cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Clinical pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of colloidal plasma volume expanders

The pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of albumin, hetastarch, pentastarch, and dextrans are determined by different factors. Albumin's effects are controlled by movement of the protein between the vascular and extravascular pools. The kinetics and dynamics of hetastarch and a new plasma expander, pentastarch, are controlled more by the extent of hydroxyethylation (ie, molar substitution) than by the molecular weight of the different fracions. Pentastarch, because of its lower molar substitution and molecular weight distribution, is eliminated from the body at a much faster rate than hetastarch. In contrast, dextran's duration of effect is controlled by the molecular weight of the different fractions. A review of the available data indicates that 6% hetastarch is comparable to 6% dextran 70 in duration of plasma volume expansion. Their effects last 12 to 24 hours in comparison with eight to 12 hours for 10% pentastarch and only four to six hours for 5% albumin. The amount of plasma volume expansion appears to be greatest with 10% pentastarch (100% to 150% of infused volume), followed by 6% dextran 70 (100% to 125%), 6% hetastarch (100%), and 5% albumin (80% to 100%).
www.PeaceTest.org: Development, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Web-Based War-Prevention Program in a Time of War

Collective violence is a major cause of death, illness, and suffering. The theory of moral disengagement offers a framework for understanding and preventing violence between nations, and the Internet provides a vehicle for reaching a diverse population with a war-prevention program. The objectives of the PeaceTest project were to develop, implement, and evaluate a theory-based interactive website to be used as a war-prevention intervention for a general audience. The open-access site www.PeaceTest.org is an intervention to increase visitors' resistance to the cognitive processes of moral disengagement through risk assessment and tailored remediation. Evaluation of the program used a single-group pre-test—posttest design involving self-reported attitudes toward the use of military force. From 13 May to 15 September 2004, the site recorded 7,521 self-selected visitors from around the world; 5,702 (76%) completed the pre-test, and 338 (6%) of these completed the post-test. The intervention effect was examine...
Immunopathology of inflammatory bowel disease.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) results from a complex series of interactions between susceptibility genes, the environment, and the immune system. The host microbiome, as well as viruses and fungi, play important roles in the development of IBD either by causing inflammation directly or indirectly through an altered immune system. New technologies have allowed researchers to be able to quantify the various components of the microbiome, which will allow for future developments in the etiology of IBD. Various components of the mucosal immune system are implicated in the pathogenesis of IBD and include intestinal epithelial cells, innate lymphoid cells, cells of the innate (macrophages/monocytes, neutrophils, and dendritic cells) and adaptive (T-cells and B-cells) immune system, and their secreted mediators (cytokines and chemokines). Either a mucosal susceptibility or defect in sampling of gut luminal antigen, possibly through the process of autophagy, leads to activation of innate immune response that may be mediated by enhanced toll-like receptor activity. The antigen presenting cells then mediate the differentiation of naive T-cells into effector T helper (Th) cells, including Th1, Th2, and Th17, which alter gut homeostasis and lead to IBD. In this review, the effects of these components in the immunopathogenesis of IBD will be discussed.
A study of two incremental theories of plasticity through large deformation in polycrystalline copper

Abstract Experimental data from combined tension-torsion of thin-walled annealed poly-crystalline copper tubes are compared with Prandtl-Reuss classical incremental theory and Bell's finite deformation incremental theory. In the experiment, the loads are prescribed and the loading paths include proportionate and nonproportionate tension and torsion. One of the main differences between the two theories is that the former is in terms of true stress and strain, whereas the latter is in nominal stress and nominal strain form. Also in one case, the equivalent stress and equivalent strain curves are approximated by a general power relation, whereas in the other case, the relation is parabolic. The results obtained in this investigation suggest that the finite deformation incremental theory in terms of nominal stress and nominal strain predicts the material behavior better than the classical incremental theory.
Posed and spontaneous communication of emotion via facial and vocal cues1

Subjects' facial expressions were videotaped without their knowledge while they watched two pleasant and two unpleasant videotaped scenes (spontaneous facial encoding). Later, subjects' voices were audiotaped while describing their reactions to the scenes (vocal encoding). Finally, subjects were videotaped with their knowledge while they posed appropriate facial expressions to the scenes (posed facial encoding). The videotaped expressions were presented for decoding to the same subjects. The vocal material, both the original version and an electronically filtered version, was rated by judges other than the original senders. Results were as follows: (a) accuracy of vocal encoding (measured by ratings of both the filtered and unfiltered versions) was positively related to accuracy of facial encoding; (b) posing increased the accuracy of facial communication, particularly for more pleasant affects and less intense affects; (c) encoding of posed cues was correlated with encoding of spontaneous cues and decoding of posed cues was correlated with decoding of spontaneous cues; (d) correlations, within encoding and decoding, of similar scenes were positive while those among dissimilar scenes were low or negative; (e) while correlations between total encoding and total decoding were positive and low, correlations between encoding and decoding of the same scene were negative; (f) there were sex differences in decoding ability and in the relationships of personality variables with encoding and decoding of facial cues.
Efficient lossless codec for still color images with backward coding of wavelet trees

Despite the approval of a new standard in 2009, JPEG-extended range lossless, current digital products still employ previous standards for lossless image compression, such as JPEG, JPEG2000, JPEG-LS, etc. Wavelet-based codecs can provide abundant functionalities and excellent compression efficiency. Among them, the backward coding of wavelet trees (BCWT) algorithm offers lower complexity and consumes less internal buffer memory without sacrificing quality at similar compression ratios (CR) when compared to other wavelet-based codecs, such as JPEG2000 and set partitioning in hierarchical trees (SPIHT). A line-based BCWT was developed for further reduction of internal buffer memory. A very efficient line-based lossless BCWT compression algorithm is presented. Lossless color and lossless wavelet transform are employed and the original BCWT algorithm is modified for lossless operation, including incorporation of adaptive arithmetic coding. In order to eliminate coding redundancies, a set to zeros method and a zero tree detection algorithm are proposed, which significantly enhance the boundary condition CR performance while reserving the algorithm’s advantages. Tests and analysis results show that the lossless BCWT algorithm requires less memory and computational resources than SPIHT and JPEG2000, while retaining image quality comparable to the standard image codecs, therefore, lossless BCWT is quite suitable for implementation in modern digital technologies.
Performance evaluation of a high-strip-density grid using a contrast-detail phantom

A contrast-detail phantom was used to evaluate grid performance. The phantom is constructed of 1 cm of plastic. Holes of varying diameter (detail) and varying depth (contest) were drilled into the contrast-detail phantom. The phantom was placed next to the bucky assembly. A 15 cm block of lucite was placed between the x ray tube and the phantom. A set of radiographs were taken of the phantom at different kVps and different phantom thicknesses. This was done both with and without the grid in place. An ion chamber was used so that the bucky factor could be determined. This entire procedure was repeated for the conventional, reciprocating grid. Contrast-detail curves were generated from the data. As would be expected the reciprocating grid had a lower bucky factor. The contrast improvement factor (contrast with grid/contrast without grid) was higher for the reciprocating grid. The contrast improvement factor for the high-strip- density grid was comparable to that for the reciprocating grid at high kVps and also when a thinner block of lucite was used. Grid lines were seen on the radiographs of the high-strip-density grid.
Quantum tunneling of massive flux lines in a High-Tc superconductor

We have investigated the quantum tunneling of damped flux lines of finite mass at T = 0 by extending our previous study of tunneling around T 0 , the transition temperature. In the case of a cubic pinning potential, considered here, the action could be evaluated in a closed form for a flux line of finite length. The tunneling rate reaches a finite limit at T = 0, although it is temperature dependent and exhibits a 1/T variation near T 0 .
Identification of Creeping Foxtail Germplasm with High Dry Matter Yield and Nutritive Value

While creeping foxtail (Alopecurus arundinaceus Poir.) is widely grown in wet meadows and pastures throughout temperate regions of the United States and world, only the cultivars 'Garrison' and 'Retain' have been developed in the United States. These cultivars represent a narrow genetic base and substantial improvement of creeping foxtail may be realized by incorporating additional germplasm resources into a cultivar development program. The study described herein compared the agronomic and nutritive value of 47 creeping foxtail accessions to that of Garrison and Retain in a field study conducted over two production years at a site near Richmond, UT. The effect of accessions was separated into the component due to the region of origin and the component due to the accession per se. Differences were limited among region of origin, although significant differences occurred for dry matter yield and in vitro true digestibility. The U.S. cultivars had the numerically highest dry matter yield (116 g plot -1 ) and the Mongolian accessions (945 g kg -1 ) had higher in vitro true digestibility than the other regions. Differences among the individual accessions occurred for all traits except rhizome spread. A group of seven accessions from Afghanistan, Iran, Russia, and Turkey exhibited high dry matter yield and neutral detergent fiber digestibility. These accessions could be combined with the cultivar Garrison to develop a broad base population for further creeping foxtail improvement and cultivar development.
Block concatenated signatures for partial match retrieval

In this paper, a block concatenated signature (BCS) file scheme is proposed to speed up partial match retrieval in very large databases. A BCS is generated for each block of the data file by hashing the attribute values in the data block. Then the BCSs form a signature file which is used as an index to the data file. For a partial match retrieval query, a block query signature (BQS) is generated and compared with the BCSs. Only those data blocks whose corresponding BCSs match the BQS are retrieved from secondary storage and compared with the actual query. The size of the BCS file is usually less than 15% of the size of the data file, and usually only a subset of each BCS is accessed. Compared to the record signature schemes, the proposed BCS scheme has better performance because the number of signature blocks to be accessed is much smaller per query. Thus, we can obtain considerable speedup in partial match retrieval by using the BCS file. The storage requirement and the performance of the BCS file are evaluated and compared with those of other signature file schemes.
A Methodological Study of a Measure of Family Cohesion

Olson, Bell, and Portner (11) have recently developed a measure of family adaptability and cohesion (The Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales). This study is a critical evaluation of the construction of the cohesion subscale of this instrument. Included is a partial replication of the original work of Olson et al. (11). Some problems with this subscale and its construction are pointed out, and a subset of the original items is presented and discussed. Some implications of these results for the conceptualization of the nature of family cohesion are also discussed.
Attention's grasp: early and late hand proximity effects on visual evoked potentials

Behavioral studies suggest that visual attention is biased toward stimuli in the region of space near the palm of the hand, but it is unclear whether this effect is universal or selective for goal/task-related stimuli. We examined event-related potentials (ERPs) using a visual detection task in which the hand was placed near or kept far from target and non-target stimuli that were matched for frequency and visual features to avoid confounding factors. Focusing on attention-sensitive ERP components, we found that P3 (350-450 msec) amplitudes were increased for Hand Near conditions for targets only, demonstrating a selective effect consistent with the P3’s cross-modal and task-relevance influences. An N1 variant implicated in visuotactile integration (central Nd1; 120-190 msec) showed similar target-specific effects. P1 (80-110 msec) effects for target stimuli were also apparent, but may have applied to non-targets as well, which would be consistent with the P1’s association with early, pre-categorical increases in sensory gain. Collectively, these findings suggest that by the time stimuli are categorized as relevant/irrelevant for action, the proprioceptive effects of the hand on visual attention are selective for goal/task-related stimuli. At the same time, hand proximity appears to bias attention early, starting with a facilitation of processing for perhaps any visual stimuli near the hand, and continuing with enhancements that are selective to those stimuli categorized as task-relevant.
Problems with precision modeling of analog MOS LSI

This paper summarizes the inadequacies of present MOSFET models as applied to analog circuit design. Both efficient models suitable for CAD and more complex models are considered. Problem areas discussed include poor modeling of the moderate inversion region, ambiguous use of "threshold" voltages, poor modeling of the drain small-signal conductance, and very poor modeling of intrinsic small-signal capacitances.
Human toxicity potentials for life-cycle assessment and toxics release inventory risk screening.

The human toxicity potential (HTP), a calculated index that reflects the potential harm of a unit of chemical released into the environment, is based on both the inherent toxicity of a compound and its potential dose. It is used to weight emissions inventoried as part of a life-cycle assessment (LCA) or in the toxics release inventory (TRI) and to aggregate emissions in terms of a reference compound. Total emissions can be evaluated in terms of benzene equivalence (carcinogens) and toluene equivalents (noncarcinogens). The potential dose is calculated using a generic fate and exposure model, CalTOX, which determines the distribution of a chemical in a model environment and accounts for a number of exposure routes, including inhalation, ingestion of produce, fish, and meat, and dermal contact with water and soil. Toxicity is represented by the cancer potency q1* for carcinogens and the safe dose (RfD, RfC) for noncarcinogens. This article presents cancer and noncancer HTP values for air and surface-water emissions of 330 compounds. This list covers 258 chemicals listed in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency TRI, or 79 weight-% of the TRI releases to air reported in 1997.
Word learning under adverse listening conditions: Context-specific recognition

Previous studies of word learning have presented the items to listeners under ideal conditions. Here we ask how listeners learn new vocabulary items under adverse listening conditions. Would listeners form acoustically-specific representations that incorporated the noise, base their representations on noise-free language knowledge, or both? To address these questions, listeners learned 16 words as labels for unfamiliar shapes presented on a computer display. During the learning phase, word-shape pairings were presented with either clear or white-noise-embedded tokens. For each word (e.g. dabo), another word shared consonants (e.g. dubei) and a third shared vowels (e.g. gapo). Learning was assessed in a 4AFC picture-selection task. The highest accuracy and speed were achieved by listeners who experienced the same noise level at exposure and test (both clear or both noisy), suggesting that listeners’ representations of noisy words were faithful to the spectral context experienced during the learning phase. Implications for word learning and recognition across a variety of listening conditions are discussed.
Protozoa of Amazonian and Andean Waters of Colombia, South America

SUMMARY. A survey of protozoa in four water samples from Colombia, South America, yielded 84 species identifiable to genus or to species. Three of the collections were from the Amazon River and a tributary in the vicinity of Leticia, at the southern tip of the country. The fourth was taken near the high Andean town of Medellin in central Colombia. All four subphyla are represented. Forty ciliophorans, 26 mastigophorans, 17-sarcodinians, and one sporozoan are included. Of the ciliophorans all but one are euciliates in three orders. The exception is a suctorean. Two classes, and six orders of mastigophorans are represented; one class, and two orders of sarcodinians; and one class, one subclass, and one order of sporozoans. Eleven suborders, 33 families, and 49 genera are exemplified. Other protozoa seen, but not identified to generic or specific accuracy, are omitted.
Basipetal auxin transport is required for gravitropism in roots of Arabidopsis

Auxin transport has been reported to occur in two distinct polarities, acropetally and basipetally, in two different root tissues. The goals of this study were to determine whether both polarities of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) transport occur in roots of Arabidopsis and to determine which polarity controls the gravity response. Global application of the auxin transport inhibitor naphthylphthalamic acid (NPA) to roots blocked the gravity response, root waving, and root elongation. Immediately after the application of NPA, the root gravity response was completely blocked, as measured by an automated video digitizer. Basipetal [(3)H]IAA transport in Arabidopsis roots was inhibited by NPA, whereas the movement of [(14)C]benzoic acid was not affected. Inhibition of basipetal IAA transport by local application of NPA blocked the gravity response. Inhibition of acropetal IAA transport by application of NPA at the root-shoot junction only partially reduced the gravity response at high NPA concentrations. Excised root tips, which do not receive auxin from the shoot, exhibited a normal response to gravity. The Arabidopsis mutant eir1, which has agravitropic roots, exhibited reduced basipetal IAA transport but wild-type levels of acropetal IAA transport. These results support the hypothesis that basipetally transported IAA controls root gravitropism in Arabidopsis.
Learning patterns from images by combining soft decisions and hard decisions

We present a novel approach for learning patterns (sub-images) shared by multiple images without prior knowledge about the number and the positions of the patterns in the images. The patterns may undergo kinds of rigid and non-rigid transformations. To reduce the searching space, the images are pre-segmented and represented by attribute relation graphs (ARGs). The problem is then formulated as learning the isomorphic subgraph, called pattern ARG (PARG) from multiple sample ARGs (SARG) with regard to the attribute similarity and the relation similarity. An inexact graph-matching algorithm is proposed to establish the correspondence between each SARG and the PARG. Inexact graph matching and model editing based on Bayes' decision rule are incorporated into Generalized Expectation and Maximization (GEM) algorithm. The modified GEM algorithm combines soft decisions and hard decisions together to learn both the appearance and the structure of the PARG. In the experiments, the learned PARG successfully captures the appearance and spatial information of the concept shared by the images.
Markov monitoring with unknown states

Pattern recognition methods and hidden Markov models can be effective tools for online health monitoring of communications systems. Previous work has assumed that the states in the system model are exhaustive. This can be a significant drawback in real-world fault monitoring applications where it is difficult if not impossible to model all the possible fault states of the system in advance. In this paper a method is described for extending the Markov monitoring approach to allow for unknown or novel states which cannot be accounted for when the model is being designed. The method is described and evaluated on data from one of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Deep Space Network antennas. The experimental results indicate that the method is both practical and effective, allowing both discrimination between known states and detection of previously unknown fault conditions. >
Genetic Diversity of Neisseria gonorrhoeae Housekeeping Genes

Molecular typing of Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains is an important tool for epidemiological studies of gonococcal infection and transmission. The recently developed multilocus sequence typing (MLST) method is based on the genetic variation among housekeeping genes. As a preliminary investigation for the development of such a method, we characterized the genetic diversity at 18 gonococcal housekeeping gene loci. Approximately 17,500 nucleotides, spanning 18 loci, were sequenced from 24 isolates. Including strain FA 1090, which has been fully sequenced, and three unique glnA sequences from GenBank, the number of alleles identified for the 18 loci ranged from 2 to 18, with a mean of 8.3 alleles per locus. The majority of polymorphic sites were distributed randomly along the genes, consistent with evolution of DNA sequences by point mutation. In addition, several examples of clustered mutations and insertions or deletions were detected, which most likely occurred by recombinational events. While purifying selection is the dominant force driving the evolution of these housekeeping genes, positive selection also appeared to operate on the abcZ and gpdh loci. The 25 completely characterized strains each had a unique allelic profile with as few as three loci (pilA, abcZ, and pip or pgi2). Molecular typing based on the allelic profile of housekeeping genes resolved the isolates better than either porB nucleotide sequencing or typing of the opa gene. The allelic profiles for the pilA, abcZ, and serC loci of paired strains from 16 sexual contacts were identical. A potential MLST for N. gonorrhoeae, based on ∼500- to 600-bp gene fragments of seven housekeeping gene loci, would include the pilA, abcZ, serC, glnA, gdh, gnd, and pip loci.
LEVERAGED BUYOUTS AS A CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT TOOL

In the next five years, there will be a shortage of divestiture candidates qualified for leveraged buyouts relative to the number of interested buyers and the available supply of financing. Corporations will, therefore, be well positioned to negotiate favorable terms of sale for qualified divesture candidates using this technique.
Low-Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition of Borosilicate Glasses and their Application to Wafer Bonding

The essential features of the deposition process and the film properties of borosilicate glasses are presented here as an alternative to pure SiO2in wafer bonding and compliant substrates. While the deposition of SiO2 is a well-studied system, the deposition of boron-doped films is less understood. The deposition rate of the SiO2 mole fraction in the films was accelerated by the presence of trimethylborate and oxygen and this is associated with an increased adsorption of the tetraethylorthosilicate related precursor in the presence of boranols. Typical deposition conditions result in borosilicate glass films with an r.m.s. roughness of ∼0.5 nm as measured by atomic force microscopy. Annealing the films at temperatures above 550°C reduces the film roughness via glass reflow. Room temperature bonding of these films was achieved after a 250 WO2 plasma surface treatment. Fourier-transform infrared investigations of the bonded interface revealed the importance of the role of surface OH and H2O groups in the bonding of these films.
Order domain analysis of speed-dependent friction-induced torque in a brake experiment

Abstract A friction-induced forced vibration problem, as excited by the geometric distortions of the brake rotor, is studied in this article. The focus is on the order domain analysis, as the speed-dependent behavior of friction torque is not well understood. First, a new laboratory experiment is constructed to simulate vehicle brake judder in a scientific and yet controlled manner. The variations in pressure and torque are measured as the rotor slows down, and the order domain tracking is used to construct shaft torque vs. speed diagrams. A quasi-linear model of the laboratory experiment is then developed to obtain an analytical solution and to estimate the torque envelope function. A nonlinear model of the laboratory experiment (with a clearance) is also investigated to examine the resonant amplitude growth. Finally, predictions are successfully compared with measurements. Several contributions emerge over the prior literature. In particular, the experimental data clearly show that multiple-orders of the rotor surface distortion profile excite the friction-induced torque, and a clearance in the torsional system controls the resonant amplitude regime. New analytical and numerical solutions provide much insight into the speed-dependent resonant amplitude growth process.
Vβ cluster sequences reduce the frequency of primary Vβ2 and Vβ14 rearrangements

T-cell receptor (TCR) beta variable region exons are assembled from numerous gene segments in a highly ordered and regulated manner. To elucidate mechanisms and identify cis-acting elements that control Vbeta rearrangement, we generated an endogenous TCR-beta allele with only the Vbeta2, Vbeta4, and Vbeta14 segments. We found that alphabeta T lineage cells containing this Vbeta(2-4-14) allele and a wild-type TCR-beta allele developed normally, but exhibited a significant increase in Vbeta2(+) and Vbeta14(+) cells. To quantify Vbeta rearrangements on the Vbeta(2-4-14) allele, we generated alphabeta T-cell hybridomas and analyzed TCR-beta rearrangements. Despite the deletion of almost all Vbeta segments and 234 kb of Vbeta cluster sequences, the Vbeta(2-4-14) allele exhibited only a slight decrease in Vbeta rearrangement as compared with the wild-type TCR-beta allele. Thus, cis-acting control elements essential for directing Vbeta rearrangement across large chromosomal distances are not located within the Vbeta cluster. We also found a significant increase in the frequency of Vbeta rearrangements involving Vbeta2 and Vbeta14, but not Vbeta4, on the Vbeta(2-4-14) allele. Collectively, our data suggest that Vbeta cluster sequences reduce the frequency of Vbeta2 and Vbeta14 rearrangements by competing with the productive coupling of accessible Vbeta2 and Vbeta14 segments with DJbeta1 complexes.
In Vitro Activity of ABT 773, a New Ketolide Antibiotic, against Chlamydia pneumoniae

The in vitro activities of ABT 773, telithromycin (HMR 3647), azithromycin, clarithromycin, erythromycin, and levofloxacin were tested against 20 strains of Chlamydia pneumoniae. The MIC at which 90% of the isolates were inhibited and the minimal bactericidal concentration at which 90% of the isolates were killed by ABT 773 were 0.015 microg/ml (range, 0.008 to 0.015 microg/ml). ABT 773 was the most active antibiotic tested in this study.
Additional somatosensory information does not improve cerebellar adaptation during catching

Objective: People with cerebellar damage are impaired in their ability to adapt anticipatory muscle activity during catching. We asked whether prior or on-line information about ball weight and drop height could improve the impaired adaptation of people with cerebellar damage. Methods: Cerebellar and control subjects caught a series of balls of different weights under two conditions. The first condition provided subjects with information about ball weight prior to the series of trials. The second condition provided subjects with information about ball weight, drop height, and time of ball release during the series of trials. Subjects had to maintain their hand within a vertical spatial ‘window’ during the catch. We measured 3-dimensional position and electromyography (EMG) from the catching arm. Results: With prior information, controls required a few trials to adapt to a new ball weight. Cerebellar subjects were slow, or unable, to adapt. With on-line information, controls were able to catch the ball within the window immediately, showing that they did not require practice to make this adjustment. Cerebellar subjects remained slow or unable to adapt to the changed ball weight even with on-line information. Conclusions: These results suggest that other, intact central nervous system structures cannot compensate for the role of the cerebellum in generating and adjusting anticipatory muscle activity across multiple joints. q 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
JigDFS for implementing secure container communities

The globalization of the economy has given increase to the number of shipping containers. The large number of shipping containers arriving at major ports makes inspecting every container impractical and therefore bears significant risks. This paper describes a solution that would monitor containers' integrity from the originating port to the destination port. Should there be an intrusion to the containers en route, the system will report the activity to its home station. The proposed system is envisioned to be secure and intrusion resistant. The proposed approach uses an implementation of Jigsaw Distributed File System (JigDFS) to further protect the container communities. This paper is the full version of extended abstract published at CSIIRW-09 [1].
Large-scale interventions and programmes addressing nutrition-related chronic diseases and obesity: examples from 14 countries.

Developing countries are clearly facing a double burden of disease. The prevalences of overweight and obesity are rising among adults simultaneously with high rates of undernutrition among children 1‐7 . Consequently, nutrition-related chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes, are emerging as concerns in developing countries 8 . These concerns are combined with the continued need to address undernutrition and infectious disease. Overweight and obesity are increasing in Chile among low-income groups and poor communities 9 . There is a triple burden of disease in South Africa, described by Vorster 10 . These are poverty-related infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS, violence-related injuries and an increase in lifestyle-related non-communicable diseases. The burden of obesity and cardiovascular disease in the more developed regions of Brazil is also emerging among the poor 11 . As nutrition-related chronic diseases become more prevalent, limited resources will be further strained by the simultaneous cost of addressing infectious disease and undernutrition, while treating nutrition-related chronic diseases. Early prevention is essential in order to prevent the epidemic. As Reddy 8 states in this supplement, prevention is a necessary, cost-effective means of avoiding the high social, biological and economic costs of a treatment-based approach to nutrition-related chronic diseases. Thus, as a part of this meeting, we considered programmes in developing countries that have sought to intervene early to prevent obesity and nutrition-related chronic diseases.
Staircase Assessment of the Magnitude and Time-course of 50% Nitrous-oxide Analgesia

The analgesic effect of 50% nitrous oxide and oxygen on thermal pain sensations was evaluated in a placebo-controlled, double-blind crossover design. In a session immediately before oral surgery, 20 patients used a seven-point verbal scale to rate the intensity of pain sensations evoked by three-second thermal stimuli delivered to 14 sites on the volar forearm at 20-second intervals by a 1-cm-diameter contact thermode. Subjects rated 36 stimuli while breathing room air and then two additional sets of 36 stimuli while inhaling 50% nitrous oxide and oxygen during one set and oxygen placebo during the other. Each of these two stimulus sets was preceded by a two-minute induction of the agent, and the sets were separated by a three-minute washout period. Order of administration was randomized and counterbalanced. Stimulus temperatures were adjusted continuously by an interactive computer program so that response could be maintained at predetermined levels. This method resulted in a continuous measure of analge...
Search for a Common Factor Model to Describe a Cross-Lagged Correlation Difference.

This study describes the development of a com mon factor model for a cross-lagged difference in volving a measure of aural comprehension and an intellectual composite. The direction of the dif ference was that the Listening Test predicted the composite more accurately than the composite pre dicted the Listening Test. A complex model which allowed seemingly identical common factors ap pearing at different ages to be highly, but imper fectly, correlated fit the 32 x 32 table of intercorre lations of 16 variables measured at each of two time periods. The model also described quite accurately the multiple correlations on which the cross-lagged difference was based. Aural compre hension at grade 5 was equidistant from the vectors of the two general factors at grades 5 and 11; but aural comprehension at grade 11, while close to the general factor at grade 11, was outside the space created by the two general factor vectors. Individual differences in aural comprehension anticipated by several years changes in ran...
Core competencies in sexual and reproductive health for the interprofessional primary care team

Abstract Objective A primary care workforce that is well prepared to provide high-quality sexual and reproductive health (SRH) care has the potential to enhance access to care and reduce health disparities. This project aimed to identify core competencies to guide SRH training across the primary care professions. Study design A six-member interprofessional expert working group drafted SRH competencies for primary care team members. Primary care providers including family physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners and certified nurse midwives, physician assistants and pharmacists were invited to participate in a three-round electronic Delphi survey. In each round, participants voted by email to retain, eliminate or revise each competency, with their suggested edits to the competencies incorporated by the researchers after each round. Results Fifty providers from six professions participated. In Round 1, 17 of 33 draft competencies reached the 75% predetermined agreement level to be accepted as written. Five were combined, reducing the total number to 28. Based on Round 2 feedback, 21 competencies were reworded, and 2 were combined. In Round 3, all 26 competencies reached at least 83.7% agreement, with 9 achieving 100% agreement. Conclusion The 33 core competencies encompass professional ethics and reproductive justice, collaboration, SRH services and conditions affecting SRH. These core competencies will be disseminated and adapted to each profession's scope of practice to inform required curricula. Implications SRH competencies for primary care can inform the required curricula across professions, filling the gap between an established standard of care necessary to meet patient needs and the outcomes of that care.
Higher levels of thymidylate synthase gene expression are observed in pulmonary as compared with hepatic metastases of colorectal adenocarcinoma

PURPOSEIt has been observed previously that the pulmonary metastases of colorectal adenocarcinoma are less responsive to therapy with fluorouracil (FUra) as compared with other sites of metastasis (liver, local). To investigate the basis of this chemoresistance, the levels of thymidylate synthase (TS) mRNA and protein were measured, as TS expression has been shown to be predictive of response to therapy in colorectal cancer.MATERIALS AND METHODSTumors were obtained from 19 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (12 hepatic and seven pulmonary). TS expression was measured by quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and TS protein levels were measured by Western blotting. The presence of TS amplification was assessed by Southern blotting. Levels of p53 protein were determined using immunohistochemistry.RESULTSTS mRNA expression was shown to be significantly higher in the pulmonary metastases (mean TS/beta-actin ratio, 19.7; n = 7) as compared with the hepatic metastases (mea...
Cultural Factors in Desirable Body Shapes and Their Impact on Weight Loss and Maintenance

“Cultural factors” refers to societal attitudes, beliefs, norms or values common to a particular demographic group or population or to the determinants of these beliefs. In the U.S. literature on obesity and weight control the cultural reference point is typically the mainstream culture, for example, as expressed in the mass media, in fashion magazines, or in the physical attributes of female beauty queens (Wiseman, Gray, Mosimann, & Ahrens, 1992; Rodin, 1991; Bowen, Tomoyasu, & Cauce, 1991). The predominant view is that obesity or large body size is undesirable and negatively stigmatized. The ideal tends to be thin rather than simply non-obese.
Ultrafast High Power and Stabilized Semiconductor Diode Lasers—Physics, Techniques, and Applications in Coherent Signal Processing

Abstract Compact, electrically efficient sources of ultrashort, high repetition rate laser pulses are becoming critical for a broad range of applications in optical communications and signal processing. This article reviews the basic principles and techniques for generating ultrashort, high peak power optical pulses from electrically pumped semiconductor gain media. The techniques described show how to circumvent the physical limitations that are normally associated with the production of ultrashort pulses using semiconductor gain media. Insight is gained that suggests the use of specific laser cavity designs to achieve the desired output pulse train characteristics, including femtosecond duration pulses, high peak intensity pulses, and pulse trains with ultralow intensity and timing noise. Furthermore, we highlight the most recent applications involving optical frequency combs that are generated using stabilized mode-locked lasers. We show that the periodic nature of the output axial mode spectrum of a mode-locked laser serves as a basis for performing a variety of parallel optical signal processing functions, such as arbitrary waveform generation, waveform measurement, and matched filtering, yielding processing rates at the full bandwidth of the laser (several terahertz) but requiring electronics with bandwidths on the order of the laser’s pulse repetition rate (a few gigahertz).
Block-partitioned solvers for coupled poromechanics: A unified framework

Abstract Coupled poromechanical problems appear in a variety of disciplines, from reservoir engineering to biomedical applications. This work focuses on efficient strategies for solving the matrix systems that result from discretization and linearization of the governing equations. These systems have an inherent block structure due to the coupled nature of the mass and momentum balance equations. Recently, several iterative solution schemes have been proposed that exhibit stable and rapid convergence to the coupled solution. These schemes appear distinct, but a unifying feature is that they exploit the block-partitioned nature of the problem to accelerate convergence. This paper analyzes several of these schemes and highlights the fundamental connections that underlie their effectiveness. We begin by focusing on two specific methods: a fully-implicit and a sequential-implicit scheme. In the first approach, the system matrix is treated monolithically, and a Krylov iteration is used to update pressure and displacement unknowns simultaneously. To accelerate convergence, a preconditioning operator is introduced based on an approximate block-factorization of the linear system. Next, we analyze a sequential-implicit scheme based on the fixed-stress split. In this method, one iterates back and forth between updating displacement and pressure unknowns separately until convergence to the coupled solution is reached. We re-interpret this scheme as a block-preconditioned Richardson iteration, and we show that the preconditioning operator is identical to that used within the fully-implicit approach. Rapid convergence in both the Richardson- and Krylov-based methods results from a particular choice for a sparse Schur complement approximation. This analysis leads to a unified framework for developing solution schemes based on approximate block factorizations. Many classic fully-implicit and sequential-implicit schemes are simple sub-cases. The analysis also highlights several new approaches that have not been previously explored. For illustration, we directly compare the performance and robustness of several variants on a benchmark problem.
Realization of a simulation test method for feeder automation of power distribution automation system

According to the lack of unified, standardized testing methods for the feeder automation function of distribution automation system, this paper introduces a kind of simulation testing method realization of feeder automation function, which can provide technical reference for the bidding, and strengthen the quality control and operation management of power distribution automation system. This method setups testing environment by using the DATS-1000 distribution network automation master station injection testing system, simulates feeder and typical fault under the actual working condition and evaluates the feeder automation function conformed to the standard requirements. Through the actual products testing, this simply operated method was verified, it can reduce physical impact and testing cost effectively, which indicates that can be used for feeder automation function testing and also can be acceptance for the power distribution automation system simulation test and site.
European public diplomacy: soft power at work

It is not difficult to see how a title including both ‘public diplomacy’ and ‘soft power’ would have caught a publisher's eye – as well as the attention of many readers. Of course, the danger is th...
Model Elastomeric Networks

Abstract Tetrafunctional and trifunctional model polymer networks of known crosslink density were prepared by end-linking a variety of hydroxyl terminated chains both in the undiluted state and in solution. The polymers employed were poly(dimethylsiloxane), atactic poly(propylene oxide), poly(ethylene oxide), poly(tetramethylene oxide), and poly(e-caprolactone), and the end-linking agents were alkoxy silanes and an aromatic triisocyanate. The resulting networks were studied (i) in elongation at 25°C, both in the unswollen state and swollen with a nonvolatile diluent, and (ii) in equilibrium swelling in benzene. The values of the elongation modulus in the limits at large and small deformations were found to be in good agreement with recent theoretical predictions for nonaffine and affine deformations, respectively (the latter corresponding to the case in which the displacements of the network chain vectors are a simple linear function of the macroscopic strain). Comparisons between the tetrafunctional and ...
Clinical Pharmacology: Its Scope and Responsibilities

The clinical pharmacologist is a physician who wears many hats. Whatever his field of clinical expertise, he must relate effectively both to it and to pharmacology. His training qualifies him to serve a variety of functions extending over the medical community in general.
Adaptive rate control algorithm of Speex codec based on speech quality prediction

To manage and control the speech quality of VoIP communication dynamically,an adaptive rate control algorithm based on speech quality prediction was proposed.This algorithm predicted the instantaneous speech quality and the integral speech quality of VoIP in real time to adjust the encoding parameters of Speex codec adaptively.Then it selected the optimal encoding bit rate in need.The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm indeed reduces the network congestion and improves the speech quality of VoIP system.
Analysis on the Application of DC De-Icer in China Southern Power Grid

Based on the de-icing practice of China Southern Power Grid(CSG) in January 2011,the application of DC de-icers is analyzed,including the allocation of de-icers,and the efficiency and effect of de-icing.The paper concludes that the de-icing devices have played an important role in keeping the 220 kV transmission towers away from falling down and providing power supply to the county and above level cities;but that these devices be able to play a full role under severe ice-storm depends on the further perfection of CSG’s de-icing system.The paper suggests to optimize de-icing schedule,to perfect the process control of de-icing,and thus to make the DC de-icers play role in maximum.Meanwhile,the redundance of these de-icers should be properly increased,and the ability to protect networks should be enhanced by higher line-protecting ability and de-icing efficiency.Finally,it is suggested to further study the problem of ground lines iced.
Simplifying the treatment of HIV infection with ritonavir-boosted protease inhibitors in antiretroviral-experienced patients.

Purpose. The rationale, advantages, and disadvantages of attempting to enhance the efficacy of a primary protease inhibitor (PI) with ritonavir in the management of HIV infection, especially in patients who have previously undergone highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), are discussed. Summary. PIs are pivotal components of the HAART regimens used to fight HIV infection. Long-term viral suppression remains a major clinical challenge. Certain pharmacologic features of many PIs, such as their limited oral bioavailability, necessitate burdensome dosage schedules, creating a barrier to patient adherence. Compliance may be further compromised by adverse events. Any factors that undermine adherence may increase the risk that plasma drug concentrations will be suboptimal and that viral resistance and subsequent treatment failure will develop. The pharmacokinetic enhancement, or “boosting,” of PI levels with low-dose ritonavir may increase PI potency and efficacy, as well as decrease the emergence of viral resistance, reduce the pill burden, and simplify administration. A number of clinical studies suggest that PI-boosted regimens are safe and effective in HIV-infected patients who have been previously treated with antiretroviral agents, but more research is needed. Conclusion. PI boosting with ritonavir can improve PI pharmacokinetics so that potency and efficacy are increased and regimens are simplified, thereby potentially reducing antiretroviral resistance and promoting patient adherence.