cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
High satisfaction and improved quality of life with Rock Steady Boxing in Parkinson's disease: results of a large-scale survey.

PURPOSE To compare demographics, self-reported symptom burden, Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQL), and Self-Efficacy for Exercise (SEE) between participants and non-participants of Rock Steady Boxing (RSB), a non-contact boxing program for individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) that focuses on agility, balance, and speed training. MATERIALS AND METHODS Adults with PD who had heard of RSB completed a 20 min, 61-question electronic survey including the Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire-39 (PDQ-39) and the Self-Efficacy for Exercise (SEE) scale. Differences between participants and never-participants were analyzed using chi-squared test, fisher's exact test and Wilcoxon test. RESULTS Of 2054 individuals enrolled in the survey, 1709 were eligible for analysis. 1333 were current participants, 166 previous-participants, and 210 never-participants. RSB participants were median age 69, 59% male, and 97% Caucasian. The majority of current participants reported that RSB improved their social life (70%), fatigue (63%), fear of falling (62%), depression (60%), and anxiety (59%). Compared to previous and never-participants, current participants had better median PDQ-39 scores (36 and 32 vs 25, p < 0.01) and SEE scores (43 and 48 vs 54, p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS This is the largest survey of RSB use in PD. RSB participants report improvement in non-motor impairments and have significantly better HRQL and ESE compared to never-participants.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONParkinson's disease (PD) is a slowly progressive neurodegenerative condition that affects motor function and subsequently, quality of life.Exercise is increasingly recognized as an important treatment for motor and non-motor symptoms of PD.Rock Steady Boxing (RSB) is a specific non-contact boxing program for PD that is growing and increasing in popularity, though there is limited data on its effect on PD symptoms and quality of life.
Implementation of PROMIS® in an Optometry Clinic.

Purpose The full utility of general health Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System® (PROMIS) surveys in the eye care setting has not been previously demonstrated. This report demonstrates the feasibility of implementing PROMIS in an eye care clinic. Patients and methods Over 2 months, general health and functioning PROMIS surveys were offered to all patients in an optometric clinic in Rochester, NY. Demographic and clinical variables were recorded along with percent completion and time to completion of the survey. Results Across 651 patients, 258 chose to attempt PROMIS. Patients with low visual acuity were less likely to attempt the survey (p=0.049), and younger patients were more likely to complete the survey (p=0.025); no other patient characteristics were found to differ between those who did and did not participate in, nor complete, PROMIS. A total of 193 patients completed the survey (74.8%) in a mean time of 6.36 minutes (range = [1.43, 51.92] minutes; standard deviation = 5.62 minutes). Time to completion did not vary significantly across any groups. Conclusion Our relatively high completion rate among those who attempted PROMIS indicates that PROMIS surveys are feasible to implement in an optometry clinic. While most patients completed the survey in little time, the large range of time to completion may indicate that some patients had difficulty completing the survey. Furthermore, the significant difference in visual acuity between those who participated in the survey and those who did not highlights the need to address the way PROMIS is delivered in order to foster greater inclusion.
New Criteria for Robust Stability

We consider a class of uncertain systems whose uncertainties are characterized by certain structural conditions and a known bound. Given that the “nominal system” has a “Lyapunov matrix” P we present conditions on the uncertainty bound which assure that P is also a Lyapunov matrix for the uncertain system.
Effects of trans-sialidase enzyme activity, secretion and antigen persistence on the induction of protective immunity against Trypanosoma cruzi infection (VAC8P.1054)

Chagas Disease is a life-threatening illness caused by chronic infection with the Trypanosoma cruzi parasite. It affects up to 11 million people in Latin America, where it is a leading cause of heart disease, making vaccine development critical and worthwhile. Because the T. cruzi trans-sialidase (TS) enzyme is highly conserved and necessary for parasite virulence, it has strong potential as a vaccine target. We have shown that mice can be protected by vaccination with dendritic cells pulsed with a single pair of immunodominant TS epitopes, validating further exploration of TS as a target. We recently have generated live vaccines by transfecting Leishmania major with four TS variations: active secreted, active non-secreted, inactive secreted and inactive non-secreted. These also were transfected into an avirulent, dihydrofolate reductase knock-out strain of Leishmania to investigate the role of antigen persistence versus clearance on immune response. Mice will be infected with the recombinant Leishmania and later challenged with T. cruzi to analyze protective immunity. In preliminary experiments, recombinant s were found to express the TS protein and immunizations protected BALB/c mice from infection. This project is the first examining the ability of recombinant Leishmania to serve as vaccine vehicles for Chagas Disease. These experiments will also elucidate the relative importance of inducing central and peripheral memory T cell populations for protective T. cruzi immunity.
Skin Rejuvenation Using Microdermabrasion

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews the trendy procedure of skin rejuvenation using microdermabrasion. Microdermabrasion is a popular noninvasive office procedure that is sought after by a public that is forever in a quest to improve their appearance with little time off from their day-to-day activities. Microdermabrasion is one of the procedures that have fueled that change. Extraordinarily safe, with high patient satisfaction levels, it has become the modern-day version of the facial that really does something to make the skin look and feel better. While many purists complain that microdermabrasion does not have enough science behind it, it is clear that microscopic and molecular changes can be proven, and that clinical responses, while variable, do occur. The Italians first presented the procedure dubbed microdermabrasion to the aesthetic medical community in the 1980s. The procedure known as microdermabrasion is performed by different types of equipment. The most well known is a closed loop system under negative pressure, dispensing aluminum oxide crystals out of a hand piece with a vacuum that sucks up the used particles along with skin surface impurities and pilosebaceous surface plugs. Other systems use different particles such as baking soda or sodium chloride, or positive rather than negative pressure. Suggestions by some of a danger of particulates to the eyes or respiratory system have prompted newer systems that abrade the skin without any particles.
Squamous odontogenic tumor report of a case with lesions in three quadrants

Squamous odontogenic tumor is a rare, benign, odontogenic lesion. We are presenting the twenty-second case to be reported in the literature and only the fifth case with multiple quadrant lesions. This is the first description of reconstruction with autologous and homologous bone grafts of a discontinuity defect of the mandible resulting from en bloc resection of a squamous odontogenic tumor. Emphasis is placed on the need to consider this rare tumor in the differential diagnosis of ameloblastoma. The correct diagnosis significantly changes the extent of the surgical procedure and may avoid unnecessary morbidity.
Optimal Control of the Enzymatic Lysis of Yeast

In enzymatic lysis of yeast, the lysis of yeast cells is caused by the action of a system consisting primarily of two enzymes, glucanase and protease. The activities of the two enzymes depend on pH, reaching their maxima at different pH levels. The objective is to determine the optimal pH and/or protease inhibitor concentration profiles to maximize protein production. In this work, a first principles model for the lytic reaction mechanism is presented. The resulting dynamic optimization problem is solved by first discretizing the differential equations using orthogonal collocation; then, Successive Quadratic Programming is used to obtain the optimum. The proposed approach yields optimal profiles such that several times increase of the production of proteins in a fed-batch reactor is realized.
Correlation of Spectroscopic and Magnetic Data of Two Charge Transfer Compounds of TCNQ with Cationic Copper Chelates

In view of the initial work1 on charge transfer compounds of TCNQ, one of the advantages of using copper(II) chelates as acceptors in charge transfer compounds with TCNQ would appear to be the high probability of forming stacked TCNQ segarated chains in preference to mixed CuL2-TCNQ stacked chains. Such cationic copper chelate-TCNQ charge transfer compounds have unusual properties and have continued to attract attention.2–6
Apoptosis During Herpes Simplex Virus Infection

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection triggers apoptosis in infected cells. However, proteins synthesized later in infected cells prevent apoptotic cell death from ensuing. In vivo data showing that apoptosis accompanies herpes stromal keratitis and encephalitis suggest that apoptotic modulation plays a role in the development of herpetic disease. Tremendous progress has been made toward identifying the viral factors that are responsible for inducing and inhibiting apoptosis during infection. However, the mechanisms whereby they act are still largely unknown. Recent studies have illustrated a wide diversity in the cellular response to HSV-triggered apoptosis, emphasizing the importance of host factors in this process. Together, these findings indicate that apoptosis during HSV infection represents an important virus-host interaction process, which likely influences viral pathogenesis.
The islet circadian clock: entrainment mechanisms, function and role in glucose homeostasis

Circadian regulation of glucose homeostasis and insulin secretion has long been appreciated as an important feature of metabolic control in humans. Circadian disruption is becoming increasingly prevalent in today's society and is likely responsible in part for the considerable rise in type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and metabolic syndrome worldwide. Thus, understanding molecular mechanisms driving the inter-relationship between circadian disruption and T2DM is important in context of disease prevention and therapeutics. In this regard, the goal of this article is to highlight the role of the circadian system, and islet circadian clocks in particular, as potential regulators of β-cell function and survival. To date, studies have shown that islet clocks respond to changes in feeding patterns, and regulate a multitude of critical cellular processes in insulin secreting β-cells (e.g. insulin exocytosis, mitochondrial function and response to oxidative stress). Subsequently, either genetic or environmental disruption of normal islet clock performance compromises β-cell function and leads to loss of glycaemic control. Future work is warranted to further unravel the role of circadian clocks in human islet function in health and contributions to pathogenesis of T2DM.
A general characterization of Superdirectivity

This paper presents a general formulation for characterization of any finite antenna as either normal or superdirective. The IEEE Std. 145-2013 defines “Superdirectivity: The condition that occurs when the antenna directivity is significantly higher than that with the array or aperture uniformly excited.” This characterization is evidently limited to the special forms of antennas: uniform array or planar aperture antennas. A survey of several popular antenna textbooks shows that, if the topic is listed in the index at all, they cover substantially nothing of a more general nature.
Preparation of bulk and supported heteropolyacid salts

Abstract We describe the preparation of bulk and supported cesium and ammonium heteropolyacid and acid salts of 12-tungstophosphoric acid. Novel synthetic schemes to prepare supported forms of insoluble cesium- and ammonium-acid salts are discussed, and their behavior in model compound isomerization and alkylation reactions is described. In particular, we discuss the egg-white morphology associated with Cs-acid salts supported on silica extrudates prepared by a novel in situ-reaction/precipitation route. We also describe hydrothermal techniques developed for directly preparing the ammonium-acid salts of 12-tungstophosphoric acid and the extension of that technique to other heteropolyacid salts.
Calculating Air Leakage Rates in Controlled-Environment Chambers Containing Plants

(…) A method for calculating air leakage rate at night in the presence of respiring plants was devised. Simultaneous equations for three situations were developed: (i) when respired CO 2 = CO 2 leaked from chamber; (ii) when [CO 2 ] is maintained at a set level overnight by injection; and (iii) when respired CO 2 CO 2 leaked from chamber (…)
Hand manifestations of oxalosis

Oxalosis is an unusual metabolic disease that results either from an inherited hepatic enzyme deficiency or as the result of poor oxalate clearance during chronic hemodialysis. We present two cases of oxalosis and describe the hand manifestations of this condition and their treatment. One patient had painful, progressive gangrene, whereas in the other the disease took an indolent course with small palmar crystalline deposits.
An improved staining technique for precipitin bands in agar or agarose gels.

Abstract A method for the staining of proteins in agar and agarose gels using three stains simultaneously and a mordant is described. When compared with conventional Coomassie brilliant blue R-250 staining procedures, it requires a comparable time expenditure but has the following advantages: 1) it is threefold to fourfold more sensitive; 2) there is increased photographic resolution on conventional photographic material; and 3) the stain has a long shelf-life and does not fade under normal lighting conditions. Conditions for the washing and drying of gels are discussed.
All-cis-retinal and 7-cis,9-cis,11-cis-retinal1

Abstract A modified 15 + 5 route led to 7- cis ,9- cis ,11- cis -retinonitrile in high selectivity and also a lesser amount of all- cis -retinonitrile. DIBAL reduction gave the corresponding retinal isomers. The absorption maximum 287nm of all- cis -retinal reveals the distorted nature of the chromophore.
Diffraction analysis of dislocation pairs for detecting order in solid solutions

Abstract Contrast experiments for distinguishing between electron microscope images of dipoles and superdislocations are described, and applied to a series of solid solutions. The results prove the existence of superdislocations in some austenitic stainless steels and α-brasses and confirm that order does exist at certain compositions in these alloys. As yet, superdislocations have not been observed in f.c.c. Cu-Sn alloys.
Immediate and long-term outcome of percutaneous mitral valvotomy in patients 65 years and older.

BACKGROUND We analyzed the immediate and long-term outcome of percutaneous balloon mitral valvotomy (PMV) in 99 patients who were greater than or equal to 65 years of age (81 women and 18 men; mean +/- SEM age, 72 +/- 0.5 years). METHODS AND RESULTS There were 84 patients in New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III or IV; 26 patients had previous surgical commissurotomy; 64 had one or more comorbidities; 73 had fluoroscopically visible mitral valve (MV) calcification; and 63 had echocardiographic score greater than 8 (mean +/- SEM score, 9.2 +/- 0.2). There were three procedural deaths, all occurring in our early experience. Pericardial tamponade occurred in five patients, thromboembolism in three, and transient atrioventricular block in one. After PMV, MV area was greater than or equal to 1 cm2 in 86 patients and greater than or equal to 1.5 cm2 in 56. A successful outcome (defined as MV area greater than or equal to 1.5 cm2 without a greater than or equal to 2-grade increase in mitral regurgitation and without left-to-right shunt with a pulmonary-to-systemic flow ratio of greater than or equal to 1.5:1) was achieved in 46 patients. The best multivariate predictor of success was the combination of echocardiographic score, NYHA functional class, and inverse of MV area. Mean follow-up was 16 +/- 1 months. Actuarial survival (79 +/- 7% versus 62 +/- 10%, p = 0.04), survival without MV replacement (71 +/- 8% versus 41 +/- 8%, p = 0.002), and survival without MV replacement and NYHA class III or IV (54 +/- 12% versus 38 +/- 8%, p = 0.01) at 3 years were significantly better in the successful group of 46 patients than in the unsuccessful group of 53 patients. Low echocardiographic score was the only independent predictor of survival. Lack of MV calcification and low NYHA class, low mean left atrial pressure, and low pulmonary artery pressure were the independent predictors of event-free survival. CONCLUSIONS PMV can be performed safely in selected patients greater than or equal to 65 years old with good immediate and long-term results. In addition to clinical examination, echocardiographic evaluation of the mitral valve and fluoroscopic screening for valvular calcification are the most important steps in patient selection for successful outcome.
Biologic and psychosocial risk factors of sudden death from coronary disease in white women.

The relation of the risk of sudden death from arteriosclerotic heart disease to psychosocial and biologic factors was studied retrospectively in 64 white women who died suddenly of arteriosclerotic heart disease and in 64 age-related neighborhood control women. All sudden deaths occurred outside the hospital within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms in women who were not incapacitated before death. Women who died suddenly were less often married, exhibited more educational incongruity with their spouses and had fewer children than the control population. Twelve of the 64 women who died suddenly of heart disease and none of the control women had a definite history of psychiatric treatment. The women who died suddenly also smoked more cigarettes and consumed greater quantities of alcoholic beverages than age-matched neighborhood control women. Multiple regression analysis revealed that history of psychiatric illness, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, educational incongruity and number of children contributed significantly to differences between women who died suddenly of heart disease and control subjects.
Temporal Evolution of a Three-Wave Parametric Instability

We solve exactly the temporal evolution and spatial dependence of a three-wave parametric instability in an inhomogeneous plasma. An initial fluctuation develops into a pulse and grows initially with the same growth rate as it would in a homogeneous plasma. Growth continues until convection saturation occurs. The pulse broadens as it grows and eventually assumes the form of a totally amplified region flanked by two shock fronts. Effects of damping are also discussed.
Supercritical Fluid Extraction of Dry‐Milled Corn Germ with Carbon Dioxide

Dry-milled corn germ was extracted with supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) at 5,000-8,000 psi and 50°C. CO2-extracted oil was lower in free fatty acids and refining loss, and was lighter in color when compared with a commercial expeller-milled crude oil. Total unsaponifiable and tocopherol contents were similar for both oil types. The defatted, highly friable flour has a shelf-stable moisture content of 2-3% and good flavor quality. The flour contains 20% protein with good amino acid balance, meeting FAO specifications for food protein supplements. High pressure SC-CO2 extraction also denatures the proteins, including oxidative enzymes. Peroxidase activity is reduced tenfold in SC-CO2-extracted flour when compared with hexane-extracted flours. Storage tests for 5 wk at 38°C and for 2 months at 25°C show that flavor quality of untoasted SC-CO2-defatted germ flour is maintained even under these extreme conditions.
IC-P2-147: Covert orienting of visual attention task in asymptomatic individuals at increased risk for Alzheimer's disease

Background: Recent Voxel Based Morphometry (VBM) studies of individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) who have converted to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) have reported grey matter loss in the posterior cingulate as a predictor of conversion. This region is involved in memory and attention processing and appears to be the sub-region of the cingulate most affected in familial AD cases. Thus the posterior cingulate is a logical target of investigation as a site of early brain change in asymptomatic individuals at genetic risk for AD. Methods: Fifty-eight right-handed individuals at risk for familial AD and 56 right-handed matched controls underwent an fMRI paradigm based on the Covert Orienting of Visual Attention Task (COVAT) used in other studies. The groups did not differ in age, gender ratio, or years of education. This task has been shown to generate significant activation loci within the posterior cingulate gyrus. We examined fMRI activation due to indirect cueing of visual attention. This activation corresponds to the anticipatory advantage gained by the covert orientation of the subject’s visual attention. Functional data were processed and analyzed using SPM99, and anatomical labels were determined using MNI2Tal and Talairach Daemon software. Results: A one sample t-test revealed several statistically significant points of activation (P 0.001, cluster threshold 25 voxels) in the control group during the anticipatory advantage condition. The activation loci of greatest interest in the controls were in the bilateral posterior cingulate gyrii (BA 31). The at-risk group failed to show any areas of significant activation at the same threshold levels. A two sample t-test did not reach significance. Conclusions: As expected, the COVAT task produced posterior cingulate activation in the control subjects. The absence of this effect in the at-risk group suggests the lack of involvement of the posterior cingulate in their visual orientation. Longitudinal follow-up is needed to determine whether this lack of activation is ultimately related to development of AD.
Abnormal thyroid function tests in infants with congenital hypothyroidism: the influence of soy-based formula.

To assess the etiology of hyperthyroxinemia or hyperthyrotropinemia in infants with congenital hypothyroidism who are on replacement therapy with L-thyroxine.These infants were treated with recommended doses of L-thyroxine following the diagnosis of congenital hypothyroidism. Because of hyperthyroxinemia (2 patients) and hyperthyrotropinemia (1 patient), medication compliance and dietary practice (formula type, age of introduction, and discontinuation or change of the formula) were assessed. Clinical evaluation was also performed.Elevated thyroxine level in 2 infants was associated with discontinuation of soy formula 4 weeks previously; reduction of L-thyroxine dose normalized serum levels in both of these infants. In the third infant, who received soy formula from 1 week of age, TSH remained elevated despite incremental L-thyroxine doses of 19 micrograms/kg/day; discontinuation of soy formula was followed by normalization of the TSH in 3 weeks and helped attain a subsequent decrement of L-thyroxine dose ...
Spin-charge separation and electron pairing instabilities in Hubbard nanoclusters.

Abstract Electron charge and spin pairing instabilities in various cluster geometries for attractive and repulsive electrons are studied exactly under variation of interaction strength, electron doping and temperature. The exact diagonalization, level crossing degeneracies, spin–charge separation and separate condensation of paired electron charge and opposite spins yield intriguing insights into the origin of magnetism, ferroelectricity and superconductivity seen in inhomogeneous bulk nanomaterials and various phenomena in cold fermionic atoms in optical lattices. Phase diagrams resemble a number of inhomogeneous, coherent and incoherent nanoscale phases found recently in high- T c cuprates, manganites and multiferroic nanomaterials probed by scanning tunneling microscopy. Separate condensation of electron charge and spin degrees at various crossover temperatures offers a new route for superconductivity, different from the BCS scenario. The calculated phase diagrams resemble a number of inhomogeneous paired phases, superconductivity, ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity found in Nb and Co nanoparticles. The phase separation and electron pairing, monitored by electron doping and magnetic field surprisingly resemble incoherent electron pairing in the family of doped high- T c cuprates, ruthenocuprates, iron pnictides and spontaneous ferroelectricity in multiferroic materials.
Communicating facial plane information to the dental laboratory: Introducing the Facial Plane Relator Device

Abstract The ability of the restorative dentist to communicate the location and orientation of the patient's pertinent facial landmarks to the dental laboratory technician has great bearing on the esthetic success of final anterior dental restorations. This article describes a new device designed to facilitate this process. (J Prosthet Dent 2001;86:173-6.)
S-Glutathiolation by peroxynitrite activates SERCA during arterial relaxation by nitric oxide

Nitric oxide (NO) physiologically stimulates the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum calcium (Ca(2+)) ATPase (SERCA) to decrease intracellular Ca(2+) concentration and relax cardiac, skeletal and vascular smooth muscle. Here, we show that NO-derived peroxynitrite (ONOO(-)) directly increases SERCA activity by S-glutathiolation and that this modification of SERCA is blocked by irreversible oxidation of the relevant cysteine thiols during atherosclerosis. Purified SERCA was S-glutathiolated by ONOO(-) and the increase in Ca(2+)-uptake activity of SERCA reconstituted in phospholipid vesicles required the presence of glutathione. Mutation of the SERCA-reactive Cys674 to serine abolished these effects. Because superoxide scavengers decreased S-glutathiolation of SERCA and arterial relaxation by NO, ONOO(-) is implicated as the intracellular mediator. NO-dependent relaxation as well as S-glutathiolation and activation of SERCA were decreased by atherosclerosis and Cys674 was found to be oxidized to sulfonic acid. Thus, irreversible oxidation of key thiol(s) in disease impairs NO-induced relaxation by preventing reversible S-glutathiolation and activation of SERCA by NO/ONOO(-).
Super Resolution results in PANOPTES, an adaptive multi-aperture folded architecture

We present experimental results of digital super resolution (DSR) techniques on low resolution data collected using PANOPTES, a multi-aperture miniature folded imaging architecture. The flat form factor of PANOPTES architecture results in an optical system that is heavily blurred with space variant PSF which makes super resolution challenging. We also introduce a new DSR method called SRUM (Super-Resolution with Unsharpenning Mask) which can efficiently highlight edges by embedding an unsharpenning mask to the cost function. This has much better effect than just applying the mask after all iterations as a post-processing step.
Emerging pathogens and their implications for the blood supply and transfusion transmitted infections.

Summary The threat of infection by conventional transfusion-transmitted agents has been essentially eliminated from the blood supply in developed countries, thus focusing attention on the potential risk from emerging infections. Over recent years, actions have been taken to manage a number of such risks to blood safety. These illustrate the inherent variability of the agents concerned and of the measures needed to define and control the risk.
Glottic closure patterns: type I thyroplasty versus type I thyroplasty with arytenoid adduction.

Summary Objectives/Hypothesis The goal of laryngeal framework surgery in patients with unilateral vocal fold paralysis is to improve glottic closure by medializing the paralyzed vocal fold. Type I thyroplasty (Th) and arytenoid adduction (AA) are two of the most commonly performed procedures. Two of the main rationales for performing an AA are to improve closure of the posterior glottis and correct vertical height discrepancy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate if AA with Th yields better posterior glottic closure and vertical height equality than Th alone. Study Design Retrospective. Methods Using visual analog scales, three blinded reviewers evaluated glottic closure patterns in patients who underwent Th or Th with AA. Pre- and postoperative videostroboscopic examinations of 45 patients with unilateral vocal fold paralysis, who underwent laryngeal framework surgery, were evaluated. Results No significant difference was identified in postoperative scores for midmembranous glottis closure ( P =0.282), closure just anterior to the vocal processes ( P =0.426), respiratory glottis closure ( P =0.158), or vertical height discrepancy ( P =0.113). Conclusions Although larger glottic gaps and vertical height discrepancies may lead some surgeons to predict that an AA is warranted, the usefulness of AA may not always be related to these parameters. Ultimately, voice improvement and not geometry should guide the surgeon's decision making.
More than business-as-usual: Reflections on the new modalities of education AID☆

Abstract Educational development has stagnated during the 1980s in many developing countries. External aid has not been able to affect this course of events. It has been quantitatively insignificant and constrained by operational practices of donors. Furthermore, the intellectual basis for action has been weak and program design and implementation have been hampered by shortages of professional staff. Yet, aid will be critical in realizing progress towards the Jomtien goals, especially in low-income countries. To be effective development assistance strategies will need to support sectoral programs, developed and implemented by national staff. Sharing lessons from experience and strengthening institutional capacities are fundamental to this process. This will require rigorous documentation of the outcomes of programs and the systematic training of the next generation of education planners and researchers.
Work-related musculoskeletal disorders: the epidemiologic evidence and the debate

The debate about work-relatedness of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) reflects both confusion about epidemiologic principles and gaps in the scientific literature. The physical ergonomic features of work frequently cited as risk factors for MSDs include rapid work pace and repetitive motion, forceful exertions, non-neutral body postures, and vibration. However, some still dispute the importance of these factors, especially relative to non-occupational causes. This paper addresses the controversy with reference to a major report recently commissioned by the US Congress from the National Research Council (NRC) and Institute of Medicine (IOM) (2001). The available epidemiologic evidence is substantial, but will benefit from more longitudinal data to better evaluate gaps in knowledge concerning latency of effect, natural history, prognosis, and potential for selection bias in the form of the healthy worker effect. While objective measures may be especially useful in establishing a more secure diagnosis, subjective measures better capture patient impact. Examination techniques still do not exist that can serve as a ‘‘gold standard’’ for many of the symptoms that are commonly reported in workplace studies. Finally, exposure assessment has too often been limited to crude indicators, such as job title. Worker self-report, investigator observation, and direct measurement each add to understanding but the lack of standardized exposure metrics limits ability to compare findings among studies. Despite these challenges, the epidemiologic literature on work-related MSDs—in combination with extensive laboratory evidence of pathomechanisms related to work stressors—is convincing to most. The NRC/IOM report concluded, and other reviewers internationally have concurred, that the etiologic importance of occupational ergonomic stressors for the occurrence of MSDs of the low back and upper extremities has been demonstrated. # 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Short Communication : Variance Estimates Among Herds Stratified by Individual Herd Heritability

The objectives of this study were to compare (co)variance parameter estimates among subsets of data that were pooled from herds with high, medium, or low individual herd heritability estimates and to compare individual herd heritability estimates to REML heritability estimates for pooled data sets. A regression model was applied to milk yield, fat yield, protein yield, and somatic cell score (SCS) records from 20,902 herds to generate individual-herd heritability estimates. Herds representing the 5th percentile or less (P5), 47th through the 53rd percentile (P50), and the 95th percentile or higher (P95) for herd heritability were randomly selected. Yield or SCS from the selected herds were pooled for each percentile group and treated as separate traits. Records from P5, P50, and P95 were then analyzed with a 3-trait animal model. Heritability estimates were 23, 31, 26, and 8% higher in P95 than in P5 for milk yield, fat yield, protein yield, and SCS, respectively. The regression techniques successfully stratified individual herds by heritability, and additive genetic variance increased progressively, whereas permanent environmental variance decreased progressively as herd heritability increased.
Conformality Study for Stereotactic Radiosurgery of the Lung

The purpose of this study is to compare two techniques of developing highly conformal plans for stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) that target a high ablative dose to the center of the tumor while dropping off rapidly in normal tissues to determine which technique produced a more desirable treatment plan. The techniques used for comparison are "field in field" (FIF) and "non field in field" (NFIF). Twelve case studies were used, all of which had been treated using the FIF technique. Each FIF plan was edited, maintaining the same geometry for each field but reducing the total number of fields to one half by deleting all of the fields that were inside another field; this edited plan was the NFIF plan. Normalization was made to the isodose line (NFIF-I) and to the target volume (NFIF-V) and both plans were compared with the standard FIF plan independently. Dose-ratio comparisons were made of the 80% and 50% isodose volumes, as well as maximum doses outside of the planning target volume, mean dose to the gross tumor volume (GTV), minimum dose coverage on the GTV, maximum dose to the spinal cord, and the dose to the volume of noninvolved lung receiving 2000 cGy (V20). The FIF plans resulted in the best sparing of normal tissue. The NFIF-I had the best target coverage but also resulted in the highest doses to normal tissues. The NFIF-V was not significantly different from the FIF in doses to normal tissue but had the lowest coverage to targets of any of the techniques. Overall, in our department, we have chosen to use the FIF technique for SBRT conformality to obtain optimal coverage while minimizing the dose to normal tissue.
Exhaustive nondegenerate conical processes for concave minimization on convex polytopes

An exhaustive and nondegenerate cone splitting process is defined and an algorithm stated for minimizing a quasi-concave function on a bounded convex polytope described by a system of linear inequalities. The algorithm crucially splits upon vertices and it is shown that this class of algorithms converges finitely to an optimal solution.
Effects of Thyroid Hormones on Metabolism. Effect of Thyroxine and Iodinated Casein on Liver Enzyme Activity

The effect of thyroxine injection and feeding iodinated casein upon the various liver components in rats was investigated. Both treatments decreased the liver to body weight ratio, total liver protein and caused a disappearance of glycogen. There was a marked increase in glucose-6-phosphatase, a decrease in phosphorylase, and relatively smaller changes in other glycolytic enzyme activities after treatment. The enzymes of the pentose phosphate pathway increased as did malic enzyme activity, although a fourth TPN-linked dehydrogenase, isocitric, decreased. L-α-Glycerolphosphate dehydrogenase decreased in the hyperthyroid animals. All 3 of the tricarboxylic acid cycle enzymes measured increased in activity after thyroxine injection. The results were not as clear cut after feeding iodinated casein, and differences between the 2 treatments were observed. The enzymes concerned with aliphatic amino acid metabolism were increased in activity after treatment, with the exception of glutamicpyruvic transaminase, whi...
Rna tumor virus‐like activities in human solid tissues: Endogenous RNA:DNA polymerase activities in the prostate

Several human prostatic tissues have been examined for possible particles and associated DNA polymerizing activity generally associated with the C-type RNA tumor virus family. Partially purified tissue extracts, when centrifuged to equilibrium in sucrose gradients, yield fractions which contain actinomycin D resistant, endogenous DNA polymerase activity; this activity bands at a density of 1.15-1.18 gm/cm3. Further analysis of the endogenous products by sucrose gradient sedimentation suggested the presence of high molecular weight RNA:DNA hybrids generally felt to be indicative of a faithful copy of a lengthy stretch of viral specific RNA. However, most of the DNA products synthesized in these endogenous reactions sedimented in much lower molecular weight regions of these sucrose gradients. Clearly, the relative distributions of "high" and "low" molecular weight products could critically depend on the nuclease content of the subcellular fraction under study, and the prostate may be relatively enriched in nucleases. Further, oligo (dT) stimulated the endogenous DNA polymerase activity contained in these extracts, and omission of one of the DNA precursor nucleotides depressed it. Thus, it seems unlikely that terminal transferase activity, rather than genuine DNA polymerization, was being measured primarily. Because of the spectrum of molecular weight classes formed by these DNA:RNA hybrids, as well as their apparent presence in normal prostatic tissue, we find it difficult to ascribe their presence with certainty either to the presence of typical C-type RNA viruses or to the exclusive behavior of the neoplastic prostatic tissue. Thus, our studies lend support to the growing evidence for functions similar to those of C-type RNA viruses being relatively widespread in human tissues without the apparent necessity for a possible etiologic role in neoplastic production (Strand and August, 1974; Sherr et al., 1974). At the same time, our current studies emphasize the need for caution in drawing conclusions from results utilizing probes generally felt quite useful in scoring for presence of virus in lower animals at least in the human prostate.
Nested Leadership: The Interpretation of Organizational Change in a Multicollege System

ABSTRACT College leaders serve important roles as guides for campus understanding during times of change. Within multicollege districts, campus members deal with several levels of leadership, ranging from department chairs, to the college president, to the system chancellor. These leaders may send conflicting messages regarding change, or have competing end goals for change. The research reported here sought to investigate the influence of the system chancellor on change initiatives at the individual colleges within the system. Findings from this investigation concluded that leadership within the system was nested, whereby the overall direction of change came from the chancellor, and was replicated as a change effort on each of the district's campuses. The implementation of the initiative, however, was filtered through the culture of each separate campus, resulting in different interpretations by campus members at each of the separate colleges. Understanding more about the filtering process that change in...
Rational realization of maximum eigenvalue multiplicity of symmetric tree sign patterns

Abstract A sign pattern is a matrix whose entries are elements of {+, −, 0}; it describes the set of real matrices whose entries have the signs in the pattern. A graph (that allows loops but not multiple edges) describes the set of symmetric matrices having a zero-nonzero pattern of entries determined by the absence or presence of edges in the graph. DeAlba et al. [L.M. DeAlba, T.L. Hardy, I.R. Hentzel, L. Hogben, A. Wangsness, Minimum rank and maximum eigenvalue multiplicity of symmetric tree sign patterns, Linear Algebra Appl., in press, doi:10.1016/j.laa.2006.02.018 .] gave algorithms for the computation of maximum multiplicity and minimum rank of matrices associated with a tree sign pattern or tree, and an algorithm to obtain an integer matrix realizing minimum rank. We extend these results by giving algorithms to obtain a symmetric rational matrix realizing the maximum multiplicity of a rational eigenvalue among symmetric matrices associated with a symmetric tree sign pattern or tree.
Optimizing symmetric dense matrix-vector multiplication on GPUs

GPUs are excellent accelerators for data parallel applications with regular data access patterns. It is challenging, however, to optimize computations with irregular data access patterns on GPUs. One such computation is the Symmetric Matrix Vector product (SYMV) for dense linear algebra. Optimizing the SYMV kernel is important because it forms the basis of fundamental algorithms such as linear solvers and eigenvalue solvers on symmetric matrices. In this work, we present a new algorithm for optimizing the SYMV kernel on GPUs. Our optimized SYMV in single precision brings up to a 7× speed up compared to the (latest) CUBLAS 4.0 NVIDIA library on the GTX 280 GPU. Our SYMV kernel tuned for Fermi C2050 is 4.5× faster than CUBLAS 4.0 in single precision and 2× faster than CUBLAS 4.0 in double precision. Moreover, the techniques used and described in the paper are general enough to be of interest for developing high-performance GPU kernels beyond the particular case of SYMV.
Quantifying Accurate Calorie Estimation Using the “Think Aloud” Method

Abstract Objective Clients often have limited time in a nutrition education setting. An improved understanding of the strategies used to accurately estimate calories may help to identify areas of focused instruction to improve nutrition knowledge. Methods A “Think Aloud” exercise was recorded during the estimation of calories in a standard dinner meal (415 kcal) in 15 nutrition-trained and 15 untrained subjects. Accuracy of participant estimation was assessed, and estimation strategies were compared in accurate vs inaccurate estimators. Results Accurate participants were more likely to demonstrate an ability to convert between common portion size measurements and serving sizes, possess some knowledge of energy density, and properly implement basic math skills. Conclusions and Implications The “Think Aloud” methodology was informative in assessing the cognitive processes behind a nutrition exercise, and further use is warranted. Focused instruction in portion size conversion, energy density, and the use of math skills may enhance calorie estimation accuracy.
Applications of multimodal physical (IoT), cyber and social data for reliable and actionable insights

Physical objects with embedded sensors are increasingly being networked together using wireless and internet technologies to form Internet of Things (IoT). However, early applications that rely on IoT data fail to provide comprehensive situational awareness. This often requires combining physical (i.e., IoT) data with social data created by humans on the Web and increasingly on their mobile phones (i.e., citizen sensing) as well as other data such as structured open data and background knowledge available on the Web (i.e., cyber data and knowledge). In this paper, we explore how integration and analysis of multimodal physical-cybersocial data can support advanced applications and enrich human experience. Specifically, we illustrate the complementary role played by sensor and social data, often intermediated by other Web based data and knowledge, using real-world examples in the domain of situational awareness, traffic monitoring, and healthcare. We also show how semantic techniques and technologies support critical data interoperability needs, advanced computation capabilities including reasoning, and significantly enhance our ability to exploit growing amount of data from the proliferation of Internet of Things.
Lack of Antidonor Alloantibody Does Not Indicate Lack of Immune Sensitization: Studies of Graft Loss in a Haploidentical Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Swine Model

Loss of chimerism is an undesirable outcome of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) after reduced-intensity conditioning. Understanding the nature of cellular and humoral immune responses to HCT after graft loss could lead to improved retransplantation strategies. We investigated the immunologic responses after graft loss in miniature swine recipients of haploidentical HCT that received reduced-intensity conditioning. After the loss of peripheral blood chimerism, antidonor cellular responses were present without detectable antidonor antibody. Reexposure to donor hematopoietic cells after graft loss induced a sensitized antidonor cellular response. No induced antidonor antibody response could be detected despite evidence of cellular sensitization to donor cells. In contrast, unconditioned animals exposed repeatedly to similar doses of haploidentical donor cells developed antidonor antibody responses. These results could have important implications for the design of treatment strategies to overcome antidonor responses in HCT and improve the outcome of retransplantation after graft loss.
DISENTANGLING RACE AND POVERTY

Throughout their histories, civil rights organizations have chosen to advocate on behalf of the poor, despite disincentives. This paper examines SNCC's and the NAACP's activities concerning the Economic Opportunity Act during the early and mid-1960s. First, I establish the level of attention SNCC and NAACP devoted to the War on Poverty. Based on analysis of the groups' archives, I find that both groups increased their attention to antipoverty policy during a period when other issues were salient to all African Americans. Second, I assess why these shifts in organizational priorities occurred. My findings indicate that competition among civil rights organizations drove the NAACP and SNCC to commit attention to antipoverty issues, and to focus attention on grassroots organizing concerning the War on Poverty. Differences in the organizations' structures mediated what form this attention would take.
Linear scan voltammetry and chronoamperometry at small mercury film electrodes

Abstract Voltammetry at small mercury film electrodes exhibits characteristics of both non-planar diffusion and restricted diffusion when the product is soluble in the film. These effects are prominent in linear scan voltammetry and in chronoamperometry when the diffusion length in solution is greater than the size of the electrode and the diffusion length in the film is greater than its thickness. A simple model for the limiting case of very thin and very small film predicts that the chronoamperometric current decays exponentially with time except in the limiting current region, and that the linear scan voltammogram occurs at potentials negative of the formal potential (for reductions) and shifts to more positive values with increasing scan rate. These predictions are confirmed experimentally for the reduction of Pb(II) at a mercury-plated circular iridium electrode.