cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The healing power of listening in the ICU.

Critical care services are highly valued because they can often restore function in patients with acute life-threatening illnesses. In this context, advances in medical science have led to increased expectations for favorable outcomes of episodes of critical illness, even when the patient has severe coexisting chronic disease. The growing demand for critical care has led both to increased numbers of patients who survived with desirable functional outcomes and to increased numbers of patients who die in the intensive care unit (ICU). Today, many deaths in the ICU occur after a decision has been made to discontinue or forgo advanced supportive . . .
Glutamatergic Regulation of the p70S6 Kinase in Primary Mouse Neurons

Brief glutamatergic stimulation of neurons from fetal mice, cultured in vitro for 6 days, activates the mTOR-S6 kinase, ERK1/2 and Akt pathways, to an extent approaching that elicited by brain-derived neurotrophic factor. In contrast, sustained glutamatergic stimulation inhibits ERK, Akt, and S6K. Glutamatergic activation of S6K is calcium/calmodulin-dependent and is prevented by inhibitors of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase 2, phosphatidylinositol 3-OH-kinase and by rapamycin. 2-Amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid, an inhibitor of N'-methyl-D-aspartate receptors, abolishes glutamatergic activation of ERK1/2 but not the activation of mTOR-S6K; the latter is completely abolished by inhibitors of voltage-dependent calcium channels. Added singly, dopamine gives slight, and norepinephrine a more significant, activation of ERK and S6K; both catecholeamines, however, enhance glutamatergic activation of S6K but not ERK. After 12 days in culture, the response to direct glutamatergic activation is attenuated but can be uncovered by suppression of gamma-aminobutyric acid interneurons with bicuculline in the presence of the weak K(+) channel blocker 4-aminopyridine (4-AP). This selective synaptic activation of mTOR-S6K is also resistant to APV and inhibited by Ca(2+) channel blockers and higher concentrations of glutamate. Elongation factor 2 (EF2) is phosphorylated and inhibited by the eEF2 kinase (CaM kinase III); the latter is inhibited by the S6K or Rsk. Bicuculline/4-AP or KCl-induced depolarization reduces, whereas higher concentrations of glutamate increases, EF2 phosphorylation. Thus the mTOR-S6K pathway in neurons, a critical component of the late phase of LTP, is activated by glutamatergic stimulation in a calcium/calmodulin-dependent fashion through a calcium pool controlled by postsynaptic voltage-dependent calcium channels, whereas sustained stimulation of extrasynaptic glutamate receptors is inhibitory.
A Method of Equalized Feeding for Studies with Dairy Cows

Summary The difficulties encountered in dairy cow experiments when using the usual method of periodically adjusting feed intake to production have been discussed. It has been pointed out that the method introduces a bias into ration comparisons, and that under these conditions there is a high variability among experimental animals as regards persistency. The latter effect reduces the precision of experimental comparisons. A method of equalized feeding is presented, which prevents biases in ration comparisons, and simultaneously increases precision by allowing more uniform persistency among animals. Essentially, the method of equalized feeding consists of periodically changing the concentrate intakes of all animals on an experiment regardless of ration, exactly the same percentage of their respective initial concentrate intakes. Meanwhile the roughage portion of the ration is maintained constant for each animal. The method may be applied in conjunction with either the continuous or change-over types of trials. When using equalized feeding and about twenty animals, it would be expected that differences of 3.5 to 5.0 per cent could be demonstrated as significant in the continuous trial, and differences of 2.0 to 3.0 per cent in the change-over trial. Under conditions of equalized feeding, depressing effects on production rates were noticed as early as the eighteenth week of pregnancy.
Further Investigations on Presence of Rh Antibodies in Breast Milk.

Summary and ConclusionsRh antibodies were found in the breast milk of 2 mothers with erythroblastotic children. The Rh antibody titer was much higher in both instances than in the case reported previously. In the first case, the Rh antibody titer of the serum was 1:256 while the milk specimen obtained on the fifth day following delivery showed an antibody titer of 1:16. In the second case, the Rh antibody titer of the serum was not higher than 1:8 and the colostrum, upon examination, revealed the same titer. Those findings suggest that the content of Rh antibodies in breast milk is relatively high in the first days following delivery, especially in the colostrum. In the few cases we examined, we have not been able to demonstrate antibodies in the breast milk unless they were present in the serum. Assuming that Rh antibodies in the breast milk pass through the intestinal canal and enter the circulation, breast milk might be the cause of further damage to blood cells of erythroblastotic children.
Who will pay? Subsidies or taxes for recycling in the heartland

Abstract Attaining recycling goals of 25 to 50% over the next few years will require substantial recycling of residential wastes. A combined program of curbside recycling of conventional post-consumer materials and collection and composting of both leaves and grass will yield a composite diversion rate of 12 to 21% by weight. But in many communities, particularly in the west central and south central states of the American heartland, implementation of such programs will result in a net increase in solid waste management costs. Case studies of four communities in Oklahoma are used to estimate the potential increase in first-year net costs that would result from implementing a combined recycling and yard waste composting program. The results are compared to survey data from Oklahoma and Florida that define the amount residents are likely to be willing to pay for the benefits of recycling. The potential to close the apparent willingness-to-pay gap through state subsidies is then assessed. Where state capital grants programs are insufficient to bridge the gap, and local officials are reluctant to impose costs that are not publicly supported, public education efforts will be needed to increase the value residents ascribe to the nonexclusive positive externalities and local nonmarket benefits of recycling.
The foundation of precision medicine: integration of electronic health records with genomics through basic, clinical, and translational research

The members of the Genomics Workgroup in the Electronic Medical Records and Genomics (eMERGE) network (Gottesman et al., 2013) led the development of a Special Topic in Frontiers in Genetics titled “Genetics Research in Electronic Health Records Linked to DNA Biobanks1.” The goal was to publish papers representing the diverse research ongoing in the integration of electronic health records (EHR) with genomics through basic, clinical, and translational research. The special topic with its 18 papers is extremely timely given the recent announcement of the Precision Medicine initiative by the White House2, which includes the potential to build a biobank of 1 million Americans with rich, phenotypic data—likely from EHR. eMERGE has, therefore, served as an excellent test case for how a 1 million person project might work across several medical centers, EHR systems, and genetic datasets.
Confidence interval for residual mean absolute deviation in regression models

The classic confidence interval for a residual variance is hypersensitive to minor violations of the normality assumption and its robustness does not improve with increasing sample size. An approximate confidence interval for a residual mean absolute deviation is proposed and shown to be robust to moderate violations of the normality assumption with robustness that improves with increasing sample size.
Characterizing the Impact of Program Optimizations on Power and Energy for Explicit Hydrodynamics

With the end of Denard scaling, future systems will be constrained by power and energy. This will impact application developers by forcing them to restructure and optimize their algorithms in terms of these resources. In this paper, we analyze the impact of different code optimizations on power, energy, and execution time. Our optimizations include loop fusion, data structure transformations, global allocation, and compiler selection. We analyze the static and dynamic components of power and energy as applied to the processor chip and memory domains within a system. In addition, our analysis correlates energy and power changes with performance events and shows that data motion is highly correlated with memory power and energy usage and executed instructions are partially correlated with processor power and energy. Our results demonstrate key tradeoffs among power, energy, and execution time for explicit hydrodynamics via a representative kernel. In particular, we observe that loop fusion and compiler selection improve all objectives, while global allocation and data layout transformations present tradeoffs that are objective-dependent.
Relaxin and the Human Fetal Membranes

The human fetal membranes are complex tissues that perform many important functions during gestation. The extracellular matrix provides their strength to withstand the forces directed from the fetus and myometrium. Relaxin is a collagenolytic hormone that causes increased production of the matrix metalloproteinases. Its expression from the decidua is increased in patients with preterm premature rupture of the membranes, and its leucine-rich G receptor 7 is upregulated at preterm. The authors previously showed that relaxin is not involved in the infection-mediated cytokine response, but in the absence of infection, it causes increased secretion of both interleukin -6 and interleukin-8 from the membranes. In this article, the authors propose that relaxin is one of a number of sterile stimuli capable of causing increased proinflammatory cytokines, similar to but less robust than the effects of infection. These probably represent distinct inflammatory pathways involving different intracellular signaling events, which can result in either preterm premature rupture of the membranes or preterm labor. The current challenge is to fully understand these pathways and to clarify their similarities and differences.
The role of antecedents and consequences of soft and hard benefits in loyalty program success

The task of differentiating a company or brand’s services becomes increasingly difficult when those services begin to be perceived as easily imitable and fairly standard. In the credit card industry, the creation and execution of effective loyalty programs has been the primary way credit cards differentiate their offerings. This paper develops a conceptual model based on existing research that incorporates value consciousness and reward proneness as important antecedents of perceived loyalty programs benefits, while also dividing them into two groups—soft and hard benefits. The goal of the study is to explain how consumer attitudes influence their perceptions of loyalty program benefits and costs of switching to other credit cards, and how these loyalty program design elements influence attitudes and behaviors. In line with the service dominant logic perspective, the study emphasizes soft benefits. Results show that both soft and hard benefits influence behavioral loyalty through the mediation of attitudinal loyalty.
A satisfactory treatment of equality and operator constraints in the Dubovitskii-Milyutin optimization formalism

The formalism of Dubovitskii and Milyutin is very attractive but, up to now, it could not be applied to optimization problems involving equality and operator constraints. In the present paper, the formalism of Dubovitskii and Milyutin is extended to this more general situation. Theorem 2.1, the main result of the paper, is applied to the standard mathematical programming problem in normed linear space and an abstract maximum principle is obtained.
Petrologic case for Eocene slab breakoff during the Indo-Asian collision

The Greater Himalayan Sequence is the metamorphic core of the Himalaya and has been a focus of considerable study, yet its petrologic evolution remains controversial. Pre-Oligocene metamorphism was nearly obliterated by Miocene metamorphism and melting, which many workers ascribe to shear heating, unusually high concentrations of radioactive elements accompanying burial, and/or several kilometers of Miocene exhumation due to extensional faulting. Sparse Oligocene to Eocene ages are often assigned to a tectonically unspecified event. An alternative slab-breakoff model (subduction of Greater Himalayan rocks to ∼100 km depth in the Eocene followed by buoyant extrusion due to decoupling of the oceanic lithosphere) has also been proposed based on rare Eocene eclogites, but without explanation of Miocene melting or metamorphic petrogenesis. We argue that slab breakoff readily explains the Eocene eclogites, Miocene partial melts, and late Eocene K-rich magmas in southeastern Tibet, and that metamorphic and plutonic ages help define the timing and rates of breakoff and extrusion. This model implies that (1) much of the Greater Himalayan Sequence was subducted to depths greater than commonly considered, (2) fluid-absent, decompression melting at 30-35 km depth was the consequence of as much as 100 km of extrusion, rather than radioactive heating or a smaller, crustal level extensional or erosional event, and (3) eruption of Eocene, K-rich Tibetan Plateau lavas has no implication for topography of the Tibetan Plateau.
Selenium Binding Protein 1: Passive or Active Role in Disease?

We thankDr.CharlesDiskinforhisencouragingcommentson our work on the involvement of selenium binding pro-tein 1 (SBP-1) in chronic renal allograft nephropathy, CAN(1).WeagreewithhisassessmentthatatthispointwecannotconcludewhetherthedecreaseinSBP-1inthesmoothmuscle cells (SMC) of monkeys with CAN is the cause orthe consequence of the renal impairment. It is indeed in-teresting that selenium increases in vascular diseases (2).We, however, have not examined whether there is a corre-lation between the levels of circulating selenium in serumor plasma and the levels of the tyrosine-phosphorylatedintra-cytoplasmic SBP-1. Our
Ache Life History: The Ecology and Demography of a Foraging People

Ache Life History: The Ecology and Demography of. Foraging People. KIM HILL and A. MAGDALENA HURTADO. New York: Aldine de Gruyter, Inc., 1996. xix. 561 pp., appendixes, references, Index.
Emerging low-density lipoprotein therapies: Microsomal triglyceride transfer protein inhibitors.

Abstract Microsomal triglyceride transfer protein, which is localized in the endoplasmic reticulum of enterocytes and hepatocytes, is necessary for the formation of chylomicron and very low-density lipoprotein particles. Lomitapide is a small molecule microsomal triglyceride transfer protein inhibitor that was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration as an adjunct to a low-fat diet and other lipid-lowering therapies for reducing low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). Results from clinical trials of lomitapide have demonstrated its ability to reduce atherogenic lipoprotein concentrations in this population. Most recently, in a phase 3 clinical trial of 29 men and women with homozygous FH (mean baseline LDL-C, 336 mg/dL) who were on stable doses of concomitant lipid therapies and a low-fat diet, lomitapide was gradually titrated over 26 weeks (from 5 to 60 mg/d), followed by 52 weeks at the maximum tolerated dose. LDL-C decreased from baseline by 50% at 26 weeks, and reductions were maintained through the end of the study. Gastrointestinal disorders were the most frequent side effects and the most common reason for failure to tolerate lomitapide dose escalation. Few patients had elevated aspartate or alanine aminotransferases; bilirubin and alkaline phosphatase levels were unaffected; and hepatic fat increased by ∼10 g/100 g. In conclusion, recent data support the LDL-C–lowering efficacy of low-dose titrated lomitapide in patients with homozygous FH; however, concerns regarding increased hepatic fat will need to be addressed in long-term safety studies.
A framework for knowledge representation and interpretation of industrial objects

Abstract Any computer vision system employed for global part quality control and inspection should identify and interpret the industrial parts that come on the assembly line. In this paper, we propose a framework for knowledge representation to aid the interpretation of a class of industrial objects. The input to the system is a frame of disconnected components and the output is the interpretation of the various parts that are in the frame. The interpretation of the object begins with the specification of the image domain. All the components in the frame are identified as primitives — regions or chains. Then the closure relations involving the chains and regions are established for the image domain. This stage is followed by the mapping of the image domain to a scene domain. Finally, the parts in the frame are identified with the help of the algorithm developed based on the KK3 classification and coding technique. This methodology will find application in automatic assembly and inspection of industrial parts.
The Effects Of Fabricational Variations On Quantum Wire Laser Gain Spectra And Performance

The effects of fabricational variations on the gain spectra of quantum wires are calculated within the limits of first order perturbation theory. Gain spectra and density of states for 50A radius and 150A radius cylindrical quantum wires are calculated and plotted for several different fabrication tolerances. The wave functions for a finite, cylindrical potential are calculated and a quasi-critical radius, below which the carriers are weakly confined by the potential, is established. This sets a lower limit on quantum wire size. Upper limits on the size of quantum wells, quantum wires, and quantum boxes are also discussed. The threshold current and differential gain of quantum wire lasers and quantum wire array lasers are calculated. These calculations indicate a possible reduction in threshold current of one to two orders of magnitude as compared to the best quantum well lasers to date.
A Fluorescent α-Factor Analogue Exhibits Multiple Steps on Binding to Its G Protein Coupled Receptor in Yeast†

The yeast α-factor receptor encoded by the STE2 gene is a member of the extended family of G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) involved in a wide variety of signal transduction pathways. We report here the use of a fluorescent α-factor analogue [K7(NBD), Nle12] α-factor (Lys7 (7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl), norleucine12 α-factor) in conjunction with flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy to study binding of ligand to the receptor. Internalization of the fluorescent ligand following receptor binding can be monitored by fluorescence microscopy. The use of flow cytometry to detect binding of the fluorescent ligand to intact yeast cells provides a sensitive and reproducible assay that can be conducted at low cell densities and is relatively insensitive to fluorescence of unbound and nonspecifically bound ligand. Using this assay, we determined that some receptor alleles expressed in cells lacking the G protein α subunit exhibit a higher equilibrium binding affinity for ligand than the same alleles ex...
Research on Auditing Rent-seeking Activities in Capital Market

From the Perspective of rent-seeking theory, this thesis studies the auditing fraud that needed to be resolved. The thesis analyses the necessity and the theory logic beginning of the auditing rent seeking, and briefly reviews the development and current situation of the relate researches. Through proposing the audit rent seeking activities’ implication, the main body, the manifestation and the future research direction, this thesis provide the foundation and the reference thoroughly for the further research.
Neuronal RNA in Relation to Neuronal Loss and Neurofibrillary Pathology in the Hippocampus in Alzheimer's Disease

Topographic analyses were performed on the distribution of neuronal RNA loss in relation to local neuronal loss and neurofibrillary degeneration in the hippocampal region of brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Compared to age-matched controls, pyramidal neuronal RNA was depressed (p < 0.0001) in all areas of the hippocampus examined in AD, viz., the endplate (33%), Rose's H2 field (30%), Rose's H1 field (37%) and the subiculum (46%). Significant neuronal loss was observed in Rose's H1 field and the subiculum but not in the endplate or Rose's H2 field. The frequency of neurofibrillary tangle-bearing neurons was enhanced in all four regions of AD brains, the number of involved neurons being markedly greater in Rose's H1 field and the subiculum than in the endplate and Rose's H2 field. Overall, the data indicate the existence ofa generalized disturbance in RNA metabolism within pyramidal neurons in the hippocampus in AD, occurring in regions of minimal (endplate, Rose's H2 field) as well as those of extensive (Rose's H1 field, subiculum) pathological alterations. Although there is focal accentuation of RNA depletion in the latter, the marked RNA depletion in regions of minimal pathologic change suggests that this effect is largely unrelated to local neuronal loss or neurofibrillary degeneration.
Dynamics of vitellogenin uptake in Aedes aegypti as demonstrated by trypan blue.

Abstract Trypan blue has been shown to be a reliable indicator of the micropinocytotic uptake of vitellogenin by developing oocytes. Trypan blue was injected into the mosquito Aedes aegypti to determine at what times after the blood meal vitellogenin was taken up. Histological sections examined by light microscopy showed that trypan blue began to be sequestered from 2 to 5 hr after the blood meal. Any association between dye and ovariole ended from 39 to 42 hr after the blood meal, in which period no dye was incorporated into spheres of yolk protein. Of the times investigated in this experiment, the greatest amount of dye was seen in the oocyte at 24 hr after the blood meal. The onset and conclusion of trypan blue uptake correspond with the related events in the synthesis of vitellogenin by the fat body. The presence of trypan blue in occasional interfollicular spaces suggests that the route of entry of vitellogenin in Aedes aegypti is indeed an interfollicular one.
Prostate Apoptosis in Response to Castration in Wild‐Type and Nerve Growth Factor‐Induced Gene A‐Deficient Mice

Objective: Nerve growth factor-induced gene A (NGFIA) is a transcription factor implicated in androgen deprivation-induced apoptosis in an androgen-sensitive prostate cell line ( 1, 2). The objective of our study was to investigate the role of NGFIA in prostate apoptosis in response to androgen ablation in a mouse animal model lacking the gene. Materials and Methods: Wild-type mice (n = 56) and NGFIA-deficient mice (“knock-out”) (n = 16) were surgically castrated. The animals were killed at 0 (noncastrated controls), 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 14, and 21 days after castration, and the prostates were harvested. Tissue sections were stained for morphologic analysis and quantification of apoptosis using a terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase biotinylated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick-end labeling (TUNEL) strategy. Apoptosis was quantitatively measured by counting the number of TUNEL-positive cells/100 epithelial cells by light microscopy. The percentage of apoptosis was compared for wild-type mice versus NGFIA-deficient mice after castration at the defined time points. Results: We found a statistically significant increase in the mean percentage of prostate cell apoptosis within 7–21 days after castration in both wild-type and NGFIA-deficient mice (p 0.05). Conclusion: NGFIA does not seem to play a critical role in prostate apoptosis induced by androgen ablation in this mouse model.
Steady-State Large-Eddy Simulations to Study the Stratocumulus to Shallow Cumulus Cloud Transition

AbstractThis study presents a series of steady-state large-eddy simulations (LESs) to study the stratocumulus to shallow cumulus cloud transition. To represent the different stages of what can be interpreted as an Eulerian view of the transition, each simulation is assigned a unique sea surface temperature (SST) and run until statistically steady. The LES runs are identical in every other aspect. These idealized boundary-driven steady-state LESs allow for a simple parametric assessment of cloud-controlling factors in isolation from initial conditions and time-lag effects inherent in the Lagrangian view of the transition. The analysis of the thermodynamic energy budget reveals that, as the cloud regime transitions from stratocumulus to shallow cumulus, changes in the cloud radiative cooling term are balanced by changes in the subsidence warming term. This leads to a linear regression between the cloud fraction (CF) and an integral that scales, to a first-order approximation, as the lower-tropospheric stabi...
Personal and professional characteristics of exemplary school nurses.

This article describes a study conducted to identify the professional and personal characteristics of exemplary school nurses. During Phase 1 of the study, a content analysis was completed using nomination portfolios of 10 school nurses who were selected as School Nurse of the Year from 1986 to 1998 in the state of New York. Further content analyses were conducted using transcriptions of a focus group and individual open-ended interviews with exemplary school nurses. These analyses yielded 54 personal characteristics and 74 professional characteristics of exemplary school nurses. Using a Delphi technique in Phase 2 of the study, these characteristics were validated and refined by a national sample of exemplary school nurses who had been chosen to be their state nominees for the National Association of School Nurses’ School Nurse of the Year award. Descriptive data were collected on the organizational/structural characteristics of the school systems in which these nurses practiced and on the nurses’ indivi...
The effect of sleep deprivation on vocal expression of emotion in adolescents and adults.

STUDY OBJECTIVE Investigate the impact of sleep deprivation on vocal expression of emotion. DESIGN Within-group repeated measures analysis involving sleep deprivation and rested conditions. SETTING Experimental laboratory setting. PATIENTS OR PARTICIPANTS Fifty-five healthy participants (24 females), including 38 adolescents aged 11-15 y and 17 adults aged 30-60 y. INTERVENTIONS A multimethod approach was used to examine vocal expression of emotion in interviews conducted at 22:30 and 06:30. On that night, participants slept a maximum of 2 h. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS Interviews were analyzed for vocal expression of emotion via computerized text analysis, human rater judgments, and computerized acoustic properties. Computerized text analysis and human rater judgments indicated decreases in positive emotion in all participants at 06:30 relative to 22:30, and adolescents displayed a significantly greater decrease in positive emotion via computerized text analysis relative to adults. Increases in negative emotion were observed among all participants using human rater judgments. Results for the computerized acoustic properties indicated decreases in pitch, bark energy (intensity) in certain high frequency bands, and vocal sharpness (reduction in high frequency bands > 1000 Hz). CONCLUSIONS These findings support the importance of sleep for healthy emotional functioning in adults, and further suggest that adolescents are differentially vulnerable to the emotional consequences of sleep deprivation.
Budding Yeast for Budding Geneticists: A Primer on the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Model System

The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a powerful model organism for studying fundamental aspects of eukaryotic cell biology. This Primer article presents a brief historical perspective on the emergence of this organism as a premier experimental system over the course of the past century. An overview of the central features of the S. cerevisiae genome, including the nature of its genetic elements and general organization, is also provided. Some of the most common experimental tools and resources available to yeast geneticists are presented in a way designed to engage and challenge undergraduate and graduate students eager to learn more about the experimental amenability of budding yeast. Finally, a discussion of several major discoveries derived from yeast studies highlights the far-reaching impact that the yeast system has had and will continue to have on our understanding of a variety of cellular processes relevant to all eukaryotes, including humans.
Morphometric analysis of pancreatic acinar cells from orally fed and intravenously fed rats.

Abstract This report concerns the effects of 1 week of total parenteral (iv) nutrition on the pancreatic acinar cells of the rat. The results indicate that total iv feeding causes a 50% reduction in nuclear and cell volume. It appears, however, the pancreatic acinar cells of the iv fed rats maintain an adequate store of zymogen and at the same time show morphological evidences of lower synthetic activity. The findings suggest that total iv feeding may be of benefit in the treatment of pancreatic disease or trauma by relieving the acinar cells of their normal function, thus allowing the healing process to take place in the pancreas of a patient who is receiving adequate nutrition.
Differences exist in the eating habits of university men and women at fast-food restaurants

Fast-food restaurant eating habits of a group of college students at a large Midwestern land-grant university were determined and evaluated by sex. A 2-page questionnaire was developed, which assessed the subjects' frequency of eating meals and snacks at fast-food restaurants, the predominate types of fast-food restaurants patronized, and the factors influencing food choices at fast-food restaurants. Questionnaires were completed by 113 men and 113 women. A significantly higher percentage of men (84%) than women (58%) reported typically eating fast foods for lunch at least once weekly. A significantly higher percentage of men (70%) than women (63%) reported typically eating at American burger/fries establishments at least once weekly. A significantly larger percentage of men (41%) than women (21%) typically ordered carbonated soda, whereas the reverse was reported for carbonated diet soda (14% vs 31%). A significantly larger percentage of women (34%) than men (13%) gave eating with family/friends as 1 of 2 main reasons for eating at fast-food restaurants. More men (44%) reported typically eating everything ordered at fast-food restaurants, whereas more women (40%) typically ate until satisfied. Fifty percent of men reported not typically considering portion sizes, and 53% of women reported typically considering small portion sizes when ordering. Thirty-seven percent of men and 51% of women reported sometimes choosing menu options they considered healthier at fast-food restaurants. Many differences were observed by sex in the fast-food restaurant eating behaviors of this group of college students.
Resting [Ca2+]i and [Ca2+]i transients are similar in fibroblasts from normal and Alzheimer's donors.

Abstract Previous studies have reported that resting concentrations of intracellular calcium ion were markedly reduced in cultured dermal fibroblasts from Alzheimer's disease patients and that the ability of these cells to respond ro serum stimulation was also decreased as compared to both young and age-matched control cells. In this study we have carefully reexamined these parameters in several of the same lines of fibroblasts and fail to find major differences in resting cytosolic calcium [Ca 2+ ] i , in the response of [Ca 2+ ] i to serum stimulation or in cell spreading in the AD cells as compared to young controls. The present findings suggest that cytoplasmic ionic calcium levels are neither pathognomonic for Alzheimer's cells nor of diagnostic value.
Nonresonant optical nonlinearity of quantum-confined nanocrystals of CuBr in glass

Abstract The nonlinear optical properties of CuBr quantum dots in borosilicate glass are investigated in the single-photon transparency region. The refractive nonlinear index measured at 750 nm is enhanced by two-photon absorption and is ∼ 10-13 cm2/W for glasses containing less than 0.5% CuBr. The sign of the nonlinearity is positive, in agreement with recent measurements of the dispersion of the nonlinear index for a wide range of bulk solids.
The zig-zag equation and its solutions in gauge group cohomological analyses

Abstract It is shown that the zig-zag equations in double complexes of the usual gauge group cohomological analyses under different zero-cochain density conditions can be solved by means of generalized Chern-Simons characteristic polynomials with respect to one orbit in the gauge potential space. Explicit expressions for some cochain densities are given, either in Faddeev's or in Zumino's approaches.
Updated in vivo methods for evaluating topical antimicrobial agents on human skin.

Updated and expanded in vivo quantitative testing procedures to determine the efficacy of topical antimicrobial agents are presented. The occlusion test measures the ability of an agent to prevent the expansion of the resident microflora which occurs when an impermeable dressing is applied to the forearm. Measurements are made at 24 and 48hr. The expanded flora test measures the ability of an agent to suppress a dense population of micro-organisms produced by expansion of the resident flora of the forearm by prior application of an impermeable occlusive dressing. Measurements are made at 6, 24 and 48hr or after, 10min in the ease for agents designed for immediate degerming. The persistence test measures the ability of an agent to establish a reservoir in skin and exert an antimicrobial effect up to 3 days after the last application of the test material. The ecological shift test determines any major alteration in cutaneous microbial ecology following several applications of the material under occlusive dressings. The serum inactivation test determines whether the presence of serum proteins interferes with antimicrobial activity.
Weak comparability of well orderings and reverse mathematics

Abstract Two countable well orderings are weakly comparable if there is an order preserving injection of one into the other. We say the well orderings are strongly comparable if the injection is an isomorphism between one ordering and an initial segment of the other. In [5], Friedman announced that the statement “any two countable well orderings are strongly comparable” is equivalent to ATR 0 . Simpson provides a detailed proof of this result in Chapter 5 of [13]. More recently, Friedman has proved that the statement “any two countable well orderings are weakly comparable” is equivalent to ATR 0 . The main goal of this paper is to give a detailed exposition of this result.
Viral invasion of the Amniotic Cavity (VIAC) in the Midtrimester of Pregnancy

A role for microbial invasion leading to inflammation in the amniotic cavity and subsequent pre-term delivery has been well established. For years, the role of viral infections in pregnancy has been minimized and thought of as harmless, with a few exceptions. Recent evidence now encourages us to expand our thinking and realize that viral infections during pregnancy may influence pregnancy more that we thought.
Keeping narratives of a desktop to enhance continuity of on-going tasks

We describe a novel interface by which a user can browse, bookmark and retrieve previously used working environments, i.e., desktop status, enabling the retention of the history of use of various sets of information. Significant tasks often require reuse of (sets of) information that was used earlier. Particularly, if a task involves extended interaction, then the task's environment has been through a lot of changes and can get complex. Under the current prevailing desktop-based computing environment, after an interruption to the task users can gain little assistance to get back to the context that they previously worked on. A user thus encounters increased discontinuity in continuing extended tasks.
Dynamic simulation of viscoelastic soft tissues in harmonic motion imaging application.

Abstract A finite element model was built to simulate the dynamic behavior of soft tissues subjected to sinusoidal excitation during harmonic motion imaging. In this study, soft tissues and tissue-like phantoms were modeled as isotropic, viscoelastic, and nearly incompressible media. A 3D incompressible mixed u – p element of eight nodes, S1P0, was developed to accurately calculate the stiffness matrix for soft tissues. The finite element equations of motion were solved using the Newmark method. The Voigt description for tissue viscosity was applied to estimate the relative viscous coefficient from the phase shift between the response and excitation in a harmonic case. After validating our model via ANSYS simulation and experiments, a MATLAB finite element program was then employed to explore the effect of excitation location, viscosity, and multiple frequencies on the dynamic displacement at the frequency of interest.
Disease Management by Prevention

Diabetic retinopathy is a significant cause of visual loss in developed countries. Data from epidemiological studies and controlled clinical trials have resulted in treatment strategies, which are highly successful in preventing blindness. These strategies involve measures that require both education and compliance of the individual with diabetes mellitus and the education of physicians and paramedical staff who deliver care to these patients. This paper presents the classification of diabetic retinopathy and the treatment strategies, both the preventive measures and the active treatment modalities used for diabetic retinopathy. Persons with diabetes should be invited from the first day of diagnosis to be active partners working towards the prevention of diabetic complications.
The paradox of the parts and the whole in understanding and improving general practice.

The book reviewed in this issue of the Journal [1] epitomizes the state of the art of quality measurement in general practice. Currently available quality indicators are based on a mix of scientific evidence and expert opinion. Indicators assess processes of care that have been found to be associated with markers of patient outcomes. Quality of care measures and clinical indicators are typically criticized for the limitations of the scientific evidence on which they are based and for their strong reliance on what can be measured [2–4]. However, an even more fundamental issue is important to developing indicators of the quality of general practice. This larger issue is the problem of the parts and the whole—that is, indicators of the quality of care for specific diseases may not adequately represent the quality of care for the whole …
Dynamic Taint Analysis for Automatic Detection, Analysis, and Signature Generation of Exploits on Commodity Software

Software vulnerabilities have had a devastating effect on the Internet. Worms such as CodeRed and Slammer can compromise hundreds of thousands of hosts within hours or even minutes, and cause millions of dollars of damage [26, 43]. To successfully combat these fast automatic Internet attacks, we need fast automatic attack detection and filtering mechanisms. In this paper we propose dynamic taint analysis for automatic detection of overwrite attacks, which include most types of exploits. This approach does not need source code or special compilation for the monitored program, and hence works on commodity software. To demonstrate this idea, we have implemented TaintCheck, a mechanism that can perform dynamic taint analysis by performing binary rewriting at run time. We show that TaintCheck reliably detects most types of exploits. We found that TaintCheck produced no false positives for any of the many different programs that we tested. Further, we describe how TaintCheck could improve automatic signature generation in
A comparison between H-infinity/Mu-synthesis control and sliding-mode control for robust control of a small autonomous underwater vehicle

This paper presents a comparison of H/sub /spl infin////spl mu/-synthesis sliding-mode that was done for heading and depth control of the Draper Laboratory/MIT Sea Grant Sea Squirt autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). The approximate decoupling of the AUV heading and depth dynamics allowed us to have decoupled heading and depth designs for both the H/sub /spl infin////spl mu/-synthesis and the sliding-mode methodologies. The H/sub /spl infin////spl mu/-synthesis based controllers and the sliding-mode based controllers were implemented and tested by using a simulation of the AUV full order nonlinear model (including thruster and sensor dynamics). We analyzed the performance of the controllers (for a simultaneous depth and maneuver) over the approximate range of axial velocities commanded by the AUV. The performance of the controllers in the face of additive sensor noise was also analyzed.
Ultra high frequency phononic crystal in silicon carbide

This work presents, for the first time, a novel fractal phononic crystal (PC) design in epitaxial cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC) and experimentally demonstrates acoustic band gaps (ABGs) in the ultra high frequency (UHF) range. The unit cell consists of an air scatterer in a SiC host matrix. Unlike most conventional PC designs, either having circular holes or cylindrical pillars as the scattering sites, the shape of the fractal-like scatterer is formed by a center square hole with four repeating smaller squares at its corners. The fractal nature of this design enables opening phononic band gaps (PBGs) at higher operating frequencies than conventional designs, therefore attaining UHF operations with larger features. The micromachined SiC PBG structure exhibits two frequency stop bands in the 1 GHz range, centered at 990 MHz and 1.17 GHz with 10 % and 15.4 % gap-to-midgap ratio bandwidth, respectively.
Technology Entrepreneurs' Human Capital and Its Effects on Innovation Radicalness

Radical innovations transform existing markets, create new markets, and stimulate economic growth. This study investigates how the experience, education, and prior knowledge of technology entrepreneurs relate to innovation radicalness. Findings from a sample of 145 technology entrepreneurs operating within university-affiliated incubators suggest that general and specific human capital are both vital to innovation outcomes. Innovation radicalness was positively associated with formal education and prior knowledge of technology, but negatively associated with prior knowledge of ways to serve markets. This suggests a counterintuitive conclusion—the less technology entrepreneurs know about ways to serve a market, the greater their chances of using technology knowledge to create breakthrough innovations within it. Finally, we discuss configurations of human capital that are likely to bestow unique advantages in the construction of radical innovations.
RAS-ING THE TRANSACTIONS OR THE COEFFICIENTS: IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE*

The biproportional RAS technique has become one of the most important tools to update, regionalize, or balance input-output tables. In this note, we rigorously prove that the estimation of the intermediate transactions matrix yields the same results as the estimation of the input coefficients matrix or the output coefficients matrix. We also show that this does not hold for any of the other updating procedures that have been commonly proposed as an alternative to RAS.
Performance Analysis of Energy Detection for Cognitive RadioWireless Networks

In this paper, considering hidden terminal and exposed node problems, we make a theoretical analysis on the performance of commonly used energy detection methods, such as ideal method, transmitter-independent method and transmitter/receiver-cooperated method, in terms of detection probability. Corresponding analytical models are provided. Performance theoretical curves are acquired to compare the characteristics for individual energy detection methods under various scenarios. Moreover the upper bound for detection probability is achieved and is compared under various system traffic intensity and sensing capability.
THE EPIDEMIOLOGY OF APPENDICITIS AND APPENDECTOMY IN THE UNITED STATES

Addlss, D. G. (CDC, Atlanta, GA 30333), N. Shaffer, B. S. Fowler, and R. V. Tauxe. The epidemiology of appendicitis and appendectomy in the United States. Am J Epidemiol 1990;132:910-25. To describe the epidemiology of appendicitis and appendectomy in the United States, the authors analyzed National Hospital Discharge Survey data for the years 1979-1984. Approximately 250,000 cases of appendicitis occurred annually in the United States during this period, accounting for an estimated 1 million hospital days per year. The highest incidence of primary positive appendectomy (appendicitis) was found in persons aged 10-19 years (23.3 per 10,000 population per year); males had higher rates of appendicitis than females for all age groups (overall rate ratio, 1.4:1). Racial, geographic, and seasonal differences were also noted. Appendicitis rates were 1.5 times higher for whites than for nonwhites, highest (15.4 per 10,000 population per year) in the west north central region, and 11.3% higher in the summer than in the winter months. The highest rate of incidental appendectomy was found in women aged 35-44 years (43.8 per 10,000 population per year), 12.1 times higher than the rate for men of the same age. Between 1970 and 1984, the incidence of appendicitis decreased by 14.6%; reasons for this decline are unknown. A life table model suggests that the lifetime risk of appendicitis is 8.6% for males and 6.7% for females; the lifetime risk of appendectomy Is 12.0% for males and 23.1% for females. Overall, an estimated 36 incidental procedures are performed to prevent one case of appendicitis; for the elderly, the preventive value of an incidental procedure is considerably lower.
Exploring the Relationship between Homophobia and Participation in Core Sports among High School Students

This article assesses the relationship between participation in extracurricular activities and homophobia in a population of high school students. During their transition from junior high to high school, partici- pants ( N = 1,470) completed a series of phone interviews that included ques- tions regarding homosexuality. Logistic regressions on these data indicated that males who participated in core sports (e.g., football, baseball, basketball, and/or soccer) were nearly three times more likely than individuals who did not participate in core sports to express homophobic attitudes ( b = 2.967, p < .10). Conversely, females who participated in nonathletic extracurricular activities (e.g., debate club, science club) were half as likely as individuals who did not participate in nonathletic extracurricular activities to express homophobic attitudes ( b = 0.599, p < .05). Future studies should focus on the rigid masculine/heterosexist identity that is perpetuated in core sports.
An Internet Discussion Board for Parents of Mentally Ill Young Children

PURPOSE: This paper reports parents’ use of electronic bulletin board for social support during a pilot study of an Internet intervention. METHODS: Parents participated for a mean of 13.83 weeks. The convenience sample consisted of six parents. Data were from site access information and parents’ postings. FINDINGS: Excluding one mother who checked frequently for messages, mothers have an average of 5.2 postings. Excluding this one mother, the postings/ accesses ratio was greater than 60%. Parents made postings in four categories of “child's illness” having 37 comments and 36 comments for “group maintenance”. CONCLUSIONS: While the study findings cannot be generalized, these results suggest that parents will use electronic discussion boards.