cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abstract 3294: A novel, inducible, mammary gland-specific PELP1 murine breast cancer model

Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL Despite treatment advances, breast cancer remains the second most lethal malignant disease for women worldwide. Although pharmacologic agents that modulate estrogen receptor-alpha (ER) functions or reduce circulating estrogens levels significantly reduced mortality in patients with estrogen sensitive (ER positive) tumors, both de novo and acquired resistance limits efficacy. A critical need for identifying more precise diagnostic/prognostic biomarkers and novel therapeutic targets prompted deeper investigation into ER-coregulatory protein function and regulation. ER-coactivator PELP1, mediates both nuclear and extra-nuclear estrogen signaling and crosstalk with growth factors. Deregulated PELP1 expression occurs in hormone-driven cancers, associates with undifferentiated invasive breast adenocarcinomas and an independent prognostic biomarker in assessing clinical outcome of luminal-like breast cancer patients. Collectively, several studies suggest PELP1 is an ER coregulator with tumorigenic potential. However, the in vivo significance of PELP1 deregulation during initiation and progression of breast cancer remains unknown. To determine the role of PELP1 over-expression in mammary tumorigenesis, we generated an inducible transgenic murine model. Transgene construct (pTetOPELP1) consists of a full-length human PELP1 cDNA linked to luciferase gene reporter through an internal ribosomal entry site (IRES). pTetOPELP1 mice crossed with mammary gland-specific rtTA mice (MMTVrtTA) to establish two independent MMTVrtTA-TetOPELP1 transgenic lines. Transgene induction in adult nulliparous bitransgenic females was achieved with doxycycline administered in drinking water. Concurrent expression and activity of the luciferase gene reporter was detected specifically in the mammary gland by in vivo bioluminescence imaging, luciferase assay and RT-PCR. Mammary epithelial-specific expression of PELP1 was validated by immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis. PELP1-mediated morphological and histological changes were analyzed by examining carmine-stained whole mounts and H&E-stained paraffin embedded mammary glands sections. We observed an increase in proliferation, extensive side branching and precocious differentiation in PELP1 expressing mammary gland compared to controls. Aged MMTVrtTA-TetOPELP1 bitransgenic mice (n=42) revealed hyperplasia and preneoplastic changes as early as 12 weeks with ER-positive mammary gland tumors developing by 8 months following PELP1 induction. Taken together, we established PELP1 as an oncogenic in vivo. Our inducible mammary-specific PELP1 transgenic model will serve as a valuable tool for future in vivo investigation into molecular mechanisms of PELP1-mediated tumorigenesis. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3294. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-3294
VARIABILITY OF A VESTIGIAL STRUCTURE: FIRST METACARPAL IN COLOBUS GUEREZA AND ATELES GEOFFROYI.

A tenet of evolutionary theory is that, under conditions of stabilizing selection, phenotypic variability is inversely related to selection intensity. Correspondingly, a nonfunctional, vestigial structure is expected to be highly variable relative to its functional homologue. This study tests the hypothesis that species with a vestigial pollex, Colobus guereza and Ateles geoffroyi, have a first metacarpal whose length is both highly variable relative to, and poorly correlated with, the lengths of the other metapodials. The results are consistent with the hypothesis, though this combination of traits is also found in Presbytis rubicunda and Presbytis cristata. The latter two species have functional, albeit miniature, pollices. This study also demonstrates a general, inverse relationship among anthropoid primates between relative length of the first metapodial and its relative variability. These results suggest that elevated variability accompanies structural reduction.
The Case Salience Index, Public Opinion, and Decision Making on the U.S. Supreme Court

ABSTRACTRecent work on the U.S. Supreme Court argues that Supreme Court decision making is constrained by several factors, including public opinion. These constraints are not uniform across cases, however, and some suggest that public opinion may only act as a constraint conditional on the salience of the case. Using a dichotomous measure of salience, prior studies finds mixed results as to whether the Court may alter its decisions in cases of low or high salience. By updating our previous measure of salience (Collins and Cooper 2012) and recasting it with slightly different measurement properties, we find that public opinion influences court decisions in cases of very low salience and cases of very high salience. This research has important implications for our understanding of whether the Supreme Court is insulated from public pressures or if it simply reflects the public mood of the day. The analysis introduced here also provides a useful example of a new salience dataset that should be valuable to jud...
Assessment of the expression and role of the α1-nAChR subunit in efferent cholinergic function during the development of the mammalian cochlea.

In addition to the well characterized α9- and α10-nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), the “muscle-type” α1-nAChR subunit is expressed in developing cochlear hair cells (HCs) (Scheffer et al...
Isolating Developmentally Important Genes from the Lobster Nervous System

We are examining the roles that specific gene expression play in development and behavior in the nervous system of the American lobster, Homarus americarus. In particular, we have isolated genomic DNA sequences that encompass several putative lobster genes— one possibly encoding a receptor for the steroid molting hormone, 20-hydroxyecdysone, and at least one homologous to the family of mammalian genes encoding the biopterin-dependent amine hydroxylases (tryptophan hydroxylase, tyrosine hydroxylase, and phenylalanine hydroxylase). Tryptophan hydroxylase is the rate-limiting enzyme for the synthesis of serotonin, a developmentally regulated lobster neurohormone. The control of expression of these genes in individual lobster neurons can be assayed by in situ hybridization and could provide insights into the linkage between behavior, development, and gene expression in this organism.
Exercise regimen reduces fatigue.

Fatigue is one of the most common, distressing, and frustrating side effects of cancer and its treatment.[1] While red blood cell growth factors (erythropoietin) have greatly reduced the fatigue associated with anemia, patients continue to be confronted with fatigue that interferes with normal physical and emotional function both during and following treatment.
Country ETF returns and volatility spillovers in emerging stock markets, Europe and USA

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the linkages among equity exchange traded funds (ETF) returns and transmission of volatilities of the USA, Europe and key emerging countries’ stock markets. Standard & Poor’s 500 (spy) and iShares Europe are used to represent the USA and European stock markets, the emerging market part of the data set consists of daily returns of equity ETF representing broad equity market indices of the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China); the mist countries (Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea and Turkey) and South Africa and covers the period of February 3, 2012-February 28, 2014. Design/methodology/approach – The paper utilizes multi-variate auto-regressive moving-averages (MARMA) methodology to study equity market returns and spillovers. Second, generalized auto-regressive conditional heteroskadasticity (GARCH) modeling is employed to model volatility persistence and transmissions. Findings – The findings include the existence of significant co-movement of...
Late-life paraphrenia: An organic delusional syndrome

Five patients with late-life onset of schizophrenic symptomatology (late-life paraphrenia) were found to have occult organic disorders. Although it was not possible to prove that the organic disorders were causal in these patients, none had any psychiatric illness until late in life and none had any significant risk factors for developing schizophrenia. This study demonstrates the need to investigate the medical and neurologic condition of any elderly patient presenting with a new onset of delusions. Modern investigative techniques may permit more accurate classification (and therapy) of some patients with late-life paraphrenia.
Complete Visibility for Robots with Lights in O(1) Time

We consider the problem of repositioning N autonomous robots on a plane so that each robot is visible to all others (the Complete Visibility problem); a robot cannot see another robot if its visibility is obstructed by a third robot positioned between them on a straight line. This problem is important since it provides a basis to solve many other problems under obstructed visibility. Robots operate following Look-Compute-Move (LCM) cycles and communicate with other robots using colored lights as in the recently proposed robots with lights model. The challenge posed by this model is that each robot has only a constant number of colors for its lights (symbols for communication) and no memory (except for the persistence of lights) between LCM cycles. Our goal is to minimize the number of rounds needed to solve Complete Visibility, where a round is measured as the time duration for all robots to execute at least one complete LCM cycle since the end of the previous round. The best previously known algorithm for Complete Visibility on this robot model has runtime of \(O(\log N)\) rounds. That algorithm has the assumptions of full synchronicity, chirality, and robot paths may collide. In this paper we present the first algorithm for Complete Visibility with O(1) runtime that runs on the semi-synchronous (and also the fully synchronous) model. The proposed algorithm is deterministic, does not have the chirality assumption, and is collision free.
Foraging relationships within a guild of bumble bees

Three species of bumble bees (Bombus spp.) that forage on goldenrod (Solidago spp.) inflorescences were run in pairwise experiments designed to test the effect of one species on another species' foraging. When paired with increasing numbers of a larger species, the smaller species of a pair usually foraged progressively more peripherally in the inflorescences. Larger species did not significantly change their foraging areas when placed with individuals of a smaller species. Individuals that foraged most peripherally when placed with a larger species also tended to forage more rapidly than did conspecifics that foraged nearer the center of the fluorescences, where the larger species were also foraging. Although no overt hostile interactions were observed during the experiments, these shifts are considered to be the consequence of dominance-mediated interference.
Pediatric Heart Donor Assessment Tool (PH-DAT): A novel donor risk scoring system to predict 1-year mortality in pediatric heart transplantation

Background In this study we sought to quantify hazards associated with various donor factors into a cumulative risk scoring system (the Pediatric Heart Donor Assessment Tool, or PH-DAT) to predict 1-year mortality after pediatric heart transplantation (PHT). Methods PHT data with complete donor information (5,732) were randomly divided into a derivation cohort and a validation cohort (3:1). From the derivation cohort, donor-specific variables associated with 1-year mortality (exploratory p- value p Results The final model had an acceptable predictive value ( c -statistic = 0.62). The significant 5 variables (ischemic time, stroke as the cause of death, donor-to-recipient height ratio, donor left ventricular ejection fraction, glomerular filtration rate) were used for the scoring system. The validation cohort demonstrated a strong correlation between the observed and expected rates of 1-year mortality ( r = 0.87). The risk of 1-year mortality increases by 11% (OR 1.11 [1.08 to 1.14]; p p = 0.001) in the validation cohort with an increase of 1-point in score. Mortality risk increased 5 times from the lowest to the highest donor score in this cohort. Based on this model, a donor score range of 10 to 28 predicted 1-year recipient mortality of 11% to 31%. Conclusion This novel pediatric-specific, donor risk scoring system appears capable of predicting post-transplant mortality. Although the PH-DAT may benefit organ allocation and assessment of recipient risk while controlling for donor risk, prospective validation of this model is warranted.
Instructional Congruence to Promote Science Learning and Literacy Development for Linguistically Diverse Students

With increasing numbers of students from diverse language and cultural backgrounds, the nation is challenged to achieve the goal of high academic standards for all students. In this chapter we have presented a model of instructional congruence to promote linguistically diverse students’ achievement inscience. We have described how fourth-grade elementary teachers who shared the language and culture of their students established instructional congruence to promote students’ science learning and literacy development. Instructional congruence occurred as teachers mediated the nature of academic content and inquiry with students’ language and cultural experiences. A discussion of the implications instructional congruence for teacher enhancement concludes this chapter. With adaptations for specific learner needs, the model can be extended to other groups at the margins of science, including students from low socio-economic levels, students with disabilities, and female students. The practical knowledge of teaching by the individual teachers in the research can be incorporated as an important part of theoretical knowledge required for effective instruction (Ladson-Billings, 1994, 1995). This knowledge base can be shared with teachers from a variety of backgrounds to make science available for all.
The New Woman Gothic: Reconfigurations of Distress

The New Woman—educated, professional, and politically active—at first glance seems to have little in common with traditional Romantic-Era Gothic heroines who often find themselves fleeing sexual pe...
Risk-Adjusted Performance of the Largest Active ETFs

This study examines the performance of the 10 largest active exchange-traded funds. Using Jensen’s alpha, 50% of the largest active ETFs underperform their passive benchmarks, for both default and specific indexes. This implies that active ETFs are not appropriate as stand-alone investments. On the other hand, as part of a portfolio consisting of an active ETF, a benchmark index, and a risk-free asset, active ETFs play an integral role in the outperformance of the portfolio over the benchmark. This suggests that, for the purposes of enhanced risk-adjusted performance, active ETFs are better suited in a portfolio setting.
Gender Differences in Presentation, Treatment, and In-Hospital Outcome of Patients Admitted With Heart Failure Complicated by Atrial Fibrillation (from the Get With the Guidelines-Heart Failure [GWTG-HF] Registry).

Almost 25% of patients with heart failure (HF) have coexisting atrial fibrillation (AF), the latter of which may increase morbidity and mortality. Despite the high prevalence of HF with concomitant AF, this subgroup of patients remains understudied. This study examines gender differences in presentation, treatment and in-hospital outcome of patients with HF and AF. The Get With the Guidelines—Heart Failure (GWTG-HF) database enrolled 6,496 patients with HF who presented to Cooper University Hospital from 2005 to 2012. Twenty-four percent (1,561 patients) had concomitant AF. Pearson chi-square tests and the Student T-tests were used to compare patient characteristics by gender. Multivariate logistic regression was used to predict in-hospital mortality. Six hundred sixty-nine (42.8%) patients with HF and AF were women. Women were older (p
Prevalence of Co-occurring Medical and Behavioral Conditions/Symptoms Among 4- and 8-Year-Old Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Selected Areas of the United States in 2010

We compared the prevalence of various medical and behavioral co-occurring conditions/symptoms between 4- and 8-year-olds with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from five sites in the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network during the 2010 survey year, accounting for sociodemographic differences. Over 95% of children had at least one co-occurring condition/symptom. Overall, the prevalence was higher in 8- than 4-year-olds for 67% of co-occurring conditions/symptoms examined. Further, our data suggested that co-occurring conditions/symptoms increased or decreased the age at which children were first evaluated for ASD. Similarly, among the 8-year-olds, the prevalence of most co-occurring conditions/symptoms was higher in children with a previous ASD diagnosis documented in their records. These findings are informative for understanding and screening co-occurring conditions/symptoms in ASD.
Plaintiffs by proxy: A firm-level approach to WTO dispute resolution

Lobbying by multinational business firms drives the agenda of international trade politics. We match Fortune Global 500 firms to WTO disputes in which they have a stake and to their political activities using public disclosure data. The quantitative evidence reveals traces of a principal-agent relationship between major MNCs and the US Trade Representative (USTR). Firms lobby and make political contributions to induce the USTR to lodge a WTO dispute, and once a dispute begins, firms increase their political activity in order to keep USTR on track. Lobbying is overwhelmingly patriotic—the side opposing the US position is barely represented—and we see little evidence of MNCs lobbying against domestic protectionism. When the United States is targeted in a dispute, lobbying by defendant-side firms substantially delays settlement, as the affected firms pressure the government to reject concessions. Lobbying on the complainant side does not delay dispute resolution, as complainant-side firms have mixed incentives, to resolve disputes quickly as well as to hold out for better terms.
Orientation and motion at a polymer-polymer interface: Interdiffusion of fluorescent-labelled macromolecules

The general problem of polymer-polymer interdiffusion is studied and used to illustrate several unique aspects of the orientation and motion of macromolecules at interfaces. Specific new results are obtained for the short time evolution of the interfacial concentration profile which is shown, following the reptation model, to follow a nonclassical power law, namely, for short times \(\int\limits_{ - \infty }^\infty {C(z,t)dz \sim t^{3/4} }\), instead of the usual t1/2 law. A fluorescence experiment to measure this behavior is analyzed.
Attention: Selective Attention and Consciousness

This article discusses the influence of selective attention on consciousness. It is argued that attention is necessary, although not sufficient, for the awareness of the relationship or conjunction of different aspects of a scene or object. It is suggested that a primary function of attention is to permit the binding of features into recognizable objects. When attention is occupied elsewhere, there is a degree of awareness of the presence of visual features, though not of their relationships, and this may allow one to perform certain simple tasks such as determining whether an image includes either an animal or a vehicle.
Tools: Presentations and Their Calculus

We introduce group presentations, present Von Dyck’s lemma and Tietze’s theorem on their transformations. We bring in an important result by B.H. Neumann about finitely presentable groups.
If pragmatism ever arrives

Richard Rorty (1982) prophesized: ‘James and Dewey were not only waiting at the end of the dialectical road which analytic philosophy traveled, but are waiting at the end of the road which, for exa...
14 Adolescent Sexuality

Risk Factors and Problem Behaviors Sexual Desire Sexual Motives The State of Adolescent Sex The Evaluation of Sexual Experiences Adolescent Sexual Violence Positive Sexual Development Keywords: sexual behavior; sexual orientation; sexual identity; gender; sexual desire
A Step toward Protecting Payments for Primary Care.

A Step toward Protecting Payments for Primary Care A proposal from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services would revise evaluation-and-management payments but would maintain features of the ...
Gut microbiome features associated with Clostridium difficile colonization in puppies

Abstract In people, colonization with Clostridium difficile, the leading cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea, has been shown to be associated with distinct gut microbial features, including reduced bacterial community diversity and depletion of key taxa. In dogs, the gut microbiome features that define C. difficile colonization are less well understood. We sought to define the gut microbiome features associated with C. difficile colonization in puppies, a population where the prevalence of C. difficile has been shown to be elevated, and to define the effect of puppy age and litter upon these features and C. difficile risk. We collected fecal samples from weaned (n=27) and unweaned (n=74) puppies from 13 litters and analyzed the effects of colonization status, age and litter on microbial diversity using linear mixed effects models. Colonization with C. difficile was significantly associated with younger age, and colonized puppies had significantly decreased bacterial community diversity and differentially abundant taxa compared to non-colonized puppies, even when adjusting for age. C. difficile colonization remained associated with decreased bacterial community diversity, but the association did not reach statistical significance in a mixed effects model incorporating litter as a random effect. Even though litter explained a greater proportion (67%) of the variability in microbial diversity than colonization status, we nevertheless observed heterogeneity in gut microbial community diversity and colonization status within more than half of the litters, suggesting that the gut microbiome contributes to colonization resistance against C. difficile. The colonization of puppies with C. difficile has important implications for the potential zoonotic transfer of this organism to people. The identified associations point to mechanisms by which C. difficile colonization may be reduced.
Recent Studies on Fluorinated Silica Nanometer-Sized Particles

Since initially being reported, fluorinated silica nanometer-sized particles (F-SiNPs) have gained much interest in the scientific community, due to their unique properties. These properties, include, low surface energies, increased mechanical strength, thermal robustness, and chemical resistance, and are a direct result of the incorporation of fluorine with a nanometer-sized silica network. This review aims to summarize the synthetic methods that have, and are still, being utilized to prepare these specialized materials. Following this, applications for F-SiNPs, with an emphasis on recent examples, will be presented in further detail.
Characterization of In-Cone Logic Locking Resiliency Against the SAT Attack

The resiliency of in-cone logic locking techniques to the satisfiability (SAT) attack is characterized in this paper. An analysis of the parameters of the SAT solver that impact security and a characterization of the effect netlist topology has on the security of the circuit is presented. The analysis of SAT solver parameters and logic structure is used to develop three novel logic locking gate selection algorithms based on maximum fanout free cones (MFFCs) and gate controllability for circuits implementing XOR, look-up table (LUT), and $2\times 1$ MUX-based logic obfuscation. The XOR, LUT, and MUX MFFC-based algorithms resulted in an average increase of, respectively, 61.8%, 123.6%, and 38.5% in the minimum number of iterations required to complete the SAT attack across 1,000 different variable orderings of the netlist while applying the locking techniques to 5% of the gates within the netlist. In addition, the SAT attack resiliency and output corruption of the developed algorithms are compared with out-of-cone locking techniques.
Ethno-Erotic Economies: Sexuality, Money, and Belonging in Kenya

This compelling ethnography explores issues of globalisation, tourism, commodification, kinship, and belonging in Kenya. Based on 25 months of fieldwork over 10 years (2005–15) in Samburu villages ...
Modified Biofeedback (Conditioned Biofeedback) Promotes Antinociception by Increasing the Nociceptive Flexion Reflex Threshold and Reducing Temporal Summation of Pain: A Controlled Trial.

Abstract This study examined whether a modified version of biofeedback (ie, Conditioned Biofeedback) that incorporated placebo analgesia-like manipulations could promote antinociception in healthy, pain-free participants. During Conditioned Biofeedback (n = 28), sympathetic arousal level was displayed visually and participants were asked to reduce it while they received painful electric stimulations that were surreptitiously controlled by their arousal level. Thus, electric pain decreased as arousal decreased to associate successful arousal-reduction/relaxation with pain relief, and to promote expectations for future pain relief. A Biofeedback Only group (n = 24) controlled for the general effects of biofeedback/relaxation. A Biofeedback+Shock group (n = 21) controlled for the effects of practicing biofeedback during painful shocks. Nociceptive flexion reflex (NFR) threshold and temporal summation of pain (TS-pain) were used to assess changes in spinal nociception and pain facilitation, respectively. Results indicated all groups showed pre- to postbiofeedback increases in NFR threshold, but only the Conditioned Biofeedback group showed pre- to postbiofeedback reductions in TS-pain. Moreover, Conditioned Biofeedback resulted in a persistent (prebiofeedback) increase in NFR threshold across sessions, whereas Biofeedback Only resulted in a persistent (prebiofeedback) decrease in TS-pain. In sum, Conditioned Biofeedback may promote antinociception in healthy participants thus reducing risk for chronic pain. The study was registered prospectively on ClinicalTrials.gov (TU1560). Perspective A modified version of biofeedback that employs placebo analgesia manipulations was successful in increasing descending inhibition and reducing pain facilitation in healthy volunteers. As a result, it may be an effective means of reducing risk of future chronic pain onset by promoting an antinociceptive pain profile.
Microstructural Response of DS Nb-Silicide In-Situ Composites During High-Temperature Creep Testing

Directionally solidified (DS) in-situ composites based on (Nb) and Nb silicides, such as Nb5Si3 and Nb3Si, are being investigated for high-temperature structural applications. The use of alloying additions, such as Hf, Ti and Mo, to these silicides is required to enhance their properties. The present paper describes the microstructural response of a DS Nb-silicide based composite to creep testing.The composites investigated were directionally solidified from a molten alloy using the Czochralski method as described previously. Creep tests were conducted at 1200°C to strains of up 50%. Microstructure and microtexture characterizations were performed using scanning electron microscopy, electron microprobe analysis (EMPA), and electron backscatter diffraction pattern analysis (EBSP).Microstructures of the longitudinal section of a DS composite generated from a Nb-12.5Hf-33Ti- 16Si alloy are shown in Figure 1 in the as-DS (left hand side) and the DS+creep tested conditions (right hand side).
Methamphetamine Injection Among Young Men Who Have Sex With Men: Risk for Human Immunodeficiency Virus Transmission in a Los Angeles Cohort.

Background Prevalence of methamphetamine (meth) injection and associated human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risks among men who have sex with men (MSM) are unclear. Methods A total of 532 MSM completed 1880 mSTUDY study visits between August 2014 and June 2018 in Los Angeles, California. Assessments every 6 months included computer-assisted self-interviews and testing for sexually transmitted infections. Analyses by person and across visits adjusted for repeated measures. Results Of 532 participants, 51% (n = 276) reported meth use (past 6 months). Across 1880 visits, mutually exclusive substance use categories were as follows: 5% meth injection (5%), meth use without injection (33%), other substance use excluding meth (36%), and no substance use (26%). Comparisons across these categories respectively found that meth injectors reported higher prevalence of new sex partners (89%, 70%, 68%, and 51%, respectively), more were HIV positive (83%, 65%, 34%, and 50%), fewer were virally suppressed (53%, 48%, 61%, and 67%), and more had sexually transmitted infections (31%, 22%, 15%, and 15% (all P Conclusions Among the young MSM reporting meth injection in this Los Angeles cohort, elevated risks of acquiring or transmitting HIV suggest that they contribute significantly to sustaining the local HIV epidemic. Preventing transition to injection use has potential for HIV prevention.
Anemia in tuberculosis cases: A biomarker of severity?

Introduction: Anemia is a common condition at tuberculosis diagnosis, and there is evidence that its prevalence is higher in patients with tuberculosis than in those infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis and healthy controls. Information about anemia during tuberculosis diagnosis is still scarce in the Brazilian population. The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence of anemia in patients with tuberculosis cared for at a referral center and its association with clinical forms of tuberculosis and other characteristics of these patients. Materials and methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study of tuberculosis patients diagnosed from January 2015 to December 2018 at the Clinical Research Laboratory on Mycobacteria (LAPCLIN-TB) of Evandro Chagas National Institute of Infectious Diseases (INI)/Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz). A database of an ongoing cohort study underway at this service since 2000 provided the baseline information on tuberculosis cases extracted from a visit template. Exploratory and logistic regression analyses were performed to verify associations between anemia and demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, clinical conditions, and laboratory results. Results: Of the 328 cases reviewed, 70 were excluded, with258 retained. The prevalence of anemia was 61.2% (27.5% mild, 27.5% moderate and 6.2% severe). Among patients with anemia, 60.8% had normochromic normocytic anemia, and 27.8% showed hypochromic microcytic anemia. In logistic regression analysis, anemia was associated with a history of weight loss >10%, hospitalizations, coinfection with HIV, increased platelet count and microcytosis. Anemia was more frequent in the most severe clinical forms, such as meningeal and disseminated tuberculosis. Conclusions: Anemia was highly prevalent in tuberculosis patients at diagnosis, predominantly as normochromic normocytic anemia and in mild and moderate forms. It was associated with baseline characteristics and conditions indicative of severe disease, suggesting that anemia could be a biomarker of tuberculosis severity.
Non-suicidal self-injury in the context of COVID-19: The importance of psychosocial factors for female adolescents

Background The COVID-19 pandemic presents a unique context in which to study the impact of protective and risk factors for non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in adolescents under circumstances of heightened stress Methods Female participants (N=91, aged 12-16) enrolled in an ongoing study of NSSI completed self-report questionnaires that assessed NSSI recency, internalizing symptoms (anxiety, depressive), stress perception (stress, family conflict, loneliness), and coping resources (emotion regulation, friend and family support) Parents reported on experiences during the pandemic (family's financial status, health, and schooling) We compared protective and risk factors among three groups of adolescents: those with no history of NSSI (Never), those who did not (Desist) continue to engage in NSSI in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, and those with a history of NSSI who did (Persist) Results Participants in the Persist group reported higher levels of perceived stress and loneliness and lower family support than those in the Desist group A larger set of coping resources (emotion regulation difficulties, friend support) also differed between the Persist and Never NSSI groups These findings largely remained significant when controlling for possible contributing factors Limitations A strength is the longitudinal study design Limitations include the inability to assess changes in rate of NSSI engagement, small sample size, inclusion of only female participants, reliance primarily on self-report, and a design not suitable for making causal inferences Conclusions In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, factors such as family support may protect against NSSI engagement and offer avenues for treatment
Gestures in geology: the roles of spatial skills, expertise, and communicative context

Spatial thinking is an essential part of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), domains that entail external spatial representations such as 2D graphics, 3D models, and--the focus here--gestures. University students (a) read aloud information about the geological concepts of strike and dip, (b) completed strike and dip tasks, and (c) explained these concepts to another student via audio and video. Gestural patterns varied across reading, audio, and video contexts in interaction with participant variables of spatial skill and prior geology coursework. Only novices gestured during reading, interpreted as novices' attempts to aid their own conceptual understanding of new information. All participant groups produced different gestural patterns in audio versus video contexts, suggesting the communicative intent of many gestures.
An Emerging Equity Market in Distress

Abstract When the Republic of Korea accepted a $57 billion IMF bailout in December 1997, an era had ended for Korea as well as for international equity markets. Like the other East Asian “Tigers,” Korea began to experience economic difficulty in 1996. The booming growth rates of the previous decades slowed in 1996 and early 1997 saw large-scale bankruptcies of important firms in all sectors of Korea's economy. The severe economic downturn strained Korea's financial sector and serious underlying problems were revealed. By late summer of 1997, foreign portfolio investments were accelerating out of Korea, both instigating and exacerbating the devaluation of the won. As the liquidity shortfalls of the Korean financial sectors reached critical levels, the IMF stepped in and provided $57 billion in loans to Korea in December. This action represented the largest inflow of IMF funds extended so rapidly. This paper presents a summary of the Korean financial crisis, surveying the composition of the Korean Stock Mar...
A reinvestigation of the chemistry of pinol

Abstract The addition of bromine to pinol is shown to give 6,7-diendo-dibromocineole (6) which on treatment with hydrogen bromide is converted into “pinol tribromide” which is now formulated as 2,6-dibromo-4-(α-bromoisopropyl)-1-methyl-1-cyclohexanol (7). The reaction of cineole dibromide 6 with lead hydroxide, epoxidation of pinol with performic acid or hydrolysis of pinol oxide afford 6,7-diendo-dihydroxycineole 21. Pinol epoxide on treatment with hydrogen chloride, hydrogen bromide or boron trifluoride is converted into the corresponding diendo 6-halo-7-hydroxycineole derivative. The reaction of pinol with potassium permanganate, osmium tetraoxide or nitrosyl chloride does not proceed with oxygen migration and yields pinol glycol 34 and chloro nitroso dimer 35, respectively.
Reflux esophagitis in patients with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome

Abstract The incidence of ulcers of the stomach and duodenum and their response to medical therapy, in patients with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome is well described. However, reflux esophagitis is less well recognized. In this study we determined the frequency of reflux esophagitis in 122 patients with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome and examined their response to medical therapy. Esophageal symptoms, endoscopic abnormalities, or both were present in 61% of patients. Forty-five percent of patients had esophageal symptoms consisting of heartburn, dysphagia, or both. Forty-three percent of patients had endoscopic abnormalities of the esophagus, and 23% demonstrated moderate or severe disease. When sufficient antisecretory medication was administered to lower gastric acid secretion to
Snowmelt runoff and soil moisture dynamics on steep subalpine hillslopes

Snowmelt water supplies streamflow and growing season soil moisture in mountain regions, yet pathways of snowmelt water and their effects on moisture patterns are still largely unknown. This study examined how flow processes during snowmelt runoff affected spatial patterns of soil moisture on two steep sub-alpine hillslope transects in Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, USA. The transects have northeast-facing and east-facing aspects, and both extend from high-elevation bedrock outcrops down to streams in valley bottoms. Spatial patterns of both snow depth and near-surface soil moisture were surveyed along these transects in the snowmelt and summer seasons of 2008–2010. To link these patterns to flow processes, soil moisture was measured continuously on both transects and compared with the timing of discharge in nearby streams. Results indicate that both slopes generated shallow lateral subsurface flow during snowmelt through near-surface soil, colluvium and bedrock fractures. On the northeast-facing transect, this shallow subsurface flow emerged through mid-slope seepage zones, in some cases producing saturation overland flow, whereas the east-facing slope had no seepage zones or overland flow. At the hillslope scale, earlier snowmelt timing on the east-facing slope led to drier average soil moisture conditions than on the northeast-facing slope, but within hillslopes, snow patterns had little relation to soil moisture patterns except in areas with persistent snow drifts. Results suggest that lateral flow and exfiltration processes are key controls on soil moisture spatial patterns in this steep sub-alpine location. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Compression for computation delays in leader-follower coordination of two manipulators using exponential time functions in joint space

Coordinated control of two manipulators using discrete position feedback is developed and experimentally tested using a hierarchical multiprocessor architecture and two PUMA robot arms. Since the research is heavily experimental, leader-follower coordination is adopted because of its computational efficiency. The computation of desired follower arm positions consumes one sampling interval. Another sampling interval is lost due to the fact that a desired follower arm position has to be computed before it can be assumed. The design of a class of prediction equations to compensate for these timing delays is emphasized. These equations are developed by computing an estimated model for the delayed desired follower arm trajectory using exponential time functions. Both exact and least squares spline fitting are used and compared. >
Prenatal stress and development: beyond the single cause and effect paradigm.

Our awareness of the causes of stress-induced developmental dysfunction has increased dramatically over the past decade, and it is becoming increasingly clear that a number of factors can have considerable impacts on the developing fetus. Although there is a tendency in investigations of developmental teratogens to attribute specific causes to adverse fetal outcomes, it is important we recognize that for most developmental dysfunctions it is unlikely a single cause, but yet a series of environmental insults combined with genetic predisposition that ultimately leads to a disease state. Nonetheless, a number of developmental teratogens, such as maternal psychological stress and chemical exposures, have been shown to increase the likelihood of developmental defects. These defects can manifest during development, leading to observable birth defects, or could become evident long after birth, even into adulthood. In addition, epigenetic mutations in the germline can alter the phenotype of successive generations through transgenerational inheritance, and in this way environmental factors can alter the developmental outcomes and disease predispositions of future generations. Understanding this complexity is essential to interpretations of causality in the studies of stress-induced developmental dysfunction and needs to be fully considered to more effectively interpret potential outcomes. Birth Defects Research (Part C) 96:289–298, 2012. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
U.S. health care in conflict--Part II. The challenges of balancing cost quality and access.

Grappling with a technology explosion, an aging population and a growing number of uninsured, our health care system faces an uncertain and troubling future. Examine the critical issues influencing health care policy development and think about ways to address the dilemma of balancing cost, quality and access.
Selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase-GI is a major glutathione peroxidase activity in the mucosal epithelium of rodent intestine.

Gpx2 mRNA, encoding a selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase (GPX-GI), has been found to be highly expressed in the gastrointestinal tract (GI) mucosal epithelium. In this study, we show that GPX-GI is produced in the mucosal epithelium of the adult rat GI tract and that the activity levels are comparable to that from GPX-1. Post-mitochondrial supernatant GPX activity from the mucosal epithelium of the complete length of the small intestine was partially purified. A sample enriched for putative GPX-GI was fractionated by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Polypeptides of 21 kDa and 22 kDa were digested with trypsin. After resolving the tryptic peptides by high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC), the major peaks were analyzed for their amino acid sequence by Microflow-HPLC-Tandem Mass Spectrometry and automated Edman degradation sequencing. Both methods revealed that the 21-kDa sample contained rat GPX-GI determined by the sequence homology with the deduced mouse GPX-GI polypeptide sequence. Rat GPX-1 was also detected in the samples. AntiGPX-GI and antiGPX-1 antibodies were used to determine the distribution of the respective isoenzyme activities along the length of the intestine and with respect to the crypt to villus axis in rats. GPX-GI and GPX-1 activities were uniformly distributed in the middle and lower GI tract and with respect to the crypt to villus axis. GPX-GI activity accounted nearly the same percentage of the total GPX activity as GPX-1 in all of the these compartments. Studies on the distal ileum segment of wildtype and Gpx1 gene knockout mice showed that GPX-GI activity was also at parity with GPX-1 in the mucosal epithelium of this segment.
Discover protein sequence signatures from protein-protein interaction data

Background The development of high-throughput technologies such as yeast two-hybrid systems and mass spectrometry technologies has made it possible to generate large protein-protein interaction (PPI) datasets. Mining these datasets for underlying biological knowledge has, however, remained a challenge.
Online VBR video traffic smoothing

The efficient transmission of constant quality compressed video streams is complicated by the burstiness (both short term and long term) that video compression standards such as MPEG introduce. Most of the techniques in the literature are concentrated on stored video traffic smoothing or real-time video traffic smoothing. However there is a growing number of live video applications, such as videocasts of courses or television news, where many clients may be willing to tolerate a playback delay of several seconds or minutes in exchange for a smaller throughput requirement. Bandwidth smoothing for these live video applications is referred to as online smoothing. In order to measure the effectiveness of online video smoothing methods, in this paper, we first propose a benchmark algorithm which provides the upper bound on some of the smoothness parameters in the smoothing results. Based on this algorithm, we found that significant discrepancy exists between the results produced by the existing online smoothing methods and the upper bound. With this observation, we then focus on devising algorithms which improve the smoothing results.
Kinetics and mechanism of chlorine exchange between chloramine-T and secondary amines.

Abstract The kinetics and mechanisms of chlorine transfer from chloramine‐T (CAT) to several amines are second order and independent of p ‐toluenesulfonamide concentration; thus, the reaction does not involve disproportionation of CAT to dichloramine‐T. From the profile of pH versus rate, the following mechanisms were proposed: (1) reaction of the ionized species of CAT with the ionized amine (ionic mechanism) and (2) reaction of the un‐ionized species of CAT with the un‐ionized amine (nonionic mechanism). The second‐order, pH‐independent rate constants calculated for the ionic and nonionic mechanisms were 1.6 and 5 × 10 6 M −1 s −1 , respectively. Although these two mechanisms are kinetically indistinguishable, the rate constant for the nonionic mechanism is of the same order of magnitude as those calculated for similar chlorination reactions involving nonionizable chloramines, such as N ‐chlorosuccinimide, N ‐chloroquinuclidine, and N ‐chloro‐ N ‐methylbenzenesulfonamide. The proposed mechanism for the chlorine exchange involves a molecule of water in a cyclic, six‐membered transition state.
Development of an efficient SAS ® macro to perform permutation tests for two independent samples

When underlying distributions are unknown and sample sizes are small, permutation tests may have superior features to parametric tests, such as smaller type I error and more accurate probability values when testing the null hypothesis. However, permutation tests are not widely used in clinical trials because of their computational complexity. We developed an efficient SAS macro to generate all possible permutations of the data and to run subsequent permutation tests of difference between means for two independent samples. The macro performs permutation tests and provides the exact probability of significance for a wide range of statistics, including geometric means, medians, mid-ranges, mean-ranks, proportions and variances to meet the needs of data analysis in clinical trials.