cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Alteration by cereolysin of the structure of cholesterol-containing membranes.

Abstract When erythrocyte membranes were treated with cereolysin, negatively stained and examined by electron microscopy, ring and arc-shaped structures were observed in the membrane. The outside diameter of the rings varied from 33 to 50 nm with a border thickness of 6.7 to 8.3 nm. The arcs varied in length from 33 to 170 nm with a border thickness of also 6.7 to 8.3 nm. When rightside-out erythrocyte ghosts which had been treated with cereolysin were examined by electron microscopy after freeze-fracture, structures with a diameter of 31 to 63 nm were seen in the fracture face of the exoplasmic half of the membrane, but no alterations were visible in the fracture face of the protoplasmic half of the membrane bilayer. Thus the ring structures did not appear to form holes through the membrane. At cereolysin concentrations above 6 μg/ml rings and arcs were seen when purified toxin alone was examined. At or below 6 μg/ml toxin rings and arcs were seen only if toxin was incubated with free or membrane-bound cholesterol. Our interpretation is that cereolysin tends to aggregate into ring and arc-shaped structures, and that the tendency to aggregate is increased by cholesterol. Rings and arcs were not seen when erythrocyte ghosts were treated with low, but lytic amounts of cereolysin that significantly altered the permeability of the ghosts.
Long latency event-related potentials in rats: response of amygdala, nucleus accumbens, dorsal hippocampus and frontal cortex to changes in reward characteristics of conditioned stimuli.

Abstract Circuits involving major afferents to the ventral striatum from the frontal cortex, amygdala and hippocampus have been implicated in the selective processing of conditioned stimuli predictive of `important events' or reward-related processes. We utilized an animal model of event-related potentials (ERPs) to explore the relationship between these brain areas during the performance of a conditioning/extinction task. Significant reductions in the N1 component in cortex and P2 component in amygdala of the rat ERP were found as a consequence of removal of the food reward previously associated with the stimuli. Lesions of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis were without effect on the pattern of ERP morphology changes associated with the removal of the reward. Since the N1 component of the ERP has been linked to attentional processes, these studies suggest that elimination of reward characteristics of conditioning stimuli can lead to a specific reductions in `attention' and or `sensory reaction' in frontal cortex and amygdala but not to general habituation to these stimuli or in other areas of the CNS.
Antibody response to live virus vaccines in congenital and neonatal cytomegalovirus infections.

When 42 infants with congenitally or neonatally acquired cytomegalovirus infections were one year of age, they were given live attenuated measles-mumps-rubella combined vaccine to determine what effect, if any, the existence of chronic CMV infection has on the antibody response to measles and rubella antigens. When the infected infants were compared with 60 healthy non-CMV-infected control infants, no significant difference in the seroconversion rates or ultimate antibody levels was observed with either measles or rubella antigens. Persistence of antibody, when measured three years after vaccination, was likewise similar in each group; levels had waned only slightly. These results demonstrate the intactness of humoral immunity in children with pre-and perinatal CMV infection.
Aldosterone antagonists and outcomes in real-world older patients with heart failure and preserved ejection fraction.

Objectives The purpose of this study was to examine the clinical effectiveness of aldosterone antagonists in older patients with heart failure and preserved ejection fraction (HF-PEF). Background Aldosterone antagonists improve outcomes in HF and reduced EF. However, their role in HF-PEF remains unclear. Methods Of the 10,570 hospitalized older (≥65 years of age) HF-PEF (EF ≥40%) patients in the Medicare-linked OPTIMIZE-HF (Organized Program to Initiate Lifesaving Treatment in Hospitalized Patients with Heart Failure) trial, 8,013 patients had no prior aldosterone antagonist use and no current contraindications; 492 (6% of these 8,013) patients received new prescriptions for aldosterone antagonists. We assembled a matched cohort of 487 pairs of patients receiving and not receiving aldosterone antagonists, who had a similar propensity to receive these drugs and were balanced on 116 baseline characteristics. Results Patients had a mean age of 80 years old, a mean EF of 54%, 59% were women, and 8% were African American. During 2.4 year of mean follow-up (through December 2008), the primary composite endpoint of all-cause mortality or HF hospitalization occurred in 392 (81%) and 393 (81%) patients receiving and not receiving aldosterone antagonists, respectively (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.97; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.84 to 1.11; p = 0.628). Aldosterone antagonists had no association with all-cause mortality (HR: 1.03; 95% CI: 0.89 to 1.20; p = 0.693) or HF hospitalization (HR: 0.88; 95% CI: 0.73 to 1.07; p = 0.188). Among 8013 prematched patients, multivariable-adjusted HR for the primary composite endpoint associated with aldosterone antagonist use was 0.93 (95% CI: 0.83 to 1.03; p = 0.144). Conclusions In older HF-PEF patients, aldosterone antagonists had no association with clinical outcomes. Findings from the ongoing randomized controlled TOPCAT (Treatment of Preserved Cardiac Function Heart Failure With an Aldosterone Antagonist) trial will provide further insights into their effect in HF-PEF.
A Simple MOSFET Model Suitable for Fast Timing Analysis

We present a simple MOSFET model which represents a MOSFET as a gate-modulated resistance. Such a model leads to a special structure in the circuit equations which lends itself to rapid evaluation. In spite of its simplicity, the model makes excellent predictions of waveform propagation with a minimum of characterization effort. The parameters of the model are well-correlated with major technology variables, making the model potentially suitable for applications such as variability prediction. The purpose of this model is to provide a basis for analytical work, with special emphasis on timing analysis. This is an area which is currently difficult due to the complexity of current MOSFET models. So after introducing the model, and explaining how it can be characterized, we will propose several application we believe to be good prospects for future research.
Acculturation, Parent‐Adolescent Conflict, and Adolescent Adjustment in Mexican American Families

We tested an acculturation model in a community sample of Mexican American families (146 mothers, 137 fathers, and 146 adolescents) that proposed that differences between parents and adolescents in acculturation would be associated with parent-adolescent conflict and adolescent adjustment problems. Contrary to hypotheses, we found that families who exhibited an acculturation gap were not more likely to report parent-adolescent conflict or adolescent adjustment problems. In fact, familial conflict and adolescent sexual experience were associated with high levels of acculturation among adolescents and their parents. Pending replication, these findings suggest that both parent and children acculturation may independently predict familial processes and youth outcomes, irrespective of an acculturation gap. Future research should consider other factors aside from acculturation differences that might account for parent-adolescent conflict and adolescent adjustment in Mexican American families.
The Effect of Electrical Fields on Gene and Protein Expression in Human Osteoarthritic Cartilage Explants

Background: The destruction of cartilage in patients with osteoarthritis is a consequence of an imbalance between matrix synthesis and degradation. The purpose of the present study was to determine the effects of electrical stimulation on these processes in full-thickness osteoarthritic adult human articular cartilage explants. Methods: Full-thickness articular cartilage explants from osteoarthritic adult human knee joints were cultured in the absence or presence of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and in the absence or presence of a specifically defined capacitively coupled electrical signal for seven or fourteen days. Total collagen and proteoglycan production were assessed by means of hydroxyproline and hexosamine analyses, respectively. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction assays were used to measure mRNA expression levels of aggrecan, type-II collagen, collagenase-1 (MMP-1), collagenase-3 (MMP-13), stromelysin-1 (MMP-3), aggrecanase-1 (ADAM-TS4), and aggrecanase-2 (ADAM-TS5). Results: Electrical stimulation of cultured explants for seven or fourteen days resulted in significant increases (p < 0.007) in proteoglycan and collagen production and a highly significant upregulation (p ≤ 0.005) of aggrecan and type-II collagen mRNA expression. This occurred even in the presence of IL-1β. In the absence of IL-1β, the expression of metalloproteinases was at barely detectable levels in these explants. Treatment with IL-1β led to the significant upregulation of metalloproteinase expression (p < 0.03), but simultaneous administration of the capacitively coupled electrical signal dramatically inhibited this stimulation. Conclusions: The data show that, even in the presence of IL-1β, a specific, defined capacitively coupled electrical signal can result in significant upregulation of cartilage matrix protein expression and production while simultaneously significantly attenuating the upregulation of metalloproteinase expression. These results support the contention that delivery of a specific, defined electrical field to articular cartilage could result in matrix preservation. Clinical Relevance: Osteoarthritis ultimately results in the progressive destruction of articular cartilage through mechanisms involving metalloproteinase activity. The use of electrical stimulation to both increase matrix production and diminish matrix destruction has the promising potential to treat osteoarthritic patients in a noninvasive manner.
Three-Dimensional Flowfield Downstream of an Axial-Flow Turbine Rotor

A systematic and comprehensive investigation was performed to provide detailed data on the threedimensional viscous flow phenomena downstream of a modern turbine rotor and to understand the flow physics such as the origin, nature, development of wakes, secondary flow, and leakage flow. The experiment was carried out in the Axial Flow Turbine Research Facility (AFTRF) at The Pennsylvania State University, with velocity measurements taken with a 3-D LDV System. Two radial traverses at 1% and 10% of chord downstream of the rotor were performed. Sufficient spatial resolution was maintained to resolve blade wake, secondary flow, and tip leakage flow. The wake deficit is found to be substantial, especially at 1% of chord downstream of the rotor. At this location, negative axial velocity occurs near the tip, suggesting flow separation in the tip clearance region. Cross-correlations are mainly associated with the velocity gradient of the wake deficit. The radial velocities, both in the wake and in the endwall region, are found to be substantial. Two counter-rotating secondary flows are identified in the blade passage, with one occupying the half span close to the casing and the other occupying the half span close to the hub. The tip leakage flow is restricted to 10% immersion from the blade tip. There are strong vorticity distributions associated with these secondary flows and tip leakage flow. The passage averaged data are in good agreement with design values.
Enhancing traditional, televised, and videotaped courses with Web-based technologies: A comparison of student satisfaction*

Abstract Background: Varied distance learning strategies can be used to deliver nursing courses, including interactive television, videotape, and Web-based approaches. Purposes: (1) To assess student assess student satisfaction with a critical care elective course offered simultaneously via traditional and distance learning formats in which Web-based strategies were added, and (2) to compare satisfaction of students taking the traditional course versus those taking the class via distance technology. Methods: Students (n = 113) who took the course during the spring 1998 and 1999 semesters completed a teacher-constructed evaluation at the end of the semester. Findings: Mean ratings on the evaluation were positive. Ratings of interaction, communication with instructor, and facilitation of learning were higher from students who took the traditional course. Conclusions: The application of Web-based technologies may be one factor for the overall course satisfaction. However, it is important to continue to evaluate strategies that work best for students taking courses via distance technology. Nurs Outlook 2001;49:132-7.
Dynamic properties and performance of vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers in polarization-selective free-space optical links

In the work presented here we study polarization-related dynamic and noise properties of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) and analyze their performance in polarization-selective free-space optical data transmission links.
Hemostatic properties and serum lipoprotein binding of a heparan sulfate proteoglycan from bovine aorta

The biologic properties of two major proteoglycans of bovine aorta, heparan sulfate proteoglycan and chondroitin sulfate-dermatan sulfate proteoglycan were compared. The heparan sulfate proteoglycan was isolated either by elastase digestion or by 4.0 M guanidine hydrochloride extraction, of aorta tissue, fractionated by CsCl isopycnic centrifugation and purified by chondroitinase ABC treatment. The first method resulted in considerably greater yield (about 70% of the total heparan sulfate proteoglycan of the tissue) than the second procedure (12% of total). The chondroitin sulfate-dermatan sulfate proteoglycan was obtained by 4.0 M guanidine-HCl extraction of aorta tissue followed by CsCl isopycnic centrifugation. The chemical composition of both heparan sulfate proteoglycan preparations was similar. Unlike the chondroitin sulfate-dermatan sulfate proteoglycan, which eluted in the void volume of Sepharose CL-6B column, the heparan sulfate proteoglycan preparations were each resolved into a high molecular weight fraction (kav = 0.18 and 0.13) and a low molecular weight fraction (kav = 0.47 and 0.36). The heparan sulfate proteoglycan preparations exhibited significantly more potent anticoagulant and platelet aggregation inhibitory activities than the chondroitin sulfate-dermatan sulfate proteoglycan. The protein core of the proteoglycan molecules did not seem to be essential for their hemostatic properties. The complex forming ability of the heparan sulfate proteoglycan with serum low density lipoproteins (LDL) was much less than that of chondroitin sulfate-dermatan sulfate proteoglycan in the presence and absence of Ca2+. Interaction between heparan sulfate proteoglycan and LDL was also much more sensitive to changes in the ionic strength of the medium than that of chondroitin sulfate-dermatan sulfate proteoglycan and the lipoprotein. Since the total sulfate content of both proteoglycans is almost similar, the smaller molecular size and hence the lower overall charge density of the heparan sulfate proteoglycan appears to be partly responsible for its low affinity for LDL. The differences in biologic properties of the two proteoglycans might have implications in the pathophysiology of cardiovascular diseases.
Towards A Judaic Milton: Translating Samson Agonistes Into Hebrew

Joseph Massel's 1890 translation of Samson Agonistes into biblical Hebrew represents a problematic amalgam of Christian poetics and Judaic scripture. Published as a means of promoting Hebrew language renewal, Massel's rendition succeeds in transforming not only the linguistic constitution of the Miltonic drama, but also its religious and cultural meaning. The following essay examines the implications of translating Samson Agonistes into the language of the Tanakh, proposing that this Hebrew rendition functions to amend the historical, theological and political significance of its English source.
Acute appendicitis following laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy in an adolescent

Complications following laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy may be life-threatening. The concern for serious complications may cause practitioners to overlook common surgical disease. The authors present a case of acute appendicitis that presented in the early post-operative period in an adolescent patient. Clinical suspicion and prompt imaging led to the correct diagnosis, timely management, and a favorable outcome.
Aortic aneurysm after patch angioplasty for aortic isthmic coarctation in childhood

Abstract Repair of aortic coarctation, pioneered by Craaford and Nylin1 and Gross and Hufnagel2 in 1944, is an accepted procedure with relatively low morbidity and mortality rates. Repair was initially accomplished by excision of the aortic coarctation with end-to-end anastomosis of healthy aortic tissue. Newer techniques, such as patch angioplasty3–5 and subclavian flap angioplasty,6 were introduced to avoid the complications of stricture at anastomotic site and allow for further growth of the aorta. Reports of aneurysm formation in the region of the patch angioplasty7–9 have raised concern as to long-term safety of this procedure. Development of a large true aneurysm of the aorta in 2 asymptomatic patients (Fig. 1) who underwent primary repair of coarctation by the technique of patch angioplasty (the subject of a previous report10) prompted recall of all patients who underwent repair of coarctation of the aorta at the University of Virginia Hospital since 1971. This study assesses the incidence of aortic aneurysm in the pericoarctation region after surgical repair of coarctation of the aorta in childhood, and attempts to determine if the presence of aneurysmal dilatation was related to the type of operative procedure, age at operation or presence of residual gradient.
Role of Psychosocial Factors in the Onset of Major Depression

Although the role of psychosocial factors in the onset of major depression has been well recognized for several decades, we argue that an integrated theory embracing psychosocial and biological domains will most likely provide a full understanding of the pathogenesis of depression. Advances in biology and psychopharmacology for depression provide the stimuli to examine the potency of different sets of variables to "predict" onset of depression. Recent attempts to develop new strategies for assessing both psychosocial and biological risk factors and examples of how such strategies might apply to depression are discussed.
Teachers as Intellectuals and Advocates: Professional Development for Bilingual Education Teachers.

Bilingual education continues to be one of the most controversial educational programs worldwide. In several US states, it has even been put to a vote in general elections. Internationally, nations that have long promoted multilingualism are debating whether the languages of new, working-class immigrants deserve to be taught in schools. Consequently, bilingual educators now find themselves in a newly charged and precarious political position. We argue that bilingual educators are now beholden to a single professional development goal: reappraising their efforts at saving this important instructional program in the interest of immigrant youth. We first explore the demise of bilingual education across the United States, address the condition of bilingual education worldwide, point to promising teacher development projects, and end by asking bilingual educators to consider who is left to join them in promoting the marginalized languages—and communities who speak them—in the context of a new world order.
The Use of Antisense Oligonucleotides in Neural Systems

Antisense RNA and DNA techniques have been developed as a relatively recent approach to the modulation of gene expression In a specific manner. While the feasibility of antisense administration in vitro has been amply demonstrated during the past 5 years, the application of this technique to in vivo administration is only now being developed. We discuss several Important Issues vital to the success of antisense approaches in vitro, including choice of oligonucleotide type, choice of gene target, method of administration, and choice of proper controls. We also describe two models suitable for studying antisense oligonucleotide administration in vivo, one of which is particularly relevant for the study of neural systems.
A malonyl-CoA-binding protein from liver.

Summary A soluble protein that binds malonyl-CoA without requiring cofactors has been purified from rat liver. Until saturated, it competes with fatty acid synthetase for free malonyl-CoA, temporarily reducing the rate of fatty acid synthesis at low levels of malonyl-CoA, as in fatty acid synthetase—coupled assays for acetyl-CoA carboxylase. These assays yield low estimates for carboxylase activity with crude and partially purified homogenates containing the malonyl-CoA—binding protein. The protein does not inhibit assays for carboxylase activity that measure nonvolatile radioactivity incorporated from bicarbonate or NADH oxidation coupled to ADP formation. It has an M r of 180,000 and a subunit of 90,000. It has a lower affinity for ATP, ADP, and acetyl-CoA and none for CO 2 or fatty acid synthetase. No enzymatic function has been identified. The protein may regulate malonyl-CoA—binding enzymes.
Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1: transforming the choice of model organism.

For more than 25 years, Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1 has been used in molecular biology studies that address a broad range of questions. Recently, the rapid accumulation of data from DNA sequencing, gene expression, protein structure, and other high-throughput methodology has increased the ability to tackle complex topics using sophisticated approaches to metabolic and genetic engineering. While the genetic malleability of ADP1 makes it an ideal organism for such investigations, A. baylyi ADP1 has yet to become a common choice for bacterial studies. This review describes examples of ADP1-based studies that exploit its highly efficient system for natural transformation and chromosomal incorporation of exogenous DNA. These studies focus on a wide array of problems, including gene duplication and amplification, horizontal gene transfer, bioreporters, and metabolic reconstruction. Interesting results in these diverse areas highlight the utility of using A. baylyi in laboratory and industrial settings. © 2011 IUBMB IUBMB Life, 63(12): 1075–1080, 2011
Green's function approach to the dynamics-controlled truncation formalism: Derivation of the χ (3) equations of motion

The dynamics-controlled truncation (DCT) formalism is a successful microscopic approach that describes coherent correlations in optically excited semiconductors. For practical reasons (including numerical evaluations), its application is limited to lowest-order nonlinearities, such as the ${\ensuremath{\chi}}^{(3)}$ regime. Therefore, it is not convenient to use this formalism to examine the role played by incoherent many-body effects, such as carrier-carrier scattering and screening. Traditionally, the most powerful approach to study incoherent effects and correlations in highly excited semiconductors is that of nonequilibrium Green's functions (NGF). A combination of the insights and technical advantages provided by the two (NGF and DCT) approaches will lead to a comprehensive microscopic theory for nonlinear optical phenomena in semiconductors. In this paper, we take a first step in this direction by presenting detailed one-to-one relations between the two formalisms within the ${\ensuremath{\chi}}^{(3)}$ approximation. Starting from the standard perturbation theory of nonequilibrium Green's functions, we derive the essential minimal order factorization theorems, to arbitrary order, of DCT and the equations of motions for the interband polarization and the ``biexcitonic'' correlation function. This lays the foundation for future diagrammatic high-intensity generalizations of the DCT formalism.
Are migraine and coronary heart disease associated? An epidemiologic review.

In evaluating the cardiovascular risks of triptans (5-HT1B/1D agonists) for the treatment of migraine, the possible relationship between migraine and cardiovascular disease warrants careful assessment. The vascular nature of migraine is compatible with the possibility that migraine is a manifestation of cardiovascular disease or is linked to cardiovascular disease via a common mechanism. If so, then migraine itself—independent of the use of triptans—may be associated with an increased risk of cardiac events. This article considers the epidemiologic literature pertinent to evaluating the association of migraine with coronary heart disease. The research reviewed herein fails to support an association between migraine and coronary heart disease. First, data from several large cohort studies show that the presence of migraine does not increase risk of coronary heart disease. Furthermore, although migraineurs are generally more likely than nonmigraineurs to report chest pain, the presence of chest pain in most studies did not predict serious cardiac events such as myocardial infarction. That the gender- and age-specific prevalence of migraine does not overlap with that of coronary heart disease is also consistent with a lack of association between migraine and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. While migraine appears not to be associated with coronary heart disease, preliminary evidence suggests a possible link of migraine with vasospastic disorders such as variant angina and Raynaud's phenomenon. These results warrant further investigation in large prospective studies.
Hierarchical MT Training using Max-Violation Perceptron

Large-scale discriminative training has become promising for statistical machine translation by leveraging the huge training corpus; for example the recent effort in phrase-based MT (Yu et al., 2013) significantly outperforms mainstream methods that only train on small tuning sets. However, phrase-based MT suffers from limited reorderings, and thus its training can only utilize a small portion of the bitext due to the distortion limit. To address this problem, we extend Yu et al. (2013) to syntax-based MT by generalizing their latent variable “violation-fixing” perceptron from graphs to hypergraphs. Experiments confirm that our method leads to up to +1.2 BLEU improvement over mainstream methods such as MERT and PRO.
Telomeric DNA in ALT Cells Is Characterized by Free Telomeric Circles and Heterogeneous t-Loops

A prerequisite for cellular immortalization in human cells is the elongation of telomeres through the upregulation of telomerase or by the alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) pathway. In this study, telomere structure in multiple ALT cell lines was examined by electron microscopy. Nuclei were isolated from GM847, GM847-Tert, and WI-38 VA13 ALT cells, psoralen photo-cross-linked in situ, and the telomere restriction fragments were purified by gel filtration chromatography. Examination of telomere-enriched fractions revealed frequent extrachromosomal circles, ranging from 0.7 to 56.8 kb. t-loops were also observed, with the loop portion ranging from 0.5 to 70.2 kb. The total length of the loop plus tail of the t-loops corresponded to the telomere restriction fragment length from the ALT cell lines as determined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. The presence of extrachromosomal circles containing telomeric DNA was confirmed by two-dimensional pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. These results show that extrachromosomal telomeric DNA circles are present in ALT nuclei and suggest a roll-and-spread mechanism of telomere elongation similar to that seen in previous observations of multiple yeast species. Results presented here also indicate that expression of telomerase in GM847 cells does not affect t-loop or extrachromosomal circle formation.
Adaptive Planning Horizon Based on Information Velocity for Vision-Based Navigation

This paper presents a receding horizon planning algorithm for vision-based navigation using bearings-only SLAM that adapts the planning horizon to the velocity of the information gained about the environment. Bearings-only SLAM has an inherent dynamic observability property such that specific motion is needed in order to determine the relative positions between the camera and obstacles. Thus, the estimates of new obstacles are always highly uncertain and information about the obstacles is dependent on the relative motion between the camera and objects. Receding horizon planners are typically used in conjunction with SLAM algorithms because they continually adjust to new information about the world. We present a receding horizon planner that incorporates information metrics explicitly into the receding optimization cost function. Furthermore, an adaptive horizon is used based on the intuition that when the information about the world is rapidly changing, planning does not need to be too long. Control and planning horizons are computed based on the sensor range and the eective speed of the UAV, which is computed as a weighted sum of estimated vehicle speed and time rate of change of the uncertainty of the obstacle position estimates. Simulation results demonstrate the integrated receding horizon system for vision-based SLAM; illustrate the value of integrating information-theoretic costs into the objective function and the adaptive approach; and extension of the planning approach to other applications such as exploration, target intercept, and cooperative active sensing.
Self-directed care: participants' service utilization and outcomes.

OBJECTIVE Self-directed care (SDC) is a mental health service delivery model in which participants budget the state dollars allotted for their care to purchase the goods and services they deem most appropriate for achieving their recovery goals. This study examines the demographic characteristics, service utilization patterns, and outcomes of individuals enrolled in the Florida Self-Directed Care (FloridaSDC) program, which is the oldest and most established SDC program in the United States for individuals diagnosed with a severe and persistent mental illness. METHOD This is a naturalistic descriptive study in which demographic, service utilization, and outcome data (i.e., Functional Assessment Rating Scale (FARS) scores, days in the community, days worked, monthly income, discharge status) were collected from the clinical and fiscal records of 136 FloridaSDC participants. RESULTS Key findings suggest that FloridaSDC participants had very little income and largely utilized their budgets to subsidize their living expenses. Though most participants did not work or earn income and very few left the program due to employment, participants' FARS scores improved modestly and nearly all participants remained in the community throughout the study period. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE Participants' service purchases were rational given the poverty in which they live, and their outcomes did not suffer when they controlled decisions regarding their service needs. These findings highlight the utility and value of the personalized budgeting and individualized planning components of SDC. Findings also point to the need for practitioners to implement innovative strategies to enhance participants' employment readiness and supported employment opportunities. (PsycINFO Database Record
Chromatic dispersion and polarization-mode dispersion monitoring for RZ-DPSK signals based on asynchronous amplitude-histogram evaluation

The authors demonstrate in-service channel monitoring of a chromatic dispersion (CD) and polarization-mode dispersion (PMD) for a return-to-zero differential phase-shift keying (RZ-DPSK) signals based on the asynchronous amplitude-histogram evaluation (AAHE) technique. The waveform evolution of the RZ-DPSK signal under the effects of the CD and PMD is investigated analytically and numerically. The CD leads to a power level splitting at the valley of the waveform before demodulation. The intensities of these two levels further increase due to the PMD. By tracking the intensities of these levels using the AAHE method, the CD and PMD can be measured. The principle of a simultaneous monitoring of the CD and PMD is demonstrated experimentally for 10-Gb/s RZ-DPSK signals. The effects of the signal's optical signal-to-noise ratio and the number of the sampling points on the accuracy of the monitoring results are also presented.
A simple confidence interval for meta-analysis

In the context of a random effects model for meta-analysis, a number of methods are available to estimate confidence limits for the overall mean effect. A simple and commonly used method is the DerSimonian and Laird approach. This paper discusses an alternative simple approach for constructing the confidence interval, based on the t-distribution. This approach has improved coverage probability compared to the DerSimonian and Laird method. Moreover, it is easy to calculate, and unlike some methods suggested in the statistical literature, no iterative computation is required.
The 1991 coccolithophore bloom in the central North Atlantic. 1. Optical properties and factors affecting their distribution

Optical scattering and absorption were measured in the central North Atlantic Ocean during a mesoscale bloom of the coccolithophorid Emiliania huxleyi. The chlorophyll-specific absorption was similar to previously measured levels for this species in laboratory cultures,. Suspended coccoliths were responsible for - 80% of the total backscattering in the center of the bloom, and the greatest calcite-dependent backscattering was observed just below the base of the mixed layer. Areal maps of calcite-dependent backscattering and reflectance were similar because of the dominance of backscattering over absorption. Calculated reflectance at 440 and 550 nm reached - 24%, which is slightly less than what has been observed previously in Gulf of Maine blooms. Total _scattering (b) was also calculated as the difference between beam attenuation and absorption. The ratio b, (backscattering divided by total scattering) was -0.01-0.02 at 440 and 550 nm at the most turbid parts of the coccolithophore bloom (b = l-3 m-l). As total scattering decreased below 1 m-l, bb increased. The behavior of b, was compared for coccolith-dominated vs. chlorophyll-dominated waters. Vertical profiles of calcite-dependent scattering, combined with satellite remote sensing data, were used to assess the factors responsible for vertical transport of calcite. The subsurface peak in calcite-dependent scattering did not result from detached coccoliths sinking but resulted either from plated coccolithophores sinking and then detaching their plates or from deep coccolithophores producing and detaching their plates in situ.
Coordinating Different Homeostatic Processes

In this issue of Neuron, Bergquist and colleagues study a rapid form of presynaptic homeostatic regulation at the Drosophila neuromuscular junction. They show that the K+ channel genes shal and shaker are reciprocally regulated in the central nervous system and suggest a hierarchical organization of intrinsic and synaptic homeostatic regulatory processes.
Ectoparasites of Demersal Marine Fishes in Santa Monica Bay, California, U.S.A., with 31 New Host Records and Three Range Extensions

Abstract Select demersal fishes were collected in Santa Monica Bay, California, and inspected for ectoparasites. Infection levels (prevalence and mean intensity) of parasites were determined on fishes representing Scorpaeniformes (Scorpaenidae: scorpionfishes and rockfishes) and Pleuronectiformes (Paralichthyidae, Pleuronectidae, Cynoglossidae: flatfishes). Hosts examined totaled 4,128 individuals representing 18 species, and ectoparasites were removed (2,547 parasites, made up of copepods, isopods, monogeneans, and leeches). Three parasite range extensions and 31 new host records are reported in this study. Prevalence ranged from 0 to 100%; mean intensity ranged from 0 to 14.
Sex Offenders and Sex Crime Recidivism Investigating the Role of Sentence Length and Time Served

The relationship between criminal justice sanctions and sex crime recidivism remains largely unexplored. Therefore, using a sample of 8,461 previously incarcerated male sex offenders from 13 states in the United States, we focus on the sentence meted out for the sex crime conviction and the amount of time sex offenders served as a result of their conviction. Sex offenders were grouped into four categories: rapists, sexual assaulters, child molesters, and all sex offenders combined. Recidivism was operationalized as rearrest and reconviction. Findings suggest how recidivism is operationalized matters. When recidivism is measured as rearrest for another sex offense, sentence length and time served are unrelated to sex crime recidivism. On the other hand, when recidivism is operationalized as reconviction for another sex offense, sentence length is positively related to recidivism for rapists, sexual assaulters, child molesters, and all sex offenders combined, while time served is negatively related to recidivism for child molesters and all sex offenders combined.
Recognition Imaging of Acetylated Chromatin Using a DNA Aptamer

Histone acetylation plays an important role in the regulation of gene expression. A DNA aptamer generated by in vitro selection to be highly specific for histone H4 protein acetylated at lysine 16 was used as a recognition element for atomic force microscopy-based recognition imaging of synthetic nucleosomal arrays with precisely controlled acetylation. The aptamer proved to be reasonably specific at recognizing acetylated histones, with recognition efficiencies of 60% on-target and 12% off-target. Though this selectivity is much poorer than the >2000:1 equilibrium specificity of the aptamer, it is a large improvement on the performance of a ChIP-quality antibody, which is not selective at all in this application, and it should permit high-fidelity recognition with repeated imaging. The ability to image the precise location of posttranslational modifications may permit nanometer-scale investigation of their effect on chromatin structure.
Action Recognition from One Example

We present a novel action recognition method based on space-time locally adaptive regression kernels and the matrix cosine similarity measure. The proposed method uses a single example of an action as a query to find similar matches. It does not require prior knowledge about actions, foreground/background segmentation, or any motion estimation or tracking. Our method is based on the computation of novel space-time descriptors from the query video which measure the likeness of a voxel to its surroundings. Salient features are extracted from said descriptors and compared against analogous features from the target video. This comparison is done using a matrix generalization of the cosine similarity measure. The algorithm yields a scalar resemblance volume, with each voxel indicating the likelihood of similarity between the query video and all cubes in the target video. Using nonparametric significance tests by controlling the false discovery rate, we detect the presence and location of actions similar to the query video. High performance is demonstrated on challenging sets of action data containing fast motions, varied contexts, and complicated background. Further experiments on the Weizmann and KTH data sets demonstrate state-of-the-art performance in action categorization.
Repeater block planning under simultaneous delay and transition time constraints

We present a solution to the problem of repeater block planning under both delay and signal transition time constraints for a given floorplan. Previous approaches have considered only meeting the target delay of a net. However it has been observed that the repeater planning for meeting the delay target can cause signals on long interconnects to have very slow transition rates. Experimental results show that our new approach satisfies both timing constraints for an average of 79% of all global nets for six MCNC benchmark floorplans studied (at 1 GHz frequency), compared with an average of 22% for the repeater block planner reported previously.
Using abuse case models for security requirements analysis

The relationships between the work products of a security engineering process can be hard to understand, even for persons with a strong technical background but little knowledge of security engineering. Market forces are driving software practitioners who are not security specialists to develop software that requires security features. When these practitioners develop software solutions without appropriate security-specific processes and models, they sometimes fail to produce effective solutions. We have adapted a proven object oriented modeling technique, use cases, to capture and analyze security requirements in a simple way. We call the adaptation an abuse case model. Its relationship to other security engineering work products is relatively simple, from a user perspective.
Anomalous susceptibility of the fasted hamster to acetaminophen hepatotoxicity.

Abstract The effect of an acute fast on susceptibility to acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity was investigated in male Golden Syrian hamsters. Overnight starvation markedly elevated hepatic levels of glutathione throughout the diurnal cycle (peak concentration: 10.6 ± 0.06 mM vs 7.3 ± 0.3 mM in controls). However, despite this apparent increase in the glutathione protective capacity of the liver, acetaminophen-induced hepatic necrosis was modestly potentiated by fasting, as judged by liver histology and elevation of serum transaminase (SGOT) activity. Parallel pharmacokinetic studies indicated that the overall elimination rate constant for acetaminophen was decreased in fasted animals, due largely to decreases in the apparent rate constants for formation of acetaminophen glucuronide and acetaminophen mercapturate. Formation of acetaminophen sulfate was not affected by fasting. Since the major nontoxic pathway (glucuronide) and the toxic pathway (as measured by mercapturate) decreased to a similar extent, the data indicate that the anomalous lack of protection cannot be explained on the basis of altered metabolic disposition of the drug. Measurement of hepatic glutathione levels revealed that, despite the higher initial level of glutathione in the fasted animals, the nadir to which liver glutathione levels fell after acetaminophen was the same in fed and fasted animals. Comparison of the amount of acetaminophen mercapturate in the urine with the amount of glutathione which disappeared from the liver showed close agreement for fed animals, but a major discrepancy for fasted hamsters. These data indicate that a major fraction of glutathione in the liver of the fasted hamsters is not utilized for detoxification of the acetaminophen reactive metabolite and hence does not contribute to the glutathione protective capacity.
At what age do children start taking daily asthma medicines on their own

OBJECTIVE. Use of daily controller medications is a critical task in management of persistent asthma. Study aims were to examine (1) the association between child age and extent of daily controller-medication responsibility in a sample aged 4 to 19 years, (2) parent, child, and disease predictors of child daily controller-medication responsibility and overall daily controller-medication adherence, and (3) the association between child daily controller-medication responsibility and overall daily controller-medication adherence. METHODS. We conducted a cross-sectional telephone survey of 351 parents of children who were prescribed daily controller medication. Children9s mean age was 10.4 years; 61.5% were male, and 88.1% were white. Parents provided all data, including an estimate of the percentage of child and parent daily controller-medication responsibility. Daily controller-medication adherence was measured as parents9 report of percentage of daily doses taken per doses prescribed in a typical week. We used multivariate linear regression to determine associations between parent race/ethnicity, education, income, number of dependents, child age, gender, years since diagnosis, parent perception of symptom severity and control, and dependent variables (child daily controller-medication responsibility and daily controller-medication adherence). We also examined associations between child daily controller-medication responsibility and daily controller-medication adherence. RESULTS. Child daily controller-medication responsibility increased with age. By age 7, children had assumed, on average, almost 20% of daily controller-medication responsibility; by age 11, ∼50%; by age 15, 75%; and by age 19, 100%. In multivariate models, child age and male gender remained significantly associated with child daily controller-medication responsibility, and child9s age and parents9 race/ethnicity remained significantly associated with daily controller-medication adherence. CONCLUSIONS. Clinicians may need to screen for child daily controller-medication management and include even young children when educating families on the use of asthma medications and other key asthma-management tasks.
World System, Anthropogenic, and Ecological Threats to Bird and Mammal Species: A Structural Equation Analysis of Biodiversity Loss

Biodiversity is essential for human well-being, the functioning of ecosystems, and the sustained flow of benefits from ecosystems to individuals and societies. An important component of biodiversity is “species richness,” the number of species in an ecological unit. Loss of species richness contributes to worsening health, lower food security, and the increasing vulnerability of human and animal populations. This article examines the effects of relevant global, anthropogenic (human caused), and ecological factors on nations’ relative shares of the global total of threatened bird and mammal species for 139 countries. Using structural equation models, the authors tested hypothesized predictions from human ecology, ecological modernization, and global political-economic approaches. The findings indicate that the structure of the global system directly affects local anthropogenic factors (modernization, population), which, in concert with ecological characteristics, are direct and indirect predictors of the l...