cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abstract A41: Development of a risk analysis model for triple-negative breast cancer stages and treatment of African American women

The main object of this study is to assess how different stages of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) influences treatment of triple negative breast cancer patient. The data was gathered from Alabama Department of Public Health. We developed a probabilistic pathway scenario tree based on the knowledge from the comprehensive literature review and organized the variables into twelve major parameter categories. We performed Monte Carlo simulations with the software @Risk 5.7 (Palisade Corporation) for the quantitative risk assessment to capture the uncertainty for the treatment of triple negative breast cancer and different stages of TNBC. The likelihood (LH) of having one of the treatments for Stage IV TNBC, Surgery and or Chemotherapy (CT) or none gave that the person is (African American women) AAW older than 50, TNBC ranges from a min. of 1.62 × 10−3 to a max. of 2.35 × 10−2 with the mean and standard deviation of 8.28 × 10−3 and 3.141 × 10−3 respectively. The LH of having one of the treatments for stage 1&2 of triple negative breast cancer, Surgery and or CT or none gave that the person is AAW older than 50, TNBC ranges from 1.78 × 10−5 to 1.053 × 10−1 with the mean and standard deviation of 2.74 × 10−2 and 2.06 × 10−2 respectively. However, there are no standard guidelines for Triple negative breast cancer patients, our study suggests that stage 1&2 triple negative breast cancer patients are most likely to be treated with either chemotherapy or surgery and stage 3, 4 triple negative breast cancer patient are most likely to be treated with combined surgery and chemotherapy. Note: This abstract was not presented at the conference. Citation Format: Rupak Chowdhury, Shami Nandy, Berhanu Tameru. Development of a risk analysis model for triple-negative breast cancer stages and treatment of African American women. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Precision Medicine Series: Targeting the Vulnerabilities of Cancer; May 16-19, 2016; Miami, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2017;23(1_Suppl):Abstract nr A41.
Aging and the Maintenance of Dignity

The first section presents three ways of conceiving dignity ontologically: as a natural property, as a nonnatural property, or as a conferred social status. It is then argued that, regardless of which ontology of dignity one adopts, if one wants to address practical issues of how our actions affect or accord with dignity, dignity must be discussed in terms of some set of natural properties. In the second section it is suggested that the natural properties corresponding to human dignity should be seen as our capacities to create meaningful lives for ourselves. In the remaining sections, three challenging conditions associated with aging are discussed – dependency, dementia, and dying – along with the obstacles and opportunities each presents for the creation and expression of meaning.
Militarization as an Institutional Context for Entrepreneurial Innovation

Country level militarization is negatively related to new technology ventures’ ability to innovate. Using multilevel mixed effects logistic regression modeling, this study finds that country milita...
An Assessment of the Effect of Emotional Intelligence on Leadership Performance in Local Government Administration

There is growing evidence that fundamental ethical stances in life stem from underlying emotional capacities. Since the local communities are the engines of national development, they should be managed by transforming leadership which requires managing emotions in order to get things done effectively. This study examines the impact of emotional intelligence on leadership performance in the context of local Government administration in Delta State, Nigeria. A survey research design method was employed. The sample objects were 130 staff stratified into top and middle management levels. They were representations from six departments in Directorate of Local Government Services and fifteen departments from the Local Government Commission. A 25-item validated structured questionnaire served as the research instrument. The correlation and multiple regression analysis were used as the major analytical tools. The findings revealed that self awareness as a dimension of EI exhibited the strongest direct effect on leadership performance in the local government administration, which indicates that self awareness is important psychological insight and key to self control that fosters EI. The Study concludes that Managing emotions through EI is found to be a critical element to leadership performance, this implies that carefully managed emotions are associated with successful outcomes which can drive employees loyalty and commitment. Finally it is recommended that effective leadership requires training and retraining on EI skills in order to inculcate the need to understand ones moods, emotions and drives and their impact on better employees morale in the work place.
Palliative radiotherapy, bone metastases, and global assessments in palliative care.

With a focused issue on healing and spirituality in July 2017 (1), and another focused issue on palliative care for advanced dementia planned for October 2017 (2), Annals of Palliative Medicine re-mains committed to rapid author decision times following manuscript submissions and expedited publi-cation times following manuscript acceptances to allow timely original research to be dissemination as quickly as possible to our readers.
Differential Tolerance of Glyphosate-Susceptible and Glyphosate-Resistant Biotypes of Junglerice (Echinochloa colona) to Environments during Germination, Growth, and Intraspecific Competition

Much of the agricultural area in California's southwestern San Joaquin Valley (SJV) is prone to moisture stress and high soil-salinity conditions. Increased prevalence of glyphosate-resistant (GR) biotypes of junglerice [Echinochloa colona (L.) Link] in these environments and their ecological implications need to be further explored. Studies were conducted on GR and glyphosate-susceptible (GS) biotypes of E. colona to compare the effects of moisture and salinity stress on seed germination and salinity stress alone on growth and seed production. Intraspecific competition between the GR and GS plants was also assessed in a replacement series design experiment. With respect to germination, both biotypes were tolerant to moisture and salinity stress at germination; however, the GR biotype was more tolerant than the GS biotype. Water potential and electrical conductivity (EC) levels that reduced germination by 50% were estimated as –1.5 and –2.3 MPa and 8.5 and 12 dS m-1 for the GS and GR biotypes, respectively. The EC levels that reduced aboveground biomass by 50% were estimated as 9 and 11.5 dS m-1 for the GS and GR biotypes, respectively. Seed production was generally greater in the GR than the GS plants below 10 dS m-1. All plants produced up to 140 seeds plant-1, even at 20 dS m-1. The GR plants were more competitive and produced more aboveground dry biomass and seeds than the GS plants when grown together or alone. In conclusion, differences between these particular GR and GS biotypes to environmental stresses and intraspecific competition were noted that could have ecological implications for their prevalence in the southwestern SJV. The results also suggested that there could be high genetic variability and phenotypic plasticity in E. colona populations in the SJV and further population shifts could occur due to selection pressure from glyphosate.
Gender-Differentiated Impacts of the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Dam on Downstream Fishers in the Brazilian Amazon

The Belo Monte Hydroelectric dam on the Xingu River in the Brazilian Amazon will be the third largest dam in the world in power generating capacity (11 GW). Its construction has brought negative socioeconomic and environmental impacts for local fishers that far outweigh the benefits. We used a qualitative case study approach to explore perceptions among fishers in a community downstream from the dam of the impact of Belo Monte on their livelihoods and their fisheries. We found that fishers, who, although they were not displaced were neither consulted nor compensated, have been severely impacted by the dam, and that fishermen and fisherwomen are differentially affected. More attention needs to be given to downstream communities and the impacts they experience.
Model- and Exemplar-based Robust Head Pose Tracking Under Occlusion and Varying Expression

We present a model- and exemplar-based technique for head pose tracking. Because of the dynamic nature, it is not possible to represent face appearance by a single texture image. Instead, we sample the complex face appearance space by a few reference images (exemplars). By taking advantage of the rich geometric information of a 3D face model and the flexible representation provided by exemplars, our system is able to track head pose robustly under occlusion and/or varying facial expression. The system starts with a simple learning stage. The user moves his/her head with a neutral expression in front of the camera within the working space. Our system automatically builds a personalized 3D face model by fitting a generic mesh model to a near frontal facial image, and acquires a few reference images at distinct poses to sparsely sample the facial appearance space. When tracking the head under occlusion and varying expression, we match the current view against the most appropriate reference image according to the predicted pose, which is much easier and more robust than if only a single texture image is used. A robust motion segmentation algorithm is used to separate point matches corresponding to rigid head motion from those corresponding to facial deformation. The head pose can then be reliably estimated from the rigid-motion points with the help of the 3D face mesh model, even when the number of points is small. Since we use reference images during tracking, the accumulative error inherent in frame-by-frame tracking is avoided and more accurate pose estimation is achieved. We demonstrate the validity of our approach with several video sequences acquired in a casual environment.
How Adoption in America Grew Secret; Birth Records Weren't Closed for the Reasons You Might Think

In the '40s and '50s, most state laws did permit adult adoptees to view their birth records. But by 1960, 26 states were making both original birth records and adoption court records available only by court order. Twenty other states still made the birth records available on demand, but over the following 30 years, all those states but three - Alaska, Kansas and South Dakota - closed records to adult adoptees. Why were states closing their records even before 1960, when the reasons being advanced were all about protecting adoptive families, and not birth parents? The historical record suggests that birth mothers were in fact seeking a measure of confidentiality. What the mothers wanted, however, was not to prevent the adoptive parents and the children they had surrendered from discovering their identities, but to prevent their families and communities from learning of their situations. A powerful reason for the earliest closings of birth records to adult adoptees may simply have been that it was consistent with an emerging social idea about adoption: that it was a perfect and complete substitute for creating a family by childbirth, so the adopted child had no other family and would never be interested in learning about any other family. Once most states sealed records for everyone except adult adoptees - and many states foreclosed access even to them - the record-sealing laws themselves may have helped foster the notion that lifelong secrecy is an essential feature of adoption. Adult adoptees increasingly felt discouraged from seeking information about their birth families, and those who did were viewed as maladjusted. By the 1970s, legal comments and court opinions started to talk about the reason for permanently sealed records in terms of birth parents' rights to lifelong anonymity. And states continued to pass laws foreclosing adult adoptees' access to birth records.
Nitrogen-to-protein conversion factors in animal feed and fecal samples.

Nitrogen-to-protein conversion factors were calculated for diets and fecal samples from three animal species fed low- or high-fiber diets. The conversion factors based on protein contents determined by amino acid analyses were calculated from total N (Kjeldahl analyses) and recovered amino acid plus NH3-N (amino acid analyses). Conversion factors based on protein contents determined by a fluorescamine assay for amino acids were also calculated from total Kjeldahl-N. The conversion factors based on Kjeldahl-N averaged 5.3 +/- .7 for the diets and 4.0 +/- .5 for the feces in the six animal and diet comparisons when calculated from anhydrous amino acid formula weights. The greatest deviations from the traditional 6.25 conversion factor occurred in the fecal samples of ruminant animals fed a corn-alfalfa meal diet at a maintenance level of intake. In contrast, conversion factors based on amino acid plus NH3-N were quite stable. These factors averaged 5.7 +/- .1 for feeds and 5.5 +/- .1 for feces when calculated from anhydrous amino acid residue weights.
Uses of high altitude for studies of effects of hypoxia.

The first lesson in anesthesia is “Avoid hypoxia.” So why do high-altitude physiologists ignore the advice? 1) We need to study hypoxia to understand its dangers; 2) It’s fun if you don’t get acute mountain sickness or make a fatal decision, and 3) A bit of hypoxia may be good for us.
Political Science and the Study of Indigenous Politics

The discipline of political science does not take indigenous politics seriously. To be sure, there are political scientists who have made important contributions to the study of indigenous politics. However, the bulk of the discipline either does not place indigenous politics in its field of vision or it analyzes it through frameworks that forestall adequate analysis. The worst offender in this regard is American political science, both in the sense of the sub-field that studies the United States and the scholarship and institutions (i.e. political science departments, associations, journals) of the country. A good deal of my discussion will thus focus on American political science. But my focus will not be exclusively on the U.S. context, as I see the invisibility and distortion of indigenous politics to be a problem one can locate in other liberal-democracies built upon a foundation of settler-colonialism and across the sub-fields of political science. While there are a number of viable routes one can take to address this matter, I focus on two active and increasingly prevalent topics of study in political science scholarship; that is, first, work on sovereignty and the state and, second, work on race and ethnicity politics. As it concerns both areas, I reveal the predispositions within that shield or distract scholars from seeing the value and importance of indigenous politics. These predispositions are: i) the emphasis on sovereignty as an exclusive characteristic of the state; ii) the inability of much of the scholarship on the politics of race and ethnicity to account for or understand the political identity and politics of indigenous people. In my discussions of both areas and predispositions, there will be consistent reference to the role of settler-colonialism as a historical and persistent structuring force in political life. As such, my analysis of these topic areas and their predispositions is, among other things, an effort to refuse the general inattention to settler-colonialism in much of the political science discipline. In short, I claim that taking indigenous politics seriously means taking settler-colonialism seriously, and vice versa.
Performance of Second-Order Platoon of Vehicles in Presence of Time-Delay and Noise

We study a performance measure for a network of time-delay systems based on the coupling graph and time-delay. The focus of this paper is on a time-delay second-order consensus network, where the network uncertainty is modeled by additive noise input on the update dynamics of subsystems, which has application to platoon of cars. The performance of the network is measured by the square of the $\mathcal{H}_{2}$ -norm which manifests itself as the degree of the agreement among the nodes in existence of external disturbances. First, we study this performance measure as a function of time-delay and the Laplacian matrix of the network. Then, we discuss fundamental limits on the performance of the network and eventually we discuss optimal topology for the platoon of cars. Furthermore, we study a trade-off between the performance and connectivity in time-delay second-order networks. We essentially show that the performance of the network times total effective resistance is lower bounded by a constant.
Novel agents positively impact chemotherapy and transplantation in Hodgkin lymphoma

Introduction: Majority of patients with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) can be successfully cured with frontline conventional therapeutics. Approximately 50–60% of those whose disease recur or is refractory ...
Collaborative Archaeology as Heritage Process

The archaeology of Amache, the site of a WWII-era Japanese American incarceration camp, has been performed collaboratively with survivors, their families, and local residents for over a decade. This makes it an exemplary test case for how research intertwined with multiple communities can recast our discipline’s relationship to heritage. Project success has been greatly enhanced though creating opportunities for intergenerational and intercommunity engagement with the site and others who care about it. Paying equal attention to process and product allows archaeology to be positively integrated into heritage building and brings epistemological resources to the study of the past.
THz Time-Domain Characterization of Amplifying Quantum-Cascade Metasurface

We present direct measurements using reflection-mode terahertz (THz) time domain spectroscopy (TDS) of amplifying quantum-cascade (QC) metasurfaces used in THz QC-VECSELs. Devices resonant at 2.2 and 2.5 THz are studied under different bias currents, and exhibit gain-induced partial compensation of losses.
Functionally navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation to evoke lingual pressure in stroke survivors with dysphagia and healthy adults: a proof of concept trial

Background: Post-stroke dysphagia is characterized by reduced corticolingual excitability and lingual pressure; however, it remains unknown if transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) directly facil...
Development and Evaluation of a Cancer Literacy Intervention to Promote Mammography Screening Among Navajo Women: A Pilot Study.

Purpose:Develop and evaluate a mammography intervention that provides hope about cancer prevention and treatment.Design:Pilot randomized controlled trial.Setting:Two communities on the Navajo Natio...
ANALYSIS OF A REACTION–DIFFUSION EPIDEMIC MODEL WITH ASYMPTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

We develop a dynamic model of an evolving epidemic in a spatially inhomogeneous environment. We analyze the model, as a system of reaction–diffusion partial differential equations, to predict the o...
E pluribus unum and civil harmony at election time

One way to formulate the task of the public theologian at election time is to interpret America's motto, e pluribus unum (out of many, one) Civility both presumes oneness while promoting oneness After four years of ceaseless divisiveness from the White House, America needs political leadership that promotes a sense of belonging that includes persons of all races, ethnicities, economic classes, ages, genders, and country of origin The public theologian combats xenophobia and the fear of replacement by demanding police reform, establishing a comprehensive national health delivery system, and comforting those who are anxious about their future in the unum
IgA Vasculitis: Not Just a Pediatric Diagnosis. A Case of Systemic IgA Vasculitis in a 62-year-old Man

Introduction: IgA vasculitis, or Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP), is a common pediatric diagnosis, but is rare in adults and may have different presenting symptoms and long-term outcomes in the two populations. Case Report: A 62-year-old male presented to the hospital with a palpable purpuric rash that emerged 2 days prior to arrival and acute kidney injury. Notably, the patient had been hospitalized one month prior with polymicrobial hospital-acquired pneumonia requiring intubation and broad-spectrum antibiotics. He was also recently started on amoxicillin/clavulanate for upper extremity cellulitis. The purpuric rash began on his feet and progressed proximally up the lower extremities …
A Cohort Study of the Temporal Stability of ImPACT Scores Among NCAA Division I Collegiate Athletes: Clinical Implications of Test-Retest Reliability for Enhancing Student Athlete Safety.

Objective In this study we examined the temporal stability of the Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Test (ImPACT) within NCAA Division I athletes across various timepoints using an exhaustive series of statistical models. Methods Within a cohort design, 48 athletes completed repeated baseline ImPACT assessments at various timepoints. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated using a two-way mixed effects model with absolute agreement. Results Four ImPACT composite scores (Verbal Memory, Visual Memory, Visual Motor Speed, and Reaction Time) demonstrated moderate reliability (ICC = 0.51-0.66) across the span of a typical Division I athlete's career, which is below previous reliability recommendations (0.90) for measures used in individual decision-making. No evidence of fixed bias was detected within Verbal Memory, Visual Motor Speed, or Reaction Time composite scores, and minimal detectable change values exceeded the limits of agreement. Conclusions The demonstrated temporal stability of the ImPACT falls below the published recommendations, and as such, fails to provide robust support for the NCAA's recommendation to obtain a single preparticipation cognitive baseline for use in sports-related concussion management throughout an athlete's career. Clinical interpretation guidelines are provided for clinicians who utilize baseline ImPACT scores for later performance comparisons.
Multi-Disciplinary COVID-19 Research Prioritization in Low-Resource Settings: The Ethiopia Model

Background: The global pandemic of COVID-19 has claimed more than 300 thousand lives with more than 4 7 million confirmed cases to date While the guiding princ
Resource partitioning of phytoplankton metabolites that support bacterial heterotrophy.

The communities of bacteria that assemble around marine microphytoplankton are predictably dominated by Rhodobacterales, Flavobacteriales, and families within the Gammaproteobacteria. Yet whether this consistent ecological pattern reflects the result of resource-based niche partitioning or resource competition requires better knowledge of the metabolites linking microbial autotrophs and heterotrophs in the surface ocean. We characterized molecules targeted for uptake by three heterotrophic bacteria individually co-cultured with a marine diatom using two strategies that vetted the exometabolite pool for biological relevance by means of bacterial activity assays: expression of diagnostic genes and net drawdown of exometabolites, the latter detected with mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance using novel sample preparation approaches. Of the more than 36 organic molecules with evidence of bacterial uptake, 53% contained nitrogen (including nucleosides and amino acids), 11% were organic sulfur compounds (including dihydroxypropanesulfonate and dimethysulfoniopropionate), and 28% were components of polysaccharides (including chrysolaminarin, chitin, and alginate). Overlap in phytoplankton-derived metabolite use by bacteria in the absence of competition was low, and only guanosine, proline, and N-acetyl-d-glucosamine were predicted to be used by all three. Exometabolite uptake pattern points to a key role for ecological resource partitioning in the assembly marine bacterial communities transforming recent photosynthate.
Abstract 299: Effect of Start Position and Compression Depth on Mechanical CPR Hemodynamics in Swine

Introduction: Mechanical devices offer the ability to provide consistent fixed-depth chest compressions during CPR. Although compression depth is considered a primary determinant of CPR quality, th...
Trading Territories: Mapping the Early Modern World: By Jerry Brotton. London: Reaktion Books Ltd, 2018. 11 + 274 pp., illustrations, notes, bibliography, and index. (PB). ISBN: 978-1-78023-929-3

This work was first published in 1997 and is based on Ph.D. research carried out by the author in the 1990s. It concentrates on the geography and cartography of the fifteenth to seventeenth centuri...
Mechanics and Mechanisms of 3D Mesenchymal Cell Migration

Cell migration has classically been characterized on two-dimensional (2D) surfaces as a series of distinct spatiotemporal steps. However, it remains unclear whether cells in a three-dimensional (3D) microenvironment use cell migration cycles or other mechanisms for efficient migration. Here, we describe a unique contractile mechanism employed by fibroblasts and mesenchymal cancer cells (HT-1080s) to migrate in 3D collagen gels. During 3D cell spreading, fibroblasts strongly deform the matrix. They protrude, polarize, and initiate migration in the direction of highest ECM deformation (prestrain). This prestrain is maintained through a novel uniaxial cellular contraction behind the leading edge prior to protrusion that coordinates a distinct 3D migration cycle that varies between cell types. We have found that myosin IIA is required for 1) polarizing force during spreading, 2) generating local uniaxial contraction, and 3) maintaining the matrix prestrain for efficient directional cell migration. Local matrix severing disrupts the matrix prestrain and migration, suggesting force transmission precedes migration. We find that epithelial cancer cells (MDA-MB-231) rarely demonstrate a sustained prestrain or uniaxial contraction seen in mesenchymal cells. We propose that mesenchymal cells can sense ECM stiffness in 3D and generate their own matrix prestrain using myosin IIA to migrate efficiently using polarized periodic uniaxial contractions for maintaining a unique 3D migration cycle.
Behavioral dynamics provide insight into resource exploitation and habitat coexistence of two octopus species in a shallow Florida lagoon

Abstract Multiple octopus species inhabit overlapping ecohabitats worldwide yet little is known about the behavioral mechanisms that facilitate such coexistence. To distinguish coexistence mechanisms of Octopus vulgaris and Macrotritopus defilippi in high densities, rigorous fieldwork was conducted to examine their respective foraging strategies. Direct observations via SCUBA diving combined with active and remote video demonstrated that O. vulgaris was primarily nocturnal, foraged on hard bottom substrate, and consumed mostly bivalves while M. defilippi was strictly diurnal, foraged on soft bottom substrate, and consumed exclusively crustaceans. Both species showed a saltatory (stop and go) foraging tactic dominated by speculative bottom searching, which is guided by visual scanning and decision making, followed by tactile endeavors of the arms and chemotactile suckers. Species-specific behaviors were parachute attack (O. vulgaris ), mimicry of flounder swimming ( M. defilippi), and tripod stance (M. defilippi). Coexistence between these two species results primarily from differences in resource use (habitat and diet) and temporal and spatial heterogeneity. Incorporating species-specific behavioral habits is a key tool for understanding octopus ecology and coexistence.
Student Discussion About Money and the Middle Class

This is an edited transcript of a discussion session with law students regarding the subject of money and middle class identity and characteristics and related matters. The author is collecting interview and discussion sessions on these and similar subjects with an eye to producing a comprehensive view of current attitudes and assumptions.
Medicine, the Medical Profession, and the Welfare State

If every doting mother once wanted nothing more for each of her dutiful sons than that he should become a white-coated doctor, it was with good reason. For from the triumph of medicine’s “professional project” at the end of the nineteenth century until the mid-1960s, physicians enjoyed a position unrivaled by any other American occupation. Dominating the hospitals in which they worked (and the other health professionals with whom they worked), exercising broad cultural authority over the ways in which sickness would be conceived and treated, and earning generous incomes secured by a monopoly of the market for medical services, physicians represented the very model of a successful profession. Since the mid-1960s, however, a few cracks have begun to show in the success of medical professionalism. If doting mothers (and fathers) may have to find new ambitions for their sons (and daughters), so, too, will sociologists have to rethink their understanding of medicine as well as of the professions more generally.
Fastpath speculative parallelization

We describe Fastpath, a system for speculative parallelization of sequential programs on conventional multicore processors. Our system distinguishes between the lead thread, which executes at almost-native speed, and speculative threads, which execute somewhat slower. This allows us to achieve nontrivial speedup, even on two-core machines. We present a mathematical model of potential speedup, parameterized by application characteristics and implementation constants. We also present preliminary results gleaned from two different Fastpath implementations, each derived from an implementation of software transactional memory.
Analysis of Dowel Action

The shear capacity of the longitudinal reinforcement in concrete beams acting as a dowel across a diagonal tension crack is analyzed, based upon the concept of a beam on an elastic foundation. Axial tension in the dowel, action of the stirrups and progressive horizontal cracking of the cover are included in the analysis. Results for specific examples are presented as interaction diagrams between dowel shear capacity and dowel axial tension.
Medicaid At 50: Remarkable Growth Fueled By Unexpected Politics

Medicaid has grown exponentially since the mid-1980s, during both conservative Republican and liberal Democratic administrations. How has this happened? The answer is rooted in three political variables: interest groups, political culture, and American federalism. First, interest-group support (from hospitals, nursing homes, and insurers) is more influential than the fragmented group opposition (from underpaid office-based physicians). Second, Medicaid provides a partial counterweight to conservative charges of a federal health care takeover because of the states’ roles in administering the program. Third, Medicaid’s intergovernmental fiscal partnership creates financial incentives for state and federal officials to expand enrollment—expansions that these policy makers often favor, given the program’s increasingly important role in the nation’s health care system. This institutional dynamic is here called catalytic federalism.
Correction of Diabetic Hyperglycemia and Amelioration of Metabolic Anomalies by Minicircle DNA Mediated Glucose-Dependent Hepatic Insulin Production

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is caused by immune destruction of insulin-producing pancreatic β-cells. Commonly used insulin injection therapy does not provide a dynamic blood glucose control to prevent long-term systemic T1DM-associated damages. Donor shortage and the limited long-term success of islet transplants have stimulated the development of novel therapies for T1DM. Gene therapy-based glucose-regulated hepatic insulin production is a promising strategy to treat T1DM. We have developed gene constructs which cause glucose-concentration-dependent human insulin production in liver cells. A novel set of human insulin expression constructs containing a combination of elements to improve gene transcription, mRNA processing, and translation efficiency were generated as minicircle DNA preparations that lack bacterial and viral DNA. Hepatocytes transduced with the new constructs, ex vivo, produced large amounts of glucose-inducible human insulin. In vivo, insulin minicircle DNA (TA1m) treated streptozotocin (STZ)-diabetic rats demonstrated euglycemia when fasted or fed, ad libitum. Weight loss due to uncontrolled hyperglycemia was reversed in insulin gene treated diabetic rats to normal rate of weight gain, lasting ∼1 month. Intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test (IPGT) demonstrated in vivo glucose-responsive changes in insulin levels to correct hyperglycemia within 45 minutes. A single TA1m treatment raised serum albumin levels in diabetic rats to normal and significantly reduced hypertriglyceridemia and hypercholesterolemia. Elevated serum levels of aspartate transaminase, alanine aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase were restored to normal or greatly reduced in treated rats, indicating normalization of liver function. Non-viral insulin minicircle DNA-based TA1m mediated glucose-dependent insulin production in liver may represent a safe and promising approach to treat T1DM.
Communication of ambiguous risk information

This paper reports on the responses of 646 individuals to environmental risk information involving different forms of risk ambiguity. Recipients of more than one set of risk information do not simply average the risk levels provided. Rather, a variety of aspects of the nature of the risks that are communicated influence their probabilistic beliefs. Individuals' perceptions of the risk levels to which they are exposed are likely to be greater: (i) for more ambiguous risks, (ii) for risks for which the unfavorable risk evidence is presented last even when there is no temporal order, (iii) for risks for which the most unfavorable risk studies have been performed most recently, and (iv) for risks where there is asymmetry in the risk ambiguity that imposes substantial potential downside risks. Although these effects are modest for the median individual, the potential for extreme responses that reflect only the most adverse or the most favorable piece of information provided is quite prevalent. These findings are of interest more generally in that they indicate how individuals form their risk perceptions in the presence of risk ambiguity.
Myoglobin signal as an NMR tissue thermometer: implication for hyperthermia treatment of tumors

Abstract Measuring local tissue temperature is critical in stablishing a rational approach for hyperthermia treatment of tumors. We have found that the heme signals of myoglobin provide a unique basis for NMR thermometry in vivo. In particular the 5-methyl heme signal of MbCN exhibits a sharp, temperature-dependent resonance that is distinguishable in the tissue spectrum. Its calibrated chemical shift can then reflect the local tissue temperature in vivo.
“Low grade” mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the bronchus with “high grade” biological behavior

A case of mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the bronchus with low grade histologic features exhibited an aggressive biological behavior. All gross, microscopic, and ultrastructural features were those of a morphologically low grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma. Grossly, the lesion was an exophytic endobronchial mass; microscopically, it contained sheets of monomorphic cells with well-formed mucus glands, no mitoses, and no necrosis; and ultrastructurally, it consisted of numerous goblet cells and mitochondria- and glycogen-rich cells with well-formed microvilli. However, the patient developed widespread metastases to skin, subcutaneous tissue, femur, vertebral column, and pericardium and died two months after the primary endobronchial tumor was excised. The metastases, like the primary tumor, had the appearance of "low grade" mucoepidermoid carcinoma. Explants of the original tumor grown in nude mice for three months showed persistence of the low-grade morphologic pattern. Although metastases are known to occur frequently from high-grade lesions, widespread metastases from histologically low-grade lesions have not previously been reported. Low-grade histologic features of mucoepidermoid carcinoma are not necessarily then indicative of low-grade biological behavior.
Laser-Induced Fluorescence Measurements and Modeling of Nitric Oxide Formation in High-Pressure Flames

ABSTRACT We have obtained quantitative LIF measurements of NO concentration in the postflame zone of a series of flat, laminar, premixed C2H6/O2/N2 flames at pressures ranging from 3.05 to 14.6 atm. The temperatures of the flames were 1600-1850K, indicating that most of the NO produced in the flames is prompt NO. We have found that the equivalence ratio corresponding to the peak NO concentration at a given pressure shifts towards leaner conditions with increasing pressure. In addition, we have modeled the flames using two chemical kinetics models: the Glarborg-Miller-Kee mechanism as modified by Drake and Blint (GMK-DB), and the Miller-Bowman mechanism (MB). Both models accurately predict the pressure trends of NO formation, while the quantitalive agreement with measurements is, in general, good for the GM K-DB model and poor for the M B model. Explanations are provided both for the poor agreement found with the MB model and for the shift in peak NO concentration with pressure.
Ignition/duct overpressure induced by Space Shuttle solid rocket motor ignition

An analytical methodology, with a propagating solid rocket motor (SRM) exhaust front as a perturbation pressure wave generator, is developed to enhance understanding of the ignition/duct overpressure (IOP/DOP) induced during the Space Shuttle liftoff. Waveform, amplitude, and low-frequency responses of IOP/DOP are simulated. For a full-scale configuration, IOP and DOP responses are clearly isolated and distinguishable. However, in the subscale tests, an interaction region of IOP and DOP exists, which obscures interpretation of the test data. The methodology offers a first-order assessment of these phenomena with respect to the launch complex geometry and the SRM ignition transient, and provides guidance for the test data interpretation.
Acoustic emission-based monitoring of surfaces subjected to friction

Machine parts often contain components which experience relative motion during service. Relative motion between surfaces causes fatigue crack, wear and eventual surface deterioration. Acoustic emission based machinery condition monitoring is a method which can potentially be used to monitor the state of damage present on surfaces during service. This research deals with changes that occur in the characteristics of acoustic emission signals due to altering surface roughness and texture caused by friction loading. A test fixture was used to simulate friction between surfaces of comparable surface finish and obtain acoustic emission signals generated in the process. The different characteristics of signal waveforms obtained at different instances during the test were examined. It was shown that some features like amplitude and duration of the waveforms are sensitive to surface wear.
Cocaine-induced conditioned taste aversions: comparisons between effects in LEW/N and F344/N rat strains

Recent studies have found the LEW/N rat self-administers drugs of abuse at higher rates than the F344/N rat, suggesting a genetic predisposition toward the abuse potential of drugs. The current study compared the acquisition of a conditioned taste aversion (CTA) to cocaine in these strains. During an initial 20-min daily session a 0.1% saccharin solution was available and a dose (0–50 mg/kg, SC) of cocaine was given immediately after that session. Water was available during sessions on the following 3 days. Fluid consumption was assessed over three saccharin/water cycles, and a final saccharin session. Vehicle injections (0 mg/kg) that followed exposure to saccharin had no effect on subsequent saccharin consumption. In contrast, when cocaine followed exposure to saccharin, rates of saccharin consumption decreased over successive saccharin sessions in a dose-related manner in both strains. The lowest dose (18 mg/kg) decreased consumption in LEW/N rats but not in F344/N rats. An intermediate dose (32 mg/kg) decreased consumption maximally in LEW/N rats and only marginally in F344/N rats. The highest dose (50 mg/kg) decreased consumption completely in LEW/N rats and almost completely in F344/N rats. These findings demonstrate that significant differences in sensitivity to stimuli paired with cocaine occur between these strains. These differences are consistent with previous reports that the LEW/N rat is uniquely sensitive to both behavioral and biochemical effects of drugs of abuse. The current report extends this sensitivity to the noxious effects of these drugs. To the extent that noxious and reinforcing effects of cocaine are unrelated, these results suggest that the LEW/N rat does not exhibit a genetic predisposition to factors related only to the abuse potential of drugs.
Enhancing Applesoft using ampersand routines

Machine language routines, which can provide many useful and unusual applications for BASIC, run faster than BASIC and usually occupy less memory than comparable BASIC routines. Examples of two types of easy-to-use enhancements to Applesoft BASIC are described. The first type consists of integrated collections of enhancements and extensions that are used as a group. A second type allows program developers to select only those routines that are desired. Features available in several sets of such routines are discussed.
Education and Cognitive Change over 15 Years: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study

Objectives: To evaluate whether education level is associated with change in cognitive performance. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study, a community-based cohort. Participants: Nine thousand two hundred sixty-eight ARIC participants who underwent cognitive evaluation at least twice over a 15-year period. Measurements: Education was evaluated as a predictor of change in word recall, the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST), and word fluency. A random-effects linear regression model, and a time by educational level interaction was used. Results: Educational level was highly associated with cognitive performance. The effect on performance of a less than high school education (vs more than high school) was equivalent to the effect of as much as 22 years of cognitive aging, but educational level was not associated with change in cognitive performance in whites or blacks, with the exception of the DSST for whites, in whom those with lower levels of education had less decline in scores. Conclusion: Educational level was not associated with change in cognitive performance, although the higher baseline cognitive performance of individuals with more education might explain lower rates of dementia in more-educated individuals, because more decline would have to take place between baseline higher performance and time at which dementia was diagnosed in more-educated individuals.
Culture and Good Governance: A Brief Empirical Exercise

This paper uses regression analysis to explore possible relationships between culture and governance. The World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, in six expressions, are used as dependent variables. Explanatory variables are real per capita GDP (PPP) and culture measured in two dimensions. The data set includes 68 nations. The authors find that the level of development, measured as real per capita GDP, has the strongest relationship to good governance but, in most cases, the cultural measures are influential as well.
Integration Host Factor is required for FarR repression of the farAB-encoded efflux pump of Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

Summary The farAB operon encodes an efflux pump system that mediates the resistance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae to antimicrobial long-chain fatty acids. We previously observed that expression of farAB is negatively regulated by the FarR repressor. In this study, we examined the molecular mechanism by which FarR represses expression of farAB. DNase I footprinting analysis, coupled with a deletion analysis of the farAB promoter region, indicated that FarR binds to three sites (termed sites A, B and C) within the DNA sequence upstream of farA; genetic analysis revealed, however, that site B is not required for FarR repression of farAB. This repression also required the presence of Integration Host Factor (IHF), which was found to bind to sequences located between FarR binding sites A and C. We determined that IHF binding to the farAB promoter region could inhibit transcription in vitro and that such binding induced a bending of the target DNA, which we propose to be important in regulating this operon. IHF binding to the promoter region was found to stabilize the binding of FarR to its binding sites A and C and as a consequence, enhanced repression of farAB expression mediated by FarR. We propose a model in which expression of the farAB-encoded efflux pump in N. gonorrhoeae is modulated by the DNA binding activities of FarR and IHF.
Comparing institutional trauma survival to a standard : Current limitations and suggested alternatives

Many studies have evaluated trauma care in hospitals and systems using a "Preventable Death Rate" (PDR), consisting of the number of deaths judged preventable by some person or committee on the basis of autopsy or chart review divided by the total number of deaths during the same time period.1-3 This quantity may have some value if the denominator is understood to be a proxy for the total number of patients at risk for preventable death. However, interpreting a difference between two measurements of the PDR, even in the same hospital, may be difficult. For example, an increase in the number of unsalvageable patients will decrease the PDR without any change in the quality of care.4 In addition, the subjective determination of preventability is notably unreproducible from one expert committee to another;5,6 this makes the PDR unsuitable for comparison of different institutions.
High-frequency, long-duration water sampling in acid mine drainage studies: a short review of current methods and recent advances in automated water samplers

Abstract Hand-collected grab samples are the most common water sampling method but using grab sampling to monitor temporally variable aquatic processes such as diel metal cycling or episodic events is rarely feasible or cost-effective. Currently available automated water samplers are a proven, widely used technology and typically collect as many as 24 samples during a deployment. However, these automated water samplers are not well suited for long-term sampling in remote areas or in freezing conditions. There is a critical need for low-cost, long-duration, high-frequency water sampling technology to improve our understanding of the geochemical response to temporally variable processes. This review article will examine recent developments in automated water sampler technology and utilize selected field data from acid mine drainage studies to illustrate the utility of high-frequency, long-duration water sampling.