cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sex and sexual orientation in relation to tobacco use among young adult college students in the US: a cross-sectional study.

Sexual minority young adults represent a high-risk population for tobacco use. This study examined cigarette and alternative tobacco product (ATP) use prevalence across sexual orientation (heterosexual, gay/lesbian, and bisexual) among college-attending young adult men and women, respectively. Baseline data from a two-year longitudinal study of 3386 young adult college students aged 18–25 in Georgia were analyzed. Correlates examined included sociodemographics (age, sex, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, college type, and parental education). Outcomes included past 30-day use of tobacco (cigarette, little cigars/cigarillos [LCCs], e-cigarettes, hookah, any tobacco product used, and number of tobacco products used, respectively). Two-group, multivariate multiple regression models were used to examine predictors of tobacco use among men and women, respectively. Among men (N = 1207), 34.7% used any tobacco product; 18.6% cigarettes; 12.3% LCCs; 16.8% e-cigarettes; and 14.7% hookah. Controlling for sociodemographics, gay sexual orientation (OR = 1.62, p = 0.012) was associated with higher odds of cigarette use; no other significant associations were found between sexual orientation and tobacco use. Among women (N = 2179), 25.3% used any tobacco product; 10.4% cigarettes; 10.6% LCCs; 7.6% e-cigarettes; and 10.8% hookah. Being bisexual was associated with cigarette (p < 0.001), LCC (p < 0.001), and e-cigarette use (p = 0.006). Lesbian sexual orientation was associated with cigarette (p = 0.032) and LCC use (p < 0.001). Being bisexual predicted any tobacco product used (p = 0.002), as well as number of tobacco products used (p = 0.004). Group comparisons showed that the effect of sexual minority status on LCC use was significantly different for men versus women. Sexual minority women, especially bisexual women, are at higher risk for using specific tobacco products compared to heterosexual women; homosexual men are at increased risk of cigarette use compared to heterosexual men. These nuances in tobacco use should inform interventions targeting sexual minorities.
Α Fatigue, Performance, and Medical Error

This chapter focuses on effects of shiftwork, disruption of bodily circadian rhythms, sleep loss, fatigue, and performance expectations of health-care providers as they pertain to sustained vigilant monitoring of patients, the likelihood of fatigue-related error, and other safety aspects of providing institutional health-care services. Fatigue, which results from continued physical or mental activity, is characterized by diminished ability to do work and is accompanied by subjective feelings of tiredness. The Office of Technology Assessment report states that nonstandard work schedules, when most people would normally be sleeping, disrupt workers' circadian biological rhythms. In addressing the likelihood of fatigue-related error in medical institutions such as hospitals or nursing homes, three work-scheduling concepts pertain: Shiftwork scheduling, continuous operations, and sustained performance. Shiftworkers and sustained operations (SUSOPS) workers are notoriously lacking in good nutritional habits. Like other workers, health-care providers are affected by many physiological, psychological, and behavioral variables associated with their jobs and their particular lifestyles.
Response to Comment on Laiteerapong et al. The Legacy Effect in Type 2 Diabetes: Impact of Early Glycemic Control on Future Complications (The Diabetes & Aging Study). Diabetes Care 2019;42:416-426.

We appreciate the opportunity to discuss our work (1) further in response to Hulman et al. (2). While we understand and appreciate their four concerns, we respectfully disagree with their interpretation of our work and stand by our analytic approach and conclusions. One major concern was that the results were biased because we conditioned study inclusion on survival of 10 years. While we agree that conditioning on survival would be a concern if we were generalizing results to all patients with diabetes, we clearly specified that our results only apply to patients who survive a minimum of 10 years. It was necessary to condition the study population on some minimum years of survival because one must …
A Stackelberg Game Framework for Mobile Data Gathering in Leasing Residential Sensor Networks

This paper studies a data gathering problem in a wireless sensor network containing multiple private residual subnetworks. The interaction between the wireless sensor network operator and the owners of residual sub-networks is modeled by a Stackelberg game, which forms a novel framework for jointly analyzing the pricing, gathering data, and planning routes. It is shown that the game has a unique Stackelberg equilibrium at which the wireless sensor network operator sets prices to minimize total cost, while owners of residual sub-networks respond accordingly to maximize their utilities subject to their bandwidth constraints. An algorithm and theoretical analyses are provided for the corresponding strategies of the operator and owners, and validated by extensive simulations. It is demonstrated that the algorithm achieves lower network cost compared with existing data gathering strategies.
Significance of Interstitial Lung Disease on Outcomes Following Cardiac Surgery

Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a known risk factor for noncardiac surgery due to acute pulmonary exacerbations but its impact after cardiac surgery is not known. We examined perioperative outcomes and risk factors for long-term survival in ILD patients who underwent cardiac surgery. From January 2002 to June 2017, 294 cardiac surgery patients with a previous ILD diagnosis, including 75 patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), were identified. A comparison cohort of 1,481 non-ILD patients was selected based on a priori variables. Long-term survival was evaluated using Cox proportional hazard modeling. Median follow-up was 6.4 years. ILD patients had higher postoperative mortality, reintubation rates, longer intensive care unit stay, and higher 30-day readmission rates (all p <0.05). Kaplan-Meier estimates of survival at 1, 5, and 10 years were 89%, 62%, and 37% for the non-IPF ILD cohort, 89%, 50%, and 13% for the IPF cohort, and 95%, 82%, and 67% for the comparison cohort, respectively (overall p <0.001). These significant differences in survival persisted in our risk-adjusted survival analysis. Adjusted survival analysis identified IPF (hazard ratio 3.04) and ILD (non-IPF; hazard ratio 1.78) as significant contributors to all-cause mortality. However, there were no changes in pulmonary function tests after 48 months postprocedure. In conclusion, ILD patients who underwent cardiac surgery have increased operative mortality, reintubation rates, longer intensive care unit, and higher 30-day readmissions compared with non-ILD patients. Moreover, severity of ILD, especially in IPF, appears to be associated with shorter long-term survival. In these patients, pulmonary risk stratification and multidisciplinary team approach are crucial.
Direct diabatization and analytic representation of coupled potential energy surfaces and couplings for the reactive quenching of the excited 2 Σ + state of OH by molecular hydrogen

We have employed extended multiconfiguration quasidegenerate perturbation theory, fourfold-way diabatic molecular orbitals, and configurational uniformity to develop a global three-state diabatic representation of the potential energy surfaces and their couplings for the electronically nonadiabatic reaction OH* + H2 → H2O + H, where * denotes electronic excitation to the A 2Σ+ state. To achieve sign consistency of the computed diabatic couplings, we developed a graphics processing unit-accelerated algorithm called the cluster-growing algorithm. Having obtained consistent signs of the diabatic couplings, we fit the diabatic matrix elements (which consist of the diabatic potentials and the diabatic couplings) to analytic representations. Adiabatic potential energy surfaces are generated by diagonalizing the 3 × 3 diabatic potential energy matrix. The comparisons between the fitted and computed diabatic matrix elements and between the originally computed adiabatic potential energy surfaces and those generated from the fits indicate that the current fit is accurate enough for dynamical studies, and it may be used for quantal or semiclassical dynamics calculations.
The effects of an observational conditioning-by-denial intervention on the establishment of three observational learning cusps

We tested the effects of an Observational Conditioning-by-Denial Intervention (OCDI) on the establishment of three observational learning cusps: Observational Performance (OP), Observational Learni...
High-Throughput Profiling Identifies Resource Use Efficient And Abiotic Stress Tolerant Sorghum Varieties

Energy sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is a rapidly growing, high-biomass, annual crop prized for abiotic stress tolerance. Measuring genotype-by-environment (G x E) interactions remains a progress bottleneck. High throughput phenotyping within controlled environments has been proposed as a potential solution. Early, measureable indicators of desirable traits that translate to the field would increase the speed of crop improvement efforts. Here we identify shape, color and ionomic indicators of abiotic stress for genetically diverse sorghum varieties. We subjected a panel of 30 sorghum genotypes to either nitrogen deprivation or drought stress and measured responses within an automated phenotyping facility, followed by ionomic profiling. Images of growing plants were collected every day for three weeks, and key metrics are reported. Responses to stress were quantified using differences in shape (16 measureable outputs), color (hue and intensity) and ionome (18 elements). We found shape characteristics to be reliable indicators of performance under both stress conditions tested. In contrast, color was a defining indicator of nitrogen starvation but not drought stress. Through this analysis we were able to measure the speed at which specific genotypes respond to stress and identify individual genotypes that perform most favorably under these stress conditions. These data are made available through an open access, user-friendly, web-based interface. Ionomic profiling was conducted as an independent, low cost and high throughput option for characterizing G x E. The effect of genotype on the ionome was consistent between the two experiments confirming the robustness of the high throughput platform. In addition, multiple individual elements were identified as quantitative outputs of abiotic stress. While the important challenge of translation between controlled environment- and field-based experiments remains, the multiple revealed quantitative outputs from different abiotic stress conditions are genetically encoded. Consequently, the genetic explanations for these responses can now be elucidated using classical and molecular genetics. We propose this work as a time efficient method of dissecting the genetic mechanisms used by sorghum to respond to abiotic stress. In summary, this work provides a mechanism to overlay high throughput phenotyping with field studies to accelerate crop improvement.
Digging Deeper: Exploring the Relationship of the Rooney Rule and Coaching Diversity in the NFL

This paper analyzes the relationship between the Rooney Rule and coaching diversity in the National Football League (NFL). The Rooney Rule is a policy implemented in 2003 by the NFL to address long-standing concerns over minority representation among coaches. The Rooney Rule stipulates that for every head-coaching vacancy, at least one minority candidate must be interviewed for the position. In this paper, I provide input to the research question: To what extent has the Rooney Rule improved minority representation among high-level NFL coaches? The NFL claims the Rooney Rule to be a policy success. However, existing research on the impact of the Rooney Rule suggests mixed findings. Some publications claim that performance, not race, is the primary driver for selecting coaching candidates for high-level positions. Other publications attribute all-time highs in minority Head Coaching hires almost directly to the Rooney Rule. To better understand the Rooney Rule’s effectiveness, I conducted comparisons of minority hiring rates across two different time periods for the following three topics: the comparability of diversity improvements to the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Major League Baseball (MLB), the disparities of racial coaching distribution by team, and the difference of hiring rates of Coordinators among white and minority Head Coaches. Informed by my research findings and discussions in existing literature, my ultimate policy recommendation for increasing diversity within the coaching ranks is to mandate expansion of the Rooney Rule to include Coordinator-level coaching positions, such that minorities are better positioned to become future Head Coaches.
An inventory and typology of permanent floodplain lakes in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley: a first step to conservation planning

The alluvial valley of the Mississippi River is an extensive area harboring hundreds of lakes created by fluvial dynamics. These floodplain lakes are scattered throughout the valley and carved over thousands of years by shifting river courses and other hydro-fluvial processes associated with contemporary and prehistoric rivers. These lakes have significant ecological importance as they support a large component of North American biodiversity. We used remote sensing to catalog lakes, to characterize morphology, and to construct a typology via cluster analysis. We identified over 1300 permanent lakes totaling over 100,000 ha. The lakes were classified into 12 types according to lake size, shape, depth, connectivity, inundation frequency, and surrounding landcover. We anticipate that biotic characteristics differ among the 12 types, but large-scale systematic analyses of biotic assemblages of floodplain lakes in the region are mostly absent. Our typology can provide the framework essential for organizing research to define water dynamics, water quality, and ecological conditions such as forests, mussel, fish, and avian communities to construct conservation plans. The typology encourages a large-scale view of the properties of floodplain lakes in the alluvial valley. It is a functional tool that can be used to begin identifying conservation and research needs, adapt monitoring and management programs, customize environmental programs, and use conservation resources more effectively to achieve large-scale management objectives.
Return of a lost structure in the evolution of felid dentition revisited: A DevoEvo perspective on the irreversibility of evolution

There is a longstanding interest in whether the loss of complex characters is reversible (so-called Dollo′s law). Reevolution has been suggested for numerous traits but among the first was Kurten (1963), who proposed that the presence of the second lower molar (M2) of the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) was a violation of Dollo′s law because all other Felids lack M2. While an early and often cited example for the reevolution of a complex trait, Kurten (1963) and Werdelin (1987) used an ad hoc parsimony argument to support their proposition that M2 reevolved in Eurasian lynx. Here I revisit the evidence that M2 reevolved in Eurasian lynx using explicit parsimony and maximum likelihood models of character evolution and find strong evidence that Kurten (1963) and Werdelin (1987) were correct – M2 reevolved in Eurasian lynx. Next, I explore the developmental mechanisms which may explain this violation of Dollo′s law and suggest that the reevolution of lost complex traits may arise from the reevolution of cis- regulatory elements and protein-protein interactions, which have a longer half-life after silencing that protein coding genes. Finally, I present a model developmental model to explain the reevolution M2 in Eurasian lynx.
Epithelial membrane protein 2 (Emp2) modulates innate immune cell population recruitment at the maternal-fetal interface

Epithelial membrane protein 2 (EMP2) is a tetraspan membrane protein that has been revealed in cancer and placental models to mediate a number of vascular responses. Recently, Emp2 modulation has been shown to have an immunologic effect on uterine NK cell recruitment in the mouse placenta. Given the importance of immune cell populations on both placental vascularization and maternal immune tolerance of the developing fetus, we wanted to better characterize the immunologic effects of Emp2 at the placental-fetal interface. We performed flow cytometry of WT and Emp2 KO C57Bl/6 mouse uterine horns at GD12.5 to characterize immune cell populations localized to the various components of the maternal-fetal interface. We found that Emp2 KO decidua and placenta showed an elevated overall percentage of CD45+ cells compared to WT. Characterization of CD45+ cells in the decidua of Emp2 KO dams revealed an increase in NK cells, whereas in the placenta, Emp2 KO dams showed an increased percentage of M1 macrophages (with an increased ratio of M1/M2 macrophages). Given the differences detected in uNK cell populations in the decidua, we further characterized the interaction between Emp2 genetic KO and NK cell deletion via anti-asialo GM1 antibody injections. While the double knock-out of Emp2 and NK cells did not alter individual pup birthweight, it significantly reduced total litter weight and size by ∼50 %. In conclusion, Emp2 appears to regulate uNK and macrophage cell populations in pregnancy.
LAIDAR: Learning for Accuracy and Ideal Diagnostic Resolution

IC diagnosis, as a key-step of yield learning, helps to uncover the root cause of chip failure. High quality diagnosis results, measured in terms of accuracy and resolution, are crucial for physical failure analysis during fast yield ramping. Despite various existing methods for enhancing diagnosis, there is still ample room for further improvement. In this paper, a new machine learning based diagnosis method is proposed for improving both accuracy and resolution. Based on features extracted from tester and simulation data, the goal is to predict whether a defect candidate actually corresponds to the real defect. Specifically, semi-supervised learning is deployed to use unlabeled data to augment model training. In addition, a defect-level learning procedure uses characteristics from similar defects to further improve resolution. Experiments involving virtual and silicon datasets demonstrate significant improvements that include: 6.4× increase in occurrences of perfect diagnosis, and a performance that consistently outperforms other state-of-the-art diagnosis techniques.
Drawing pfaffian graphs

We prove that a graph is Pfaffian if and only if it can be drawn in the plane (possibly with crossings) so that every perfect matching intersects itself an even number of times.
FATHER PARTICIPATION IN A COMMUNITY‐DOULA HOME‐VISITING INTERVENTION WITH YOUNG, AFRICAN AMERICAN MOTHERS

This article examines the extent and nature of father participation in a perinatal, community-based doula home-visiting intervention that served young, African American mothers from low-income backgrounds and their infants. Home-visitor service records were used to assess the quantity, setting, and content of father-attended visits. Correlates of fathers' participation and thematic insights from mothers' and home-visitors' perspectives on how fathers perceived and interacted with the home-visiting program were analyzed to further characterize the nature of father participation. Although the community-doula home-visiting model does not include special outreach to increase father participation, almost half of the mothers had a doula visit at which their baby's father was present, many of which took place in medical settings. Mothers and doulas reported that fathers were generally positive about the doula, but expressed that fathers viewed the doula as a substitute provider of support that fathers seemed reticent to provide themselves. These results suggest that community doulas who visit pre- and postpartum in multiple settings have unique opportunities to have contact with fathers that traditional home visitors or early childhood specialists may not have.
A Review of “A Theology for Christian Education”

As noted by editor and contributor James R. Estep, Jr., in his conclusion to A Theology for Christian Education, “for the last few decades, Christian education has been a discipline with an identit...
Expert Information and Nonparametric Bayesian Inference of Rare Events

Prior distributions are important in Bayesian inference of rare events because historical data information is scarce, and experts are an important source of information for elicitation of a prior distribution. I propose a method to incorporate expert information into nonparametric Bayesian inference on rare events when expert knowledge is elicited as moment conditions on a finite dimensional parameter θ only. I generalize the Dirichlet process mixture model to merge expert information into the Dirichlet process (DP) prior to satisfy expert’s moment conditions. Among all the priors that comply with expert knowledge, we use the one that is closest to the original DP prior in the Kullback–Leibler information criterion. The resulting prior distribution is given by exponentially tilting the DP prior along θ. I provide a Metropolis–Hastings algorithm to implement this approach to sample from posterior distributions with exponentially tilted DP priors. The proposed method combines prior information from a statistician and an expert by finding the least-informative prior given expert information.
Measurement of Mitochondrial ROS Production

The significance of reactive oxygen species (ROS) as aggravating or primary factors in numerous pathologies is widely recognized, with mitochondria being considered the major intracellular source of ROS. It is not yet possible to routinely measure mitochondrial ROS in animals or cultured cells with a reasonable degree of certainty. However, at the level of isolated mitochondria, one can easily monitor and quantify the rate of ROS production, identify major sites of ROS production, and compare the rates of ROS production in mitochondria isolated from normal and diseased tissue. In this chapter, we describe in detail the most recent and reliable method to measure mitochondrial ROS as the rate of H2O2 emission. This method may be employed with minimal modifications to measure H2O2 production by mitochondria isolated from various tissues and under a wide variety of experimental conditions.
Hematogones: a multiparameter analysis of bone marrow precursor cells

Morphologically distinct lymphoid cells with homogeneous, condensed chromatin and scant cytoplasm can be observed in large numbers in the bone marrow of children with a variety of hematologic and nonhematologic disorders. In some patients, these cells may account for greater than 50% of the bone marrow cells, creating a picture that can be confused with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) or metastatic tumor. Although originally called hematogones (HGs), a variety of other names have been proposed for these unique cells. The clinical significance of expanded HGs has not been resolved, and the biologic features of these cells are incompletely described. In this study, we correlate the clinical, morphologic, cytochemical, flow cytometric, molecular, and cytogenetic properties of bone marrow samples from 12 children with substantial numbers of HGs (range 8% to 55% of bone marrow cells). Diagnoses in these patients included anemia, four; neutropenia, one; anemia and neutropenia, one; idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, two; retinoblastoma, two; Ewing's sarcoma, one; and germ cell tumor, one. Flow cytometric analyses of bone marrow cells demonstrated a spectrum extending from early B-cell precursors (CD10+, CD19+, TdT+, HLA-Dr+) to mature surface immunoglobulin-bearing B cells in these patients, corroborating our morphologic impression of HGs, intermediate forms, and mature lymphocytes. DNA content was normal, and no clonal abnormality was identified by either cytogenetic or immunoglobulin and T-cell receptor (TCR) gene rearrangement studies. Follow-up ranged from 3 months to 3 years. None of the patients has developed acute leukemia or bone marrow involvement by solid tumor. The possible role of HGs in immune recovery and hematopoiesis is presented.
DVCS with a Longitudinally Polarized Target with CLAS12

We describe a planned experiment to measure the longitudinal target‐spin asymmetry in the DVCS process using CLAS12 detector. While the beam‐spin asymmetry is more sensitive to H GPD, measurements of the target‐spin asymmetry allow us to access the H GPD. These data will extend the Q2 range accessable by the existing CLAS data and the scheduled 6 GeV CLAS DVCS experiments to Q2 = 8 GeV2.
Intracellular Ca2+ dynamics during spontaneous and evoked activity of leech heart interneurons: low-threshold Ca currents and graded synaptic transmission.

In oscillatory neuronal networks that pace rhythmic behavior, Ca2+ entry through voltage-gated Ca channels often supports bursting activity and mediates graded transmitter release. We monitored simultaneously membrane potential and/or ionic currents and changes of Ca fluorescence (using the fluorescence indicator Ca Orange) in spontaneously active and experimentally manipulated oscillator heart interneurons in the leech. We show that changes in Ca fluorescence in these interneurons during spontaneous bursting and evoked activity reflect the slow wave of that activity and that these changes in Ca fluorescence are mediated by Ca2+ entry primarily through low-threshold Ca channels. Spatial and temporal maps of changes in Ca fluorescence indicate that these channels are widely distributed over the neuritic tree of these neurons. We establish a correlation between the amount of transmitter released, as estimated by the integral of the postsynaptic current, and the change in Ca fluorescence. In experiments in which we were able to record presynaptic low-threshold Ca currents, associated IPSCs, and presynaptic changes in Ca fluorescence from fine neuritic branches of heart interneurons near their region of synaptic contact with their contralateral partner, there was a close association between the rise in Ca fluorescence and the rise of the postsynaptic conductance. The changes in Ca fluorescence that we record at the end of fine neuritic branches appear to reflect changes in [Ca2+]i that mediate graded synaptic release in leech heart interneurons. These results indicate that widely distributed low-threshold Ca currents play an important role in generating rhythmic activity and in mediating graded transmitter release.
CONFORMATIONAL CHANGES OF P-GLYCOPROTEIN BY NUCLEOTIDE BINDING

P-glycoprotein (Pgp) is a membrane protein that transports chemotherapeutic drugs, causing multidrug resistance in human cancer cells. Pgp is a member of the ATP-binding cassette superfamily and functions as a transport ATPase. It has been suggested that the conformation of Pgp changes in the catalytic cycle. In this study, we tested this hypothesis by using limited proteolysis as a tool to detect different conformational states trapped by binding of nucleotide ligands and inhibitors. Pgp has high basal ATPase activity; that is, ATP hydrolysis by Pgp is not rigidly associated with drug transport. This activity provides a convenient method for studying the conformational change of Pgp induced by nucleotide ligands, in the absence of drug substrates which may generate complications due to their own binding. Inside-out membrane vesicles containing human Pgp were isolated from multidrug-resistant SKOV/VLB cells and treated with trypsin in the absence or presence of MgATP, Mg-adenosine 5'-[beta,gamma-imido]triphosphate (Mg-p[NH]ppA) and MgADP. Changes in the proteolysis profile of Pgp owing to binding of nucleotides were used to indicate the conformational changes in Pgp. We found that generation of tryptic fragments, including the loop linking transmembrane (TM) regions TM8 and TM9 of Pgp, were stimulated by the binding of Mg-p[NH]ppA, MgATP and MgADP, indicating that the Pgp conformation was changed by the binding of these nucleotides. The effects of nucleotides on Pgp conformation are directly associated with the binding and/or hydrolysis of these ligands. Four conformational states of Pgp were stabilized under different conditions with various ligands and inhibitors. We propose that cycling through these four states couples the Pgp-mediated MgATP hydrolysis to drug transport.
Diazoxide attenuates insulin secretion and hepatic lipogenesis in zucker diabetic fatty rats.

BACKGROUND Attenuation of hyperinsulinemia by diazoxide (DZ), an inhibitor of glucose-mediated insulin secretion, in Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats, an animal model of type 2 diabetes and leptin resistance, decreased weight gain, improved lipid profile and prevented diabetes. Since the opposing effects of insulin and leptin regulate hepatic lipogenesis, we studied effects of insulin suppression on key insulin-sensitive genes regulating hepatic lipogenesis. MATERIAL/METHODS DZ (150 mg/kg/day) or vehicle [pair-fed (PF) and control (C)] was administered to pre-diabetic obese ZDF and ZDF lean (ZL) rats for 8 weeks. RESULTS Hepatic glucose transporter-2 protein expression decreased only in DZ-ZDF rats (p<0.001). However, insulin receptor substrate-1/2 protein expressions were enhanced in DZ-ZDF (p<0.02) and DZ-ZL (p<0.03) rats corresponding to increased phosphorylated protein kinase B levels in both strains (p<0.03). DZ increased glycogen synthase expression in ZDF (p<0.005) and ZL (p<0.002) rats. DZ reduced expression of sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c, (p<0.0001), fatty acid synthase (p<0.002), acetyl CoA carboxylase (p<0.001), hormone-sensitive lipase (p<0.005), and peroxisome proliferator agonist receptor-gamma (p<0.02) in ZDF rats, without altering expressions of acyl CoA oxidase, peroxisome proliferator receptor-alpha, and carnitine palmitoyl transferase-1. DZ decreased hepatic triglycerides (p<0.001), long chain acyl-CoA (p<0.001) and cholesterol (p<0.01) contents only in ZDF rats, but increased glycogen content in both strains (p<0.02). CONCLUSIONS Suppression of hyperinsulinemia by DZ enhanced hepatic insulin sensitivity and decreased expression of key genes regulating hepatic lipogenesis without altering genes regulating lipid oxidation; implying that attenuation of hyperinsulinemic state by DZ enhances metabolic efficiency of insulin and is therapeutically beneficial.
Rang's Children's Fractures. 3rd ed.

Mercer Rang, Maya E. Pring, and Dennis R. Wenger, editors. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins; 2005. 311 pages. $110.00 . “Fractures in children differ from those in adults.” So begins the third edition of Rang's Children's Fractures . The book ends with, “It is unlikely that the fracture incidence will decrease; therefore the medical system (and orthopedic community) should continue research on effective, efficient treatment methods. It is hoped that this text will contribute to this effort.” I believe that the authors' hope will be realized, as this book is one that will be educational and informative to all students, residents, practicing physicians, and other providers who care for injured children. It should become a staple of orthopaedic residency libraries and pediatric emergency departments. In between the opening and closing statements, the reader will find an excellent overview of fractures in children, emphasizing the principles of care. There is enough detail to assist in the care of an individual patient and enough breadth …
Collecting Anarchy: Continuing the Legacy of the Joseph A. Labadie Collection

The Joseph A. Labadie Collection at the University of Michigan is one of the oldest and most comprehensive collections of radical history in the United States, bringing together unique materials that document past as well as contemporary social protest movements. In addition to anarchism and labor movements, topics that were its original focus, the Collection today is particularly strong in civil liberties (with an emphasis on racial minorities), socialism, communism, colonialism and imperialism, American labor history through the 1930s, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or the Wobblies), the Spanish Civil War, sexual freedom, women’s liberation, gay liberation, the . . .
Nonlinear molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo algorithms.

Equations of motion for the molecular dynamics simulation of crystals are presented; the atomic degrees of freedom are coupled to a thermal reservoir to control temperature and to an elastic reservoir to control the deformation of the lattice, while satisfying a nonlinear stress-strain relation. The exact treatment of finite deformations of the lattice leads to a formulation of the tensorial virial theorem that accounts for the elastic response of the crystal to an inclusion of a new structural phase. A Metropolis Monte Carlo algorithm is presented that is completely consistent with the molecular dynamics method; this is achieved by extending the Monte Carlo procedure to include trials of both atomic positions and momenta. Computational results demonstrating the equivalence of the methods in satisfying the virial theorem in the nonlinear regime are presented.
Oblique Airy wave packets in bidispersive optical media

Using hyperbolic rotations, we show that a new class of skewed, nonspreading, accelerating Airy wave packets is possible in optical bidispersive systems. Their obliquity factor is found to have a profound effect on their spatiotemporal acceleration dynamics. Pertinent examples are provided.
Bariatric surgery and end-stage organ failure

Morbid obesity increases the risk of complications and allograft failure in transplant patients. Bariatric surgery is both safe and effective in patients with chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease, improves eligibility for transplant based on body mass index, and does not affect postoperative immunosuppressant dosing regimens. Bariatric surgery in patients with liver disease has been shown to be safe and effective, although they remain at high risk in the setting of portal hypertension. Sleeve gastrectomy may become increasingly used both pretransplant and posttransplant, as it can result in low complication rates and excellent weight loss, and retains intestinal continuity.
Biosynthesis of skin sterols. II. Reduction of Δ24-unsaturated sterols of rat skin

Triparanol was administered to rats, and the concentration and formation of skin Sterols was investigated. Normal sterols of rat skin were replaced by Δ24-stenols when triparanol was administered. The concentration of some skin sterols increased. Skin from triparanol-treated rats incorporated more labeled acetate into sterols. Most of the increased synthesis was associated with the composite Δ7- and Δ24-stenols of rat skin. Lanosterol was reduced to 24,25-dihydrolanosterol by homogenates of rat liver; the reduction was inhibited by triparanol. The reduction of the double bond in the side chain of sterols in skin is not solely a terminal reaction that has been suggested for the synthesis of sterols in liver.
Metabolic Deglucuronidation and Demethylation of Estrogen Conjugates as a Source of Parent Estrogens and Catecholestrogen Metabolites in Syrian Hamster Kidney, a Target Organ of Estrogen-Induced Tumorigenesis

Estrogen-induced tumors in kidneys of male Syrian hamsters have been postulated to arise from cells which are damaged by free radicals and other reactive species generated during metabolic redox cycling of catecholestrogens and which at the same time are exposed to excessive growth stimulation mediated by estrogen receptors. In this study, we have determined the rates of metabolic deconjugation of estrogen glucuronides and of catecholestrogen methyl ethers by cellular fractions from male hamster kidney and liver to evaluate the contribution of this process to renal pools of parent estrogens and of catecholestrogen metabolites. Lysosomes from male hamster kidney catalyzed the deconjugation of estradiol- and estrone-3 beta-D-glucuronides at rates of 51.7 and 64.6 pmol/mg protein/min, respectively, which were 65 and 34% higher than corresponding deconjugation rates by liver lysosomes. Treatment of hamsters with estradiol implants for 9 days increased lysosomal glucuronidase activities for these estrogen glucuronides by 15 to 25% in kidney and doubled the activities in liver, but it did not alter their corresponding Km values. Microsomal glucuronidase activities in kidney and liver were approximately 10 to 20% of lysosomal activities. Rates of demethylation of 2- and 4-methoxyestradiol by kidney microsomes were comparable (with Vmax values of 24 and 30 pmol/mg protein/min, respectively), whereas the rate of demethylation of 2-methoxyestradiol by liver microsomes was approximately fivefold higher than that of 4-methoxyestradiol. The rates of renal demethylation of methoxyestrogens were comparable with previously published rates of renal aromatic hydroxylation of estradiol, whereas rates of hepatic demethylation were about one-fifth of the corresponding hydroxylation rates. It is concluded that metabolic deconjugation is an important source of primary estrogens and of catecholestrogen metabolites in hamster kidney, a target of estrogen-induced tumorigenesis. The increased renal estrogen glucuronidase activity during prolonged estradiol treatment may also facilitate the development of estrogen-induced tumors in this target organ.
Response elimination in concurrent and single operant situations with pigeons

Abstract Two experiments compared the efficiency and durability of elimination of a free operant resulting from omission (OM) or extinction (EXT) when an alternative to the response undergoing elimination was available. Pigeons were pretrained on concurrent VI (Expt I) before response elimination, durability testing, and extinction testing. Maintenance of one operant by the adventitious reinforcement for not emitting a second operant subjected to OM was demonstrated. Response elimination effects were more durable after OM than EXT. Experiment II compared concurrent and single operant paradigms in response elimination with OM and EXT. Response elimination was more rapid and more durable in the concurrent situation than in the single operant situation, and OM conditions were more durable than EXT conditions.
Recent trends in the funding and utilization of NIH career development awards by surgical faculty.

Abstract Introduction Career development awards (K-awards) from the National Institutes of Health comprise the most significant mechanism of research funding for junior faculty. This study compared the funding success rates and utilization of these awards between faculty from surgical departments and those from nonsurgical departments. Methods Success rates for major career development awards were obtained from the National Institutes of Health and compared between departments of surgery and four other clinical departments during 1992 to 2002. The number of faculty associated with these departments was obtained from the American Association of Medical Colleges and used to compare K-award utilization between groups during 1998 to 2002. Results Success rates for award proposals designed for clinical scientists were consistently lower when originating from departments of surgery compared with other clinical departments (combined K08, K23, and K24 pool: Surgery 41.3%; range of nonsurgery 46.7-57.5%, P = .009 vs nonsurgical group). Nonsurgeons were 2.5 times (range 2.0-7.8) more likely to apply for any type of career development award compared with surgeons (P Conclusions Surgeons are less likely to apply for career development awards, and those who do are less likely to be successful compared with their nonsurgical peers. Innovative strategies are needed to increase the number and success of career development proposals submitted by surgical faculty.
Reconnection of colliding vortex rings

We investigate numerically the Navier-Stokes dynamics of reconnecting vortex rings at small Reynolds number for a variety of configurations. We find that reconnections are dissipative due to the smoothing of vorticity gradients at reconnection kinks and to the formation of secondary structures of stretched antiparallel vorticity which transfer kinetic energy to small scales where it is subsequently dissipated efficiently. In addition, the relaxation of the reconnection kinks excites Kelvin waves which due to strong damping are of low wave number and affect directly only large scale properties of the flow.
A method of facilitating renal transplantation with the use of stockinet.

Summary During renal transplantation, placement of the kidney inside a sleeve of stockinet, with the artery and vein exiting through a side opening, improves exposure during vascular anastomosis, facilitates handling of the kidney, and permits the kidney to be surrounded by a cool, moist surface.
Reply to Kansa's Remarks on the Efficiency of ICE-Like Schemes for Combustion Problems

A recent article by Kansa contains some misleading statements about the APACHE code and about the suitability of ICE-like schemes for combustion problems with large chemical heat release. The authors hope the following comments will serve to correct any misconceptions that may have resulted. 7 references.
Characterizing verbal interaction among moderately mentally retarded peers: Some methodological issues

Abstract The peer interaction of three moderately mentally retarded adolescents was analyzed using two observation techniques, one qualitative and one quantitative. Findings from each methodology are contrasted and their relative merits for the interpretation of conversational interaction are discussed. It is concluded that there is a need for a different type of quantitative coding scheme that looks at units of interaction rather than subunits of time and that qualitative analysis should precede the construction of quantitative measures in order to ensure ecologically valid behavior descriptors.
Integrated lab on chip for detection of cells and micro-organisms

Nanowire field effect transistors (FETs) have been widely used as sensors for detection of biological products including small molecules, proteins, and nucleic acids [1]. Biological FET's provide high sensitivity, small size, portability and low cost making them an attractive option for ‘lab-on-a-chip’ applications [2]. Our research aims to take ‘lab-on-a-chip’ technology one step further by introducing the concept of a ‘lab-on-a-transistor’. In this methodology, laboratory operations are performed individually on a single transistor instead of on an entire microchip. To demonstrate this concept, our group has developed a heating technique that allows transistors to act as electrically addressable, individual heating units. We have coupled the transistor heaters with placement of sub-nanoliter droplets to create individual heated reaction volumes (see Figure 1). Under this configuration FET devices become highly localized heater/sensor-hybrids capable of high-speed thermocycling of &#60;1nL reactions with potential for electrical detection of biological analytes.
Hollow lithiated metal oxide particles as lithium-ion battery cathode materials

Abstract We report the synthesis and characterization of the hollow micrometer-sized (Mn 0.5 Ni 0.4 Co 0.1 )CO 3 precursor, and one of its promising lithium-enriched phases. The chemical composition of the resulting lithiated final material was Li 1.2 (Mn 0.5 Ni 0.4 Co 0.1 )O 2+ y . Lithium half cells with cathodes comprised of these hollow particles as the active intercalation material showed a reversible capacity of 183 mAh/g when cycled between 2.0 V and 4.6 V. X-ray diffraction patterns and the electrochemical data of Li 1.2 (Mn 0.5 Ni 0.4 Co 0.1 )O 2+ y were consistent with the existence of the Li 2 MnO 3 -type integrated component that was activated during the initial charging of the cells. The results presented herein demonstrate a method to synthesize multicomponent, multiphase materials with hollow internal morphologies that can reversibly and stably be cycled with high gravimetric capacities as the active cathode material in lithium-ion batteries.
Using the Particle Filter Approach to Building Partial Correspondences Between Shapes

Constructing correspondences between points characterizing one shape with those characterizing another is crucial to understanding what the two shapes have in common. These correspondences are the basis for most alignment processes and shape similarity measures. In this paper we use particle filters to establish perceptually correct correspondences between point sets characterizing shapes. Local shape feature descriptors are used to establish the probability that a point on one shape corresponds to a point on the other shape. Global correspondence structures are calculated using additional constraints on domain knowledge. Domain knowledge is characterized by prior distributions which serve to characterize hypotheses about the global relationships between shapes. These hypotheses are formulated online. This means global constraints are learnt during the particle filtering process, which makes the approach especially interesting for applications where global constraints are hard to define a priori. As an example for such a case, experiments demonstrate the performance of our approach on partial shape matching.
Maintaining neutrality in dispute mediation: managing disagreement while managing not to disagree

Dispute mediators are active but neutral facilitators of discussion. Their job is inevitably marked by the need to manage multiple competing demands. These competing demands are a paradigm case of the kind of situation that the pragmatics literature has identified as giving rise to the production of various complex, nonstraightforward ways of talking. This paper shows three tactics mediators use to manage their multiple competing demands: indirect advocacy, framing of advocacy, and equivocal advocacy. These tactics serve as functional substitutes for more simple and straightforward moves of direction, correction, disagreement, argument, and the like. In this way, mediators manage disputes while maintaining an appearance of neutrality.
Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus: An Early Congregational Version

Ecclesiastical exclusiveness has been among the persistent historical characteristics of the Christian church as, in its various forms and by varying degreees, it has insisted on monopoly in the mediation of salvation. The Cyprianic theme of extra ecclesiam nulla salus has not lacked occasion for re-utterance throughout the centuries, whether by the pen of Augustine, Boniface VIII, Luther or Calvin, though meanings, of course, have changed in differing theological and ecclesiastical circumstances. The church as custodian of the sacraments and chief locus of the work of the Holy Spirit, the church as supreme, universal institutional authority under the rulership of the vicar of Christ, the church as proclaimer of the Word and its promises and thus the home of saving faith—these are among the designations historically utilized to support the exclusivistic affirmations.