cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Examining the work of “scaffolding” in theory and practice: A case study of 6th graders and their teacher interacting with one another, an ambitious science curriculum, and mobile devices

Abstract This case study features a class of sixth-grade students and their science teacher enacting a curriculum designed to teach the particulate nature of matter and phase changes. The class used a mobile device with several applications that supported reading, writing, viewing, and modeling. We examine the role of the teacher, the device, the peers, and the curriculum itself in scaffolding student learning.
Novel approach to vancomycin level monitoring: Impact of a multidisciplinary monitoring system on timing of vancomycin levels.

Purpose A novel approach to vancomycin level monitoring is described. Methods Vancomycin trough orders were added to the medication ordering system of a large teaching hospital and were generated when vancomycin was ordered. Pharmacists adjusted the order time so that the level was drawn appropriately. After pharmacist validation, the trough order appeared within the nursing medication list, and nurses were required to document when the level was drawn. Outcomes were evaluated before (retrospective group) and after (prospective group) implementation of this initiative. Results Among all patients for whom a vancomycin level was drawn, 24.0% of patients in the retrospective group had their first vancomycin level drawn within 2 hours of true trough, compared with 87.2% of patients in the prospective group ( p p p p Conclusion A novel multidisciplinary approach to vancomycin trough monitoring involving automatic generation of trough orders, pharmacist validation of trough orders, and inclusion of trough orders in the nursing medication administration record was successful in significantly improving timing of vancomycin trough levels.
Racial and Ethnic Differences in Presentation and Outcomes of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background & Aims Racial and ethnic minorities are reported to have higher mortality related to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) than non-Hispanic whites. However, it is not clear whether differences in tumor characteristics or liver dysfunction among racial or ethnic groups affect characterization of causes for this disparity. We aimed to characterize racial and ethnic differences in HCC presentation, treatment, and survival. Methods We performed a retrospective study of patients diagnosed with HCC from January 2008 through July 2017 at 2 large health systems in the United States. We used multivariable logistic regression and Cox proportional hazard models to identify factors associated with receipt of curative therapy and overall survival. Results Among 1117 patients with HCC (35.9% white, 34.3% black, 29.7% Hispanic), 463 (41.5%) were diagnosed with early stage HCC (Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage 0/A) and 322 (28.8%) underwent curative treatment. Hispanic (odds ratio [OR], 0.75; 95% CI, 0.55–1.00) and black patients (OR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.56–0.98) were less likely to be diagnosed with early stage HCC than white patients. Among patients with early stage HCC, Hispanics were less likely to undergo curative treatment than whites (OR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.36–0.91). Black patients with early stage HCC were also less likely to undergo curative treatment than white patients, but this difference was not statistically significant (OR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.43–1.03). Black and Hispanic patients had shorter median survival times than white patients (10.6 and 14.4 mo vs 16.3 mo). After adjusting for type of medical insurance, Child–Pugh class, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage, and receipt of HCC treatment, black patients had significantly higher mortality (hazard ratio, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.10–1.14) and Hispanic patients had lower mortality (hazard ratio, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.74–0.94) than white patients. Conclusions In a retrospective study of patients diagnosed with HCC, we found racial/ethnic differences in outcomes of HCC to be associated with differences in detection of tumors at early stages and receipt of curative treatment. These factors are intervention targets for improving patient outcomes and reducing disparities.
The Oxygen Evolution Reaction: Water Oxidation Photocatalysis—Photocatalytic Water Oxidation with Suspended alpha-Fe2O3 Particles—Effects of Nanoscaling

Iron oxide has recently been shown to be active on the nanoscale as a photoanode material and is gaining interest due to the material’s low cost, abundance, and visible light absorption. It has a phonon assisted visible light excited band gap of 2.06 eV which corresponds to the middle of the visible region (600 nm) near the peak intensity of the solar spectrum. This d–d transition is accompanied by a direct band gap of 3.3 eV (375 nm), associated with the ligand to metal charge transfer. In this work, we show for the first time that freely dispersed Fe2O3 nanocrystals are catalytically active for the photo-oxidation of water. Three morphologies of hematite were compared, including bulk-type-α-Fe2O3 (Bulk-Fe2O3, 120 nm), ultrasonicated Bulk-Fe2O3 (Sonic-Fe2O3, 44 nm), and synthetic Fe2O3 (Nano-Fe2O3, 5.4 nm) obtained by hydrolysis of FeCl 3 . 6H2O. Each material showed similar optical properties, and the water oxidation overpotentials were derived from cyclic voltammetry. Versus NHE at pH = 7, at 1.0 mA cm−2, the extra chemical potential energy required to oxidize water increased with particle size as η = + 0.43 V for Nano-Fe2O3, η = + 0.63 V for Sonic-Fe2O3, and η = + 0.72 V for Bulk- Fe2O3. According to X-ray diffraction, all phases were presented in the alpha structure type, with Nano-Fe2O3 also containing traces of β-FeOOH. When suspended in a sacrificial electron accepting solution of aqueous AgNO3 (20 mM) and irradiated with UV/Vis (λ > 250 nm) or visible (λ > 400 nm) light, all three materials (5.6 mg) evolved O2 from water. The rate of O2 evolution increased with decreasing particle size with 250 mmolh−1g−1 for Bulk-Fe2O3, 381 mmolh−1 g−1 for Sonic-Fe2O3 and 1072 mmolh−1 g−1 for Nano-Fe2O3. While Bulk-Fe2O3 showed turnover numbers (TON = moles O2/moles Fe2O3) less than unity (0.49), the other two nanoscale materials showed catalytic turnovers of 1.10 for Sonic-Fe2O3 and 1.13 for Nano-Fe2O3, showing that the nanoscale morphology was beneficial for catalytic activity.
The Impact and In Vitro to In Vivo Prediction of Transporter-Based Drug–Drug Interactions in Humans

Drug transport proteins have been recognized as significant contributors to drug absorption, distribution, elimination, toxicity, and efficacy. This chapter will discuss the key concepts of transporter-based drug–drug interactions (DDIs), provide a concise review of DDIs involving the major drug transporters, and describe methodologies used to quantitatively predict the magnitude of transporter-based DDIs in humans.
22 – BUSINESS STRUCTURE, COMPETITION, AND PUBLIC POLICY

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses business structure, competition, and public policy. Few economists are satisfied with all aspects of antitrust policy, but most observers believe that it has exerted a positive influence on competitive markets. A modern industrial economy, such as that of the United States, is composed of two major sectors: (1) the market system, which is influenced by competition, and (2) the planning system, which is characterized by monopolistic power. The large firms in the planning sector, particularly those in concentrated industries, are able to use their power to control demand, input prices, and government policy. Therefore, earning average profits or profits even a bit above average is not a big concern for them. Firms in the planning sector are characterized by overdevelopment. After a target profit level has been attained, the monopoly power of planning firms is used to fuel their growth. Government policy in the area of competition is contradictory. The antitrust legislation promotes competition. However, economic policy on tariffs and other trade barriers, industrial regulation, occupational licensing, and small-business regulation has been inconsistent with the objective of competitive markets.
NIRS: Dose Dependency of Local Changes of Cerebral HbO2 and Hb with pCO2 in Parietal Cortex

Regional cerebral oxygenated hemoglobin and total hemoglobin increased systematically with increasing depth of hypercapnia, but the concentration of deoxygenated hemoglobin remained relatively constant. Relative mean changes of oxygenated and total hemoglobin increased nearly linearly, corresponding to the characteristic increase of the cerebral vascular dilation with increasing depth of hypercapnia.
Innervation of Upper Limbs

This chapter begins with a short review of human limb development, and of the evolutionary process that causes flexor and extensor surfaces of upper and lower limbs to become transposed—thus, to face in opposite directions. It then discusses the composition and functional organization of the brachial plexus, refers to brachial plexus injuries, and comments on the cutaneous innervation of the upper extremities. A thorough description of the lumbosacral plexus and its branches appears in chapter 32, “Innervation of Lower Limbs.”
Study of Crack Dynamics Using the Virtual Internal Bond Method

Most existing theories of fracture are based on small deformation constitutive models. These approaches are in contrast to the fact that extraordinarily large, nonlinear elastic deformations inevitably occur during brittle fracture. Though the classical approaches have proved successful in a wide range of applications, they may be inapplicable for or have proved incapable of explaining experimental observations in which nonlinear, hyperelastic material response is an essential feature of the phenomenon. The fracture path instabilities observed during dynamic propagation of cracks are among the phenomena that have not yet been thoroughly explained. Simulation approaches that incorporate a cohesive view of material are able to demonstrate the appearance of crack tip instabilities. Molecular dynamics and cohesive surface methods are among the methods that exhibit this behavior. A virtual internal bond (VIB) model with randomized cohesive interactions between material particles has been proposed as an integration of continuum models with cohesive surfaces and atomistic models with interatomic bonding. This approach differs from an atomistic model in that a phenomenological “cohesive force law” is assumed to act between “material particles” which are not necessarily atoms. It also differs from a cohesive surface model in that, rather than imposing a cohesive law along a prescribed set of discrete surfaces, a randomized network of cohesive bonds is statistically incorporated into the constitutive response of the material via the Cauchy-Born rule, by equating the strain energy function on the continuum level to the potential energy stored in the cohesive bonds due to an imposed deformation. The approach could be viewed as an attempt to provide a more physical basis for the hyperelastic constitutive laws used in finite strain continuum mechanics. This approach allows the phenomenon of dynamic crack tip instabilities to be analyzed within a continuum framework. Direct simulation of crack growth without a presumed nucleation, growth, or branching criterion lends support to the theory that instabilities occur as a result of a local limiting speed, governed by the rate at which bond-breaking information can be transmitted to the material ahead of a propagating crack.
Risk Stratification and Current Management of Low Risk Thyroid Cancer

Management of differentiated thyroid cancer requires a thorough understanding of risk stratification. Nearly all management decisions are based on the initial and ongoing assessments of the risk of dying from thyroid cancer and the risk of structural disease recurrence. In this chapter, we will review the eighth edition of the AJCC staging system that is commonly used to risk stratify patients with regard to disease specific mortality. Next, we will review the initial risk stratification for disease recurrence and ongoing risk stratification based on response to therapy, as endorsed by the American Thyroid Association. Finally, we will examine how the concept of risk stratification can be applied to the identification and management of low risk thyroid cancer.
Development and Psychometric Evaluation of a Brief Approach and Avoidance of Alcohol Questionnaire

Background The Approach and Avoidance of Alcohol Questionnaire (AAAQ) was developed as a measure of craving to assess both desires to consume and desires to avoid consuming alcohol. Although the measure has been used in a variety of populations to predict future alcohol use behavior, the factor structures observed vary based on sample type (e.g., clinical vs. college samples) and may be overly long for use in repeated measures designs. The current article describes the development of a brief version of the AAAQ for use in clinical populations. Methods Using existing data sets of individuals in treatment for alcohol use disorder, exploratory analyses (e.g., exploratory factor analysis and item response theory) were conducted using an inpatient sample (N = 298) at a substance abuse treatment facility. Confirmatory analyses (e.g., confirmatory factor analysis and multiple regression) were conducted using an inpatient detoxification sample (N = 175) and a longitudinal outpatient treatment sample (N = 53). Results The brief AAAQ had comparable internal consistency, explained a similar amount of variance in alcohol consumption and related problems, and exhibited superior model fit as compared to the original measure. Conclusions These findings indicate that the brief AAAQ is an effective tool to assess alcohol craving in clinical populations in treatment settings.
Characteristics of persistently unhealthy counties: A comparison of white and black mortality over time.

This research examines differences in white and black persistence of mortality in the United States over a period of nearly 50 years. Using data from the National Center for Health Statistics Compr...
Access to Qualified, Well-Supported Principals across Alternative Educational Settings and Neighborhood Schools.

Principals bear primary responsibility for supporting teachers. Principal leadership is especially important in alternative educational settings (AES; e.g., alternative schools, self-contained spec...
Skills for success: Understanding routes to desistance

Researchers and practitioners may argue that in order to reduce instances of reoffending behavior needs to be modified. The author contends that there is a good deal of work that needs to be done i...
Do You Want Your Autonomous Car To Drive Like You

With progress in enabling autonomous cars to drive safely on the road, it is time to start asking how they should be driving. A common answer is that they should be adopting their users' driving style. This makes the assumption that users want their autonomous cars to drive like they drive - aggressive drivers want aggressive cars, defensive drivers want defensive cars. In this paper, we put that assumption to the test. We find that users tend to prefer a significantly more defensive driving style than their own. Interestingly, they prefer the style they think is their own, even though their actual driving style tends to be more aggressive. We also find that preferences do depend on the specific driving scenario, opening the door for new ways of learning driving style preference.
Faster Polytope Rounding, Sampling, and Volume Computation via a Sub-Linear Ball Walk

This paper studies the problem of "isotropically rounding" a polytope K ⊆ R^n, that is, computing a linear transformation which makes the uniform distribution on the polytope have roughly identity covariance matrix. It is assumed that K ⊆ R^n is defined by m linear inequalities. We introduce a new variant of the ball walk Markov chain and show that, roughly, the expected number of arithmetic operations per-step of this Markov chain is O(m) that is sub-linear in the input size mn -- the per-step time of all prior Markov chains. Subsequently, we apply this new variant of the ball walk to obtain a rounding algorithm that gives a factor of √n improvement on the number of arithmetic operations over the previous bound which uses the hit-and-run algorithm. Since the cost of the rounding pre-processing step is in many cases the bottleneck in improving sampling or volume computation running time bounds, our results imply improved bounds for these tasks. Our algorithm achieves this improvement by a novel method of computing polytope membership, where one avoids checking inequalities which are estimated to have a very low probability of being violated. We believe that this method is likely to be of independent interest for constrained sampling and optimization problems.
Ribotoxins Kill Cells by Chopping off the Head of tRNAs

In this issue of Structure, Gucinski et al. (2019) have described structural and enzymatic characterizations of two tRNase ribotoxins. The study significantly advances our understanding on the evolution and the mode of action of a group of ribotoxins that cleave the accepting stem of tRNAs for cell killing.
Extirpative renal surgery volume in training: different roads to the (same?) destination

To describe the overall extirpative renal surgery (ERS) training volume reported by PU and PS. Case log data from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) was examined from 2013–2016 for surgery residents (Sres), urology residents (Ures), pediatric surgery fellows (PSfel) and pediatric urology fellows (PUfel). Case log information for all levels of participation over all case categories that could potentially offer ERS volume were recorded. Volume was estimated using the mean number of included cases during residency and fellowship and the sum was used to estimate total training volume. Volume between groups was compared using the student’s t test. Case logs were included for 4447 residents (4259 Sres, 840 Ures) and fellows (188 PSfel, 71 PUfel). Mean PU volume was 113.1, which was higher than the mean PS volume of 10.3 (p < 0.001). For PU, more ERS were performed during residency than fellowship (p < 0.001). For PS the opposite was true (p < 0.001). When examining fellow training only, PUfel performed more ERS than PSfel (11.7 vs. 7.0 p < 0.001). While previous publications note similar short-term outcomes for ERS for malignancy for PU and PS, ERS case volume during training is significantly different. Review of recent ACGME data indicate that PU have more overall experience with ERS, with most gained during residency. Additionally, PUfel performed significantly more ERS than PSfel. Further study into how these training differences affect long-term outcomes is necessary.
Preclinical evaluation of 89Zr-DBN based virus labeling method for PET imaging of virus trafficking

1139 Objectives There is a growing interest in virus-based gene therapies, but like drugs, a better understanding of their pharmacokinetics is critical to their advancement. This study evaluates a novel virus labeling approach with 89Zr (T1/2 =78.4h) for PET imaging of in vivo virus trafficking. Methods A novel 89Zr-DBN based “one pot” virus labeling approach was developed. Various serotypes of adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) encoding a Cre gene were covalently labeled with 89Zr-DBN. The cell binding potential of 89Zr-DBN-AAV8/9 to liver hepatocytes was assessed. The physical biodistribution of 89Zr-DBN-AAV8/9 assessed by PET and the reporter gene based infection profile assessed by luminescence imaging were compared using a mouse model encoding Cre-inducible reporter genes. Results The AAVs were labeled with 89Zr with viral labeling yield of ~20mCi/1014 AAVs. The 89Zr-AAVs were able to bind liver hepatocytes. The in vivo biodistribution of 89Zr-AAVs correlated with the infection profile of the AAVs in the mouse model as monitored by bioluminescence. Conclusions The 89Zr-AAVs can be reliably tracked in vivo by high resolution non-invasive PET imaging. The major advantages of this labeling method are that it is a “one pot” mild virus labeling approach and there is no need for pre-modification of the virus for labeling.
Urinary Epidermal Growth Factor as a Marker of Disease Progression in Children with Nephrotic Syndrome

Introduction Childhood-onset nephrotic syndrome has a variable clinical course. Improved predictive markers of long-term outcomes in children with nephrotic syndrome are needed. This study tests the association between baseline urinary epidermal growth factor (uEGF) excretion and longitudinal kidney function in children with nephrotic syndrome. Methods The study evaluated 191 participants younger than 18 years enrolled in the Nephrotic Syndrome Study Network, including 118 with their first clinically indicated kidney biopsy (68 minimal change disease; 50 focal segmental glomerulosclerosis) and 73 with incident nephrotic syndrome without a biopsy. uEGF was measured at baseline for all participants and normalized by the urine creatinine (Cr) concentration. Renal epidermal growth factor (EGF) mRNA was measured in the tubular compartment microdissected from kidney biopsy cores from a subset of patients. Linear mixed models were used to test if baseline uEGF/Cr and EGF mRNA expression were associated with change in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) over time. Results Higher uEGF/Cr at baseline was associated with slower eGFR decline during follow-up (median follow-up = 30 months). Halving of uEGF/Cr was associated with a decrease in eGFR slope of 2.0 ml/min per 1.73 m2 per year (P Conclusion uEGF/Cr may be a useful noninvasive biomarker that can assist in predicting the long-term course of kidney function in children with incident nephrotic syndrome.
A wet-processed, binder-free sulfur cathode integrated with a dual-functional separator for flexible Li-S batteries.

Developing flexible, robust and lightweight sulfur cathodes by rationally designing their structures and configurations through a viable and scalable strategy is a critical enabler for fulfilling flexible lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries. However, besides the requirements for cathode flexibility, intrinsic limitations from the shuttling of lithium polysulfides and the growth of Li dendrites have restricted the widespread implementations of Li–S batteries. Here, we report a wet-processed strategy by dissolving and recrystallizing S in a suitable solvent to fabricate a flexible, binder-free S cathode. Integrating the resulting S cathode with a dual-functional separator has demonstrated to be able to suppress both the shuttle effect and growth of dendritic Li. The wet-processed strategy not only enables the fabrication of flexible and binder-free S-nanomat cathodes, but also facilitates the deposition of the cathodes on the separators. Meanwhile, a dual-functional separator is fabricated by vapor-phase polymerization of polypyrrole (PPy) coating on both surfaces of the commercial separator, which leads to the reduction of the shuttle effect and the suppression of the growth of dendritic Li simultaneously. As a result, by integrating the S-nanomat and the dual-functional separator, the cathode exhibits exceptional mechanical properties and electrochemical performance. Li–S pouch cells are further demonstrated to show stable cycling performance in the bending state, indicating the feasibility of the integrated S cathode for flexible Li–S batteries.
From Presidents to Dead People

Criminal law’s central aspiration is to do justice, to give those who injure others the punishment they deserve or the punishment that will deter. Yet there are some criminals—the unpunishables—who necessarily frustrate this goal. These include criminals who happen to be presidents, who evade detection for long enough, or who die prematurely. Unpunishables are, for a range of constitutional, statutory, or obvious factual reasons, immune to any material form of criminal sanction. Does criminal law’s inability to deliver on its central aspiration where unpunishables are concerned mean that it must give up on everything it could have accomplished with respect to them? Presently, the answer seems to be “yes.” When criminal law cannot deliver punishment, it abdicates all involvement, including criminal trial. Because it cannot punish, the law must leave a moral debt unpaid and a crime undeterred. However, by also refusing to prosecute, the law also goes several steps further. It leaves victims without a platform to shape their own narrative. It refuses formal recognition of the criminal wrong. It hamstrings the community’s healing process. And it silences the uncomfortable fact that society may have played an enabling role. Criminal law can do better—it could permit the prosecution of unpunishable criminals. Punishment is not criminal law’s only purpose. Trial itself can be an independent source of value. When the criminal law conditions its entire application on what it can do to defendants, it loses sight of what it can do for victims and society. Permitting trials for wrongs committed by unpunishable defendants would give victims a powerful platform for telling their own stories. Conviction, even if not followed by sentencing, would publicly validate victims as having been harmed by criminal wrong and not by their own folly. The resulting narrative would compel society to recognize its own shortcomings and perhaps even its complicity in victims’ vulnerability. Securing these values by prosecuting unpunishable criminals does have its costs. Perhaps chief among these is the trial of a defendant who may be unable or less motivated to mount a full in-person defense. Ordinarily that price would be too high to pay. It must be remembered, though, that unpunishable defendants have, by definition, no liberty interest at stake. So the price of an admittedly imperfect process will, in the most serious cases, be relatively modest in comparison to the benefits for victims and society of prosecuting unpunishables.
DC-to-Ka-band Broadband Chip-to-Chip Interconnect Using Aerosol Jet Printing

In this paper, we demonstrate a DC-to-Ka-band broadband die-to-die interconnection using aerosol jet printing and compare it to traditional wire-bonding technology. The chips that are connected are commercial-of-the-shelf (COTS) 0-dB attenuators in GaAs substrate with ground-signal-ground (GSG) pads in gold. The chips were connected using the chip-first approach and coplanar waveguide lines with 125 µm signal linewidth and 125 µm gap between signal and ground lines, and no bottom ground connection. The approach is substrate-agnostic and facilitates interconnections with smaller die spacing on any host substrate without using cavities or dielectric ramps. Based on measurements, the CPW interconnect line operates from DC-30 GHz with a maximum insertion loss of 0.27 dB per interconnect, including the losses due to impedance mismatch. To the author’s knowledge, this is the first ever demonstration of chip-to-chip interconnect using aerosol jet printing in the ranges of DC-30 GHz.
Correlates of deep brain stimulation consensus conference decision to treat primary dystonia

Abstract Background Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an effective treatment for motor disturbance in people with primary dystonia (PWD). Numerous factors are considered by an interdisciplinary consensus conference before deciding candidacy for DBS surgery (e.g., demographic, medical, cognitive, and behavioral factors). However, little is known about which of these factors are associated with PWD DBS surgery consensus conference decisions. Objective Our goal was to examine whether pre-operative demographic, medical, and cognitive/behavioral variables are associated DBS consensus conference decisions in patients with dystonia. Methods Thirty-two PWD completed comprehensive presurgery workup included neurological and neuropsychological exams, and neuroimaging in consideration for DBS surgery. An interdisciplinary conference committee either recommended or did not recommend DBS surgery based upon these data. Demographic and medical data (e.g., dystonia disease characteristics, medical comorbidities, medications) were also collected. We also examined impact from cardiovascular disease factors, using a Revised Cardiac Risk Index. PWD were grouped based on DBS conference decision (eligible: n = 21, ineligible: n = 11) and compared across demographic, medical, and cognitive/behavioral variables. Results Across clinical variables, PWD who were deemed ineligible for DBS surgery had a higher Revised Cardiac Risk Index. PWD who were classified as ineligible displayed lower global cognitive functioning, working memory, phonemic fluency, memory retrieval, and cognitive flexibility. Conclusions Consensus decision making regarding DBS surgery eligibility involves a multifactorial process. We found that deficits in executive functioning were associated with the DBS consensus committee decision. We also observed elevated cardiac risk among these individuals, likely reflecting the relation between vascular health and cognition. Implications, and clinical and scientific applications of these findings are discussed.
Cara and Macrae’s Psychosocial Occupational Therapy an Evolving: Fourth Edition, by Rebecca Mannel, 2019, 264 pages hardcover, SLACK Incorporated, 6900 Grove Road, Thorofare, NJ 08086, (856) 848-6091, Price: $89.95, ISBN: 9781630914776

In our evolving world, the occupational therapy profession must continue to grow and adapt to ensure we meet our communities’ current needs. Cara and MacRae’s (2019) Psychosocial Occupational Thera...
Sexual dimorphism in the size and shape of the non-obstetric pelvis across anthropoids.

OBJECTIVES The presence of sexual dimorphism in the birth canals of anthropoid primates is well documented, and birth canal dimorphism tends to be especially robust among species that give birth to relatively large neonates. However, it is less clear whether birth canal dimorphism is accompanied by dimorphism in parts of the pelvis not directly under selection for birth, particularly including bi-iliac breadth, biactetabular breadth, lengths of the ischium and ilium, and 3D shape. This study investigates the patterns of dimorphism among anthropoid primates in those parts of the pelvis which do not directly contribute to the bony birth canal, here termed the non-obstetric pelvis. METHODS 3D landmark data were collected on the bony pelves of 899 anthropoid primates. Specifically, landmark data were collected on parts of the pelvis not thought to be directly involved in selection for parturition, including portions of the posterior and superior ilium, acetabulum, and lateral ischium. Principal components analysis and Euclidean distance matrix analysis were used to ascertain sexual dimorphism in pelvic sizes and shapes within each species. RESULTS Results show that dimorphism in non-obstetric pelvic size and shape exists across anthropoids, just as is seen in the birth canal. However, the magnitude of dimorphism in non-obstetric pelvic shape tends to be greater among anthropoid species that give birth to relatively large neonates compared with those birthing smaller neonates relative to maternal pelvic size. CONCLUSIONS Though all anthropoids included in the study show some degree of sexual dimorphism in non-obstetric pelvic size and/or shape, species which give birth to large neonates relative to maternal pelvic size have the highest levels of dimorphism in pelvic shape. Moreover, the magnitude of dimorphism in certain parts of the non-obstetric pelvis mirrors patterns seen in the birth canal. The results of this study are promising for ascertaining pelvic dimorphism and relative neonate size in fossil primates, particularly in fragmentary remains which do not preserve a complete bony birth canal.
Computational finite element methods in nanotechnology

Overview of Computational Methods in Nanotechnology Orion Ciftja and Sarhan M. Musa Finite Element Method for Nanotechnology Applications in Nano-/Microelectronics Jing Zhang Modeling, Design, and Simulation of N/MEMS by Integrating Finite Element, Lumped Element, and System Level Analyses Jason Vaughn Clark, Prabhakar Marepalli, and Richa Bansal Nanorobotic Applications of Finite Element Method S. Sadeghzadeh, M.H. Korayem, V. Rahneshin, A. Homayooni, and M. Moradi Simulations of Dislocations and Coherent Nanostructures Anandh Subramaniam and Arun Kumar Continuum and Atomic-Scale Finite Element Modeling of Multilayer Self-Positioning Nanostructures Y. Nishidate and G.P. Nikishkov Application of Finite Element Method for the Design of Nanocomposites Ufana Riaz and S.M. Ashraf Finite Element Modeling of Carbon Nanotubes and Their Composites Mahmoud Nadim Nahas Finite Element-Aided Electric Field Analysis of Needleless Electrospinning Haitao Niu, Xungai Wang, and Tong Lin Molecular Dynamic Finite Element Method (MDFEM) Lutz Nasdala, Andreas Kempe, and Raimund Rolfes Application of Biomaterials and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) in Nanomedicine and Nanodentistry Andy H. Choi, Jukka P. Matinlinna, Richard C. Conway, and Besim Ben-Nissan Application of Finite Element Analysis for Nanobiomedical Study Viroj Wiwanitkit Finite Element Method for Micro and Nano-Systems for Biotechnology Jean Berthier Design of the Nanoinjection Detectors Using Finite Element Modeling Omer G. Memis and Hooman Mohseni Finite Element Method (FEM) for Nanotechnology Application in Engineering: Integrated Use of Macro-, Micro-, and Nano-Systems Radostina Petrova, P. Genova, and M. Tzoneva Modeling at the Nano Level: Application to Physical Processes Serge Lefeuvre and Olga Gomonova Appendix A: Material and Physical Constants Appendix B: Symbols and Formulas Index
DAILY FLUCTUATION IN DOPAMINE, NOREPINEPHRINE, GAMMA-AMINOBUTYRIC ACID AND MELATONIN METABOLISM IN THE NON-HUMAN PRIMATE

ABSTRACT Rhesus monkeys were adapted to chronic restraint in primate chairs and housed in sound-attenuated, light-controlled (L:D::12:12) chambers. Increased daytime activity and brain temperature were associated with an increase in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of homovanillic acid (3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid, HVA), norepinephrine (NE), and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). CSF melatonin has a circadian rhythm with high concentrations occurring during the night. This rhythm persisted in darkness, but was abolished by constant light.
Digestion and absorption

The various segments of the gastrointestinal tract cooperate to acquire and modify food, extract nutrients from it, and prepare the residue for excretion. Foods are broken down by proteases and aminopeptidases from the stomach, pancreas, and intestinal brush border. About half of the digested proteins are taken up by small intestinal enterocytes as free amino acids via specific transporters. The other half is taken up as di- and tripeptides via the hydrogen ion/peptide cotransporters 1 and 2. Hydrolysis of these small peptides is completed inside the enterocytes by various cytosolic proteases and peptidases. Transfer of the intracellular amino acids into portal blood is mediated by another set of specific transporters. Minute amounts of larger peptides and proteins may occasionally reach the bloodstream, through transcytotic transport via endosomes, by paracellular passage or transport with immune cells. Digestion of starches and related carbohydrates, initiated by salivary alpha-amylase in the mouth, continues as pancreatic alpha-amylase is added. Food is normally mixed with considerable amounts of hydrochloric acid in the stomach. The admixture of bicarbonate from the duodenal mucosa and pancreatic secretions abruptly brings the pH of the intestinal chyme back up to about 6 in the duodenum, and increases it gradually to 7.4 towards the end of the small intestine. The kidneys selectively secrete dead-end products of nutrient metabolism, such as urea and uric acid metabolize nutrients and other compounds, and regulate blood volume.
Spousal Use of Pornography and Its Clinical Significance for Asian-American Women

Abstract In this paper the clinical significance for Asian American women whose spouses use pornography is explored. First, the impact of pornography on male and female sexuality in general is described. Second, the direct and indirect impact of the use of pornography on all couple relationships is examined. The last section focuses on the oppressive impact of traditional, patriarchal norms of the Asian culture on Asian American women, including clinical observations of the impact when their partners use pornography.
A critical role for NF-kappa B in GATA3 expression and TH2 differentiation in allergic airway inflammation.

A critical role for NF-κB in Gata3 expression and T H 2 differentiation in allergic airway inflammation
Lower extremity physical performance and use of compensatory strategies for mobility.

OBJECTIVES: To compare measured lower extremity physical performance in the clinic with the methods used to carry out mobility tasks at home and to identify key factors influencing day-to-day task performance. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis of the Women's Health and Aging Study I. SETTING: Community-dwelling female residents of Baltimore, Maryland. PARTICIPANTS: One thousand two cognitively intact women aged 65 and older with moderate to severe physical limitations. MEASUREMENTS: Compensatory strategies reportedly used for mobility in the home, distinguishing between use of no compensatory strategies, behavioral changes only, durable medical equipment (DME) with or without behavioral change, and human help; measured lower extremity (LE) physical performance (gait speed, timed chair stands, balance). RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference in LE physical performance between women using the four types of compensatory strategy (P<.001). Women who used DME for mobility in the home had worse performance than those using human help who in turn had worse performance than those with behavioral changes only; women reporting no compensatory strategies for in-home mobility performed best. Sequential multivariate logistic regressions identified several factors other than LE physical performance that were associated with use of specific compensatory strategies. Medical conditions, education, and environmental barriers influenced whether compensatory strategies were used at all, whereas income, contact with health providers, and availability of help in the home influenced the type of compensatory strategy. CONCLUSION: Physical abilities are an important factor influencing use of compensatory strategies for mobility, but several other factors also influence the ways that women adapt to mobility limitations.
The developing cardiac myocyte: maturation of excitability and excitation-contraction coupling.

The study of cardiac myocyte (CM) differentiation, develop- ment, and maturation is of interest for several compelling reasons. First, mechanisms of development are of fundamental biological interest. Sec- ond, congenital malformation of the heart may be related to CM dysfunc- tion during embryonic/fetal development. Third, adult myocardium in a variety of diseased states re-expresses a fetal-like gene program. Fourth, the mature heart cannot readily regenerate itself. Thus, cell replacement therapy is an emerging treatment paradigm. Among the obstacles for the realization of cell replacement therapy is our incomplete understanding of the function during CM maturation. This is crucial in the potential use of embryonic stem (ES) cell-derived CMs as a cell source. Although much progress has been realized with mouse ES-CMs, our understanding of human counterparts is scant. Here we discuss key molecular underpin- nings of excitability and excitation-contraction coupling in developing mouse heart. We focus on the Ca channel multimeric complex and Ca handling. We compare mouse embryonic physiology to that previously described in mouse ES-CMs and draw parallels and highlight distinc- tions to human ES-CMs. During mouse embryonic and fetal maturation, the L-type Ca channel current (I Ca,L) predominates, but embryonic/fetal I Ca,L has distinct properties from mature I Ca,L. In addition T-type Ca current (I Ca,T) present in the fetus is not present in the adult. It is neither ethical nor practical to experiment with live human embryonic/fetal CMs for I Ca and Ca handling studies, but we can draw inferences from human heart cell function based on studies of human ES-CMs, using the paral- lels noted between mouse embryonic heart cells and mouse ES-CMs.
p38 Mitogen-activated Protein Kinase Negatively Regulates the Induction of Phase II Drug-metabolizing Enzymes That Detoxify Carcinogens

Phase II drug-metabolizing enzymes, such as glutathione S-transferase and quinone reductase, play an important role in the detoxification of chemical carcinogens. The induction of these detoxifying enzymes by a variety of agents occurs at the transcriptional level and is regulated by a cis-acting element, called the antioxidant response element (ARE) or electrophile-response element. In this study, we identified a signaling kinase pathway that negatively regulates ARE-mediated gene expression. Treatment of human hepatoma HepG2 and murine hepatoma Hepa1c1c7 cells with tert-butylhydroquinone (tBHQ) stimulated the activity of p38, a member of mitogen-activated protein kinase family. Inhibition of p38 activation by its inhibitor, SB203580, enhanced the induction of quinone reductase activity and the activation of ARE reporter gene by tBHQ. In contrast, SB202474, a negative analog of SB203580, had little effect. Consistent with this result, interfering with the p38 kinase pathway by overexpression of a dominant-negative mutant of p38 or MKK3, an immediate upstream regulator of p38, potentiated the activation of the ARE reporter gene by tBHQ, whereas the wild types of p38 and MKK3 diminished such activation. In addition, inhibition of p38 activity augmented the induction of ARE reporter gene activity by tert-butylhydroxyanisole, sulforaphane, and beta-naphthoflavone. Thus, p38 kinase pathway functions as a negative regulator in the ARE-mediated induction of phase II detoxifying enzymes.
Distribution and size fractionation of elemental sulfur in aqueous environments: The Chesapeake Bay and Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Elemental sulfur is an important intermediate of sulfide oxidation and may be produced via abiotic and biotic pathways. In this study the concentration and size fractionation of elemental sulfur were measured in two different sulfidic marine environments: the Chesapeake Bay and buoyant hydrothermal vent plumes along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Nanoparticulate sulfur (<0.2 μm) was found to comprise up to 90% of the total elemental sulfur in anoxic deep waters of the Chesapeake Bay. These data were compared with previous studies of elemental sulfur, and represent one of the few reports of nanoparticulate elemental sulfur in the environment. Additionally, a strain of phototrophic sulfide oxidizing bacteria isolated from the Chesapeake Bay was shown to produce elemental sulfur as a product of sulfide oxidation. Elemental sulfur concentrations are also presented from buoyant hydrothermal vent plumes located along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. In the Mid-Atlantic Ridge plume, S0 concentrations up to 33 μM were measured in the first meter of rising plumes at three different vent sites, and nanoparticulate S0 was up to 44% of total elemental sulfur present.
Aggressive Nevus of the Iris With Secondary Glaucoma in a Child

Purpose/Methods We studied a case of an aggressive iris nevus that caused secondary glaucoma in a child. Results/Conclusion Unlike most iris tumors, this tumor grew from the superior aspect of the iris. The nevus was also unusual because it invaded the trabecular meshwork and caused secondary glaucoma.
CRL STIMULATES RPOS ACTIVITY DURING STATIONARY PHASE

RpoS, an alternative primary sigma factor, has been shown to be regulated at multiple levels, including transcription, translation and protein stability. Here, we present evidence that suggests that RpoS is regulated at yet another level by the product of the crl gene. The crl gene was first thought to encode the major curlin subunit of curli (curli are surface structures that are induced by growth into stationary phase under conditions of low osmolarity and low temperature). Later, it was determined that crl actually contributes in a positive fashion to stimulate transcription of csgBA, the true locus encoding for the major subunit of curli. RpoS is also required for normal stationary-phase induction of csgBA. We found that lesions in crl, like lesions in rpoS, cause increased transcription of ompF during stationary phase. Taken together, these observations prompted us to analyse the effects of crl on an additional RpoS-regulated phenomenon. We found that a crl null allele influences expression of RpoS-regulated genes in a fashion similar to an rpoS null allele. Genetic evidence suggests that crl and rpoS function in a single pathway and that Crl functions upstream, or in concert with, RpoS. Although the effects of Crl on RpoS-regulated genes is entirely dependent on the integrity of RpoS, the presence of a crl null allele does not decrease the level of RpoS protein. Thus, we propose that Crl stimulates the activity of the RpoS regulon by stimulating RpoS activity during stationary phase.
A random-forest-based efficient comparative machine learning predictive DNA-codon metagenomics binning technique for WMD events & applications

In many counter-terrorism, or natural disasters, geographically distributed large scale sensor-based bio-chemicals agent or microorganisms target identification and prediction applications, such as in WMD events, as well as in many health care and medical applications, efficient large scale metagenomics is crucial for purpose such as rapid and timely decontamination for normal environment restoration, or rapid and timely discovery of the right drug/therapy for the injured individuals. Metagenomics is the study of all bio-chemical and organisms collected directly from large natural environments including geographically distributed disastrous ones. Most of these collected bio-chemical and organisms cannot be cultivated in a laboratory and hence cannot be sequenced as individual organisms. Thus, metagenomics methods allow relatively rapid sequencing of organism genomes obtained directly from a natural environment, and which cannot be cultured in a laboratory. Sequencing random fragments obtained from whole genome shotgun into taxa-based groups is known as binning. Currently, there are two different methods of binning: sequence similarity methods and sequence composition methods. Sequence similarity methods are usually based on sequence alignment to known genome like BLAST, or MEGAN. Sequence composition methods are based on compositional features of a given DNA sequence like K-mers, or other genomic signature(s) like TETRA, Phylopythia, CompostBin, likelyBin. In this paper we propose a machine learning predictive DNA sequence feature selection algorithms to solve binning problems. In our prior work we showed feature selection/reduction and binning prediction based on direct nucleotide k-mers. Here we use a combination of 2 Codons (amino acids) as features to differentiate between sequences. There are 20 different amino acids which are found proteins. The combination of 2 amino acids produce 400 features which we use to differentiate between the metagenomics sequence. The data reads used in this work has an average length of 250, 500, 1000, and 2000 base pairs. Experimental results of the codon-based feature reduction and binning prediction algorithms, namely using respectively a Random forest classifier and a Bayes classifier, are presented along with their comparison to their DNA-based k-mers counterparts. The proposed algorithm accuracy is tested on a variety of data sets and our findings show that the classification/prediction accuracy achieved is between 59%-92% for various data sets using Random forest classifier and 44%-64% using Naive Bayes classifier. Random forest Classifier did better in classification in all the datasets compared to Naive Bayes.