account for vertical anisotropy. Incomplete well development will often result in only the most permeable zones being cleared of drilling debris, with much of the screened interval remaining undeveloped. More cursory development can leave a low-K skin along the entire screened interval. Failure to recognize such conditions can result in a K estimate from a slug test that is much lower than the average K of the formation in the vicinity of the well. By contrast, neither a skin nor vertical anisotropy will have a significant impact on K estimates from pumping tests when semi-log analyses and/or observation wells are used. However, a reasonable estimate of aquifer thickness is required to convert the transmissivity calculated from a pumping test into an average K for the aquifer. Prior to invoking a natural scale dependence to explain the results of different types of hydraulic tests, head data should be closely examined and serious consideration given to alternate explanations.
Synthesis and binding of glucosyltransferase and in vitro adherence of Streptococcus mutans grown in a synthetic medium

Abstract Streptococcus mutans strain B13, grown in a chemically defined synthetic medium (FMC) containing 2 per cent glucose, produced extracellular glucosyltransferase (GTase) in contrast with cells grown in Todd-Hewitt broth in which GTase activity was cell-associated. Pre-treatment of the glucose with invertase resulted in a 3:1 ratio of extracellular: cell-associated GTase. When sucrose was added to FMC, GTase shifted to a cell-associated form. Cells heat-treated after growth in FMC containing invertase-treated glucose did not bind extracellular GTase, and no subsequent adherence occurred in the presence of sucrose, whereas cells grown in FMC containing non-invertase-treated glucose or a glucose-sucrose mixture bound GTase and produced adherence. The results indicate that the presence of sucrose determines the ratio of cell-free and cell-associated GTase, and the binding of GTase depends upon cell-surface glucan subsequent to glucan synthesis and in vitro adherence.
Premelting thermal fluctuational base pair opening probability of poly(dA).poly(dT) as predicted by the modified self-consistent phonon theory.

We employ a mean field, modified, self-consistent phonon theory to evaluate the single base-pair opening rate and the probability of a base pair in the amino proton exchangeable state for the homopolymer poly(dA).poly(dT) at temperatures below the helix-coil transition region. Our calculated premelting single base-pair opening probabilities are in general agreement with several available experimental estimates from amino proton exchange and formaldehyde-induced DNA melting measurements. These calculated opening probabilities, however, are in disagreement with the prediction of the helix-coil transition theory. Possible reasons for the differences are discussed, especially the possible different definition of a meaningful open state in the premelting region. The premelting open state of the modified self-consistent phonon approximation theory seems to be appropriate to describe a solvent-accessible open configuration that is sufficient to facilitate important chemical reactions such as imino proton exchange and formaldehyde reaction with the bases. This can be compared with the completely unstacked open state of the helix-coil transition theory originally defined in the helix-coil transition region. We propose that the amino proton exchangeable state is different from the open state associated with melting and only involves the breaking of the amino interbase H bond. The agreement between the calculated and experimentally estimatedmore » probability of a base pair in the amino proton exchangeable state seems to support this hypothesis.« less
The Abbé Fauchet: Romantic Religion During the French Revolution

LAUDE Fauchet was a fairly obscure French Catholic priest who died during the French Revolution. Since he was not a "great unknown" whom it is imperative for us to know, one should avoid inflating his importance. It is only his attempt, through the vehicle of what can be called "romantic religion," to adapt Catholicism to modern conditions during an era of revolutionary change which deserves attention. In its eighteenth-century origins Romanticism involved more (or perhaps less) than great poetry, art, and music. It also involved a new climate of feeling and opinion. Fauchet, caught up in the fast-moving events of the French Revolution, saw in the great changes he witnessed the birth of a new era. Through his own personal, and perhaps peculiar, romantic religious sensibility he sought to persuade his contemporaries that Catholic Christianity was the religion of democratic regeneration. Hopefully a discussion of Fauchet's life and ideas may contribute to an understanding of romantic religion in the late eighteenth century.
Particulate bioluininescence in dinoflagellates: dissociation and partial reconstitution

With the same extraction conditions used for Gonyaulax polyedra, soluble and particulate bioluminescence can be isolated from two additional species, Pyrodinium bahamense and Pyrocystis lunula. We have been able, for all three species, to dissociate soluble luciferin and luciferase from the particulate system. Luciferin can be incorporated into both reacted and unreacted particulate systems.
Subscale Distance and Item Clustering Effects in Self-Administered Surveys: A New Metric

Abstract The authors explore the effect of a form of question context on responses to a computer-mediated marketing research survey. As an increasing proportion of marketing research is conducted through computer interfaces, the pool of potential context effects is rapidly expanding. The authors conduct an experiment using a multi-item scale that consists of five dimensions and manipulate three such context effects: explicit item labeling, item presentation (alone/grouped), and subscale items presented contiguously or not. In a refined analysis of variance, the authors use a special one-dimensional case of the spatial and attribute-based distance metric proposed by Hoch, Bradlow, and Wansink (1999) to explain subscale variance, replacing the indicator variable for clustering used in a standard analysis of variance. This metric provides a scalar measure of how much variation exists in the order of presentation of items within a subscale (the subscale distance). This analysis indicates a significant decreas...
Hypertension in renal parenchymal disease: why is it so resistant to treatment?

The association between hypertension and chronic renal disease is well known. The pathogenesis of hypertension in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is complex and multifactorial, which may explain why it is resistant to treatment. The traditional paradigm is that hypertension in CKD is due either to an excess of intravascular volume (volume dependent) or to excessive activation of the renin–angiotensin system in relation to the state of sodium/volume balance (renin-dependent hypertension). This review focuses on the importance of less established mechanisms, such as increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system, increased endothelin production, decreased availability of endothelium-derived vasodilators and structural changes of the arteries, renal ischemia, and sleep apnea.
Axon-Glia Interactions and the Domain Organization of Myelinated Axons Requires Neurexin IV/Caspr/Paranodin

Abstract Myelinated fibers are organized into distinct domains that are necessary for saltatory conduction. These domains include the nodes of Ranvier and the flanking paranodal regions where glial cells closely appose and form specialized septate-like junctions with axons. These junctions contain a Drosophila Neurexin IV-related protein, Caspr/Paranodin (NCP1). Mice that lack NCP1 exhibit tremor, ataxia, and significant motor paresis. In the absence of NCP1, normal paranodal junctions fail to form, and the organization of the paranodal loops is disrupted. Contactin is undetectable in the paranodes, and K + channels are displaced from the juxtaparanodal into the paranodal domains. Loss of NCP1 also results in a severe decrease in peripheral nerve conduction velocity. These results show a critical role for NCP1 in the delineation of specific axonal domains and the axon-glia interactions required for normal saltatory conduction.
N5-CAIR mutase: role of a CO2 binding site and substrate movement in catalysis.

N{sup 5}-Carboxyaminoimidazole ribonucleotide mutase (N{sup 5}-CAIR mutase or PurE) from Escherichia coli catalyzes the reversible interconversion of N{sup 5}-CAIR to carboxyaminoimidazole ribonucleotide (CAIR) with direct CO{sub 2} transfer. Site-directed mutagenesis, a pH-rate profile, DFT calculations, and X-ray crystallography together provide new insight into the mechanism of this unusual transformation. These studies suggest that a conserved, protonated histidine (His45) plays an essential role in catalysis. The importance of proton transfers is supported by DFT calculations on CAIR and N{sup 5}-CAIR analogues in which the ribose 5'-phosphate is replaced with a methyl group. The calculations suggest that the nonaromatic tautomer of CAIR (isoCAIR) is only 3.1 kcal/mol higher in energy than its aromatic counterpart, implicating this species as a potential intermediate in the PurE-catalyzed reaction. A structure of wild-type PurE cocrystallized with 4-nitroaminoimidazole ribonucleotide (NO{sub 2}-AIR, a CAIR analogue) and structures of H45N and H45Q PurEs soaked with CAIR have been determined and provide the first insight into the binding of an intact PurE substrate. A comparison of 19 available structures of PurE and PurE mutants in apo and nucleotide-bound forms reveals a common, buried carboxylate or CO{sub 2} binding site for CAIR and N{sup 5}-CAIR in a hydrophobic pocket in whichmore » the carboxylate or CO{sub 2} interacts with backbone amides. This work has led to a mechanistic proposal in which the carboxylate orients the substrate for proton transfer from His45 to N{sup 5}-CAIR to form an enzyme-bound aminoimidazole ribonucleotide (AIR) and CO{sub 2} intermediate. Subsequent movement of the aminoimidazole moiety of AIR reorients it for addition of CO{sub 2} at C4 to generate isoCAIR. His45 is now in a position to remove a C4 proton to produce CAIR.« less
An efficient algorithm for the generalized Foldy-Lax formulation

Consider the scattering of a time-harmonic plane wave incident on a two-scale heterogeneous medium, which consists of scatterers that are much smaller than the wavelength and extended scatterers that are comparable to the wavelength. In this work we treat those small scatterers as isotropic point scatterers and use a generalized Foldy-Lax formulation to model wave propagation and capture multiple scattering among point scatterers and extended scatterers. Our formulation is given as a coupled system, which combines the original Foldy-Lax formulation for the point scatterers and the regular boundary integral equation for the extended obstacle scatterers. The existence and uniqueness of the solution for the formulation is established in terms of physical parameters such as the scattering coefficient and the separation distances. Computationally, an efficient physically motivated Gauss-Seidel iterative method is proposed to solve the coupled system, where only a linear system of algebraic equations for point scatterers or a boundary integral equation for a single extended obstacle scatterer is required to solve at each step of iteration. The convergence of the iterative method is also characterized in terms of physical parameters. Numerical tests for the far-field patterns of scattered fields arising from uniformly or randomly distributed point scatterers and single or multiple extended obstacle scatterers are presented.
Heat inactivation kinetics of apple polyphenoloxidase and activation of its latent form

Heat inactivation kinetics of crude polyphenoloxidase (PPO) from six apple cultivars (Golden Delicious, Starking Delicious, Granny Smith; Gloster, Starcrimson and Amasya) were studied at three temperatures (68°, 73° and 78°C). PPO activity initially increased and then decreased with heat, following a first order kinetic model. Increase in activity indicated presence of latent PPO. Regression coefficients for the linear portions of inactivation curves were computed to determine inactivation parameters. Reaction data at 78°C revealed that PPO in Amasya was the least and Starking Delicious the most heat-stable. Rate constants for heat inactivation at 78°C ranged from 15.99-28.27 . 10 -2 min -1 . Activation energies varied between 54.7-77.2 kcal . mol -1 with z values of 7.1-10.0C°. PPO in apples was generally more heat-stable than PPO in most fruits.
An integrated optical spatial filter

Abstract The demonstration of a static integrated optical spatial digital filter based upon the Bragg effect is reported and a design for a programmable filter is suggested.
Melting-Point Models of Alkanes

Multivariable models were developed to predict the melting points of alkanes having 10−20 carbon atoms and only one methyl group. These types of alkanes are of special interest to petroleum engineers manufacturing synthetic diesel fuel. Models were based on the number of carbon atoms, the Wiener Path numbers, the mean Wiener index, and the methyl locant index. Nonlinear regression techniques were used which employed web-based NEOS solvers to determine the coefficients and exponents of the indices in the models. The models were used to predict the melting points of alkanes having 10−20 carbon atoms for which no experimental melting-point data existed.
The Big World in the Small: Layered Dynamics of Meaning-Making in the Everyday:

This paper proposes a framework for understanding what novelist Georges Perec has called “the rest” that we live through, the qualities of experience and meaning-making in everyday, in-between spaces, and the ways in which people make sense of the big world through the small. The work explores how common neighborhood places are essential to people's lives, and its framework of “layered dynamics” suggests ways of understanding an individual epistemology of everyday place. The paper grapples with what Doreen Massey has called a “global sense of the local” and how the meanings we make in our most common places relate to our understanding of the larger world, as well as the reciprocal process by which place helps shape us. Drawing on environmental psychology and differing theoretical conceptions of the individual, as well as innovative methods involving neighborhood tours and photographs with residents of a small neighborhood in Oakland, California, this work explores how, through emergent and often conflicti...
Making quantized images appear smooth: Tricks of the trade in vision research

Digital image-processing systems combined with color raster television technology are opening new worlds for the visual psychophysicist. Some of the inherent limitations and practical hazards of these technologies are explored. Techniques for circumventing some of the current limitations are presented, especially with regard to the issue of real-time variation of visual images.
MATURATIONAL DIFFERENCES IN EXPRESSION AND REGULATION OF LUNG HEME OXYGENASE IN HYPEROXIA. † 1052

Heme oxygenase (HO), the rate limiting enzyme in bilirubin production, is inducible by oxidant stresses including hyperoxia(O2)(1). In O2, newly born animals (<12 hrs. old:NEO) regulate HO differently than adults, who increase lung HO-1 mRNA in O2,(1), whereas NEO do not(2), despite increased HO activity. These differences may represent a maturational response. Therefore, Wistar rats (1-3 weeks:young) and adults (2 months) were exposed to 02 for 3 days. On Days 0 and 3 of exposure, lungs were evaluated for total HO activity (gas chromatography), HO-1 protein (Western), and HO-1 mRNA (Northern). Total lung glutathione (GSH) activity was used as an index of oxygen toxicity.Table (values expressed as mean% of Day 0 value±SE of 3-6 samples, *p=0.06 vs. air, †p<0.05 vs. air,Ψ p<0.01 vs. air). An 8.6 fold increase in HO-1 RNA was associated with a decrease in GSH in adults. No differences in HO-1 RNA were seen in young, but 1 week old rats showed a 2.2 fold increase in total HO activity, (p=0.06). This suggests a post-transcriptional regulation of HO-1, as previously shown with NEO. We conclude that there are maturational differences in the regulation of HO-1 mRNA with O2 in the lung. We speculate that GSH depletion is a necessary trigger for transcriptional regulation of lung HO-1 in O2.
The Process of Decision Modification in Small Discussion Groups

This study qualitatively examined the interaction patterns associated with group decision-making. Specifically, a category system identified the functions which verbal behavior performs upon tentatively introduced decision proposals and yielded a theory of decision modification within group discussions. Groups do not apparently make decisions gradually by direct amendments but in sudden jumps to different formulations of the same root proposal. That is, proposals were introduced, discussed, dropped, and reintroduced in modified form. Two discernible patterns of decision modification emerged. One pattern involved systematically reformulating the proposal in language at successively lower levels of abstraction until the proposal achieved consensus. The second pattern involved substitute decision proposals at essentially equivalent levels of abstraction until the revised proposal achieved consensus. Unlike previous theories of flight behavior resulting from interpersonal conflict, the present study indicates that periods of task avoidance are inherent within the group process of cumulative decision modification. “I don't think they play at all fairly,” Alice began, in a rather complaining tone, “and they all quarrel so dreadfully one can't hear oneself speak–and they don't seem to have any rules in particular; at least, if there are, nobody attends to them–and you've no idea how confusing it is all the things being alive….”
The ZorO-OrzO type I toxin–antitoxin locus: repression by the OrzO antitoxin

Type I toxin-antitoxin loci consist of two genes: a small, hydrophobic, potentially toxic protein, and a small RNA (sRNA) antitoxin. The sRNA represses toxin gene expression by base pairing to the toxin mRNA. A previous bioinformatics search predicted a duplicated type I locus within Escherichia coli O157:H7 (EHEC), which we have named the gene pairs zorO-orzO and zorP-orzP. We show that overproduction of the zorO gene is toxic to E. coli; co-expression of the sRNA OrzO can neutralize this toxicity, confirming that the zorO-orzO pair is a true type I toxin-antitoxin locus. However, OrzO is unable to repress zorO in a strain deleted for RNase III, indicating that repression requires cleavage of the target mRNA. Sequence analysis and mutagenesis studies have elucidated a nucleotide sequence region (V1) that allows differential recognition of the zorO mRNA by OrzO and not OrzP, and a specific single nucleotide within the V1 of OrzO that is critical for repression of zorO. Although there are 18 nt of complementarity between the OrzO sRNA and the zorO mRNA, not all base pairing interactions are needed for repression; however, the amount needed is dependent on whether there is continuous or discontinuous complementarity to the target mRNA.
EFFECT OF GLYCINE ON ISOLATED, PERFUSED RABBIT LIVERS FOLLOWING 48-HOUR PRESERVATION IN UNIVERSITY-OF-WISCONSIN SOLUTION WITHOUT GLUTATHIONE

Glycine has been shown to decrease membrane injury in isolated cells due to hypoxia or cold ischemia. The mechanisms of action of glycine are not known, but glycine may be useful in organ preservation solutions or in treating recipients of liver transplantation. In this study the isolated, perfused rabbit liver was used to measure how glycine affected liver performance after 48-h preservation in University of Wisconsin (UW) solution without added glutathione. UW solution is less effective for 48-h liver preservation when glutathione is omitted. Rabbit livers stored for 48 h without glutathione show a large increase in enzyme release (LDH and AST) from the liver and a reduction in bile production. The addition of 15 mM glycine to UW solution, in place of glutathione, did not improve bile production or reduce enzyme release. However, infusion of 10 mM glycine into the reperfused liver lowered LDH release significantly (from 2383±562 units/100 g to 1426±286 units/100 g) during the initial reperfusion of the 48-h preserved liver. Hepatamine, a parenteral nutrition solution containing glycine, as well as other amino acids, was also effective in lowering LDH release from the preserved liver. Although glycine reduced LDH release, it did not decrease the amount of AST released from the liver, nor did it improve bile production. Thus, we conclude that glycine, either in UW solution or given to the liver upon reperfusion, has no significantly beneficial effect as tested in this model. Further testing of glycine, however, should be conducted in an orthotopic transplant model in the rat or dog.
Spatial inequality in higher education in Washington

Geographic variation in educational attainment is often studied, but variation in access to higher education is much less well understood. Washington State is found to have unusually high access to community colleges, but rather low, and extremely uneven geographic access to four-year colleges and universities. The state, and especially the metropolitan core of Seattle, is highly dependent on migration of highly educated persons from the rest of the country and the world. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Tissue-specific forms of actin in the developing chick

Abstract Actin has been identified in nonmuscle and muscle tissues as a highly conserved homogeneous protein. We have identified and characterized actin from embryonic and adult chick brain and muscle, and have compared these actins by SDS and urea/SDS gradient polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. In the presence of SDS alone, embryonic or adult brain and muscle actin co-migrate as homogeneous polypeptides. Electrophoresis of both actins in the presence of urea and SDS, however, reveals that brain and muscle actins migrate with distinctly different mobilities. Actin from embryonic thigh muscle at different stages of development migrates as two separate components. In early muscle development, only the "brain" type actin is present. As muscle development progresses the "muscle" type actin becomes relatively more abundant, so that by day 20 of embryonic development, "muscle" actin becomes predominant. These results may be interpreted as due to differences in the primary structure of actin.
Ethanol produces coronary vasospasm: evidence for a direct action of ethanol on vascular muscle

The effects of ethanol and acetaldehyde on basal tension of canine small and large coronary arteries were examined in vitro. Ethanol in a concentration as little as 8.5 mM can induce threshold contractions of coronary arteries. High concentrations of ethanol produce concentration-dependent coronary vasospasms equivalent to those induced by supra-maximal concentrations of KCl. Acetaldehyde (10(-5) to 10(-2)M) resulted in concentration-dependent relaxation of basal tone. Use of a variety of pharmacological antagonists (i.e., phentolamine, methysergide, diphenhydramine, metiamide, propranolol and indomethacin) did not attenuate or prevent the spasmogenic actions of ethanol. These findings could help to explain why alcohol can induce cardiac depression, arrhythmias, cardiomyopathy and the higher than normal incidence of sudden death observed in 'binge' drinkers.
Determination of the size‐consistency error in the single and double excitation configuration interaction model

The ''size-consistency'' or ''unlinked-diagram'' problem in a configuration interaction calculation employing all double excitations (DCI) from a Hartree-Fock determinant is investigated numerically. By using many-body perturbation theory and the ''linked-cluster'' expansion, the contribution of all double-excitation diagrams in all orders is obtained for the correlation energy of H/sub 2/O without approximation. Comparison with DCI gives a value of 14 mhartree (9 kcal/mol) for the unlinked, pathological terms remaining in the DCI, emphasizing the importance of quantum chemical methods built upon the linked-cluster expansion for larger molecules. A formula proposed by Davidson to estimate these terms is derived from a consideration of the primary ''unlinked'' diagrams remaining in the DCI. The estimates of the corrections given by Davidson's formula and one suggested by Pople are compared with the exact value. The agreement is within 0.3 mhartree for Davidson's formula and 1.6 mhartree for that of Pople. Another value for the correction is given by the fourth-order MBPT result for double-excitation diagrams, which is 1.2 mhartree higher than the infinite order result.