cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Historical empathy and pedagogical reasoning

Abstract The process of engaging in historical empathy holds the potential for significant curricular and dispositional benefits for students in history classrooms. In order to realize these benefits, classroom teachers must be able to integrate historical empathy into their existing planning and teaching; a process that would benefit from empirical examination. This single subject case study examined the pedagogical reasoning process of an experienced classroom teacher who integrated historical empathy into an existing instructional unit designed to foster student knowledge of social control as an enduring historical understanding. The findings of this study suggest that experienced teachers may only be able to partially anticipate the unique pedagogical needs integrating historical empathy requires, and that a holistic examination of pedagogical reasoning during all phases of planning and teaching may be most suitable for the task.
The Nonlinear Schrödinger Equation as a Model of Superfluidity

The results of theoretical and numerical studies of the Gross-Pitaevskii (GP) model are reviewed. This model is used to elucidate different aspects of superfluid behaviour: the motion, interactions, annihilations, nucleation and reconnections of vortex lines, vortex rings, and vortex loops; the motion of impurities; flow through apertures; superfluid turbulence and the capture of impurities by vortex lines. The review also considers some generalizations of the model.
Exact Results for a 1D Kondo Lattice from Bosonization.

A one-dimensional electron gas interacting with a {ital lattice} of Kondo scattering centers is solved in a particular limit. A variety of exact results are obtained for commensurate and incommensurate fillings, for impurity vacancy states, and for the commensurate-incommensurate transition. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society.}
Long lasting excitability changes in human peripheral nerve

When pairs of equal but submaximal electrical stimuli are delivered to a peripheral nerve, the second stimulus does not always excite the same number of fibers as the first. The number of fibers responding to the second stimulus depends on the interstimulus interval; the refractory period, a well-defined period of hypoexcitability, is followed by longer lasting and less well-characterized periods of hyper- and hypoexcitability. These cycles last at least 200 ms after the initial stimulus. We have carefully studied these cycles of excitability in human peripheral nerve in 12 normal subjects. The magnitude of excitability changes were found to be much greater in motor fibers than in mixed nerve; under some conditions, the motor response was reduced by more than 80% at interstimulus intervals of 40 ms, while the mixed nerve response never varied by more than 20%. In addition, the amplitude of the excitability changes varied as a function of the stimulus strength, so that stimuli that were near threshold or evoked near maximal responses were associated with smaller excitability changes than stimuli evoking midrange responses. Given that the excitability fluctuations are of large magnitude and occur at interresponse intervals easily achieved during physiological firing, it is suggested that they may be important modifiers of firing rate under experimental or physiological conditions. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Agronomic aspects of strip intercropping lettuce with alyssum for biological control of aphids

Organic lettuce growers in California typically use insectary strips of alyssum (Lobularia maritima (L.) Desv.) to attract hoverflies (Syrphidae) that provide biological control of aphids. A two year study with transplanted organic romaine lettuce in Salinas, California investigated agronomic aspects of lettuce monoculture and lettuce-alyssum strip intercropping on beds in replacement intercropping treatments where alyssum transplants replaced 2 to 8% of the lettuce transplants, and in additive intercropping treatments where alyssum transplants were added to the standard lettuce density without displacing lettuce transplants. Alyssum and lettuce dry matter (DM) were determined at lettuce maturity. Alyssum transplants produced less shoot DM in the additive than in the replacement intercropping treatments. The number of open inflorescences of alyssum increased with alyssum DM, and among treatments ranged from 2 to15 inflorescences per lettuce head. Compared with monoculture lettuce, lettuce heads on intercropped beds were slightly smaller and had lower nitrogen concentrations in the both additive treatments and in some replacement treatments. This research provides the first information on a novel additive intercropping approach to provide alyssum floral resources for biological control of lettuce aphids, and suggests that this approach may be a more land-efficient particularly for producing smaller lettuce heads for romaine hearts or for markets with less strict size requirements. Additional research is needed to determine if the increased competition between alyssum and lettuce in additive intercropping would reduce lettuce yields for wholesale markets with larger head size requirements. Practical aspects of implementing the various intercropping arrangements and alternatives are discussed.
Justice and the Oresteia

The essay is concerned with justice in the Oresteia and the way the Oresteia contributes to the justice it celebrates. It begins by examining the place of tragedy in Athenian politics as a preface to an analysis of the trilogy's understanding of justice. That understanding is explored using two examples of fundamentally conflicting forces which are reconciled in the play to create a whole larger and more just than either force alone. The essay goes on to argue that the form of tragedy recapitulates and reinforces the substantive teachings on justice previously analyzed. Here four elements are considered: the balances between intelligence and passion, action and boundaries, political discourse and poetry, and the Euminides and Agamemnon.
The Place of Language in the College Program in Times of War—and Peace

Author's summary.— Foreign languages are valuable skill and tool subjects for colleges to teach for war or peace. Yet, more important is the spiritual and cultural insight which foreign languages give into the thoughts and dreams and accomplishments of great peoples beyond the horizon—our friends and enemeies.
Predictive Utility of Circulating Methylated DNA in Serum of Melanoma Patients Receiving Biochemotherapy

Purpose Currently, no validated blood-based assays accurately predict treatment response or outcome in melanoma patients. We hypothesized that methylation of tumor-related genes detected in serum DNA could predict disease outcome and therapeutic response in patients receiving concurrent biochemotherapy (BC) for metastatic melanoma. Patients and Methods American Joint Committee on Cancer stage IV melanoma patients (N = 50) had blood drawn before administration of BC. Patients (n = 47) were classified as BC responders or nonresponders. Responders (n = 23) demonstrated a complete or partial response following BC; nonresponders (n = 24) demonstrated progressive disease. Hypermethylation of Ras association domain family 1 (RASSF1A), retinoic acid receptor-β2 (RAR-β2), and O6-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) genes were assessed by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction. Results Circulating methylated RASSF1A was significantly less frequent for responders (three of 23 patients; 13%) than nonres...
Cellular Determinants of Mammary Cell-Mediated Immunity in the Rat: Kinetics of Lymphocyte Subset Accumulation in the Rat Mammary Gland during Pregnancy and Lactation

The present study was undertaken to determine the pattern of T- and B-lymphocyte accumulation in the rat mammary gland during gestation, lactation, and weaning. Adoptive transfer experiments were then used to identify the likely source and extent of immigrating cells during this period. Our results indicate that the mammary gland accumulates levels of cIgA+, W3/13+, and W3/25+ cells that are approximately one third their densities in the small intestine. Cell migration studies suggest that the input of immigrating B-cells is not sufficient to maintain these levels in the gland, and we have suggested that substantial clonal expansion must occur among cIgA+ B-cells within the mammary tissue itself. The migratory behavior of T-cells, their pattern of appearance throughout gestation and lactation, and the predominance of the T-helper cell subset suggest that T-cells regulate B-cell development within the mammary gland.
Ischemic Optic Neuropathy: Still the Ophthalmologist's Dilemma

Abstract Ischemic optic neuropathy, in its arteritic and idiopathic varieties, presents both diagnostic and therapeutic challenges to the clinician, specificially: the role of temporal artery biopsy in management of giant cell arteritis; the preferred treatment regimen for giant cell arteritis, including decisions to begin tapering therapy and stopping therapy; action to take if major steroid complications arise while the disease is still active; distinguishing anterior ischemic optic neuropathy from idiopathic optic neuritis; whether cerebral arteriography is indicated in the assessment of idiopathic ischemic optic neuropathy; and whether steroid therapy is of any value in the treatment of idiopathic ischemic optic neuropathy.
Psychotic features and combat-associated PTSD

Psychotic symptoms and psychotic disorder diagnoses have occasionally been reported in association with chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Although psychotic features may be related to core PTSD symptoms, i.e., part of the reexperiencing phenomena, it is possible that they are secondary to certain comorbid disorders which are also prevalent in this patient population, e.g. major depression or substance abuse. In a prospective study, combat associated PTSD patients (n = 25) were administered clinical ratings, including the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R with psychotic screen (SCID-P), Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) and the Impact of Events Scale (IES). Thirty-six percent (n = 9) endorsed psychotic symptoms with associated comorbidity including: major depressive episode, bipolar disorder, alcohol or polysubstance abuse panic disorder, and phobias. All but one of the patients with psychotic features also met criteria for major depressive episode. None had a primary psychotic disorder diagnosis. There were no significant differences in total CAPS scores between patients with or without psychotic features (82.6 +/-0 17.6 versus 75.3 +/- 22.4, p ns), nor for the different symptom cluster subscales. There were also no differences in the IES scores between groups (34.8 +/- 10 versus 32.6 +/- 10 p ns). This suggests that these psychotic features may not necessarily reflect severity of PTSD symptoms. PTSD may share a common diathesis with mood disorders including psychotic depression. Further study is needed of these phenomena.
Extrapolating in vitro data on drug metabolism to in vivo pharmacokinetics: evaluation of the pharmacokinetic interaction between amitriptyline and fluoxetine.

Recently, models have been proposed to extrapolate in vitro data on the influence of inhibitors on drug metabolism to in vivo decrement in drug clearance. Many factors influence drug clearance such as age, gender, habits, diet, environment, liver disease, heredity, and other drugs. In vitro investigation of hepatic cytochrome P450 activity has generally centered on genetic influences and interactions with other drugs. This group of enzymes is involved in many, although not all, drug interactions. The interaction of amitriptyline and fluoxetine is an example. Of the different in vitro paradigms, interaction studies utilizing human liver microsomal preparations have proved to be the most generally applicable for in vitro scaling models. Assuming Michaelis—Menten conditions and applying nonlinear regression, a hybrid inhibition constant (Ki) can be generated that allows classification of the inhibitory potency of an inhibitor toward a specific reaction. This constant is largely independent of the substrate c...
Motion planning for multiple mobile manipulators

We address the motion planning for "fixtureless" material-handling with multiple manipulators on nonholonomic carts. The mobile manipulators possess the ability to manipulate and transport objects while holding them in a stable grasp. We present a general approach that allows generation of optimal trajectories and actuator inputs for any given maneuver. Constraints such as limitations on the turning radii of the mobile manipulators or bounds on their separation can be easily incorporated into the planning scheme. Numerical solutions for several maneuvers including abrupt turns, parallel parking in cluttered environments and changes in formation are computed. Finally, we present experimental results with two mobile manipulators.
Improvement in the Combustion Mode Transition for a Spark Ignition Engine Capable of Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition

It is fairly challenging to achieve a smooth mode transition between spark ignition combustion and homogeneous charge compression ignition combustion for a spark ignition engine capable of homogeneous charge compression ignition, because their in-cylinder thermal and charge mixture properties are quite different owing to the distinct combustion characteristics. In this paper, a mode transition strategy between spark ignition combustion and homogeneous charge compression ignition combustion was developed over the entire transition boundary between the spark ignition mode and the homogeneous charge compression ignition mode, where the engine speed is between 1100r/min and 2000r/min and the corresponding load (the indicated mean effective pressure) is between 3.8 bar and 5.0 bar. During the combustion mode transition and steady-state homogeneous charge compression ignition operation the normalized air-to-fuel ratio of the engine was maintained between 1.0 and 1.3; the charge air was heated by a manifold charge cooler heated by the engine coolant, and a test gasoline fuel with a research octane number of 85 was used for all the experiments conducted. The mode transition strategy was experimentally validated on a spark ignition engine capable of homogeneous charge compression ignition equipped with electric variable-valve-timing systems, dual-lift valves and an electronic throttle control system. Because of the limitation on the electric variable-valve-timing response time, it takes 5–10 cycles of the engine, depending on the engine speed, to complete the mode transition. The throttle was opened step by step to its wide-open position for the transition from spark ignition to homogeneous charge compression ignition or closed directly to the target position for the transition from homogeneous charge compression ignition to spark ignition, where the hybrid combustion mode was employed with spark assistance to change gradually to the desired homogeneous charge compression ignition mode or spark ignition combustion mode respectively, by increasing or decreasing the percentage of homogeneous charge compression ignition combustion during the hybrid combustion operation. The experimental results show that the developed strategy is able to achieve a smooth combustion mode transition with the net mean effective pressure and the combustion phase fluctuations at the level of stable spark ignition and homogeneous charge compression ignition combustion.
Coupled transcriptome and proteome analysis of human lymphotropic tumor viruses: insights on the detection and discovery of viral genes

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) are related human tumor viruses that cause primary effusion lymphomas (PEL) and Burkitt's lymphomas (BL), respectively. Viral genes expressed in naturally-infected cancer cells contribute to disease pathogenesis; knowing which viral genes are expressed is critical in understanding how these viruses cause cancer. To evaluate the expression of viral genes, we used high-resolution separation and mass spectrometry coupled with custom tiling arrays to align the viral proteomes and transcriptomes of three PEL and two BL cell lines under latent and lytic culture conditions. The majority of viral genes were efficiently detected at the transcript and/or protein level on manipulating the viral life cycle. Overall the correlation of expressed viral proteins and transcripts was highly complementary in both validating and providing orthogonal data with latent/lytic viral gene expression. Our approach also identified novel viral genes in both KSHV and EBV, and extends viral genome annotation. Several previously uncharacterized genes were validated at both transcript and protein levels. This systems biology approach coupling proteome and transcriptome measurements provides a comprehensive view of viral gene expression that could not have been attained using each methodology independently. Detection of viral proteins in combination with viral transcripts is a potentially powerful method for establishing virus-disease relationships.
Efficacy of debridement alone versus debridement combined with topical antifungal nail lacquer for the treatment of pedal onychomycosis: a randomized, controlled trial.

Pedal onychomycosis is a common malady caused by dermatophytes, saprophytes, and yeasts. Traditional treatment options for this condition include toenail debridement, and pharmacological therapies that range from the application of topical agents to the oral administration of antifungal medications. In this study, 55 patients (289 toenails) were randomly allocated to either nail debridement (27 [49.09%] patients) or debridement plus application of topical antifungal nail lacquer (28 [50.91%] patients). The primary outcome was mycological cure, and secondary outcomes included foot-related quality of life, and a number of clinically important toenail characteristics. After a median follow-up of 10.5 months (range, 3.25-14.25) months), patients in the antifungal nail lacquer group improved statistically significantly more than did those in the debridement alone group, and displayed a 76.74% rate of mycological cure. None of the patients in the debridement-only group experienced mycological cure. Variables that statistically significantly decreased the likelihood of cure included yeast on culture, pedal hyperhidrosis, cigarette smoking, involvement of the lunula, and involvement of >50% of the transverse width of the nail. Variables statistically significantly associated with an increased likelihood of cure included intervention before 6 months' duration, treatment at a large, urban practice, black race, and loss of protective sensation. Level of Clinical Evidence: 1
Therapeutic Neuropsychological Assessment: A Humanistic Model and Case Example:

One of the challenges the field of clinical neuropsychology faces is to develop an assessment process that is relevant to the needs of patients and referral sources and responsive to those needs. One method for meeting this need is for psychologists and neuropsychologists to extend their services to develop clinical interventions that serve to enhance patients' cognitive and emotional well-being. Feedback to patients from the results of neuropsychological tests is an intervention that is considered an important part of the assessment process, and there is evidence that direct feedback has positive therapeutic effects for patients. Although many authors have provided suggestions and principles for conducting neuropsychological test feedback, there is no agreed-on conceptual framework for doing so. The following article presents a humanistic model for providing feedback from the results of neuropsychological tests and a case example of its application with a young woman suffering from a brain tumor.
The permutation enumeration of wreath products Ck§Sn of cyclic and symmetric groups

Brenti introduced a homomorphism from the symmetric functions to polynomials in one variable with rational coefficients. His map is defined on the elementary symmetric functions. When it is applied to the homogeneous and power symmetric functions the results are generating functions for descents and excedences of permutations in the symmetric group, respectively. Beck and Remmel gave proofs of Brenti's results based on combinatorial definitions of the transition matrices between the bases. In addition, they gave an analog for the hyperoctahedral group. We extend the ideas of these proofs to obtain similar results for wreath products of an arbitrary cyclic group with the symmetric group.
Template elastic-plastic computations in geomechanics

In this paper we present a new approach to computations in elasto-plastic geomechanics. The approach is based on the object oriented design philosophy and observations on similarity of most incremental elastic–plastic material models. This new approach to elastic–plastic computations in geomechanics allows for creation of template material models. The analysis of template material models will in turn allow for an easy implementation of other elastic–plastic material models based on the object oriented design principles. Furthermore we present some illustrative implementation details. Finally we present analysis results that emphasize features of template elastic–plastic computations in geomechanics. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Random Scattering and the Detection Capability of the Magnetotelluric Method

Typical well logs show that formation electrical resistivity varies substantially as a function of depth in the earth. These variations consist typically of slow-scale macroscopic changes or trends, modulated by rapid variations due to fine scale layering. The rapidly varying resistivity fluctuations are significant in amplitude and occur over small spatial scales, down to the resolution of the logging tool. Using a plane stratified earth model, we examine the effects of this fine scale microstructure on the scattering of the naturally occurring electromagnetic waves used in magnetotellurics (MT). We show theoretically how MT data are influenced by the multiscale nature of the formation resistivity. MT data may be viewed as arising largely from a smoothed “effective medium” version of the resistivity vs. depth profile. The difference between the data produced by the actual medium and that produced by the effective medium is due to scattering noise arising from the layering microstructure. We model this fine scale layering as a rapidly varying stochastic process. This scattering noise component of MT data is fundamental since it arises from the very structure of the medium being probed. This noise is substantial at frequencies above ≈0.1Hz and has unique statistical properties, which we characterize. We assess the impact of this noise upon the detectability of a thin layer of increased resistivity at depth. We show that the theory agrees well with Monte Carlo simulations.
Low complexity single microphone tonal noise reduction in vehicular traffic environments

A low complexity single microphone Tonal Noise Reduction (TNR) technique is presented for speech enhancement. This method is particularly effective in noisy environments which contain tonal noise sources, such as vehicular horns and alarms. TNR was designed to have low complexity and low memory requirements for use with battery operated communication devices. TNR detects the probability of the presence of these tonal noises which contaminate the desired speech signals. These noises are then attenuated using the proposed system for noise suppression. This is particularly effective for noise sources with a harmonic spectral structure. The proposed TNR system is able to maintain a balance between the level of noise reduction and speech distortion. Listening tests were performed to confirm the results. TNR can be used together with a general noise reduction system as a postprocessing stage by reducing the residual noise components.
Sexual Dysfunction Problems in Female College Students: Sexual Victimization, Substance Use, and Personality Factors

Little empirical information is available on sexual dysfunction (SD) among college women even though college years represent a critical period in the development of sexuality. The current study aimed to identify factors associated with the presence, number, and type of SD problems among 547 female college students in the United States. Racial minority status, problematic drinking behaviors, and past sexual victimization were positively related to the presence of SD problems, whereas hormonal contraceptive use and past sexual victimization were associated with a greater number of SD problems. These findings highlight the importance of assessment, treatment, and prevention of sexual health issues on college campuses.
Smaller age-associated reductions in leg venous compliance in endurance exercise-trained men.

We determined the independent and interactive influences of aging and habitual endurance exercise on calf venous compliance in humans. We tested the hypotheses that calf venous compliance is 1) red...
Thermal Degradation of Synthetic Cathinones: Implications for Forensic Toxicology

The synthetic cathinones represent an important class of designer drugs. The widespread attention and publicity associated with these psychostimulants have resulted in numerous legislative actions at state and federal levels throughout the USA. These amphetamine-like compounds are characterized by a β-keto functional group. Although the synthetic cathinones share many properties of their phenethylamine counterparts, the presence of the ketone moiety is responsible for a number of unique and distinct differences in terms of their chemical characteristics and properties. Thermal degradation of methcathinone was first reported several decades ago but has received limited attention. In this study, we identified in situ thermal degradation products for 18 cathinones during gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. Oxidative degradation arises from the loss of two hydrogens, yielding a characteristic 2 Da mass shift. Degradation products were characterized by prominent iminium base peaks with mass-to-charge ratios 2 Da lower than the parent drug, and in the case of the pyrrolidine-containing cathinones, prominent molecular ions arising from the 2,3-enamine. Chromatographic and mass spectroscopic data are described for 4-ethylmethcathinone, 4-methylethcathinone, buphedrone, butylone, ethcathinone, ethylone, flephedrone, 3,4-methylenedioxy-α-pyrrolidinobutiophenone, 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone, mephedrone, methcathinone, methedrone, methylone, 4-methyl-α-pyrrolidinobutiophenone, naphyrone, pentedrone, pentylone and pyrovalerone. Degradation was minimized by lowering injection temperatures, residence time in the inlet and eliminating active sites during chromatographic analysis. Chromatographic and mass spectral data for the cathinone degradation products are presented and discussed within the context of forensic toxicological analysis, selection of appropriate instrumental methods and implications for the interpretation of results.
A randomized controlled trial of cognitive behavioral therapy for ADHD in medication-treated adolescents.

Objective To test cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for persistent attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in a sample of medication-treated adolescents. Methods Forty-six adolescents (ages 14–18), with clinically significant ADHD symptoms despite stable medication treatment were randomly assigned to receive CBT for ADHD or wait list control in a cross-over design. Twenty-four were randomized to CBT, 22 to wait list, and 15 crossed-over from wait list to CBT. A blind independent evaluator (IE) rated symptom severity on the ADHD Current Symptom Scale, by adolescent and parent report, and rated each subject using the Clinical Global Impression Severity Scale (CGI), a global measure of distress and impairment. These assessments were performed at baseline, 4-months (post-CBT or post wait list), and 8-months (post-treatment for those originally assigned to the wait list condition and 4-month follow-up for those originally assigned to CBT). Trial Registration: http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT01019252. Results Using all available data, mixed effects modeling, and pooling for the wait list cross-over, participants who received CBT received a mean score 10.93 lower on the IE-rated parent assessment of symptom severity (95% CI: −12.93, −8.93; p < .0001), 5.24 lower on the IE-rated adolescent assessment of symptom severity (95% CI: −7.21, −3.28; p < .0001), and 1.17 lower IE-rated CGI (95% CI: −1.39, −.94; p < .0001). Results were consistent across 100 multiple imputations (all p < .0001). There was a greater proportion of responders after CBT by parent (50% vs. 18%, p = .00) and adolescent (58% vs. 18% p = .02) report. Conclusions This study demonstrates initial efficacy of CBT for adolescents with ADHD who continued to exhibit persistent symptoms despite medications.
COMPUTATION OF 3-D WIND-DRIVEN CURRENTS BY RESPONSE FUNCTION METHOD

The paper describes the principle and the computational procedure for the calculation of coastal wind-driven circulation by means of the response function technique. Response functions for a specific coastal seas are derived by use of a three-dimensional model of the area. This method computes the dynamic features associated with the coastal circulation via numerical convolution. Consequently, it is several orders of magnitude more efficient than using the direct integration of the three-dimensional coastal model itself.
Efficient reduction of pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms from apple cider by combining microfiltration with UV treatment.

Thermal pasteurization can achieve the U.S. Food and Drug Administration–required 5-log reduction of pathogenic Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Cryptosporidium parvum in apple juice and cider, but it can also negatively affect the nutritional and organoleptic properties of the treated products. In addition, thermal pasteurization is only marginally effective against the acidophilic, thermophilic, and spore-forming bacteria Alicyclobacillus spp., which is known to cause off-flavors in juice products. In this study, the efficiency of a combined microfiltration (MF) and UV process as a nonthermal treatment for the reduction of pathogenic and nonpathogenic E. coli, C. parvum, and Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris from apple cider was investigated. MF was used to physically remove suspended solids and microorganisms from apple cider, thus enhancing the effectiveness of UV and allowing a lower UV dose to be used. MF, with ceramic membranes (pore sizes, 0.8 and 1.4 μm), was performed at a temperature of 10°C and a t...
Leukocyte count and cardiometabolic risk among healthy participants with parental type 2 diabetes: the Pathobiology of Prediabetes in a Biracial Cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: White blood cell (WBC) count has been associated with cardiometabolic risk, but the data for African Americans are conflicting. We determined whether WBC count predicts subclinical inflammation and cardiometabolic risk in African Americans, despite their known lower WBC count, compared to Caucasians. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The study cohort consisted of 334 normoglycemic subjects (153 Caucasian, 181 African American) with parental type 2 diabetes (T2DM), mean (+/- SD) age 43.90 +/- 10.25 y and BMI 30.1 +/- 6.84 kg/m2. Each subject underwent clinical examination and a standard oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) to document glycemic status. Blood specimens were obtained for determination of WBC counts, lipid profile and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. Metabolic syndrome components were identified, using the NCEP cut-offs for waist circumference, blood pressure, HDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels. RESULTS: Leukocyte counts were lower by approximately 400/cm3 (P=.04) in African Americans than Caucasians, and were significantly correlated with waist circumference, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides and 2-h OGTT plasma glucose (P=.024-.0009), but not blood pressure in both races. Leukocyte counts significantly predicted the presence of three or more components of the metabolic syndrome similarly in African Americans (P=.0076) and Caucasians (P=.0078), as did CRP levels. Leukocyte counts correlated significantly with CRP levels in African Americans (r=.30, P<.0001) and Caucasians (r=.29, P=.0003). CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that WBC count, despite being lower in African Americans than Caucasians, predicts low-grade inflammation and cardiometabolic risk with similar magnitude in normoglycemic African Americans and Caucasians with parental T2DM. Ethn Dis. 2012;22[4]:445–450
Comparison Between Direct and Video-assisted Laryngoscopy for Intubations in a Pediatric Emergency Department.

Objectives The objective was to compare video-assisted laryngoscopy (VAL) to direct laryngoscopy (DL) on success rate and complication rate of intubations performed in a pediatric emergency department (ED). Methods This is a retrospective cohort study of attempted intubations of children aged 0–18 years in a pediatric ED between 2004 and 2014 with first attempt by an ED provider. In VAL, the laryngoscopist attempts direct visualization of the glottis with a C-MAC video laryngoscope while the video monitor is used for real-time guidance by a supervisor, back-up visualization for the laryngoscopist should the direct view be inadequate, and confirmation of endotracheal tube passage through the vocal cords. We performed univariate comparisons of intubations using DL to intubations using VAL on rates of first-pass success, complications, and whether the patient was successfully intubated by an ED provider. We then created a logistic regression model to adjust for provider experience level, difficult airway characteristics, and indications for intubation to compare intubations using DL to intubations using VAL for each outcome. Results We identified 452 endotracheal intubations of 422 unique patients, of which 445 intubations had a first attempt by an ED provider. Six intubations were excluded due to insufficient information available in the record. Of the included intubations, 240 (55%) were attempted with DL and 199 (45%) with VAL. The overall first-pass success rate was 71% in the DL group and 72% in the VAL group. After adjustment for covariates, the first-pass success rate was similar between laryngoscopy approaches (adjusted odds ratio = 1.23, 95% confidence interval = 0.78 to 1.94). Conclusions We found no difference between DL and VAL with regard to first-pass intubation success rate, complication rate, or rate of successful intubation by ED providers for children undergoing intubation in a pediatric ED.
The effect of coculture on the postfertilization development of in vitro-matured monkey oocytes.

Objective To determine if the developmental potential of embryos resulting from in vivo-and in vitro-matured monkey oocytes could be increased through the use of a coculture system. Design Randomized prospective comparison of embryos resulting from either in vitro- or in vivo-matured oocytes cocultured with Vero cells or cultured in medium alone (control). Setting Basic research laboratory. Main Outcome Measures In vitro embryo development to the blastocyst stage and blastocyst hatching. Results No significant difference in development was noted between coculture and control groups with embryos resulting from in vivo-matured oocytes. However, coculture was found to improve significantly the development of monkey embryos resulting from in vitro-matured oocytes. Conclusions These results demonstrate that primate embryos resulting from in vitro-matured and in vitro-fertilized oocytes differ in their culture requirement when compared with embryos resulting from in vivo-matured oocytes.
Analysis of recent failures of disease modifying therapies in Alzheimer's disease suggesting a new methodology for future studies.

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Pharmaceutical companies and the NIH have invested heavily in a variety of potential disease-modifying therapies for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) but unfortunately all double-blind placebo-controlled Phase III studies of these drugs have failed to show statistically significant results supporting their clinical efficacy on cognitive measures. These negative results are surprising as most of these medications have the capability to impact the biomarkers which are associated with progression of Alzheimer’s disease.Areas covered: This contradiction prompted us to review all study phases of Intravenous Immunoglobulin (IVIG), Bapineuzumab, Solanezumab, Avagacestat and Dimebolin to shed more light on these recent failures. We critically analyzed these studies, recommending seven lessons from these failures which should not be overlooked.Expert commentary: We suggest a new methodology for future treatment research in Alzheimer’s disease considering early intervention with more focus on cognitiv...
A machine-learning apprentice for the completion of repetitive forms

The authors have developed a software environment in which workers can complete repetitive forms, and a machine-learning and prediction system that works within it. The nonintrusive assistant or apprentice provides viable default values for blank fields in a form, saving users up to 87 percent in keystroke effort and correctly predicting nearly 90 percent of the form's values. The system and prediction methods are active, yet not intrusive. Default predictions are always displayed, yet the user can override them easily with normal editing commands. >
On the tangent bundle of a flag variety

In this paper we give a description of the tangent bundle of a flag variety in terms of the universal bundles on such a variety (Theorem 2.1).
The University as Learning Community

Organizations are increasingly faced with the need to "reinvent" themselves as they adapt to a changing society. In this article, the university is examined as one such organization. Faced with enormous pressures to educate an increasingly diverse group of students, equip them with skills for the global marketplace, and prepare them to be responsible citizens, the university must become a more responsive institution that can respond effectively to these challenges. Various perspectives on how the university can become a “learning organization” are discussed. Central to the discussion is the need to change the university culture in ways that encourage and nurture more interdisciplinary programs and problem-focused teams that address the needs of communities. It is suggested that culture change is also necessary to encourage the development of new types of learning environments that nurture the spirit and the mind. Future business organizations are then compared with the university. A key issue that needs to be considered is how universities can better prepare students for the work settings of tomorrow. It is suggested that such preparation requires environments that help students adapt to change and encourage them to become lifelong learners.
False Echoes of the Past: Using Visual Art to Teach Critical Thinking about History.

ABSTRACTIn this article, we explain how the Discipline-based Art Education Model (DBAE) represents an instructional tool to disturb teacher candidates and elementary students' commonly held notions of US history, motivate research into historical events, and revise understandings of historical topics so that they begin seeing how the past has shaped the present social environment. We describe a social studies methods course assignment that requires candidates' exploration of common history myths and development of lessons about accurate historical information. Finally, we provide two examples of lessons developed through the assignment to teach revisionist historical accounts using the DBAE.
CALCULATING QALYS: LIBERALISM AND THE VALUE OF HEALTH STATES

The value of health states is often understood to depend on their impact on the goodness of people's lives. As such, prominent health states metrics are grounded in particular conceptions of wellbeing – e.g. hedonism or preference satisfaction. In this paper, I consider how liberals committed to the public justification requirement – the requirement that public officials choose laws and policies that are justifiable to their citizens – should evaluate health states. Since the public justification requirement prohibits public officials from appealing to controversial conceptions of the good life, liberals committed to this principle face a significant puzzle.
Investigational drugs in development for focal segmental glomerulosclerosis.

Introduction: Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis is an important cause of end stage kidney disease and is a paradigm for the study of glomerular scarring. There are no FDA approved treatments for t...
Challenges in Elucidating Lipid Oxidation Mechanisms: When, Where, and How Do Products Arise?

Publisher Summary This chapter highlights that the intention of the chapter is to challenge anyone concerned with lipid oxidation—whether in fundamental chemical research, food quality deterioration, pathology or toxicology, cell signaling, or any other application—to think beyond hydrogen abstraction in established free-radical chain reactions and to consider other mechanisms that may alter the course, kinetics, and product distribution of lipid oxidation. It introduces the chemistry of alternate reactions to show that lipid oxidation is much more complex than the simplistic radical chain reactions normally presented and to encourage more detailed thinking about how and when products are generated in oxidizing lipids and where these products have important effects in foods, emphasizing on the propagation processes. Hydrogen abstraction by lipid radicals to propagate radical chains and generate stable lipid hydro peroxides has long been considered the anchoring process in lipid oxidation. However, β-scission of oxygen, internal rearrangement to epidioxides, addition and disproportionation of lipid peroxyl radicals, as well as internal rearrangement to epoxides, addition, and α- or β-scissions of alkoxyl radicals, are also active and compete with hydrogen abstraction in propagation to alter the kinetics, course, and products of lipid oxidation. The chapter describes these alternate reactions, provides basic information about how their kinetics and balance change with reaction environment, notes data supporting the existence of these pathways, and discusses the consequences of alternate pathways on the progress and effects of lipid oxidation as starting points for rethinking the chemistry of lipid oxidation.
Stochastic resonances in a distributed genetic broadcasting system: the NFκB/IκB paradigm.

Gene regulatory networks must relay information from extracellular signals to downstream genes in an efficient, timely and coherent manner. Many complex functional tasks such as the immune response require system-wide broadcasting of information not to one but to many genes carrying out distinct functions whose dynamical binding and unbinding characteristics are widely distributed. In such broadcasting networks, the intended target sites are also often dwarfed in number by the even more numerous non-functional binding sites. Taking the genetic regulatory network of NF κ B as an exemplary system we explore the impact of having numerous distributed sites on the stochastic dynamics of oscillatory broadcasting genetic networks pointing out how resonances in binding cycles control the network9s specificity and performance. We also show that active kinetic regulation of binding and unbinding through molecular stripping of DNA bound transcription factors can lead to a higher coherence of gene-co-expression and synchronous clearance.
Hybrid Mixed-Membership Blockmodel for Inference on Realistic Network Interactions

This work proposes a novel hybrid mixed-membership blockmodel (HMMB) that integrates three canonical network models to capture the characteristics of real-world interactions: community structure with mixed-membership, power-law-distributed node degrees, and sparsity. This hybrid model provides the capacity needed for realism, enabling control and inference on individual attributes of interest such as mixed-membership and popularity. A rigorous inference procedure is developed for estimating the parameters of this model through iterative Bayesian updates, with targeted initialization to improve identifiability. For the estimation of mixed-membership parameters, the Cramer-Rao bound is derived by quantifying the information content in terms of the Fisher information matrix. The effectiveness of the proposed inference is demonstrated in simulations where the estimates achieve covariances close to the Cramer-Rao bound while maintaining good truth coverage. We illustrate the utility of the proposed model and inference procedure in the application of detecting a community from a few cue nodes, where success depends on accurately estimating the mixed-memberships. Performance evaluations on both simulated and real-world data show that inference with HMMB is able to recover mixed-memberships in the presence of challenging community overlap, leading to significantly improved detection performance over algorithms based on network modularity and simpler models.
Cardiac chamber-specific alterations of ANP and BNP expression with advancing age and with systemic hypertension

The present study determined cardiac chamber-specific alterations of the expression of the atrial and brain natriuretic peptide (ANP and BNP) genes with a small increase in age beyond adulthood and with systemic hypertension of intermediate duration. The expression distributions of these genes was determined using in situ hybridization in the right and left atria (RA and LA), and the right and left ventricles (RV and LV) in Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY) and age-matched Spontaneously Hypertensive rats (SHR) at ages 6 months (adult) and 8 months (advanced-age beyond adulthood). In all rat groups, both genes were expressed (ANP > BNP) in the LA and LV, and were not expressed in the RA and RV. The genes were expressed in the LA in all rat groups; the ANP, but not the BNP, expression increased with advancing age and with superimposed hypertension. They were expressed in the LV of the advanced-age WKY, adult and advanced-age SHR, but not in the adult WKY. The ANP mRNA labeling in the LA was diffuse and interspersed with dense accumulations, whereas BNP labeling was diffuse. The labeling of both genes in the form of sparse clusters was seen in the LV of the advanced-age SHR. Our study showed that ANP and BNP expression in left heart chambers increased with a small increase in age, with hypertension of intermediate duration, and with modest left ventricular hypertrophy. The chamber-specific expression distribution could be due to special groups of cardiac cells, or to local chamber-specific factors.
High-Temperature Creep of Silicate Olivines

The high-temperature, high-pressure rheological properties of magnesium-iron silicate olivines--(Mg,Fe)2SiO4--have been investigated in a number of rock mechanics laboratories over the past ten years. Constitutive equations describing the plastic flow of this mineral/ceramic and of rocks in which it is the primary phase are necessary for modeling large-scale solid-state convective flow in the earth’s upper mantle as well as more localized deformations resulting from bending of a subducting lithospheric plate, volcanic loading of the lithosphere at a sea-mount, or unloading during melting of a glacier (post-glacial rebound). As in many engineering applications, flow laws determined from laboratory experiments on rocks and minerals must be extrapolated several orders-of-magnitude in strain rate, in this case from laboratory strain rates which are generally greater than 10−6sec−1 to geologic strain rates which are typically less than 10−12sec−1. Thus, a physical understanding of the effects of pressure, temperature, stress, and chemical environment on creep rate and mechanisms of deformation is important.