cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sparsity-Promoting Solution of Subsurface Flow Model Calibration Inverse Problems

Identification of heterogeneous hydraulic aquifer properties from limited dynamic flow measurements typically leads to underdetermined nonlinear inverse problems that can have many solutions, including solutions that are geologically implausible and fail to predict future performance of the system. The problem is usually regularized by incorporating implicit or explicit prior information to stabilize the solution techniques and to obtain plausible solutions. A meaningful regularization must be informed by the physics of the problem, distinct properties of the formation under investigation, and other available sources of information (e.g., outcrop, well logs, and seismic). This chapter proposes sparsity as an intrinsic property of spatially distributed aquifer hydraulic properties that can be used to regularize the solution of the related ill-posed inverse problem. Inspired by recent advances in sparse signal processing, formalized under the compressed sensing paradigm, proper sparsifying bases are introduced to describe aquifer hydraulic conductivity distribution. Such descriptions give rise to a sparse reconstruction formulation of the subsurface flow model calibration inverse problem, which can be efficiently solved following recent algorithmic developments in sparse signal processing. The compressed sensing paradigm specifies the conditions under which unique solutions to underdetermined linear system of equations exist and can be computed efficiently. Sparsity is a fundamental notion in compressed sensing, and is often present in many natural images. In particular, sparsity is prevalent in describing many spatially correlated aquifer properties. The practical implications of compressed sensing are as far reaching as the solution of underdetermined system of equations is in science and engineering. This chapter introduces the guidelines set forth by sparse reconstruction techniques and the compressed sensing paradigm and incorporates them to formulate and solve ill-posed groundwater model calibration inverse problems.
A comprehensively revised strategy that improves the specific activity and long-term stability of clinically relevant 89Zr-immuno-PET agents

Zirconium-89 is currently being used in numerous clinical trials involving monoclonal antibodies and positron emission tomography. This report describes a revised strategy that reduces preparation time while increasing the specific activity of clinically relevant immuno-PET agents. Additionally, it demonstrates that n-acetyl-L-cysteine acts as a superior radioprotective agent that improves long-term stability without compromising antigen affinity in vivo.
Risk management within the cannabis industry: Building a framework for the cannabis industry

Thirty states and the District of Columbia have legalized the use of cannabis for medicinal and/or recreational use by either formally or informally de‐criminalizing its use. However, cannabis remains a Schedule 1 drug under the Federal Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. Sections 801 through 812), leaving federal law in conflict with the laws of over half of the states. As a result, market participants in legal cannabis businesses face risks due to the industry's unique legal status within the United States. We examine the risks and challenges deemed by the cannabis industry as the top risks facing the industry's continued future growth and its sustainability. In addition to general risks inherent in a nascent industry, a legal cannabis business faces additional risks, such as risks in its banking and finance activity, placement of insurance, payment of taxes, and managing its supply chain. These legal businesses also face true legal risk from the possibility of being shut down by the federal government and seizure of assets and product under the CSA. This paper also examines whether the cannabis industry would benefit from a futures market to mitigate price risk.
Technology Enablers for Big Data, Multi-Stage Analysis in Medical Image Processing

Big data medical image processing applications involving multi-stage analysis often exhibit significant variability in processing times ranging from a few seconds to several days. Moreover, due to the sequential nature of executing the analysis stages enforced by traditional software technologies and platforms, any errors in the pipeline are only detected at the later stages despite the sources of errors predominantly being the highly compute-intensive first stage. This wastes precious computing resources and incurs prohibitively higher costs for re-executing the application. The medical image processing community to date remains largely unaware of these issues and continues to use traditional high-performance computing clusters, which incur a high operating cost due to the use of dedicated resources and expensive centralized file systems. To overcome these challenges, this paper proposes an alternative approach for multi-stage analysis in medical image processing by using the Apache Hadoop ecosystem and offering it as a service in the cloud. We make the following contributions. First, we propose a concurrent pipeline execution framework and an associated semi-automatic, real-time monitoring and checkpointing framework that can detect outliers and achieve quality assurance without having to completely execute the expensive first stage of processing thereby expediting the entire multi-stage analysis. Second, we present a simulator to rapidly estimate the execution time for a given multi-stage analysis, which can aid the users in deciding the appropriate approach for their use cases. We conduct empirical evaluation of our framework and show that it requires 76.75% lesser wall time and 29.22% lesser resource time compared to the traditional approach that lacks such a quality assurance mechanism.
Abstract P099: Heart Rate Variability Differences Between Green and Suburban Walking: A Pilot Crossover Study

Introduction: Heart rate variability (HRV) assesses the sympathetic and parasympathetic innervation of the heart. Lower HRV indicates greater sympathetic tone and is associated with adverse cardiov...
Predicting respiratory failure in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: recruiting a few good pulmonologists.

People with ALS die from pulmonary complications and pulmonologists have interventions that improve survival and quality of life. The study by Ackrivo and colleagues provides a clinically relevant model to prognosticate respiratory failure in ALS.http://ow.ly/CfMF30o0MWB
Association of Traumatic Brain Injury with Vestibular Dysfunction and Dizziness in Post-9/11 Veterans

Objective To describe the prevalence and impact of vestibular dysfunction and nonspecific dizziness diagnoses and explore their associations with traumatic brain injury (TBI) severity, mechanism, and postconcussive comorbidities among post-9/11 veterans. Setting Administrative medical record data from the US Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs (VA). Participants Post-9/11 veterans with at least 3 years of VA care. Design Cross-sectional, retrospective, observational study. Main measures International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification diagnosis codes for TBI, vestibular dysfunction, dizziness, and other commonly associated postconcussive conditions; Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory. Results Of the 570 248 post-9/11 veterans in this sample, 0.45% had a diagnosis of vestibular dysfunction and 2.57% had nonspecific dizziness. Those with either condition were more likely to have evidence of TBI (57.11% vs 28.51%) and reported more disruption from neurobehavioral symptoms. Blast and nonblast injuries were associated with greater symptom disruption, particularly in combination. Conclusions There was a consistent, significant association between TBI and vestibular dysfunction or nonspecific dizziness, after controlling for sociodemographic factors, injury mechanism, and comorbid conditions. Given that most deployed post-9/11 veterans report blast and/or nonblast injuries, the need for prompt identification and management of these conditions and symptoms is clear.
Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge

TPACK is expanded from Shulman’s (1986) work in defined types of teacher knowledge and was first introduced by Mishra and Kohler in 2006. TPACK is the space formed where two of Shulman’s “teacher knowledge” circles overlap.
Assessment of structured classroom debate to teach an antimicrobial stewardship elective course.

Abstract Background and purpose The main aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a structured classroom debate format on teaching antimicrobial stewardship. Educational activity and setting An active learning approach using a debate format was implemented to engage students in infectious diseases concepts to further develop critical thinking skills. This was a one-group, pre- and posttest design conducted in third year pharmacy students enrolled at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine School of Pharmacy Georgia campus. A ten-item assessment survey was used prior to and after the course to evaluate student knowledge. Student perception of skill development was assessed by a survey using a five-point Likert scale. The skills assessed included critical thinking, communication, public speaking, research/drug information, and teamwork. Findings Thirty-three students participated in the six debates over the course of the semester. There was a statistically significant increase in post-knowledge assessment mean score (75%) compared to pre-knowledge assessment mean score (45%). The post-course survey showed improved confidence in perception of skills in all of the areas assessed. Summary The structured classroom debate format has a positive association with increasing students' knowledge level and perception of skills assessed.
Regulating digital health technologies with transparency: the case for dynamic and multi-stakeholder evaluation

The prevalence of smartphones today, paired with the increasing precision and therapeutic potential of digital capabilities, offers unprecedented opportunity in the field of digital medicine. Smartphones offer novel accessibility, unique insights into physical and cognitive behavior, and diverse resources designed to aid health. Many of these digital resources, however, are developed and shared at a faster rate than they can be assessed for efficacy, safety, and security—presenting patients and clinicians with the challenge of distinguishing helpful tools from harmful ones. Leading regulators, such as the FDA in the USA and the NHS in the UK, are working to evaluate the influx of mobile health applications entering the market. Efforts to regulate, however, are challenged by the need for more transparency. They require real-world data on the actual use, effects, benefits, and harms of these digital health tools. Given rapid product cycles and frequent updates, even the most thorough evaluation is only as accurate as the data it is based on. In this debate piece, we propose a complementary approach to ongoing efforts via a dynamic self-certification checklist. We outline how simple self-certification, validated or challenged by app users, would enhance transparency, engage diverse stakeholders in meaningful education and learning, and incentivize the design of safe and secure medical apps.
The Effects of a Multifaceted Intervention to Improve Care Transitions Within an Accountable Care Organization: Results of a Stepped-Wedge Cluster-Randomized Trial.

Background Transitions from hospital to the ambulatory setting are high risk for patients in terms of adverse events, poor clinical outcomes, and readmission. Objectives To develop, implement, and refine a multifaceted care transitions intervention and evaluate its effects on postdischarge adverse events. Design, setting, and participants Two-arm, single-blind (blinded outcomes assessor), stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized clinical trial. Participants were 1,679 adult patients who belonged to one of 17 primary care practices and were admitted to a medical or surgical service at either of two participating hospitals within a pioneer accountable care organization (ACO). Interventions Multicomponent intervention in the 30 days following hospitalization, including inpatient pharmacist-led medication reconciliation, coordination of care between an inpatient "discharge advocate" and a primary care "responsible outpatient clinician," postdischarge phone calls, and postdischarge primary care visit. Main outcomes and measures The primary outcome was rate of postdischarge adverse events, as assessed by a 30-day postdischarge phone call and medical record review and adjudicated by two blinded physician reviewers. Secondary outcomes included preventable adverse events, new or worsening symptoms after discharge, and 30-day nonelective hospital readmission. Results Among patients included in the study, 692 were assigned to usual care and 987 to the intervention. Patients in the intervention arm had a 45% relative reduction in postdischarge adverse events (18 vs 23 events per 100 patients; adjusted incidence rate ratio, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.35-0.84). Significant reductions were also seen in preventable adverse events and in new or worsening symptoms, but there was no difference in readmission rates. Conclusion A multifaceted intervention was associated with a significant reduction in postdischarge adverse events but no difference in 30-day readmission rates.
Microjet Configuration Sensitivities for Active Flow Control on Multi-Element High-Lift Systems

Various characteristics of small surface-normal jets (microjets) located on a flap’s pressure-side near the trailing edge are investigated as an active aerodynamic load control technology for multi...
Generalized Knowledge Distillation from an Ensemble of Specialized Teachers Leveraging Unsupervised Neural Clustering

This paper proposes an improved generalized knowledge distillation framework with multiple dissimilar teacher networks, each of which is specialized for a specific domain, to make a deployable student network more robust to challenging acoustic environments. In this paper, we first address a method to partition the training data for constructing ensembles of the teachers from unsupervised neural clustering with features based on context-dependent phonemes representing each acoustic domain. Second, we illustrate how a single student network designed from partitioned data is effectively trained with multiple specialized teachers. During the training step, the weights of the student network are updated using a composite two-part cross entropy loss obtained from a pair consisting of a specialized teacher corresponding to input speech and a generalized teacher trained with a balanced data set. Unlike system combination methods, we aim to incorporate the benefits from multiple models into a single student network via knowledge distillation that does not increase any computational costs during the decoding time. The improvement of the proposed technique is shown on acoustically diverse signals contaminated by challenging practical noises.
Factors affecting staff support of a voluntary nonlead ammunition outreach program

Lead poisoning from ingestion of bullet fragments in gut piles and unretrieved deer carcasses continues to cause mortality in bald eagles. To address this issue, the Midwest region of the U.S. Fish...
Artifact density and population density in settlement pattern research

Abstract A common method of estimating population in archaeology is to multiply a settlement area by an occupational density. Empirical studies show that occupational density generally increases with settlement size but estimating occupational density when structural remains are not observable has remained a methodological challenge. Here, we investigate the possibility that occupational density is systematically related to the surface artifact density of archaeological sites. First, we employ settlement scaling theory, a framework tested in a variety of other settings, to derive the expected relationship between artifact density and population density, finding that the rate of per capita pottery consumption is expected to increase in relative terms with settlement population due to an increase in the rate of social interchange involving food. Then, we analyze data from the Chifeng Region of northern China to show that pottery consumption rates, reflected in measured densities of potsherds, do in fact increase with settlement areas in a way that is consistent with this expectation. We use this result to characterize long-term trends in social development in northern China over seven millennia, and to suggest a method that improves the accuracy and precision of demographic reconstructions by incorporating the nonlinear relationship between artifact density and population density in the analysis.
Development of a theory-based video-game intervention to increase advance care planning conversations by healthcare providers.

BACKGROUND Hospitalization offers an opportunity for healthcare providers to initiate advance care planning (ACP) conversations, yet such conversations occur infrequently. Barriers to these conversations include attitudes, skill, and time. Our objective was to develop a theory-based, provider-level intervention to increase the frequency of ACP conversations in hospitals. METHODS We followed a systematic process to develop a theory-based, provider-level intervention to increase ACP conversations between providers and their hospitalized patients. Using principles established in Intervention Mapping and the Behavior Change Wheel, we identified a behavioral target, a theory of behavior change, behavior change techniques, and a mode of delivery. We addressed a limitation of these two processes of intervention development by also establishing a framework of design principles to structure the selection of intervention components. We partnered with a game development company to translate the output into a video game. RESULTS We identified willingness to engage in ACP conversations as the primary contributor to ACP behavior, and attitudes as a modifiable source of this willingness. We selected self-determination theory, and its emphasis on increasing autonomous motivation, as a relevant theory of behavior change and means of changing attitudes. Second, we mapped the components of autonomous motivation (i.e., autonomy, competence, and relatedness) to relevant behavior change techniques (e.g., identity). Third, we decided to deliver the intervention using a video game and to use the narrative engagement framework, which describes the use of stories to educate, model behavior, and immerse the user, to structure our selection of intervention components. Finally, in collaboration with a game development company, we used this framework to develop an adventure video game (Hopewell Hospitalist). CONCLUSIONS The systematic development of a theory-based intervention facilitates the mechanistic testing of the efficacy of the intervention, including the specification of hypotheses regarding mediators and moderators of outcomes. The intervention will be tested in a randomized clinical trial.
Turning unplanned overpayment into a status signal: how mentioning the price paid repairs satisfaction

We investigate how mentioning the price paid to others (which we refer to as price-dropping) can be used to assuage the negative experience that occurs when consumers realize they unintentionally overpaid for a product. Specifically, we show that by engaging in price-dropping, consumers re-appropriate the overpayment into a conspicuous consumption signal that improves their satisfaction. Two studies demonstrate that the effect of price-dropping is mitigated when consumers who overpaid have low sensitivity to status cues, and also when the audience of the price-drop is unreceptive to status cues. We discuss how price-dropping has implications for retailer pricing policies and customer experience, along with avenues for future research.
Gamma knife radiosurgery in patients with advanced breast cancer undergoing bone marrow transplant.

Object. Recent studies have suggested a high incidence of cognitive deficits in patients undergoing high-dose chemotherapy, which appears to be dose related. Whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT) has previously been associated with cognitive impairment. The authors attempted to use gamma knife radiosurgery (GKS) to delay or avoid WBRT in patients with advanced breast cancer treated with high-dose chemotherapy and autologous bone marrow transplantation (HDC/ABMT) in whom brain metastases were diagnosed. Methods. A retrospective review of our experience from 1996 to 2001 was performed to identify patients who underwent HDC/ABMT for advanced breast cancer and brain metastasis. They were able to conduct GKS as initial management to avoid or delay WBRT in 12 patients following HDC/ABMT. All patients were women. The median age was 48 years (range 30–58 years). The Karnofsky Performance Scale score was 70 (range 60–90). All lesions were treated with a median prescription dose of 17 Gy (range 15–18 Gy) prescribed to th...
Structured Matrices and Polynomials: Unified Superfast Algorithms

Structure matrices serve as a natural bridge between the areas of algebraic computations with polynomials and numerical matrix computations, allowing cross-fertilization of both fields. This book covers most fundamental numerical and algebraic computations with Toeplitz, Hankel, Vandermonde, Cauchy, and other popular structured matrices. Throughout the computations, the matrices are represented by their compressed images, called displacements, enabling both a unified treatment of various matrix structures and dramatic saving of computer time and memory. The resulting superfast algorithms allow further dramatic parallel acceleration using FFT and fast sine and cosine transforms.
Conrad Deep: a new northern Red Sea deep. Origin and implications for continental rifting

A previously unknown deep, here called Conrad Deep, was discovered during an extensive geophysical survey of the northern Red Sea in June, 1984. Conrad Deep is located at 27°03′N, 34°43 ′E,only 90 km south of the Gulf of Suez and is the most northern deep yet discovered in the Red Sea. It is located within a well developed axial depression which also contains Charcot Deep, 100 km to the south. The axial depression is associated with abundant recent deformation and is situated at the peak of a regional heat flow high extending across the rift. Conrad Deep is typical of the small northern type Red Sea Deep. It is 10 km long, 2 km wide and has a maximum depth of 1460 m. It is associated with high and variable heat flow values and large magnetic anomalies. There is no evidence of a dense brine layer. Detailed analysis of the geophysical data implies that the deep probably results from a very recent (
New software for learner-centered circuits instruction

Summary form only given. Today's classroom and technologies offer solutions to the challenges that face students and instructors in circuits. Software tools now support several areas of the curriculum (e.g. circuits and electromagnetic fields), and many students learn to use them early in their studies. The availability of powerful personal computers linked to classroom video projection systems creates an opportunity for faculty to broaden the scope of their instruction on-the-fly, with a high level of audience interaction and exploration. With software tools, examples can be explored freely, and students can address "what-if" questions immediately. Students gain valuable reinforcement for their understanding of abstract concepts by seeing physical, practical effects on the screen, under their control. Here, the authors discuss such software for learner-centered circuits instruction.
Granular Computing and Modeling the Human Thoughts in Web Documents

The totality of human thoughts in a document set is modeled by a polyhedron. A point represents a THOUGHT, a simplex a CONCEPT, a connected component a COMPLETE CONCEPT, the simplicial structure the whole IDEA. The building block is the simplex; it represents the concept that is carried by a set of high frequency and nearby co-occurring keywords. The simplicial structure of the keywords provides an "informal" formal language about human thoughts in a document set. The model theory of this language gives the desirable model.
Extreme Values and the Multivariate Compact Law of the Iterated Logarithm

For a sequence of independent identically distributed Euclidean random vectors, we prove a compact Law of the iterated logarithm when finitely many maximal terms are omitted from the partial sum. With probability one, the limiting cluster set of the appropriately operator normed partial sums is the closed unit Euclidean ball. The result is proved under the hypotheses that the random vectors belong to the Generalized Domain of Attraction of the multivariate Gaussian law and satisfy a mild integrability condition. The integrability condition characterizes how many maximal terms must be omitted from the partial sum sequence.
Replication of Bacteriophage T7 DNA

Bacteriophage T7 provides a model for understanding the mechanisms involved in the replication of a linear, duplex DNA molecule. Studies with purified proteins encoded by phage T7 and its host have elucidated the mechanisms by which both leading and lagging strands are synthesized, thus accounting for the movement of the replication fork along the duplex DNA molecule. Identification of the primary origin for the initiation of DNA replication on the T7 chromosome has led to an understanding of at least some of the structural and enzymatic requirements for site-specific initiation. These studies, in conjunction with those obtained with other phage and bacteria, provide considerable insight into the multiple reactions that constitute the overall process of DNA replication.
A Case Study to Determine Drivers and Barriers of Appalachian Forest Products in Central America

The purpose of this research was to determine drivers and barriers of Appalachian wood product competitors in Central America. Potential market opportunities for Appalachian forest product companies in Central America were evaluated and strategies were developed to increase exports of Appalachian wood products to Central America. The findings support the claim that United States forest product companies have not put enough effort into marketing forest products to Central America. Forests in El Salvador, Panama, and Costa Rica are limiting harvests and the industry lacks support from the government, reducing the amount of raw material and production. Inconsistencies between Appalachian and Central American wood products industries (e.g., dimensions) act as a barrier to the efficient exchange of wood products. The best market strategies for Appalachian forest products companies to increase sales into Central America are: partner with local wholesalers, offer higher value-added products, and maintain similar pricing with competition. An outside source of wood is needed to meet the needs of growing regional infrastructure.
Enhancing an Undergraduate Business Statistics Course: Linking Teaching and Learning with Assessment Issues.

This paper examines several ways in which teaching effectiveness and student learning in an undergraduate Business Statistics course can be enhanced. First, we review some key concepts in Business Statistics that are often challenging to teach and show how using real data sets assist students in developing deeper understanding of the concepts. Second, the paper examines some ways that typical learning issues faced by students taking such a course can be effectively addressed. Third, the paper describes how assessing what knowledge of statistics is retained after formal coursework is completed can provide both a rich source of feedback to improve Business Statistics courses themselves and to strengthen undergraduate business programs, in general.
Noise reduction and 3D visualization of confocal microscopy images

In confocal microscopy images, a common observation is that lower image stacks have lower voxel intensities and are usually blurred in comparison with the upper ones. The key reasons are light absorption and scattering by the objects and particles in the volume through which light passes. This paper proposes a new technique to reduce such noise impacts in terms of an adaptive intensity compensation and image-sharpening algorithm. With these image-processing procedures, advanced 3D volume-rendering techniques can be applied to more faithfully visualize confocal microscopy images.
Organization Development in the Third World:Lessons and Reasons Why

After travelling and living for several years in the third world, I have now returned to America. My journey has taken me through the Andean countries of South America and then to Egypt. From Cairo I travelled East Africa and the Middle East. Recently I've spent seven months crossing Asia, with short trips into mainland China on my return home. During this time I tried to get as close to the local people as possible. I was fortunate in being able to experience much of what life is like for the majority of the earth's population.
Free-carrier absorption in quasi-two-dimensional semiconducting structures

The quantum theory of free-carrier absorption in semiconductors is extended to treat the case where the free carriers are confined in quasi-two-dimensional semiconducting structures such as layered heterojunctions, thin films, and inversion layers. As a result of the confinement of the carriers, the energy of motion of the carriers normal to the quasi-two-dimensional structure is size quantized. The free-carrier absorption coefficient is found to depend upon the polarization of the electromagnetic radiation relative to the direction normal to the quasi-two-dimensional structure and to be an oscillatory function of the thickness of the layer or film as a result of the size quantization. The free-carrier absorption coefficient is calculated for the case where the carriers are scattered by acoustic phonons via deformation-potential coupling.
The Sting of Intentional Pain

When someone steps on your toe on purpose, it seems to hurt more than when the person does the same thing unintentionally. The physical parameters of the harm may not differ your toe is flattened in both cases but the psychological experience of pain is changed nonetheless. Intentional harms are premeditated by another person and have the specific purpose of causing pain. In a sense, intended harms are events initiated by one mind to communicate meaning (malice) to another, and this could shape the recipient's experience. This study examined whether self-reported pain is indeed higher when the events producing the pain are understood as intentionally (as opposed to unintentionally) caused by another person. Although pain was traditionally conceived to be solely physical in nature (Aydede, 2005), its experience varies substantially with psychological context. The placebo analgesia effect, for example, is the reduction of pain without a change in physical stimulation when context, expectations, or sugar pills challenge the interpretation of a sensation as painful (e.g., Fields, 2008). The nocebo effect, in turn, is the experience of pain without any physical stimulation as when participants report headaches when told that a (nonexistent) electric current is passing through their heads (Schweiger & Parducci, 1981). These variations in pain experience seem to depend on the meaning of the stimulus: A sugar pill is meant to decrease pain, whereas electric current is meant to increase pain. In an interpersonal context, the meaning of an action is derived from the perceiver's perceptions of the actor's intention (Clark, 1996), which means that intentional harms, unlike accidental harms, are meant to cause pain. The possibility that the malicious intent of other people could be translated into additional physical pain is suggested by studies demonstrating that similar areas of cortex respond to both physical pain and social harms (Eisenberger, Lieberman, & Williams, 2003). Social harms, which are presumably laden with intention, have also been shown to be more painful to relive than simple physical harms (Chen, Williams, Fitness, & Newton, 2008). So, although a broken toe (or electric shock) may hurt, an intentionally broken toe (or electric shock) should hurt more. METHOD
Antibody responses following rubella immunization analyzed by HLA and ABO types

HLA typing was performed on 232 rubella seronegative (HAI antibody titer <8) children immunized with RA 27/3 vaccine. High convalescentphase geometric mean antibody titers were noted in children one to five years of age, in girls one to 12 years of age, in subjects with AB blood type and in vaccinees with HLA types B14 and BW22. Of nine children with rubella titers≧512, 44 percent had HLA type A28; in contrast, only eight percent of the total group had A28 HLA type. HLA-A2 was present in four, and HLA types B12 and BW17 were present in three of the six children in whom seroconversion did not occur. Fifteen of 37 sibling pairs had identical antibody responses; in contrast, only 18 percent of randomly paired children had titers identical to each other. Vaccine-related symptomatology could not be associated with any HLA type. The results of this study suggest that infection with and antibody response to RA 27/3 rubella vaccine is influenced by genetic factors, which include cellular membrane determinants.
Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI-3K)/Akt but not PI-3K/p70 S6 kinase signaling mediates IGF-1-promoted lens epithelial cell survival.

Purpose To investigate the ability of insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 to prevent apoptosis in lens epithelial cells and the involvement of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI-3K)/Akt and PI-3K/p70 S6 kinase (p70 S6K) signaling in the cell-survival process. Methods Apoptosis in rabbit lens epithelial cell cultures was induced by staurosporine (10 ng/mL). Cellular apoptosis was detected by identifying the characteristic ladder-like fragmentation of genomic DNA in agarose gels and the intense blue fluorescence exhibited by apoptotic nuclei of cells in live cultures in the presence of Hoechst 33,258 dye. Proliferation of lens epithelial cells grown in culture was measured with a DNA-binding fluorescent dye. Overexpression of the constitutively active Akt (CA-Akt) in epithelial cells was achieved by the transfection of cells using Fugene 6 reagent with a plasmid carrying Akt cDNA. Western immunoblotting was performed to identify various proteins of interest. Results IGF-1 (5 to 50 nM) and insulin (100 to 400 nM) suppressed lens epithelial cell apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner, as determined by a significant inhibition of genomic DNA fragmentation and the decreased number of intense blue fluorescent Hoechst stain-positive apoptotic nuclei in live cultures. DNA degradation was almost completely inhibited in the presence of 50 nM IGF-1 or 400 nM insulin. PI-3K inhibitors wortmannin and LY294002 blocked the IGF-1 effect on cell survival. Stimulation of lens epithelial cells with IGF-1 for 10 minutes to 24 hours resulted in the sustained activation of both Akt and p70 S6K. IGF-1 also induced the phosphorylation of Bad (a pro-apoptotic protein of the Bcl-2 family), which was inhibited by PI-3K inhibitors, but not by the p70 S6K inhibitor rapamycin. Furthermore, activation of Akt but not p70 S6K signaling by IGF-1 resulted in the inhibition of caspase-3 endogenous substrate poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) degradation and apoptosis. The overexpression of CA-Akt in lens epithelial cells inhibited PARP breakdown and suppressed apoptosis. Inhibition of p70 S6K activation by rapamycin blocked IGF-1-promoted lens epithelial cell proliferation but not the cell-survival effect. Conclusions These studies demonstrated a role for IGF-1 in the prevention of the lens epithelial cell apoptosis process. Furthermore, these studies indicated that anti-apoptotic and proliferative signals from IGF-1 bifurcate downstream of PI-3K. Whereas IGF-1-mediated PI-3K/Akt signaling plays a pivotal role in cell survival by inactivating proapoptotic Bad protein and suppressing caspase activation, its stimulation of the PI-3K/p70 S6K cascade promotes proliferation.
Human papillomavirus and cervical cancer knowledge, health beliefs, and preventive practices in 2 age cohorts: a comparison study.

Abstract Background Genital human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States and a known precursor of cervical cancer. Recent studies suggest a bimodal HPV prevalence for women in 2 age groups: 19 to 26 and 40 to 70. HPV and cervical cancer knowledge has yet to be investigated in the older population of women. Objective The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare the HPV and cervical cancer knowledge, health beliefs, and preventive practices in women in these 2 age groups. Methods This study used a cross-sectional, descriptive design. A convenience sample of 300 women in 2 age groups was recruited from 3 ambulatory obstetrics and gynecology practices in Philadelphia, Pa. Participants completed the Awareness of HPV and Cervical Cancer Questionnaire to determine their HPV and cervical cancer knowledge, health beliefs, and preventive practices. Results A total of 280 responses (131 for the age group 19–26 years and 149 for the age group 40–70 years) were received. Significant differences were found between the 2 groups in knowledge (P = 0.010) only, but not health beliefs (perceived susceptibility [P = 0.111] and perceived seriousness [P = 0.266]). Significant differences in select preventive practices were also noted between these 2 groups. These included Pap smear (P = 0.05), use of condoms (P = 0.002), and use of oral contraception (P Conclusions There is a remarkable need for age-appropriate HPV and cervical cancer awareness and education for women older than the age of 40. Women's health care providers are perfectly positioned to act as a catalyst to improve HPV and cervical cancer knowledge, health beliefs, and preventive practice to ensure optimal health promotion for all women.
Rice Convection Model simulation of the substorm-associated injection of an observed plasma bubble into the inner magnetosphere: 2. Simulation results

[1] We present results from a Rice Convection Model simulation of the early expansion phase of a substorm that occurred 22 July 1998. The theoretical basis of the simulation is the idea that the plasma injected into the inner magnetosphere during a substorm primarily consists of a low-content plasma bubble, which is made up of flux tubes with lower values of the entropy parameter PV5/3 than their neighbors. As discussed in an accompanying paper, to simulate this event, we carefully tailor model inputs to fit Geotail observations of the bubble at XGSM ≈ −9 RE. We find that both potential and induction electric fields play important roles in transporting and energizing the particles during the event. The potential electric field associated with Birkeland currents that flow along the east and west sides of the bubble (i.e., the substorm current wedge) is characterized by a localized strengthening of the westward auroral ionospheric electric field within the bubble, as well as the production of a region of enhanced westward flow just Equatorward of the diffuse electron aurora. The inner edge of the modeled plasma sheet assumes a dented-in form that is similar in shape to the injection boundary proposed many years ago on observational grounds. Flux tubes that are pushed earthward ahead of the bubble at onset form a sharp pressure peak near local midnight and geosynchronous orbit, and the particles on those tubes contribute significantly to the injection of particles into the inner magnetosphere.
Total Solid-Phase Synthesis of 1,4,7,10-Tetraazacyclododecane-N,N‘,N‘‘,N‘‘‘-tetraacetic Acid-Functionalized Peptides for Radioimmunotherapy

A convenient approach to the functionalization of peptides with the macrocyclic 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-N,N‘,N‘ ‘,N‘ ‘‘-tetraacetic acid (DOTA) moiety has been developed. Protected component...
No Place Like Home: Home Tours Correlate With Daily Patterns of Mood and Cortisol

The way people describe their homes may reflect whether their time at home feels restorative or stressful. This article uses linguistic analysis software (Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count) to analyze 60 dual-income spouses’ self-guided home tours by calculating the frequency of words describing clutter, a sense of the home as unfinished, restful words, and nature words. Based on a principal components analysis, the former two categories were combined into the variable stressful home and the latter two into restorative home. Over 3 weekdays following the home tours, wives with higher stressful home scores had flatter diurnal slopes of cortisol, a profile associated with adverse health outcomes, whereas women with higher restorative home scores had steeper cortisol slopes. These results held after controlling for marital satisfaction and neuroticism. Women with higher stressful home scores had increased depressed mood over the course of the day, whereas women with higher restorative home scores had decreased depressed mood over the day.
Social Networks, Interpersonal Trust, and Support for Democracy in East Asia

Civil society has been regard as a prerequisite for democracy, and social networks and interpersonal trust are two important elements of civil society. By using data from the Asian Barometer Survey, this study investigates the effects of social networks and interpersonal trust on public support for democracy in three East Asian democracies – Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. The results of statistical analysis show that social networks, rather than interpersonal trust, exert significant positive effects on public support for democracy in Japan and Taiwan. By contrast, it is interpersonal trust to affect public support for democracy in South Korea. Nonetheless, it should also be noted that trust in political institutions, democratic values, and education far outweigh social networks and interpersonal trust to impact public support for democracy in these East Asian democracies.
Structure–property relationships of YbFe2O4– and Yb2Fe3O7–type layered oxides: A bird's eye view

Abstract This work surveys the structural and physical properties of layered hexagonal (A3+M3+O3)(M2+O) and (A3+M3+O3)2(M2+O) phases where A3+ = In, Lu, Y, Yb, M3+ = Fe, Ga and M2+ = Cu, Mg, Zn. This family of compounds is of recent interest because of the trigonal bipyramid coordination that is rarely observed in transition metal oxides. The lattice parameters for a number of the (A3+M3+O3)(M2+O) and (A3+M3+O3)2(M2+O) compositions are provided herein, in addition to the bond lengths and atomic positions of selected compositions. The triangular geometry of the cations in the trigonal bipyramidal layers adds a component of frustration into the system, specifically with the magnetic properties. The work summarized in this review has used cation substitutions into the trigonal bipyramidal site of YbFe2O4-type compounds to further understand how the rare crystallographic coordination dictates the observed physical properties.
Usefulness of Bone Marrow Examination in the Evaluation of Unexplained Fevers in Patients Infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus

The diagnostic usefulness of 69 bone marrow examinations (BMEs) performed for evaluating unexplained fever in 65 persons who were infected with human immunodeficiency virus was retrospectively compared with the usefulness of other diagnostic modalities used to investigate the cause of fever. An etiology for the fever was identified by BME in 22 of the 69 cases (diagnostic yield, 32%). In 19 of these 22 cases, the same diagnosis had been made by another diagnostic modality, but the diagnosis was made by BME as rapidly or sooner in 10 of the 19 cases and was made exclusively by BME in the three other cases. We suggest that BME is indicated when a diagnosis is urgently sought or when an evaluation with other diagnostic modalities has been unsuccessful.
Making Something Out of Everything The Promise of Ecological Assessment

The authors examine issues related to the ecological assessment of students with mild to moderate disabilities. Neither early attempts to assess internal states nor later efforts to identify person-specific variables linked to disabling conditions have proven useful. Accordingly, there is increased interest in the identification of both individual and environmental factors that correspond to either adaptive or maladaptive transactions in the natural environment—school, home, and community. Aspects of an ecological assessment model and recommendations for its use are discussed.
Calcium mobilization in permeabilized fibroblasts: Effects of inositol trisphosphate, orthovanadate, mitogens, phorbol ester, and guanosine triphosphate

Utilizing a digitonin-permeabilized cell system, we have studied the release of calcium from a non-mitochondrial intracellular compartment in cultured human fibroblasts (HSWP cells). Addition of 1 mM MgATP to a monolayer of permeabilized cells in a cytosolic media buffered to 150 nM Ca with EGTA rapidly stimulates 45Ca uptake, and the subsequent addition of the putative intracellular messenger inositol trisphosphate (InsP3) induces rapid release of 85% (+/- 6% n = 6) of the 45Ca taken up in response to ATP. Mitogenic peptides (bradykinin, vasopressin, epidermal growth factor [EGF], and insulin) and orthovanadate, which are effective in mobilizing intracellular Ca in intact cells, have little or no effect when added alone to permeabilized cells. However, in the presence of GTP these agents stimulate accumulation of inositol phosphates and release Ca from the InsP3-sensitive pool. These data suggest that a GTP binding protein is involved in receptor mediated activation of phospholipase C, which leads to release of inositol phosphates. The GTP-dependent release of InsP3 and the mobilization of 45Ca from the intracellular compartment are inhibited by pretreatment of cells, prior to permeabilization, with the protein kinase C activator 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (TPA). TPA pretreatment does not affect the InsP3 stimulated Ca release. These results suggest that protein kinase C is involved in down-regulation or inhibition of phospholipase C, or the GTP binding protein responsible for relaying the mitogenic signal from the cell surface receptor to the phospholipase C activity.
Is the gorilla a threatened species? How should we judge?

Abstract The question of whether the gorilla is a threatened species is part of the larger issue of how we judge the damage that we are doing to the world. Many criteria are being used. Here I apply to the gorilla Gorilla gorilla the newly suggested IUCN criteria for categorising the conservation status of all species, both to reassess the gorilla's conservation status, and to test these draft criteria with a worked example. Under the new criteria, if a species is likely to suffer a 50% decline in numbers in 100 years, it is categorised as ‘Vulnerable’. The gorilla species, one of its subspecies, and three countries' populations of gorillas are estimated to be ‘Vulnerable’, while Equatorial Guinea's and certainly Nigeria's populations are ‘Critically Endangered’ (80%, decline in the next 60 years). A crash in gorilla numbers is to be expected in the next century, until gorillas survive only in conservation areas, when continued survival will depend on degree of protection afforded. Four of the five IUCN criteria are exclusively demographic. However, demographic data are very difficult to collect; estimates of the rate of decline of habitat, which are notoriously unreliable, heavily influenced the categorisations; and modelling and data indicate that demographic criteria might sometimes be misleading. The feasibility of an ecological approach, in which the nature of the organism and how it uses its habitat is used to estimate risk, has been established for some species. Perhaps we need to concentrate more on developing a set of ecological criteria for use alongside the demographic ones.