cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Care and Outcomes of Asian-American Acute Myocardial Infarction Patients: Findings From the American Heart Association Get With The Guidelines-Coronary Artery Disease Program

Background Asian-Americans represent an important United States minority population, yet there are limited data regarding the clinical care and outcomes of Asian-Americans following acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Using data from the American Heart Association Get With The Guidelines-Coronary Artery Disease (GWTG-CAD) program, we compared use of and trends in evidence-based care AMI processes and outcome in Asian-American versus white patients. Methods and Results We analyzed 107 403 AMI patients (4412 Asian-Americans, 4.1%) from 382 United States centers participating in the Get With The Guidelines-Coronary Artery Disease program between 2003 and 2008. Use of 6 AMI performance measures, composite “defect-free” care (proportion receiving all eligible performance measures), door-to-balloon time, and in-hospital mortality were examined. Trends in care over this time period were explored. Compared with whites, Asian-American AMI patients were significantly older, more likely to be covered by Medicaid and recruited in the west region, and had a higher prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, heart failure, and smoking. In-hospital unadjusted mortality was higher among Asian-American patients. Overall, Asian-Americans were comparable with whites regarding the baseline quality of care, except that Asian-Americans were less likely to get smoking cessation counseling (65.6% versus 81.5%). Asian-American AMI patients experienced improvement in the 6 individual measures ( P ≤0.048), defect-free care ( P <0.001), and door-to-balloon time ( P <0.001). The improvement rates were similar for both Asian-Americans and whites. Compared with whites, the adjusted in-hospital mortality rate was higher for Asian-Americans (adjusted relative risk: 1.16; 95% confidence interval: 1.00–1.35; P =0.04). Conclusions Evidence-based care for AMI processes improved significantly over the period of 2003 to 2008 for Asian-American and white patients in the Get With The Guidelines-Coronary Artery Disease program. Differences in care between Asian-Americans and whites, when present, were reduced over time.
The impact of cash incentives on TMT information seeking behavior in entrepreneurial firms

Abstract We explore the relationship between cash incentives for the top management team (TMT) and managerial information seeking from sources external to the firm. We hypothesize that TMT cash incentives in tandem with base compensation, the firm's technological intensity and use of an aggregate performance criterion influence TMT information seeking from customers and vendors/suppliers (what we refer to as affiliate sources). Our hypotheses are tested by using data obtained from CEOs and the TMT in 193 entrepreneurial firms. As hypothesized, our results suggest that: a) cash incentives influence TMT information seeking primarily from affiliate information sources, b) the effect of cash incentives on TMT information seeking from affiliate sources is much stronger in technology intensive firms, and c) use of aggregate performance criterion has a negative impact on information seeking from affiliate sources. Our findings also indicate that in technology intensive firms, the positive relationship between cash incentives and TMT information seeking from affiliate sources is strongly moderated by the base pay levels of executives – the relationship is much stronger when executive base pay is low.
The dynamics of the reactions of fluorine atoms with ammonia and hydrazine

Abstract Initial product energy distributions are reported for the reactions of fluorine atoms with hydrazine and ammonia, as measured by infrared chemiluminescence. In contrast to the reaction with hydrazole acid, neither the vibrational nor rotational energy distributions appear to be statistical. Indirect evidence is presented indicating that the NH 2 product from the reaction with ammonia is produced with some vibrational excitation.
Dissipation in a dilute suspension of spheres in a second-order fluid

Abstract We examine the effective medium properties of a dilute suspension of spheres in a second-order fluid under linear shear. Since the second-order fluid is the first step toward the general viscoelastic fluid, the results obtained may provide a qualitative feel for the problem in which the suspending fluid obeys a more complicated (and realistic) constitutive relation. The dissipation in the medium is calculated by determining the rate of working by surface forces; this is compared to the dissipation in a homogeneous fluid to give the effective properties. The results show that the term linear in volume fraction increases the corresponding rheological coefficient, just as in the Newtonian case. It is to be noted that the second-order dissipation is zero for simple shear and other weak flows, whereas for strong flows the small correction may increase or decrease the overall dissipation.
Duchenne dystrophic muscle develops lesions in long-term coculture with mouse spinal cord

When strips of human skeletal muscle from biopsies of normal children and donors with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) are explanted in organotypic coculture with fetal mouse spinal cord, many regenerating muscle fibers develop, become innervated, and maintain a remarkable degree of mature structure and function for more than 3-6 months in vitro. Sequential light microscopy in correlation with electron-microscopic and electrophysiologic analyses showed that despite cross-species innervation, these human muscle fibers develop stable cross-striations, peripherally positioned myonuclei, and mature, functional motor endplates. Of special interest is the onset of significant progressive abnormalities, e.g., unusual focal myofibrillar lesions, in substantial numbers of innervated mature DMD muscle fibers after 2-4 months in culture. The focal myofibrillar lesions were not detected in normal muscle fibers maintained as long as 6 months in coculture, nor are they comparable to the generalized loss of cross-striations observed in muscle atrophy following in vitro denervation of mature DMD fibers.
Selective amine recognition: development of a chemosensor for dopamine and norepinephrine.

A boronic acid-containing coumarin aldehyde was designed and synthesized. The sensor binds to catecholamines such as dopamine and norepinephrine by forming an iminium ion with the amine as well as a boronate ester with the catechol. An internal hydrogen bond produces a colorimetric response to these analytes with good selectivity for catecholamines over simple amines. The fluorescence of the sensor is quenched by the catechol.
A relativistic description of the electromagnetic form factor of the deuteron

Abstract A covariant model of the electromagnetic form factor of the deuteron in the impulse approximation is presented. The treatment includes spin and allows for a complete determination of the two elastic structure functions. Our results are in good agreement with experimental data.
A Very Sharp Sword The Influence of Military Capabilities on American Decisions to Use Force

Many international relations theorists suggest that improved military capabilities will make the use or threat of military force a more attractive policy choice. Tests of this argument are complicated because policy makers’anticipation of their future needs for military capabilities could also produce a relationship between capabilities and policy choice. Results show that military capabilities indeed increase the frequency with which force is used, but although past uses of force influence the construction of military capabilities, evidence that decision makers can effectively anticipate their current needs is weak. The results also suggest that the recent trend in force structure toward a smaller number of high-value weapons and relatively well-paid personnel has mitigated the relationship between military spending and the use of force.
Passy-Muir Speaking Valve Use in a Children's Hospital: An Interdisciplinary Approach

Abstract At The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) we treat many children requiring tracheostomy tube placement. With potential for a tracheostomy tube to be in place for an extended period of time, these children may be at risk for long-term disruption to normal speech development. As such, speaking valves that restore more normal phonation are often key tools in the effort to restore speech and promote more typical language development in this population. However, successful use of speaking valves is frequently more challenging with infant and pediatric patients than with adult patients. The purpose of this article is to review background information related to speaking valves, the indications for one-way valve use, criteria for candidacy, and the benefits of using speaking valves in the pediatric population. This review will emphasize the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration from the perspectives of speech-language pathology and respiratory therapy. Along with the background informatio...
Large-scale evidence of dependency length minimization in 37 languages.

Explaining the variation between human languages and the constraints on that variation is a core goal of linguistics. In the last 20 y, it has been claimed that many striking universals of cross-linguistic variation follow from a hypothetical principle that dependency length—the distance between syntactically related words in a sentence—is minimized. Various models of human sentence production and comprehension predict that long dependencies are difficult or inefficient to process; minimizing dependency length thus enables effective communication without incurring processing difficulty. However, despite widespread application of this idea in theoretical, empirical, and practical work, there is not yet large-scale evidence that dependency length is actually minimized in real utterances across many languages; previous work has focused either on a small number of languages or on limited kinds of data about each language. Here, using parsed corpora of 37 diverse languages, we show that overall dependency lengths for all languages are shorter than conservative random baselines. The results strongly suggest that dependency length minimization is a universal quantitative property of human languages and support explanations of linguistic variation in terms of general properties of human information processing.
Nonlinear, time-varying model of the AN/FPN-42 Loran-C transmitter

A linear, time-invariant (LTI) pole-zero model of the AN/FPN-42 transmitter is developed for a typical operating point of the transmitter and then extended for other operating points as well. These LTI models are catenated and time variations are added to produce a nonlinear, time-varying model of the '42 transmitter which is superior to a simple linear model and which allows pulse-shape control algorithms to be tested more thoroughly than with a linear model. >
Immunohistochemical localization of calcium-binding proteins in the brainstem vestibular nuclei of the jaundiced Gunn rat

Vestibular gaze and postural abnormalities are major sequelae of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. The sites and cellular effects of bilirubin toxicity in the brainstem vestibular pathway are not easily detected. Since altered intracellular calcium homeostasis may play a role in neuronal cell death, we hypothesized that altered expression of calcium-binding proteins may occur in brainstem vestibular nuclei of the classic animal model of bilirubin neurotoxicity. The expression of the calcium-binding proteins calbindin-D28k and parvalbumin in the brainstem vestibular pathways and cerebellum of homozygous recessive jaundiced (jj) Gunn rats was examined by light microscopy and immunohistochemistry at 18 days postnatally and compared to the findings obtained from age-matched non-jaundiced heterozygous (Nj) littermate controls. Jaundiced animals exhibited decreased parvalbumin immunoreactivity specifically in synaptic inputs to superior, medial, and inferior vestibular nuclei, and to oculomotor and trochlear nuclei, whereas the neurons retained their normal immunoreactivity. Jaundiced animals also demonstrated a decrease in calbindin expression in the lateral vestibular nuclei and a paucity of calbindin-immunoreactive synaptic endings on the somata of Deiters' neurons. The involved regions are related to the control of the vestibulo-ocular and vestibulospinal reflexes. Decreased expression of calcium-binding proteins in brainstem vestibular neurons may relate to the vestibulo-ocular and vestibulospinal dysfunction seen with clinical kernicterus, and may provide a sensitive new way to assess bilirubin toxicity in the vestibular system.
Examination of the double-deficit hypothesis with adolescents and young adults with dyslexia

The double-deficit hypothesis (DDH) of the developmental dyslexias (Wolf and Bowers, Journal of Educational Psychology, 91, 415-438, 1999) was investigated with 149 adolescents and young adults (age range = 16 to 24 years) with dyslexia. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that a two-factor model with separate naming speed (NS) and phonological awareness (PA) constructs was superior to a one-factor model, supporting the assumption within the DDH that NS is a source of reading dysfunction separable from PA. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses resulted in findings that were only partially supportive of the DDH. NS was predictive of word reading, spelling, and reading fluency beyond PA and verbal intellectual ability, but not pseudoword reading and timed and untimed reading comprehension. Examination of DDH subtypes did not support the core assumption of the DDH that the double-deficit subtype would have more impaired reading skills than both of the single-deficit subtypes. The NS deficit subtype was found to be more prevalent than the double-deficit and PA deficit subtypes within the subgroup of dyslexics with impairment in reading fluency. Overall results provided mixed support for the DDH and pointed to the need for the inclusion of additional abilities within theories of the underlying mechanisms disrupted in dyslexia.
Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation in Children with Relapsed Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Isolated to the Central Nervous System

Abstract Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is the standard of care for pediatric patients with early medullary relapse of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Most patients with isolated central nervous system (CNS) relapse have good outcomes when treated with intrathecal and systemic chemotherapy followed by irradiation to the neuroaxis. However, the role of HCT remains unclear for those patients with early isolated CNS relapse (
CD147 immunoglobulin superfamily receptor function and role in pathology

The immunoglobulin superfamily member CD147 plays an important role in fetal, neuronal, lymphocyte and extracellular matrix development. Here we review the current understanding of CD147 expression and protein interactions with regard to CD147 function and its role in pathologic conditions including heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, stroke and cancer. A model linking hypoxic conditions found within the tumor microenvironment to upregulation of CD147 expression and tumor progression is introduced.
A 0.5-V, 440-µW frequency synthesizer for implantable medical devices

This paper presents an ultra-low-power, low-voltage frequency synthesizer designed for medical implantable devices. Several design techniques are adopted to address the issues in ultra-low voltage design. The charge pump (CP) in the synthesizer utilizes dynamic threshold-voltage and switch-coupled techniques to provide a high driving current while maintaining a low standby current. The synthesizer adopts a ring-based voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) that utilizes a dual resistor-varactor tuning technique for compensating process-voltage-temperature (PVT) variations and the exponential voltage-to-current curve. Implemented in a 130-nm CMOS technology, the 0.5-V medical-band frequency synthesizer consumes 440 µW with a phase noise of −91.5 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz frequency offset.
Optical fiber-based fluorescent viscosity sensor

Molecular rotors are a unique group of viscosity-sensitive fluorescent probes. Several recent studies have shown their applicability as nonmechanical fluid viscosity sensors, particularly in biofluids containing proteins. To date, molecular rotors have had to be dissolved in the fluid for the measurement to be taken. We now show that molecular rotors may be covalently bound to a fiber-optic tip without loss of viscosity sensitivity. The optical fiber itself may be used as a light guide for emission light (external illumination of the tip) as well as for both emission and excitation light. Covalently bound molecular rotors exhibit a viscosity-dependent intensity increase similar to molecular rotors in solution. An optical fiber-based fluorescent viscosity sensor may be used in real-time measurement applications ranging from biomedical applications to the food industry.
Accumulation of histidine, 3-methylhistidine, and homocarnosine in the brains of protein-calorie deficient monkeys.

— Seventeen monkeys (M. nemestrina and M. fascicularis) aged 10 months to about 5 yr were divided into two groups and fed either an adequate protein diet (20% casein) or a low-protein diet (2% casein). The diets were supplied to the animals in restricted amount (200 g/animal in two daily rations). In one experiment, the malnourished animals were initially fed a diet containiing 8 per cent protein and the protein content of the diet was gradually reduced over a period of 9 months, to 2 per cent. After about 3 months on the 2 per cent protein diet, the malnourished monkeys showed growth failure, severe anorexia, peri-ocular oedema, tremors of the head and limbs, atrophy of several visceral organs, fatty liver, hypoalbuminaemia, and depressed serum levels of many essential amino acids with an elevation of the ratio of non-essential to essential amino acids. These features are consistent with protein-calorie malnutrition. Examination of the brains revealed significant alterations in the levels of glycerophosphoethanolamine (—40 per cent), glutamic acid (—25 per cent), histidine (+230 per cent), homocamosine (+185 per cent), 3-methyl-histidine (+147 per cent), lysine (+55 per cent), phenylalanine (+33 per cent) and tyrosine (+26 per cent) in comparison to findings on the well-fed monkeys. The possible implications of elevated cerebral contents of homocarnosine in malnourished monkeys are discussed in the light of several reported human cases in whom neurological disorders are associated with increased histidine-containing dipeptides in the brain, CSF, blood and urine.
Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura: A Moving Target

Almost 80 years after Eli Moschcowitz published the first description of the disease, most patients with idiopathic thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) were found to have acquired autoantibody inhibitors of the ADAMTS13 metalloprotease. Plasma ADAMTS13 normally cleaves von Willebrand factor within nascent platelet-rich thrombi, and ADAMTS13 deficiency allows unchecked thrombus growth to cause microangiopathic hemolysis, thrombocytopenia, and tissue infarction. At present, ADAMTS13 deficiency with a high-titer inhibitor level appears to be associated with an increased risk of early death and subsequent relapse. Thus, acquired ADAMTS13 deficiency identifies a specific mechanism of TTP and is a potential biomarker of disease activity or risk. At present, two major clinical questions in the field may be summarized as follows. First, by emphasizing TTP caused by ADAMTS13 deficiency, are we in danger of neglecting other causes that should be treated with plasma exchange? Second, should we treat asymptomatic patients who have severe ADAMTS13 deficiency to prevent future disease, and if so, how?
DESIGN AND USE OF A U.S. CENSUS DATA COMPUTER LABORATORY FOR TEACHING UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH METHODS

This paper discusses the design and development of an interdisciplinary social science computer laboratory for teaching undergraduate research methods courses and research components of applied and theoretical courses. The U.S. Census of the Population, a database commonly used in all of the social sciences, is used in order to give students research experience and to avoid ethical problems involved in working with animal and human subjects in an undergraduate course. Some issues in laboratory design and required changes in teaching methods are discussed.
Quasiperiodic Dynamics in Hamiltonian 1 1/2 Degree of Freedom Systems Far from Integrability

Abstract The subject of this paper is two-quasiperiodicity in a large class of one-and-a-half degree of freedom Hamiltonian systems. The main result is that such systems have invariant tori for any internal frequency that is of constant type and sufficiently large, relative to the forcing frequency. An explicit bound on the minimum value of the internal frequency is presented. The systems under consideration are not required to be small perturbations of integrable ones.
A localized absorbing boundary condition for discretized parabolic equation

Terrains that ensure uni-directional propagation lead to reducing the governing Helmholtz wave equation to Parabolic Equation (PE) if the ray angles are restricted to be narrow (within ±15°) to the axis of propagation and the paraxial refractive index inhomogeneity is smooth [6]. Transparent Boundary Conditions (TBC) need to be placed to achieve domain truncation and there are two approaches for the derivation of the TBCs. In the first approach, a continuous TBC is first derived, which is then approximated for the discretization scheme [5], [2]. Reference [3] showed that this approach cannot assure unconditional stability when the finite difference (FD) discretization does not match the discretization of the continuous TBC. Alternatively, one could start directly from the Crank-Nicholson FD discretization, done by Ehrhardt and Arnold [3], and derive numerically exact discrete transparent boundary condition (DTBC). In either of these approaches, the TBC involves field values all the way to the initial plane, thus resulting in a non-local boundary condition (BC). In this paper we truncate this boundary condition, and employ a rational approximation to the spectral transfer function, thereby resulting in a localized absorbing boundary condition (ABC).
Flow cytometric determination of mitochondrial membrane potential changes during apoptosis of T lymphocytic and pancreatic beta cell lines: Comparison of tetramethylrhodamineethylester (TMRE), chloromethyl-X-rosamine (H2-CMX-Ros) and MitoTracker Red 580 (MTR580)

The mitochondria-specific dyes, TMRE, H2-CMX-Ros and MTR580 were determined for their suitability to measure mitochondrial potential changes of the T cell leukemia cell line Jurkat and insulin-secreting beta cell line NIT-1 during apoptosis. Both freshly harvested Jurkat and NIT-1 cells induced to undergo apoptosis displayed poor retention of the potential-sensitive, intrinsically fluorescent dye, TMRE. Treatment with formaldehyde or paraformaldehyde completely abolished TMRE uptake in both cell types regardless of apoptosis induction. Interestingly, freshly harvested apoptotic Jurkat cells exhibited lower retention of H2-CMX-Ros, indicating marked reduction in the oxidative status of lymphoid cells during apoptosis. This is in contrast to NIT-1 cells which failed to display significant reduction in H2-CMX-Ros retention after anoikis induction. Paraformaldehyde treatment reduced the retention of H2-CMX-Ros in live Jurkat cells but still allowed the discrimination of apoptotic cells which poorly retained H2-CMX-Ros. However, live Jurkat cells lost their ability to retain H2-CMX-Ros after formaldehyde treatment. In contrast, treatment with paraformaldehyde or formaldehyde did not have significant impact on the retention of H2-CMX-Ros in both live and apoptotic NIT-1 cells. The uptake of MTR580 was independent of mitochondrial membrane potential in both T and beta cell lines. However, MTR580 was comparable to H2-CMX-Ros for confocal microscopic analysis of apoptotic Jurkat cells following fixation with formaldehyde and cell permeabilization. These data demonstrate that while TMRE and H2-CMX-Ros are suitable for determining mitochondrial membrane potential changes during apoptosis in lymphoid cells, only TMRE is suitable for such analysis in beta cells. Both H2-CMX-Ros and MTR580 proved to be suitable for confocal imaging of mitochondria.
Statistical analysis of predicted transmembrane α-helices

Statistical analyses were undertaken for putative transmembrane alpha-helices obtained from a database representing the subset of membrane proteins available in Swiss-Prot. The average length of a transmembrane alpha-helix was found to be 22-21 amino acids with a large variation around the mean. The transfer free energy from water to oil of a transmembrane alpha-helix in bitopic proteins, -48 kcal/mol, is higher than that in polytopic proteins, -39 kcal/mol, and is nearly identical to that obtained by assuming a random distribution of solely hydrophobic amino acids in the alpha-helix. The amino acid composition of hydrophobic residues is similar in bitopic and polytopic proteins. In contrast, the more polar the amino acids are, the less likely they are to be found in bitopic proteins compared to polytopic ones. This most likely reflects the ability of alpha-helical bundles to shield the polarity of residues from the hydrophobic bilayer. One half of all amino acids were distributed nonrandomly in both bitopic and polytopic proteins. A preference was found for tyrosine and tryptophan residues to be at the ends of transmembrane alpha-helices. Correlated distribution analysis of amino acid pairs indicated that most amino acids are independently distributed in each helix. Exceptions are cysteine, tyrosine, and tryptophan which appear to cluster closely to one another and glycines which are preferentially found on the same side of alpha-helices.
Leakage Currents in Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors

Leakage currents in new and degraded (typically at twice rated voltage, 125°C) ZSU and X7R types Of multilayer ceramic (MLC) capacitors show both ohmic and space charge limited current behavior. The near 3/2 power voltage characteristic (la V3/2) of new devices can be attributed to electron emission from electrode points. The quadratic behavior (I \alpha V2) seen for moderately degraded devices represents space charge limited emission from near planar electrodes. This emission may evolve from the point emission due to resistivity decreases that occur in the emission region as a result of ion movement. For these currents, electrons are believed to be the dominant charge carriers. Neither Schottky or Poole-Frenkel currents were identified. Thermal activation energies decrease from ~1.3 eV for new X7R devices, to zero for degraded ones, corresponding to resistivity decreases from ~ 1013 \Omega -cm to 105 \Omega -cm or less (at 125°C). Carrier concentrations and mobilities have been estimated from thermoelectric measurements on new and reduced nonelectroded X7R chips, which exhibit n-type conduction. These parameters both increase substantially with reduction, with mobility dominating the thermal activation energy. These measurements are consistent with a small polaron hopping mode for electron transport in the ceramic.
Dynamic noise analysis with capacitive and inductive coupling [high-speed circuits]

In this paper we propose a dynamic noise model to verify functional failures due to crosstalk in high-speed circuits. Conventional DC noise analysis produces pessimistic results because it ignores the fact that a gate acts as a low-pass filter. In contrast, the dynamic noise model considers the temporal property of a noise waveform and analyzes its effect on functionality. In this model, both capacitive and inductive coupling are considered as the dominant source of noise in high-speed deep-submicron circuits. It is observed that in the case of the local interconnects (where wire lengths are short), the effect of inductive coupling is small; however for long interconnects this effect may be considerable. Based on this noise model, we have developed an algorithm to verify high-speed circuits for functional failures due to crosstalk. The design of a 4-bit precharge-evaluate full adder circuit is verified, and many nodes which are susceptible to crosstalk noise are identified. It is observed and further verified by SPICE simulation that dynamic noise analysis is more realistic for verifying functional failures due to crosstalk than DC noise analysis.
Predispersal seed predation is higher in a rare species than in its widespread sympatric congeners (Astragalus, Fabaceae)

 Premise of the Study: Rare plants may be rare, in part, because they are more susceptible to damage by predispersal insect seed predators than widespread congeneric species; thus, seed predation may be an important determinant of plant rarity. Scant evidence exists to either support or reject this hypothesis, limiting our ability to predict herbivore effects on plant rarity. We used a comparative framework to test this hypothesis in rare–common, sympatric congeners.  Methods: We compared seed consumption by insect type and seed production among a rare Astragalus (Fabaceae) species and two sympatric, widespread congeners. We measured plant traits and tested whether traits were correlated with seed damage within and among rare–common species.  Key Results: Seed predation was signifi cantly higher in a rare species than in common congeners over 2 yr. Seed production per pod was signifi cantly lower in the rare species. Seed weevils exclusively consumed seeds of the rare species. Higher seed predation in the rare species is related to a combination of factors: plant phenology, dispersal ability, and vigor; seed predator identity; and insect phenology.  Conclusions: Our results support the hypothesis that a rare plant is more susceptible to seed predators than two common, sympatric congeners. Seed predator reduction is a promising management tool to increase seed-set, recruitment, and survival of the rare species. Further studies that compare rare–common, sympatric congeners are greatly needed to broadly evaluate the hypothesis concerning rarity and susceptibility to seed predators and to inform conservation plans for rare species.
Three-dimensional morphology of c-Kit-positive cellular network and nitrergic innervation in the human gut.

Abstract Context.—c-Kit–positive interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) appear to play a key role in the normal motility function and development of intestine. Nitric oxide is considered to be the most important messenger of inhibitory nonadrenergic, noncholinergic nerves in the enteric nervous system. Objectives.—The aims of this study were to examine the distribution of nitrergic innervation and ICCs in normal human bowel and to demonstrate interconnections between ICCs and nitrergic nerves and smooth muscle fibers using histochemical and immunohistochemical double-staining methods with a whole-mount preparation technique and confocal laser scanning microscopy. Methods.—Full-thickness small and large bowel specimens were obtained at autopsy from 18 children who died of nongastrointestinal diseases. A whole-mount preparation was performed for all specimens, and double staining was carried out with nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (reduced form, NADPH)-diaphorase and c-Kit immunohistochemistry. Doub...
Respuestas subalternas a los designios imperiales. Reacción salvadoreña a la primera intervención de Estados Unidos en Nicaragua

El aumento de los intereses de Estados Unidos en la zona de Centroamerica y el Caribe llevo a una actitud intervencionista en la region a principios del siglo XX. Este articulo utiliza fuentes documentales del Departamento de Estado de Estados Unidos, del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de El Salvador, la documentacion personal de Philander Knox y William Jennings Bryan, ademas de periodicos y revistas de la epoca. Muestra que aunque los gobernantes salvadorenos de la epoca buscaron acomodarse a la nueva situacion, la fuerte reaccion antiimperialista de los grupos subalternos urbanos los obligaron a adoptar una actitud nacionalista. Este intenso y temprano nivel de activismo de los grupos subalternos urbanos, ignorado totalmente por la historiografia salvadorena, se dio en sus etapas de formacion y les enseno la importancia de participar en redes locales y transnacionales.
Heterologous production of an energy-conserving carbon monoxide dehydrogenase complex in the hyperthermophile Pyrococcus furiosus

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an important intermediate in anaerobic carbon fixation pathways in acetogenesis and methanogenesis. In addition, some anaerobes can utilize CO as an energy source. In the hyperthermophilic archaeon Thermococcus onnurineus, which grows optimally at 80°C, CO oxidation and energy conservation is accomplished by a respiratory complex encoded by a 16-gene cluster containing a CO dehydrogenase, a membrane-bound [NiFe]-hydrogenase and a Na(+)/H(+) antiporter module. This complex oxidizes CO, evolves CO2 and H2, and generates a Na(+) motive force that is used to conserve energy by a Na(+)-dependent ATP synthase. Herein we used a bacterial artificial chromosome to insert the 13.2 kb gene cluster encoding the CO-oxidizing respiratory complex of T. onnurineus into the genome of the heterotrophic archaeon, Pyrococcus furiosus, which grows optimally at 100°C. P. furiosus is normally unable to utilize CO, however, the recombinant strain readily oxidized CO and generated H2 at 80°C. Moreover, CO also served as an energy source and allowed the P. furiosus strain to grow with a limiting concentration of sugar or with peptides as the carbon source. Moreover, CO oxidation by P. furiosus was also coupled to the re-utilization, presumably for biosynthesis, of acetate generated by fermentation. The functional transfer of CO utilization between Thermococcus and Pyrococcus species demonstrated herein is representative of the horizontal gene transfer of an environmentally relevant metabolic capability. The transfer of CO utilizing, hydrogen-producing genetic modules also has applications for biohydrogen production and a CO-based industrial platform for various thermophilic organisms.
Formal Methods for Integrated Socioeconomic Analysis: An Introduction to the Special Issue

I am pleased to bring you this special issue of the Forum for Social Economics devoted to exploring formal methods that can be used to delineate and analyze socioeconomic complexity using holistic and integrated frameworks. Examples of such frameworks are: The social fabric matrix approach (SFM-A), originally social fabric matrix (Hayden, 1982, 2006), institutional analysis and development (IAD) framework (Ostrom, 2005), systems dynamics (SD) (Forrester, 1968, 1985), and more recently, agent-based computational modeling (ABM) (Chen, 2012; Elsner et al., 2014 Chapter 9). I will briefly discuss the SFM-A and IAD frameworks, first, in order to provide the context for a synopsis of the articles in this special issue.
Advanced Metal Matrix Composites

Advanced metal matrix composites are emerging as materials of construction for high performance aerospace applications. The thrust is to develop high specific strength and high specific modulus ultra-lightweight composites using Al or Mg as matrix materials for space structure applications, and for higher temperature applications, to develop materials using various aluminides as matrix materials. This paper presents an overview of the methodology used to develop advanced MMC’s and discusses the problems and limitations faced in achieving the composite materials development goals.
Life span of the red blood cell of the rat following acute hemorrhage.

ConclusionThe red blood cells formed as a response to acute hemorrhage in the rat have a considerably shortened life span.
Working at Fun: Conceptualizing Leisurework

Today, in Irish music pub sessions that are structured to attract tourists, the majority of musicians are engaging in what is for them a leisure activity. However, complicating their leisure activity is the fact that pub sessions are increasingly commercialized, as the profit motive becomes primary for pub owners. As more and more commercialized sessions aim to attract tourists, many musicians must participate in the new economic session structure. This makes problematic the leisure activities of musicians who believe they are playing music for fun, when they are in effect working to increase the profit of pub owners. The study looks at a form of leisure that takes on certain characteristics of work. Six years of fieldwork in nine Irish pub sites in Ireland and Chicago, and 50 in-depth interviews with pub session musicians, highlights the complexity of trying to construct conceptual boundaries around fluid human activities. This research takes into consideration the meanings that participants give to thei...
Study of Surface Structure, Morphology and Hardness of Several Different Diamond-Like Carbon Films

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films are noted for their outstanding mechanical hardness, wear resistance, chemical inertness to both acid and alkalis, and high thermal conductivity. Such properties, along with optical transparency over a wide spectral range, make DLC films good candidates for wear-resistant barriers for transparent optics. The objective of this investigation is to compare the DLC films from various commercial sources prepared using different coating technologies, i.e., radio frequency (rf) plasma, ion beam assisted, and laser ablative deposition. Characterization of the DLC films includes scanning electron, scanning Auger, and Atomic Force Microscopy, also Raman and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy. The mechanical properties of these films are evaluated by Taber abrasion, nanoindentation, and ballistic impact tests. In addition, the chemical resistance and environmental stability of these films will be discussed.
Polarization and Partisan Divergence in the American Public, 1946-2012

In this paper, we examine polarization and partisan divergence in the American public on economic issues over the past 70 years. We bring to bear a new dataset that contains over half a million respondents from hundreds of individual polls. This dataset contains the responses to over 150 question series about economic issues. We combine this dataset with a dynamic group-level item response model to measure the ideology of the American public at both the state and national levels between 1946 and 2012. We find that the American public has only become modestly more polarized on economic issues over the past 70 years. However, the two parties are much more clearly sorted on economic issues today than in earlier decades. Moreover, members of the two parties are now further apart than ever before at both the state and federal levels. Our results speak to debates about polarization. They also suggest that partisan divergence in the mass public may have contributed more to elite polarization than scholars have previously thought.
Use of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy in a solitary kidney with renal artery aneurysm

AbstractArterial aneurysms have been among the relative contraindications cited for extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy. We report the successful use of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy for treatment of renal calculi in a solitary kidney with renal artery aneurysms. Appropriate management considerations and perioperative precautions are discussed.
Diagnostic value of bacterial and fungal blood cultures in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

PURPOSE To evaluate the usefulness of bacterial and fungal blood cultures in febrile hospitalized patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or AIDS-related complex (ARC). PATIENTS AND METHODS We reviewed all cases of bacteremia and fungemia detected in 446 patients admitted to a university hospital with AIDS or ARC over a 54-month period, and records of all patients with AIDS or ARC, with or without bacteremia, who were admitted during a 12-month subset of the study period. RESULTS Only four of the 28 cases of fungemia detected during the study period resulted in unique diagnoses of serious fungal infections, and all four patients died prior to discharge. Among the 46 cases of bacteremia diagnosed during the same period, all 36 (78%) with suggestive clinical findings were detected by culturing three times; nine of 10 without such findings were detected by culturing once and all by culturing twice. Medical record review of 132 patients admitted with AIDS or ARC during a 12-month subset of the study period revealed that culturing was common but the yield was low: positive culture rates were 1.9% for fungal cultures and 6.5% for bacterial cultures when clinical findings suggested bacteremia (versus 1.5% without such findings, p less than 0.025). CONCLUSION Fungal blood cultures had very little clinical value in the population studied, yielding unique diagnoses only in patients near death. In those with fever, but without clinical findings suggesting bacteremia, obtaining bacterial cultures on two occasions was sufficient to detect all cases.
Sense-Specific Lexical Information for Reading Assistance

To support vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension in a second language, we have developed a system to display sense-appropriate examples to learners for difficult words. We describe the construction of the system, incorporating word sense disambiguation, and an experiment we conducted testing it on a group of 60 learners of English as a second language (ESL). We show that sense-specific information in an intelligent reading system helps learners in their vocabulary acquisition, even if the sense information contains some noise from automatic processing. We also show that it helps learners, to some extent, with their reading comprehension.
Gastric Bezoar Causing Massive Gastric Distention and Functional Outlet Obstruction in a Patient With Bulimia Nervosa

Gastric bezoar is an uncommon cause of gastric outlet obstruction, as well as a rare complication of bulimia nervosa (BN). The authors report a case of a young female with a history of BN presenting with acute gastric outlet obstruction. Radiologic imaging revealed a markedly dilated stomach and a retained gastric bezoar was identified during endoscopy. She was treated conservatively with nasogastric intubation and fluid resuscitation, followed by the consumption of Coca-Cola ® to promote fragmentation of the bezoar. The patient’s symptoms improved and she was transferred to a skilled eating disorder facility for further treatment of her underlying condition. J Med Cases. 2016;7(7):312-314 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14740/jmc2560w
Disparities in Depressive Symptoms and Antidepressant Treatment by Gender and Race/Ethnicity among People Living with HIV in the United States.

Author(s): Bengtson, Angela M; Pence, Brian W; Crane, Heidi M; Christopoulos, Katerina; Fredericksen, Rob J; Gaynes, Bradley N; Heine, Amy; Mathews, W Christopher; Moore, Richard; Napravnik, Sonia; Safren, Steven; Mugavero, Michael J | Abstract: ObjectiveTo describe disparities along the depression treatment cascade, from indication for antidepressant treatment to effective treatment, in HIV-infected individuals by gender and race/ethnicity.MethodsThe Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) Network of Integrated Clinical Systems (CNICS) cohort includes 31,000 HIV-infected adults in routine clinical care at 8 sites. Individuals were included in the analysis if they had a depressive symptoms measure within one month of establishing HIV care at a CNICS site. Depressive symptoms were measured using the validated Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Indication for antidepressant treatment was defined as PHQ-9 ≥ 10 or a current antidepressant prescription. Antidepressant treatment was defined as a current antidepressant prescription. Evidence-based antidepressant treatment was considered treatment changes based on a person's most recent PHQ-9, in accordance with clinical guidelines. We calculated the cumulative probability of moving through the depression treatment cascade within 24 months of entering CNICS HIV care. We used multivariable Cox proportional hazards models to estimate associations between gender, race/ethnicity, and a range of depression outcomes.ResultsIn our cohort of HIV-infected adults in routine care, 47% had an indication for antidepressant treatment. Significant drop-offs along the depression treatment cascade were seen for the entire study sample. However, important disparities existed. Women were more likely to have an indication for antidepressant treatment (HR 1.54; 95% CI 1.34, 1.78), receive antidepressant treatment (HR 2.03; 95% CI 1.53, 2.69) and receive evidence-based antidepressant treatment (HR 1.67; 95% CI 1.03, 2.74), even after accounting for race/ethnicity. Black non-Hispanics (HR 0.47, 95% CI 0.35, 0.65), Hispanics (HR 0.63, 95% CI 0.44, 0.89) and other race/ethnicities (HR 0.35, 95% CI 0.17, 0.73) were less likely to initiate antidepressant treatment, compared to white non-Hispanics.ConclusionsIn our cohort of HIV-infected adults depressive symptoms were common. Important disparities in the prevalence of depressive symptoms and receipt of antidepressant treatment existed by gender and race/ethnicity.
Synthesis and characterization of a zwitterionic hydrogel blend with low coefficient of friction

Abstract Hydrogels display a great deal of potential for a wide variety of biomedical applications. Often times the performance of these biomimetic materials is limited due to inferior friction and wear properties. This manuscript presents a method inspired by the tribological phenomena observed in nature for enhancing the lubricious properties of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogels. This was achieved by blending PVA with various amounts of zwitterionic polymer, poly([2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl] dimethyl-(3-sulfopropyl) ammonium hydroxide) (pMEDSAH). Our results indicate that pMEDSAH acts as an effective boundary lubricant, allowing for reduction in coefficient of friction by more than 80%. This reduction in friction coefficient was achieved while maintaining comparable mechanical and physical properties to that of the neat material. Also, these zwitterionic blends were found to be cytocompatible. Analysis of the structure to property relationships within this system indicate that the zwitterionic polymer served as a boundary lubricant and promoted a reduction in friction through hydration lubrication. This novel approach provides a promising platform for further investigations enhancing the tribological properties of hydrogels for biomedical applications. Statement of Significance The novelty of this work stems from showing that zwitterionic polymers can be used as an extremely effective hydrogel boundary lubricant. This work will have significant scientific impact because to date, design of hydrogels has emphasized replication of mechanical properties, but in order for these types of materials to be fully utilized as biomaterials it is imperative that they possess improved tribological and lubrication properties, because ignoring the surface and boundary lubrication mechanism, make these potential load-bearing substitutes incompatible with other natural articulating surfaces, leading the constructs to wear, fail, and damage healthy tissue. Our work also provides unique insight to the structure-property-function relationships of these biomaterials which will be of great interest to the readership of the journal.