cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Preparation and characterization of the extracellular domain of human Sid-1.

In C. elegans, the cell surface protein Sid-1 imports extracellular dsRNA into the cytosol of most non-neuronal cells, enabling systemic spread of RNA interference (RNAi) throughout the worm. Sid-1 homologs are found in many other animals, although for most a function for the protein has not yet been established. Sid-1 proteins are composed of an N-terminal extracellular domain (ECD) followed by 9–12 predicted transmembrane regions. We developed a baculovirus system to express and purify the ECD of the human Sid-1 protein SidT1. Recombinant SidT1 ECD is glycosylated and spontaneously assembles into a stable and discrete tetrameric structure. Electron microscopy (EM) and small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) studies reveal that the SidT1 ECD tetramer is a compact, puck-shaped globular particle, which we hypothesize may control access of dsRNA to the transmembrane pore. These characterizations provide inroads towards understanding the mechanism of this unique RNA transport system from structural prospective.
Wavelength-modulation spectroscopy near 2.5 μm for H2O and temperature in high-pressure and -temperature gases

The design and validation of a tunable diode laser (TDL) sensor for temperature and H2O in high-pressure and -temperature gases are presented. High-fidelity measurements are enabled through the use of: (1) strong H2O fundamental-band absorption near 2.5 μm, (2) calibration-free first-harmonic-normalized wavelength-modulation spectroscopy with second-harmonic detection (WMS-2f/1f), (3) an experimentally derived and validated spectroscopic database, and (4) a new approach to selecting the optimal wavelength and modulation depth of each laser. This sensor uses two TDLs near 2,474 and 2,482 nm that were fiber coupled in free space and frequency multiplexed to enable measurements along a single line-of-sight. The lasers were modulated at 35 and 45.5 kHz, respectively, to achieve a sensor bandwidth of 4.5 kHz. This sensor was validated in a shock tube at temperatures and pressures ranging from 1,000 to 2,700 K and 8 to 50 bar. There the sensor resolved transients and recovered the known steady-state temperature and H2O mole fraction with a precision of 3.2 and 2.6 % RMS, respectively.
211. Development of Helper-Dependent Adenovirus (HDAd) Vectors for Gene Therapy in the Mouse Model for Glycogen Storage Disease Type Ia (GSD-Ia)

Objective: The deficiency of glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase) underlies glycogen storage disease type Ia (GSD-Ia, also known as von Gierke disease; MIM 232200), an autosomal recessive disorder of metabolism associated with life-threatening hypoglycemia and growth retardation. Regulation of G6Pase at the level of transcription occurs in response to glucose and insulin levels. We investigated the hypothesis that G6Pase expression with an HDAd vector containing a glucose-response promoter would correct hypoglycemia and prolong survival in GSD-I mice.
Time Course of the Intrahepatic Lesion of Extrahepatic Biliary Atresia: A Morphometric Study

The time course of the intrahepatic lesions of untreated extrahepatic biliary atresia was evaluated by morphometric analysis of 49 specimens from 27 patients. The data show an early phase of rapid bile ductular proliferation, with peak in this material at 205 days, followed by rapid duct regression to approximately 400 days, and slower progressive intrahepatic duct loss thereafter. The ratio of ducts to connective tissue in portal tracts follows a similar course. Connective tissue in portal tracts rises on a slower course and continues to increase after maximum duct regression is reached, so the ratio of parenchyma to fibrous septa falls over the later course of the process. Although duct and connective tissue proliferation in hepatic portal tracts is associated in many liver diseases, the data of this study demonstrate dissociability of the relationships, with the fibrosis in the later stages of the intrahepatic process in extrahepatic biliary atresia apparently neither responsive to nor inducing biliary ductular proliferation.
Soap-based detergent formulations: XIII. Formulations with alpha-olefin sulfonates as lime soap dispersants

Heavy duty household type detergents were formulated from tallow soap-AOS(α-olefin sulfonate)-builder combinations. Various commercial AOS samples were evaluated. These were derived either from closely fractionated α-olefins such as C14, C16, and C18 or from samples representing broader mol wt ranges such as C14−C16 and C16−C18. The builders incorporated into these combinations were a sodium silicate (Na2O∶SiO2=1∶1.6), sodium tripolyphosphate, sodium citrate, sodium carbonate, and trisodium nitrilotriacetate. Detergency evaluations of 0.2% solutions in 300 ppm hard water (as CaCO3) were determined with three commercial soiled cloths and by a multiwash test in which clean cloth was repeatedly soiled and washed. The relative proportions of soap, AOS, and builder were varied to obtain maximum detergency, and comparisons were made to other soap-LSDA (lime soap dispersing agents)-builder combinations as well as to a commercial high phosphate detergent used as a control. Detergency performance of soap-AOS combinations ranked just below that of the commercial high phosphate detergent control and below that of soap formulations containing sodium methyl α-sulfotallowate.
Effect of the Carbonic Anhydrase Inhibitor, Acetazolamide, on Helicobacter pylori Infection in vivo: A Pilot Study

Background. Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors have been successfully used to treat peptic ulcers. Although carbonic anhydrase restriction does not inhibit Helicobacter pylori in vitro, recent studies suggest that carbonic anhydrase inhibition reduces the ability of H. pylori to survive in an acid environment as present in the stomach. Methods. In a pilot study, we examined the effect of acetazolamide 500 mg as twice a day for 4 days in volunteers with active H. pylori infection. Effectiveness was judged by changes in the results of the urea breath test. Results. Eight H. pylori infected volunteers completed the test. No urea breath test reverted to negative and there was a trend for the urea breath test value to increase [e.g. delta over baseline (DOB) mean ± SE increased from 50.9 ± 13 at baseline to 64.9 ± 13 at day 5] during treatment with acetazolamide. Conclusion. The potential effect of carbonic anhydrase inhibitors on acid secretion may prevent effect on H. pylori in vivo and/or the sites of infection at the surface of the stomach may have a pH higher for any postulated acid-dependent effect to have an effect clinically.
Influence of synthesis parameters on iron nanoparticle size and zeta potential

Zero valent iron nanoparticles are of increasing interest in clean water treatment applications due to their reactivity toward organic contaminants and their potential to degrade a variety of compounds. This study focuses on the effect of organophosphate stabilizers on nanoparticle characteristics, including particle size distribution and zeta potential, when the stabilizer is present during nanoparticle synthesis. Particle size distributions from DLS were obtained as a function of stabilizer type and iron precursor (FeSO4·7H2O or FeCl3), and nanoparticles from 2 to 200 nm were produced. Three different organophosphate stabilizer compounds were compared in their ability to control nanoparticle size, and the size distributions obtained for particle volume demonstrated differences caused by the three stabilizers. A range of stabilizer-to-iron (0.05–0.9) and borohydride-to-iron (0.5–8) molar ratios were tested to determine the effect of concentration on nanoparticle size distribution and zeta potential. The combination of ferrous sulfate and ATMP or DTPMP phosphonate stabilizer produced stabilized nanoparticle suspensions, and the stabilizers tested resulted in varying particle size distributions. In general, higher stabilizer concentrations resulted in smaller nanoparticles, and excess borohydride did not decrease nanoparticle size. Zeta potential measurements were largely consistent with particle size distribution data and indicated the stability of the suspensions. Probe sonication, as a nanoparticle resuspension method, was minimally successful in several different organic solvents.
Can contextualism help

The journal Behavior Therapy reflects the evolution of the field over the past 30 years, from an emphasis on analogue studies with college students and operant approaches with institutionalized subjects to increased use of clinical populations and the incorporation of cognitive therapy. Behavior therapy, as of 1997, has little to do with its philosophical roots in behaviorism, and we have paid a price for our departure from those roots. There is little left that is unique to behavior therapy, and certainly no unifying theory. We need go no further than the philosophical roots of behaviorism. It is suggested that contextualism provides a much needed overarching system that not only unites behavioral interventions, but has demonstrated some vitality in recent years for creating new interventions that do not emphasize cognitive therapy. The future of behavior therapy would be best served by revisiting our philosophical roots, returning to functional analytic thinking, and by attending to context.
SU-C-12A-07: Effect of Vertical Position On Dose Reduction Using X-Care.

Purpose: Reduction of absorbed dose to radiosensitive tissues is an important goal in diagnostic radiology. Siemens Medical has introduced a technique (X-CARE) to lower CT dose to anterior anatomy by reducing the tube current during 80° of rotation over radiosensitive tissues. Phantom studies have shown 30-40% dose reduction when phantoms are positioned at isocenter. However, for CT face and sinus exams, the center of the head is commonly positioned below isocenter. This work investigated the effects of vertical patient positioning on dose reduction using X-CARE. Methods: A 16cm Computed Tomography Dose Index phantom was scanned on a Siemens Definition Flash CT scanner using a routine head protocol, with the phantom positioned at scanner isocenter. Optically stimulated luminescent dosimeters were placed on the anterior and posterior sides of the phantom. The phantom was lowered in increments of 2cm and rescanned, up to 8cm below isocenter. The experiment was then repeated using the same scan parameters but adding the X-CARE technique. The mean dosimeter counts were determined for each phantom position, and the difference between XCARE and routine scans was plotted as a function of distance from isocenter. Results: With the phantom positioned at isocenter, using XCARE reduced dose to the anteriormore » side of the phantom by 40%, compared to dose when X-CARE was not used. Positioned below isocenter, anterior dose was reduced by only 20-27%. Additionally, using X-CARE at isocenter reduced dose to the anterior portion of the phantom by 45.6% compared to scans performed without X-CARE 8cm below isocenter. Conclusion: While using X-CARE substantially reduced dose to the anterior side of the phantom, this effect was diminished when the phantom was positioned below isocenter, simulating common practice for face and sinus scans. This indicates that centering the head in the gantry will maximize the effect of X-CARE.« less
Low in vivo levels of human anx7 (annexin vii) gene expression are due to endogenous inhibitory promoter sequences.

Abstract ANX7 is a Ca2+/GTP-dependent membrane fusion protein, which is involved in regulating exocytotic secretion. While the nullizygous ANX7 (−/−) knockout mutation in the mouse is lethal, ANX7 is nonetheless the least expressed member of the annexin gene family in mammalian and lower organisms. To investigate the basis for low ANX7 expression level we have studied the human ANX7 promoter. In our early cloning studies we learned that the human ANX7 promoter lacks TATA and CCAAT boxes, but is GC rich and contains several SP1 binding sites. To study how expression of the ANX7 gene is controlled, we fused nested deletion mutants of the 5′-flanking region to a luciferase reporter gene. We find that the maximal level of luciferase activity is obtained by a construct comprising the domain −889/+34. However, a repressor effect observed in the region between −240 and +34 is dramatically eliminated either by the inclusion of 177 bp upstream sequences, or by the presence of an upstream SV40 enhancer sequences. ANX7 gene expression is also cell type specific and is subject to different transcriptional controls in different cellular environments. The fact that the SV40 enhancer sequences not only eliminates the suppression of luciferase activity in the inhibitory region of the ANX7 promoter, but also reverses the inhibitory effect of phorbol ester, suggests that endogenous cis-acting elements or transacting factors may be responsible for the physiologically low level ofANX7 protein expression.
Brain responses to filled gaps

An unresolved issue in the study of sentence comprehension is whether the process of gap-filling is mediated by the construction of empty categories (traces), or whether the parser relates fillers directly to the associated verb's argument structure. We conducted an event-related potentials (ERP) study that used the violation paradigm to examine the time course and spatial distribution of brain responses to ungrammatically filled gaps. The results indicate that the earliest brain response to the violation is an early left anterior negativity (eLAN). This ERP indexes an early phase of pure syntactic structure building, temporally preceding ERPs that reflect semantic integration and argument structure satisfaction. The finding is interpreted as evidence that gap-filling is mediated by structurally predicted empty categories, rather than directly by argument structure operations.
REAL-TIME ASSESSMENT OF THE PARAMETER OF NONLINEARITY IN TISSUE USING "NONLINEAR SHADOWING"

Abstract A real-time pulse-echo method for assessing tissue nonlinearity is presented. Here, tissue nonlinearity refers to the parameter of nonlinearity, BA, and not the frequency dependence of the attenuation. Our nonlinearity assessment method is based on two pulse transmissions per beam position. One pulse is transmitted at a high intensity that propagates nonlinearily and, the other, at a low level, that propagates linearly. Echo data are used to estimate a function representing the decay of fundamental frequency amplitude due to nonlinearity along the ultrasound path. This function is then mapped into an image that includes shadows which relate to the nonlinearity of the preceding regions. To delineate a region of interest from the background tissue, a normalization curve is defined and used to compensate for the nonlinearity of the background tissue. Experiments are performed on a tissue-mimicking phantom and in vitro tissue samples including regions of high nonlinearity. Results indicate that the method can effectively identify nonlinear regions and assess the extent of the nonlinearity.
Structure of the Archaeoglobus fulgidus orphan ORF AF1382 determined by sulfur SAD from a moderately diffracting crystal

The crystal structure of the 11.14 kDa orphan ORF 1382 from Archaeoglobus fulgidus (AF1382) has been determined by sulfur SAD phasing using data collected from a moderately diffracting crystal and 1.9 A synchrotron X-rays. The crystal structure of the 11.14 kDa orphan ORF 1382 from Archaeoglobus fulgidus (AF1382) has been determined by sulfur SAD phasing using a moderately diffracting crystal and 1.9 A wavelength synchrotron X-rays. AF1382 was selected as a structural genomics target by the Southeast Collaboratory for Structural Genomics (SECSG) since sequence analyses showed that it did not belong to the Pfam-A database and thus could represent a novel fold. The structure was determined by exploiting longer wavelength X-rays and data redundancy to increase the anomalous signal in the data. AF1382 is a 95-residue protein containing five S atoms associated with four methionine residues and a single cysteine residue that yields a calculated Bijvoet ratio (ΔF{sub anom}/F) of 1.39% for 1.9 A wavelength X-rays. Coupled with an average Bijvoet redundancy of 25 (two 360° data sets), this produced an excellent electron-density map that allowed 69 of the 95 residues to be automatically fitted. The S-SAD model was then manually completed and refined (R = 23.2%, R{sub free} =more » 26.8%) to 2.3 A resolution. High-resolution data were subsequently collected from a better diffracting crystal using 0.97 A wavelength synchrotron X-rays and the S-SAD model was refined (R = 17.9%, R{sub free} = 21.4%) to 1.85 A resolution. AF1382 has a winged-helix–turn–helix structure common to many DNA-binding proteins and most closely resembles the N-terminal domain (residues 1–82) of the Rio2 kinase from A. fulgidus, which has been shown to bind DNA, and a number of MarR-family transcriptional regulators, suggesting a similar DNA-binding function for AF1382. The analysis also points out the advantage gained from carrying out data reduction and structure determination on-site while the crystal is still available for further data collection.« less
Continuity, Causation And Cyclicity: A Cultural Neurophenomenoloǵy Of Time-Consciousness

AbstractThe neurophenomenology of time-consciousness is presented. This lays a foundation for exploring the ways that society and culture influence the experience and interpretation of time without losing sight of the embodied, neurophysiological and universal aspects of time-consciousness. The neural correlates of consciousness (NCC) are summarized as they relate to temporal perception and cognition. Phenomenological approaches to time- consciousness (using Edmund Husserl's work) are integrated with theorizing about subjectivity, experience, and social action, and the relationship between narrative and higher order forms of time-consciousness are discussed. The authors suggest that there are fundamental similarities between the ways that human societies in the past experienced and interpreted primordial aspects of time-consciousness and the way peoples do so today.
The law of the large numbers for U-statistics for 2m-wise independent random variables

The strong law of the large numbers for U-statistics has been proved for a sequence of independent random variables using martingale techniques. We see that the condition of independence can be relaxed to 2m-wise independence. In this case martingale techniques cannot be applied. We also consider Marcinkiewicz laws of large numbers for U-statistics for a special case.
The determination of ribose nucleic acid in the heart and associated tissues of house flies of various ages

Abstract 1. 1. Cardia RNA levels and dry heart weights were determined for male and female house flies of various ages. Mean RNA values for all organisms were 0·584 μg RNA per heart and 0·0388 g RNA per g of dry tissue, while mean heart weight was 15·03 μg per heart. 2. 2. RNA expressed in terms of dry tissue weight did not vary significantly within a given sex at any age or between the sexes at any age. 3. 3. Heart weight and RNA expressed in μg per heart did not vary significantly with age for females; however, these values decreased for males in the oldest age group studied.
Upper mantle seismic anisotropy of South Victoria Land and the Ross Sea coast, Antarctica from SKS and SKKS splitting analysis

SUMMARY We determine shear wave splitting parameters of teleseismic SKS and SKKS phases recorded at 43 broad-band seismometers deployed in South Victoria Land as part of the Transantarctic Mountain Seismic Experiment (TAMSEIS) from 2000 to 2003. We use an eigenvalue technique to linearize the rotated and shifted shear wave particle motions and determine the best splitting parameters. The data show a fairly consistent fast direction of azimuthal anisotropy oriented approximately N60 ◦ E with splitting times of about 1 s. Based on a previous study of the azimuthal variations of Rayleigh wave phase velocities that show a similar fast direction, we suggest that the anisotropy is localized in the uppermost mantle, with a best estimate of 3 per cent anisotropy in a layer of about 150 km thickness. We suggest that the observed anisotropy near the Ross Sea coast, a region underlain by thin lithosphere, results either from upper mantle flow related to Cenozoic Ross Sea extension or to edge-driven convection associated with a sharp change in lithospheric thickness between East and West Antarctica. Both hypotheses are consistent with the more E–W fast axis orientation for stations on Ross Island and along the coast, subparallel to the extension direction and the lithospheric boundary. Anisotropy in East Antarctica, which is underlain by cold thick continental lithosphere, must be localized within the lithospheric upper mantle and reflect a relict tectonic fabric from past deformation events. Fast axes for the most remote stations in the Vostok Highlands are rotated by 20 ◦ and are parallel to splitting measurements at South Pole. These observations seem to delineate a distinct domain of lithospheric fabric, which may represent the extension of the Darling Mobile Belt or Pinjarra Orogen into the interior of East Antarctica.
Skimmer: rapid scrolling of relational query results

A relational database often yields a large set of tuples as the result of a query. Users browse this result set to find the information they require. If the result set is large, there may be many pages of data to browse. Since results comprise tuples of alphanumeric values that have few visual markers, it is hard to browse the data quickly, even if it is sorted.In this paper, we describe the design of a system for browsing relational data by scrolling through it at a high speed. Rather than showing the user a fast changing blur, the system presents the user with a small number of representative tuples. Representative tuples are selected to provide a "good impression" of the query result. We show that the information loss to the user is limited, even at high scrolling speeds, and that our algorithms can pick good representatives fast enough to provide for real-time, high-speed scrolling over large datasets.
Lifetime Effects of Intratracheally Instilled Nickel Subsulfide on B6C3F1 Mice

A nickel subsulfide (Ni3S2) lung tumor model for the study of metal carcinogenesis was evaluated using intratracheally dosed B6C3F1 mice. A preliminary study of the survival of mice 14 days after a single intratracheal dose of Ni3S2 displayed an LD50 of 4 mg/kg. A lifetime study was then initiated using five graded doses of Ni3S2 or saline alone, administered once a week for 4 weeks. Animals which survived more than 60 days after the final dose were evaluated by histopathology. The study was terminated 27 months after initiation when ∼50% of the control animals had died. There was no increase in neoplastic or non-neoplastic lesions observed in animals treated with Ni3S2 nor was there evidence of damage to the organs of the respiratory tract from this treatment. The lack of significant biological response appears to be the result of relatively low tolerated dose, efficient lung clearance, and repair of early lung lesions.
Polymerization of lactose by twin-screw extrusion to produce indigestible oligosaccharides

Abstract Soluble dietary fiber is a growing food ingredient market. Twin-screw extrusion of lactose with an acid catalyst has been reported as a way to polymerize lactose to oligomers which are indigestible and analyze as dietary fiber. Lactose was dry blended with citric acid at two different concentrations, 1 and 2%. Glucose was added to raw mixes at 0, 10, or 20% (w/w). Samples with 2% citric acid yielded a higher concentration of indigestible oligosaccharides (52.3–59.8%, w/w) than 1% citric acid samples (37.1–49.9%). Glucose did not affect the yield. Glucose addition was beneficial and reduced the motor torque and specific mechanical energy of the extruder, and extruded products were lighter in color. The generated oligomers had a degree of polymerization that ranged from 3 to 5, as determined by mass spectrometry. Testing if the oligomers confer a beneficial effect (to be classified as dietary fiber), is still required.
Brønsted acid activation of α-diazo imide: a syn-selective glycolate Mannich reaction

A novel α-diazo imide reagent and its activation by strong Bronsted acid is shown to produce the product of a syn-glycolate Mannich transform with high diastereoselection.
Midline destructive lesions of the sinonasal tract: simplified terminology based on histopathologic criteria.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Destructive lesions of the sinonasal tract, lacking a discernible etiology and referred to as midline destructive disease, have been pathologically classified in accordance with a variety of confusing terms. Development of new pathologic concepts and immunohistochemical techniques has provided a fresh understanding of these lesions, and, as a result, they can be unified into two distinct pathologic groups: Wegener9s granulomatosis and non-Hodgkin9s T-cell lymphoma. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the imaging studies and pathologic specimens of seven patients with prior diagnoses included in the midline destructive disease group. The specimens were reviewed by an oral pathologist using currently accepted pathologic criteria and the newly available immunohistochemical markers CD20, CD45, and CD45RO. Lesions were classified as non-Hodgkin9s T-cell lymphomas when positive for CD45 and CD45RO and negative for CD20, and as Wegener9s granulomatosis in the presence of noncaseating multinucleated giant cell granulomas and necrotizing vasculitis. RESULTS: Three of the lesions were reclassified as Wegener9s granulomatosis and four as T-cell lymphomas after applying these pathologic criteria. There were no distinguishing imaging findings between Wegener9s granulomatosis and non-Hodgkin9s T-cell lymphoma. CONCLUSION: The current pathologic classification for midline destructive disease should be incorporated into the radiologic lexicon and the use of terms from the old classification system, such as idiopathic midline granuloma and lethal midline granuloma, should be abandoned and no longer be used in radiologic reports.
Quickest detection of superimposed hidden Markov models using a multiple target tracker

This paper addresses the quickest detection of superimposed hidden Markov Models (HMMs) using tracking algorithms. It is assumed that a known HMM is always extant but at an unknown time a second known HMM might be present and overlapped with the previous one. We develop a Page-like test to detect this superimposed HMM as quickly as possible. It is argued that such a scheme is feasible only for low dimension HMMs and therefore it is not extensible to multiple superimposed HMMs. A new detection method based on multiple target tracking ideas is presented, and it is shown through numerical examples that this scheme works essentially as well as the 'optimal' one.
Effects of meat consumption and vegetarian diet on risk of wrist fracture over 25 years in a cohort of peri- and postmenopausal women.

Wrist fracture (WF) is the most commonly occurring fracture in women under 75 years of age in the USA and northern Europe1. The estimated lifetime risk of WF in women is 16%. Interestingly, this type of fracture occurs typically in women who are in good health and active, often reporting that they walk briskly1. Although the medical sequelae and economic burden of WF are not as serious as for hip fracture, the occurrence of WF is associated with increased risk of a subsequent fracture at the hip in both men and women2. Thus there is an increasing interest in identifying modifiable risk factors, as demonstrated by the growing number of studies on WF over the past 15 years1, 3-9. The potential for diet to protect against low-energy fractures has been investigated for more than 40 years10. Most of the attention in research and public health efforts has been directed towards the role of calcium, dairy foods and vitamin D in bone health. More recently recommendations to consume a diet rich in fruits and vegetables as a preventive measure against risk of low-energy fractures has been given with increasing frequency in reviews of diet and bone health11,12. Fruits and vegetables are key dietary sources of magnesium, potassium, vitamin C, vitamin K and folate, adequate quantities of which have been associated with higher bone mineral density (BMD), decreased bone loss with ageing or reduced risk of fracture 12,13. Protein8,14, total fat15, monounsaturated fat16, polyunsaturated fatty acids17, phyto-oestrogens18, vitamin A19 and vitamin B1220 have also been implicated as factors affecting risk of osteoporosis and fragility fractures. Along with the health promotional message regarding the importance of fruits and vegetables in the diet, there is an increasing interest in the potential benefits of a vegetarian diet for bone health. However, little is known about the effects of vegetarian diets on risk of a low-energy fracture of any kind. Because a number of studies have observed that vegetarians consume a diet lower in protein than omnivores21-23, some have been concerned that a vegetarian diet may not provide an adequate intake of protein for bone health. Thus the focus of the present study was to examine the effects of foods high in protein and the effect of an absence of meat in the diet relative to low-energy WF. The study participants were peri- and postmenopausal women in a cohort of white female Seventh-day Adventists (SDAs) who completed two lifestyle questionnaires, the first of which was administered in 1976 and the second being initiated in 2002.
An efficient and versatile scheduling algorithm based on SDC formulation

Scheduling plays a central role in the behavioral synthesis process, which automatically compiles high-level specifications into optimized hardware implementations. However, most of the existing behavior-level scheduling heuristics either have a limited efficiency in a specific class of applications or lack general support of various design constraints. In this paper we describe a new scheduler that converts a rich set of scheduling constraints into a system of difference constraints (SDC) and performs a variety of powerful optimizations under a unified mathematical programming framework. In particular, we show that our SDC-based scheduling algorithm can efficiently support resource constraints, frequency constraints, latency constraints, and relative timing constraints, and effectively optimize longest path latency, expected overall latency, and the slack distribution. Experiments demonstrate that our proposed technique provides efficient solutions for a broader range of applications with higher quality of results (in terms of system performance) when compared to the state-of-the-art scheduling heuristics.
Aborting abnormal fetuses: the parental perspective.

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on the issue of aborting abnormal fetuses from the standpoint of the prerogatives and obligations of parents. First, two intuitively-based models of parenthood are developed. In the Trustee Model, parental authority is grounded in the obligation of parents to promote the interests of children, while the Artisan Model locates parental authority in the intrinsic value of parenthood as a mode of parental self-expression. Reasons are given for believing that neither of these models, taken individually, contains a complete or adequate picture of parenthood and that both have counterintuitive implications. Under the assumption that there is little hope of developing a master model for parenthood to supplant the two inadequate models, five principles are developed for determining how the two models should be applied in making moral decisions. These principles are then applied to five categories of abnormal fetuses. The conclusion is that abortions are justified in the first three categories (involving severe abnormalities), but not in the fifth category (involving only slight deformities). The fourth category requires parental discretion. Finally, a check on these conclusions is provided by comparing them with a parental action that would generally be considered impermissible, namely the decision of a Jehovah's Witness not to permit a blood transfusion for his or her child in a life-threatening situation.
The costs and consequences of neglected medically necessary oral care

Oral diseases and conditions may adversely affect general health, and certain medical conditions may have a negative effect on oral health. However, little attention has been given to assessing the economic costs and consequences associated with care that is a direct result of, or has a direct impact on, an underlying medical condition and/or its resulting therapy. The costs can be significant for patients; their families; third-party payers such as insurance companies, Medicare, and Medicaid; and society. The health consequences of such conditions may dramatically affect function, morbidity, quality of life, and survival. This paper reviews one possible approach for identifying and measuring the costs and consequences associated with medically necessary oral health care and presents a framework for evaluating medically necessary oral health care. The paper also describes the cost components of care and the dimensions of health consequences. Finally, an example illustrates this approach. The summary information presented here is meant to offer concepts and ideas important in assessing the costs and health consequences associated with medically necessary oral health care. Individuals interested in a more detailed discussion of economic evaluation of health care programs and outcomes assessment are referred elsewhere. 10-23
Self-assembly of a triangle-shaped, hexaplatinum-incorporated, supramolecular amphiphile in solution and at interfaces

The self-assembly and characterization of a novel supramolecular amphiphile built from a new 60° amphiphilic precursor that incorporates hydrophilic platinum(II) metals and hydrophobic dioctadecyloxy chains is reported. The amphiphilic macrocycle and its precursor compound have been characterized by multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, ESI-MS, and other standard techniques. The coacervate morphology of the amphiphile at the liquid–liquid interface has been studied by using confocal optical microscopy and in situ Raman spectroscopy. The self-assembly of the amphiphilic macrocycle at the air–water interface has been investigated through Langmuir-trough techniques. The study indicates the possible formation of surface micelle-like aggregates. The disparity between the experimental molecular areas and those derived from molecular models support the idea of aggregation. AFM images of the surface aggregates show the formation of a flat topology with arbitrary ridgelike patterns. Reasonable molecular-packing arrangements are proposed to explain the molecular organization within the observed structures.
The Meaning of Cloze Test Scores: An Item Difficulty Perspective

of second language proficiency even though the precise abilities required by a given cloze remain in question. The practice of using cloze tests without clear knowledge of what they measure is inconsistent with current objectives of educational measurement: we must know precisely what a test measures for reasons both theoretical (to understand the abilities it requires) and practical (to use appropriately the scores it yields). One means of defining these abilities is to identify the factors affecting test difficulty at the item level (15: p. 153). Applying this principle to students' performance on cloze items, we attempted in this study to understand what cloze tests measure by identifying factors related to cloze item difficulty. Our purpose was to help explain the meaning of cloze test scores and thus provide a firmer basis for developing various types of cloze tests.
When At-Risk Teens Are Violent Toward Romantic Partners: The Role of Common Stressors

Objective: The present study uses longitudinal data to examine whether common stressors are associated with the perpetration of teen dating violence (TDV) in a sample of teens involved in the juvenile justice system. Several hypotheses about this association were examined, including the hypothesis that common stressors have a cumulative effect on TDV over time and that the association between common stressors and TDV is stronger among teens who have recently perpetrated TDV. Method: Participants were 92 teens in truancy court who were dating or “seeing” someone at the time they were recruited into the study. After completing a baseline assessment, teens were contacted by phone every 2 weeks over a 12-week period, and they were asked questions about common stressors and TDV during the 2 weeks prior to the phone call. Results: Concurrent common stressors were associated with TDV perpetration. In addition, longitudinal cross-lag analyses showed that stress during a 2-week period predicted TDV perpetration during the subsequent 2-week period, even after controlling for concurrent TDV. Furthermore, both prior and concurrent stressors contributed uniquely to TDV. The association between common stressors and TDV perpetration was stronger for teens who reported a greater history of TDV perpetration prior to the baseline assessment. Conclusion: Our results suggest that common stressors increase the likelihood of TDV perpetration among at-risk teens, that these effects appear to be cumulative, and that the association is especially strong for teens with a recent history of TDV. At-risk teens may benefit from programs designed to reduce stress and mitigate stress reactivity.
A Regularized Inexact Penalty Decomposition Algorithm for Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Problems With Complementarity Constraints

Economic and physical considerations often lead to equilibrium problems in multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO), which can be captured by MDO problems with complementarity constraints (MDO-CC)—a newly emerging class of problem. Due to the ill-posedness associated with the complementarity constraints, many existing MDO methods may have numerical difficulties solving this class of problem. In this paper, we propose a new decomposition algorithm for the MDO-CC based on the regularization technique and inexact penalty decomposition. The algorithm is presented such that existing proofs can be extended, under certain assumptions, to show that it converges to stationary points of the original problem and that it converges locally at a superlinear rate. Numerical computation with an engineering design example and several analytical example problems shows promising results with convergence to the all-in-one solution. DOI: 10.1115/1.4001206
Two New Species of Swartzia (Leguminosae) from the Amazon Basin of Brazil, with Notes on the Genus and a Key to the Unifoliolate Species

Abstract A brief discussion of the systematics of Swartzia, a large neotropical genus of trees and shrubs, is given in preparation for a comprehensive phylogenetic and revisionary study of the genus. Two new species from Brazilian Amazonia, Swartzia coriaceifolia and Swartzia juruana, are described and illustrated. The former was collected in the basin of the Rio Negro in the state of Amazonas and possesses morphology allying it with S. brachyrachis and its relatives. Swartzia juruana is known from a single collection from the upper Rio Jurua basin of Acre and is closely related to the more widespread species S. jorori. Morphological characters of the new species are discussed, and a key to the unifoliolate species and varieties of Swartzia is provided.
Wormholes, baby universes, and causality

In this paper wormholes defined on a Minkowski signature manifold are considered, both at the classical and quantum levels. It is argued that causality in quantum gravity may best be imposed by restricting the functional integral to include only causal Lorentzian spacetimes. Subject to this assumption, one can put very tight constraints on the quantum behavior of wormholes, their cousins the baby universes, and topology-changing processes in general. Even though topology-changing processes are tightly constrained, this still allows very interesting geometrical (rather than topological) effects. In particular, the laboratory construction of baby universes is not prohibited provided that the "umbilical cord" is never cut. Methods for relaxing these causality constraints are also discussed.
Central nitric oxide donors attenuate cardiovascular and central norepinephrine responses to stress

An earlier study showed that norepinephrine (NE) was released in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and posterior hypothalamus (PH) along with increases of mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) during shaker stress (SS). Here we investigated the possibility that nitric oxide (NO) donors, infused into hypothalamus, could modulate responses to SS. In conscious rats, an injector-microdialysis probe, for direct application of donor and collection of extracellular NE, respectively, was inserted into PVN or PH; MAP and HR were recorded continuously from conscious rats. The NO donor, molsidomine (Mol), infused 5 or 30 min before SS, did not alter baseline values of NE, MAP, or HR, but did attenuate changes elicited by 5 min of SS; methylene blue blocked the effects of Mol. The NO donor, sodium nitroprusside, was much less effective than Mol as a modulator of stress-related effects. The results indicate that MAP, HR, and hypothalamic NE responses to environmental stress, but not baseline values, can be modulated by NO donors in the hypothalamus.
Prosthetic-valve Endocarditis Due to Listeria monocytogenes

Clinical and necropsy observations in the case of a patient with prosthetic-valve endocarditis due to Listeria monocytogenes are presented. Although rare cases of L. monocytogenes infection of natural cardiac valves have been reported, this represents the first known case of infection of a prosthetic cardiac valve by this organism.
Treatment of Acute Anterolateral Rotatory Instability

This article provides an account of the experience at the Hughston Orthopaedic Clinic in diagnosing and treating acute anterolateral rotatory instability of the knee. Clinical evaluation, surgical exposure and repair, and postoperative rehabilitation are detailed, with emphasis on an integrated approach to treatment, with the goal of restoring stability and function to the injured knee.
Schistosomiasis of the prostate: a case report.

BACKGROUND Schistosomiasis with involvement of the prostate is relatively uncommon and is rarely diagnosed in needle core biopsies. CASE A 45-year-old, African American man who had recently returned from the Middle East presented with hematospermia of unknown etiology. He also had an elevated PSA level and a positive family history of prostate cancer. Prostate needle core biopsies were obtained. On microscopy he had multiple foci of acute and chronic inflammation. In other foci, Schistosoma haematobium ova were identified in the absence of a host inflammatory response. All his biopsies were negative for carcinoma. A diagnosis of schistosomiasis of the prostate was made. CONCLUSION Schistosomiasis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of parasitic diseases involving the prostate, especially in patients who live in or have recently visited endemic regions.
Loss of BAP1 Expression in Basal Cell Carcinomas in Patients With Germline BAP1 Mutations.

Objectives: Patients with heterozygous germline mutations in BRCA1-associated protein 1 ( BAP1 ), a tumor suppressor gene, develop a tumor predisposition syndrome (OMIM 614327) with increased risk of uveal and cutaneous melanomas, cutaneous atypical and epithelioid melanocytic lesions, lung adenocarcinoma, clear cell renal cell carcinoma, and other tumors. Early recognition of this syndrome is of clinical importance. In addition, screening for BAP1 mutation, loss, and inactivation by performing BAP1 immunohistochemistry on cutaneous lesions would be a simple method for screening patients suspected of having germline BAP1 mutations. Methods: We investigated BAP1 expression in seven basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) in two patients with germline BAP1 mutation and a family history of uveal melanoma. Six lesions were from the head and neck region and one from the shoulder. Thirty-one sporadic BCCs were included as controls. Results: All seven BCCs in the patients with germline BAP1 mutations exhibited loss of BAP1 nuclear staining, while 30 (97%) of 31 sporadic BCCs exhibited positive BAP1 nuclear staining. Conclusions: Loss of BAP1 expression could be associated with the development of BCC in patients with germline BAP1 mutations. These results suggest that BCC may be a component of the expanding category of tumors associated with this syndrome.
MORE MATRICES AND TRANSFORMATIONS: SHEAR AND PSEUDO-PERSPECTIVE

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the shear and pseudo-perspective of matrices and transformations. The construction of matrices for affine, and projective transformations rotation, mirror image, scaling, and projections which were not defined relative to the origin, and coordinate axes, but rather relative to some arbitrary positions, and orientations is considered. It is found that if one perform perspective projection before clipping, one lose the ability to clip in depth. It is found that to avoid this problem one must put depth back into the perspective transformation, and one want a transformation that gives us both perspective, and depth. Usually, this is done by factoring perspective projection through orthogonal projection.
How Learning Styles Predict Charitableness via Emotional Management

The existing research on charitableness focuses on the consequences of the charitable behavior, rather than its determinants. In this paper, we focus on Jackson’s Learning Profiles, and suggest tha...
The Efficacy of Monetary Rules for LDCs

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the efficacy of monetary rules for less developed countries (LDCs). Though world's all developed economies and most of its LDCs have central banks, no real consensus has emerged as to their proper or most promising mode of operation in fostering economic stability and development. In the light of the strong theoretical and empirical support for a simple, constant growth-rate rule in developed economies, several a priori considerations make the case for a simple rule even more compelling for LDCs, though it is difficult to obtain the sort of evidence that is relevant for this issue. The chapter presents a simple quantity theory representation of money's relationship to prices and output, which is then used to define the objectives of monetary policy and the importance of achieving them. This provides the basic analytical framework with which the most common monetary rules are examined. The chapter also discusses the several types of empirical evidence from the developed countries bearing on the rule controversy.