cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Treatment of cleft lip and palate patients.

Abstract The multidisciplined treatment approach to the congenital cleft lip and palate problem is of great value to the patient and to the ultimate success of treatment. Treatment objectives were accomplished through surgical correction of developmental defects, proper direction of growth potential in establishing the most nearly normal tooth and arch relationship, and maintenance of tooth and arch relationships through sound restorative procedures. The patient now experiences a feeling of comfort, dental stability, and personal well-being.
A Static Method Coupled with Gravimetric Analysis for the Determination of Solubilities of Solids in Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

A static method coupled with gravimetric analysis was developed to measure the solubility of solids in supercritical carbon dioxide. To test the validity and accuracy of this method, the solubilities of naphthalene and phenanthrene were determined. Excellent agreement was obtained between the data in the literature and the data obtained using this method.
ACD estimation of the S-parameter revisited

Abstract The analytic continuation by duality (ACD) technique has been used to estimate the electroweak S parameter in technicolor models. In this letter, we investigate the reliability of this method by applying it to some toy models with known spectra. We find that in most instances the technique cannot be trusted to give a reliable result.
Topic development pattern analysis-based adaptation of information spaces

While navigation within complex information spaces is a challenge for all users, the problem is most evident with individuals who are blind or visually impaired. A particular challenge faced by students who are blind when accessing documents in digital libraries is that long documents are almost impenetrable for these users who cannot skim through large documents effectively and who cannot visually organize and re-organize documents for later use in new contexts. We highlight that adaptation and personalization of textual media can be possible only through novel algorithms that can segment media content to its basic information units and enable users to pick, recombine, and re-organize these units into new personalized documents. This is a multi-faceted problem that requires research into technical challenges from user modeling to context analysis. In this paper, we focus on two specific challenges key to the adaptation of textual media: content-segmentation and content-reorganization. In particular, we show that topic development analysis is fundamental in supporting both of these tasks. The algorithms proposed in this paper analyze topic development patterns without having to distill the specific topics, thereby keeping the overall analysis and adaptation processes light weight.
Modulation of 11β-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase Type 1 in Mature Human Subcutaneous Adipocytes by Hypothalamic Messengers

Glucocorticoids are regulated at the prereceptor level by 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11β-HSD), which interconverts inactive cortisone and active cortisol. In a previous study, we noted that patients with hypothalamic obesity had an increased ratio of cortisol/cortisone metabolites, suggesting enhanced 11β-HSD-1 activity. In this in vitro study, we tested the hypothesis that adipose 11β-HSD-1 is regulated by the hypothalamus via circulating hormones, sympathetic nervous system innervation, and/or cytokines. Preadipocytes were retrieved from sc fat from healthy nonobese individuals and differentiated in vitro to mature adipocytes. Cells were incubated with several potential effectors, and the activity of 11β-HSD-1 was assayed by measuring conversion of added 500 nm cortisone to cortisol. Expression of 11β-HSD-1 mRNA was determined by real-time PCR, whereas lipolytic effects were determined by measuring glycerol concentration in the culture medium. CRH down-regulated 11β-HSD-1 activity with maximal ef...
Report of an international forum on managing diversity

Purpose – The purpose is to report an International Forum on managing diversity organized by the International Association of Jesuit Business Schools (IAJBS).Design/methodology/approach – The report is a summary of the papers presented for the Forum that was cancelled on the eve of the opening session due to the violence that erupted in July 2006 in the Middle East.Findings – Diversity management is becoming a priority in most countries in both the workplace and higher education institutions.Originality/value – Some of the papers revealed the role of diversity in enriching group work and identified the potential sources of misunderstanding and possible conflicts
Anisotropies in nonthermal distortions of cosmic light from photon-axion conversion

Ultralight axions which couple sufficiently strongly to photons can leave imprints on the sky at diverse frequencies by mixing with cosmic light in the presence of background magnetic fields. We explore such direction dependent grey-body distortions of the cosmic microwave background spectrum, enhanced by resonant conditions in the intergalactic medium plasma. We also find that if such axions are produced in the early Universe and represent a subdominant dark radiation component today, they could convert into x-rays in supervoids and brighten them at x-ray frequencies.
Volatile aromatic hydrocarbons and dicarboxylic acid concentrations in air at an urban site in the Southwestern US

Concentrations of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, o-xylene, and m- and p-xylene were measured at an urban sampling site in Las Vegas, NV by sorbent sampling followed by thermal desorption and determination by GC-PID. Simultaneously, measurements of oxalic, malonic, succinic, and adipic acids were made at the same site by collection on quartz filters, extraction, esterification, and determination by GC-FID. For the period from April 7, 1997 to June 11, 1997, 201 sets of hydrocarbon measurements and 99 sets of acid measurements were made. Additional measurements of dicarboxylic acids were made on samples that represented potential direct sources, e.g. green plants and road dust. Correlations between the hydrocarbon and CO concentrations (measured by the Clark County Health District at a nearby site) were highly significant and a strong negative correlation of hydrocarbon concentration with ozone concentration (also from the county site) was observed under quiescent atmospheric conditions. In general, dicarboxylic acid concentrations were well correlated with one another (with the exception of adipic acid) but not well correlated with hydrocarbon, CO, and ozone concentrations. Multiple sources and complex formation processes are indicated for the dicarboxylic acids.
Assessment of Racial Variation in Risk of Coronary Heart Disease and Stroke Mortality for Elevated Levels of Systolic Blood Pressure

Purpose Elevated blood pressure, primarily systolic blood pressure (SBP), is widely recognized as a major independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). The purpose of this study is to determine if CVD risk associated with elevated SBP varies for blacks and whites. Methods Data from the Black Pooling Project, which includes individual data from four observational studies with a sample size of 26,083, was utilized. Cox proportional hazard models (controlling for study, age, and gender) were performed to obtain hazard ratios of stroke and coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality at 10 mmHg unit increments of SBP with referent group SBP Results During a maximum 30 years of follow-up, there were 302 and 631 stroke deaths and 569 and 2388 CHD deaths for blacks and whites respectively. The hazard ratios of stroke mortality for blacks and whites exhibit a step-wise increase for each additional 10 unit increase in SBP. The hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals at SBP level≥180 are 3.96 (2.0–8.0) and 3.71 (2.6–5.3) for blacks and whites respectively. Results for CHD mortality show a similar increase in risk with greater SBP levels. The CHD mortality hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals at SBP level≥ 180 for blacks and whites were 2.65 (1.8–3.9) and 3.24 (2.7–3.9) respectively. Conclusion In conclusions, elevated risk of stroke and CHD mortality are seen with respect to increasing SBP levels in both blacks and whites. There was no statistically significant interactions involving race and SBP level thus the risk associated is similar for blacks and whites.
The polynucleotide ligase and RNA capping enzyme superfamily of covalent nucleotidyltransferases

ATP- and NAD(+)-dependent DNA ligases, ATP-dependent RNA ligases and GTP-dependent mRNA capping enzymes comprise a superfamily of proteins that catalyze nucleotidyl transfer to polynucleotide 5' ends via covalent enzyme-(lysyl-N)-NMP intermediates. The superfamily is defined by five peptide motifs that line the nucleotide-binding pocket and contribute amino acid sidechains essential for catalysis. Early crystal structures revealed a shared core tertiary structure for DNA ligases and capping enzymes, which are composed minimally of a nucleotidyltransferase domain fused to a distal OB-fold domain. Recent structures of viral and bacterial DNA ligases, and a fungal mRNA capping enzyme underscore how the substrate-binding and chemical steps of the ligation and capping pathways are coordinated with large rearrangements of the component protein domains and with remodeling of the atomic contacts between the enzyme and the nucleotide at the active site. The first crystal structure of an RNA ligase suggests that contemporary DNA ligases, RNA ligases and RNA capping enzymes evolved by fusion of ancillary effector domains to an ancestral catalytic module involved in RNA repair.
Effect of Synthetic Thyroprotein on Seasonal Variation in Volume and Concentration of Cock Semen

Abstract THERE has been considerable recent interest in the possibility of the thyroid gland being involved in the expression of seasonal reproductive rhythms in males. Parker and McSpadden (1942) and Wheeler and Andrews (1943) reported that cock semen quality and quantity was reduced during the summer months. Thyroid gland involvement in this decline may be inferred from the abundant evidence that thyroid activity is reduced when the ambient air temperature is increased (see below) and from the fact that summer sterility of rams may be improved by thyroxine or synthetic thyroprotein administration (Berliner and Warbritton, 1937; Bogart and Mayer, 1946). It is well known that temperature plays an important part in regulating thyroidal activity and that thyroid hormone is intimately concerned with gonadal activity. The controlling mechanism which regulates pituitary output of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), and indirectly the output of thyroid hormone (thyroxine), has been rather clearly outlined although much . . .
Assay of ATP-sulfurylase activity from rat liver by high-performance liquid chromatography

Alteration of proteoglycan composition is known to accompany morphogenesis. In many tissues one such alteration is the removal of hyaluronate and its replacement with a sulfated proteoglycan. Several mechanisms that could regulate this alteration have been studied leading to a hypothesis that the increase in the sulfated proteoglycan is regulated by controlling the activity of those enzymes involved in the activation of the sulfate. To measure any variations in these activities usually begins with a purification of the enzyme. However, this procedure is difficult to perform where tissue samples are difficult to obtain in large enough quantities. Therefore, the examination of an enzymatic activity when tissue samples are in short supply requires the development of methods for the assay of the specific activity after a minimum of purification. In this paper we report on the development of just such an assay for ATP-sulfurylase, the enzyme that catalyses the first step in the activation of sulfate. This method uses anion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography and differs from a previously published procedure [F. A. Hommes and L. Moss, Anal. Biochem., 154 (1986) 100] in that the compounds are detected spectrophotometrically instead of radiometrically and also in that the ATP, ADP, AMP and their sulfated analogues, adenosine 5'-phosphosulfate and 3'-phosphoadenosine 5'-phosphosulfate, are separated isocratically. Studies performed with 35SO4(2-) were used to validate this new method. The separation of all these compounds has allowed us to develop a one-step, on-line assay procedure which can be performed on small samples of partially purified preparations. We have used this procedure to measure the activity of the ATP sulfurylase in extracts of rat liver and tongue. Our results indicated that the ATP-sulfurylase activity from rat liver was soluble with a pH optimum of 8.0. The identity of the reaction product was verified using radiolabeled sulfate as the substrate and recovering the radiolabel in the product. Preliminary kinetic studies with this method showed the sulfurylase activity to have an apparent Michaelis constant of 3 microM and a maximal velocity of 0.56 pmol/min per mg protein.
Hopping isn't always about the legs: forelimb muscle activity patterns during toad locomotion

Although toads are not known for their jumping ability, they are excellent at landing, using their forelimbs to stabilize and decelerate the body as they transition between hops. Forelimb muscles must play important roles during this landing behavior, but to date our understanding of forelimb muscle function during jumping in anurans, particularly after takeoff, is quite limited. Here, we use simultaneous high-speed video and electromyography to characterize the timing and intensity of electrical activity patterns of six muscles that act at the shoulder or elbow joints in the cane toad, Bufo marinus. In particular, we aim to address the importance of these muscles with respect to various potential roles during hopping (e.g. contributing to propulsion during takeoff, resisting impact forces during landing). Five of the six recorded muscles exhibited their highest average intensities during the aerial phase of the hop, with the most intense activity present near forelimb touchdown. In contrast, no muscles exhibited high levels of activity in the initial phase of takeoff. We interpret these data to indicate that the forelimb muscles studied here are likely unimportant in augmenting force production during takeoff, but are critical for both mid-air forelimb positioning and resisting the forces associated with impact. The onset timing of elbow extensors seems to occur at a nearly fixed interval before impact, regardless of hop length, suggesting that these muscles are particularly tuned to resisting impact.
Assessing the impact of airspace security measures during several 2009 events

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) plays a pivotal role in maintaining security within the National Airspace System (NAS). In particular, high profile events require special airspace security measures to ensure the safety and security of the participants and the venues hosting these events. These events are often designated as National Security Special Events (NSSEs). This paper discusses Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs) and other air domain security measures typically employed during NSSEs. Examined are two 2009 NSSEs: the January Presidential Inauguration and the September United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meeting. Also examined are some of the airspace security incidents that occurred during these events, identified as Tracks of Interest (TOIs). A comparison is also made with incidents measured during several previous NSSEs: the 2007 and 2008 UNGA meetings and the Democratic and Republican National Conventions held during 2008.
Cartoons and AIDS: safer sex, HIV, and AIDS in Ralf König's comics.

Ralf Konig is the best-selling author of comic book novels, and his stories of gay men coming to terms with contemporary society have resonated with hundreds of thousands of German readers and film-goers. Konig's characters, like the author himself, have great difficulty adhering to the demand that condoms be used. The article describes how Konig develops this theme through a variety of works from 1985 through 1999, and analyzes the intertwined relationships among the author, his characters, and the society that is both portrayed in his works and that reads his works.
Fungicide–herbicide interaction in soybean (Glycine max)

Abstract Fungicide seed treatments are becoming increasingly popular for use with glyphosate-tolerant soybean ( Glycine max (L.) Merr.). This research was initiated in response to preliminary data indicating possible negative interaction(s) between certain agrochemicals. A 2-year field study was conducted to determine whether certain combinations of fungicide seed treatments and post-emergence herbicides affect soybean yield. The experiment involved six seed treatments (thiabendazole (TBZ), pentachloronitrobenzene (PCNB), captan, TBZ+PCNB+captan, fludioxonil and a fungicide-free control) and six weed control treatments (imazethapyr, imazamox, glyphosate, glyphosate+imazethapyr, glyphosate+cloransulam-methyl and a hand-weeded control). All 36 combinations were evaluated in four different environments in Illinois, USA. All fields had minimal disease pressure and were kept free of weeds (mechanically), allowing for the evaluation of chemical interactions independent of the confounding factors of herbicide and fungicide efficacy. The fungicide treatments did not significantly affect the crop's response to the herbicide treatments, as measured by visual injury ratings. In addition, neither fungicide, herbicide, nor fungicide–herbicide combination significantly affected crop yield. No significant chemical interactions were found to exist between any of the examined fungicidal seed treatments and post-emergence herbicides.
Effective features of algorithm visualizations

Many algorithm visualizations have been created, but little is known about which features are most important to their success. We believe that pedagogically useful visualizations exhibit certain features that hold across a wide range of visualization styles and content. We began our efforts to identify these features with a review that attempted to identify an initial set of candidates. We then ran two experiments that attempted to identify the effectiveness for a subset of features from the list. We identified a small number of features for algorithm visualizations that seem to have a significant impact on their pedagogical effectiveness, and found that several others appear to have little impact. The single most important feature studied is the ability to directly control the pace of the visualization. An algorithm visualization having a minimum of distracting features, and which focuses on the logical steps of an algorithm, appears to be best for procedural understanding of the algorithm. Providing a good example for the visualization to operate on proved significantly more effective than letting students construct their own data sets. Finally, a pseudocode display, a series of questions to guide exploration of the algorithm, or the ability to back up within the visualization did not show a significant effect on learning.
Weil cohomologies and derived dg categories

Abstract In this note we relate Weil cohomology theories to derived dg categories of smooth projective varieties.
Analysis and characterization of the laser decal transfer process

We have studied the kinetics of a congruent, pixilated laser forward transfer process known as laser decal transfer (LDT). This process allows the transfer and patterning of silver nanoparticle inks such that the transferred pixels or "voxels" maintain the shape of the laser illumination. This process is capable of creating freestanding and bridging structures with near thin-film like properties.
Atomistic visualization: space-time multiresolution integration of data analysis and rendering.

Abstract Time-varying three-dimensional scattered data representing snapshots of atomic configurations produced by molecular dynamics simulations are not illuminating by themselves; gaining insight into them poses a tremendous challenge. In order to take the advantage of maximal information offered by these simulations, we have proposed an efficient scheme, which integrates various analysis and rendering tasks together in order to support interactive visualization of the data at space–time multiresolution. Additional data produced by various analytical techniques on the fly represent the atomic system under consideration at diverse length- (e.g., nearest neighbor, next-nearest neighbor or beyond) and time- (e.g., instantaneous, finite intervals or overall averages) scales. In particular, the radial distribution functions, coordination environments, clusters and rings are computed and visualized to understand the structural behavior whereas a variety of displacement data and covariance matrices are explored to understand the dynamical behavior. While the spatial distributions of atoms need to be reproduced correctly during rendering, we take the advantage of high flexibility in rendering other attributes because of the lack of their direct physical relevance. A combination of different techniques including animation, color maps, pathlines, different types of glyphs, and graphics hardware accelerated approach is exploited to render the original and extracted data. First-principles molecular dynamics simulation data for liquid systems are used to justify the effectiveness and usefulness of the proposed scheme.
Applications of microporous membranes in sensor technology

Analyses some of the main ways in which microporous membranes can play a role in the efficient functioning of sensors. These devices are used to detect a property of, or component in, a fluid in contact with the sensor. As used in this article, the term “sensor” is intended to cover the broadest range of optical, optoelectronic or electronic devices used to detect a component of a fluid in contact with the sensor as part of a detection system.
Atlantic City and the resort cycle: background to the legalization of gambling.

Abstract Stansfield, Charles A. Jr. “Atlantic City and the Resort Cycle: Background to the Legalization of Gambling”, Annals of Tourism Research , Vol. V, No. 2, April/June 1978, pp. 238–251. Legalization of casino gambling in Atlantic City was politically feasible only following widespread voter recognition of the old resort's economic and social plight. The success of a statewide referendum was attributed to the concept that only a radical change in Atlantic City's crowd-attracting formula would be successful as it had become obsolescent as a resort partly due to changes in transport technology and recreation geography. There is an apparent cycle in the development, expansion, shift in socio-economic base of patronage, and decline of resorts; Atalantic City's century and a quarter existence is used as a case study of this resort cycle.
The pit, the cleft and the web.

Orofacial clefts (cleft lip and/or palate) are among the most common birth defects in humans, affecting up to 1 in 500 infants at birth. The cause of the most common syndromic clefting condition, Van der Woude syndrome, has now been identified as haploinsufficiency of the gene encoding interferon regulatory factor 6 (IRF6). Furthermore, dominant-negative mutations of IRF6 lead to webbing of the skin in popliteal pterygium syndrome, demonstrating beyond doubt that these syndromes are allelic.
A Design Approach for an Innovative LED Surgical Light

We will present a design approach for a surgical light consisting of a central high-power LED module and a metal-free TIR reflector. The reflector’s surface is designed as a grooved surface providing two TIR reflections.
Distrust and trust in B2C e-commerce: do they differ?

Researchers have not studied e-commerce distrust as much as e-commerce trust. This study examines whether trust and distrust are distinct concepts. If trust and distrust are the same, lack of distrust research matters little. But if they are different, the lack of distrust research could be problematic because distrust may have a unique B2C impact. While some researchers believe distrust simply means a low level of trust, others believe distrust is a concept entirely separate from trust. For the latter to be true, trust and distrust variables must first demonstrate discriminant validity from each other, and second, differ in what they themselves predict. This paper tests whether or not trust and distrust variables are distinct. It finds that three sets of trust and distrust concepts are discriminant from each other and that they tend to predict different variables. The findings also show that distrust is an important predictor of risky B2C actions like willingness to share information and willingness to purchase.
Using the lymphatics to study nutrient absorption and the secretion of gastrointestinal hormones

The lymph fistula rat model has traditionally been used to study the intestinal absorption of nutrients, especially lipids, but recently this model has also been used for studying the secretion of incretin hormones by the small intestine. The small intestine is not only responsible for the digestion and transport of dietary triacylglycerol, through the formation of chylomicrons, but it also secretes the incretin hormones glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) from enteroendocrine cells. Ultimately, both chylomicrons and incretins are found in lymph. Advantages of the lymph fistula rat model in studying chylomicron and incretin secretion are numerous and include: 1) the concentrations of incretin hormones are higher in lymph than in peripheral or portal plasma; 2) there is reduced degradation of incretin hormones by DPP-IV in the lymph compartment; 3) less dilution by the circulating fluid; 4) this model allows the continuous collection of lymph from conscious animals, eliminating any potential side effects on lymph flow and gastrointestinal function due to anesthesia; and finally, and perhaps most importantly, and 5) the concentration in the intestinal lymph provides a physiologically accurate representation of the hormonal milieu within the intestinal mucosa where incretins may interact with enteroendocrine and/or dendritic cells and signal through the enteric or autonomic neurons. The importance of GIP and GLP-1 in health and disease is becoming more apparent, especially as the prevalence of type 2 diabetes and other metabolic disorders increases. This review focuses on the use of the lymph fistula rat as a model to study the secretion of incretins, as well as dietary lipid.
Toward an Interdisciplinary Perspective: A Review of Adult Learning Frameworks and Theoretical Models of Motor Learning.

Researchers have yet to agree on an approach that supports how adults best learn novel motor skills in formal educational contexts. The literature fails to adequately discuss adult motor learning f...
Tectonic rotations of dikes in fast-spread oceanic crust exposed near Hess Deep

Oceanic crust that initially formed at the fast-spreading (130 mm/yr) East Pacific Rise at ∼1 Ma is exposed in the walls of Hess Deep rift at the northern edge of the Galapagos microplate. Steep fault scarps expose a dismembered vertical sequence of pillow basalts, sheeted diabase dikes and gabbroic rocks. Diabase dikes in these units are dominantly vertical; however, extensive outcrops of steeply to moderatley dipping dikes exist in some places. The nonvertical attitude of the dikes may be the result of tectonic rotations attending sea-floor spreading at the East Pacific Rise or the result of complex rotations of fault blocks during the opening of the Hess Deep rift at ∼0.65 Ma.
Experimental Murine Endometriosis Induces DNA Methylation and Altered Gene Expression in Eutopic Endometrium

The eutopic endometrium in women with endometriosis demonstrates diminished endometrial receptivity and altered gene expression. It is unknown if the endometrium being defective gives rise to a predisposition toward endometriosis and infertility or, alternatively, if endometriosis causes the altered endometrial receptivity. Here we created experimental endometriosis in mice and examined the expression of several markers of endometrial receptivity in the eutopic endometrium. Methylation of Hoxa10 was also evaluated as a potential mechanism responsible for altered gene expression. Expression of each gene was measured using quantitative real-time RT-PCR at 14 wk after induction of endometriosis. Expression of Hoxa10 and Hoxa11, which are necessary for endometrial receptivity, were decreased in the endometriosis group. Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1 (Igfbp1) mRNA was decreased in the endometriosis group. However, there was no change in Integrin beta3 (Itgb3) mRNA expression. Total progesterone receptor (Pgr-AB) was increased in the endometriosis group and the ratio of Pgr-B to Pgr-AB was increased, indicating a shift from Pgr-A to Pgr-B expression. Basic transcription element-binding protein-1 (Bteb1), official symbol and name Klf9, Kruppel-like factor 9, which functionally interacts with Pgr in endometrium, was also decreased in the endometriosis group. In addition, hypermethylation of Hoxa10 in the endometriosis group was shown by methylation-specific PCR and confirmed by bisulfite sequencing. These findings demonstrate that normal endometrium, when placed in an ectopic location to create experimental endometriosis, led to characteristic changes in gene expression in eutopic endometrium. These data suggest the existence of a signal conduction pathway from endometriosis that alters endometrial gene expression through altered Pgr signaling and epigenetic programming.
Reduced selenium-binding protein 1 expression is associated with poor outcome in lung adenocarcinomas

The effects of selenium, an essential nutrient with anti-carcinogenic properties, are mediated by selenium-binding proteins. The protein expression status of human selenium-binding protein 1 (SBP1) in human tumours and the exact function of this protein are not known. In this study, quantitative two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-D PAGE) was used on 93 lung adenocarcinomas and ten uninvolved lung samples. Two likely isoforms of a 56 kD protein that showed a significantly decreased abundance in lung adenocarcinomas were observed. Tandem mass spectrometry and 2-D western blot analysis identified these two proteins as human SBP1. Tumour tissue microarrays were utilized to examine the cellular expression patterns of SBP1 using immunohistochemistry. The same tissue samples were examined for SBP1 mRNA expression using oligonucleotide microarrays. Two major SBP1 isoforms were detected, with an acidic isoform (457) being significantly down-regulated in lung adenocarcinomas compared with normal lung (p = 0.02). Two additional more acidic SBP1 isoforms were only observed in normal lung. SBP1 protein isoforms and SBP1 mRNA levels were significantly decreased in poorly differentiated (versus moderately and well-differentiated), T2-T4 (versus T1), and bronchus-derived (versus bronchioloalveolar) tumours. Low levels of SBP1 protein (native form, 460) correlated significantly with poor survival (p = 0.007). The lack of SBP1 expression was not due to gene deletion. Treatment of A549 lung adenocarcinoma cells with the methylation inhibitor 5-azacytidine did not affect expression of the SBP1 protein. Analysis of the tumour proliferation status using Ki-67 suggests that down-regulated expression of SBP1 may reflect increased cell proliferation and decreased differentiation in lung adenocarcinomas.
Selective bias in educational mainstreaming of deaf, intellectually normal adolescents.

A comparison of 2 subgroups of 83 profoundly deaf adolescents with normal intelligence—those mainstreamed and those in schools for the deaf—determined ethnicity and socioeconomic class to be the most prominent determinants of mainstreamed status. Two boys, one from the white middle-class and one lower-class black child, closely matched for multiple behavioral qualities, are described clinically to illustrate the complex exigencies that face parents of handicapped children who must negotiate the educational system. The differences between middle-class and lower-class parents in their ability to cope with these exigencies are also described. The practical implications of the findings are discussed, particularly the need for an advocacy system.
Hospital costs and profitability related to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

On March 23, 2010, President Barack Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). This law was one of the most controversial and transforming pieces of legislation impacting health care delivery in recent history. The legislation was created in response to rising health care costs and the belief that, in part, cost shifting of indigent uninsured care to paying patients would reduce the overall costs of health care. The recent Supreme Court decision upholding the individual mandate portion of the law is expected to significantly reduce the number of uninsured. Using operational data from 212 hospitals in California, this study examines the anticipated impact on hospital costs, profitability, and some patient outcome benchmarks from the restructuring of health care delivery in the United States by the PPACA.
Psychological sources of ambiguity avoidance

Ambiguity is characterized as uncertainty about the probabilities with which outcomes can occur. Previous research has established that subjects, when given a choice between two options differing in their degree of ambiguity, tend to prefer the less ambiguous option, exhibiting ambiguity avoidance. The present paper addresses the psychological sources of this behavior. Five plausible hypotheses for the basis of ambiguity avoidance were extracted from the literature, along with a sixth proposal which questioned the deliberateness of the behavior. None of the hypotheses had previously been sufficiently examined empirically. In a series of five experiments, each of the proposed explanations of ambiguity avoidance was tested. Of the six, only one, termed “other-evaluation,” had an effect on subjects’ choice behavior in an ambiguous situation involving monetary lotteries. The other-evaluation hypothesis states that a decision maker, in making a choice, anticipates that others will evaluate his or her decision; and, so, makes the choice that is perceived to be most justifiable to others. This choice is for the option having the smallest degree of ambiguity. It is concluded that the other-evaluation hypothesis offers the most promising direction for future research regarding the psychology of choice under ambiguity. 0 1986 Academic press, Inc.
The generation of circulation and lift in a rigid two-dimensional fling

The instantaneous lift forces on a pair of rigid wings opening by rotation about a common trailing edge (the fling) are measured and related to the unsteady flow field as revealed by simultaneous flow visualization. The effect of altering the wing-opening time history and the initial opening angle of the wing pair on circulation and lift generation is investigated. Dimensionless circulations and lift coefficients are compared with experimental and theoretical results in the literature and the relevance of these results to insects and engineers is discussed.
Surface studies of contaminants generated during electropolishing

Electropolishing is now the preferred method for chemical treatment of niobium cavities. It provides a very smooth surface and, after baking, accelerating fields between 35-40 MV/m . However, the reproducibility of performance needs to be improved substantially. Some of the leading causes are related to contaminant residues after electropolishing, such as sulfur particles. We have carried out studies to enhance the deposition of such particles so that we can isolate and study the residues. We will present analysis of these studies using optical microscopy and SEM. In an attempt to dissolve these contaminants, we have also conducted studies on the effectiveness of various rinsing agents, such as degreasing agents and dilute HF.
Reproducibility of fMRI activations associated with auditory sentence comprehension.

Abstract The reproducibility of three different aspects of fMRI activations—namely binary activation maps, effect size and spatial distribution of local maxima—was evaluated for an auditory sentence comprehension task with high attention demand on a group of 17 subjects that were scanned on five different occasions. While in the scanner subjects were asked to listen to a series of six short everyday sentences from the CUNY sentence test. Comprehension and attention to the stimuli were monitored after each listen condition epoch by having subjects answer a series of multiple-choice questions. Statistical maps of activation for the listen condition were computed at three different levels: overall results for all imaging sessions, group-level/single-session results for each of the five imaging occasions, and single-subject/single-session results computed for each subject and each scanning occasion independently. The experimental task recruited a distributed bilateral network with processing nodes located in the lateral temporal cortex, inferior frontal cortex, medial BA6, medial occipital cortex and subcortical structures such as the putamen and the thalamus. Reproducibility of these activations at the group level was high (83.95% of the imaged volume was consistently classified as active/inactive across all five imaging sessions), indicating that sites of neuronal activity associated with auditory comprehension can reliably be detected with fMRI in healthy subjects, across repeated measures after group averaging. At the single-subject level reproducibility ranged from moderate to high, although no significant differences were found on behavioral measures across subjects or sessions. This result suggests that contextual differences—i.e., those specific to each imaging session, can modulate our ability to detect fMRI activations associated with speech comprehension in individual subjects.
A Comparison of HF-Based and Non-HF-Based Palynology Processing Techniques in Clay-Rich Lignites from the Claiborne Group, Upper Mississippi Embayment, United States

Organic and clay-rich lignite samples from the upper Mississippi Embayment, United States, are known from organic petrography to be extremely palynomorph-rich; however, they are notoriously difficult to process. This leads to difficulty in determining the biostratigraphic placement of individual deposits and in interpreting depositional environments. Six ‘standard’ and non-standard processing techniques for extracting palynomorphs from these samples are presented and the results of each methodology analyzed. Results of these experiments led to the development of a new, hydrofluoric-acid-free processing technique which is presented, along with subsequent refinements to this technique. Samples processed with the new technique, referred to as the ‘O'Keefe technique’, are extremely palynomorph-rich and contain biostratigraphically significant taxa. These taxa allow the deposit to be placed within the middle Eocene Claibornian Stage, and show that it is likely correlative with NP 15.
Mobile brain/body imaging (MoBI): High-density electrical mapping of inhibitory processes during walking

The present study investigated the feasibility of acquiring high-density event-related brain potential (ERP) recordings during treadmill walking in human subjects. The work builds upon recent studies testing the applicability of real-world tasks while obtaining electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings. Participants performed a response inhibition GO/NOGO task - designed to evoke a P3 component for correct response inhibitions and an error-related negativity (ERN) for incorrect commission errors - while speed of walking was experimentally manipulated. Robust P3 and ERN components were obtained under all experimental conditions - while participants were sitting, walking at moderate speed (2.4 km/hour), or walking rapidly (5 km/hour). Signal-to-noise ratios were remarkably similar across conditions, pointing to the feasibility of high-fidelity ERP recordings under relatively vigorous activity regimens. There is considerable research and clinical motivation to obtain high quality neurophysiological measures under more naturalistic environmental settings such as these. Strong links between cognitive load and gait abnormalities are seen in a number of clinical populations and these MoBI technologies provide highly promising methods for gaining insights into the underlying pathophysiology.
Strategies to recruit difficult-to-reach home health care nurses for research

Strategies to access a stratified random sample of New England home health care agencies and nurses are described. The combined strategies resulted in a sample of 123 home health care agencies and 2,459 home healthcare nurses from the six New England states. The results will inform researchers aiming to achieve data representativeness and clinicians critiquing the rigor of evidence.
Holographic protection of chronology in universes of the Godel type

We analyze the structure of supersymmetric G\"odel-like cosmological solutions of string theory. Just as the original four-dimensional G\"odel universe, these solutions represent rotating, topologically trivial cosmologies with a homogeneous metric and closed timelike curves. First we focus on the ``phenomenological'' aspects of holography, and identify the preferred holographic screens associated with inertial comoving observers in G\"odel universes. We find that holography can serve as a chronology protection agency: The closed timelike curves are either hidden behind the holographic screen, or broken by it into causal pieces. In fact, holography in G\"odel universes has many features in common with de Sitter space, suggesting that G\"odel universes could represent a supersymmetric laboratory for addressing the conceptual puzzles of de Sitter holography. Then we initiate the investigation of ``microscopic'' aspects of holography of G\"odel universes in string theory. We show that G\"odel universes are T dual to pp waves, and use this fact to generate new G\"odel-like solutions of string and M theory by T dualizing known supersymmetric pp-wave solutions.
An orange fluorescent protein tagging system for real-time pollen tracking

Monitoring gene flow could be important for future transgenic crops, such as those producing plant-made-pharmaceuticals (PMPs) in open field production. A Nicotiana hybrid (Nicotiana. tabacum × Nicotiana glauca) shows limited male fertility and could be used as a bioconfined PMP platform. Effective assessment of gene flow from these plants is augmented with methods that utilize fluorescent proteins for transgenic pollen identification. We report the generation of a pollen tagging system utilizing an orange fluorescent protein to monitor pollen flow and as a visual assessment of transgene zygosity of the parent plant. This system was created to generate a tagged Nicotiana hybrid that could be used for the incidence of gene flow. Nicotiana tabacum ‘TN 90’ and Nicotiana glauca were successfully transformed via Agrobacterium tumefaciens to express the orange fluorescent protein gene, tdTomato-ER, in pollen and a green fluorescent protein gene, mgfp5-er, was expressed in vegetative structures of the plant. Hybrids were created that utilized the fluorescent proteins as a research tool for monitoring pollen movement and gene flow. Manual greenhouse crosses were used to assess hybrid sexual compatibility with N. tabacum, resulting in seed formation from hybrid pollination in 2% of crosses, which yielded non-viable seed. Pollen transfer to the hybrid formed seed in 19% of crosses and 10 out of 12 viable progeny showed GFP expression. The orange fluorescent protein is visible when expressed in the pollen of N. glauca, N. tabacum, and the Nicotiana hybrid, although hybrid pollen did not appear as bright as the parent lines. The hybrid plants, which show limited ability to outcross, could provide bioconfinement with the benefit of detectable pollen using this system. Fluorescent protein-tagging could be a valuable tool for breeding and in vivo ecological monitoring.
Arthroscopic repair of the triangular fibrocartilage complex

To evaluate the efficacy of arthroscopic repair of the triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC), functional outcome was determined after arthroscopic repair of 22 wrists in 21 patients. Average follow-up was 36 months (range, 26 to 48 months) and the patients' average age was 30 years (range, 22 to 38 years). All patients had wrist pain limiting them from work or any sports. Twelve of the 14 patients with positive arthrograms had an avulsion of the TFCC from the sigmoid notch (Palmer type 1D tears). Of the 6 patients with negative arthrograms, 5 had peripheral tears (Palmer type 1B). Five patients had associated lunotriquetral ligament repairs and 7 had ulna shortening osteotomies. There was a significant relief of pain and increase in work and sports activities (P < .01). Postoperative range of motion averaged 86% +/- 9% of the contralateral side and grip strength averaged 82% +/- 20% of the contralateral side. There was a significant correlation between the delay from injury to surgical repair and the final total range of motion and grip strength. Follow-up studies in 15 patients found that the repairs were intact in 12. Arthroscopic repair results in significant relief of pain and an increase in the ability to perform at work or sports.
Synthetic Aperture Imaging Radar and Moving Targets

This paper considers the effects of slowly moving targets as they appear in the output of an airborne coherent side-looking synthetic aperture imaging radar. The image of a moving reflector is described, and two approaches to airborne moving target indication (AMTI) are summarized. It is shown that the effects of target movement are decreased as the radar scan rate is increased, and are increased as the (Doppler processed) compression ratio is increased.
Computer Utilization in Artemia Research

In addition to specific computer applications, several general applications of computers are available for persons performing research in any aspect of Artemia biology. A general description of each of these and Information regarding sources of further information are included below.
Stiffening hydrogels for investigating the dynamics of hepatic stellate cell mechanotransduction during myofibroblast activation

Tissue fibrosis contributes to nearly half of all deaths in the developed world and is characterized by progressive matrix stiffening. Despite this, nearly all in vitro disease models are mechanically static. Here, we used visible light-mediated stiffening hydrogels to investigate cell mechanotransduction in a disease-relevant system. Primary hepatic stellate cell-seeded hydrogels stiffened in situ at later time points (following a recovery phase post-isolation) displayed accelerated signaling kinetics of both early (Yes-associated protein/Transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif, YAP/TAZ) and late (alpha-smooth muscle actin, α-SMA) markers of myofibroblast differentiation, resulting in a time course similar to observed in vivo activation dynamics. We further validated this system by showing that α-SMA inhibition following substrate stiffening resulted in attenuated stellate cell activation, with reduced YAP/TAZ nuclear shuttling and traction force generation. Together, these data suggest that stiffening hydrogels may be more faithful models for studying myofibroblast activation than static substrates and could inform the development of disease therapeutics.