cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Role of Radiation Therapy and Botulinum Toxin Injections in the Management of Sialorrhea in Patients With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Systematic Review.

Objectives Half of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis experience sialorrhea due to facial weakness. Although anticholinergic medications are first-line therapy, they often lead to unacceptable side effects. Radiation therapy and botulinum toxin may be considered when medical management fails. In this systematic review, we investigated the effectiveness of these interventions. Methods Eligible studies were retrieved from PubMed and Scopus databases up to March 2017 along with hand-searching of references from primary articles. Results Fourteen studies (N = 138) examined the benefits of botulinum toxin. Studies varied in salivary glands treated, dosages used, and the use of botulinum toxin subtype A or B. A majority of studies showed benefit after treatment. Although most studies reported only mild adverse effects, 2 case studies revealed severe complications including recurrent TMJ dislocations and rapid deterioration in bulbar function. Ten studies (N = 171) examined the benefits of radiation. Most studies reported improvement with only mild adverse events reported. Conclusions Both radiation and botulinum toxin are effective treatments for sialorrhea in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and should be considered when medical management fails. Radiation may offer longer duration of symptom improvement with fewer complications.
Who Owns Language in Online Real-Time Interactions?

Research on epistemics in conversation has shown that various difficulties arise in conversation when there is no symmetry in knowledge, and how interlocutors navigate the asymmetries introduced by epistemic status and epistemic stance (cf. Heritage & Raymond, 2005). Yet, there is no empirical study which shows how these asymmetries are navigated between German native speakers (L1 speakers) and language learners (L2 speakers).The data presented in this paper entail examples where language learners of German are more knowledgeable (K+) about the target culture and native speakers are less knowledgeable (K-) about their own culture. It shows that there is an ongoing competition between L1 and L2 speakers, specifically between their status-based authority, which addresses what native speakers should know, given their status (Drew, 1991) and source-based authority, which deals with actual experience (Enfield, 2011).
Does Insurance Status Affect Access to Care Among Ankle Fracture Patients? An Institutional Retrospective Study

Abstract Delayed access to care for patients with ankle fractures may increase risk of complications, particularly if surgical management is warranted. Medicaid is a state and federal insurance program in place for those with low income, which has previously been associated with delayed access to care among patients with ACL tears and total hip arthroplasties. The purpose of this study is to assess whether patient insurance status affects access to care for ankle fracture patients, using data from a single institution. A retrospective cohort study (N = 311 patients)was performed on individuals that underwent open reduction and internal fixation for an ankle fracture between years 01/2008 and 12/2018. Patients with polytraumatic injuries, open injuries, Medicare, no insurance, indigent/charity insurance, self-pay, or whose insurance information was not available were excluded. Time from date of injury to date of surgery, injury to first visit, and first visit to surgery was compared between patients with private insurance and Medicaid. Average time from injury to first appointment was 1.2 days and 6.2 days for privately insured and Medicaid patients, respectively (p
Breast cancer abutting the pectoralis major muscle on breast MRI: what are the clinical implications?

Objectives:Defining the posterior extent of breast cancer prior to surgery has clinical implications. However, there are limited data available to guide the interpretation of breast cancers seen on...
Social Learning with Sparse Belief Samples

In this paper, we present a non-Bayesian model of learning over a social network where a group of agents with insufficient and heterogeneous sources of information share their experiences to learn an underlying state of the world. Inspired by a recent body of research in cognitive science on human decision making, we presume two behavioral assumptions. Motivated by the coarseness of communication, our first assumption posits that agents only share samples taken from their belief distribution over the set of states, to which we refer as their actions.This situation is to be contrasted with that of sharing the full belief, i.e. probability distribution over the entire set of states. The second assumption is limited cognitive power, based on which individuals incorporate their neighbors’ actions into their beliefs following a simple DeGroot-like social learning rule which suffers from redundancy neglect and imperfect recall of the past history. We show that so long as all the individuals trust their neighbors’ actions more than their private signals, they may end up mislearning the state with positive probability. Learning, on the other hand, requires that the population includes a group of self-confident experts in different states. This means that for each state, there is an agent whose signaling function for her state of expertise is distinguishable from the convex hull of the remaining signaling functions, and that her private signals sufficiently weigh in her social learning rule.
Characterizing the Symptoms of Patients with Persistent Post-Treatment Lyme Symptoms: A Survey of Patients at a Lyme Disease Clinic in Rhode Island.

Background 10-20% of individuals diagnosed with Lyme disease develop chronic symptoms after antibiotic treatment. Methods A convenience sample of adults with self- reported, persistent post-Lyme treatment symptoms seeking treatment at the Lifespan Lyme Disease Center in Rhode Island completed a demographic and medical survey, the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS)-29 v2.0, and other short-form PROMIS measures of cognitive function, sleep disturbance, and fatigue. Results Compared to average standardized scale scores (T=50; SD=10), participants had mild impairments in physical (T=41) and social (T=42) functioning, mild symptoms of depression (T=56), anxiety (T=60), and sleep disturbance (T=57), and moderate pain interference (T=62), and fatigue (T=65). Participants reported greater symptoms than some other clinical samples including those with cancer and chronic pain. Post-hoc analyses revealed that women reported higher levels of fatigue than men. Conclusions People with persistent post-Lyme treatment symptoms report debilitating symptoms and functional impairments which must be considered in clinical care.
Multiple exciton generation in isolated and interacting silicon nanocrystals

An important challenge in the field of renewable energy is the development of novel nanostructured solar cell devices which implement low-dimensional materials to overcome the limits of traditional photovoltaic systems. For optimal energy conversion in photovoltaic devices, one important requirement is that the full energy of the solar spectrum is effectively used. In this context, the possibility of exploiting features and functionalities induced by the reduced dimensionality of the nanocrystalline phase, in particular by the quantum confinement of the electronic density, can lead to a better use of the carrier excess energy and thus to an increment of the thermodynamic conversion efficiency of the system. Carrier multiplication, i.e. the generation of multiple electron–hole pairs after absorption of one single high-energy photon (with energy at least twice the energy gap of the system), can be exploited to maximize cell performance, promoting a net reduction of loss mechanisms. Over the past fifteen years, carrier multiplication has been recorded in a large variety of semiconductor nanocrystals and other nanostructures. Owing to the role of silicon in solar cell applications, the mission of this review is to summarize the progress in this fascinating research field considering carrier multiplication in Si-based low-dimensional systems, in particular Si nanocrystals, both from the experimental and theoretical point of view, with special attention given to the results obtained by ab initio calculations.
Medications as a potential source of exposure to parabens in the U.S. population

Harvard National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Center in Environmental Health (ES00002); National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (OH008578); National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (ES009718)
A high-accuracy and high-efficiency digital volume correlation method to characterize in-vivo optic nerve head biomechanics from optical coherence tomography

In-vivo optic nerve head (ONH) biomechanics characterization is emerging as a promising way to study eye physiology and pathology. We propose a high-accuracy and high-efficiency digital volume correlation (DVC) method for the purpose of characterizing the in-vivo ONH deformation from volumes acquired by optical coherence tomography (OCT). Using a combination of synthetic tests and analysis of OCTs from monkey ONHs subjected to acute and chronically elevated intraocular pressure, we demonstrate that our proposed methodology overcomes several challenges for conventional DVC methods. First, it accounts for large ONH rigid body motion in the OCT volumes which could otherwise lead to analysis failure; second, sub-voxel accuracy displacement can be guaranteed despite high noise and low image contrast of some OCT volumes; third, computational efficiency is greatly improved, such that the memory consumption of our method is substantially lower than with conventional methods; fourth, we introduce a parameter measuring displacements confidence. Test of image noise effects showed that the proposed DVC method had displacement errors smaller than 0.028 voxels with speckle noise and smaller than 0.037 voxels with Gaussian noise; The absolute (relative) strain errors in the three directions were lower than 0.0018 (4%) with speckle noise and than 0.0045 (8%) with Gaussian noise. Compared with conventional DVC methods, the proposed DVC method had substantially improved overall displacement and strain errors under large body motions (lower by up to 70%), with 75% lower computation times, while saving about 30% memory. The study thus demonstrates the potential of the proposed technique to investigate ONH biomechanics.
Post-Instability Behavior of Solids*

The necessity of model reformulation in elasticity results from the failure of hyperbolicity of the governing equations of motion for classical models. The reformulation is based upon the introduction of additional kinematical microstructures in the form of multivalued displacement and velocity field (or fractal functions) which are generated by the mechanism of the instability. The small scale motions describing this microstructure interact with the original large scale motion and restore the hyperbolicity of new governing equations of motion. The applications of the reformulated models to the problem of vibrational control and impact energy absorption are discussed.
Chapter 4 Minority-Carrier Transport in III–V Semiconductors

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on near-equilibrium transport with an emphasis on the influence of heavy impurity doping and radiative recombination and reabsorption. So-called off-equilibrium minority carrier transport is briefly examined. The chapter aims to relate minority-carrier physics to the performance of bipolar devices. Present equations for compositionally nonuniform semiconductors are developed. The focus is on low-field transport under near-equilibrium conditions. The effects of heavy impurity doping are reviewed and the present equations are reformulated in terms of the effective (or apparent) energy gap shrinkage, a parameter commonly used to characterize minority-carrier injection in heavily doped semiconductors. The chapter shows that for quasineutral, heavily doped regions, the effective energy-gap shrinkage is the only parameter needed to describe the effects of band structure perturbations on near-equilibrium, minority-carrier transport. In semiconductors such as GaAs, radiative recombination and reabsorption leads to a coupled flow of electrons and holes. The mathematical treatment of this coupled flow and its effect on devices is discussed. The chapter examines how heavy doping affects two important material parameters, the nope product and the minority carrier mobility. Theoretical treatments and experimental techniques to measure the parameters are then described. The influence of minority-carrier physics on the performance of bipolar devices is examined.
Protein Synthesis in Type 5 Adenovirus-Infected Cells. Effect of p-Fluorophenylalanine on Synthesis of Protein, Nucleic Acids, and Infectious Virus.

Abstract Synthesis of specific proteins in adenovirus-infected HeLa cells was studied utilizing the amino acid analog p -fluorophenylalanine. Virus multiplication and the production of specific soluble antigens could be completely suppressed by addition of this compound. Two distinct stages were revealed within the virus eclipse period when the presence of analog prevented virus synthesis. The first or early effect of p -fluorophenylalanine appeared to result from interference with production of functional enzymes necessary for synthesis of virus structural protein. An overall picture of the temporal relationships between DNA, protein, and virus synthesis was obtained by conducting inhibition studies in parallel employing 5-fluorodeoxyuridine, an inhibitor of thymidilate synthetase, as well as p -fluorophenylalanine. These studies revealed that virus DNA synthesis preceded the production of virus-specific protein by approximately 2 hours and the synthesis of mature infectious virus by about 4 hours.
Decoding data analytics capabilities from topic modeling on press releases

In their quest for data-driven insight, firms align their resources to produce information that is actionable. Moreover, the bundling and utilization of these valuable resources is what defines an organizational capability. Thus, in this paper we conceptualize a new type of capability - data analytics capabilities, DAC, as the ability to assemble, coordinate, mobilize, and deploy analytics-based resources with strategic purpose. Using text as data, we explore the use of probabilistic topic modeling on historical press releases, in an attempt to identify types of DAC from successful data analytics investments. Press and news releases frequently articulate a firm's resource allocation strategy, proving an opportunity to automatically classify these into topics that can suggest categorization of DAC. We explore 8-year historical press releases and apply Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic modeling to 273 press releases.
Identifying distinct thermal components of a creek

[1] Statistical and heat budget methods for analyzing temperature dynamics of creeks are limited by the ability to resolve thermal processes and fine-grained thermal structures, respectively. Here we describe a hybrid method that identifies distinct thermal components in a stream's heat budget using only temperature data and an algorithm that employs mutual information to “unmix” signals in the temperature data. Spatial resolution is limited only by the number of temperature-logging sensors, which can be quite high for distributed-temperature sensors. Process resolution is at the level of thermal components, defined as distinct collections of heat flux elements sharing coordinated (nonindependent) dynamics. Inference can be used to relate thermal components to meteorological forcing and structural heterogeneity in the fluvial system and to suggest novel hypotheses for further testing with targeted heat budget studies. Applying the method to a small, arid-land creek produced two novel hypotheses: (1) lateral conduction of heat from adjacent dry land (bed, terraces) appeared to cause a substantial heating of the stream, augmented by off-channel flow paths, and (2) riparian vegetation was associated with a subtraction of heat from the stream at a rate proportionate to solar insolation, exceeding the maximum decoupling effect of shade by at least 2°C at midday, and suggesting upwelling heat flux from water to tree canopy proportional to sunlight. The method appears useful for generating new hypotheses, for selecting informative sites for detailed heat budgets, for determining the dimensionality of heat budgets in natural streams, and more broadly for associating thermal components to fluvial structure and processes.
Was kann die Soziologie über Nichtwissen wissen? - Antwort auf Klaus Japp

In meinem Beitrag „Jenseits des Wissens?“ hatte ich unter verschiedenen Aspekten Zweifel daran formuliert, das der systemtheoretische Zugriff auf die Thematik des Nichtwissens fur differenzierte soziologische Analysen sonderlich anregend und aufschlusreich ist (Wehling 2001: 474ff.). Klaus Japp last in seiner Replik erkennen, das er darin weniger diskussionswurdige Einwande als vielmehr „Fehlverstandnisse“ sieht, die es auszuraumen gelte. Dennoch scheint er seinen eigenen Argumenten nicht so ganz zu trauen, denn am Ende greift er zu einer recht befremdlichen Hilfsthese. Danach ist die „verbreitete Neigung, systemtheoretischer Argumentation komplett zu widersprechen“, weniger durch inhaltliche Differenzen motiviert als vielmehr durch das Bedurfnis, sich beim mainstream der Soziologie anzubiedern, wobei die Systemtheorie – uberraschend genug – zum outsider stilisiert wird. Diese etwas schlichte „Wissenssoziologie“ hatte zweifellos eine eigene ausfuhrliche Antwort verdient. Aus Platzgrunden beschranke ich mich jedoch auf die inhaltlich strittigen Fragen und konzentriere mich zunachst auf den „Vorwurf“ des Realismus (1.) und die soziologisch relevanten Unterscheidungen von Nichtwissen (2.), um dann eine andere Interpretation des Beispiels BSE zu skizzieren (3.).
Open lobectomy simulator is an effective tool for teaching thoracic surgical skills.

Background Simulation has long been appreciated and used in professional industry training. The effectiveness of high-fidelity, low-cost simulators in such settings has led to its integration into surgical education for skill development. Simulation may possibly have a role in surgical specialty training. Methods Replicas of a human torso with a posterolateral thoracotomy incision were constructed from poultry netting and casting fiberglass, and used to house a previously prepared bovine lung. After reviewing computerized instructional material, student volunteers were asked to perform a lobectomy with the assistance of a thoracic surgeon, who also evaluated the subjects. Objective data were collected from knowledge-based examinations and technical skills evaluation scales. Statistical analysis was performed with the Student's t test. Results The initial success rate was 88.9% (16 of 18). Significant improvements were appreciated in both subjective and objective measures by the third week with weekly repetition. The average operative time was reduced to 34.8 ± 5 minutes from 48.5 ± 4.9 minutes ( p = 0.01). The average task-specific score was 7.8 ± 0.8 (versus 5.6 ± 2.1; p = 0.05), and students achieved an average global performance score of 28.6 ± 3.8 ( p = 0.01). Scores on knowledge-based examinations also significantly improved. Conclusions This open lobectomy simulation can be used to effectively teach thoracic surgery techniques. Our results prove the effectiveness of simulation training in thoracic surgery. Additional studies will determine whether simulation is effective for different training levels in thoracic surgery.
Dual Sites of Inhibition by Metyrapone of Human Adrenal Steroidogenesis: Correlation of in Vivo and and in Vitro Studies

In a patient with pituitary ACTH-dependent adrenal hyperplasia (AH), the standard oral metyrapone test resulted in a decrease in "apparent 11beta-hydroxylase activity" (-48%) accompanied by an increase in "apparent cholesterol cleavage activity" (+318%). When incubated adrenal mitochondria from this patient were studied, metyrapone inhibited both 11beta-hydroxylation of labeled 11-deoxycorticosterone and cleavage of labeled cholesterol, although at 0.1 and 1.0 mM metyrapone concentrations, depression of cholesterol cleavage (23 and 54%, respectively) was less than that of 11beta-hydroxylation (62 and 84%, respectively). The inhibition of cholesterol cleavage by metyrapone (26 and 62%, at 0.1 and 1.0 mM concentrations, respectively) was also demonstrable in adrenal mitochondria from a patient with hypercorticism resulting from an ACTH-independent adrenal adenoman (AA). Metyrapone administration to AA resulted in a significant depression of both 11beta-hydroxylase (-62%) and cholesterol cleavage (-36%) "apparent activities"; when metyrapone and ACTH were given together to this patient, however, only 11beta-hydroxylase "apparent activity" diminished (-26%), while cholesterol cleavage "apparent activity" was greatly augmented (+231%), thereby simulating the results of the standard metyrapone test in AH. These data demonstrate that metyrapone inhibits both mitochondrial reactions involved in cortisol synthesis--initial cholesterol cleavage and final 11beta-hydroxylation; these effects probably result from interference by this agent with the interaction between substrate and related cytochrome P - 450. Since ACTH has a major stimulatory effect on cholesterol cleavage but not on 11beta-hydroxylation, the outcome of metyrapone administration is thus determined by whether a change in ACTH level ensues: while 11beta-hydroxylation is inhibited by metyrapone under any circumstances, total steroid output rises when a compensatory ACTH increase overcomes metyrapone inhibition of cholesterol conversion into pregnenolone and falls when metyrapone inhibition of this reaction is unopposed.
Dementia Friendly, Dementia Capable, and Dementia Positive: Concepts to Prepare for the Future

With an aging global population, the number of dementia cases is growing exponentially. To address the upcoming dementia crisis, the World Health Organization and Alzheimer’s Disease International (2012) collaborated on an extensive report, Dementia: A Public Health Priority. In the United Kingdom, Prime Minster David Cameron initiated a national challenge on dementia, forming 3 dementia challenge champion groups aimed at improving health and care, creating dementia-friendly communities, and promoting dementia research. In the U.S., President Obama signed the National Alzheimer’s Project Act, which led to the formation of the Advisory Council on Alzheimer’s Research, Care, and Services and the launch of the first National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease. The term “dementia capable” was introduced in the 2012 Recommendations of the Public Members of the Advisory Council and has since been adopted in both the recommendations and annual updates of the national plan. This paper will first compare and contrast government usage of the concepts dementia friendly and dementia capable, along with another valuable concept, dementia positive, that was added after reviewing the literature. Finally, a new vision statement for the U.S.’ national plan will be proposed and recommendations incorporating these 3 concepts in policy, research, and practice will be made.
Radiation therapy and Corynebacterium parvum in the treatment of murine tumors.

The relative effectiveness of local irradiation alone or combined with Corynebacterium parvum (C parvum) treatment has been investigated employing four tumors: a mammary carcinoma (MCa) (nonimmunogenic), a fibrosarcoma (moderately strongly immunogenic), and two squamous cell carcinomas (SCC-2 being weakly and SCC-4 being very weakly or nonimmunogenic). C parvum treatment was started when the isotransplanted tumor growing in the mouse leg was 5 mm in diameter and the local irradiation was administered to 8-mm diameter tumor. Effect of the combined treatment was barely evident with the MCa but strongly present in FSa; up to 60% of mice were cured of FSa by C parvum alone and the response to low radiation dose, e.g., 200 rads, was highly increased. For SCC-2 the TCD50 was approximately 7000 rads and 3000 rads in control and test mice, respectively. Comparable values for SCC-4 were 7700 and approximately 5500 rads. Importantly, for SCC-4 there was a large and highly significant reduction in the proportion of mice that died of metastases to lung but were free of evident tumor at the primary site.
A method for the real-time rendering of formless dot field structure-from-motion stimuli

The perception of visual motion relies on different computations and different neural substrates than the perception of static form. It is therefore useful to have psychophysical stimuli that carry mostly or entirely motion information, conveying little or nothing about form in any single frame. Structure-from-motion stimuli can sometimes achieve this dissociation, with some examples in studies of biological motion using point-light walkers. It is, however, generally not trivial to provide motion information without also providing static form information. The problem becomes more computationally difficult when the structures and the motions in question are complex. Here we present a technique by which an animated three-dimensional scene can be rendered in real-time as a pattern of dots. Each dot follows the trajectory of the underlying object in the animation, but each static frame of the animation appears to be a uniform random field of dots. The resulting stimuli capture motion vectors across arbitrary complex scenes, while providing virtually no instantaneous information about the structure of that scene. We also present the results of a psychophysical experiment demonstrating the efficacy and the limitations of the technique. The ability to create such stimuli on the fly allows for interactive adjustment and control of the stimuli, real-time parametric variations of structure and motion, and the creation of large libraries of actions without the need to pre-render a prohibitive number of movies. This technique provides a powerful tool for the dissociation of complex motion from static form.
FC16-06 - Understanding pathways to therapeutic change through changes in self-representation in the treatment of adolescents and young adults

Introduction Processes that lead to normal development of the representations of self and others are also central to understanding processes of therapeutic change. These processes primarily manifest themselves through the dialectical interpersonal exchanges of gratification and frustration, of disruptions and repair that are central to the development of the self. Objectives To evaluate the contribution of different attributes of interpersonal relationships to the development of the self and patients’ well-being during the course of psychotherapy of adolescents and young adults. Aims To map the different paths to positive therapeutic gains in psychotherapy. Methods 36 adolescents and young adults were evaluated during the course of 12-month intensive psychodynamic psychotherapy. Main outcome measures were changes in the Differentiation-Relatedness scores of mother, father, significant other, self and therapist and GAF scores. Results We found that changes in the level of differentiation-relatedness in patients’ self-representation were primarily associated with changes in the level of differentiation-relatedness of their description of their therapist. A best-fit model indicated that beyond change in the patient's description of the therapist and of a self-designated significant other outside the family added significantly to the explained variance predicting change in self-representation. Exploratory structural equation modeling also suggested that patients’ growing recognition of the therapeutic relationship (measured by a more matured representation of the therapist) is associated with the patients’ overall level of clinical functioning. Conclusions These results add further support to the importance of the therapeutic relationship in building more differentiated and integrated representations of self and of significant others.
The stimulation of microsomal azoreduction by flavins

The reduction of the azo dye, amaranth, by rat liver microsomes is inhibited about 90% by carbon monoxide, suggesting that the reaction largely depends on cytochrome P-450. Reducing equivalents for this reaction are supplied by NADPH. This reaction is stimulated by riboflavin, FMN and FAD, as well as by methylviologen. A large fraction of the stimulated reaction is not blocked by CO, indicating that there is a pathway of electron transfer which is independent of cytochrome P-450. Rat liver microsomes can reduce FAD, with reducing equivalents supplied by NADPH. The FADH2 thus produced is quickly oxidized by amaranth so that two FADH2 are oxidized for every amaranth reduced. The same stoichiometry is observed with photochemically prepared FADH2, formed in the absence of microsomes.
Economic change and mental hospitalization: New York State, 1910–1960

This is a study of the relationship between variations, over time, in mental hospital admissions, and concommitant variations in economic conditions. The research hypothesis is that during economically depressed periods mental hospital admissions increase and during economically prosperous periods they decrease. Theoretically, it is a study of a relationship between changes over time in the structure of the economy and changes in the distribution of mental illness in a population.
Sequence stratigraphy and orbital cyclostratigraphy of the Mooreville Chalk (Santonian–Campanian), northeastern Gulf of Mexico area, USA

Abstract Cycles from the depositional sequence level to decimeter-scale rhythmic alteration of chalk and marl beds in the Mooreville Chalk (Santonian–Campanian) in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico area are studied employing an integrated biostratigraphic, cyclostratigraphic, and sequence stratigraphic approach. Two dominant frequencies, identified from the natural gamma-ray log from the Alabama Power Selma Site Test well, site 3 hole 3, are attributed to two of the Milankovitch cycles, the long eccentricity (413 ka) and eccentricity (100 ka) cycles. Parasequences, the building blocks of systems tracts, appear to be modulated by long eccentricity cycles. Individual eccentricity cycles were counted to establish a high-resolution orbital chronology, which agrees with established biostratigraphic chronology. A high-resolution record of temporal changes in sedimentation rate is established on the basis of cyclostratigraphic chronology. Two condensed sections are identified. The lower condensed section is found to correspond to a downlap surface recognized in seismic data in the offshore Alabama and Mississippi area. This condensed section and downlap surface are interpreted to represent the maximum flooding event of a third-order depositional sequence. The maximum flooding event is also represented by a marine flooding surface in eastern Mississippi and by the Mooreville tongue in eastern Alabama. The upper condensed section is found to correspond to a faunal abundance peak recognized in data from outcrop studies, and is interpreted to represent the maximum bathometric surface that was achieved as a result of a condition of rising sea level in association with low sediment input during the deposition of the early highstand systems tract.
Developmental Toxicology Assessment of 1-Octanol, 1-Nonanol, and 1-Decanol Administered by Inhalation to Rats:

As part of a large study evaluating the developmental toxicology of industrial alcohols administered by inhalation, groups of approximately 15 pregnant female Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed for 7 h/day on gestation days 1-19 (sperm = 0) to one of three long-chain alcohols at the maximum concentrations that could be generated as a vapor. These concentrations were 400 mg/m3 1-octanol, 150 mg/m3 1-nonanol, and 100 mg/m3 1-decanol. Dams were weighed daily for the first week of exposure, and weekly thereafter. On gestation day 20, rats were sacrificed. Fetuses were serially removed, blotted dry, examined for external malformations, sexed, weighed, placed in appropriate fixatives, and subsequently examined for visceral or skeletal abnormalities. No treatment-related effects were observed in pregnant females, frequency of resorptions, fetal weights, or skeletal/visceral malformations. Thus, long-chain alcohols at these vapor concentrations appear not to be toxic as evidenced by these fetal and maternal parameters.
Impact of activity and arousal upon spectral EEG parameters.

Objective: Increased high-frequency EEG activity in patients with insomnia has been posited to reflect increased physiological activity, increased mental content, or increased muscle artifact. In the current study, the impact of physiological arousal and increased EMG upon spectral EEG measures was examined. Methods: Thirteen normal young adults performed eyes-open and eyes-closed maneuvers in the following conditions: (1) Initial (performed immediately after calibrations); (2) following sitting up and lying down (SIT); (3) following standing up and lying down (STAND); (4) Following a 5-min walk around the building (WALK); (5) during a 5-min mental subtraction task (MATH); (6) During 1 min of gritting teeth (GRIT); and (7) During 1 min of clenching fists (CLENCH). Observations were performed during or immediately after manipulations (AROUSED) and repeated about 10 min later (RELAXED). Results: Significant increases in high-frequency spectral power were found in AROUSED vs. RELAXED conditions (significant at 26, 33, 36,40–42, 44, 46, and 48–49 Hz). Larger significant increases in spectral power were seen in the GRIT condition in the range from 24 to 50 Hz and to a lesser extent in the CLENCH condition. Spectral activity during the MATH condition was similar to that in the AROUSED condition. Heart rate was significantly increased during the GRIT and CLENCH conditions. Conclusions: In this study, gritting teeth produced large changes in spectral high-frequency power in the same range as produced by the other manipulations. The most parsimonious explanation for such data is that the increased high-frequency activity associated with various forms of arousal is not a specific cortical activity. However, because heart rate was also elevated during the GRIT condition, it implies that high-frequency spectral EEG power may still be a sign of increased central nervous system arousal, although the mechanism may be through increased muscle tension.
Out-of-plane dispersion in an Offner spectrometer

In an Offner spectrometer, unlike other spectrometers, the dispersion need not be in the plane of the instrument (defined as the plane that includes the mirror vertices and the center of the entrance slit). If the entrance slit is short, better performance can be obtained when the dispersion is perpendicular to this plane. The reasons for this are briefly discussed, and design examples given.
Adaptive leading-edge detection in UWB indoor localization

Ultra wideband (UWB) localization systems have gained widespread use in indoor environments. Certain applications such as surgical navigation require high 3-D accuracy on the order of 1−2 mm. An adaptive leading-edge detection algorithm is proposed to obtain high 1-D ranging accuracy even in dense multipath conditions. This provides a robust sensing platform at the UWB base station for high accuracy detection of UWB signals even with low signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) and non-line-of-sight (NLOS) conditions. The adaptive algorithm which includes a matched filter (MF) and first detect is outlined as well as comprehensive simulation results of the algorithm combined with the UWB localization system in realistic indoor environments.
Comparison of Environmental Responsibility of Construction Management Students Based on Exposure to Sustainability in Curricula and on Campus

Universities around the world are focusing more on sustainability, not only in their academic education but also in the overall administration of their campuses. Sustainability is becoming more important for both students and the employers hiring them upon graduation. Specifically in programs such as architecture, engineering, and construction management (CM), the focus on environmental responsibility is increasing faster due to increased regulations, codes of ethics, and increasing opportunities for practicing green building knowledge upon graduation. While the efforts both at the curriculum level and at the whole campus level to promote sustainability have been increasing, it is not yet fully determined how effective these approaches are in advancing the environmental responsibility of students. This study presents the results of a survey to measure the environmental responsibility of subjects from three different groups of students studying CM at two different universities with different records of sus...
Regulation of arginine and ornithine metabolism at the enzymic level in rat liver and kidney

Abstract The effects on the activities of the enzymes which metabolize ornithine and arginine in liver and kidney have been studied by feeding rats diets containing 8% ornithine, arginine, or proline and 10 or 20% casein. In liver the enzymes studied were arginase, ornithine transcarbamylase, argininosuccinic acid lyase, and ornithine-δ-transaminase. The ratios of their activities were 3000:414::10:1, respectively. In kidney the enzymes studied were arginase, ornithine-δ-transaminase, and arginine-glycine transamidinase. The ratios of their activities were 24:2::7:1.0. Several of these enzymes were inducible to higher activities by feeding diets with the added amino acids. Of these, the most sensitive to substrate induction was liver ornithine-δ-transaminase. This enzyme, which had the lowest specific activity of those studied, showed an increase in specific activity of 250.6% when ornithine was added to the 20% casein diet. Arginine and proline were somewhat less effective as inducers. This difference in inducing ability was further accentuated by the 10% casein diet. This indicated that ornithine is probably the primary inducer of liver ornithine-δ-transaminase, and that arginine and proline probably act by conversion to ornithine. Kidney ornithine-δ-transaminase was also inducible, but to a lesser extent (28.7%) and only by ornithine added to the 20% casein diet. Liver ornithine transcarbamylase was induced maximally by ornithine on the 20% casein diet. The induction of this enzyme was relatively much less (31.2%) than that of liver ornithine-δ-transaminase, but in absolute amounts its change in activity was 50 times greater than the change in liver ornithine-δ-transaminase. On the 10% protein diet, arginine produced an inhibition of growth and a decrease in liver weight. This was accompanied by a 37.7% depression in the activity of liver arginase and a 23.5% depression in the activity of liver ornithine transcarbamylase, changes which probably reflect a general inhibition of protein synthesis.
A Brief Assessment of Learning for Orphaned and Abandoned Children in Low and Middle Income Countries

Assessment of children’s learning and performance in low and middle income countries has been critiqued as lacking a gold standard, an appropriate norm reference group, and demonstrated applicability of assessment tasks to the context. This study was designed to examine the performance of three nonverbal and one adapted verbal measure of children’s problem solving, memory, motivation, and attention across five culturally diverse sites. The goal was to evaluate the tests as indicators of individual differences affected by life events and care circumstances for vulnerable children. We conclude that the measures can be successfully employed with fidelity in non-standard settings in LMICs, and are associated with child age and educational experience across the settings. The tests can be useful in evaluating variability in vulnerable child outcomes.
Truncated p95erbB2Isoforms Are Capable of Transforming Human Mammary Epithelial Cells.

Background:Objective clinical response to trastuzumab monotherapy in erbB2-amplified first line metastatic breast cancer is 34% (Vogel, et al., JCO 20: 719-26, 2002). Amongst patients who respond, most develop resistance (defined by disease progression on trastuzumab). One proposed mechanism of trastuzumab resistance is proteolytic cleavage of erbB2 receptor from its full-length (p185) form into truncated, constitutively active p95. Increased expression of p95 erbB2 correlates with increased nodal involvement and poor clinical outcome. Because p95 erbB2 lacks the trastuzumab binding epitope, expression may designate patients who would be suitable for treatment with erbB2 kinase inhibitors.Materials and Methods:Recombinant p185 erbB2 and p95 erbB2 constructs were stably expressed in several cell types via retroviral vector. Additionally, an intracellular form of p95 erbB2 that arises via alternative translation and an intracellular p95 erbB2 construct containing two copies of a nuclear localization sequence were also expressed. Expression and proper subcellular localization of constructs were confirmed by cell fractionation, western blot analysis and confocal microscopy. Transformation of human mammary epithelial (HMEC) and NIH3T3 cells by p185 erbB2 and p95 erbB2 isoforms was evaluated by anchorage independent growth using a quantitative fluorescent soft agar assay, and effects on migration and invasion of these cells were investigated by wound-healing and transwell assays. Cells transfected with oncogenic Ras or empty vector were used as positive and negative controls in these experiments.Results and Discussion:Recombinant p185 erbB2 and p95 erbB2 constructs were stably expressed in HMEC and NIH3T3 cells, and were correctly directed to the cell membrane; nuclear targeted intracellular p95 erbB2 was correctly localized to the cell nucleus. Both p185 erbB2 and membrane-bound truncated p95 erbB2 were sufficient to transform HMEC cells as compared to empty vector control transfected cells [mean fluorescence intensity empty vector control 2480 ± 464 (1 standard deviation); mean fluorescence intensity p185 erbB2 9208 ± 2528, p= 0.0106; mean fluorescence intensity p95 erbB2 6615 ± 1588, p= 0.0124)] as was the positive control oncogenic Ras (mean fluorescence intensity 4350 ± 433, p=0.0069). Interestingly, nuclear-targeted p95 erbB2 was also sufficient to transform HMEC cells (mean fluorescence intensity 6492 ± 818, p=0.0018). These data support the hypothesis that truncated p95 erbB2 species may be major pathogenic drivers in erbB2-amplified cancers. P95 erbB2 therefore represents an attractive target for diagnosis and treatment of erbB2+ breast cancer. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(24 Suppl):Abstract nr 3136.
Predicting the Ap index from past behavior and solar wind velocity

Abstract The Ap index is a daily measure of magnetic activity. It is the only global magnetic index forecast by government agencies. It is used by many organizations to plan activities dependent on the state of the Earth's magnetic field. The forecasts are not particularly accurate accounting for only 29% of Ap variance. Forecasters use properties of Ap and events on the Sun to predict the next day's Ap. These include persistence, 27-day recurrence, semiannual variation, and solar cycle modulation. Events on the Sun include solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and coronal holes. Here we describe a technique of linear prediction filtering that equals or betters human forecasters. We consider sequentially an autoregressive (AR) model for all data, a seasonally dependent AR model, a cycle dependent AR model, and a joint season-cycle dependent AR model. We then consider two autoregressive moving average (ARMA) models with solar wind velocity as input. The first model is time invariant while the second depends on season and solar cycle. The simplest AR model does as well as human forecasters while the time-varying AR model bests them by I 1 %. The ARMA models are better still predicting up to 57% of the Ap variance. Unfortunately the ARMA models are not causal, today's average solar wind velocity is required to predict today's Ap. The form of the moving average filter that links solar wind velocity to Ap is a derivative operator implying that it is a change in velocity that is predictive of future magnetic activity. We speculate that the predictive power of solar wind velocity arises from stream interactions that produce intervals of southward interplanetary magnetic field. Our simple autoregressive filter methods could be implemented in real time with existing data streams and should do as well as, or better than, human forecasters. It is reasonable to hope that remote sensing of the solar wind velocity a day in advance can be accomplished. This would significantly improve our ability to predict daily averages of magnetic activity.
The biological role of the medial olivocochlear efferents in hearing: separating evolved function from exaptation.

Cochlear outer hair cells (OHCs) are remarkable, mechanically-active receptors that determine the exquisite sensitivity and frequency selectivity characteristic of the mammalian auditory system. While there are three to four times as many OHCs compared with inner hair cells, OHCs lack a significant afferent innervation and, instead, receive a rich efferent innervation from medial olivocochlear (MOC) efferent neurons. Activation of the MOC has been shown to exert a considerable suppressive effect over OHC activity. The precise function of these efferent tracts in auditory behavior, however, is the matter of considerable debate. The most frequent functions assigned to the MOC tracts are to protect the cochlea from traumatic damage associated with intense sound and to aid the detection of signals in noise. While considerable evidence shows that interruption of MOC activity exacerbates damage due to high-level sound exposure, the well characterized MOC physiology and evolutionary studies do not support such a role. Instead, a MOC protective effect is well explained as being a byproduct of the suppressive nature of MOC action on OHC mechanical behavior. A role in the enhancement of signals in noise backgrounds, on the other hand, is well supported by (1) an extensive physiological literature (2) examination of naturally 0ccuring environmental acoustic conditions (3) recent data from multiple laboratories showing that the MOC plays a significant role in auditory selective attention by suppressing the response to unattended or ignored stimuli. This presentation will argue that, based on the extant literature combining the suppression of background noise through MOC-mediated rapid adaptation with the suppression of non-attended signals, in concert with the corticofugal pathways descending from the auditory cortex, the MOC system has one evolved function – to increase the signal-to-noise ratio, aiding in the detection of target signals. By contrast, the MOC system r
Physical Condition of Larval Shad during Spring-Summer in a Southwestern Reservoir

Abstract Abundance of larval shad Dorosoma spp. declined abruptly in June 1981 and May 1982 in Lake Texoma (Oklahoma-Texas) after zooplankton density declined in the water column, and starvation of larvae was a possible cause. Specimens from weekly Tucker-trawl samples taken during spring and summer of 1982 were examined histologically. Comparisons with previously demonstrated histological criteria were used to estimate starvation. Numerical grades were then assigned to tissues based upon the degree of cellular atrophy and deterioration. The tissues examined included cartilage, midgut, liver, pancreas, muscle, and notochord. Shad midgut and organs of digestion showed evidence of poor condition during the period of low zooplankton abundance. These results support the hypothesis that starvation was a factor in the abrupt decline in larval shad abundance in June 1982.