cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Clinical and Cost Effectiveness of Two “New” Lynch Syndrome Case Finding Protocols in Endometrial Cancer Population Contrasted with the IHC-based Protocol

Abstract Purpose To investigate the effectiveness and costs of two Lynch syndrome screening protocols among endometrial cancer (EC) patients and compare to an immunohistochemistry (IHC)–based protocol. Methods Analytic models were developed to represent the two protocols: a brief cancer family history questionnaire (bFHQ) and direct-to-sequencing of the germline. Data from reviews of published literature, augmented by local data and expert opinion were used to populate the model representing the number of women diagnosed in the U.S. in 2018. Multiple analyses employing simulation modeling were performed to estimate a variety of clinical and economic outcomes. Results Under conditions considered here to be plausible, the bFHQ is expected to miss 58% (min./max. = 24 to 80%) of LS index cases, a direct-to-sequencing protocol to miss 30% (min./max. = 6% to 53%), and the IHC-based protocol based on previous analysis 58% (min./max. = 33 to 80%). When direct costs of testing and genetic counseling are added to the models, the total screening program costs for the bFHQ protocol are substantially lower at all sequencing price points than the other protocols. For example, at the low end of the sequencing price point (ie, $250), the total cost of screening programs for IHC, bFHQ, and sequencing are $22.9 million, $5.3 million, and $13.8 million, respectively. The best estimate of the break-even price of sequencing, when the cost of the program is equivalent between the IHC and sequencing protocols, is about $635. Conclusion The bFHQ and direct-to-sequencing LS screening protocols are more effective and cost effective at identifying LS index cases than the standard IHC-based protocol under the conditions represented in our models. These estimates of various outcome metrics of the three LS index case finding protocols may help stakeholders make decisions of the use of limited healthcare dollars.
High-density lipoprotein or cyclodextrin extraction of cholesterol from aggregated LDL reduces foam cell formation

Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) deposition, aggregation and retention in the endothelial sub-intima are critical initiating events during atherosclerosis. Macrophages digest aggregated LDL (agLDL) through a process called exophagy. High-density lipoprotein (HDL) plays an atheroprotective role, but studies attempting to exploit it therapeutically have been unsuccessful, highlighting gaps in our current understanding of HDL function. Here, we characterized the role of HDL during exophagy of agLDL. We find that atherosclerotic plaque macrophages contact agLDL and form an extracellular digestive compartment similar to that observed in vitro During macrophage catabolism of agLDL in vitro, levels of free cholesterol in the agLDL are increased. HDL can extract free cholesterol directly from this agLDL and inhibit macrophage foam cell formation. Cholesterol-balanced hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin similarly reduced macrophage cholesterol uptake and foam cell formation. Finally, we show that HDL can directly extract free cholesterol, but not cholesterol esters, from agLDL in the absence of cells. Together, these results suggest that the actions of HDL can directly extract free cholesterol from agLDL during catabolism, and provide a new context in which to view the complex relationship between HDL and atherosclerosis.
Analysis of Self-Management and Transition Readiness Instruments for Clinical Practice

Nurses are integral members of interdisciplinary healthcare teams providing transition services to adolescents and young adults with long-term conditions and disabilities. Using valid and reliable measures of self-management and transition readiness behaviors can be an important component of effective practice. To identify potential instruments for use in practice, a search was conducted using multiple databases for instruments developed in the last 10 years that addressed these behaviors and had some psychometric evidence. This process yielded both generic (n = 11) and condition-specific (n = 27) instruments. The authors provide analyses of the instruments identified including psychometric properties, strengths, weaknesses, and implications for practice. The most frequent critique of select instruments is the lack of stability evidence (test–retest analysis) which limits healthcare providers’ ability to assess these behaviors over time. The instruments included in this analysis offer nurses and other healthcare providers a variety of choices as they tailor interventions to optimize self-management and transition readiness behaviors for adolescents and young adults with long-term conditions and disabilities.
X-ray Use in Chiropractic: Call for Papers

Abstract In 1910, radiology was an emerging field when x-rays first came into use by chiropractors. Much has changed in the body of knowledge about ionizing radiation and the spine since the early 1900s. There is little in the peer-reviewed literature on the topic of x-ray use in the chiropractic profession. Therefore, the Journal of Chiropractic Humanities has an open call for papers to investigate the topic of x-ray use in chiropractic and reveal what is myth and what is fact. Accepted papers will be published in a special section of the journal dedicated to this topic.
Rational design and demonstration of a high-performance flexible Zn/V2O5 battery with thin-film electrodes and para-polybenzimidazole electrolyte membrane

Abstract Flexible energy storage devices with high energy density and long lifespan are in great demand for wearable and stretchable electronics. Herein, we report a flexible Zn-ion battery comprised of atomic layer deposited V2O5/C cathode, electrodeposited Zn/stainless-steel mesh anode, and para-polybenzimidazole (p-PBI)-based quasi-solid-state electrolyte membrane. The electrochemical and mechanical performances of such a thin-film Zn-ion battery are excellent, exhibiting high and stable reversible capacity with great flexibility over a wide temperature range.
Getting the Predoc Back Into Documentation: Students as Scribes During Their Clerkship.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES The goal of this study was to investigate the impact of medical students functioning in the role of scribe on students' learning, medical practice, and preceptor. METHODS Third-year students from the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences volunteered and were trained to function in the role of scribe. Preceptors also completed training to have students scribe in their practice. The students, preceptors, and staff completed questionnaires assessing perceptions of the impact on the student, the practice, and the provider. We elicited comments and concerns from students, staff, and preceptors. RESULTS All groups perceived medical students' scribing as helpful for teaching medical students in the clinical setting, with an average questionnaire score for all groups of 4.7/5. The students reported it was a positive experience. It allowed them to be more engaged, improved the learning environment, and didn't detract from clinical learning. Staff reported that students were more engaged, and scribing did not impact time management. Preceptors reported that students were more engaged in the practice, and with their team. Preceptors reported it was also easier to teach, and easier to stay on time with medical students scribing. All reported that documentation was important to learn in the third year of medical school, and that students should be trained to function in a limited scribe role. CONCLUSIONS Allowing students to document in the electronic medical record provides many benefits to students and preceptor practices and should be encouraged and advocated for in medical education.
Nonlinear optical isolators based on thin-film vanadium dioxide and metallic frequency-selective surfaces

We design a nonlinear optical isolator by incorporating a metallic frequency-selective surface with thin-film vanadium dioxide. According to our opto-thermal simulations, the extinction ratio of our design is comparable with those of commercial linear isolators.
Detecting Stellar Spots by Gravitational Microlensing

During microlensing events with a small impact parameter, the amplification of the source flux is sensitive to the surface brightness distribution of the source star. Such events provide a means for studying the surface structure of target stars in the ongoing microlensing surveys, most efficiently for giants in the Galactic bulge. In this work we demonstrate the sensitivity of point-mass microlensing to small spots with radii rs 0.2 source radii. We compute the amplification deviation from the light curve of a spotless source and explore its dependence on lensing and spot parameters. During source-transit events spots can cause deviations larger than 2% and thus be in principle detectable. Maximum relative deviation usually occurs when the lens directly crosses the spot. Its numerical value for a dark spot with sufficient contrast is found to be roughly equal to the fractional radius of the spot, i.e., up to 20% in this study. Spots can also be efficiently detected by the changes in sensitive spectral lines during the event. Notably, the presence of a spot can mimic the effect of a low-mass companion of the lens in some events.
Photochemical-induced phase transitions in photoactive semicrystalline polymers

The emergent photoactive materials obtained through photochemistry make it possible to directly convert photon energy to mechanical work. There has been much recent work in developing appropriate materials, and a promising system is semicrystalline polymers of the photoactive molecule azobenzene. We develop a phase field model with two order parameters for the crystal-melt transition and the trans-cis photoisomerization to understand such materials, and the model describes the rich phenomenology. We find that the photoreaction rate depends sensitively on temperature: At temperatures below the crystal-melt transition temperature, photoreaction is collective, requires a critical light intensity, and shows an abrupt first-order phase transition manifesting nucleation and growth; at temperatures above the transition temperature, photoreaction is independent and follows first-order kinetics. Further, the phase transition depends significantly on the exact forms of spontaneous strain during the crystal-melt and trans-cis transitions. A nonmonotonic change of photopersistent cis ratio with increasing temperature is observed accompanied by a reentrant crystallization of trans below the melting temperature. A pseudo phase diagram is subsequently presented with varying temperature and light intensity along with the resulting actuation strain. These insights can assist the further development of these materials.
The development of dual antiplatelet therapy: physiologic and clinical implications of multiple pathway inhibition of platelet function

Abstract Dual antiplatelet therapy has become an integral part of the care of patients with vascular disease. It evolved in conjunction with percutaneous coronary interventions for acute coronary syndromes but has also been evaluated for patients with chronic coronary syndrome and peripheral arterial disease. This chapter will focus on the evidence generation for dual antiplatelet therapy for patients with vascular disease.
Effects of broiler genetic strain and dietary amino acid reduction on meat yield and quality (part II)

Abstract Genetic selection and advances in nutrition have improved broiler growth performance. However, meat quality issues have gained preference over increased growth rate. These meat quality issues may be reduced by lowering dietary amino acid (AA) content. In the present study, 5 common commercial broiler strains were fed either a control or an AA-reduced diet. The control diet was formulated to contain the highest digestible AA (lysine, total sulfur AA, and threonine) levels recommended for the 5 strains. The AA-reduced diet was formulated to contain 20% lower levels of these 3 digestible AA than in the control diet. This resulted in a 5 (strains) × 2 (AA levels) factorial arrangement. A total of 1,280 straight run broilers were randomly allocated to 8 replicate blocks. The AA reduction decreased absolute breast weights of 3 strains on day 42 and 2 strains on day 56, and decreased absolute weights of tender, wing, drumstick, and thigh on both day 42 and 56 for all 5 strains. However, the absolute fat pad weight and relative fat pad and thigh weights to BW were increased in the AA reduction treatments on both day 42 and 56. The AA reduction contributed to the lower breast meat pH on both day 42 and 56, which may have been directly related to decreased severe woody breast myopathy (WBM) incidence on day 42 and moderate WBM incidence on day 56. The severity of WBM was positively related to breast weight in all 10 treatments on both day 42 and 56, with the exception of birds in strain 3 on day 56 that were fed the AA-reduced diet. At the same time, AA reduction was more cost-effective when WBM incidence was considered in a theoretical model. In conclusion, WBM severity was associated with higher breast weight in birds of most strains fed either a control or AA-reduced diet. Dietary AA reduction decreased processing yields but decreased WBM incidence, which may be more economical.
Recurrent syncope from parapharyngeal cancer.

The glossopharyngeal nerve is a cause of reflex bradycardia and syncope in patients with head and neck cancer. These clinical syndromes are rare but can be debilitating with variation in clinical presentation. The underlying mechanism is often incorrectly assumed to be carotid sinus hypersensitivity due to the cancerous lesion; however, examples in the literature also report the effect on the glossopharyngeal nerve or its branches by parapharyngeal lesions. We report two such cases known to a palliative care service. The symptomatic treatment options were limited due to patients’ frailty. Both patients experienced some reduction in their syncopal symptoms with anticholinergic agents.
Abstract 108: Inhibiting methionine aminopeptidase 2 prevents liver fibrosis and hepatocellular carcinoma

Background: The methionine aminopeptidase 2 (MetAP2) pathway, a key regulator of angiogenesis progress, has been implicated in common pathologic conditions including diabetes, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and cancer. MetAP2 inhibition suppresses cancer cell proliferation and xenograft tumor growth. In this study we investigated the hypothesis that MetAP2 inhibition can prevent liver fibrosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) induced with diethylnitrosamine (DEN) in rat models by inhibiting neo-vascularization. Methods: Male Wistar rats received weekly intraperitoneal injections of DEN at 50 mg/kg for 18 weeks. After 8 weeks, rats were randomly assigned to treatment with one of two MetAP2 inhibitors ZGN1345 or ZGN1136 versus control vehicle (n = 10 per group): 1) water (control); or 2) ZGN-1345 (3 mg/kg) by daily gavage; 3) 0.15% DMSO (control); or 4) ZGN-1136 (0.3 mg/kg) by daily subcutaneous injection. All rats were sacrificed at 19 weeks. Serum chemistries were performed to evaluate the liver function. Liver fibrosis was assessed with hydroxyproline measurement, Sirius Red and HE 2021 Apr 10-15 and May 17-21. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(13_Suppl):Abstract nr 108.
Impact of frailty on clinical outcomes and resource use following emergency general surgery in the United States

Background Frailty has been recognized as an independent risk factor for inferior outcomes, but its effect on emergency general surgery (EGS) is understudied. Objective The purpose of the present study was to define the impact of frailty on risk-adjusted mortality, non-home discharge, and readmission following EGS operations. Methods Adults undergoing appendectomy, cholecystectomy, small bowel resection, large bowel resection, repair of perforated ulcer, or laparotomy within two days of an urgent admission were identified in the 2016–2017 Nationwide Readmissions Database. Frailty was defined using diagnosis codes corresponding to the Johns Hopkins Adjusted Clinical Groups frailty indicator. Multivariable regression was used to study in-hospital mortality and non-home discharge by operation, and Kaplan Meier analysis to study freedom from unplanned readmission at up to 90-days follow-up. Results Among 655,817 patients, 11.9% were considered frail. Frail patients most commonly underwent large bowel resection (37.3%) and cholecystectomy (29.2%). After adjustment, frail patients had higher mortality rates for all operations compared to nonfrail, including those most commonly performed (11.9% [95% CI 11.4–12.5%] vs 6.0% [95% CI 5.8–6.3%] for large bowel resection; 2.3% [95% CI 2.0–2.6%] vs 0.2% [95% CI 0.2–0.2%] for cholecystectomy). Adjusted non-home discharge rates were higher for frail compared to nonfrail patients following all operations, including large bowel resection (68.1% [95% CI 67.1–69.0%] vs 25.9% [95% CI 25.2–26.5%]) and cholecystectomy (33.7% [95% CI 32.7–34.7%] vs 2.9% [95% CI 2.8–3.0%]). Adjusted hospitalization costs were nearly twice as high for frail patients. On Kaplan-Meier analysis, frail patients had greater unplanned readmissions (log rank P<0.001), with 1 in 4 rehospitalized within 90 days. Conclusions Frail patients have inferior clinical outcomes and greater resource use following EGS, with the greatest absolute differences following complex operations. Simple frailty assessments may inform expectations, identify patients at risk of poor outcomes, and guide the need for more intensive postoperative care.
Effects of Molybdate, Tungstate, and Selenium Compounds on Formate Dehydrogenase and Other Enzyme Systems in Escherichia coli

The role of selenium and molybdenum in the metabolism of Escherichia coli was explored by growing cells in a simple salts medium and examining the metabolic consequences of altering the concentration of molybdenum and selenium compounds in the medium. The addition of tungstate increased the molybdate deficiency of this medium, as reflected by lowered levels of enzyme systems previously recognized to require compounds of molybdenum and selenium for their formation [formate-dependent oxygen reduction, formate dehydrogenase (FDH) (EC 1.2.2.1), and nitrate reductase (EC 1.9.6.1)]. The requirement for selenium and molybdenum appears to be unique to the enzymes of formate and nitrate metabolism since molybdate- and selenite-deficient medium had no effect on the level of several dehydrogenase and oxidase systems, for which the electron donors were reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, succinate, d- or l-lactate, and glycerol. In addition, no effect was observed on the growth rate or cell yield with any carbon source tested (glucose, glycerol, dl-lactate, acetate, succinate, and l-malate) when the medium was deficient in molybdenum and selenium. dl-Selenocystine was about as effective as selenite in stimulating the formation of formate dehydrogenase, whereas dl-selenomethionine was only 1% as effective. In aerobic cells, an amount of FDH was formed such that 3,200 or 3,800 moles of formate were oxidized per min per mole of added selenium (added as dl-selenocystine or selenite, respectively).
Modeling and measurements of novel high k monolithic transformers

This paper presents modeling and measurements of a novel monolithic transformer with high coupling k and quality factor Q characteristics. The present transformer utilizes a Z-shaped multilayer metalization to increase k without sacrificing Q. The new transformer has been fabricated using Motorola 0.18 micron copper process. A simple 2-port lumped circuit model is used to model the new design. Experimental data shows a good agreement with predicted data obtained from an HFSS software simulator. An increase of about 10% in mutual coupling and 15% in Q has been achieved. For a modest increase in k of about 5%, Q can be increased by up to 20%.
Passive delayed eruption of the primary dentition secondary to Dilantin administration: Report of a case

Abstract Gingival hyperplasia secondary to Dilantin administration is considered to be a condition strictly seen in dentate individuals. However, five cases are found in the literature that document gingival hyperplasia in edentulous individuals receiving Dilantin for seizure control. This report documents the youngest case in which a 19-month-old female infant with multiple neurologic problems, complicated by seizures, suffered from Dilantin hyperplasia which prevented the eruption of her primary dentition. Physicians and dentists should be aware of this complication when evaluating children with anodontia.
Adherence to and penetration of the intestinal epithelium by reovirus type 1 in neonatal mice

Abstract In 10-day-old suckling and adult mice, reovirus type 1 adheres selectively to and penetrates membranous epithelial (M) cells. To determine when M cells first appear, when they first transport reovirus, and if reovirus adheres to and is endocytosed by other epithelial cells in the first postnatal week, we examined neonatal mouse intestine by transmission electron microscopy after reovirus type 1 exposure. At 2 days M cells accounted for 0.9% of dome epithelial cells. By 9 days M cells had increased to 7.4%. Reovirus type 1 adherence to the surface of villus and dome epithelial cells showed marked variation in 2–6-day-old animals, but by 7 days only a few absorptive cell profiles had adherent reovirus. Adherence to > 50% of M-cell profiles occurred in all but 2 animals, but adherence to the majority of Peyer's patch absorptive cell profiles was present only in some 4- and 5-day-old animals. Adherence to a majority of undifferentiated cell profiles occurred in some animals at all ages. Membranous epithelial cells endocytosed reovirus at all ages but only at 2 days did rare villus and dome absorptive cells endocytose reovirus into the apical cytoplasm. Thus, adherence of reovirus to the apical surface of mucosal epithelial cells is nonselective in newborn mice but becomes more selective within the first postnatal week with adherence by day 7 to most M-celi profiles, to a substantial but variable number of undifferentiated cell profiles, but to few absorptive cell profiles.
A three-dimensional dual potential procedure for rotational flows

A dual potential decomposition of the velocity field into a scalar and a vector potential function is extended to three dimensions and used in the finite-difference simulation of steady three-dimensional inviscid rotational flow and viscous flow. The finite-difference procedure has been used to simulate the flow through the 80by 120-Foot Wind Tunnel at NASA Ames Research Center. Rotational flow produced by the stagnation pressure drop across vanes and screens which are located at the entrance of the inlet is modeled using actuator disk theory. Results are presented for two different inlet vane and screen configurations. The numerical predictions are in good agreement with experimental data. The dual potential procedure has also been applied to calculate the viscous flow along two and three-dimensional troughs. Viscous effects are simulated by injecting vorticity which is computed from a boundary-layer algorithm. For attached flow over a three-dimensional trough, the present calculations are in good agreement with other numerical predictions. For separated flow, it is shown from a two-dimensional analysis that the boundary-layer approximation provides an accurate measure of the vorticity in regions close to the wall; whereas further away from the wall, caution has to be exercised in using the boundary-layer equations to supply vorticity to the dual potential
Developing a validity argument for the English placement Fall 2010 Listening test at Iowa State University

ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 Statement of problem 1 Statement of research questions 4 Organization of the study 4 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 5 1. Validation of a test in language testing and assessment 5 1.1. The conception of validity in language testing and assessment 5 1.2. Approaches in validation studies in language testing and assessment 8 1.2.1. The concept of validation in language testing and assessment 8 1.2.2. Main approaches in validation studies in language testing and assessment 9 2. The argument-based validation approach in language testing and assessment .10 2.1. Using interpretative argument in examining validity in language testing and assessment. .10 2.2. Conducting an argument-based validation study in language testing and assessment........ 11 2.3. Building a validity argument in language testing and assessment 13 2.4. A critical review of the argument-based validation approach 17 2.5. The argument-based validation approach in practice so far 19 3. English placement test (EPT) in language testing and assessment 28 3.1.English placement test (EPT) 28 3.2.Validation of an EPT 31 3.3.Testing and assessment of listening in second language 33 4. Summary 36 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 39 1. Context of the study 39 1.1. Description of the EPT test at Iowa State University (ISU) 39 1.1.1. About the test 39 1.1.2. Test purpose 42
A razão barroca do patrimônio baiano: contos de tesouro e histórias de ossadas no Centro Histórico de Salvador

Este trabalho repensa as relacoes entre o espaco urbano, a historicidade e a identidade religiosa-racial no Centro Historico de Salvador, Bahia. Ha muito tempo o Brasil e reconhecido (e se reconhece) como um pais"do futuro" e da suposta"democracia racial". Na Bahia estas ideologias baseiam-se em parte em tentativas estaduais de apropriacao do Candomble, da cultura popular em geral e do patrimonio historico. Mas desde os anos 1990, nota-se uma enfase em"raizes" tanto quanto nas ideologias raciais, no urbanismo, e na religiao. Este esboco sociologico-historico nos permite entender melhor, e de uma forma nova na antropologia, as mudancas na religiosidade e as politicas raciais: o crescimento do pentecostalismo e da consciencia negra em Salvador explica-se de varias maneiras politico-economicas e simbolicas, mas procura-se aqui interligar os dois atraves de um interesse popular crescente em tombamento/cristalizacao de memorias e praticas supostamente populares como monumentos a nacao. Desta forma, este artigo analisa a"hermeneutica da profundidade" tanto quanto na religiao, nas ideologias raciais, e nas logicas sociais do patrimonio cultural e historico. Quer dizer, existem"ideologias semioticas" parecidas que influenciam a forma com que o Estado tanto quanto os cidadaos compreendam as relacoes entre evidencias e verdades e exterioridades e interioridades.
A new perspective on modeling groundwater contaminant-driven health risk with subjective information

Fuzzy rule-based systems provide an efficient environment for the modeling of expert information in the context of risk management for groundwater contamination problems. In general, their use in the form of conditional pieces of knowledge has been either as a tool for synthesizing control laws from data (i.e., conjunction-based models), or in a knowledge representation and reasoning perspective in Artificial Intelligence (i.e., implication-based models), where only the latter may lead to coherence problems (e.g., input data that leads to logical inconsistency when added to the knowledge base). We implement an extension to an implication-based groundwater risk model [7] by incorporating sufficient conditions for a coherent knowledge base. The original model assumes statements of public health professionals for the characterization of the exposed individual and the relation of dose and pattern of exposure to its carcinogenic effects. We demonstrate the utility of the extended model in that it: 1) identifies inconsistent statements and sets coherence in the knowledge base, and 2) minimizes the burden of knowledge elicitation from the experts thereby utilizing existing knowledge in an optimal fashion.
Superoxide Dismutase: Free Radical Degradation in Health and Disease

Oxygen is necessary for sustaining human life; however, toxic and reactive superoxide free radicals spontaneously form during cellular metabolism. These free radicals are highly reactive and harmful to the body if not degraded by superoxide dismutase (SOD). The eukaryotic, cytoplasmic isoform, CuZn SOD, converts toxic superoxide into hydrogen peroxide or oxygen. Subsequently, the enzymes catalase and glutathione peroxidase aid the conversion of hydrogen peroxide into oxygen and water. The CAPS (Center for Advanced Professional Studies) SMART (Students Modeling A Research Topic) Team modeled CuZn SOD using 3D printing technology to understand its molecular structure and function. CuZn SOD is a homodimer with each subunit composed of an eight flattened beta-barrel fold. The funnel-shaped active site containing copper and zinc cations attract negatively charged superoxide radicals. Cu is coordinated by His46, His48, His63, and His120, while Zn is coordinated by His63, His71, His80, and Asp83. The dismutation...
Building Construction Management Game

A computerized project management game has been developed to assist in understanding and teaching the economic and managerial problems of urban building development. In this game, players form teams, and make all decisions regarding building financing and construction; the response of the urban environment to all decisions is simulated by the computer system. Each team decides the type of project to build (commercial office buildings, high-rise apartments, moderate-income apartments, or shopping centers), its size, and its location in the simulated city. The computer game stresses the importance of financial planning, cash flow management, team organization, procurement and use of information, interaction with competing teams, and analyses of risks and alternatives as guides to decision-making.It is intended for students in construction management and practicing professionals with an interest in the building construction process.
How Jazz Musicians Improvise: The Central Role of Auditory and Motor Patterns

It is well known that jazz improvisations include repeated rhythmic and melodic patterns. What is less understood is how those patterns come to be. One theory posits that entire motor patterns are stored in procedural memory and inserted into an ongoing improvisation. An alternative view is that improvisers use procedures based on the rules of tonal jazz to create an improvised output. This output may contain patterns but these patterns are accidental and not stored in procedural memory for later use. The current study used a novel computer-based technique to analyze a large corpus of 48 improvised solos by the jazz great Charlie Parker. To be able to compare melodic patterns independent of absolute pitch, all pitches were converted to directional intervals listed in half steps. Results showed that 82.6% of the notes played begin a 4-interval pattern and 57.6% begin interval and rhythm patterns. The mean number of times the 4-interval pattern on each note position is repeated in the solos analyzed was 26.3 and patterns up to 49-intervals in length were identified. The sheer ubiquity of patterns and the pairing of pitch and rhythm patterns support the theory that pre-formed structures are inserted during improvisation. The patterns may be encoded both during deliberate practice and through an incidental learning processes. These results align well with related processes in both language acquisition and motor learning.
Excessive Weight Gain during Pregnancy Increases Carcinogen-Induced Mammary Tumorigenesis in Sprague-Dawley and Lean and Obese Zucker Rats

Excessive weight gain during pregnancy increases breast cancer risk in women. To determine whether this may be caused by increased pregnancy leptin levels, leptin receptor (Ob-Rb) mutant (fa/fa) and wild-type (FA/FA) female Zucker rats and Sprague-Dawley rats were fed during pregnancy an obesity-inducing high-fat diet (OID) that increased pregnancy weight gain, or a control diet. Because mutant Zucker rats do not readily become pregnant, their pregnancy was mimicked by exposing the rats to subcutaneous silastic capsules containing 150 microg of estradiol and 30 mg of progesterone for 3 wk. Sprague-Dawley rats underwent normal pregnancy. An assessment of hormone levels on gestation d 17 indicated that an exposure to the OID significantly elevated serum leptin concentration but did not affect those of estradiol or insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). Insulin and adiponectin levels were higher in the obese than lean Zucker rats, but were not related to pregnancy weight gain. Exposure to the OID during pregnancy increased 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA)-induced mammary tumorigenesis in all genetic backgrounds, including leptin receptor mutant Zucker rats. The results also indicated that obese Zucker rats that underwent mimicked pregnancy developed more palpable tumors and hyperplastic alveolar nodules that lean Zucker rats. Further, mammary epithelial cell proliferation assessed using PCNA staining was elevated in obese Zucker rats as was activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK); however, neither of these 2 changes occurred in the context of excessive weight gain during pregnancy. It remains to be determined whether an increase in leptin levels was causally associated with an increase in the dams' mammary tumorigenesis, including in obese Zucker rats with dramatically reduced leptin signaling.
Acetic Formic Anhydride

[2258-42-6] C3H4O3 (MW 88.06) InChI = 1S/C3H4O3/c1-3(5)6-2-4/h2H,1H3 InChIKey = ORWKVZNEPHTCQE-UHFFFAOYSA-N (useful formylating agent for the hydroxyl,2 phenol,3 and amine groups4 as well as other heteroatoms;5 useful for the synthesis of aldehydes from aromatic Grignard reagents,6 for the preparation of formyl fluoride,7 and for the preparation of diazoacetaldehyde8) Alternate Name: AFA. Physical Data: bp 27–28 °C/10 mmHg. Analysis of Reagent Purity: IR, NMR, MS.1 Preparative Methods: acetic formic anhydride is not comercially available. The easiest method of preparation is by the reaction of sodium formate and Acetyl Chloride in dry ether as reported by Krimen.9 Alternatively, Ketene and Formic Acid form the title compound at room temperature or below.10 Acetic formic anhydride can be prepared rapidly in situ by stirring formic acid, acetyl chloride, and Triethylamine in THF at −70 °C for 10 min.11 AFA is found in a mixture of formic acid (excess) with Acetic Anhydride.1 The mixture is more accurately described as formic acid–acetic anhydride mixture (FAM) and is also used as a formylating agent. Purification: by fractional distillation at low pressure. Handling, Storage, and Precautions: acetic formic anhydride decomposes slowly at room temperature and faster at elevated temperatures, giving acetic acid and carbon monoxide. Due to gas evolution, AFA is best stored at 4 °C in a flask fitted with a polyethylene stopper since sealed samples can explode. The compound is an eye and skin irritant and should be handled in a fume hood.
Single biopsy, tumor kinetic analyses: a comparison of methods and an extension to shorter sampling intervals.

Abstract There is emerging and established clinical and laboratory evidence that proliferation of tumor clonogens during radiation therapy can impair local tumor control. The pre-treatment, tumor potential doubling time, T pot , estimated with in situ bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) labeling, followed by a single biopsy and flow cytometry, may be a predictor of a given tumor's ability to undergo such intra-treatment proliferation. Recent studies have found a strong similarity between T pot 's determined in this fashion and the effective doubling times of surviving tumor cells during radiotherapy, as estimated from tumor control versus treatment duration data. Furthermore, several preliminary clinical studies have indicated that T pot may be a predictor of outcome, with faster tumors doing worse. Accelerated fractionation might overcome such proliferation, but is more acutely toxic and is unlikely to benefit patients with slowly proliferating tumors. Thus, the BrdUrd/single biopsy method may offer the possibility of selecting between accelerated and conventional or hyperfractionated treatment. Several approaches to the analysis of data generated by this method have been described, but there has been little documentation of the validity of methods in experimental systems, particularly in human experimental tumors. This study explores various analytic methods employed with the BrdUrd, delayed, single-biopsy technique used in determining the potential doubling time, T pot , of tumors. It compares methods of analysis in three experimental systems and in 40 in situ -labeled human tumors, and proposes a method for shortening the required labeling-biopsy interval to a clinically more convenient range of 3 to 4 hours.
Remarks on the paper “Educational Reform: Implications for Educational Psychologists”

The article, “Educational Reform: Implications for Educational Psychologists,” by Benton and Hoyt is an example of the consequences of asking the wrong questions to the right question. Educational psychologists do, indeed, have a vested interest in the current debate over reform in education, particularly teacher education. The data that Benton and Hoyt chose to dissect, however, completely omitted the substantial body of information where educational psychologists have special expertise. The elaborate factor analysis reformed by Benton and Hoyt simply confirms that if one starts with flawed data, no amount of statistical manipulation will lead to a valid conclusion.
Rural Roots of Current Migrant Labor Shortage in China: Development and Labor Empowerment in a Situation of Incomplete Proletarianization

This paper challenges and complements the view, widely held in sociological labor studies, that incomplete proletarianization weakens labor’s bargaining power in the city by allowing capital to externalize the costs of labor reproduction to the countryside. The authors argue instead that the preservation of migrant workers’ links to the rural economy plus rural development measures can, under certain circumstances, empower labor by increasing their marketplace bargaining power. Beginning with the puzzle of migrant labor shortages in China, and based on national data and a case study, the authors show that access to land and pro-rural state policies in the first decade of the twenty-first century together stimulated rural development in hinterland China and created more employment opportunities in agricultural and local nonfarm sectors. As a consequence, rural (migrant) laborers in China were able to rely on rural employment and choose not to participate in labor migration, thus contributing to the labor shortage and pressing employers in the city to increase wage rates and improve working and living conditions.
Network-assisted prediction of potential drugs for addiction

Drug addiction is a chronic and complex brain disease, adding much burden on the community. Though numerous efforts have been made to identify the effective treatment, it is necessary to find more novel therapeutics for this complex disease. As network pharmacology has become a promising approach for drug repurposing, we proposed to apply the approach to drug addiction, which might provide new clues for the development of effective addiction treatment drugs. We first extracted 44 addictive drugs from the NIDA and their targets from DrugBank. Then, we constructed two networks: an addictive drug-target network and an expanded addictive drug-target network by adding other drugs that have at least one common target with these addictive drugs. By performing network analyses, we found that those addictive drugs with similar actions tended to cluster together. Additionally, we predicted 94 nonaddictive drugs with potential pharmacological functions to the addictive drugs. By examining the PubMed data, 51 drugs significantly cooccurred with addictive keywords than expected. Thus, the network analyses provide a list of candidate drugs for further investigation of their potential in addiction treatment or risk.
A new method to measure the high-shear bulk properties of pressure sensitive adhesives used in LCD devices

The wide application of pressure sensitive adhesives (PSAs) in thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) devices is based on their advantages that PSAs provide sufficient bond strength and also are cleanly removable upon debonding. These two essential requirements are not obtainable without a proper understanding of the substrate as well as the rheological properties of the PSA. Unlike other substrates, the polarizer, the core unit of an LCD device, may exhibit a considerable dimension change with temperature and humidity. This imposes a large residual stress on the PSA layer, which often generates serious defects such as partial delamination. To overcome this problem, an accurate control of the rheological properties is required in the design of the PSA. In this study a new method is devised to measure the rheological behavior of thin film PSAs under high shear deformation. This method provided us with important information regarding the effects of molar mass and the level of crosslinking on ...
Chaos, transport and mesh convergence for fluid mixing

Chaotic mixing of distinct fluids produces a convoluted structure to the interface separating these fluids. For miscible fluids (as considered here), this interface is defined as a 50% mass concentration isosurface. For shock wave induced (Richtmyer-Meshkov) instabilities, we find the interface to be increasingly complex as the computational mesh is refined. This interfacial chaos is cut off by viscosity, or by the computational mesh if the Kolmogorov scale is small relative to the mesh. In a regime of converged interface statistics, we then examine mixing, i.e. concentration statistics, regularized by mass diffusion. For Schmidt numbers significantly larger than unity, typical of a liquid or dense plasma, additional mesh refinement is normally needed to overcome numerical mass diffusion and to achieve a converged solution of the mixing problem. However, with the benefit of front tracking and with an algorithm that allows limited interface diffusion, we can assure convergence uniformly in the Schmidt number. We show that different solutions result from variation of the Schmidt number. We propose subgrid viscosity and mass diffusion parameterizations which might allow converged solutions at realistic grid levels.
Piston cores improve understanding of deep Arctic Ocean

Recent proposals for deep Arctic Ocean drilling [COMPLEX, 2000; JOIDES, 2001] are significant steps toward an eventual understanding of the geologic framework, plate kinematics, and Cretaceous and Cenozoic environmental history of the north polar ocean. Because the proposals are subject to a variety of fiscal uncertainties, however, deep drilling in the ice-covered ocean could be years away from initiation. However, even in the absence of drilling, significant data concerning the geologic framework and Cretaceous-to-Eocene and late Cenozoic paleoenvironment of the Arctic Ocean basin have developed from piston cores collected from crests and flanks of Arctic Ocean ridges. While deep drilling is needed to test and amplify the commonly incomplete piston core record, some piston cores already have acquired firm data on lithology age, and paleoenvironment of Cambrian-to-Tertiary bedrock in parts of the Alpha, North wind, and Lomonosov Ridges (Figure l), and additional piston coring may be the best choice for immediate additional Arctic Ocean research.
Outcome of the California Civil Addict commitments:1961-1972.

Abstract The California Civil Addict Program was initiated in 1961, and by the end of 1972 had received approximately 17,800 individuals, not counting readmissions. Relatively little has been published on the results of the program. Kramer and Bass reported on the outcome of the 1209 persons first released to outpatient status during the period from June, 1962 to June, 1964 [1]. In addition, the proportion of persons remaining in active outpatient status twelve months after release is available in a series of annual internal reports, beginning in 1962 [2, 3]. The present paper is the first to provide outcome results by admission cohort, showing the status during the commitment as well as the type of ultimate discharge.
How do you warn them if they speak only Spanish? Challenges for organizations in communicating risk to Colonias residents in Texas, USA

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the information channels used by public and nonprofit organizations to communicate disaster risk information to Colonias residents in Hidalgo County, Texas. It seeks to find creative and proactive solutions for organizations to improve risk education to these constituents. Design/methodology/approach – Initially a snowball sampling technique was used to conduct six face-to-face interviews. This was followed by an online survey sent to 64 reputational referrals, of which 23 completed the survey, generating a response rate of 34 percent. A comparative analysis between public and nonprofit organizations and the Fischer's exact test were employed to analyze the data. Findings – Channel preferences for providing risk information varied with public organizations using the television (TV) and the nonprofit organizations using bilingual staff for outreach. The television, radio, public events, and bilingual staff were considered to be the most effective while soci...
The effect of Hus1 on ionizing radiation sensitivity is associated with homologous recombination repair but is independent of nonhomologous end-joining

Mammalian Hus1 plays an important role in maintaining genomic integrity. Cells lacking mouse Hus1 are hypersensitive to DNA damage inducers including UV and camptothecin (CPT). By using clonogenic assay, we show here that Hus1 deficient mouse cells are hypersensitive to ionizing radiation (IR) compared with their Hus1-positive counterparts. However, these cells show similar induction levels and similar rejoining rates of DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) following IR, indicating that the effect of Hus1 on cell radiosensitivity is independent of nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ). By combining an I-SceI-induced-DNA DSBs system and a siRNA approach, we also show that knocking down Hus1 decreases the efficiency of homologous recombination repair (HRR), which is associated with the cellular sensitivity to IR-induced killing. Together, these results indicate that the role of Hus1 affecting the sensitivity of cells to IR-induced killing is independent of NHEJ but might be linked to HRR.
Detection of minimum ionizing particles with a charge coupled device

Abstract The detection of ionizing radiation using charge-coupled devices is discussed. Results using a Fairchild CCD area imager are presented and its limitations examined.
Comment on "More accurate generalized gradient approximation for solids"

We point out an issue in the derivation of a nonempirical parameter in the Wu-Cohen exchange functional. With the value of the parameter that yields the correct fourth-order gradient expansion of the functional, the performance of the Wu-Cohen exchange functional is worse than the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof functional.