cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Incoherent Clutter Suppression Using Lag-One Coherence

The lag-one coherence (LOC), derived from the correlation between the nearest-neighbor channel signals, provides a reliable measure of clutter which, under certain assumptions, can be directly related to the signal-to-noise ratio of individual channel signals. This offers a direct means to decompose the beamsum output power into contributions from speckle and spatially incoherent noise originating from acoustic clutter and thermal noise. In this study, we applied a novel method called lag-one spatial coherence adaptive normalization (LoSCAN) to locally estimate and compensate for the contribution of spatially incoherent clutter from conventional delay-and-sum (DAS) images. Suppression of incoherent clutter by LoSCAN resulted in improved image quality without introducing many of the artifacts common to other adaptive imaging methods. In simulations with known targets and added channel noise, LoSCAN was shown to restore native contrast and increase DAS dynamic range by as much as 10–15 dB. These improvements were accompanied by DAS-like speckle texture along with reduced focal dependence and artifact compared with other adaptive methods. Under in vivo liver and fetal imaging conditions, LoSCAN resulted in increased generalized contrast-to-noise ratio (gCNR) in nearly all matched image pairs ( ${N} =366$ ) with average increases of 0.01, 0.03, and 0.05 in good-, fair-, and poor-quality DAS images, respectively, and overall changes in gCNR from −0.01 to 0.20, contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) from −0.05 to 0.34, contrast from −9.5 to −0.1 dB, and texture $\mu /\sigma $ from −0.37 to −0.001 relative to DAS.
Addressing Goals of Parents of Hospitalized Children: A Qualitative Analysis of Parents' and Physicians' Perspectives.

ABSTRACT Objective Goals of care discussions are crucial in helping parents navigate complex medical decisions and shown to improve quality of care. Little is known about whether physicians elicit or address parents’ goals during a child's hospitalization. The purpose of this study was to understand the current practice of goal setting at the beginning of hospitalization by exploring the perspectives of parents of hospitalized children and their hospital physicians. Methods A qualitative study with semi-structured interviews was conducted from 2018 to 2019 at a 361-bed quaternary suburban freestanding children's hospital. Twenty-seven parents of hospitalized children and sixteen pediatric hospital medicine faculty were matched to participate. Data was analyzed using modified grounded theory, with themes identified through constant comparative approach. Results Five themes were identified: 1) Majority of hospitalized children's parents want to share their goals with physicians. 2) Parents and physicians share the same underlying goal of getting the child better to go home. 3) Parents of children with chronic diseases identified non-hospital goals that were not addressed. 4) Physicians do not explicitly elicit but rather assume what parents’ goals of care are. 5) Factors related to patient, parent, and physician were identified as barriers to goal setting. Conclusions Physicians may not consistently elicit parents’ goals of care for their hospitalized children at the start of hospitalization. Parents desire their physicians to explicitly ask about their goals and involve them in goal setting during hospitalization. Strategies were identified by parents and physicians to improve goal setting with parents of hospitalized children.
Quality Assurance of Data

The strongest and most sustaining issue in the United States today continues to be the changing dynamics of health care. There are frequent reports on how much better or worse health care will be in the years to come and the role data quality will have for the eventual outcome.
Clinical decision-making: Challenging traditional assumptions

Clinical decision-making that best serves the interests of our patients requires the synthesis of evidence-based medicine, sound clinical judgment and guidelines. However, a relatively low percentage of clinical guidelines are based on well-designed prospective randomized clinical trials. Thus the foundation on which good clinical outcomes can be reasonably expected should be based on i) data derived from the most applicable and highest quality clinical studies available, and ii) 'tried and tested' clinical maxims acquired through experience that are, in turn, those ideas that are in keeping with a reasonable body of medical opinion. It follows that poor decision-making and unfavorable clinical outcomes can be linked to inappropriate or inferior quality evidence, or incorrectly conceived or implemented clinical judgment. Here we review selected areas of recent controversy in clinical cardiology, highlighting the critical role of evidence-based medicine when making informed clinical decisions to help avoid harm in our patients.
Pseudotumor cerebri syndrome causing a terson like syndrome

Abstract Purpose Terson syndrome presents with retinal and vitreous hemorrhages in patients with a subarachnoid hemorrhage or after acutely elevated intracranial pressure. The source of this hemorrhage has been debated and may originate either from direct extension of intracranial hemorrhage or more likely from the peripapillary retinal vessels. Observations A 39-year-old woman presenting with nausea, vomiting, floaters and papilledema with normal neuroimaging was diagnosed ultimately with pseudotumor cerebri syndrome. She had a right vitreous hemorrhage and bilateral subretinal and intraretinal hemorrhages which were consistent with Terson like syndrome. Her symptoms resolved with acetazolamide over one month and the retinal and vitreous hemorrhages significantly improved over two months. Conclusions and importance This case with initial presentation of pseudotumor cerebri syndrome causing a Terson like syndrome may help elucidate the mechanism behind the etiology of these hemorrhages from leaking peripapillary vessels.
Accounting for Demographic Differentials in Forensic Error Rate Assessment of Latent Prints via Covariate-Specific ROC Regression.

The challenge of understanding how automated tools might introduce bias has gained a lot of interest. If biases are not interpreted and solved, algorithms might reinforce societal discrimination and injustices. It is also not clear how to measure fairness in algorithms. In biometrics disciplines such as automatic facial recognition, examining images pertaining to male subjects has been proven does not yield the same error rates as when examining images from female subjects. Furthermore, recent studies found that automatic fingerprint match scores vary based on an individual’s age and gender. Although ROC curve has been essential for assessing classification performance, the presence of covariates can affect the discriminatory capacity. It might be advisable to incorporate these covariates in the ROC curve to exploit the additional information that they provide. More importantly, the ROC regression modeling discussed in the paper can handle both continuous covariates such as age and discrete covariates such as gender and race. The resulting adjusted ROC curve provides error rates which account for demographic information pertaining to each subject. Thus, a better measure of the discriminatory capacity is generated compared to the pooled ROC curve.
A 58-Year-Old Woman With a History of Cardiac Myxoma Presents With Pulmonary Nodules

Case Presentation A 58-year-old woman presented to a pulmonology clinic for evaluation of bilateral pulmonary nodules. Two years previously, she had presented with atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia. During evaluation for her tachyarrhythmia, transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) revealed a large, homogenous, highly mobile right atrial and ventricular mass. She underwent electrophysiologic ablation, tricuspid valve annular ring replacement, and resection of the mass, which pathology confirmed to be a myxoma. Now, a recent abdomen and pelvis CT study obtained for history of nephrolithiasis incidentally noted bilateral lower lobe pulmonary nodules. Follow-up noncontrast chest CT confirmed bilateral peribronchovascular solid pulmonary nodules up to 8 mm in diameter throughout all lobes. The nodules appeared contiguous with the segmental and subsegmental bronchovascular bundles, and many occurred at branch points. There was no mediastinal or hilar lymphadenopathy. To evaluate the pulmonary nodules, she was referred to a pulmonology clinic. She reported only stable, nonlimiting dyspnea on exertion. She did not have a cough. She denied a history of fevers, weight loss, or night sweats. She had no rash or skin changes, visual changes, joint pain or swelling, or palpitations. She had no history of oropharyngeal or genital ulcerations. Social history was notable for a 40-pack-year smoking history, with quit date 2 years prior. She had no risk factors for TB exposure and no exposures to sandblasting, stone cutting, or other environmental risk factors for silicosis. Family history was negative for autoimmune conditions, sarcoidosis, and lymphoproliferative disorders.
Disordered eating concerns, behaviors, and severity in young adults clustered by anxiety and depression.

Objectives Little is known about how anxiety and depression in combination relate to eating disorder concerns (eating, shape, and weight concern) and behaviors (restraint eating, binge eating, and purging) indicative of eating disorder symptom severity. This study examined links among disordered eating concerns, behaviors, and severity clustered by depression and anxiety. Methods College students (n = 1792) completed a survey comprised of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), 2-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2) assessing Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), and Eating Disorder Exam Questionnaire (EDE-Q) assessing concerns and behaviors indicative of disordered eating. Results Cluster analysis yielded four groups: not depressed or anxious to subclinical, moderate, and high depression and anxiety. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated overall eating disorder severity scores increased significantly as GAD and MDD increased, suggesting that as anxiety and depression rise in tandem, disturbed eating severity rises. Results revealed that even at subclinical levels, disordered eating concerns, behaviors, and overall severity scores increase. Discussion Future interventions aiming to reduce disordered eating in young adults may be strengthened by incorporating depression and anxiety management strategies. A screening for subclinical anxiety and depression (Mixed Anxiety and Depression Disorder [MADD]) may be helpful in providing early intervention to resolve disordered eating behaviors before they become entrenched.
Cultivated milkweed hosts high diversity of surface-active and soil-dwelling arthropods in a New England case study

Abstract New land uses can drive complex changes to local biodiversity. In the Northeastern U.S., cultivated milkweed has arisen as a new crop with potentially promising outcomes for monarch butterflies, but has unknown effects on surface-active and soil-dwelling arthropods. We assessed differences in arthropod communities among nearby sites containing milkweed and three common regional land uses: conventional corn, conventional hay, and forest, representing a spectrum of high to low land use intensity. In each land use, we sampled surface-active and soil-dwelling arthropods, and we classified organisms at the taxonomic order level for all collected arthropods and at the taxonomic genus level for surface-active beetles. To address differences in functional traits between sites, we measured organisms’ body sizes and calculated average body mass, total biomass, and abundance of arthropods in small, medium, and large size classes. In almost all analyses, taxonomic diversity values were significantly higher in the milkweed site than in corn and similar between the milkweed and hay sites. Milkweed had significantly higher diversity of surface-active arthropods than forest (for both orders and beetle genera), but did not have higher diversity of soil-dwelling arthropods, indicating possible different mechanisms driving aboveground versus belowground trends. Community composition differed significantly among land uses (demonstrated in NMDS ordination plots), with milkweed most similar to hay. Body size analyses demonstrated high total biomass and generally higher abundance of larger individuals in milkweed than in other land uses, with the exception of corn, which was dominated by large carabid beetles. We discuss the implications of our findings to land use properties and ecological function. Our case study indicates promising benefits of milkweed cultivation for soil biodiversity and soil health, with more research needed to validate and build from our results.
Paramodulation, Superposition, and Simplification

Techniques for equational reasoning are a key component in many automated theorem provers and interactive proof and verification systems. A notable recent success in equational theorem proving has been the solution of an open problem (the “Robbins conjecture”) by William McCune with his prover Eqp [13].
Calcium Stimulation of Procoagulant Activity in Human Erythrocytes ATP DEPENDENCE AND THE EFFECTS OF MODIFIERS OF STIMULATION AND RECOVERY

Abstract The human erythrocyte membrane is generally considered to have no procoagulant activity. The normal membrane is characterized as having an asymmetric distribution of phospholipid species such that negatively charged and aminophospholipids are predominantly located on the inner leaflet of the membrane bilayer. Elevation of cytoplasmic Ca in erythrocytes produces an assortment of biochemical and structural responses that include diminished phospholipid asymmetry and an elevation in procoagulant activity. Maintenance of the normal asymmetric distribution of phospholipid species is believed to be largely mediated by a phospholipid translocase mechanism. We have utilized a recently developed single-step kinetic assay of procoagulant activity to investigate the mechanisms of Ca stimulation of procoagulant activity and recovery from the procoagulant state upon removal of Ca. This study demonstrated that stimulation of procoagulant activity by elevated cytoplasmic Ca is greatly diminished in ATP-depleted erythrocytes. Phospholipid translocase inhibitors failed to fully inhibit recovery from the procoagulant state after removal of Ca. The data indicate that recovery of endogenous lipid from a procoagulant configuration may not be entirely mediated by the phospholipid translocase. Additionally, the data are inconsistent with the phospholipid translocase mediating the Ca-induced elevation of procoagulant activity, although the involvement of other protein(s) is indicated.
Collaboration for a 21st Century Archives: Connecting University Archives with the Library’s Information Technology Professionals

As communication technologies change, so do the records being produced and acquired by the archival repositories tasked with documenting society. This article, written from the perspective of a University Archivist, discusses the need for collaboration between archivists and information technology profes-sionals in a university library in order to manage the university’s born-digital archival records. Using specific examples of collaborative projects of University Archives and the Electronic Resources and In-formation Technology (ERIT) department in the University Libraries of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the article makes specific recommendations for overcoming challenges related to profes-sional jargon and work practices shared by archivists and information technologists to produce a success-ful collaboration.
Induction of epithelial arachidonate 12-lipoxygenase at active sites of inflammatory bowel disease

To determine if epithelial lipoxygenases are regulated by mucosal inflammation, we examined the distribution of arachidonate 12-lipoxygenase in healthy colonic tissue and in involved and uninvolved sections of colon with inflammatory bowel disease. Immunohistochemistry of formaldehyde-fixed, paraffin-embedded intestinal tissue using two anti-12-lipoxygenase antibodies and indirect biotin-avidin-peroxidase detection demonstrated that, in contrast to tissue from normal colon (n = 8), in which 12-lipoxygenase antigen was undetectable in mucosal epithelial cells, the mucosal and glandular epithelium of inflamed colon in ulcerative colitis (n = 4) or Crohn's disease (n = 4) exhibited markedly positive immunostaining with anti-12-lipoxygenase antibodies. Immunoblotting of whole cell extracts with anti-12-lipoxygenase antibodies showed immunoperoxidase staining of a single protein band that comigrated with purified 12-lipoxygenase (in relative molecular weight: M(r) = 72,000) in mucosal samples from inflamed colon from subjects with ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease but no comparable band in samples from uninvolved sections of the same colons or from colons of subjects without inflammatory bowel disease. Assays of 12-lipoxygenase activity indicated a corresponding increase in enzymatic activity in the same mucosal samples. The increased levels of 12-lipoxygenase antigen in the mucosal and glandular epithelial cells in regions of colon affected by inflammatory bowel disease, the corresponding increases in 12-lipoxygenase activity, and the absence of detectable 12-lipoxygenase antigen or enzymatic activity in the same cell types in noninflamed colonic tissue all suggest that epithelial cell 12-lipoxygenase is induced by local mediators of colonic inflammation.
Frustrated Returns: Biography, Parental Figures, and the Apprenticeship of Observation

This article examines the processes by which the past experiences of undergraduate teacher candidates with their parental figures return in the present, thereby shaping both the nature and the meaning of the experiences offered to them in their initial field placement. Using phenomenological and psychoanalytic lenses, I analyze findings from an ongoing, multiyear study of four aspiring teacher candidates, exploring the life experiences that these teacher candidates brought with them to their teacher preparation program, and how these experiences determined what they could and could not learn in their first formal field experiences. I conclude the article by theorizing the special challenges teachers face in separating out their own childhoods from the childhoods of those they work with, and suggest ways institutionalized teacher education might do a better job of working with such challenges.
Production and Characterization of the Slime Polysaccharide of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The slime polysaccharides produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from a variety of human infections were investigated. Slime production in culture seemed optimal when adequate amounts of carbohydrate were present and under conditions of either high osmotic pressure or inadequate protein supply. The polysaccharides produced by the organisms were similar to each other, to the slime of Azotobacter vinelandii, and to seaweed alginic acids. They were composed of beta-1,4-linked d-mannuronic acid residues and variable amounts of its 5-epimer l-guluronic acid. All bacterial polymers contained o-acetyl groups which are absent in the alginates. The polysaccharides differed considerably in the ratio of mannuronic to guluronic acid content and in the number of o-acetyl groups. The particular composition of the slime was not found to be characteristic for the disease process from which the mucoid variants of P. aeruginosa were obtained.
GeneLink: a database to facilitate genetic studies of complex traits

Background In contrast to gene-mapping studies of simple Mendelian disorders, genetic analyses of complex traits are far more challenging, and high quality data management systems are often critical to the success of these projects. To minimize the difficulties inherent in complex trait studies, we have developed GeneLink, a Web-accessible, password-protected Sybase database.
Probable Interaction Between Warfarin and Banana Flakes Supplement.

Purpose: To describe a case of subtherapeutic international normalized ratio (INR) associated with concomitant use of warfarin and banana flakes in a patient with diarrhea. Summary: A man in his 30s was hospitalized for an elective procedure, but his stay was complicated by cerebral venous thrombosis requiring intravenous infusion of unfractionated heparin, ventilator-associated pneumonia, bacteremia requiring broad-spectrum antimicrobials and percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube placement, and diarrhea. Eventually, the heparin was transitioned to warfarin. After several days of therapeutic INR, the INR became subtherapeutic and remained so for 3 days. The decreased INR correlated temporally with initiation of consistent administration of dried banana flakes to treat diarrhea and the subsequent decrease in the rate and extent of diarrhea. Diarrhea decreases the amount and activity of vitamin K–producing intestinal flora and dietary vitamin K absorption, resulting in increased INR. Resolution of diarrh...
Elimination Patterns in the Laboratory Beagle

Twelve distinct elimination postures were recorded during the present study. Females employed a wider variety of urination postures, eight compared to four in the males. On the other hand, more males urinated during more tests and did so more frequently than the females. Too, the males showed a considerably lower urination latency than the bitches. Females tended to evacuate the bladder all at once while the males would deposit a small amount of urine many times and continue to pseudo-urinate even though no urine was expelled. In the males, urination appeared to be oriented toward the scent of other males or toward conspicuous vertical objects while female urinations tended to be distributed at random. Although most elimination by the females was aimed at the ground, a substantial number of their urinations were directed toward vertical targets as well. The defecation rate was low in both sexes, being slightly higher in the males. Five defecation postures were used by the males as opposed to two by the females. Of the postures observed, two were formerly thought to be used for urination only. Both sexes showed some defecation on vertical targets. Almost one-fourth of male defecations were placed on the fence. A small amount of ground scratching was done, most of it by the males, who scratched only after urination. Scratching appears to function as part of the marking behavior of the dog. It may help to disperse an animal's odor over a wide area as well as making a conspicuous mark on some surfaces.
Time-of-flight mass spectrometry methods for real time analysis of individual aerosol particles

Abstract Recent instrumental developments allow for the analysis of single particles in real time. The techniques discussed in this review couple time-of-flight mass spectrometry for determining the chemical composition of individual aerosol particles with some form of optical particle detection. Applications to be discussed include the study of laboratory-generated particles and ambient particle sampling, including field studies aimed at measuring the temporal profiles of atmospheric particles.
THE CATALAN NUMBERS, THE LEBESGUE INTEGRAL, AND 4N-2

(1997). The Catalan Numbers, the Lebesgue Integral, and 4n-2. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 104, No. 10, pp. 926-931.
Optimization of Quantitative Waste Volume Determination Technique for Hanford Waste Tank Closure

The Hanford Site is currently in the process of an extensive effort to empty and close its radioactive single-shell and double-shell waste storage tanks. Before this can be accomplished, it is necessary to know how much residual material is left in a given waste tank and the uncertainty with which that volume is known. The Institute for Clean Energy Technology (ICET) at Mississippi State University is currently developing a quantitative in-tank imaging system based on Fourier Transform Profilometry, FTP. FTP is a non-contact, 3-D shape measurement technique. By projecting a fringe pattern onto a target surface and observing its deformation due to surface irregularities from a different view angle, FTP is capable of determining the height (depth) distribution (and hence volume distribution) of the target surface, thus reproducing the profile of the target accurately under a wide variety of conditions. Hence FTP has the potential to be utilized for quantitative determination of residual wastes within Hanford waste tanks. In this paper, efforts to characterize the accuracy and precision of quantitative volume determination using FTP and the use of these results to optimize the FTP system for deployment within Hanford waste tanks are described.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Bootstrap inversion of edgeworth expansions for nonparametric confidence intervals

Abstract A procedure is developed which uses the bootstrap to invert a general Edgeworth expansion. The method may be used in a multistage modification to improve the normal approximation for a broad class of “Studentized” statistics. Applications include estimation of approximate nonparametric confidence intervals.
Alterations in immune parameters associated with low level methylmercury exposure in mice

AbstractMethylmercury (MeHg) is a known toxicant and continues to be a significant environmental contaminant. While the neurotoxicity and developmental toxicity of MeHg are well established, the immunotoxic effects of MeHg are just now being studied and described. This study evaluated strain and gender specific effects of low level, prolonged MeHg exposure in mice. Mice were exposed to MeHg in the drinking water (0, 3 or 10 ppm) for 4 weeks. Splenocytes and thymocytes were evaluated for alterations in immunophenotype, GSH levels, and intracellular Ca2+ flux after mitogen stimulation. MeHg exposure resulted in alterations in splenocyte and thymocyte subsets and a dose dependent decrease in GSH levels (as measured by monochlorobimane fluorescence and flow cytometry) of all splenocyte subsets. This decrease in GSH was further confirmed by biochemical assay in splenocytes. In addition, there was a dose response related decrease in mitogen stimulated Ca2+ flux and in the percentages of CD4+ splenocytes and CD8...
Genomes of the T4-related bacteriophages as windows on microbial genome evolution

The T4-related bacteriophages are a group of bacterial viruses that share morphological similarities and genetic homologies with the well-studied Escherichia coli phage T4, but that diverge from T4 and each other by a number of genetically determined characteristics including the bacterial hosts they infect, the sizes of their linear double-stranded (ds) DNA genomes and the predicted compositions of their proteomes. The genomes of about 40 of these phages have been sequenced and annotated over the last several years and are compared here in the context of the factors that have determined their diversity and the diversity of other microbial genomes in evolution. The genomes of the T4 relatives analyzed so far range in size between ~160,000 and ~250,000 base pairs (bp) and are mosaics of one another, consisting of clusters of homology between them that are interspersed with segments that vary considerably in genetic composition between the different phage lineages. Based on the known biological and biochemical properties of phage T4 and the proteins encoded by the T4 genome, the T4 relatives reviewed here are predicted to share a genetic core, or "Core Genome" that determines the structural design of their dsDNA chromosomes, their distinctive morphology and the process of their assembly into infectious agents (phage morphogenesis). The Core Genome appears to be the most ancient genetic component of this phage group and constitutes a mere 12-15% of the total protein encoding potential of the typical T4-related phage genome. The high degree of genetic heterogeneity that exists outside of this shared core suggests that horizontal DNA transfer involving many genetic sources has played a major role in diversification of the T4-related phages and their spread to a wide spectrum of bacterial species domains in evolution. We discuss some of the factors and pathways that might have shaped the evolution of these phages and point out several parallels between their diversity and the diversity generally observed within all groups of interrelated dsDNA microbial genomes in nature.
On the Mostow rigidity theorem and measurable foliations by hyperbolic space

An ergodic-theoretic version of Mostow’s rigidity theorem for hyperbolic space forms is obtained treating foliations of a measure space by leaves that carry the structure of a hyperbolic space.
HLA-DR7-Specific monoclonal antibodies and a chimpanzee anti-DR7 serum detect different epitopes on the same molecule

We describe here two monoclonal antibodies with HLA-DR7 serologic specificity. The antibodies, SFR16-DR7M, a cytotoxic rat IgM antibody of high affinity, and SFR16-DR7G, a noncytotoxic antibody of the rat IgG 2a class, react with only DR7-positive cells in radioimmunoassay. The cytotoxic activity of SFR16-DR7M correlates completely with the presence of the DR7 specificity, and segregates with the DR7-bearing haplotype in a family. SFR16-DR7M precipitates a class II molecule with the electrophoretic characteristics of DR molecules from LG-10, an HLA-DR7 homozygous cell line. SFR16-DR7G completely inhibits the cytotoxicity of SFR16-DR7M, but only partially inhibits the cytotoxicity of a chimpanzee antiserum with DR7 specificity, Gay/Swei. In binding-inhibition studies, binding of SFR16-DR7M to LG-10 cells is only partially inhibited by the chimpanzee antiserum and vice versa. Both SFR16-DR7M and Gay/Swei reciprocally deplete the same class II molecules from a 35S-methionine-labeled detergent-solubilized membrane preparation of the LG-10 cell line. The chimpanzee serum Gay contains antibodies reactive with epitopes on separated DR7 beta chains, while both SFR16-DR7M and SFR16-DR7G bind only to DR7 alpha-beta complexes. These data suggest that at least two allogeneic epitopes exist which result in the same serologic specificity, and that these epitopes differ in their requirement for alpha-beta complex formation.
Effect of photocrosslinking on Escherichia coli tRNA structure.

— The effect of photocrosslinking s4U8 with C13 on the structure of E. coli tRNA has been examined by high resolution NMR. Photocrosslinking affects both the structure and the enzymatic acylation of tRNA. The NMR measurements demonstrate that except for the s4U8.A14 base pair, there is no evidence that photocrosslinking perturbs any of the common tertiary structure interactions. However, this modification does perturb several resonances which are assigned to the secondary structure base pairs of the hU stem and the terminal base pair of the acceptor stem. The variable effect of photocrosslinking on the extent and rate of enzymatic acylation of different tRNA is attributed to different recognition sites for tRNA by the cognate synthetases.
Automated clinical reminders for primary care providers in the care of CKD: a small cluster-randomized controlled trial.

Background Primary care physicians (PCPs) care for most non–dialysis-dependent patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Studies suggest that PCPs may deliver suboptimal CKD care. One means to improve PCP treatment of CKD is clinical decision support systems (CDSSs). Study Design Cluster-randomized controlled trial. Setting & Participants 30 PCPs in a university-based outpatient general internal medicine practice and their 248 patients with moderate to advanced CKD who had not been referred to a nephrologist. Intervention 2 CKD educational sessions were held for PCPs in both arms. The 15 intervention-arm PCPs also received real-time automated electronic medical record alerts for patients with estimated glomerular filtration rates 2 recommending renal referral and urine albumin quantification if not done within the prior year. Outcomes Primary outcome was referral to a nephrologist; secondary outcomes were albuminuria/proteinuria assessment, CKD documentation, optimal blood pressure (ie, Results The intervention and control arms did not differ in renal referrals (9.7% vs 16.5%, respectively; between-group difference, −6.8%; 95% CI, −15.5% to 1.8%; P = 0.1) or proteinuria assessments (39.3% vs 30.1%, respectively; between-group difference, 9.2%; 95% CI, −2.7% to 21.1%; P = 0.1). For intervention and control patients without a baseline proteinuria assessment, 27.7% versus 16.3%, respectively, had one at follow-up ( P = 0.06). After controlling for clustering, these findings were largely unchanged and no significant differences were apparent between groups. Limitations Small single-center university-based practice, use of a passive CDSS that required PCPs to trigger the electronic order set. Conclusions PCPs were willing to partake in a randomized trial of a CDSS to improve outpatient CKD care. Although CDSSs may have potential, larger studies are needed to further explore how best to deploy them to enhance CKD care.
The HLA-A,B gene frequencies in the world: Migration or selection?

Abstract Multivariate methods make it possible to condense much of the information available for a large number of alleles into one or a few synthetic variables. The geographic distribution of synthetic variables can be analyzed and plotted by the same technique used in analyzing and mapping the gene frequency of a single allele. The information contained in 21 HLA-A and HLA-B alleles from 116 world populations is condensed in principal components and discriminant functions which describe the global variation of gene frequencies along longitudes and along latitudes. Most genetic variation is associated with longitude and shows a center of symmetry in Asia. Thus Asia, or some part of it, may have been the center, both geographically and historically of late Pleistocene migrations. However, latitude also plays a significant role (perhaps 10% of the genetic variation). A remarkable symmetry of the latitude variation in opposite (north and south) hemispheres suggests that climatic factors exercise selective pressure for certain HLA alleles. More specifically A1, A3, B7, B8, and B27 show about equally high correlation coefficients (between 0.45 and 0.55) with distance from equator. This results supports the idea that the well-known linkage disequilibria between A1 and B8, A3 and B7 are probably kept by selective pressure.
Polysialic acid as a regulator of intramuscular nerve branching during embryonic development.

Abstract The role of polysialic acid (PSA) during initial innervation of chick muscle was examined. Previously, the adhesion molecules L1 and N-CAM were shown to be important in balancing axon-axon and axon-muscle adhesion during this process. Here we demonstrate developmental changes in the pattern of innervation that are not correlated with levels of L1 or N-CAM expression, but rather with the amount of PSA at the axon surface. Removal of PSA by a specific endoneuraminidase (Endo-N) increased axon fasciculation and reduced nerve branching. In contrast, the nerve trunk defasciculation and increased branching produced by neuromuscular activity blockade were associated with an increase in axonal PSA levels. Furthermore, Endo-N prevented these inactivity -induced effects on branching. Together these results illustrate the potential of PSA as a regulator of cell-cell interactions and provide a direct example of a molecular link between the morphogenic effects of adhesion-mediated and synaptic activity-dependent processes.
Characterization of nicosulfuron availability in aged soils.

Sorption-desorption interactions of pesticides with soil determine their availability for transport, plant uptake, and microbial degradation. These interactions are affected by the physical-chemical properties of the pesticide and soil, and for some pesticides, their residence time in the soil. This research evaluated changes in sorption/availability of nicosulfuron (2-[[[[(4,6-dimethoxy-2-pyrimidinyl]amino]carbonyl]amino]sulfonyl]-N,N-dimethyl-3-pyridinecarboxamide) herbicide with aging in different soils, using a radiolabeled ( 14 C) tracer. Aging significantly increased sorption. For instance, after the 41-day incubation, calculated K d,app increased by a factor of 2 to 3 in Mollisols from the Midwestern United States and by a factor of 5 to 9 in Oxisols from Brazil and Hawaii, as compared to freshly treated soils. In view of this outcome, potential transport of nicosulfuron would be overpredicted if freshly treated soil K d values were used to predict transport. The fact that the nicosulfuron solution concentration decreased faster than the soil concentration with time suggested that the increase in sorption was because the rate of degradation in solution and on labile sites was faster than the rate of desorption of the neutral species from the soil particles. It may have also been due to nicosulfuron anion diffusion to less accessible sites with time, leaving the more strongly bound neutral molecules for the sorption characterization. Regardless of the mechanism, these results are further evidence that increases in sorption during pesticide aging should be taken into account during the characterization of the sorption process for mathematical models of pesticide degradation and transport.
Error Analysis for the In-Situ Fabrication of Mechanisms

Fabrication techniques like Solid Freeform Fabrication (SFF), or Layered Manufacturing, enable the manufacture of completely pre-assembled mechanisms (i.e. those that require no explicit component assembly after fabrication). We refer to this manner of building assemblies as in-situ fabrication. An interesting issue that arises in this domain is the estimation of errors in the performance of such mechanisms as a consequence of manufacturing variability. Assumptions of parametric independence and stack-up made in conventional error analysis for mechanisms do not hold for this method of fabrication. In this paper we formulate a general technique for investigating the kinematic performance of mechanisms fabricated in-situ. The technique presented admits deterministic and stochastic error estimation of planar and spatial linkages with ideal joints. The method is illustrated with a planar example. Errors due to joint clearances, form errors, or other effects like link flexibility and driver-error, are not considered in the analysis-but are part of ongoing research.
Cognitive-Affective States Predict Military and Political Aggression and Risk Taking A Content Analysis of Churchill, Hitler, Roosevelt, and Stalin

The explanatory styles, integrative complexity, and pessimistic rumination scores of Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, and Franklin D. Roosevelt were derived from verbatim materials for time periods preceding military and political events. The events were rated on scales of aggression/passivity and risk/caution. Results suggest that increases in optimism and decreases in integrative complexity before military and political events predict heightened aggression and risk taking and that increases in low-complexity optimism are strongly predictive. Pessimistic rumination was not a significant predictor. The author hypothesizes that explanatory style and integrative complexity act as cognitive “filters” mediating between situations and behaviors via decision-making and motivational shifts. However, shifts in explanatory style and/or integrative complexity prior to military and political actions could only reflect impression management strategies. Further research comparing private to public verbat...
Children's sex-role preferences: Stronger among girls than boys

Criticisms were raised about methods used in previous studies which have led to the conclusion that, compared to boys, girls have weaker preferences for their own versus the opposite sex role. In addition, it was argued that if children's own conceptions of sex roles — rather than an a priori adult definition — were investigated, girls would prefer their conception of femininity more than boys would prefer their conception of masculinity. This argument rested on evidence that for children, masculine traits often meet with social disapproval. Results indicated that both boys and girls judged their own sex role as more desirable than the opposite sex role. Results were stronger for the girls; and girls judged traits they assigned to the feminine sex role to be, on the average, more desirable than boys judged traits they assigned to masculinity. The difference between present findings and previous findings in regard to children and adults was discussed.
B-side charge separation in bacterial photosynthetic reaction centers: nanosecond time scale electron transfer from HB- to QB.

We report time-resolved optical measurements of the primary electron transfer reactions in Rhodobacter capsulatus reaction centers (RCs) having four mutations: Phe(L181) --> Tyr, Tyr(M208) --> Phe, Leu(M212) --> His, and Trp(M250) --> Val (denoted YFHV). Following direct excitation of the bacteriochlorophyll dimer (P) to its lowest excited singlet state P, electron transfer to the B-side bacteriopheophytin (H(B)) gives P(+)H(B)(-) in approximately 30% yield. When the secondary quinone (Q(B)) site is fully occupied, P(+)H(B)(-) decays with a time constant estimated to be in the range of 1.5-3 ns. In the presence of excess terbutryn, a competitive inhibitor of Q(B) binding, the observed lifetime of P(+)H(B)(-) is noticeably longer and is estimated to be in the range of 4-8 ns. On the basis of these values, the rate constant for P(+)H(B)(-) --> P(+)Q(B)(-) electron transfer is calculated to be between approximately (2 ns)(-)(1) and approximately (12 ns)(-)(1), making it at least an order of magnitude smaller than the rate constant of approximately (200 ps)(-)(1) for electron transfer between the corresponding A-side cofactors (P(+)H(A)(-) --> P(+)Q(A)(-)). Structural and energetic factors associated with electron transfer to Q(B) compared to Q(A) are discussed. Comparison of the P(+)H(B)(-) lifetimes in the presence and absence of terbutryn indicates that the ultimate (i.e., quantum) yield of P(+)Q(B)(-) formation relative to P is 10-25% in the YFHV RC.
Nicotinic and muscarinic reactive sites in mammalian glomus cells

Nicotinic and muscarinic sites on glomus cell membranes of cats, rabbits and mice were determined in carotid body slices. Cells were impaled under Nomarski optics. Resting potentials were 11.1–73.1 mV and input resistances were 11–250 M*om. Nicotine, pilocarpine or bethanechol depolarized glomus cells and their input resistance decreased. Curare or alpha-bungarotoxin reduced nicotine effects. Atropine had similar effects on the responses to pilocarpine or bethanechol.
Predatory behavior ofPhacellophora camtschatica and size-selective predation uponAurelia aurita (Scyphozoa: Cnidaria) in Saanich Inlet, British Columbia

Predation uponAurelia aurita byPhacellophora camtschatica was studied by SCUBA divers in a fjord in British Columbia between July and September 1986. The behavior and size ofP. camtschatica affected their foraging success. Larger predators captured more and larger prey. The size and behavior of the prey also affected the probability of capture. Predators were found at densities which can affect both the size composition and the overall numbers of the prey population.
Aiming for Utility in ‘Systems-based Evaluation’: A Research-based Framework for Practitioners

System dynamics modelling (SDM) was used and process researched as a case to investigate its utility as a systems-based evaluation (SBE) approach. A system dynamics (SD) model was developed to evaluate the potential requirements and implications on the health systems of the ambitious antiretroviral therapy (ART) scale-up strategy in Lusaka, Zambia. Research on SDM for strategic evaluation provided insights and principles for future application of SBE. The SD diagrams readily inspired new insights while practical constraints limited use of the model for action planning. Research suggests that utility of SBE begins with engaging stakeholders to share and align their views on a representation of the system and progresses to their reinterpretations of the system that they inhabit, ultimately moving towards transformative change. Evaluators must balance two purposes in managing for utility of SBE approaches: prod
The Cognitive Neuroscience of Response Inhibition: Relevance for Genetic Research in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Psychological functions that are behaviorally and neurally well specified may serve as endophenotypes for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) research. Such endophenotypes, which lie between genes and symptoms, may relate more directly to relevant genetic variability than does the clinical ADHD syndrome itself. Here we review evidence in favor of response inhibition as an endophenotype for ADHD research. We show that response inhibition-operationalized by Go/NoGo or Stop-signal tasks-requires the prefrontal cortex (PFC), in particular the right inferior frontal cortex (IFC); that patients with ADHD have significant response inhibition deficits and show altered functional activation and gray matter volumes in right IFC; and that a number of studies indicate that response inhibition performance is heritable. Additionally, we review evidence concerning the role of the basal ganglia in response inhibition, as well as the role of neuromodulatory systems. All things considered, a combined right IFC structure/function/response inhibition phenotype is a particularly good candidate for future heritability and association studies. Moreover, a dissection of response inhibition into more basic components such as rule maintenance, vigilance, and target detection may provide yet better targets for association with genes for neuromodulation and brain development.
Speed distributions of the photofragments of vinyl chloride determined by direct inversion of Doppler profiles

A method is developed for extracting the photofragment speed distribution function from a velocity aligned Doppler spectrum. This method is used to determine the distribution function of HCl produced by 193 nm photodissociation of vinyl chloride. The speed distribution of the Cl fragment is determined by the method of magic angle Doppler spectroscopy.
Composition of subcellular constituents of aortic intima plus inner media isolated by differential and density gradient centrifugation.

Abstract The phospholipid composition of subcellular components of aortic intima plus inner media from rhesus monkeys has been determined in an effort to explain the marked age-related changes in phospholipid composition of this tissue. The sphingomyelin concentration of aortic intima plus inner media from fetuses and young infants of various ages was less than half that of adult animals. Sphingomyelin was present in high concentrations in all fractions of adult aorta separated by differential ultracentrifugation, but comprised a high proportion of total phospholipid in the light microsomal fraction and a relatively low proportion of the cell sap phospholipids. Sphingomyelin levels of different liver subcellular fractions were essentially identical, and the sphingomyelin concentration in all fractions was low. Aortic microsomal subfractions isolated by gradient ultracentrifugation also had variable phospholipid compositions. The subfraction richest in sphingomyelin was shown by electron microscopy to consist of agranular vesicular membranes that were similar to the liver microsomal subfractions of similar density. The possibility that the agranular membranes of aorta were derived in part from plasmalemma was discussed.
Detecting overflow vulnerabilities using automated verification

Maintaining the security of our computer systems has become one of the dominant aspects of the war on terror and many researchers and developers predict that the next attack against the United States will be a computer attack [5, 9, 11]. The Department of Homeland Security has established a partnership with industry, the United States Computer Readiness Team (US-CERT), to protect the nation's Internet infrastructure [2]. The US-CERT sponsors an automated, web-based repository of standards based vulnerability data (NVD), which includes a database of security related software flaws [3].