cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Exercise and substance use among American youth, 1991-2009.

Background The National Institute on Drug Abuse has called for increased research into the use of physical activity in substance abuse prevention, specifically research into physical activity type and context. Purpose This paper examines the relationships between (1) secondary school student substance use and (2) exercise in general and school athletic team participation, and examines such relationships over time. Methods Nationally representative cross-sectional samples of 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-grade students were surveyed each year from 1991 to 2009. Substance use measures included past 2-week binge drinking and past 30-day alcohol, cigarette, smokeless tobacco, marijuana, and steroid use. Analyses were conducted during 2009–2010. Results Across grades, higher levels of exercise were associated with lower levels of alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use. Higher levels of athletic team participation were associated with higher levels of smokeless tobacco use and lower levels of cigarette and marijuana use across grades and to higher levels of high school alcohol and steroid use. Exercise helped suppress the undesired relationship between team participation and alcohol use; exercise and athletic team participation worked synergistically in lowering cigarette and marijuana use. Observed relationships were generally stable across time. Conclusions There appear to be substantive differences between exercise and team sport participation in relation to adolescent substance use. These findings from cross-sectional data suggest that interventions to improve levels of general physical activity should be evaluated to determine if they help delay or reduce substance use among youth in general as well as among student athletes.
Uber-responsive peptide-based sensors of signaling proteins.

An intricate intracellular web of biochemical pathways is responsible for the remarkable adaptability of life. Signaling pathways enable cells to preserve the intracellular conditions required for life by recognizing and responding to environmental change. However, these pathways can also act in a confrontational capacity, literally turning on the host organism. Cancer cells divide at inappropriate times, in inappropriate places, and, like their bacterial counterparts, develop ingenious biochemical mechanisms to defeat therapeutic agents. Biochemistry in the 20th century was primarily devoted to the isolation of proteins and their subsequent characterization in vitro. However, a deeper understanding of the relationship between protein action and cellular behavior is best obtained by studying the protein of interest in its natural environment. The biochemistry of the cell, as opposed to the biochemistry of the test tube, drives adaptability in the face of environmental challenges, be they natural or artificial. Our understanding of cellular biochemistry has been greatly assisted by extraordinary advances in fluorescence, particularly in the areas of technology and molecular biology. However, recent progress from a third discipline, namely synthesis, offers a glimpse of the shape of things to come.
Concealable strain sensing method for art preservation

A novel method to measure strain without mediation of stress has been developed to assess relative displacements in art objects responding to environmental fluctuations. The method uses a chip with a variable resistor composed of a Giant Magnetic Resistance (GMR) material. In a case study, the dimensional changes of wooden test vehicles subjected to sudden humidity changes at constant temperature inside a controlled environmental chamber were measured. Furthermore, an optimized sensor deployment and converging algorithm to increase the accuracy of the measurements was developed and applied.
Nanoscale characterization of human hair and hair conditioners

Human hair is a nanocomposite biological fiber. Hair care products such as shampoos and conditioners, along with damaging processes such as chemical dyeing and permanent wave treatments, affect the maintenance and grooming process and are important to study because they alter many hair properties. Nanoscale characterization of the cellular structure, mechanical properties, and morphological, frictional, and adhesive properties (tribological properties) of hair are essential to evaluate and develop better cosmetic products, and to advance the understanding of biological and cosmetic science. The atomic/friction force microscope (AFM/FFM) and nanoindenter have become important tools for studying the micro/nanoscale properties of human hair. In this review article, we present a comprehensive review of structural, mechanical, and tribological properties of various hair and skin as a function of ethnicity, damage, conditioning treatment, and various environments.
Significance of immunofluorescent staining of lymphocytes with antisera to IgM immunoglobulins.

IMMUNOLOGICAL reactions depend for their completeness on at least two different populations of lymphocytes, one derived from the bone marrow and the other from the thymus (B and T cells). B lymphocytes, precursors of the antibody-forming cells of vertebrates, are recognised in vitro by two characteristic reactions: surface fluorescence with antisera to immunoglobulins1 and rosette formation with red cells sensitised with some components of complement2. Since the cells that show surface immunofluorescence are retained on columns of beads coated with antibodies to immunoglobulins3, surface fluorescence is generally interpreted to mean that immunoglobulins are present on the surface of B lymphocytes4.
A comparison of two formulations of barotropic baroclinic splitting for layered models of ocean circulation

Abstract In numerical models of ocean circulation, it is widespread practice to split the fast and slow motions into barotropic and baroclinic subsystems, respectively. In the case of the baroclinic equations, the dependent variables can either be (1) slowly-varying baroclinic quantities, obtained from splitting the original flow variables into barotropic and baroclinic components, or (2) the original unsplit variables, which can vary on both the fast and slow time scales. In the second case, the variables in each layer are adjusted after each (long) baroclinic time step to ensure compatibility with the results produced from the barotropic equations. The second approach can be applied to the layer thickness equation to ensure exact conservation of mass within each layer. In the case of the momentum equations, the second approach amounts to replacing unresolved fast portions of Coriolis and pressure forcing with time averages of well-resolved forcing from the barotropic system. In this study, both approaches for the momentum equations are evaluated, in several test problems, by comparing to analytical solutions or to solutions computed with an unsplit code that uses short time steps. The two methods give very similar results in some simple problems for which analytical solutions are known. However, in some eddying double-gyre simulations, the formulation with unsplit variables requires a significant reduction in the baroclinic time step in order to avoid numerical difficulties that include grid noise and inaccurate representation of the flow field. In contrast, the formulation with split variables does not display such difficulties, and in those same examples it can be used with zero explicit horizontal viscosity. All of these computations employ a two-level time-stepping method that was previously developed by the author.
Linearity of the group of a parabolic equation

Following Sophus Lie, to a system of partial differential equations L(u) = 0 for unknown functions u = (ur ,..., un), of independent variables x = (x1 ,..., xn), we associate a locall group of transformations as follows. Roughly speaking a solution u = A(x) is an n-dimensional manifold in M
Cost-effectiveness comparisons using “real world” randomized trials: The case of new antidepressant drugs

While randomized clinical trials remain the "gold standard" for comparisons of treatment efficacy, conventional randomized trials may not reflect the relative effectiveness of treatments under "real world" conditions. Observational data more closely reflect the conditions of actual practice, but are often limited in clinical detail and subject to bias in selection of treatments. The authors use available data on the cost-effectiveness of new antidepressant drugs to illustrate the limitations of these methods. Modifications to the traditional randomized trial may allow more accurate assessment of effectiveness in everyday practice. The authors describe the design of such a "real world" randomized trial comparing newer antidepressants with older alternatives.
Ion flux from vacuum arc cathode spots in the absence and presence of a magnetic field

Because plasma production at vacuum cathode spots is approximately proportional to the arc current, arc current modulation can be used to generate ion current modulation that can be detected far from the spot using a negatively biased ion collector. The drift time to the ion detector can used to determine kinetic ion energies. A very wide range of cathode materials have been used. It has been found that the kinetic ion energy is higher at the beginning of each discharge and approximately constant after 150 μs. The kinetic energy is correlated with the arc voltage and the cohesive energy of the cathode material. The ion erosion rate is in inverse relation to the cohesive energy, enhancing the effect that the power input per plasma particle correlates with the cohesive energy of the cathode material. The influence of three magnetic field configurations on the kinetic energy has been investigated. Generally, a magnetic field increases the plasma impedance, arc burning voltage, and kinetic ion energy. However, if the plasma is produced in a region of low field strength and streaming into a region of higher field strength, the velocity may decrease due to the magnetic mirroreffect. A magnetic field can increase the plasma temperature but may reduce the density gradients by preventing free expansion into the vacuum. Therefore, depending on the configuration, a magnetic field may increase or decrease the kinetic energy of ions.
Akt Fine-tunes NF-κB-dependent Gene Expression during T Cell Activation

Activation of the NF-κB signaling pathway is critical for leukocyte activation and development. Although previous studies suggested a role for the Akt kinase in coupling the T cell antigen receptor and CD28 to NF-κB activation in T cells, the nature of the role of Akt in this pathway is still unclear. Using a targeted gene profiling approach, we found that a subset of NF-κB-dependent genes required Akt for optimal up-regulation during T cell activation. The selective effects of Akt were manifest at the level of mRNA transcription and p65/RelA binding to upstream promoters and appear to be due to altered formation of the Carma1-Bcl10 complex. The proinflammatory cytokine TNF-α was found to be particularly sensitive to Akt inhibition or knockdown, including in primary human blood T cells and a murine model of rheumatoid arthritis. Our findings are consistent with a hierarchy in the expression of NF-κB-dependent genes, controlled by the strength and/or duration of NF-κB signaling. More broadly, our results suggest that defining the more graded effects of signaling, such as those demonstrated here for Akt and the NF-κB pathway, is important to understanding how cells can fine-tune signaling responses for optimal sensitivity and specificity.
Use of Remote Sensing Technologies for Building Damage Assessment after the 2003 Bam, Iran, Earthquake—Preface to Remote Sensing Papers:

Abstract This preface introduces a series of papers that describe the use of remote sensing technologies in quantifying the extent of building damage after the 2003 Bam, Iran, earthquake. These papers represent a significant milestone in post-earthquake loss estimation. For the first time, independent evaluations of regional damage are documented, which will ultimately allow an assessment of the efficacy of these technologies as tools for post-earthquake damage detection and quantification. Not only were different sensors used, but radically different approaches were implemented in quantifying damage. The conclusions and recommendations of the different papers are generally consistent and strongly suggest that regional damage assessment using remotely sensed data is highly feasible. The papers, however, acknowledge that more research is needed before these technologies can be used to make critical emergency response decisions. Finally, the role of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute through its ...
Multi-label Multiple Kernel Learning

We present a multi-label multiple kernel learning (MKL) formulation in which the data are embedded into a low-dimensional space directed by the instance-label correlations encoded into a hypergraph. We formulate the problem in the kernel-induced feature space and propose to learn the kernel matrix as a linear combination of a given collection of kernel matrices in the MKL framework. The proposed learning formulation leads to a non-smooth min-max problem, which can be cast into a semi-infinite linear program (SILP). We further propose an approximate formulation with a guaranteed error bound which involves an unconstrained convex optimization problem. In addition, we show that the objective function of the approximate formulation is differentiable with Lipschitz continuous gradient, and hence existing methods can be employed to compute the optimal solution efficiently. We apply the proposed formulation to the automated annotation of Drosophila gene expression pattern images, and promising results have been reported in comparison with representative algorithms.
On the complexity of computing tests for CMOS gates

The following problems pertinent to testing CMOS gates are considered. CTSOF: the problem of computing a two-pattern test sequence that detects the fault 'T Stuck-Open' given a CMOS gate G and an FET T in G. CTSAF: the problem of computing an input vector that detects the fault in which the output of G is stuck at a given a CMOS gate G and a constant a epsilon (0, 1). It is shown that bounded degree fanout (bounded by 2) in unate CMOS gates is enough to make CTSOF CoNP-hard, CTSOF is harder than CTSAF, and an upper bound on the complexity of both CTSOF and CTSAF is O(2/sup f/*m), where f is the number of fanout variables and m is the number of FETs in the CMOS gate. It is also shown that there exists a CMOS gate realization of Boolean functions named BC-CMOS circuits such that for every Boolean function there exists a BC-CMOS circuit, there exists a linear time algorithm for both CTSOF and CTSAF for BC-CMOS circuits, and CMOS gates derived from Boolean expressions using Shannon's expansion are BC-CMOS circuits. >
Psychosomatic medicine today: An overview

Abstract The current status of several areas of interest in psychosomatic medicine, including specificity theory, life changes, and peptic ulcers, is reviewed, and their relevance to the practice of psychosomatic medicine discussed. The importance of neuro-psychopharmacological research to psychosomatic medicine is stressed, and a perspective is given on the usefulness of drugs in conjunction with intensive psychotherapy.
Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-δ Upregulates 14-3-3ε in Human Endothelial Cells via CCAAT/enhancer binding protein-β

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta (PPARdelta) agonists are promising new agents for treatment of the metabolic syndrome. Although they possess antiatherosclerotic properties in vivo and promote endothelial cell survival, their mechanism of action is incompletely understood. 14-3-3epsilon is a critical component of the endothelial cell antiapoptotic machinery, which is essential to maintain homeostasis of the vascular wall. To test the hypothesis that PPARdelta targets 14-3-3epsilon in endothelial cells, we studied the response of the gene that encodes 14-3-3epsilon in humans, YWHAE, to PPARdelta ligands (L-165,041 and GW501516). We found that PPARdelta activates YWHAE promoter in a concentration and time-dependent manner. Consistent with these findings, L-165,041 increased 14-3-3epsilon mRNA and protein level, whereas PPARdelta small interfering RNA suppressed both basal and L-165,041-dependent YWHAE transcription and 14-3-3epsilon protein expression. Surprisingly, PPAR response elements in YWHAE promoter were not required for upregulation by PPARdelta, whereas a CCAAT/enhancer binding protein (C/EBP) site located at -160/-151 bp regulated both basal and PPARdelta-dependent promoter activity. Intriguingly, activation or knock down of endogenous PPARdelta regulated C/EBPbeta protein expression. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays demonstrated that L-165,041 determines the localization of C/EBPbeta to the region spanning this C/EBP response element, whereas sequential chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis revealed that C/EBPbeta and PPARdelta form a transcriptional activating complex on this C/EBP site. Our work uncovers a novel role for C/EBPbeta as a mediator of PPARdelta-dependent 14-3-3epsilon gene regulation in human endothelial cells and provides insight into the mechanism by which PPARdelta agonists may be beneficial in atherosclerosis.
Multilayer metallo-dielectric ZIMS with matched impedance for the mid-IR

Two planar multilayer metallo-dielectric metamaterials with two and four metallic screens, respectively, were optimized by a genetic algorithm to have a zero refractive index and an impedance matched to free space in the mid-IR. The structure geometries were constrained to make fabrication easier and a freestanding device possible. The full-wave simulation predicts excellent performance at the design frequencies. Efforts are underway to fabricate and characterize these multilayer metallo-dielectric metamaterials to verify their ZIM properties.
Gender in Oblivion: Women in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea)

This article discusses the gender and women in North Korea. Not much is known about North Korea, let alone its gender relations. Based on published literature as well as on partial ethnographic data, the article looks into the status of women in the country, which is similar in many senses to that of women in the former Soviet-influenced socialist states, but is distinguished in an important area, that is, the relationship to the leader. The article suggests that whereas the category "mother" exists in North Korea, the category "women" is hardly recognized, thereby effacing the notion of gender altogether from the surface of the state politics.
The use of satellite infrared imagery for describing ocean processes in relation to spawning of the northern anchovy (engraulis mordax)

Abstract Using satellite infrared thermal imagery in conjunction with extensive sampling for anchovy eggs and adults during March and April 1980, we were able to confirm that large areas of the coastal ocean off California were avoided by anchovies during the peak of spawning due to entrainment into the California Current of ⩽ 14°C water that upwelled north of Point Conception. Upwelling began coincident with the onset of winds from the north and proceeded in pulses separated by a few days. Plumes of upwelled water appeared to be advected southward in ladder-like rows by the California Current. A saline 50+-m-deep warm water pool, 40 km off Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico also was avoided by anchovies. The appearance of an inshore 16° C refuge and an extensive 220-km warm-water “wake” associated with Santa Catalina Island also were observed. Each of these oceanographic features was confirmed by ship observations.
Integration of digital gross pathology images for enterprise-wide access.

Background: Sharing digital pathology images for enterprise- wide use into a picture archiving and communication system (PACS) is not yet widely adopted. We share our solution and 3-year experience of transmitting such images to an enterprise image server (EIS). Methods: Gross pathology images acquired by prosectors were integrated with clinical cases into the laboratory information system's image management module, and stored in JPEG2000 format on a networked image server. Automated daily searches for cases with gross images were used to compile an ASCII text file that was forwarded to a separate institutional Enterprise Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) Wrapper (EDW) server. Concurrently, an HL7-based image order for these cases was generated, containing the locations of images and patient data, and forwarded to the EDW, which combined data in these locations to generate images with patient data, as required by DICOM standards. The image and data were then wrapped according to DICOM standards, transferred to the PACS servers, and made accessible on an institution-wide basis. Results: In total, 26,966 gross images from 9,733 cases were transmitted over the 3-year period from the laboratory information system to the EIS. The average process time for cases with successful automatic uploads (n=9,688) to the EIS was 98 seconds. Only 45 cases (0.5%) failed requiring manual intervention. Uploaded images were immediately available to institution- wide PACS users. Since inception, user feedback has been positive. Conclusions: Enterprise- wide PACS- based sharing of pathology images is feasible, provides useful services to clinical staff, and utilizes existing information system and telecommunications infrastructure. PACS-shared pathology images, however, require a DICOM wrapper for multisystem compatibility.
Generation of viscous grids at ridges and corners

An extension of Lohner (AIAA-93-3348-CP, 1993) for the generation of high aspect ratio volume grids on surfaces with ridges and corners is presented for Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes computations. Multiple point normals are introduced along ridges and corners. The original technique generates a semi-structured boundary layer of prismatic elements growing along point normals. Therefore, extra degenerated faces must be introduced to take into account the multiple growth curves at ridges and corners and produce a valid topological surface triangulation. The major task of the algorithm consists in recovering conformity in the surface mesh triangulation, which has been lost due to the introduction of the virtual faces. The procedure relies on a topological taxonomy of an arbitrary combination of concave and convex ridges. Each case is highlighted in detail. Special boundary conditions such as symmetry planes and periodic boundary conditions are also handled. Several complex geometries have been chosen to illustrate the proposed procedure, and timings are given, showing that the new module does not place any extra burden on the previous semi-structured approach. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Television News and Political Advertising The Impact of Exposure on Voter Beliefs

This article examines the relationship between voter belief change and exposure to both political commercials and weeknight network news during the 1972 general election presidential campaign. The authors conclude that, while traditional media effects arguments adequately account for the minimal belief change associated with voter exposure to television news, they cannot account for the direct and dramatic belief change consistently and systematically associated with voter exposure to political advertising.
Information ecology of collaborations in educational settings: influence of tool

The information ecology perspective [2] helps to understand information spaces in terms of the creation, searching, and use (consumption) of information. An information ecology perspective of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) environments describes the flow of information into the ecology (who writes notes? how many and when?) and the use of that information (who reads? how many and when?). From that perspective, use of two CSCL tools is compared to note similarities (e.g., notes written per student) and dissimilarities (e.g., thread length).
Optical coherence tomography retinal thickness and volume measurements in X-linked retinoschisis.

Purpose To analyze retinal thickness and volume measurements of X-linked retinoschisis patients by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD OCT) and correlate these findings with visual acuity and patient age. Design Retrospective comparative case series. Methods Sixty-three eyes of 33 male patients with X-linked retinoschisis were gleaned from a SD OCT database at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Forty-one eyes of 21 patients with low refractive error, no visual impairment, and no known retinal disease served as age-similar controls. The mean age of the retinoschisis patients was 26.4 years. The mean age of patient controls was 30.0 years. Full-thickness, inner and outer retina thickness, and volume measurements were determined by SD OCT. Results Foveal schisis was observed in 81% of retinoschisis patients. Patients with foveal schisis tended to be younger than patients lacking foveal schisis. Inner and outer foveal thickness and volume measurements were increased in retinoschisis patients compared to controls. Outer retinal perifoveal and parafoveal thicknesses and volumes were consistently increased in retinoschisis patients relative to controls. In contrast, inner retinal perifoveal and parafoveal thickness and volume measurements were decreased in retinoschisis patients compared to controls. Worse visual acuity correlated with thinning of the temporal perifoveal inner retina and thickening of the inner fovea. Full-thickness measurements and inner retina and outer retina thickness and volume measurements tended to decrease with patient age. Conclusion Increased inner retinal foveal thickness and decreased perifoveal inner retinal thickness correlates with worse visual acuity and overall retinal thickness decreases with age in X-linked retinoschisis.
Transport in split gate MOS quantum dot structures

We have fabricated symmetric 200 nm and asymmetric 100 by 200 nm quantum dots by the split gate technique within a MOSFET structure. DC electrical and magnetotransport measurements were performed at 4.2 K in a liquid-Helium cryostat. It is found that varying the electrochemical potential by changing the bias on a top gate leads to oscillations in the DC conductance through the dot resembling Coulomb blockade peaks, but when the depletion gate biases are swept, these peaks become more complex in nature, exhibiting crossing or anti-crossing behavior.
Modeling Clutter Perception using Parametric Proto-object Partitioning

Visual clutter, the perception of an image as being crowded and disordered, affects aspects of our lives ranging from object detection to aesthetics, yet relatively little effort has been made to model this important and ubiquitous percept. Our approach models clutter as the number of proto-objects segmented from an image, with proto-objects defined as groupings of superpixels that are similar in intensity, color, and gradient orientation features. We introduce a novel parametric method of clustering superpixels by modeling mixture of Weibulls on Earth Mover's Distance statistics, then taking the normalized number of proto-objects following partitioning as our estimate of clutter perception. We validated this model using a new 90-image dataset of real world scenes rank ordered by human raters for clutter, and showed that our method not only predicted clutter extremely well (Spearman's ρ = 0.8038, p < 0.001), but also outperformed all existing clutter perception models and even a behavioral object segmentation ground truth. We conclude that the number of proto-objects in an image affects clutter perception more than the number of objects or features.
Circulating IL-18 and the risk of type 2 diabetes in women.

Aims/hypothesis The pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes involves pro-inflammatory pathways. We tested the hypothesis that IL-18 predicts future diabetes cases.
Impact of Chronic Anticholesterol Therapy on Development of Microvascular Rarefaction in the Metabolic Syndrome

Objective: The obese Zucker rat (OZR) model of the metabolic syndrome is partly characterized by moderate hypercholesterolemia, in addition to other contributing comorbidities. Previous results suggest that vascular dysfunction in OZR is associated with chronic reduction in vascular nitric-oxide (NO) bioavailability and chronic infl ammation, both frequently associated with hypercholesterolemia. As such, we evaluated the impact of chronic cholesterol-reducing therapy on the development of impaired skeletal muscle arteriolar reactivity and microvessel density in OZR and its impact on chronic infl ammation and NO bioavailability. Materials and Methods: Beginning at seven weeks of age, male OZR were treated with gemfi brozil, probucol, atorvastatin, or simvastatin (in chow) for 10 weeks. Subsequently, plasma and vascular samples were collected for biochemical/molecular analyses, while arteriolar reactivity and microvessel network structure were assessed by using established methodologies after 3, 6, and 10 weeks of drug therapy. Results: All interventions were equally effective at reducing total cholesterol, although only the statins also blunted the progressive reductions to vascular NO bioavailability, evidenced by greater maintenance of acetylcholine-induced dilator responses, an attenuation of adrenergic constrictor reactivity, and an improvement in agonist-induced NO production. Comparably, while minimal improvements to arteriolar wall mechanics were identifi ed with any of the interventions, chronic statin treatment reduced the rate of microvessel rarefaction in OZR. Associated with these improvements was a striking statin-induced reduction in infl ammation in OZR, such that numerous markers of infl ammation were correlated with improved microvascular reactivity and density. However, using multivariate discriminant analyses, plasma RANTES (regulated on activation, normal T-cell expressed and secreted), interleukin-10, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, and tumor necrosis factor alpha were determined to be the strongest contributors to differences between groups, although their relative importance varied with time. Conclusions: While the positive impact of chronic statin treatment on vascular outcomes in the metabolic syndrome are independent of changes to total cholesterol, and are more strongly associated with improvements to vascular NO bioavailability and attenuated infl ammation, these results provide both a spatial and temporal framework for targeted investigation into mechanistic determinants of vasculopathy in the metabolic syndrome. Microcirculation (2009) 16, 667-684. doi: 10.3109/10739680903133722
Programs for Laser-AO Assisted Integral-Field Spectrometers on Ionized Flows

An AO-assisted integral-eld spectrograph is becoming the most efcient tool with which to explore ionized gas outo ws by mapping faint spectral lines that diagnose cloud dust content, gas pressure, excitation mechanism, and chemical abundances. Coupled with recent improvements in photoionization models, the total mass hence o w energetics can be estimated. Establishing a consistent dynamical framework requires linking multi-frequency datasets to track the energy o w through its optimal-contrast emission in the various ISM phases. I show recent HST results on AGN, starburst nuclei, and Galactic Herbig-Haro Objects that cry out for complementary 3D spectra at comparable spatial resolution, to be provided soon by the laser-guided AO + integral-eld spectrographs underway for the William-Herschel and SOAR telescopes.
Analyzing heterochromatin formation using chromosome 4 of Drosophila melanogaster.

organization within the nuclei of higher eukaryotes, the chromosome itself is further organized into multiple domains with distinct properties. This level of organization is visible in interphase nuclei as areas of condensed heterochromatin and regions of more dispersed euchromatin. Chromatin domains are biochemically distinguished by the types of histone modification and associated nonhistone chromosomal proteins. In most higher eukaryotes, domains of constitutive heterochromatin are normally restricted to pericentric and telomeric DNA. A remarkable property of heterochromatin in fungi, flies, and mammals is the ability to spread in cis, in response to loss of boundary constraints or to changes in dosage or activity of chromatin components; this results in silencing of euchromatic genes that are abnormally juxtaposed to heterochromatic domains by chromosome rearrangement or transposition, referred to as Position Effect Variegation (PEV) (for review, see Grewal and Elgin 2002). Recent studies in fungi and plants suggest that heterochromatin formation is targeted to repetitious elements through an RNAi mechanism, resulting in a domain of silenced chromatin (Volpe et al. 2002; Matzke et al. 2004; Schramke and Allshire 2004). The small fourth chromosome of Drosophila melanogaster exhibits a rather unusual chromatin organization compared to the other chromosome arms. The distal 20–25% of chromosome 4 is amplified in polytene nuclei to a similar extent as the other euchromatic arms, and contains 82 genes in 1.2 Mb of DNA (Flybase Consortium 2003), a gene density comparable to that found in other euchromatic regions. At the same time, chromosome 4 exhibits characteristics of heterochromatin throughout its length. Chromosome 4 is rich in dispersed repetitious sequences (Kaminker et al. 2002), shows no detectable meiotic recombination (Bridges 1935), and is late-replicating (Barigozzi et al. 1966), all well-established characteristics of heterochromatic regions. Further, immunofluorescent staining of polytene chromosomes shows that Heterochromatin Protein 1 (HP1), known to play a key role in heterochromatin-induced silencing, is localized both in the pericentric heterochromatin and across the whole of the fourth chromosome (Fig. 1A) (James et al. 1989; Eissenberg and Elgin 2000). Analyzing Heterochromatin Formation Using Chromosome 4 of Drosophila melanogaster
Malpractice risk and cost are significantly reduced after tort reform

Background Rising medical malpractice premiums have reached a crisis point in many areas of the United States. In 2003 the Texas legislature passed a comprehensive package of tort reform laws that included a cap at $250,000 on noneconomic damages in most medical malpractice cases. We hypothesized that tort reform laws significantly reduce the risk of malpractice lawsuit in an academic medical center. We compared malpractice prevalence, incidence, and liability costs before and after comprehensive state tort reform measures were implemented. Study Design Two prospectively maintained institutional databases were used to calculate and characterize malpractice risk: a surgical operation database and a risk management and malpractice database. Risk groups were divided into pretort reform (1992 to 2004) and post-tort reform groups (2004 to the present). Operative procedures were included for elective, urgent, and emergency general surgery procedures. Results During the study period, 98,513 general surgical procedures were performed. A total of 28 lawsuits (25 pre-reform, 3 postreform) were filed, naming general surgery faculty or residents. The prevalence of lawsuits filed/100,000 procedures performed is as follows: before reform, 40 lawsuits/100,000 procedures, and after reform, 8 lawsuits/100,000 procedures (p Conclusions Implementation of comprehensive tort reform in Texas was associated with a significant decrease in the prevalence and cost of surgical malpractice lawsuits at one academic medical center.
Parallel evolution of TCP and B-class genes in Commelinaceae flower bilateral symmetry

Flower bilateral symmetry (zygomorphy) has evolved multiple times independently across angiosperms and is correlated with increased pollinator specialization and speciation rates. Functional and expression analyses in distantly related core eudicots and monocots implicate independent recruitment of class II TCP genes in the evolution of flower bilateral symmetry. Furthermore, available evidence suggests that monocot flower bilateral symmetry might also have evolved through changes in B-class homeotic MADS-box gene function. In order to test the non-exclusive hypotheses that changes in TCP and B-class gene developmental function underlie flower symmetry evolution in the monocot family Commelinaceae, we compared expression patterns of teosinte branched1 (TB1)-like, DEFICIENS (DEF)-like, and GLOBOSA (GLO)-like genes in morphologically distinct bilaterally symmetrical flowers of Commelina communis and Commelina dianthifolia, and radially symmetrical flowers of Tradescantia pallida. Expression data demonstrate that TB1-like genes are asymmetrically expressed in tepals of bilaterally symmetrical Commelina, but not radially symmetrical Tradescantia, flowers. Furthermore, DEF-like genes are expressed in showy inner tepals, staminodes and stamens of all three species, but not in the distinct outer tepal-like ventral inner tepals of C. communis. Together with other studies, these data suggest parallel recruitment of TB1-like genes in the independent evolution of flower bilateral symmetry at early stages of Commelina flower development, and the later stage homeotic transformation of C. communis inner tepals into outer tepals through the loss of DEF-like gene expression.
Solution-Focused Advising with the Undecided Student

Solution-focused advising integrates solution-focused therapy with academic advising. Solution-focused therapy is apsychotherapeutic method that emphasizes the importance of strengths and goal achi...
The Lambda Number of A Matrix: The Sum of Its n2 Cofactors

(1965). The Lambda Number of A Matrix: The Sum of Its n2 Cofactors. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 72, No. 3, pp. 260-264.
Cistrome and Epicistrome Features Shape the Regulatory DNA Landscape

The cistrome is the complete set of transcription factor (TF) binding sites (cis-elements) in an organism, while an epicistrome incorporates tissue-specific DNA chemical modifications and TF-specific chemical sensitivities into these binding profiles. Robust methods to construct comprehensive cistrome and epicistrome maps are critical for elucidating complex transcriptional networks that underlie growth, behavior, and disease. Here, we describe DNA affinity purification sequencing (DAP-seq), a high-throughput TF binding site discovery method that interrogates genomic DNA with in-vitro-expressed TFs. Using DAP-seq, we defined the Arabidopsis cistrome by resolving motifs and peaks for 529 TFs. Because genomic DNA used in DAP-seq retains 5-methylcytosines, we determined that >75% (248/327) of Arabidopsis TFs surveyed were methylation sensitive, a property that strongly impacts the epicistrome landscape. DAP-seq datasets also yielded insight into the biology and binding site architecture of numerous TFs, demonstrating the value of DAP-seq for cost-effective cistromic and epicistromic annotation in any organism.
Characterization of the mechanical behavior of the optic nerve sheath and its role in spaceflight-induced ophthalmic changes

Visual impairment and intracranial pressure (VIIP) syndrome is characterized by a number of permanent ophthalmic changes, including loss of visual function. It occurs in some astronauts during long-duration spaceflight missions. Thus, understanding the pathophysiology of VIIP is currently a major priority in space medicine research. It is hypothesized that maladaptive remodeling of the optic nerve sheath (ONS), in response to microgravity-induced elevations in intracranial pressure (ICP), contributes to VIIP. However, little is known about ONS biomechanics. In this study, we developed a custom mechanical testing system that allowed for unconfined lengthening, twisting, and circumferential distension of the porcine ONS during inflation and axial loading. Data were fit to a four-fiber family constitutive equation to extract material and structural parameters. Inflation testing showed a characteristic “cross-over point” in the pressure–diameter curves under different axial loads in all samples that were tested; the cross-over pressure was $$10.3 \pm 0.95$$ mmHg ( $$\hbox {mean} \pm \hbox {SEM}$$ ). Large sample-to-sample variations were observed in the circumferential strain, while only modest variations were observed in the circumferential stress. Multiphoton microscopy revealed that the collagen fibers of the ONS were primarily oriented axially when the tissue was loaded. The existence of this cross-over behavior is expected to be neuroprotective, as it would avoid optic nerve compression during routine changes in gaze angle, so long as ICP was within the normal range. Including these observations into computational models of VIIP will help provide insight into the pathophysiology of VIIP and could help identify risk factors and potential interventions.
Central and Peripheral Features of Crayfish Oculomotor Organization

Animals which see utilize a number of reflex movements tending to stabilize on the retina those features of the visual environment which have immediate selective value. The movements may themselves be evoked by visual events, as in optomotor or optokinetic reactions, and compensatory behavior can involve the head or even the entire body. In vertebrates, some mollusks, and a number of crustaceans, however, the retinal surfaces are mounted on paired platforms which are capable of movement relative to the head proper. In these animals, many visual stabilization reflexes are the sole domain of an independent oculomotor system.
The Electronic Structure of Crystals: Computational Methods

We present various methods used to calculate the band structure of solids: Plane-wave methods; orthogonalized plane waves, which leads to the concept of model potentials and/or pseudopotentials, self-consistent, and empirical; linear combination of atomic orbitals—LCAO or tight-binding; and k ⋅ p perturbation theory. We also present some significant results obtained using these methods.
A NOTE ON KNOWLEDGE AND BELIEF

I, for instance, should be willing to hold that (ii) is not a necessary condition of knowledge, in the sense that S may not have thought about P at all, may have thought about Q which is "significantly" related to P (even, perhaps, by entailment), and believes that Q; on that condition, it is conceivably true that 5 knows that P (other conditions being satisfied). For example, if a child knows the date of Washington's crossing the Delaware and knows the date of Hannibal's crossing the Alps, but has not thought about the temporal ordering of these two events, it may still be reasonable to say that the child knows that Hannibal crossed the Alps before Washington crossed the Delaware. And, of course, if (ii) is not a necessary condition, (iii) is not a necessary condition either.1
A Multi-Objective Flow Cytometry Profiling for B-Cell Lymphoma Diagnosis

Flow cytometry, a powerful tool for the diagnosis of hematolymphoid malignancies including B-cell lymphomas, is an innovative technique that measures the fluorescence of suspended cells. Although several computerized methods are available for flow cytometry data processing, most current automatic techniques have not been fully developed. In our previous publication, we proposed a multi-profile detection algorithm for several types of B-cell lymphoma that is capable of replacing the current conventional manual gating technique to provide a more efficient and accurate technique through automation and improved data interpretation. The automated diagnosis also comes with a confidence level which provides more information for pathologists; a low confidence will alert pathologists they need to investigate the case more. In this paper, we strengthen the previous algorithm to give a much better performance of the system. We also tested the improved algorithm by analyzing test cases of minimal residual disease (MRD), obtained from a group of patients with fewer B-cell lymphoma cells, which is a condition, when exhibited, that greatly increases the difficulty of automated diagnosis. The validity of our automated system is supported by comparing the results from the automated system diagnosis with those of the conventional manual gating process. The average accuracy rate of the automated diagnosis system is 95.2% for the dataset and lowers to 91.8% when tested with MRD data.
Decreases in maximal oxygen uptake following long-duration spaceflight: Role of convective and diffusive O2 transport mechanisms

Long-duration spaceflight elicited a significant decrease in maximal oxygen uptake. Given the adverse physiological adaptations to microgravity along the O2 transport pathway that have been reporte...
Incidental Findings in Small Field of View Cone-beam Computed Tomography Scans.

Abstract Introduction The use of cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) in endodontics has increased in recent years. In clinical application of small field of view (FOV) CBCTs, these scans are not reviewed routinely by a radiologist. Studies of large FOV CBCT scans show the prevalence of incidental findings to be greater than 90%. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of missed findings by endodontic residents as compared with a radiologist on small FOV CBCT scans. Methods Two hundred three small FOV CBCTs obtained for endodontic purposes were analyzed by an endodontic resident and a medical radiologist. The reported findings of each practitioner were compared to evaluate for missed incidental findings by the endodontic resident. Results The radiologist reported abnormalities in 176 of the 203 subjects (87%), with a total of 310 abnormalities reported. The endodontic resident reported abnormalities in 102 of the 203 subjects (50%), with a total of 126 abnormalities reported. The percentage of scans with any abnormality reported by the radiologist was significantly greater than the endodontic resident ( P P Conclusions A radiologist is significantly more likely to identify incidental findings in small FOV CBCT scans than an endodontic resident. Scan location had no significant association with the rate of missed findings.
Intubation During In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

In a large retrospective evaluation of intubation during cardiac arrest, Dr Andersen and colleagues suggested that intubation during the first 15 minutes of in-hospital cardiac arrest was associated with decreased survival.1 Although the authors tried to balance the distribution of groups with statistical analysis, the original groups were significantly different, preventing like groups from being analyzed.
Is the Relationship Between Pornography Consumption Frequency and Lower Sexual Satisfaction Curvilinear? Results From England and Germany

Several studies using different methods have found that pornography consumption is associated with lower sexual satisfaction. The language used by media-effects scholars in discussions of this association implies an expectation that lowered satisfaction is primarily due to frequent-but not infrequent-consumption. Actual analyses, however, have assumed linearity. Linear analyses presuppose that for each increase in the frequency of pornography consumption there is a correspondingly equivalent decrease in sexual satisfaction. The present brief report explored the possibility that the association is curvilinear. Survey data from two studies of heterosexual adults, one conducted in England and the other in Germany, were employed. Results were parallel in each country and were not moderated by gender. Quadratic analysis indicated a curvilinear relationship, in the form of a predominantly negative, concave downward curve. Simple slope analyses suggested that when the frequency of consumption reaches once a month, sexual satisfaction begins to decrease, and that the magnitude of the decrease becomes larger with each increase in the frequency of consumption. The observational nature of the data employed precludes any causal inferences. However, if an effects perspective was adopted, these results would suggest that low rates of pornography consumption have no impact on sexual satisfaction and that adverse effects initiate only after consumption reaches a certain frequency.