cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Health-Related Quality of Life: A Comparative Analysis of Caregivers of People With Dementia, Cancer, COPD/Emphysema, and Diabetes and Noncaregivers, 2015-2018 BRFSS.

BACKGROUND Many informal caregivers experience significant caregiving burden and report worsening health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Caregiver HRQoL may vary by disease context, but this has rarely been studied. PURPOSE Informed by the Model of Carer Stress and Burden, we compared HRQoL outcomes of prevalent groups of caregivers of people with chronic illness (i.e., dementia, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD]/emphysema, and diabetes) and noncaregivers and examined whether caregiving intensity (e.g., duration and hours) was associated with caregiver HRQoL. METHODS Using 2015-2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data, we identified caregivers of people with dementia (n = 4,513), cancer (n = 3,701), COPD/emphysema (n = 1,718), and diabetes (n = 2,504) and noncaregivers (n = 176,749). Regression analyses were used to compare groups. RESULTS Caregiver groups showed small, nonsignificant differences in HRQoL outcomes. Consistent with theory, all caregiver groups reported more mentally unhealthy days than noncaregivers (RRs = 1.29-1.61, ps < .001). Caregivers of people with cancer and COPD/emphysema reported more physically unhealthy days than noncaregivers (RRs = 1.17-1.24, ps < .01), and caregivers of people with diabetes reported a similar pattern (RR = 1.24, p = .01). However, general health and days of interference of poor health did not differ between caregivers and noncaregivers. Across caregiver groups, most caregiving intensity variables were unrelated to HRQoL outcomes; only greater caregiving hours were associated with more mentally unhealthy days (RR = 1.13, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS Results suggest that HRQoL decrements associated with caregiving do not vary substantially across chronic illness contexts and are largely unrelated to the perceived intensity of the caregiving. Findings support the development and implementation of strategies to optimize caregiver health across illness contexts.
Legal Realism as Psychological and Cultural (Not Political) Realism

The answer to the question of how law knows, we argue, is that law knows in the same way that ordinary democratic citizens know. When deliberating about what dangers are real and which are specious, and about which policies are efficacious and which are futile or even self-defeating, ordinary folk will rarely have direct access to the answers themselves. Instead, they must make decisions about what information and which sources warrant their trust. They must judge whether the stories in which the information is embedded are plausible and consistent with one another. They must consider which norms are relevant, given the facts as they know them. And all the empirical evidence we have suggests they will do all of this through interlocking social and cognitive mechanisms that cause them to rely on a culturally contingent situation sense, an implicit knowledge of how the material and social world works and who can be trusted to report it accurately. We call this form of active knowledge cultural cognition because it is sensitive to values that vary along culturally distinguishable lines and because the information that shapes and interacts with these values is conveyed through the same social networks that are the lifeblood of socialization and cultural transmission. What legal actors know to be true, it turns out, depends a great deal on what they value and whom they trust.
The Common Wind by Julius S. Scott

Scott, Julius S. The Common Wind: Afro-American Currents in the Age of the Haitian Revolution. New York: Verso, 2018.
Acute Kidney Injury-Induced Systemic Inflammation and Risk of Kidney Cancer Formation

In this issue of Cancer Research, Zhou and colleagues investigate the role of acute kidney injury (AKI) and AKI-associated systemic inflammation in the development of kidney cancer. They demonstrate a positive association between the formation of clear-cell renal cell carcinoma and AKI induced by ischemia-reperfusion injury in genetically modified mice. In parallel with the emergence of kidney tumors, mice with ischemic injury develop systemic inflammation associated with tissue infiltration by neutrophils and fibroblasts and upregulated expression of several inflammatory factors, with CXCL1 displaying the highest levels of upregulation. Accordingly, blockade of CXCL1-mediated signaling inhibited the emergence of kidney tumors in mice subjected to ischemic kidney injury. The study provides evidence for a new experimental approach to prevent the formation of clear-cell renal cell carcinoma and reduce kidney cancer incidence through modulation of the AKI-induced inflammatory response using inhibitors of CXC/CXCR2 axis. As the incidence of kidney cancer continues to increase, new treatment strategies for this devastating disease are urgently needed. Zhou and colleagues provide preclinical proof of concept for a new therapeutic strategy and address an unmet need for this difficult to prevent and treat cancer disease.See related article by Zhou et al., p. 2690.
A Program-Level Assessment of Student Understanding of Bonding in the Chemistry Major

Assessment of student learning within a degree program is an important but challenging endeavor. One goal of a programmatic assessment is to systematically collect evidence for chemistry majors’ kn...
Reframing the Problem: New Institutionalism and Exclusionary Discipline in Schools

Exclusionary discipline refers to any disciplinary action that removes a student from the typical classroom setting (i.e., in­ school suspension, out­of­school suspension, expulsion). Such practices have long been embedded within the culture of public school discipline in the United States as a means to maintain safety and order in schools. While decades of research highlight an association between exclusionary practices and negative student outcomes, there is little evidence to suggest that exclusionary discipline either meaningfully addresses student misbehavior or improves school safety. In this paper, I use new­institutionalism’s concepts of rationalized myths (Meyer & Rowan, 1977) and institutional isomorphism (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983) as a theoretical lenses through which to deconstruct the persistence of exclusionary disciplinary practices in schools.
Co-ordinate synthesis and protein localization in a bacterial organelle by the action of a penicillin-binding-protein.

Summary Organelles with specialized form and function occur in diverse bacteria. Within the Alphaproteobacteria, several species extrude thin cellular appendages known as stalks, which function in nutrient uptake, buoyancy and reproduction. Consistent with their specialization, stalks maintain a unique molecular composition compared with the cell body, but how this is achieved remains to be fully elucidated. Here we dissect the mechanism of localization of StpX, a stalk-specific protein in Caulobacter crescentus. Using a forward genetics approach, we identify a penicillin-binding-protein, PbpC, which is required for the localization of StpX in the stalk. We show that PbpC acts at the stalked cell pole to anchor StpX to rigid components of the outer membrane of the elongating stalk, concurrent with stalk synthesis. Stalk-localized StpX in turn functions in cellular responses to copper and zinc, suggesting that the stalk may contribute to metal homeostasis in Caulobacter. Together, these results identify a novel role for a penicillin-binding-protein in compartmentalizing a bacterial organelle it itself helps create, raising the possibility that cell wall-synthetic enzymes may broadly serve not only to synthesize the diverse shapes of bacteria, but also to functionalize them at the molecular level.
Discovering neighborhoods of spam web sites

The companies and individuals who attempt to have higher visibility on the Web by manipulating both the content of HTML pages and their hyperlinks in order to boost their ranking in a search result are called "web spammers," and their Web sites "web spam sites." The methods used by spammers often force them to create hundreds, if not thousands, of Web sites and Web pages that are linked together into carefully woven networks (or, in essence, neighborhoods) in order to fool search engines. Although it is subjective to the user whether or not a given spam site is trustworthy, we have developed an algorithm that, given a spam site, can produce the densely connected neighborhood surrounding the site. This poster paper presents this algorithm, our implementation of it, our results and future work.
The Relationship Between Corrosion and the Biological Sulfur Cycle.

Abstract : Most microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) takes place in the presence of microbial consortia in which many different physiological types of bacteria interact in complex ways within the structure of biofilms. Microbiologically-mediated oxidation and reduction reactions of sulfur and sulfur compounds are important contributors to MIC. Sulfur and sulfur compounds, including sulfides, bisulfides, hydrogen sulfide (H2S), thiosulfates, polythionates and sulfuric acid, may be trapped or bound up in biofilms causing direct corrosion of materials. H2S and sulfuric acid may become gaseous or waterborne.
Improved Limits from the Galactic Axion Search

Cold, light axions are a leading candidate for the composition of dark matter in the galactic halo. An experiment designed to detect the microwave conversion signal from galactic axions has searched the frequency range 1.1–2.5 GHz. The updated limits on axion density and coupling are presented, and improvements for a possible second-generation experiment are discussed.
Uncertain Times Equals Opportunities

As nurses we must be alert to opportunities to assist our communities as we move through these difficult times around the world. There will certainly be an impact on the health of all people as the economic dynamics of the current world wide recession evolves before us. Nurses are problem solvers who are not afraid to use innovative solutions. Rural nurses, particularly, have done this for a long time as the rural areas are always resource poor and thus the use “non-traditional” approaches are not new. Thus, we must be ready for the opportunities that will come to us individually and as rural nurse and members of the nursing professions as the economies of regions and even nations struggle to come to balance. The American Academy of Nursing has released a video that talks about the role of nurse and nursing leadership in health care reform. It addresses the need to have nursing actively participate in any health policy discussions. Nursing has repeatedly demonstrated models that are efficient and effective in improving patient outcomes while reducing the cost of health care. The video can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/user/AANRaisetheVoice. Let us be ready…
Foliar form influences ovipositional behaviour of the onion fly

. When presented with dishes containing a range of ‘foliar’ shapes, the onion fly, Delia antiqua (Meigen), laid the most eggs around narrow (4 mm) vertical cylinders. Response to cylinders diminished when their diameter was increased or decreased, when cylinder height was reduced to less than 2 cm, and when cylinder/substrate angle deviated from 90d. Differences in egg numbers on stimulatory and non-stimulatory forms reflected primarily differences in post-alighting pre-ovipositional behaviours. Females alighting on narrow vertical cylinders initiated and completed stem runs rapidly and without interruptions, and frequently went on to probe and oviposit. Females alighting on other shapes, or larger, smaller, or non-vertical cylinders, either did not initiate or did not complete stem runs, or did not go on to probe after completing a stem run. Such females rarely oviposited. Possible causes of such examining behaviours are discussed.
Mercury Analysis of one Hundred Amalgam Restorations

THE physical properties of dental amalgam depend to a large degree upon the amount of mercury retained in the finished restoration. The deleterious effects of excess mercury have been well proved.'-4 These studies have indicated that excessive mercury allowed to remain in amalgam after condensation markedly lowered the compressive strength and increased the per cent of flow. Reduction in these properties would enhance the possibilities of fracture and distortion. Other research has also shown that tarnish and corrosion occur more readily on restorations containing an excess of mercury.5' 6, 7 These findings have led to the adoption of a technic which would expel all the mercury possible and thus assure maximum strength and resistance to tarnish. Pertinent essentials in such a technic include the use of the recommended mercury-alloy ratio, proper trituration, and correct condensation. The recommended mercury ratio, usually 60 per cent mercury by weight, always calls for more mercury than is required in the finished restoration. This excess is added to make amalgamation easier and to obtain proper adaptation to the cavity preparation. The extra mercury is then eliminated by expressing from the semiliquid mass before condensation and by the packing procedure. The success of the restoration is dependent to a great degree upon the ability of the operator to hold to a minimum the final mercury content. Some investigations have been done to determine the actual per cent of mercury remaining in specimens when various trituration and packing technics were employed.4 8, 9 These studies indicated that the final mercury content might vary from approximately 40 per cent up to 54 per cent, depending upon the manipulative procedure. Since these investigations were conducted on laboratory specimens, the actual mercury percentages might not be comparable to those present in clinical restorations. Souder and Sweeney analyzed two restorations which had been in service for over ten years and found the mercury content to be 51.6 per cent and 52.9 per cent.10 This study also indicated that no significant amount of mercury is lost from the restoration due to slow vaporization or dissolution. However, no one has investigated the residual mercury content in a large number of amalgam restorations. Such data would be of value not only for determining actual mercury content in the average restoration but also for detecting fluctuations which might occur in the use of various manipulative technics. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to determine the mercury content in one hundred amalgam fillings which had been removed from extracted teeth. These teeth were secured from the Oral Surgery Department of Indiana University School of Dentistry. There was, of course, no information available in
Anatomy, Biomechanics, and Classification of Thoracolumbar Injuries

The spinal thoracolumbar junction is uniquely predisposed to injury caused by forces transmitted through the region and the anatomy of transition from the thoracic to lumbar regions. Management of thoracolumbar injuries requires an understanding of the anatomy and biomechanics of this region. Classification systems need to be reproducible and should assist with treatment decisions.
Disk scattering and absorption by an improved computational method

A computer method for determining the scattering, absorption, and internal field structure of thin flat disks of arbitrary refractive index is described. The code is shown to be accurate for all angles of incidence for radii up to at least two free space wavelengths and for media ranging from pure dielectric to highly conductive ones. The accuracy of the method is assessed by comparison with published experimental data and with results computed by other methods. The applicability of this technique for analyzing clouds of disk-shaped aerosols is also discussed.
Intersimple sequence repeat (ISSR) polymorphisms as a genetic marker system in cotton

We studied the applicability of intersimple sequence repeat (ISSR) polymorphism in cotton. We found that: (i) the resolving power of agarose gels is poor relative to that provided by sequencing gels; (ii) fluorescent labelling of ISSR amplification primers produced numerous scorable bands; (iii) primer mixing (double priming) generated more bands than the sum of fragments resulting from two single primers, although an unexplained disappearance of several larger fragments also reproducibly occurred; (iv) ISSR fingerprinting patterns are highly heritable; and (v) double priming ISSR is an easy and informative genetic marker system in cotton for revealing both inter- and intraspecific variations.
Using performance measurements to explore the influence of service quality dimensions on customer's perception of overall value of a nature based tourism outfitter

ABSTRACT Customers of leisure services have increased their expectations of experience providers in recentyears. As the competition among service providers has increased for customers, service providers have begun to focus efforts on assessing the quality of the experiences they provide for their guests. Using the findings from their investigations, leisure service providers seek to modify current program offerings, add new experiences that enhance the perceived quality of their experiences. The purpose of this study was to explore the usefulness of using service performance measurements to determine if customer's perception's of service performance significantly predicts their perception of trip value, likeliness to recommend, and likeliness to repurchase from the same outfitter, and overall quality in the context of white water rafting. A total of 309 guests of an outfitter were surveyed for this study. Service performance was measured within the context of four company-specific dimensions (Reservation,...
Ethanol production using Zymomonas mobilis in a cross-linked immobilized cell reactor

The bacteriumZymomonas mobilis may be utilized to produce ethanol from glucose in a cross-linked immobilized cell reactor. Reactor startup is much more rapid with cross-linkedZymomonas than with the yeastSaccharomyces cerevisiae. Volumetric ethanol productivities (based on liquid holdup) three times those obtained with cross-linked yeast, and comparable to those obtained withZymomonas immobilized by other methods, are possible.
Improving area control error diversity interchange (ADI) program by incorporating congestion constraints

The area control error (ACE) determines how much a balancing authority (BA) needs to move its regulating units to meet mandatory control performance standard requirements. Regulation is an expensive resource that could cost several hundred million dollars a year for a BA. The amount of regulation needed in a system is increasing with more intermittent generation resources added to the system. The ACE diversity interchange (ADI) program provides a tool for reducing the regulation requirement by combining ACEs from several participating BAs followed by sharing the total ACE among all participating balancing areas. The effect is achieved as a result of the low statistical correlation between the original ACEs of participating BAs. A rule-based ADI approach has already been put into practice in the US Western Interconnection. The degree of actual ACE sharing is artificially limited because of the unknown redistribution of power flows and possible system congestion (these factors are not monitored in the existing ADI). This paper proposes a two-step linear programming (LP) ADI approach that incorporates congestion constraints. In the first step of the proposed LP ADI, the line transmission limits are enforced by setting up corresponding constraints. In the second step, the business fairness is pursued. Simulation is performed to compare the properties of the proposed LP ADI and the existing rule-based ADI. Favorable features, such as avoiding line limit violations and increasing the degree of possible ACE sharing, are observed for the proposed LP ADI.
Stoichiometric control of crystal/liquid single-component partition coefficients

Abstract Single-component (e.g., single-element) partition coefficients for silicate melts and the minerals that crystallize from them typically show large variations with temperature and melt composition. It is shown that, in particular cases, these variations can be calculated from two-component distribution coefficients that are practically constants, given the structural formula of the mineral and the melt composition.
Photodegradation in silicon

The state of knowledge concerning the following defects in silicon is briefly surveyed: substitutional impurities; vacancy-related defects; interstitial-related defects; defect pairs. Although a great deal is known, it is argued that not enough is yet known to model radiation damage production in the bulk or in the vicinity of the junction of a solar cell. The results on photon degradation (and enhancement) of solar cells are then reviewed, and it is suggested that defect pairs may be the defects responsible. Mechanisms for photon-induced dissociation of pairs are discussed but a more detailed understanding awaits the identification of the actual defects.
Corrections to 'Harmonic retrieval of analog signals'

In the above mentioned paper (ibid., vol.36, p.134-6, Jan. 1988) the author represented the signal mu (t) in baseband form, and he now argues that this is an error since it results in unbounded power estimates p/sub i/. It is necessary to treat mu (t) directly as a bandpass signal. This changes the support of omega in eq. (1) and the region of integration in eq. (2) and (4), and a new version of eq. (6) results. >
Altered prepulse inhibition in rats treated prenatally with the antimitotic Ara-C: an animal model for sensorimotor gating deficits in schizophrenia

Sensorimotor gating disruption is one of many neurocognitive deficits seen in schizophrenia. Disorganized thought is one of the cardinal symptoms associated with sensorimotor gating. In an attempt to model sensorimotor gating deficits in rats relevant to the neurodevelopmental hypothesis for schizophrenia, we have used prenatal injections of the antimitotic drug, cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C) to subtly perturb the development of the rat CNS and disrupt sensorimotor gating. To produce rats with either basal sensorimotor gating deficits or increased vulnerability to the disruption of sensorimotor function by apomorphine or phencyclidine (PCP). Prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the acoustic startle response was used to assess sensorimotor gating. Three different cohorts of pregnant Sprague Dawley female rats were injected with Ara-C (30 mg/kg in saline) or saline at embryonic days 19.5 and 20.5. The Ara-C and control rats were tested for acoustic startle response and PPI at preadolescent and post-adolescent ages; postnatal day (Pnd) 35 and 56, respectively. Apomorphine (2.0 mg/kg) or phencyclidine (3.0 mg/kg), was given prior to PPI sessions in order to disrupt PPI. At Pnd 35, Ara-C treatment did not significantly affect acoustic startle amplitudes or PPI. However, at PND 56, Ara-C treated rats had significantly lower acoustic startle amplitudes and significantly diminished sensorimotor gating. Pharmacological challenge with the dopamine agonist apomorphine and the glutamate antagonist PCP significantly disrupted sensorimotor gating in the control subjects. Apomorphine did not further disrupt the existing deficit in the Ara-C treated rats. Ara-C treatment did not cause gross loss of neuronal tissue, although there was a subtle and variable disorganization of the pyramidal cell layer in the hippocampal CA2/3 region. The results provide evidence to suggest that late embryonic exposure to Ara-C disrupts the circuitry involved in mediating PPI. While the dopamine agonist apomorphine caused a significant disruption in the control rats it did not further disrupt the existing deficit in the Ara-C treated rats. These data provide evidence to support the contention that modest neurodevelopmental insults can significantly affect sensorimotor gating processes in an adult onset dependent manner.
Application of Combined Dsc-Analog Computer Analysis in the Determination of Chemical Kinetic Parameters for the Thermal Decomposition of Phenylalanine

Abstract An analog-computer-DSC procedure has been outlined for determining the kinetic parameters EA and A for chemical reactions involved in the thermal decomposition of the amino acid, phenylalanine. An analog computer analysis of the thermograms provides the Tmax values for the component reactions where these are not directly obtainable from the thermograms. Plots of the experimental and derived Tmax temperatures versus the corresponding heating rates give straight lines indicative of first order processes. Since the Kissinger method for obtaining kinetic parameters in terms of Tmax values is applicable to first order processes it is now possible to obtain the activation energies and frequency factors for the component reactions from the DSC thermograms.
In Vivo Gene Transfer To Salivary Glands

Considerable progress has occurred recently in transferring foreign genes to different tissues in vivo. Gene transfer to salivary glands has mirrored progress in the general field. Most salivary st...
Incest: Problems of definition and frequency

Research into factors pertinent to incest is hampered and confused as a result of lacking clear‐cut definitions. A distinction is made here between consanguine and affinal relationships, and it is suggested that biological consequences as well as psychological problems allegedly resulting from incest could be more clearly determined, and the effectiveness of the incest taboo, its origin and psychological internalization could be studied more effectively. Instances from literature are cited to exemplify these concepts.
Flowering regimes of terrestrial orchids: unpredictability or regularity?

. Empirical data on many species of terrestrial orchids suggest that their flowering pattern over the years is extremely irregular and unpredictable. A long search for the reason has hitherto proved inconclusive. Irregular flowering was attributed to costs associated with sexual reproduction, to herbivory, or to the chaotic behaviour of the system represented by difference equations describing growth of the vegetative and reproductive organs. Data on the seasonal growth of leaves and inflorescence of Dactylorhiza majalis are used here to test alternative explanations of the irregular flowering patterns of orchids. These patterns are found to be extremely rare in our data set. Neither costs of reproduction nor grazing seem to explain the rare events of a transition from flowering one year to sterility or absence the next year. These transitions are almost exclusively characteristic of one of four experimental sites, the only unmown site, where the mean leaf area and incidence of flowering in the whole population is also in decline. It is therefore hypothesized that irregular flowering regimes may be characteristic of sites with temporarily or steadily declining populations and that they are usually not present in prosperous ones - at least for D. majalis.
The influence of obesity and diabetes in the monkey on insulin and glucagon binding to liver membranes.

Longitudinal studies of the laboratory rhesus monkey have revealed a syndrome of carbohydrate intolerance in those that approach or become middle aged and spontaneously obese. In addition, hyperinsulinemia is present, indicating insulin resistance. In an attempt to understand the mechanism of this hormonal resistance, insulin and glucagon binding to partially purified liver membranes obtained from nonobese, nondiabetic monkeys and obese animals with or without diabetes was measured. When expressed on the basis of membrane protein content or 5'-nucleotidase activity, insulin binding was significantly reduced in both groups of obese animals as compared to age-matched controls. This impairment of insulin binding was due to decreased numbers of available receptor sites and not to a change in affinity, which was slightly increased in the obese. Glucagon binding was also reduced in obesity, but the difference from normal was significant only in the group with diabetes and established hyperglucagonemia. Signific...
Living systems applications

Concrete process analysis (CPA) and living systems process analysis (LSPA) are applied together in an examination of the information flows and matter-energy flows through the critical systems of a public service organization. Applying CPA, the specific monetary exchange values of the essential concrete flows-money-information markers, materials, and personnel-were identified in the accounts of the organization's general ledger. The values of concrete flows were attributed to the living systems theory (LSD defined critical subsystems of the organization. The critical systems of the organization had been identified by a previous LSPA study. Internal allocation variables were developed from the weighted averages of response performance/time and effort in the LSPA study. The results of the study were that CPA provided useful theoretical framework and methods for distinguishing accounting measurements from accounting interpretations, and for allocating the values of material-energy flows and personnel flows to an organization's LST-defined subsystems in a particular public service organization. The study also supports the assertion that public accounting reports may be used to estimate CPA variables and that those variables provide more explicit information on concrete processes than the typical generally-accepted accounting principles derived variables such as net income and earnings per share.
A familial defect in cellular chemotaxis associated with redheadedness and recurrent infection

This study describes a familial defect in polymorphonuclear leukocyte chemotaxis associated with redheadedness and recurrent infection in two of six siblings. Laboratory data indicate that this defect in chemotaxis is not associated with a concurrent defect in leukocyte bactericidal activity. Additional studies demonstrate that although these children experience recurrent infections, immunoglobulin levels (IgG, IgA, IgM, and IgE) and complement components (total hemolytic complement, C1q, C3, and C3PA) are all within normal limits. Measurements of PMN random mobility and phytohemagglutinin-stimulated lymphocyte transformation were also within normal limits. These studies demonstrate a familial PMN defect limited to leukocyte chemotaxis and associated with recurrent infection and possibly redheadedness.
Estimation of the degree of market inefficiency in place and show betting at the racetrack

Ziemba and Hausch have studied place and show betting at the racetrack and shown the occasional presence of positive expectation wagers. The technique uses information present at the racetrack (the amounts bet to win, place, and show on each horse) but not otherwise available. This paper examines data on past races and derives bounds on the percentages bet to win, place, and show for each of the first three finishing horses. Bounds on the estimated expected profit of Ziemba and Hausch (prior to the race) for a given bet is obtained. An example of the procedure is provided using past race results.
Endpoints for hemodialysis access procedures: correlation between fistulography and intraaccess blood flow measurements.

Abstract Purpose The success of percutaneous interventions on stenotic hemodialysis prosthetic grafts and autogenous fistulas is assessed by comparing vessel diameter before and after treatment. These changes do not correlate with gold standard access blood flow (ABF) measurements obtained during hemodialysis. The AngioFlow (AngioDynamics, Inc, Queensbury, New York) calculates real-time blood flow through access circuits and may provide more physiologically relevant data in the interventional suite. This study compares angiographic vessel diameter and access circuit flow rates obtained with the AngioFlow Meter before and after percutaneous interventions on stenotic hemodialysis prosthetic grafts and autogenous fistulas ABF measurements obtained during hemodialysis. Materials and Methods Angiographic images and AngioFlow measurements for 76 procedures in 35 patients undergoing hemodialysis with arteriovenous grafts or fistulas were analyzed retrospectively. Correlations between ABF, fistulography, and AngioFlow measurements before and after treatment were computed. Regression analyses of AngioFlow measurements and measurements after ABF were performed to account for confounding factors. Time to failure of treatment was modeled in first-time patients stratified by AngioFlow values obtained after treatment. Only patients with ABF measurements obtained within 5 weeks of intervention were included. Results Correlations between initial ABF and fistulography measurement (ρ = 0.781), initial ABF and AngioFlow (ρ = 0.675), and final AngioFlow and ABF measurement (ρ = 0.798) were statistically significant. The correlation between final ABF and AngioFlow was significantly stronger than final ABF and fistulography (difference = 0.418, 95% bootstrap confidence interval [CI] [0.054, 0.914]). AngioFlow values and access survival after treatment did not show significant correlation. Conclusions AngioFlow measurements performed after treatment correlate more strongly with hemodialysis ABF values than fistulography measures. Further studies are needed to determine the target AngioFlow value obtained after treatment that is associated with the greatest survival benefit for access circuits.
Integrin-dependent Leukocyte Adhesion Involves Geranylgeranylated Protein(s)

Integrin-dependent leukocyte adhesion is modulated by alterations in receptor affinity or by post-receptor events. Pretreatment of Jurkat T-cells with the 3-hydroxymethylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitor, lovastatin, markedly reduced (IC(50) approximately 1-2 microM) alpha(4)beta(1)-dependent adhesion to fibronectin (FN) stimulated by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) which modulates post-receptor events. In contrast, lovastatin did not inhibit Jurkat cell adhesion to FN induced by the beta(1) integrin-activating monoclonal antibody (mAb) 8A2, which directly modulates beta(1) integrin affinity. Similarly, pretreatment of U937 cells with lovastatin inhibited PMA-stimulated, but not mAb 8A2-stimulated, alpha(6)beta(1)-dependent leukocyte adhesion to laminin. The inhibition of lovastatin on PMA-stimulated leukocyte adhesion was not mediated by mitogen-activated protein kinase or phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase pathway. The inhibitory effect of lovastatin on PMA-stimulated leukocyte adhesion was reversed by co-incubation with geranylgeraniol, but not with farnesol, with concurrent reversal of the inhibition of protein prenylation as shown by protein RhoA geranylgeranylation. The selective inhibition of protein geranylgeranylation by the specific protein geranylgeranyltransferase-I inhibitor, GGTI-298, blocked PMA-stimulated leukocyte adhesion but not mAb 8A2-induced leukocyte adhesion. The protein farnesyltransferase inhibitor, FTI-277, had no effect on leukocyte adhesion induced by either stimulus. These results demonstrate that protein geranylgeranylation, but not farnesylation, is required for integrin-dependent post-receptor events in leukocyte adhesion.
Research: Performance calculation for an optical MAN

A Metropolitan Area Network employing optical fibre in a unique fashion is described and analysed with respect to performance. There are two possible physical configurations: a basic topology such as the star and the tree, and the compound configuration such as the tree-star-tree. As a logical overlay which serves to route information packets between stations, a form of perfect shuffle - the ShuffleNet - is used. Logical links between stations are fashioned from subbands of individual wavelength channels. Performance is calculated in terms of average packet delay as a function of traffic load. For example, we delineate the average packet delay as a function of traffic load. Of particular interest is the effect of a limitation on the bandwidth of optical amplifiers, such limitation increases the length of the path between orginating and terminating stations.
Temporal relationship between cell nuclear progestin receptor levels and sexual receptivity following intravenous progesterone administration.

Abstract This study was designed to assess the temporal relationship between the appearance and retention of cell nuclear progestin receptors in hypothalamus and the facililitation and decline of feminine sexual behavior following an i.v. injection of progesterone (P). Nuclear translocation of progestin receptors preceded the earliest appearance of behavior. The behavioral effects of P outlasted the nuclear progestin receptor elevation by several hours. Our results are consistent with the idea that P-induced effects on feminine sexual behavior involve genomic activation.
Paradoxical severe decrease in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol due to rosiglitazone-fenofibrate interaction.

ABSTRACT Objective To determine whether the marked decrease in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) occasion- ally associated with combination fibrate-thiazolidinedione therapy results from interaction between the 2 drugs or is solely the result of fibrate administration, a previously rec- ognized cause. Methods We prospectively followed the clinical course of 2 patients receiving fenofibrate and rosiglitazone and reviewed the relevant literature, searching PubMed for reports describing striking reductions in HDL-C associ- ated with fibrate administration alone and in conjunction with rosiglitazone and statins. Additional references were obtained from the bibliography of each identified article. Results Each of the 2 patients demonstrated a Drug Interaction Probability Score score of 9, indicating a highly probable likelihood of interaction. Critical review of all reported cases of concurrent fenofibrate-rosiglitazone– associated decreases in HDL-C failed to show conclusive evidence that the HDL-C decrease could be due to an inter- action between the 2 drugs as opposed to either drug being given alone. Conclusions In at least some patients who experience marked HDL-C decrease when given a combination of fenofibrate and rosiglitazone, this severe adverse effect is the result of a drug interaction between the 2 pharmaceuti- cal agents and is not reproduced by the administration of either drug singly. (Endocr Pract. 2010;16:382-388)
Case 2 Cystic Cellular Mesoblastic Nephroma

Mesoblastic nephroma is a benign mesenchymal tumor of the kidney generally diagnosed during the first 3 months of life. A case of the cellular variant of mesoblastic nephroma associated with prominent cystic change and renal vein invasion arising in an 8-month-old female is described. This unusual case expands the morphologic spectrum of mesoblastic nephroma.
Efficient mine detection using wavelet PCA and morphological top hat filtering

An efficient unsupervised technique is proposed for land mine detection from highly cluttered inhomogeneous environment. The proposed technique uses multispectral data for which feature extraction is necessary to classify large volume of data. We applied wavelet based principal component analysis to reduce the dimension of the data as well as to reveal information about target from background clutter. To increase the discrimination between target and clutter a linear transformation of the feature extracted bands is performed. Thereafter, morphological algorithm is used to extract the maximum information about the target. The proposed technique shows excellent detection performance while enhancing the processing speed. Test results using various multispectral data sets show excellent performance and verify the effectiveness of the proposed technique.
Parafoveal scotoma progression in glaucoma: humphrey 10-2 versus 24-2 visual field analysis.

Objective To compare the performance of 10-2 versus 24-2 visual fields (VFs) in detecting progression of initial parafoveal scotoma (IPFS) in glaucomatous eyes. Design Retrospective, observational study. Participants Glaucoma patients with the following criteria: (1) an IPFS (≥3 adjacent points with P P Methods Based on threshold map sensitivities, VF progression, defined as having 1 or more significantly progressing point(s) with a slope of sensitivity of less than –1.0 dB/year at P Main Outcome Measures The number of progressing eyes in 10-2 and 24-2 VF analyses. Results Fifty eyes (50 patients) were included (mean age ± standard deviation, 62±9 years). Mean follow-up period (5.7 vs. 5.6 years) and number of VFs (7.6 vs. 7.8) were similar between 10-2 and 24-2 analyses (all P >0.3). Significantly more progressing eyes were detected in 10-2 than in 24-2 analyses (24 vs. 11 eyes; P = 0.007). This difference became greater within the central 10° (24 vs. 4 eyes; P Conclusions The 10-2 VF detects more progressing eyes than the 24-2 VF in glaucoma patients with IPFS, suggesting that closer surveillance of the central VF using testing algorithms with closely spaced grids is warranted in eyes with parafoveal scotomas. Financial Disclosure(s) Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found after the references.
Performance and the ‘political anatomy’ of pioneer Colorado

This essay examines how the pioneer inhabitants of the Colorado Territory in the 1860s used performance as a means of initiating, celebrating, and ultimately defending the Sand Creek Massacre.
Systematic Composition Studies on the Durability of Waste Glass WV205

A systematic study of the chemical durability of glass compositions developed for the immobilization of high-level radioactive wastes at West Valley is described. Most of the compositions studied here represent variations around the nonradioactive WV205 composition. The results from this study indicate that the effectiveness of the various oxides tested in increasing the durability of WV205, when considered in terms of 2% additions by weight to the central composition, decreases in the following order: A12O3>ZrO2>SiO2>Cr2O3>Fe2O3>TiO2>CuO>ZnO>NiO. The addition of 2–6% Cr2O3 or NiO to WV205 was observed to cause extensive crystallization. The addition of 2% or 6% ZnO or 2% TiO2, CuO or NiO to the glass actually enhances corrosion rates. A12O3 and ZrO2 are the best additives in terms of increasing the durability. The additions of ThO2 and U3O8 slightly increase the durability. The effects of various oxides on the durability of WV-205-based glasses with ThO2 and U3O8 were found to be very similar to the effects of these oxides on the durability of the corresponding glasses which did not contain ThO2 and U3O8. This study also showed that Fe2O3 has little effect on the durability. However, FeO greatly enhances the corrosion rates of WV205-based glasses. Much less pronounced effects of the redox state of iron were found in the case of more durable base glass compositions.
Distribution of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Lines: Who, When, and Where

Document S1. Supplemental Findings, Supplemental Methods, Supplemental References, and One TablexDownload (.06 MB ) Document S1. Supplemental Findings, Supplemental Methods, Supplemental References, and One Table
Growth and neuroendocrine dysfunction in children with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

To assess whether neuroendocrine dysfunction is present in children with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and growth failure, we evaluated the thyroid, adrenal, and growth hormone-insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-1) axes in nine children with AIDS and failure to thrive. Basal thyroid-stimulating hormone, free thyroxine, and trilodothyronine levels were normal in eight of the nine children and indicated primary hypothyroidism in one child; thyroxine levels were elevated in four and normal in five children. Thyroxine-binding globulin levels were elevated in all children. Serial measurements of thyroid-stimulating hormone, made hourly from 2 to 6 PM and from 10 PM to 2 AM, revealed a flat diurnal rhythm of thyroid-stimulating hormone in six children, which may indicate early central hypothyroidism, and a normal nocturnal rise in the remaining three children. Basal plasma corticotropin and aldosterone levels were normal in all children, plasma renin levels were normal in three and elevated in six children, and cortisol levels were normal or elevated in all children. Corticotropin-stimulated cortisol levels exceeded 500 nmol/L (18 μg/dl) in all children except one, who was receiving treatment with ketoconazole. Thus adrenocortical function appeared to be grossly intact. The peak growth hormone response to provocative testing was normal (>7 ng/ml) in eight children and low in one child. The plasma level of insulin-like growth factor I was normal in eight of the nine children and low in one child. We conclude that growth failure in children with AIDS does not usually result from a recognized endocrine cause and that adrenal function is usually normal. However, endocrine deficiency may contribute to morbidity in some children with AIDS.
Chiral symmetry breaking in nonequilibrium chemical systems: Time scales for chiral selection

Abstract The process through which an extremely weak parity violating interaction, of energy ΔE, can become the selector of molecular chirality over a sufficiently long time is discussed. For a model system it is shown that ΔE ≈ 5 × 10-15 kT can give a 90% selectivity in about 300 h - smaller ΔE being relevant to prebiotic evolution.
Hierarchical control of human joint motion simulators

Abstract This paper presents a hierarchical adaptive algorithm for controlling upper extremity human joint motion simulators. A joint motion simulator is a computer-controlled, electromechanical system which permits the application of forces to the tendons of a human cadaver specimen in such a way that the cadaver joint under study achieves a desired motion in a physiologic manner. The proposed control scheme does not require knowledge of the cadaver specimen dynamic model, and solves on-line the so-called “indeterminate problem” which arises because human joints typically possess more actuators than degrees of freedom. Computer simulation results are given for an elbow/forearm system and wrist/hand system under hierarchical control, and demonstrate that any desired normal joint motion can be accurately tracked with the proposed algorithm. Additionally, these simulations indicate that the controller resolves the “indeterminate problem” redundancy in a physiologic manner, and show that the control scheme is robust to parameter uncertainty and to sensor noise.
Space equals money

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to examine how weeding physical collections might obviate the need for compact shelving.Design/methodology/approach – Provides a viewpoint on how to manage space and budget within an academic library.Findings – The Daniel Library at The Citadel is scheduled to be renovated beginning in May 2009. Heavy weeding needs to start now, to give technical services staff time to process deselections and transfers from reference to the circulating collection.Originality/value – Shows how a balance between space and budget can be achieved.
Pyrolysis products in ion/molecule reactions. I. Alcohols

Abstract The (M — 3)− ions in the negative chemical ionization spectra of alcohols in an ICR spectrometer are shown to arise from pyrolysis of the neutral alcohol on various hot surfaces in the instrument. Carbonyl compounds are formed, followed by deprotonation. Similar reactions are observed for alkyl nitrites and peroxides.
Observation of double injection in long p+p+ diffused silicon junctions and some related effects☆

Abstract Double injection has been observed in long p + pn + diffused silicon junctions. The compensation of acceptors in silicon after diffusion and heat treatment increases the resistivity of the starting p -type material and makes the observation of double injection in the device possible. A model based on the formation of donor-like complexes is suggested to explain the results. The density of the donors and their energy level have been experimentally determined. Th e electrical properties of the diffused devices are examined in the light of these results.