cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Impact of Coping and Communication Skills Program on Physician Burnout, Quality of Life, and Emotional Flooding.

Abstract Background Physician behaviors that undermine a culture of safety have gained increasing attention as health-care organizations strive to create a culture of safety and reduce medical errors. We developed, implemented, and assessed a course to teach physicians skills regarding effective coping and interpersonal communication skills and present our results regarding outcomes. Methods We examined a professional development program specifically designed to address unprofessional or distressed behaviors of physicians, and we evaluated the impact on burnout, quality of life, and emotional flooding scores of the physicians. Assessments of burnout, quality of life, and emotional flooding were assessed preintervention and postintervention. Results Results demonstrated statistically significant reductions over time in physicians' emotional flooding and emotional exhaustion (EE). Specifically, using a Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test, results revealed that flooding scores at follow-up were statistically significantly lower than at baseline, V = 590, p p p Conclusion We conclude that the physician participants who enrolled in the educational skills training program improved scores on emotional flooding and EE and that this may be indicative of improved skills related to their experiences and learning in the program. These improved skills in physicians may have a positive impact on the overall culture of safety in the health system setting.
Multiple Primary Malignant Neoplasms of Different Tissues or Organs

When the inquiring physician encounters a patient with multiple malignant neoplasms of two or more different tissues of origin he will frequently succumb to the urge of speculation. He must wonder if serendipity has offered him in this patient the key to common etiologic influences inciting the two neoplasms, or perhaps to common factors of predisposition shared by the organs or tissues giving rise to these neoplasms. If the patient has received some form of therapy for an initial neoplasm, the physician may well question the possible role the therapeutic procedure might have had in inducing the subsequent neoplasm. Perhaps patients with two distinct types of cancer may show more distinct hereditary patterns than have been demonstrable to date in patients with single cancers. When one is studying a group of patients with multiple primary cancers, the urge to such speculation becomes almost irresistible.
Analog Measurement Basics

The preceding chapters of this book have confined the discussion to digital circuits and test subjects. Most electronic engineers are experts in digital technology but many will admit that their familiarity falls off quickly when the discussion turns to analog topics, particularly analog testing. Before getting into IEEE 1149.4 Analog Boundary-Scan, it will be important to lay a foundation for basic analog measurements used today in In-Circuit testers. While 1149.4 does have significant differences over classical In-Circuit test, there are a lot of similarities. Knowing where we came from will also help motivate where we are now going.
Proliferation and Differentiation of Gastrointestinal Cells in Health and Disease

A comprehensive analysis of the structure and function of the gastrointestinal mucosa, bringing together various disciplines that include histology, cytochemistry, electron microscopy, and cell kinetics, has aided our present understanding of this tissue in normal and disease states. Related studies in other disciplines have broadened the scope of research currently under way.
Cogent: A Generic Dialogue System Shell Based on a Collaborative Problem Solving Model

The bulk of current research in dialogue systems is focused on fairly simple task models, primarily state-based. Progress on developing dialogue systems for more complex tasks has been limited by the lack generic toolkits to build from. In this paper we report on our development from the ground up of a new dialogue model based on collaborative problem solving. We implemented the model in a dialogue system shell (Cogent) that al-lows developers to plug in problem-solving agents to create dialogue systems in new domains. The Cogent shell has now been used by several independent teams of researchers to develop dialogue systems in different domains, with varied lexicons and interaction style, each with their own problem-solving back-end. We believe this to be the first practical demonstration of the feasibility of a CPS-based dialogue system shell.
HIGH SENSITIVITY CARDIAC TROPONIN I ELEVATION WITH EXERCISE PREDICTS MAJOR CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE EVENTS IN CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE PATIENTS

High sensitive cardiac troponin I (hs-cTnI) is a marker of myocardial necrosis in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) which increases with exercise stress testing in patients with ischemia. We hypothesized that an increase of hs-cTnI with exercise would predict adverse cardiac events
Molecular and isotopic composition of modern soils derived from kerogen-rich bedrock and implications for the global C cycle

Ancient sedimentary organic matter (kerogen) represents the largest terrestrial organic carbon (OC) reservoir on earth and is vulnerable to remineralization upon exposure to earth’s atmosphere during the oxidative weathering of sedimentary rocks on the continents. Due to the potential for large carbon-cycle implications, the mechanisms and rates involved in kerogen transformation by oxidative weathering are becoming increasingly well-constrained in contemporary models of the global carbon cycle. Past field studies have focused primarily on areas where high erosion rates deliver large amounts of kerogen to earth’s surface, making the relative importance of low-lying landscapes a key unknown in regional or global scale estimates of kerogen recycling. The weathered residuum of organic-rich sedimentary rocks serves as the parent material for many soils. Therefore, some aspects of the chemical structure and biogeochemical cycling of the soil organic matter are likely to be inherited from the bedrock. We used a combination of solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and carbon isotope techniques to describe molecular and isotopic changes that occur throughout oxidative weathering of marine kerogens, and the subsequent formation of modern soils, in two outcropping Cretaceous mudstones of the Eagle Ford and Pepper Formations in central, Texas. Increasing production of oxygenated functional groups was coupled with reductions in characteristically abundant aliphatic components of marine kerogens along the weathering profiles. Organic matter structural parameters, derived from C–H dephasing NMR experiments, also provide the basis for a novel weathering index that accounts for the degree of post-sedimentary alteration of kerogen samples along the bedrock-soil continuum. An uncertain future marked by climatic shifts in temperature and/or precipitation and increased continental weathering and denudation rates highlights the potential for enhanced vulnerability of kerogen, and the need for molecular and isotopic tools for quantifying mechanisms and rates involved in kerogen weathering.
Gemcitabine and bendamustine is a safe and effective salvage regimen for patients with recurrent/refractory Hodgkin lymphoma: Results of a phase 1/2 study.

Background Both gemcitabine and bendamustine have been evaluated in patients with recurrent/refractory Hodgkin lymphoma but to the authors' knowledge not as a doublet. The authors completed a phase 1/2 trial to identify the optimal dose and frequency of administration and to assess the efficacy of this combination in patients with recurrent/refractory Hodgkin lymphoma. Methods Patients were treated up to a maximum dose of gemcitabine (1000 mg/m2 on day 1) and bendamustine (120 mg/m2 on days 1 and 2), which was determined to be the recommended phase 2 dose, administered every 21 days for up to 6 cycles. Patients could discontinue study therapy after 2 cycles to proceed with autologous or allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Results No dose-limiting toxicities were identified, but 4 patients experienced grade 3 to 5 pulmonary adverse events (toxicity was graded according to Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events [version 4]). A total of 26 patients were enrolled having completed a median of 4 prior lines of therapy (range, 1-7 lines), including 13 patients at the recommended phase 2 dose, in whom the overall response rate was 69% and the complete response rate was 46%. The median progression-free survival for the phase 2 patients was 11 months (95% CI, 3 months to not reached), and the median overall survival for this group had not been reached at the time of last follow-up (95% CI, 4 months to not reached). Conclusions This doublet was found to be tolerable and effective, but patients must be monitored closely for pulmonary toxicity. The authors currently are evaluating this doublet in combination with nivolumab.
Masquelet Technique for Chest Wall Reconstruction: A Case Report.

Case A 33-year-old man with recurrent intrathoracic scapular dislocation due to previous trauma-related chest wall resection successfully underwent the 2-stage induced membrane technique commonly known as the Masquelet technique; this procedure effectively created 2 new ribs that resolved his symptoms. Conclusions Techniques for chest wall reconstruction for bone loss are quite limited, and these often consist of filling defects with a layered patch; this often cannot withstand the cyclical respiratory motion. Use of the induced membrane technique appears to carry potential when used in the chest wall, and this report describes a technique by which this procedure can be reliably performed.
Identification of PD1-mediated regulation of antitumor antigen response in patients with NSCLC using the trans vivo DTH assay

Objectives Emerging evidence has shown a role for tumor antigen-specific regulation in cancer. Identifying individuals with pre-existing regulatory responses may be key to understand those who are more likely to respond to Programmed Death-1 (PD-1) or PD-1 Ligand 1 (PD-L1) checkpoint blockade. We hypothesized that a functional assay could identify the role of PD-1/PD-L1 interactions on tumor-specific immune cells in the peripheral blood in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods We performed the trans vivo delayed-type hypersensitivity assay to identify the role of PD-1/PD-L1-mediated tumor-specific immune regulation in ten patients with advanced NSCLC. Results The majority of patients had PD-1-mediated anergic immune responses towards their tumor antigens. Eight out of nine of these patients did not respond to their own tumor antigens but responded in the presence of anti-PD-1 antibody (‘PD-1 anergy’ phenotype). A minority (3/9) also had ‘active’ PD-1-mediated immune suppressive regulatory responses. Our results suggest that PD-1-anergy is a common feature of NSCLC immune responses, whereas PD-1-mediated immune suppression is present only in a minority of patients. The latter was associated with poor clinical outcomes in our sample. Conclusions Overall, our results indicate that bystander suppression or the ‘anergy-only’ phenomenon may be novel biomarkers in NSCLC and suggest prediction value based on these phenotypes.
Stability of the merger-to-monopoly and a core concept for partition function games

This paper is concerned with an old question: Will oligopolistic firms have incentives to merge to monopoly and will the monopoly, if the firms indeed merge, be stable? To answer this question, I motivate and introduce a new core concept for a general partition function game and prove stability of the merger-to-monopoly by applying the new core concept, labelled the strong-core, to Cournot oligopoly modelled as a partition function game. The paper shows that the Cournot oligopoly with any finite number of homogeneous firms without capacity constraints admits a non-empty strong-core and so does the Cournot oligopoly of not necessarily homogeneous firms with capacity constraints that are equal to their “historical” outputs. These results imply that oligopolistic firms will have incentives to merge to monopoly both in the long- and short-run and if the firms indeed merge to monopoly, the merger-to-monopoly will be stable.
Firm-advisor ties and financial performance in the context of corporate divestiture

Abstract The important role financial advisors play in corporate divestiture is widely recognized. However, their influence on firm performance is underexplored. Our study examines three aspects (the number, task relevance, and exclusivity) of firm-advisor ties in explaining firms’ post-divestiture performance. We find that more prior firm-advisor ties and higher task relevance in those ties improve post-divestiture performance (ROA as well as market measures). These positive effects are amplified in divesting firms facing financial decline as compared to firms that are maintaining their historical accounting performance. We find that the exclusivity of firm-advisor ties can be a double-edged sword, revealed by its nonmonotonic effect on post-divestiture performance. This study demonstrates that divesting firms may benefit from hiring familiar advisors when prior ties with the focal advisor are contextually relevant, but not necessarily exclusive. Firms’ pre-restructuring financial conditions can strengthen those relationships.
Comparing Galaxies and Lyman Alpha Absorbers at Low Redshift

A scenario is explored in which Lyman alpha absorbers at low redshift arise from lines of sight through extended galaxy disks, including those of dwarf and low surface brightness galaxies. A population of galaxies is simulated based upon observed distributions of galaxy properties, and the gas disks are modeled using pressure and gravity confinement. Some parameter values are ruled out by comparing simulation results with the observed galaxy luminosity function, and constraints may be made on the absorbing cross sections of galaxies. Simulation results indicate that it is difficult to match absorbers with particular galaxies observationally since absorption typically occurs at high impact parameters (>200 kpc) from luminous galaxies. Low impact parameter absorption is dominated by low luminosity dwarfs. A large fraction of absorption lines is found to originate from low surface brightness galaxies, so that the absorbing galaxy is likely to be misidentified. Low redshift Lyman alpha absorber counts can easily be explained by moderately extended galaxy disks when low surface brightness galaxies are included, and it is easily possible to find a scenario which is consistent with observed the galaxy luminosity function, with low redshift Lyman limit absorber counts, and with standard nucleosynthesis predictions of the baryon density, Omega_Baryon.
The Real Effects of Mandated Information on Social Responsibility in Financial Reports: Evidence from Mine-Safety Records

Abstract We examine the real effects of mandatory social-responsibility disclosures, which require SEC-registered mine owners to include their mine-safety records in their financial reports. These safety records are already publicly available elsewhere, which allows us to isolate and estimate the incremental real effects of including this information in financial reports. Comparing mines owned by SEC-registered issuers with mines that are not, we document that including safety records in financial reports decreases mining-related citations and injuries, and reduces labor productivity. Evidence from stock-market reactions and mutual-fund holdings suggests that increased awareness of safety issues is a likely explanation for the observed real effects.
Movements of marine and estuarine turtles during Hurricane Michael.

Natural disturbances are an important driver of population dynamics. Because it is difficult to observe wildlife during these events, our understanding of the strategies that species use to survive these disturbances is limited. On October 10, 2018, Hurricane Michael made landfall on Florida’s northwest coast. Using satellite and acoustic telemetry, we documented movements of 6 individual turtles: one loggerhead sea turtle, one Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, three green sea turtles and one diamondback terrapin, in a coastal bay located less than 30 km from hurricane landfall. Post-storm survival was confirmed for all but the Kemp’s ridley; the final condition of that individual remains unknown. No obvious movements were observed for the remaining turtles however the loggerhead used a larger home range in the week after the storm. This study highlights the resiliency of turtles in response to extreme weather conditions. However, long-term impacts to these species from habitat changes post-hurricane are unknown.
Longitudinal Qualitative Study of Career Decision-making of First-Year Medical Students: Why Neurology (or Not)?

Abstract Objective: The growing shortage of neurologists is in part due to suboptimal recruitment. Little is known about students’ decision-making regarding a career in neurology, particularly early in training. Using a longitudinal qualitative approach, we aimed to understand factors that influence first-year medical students’ decisions about neurology. Methods: We conducted 1-on-1 semi-structured interviews with 15 first-year medical students at 1 institution before and after the pre-clinical neurology course (2018-2019). In the first interview, we asked about career intentions, factors likely to influence specialty choice, and perceptions of neurology. In the second interview, we asked about changes in students’ views over the year. Using thematic analysis we generated codes and clustered coded data into themes. Results: The two most prominent factors influencing career choice in general were lifestyle and personal interest. No students expressed concerns about lifestyle in neurology. Most students were neutral about neurology or had a positive personal interest, which typically increased after the neurology course. Students frequently worried about content difficulty and the curative potential of neurology. Conclusion: Interventions should include early education about the factors important to students in determining specialty choice, including lifestyle, and address potentially negative perceptions of neurology. Increasing time allotment to the pre-clinical neurology course may combat perception of the content as difficult.
Unifying frame rate and temporal dilations for improved remote pulse detection

Abstract Remote photoplethysmography (rPPG) is the monitoring of blood volume pulse from a camera at a distance. 3-Dimensional Convolutional Neural Networks (3DCNNs) have shown promising performance on the rPPG task, although it is critical that we understand the impact of both video and model parameters. In this paper, we explore the effect of frame rate, temporal kernel width, and – more generally – temporal receptive field on the reliability of heart rate and waveform estimation carried out by 3DCNNs. We train and evaluate 32 3DCNNs with different temporal parameters on a new large-scale database for physiological monitoring in an interview scenario. We show that previous studies reporting null effects of frame rate changes on pulse estimators may no longer be valid when using CNNs, and decreasing the frame rate may actually improve performance. In particular, we found that models trained on videos with frame rates as low as 12.9 frames per second (fps) perform better than those trained on videos recorded at a full 90 fps, perhaps due to the temporal receptive fields becoming larger in time dimension when the fps decreases. Using this insight, we propose RemotePulseNet, a novel 3DCNN architecture that exploits temporally dilated convolutions with increasing dilation rate to drastically increase the receptive field. We compare its performance with that of recent state-of-the-art pulse estimation methods, and show that both RemotePulseNet and the low frame rate 3DCNNs produce high-quality pulse signals from faces captured under a challenging interview scenario. The source code and instructions for obtaining a copy of the test data are made available with this paper.
Multisensory integration and maternal sensitivity are related to each other and predictive of expressive vocabulary in 24-month-olds.

Abstract Multisensory integration (MSI) is the ability to combine temporally synchronous, amodally specified sensory information to create rich, coordinated perceptual experiences. In early development, attention is directed toward such information in both social contexts (e.g., human speakers) and nonsocial contexts (e.g., multimodal toys). Parenting behaviors may support and sculpt multisensory integration by providing children with opportunities to experience amodally specified information (e.g., contingent face-to-face interactions). This study examined (a) whether 24-month-olds’ MSI abilities differed as a function of context (social or nonsocial) and competition for attention (low or high), (b) whether MSI predicted expressive vocabulary, and (c) whether maternal sensitivity (MS) was related to both MSI and language. A total of 32 24-month-olds were tested in the Multisensory Attention Assessment Protocol, an audiovisual task that presents laterally positioned social/nonsocial events with and without a central distractor. Their mothers completed the MacArthur–Bates Communicative Development Inventories and participated in a free-play period with their children for MS coding. Results showed MSI in both social and nonsocial conditions (i.e., toddlers paid more attention to the “match”), but only the ability to maintain attention to the social match was related to toddlers’ expressive vocabulary. In addition, MS was positively correlated with toddlers’ expressive language and social MSI performance. Taken together, the pattern of results shows important relations between emerging integration abilities and parenting behavior as well as the ability of both factors to positively influence word learning during early toddlerhood.
AACR Cancer Progress Report 2021 : Discovery Science Driving Clinical Breakthroughs.

The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is proud to announce the release of the AACR Cancer Progress Report 2021 . This eleventh edition of the annual report details how research is the backbone of progress across the spectrum of lifesaving cancer care. This year, the report also
Measuring Socioemotional Development

In this chapter, we review and evaluate the three primary sources of measures in research on socioemotional development: observational methods; verbal reports, including interviews and questionnaires; and psychobiological approaches, including neurophysiological, psychophysiological, and genetic assessments. Issues of reliability and validity are discussed along with the advantages and disadvantages of each approach to measurement. Illustrations are provided for children of different ages and issues unique to each class of measurement are also considered. The chapter begins with a discussion of common issues that cut across measurement approaches, some of which are unique to developmental science; these include measuring continuity and discontinuity, stability and change, and the roles of participant characteristics and measurement contexts. The chapter closes with a discussion of future opportunities and challenges, including the adoption of measurement approaches that capture complex transactions across levels of analysis from genes to brains to behavior; neuroimaging of social interaction; and the triangulation of methods and measures across observations, verbal reports, and psychobiology to provide a “molecules-to-mind” approach to the study of socioemotional development. Keywords: behavior genetics; interviews; molecular genetics; neuroimaging; observational methods; psychophysiological measures; questionnaires; verbal report
Decreased levels of the goblet cell mucin MUC5AC in tears of patients with Sjögren syndrome.

PURPOSE. To determine whether the relative amounts of mucin mRNA in the conjunctival epithelium and mucin protein in the tears are altered in patients with Sjogren syndrome compared with healthy individuals. METHODS. Tear fluid was collected from the inferior fornix of normal subjects (n 17) and patients with Sjogren syndrome (n 11) after instillation of 60 L sterile water onto the ocular surface. Immediately after tear fluid collection, conjunctival epithelium was obtained by filter paper-stripping from the bulbar temporal region for mRNA isolation. Primers to nontan- dem repeat sequences of the gel-forming mucin MUC5AC and the membrane-spanning mucins MUC1 and MUC4 were used in real-time RT-PCR to determine relative abundance of MUC mRNA in patients with Sjogren syndrome in relation to that of normal subjects. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was per- formed on neuraminidase-treated tears, using a polyclonal an- tibody against a synthetic peptide mimicking the deduced amino acid sequence from the D3 region of MUC5AC. RESULTS. The number of RNA transcripts for the goblet cell- specific mucin MUC5AC in the conjunctival epithelium of patients with Sjogren syndrome was significantly lower than in normal individuals. No significant changes were detected when analyzing the mRNA levels of the mucins expressed by the stratified epithelium of the conjunctiva, MUC1 and MUC4. Protein levels of the goblet cell mucin MUC5AC were signifi- cantly reduced in the tear fluid of patients with Sjogren syn- drome, corroborating mRNA data obtained using real-time RT- PCR. CONCLUSIONS. The tear fluid of patients with Sjogren syndrome has reduced levels of the goblet cell-specific mucin MUC5AC, which correlates to decreased levels of conjunctival MUC5AC mRNA. The authors propose that deficiency of MUC5AC mucin in tears constitutes one of the mechanisms responsible for tear film instability in Sjogren syndrome. (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2002;43:1004 -1011)
On a Theorem of Dubins and Freedman

Under a notion of “splitting” the existence of a unique invariant probability, and a geometric rate of convergence to it in an appropriate metric, are established for Markov processes on a general state space S generated by iterations of i.i.d. maps on S. As corollaries we derive extensions of earlier results of Dubins and Freedman;(17) Yahav;(30) and Bhattacharya and Lee(6) for monotone maps. The general theorem applies in other contexts as well. It is also shown that the Dubins–Freedman result on the “necessity” of splitting in the case of increasing maps does not hold for decreasing maps, although the sufficiency part holds for both. In addition, the asymptotic stationarity of the process generated by i.i.d. nondecreasing maps is established without the requirement of continuity. Finally, the theory is applied to the random iteration of two (nonmonotone) quadratic maps each with two repelling fixed points and an attractive period-two orbit.
Human impacts have shaped historical and recent evolution in Aedes aegypti, the dengue and yellow fever mosquito

Although anthropogenic impacts are often considered harmful to species, human modifications to the landscape can actually create novel niches to which other species can adapt. These "domestication" processes are especially important in the context of arthropod disease vectors, where ecological overlap of vector and human populations may lead to epidemics. Here, we present results of a global genetic study of one such species, the dengue and yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, whose evolutionary history and current distribution have been profoundly shaped by humans. We used DNA sequences of four nuclear genes and 1504 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers developed with restriction-site associated DNA (RAD) sequencing to test the hypothesis that Ae. aegypti originated in Africa, where a domestic form arose and spread throughout the tropical and subtropical world with human trade and movement. Results confirmed African ancestry of the species, and supported a single subspeciation event leading to the pantropical domestic form. In addition, genetic data strongly supported the hypothesis that human trade routes first moved domestic Ae. aegypti out of Africa into the New World, followed by a later invasion from the New World into Southeast Asia and the Pacific. These patterns of domestication and invasion are relevant to many species worldwide, as anthropogenic forces increasingly impact evolutionary processes.
The Morphology of the Sarcomas Produced by 1:2:5:6-Dibenzanthracene

The purpose of this paper is to present a series of tumors produced by the subcutaneous injection of 1:2:5:6-dibenzanthracene, from the point of view of their histological characteristics. Since the discovery by Kennaway (1) and his associates in 1932, that this substance readily produced sarcomas when dissolved in lard and injected subcutaneously into rats and mice, the finding has been confirmed in a number of laboratories, and several different methods of injecting the dibenzanthracene have been described. Berenblum and Kendal (2) produced sarcomas in fowls by means of a colloidal solution of dibenzanthracene in water injected into the breast muscle, and Boyland and Burrows (3) have recently described sarcomas produced in rats and mice by means of a colloidal aqueous solution prepared in a somewhat different manner. Lacassagne (4) obtained a tumor of the testis in a rabbit which had been injected in the testis with 1:2:5:6-dibenzanthracene dissolved in lard. This was originally regarded as a carcinoma but the author now believes it to be a tumor of the adrenal derived from aberrant adrenal tissue present in the rabbit testicle. Andervont (5) also used lard as a solvent and produced subcutaneous tumors in pure strains of mice. The same method was used by Maisin and Coolen (6) to produce sarcomas in rats. These authors have been the only ones to suggest that the sarcomas produced in this manner have a varying histogenesis. They wrote: “The tumors, which are very anaplastic, are of different histological types: some of them appear to be myosarcomas.” Previous writers had been content to designate these dibenzanthracene tumors as spindle-cell or round-cell sarcomas without detailed study of their morphology.
Polymorphisms in the interleukin 17F gene ( IL17F ) and asthma

Interleukin17F (IL17F) is a regulatory cytokine for T-cell-mediated immune responses. The gene coding for IL17F (IL17F) is located on chromosome 6p, a genomic region linked to asthma and asthma-related phenotypes in multiple genome scans. IL17F is expressed in lung tissue, in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from asthmatic subjects, and in activated CD4+ cells. We were thus interested in testing for association between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and haplotypes in IL17F and asthma. To characterize polymorphisms in IL17F, we sequenced this gene in a group of African Americans and a group of European Americans. A total of 50 SNPs (30 not previously reported in a public database (dbSNP build 118)) and two insertions/deletions were detected in IL17F; five of these polymorphisms were genotyped in participants of the Nurses' Health Study. We then tested for association between SNPs and haplotypes in IL17F and physician-diagnosed asthma in subjects with (cases) and without (control subjects) physician-diagnosed asthma. None of the SNPs or haplotypes tested in IL17F were associated with asthma. The polymorphisms identified in this study may be used in future studies of association between IL17F and phenotypes related to immune responses.
Bandwidth study of volume holography in photorefractive InP:Fe for femtosecond pulse readout at 1.5 μm

The Bragg selectivity of volume holograms makes them not well suited for many Fourier imaging processing applications in the space domain because they perform the function of a spatial filter and limit the field of view. Similarly, for femtosecond pulse holography they reduce the spectral bandwidth of the diffracted signal. However, we show both theoretically and experimentally that it is much easier in the frequency domain than in the space domain to achieve a large enough diffraction bandwidth of volume holograms for the bandwidth of 100-fs pulses to be used for frequency-domain femtosecond pulse shaping. The experiments were performed by nondegenerate four-wave mixing in photorefractive InP:Fe with femtosecond readout at 1.5 μm.
Breaking the Food Chains: An Investigation of Food Justice Activism*

This article develops the concept of food justice, which places access to healthy, affordable, culturally appropriate food in the contexts of institutional racism, racial formation, and racialized geographies. Through comparative ethnographic case studies, we analyze the demands for food justice articulated by the Karuk Tribe of California and the West Oakland Food Collaborative. Activists in these communities use an environmental justice frame to address access to healthy food, advocating for a local food system in West Oakland, and for the demolition of Klamath River dams that prevent subsistence fishing. Food justice serves as a theoretical and political bridge between scholarship and activism on sustainable agriculture, food insecurity, and environmental justice. This concept brings the environmental justice emphasis on racially stratified access to environmental benefits to bear on the sustainable agriculture movement's attention to the processes of food production and consumption. Furthermore, we argue that the concept of food justice can help the environmental justice movement move beyond several limitations of their frequent place-based approach and the sustainable agriculture movement to more meaningfully incorporate issues of equity and social justice. Additionally, food justice may help activists and policymakers working on food security to understand the institu- tionalized nature of denied access to healthy food.
Ab initio study of structural and electronic properties of beryllium

An ab initio calculation of the structural and electronic properties of beryllium is presented. The calculational method used is the self-consistent pseudopotential approach within the local-density-functional scheme. The calculated lattice constants, cohesive energy, bulk modulus, Poisson's ratio, electronic band structure, density of states, and charge density are all in good agreement with the experimental measurements.
Yield of dual endoscopy for positive fecal occult blood test.

Abstract Objectives Dual endoscopy is frequently performed on the same day in patients whose stools are found to be positive on fecal occult blood testing (FOBT). This is often done to localize the potential sources of GI bleed. The diagnostic yield of same day dual upper endoscopy (EGD) and lower endoscopy (colonoscopy) for the detection of positive FOBT is uncertain. In the era of cost-efficient medical practice, we investigated whether a more evidence-based and structured approach could be used to guide physicians to the workup of patients who present with positive FOBT. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of 309 patients, and 260 patients from this population met our inclusion criteria. Inclusion criteria included FOBT without acute GI hemorrhage, hematochezia, or melena. Patients were required to have had EGD and colonoscopy within the same day ( Results Of 260 patients, a total of 135 (52%) patients had positive findings on colonoscopy and a total of 42 (16.1%) patients had positive findings on EGD. Sixteen (6.1%) had positive EGD and negative colonoscopy; 109 (42%) had positive colonoscopy and negative EGD; and 26 (10%) had positive findings on both EGD and colonoscopy. Conclusions Colonoscopy should be chosen as the initial procedure of choice in the evaluation of patients who present with positive FOBT. Same day dual endoscopy does not seem to be cost-effective.
Multiplicative Independence in Function Fields

Abstract Let F be a perfect field of characteristic p. Let k be a function field in one variable over F. Let v be a discrete rank one valuation for k which is trivial on F, and let k be the associated completion. Using only the separability of the extension k/k, we prove a strong form of Leopoldt′s Conjecture for k.
Academic Advising as Friendship

We present a theoretical basis for engaging in academic advising as friendship and offer examples of the applicability of friendship in advising. We begin with interconnections between civic friend...
A Synergetic Approach to Throughput Computing on x86-Based Multicore Desktops

To exploit the full performance potential of multicore desktops, the authors propose an approach that combines cache optimization, parallelization, simdization, and autotuning in a single framework.
Estimating the energy gap among US children: a counterfactual approach.

OBJECTIVE. Our goal was to quantify the magnitude of energy imbalance responsible for the increase in body weight among US children during the periods 1988–1994 and 1999–2002. METHODS. We adopted a counterfactual approach to estimate weight gains in excess of normal growth and the implicit “energy gap”—the daily imbalance between energy intake and expenditure. On the basis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth charts, we constructed weight, height, and BMI percentile distributions for cohorts 2 to 4 and 5 to 7 years of age in the 1988–1994 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (N = 5000). Under the counterfactual “normal-growth-only” scenario, we assumed that these percentile distributions remained the same as the cohort aged 10 years. Under this assumption, we projected the weight and height distributions for this cohort at 12 to 14 and 15 to 17 years of age on the basis of their baseline weight-for-age and stature-for-age percentiles. We compared these distributions with those for corresponding age groups in the 1999–2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (N = 3091) ∼10 years after the 1988–1994 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. We calculated differences between the counterfactual and observed weight distributions and translated this difference into the estimated average energy gap, adjusting for increased total energy expenditure attributable to weight gain. In addition, we estimated the average excess weight accumulated among overweight adolescents in the 1999–2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, validating our counterfactual assumptions by analyzing longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and Bogalusa Heart Study. RESULTS. Compared with the counterfactual scenario, boys and girls who were aged 2 to 7 in the 1988–1994 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey gained, on average, an excess of 0.43 kg/year over the 10-year period. Assuming that 3500 kcal leads to an average of 1-lb weight gain as fat, our results suggest that a reduction in the energy gap of 110–165 kcal/day could have prevented this increase. Among overweight adolescents aged 12 to 17 in 1999–2002, results indicate an average energy imbalance ranging from 678 to 1017 kcal/day because of an excess of 26.5 kg accumulated over 10 years. CONCLUSIONS. Quantifying the energy imbalance responsible for recent changes in weight distribution among children can provide salient targets for population intervention. Consistent behavioral changes averaging 110 to 165 kcal/day may be sufficient to counterbalance the energy gap. Changes in excess dietary intake (eg, eliminating one sugar-sweetened beverage at 150 kcal per can) may be easier to attain than increases in physical activity levels (eg, a 30-kg boy replacing sitting for 1.9 hours with 1.9 hours walking for an extra 150 kcal). Youth at higher levels of weight gain will likely need changes in multiple behaviors and environments to close the energy gap.
Spectral unmixing of hyperspectral data for oil spill detection

Spectral unmixing is a popular tool for remotely sensed hyperspectral data interpretation and classification. It aims at identifying the spectra of all endmembers in the scene to find the fractional abundances of pure spectral signatures in each mixed pixel collected by an imaging spectrometer. Complete spectral unmixing exploits the theory that the reflectance spectrum of any pixel is the result of linear combinations of the spectra of all endmembers inside that pixel and simply solves a set of l linear equations for each pixel, where l is the number of bands in the image. But often the estimation of all the endmember signatures may be difficult due to the unavailability of pure spectral signatures in the original data, or inadequacy of spatial resolution. For such cases, partial unmixing can be used where only the user chosen targets need to be mapped and the unmixing equations are partially solved. Like complete unmixing, a pixel value in the output image of partial unmixing is proportional to the fraction of the pixel that contains the target material. In this paper, we study the partial spectral unmixing problem under the light of recent theoretical results published in those areas. Our experimental results, which are conducted using real hyperspectral data sets collected by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Airborne Visible Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) and spectral libraries publicly available; indicate the potential of partial unmixing techniques in the task of accurately characterizing the mixed pixels using the library spectra. Furthermore, we provide a comparison of complete spectral unmixing and partial spectral unmixing for the oil spill detection in the sea.
The subthalamic nucleus contributes to post-error slowing

pFC is proposed to implement cognitive control via directed "top—down" influence over behavior. But how is this feat achieved? The virtue of such a descriptive model is contingent on a mechanistic understanding of how motor execution is altered in specific circumstances. In this report, we provide evidence that the well-known phenomenon of slowed RTs following mistakes (post-error slowing) is directly influenced by the degree of subthalamic nucleus (STN) activity. The STN is proposed to act as a brake on motor execution following conflict or errors, buying time so a more cautious response can be made on the next trial. STN local field potentials from nine Parkinson disease patients undergoing deep brain stimulation surgery were recorded while they performed a response conflict task. In a 2.5-to 5-Hz frequency range previously associated with conflict and error processing, the degree phase consistency preceding the response was associated with increasingly slower RTs specifically following errors. These findings provide compelling evidence that post-error slowing is in part mediated by a corticosubthalamic "hyperdirect" pathway for increased response caution.
Cyclic appearance of a typical mitochondria containing DNA fibers in cultures of an adenovirus 12-induced hamster tumor.

Abstract Adenovirus 12-induced hamster tumor cells are characterized by the presence of large, atypical mitochondria of variable number which contain relatively few cristae, an electron-lucid matrix and distinctive fibers. On the basis of various methods of fixation, embedding and staining for electron microscopy and by treatment of ultrathin sections with the nucleases, it has been demonstrated that the fibers contain DNA and possibly some RNA. These atypical mitochondria co-exist in cells with smaller, elongate, normalappearing mitochondria which contain a normally dense matrix and apparently less or no visiable DNA fibers. The atypical mitochondria are present mainly during rapid cell proliferation. They are abundant in young cultures but they then disappear and only the typical form remains. In the subsequent cell passage the atypical mitochondria reappear, hence they originate from the typical ones. The timing of this cyclic appearance and disappearance varies with environmental conditions. Inasmuch as their disappearance cannot be accounted for entirely by degeneration, it is postulated that they can revert to the typical form.
Amplitude and Phase Statistics for Bistatic Scattering from Rough Surfaces

In this paper we study the statistical characteristics of scattering from rough surfaces. By assuming normal-distributed and correlated real and imaginary scattering components, we derive analytical probability density functions (pdfs) for the amplitude and phase. The amplitude pdf is in the form of an infinite sum of modified Bessel functions while the phase pdf is expressed in terms of the error function. The analytical amplitude and phase distributions are verified by comparing with both the empirical distributions of simulated data and experimental measurements. Simulated data sets are derived from Monte Carlo simulations of bistatic scattering from ocean-like rough surfaces. Experimental data were collected from monostatic measurements conducted at a wind-roughened reservoir with an S-band polarimetric radar. These simulated and experimental results show that the amplitude and phase pdfs vary with wind speed, observation angle, and polarization. The TM wave is observed to have a wider amplitude distribution than a TE wave. The phase of the scattered field is not uniformly distributed, especially under the low wind condition. The analytical amplitude and phase distributions are in good agreement with the empirical distributions of both simulated and experimental data sets.
Introduction to the Special Issue “Causal Complexity and Qualitative Methods”

This special issue of Political Analysis engages in a dialogue between qualitative and quantitative methods. It proposes that each has something to say to the other and more generally has a contribution to make to empirical social science.
Recurrent Tracheoesophageal Fistula

Abstract Three cases of recurrent tracheoesophageal fistula have been added to the 64 reported in the literature. Recurrence is suspected in patients with a previous repair who develop recurrent pneumonia, asthmatic attacks, or choking spells. The diagnosis can be established by barium swallow roentgenography or, in difficult cases, by staining of the esophagus by contrast medium introduced into the trachea. Prevention is best accomplished by an accurate repair without tension, by strict adherence to aseptic techniques, and by using fine, nonabsorbable suture material. The interposition of a pleural flap between the trachea and esophagus diminishes the chance of an initial recurrence and is very useful at the time of reoperation for a recurrent fistula.
THE QSO 1612+261: A CASE FOR VARYING HE EMISSION?

A broad emission feature, varying in less than five months, was observed in the spectrum of the QSO 1612+261 and may be identified as He I 3889A. Such a line may be produced in optically thin clouds in which He I 5876A is not enhanced by collisional excitation. Another possible identification as the forbidden Ne III 3867 A line would suggest the existence of clouds of density 10 to the 7th/cu cm. The observations indicate that the broad-line region of this QSO may be on the order of a light-month.
Voyager 2 at Uranus

The Voyager 2 spacecraft, hurtling toward its January 24, 1986, closest approach to Uranus, is sending several surprises back to earth. One is the discovery of another moon; the other is the absence of expected radio noise at a distance less than 800 times the planet's radius. As Eos went to press, a sixth moon had been discovered orbiting the planet. The moon, roughly 56 km in diameter, orbits Uranus every 18 hours, 17 minutes, 9 seconds. The new moon is closer to the planet (86,000 km) than the five previously known moons: Miranda (130,000 km), Ariel (192,000 km), Umbriel (267,000 km), Titania (438,000 km), and Oberon (568,000 km).