cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
No time, no money, no luck: Barriers to prenatal care among dalit women in rural Nepal

In Nepal, a large gap exists between non-dalit and dalit women in regard to maternal mortality and prenatal care. Especially rural Dalits are far behind non-dalits in utilizing prenatal care. We explored rural dalit women's prenatal practices and barriers to accessing prenatal care. Interviews revealed that lack of cultural and economic capital, unequal domestic and economic burden, and gender and caste discrimination impact the use of prenatal care. The use of prenatal care might be improved by informing women about free services and incentives, better access and transportation, and heightened sensitivity to the situation of these women.
Optimization of one-dimensional Willis materials with hidden lumped elements

Willis coupling is a recently recognized material property that couples the pressure-strain and momentum-velocity equations and can lead to novel applications of metamaterials. We present an approach for optimizing the asymmetry factor (a non-dimensional measure of Willis coupling’s effect on the specific acoustic impedance) in a metamaterial with lumped-element hidden degrees of freedom. The representative material element in the system we examine is a length of tube, which could be considered as a unit cell in a periodic system. Lumped-element features including side-branch resonators and membranes may be attached to the tube at various locations. We aim to determine optimal locations for each type of lumped-element feature, as well as optimal parameters in the design of the features themselves (e.g., for a resonator: volume, neck length, and neck cross-sectional surface area). An ideal design for a metamaterial exhibiting significant Willis coupling would result in a broadband non-negligible asymmetry factor.
Location advantages of lodging properties: A comparison between hotels and Airbnb units in an urban environment

Abstract This study aims to investigate various types of location advantages that contribute to lodging property performance. Using monthly revenue data for individual urban hotels and Airbnb units in Houston, Texas from 2014 to 2016, we apply the Hausman-Taylor model to estimate the effects of location factors. Several factors are confirmed, including accessibility to points of interest, transport convenience, the surrounding environment, and market conditions. The overall effect of location advantage is more substantial for urban hotels than Airbnb units. Findings do not reveal a sizable competition effect between urban hotels and Airbnb units. Furthermore, we unveil factors associated with location advantages for different hotel classes and Airbnb types by estimating the model using different sub-samples.
Chapter 14 – Photocarcinogenesis

Publisher Summary The recent significant decrease in stratospheric ozone, the natural barrier against short-wavelength ultraviolet (UV) radiation, may significantly increase the occurrence of skin cancer in the future. UV wavelengths shorter than 320 nm are very detrimental to living cells and tissues. The major effects of UVB radiation range from mild redness to second-degree (blistering) burns. The acute effects of the single overdose of UVB radiation heal without scarring. Repeated UVB exposure, prolonged over many years, can result in skin photoaging (chronic degenerative changes in the skin) and premalignant and malignant lesions, i.e., non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC), and malignant melanoma. There are several arguments for a causal role of the UV radiation in NMSC production: NMSC is frequently located on exposed body sites, in pigmented races fewer cases of NMSC occur, and NMSC does not affect the sun-exposed areas. There is greater risk among white-skinned people who spend time outdoors. Premature NMSC occurs in genetic diseases that enhance sensitivity to the solar UV radiation. The UVC radiation is very efficiently absorbed by nucleic acids. In skin, the overlying keratin layers provide protection. Absorbed by ozone and oxygen, the solar radiation from natural sources below 200 nm does not reach living organisms.
Neuropeptide Y plasma levels and suicidal behavior in combat veterans

War veterans are at increased risk of suicide that may be related to deployment and/or post-deployment stressors and to adjustment-related factors. The aim of this study was to examine whether levels of plasma neuropeptide Y (NPY) might distinguish combat veterans who have made a post-deployment suicide attempt from those who have never made a suicide attempt. We focused on NPY because of prior findings linking NPY with the neurobiology of resilience, stress-related and other disorders, and suicidal behavior. Demographic and clinical parameters of suicide attempters and non-attempters were assessed and plasma NPY was determined by radioimmunoassay. NPY levels were higher among attempters in comparison to non-attempters, controlling for sex and body-mass index. Suicide attempters had higher Scale for Suicidal Ideation (SSI) scores than non-attempters. There was a positive correlation between NPY levels and SSI scores among non-attempters but not among attempters. Likewise, NPY levels positively correlated with Brown-Goodwin Aggression Scale scores among suicide attempters but not among non-attempters. This is the first demonstration of altered plasma NPY levels in association with suicide attempt history and suicidal ideation in veterans. Our findings suggest that clinical differences between combat veterans with or without a history of suicide attempt may have a neurobiological origin.
Resolving the Geometry/Charge Puzzle of the c(2 × 2)-Cl Cu(100) Electrode.

Potential-induced changes in charge and surface structure are significant drivers of the reactivity of electrochemical interfaces but are frequently difficult to decouple from the effects of surface solvation. Here, we consider the Cu(100) surface with a c(2 × 2)-Cl adlayer, a model surface with multiple geometry measurements under both ultrahigh vacuum and electrochemical conditions. Under aqueous electrochemical conditions, the measured Cu-Cl interplanar separation (dCu-Cl) increases by at least 0.3 A relative to that under ultrahigh vacuum conditions. This large geometry change is unexpected for a hydrophobic surface, and it requires invoking a negative charge on the Cl-covered surface which is much greater than expected from the work function and our capacitance measurements. To resolve this inconsistency we employ ab initio calculations and find that the Cu-Cl separation increases with charging at a rate of 0.7 A/e- per Cl atom. The larger Cu-Cl bond distance increases the surface dipole and, therefore, the work function of the interface, contributing to the negative charge under fixed potential electrochemical conditions. Interactions with water are not needed to explain either the large charge or large Cu-Cl interplanar spacing of this surface under electrochemical conditions.
Rapid tolerance to morphine in the myenteric neurons of the small intestine is independent of β-arrestin-2 and mediated by PKC

Abstract Background and Purpose G-protein biased μ-opioid agonists against β-arrestin-2 activation are being investigated to reduce adverse effects. While opioid tolerance is strongly linked to the development of dependence, there is a dissociation between the two phenomena in the gut as tolerance does not develop to opioid-induced constipation, but diarrhea still manifests upon withdrawal. Here, we investigated the mechanism by which morphine tolerance in the small intestine develops. Experimental Approach Mechanism of morphine tolerance in the small intestine was evaluated in vivo and at the neuronal level. Whole-cell patch clamp electrophysiology was used to investigate tolerance in individual ileum myenteric neurons. Rate of morphine tolerance development in the small intestine was assessed against peripheral antinociception and whole gut transit. Key Results Tolerance develops to inhibition of small intestinal motility after one day of morphine exposure, and is more rapid compared to peripheral antinociception and constipation in chronic morphine-treated mice. Morphine tolerance was reversed by the PKC inhibitor, Tamoxifen, but not by β-arrestin-2 deletion. Similarly, β-arrestin-2 deletion did not prevent morphine tolerance to inhibition of neuronal excitability in ileum myenteric neurons. However, neuronal tolerance was attenuated by inhibiting PKC. Conclusions and Implications Unlike antinociceptive tolerance, rapid morphine tolerance in the small intestine is independent of β-arrestin-2 but is PKC-mediated. These findings reveal a potential mechanism for differences in the rates of tolerances to opioids, implicate myenteric neurons of the ileum as the primary cause for opioid-induced withdrawal effects and suggest that undesired gastrointestinal effects will persist with biased opioid agonist use. Summary What is already known: Tolerance does not develop to chronic-opioid-induced constipation but diarrhea is produced upon withdrawal Novel G-protein biased agonists that preclude β-arrestin-2 activation at the μ-opioid receptor are in development What this study adds: Morphine tolerance in the ileum develops systemically and in individual myenteric neurons independent of β-arrestin-2 Morphine tolerance in the small intestine develops before antinociception and is reversed by PKC inhibition Clinical significance: Clinical use of G-protein biased opioid agonists will not prevent tolerance development in the ileum Tolerance in ileum myenteric neurons might be the basis of opioid-induced withdrawal in the gut
Screening for perinatal anxiety.

Objective Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders (PMADs) are one of the most common complications of the perinatal period.1 ACOG recommends screening for both depressive and anxiety symptoms at least once during the perinatal period using a standardized, validated tool.2 The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Screen (EPDS) is the most commonly used tool to screen for depression, and while it contains anxiety-related questions, it has not been validated to screen for anxiety. In fact, the ideal tool to screen for perinatal anxiety remains a matter of debate.3-5 The aim of our study was to evaluate the ability of the EPDS to also screen for anxiety related symptoms as compared to the gold-standard of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7). Study Design Women receiving obstetric care at three of the University of Alabama at Birmingham obstetric clinics were screened simultaneously using the EPDS and GAD-7 from 10/1/17 to 5/31/18. The screened population included English and Spanish-speaking women from public and private offices at varied gestational ages and postpartum. Only the first screen was included if a woman was screened more than once. The total score on both the EDPS and GAD-7, as well as the score on three anxiety-specific EPDS questions (#4, 5 and 6) were collected. Demographic data were collected from the electronic medical record. A positive score was set at 10 for both the GAD-7 and EPDS. The data were then analyzed using standard statistical modeling including logistic regression and Pearson correlation coefficients. Results 407 women were screened and included in the study: 102 (25%) were postpartum, otherwise average gestational age was 22.4 weeks; 178 (44%) self-identified as African American and 24 (6%) as Hispanic; 203 (49%) received care in the public office (predominantly Medicaid-insured). Only 13 (3%) of screens were completed in Spanish. The prevalence of a positive GAD-7 was 17% and a positive EPDS was 11%. The correlation between a positive EPDS and GAD-7 screen was 0.83 (p Conclusion PMADs are common in our obstetric population. A positive EPDS alone was correlated with a positive GAD-7. In the presence of a negative EPDS screen, using a score of 5 or greater on the three anxiety-specific EPDS questions may be helpful in identifying women who could benefit from further anxiety screening and treatment.
Automatic prior selection for meta Bayesian optimization with a case study on tuning deep neural network optimizers.

The performance of deep neural networks can be highly sensitive to the choice of a variety of meta-parameters, such as optimizer parameters and model hyperparameters. Tuning these well, however, often requires extensive and costly experimentation. Bayesian optimization (BO) is a principled approach to solve such expensive hyperparameter tuning problems efficiently. Key to the performance of BO is specifying and refining a distribution over functions, which is used to reason about the optima of the underlying function being optimized. In this work, we consider the scenario where we have data from similar functions that allows us to specify a tighter distribution a priori. Specifically, we focus on the common but potentially costly task of tuning optimizer parameters for training neural networks. Building on the meta BO method from Wang et al. (2018), we develop practical improvements that (a) boost its performance by leveraging tuning results on multiple tasks without requiring observations for the same meta-parameter points across all tasks, and (b) retain its regret bound for a special case of our method. As a result, we provide a coherent BO solution for iterative optimization of continuous optimizer parameters. To verify our approach in realistic model training setups, we collected a large multi-task hyperparameter tuning dataset by training tens of thousands of configurations of near-state-of-the-art models on popular image and text datasets, as well as a protein sequence dataset. Our results show that on average, our method is able to locate good hyperparameters at least 3 times more efficiently than the best competing methods.
Alleviating the burden of diabetes with Health Equity Funds: Economic evaluation of the health and financial risk protection benefits in Cambodia.

In Cambodia, diabetes caused nearly 3% of the country’s mortality in 2016 and became the fourth highest cause of disability in 2017. Providing sufficient financial risk protection from health care expenditures may be part of the solution towards effectively tackling the diabetes burden and motivating individuals to appropriately seek care to effectively manage their condition. In this study, we aim to estimate the distributional health and financial impacts of strategies providing financial coverage for diabetes services through the Health Equity Funds (HEF) in Cambodia. The trajectory of diabetes was represented using a Markov model to estimate the societal costs, health impacts, and individual out-of-pocket expenditures associated with six strategies of HEF coverage over a time horizon of 45 years. Input parameters for the model were compiled from published literature and publicly available household survey data. Strategies covered different combinations of types of diabetes care costs (i.e., diagnostic services, medications, and management of diabetes-related complications). Health impacts were computed as the number of disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) averted and financial risk protection was analyzed in terms of cases of catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) averted. Model simulations demonstrated that coverage for medications would be cost-effective, accruing health benefits ($27 per DALY averted) and increases in financial risk protection ($2 per case of CHE averted) for the poorest in Cambodia. Women experienced particular gains in health and financial risk protection. Increasing the number of individuals eligible for financial coverage also improved the value of such investments. For HEF coverage, the government would pay between an estimated $28 and $58 per diabetic patient depending on the extent of coverage and services covered. Efforts to increase the availability of services and capacity of primary care facilities to support diabetes care could have far-reaching impacts on the burden of diabetes and contribute to long-term health system strengthening.
Streaming techniques for statistical modeling

Streaming is an important paradigm for handling high-speed data sets that are too large to fit in main memory. Prior work in data streams has shown how to estimate simple statistical parameters, such as histograms, heavy hitters, frequent moments, etc., on data streams. This dissertation focuses on a number of more sophisticated statistical analyses that are performed in near real-time, using limited resources. First, we present how to model stream data parametrically; in particular, we fit hierarchical (binomial multifractal) and non-hierarchical (Pareto) power-law models on a data stream. It yields algorithms that are fast, space-efficient, and provide accuracy guarantees. We also design fast methods to perform online model validation at streaming speeds. The second contribution of this dissertation addresses the problem of modeling an individual’s behaviors via “signature” for nodes in communication graphs. We develop a formal framework for the usage of signatures on communication graphs and identify fundamental properties that are natural to signature schemes. We justify these properties by showing how they impact a set of applications. We then explore several signature schemes in our framework and evaluate them on real data in terms of these properties. This provides insights into suitable signature schemes for desired applications. Finally, the dissertation studies the detection of changes in models on data with unknown distributions. We adapt the sound statistical method of sequential probability ratio test to the online streaming case, without independence assumption. The resulting algorithm works seamlessly without window limitations inherent in prior work, and is highly effective at detecting changes quickly. Furthermore, we formulate and extend our streaming solution to the local change detection problem that has not been addressed earlier. As concrete applications of our techniques, we complement our analytic and algorithmic results with experiments on network traffic data to demonstrate the practicality of our methods at line speeds, and the potential power of streaming techniques for statistical modeling in data mining.
William Carey Jones

William Carey Jones, former dean of the graduate division of the University of California, died of apoplexy in Pekin on October 2, 1923. Dr. Jones was a grandson of the famous Senator Benton of Missouri, and therefore a nephew of Mrs. Jessie Fremont. His father, William Carey Jones, was an able lawyer who took a prominent part in the early litigation over California land titles. Dr. Jones was born in Washington, D. C, in 1854, but came to California while very young, and after a course at the University of California graduated in 1875. From that time until his retirement last year Dr. Jones was connected with the University in various capacities. He was best known, how ever, on account of his connection with the school of jurisprudence, in which he became professor in 1894, heading the new department. Although Dr. Jones was not a member of this society at the time of his death, he will always be associated with it as one of the most active members on its reorganization in 1886. Dr. Jones acted as Secretary for some time, and contributed a very valuable paper, "The First Phase of the Conquest of California," which was printed in the Papers of the California Historical Society, vol. I, part 1, San Fran cisco: 1887. He leaves a wife and three daughters.
Dynamical mean-field theory of quantum stripe glasses

We present a many body approach for nonequilibrium behavior and self-generated glassiness in strongly correlated quantum systems. It combines the dynamical mean-field theory of equilibrium systems with the replica theory for classical glasses without quenched disorder. We apply this approach to study a quantized version of the Brazovskii model and find a self-generated quantum glass that remains in a quantum mechanically mixed state as $\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{T}0.$ This quantum glass is formed by a large number of competing states spread over an energy region which is determined within our theory.
Sensitivity of Agar Overlay Method for the Recognition of Enteroviruses.

Abstract Comparison of the agar overlay technique with the fluid culture technique for isolation and identification of enteroviruses showed the former to be useful: (i) for isolation of enterovirus when the number of virus particles was too small to produce detectable cytopathic effect (CPE) in fluid cultures, (ii) for isolation of echovirus 22 which did not produce detectable CPE in fluid cultures, (iii) as an aid to rapid differentiation of enteroviruses, and (iv) for differentiation of viruses in mixed infections. Nonpolio enterovirus isolation experience in the New Haven area over a 4-year period is presented. It was concluded that the agar overlay technique is both useful and relatively simple for routine examination of clinical specimens in a diagnostic laboratory.
Heterospecific transformation of Pneumococcus and Streptococcus: II. Dependence of relative efficiency of marker integration on host genome☆

Abstract An antibiotic-sensitive strain of Pneumococcus and one of Streptococcus were transformed by each of a number of DNA preparations extracted from pneumococci containing an identical erythromycin-resistance ( ery-r2 ) marker but different streptomycin-resistance ( str-r ) markers. As observed previously, the homospecific transformation occurs several hundred times more frequently than the corresponding heterospecific transformation. The helping effect of DNA molecules, previously observed for str-r transformations in the streptococcal strain, occurs also in the case of ery-r transformations. When a given species serves as recipient, the frequency of str-r transformations relative to that of ery-r2 transformations varies from one str-r marker to another. For a given marker, however, the relative frequency of str-r transformations ( str-r/ery-r2 ) is characteristic of the marker and independent of the concentration of DNA used to transform the recipient cells. On changing the species of recipient, this value may remain the same, increase or decrease, the extent of the change depending on the str-r marker. When it occurs, the change in the relative frequency of str-r transformations is not due to a change in the relative rates at which str-r and ery-r2 transformants express their resistant phenotypes. It is due rather to a change in the relative efficiencies with which the str-r and ery-r2 markers are integrated into recipient genomes following infection of the recipient cells by donor DNA. The difference in relative integration efficiency in the two species is due to genetic factors which are not transferred with the markers during heterospecific transformation. Thus, heterology at loci undergoing recombination has two distinct effects: it reduces the over-all frequency of transformation, and it alters the integration efficiency characteristic of the marker being transferred.
Steady State Memetic Algorithm for Partial Shape Matching

Shape matching techniques are important in machine intelligence, especially in applications such as robotics. Currently, there are three major approaches to shape recognition: statistical, syntactic and neural approaches. This paper presents a fourth approach: evolutionary algorithms. A steady state memetic algorithm is shown to be successful in matching shapes even when they are partially obscured, and even in the presence of noise in the input image.
Examining the Validity of Two Measures for Formative Teaching: Reading Aloud and Maze:

This study examined the relations among performance on standardized reading tests, two informal measures (reading aloud and maze), and teacher judgment. Subjects were 335 students from Grades 2–6. Correlations between oral reading fluency and two achievement tests varied according to students' grade level, with a declining trend in the coefficients as grade level increased. Correlations between oral reading and achievement tests at the upper grade levels were lower than those reported in previous studies. In contrast, coefficients between performance on maze tasks and achievement tests did not show a similar decline from lower to upper grade levels. Results are discussed in the context of assessment procedures used in formative instruction.
The Challenges of Data Quality Evaluation in a Joint Data Warehouse.

Introduction: The use of clinically derived data from electronic health records (EHRs) and other electronic clinical systems can greatly facilitate clinical research as well as operational and quality initiatives. One approach for making these data available is to incorporate data from different sources into a joint data warehouse. When using such a data warehouse, it is important to understand the quality of the data. The primary objective of this study was to determine the completeness and concordance of common types of clinical data available in the Knowledge Program (KP) joint data warehouse, which contains feeds from several electronic systems including the EHR. Methods: A manual review was performed of specific data elements for 250 patients from an EHR, and these were compared with corresponding elements in the KP data warehouse. Completeness and concordance were calculated for five categories of data including demographics, vital signs, laboratory results, diagnoses, and medications. Results: In general, data elements for demographics, vital signs, diagnoses, and laboratory results were present in more cases in the source EHR compared to the KP. When data elements were available in both sources, there was a high concordance. In contrast, the KP data warehouse documented a higher prevalence of deaths and medications compared to the EHR. Discussion: Several factors contributed to the discrepancies between data in the KP and the EHR—including the start date and frequency of data feeds updates into the KP, inability to transfer data located in nonstructured formats (e.g., free text or scanned documents), as well as incomplete and missing data variables in the source EHR. Conclusion: When evaluating the quality of a data warehouse with multiple data sources, assessing completeness and concordance between data set and source data may be better than designating one to be a gold standard. This will allow the user to optimize the method and timing of data transfer in order to capture data with better accuracy.
Motorola PowerPC Migration Tools-emulation and translation

This paper describes the Motorola PowerPC Migration Tools project. The development methodology emphasizes code reuse. Emulation and translation methods are described and characterized. Emulation is applied to ROM-based environments. Translation achieves higher performance by having access to source code.
Photoinduced tension of polymers

Photoirradiation of polymer films at constant length induced a fast tension reduction (time scale; seconds) followed by slow tension buildup (time scale: minutes). Immediately after irradiation, fast tension buildup was followed by slow tension decay. Cycles were repeatable without significant hysteresis loss. The amplitude of both phenomena are intensity-dependent in the ultraviolet-visible spectral regions; both phenomena are thermal rather than photochemical effects. Light-absorbing chromophores in the polymer structure, or in additives such as dyes, lead to absorption of light and internal conversion into heat. The classical, rapid thermal expansion (or contraction) on heating (or cooling) leads to the fast relaxation (or buildup) of tension. The elastic, entropic response of the sample with its longer relaxation time leads to slow buildup (or decay) of tension. Fast and slow responses are observed sequentially with film of extensively crosslinked Riston photopolymer resist or with Kapton polyimide film, whereas, in experiments with latex rubber, the rubbery behavior dominates.
How children talk about what happened

This study investigates the development of past tense expressions in the speech of children from 1; 6 to 2; 6. It is shown that this development depends crucially on the child's cognitive construction of the time dimension, as described by Piaget (1954, 1971). In this process two different cognitive routes are followed, depending on the type of event the child has to encode. Past events resulting in the end state of some object are gradually grasped and encoded by means of a practical process–effect coordination. Past states and activities, on the contrary, i.e. past events that do not result in an end state, are referred to through a more primitive distinction between a pretend vs. a real world. This difference is formally reflected in the differential past-tense marking appearing on verbs which describe the two different types of event.
Assessment of inflammation with contrast ultrasound.

Future clinical applications of contrast-enhanced ultrasound will likely expand beyond the assessment of microvascular perfusion. One promising direction is the development of site-targeted microbubbles that are retained within regions of a specific disease process and thereby allow phenotypic characterization of tissue. Inflammation is an ideal disease state for targeting with microbubbles because the pathophysiologic processes that initiate and support the inflammatory response occur within the microcirculation, where microbubbles reside. This review describes methods that have been used to direct microbubbles to regions of inflammation. These methods rely on either (1) intrinsic properties of albumin or lipid microbubbles that promote their attachment to leukocyte adhesion molecules, or (2) conjugation of monoclonal antibodies or other ligands to the microbubble surface that recognize specific endothelial cell adhesion molecules. This review also considers ultrasound imaging methods that may be used to detect microbubbles retained within inflamed tissue.
Absence of Strand Breaks in Deoxyribonucleic Acid Treated with Metronidazole

Abstract The deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-degrading potential of metronidazole was evaluated in vitro by three techniques: determination of melting curve, measurement of viscosity, and centrifugation in neutral or alkaline sucrose gradients. Studies were performed on calf thymus DNA and on 3H-labeled or unlabeled pneumococcal and T7 phage DNA after treatment with metronidazole alone or metronidazole reduced by sodium dithionite in the presence of DNA. This latter process is known to elicit covalent binding of metronidazole to DNA. Reduced or unreduced metronidazole had no effect on the melting properties, viscosity, or sedimentation velocity of the nucleic acids studied. Sodium dithionite alone, however, caused a 25% decrease in the intrinsic viscosity of pneumococcal DNA, and decreased the sedimentation velocity of pneumococcal and T7 phage DNA in both neutral and alkaline sucrose gradients. These data suggest that degradation of DNA is not important in the interaction of metronidazole with nucleic acids, an interaction assumed relevant to the cytotoxic, radiosensitizing, and mutagenic activities of this compound.
REDOX REGULATION OF SIRT1 IN INFLAMMATION AND CELLULAR SENESCENCE

Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) regulates inflammation, aging (life span and health span), calorie restriction/energetics, mitochondrial biogenesis, stress resistance, cellular senescence, endothelial functions, apoptosis/autophagy, and circadian rhythms through deacetylation of transcription factors and histones. SIRT1 level and activity are decreased in chronic inflammatory conditions and aging, in which oxidative stress occurs. SIRT1 is regulated by a NAD(+)-dependent DNA repair enzyme, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP1), and subsequent NAD(+) depletion by oxidative stress may have consequent effects on inflammatory and stress responses as well as cellular senescence. SIRT1 has been shown to undergo covalent oxidative modifications by cigarette smoke-derived oxidants/aldehydes, leading to posttranslational modifications, inactivation, and protein degradation. Furthermore, oxidant/carbonyl stress-mediated reduction of SIRT1 leads to the loss of its control on acetylation of target proteins including p53, RelA/p65, and FOXO3, thereby enhancing the inflammatory, prosenescent, and apoptotic responses, as well as endothelial dysfunction. In this review, the mechanisms of cigarette smoke/oxidant-mediated redox posttranslational modifications of SIRT1 and its roles in PARP1 and NF-κB activation, and FOXO3 and eNOS regulation, as well as chromatin remodeling/histone modifications during inflammaging, are discussed. Furthermore, we have also discussed various novel ways to activate SIRT1 either directly or indirectly, which may have therapeutic potential in attenuating inflammation and premature senescence involved in chronic lung diseases.
Effects of natural weathering and low-temperature oxidation on some aspects of the combustion behaviour of bituminous coals

Abstract The influence of natural weathering ( in situ ) and low-temperature laboratory oxidation on the combustion behaviour of bituminous coals was investigated. Five sets of coals, each comprising a fresh and crop coal from the same seam, were used. One selected fresh coal sample was oxidized in the laboratory at 200 °C for 2 and 72 h to elucidate the effect of low-temperature oxidation (simulated weathering) on the subsequent combustion behaviour. The combustion behaviour of the coals was evaluated using char reactivity and burning profiles obtained in a thermogravimetric analyser (TGA) and combustion efficiency determined in a drop-tube reactor (DTR). The reactivities of the chars produced from the crop and laboratory-oxidized coals were higher than those for the chars from the corresponding fresh coals. The reactivities of the crop coal chars were higher than those of the laboratory-oxidized coals due to the presence of inorganic species (cations) in the former which could be removed by acid washing. Reactivity changes due to such inorganic species changes did not occur upon laboratory oxidation. The combustion efficiencies of the weathered coals were higher than those of the corresponding fresh coals. A correlation was obtained between the difference in combustion efficiency between a crop coal and its fresh counterpart and oxygen uptake during natural weathering. There was an inverse relationship between the combustion efficiencies determined in the DTR and the ‘initial temperature’ in the TGA burning profiles.
Manganese(III) binding to a pyoverdine siderophore produced by a manganese(II)-oxidizing bacterium

The possible roles of siderophores (high affinity chelators of iron(III)) in the biogeochemistry of manganese remain unknown. Here we investigate the interaction of Mn(III) with a pyoverdine-type siderophore (PVDMnB1) produced by the model Mn(II)-oxidizing bacterium Pseudomonas putida strain MnB1. PVDMnB1 confirmed typical pyoverdine behavior with respect to: (a) its absorption spectrum at 350–600 nm, both in the absence and presence of Fe(III), (b) the quenching of its fluorescence by Fe(III), (c) the formation of a 1:1 complex with Fe(III), and (d) the thermodynamic stability constant of its Fe(III) complex. The Mn(III) complex of PVDMnB1 had a 1:1 Mn:pvd molar ratio, showed fluorescence quenching, and exhibited a light absorption spectrum (Amax = 408–410 nm) different from that of either PVDMnB1-Fe(III) or uncomplexed PVDMnB1. Mn(III) competed strongly with Fe(III) for binding by PVDMnB1 in culture filtrates (pH 8, 4°C). Equilibration with citrate, a metal-binding ligand, did not detectably release Mn from its PVDMnB1 complex at a citrate/PVDMnB1 molar ratio of 830 (pH 8, 4°C), whereas pyrophosphate under the same conditions removed 55% of the Mn from its PVDMnB1 complex. Most of the PVDMnB1-complexed Mn was released by reaction with ascorbate, a reducing agent, or with EDTA, a ligand that is also oxidized by Mn(III). Data on the competition for binding to PVDMnB1 by Fe(III) vs. Mn(III) were used to determine a thermodynamic stability constant (nominally at 4°C) for the neutral species MnHPVDMnB1 (log K = 47.5 ± 0.5, infinite dilution reference state). This value was larger than that determined for FeHPVDMnB1 (log K = 44.6 ± 0.5). This result has important implications for the metabolism, solubility, speciation, and redox cycling of manganese, as well as for the biologic uptake of iron.
Effects of chronic d-amphetamine treatment on schedule-controlled behavior.

The effect of d-amphetamine added to the drinking water on the rate of conditioned lever pressing by rats was determined using fixed-ratio 30 (FR-30) and fixed-interval 2-min (FI-2) schedules of food presentation. After 32 days of gradual increase in drug concentration the average drug ingestion was 13 mg/kg/day. In tests with various doses of d-amphetamine injected before and after the chronic ingestion regimen, the rate-decreasing effects of d-amphetamine on FR responding were attenuated after chronic treatment, indicating development of a two- to three-fold tolerance. However, the rate-decreasing effect of d-amphetamine on FI responding was not altered by chronic ingestion. Since acute amphetamine treatment reduced the reinforcement frequency under the FR but not the FI schedule, these results are consistent with the hypothesis that a ‘behavioral tolerance’ will develop most readily to drug effects that decrease the frequency of reinforcement. Upon removal of d-amphetamine from the drinking water there was some increase in the rate of FR responding, but no change in FI responding.
Body Size Overlap, Habitat Partitioning and Living Space Requirements of Terrestrial Vertebrate Predators: Implications for the Paleoecology of Large Theropod Dinosaurs

Ecological studies of extant tetrapod predators indicate that morphologically similar species which coexist in the same habitats routinely reduce interspecific competition for food by regular spacing of body size. The biggest predator species in the assemblage often differ more from one another in size than the smallest species. When coexisting carnivore species do not differ greatly in size, they commonly show morphological differences related to prey handling that may reduce dietary overlap. If carnivore species are very similar in both size and morphology, competition is avoided by habitat partitioning. Two tyrannosaurid species from the late Campanian Dinosaur Park Formation of western Canada are similar in both size and morphology, suggesting that they were segregated on the basis of habitat and/or biogeographic province. However; consideration of the living-space requirements of predator species of such large body size suggests that this kind of spatial separation would only have been possible had t...
Risk factors for the development of proarrhythmic events.

Abstract Definitions of proarrhythmia, including clinical consequence, were applied to the flecainide and encainide data bases to determine risk factors for serious proarrhythmic events or deaths. Such outcomes with flecainide were far less common for patients with benign or potentially lethal ventricular arrhythmias compared to patients with predominantly lethal ventricular arrhythmias. No deaths from proarrhythmia during flecainide therapy occurred in patients without structural heart disease. Serious proarrhythmic events and deaths were more common in patients in whom therapy was initiated in hospital than in those in whom therapy was initiated out of hospital. When the flecainide dosage for patients with lethal ventricular arrhythmias was chosen using steady-state pharmacologic principles, the occurrence of all proarrhythmic events and deaths dropped from 26% and 13% to 10% and 0%, respectively. Structural heart disease, sustained ventricular tachycardia, inpatient initiation and large-dose escalation of class IC drugs are the primary risk factors for development of proarrhythmic events.
Calcium dynamics: analyzing the Ca2+ regulatory network in intact cells.

Calcium signaling is critical for all cells. As a free ion (Ca 2+ ), calcium links many physiological stimuli to their intracellular effectors by interacting with binding proteins whose occupancy determines the cellular effect of stimulation. Because binding site occupancy depends on the history of Ca 2+ concentration ([Ca 2+ ]), Ca 2+ dynamics are critical. Calcium dynamics depend on the functional interplay between Ca 2+ transport and buffering systems whose activities depend nonlinearly on [Ca 2+ ]. Thus, understanding Ca 2+ dynamics requires detailed information about these Ca 2+ handling systems and their regulation in intact cells. However, effective methods for measuring and characterizing intracellular Ca 2+ handling have not been available until recently. Using concepts relating voltage-gated ion-channel activity to membrane potential dynamics, we developed such methods to analyze Ca 2+ fluxes in intact cells. Here we describe this approach and applications to understanding depolarization-induced Ca 2+ responses in sympathetic neurons.
Equine antihapten antibody II. The γG(7Sγ) components and their specific interaction

Abstract The γ G(7 Sγ ) components of antibody prepared against the haptenic group p -azophenyl-β-lactoside (Lac) were isolated from equine antiserum. The average association constants ( K A ) for the specific interaction of this antibody with the hapten, p -( p -dimethyl-aminobenzeneazo)-phenyl-β-lactoside (Lac dye), were determined at 25° and 37.2° by equilibrium dialysis. Thermodynamic parameters have been calculated and shown to be very similar to those previously obtained for rabbit anti-Lac antibody. A physical-chemical and immunochemical characterization of the purified γG equine anti-Lac antibody has demonstrated chromatographic, electrophoretic and antigenic heterogeneity. Three antigenically distinct immunoglobulins have been identified in the purified γG anti-Lac antibody each having antibody activity. The antigenic individuality has been related to the heavy chains when compared by immunodiffusion to one another or to γA ( β 2 A) antibody from the same serum. A comparison of the binding by the γG antibody with the binding previously described for the γA antibody shows that the affinity of the latter for the Lac dye is much greater. This difference in the affinity for hapten between different immunoglobulins present in the same serum may partially explain the heterogeneity of hapten binding in purified antibody. Furthermore, variation in the relative amounts of these immunoglobulins with time after immunization could in part account for the temporal changes in the affinity of the antiserum for hapten.
Application of a CMP Model to Tungsten CMP

A general model of chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) has been derived which shows the dependence of the polishing rate on the concentration of chemicals and abrasives in the slurry. This paper applies the model to tungsten CMP and describes the chemistry of tungsten CMP in some detail.
Solid-state effects on the asymmetry parameter and on the partial photoionization cross section of ag4d valence-band at the cooper minimum

Abstract We present experimental determinations of the partial photoionization cross section (σ) and the asymmetry parameter (β) for Ag atoms deposited at room temperature and at submonolayer coverages onto a Si (111) substrate and for metallic (polycrystalline) Ag in the photon-energy range of hv = 75–200 eV. The hv dependence of σ and β from Ag atoms on Si compare favorably with the atomic σ and β, where σ and β from metallic Ag are severely distorted. An interpretation scheme is suggested to connect the differences in the cross sections to the solid-state effects on the initial-state wave functions and to connect the differences in the asymmetry parameters to the solid-state effects on both the initial-state and the final-state wave functions.
Molecular weights of some HeLa ribosomal RNA's.

Abstract The molecular weights of HeLa ribosomal RNA's, determined by sedimentation equilibrium at pH 7.0, were found to be: 45 s RNA, 4 to 4.5 × 10 6 daltons; 32 s RNA, 2.4 × 10 6 daltons; 28 s RNA, 1.9 × 10 6 daltons; 18 s RNA, 0.71 × 10 6 daltons. These values imply a non-conservative transition from the 45 s precursor to the mature 18 and 28 s ribosomal RNA's.
Analogical inferences are central to analogy

It is important to take a developmental approach to the problem of analogy. One limitation of this approach, however, is that it does not deal with the complexity of making analogical inferences. There are a few key principles of analogical inference that are not well captured by the analogical relational priming (ARP) model.
The Role of Public–Private Partnerships in Facilitating Cross-Border Logistics: A Case Study at the U.S./Canadian Border

Private enterprise carries out the complex operations of cross-border logistics that are the lifeblood of global supply chains. Yet, the efficiency of these activities depends on government agencies that provide the logistics infrastructure for global trade. Thus, public–private partnerships (PPPs) play an important role in facilitating improvements in cross-border logistics. While private enterprise and the public sector are key stakeholders in the quality of cross-border logistics, research that examines PPPs in logistics management is relatively sparse. To address this gap, the current study aims to develop empirically based theoretical insights into the nature and role of PPPs in the context of cross-border logistics. The study employs a grounded-theory analysis of case study data collected at the U.S./Canadian border. Findings show that private enterprise collaborative capability and public interagency cooperation determine the performance of PPPs which, in turn, influence the quality of cross-border logistics.
Effective nuclear forces in free space

Abstract The energy dependence of effective nuclear forces in free space arising from the elimination of configurations outside a model space is discussed. This energy dependence provides the key to the understanding of why the best theoretical descriptions of the deuteron matter radius are given by energy-independent potentials and not by energy-dependent potentials such as the full Bonn potential.
Between Nostalgia and Desire

Through a personal account, the author reflects on how we are haunted by what we take from our parents or what, unawares, they transmit to us, and how that haunting pulls us forward and back at the same time.
Gender and the Short-Run Economic Consequences of Marital Disruption

This article examines sources of gender differences in the economic ramifications of marital disruption for young non-Hispanic white black and Hispanic adults separating or divorcing in the 1980s. Using data from the 1979-88 waves of the [U.S.] National Longitudinal Survey of Youth the results show that even among a less-advantaged subgroup marital disruption has more serious consequences for women than men. Although young men particularly minority men are not faring well economically in absolute terms womens postdisruption economic welfare is significantly lower than mens for all race-ethnic groups. Multivariate analyses reveal that this disparity stems either directly or indirectly from womens roles as primary child caretakers. (EXCERPT)
Prescribing hemodialysis: the role of gender.

Mortality rates remain high in the United States for people who depend on artificial kidney replacement for their existence, and the mortality rates are similar in men and women. However, women differ from men in many respects; some of these ways may have an impact on the response to dialysis through mechanisms that need to be further explored. Observational studies have shown that women respond more readily to a higher dose of dialysis, and recent data from the HEMO clinical trial suggest that women respond to an increase in clearance of low-molecular-weight uremic toxins, whereas men do not. If the findings of these studies prove to be accurate, then we may conclude not only that women require a higher dose of dialysis as currently measured, but we might also expect women to require dialysis sooner during the course of a progressive decline in renal function. The reason for this gender-dependent difference in susceptibility escapes definition at the present time, but size is an obvious confound that can be explored by using current data and in future studies. More detailed analyses of the HEMO data are forthcoming and may shed further light on this question.