cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Histochemistry and immunocytochemistry of the developing ependyma and choroid plexus

The adult human ependyma expresses no intermediate filament proteins or secretory proteins; the fetal ependyma shows strong immunocytochemical (ICC) expression of vimentin, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), cytokeratins (CKs) of high molecular weight, glycoproteins, and S-100beta protein. Each has a precise and specific spatial distribution within the developing ependyma and a predictable time of appearance and regression in each region of the ventricular system. Several are coexpressed, but some appear earlier or persist longer than others. Secretory proteins of ependymal cells are important in several developmental processes such as the guidance of axonal growth cones. GFAP is not expressed in the floor plate ependyma at any stage of development, unlike vimentin and CK. The choroid plexus epithelium is a specialized ependyma, with an ICC profile that differs from the surface ependyma: vimentin, CK, and S-100beta protein continue to be expressed throughout fetal and adult life, but GFAP is not expressed. Certain cerebral malformations are associated with specific ICC abnormalities: ependymal S-100beta protein continues to be immunoreactive in disorders of neuroblast migration; ependymal vimentin is focally upregulated in Chiari malformations and congenital aqueductal stenosis. Other mammalian and nonmammalian species have characteristic profiles of ependymal immunoreactivity to the same proteins expressed in humans but exhibit interspecific differences.
Towards functional programming in Prolog

The integration of functional and logic programming is attempted, using the strategy to add a functional component to Prolog. The component takes the form of extended computable expressions, allowing user-defined functions and operators as well as a number of functional forms. The problem of evaluating expressions combining functions and predicates is investigated. Examples are provided to illustrate the discussion. The paper includes a prototype implementation.
Using entropy distance measures for testing odds ratio parameters under logistic regression models based on case–control data

Abstract We propose two retrospective test statistics for testing the vector of odds ratio parameters under the logistic regression model based on case–control data by exploiting the density ratio structure under a two-sample semiparametric model, which is equivalent to the assumed logistic regression model. The proposed test statistics are based on Kullback–Leibler entropy distance and are particularly relevant to the case–control sampling plan. These two test statistics have identical asymptotic chi-squared distributions under the null hypothesis and identical asymptotic noncentral chi-squared distributions under local alternatives to the null hypothesis. Moreover, the proposed test statistics require computation of the maximum semiparametric likelihood estimators of the underlying parameters, but are otherwise easily computed. We present some results on simulation and on the analysis of two real data sets.
Object Function and Categorization in Infancy: Two Mechanisms of Facilitation.

Does function facilitate categorization by focusing infants' attention generally on all commonalities among objects or specifically on functionally relevant properties? After familiarization to a novel category, 18-month-olds selected another category member from a pair of previously unseen test objects. In Experiments 1 and 2, infants chose globally similar over functionally similar and novel test objects. Functionally similar and novel test objects were chosen equally. These data suggest that function facilitates categorization through a general attention-enhancing mechanism. However, when functions were more uniquely and transparently tied to object properties in Experiments 3 and 4, infants chose functionally similar over novel test objects. Globally and functionally similar test objects were chosen equally. Therefore, a specific attention-enhancing mechanism also sometimes supports categorization.
Evidence that lysyl- and/or arginyl-tRNA synthetases from rat liver contain carbohydrate

Abstract Lysyl- and arginyl-tRNA synthetases have been found to exist in multiple molecular weight forms in rat liver. The small molecular weight forms of lysyl- and arginyl-tRNA synthetases copurify throughout a five step chromatographic procedure resulting in a purification of 370- and 140-fold, respectively. The enzymes appear to be homogeneous on Sephadex G-200 and elute at an apparent molecular weight of 240,000. Gas chromatography reveals that the synthetases contain nearly 14% carbohydrate by weight. The carbohydrates present are: mannose, fucose, glucose, galactose, N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetylgalactosamine. This is the first report that aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases may exist as glyco-proteins.
An Exploratory Study of Disabled Tenants' Level of Satisfaction Under the Fair Housing Amendments Act

Increased awareness of the civil rights of individuals with disabilities led to the passage of several laws beginning in 1961 and culminating with the passage of the American with Disabilities Act in 1990. All these laws were aimed at improving access to public built environments and transportation. However, the Fair Housing Amendments Act (FHAA) of 1988 focused on assuring the availability of accessible multi-family dwelling units, thus addressing the need for accessible housing directly for the first time in the United States. This study was designed to evaluate the adequacy of the FHAA in protecting the rights of disabled people to accessible multi-family housing, and to learn more about the law's impact on the level of satisfaction with living environment among people with disabilities. A random sample of multi-family dwellings was drawn from HUD subsidized housing lists encompassing four states. Information was gathered by administering a satisfaction questionnaire to the disabled tenant and conducting a FHAA compliance survey of the complex. The data yielded two sample groups based on whether or not the complex complied with the FHAA guidelines. Results of responses from each sample group were compared and analyzed. The study shows that the level of satisfaction with living environment varies greatly among people with disabilities depending upon the design attributes of the built environment. It also suggests that those individuals living in complexes that comply with the FHAA are more satisfied with their behavioral and natural environment, indicating that the Act has made a positive difference in the quality of disabled tenants' daily lives.
The Influence of Milk Intolerance on Milk Consumption in Older Adults

Abstract LEARNING OUTCOME: To examine the impact of milk intolerance on milk consumption in older adults. Current public health policy emphasizes optimizing calcium intakes in the elderly. Fluid milk is a readily available source of calcium, but consumption may be limited by milk intolerance. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the impact of milk intolerance on milk consumption in community-dwelling elders. A national probability-based sample of older adults in their 60s (n=132), 70s (n=157) and 80s (n=134) completed a telephone survey. Of the total sample, 18% (n = 87) indicated they did not tolerate milk. From Chi square analyses, it was found that milk intolerance was twice as likely to occur in minority elders than in Caucasians (33% vs. 17%, p≤.02), and twice as likely to occur in women than in men (21% vs. 10%, p≤.01), but did not increase with age. Compared to individuals who tolerate milk, milk intolerant elders were more likely to avoid milk during adolescence (29% vs. 15%, p≤.05) and to avoid milk currently (57% vs. 22%, p≤.001), and were less likely to be concerned with consuming enough calcium (31% vs. 47%, p≤.02). Milk tolerant individuals were nearly twice as likely to drink milk at least once a day compared to milk intolerant individuals (56% vs. 28%, p≤.001). In conclusion, milk intolerant elders appear to be at high risk for low calcium intakes because of their long history of milk avoidance and their lack of concern about getting enough calcium as adults. (Funded by the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board in cooperation with the National Dairy Council and GA-AES Hatch #629.)
Inactivation of yeast ornithine decarboxylase by polyamines invivo does not result from the incorporation of polyamines into enzyme protein

Abstract We have previously reported that addition of spermidine and spermine to a culture of Saccharomyces cerevisiae results in loss of ornithine decarboxylase activity even though there is no loss of enzyme protein. These findings indicate that the loss of activity is due to a post-translational modification of the enzyme. Since transglutaminase has been shown to catalyze the incorporation of putrescine into ornithine decarboxylase in vitro with resultant loss of enzymatic activity [ Russell, D. H. (1981) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 99 , 1167–1172], we decided to see if the inactivation we observed in vivo was caused by such incorporation. We found that this is not the case; i.e., after growth of yeast with added amines, the inactivated ornithine decarboxylase contains no covalently-bound spermidine or spermine. Thus, we conclude that transamidation by transglutaminase does not play a role in vivo in the polyamine-mediated post-translational modification of yeast ornithine decarboxylase.
Investigation of the reactivity of oligodeoxynucleotides with glyoxal and KMnO4 chemical probes by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

Abstract The reactions of two well-known chemical probes, glyoxal and potassium permanganate (KMnO 4 ), with oligodeoxynucleotides were monitored by electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometry to evaluate the influence of the sequence of DNA, its secondary structure, and interactions with associated ligands on the reactivity of the two probes. Glyoxal, a guanine-reactive probe, incorporated a mass shift of 58 Da, and potassium permanganate (KMnO 4 ) is a thymine-reactive probe that resulted in a mass shift of 34 Da. The reactions depended on the accessibility of the nucleobases, and the peak abundances of the adducts in the ESI-mass spectra were used to quantify the extent of the chemical probe reactions. In this study, both mixed-base sequences were studied as well as control sequences in which one reactive site was located at the terminus or center of the oligodeoxynucleotide while the surrounding bases were a second, different nucleobase. In addition, the reactions of the chemical probes with non-covalent complexes formed between DNA and either actinomycin D or ethidium bromide, both known to interact with single strand DNA, were evaluated.
Killing of "Escherichia coli" by "Myxococcus xanthus" in Aqueous Environments Requires Exopolysaccharide-Dependent Physical Contact

Nutrient or niche-based competition among bacteria is a widespread phenomenon in the natural environment. Such interspecies interactions are often mediated by secreted soluble factors and/or direct cell–cell contact. As ubiquitous soil bacteria, Myxococcus species are able to produce a variety of bioactive secondary metabolites to inhibit the growth of other competing bacterial species. Meanwhile, Myxococcus spp. also exhibit sophisticated predatory behavior, an extreme form of competition that is often stimulated by close contact with prey cells and largely depends on the availability of solid surfaces. Myxococcus spp. can also be isolated from aquatic environments. However, studies focusing on the interaction between Myxococcus and other bacteria in such environments are still limited. In this study, using the well-studied Myxococcus xanthus DK1622 and Escherichia coli as model interspecies interaction pair, we demonstrated that in an aqueous environment, M. xanthus was able to kill E. coli in a cell contact-dependent manner and that the observed contact-dependent killing required the formation of co-aggregates between M. xanthus and E. coli cells. Further analysis revealed that exopolysaccharide (EPS), type IV pilus, and lipopolysaccharide mutants of M. xanthus displayed various degrees of attenuation in E. coli killing, and it correlated well with the mutants' reduction in EPS production. In addition, M. xanthus showed differential binding ability to different bacteria, and bacterial strains unable to co-aggregate with M. xanthus can escape the killing, suggesting the specific nature of co-aggregation and the targeted killing of interacting bacteria. In conclusion, our results demonstrated EPS-mediated, contact-dependent killing of E. coli by M. xanthus, a strategy that might facilitate the survival of this ubiquitous bacterium in aquatic environments.
Substance P derivatives as versatile tools for specific delivery of various types of biomolecular cargo.

The use of proteins or nucleic acids as therapeutic agents has been severely hampered by their intrinsic inability to cross the cell membrane. Moreover, common techniques for driving the delivery of macromolecules lack the ability to distinguish between healthy and diseased tissue, precluding their clinical use. Recently, receptor-mediated delivery (RMD) has emerged as a technology with the potential to circumvent the obstacles associated with the delivery of drug targets by utilizing the natural endocytosis of a ligand upon binding to its hormone. Here, we describe the synthesis of variants of substance P (SP), an eleven amino acid neuropeptide ligand of the neurokinin type 1 receptor (NK1R), for the delivery of various types of cargo. The variants of SP were synthesized with an N-terminal maleimide moiety that allows conjugation to surface thiols, resulting in a non-reducible thioether. Cargos lacking an available thiol are conjugated to SP using commercially available cross-linkers. In addition to the delivery of proteins, we expand the use of SP to include nuclear delivery of DNA fragments that are actively expressed in the target cells. We also show that SP can be used to deliver whole bacteriophage particles as well as polystyrene beads up to 1 µm in diameter. The results show the ability of SP to deliver cargo of various sizes and chemical properties that retain their function within the cell. Furthermore, the over-expression of the NK1R in many tumors provides the potential for developing targeted delivery reagents that are specific towards diseased tissue.
LiCl aversive conditioning has transitory effects on pheromonal responsiveness in male house mice (Mus domesticus).

Abstract Appetitive and aversive experiences influence whether odors elicit precopulatory behavior from male rodents. A role for aversive experience in odor-elicited reproductive behaviors had been demonstrated for hamsters and rats, but similar work on house mice had not been performed. Four experiments examined whether lithium chloride (LiCl) aversive conditioning would alter two precopulatory behaviors (ultrasonic vocalizations and olfactory preference) that male house mice normally exhibit to female urine. Lithium chloride was used to aversively condition male house mice to either female urine odor, female urine in drinking water, the female herself, or a novel odor. Independent tests of taste aversion establishment were also conducted. In these experiments, LiCl aversive conditioning produced robust taste aversions to water adulterated with either female urine or a novel odorant/tastant (isoamylacetate), but only transitory decrements in odorelicited, male-typical precopulatory behaviors. We conclude that aversive conditioning is unlikely to be a signficant factor affecting male mouse precopulatory behavior.
Mössbauer and EPR spectroscopy on protocatechuate 3,4-dioxygenase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Abstract Protocatechuate 3,4-dioxygenase (EC 1.13.11.3) from Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been investigated by EPR and Mossbauer spectroscopy. Low temperature Mossbauer data on the native enzyme ( Fe 3+ , S = 5 2 ) yields a hyperfine field Hsat = −525 kG at the nucleus. This observation is inconsistent with earlier suggestions, based on EPR data, of a rubredoxin-like ligand environment around the iron, i.e. a tetrahedral sulfur coordination. Likewise, the dithionite-reduced enzyme has Mossbauer parameters unlike those of reduced rubredoxin. We conclude that the iron atoms are in a previously unrecognized environment. The ternary complex of the enzyme with 3,4-dihydroxyphenylpropionate and O2 yields EPR signals at g = 6.7 and g = 5.3; these signals result from an excited state Kramers doublet. The kinetics of the disappearance of these signals parallels product formation and the decay of the ternary complex as observed in the optical spectrum. The Mossbauer and EPR data on the ternary complex establish the iron atoms to be in a high-spin ferric state characterized by a large and negative zero-field splitting, D = ⋍ −2 cm −1 .
Prepuncture ultrasound imaging to predict transverse process and lumbar plexus depth for psoas compartment block and perineural catheter insertion: a prospective, observational study.

BACKGROUND:All widely used psoas compartment block/catheter techniques have a common limitation: external landmarks do not accurately predict lumbar plexus depth, leaving practitioners to “guess” at what depth to stop advancing the placement needle when neither transverse process nor lumbar plexus i
Ureteropelvic Junction Obstruction with a Simultaneous Renal Calculus: Long-Term Followup

We reviewed 111 patients who presented with simultaneous renal calculi and a ureteropelvic junction obstruction. Of 34 patients with ureteropelvic junction obstruction and a coexisting struvite stone 62% had recurrent calculi. The use of antibiotics significantly affected the incidence of recurrent struvite calculi. In particular, if prolonged prophylactic antibiotics (greater than 3 months) were used 15% of the patients had recurrent stones, compared to 90% if only perioperative antibiotics (less than 15 days) were used (p < 0.001). Patients with ureteropelvic junction obstruction and coexisting nonstruvite calculi were treated by either observation alone (53) or metabolic evaluation with appropriate intervention (24). Metabolic evaluation of patients with nonstruvite calculi revealed that 76% had an identifiable metabolic abnormality, treatment of which significantly decreased the incidence of recurrent renal calculi: 17% of the patients on interventional therapy had recurrent stones compared to 55% treated by observation alone (p < 0.001).
FURTHER STUDIES ON PASSIVE TRANSFER OF TOLERANCE TO PYROGENICITY OF BACTERIAL ENDOTOXIN : THE FEBRILE AND LEUCOPENIC RESPONSES

The effect of various schedules for inducing tolerance to bacterial endotoxin in donor rabbits upon suitability for demonstration of passive transfer of tolerance to pyrogenicity in normal recipients has been investigated. Long-term treatment of donors, through 5 weeks, is no more effective than a brief series of injections, adding further evidence that tolerance is not attributable to specific antibody to the endotoxin. Qualitative differentiation of the febrile pattern of passively tolerant recipients from that seen in control animals depends upon the magnitude of the test dose of pyrogen. Passively tolerant rabbits respond to endotoxin with an acute leucopenia equivalent to that seen in controls suffering a full biphasic fever. Animals given daily injections of endotoxin continue to show the acute leucopenia, despite the early modification of the course of fever characteristic of endotoxin tolerance. The assumption that the leucopenia reflects damage to the leucocytes, with release of endogenous pyrogen, is not consistent with these findings. Rabbits rendered leucopenic by nitrogen mustard and then given endotoxin exhibit a rapidly developing fever of greater than normal intensity, the exaggeration of the febrile response being proportional to the severity of the induced leucopenia. The implications of these findings for the pathogenesis of endotoxin-induced fever are discussed. The evidence supports the hypothesis that endotoxin produces fever by direct action rather than by release of endogenous leucocytic pyrogen. It is postulated that the lesser fever, in animals having normal numbers of circulating leucocytes, reflects a limitation of available endotoxin by the known rapid sequestration in the white blood cells at the time of the acute leucopenia. It is further suggested that the biphasic febrile response of the normal rabbit results from reinoculation of the blood stream by the temporarily sequestered endotoxin, the RES of the tolerant animal clearing the released endotoxin at a rate sufficient to prevent triggering the second phase of fever.
Software and technologies designed for people with autism: what do users want?

Software developers, designers and researchers have been looking to technology for solutions to help and educate people with autism for over two decades. There are many examples of seemingly successful technology-based products and prototypes, yet very little is known about how well these solutions are currently integrated into lives of children and adults with autism and their families. This paper reports on results from an anonymous on-line survey intended as a first step to elucidate information about software and technology use. Additionally, data was analyzed to aid creation of future technology-based products for people with autism that are not just effective, but that also meet important user goals and align to their interests and strengths. Major findings included: (1) very few respondents (25\%) had any experience with software or technology designed for people with cognitive disabilities; (2) when asked an open-ended question about what they desire in technology design, respondents reported three major goals (social skills, academic skills, and organization skills), and many suggestions for improvements to software and hardware design; and (3) technology was reported as both a major strength and interest for people with autism.
Direct convex relaxations of sparse SVM

Although support vector machines (SVMs) for binary classification give rise to a decision rule that only relies on a subset of the training data points (support vectors), it will in general be based on all available features in the input space. We propose two direct, novel convex relaxations of a non-convex sparse SVM formulation that explicitly constrains the cardinality of the vector of feature weights. One relaxation results in a quadratically-constrained quadratic program (QCQP), while the second is based on a semidefinite programming (SDP) relaxation. The QCQP formulation can be interpreted as applying an adaptive soft-threshold on the SVM hyperplane, while the SDP formulation learns a weighted inner-product (i.e. a kernel) that results in a sparse hyperplane. Experimental results show an increase in sparsity while conserving the generalization performance compared to a standard as well as a linear programming SVM.
FTIR study of competitive water-arene sorption on tetramethylammonium- and trimethylphenylammonium-montmorillonites

Montmorillonites saturated with small quaternary alkylammonium ions such as tetramethyl- ammonium (TMA) or trimethylphenylammonium (TMPA) are excellent sorbents for aromatic pollutants. In some cases, water inhibits arene sorption, but the inhibition mechanism is not understood completely. The objectives of this study were to determine whether arenes interact with adsorbed TMA and TMPA ions and/or with siloxane surfaces, and how water affects these interactions. We reacted benzene and ethylbenzene vapors with normal- and reduced-charge TMA- and TMPA-montmorillonite films at several relative humidities, and obtained infrared spectra of the resulting sorbate-clay complexes. Arene sorption caused the methyl asymmetric deformation vibrations adsorbed TMA and TMPA to shift to lower wave- number, whereas water sorption caused shifts to higher wavenumber. In the absence of water, benzene and ethylbenzene adsorbed on the siloxane surface as well as interacted directly with TMA and TMPA ions. The proportion of TMA and TMPA ions that interacted with benzene and ethylbenzene was greater for reduced-charge than normal-charge montmorillonite. Comparison of the HOH deformation and cation methyl asymmetric deformation vibrations indicated that both benzene and ethylbenzene inhibited water sorption substantially, and that water more readily displaced benzene and ethylbenzene from TMA and TMPA ions than from siloxane surfaces. Water inhibited arene sorption mainly by hydrating exchangeable cations, thereby obscuring siloxane surfaces adjacent to adsorbed TMA and TMPA ions and decreasing the average pore dimensions. These results indicate that in the presence of bulk water, arene adsorption likely occurs primarily on the siloxane surface.
A Minimum Principle for Controlled Jump Processes

In Queueing Theory and many other fields problems of control arise for stochastic processes with piecewise constant paths. In this paper the validity of optimality conditions analagous to the Pontryagin Maximum Principle for deterministic control problems is investigated for this type of stochastic process. A minimum principle which involves the conditional jump rate, the conditional state jump distribution, system performance rate, and the conditional expectation of the remaining performance is obtained. The conditional expectation of the remaining performance plays the role of the adjoint variables. This conditional expectation satisfies a type of integral equation and an infinite system of ordinary differential equations.
Binary Consensus Over Fading Channels

In this paper, we consider a cooperative network that is trying to reach consensus on the occurrence of an event, by communicating over time-varying network topologies with fast fading channels. We mathematically characterize both the asymptotic and transient behaviors of the network. We show that the network converges to a memoryless state asymptotically, which is undesirable. However, the network can still be in consensus for a long period of time. In order to characterize the transient behavior, we then derive a tight approximation for the second largest eigenvalue of the underlying average probability transition matrix in fading environments. We show the impact of channel unreliability and network topology on consensus performance and shed light on the underlying tradeoffs in terms of speed of convergence and memoryless asymptotic behavior.
Effect of Restricted Pasture Access on Pasture Dry Matter Intake Rate, Dietary Energy Intake, and Fecal pH in Horses

Abstract Eight mature horses were used in a 4 × 4 Latin square design to determine the effect of restricted pasture access on dry matter intake rate (DMIR), energy intake, and fecal pH. Horses were randomly assigned to one of four groups (HGRPs), each containing two horses. HGRPs were randomly assigned to one of four treatments consisting of 3, 6, 9, or 24 hours of pasture access, for a period of 7 days. Treatments were switched every 7 days. The 3- and 6-hour groups were fed free choice mature grass hay while not grazing. Daily pasture dry matter intake (DMI) for each HGRP was estimated by calculating the difference between initial herbage mass of the grazing cell before grazing and residual herbage mass after 7 days of grazing. Total dry matter intake was the sum of pasture and hay DMI for the 3- and 6-hour treatments. Fecal pH was measured on day 7 of each period. Response variables were analyzed using analysis of variance for Latin square design. Restricting pasture access decreased mean pasture DMI (P = .02), pasture dietary energy (DE) (P = .02), and fecal pH (P
Compositions of micas in peraluminous granitoids of the eastern Arabian shield

Compositions and pleochroism of micas in fourteen peraluminous alkali-feldspar granites in the eastern part of the Late Proterozoic Arabian Shield are unlike those of micas (principally biotite) in most calc-alkaline granitoid rocks. Compositions of these micas are distinguished by elevated abundances of Li2O, F, and numerous cations and by low MgO abundances. These micas, constituents of highly evolved rare-metal enriched granitoids, represent an iron-lithium substitution series that ranges from lithium-poor siderophyllite to lithium-rich ferroan lepidolite. The eastern Arabian Shield also hosts six epizonal granitoids that contain colorless micas. Compositions of these micas, mostly muscovite, and their host granitoids are distinct from those of the iron-lithium micas and their host granitoids. Compositions of the analyzed micas have a number of petrogenetic implications. The twenty granitoids containing these micas form three compositional groups that reflect genesis in particular tectonic regimes; mica compositions define the same three groups. The presence of magmatic muscovite in six of these shallowly crystallized granitoids conflicts with experimental data indicating muscovite stability at pressures greater than 3 kbar. Muscovite in the Arabian granitoids probably results from its non-ideal composition; the presence of muscovite cannot be used as a pressure indicator. Finally, mineral/matrix partition coefficients are significantly greater than 1.0 for a number of cations, the rare-earth elements in particular, in many of the analyzed iron-lithium micas. Involvement of these types of micas in partial melting or fractionation processes can have a major influence on silicate liquid compositions.
Minimizing Disparities in Surgical Care: A Research Focus for the Future

The wide array of questions and opportunities for surgical health services research offers important prospects for inquiry into surgical disparities. In this essay we discuss research that directly or indirectly addresses disparities in surgery, highlighting the strengths and the future directions such research efforts intimate as potential foci of collective attention. We then consider possible research approaches-including community-based participatory models-for confronting disparity and the potential role of research in quality improvement to help achieve the ultimate aim, an optimal level of health care for all.
Antenatal supplementation with micronutrients and biochemical indicators of status and subclinical infection in rural Nepal

Background: Previously we showed that women in rural Nepal experience multiple micronutrient deficiencies in early pregnancy. Objective: This study examined the effects of daily antenatal micronutrient supplementation on changes in the biochemical status of several micronutrients during pregnancy. Design: In Nepal we conducted a randomized controlled trial in which 4 combinations of micronutrients (folic acid folic acid + iron folic acid + iron + zinc and a multiple micronutrient supplement containing folic acid iron zinc and 11 other nutrients) plus vitamin A or vitamin A alone as a control were given daily during pregnancy. In a subsample of subjects (n = 740) blood was collected both before supplementation and at ˜32 wk of gestation. Results: In the control group serum concentrations of zinc riboflavin and vitamins B-12 and B-6 decreased whereas those of copper and a-tocopherol increased from the first to the third trimester. Concentrations of serum folate 25-hydroxyvitamin D and under-carboxylated prothrombin remained unchanged. Supplementation with folic acid alone or folic acid + iron decreased folate deficiency. However the addition of zinc failed to increase serum folate which suggests a negative inhibition: multiple micronutrient supplementation increased serum folate. Folic acid + iron + zinc failed to improve zinc status but reduced subclinical infection. Multiple micronutrient supplementation decreased the prevalence of serum riboflavin vitamin B-6 vitamin B-12 folate and vitamin D deficiencies but had no effect on infection. Conclusions: In rural Nepal antenatal supplementation with multiple micronutrients can ameliorate to some extent the burden of deficiency. The implications of such biochemical improvements in the absence of functional and health benefits remain unclear. (authors)
Transoral submandibular ganglion neurectomy: an anatomical feasibility study.

Background:The management of sialorrhea can be difficult for both the patient and the clinician. Current management includes behavioral modification, anticholinergics, botulinum injections, and a variety of surgical options, which all have demonstrated some efficacy. As minimally invasive procedures flourish, we explore the feasibility of highly selective transoral submandibular neurectomy (TOSN) for the management of sialorrhea.Methods:Ten human cadaver dissections of the floor of mouth were performed bilaterally, for a total of 20 separate cases. An intraoral technique for highly selective, submandibular ganglion neurectomy is demonstrated.Results:A transoral submandibular ganglion neurectomy was performed in 10 cadavers (20 neurectomies) easily and reliably, without injury to the submandibular duct or the main trunk of the lingual nerve.Conclusion:Transoral submandibular neurectomy is an attractive addition to the armamentarium of surgical options for the treatment of medically intractable sialorrhea. ...
Sovereign debt portfolios: risks and liability management operations

This paper addresses issues relating to (1) sovereign debt portfolio risks stemming from high sovereign debt levels and unbalanced debt portfolio structures, and (2) liability management operations intended to meet specified debt management objectives, including mitigation of these risks. Further, it outlines some common operations used by public debt managers such as debt swaps and debt buybacks, and explains the rationale and benefits from their undertakings.
Robustness and performance trade-offs in control design for flexible structures

Linear control design models for flexible structures are only an approximation to the "real" structural system. There are always modeling errors or uncertainty present. Descriptions of these uncertainties determine the trade-off between achievable performance and robustness of the control design. In this paper it is shown that a controller synthesized for a plant model which is not described accurately by the nominal and uncertainty models may be unstable or exhibit poor performance when implemented on the actual system. In contrast, accurate structured uncertainty descriptions lead to controllers which achieve high performance when implemented on the experimental facility. It is also shown that similar performance, theoretically and experimentally, is obtained for a surprisingly wide range of uncertain levels in the design model. This suggests that while it is important to have reasonable structured uncertainty models, it may not always be necessary to pin down precise levels (i.e., weights) of uncertainty. Experimental results are presented which substantiate these conclusions. >
Algorithm-Based Recovery for Newton's Method without Checkpointing

Check pointing is the most popular fault tolerance method used in high-performance computing (HPC) systems. However, increasing failure rates requires more frequent checkpoints, thus makes check pointing more expensive. We present a checkpoint-free fault tolerance technique. It takes advantage of both data dependencies and communication-induced redundancies of parallel applications to tolerate fail-stop failures. Under the specified conditions, our technique introduces no additional overhead when there is no actual failure in the computation and recover the lost data with low overhead. We add fault-tolerant capacity to Newton's method by using our scheme and diskless check pointing. Numerical simulations indicate that our scheme introduces much less overhead than diskless check pointing does.
Impact of race and ethnicity on counseling for alcohol consumption: a population-based, cross-sectional survey.

Background: Counseling for alcohol use is of proven utility, but whether disparities in provision of counseling exist is uncertain. Methods: Using the 1999 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a population-based telephone survey, we examined participant-reported physician counseling for alcohol use among 15,498 adults in 5 U.S. states. Participants reported their usual alcohol intake, risky drinking (intake of 5 or more drinks on occasion, greater than 60 drinks per month, or driving after drinking), and whether a doctor had spoken with them about alcohol use. Results: Race and ethnicity were strongly associated with reported receipt of alcohol counseling. Compared with whites, black and Hispanic adults had 2-fold higher odds of reporting receiving counseling among all participants, among problem drinkers, and among abstainers. There were modest differences according to sex, income, self-reported health, and education, but not body mass index. Multivariable adjustment and restriction to participants who reported a recent checkup did not alter these findings. No such disparity was noted for general diet counseling. Conclusions: Clear racial and ethnic differences exist in physician counseling for alcohol use, with higher prevalence estimates among racial and ethnic minority populations. Although the cause of these differences is uncertain, systematic application of preventive medical services such as alcohol screening and counseling is needed for all patients. Language: en
Soil sample collection and analysis for the Fugitive Dust Characterization Study

A unique set of soil samples was collected as part of the Fugitive Dust Characterization Study. The study was carried out to establish whether or not source profiles could be constructed usingnovel analytical methods that could distinguish soil dust sources from each other. The soil sources sampled included fields planted in cotton, almond, tomato, grape, and safflower, dairy and feedlot facilities, paved and unpaved roads (both urban and rural), an agricultural staging area, disturbed land with salt buildup, and construction areas where the topsoil had been removed. The samples were collected usinga systematic procedure desig ned to reduce samplingbias, and were stored frozen to preserve possible organic signatures. For this paper the samples were characterized by particle size (percent sand, silt, and clay), dry silt content (used in EPA-recommended fugitive dust emission factors), carbon and nitrogen content, and potential to emit both PM10 and PM2.5. These are not the ‘‘novel analytical methods’’ referred to above; rather, it was the basic characterization of the samples to use in comparinganalytical methods by other scientists contracted to the California Air Resources Board. The purpose of this paper is to document the methods used to collect the samples, the collection locations, the analysis of soil type and potential to emit PM10, and the sample variability, both within field and between fields of the same crop type. r 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Kidney Dysfunction and Cognitive Decline in Women

Summary Background and objectives ESRD is associated with substantial cognitive deficits but whether earlier kidney dysfunction predicts cognitive decline is less well defined. Design, setting, participants, & measurements More than 1700 women aged ≥70 years in the Nurses9 Health Study had plasma creatinine and urinary albumin/creatinine ratios (ACRs) measured in 2000, within 12 months of their initial cognitive testing. These participants had repeated assessments of cognition administered by phone every 2 years, including tests for general cognition, verbal memory, verbal fluency, and working memory for up to 6 years of follow-up. Mixed-effects regression analysis was applied to calculate mean differences in the rate of cognitive decline between women with an estimated GFR Results The median age was 74 years at initial cognitive testing, 99% of women were Caucasian, median plasma creatinine was 0.8 mg/dl, and 25% had an ACR ≥5 mg/g. The difference in cognitive decline with a baseline ACR ≥5 mg/g versus an ACR Conclusions A baseline urinary ACR ≥5 mg/g, a level not traditionally considered clinically significant, is independently associated with faster decline in cognitive function.
Monitoring Immediate-Early Gene Expression Through Firefly Luciferase Imaging of HRS/J Hairless Mice

Background Gene promoters fused to the firefly luciferase gene (luc) are useful for examining gene regulation in live transgenic mice and they provide unique views of functioning organs. The dynamics of gene expression in cells and tissues expressing luciferase can be observed by imaging this enzyme's bioluminescent oxidation of luciferin. Neural pathways involved in specific behaviors have been identified by localizing expression of immediate-early genes such as c-fos. A transgenic mouse line with luc controlled by the human c-fos promoter (fos::luc) has enabled gene expression imaging in brain slice cultures. To optimize imaging of immediate-early gene expression throughout intact mice, the present study examined fos::luc mice and a second transgenic mouse containing luc controlled by the human cytomegalovirus immediate-early gene 1 promoter and enhancer (CMV::luc). Because skin pigments and hair can significantly scatter light from underlying structures, the two transgenic lines were crossed with a hairless albino mouse (HRS/J) to explore which deep structures could be imaged. Furthermore, live anesthetized mice were compared with overdosed mice.
Providers’ Attitudes Toward Human Papillomavirus Vaccination in Young Men: Challenges for Implementation of 2011 Recommendations

Providers’ attitudes toward male human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination may influence the implementation of new guidelines. Although 24 of 31 (77%) Pediatric and Family Medicine providers interviewed between 2009 and 2010 favored vaccinating males, only 3 (12%) offered vaccination. Providers who did not offer vaccination felt that parents would not be interested in vaccinating sons and were largely unaware of serious HPV-related disease in males.
Precise Positioning on Computer Monitors: Comparison of Mouse and Scroll Wheel in One Dimension:

Precisely positioning graphical objects is an essential task for graphic designers. This paper compares precise positioning using a physically discrete device, indented scroll wheels, with positioning using a continuous device, standard mouse movements. The device (scroll wheel or mouse), positioned object height, positioning tolerance and initial object-target separation are varied while observing the error frequency, movement times and time to confirm that the object is accurately positioned. Positioning tolerance was varied from a single permissible position to 7 possible positions. Error frequency and confirmation time were less using the scroll wheel, while movement times were less using the mouse. Appropriate measures for the difficulty of precise positioning are discussed.
Extending the Dynamic Range of a Spectrum Monitor Using Comparison Switching and Spectral Averaging

The dynamic range of a spectrum monitor can be extended by incoherently averaging the difference between the spectrum from the antenna and the spectrum from a comparison load. We show that it is often advantageous to increase the attenuation to the spectrum analyzer, thereby lowering the maximum signal strength at the mixer and subsequently compensating for the added noise by incoherent spectral averaging. We analyzed the case of a conventional heterodyne analyzer as well as an analyzer using direct analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) sampling.
Transcatheter closure of secundum-type atrial septal defect after failed surgical intervention.

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Atrial septal defect (ASD) closure is routinely performed using transcatheter closure under echocardiographic guidance. Case Description: A 24-year-old male was evaluated for a newly detected heart murmur. This was the first time a murmur or any other cardiac abnormalities were detected. He reported no symptoms of chest pain, dyspnea, palpitations, and reported being able to run without limitations. Physical examination revealed a short-grade systolic murmur consistent with high pulmonary flow in the left sternal border. A transesophageal echocardiogram revealed a 28-mm secundum ASD with right ventricular and right atrial enlargement. Percutaneous closure device was initially contemplated but was deferred secondary to the size of ASD and the lack of inferior rim. He then underwent open surgical closure, which was complicated by reoperation for bleeding and incomplete ASD closure. However, the surgery provided a new generous inferoposterior rim from scar tissue to perform percutaneous...
Physiology of Humidification in Critically Ill Neonates

Delivering appropriately conditioned inspired gas is widely recommended and practiced during invasive respiratory support of neonates, although no consensus exists regarding optimal temperature and humidity.
Increasing Security Awareness in Undergraduate Courses with Labware (Abstract Only)

This poster documents three approaches that we are undertaking to increase security awareness within undergraduate computer science classes. The first approach is a verbal password entry system, with surreptitious photos being taken when the mobile device is stolen. The second approach is a lab where students develop a password entry and verification system between a mobile device and a remote server. The third approach is a captcha system, where students implement a simple challenge that can be verified. Like password entry, the captcha communications must be secure and difficult to automatically manipulate. Unlike password entry, the captcha is meant to allow humans access while denying other computers.
ICP-MS measurement of iodine diffusion in IG-110 graphite for HTGR/VHTR

Abstract Graphite functions as a structural material and as a barrier to fission product release in HTGR/VHTR designs, and elucidation of transport parameters for fission products in reactor-grade graphite is thus required for reactor source terms calculations. We measured iodine diffusion in spheres of IG-110 graphite using a release method based on Fickain diffusion kinetics. Two sources of iodine were loaded into the graphite spheres; molecular iodine (I 2 ) and cesium iodide (CsI). Measurements of the diffusion coefficient were made over a temperature range of 873–1293 K. We have obtained the following Arrhenius expressions for iodine diffusion: D I , C s I i n f u s e d = ( 6 × 10 − 12 m 2 s ) exp ( 30,000 J mol R T ) And, D I , I 2 i n f u s e d = ( 4 × 10 − 10 m 2 s ) exp ( − 11,000 J mol R T ) The results indicate that iodine diffusion in IG-110 graphite is not well-described by Fickan diffusion kinetics. To our knowledge, these are the first measurements of iodine diffusion in IG-110 graphite.
Host Specificity Tests with Stenocarus fuliginosus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae): A Potential Agent for Biocontrol of Illicit Opium Poppy

A small weevil, Stenocarus fuliginosus (Marsham), a pest of cultivated opium poppy, Papaver somniferum L., in Europe, was tested for potential as a biocontrol agent of illicit opium poppy. Sixtyseven species of plants in 18 families were tested in adult no-choice feeding tests. Although extensive feeding occurred in several families besides the Papaveraceae, and both oviposition and oogenesis occurred with the composite, chicory, larvae developed only on plants in the Papaveraceae. S. fuliginosus has potential as a biological control agent of various poppies.
Evaluation of Latent Semantic Analysis-Based Measures of Team Communications Content

Team process is thought to mediate team member inputs and team performance. Among the team behaviors identified as process variables, team communications have been widely studied. We view team communications as a team behavior and also as team information processing, or team cognition. Within the context of a Predator Uninhabited Air Vehicle (UAV) synthetic task, we have developed several methods of communications content assessment based on Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA). These methods include: Communications Density (CD) which is the average task relevance of a team's communications, Lag Coherence (LC) which measures task-relevant topic shifting over UAV missions, and Automatic Tagging (AT) which categorizes team communications. Each method is described in detail. CD and LC are related to UAV team performance. AT-human is comparable to human-human agreement on content coding. The results are promising for the assessment of teams based on LSA applied to communication content.