cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Adapting postdoctoral training to interdisciplinary science in the 21st century: The Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program at the National Cancer Institute

Abstract Preparing junior scientists for careers in the health sciences has become an immense challenge for many reasons, including the emerging demand for multidisciplinary approaches to solving problems in the health sciences. For those choosing careers in hybrid and interdisciplinary fields, the “traditional” postdoctoral training model may not perform well, particularly in light of other problems that plague postdoctoral success. New approaches are required. Using the interdisciplinary field of cancer prevention as an example, the authors describe the Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program (CPFP) of the National Cancer Institute, a three-year postdoctoral program of which the goal is to provide its fellows with a strong foundation in cancer prevention through education, mentored research, and structured professional development training activities that emphasize multidisciplinary approaches and leadership skills. Over time, the CPFP has incorporated the best aspects of the traditional postdoctoral training model with newer training approaches in an effort to overcome existing problems in postdoctoral training and to address the additional complexities inherent in training those who seek careers in interdisciplinary science. Many aspects of the CPFP, including an efficient infrastructure, a dedicated staff, a capacity to provide educational activities, and the provision of rich research opportunities, may translate well to other postdoctoral programs that face similar issues.
Genetic and environmental influences on body fat distribution, fasting insulin levels and CVD: are the influences shared?

Central body fat distribution has been shown to be related to hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, hypertriglyceridemia, and atherosclerosis to a greater degree than general obesity. There are known to be both genetic and environmental effects on all components of this clustering. Whether these genetic effects are due to one set of genes in common to the components or whether genetic influences on insulin resistance and/or general/abdominal fatness ‘turn on’ other genes that affect other components of the syndrome is not clear. We analyzed data from the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging (60% female; monozygotic = 116, dizygotic = 202; average age 65 years) to determine whether there were genetic and/or environmental factors shared among general body fat distribution, abdominal body fat distribution, fasting insulin levels and cardiovascular disease. We found additive genetic effects in males to be significantly different from those in females with genetic effects accounting for variance in waist‐hip ratio (males = 28%; females = 49%), body mass index (males = 58%; females = 73%), fasting insulin levels (FI) (males = 27%; females = 49%), and cardiovascular disease (CVD) (males = 18%; females = 37%). There were also shared genetic and environmental effects among all the variables except CVD, but a majority of the genetic variance for these measures was trait specific. Twin Research (2000) 3, 43‐50.
Raman scattering in (CH)x and (CH)x treated with bromine and iodine

Abstract The 77 K Raman spectra of (CH) x films and (CH) x films doped with bromine or iodine are reported. The variation of the spectra of the cis and trans isomers of (CH) x with laser wavelength suggests that thermal conversion of films from cis to trans (CH) x produces disorder with a distribution of polymer chain lengths. The low frequency spectra of doped films indicate that bromine and iodine exist in the films as polyhalide ions, primarily Br - 3 and I - 3 .
Intraperitoneal Radioactive Phosphorus (32P) Versus Observation After Negative Second-Look Laparotomy for Stage III Ovarian Carcinoma: A Randomized Trial of the Gynecologic Oncology Group

Purpose: The objectives of this prospective randomized study of consolidation therapy were to evaluate recurrence-free survival (RFS), overall survival (OS), and the morbidity of intraperitoneal (IP) chromic phosphate suspension (32P) therapy in patients with stage III epithelial ovarian carcinoma who have no detectable evidence of disease at the second-look laparotomy (SLL) procedure after primary chemotherapy. Patients and Methods: In a multi-institution clinical cooperative trial, 202 eligible patients with a negative SLL were randomly selected to receive either 15 mCi IP 32P (n = 104) or no further therapy (NFT; n = 98). Results: With a median follow-up of 63 months in living patients, 68 patients in the IP 32P group (65%) and 63 patients in the NFT group (64%) have developed tumor recurrence. The relative risk of recurrence is 0.90 (IP 32P to NFT) (90% confidence interval [CI], 0.68 to 1.19). The 5-year RFS rate is 42% and 36% for the IP 32P and NFT groups, respectively; the difference is not statist...
The transmission line method

A collection of slids from the author's conference presentation is given. This paper discusses about the transmission line method, Maxwell equations and Huygens' principle.
Learning Alignments and Leveraging Natural Logic

We describe an approach to textual inference that improves alignments at both the typed dependency level and at a deeper semantic level. We present a machine learning approach to alignment scoring, a stochastic search procedure, and a new tool that finds deeper semantic alignments, allowing rapid development of semantic features over the aligned graphs. Further, we describe a complementary semantic component based on natural logic, which shows an added gain of 3.13% accuracy on the RTE3 test set.
Forward modeling of metal complexation by NOM: I. A priori prediction of conditional constants and speciation.

An agent-based simulation of the transformations of natural organic matter (NOM) is combined with quantitative structure−property relationships (QSPRs) for conditional metal−ligand binding constant...
Neural Network Modeling with Sparse Datasets

Abstract Neural networks are important tools for the analysis and modeling of many types of petroleum data. Small datasets limit their utility, however, because of the need to provide separate training and testing datasets. We train neural networks so that all the data are used for training, model development, and testing. We use the training procedure on a network to analyze fracture spacing in the Lisburne Formation, northern Alaska. Analyzing the effect of bed thickness on the spacing, we find only a weak influence, with closer fractures in thick beds. This result agrees with statistical analysis of the Lisburne data, but is contrary to relationships reported elsewhere.
Substrate Specificity of Human Protein Arginine Methyltransferase 7 (PRMT7): THE IMPORTANCE OF ACIDIC RESIDUES IN THE DOUBLE E LOOP*

Protein arginine methyltransferase 7 (PRMT7) methylates arginine residues on various protein substrates and is involved in DNA transcription, RNA splicing, DNA repair, cell differentiation, and metastasis. The substrate sequences it recognizes in vivo and the enzymatic mechanism behind it, however, remain to be explored. Here we characterize methylation catalyzed by a bacterially expressed GST-tagged human PRMT7 fusion protein with a broad range of peptide and protein substrates. After confirming its type III activity generating only ω-NG-monomethylarginine and its distinct substrate specificity for RXR motifs surrounded by basic residues, we performed site-directed mutagenesis studies on this enzyme, revealing that two acidic residues within the double E loop, Asp-147 and Glu-149, modulate the substrate preference. Furthermore, altering a single acidic residue, Glu-478, on the C-terminal domain to glutamine nearly abolished the activity of the enzyme. Additionally, we demonstrate that PRMT7 has unusual temperature dependence and salt tolerance. These results provide a biochemical foundation to understanding the broad biological functions of PRMT7 in health and disease.
Revisiting anaplastic astrocytomas II: further characterization of an expansive growth pattern with visually enhanced diffusion tensor imaging.

Purpose To seek to distinguish and visualize the different magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) growth patterns among malignant gliomas utilizing visually enhanced diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Materials and Methods Nineteen consecutive patients undergoing image-guided resection of a newly diagnosed malignant glioma underwent add-on acquisition of DTI data based on an Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved imaging protocol during preoperative MRI scans for routine intraoperative image guidance. Tumor growth patterns were assigned to expansive or mixed/infiltrative classes as described in the companion article (24). Infiltrating tumors were WHO Grade IV astrocytomas and all expansive tumors were either WHO Grade III astrocytomas or WHO Grade II astrocytomas. DTI-based white matter tractography was conducted and the DTI data were fused with anatomical images using an in-house software package we developed to enhance the visualization of the tumor/fiber interface. In one case additional analysis was performed with 2D multivoxel 1H-MRSI utilizing a 2D chemical shift imaging (CSI) technique to corroborate the nature of this interface. Results Out of the 19 tumor patients studied, 11 had infiltrative tumors and the other 8 had expansive tumors. While less clear with 2D axial diffusion color maps, visually enhanced 3D reconstructions of the tumor/fiber interface successfully corroborated distinctive growth patterns. This was particularly evident when viewed in 3D video loops of each tumor/fiber interface. Conclusion We have successfully developed software that visually enhances the anatomic details of the tumor/fiber interface in patients with anaplastic astrocytomas. These data support the existence of a subgroup of patients within the WHO Grade III classification with expansive tumors and a significantly better prognosis. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2008;28:1322–1336. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Galactose excretion in young and hepatoma rats fed skim milk diets.

ConclusionsThe urinary excretion of galactose in the young rat is lower than that of the adult animal when a supplemented skim milk diet is fed.On such a diet, adult rats, with hepatoma induced by azo dyes, excrete a lower percentage of galactose in the urine than do normal adult rats.
Colectomy for constipation: Physiologic investigation is the key to success

The results of total abdominal colectomy (TAC) with ileorectal anastomosis as a treatment for colonic inertia (CI) were prospectively assessed. One hundred sixtythree patients were evaluated for chronic constipation between July 1988 and November 1990. Patients underwent pancolonic transit times, anorectal manometry, cinedefecography (CD), and electromyography (EMG). CI was defined as diffuse marker delay on transit study without evidence of puborectalis contraction on CD or EMG. Sixteen patients (10 percent; 15 females and 1 male) with a mean age of 45 years (range, 24–75 years) with CI underwent TAC. Preoperative bowel frequency ranged from three per week to one per month; all 16 patients evacuated only with high doses of laxatives, enemas, or both. TAC was performed with no postoperative mortality or major morbidity; three patients were readmitted four times for successful conservative treatment of partial small bowel obstruction. At a mean followup of 15 months (range, 2–35 months), these 16 patients reported a mean frequency of spontaneous bowel evacuations of 3.5 per day (range, one to six per day). Patient satisfaction with the operation was “excellent” or “good” in 15 cases (94 percent). Thorough preoperative physiologic evaluation permits the selection of a small group of patients with CI who may benefit tremendously from TAC.
Newborn Care: What We Can Learn from the Kangaroo Mother

The word “kangaroo” comes from the Guugu Yimithirr word “gangurru,” which refers to gray kangaroos [Macropus fuliginosus (Western); Macropus giganteus (Eastern) (1)]. The name was first written as “Kanguru” on July 12, 1770 by Sir Joseph Banks (1743–1820), who was with the famous Captain James Cook (1728–1779) at the modern Cooktown in Australia, while they were repairing their ship – the HMS Endeavour damaged on her historic voyage to the Great Barrier Reef (2). The language of the indigenous people of Cooktown is Guugu Yimithirr. The brobdingnagian joey (infant kangaroo) crawls over the mother kangaroo’s fur in approximately 3 min to arrive at the mother’s pouch, which contains four teats to feed the baby; milk of different chemical compositions are provided to the esurient joey by the different quad-teats (3, 4). The mother kangaroo seems to have little interest in her newborn at first, but the joey stays in the pouch feeding and growing – eventually leading to a powerful, henotic bond between mother and baby. The young kangaroo joey first absquatulates the pouch for a few minutes at 198 days of life and then abscises at an average of 235 days at an average weight of 4–5 kg. Though outside the mother’s pouch, the baby (infant) will suckle for another 4 months until a year of age. This joey has a close vinculum with its mother for sometime thereafter due to the healthy touching that the pouch-suckling milieu created (3, 4). Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) mothers have developed the same feeding technology over the millions of years of their evolution leading to a successful bond between this mansuetudine mother and her bonhomie baby who like all marsupial newborns is called a joey (5, 6). Though the kangaroo mother figured out the best way to feed and bond with her joey millions of years ago, it took Homo sapiens much longer to learn about caring for its newborn and to be taught this “kangaroo” care (7). Modern neonatology has developed over the past few centuries and has acquired amazing technology in the twenty-first century (7). However, it was not until 1978 that Dr. Edgar Rey Sanabria, professor of neonatology, established “kangaroo care” for premature and low-weight newborns in Bogota, Colombia; his apercu on premature infants was in response to overcrowding and lack of resources in his hospital (8, 9). Professor Sanabria received the World Health Organization (WHO: Geneva, Switzerland) Sasakawa Health Prize in 1991 for his idea and work suggesting that physical closeness between the premature newborn and the mother in a skin-to-skin contact might make up for lack of modern newborn services and resources such as incubators. Indeed, if it worked for marsupials and other animals for millions of years, how about the human newborn?
The effects of interstitial content and annealing on the flow and fracture behavior on polycrystalline beta-NiAl

The strain behavior of three polycrystalline NiAl alloys has been investigated at temperatures between 300 and 1200 K. Yield stress plateaus, yield stress transients upon a ten-fold increase in strain rate, work hardening peaks, and dips in the strain rate sensitivity (SRS) have been observed between 700 and 800 K. These observations are indicative of dynamic strain aging (DSA) and are discussed in terms of conventional strain aging theories.
Benchmarking operational performance: the case of two hotels

Purpose – To present an actual case study that was carried out to investigate and benchmark the operational performances of two hotels in a large city.Design/methodology/approach – The study involves the comparison of the hotels' performances with each other as well as their respective benchmarks on the basis of data on monthly costs and revenues. The benchmark operations are stated in terms of target costs and revenues that are derived from industry standards for comparable hotels and corporate strategic goals. For performance measurement a new non‐parametric performance measurement method called Operational Competitiveness Rating Analysis (OCRA) is used for its relative simplicity, flexibility, and ability to allow for differences in hotels' guest profiles and competitive priorities.Findings – The areas of strength and weakness are revealed in the measured performances of the two hotels' operations. While the hotels' performances converge near the end of the study period, they both fall short of reachin...
Immune recognition of proteins: Conclusions, dilemmas and enigmas

The immune system distinguishes between two types of antigenic sites: one of these binds to immunoglobulins (IgGs) (i.e. antibodies), while the other binds to receptor molecules on T lymphocytes (i.e. the T-cell receptors (TcRs)). The latter interaction occurs only when the antigen is presented in association with a self-transplantation antigen, a so-called MHC-restriction element. This article discusses what is known about the structure of antigenic sites and their molecular interactions with antibodies, MHC-restriction elements, and T-lymphocyte receptors.
Time course of protein changes following in vitro ischemia in the rat hippocampal slice

Abstract Following 5 min in vitro ischemia, total protein synthesis is dramatically and persistently inhibited in neurons in the rat hippocampal slice. This model system was used to explore the responses of individual proteins to this irreversible insult. In vitro ischemia inhibited new protein synthesis of most proteins analyzed; however, the synthesis of a 68 70 kDa protein was substantially stimulated for the first hour after ischemia. By 3 h postischemia, its synthesis rates were depressed to 60% of control rates. Although the total amounts of most proteins were not significantly depleted for the first few hours after an ischemic episode, there were several notable exceptions. The levels of HSC73, a constitutively expressed member of the 70 kDa stress protein family, were reduced after in vitro ischemia. In addition, MAP-2 (microtubule-associated protein-2) and α-tubulin were depleted in the early hours after the insult, with MAP-2 exhibiting a detectable depletion earlier than tubulin. In contrast, the levels and distribution of a 68 kDa neurofilament protein localized to CA3 pyramidal neurons in the slice, apparently distinct from the band whose new synthesis was stimulated, were not affected by the 5 min in vitro ischemia insult. Thus, the responses of individual proteins to ischemia varied considerably. These individual responses could play an important role in the damage mechanism that is initiated in response to in vitro ischemia.
Surface arsenic speciation of a drinking-water treatment residual using X-ray absorption spectroscopy.

Abstract Drinking-water treatment residuals (WTRs) present a low-cost geosorbent for As-contaminated waters and soils. Previous work has demonstrated the high affinity of WTRs for As, but data pertaining to the stability of sorbed As is missing. Sorption/desorption and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), both XANES (X-ray absorption near edge structure) and EXAFS (extended X-ray absorption fine structure) studies, were combined to determine the stability of As sorbed by an Fe-based WTR. Arsenic(V) and As(III) sorption kinetics were biphasic in nature, sorbing > 90 % of the initial added As (15,000 mg kg−1) after 48 h of reaction. Subsequent desorption experiments with a high P load (7500 mg kg−1) showed negligible As desorption for both As species, approximately 3.5 % of sorbed As; the small amount of desorbed As was attributed to the abundance of sorption sites. XANES data showed that sorption kinetics for either As(III) or As(V) initially added to solution had no effect on the sorbed As oxidation state. EXAFS spectroscopy suggested that As added either as As(III) or as As(V) formed inner-sphere mononuclear, bidentate complexes, suggesting the stability of the sorbed As, which was further corroborated by the minimum As desorption from the Fe-WTR.
Trade-off between age of first reproduction and survival in a female primate

Trade-offs are central to life-history theory but difficult to document. Patterns of phenotypic and genetic correlations in rhesus macaques, Macaca mulatta-a long-lived, slow-reproducing primate-are used to test for a trade-off between female age of first reproduction and adult survival. A strong positive genetic correlation indicates that female macaques suffer reduced adult survival when they mature relatively early and implies primate senescence can be explained, in part, by antagonistic pleiotropy. Contrasts with a similar human study implicate the extension of parental effects to later ages as a potential mechanism for circumventing female life-history trade-offs in human evolution.
Ciglitazone-induced cellular anti-proliferation increases p27kip1 protein levels through both increased transcriptional activity and inhibition of proteasome degradation

While it is well established that PPARgamma ligands inhibit cell growth and induce apoptosis in colon cancer cells, the mechanism of these effects of PPARgamma ligands is unclear. In this report, we demonstrate that the PPARgamma ligand, ciglitazone, exhibits an anti-proliferative effect and blocks G1/S cell cycle progression through regulation of p27kip1 protein levels and inhibition of Cdk2 activity in HT-29 colon cancer cells. The ciglitazone-induced G1/S cell cycle arrest was noted only after 72 h of exposure, corresponding to elevated protein levels of p27kip1. However, an increase in p27kip1 protein synthesis as evidenced by increased p27kip1 gene promoter activity and mRNA abundance was observed as early as 24 h after exposure to ciglitazone. Proteasome activity, an additional mechanism of p27kip1 regulation, was dramatically inhibited after ciglitazone exposure, but only after 72 h of exposure. We also note that the effects of ciglitazone on p27kip1 gene regulation are PPRE independent. These data suggest that ciglitazone-induced G1/S arrest is through Cdk2 inhibition and an increase of p27kip1 protein levels which in turn is due a balance of ciglitazone's affect on new protein synthesis and degradation.
Re-envisioning instructional technology research in higher education environments: a content analysis of a grant program

Within the field of instructional technology, scholars have long worked to define the scope and purpose of research and its role in informing practice. Increasingly, researchers outside of the instructional technology field are conducting studies to examine their use of technology in educational contexts. Few studies have been done on how researchers in other disciplines are designing such studies. We conducted a content analysis of 60 proposals submitted from 2006 to 2010 to our internal grant competition for faculty research on instructional technology to better understand the kinds of studies being proposed. Categories explored within each proposal included academic discipline, collaboration, knowledge of previous literature, context, goals of study, and research design. A majority of proposals came from outside of the education field and were submitted by individuals rather than collaborative teams. Just under half of the proposals cited previous literature to justify their study, and just over half sought to examine classroom contexts. Roughly a third proposed to study distance education contexts. Most proposals were to examine the implementation of a new instructional strategy (rather than to conduct a media comparison study) and just over half utilized a quantitative research design collecting performance or satisfaction data. We include recommendations for those who may be interested in how better to support researchers in designing effective studies to investigate instructional technology use, highlighting the use of design-based research as a viable methodology.
Carborane Complexes of Ruthenium: Reactions of [Ru(THF)(CO)2(η5-7,8-R2-7,8-C2B9H9)] (R = H or Me) with Alkylidyne Complexes of Molybdenum and Tungsten†

The complex [Ru(THF)(CO)2(η5-7,8-C2B9H11)] (1a, THF = tetrahydrofuran) reacts with the alkylidyne reagents [M(⋮CC6H4Me-4)(CO)2(η5-C5H5)] (M = Mo or W) to give the compounds [MRu(μ-CC6H4Me-4)(CO)4(η5-7,8-C2B9H11)(η5-C5H5)] (M = W (2a), Mo (2b)), which readily isomerize to the species [MRu(CO)4{σ,η5-9-CH(C6H4Me-4)-7,8-C2B9H10}(η5-C5H5)] (M = W (3a), Mo (3b)). The structure of 3b was established by X-ray diffraction. The Mo(CO)2(η5-C5H5) fragment is attached to the closo-RuC2B9 framework by a Mo−Ru bond and a three-center two-electron B−H⇀Mo linkage involving a boron atom in an α site in the CCBBB ring ligating the ruthenium. The CH(C6H4Me-4) moiety bridges between the Ru(CO)2 group and the B atom located in the other α site in the CCBBB ring. The oxo complex [WRuO{μ-σ,η5-9-CH(C6H4Me-4)-7,8-C2B9H10}(CO)2(η5-C5H5)] (4a) is a side product in the formation of 3a, and it also was characterized by X-ray diffraction. Treatment of the species 3 with PMe3 affords the zwitterionic compounds [MRu(CO)4{η5-9-CH(PMe3)(C6...
A reverse structural test for the degree of monopoly power

The traditional s t ructure-conduct-performance paradigm of industrial organization hypothesizes that conduct and performance tend to be more competitive in less concentrated markets. However, when market demand is inelastic, a given detree of monopoly conduct (Cournot or worse) can be shown to imply a certain maximum market share at the firm level or a minimum number of firms at the market level. In these cases, a more concentrated market would prove behavior that was more competitive than Cournot, apart from disequilibrium. The first order condition for a profitmaximizing firm in a market where all firms produce a homogenous output may be written as
A combination atmospheric pressure LC/MS:GC/MS ion source: advantages of dual AP-LC/MS:GC/MS instrumentation.

Modification of commercial LC/MS instrumentation to allow both atmospheric pressure (AP) LC/MS and GC/MS is described. Advantages of this additional capability versus LC/MS alone include higher chromatographic resolution in the GC versus LC mode, greater peak capacity for complex mixture analysis, higher sensitivity for a variety of volatile compounds, and the ability to observe compounds of low polarity that are not readily observed in LC/MS. Advantages over conventional GC/MS include the ability to use higher carrier gas flow and shorter columns for passing less volatile materials through the gas chromatograph, selective ionization, and rapid switching between positive and negative ion modes. Other advantages include application of the enhanced capabilities of LC/MS instrumentation to GC/MS analyses such as cone voltage fragmentation, MSn, high mass resolution, and accurate mass measurement. Limitations of APGC/MS include the inability to observe saturated hydrocarbon and certain other highly nonpolar compounds and less odd-electron fragmentation for computer aided library searching. For some analyses, the limitation related to ionization of highly nonpolar compounds is advantageous, as is the simplified mass spectrum and easy molecular weight identification that results from less fragmentation observed in the AP ionization mode.
High incidence of sympathetic ophthalmia after contact and noncontact neodymium:YAG cyclotherapy.

Background: Two cases of sympathetic ophthalmia occurring after noncontact neodymium:YAG (Nd:YAG) cyclotherapy have previously been reported. In each case, the patient had undergone filtering surgery in the exciting eye. Although in each case Nd:YAG cyclotherapy was the last surgery performed, the inciting event of sympathetic ophthalmia was unclear. Methods: The authors studied three additional patients who developed sympathetic ophthalmia after Nd:YAG cyclotherapy for glaucoma. Results: Two patients developed sympathetic ophthalmia 4 months after noncontact Nd:YAG cyclotherapy, and 1 patient developed sympathetic ophthalmia 18 months after contact Nd:YAG cyclotherapy. All patients had previous cataract extractions but no filtering surgery in the exciting eye. Clinical features included chronic iridocyclitis, choroidal folds, Dalen-Fuchs nodules, and optic disc edema. Combining these cases with the two previously reported cases, the incidence of sympathetic ophthalmia at our institution thus far is 5.8% (4 of 69) and 0.67% (1 of 150) after noncontact and contact Nd:YAG cyclotherapy, respectively. Conclusions: The incidence of sympathetic ophthalmia after Nd:YAG cyclotherapy is high compared with other ocular procedures. The clinician should vigilantly monitor patients after Nd:YAG cyclotherapy and report additional cases that may have occurred at other institutions.
Delay discounting predicts cigarette smoking in a laboratory model of abstinence reinforcement

Rationale Higher rates of delay discounting, or impulsive choice, may be related to relapse during abstinence reinforcement interventions for cigarette smoking, and a transdermal nicotine patch may attenuate delay discounting.
A Twin MRI Study of Size Variations in the Human Brain

Although it is well known that there is considerable variation among individuals in the size of the human brain, the etiology of less extreme individual differences in brain size is largely unknown. We present here data from the first large twin sample (N=132 individuals) in which the size of brain structures has been measured. As part of an ongoing project examining the brain correlates of reading disability (RD), whole brain morphometric analyses of structural magnetic response image (MRI) scans were performed on a sample of adolescent twins. Specifically, there were 25 monozygotic (MZ) and 23 dizygotic (DZ) pairs in which at least one member of each pair had RD and 9 MZ and 9 DZ pairs in which neither member had RD. We first factor-analyzed volume data for 13 individual brain structures, comprising all of the neocortex and most of the subcortex. This analysis yielded two factors ("cortical" and "subcortical") that accounted for 64% of the variance. We next tested whether genetic and environmental influences on brain size variations varied for these two factors or by hemisphere. We computed intraclass correlations within MZ and DZ pairs in each sample for the cortical and subcortical factor scores, for left and right neocortex, and for the total cerebral volume. All five MZ correlations were substantial (r’s=.78 to .98) and significant in both samples, as well as being larger than the corresponding DZ correlations, (r’s=0.32 to 0.65) in both samples. The MZ– DZ difference was significant for 3 variables in the RD sample and for one variable in the smaller control sample. These results indicate significant genetic influences on these variables. The magnitude of genetic influence did not vary markedly either for the 2 factors or the 2 hemispheres. There was also a positive correlation between brain size and full-scale IQ, consistent with the results of earlier studies. The total cerebral volume was moderately correlated (r=.42, p<.01, two-tailed) with full-scale IQ in the RD sample; there was a similar trend in the smaller control sample (r=.31, p<.07, two-tailed). Corrections of similar magnitude were found between the subcortical factor and full-scale IQ, whereas the results for the cortical factor (r=.16 and .13) were smaller and not significant. In sum, these results provide evidence for the heritability of individual differences in brain size which do not vary markedly by hemisphere or for neocortex relative to subcortex. Since there are also correlations between brain size and full-scale IQ in this sample, it is possible that genetic influences on brain size partly contribute to individual differences in IQ.
Gummi Bear Bezoar: A case report

Bezoars in children are rare. Bezoars causing intestinal obstruction are even more unusual. We would like to report the first Gummi Bear Bezoar causing a large bowel obstruction in a child.
Power minimization using system-level partitioning of applications with quality of service requirements

Design systems to provide various quality of service (QoS) guarantees has received a lot of attentions due to the increasing popularity of real-time multimedia and wireless communication applications. Meanwhile, low power consumption is always one of the goals for system design, especially for battery-operated systems. With the design trend of integrating multiple processor cores and memory on a single chip, we address the problem of how to partition a set of applications among processors, such that all the individual QoS requirements are met and the total energy consumption is minimized. We exploit the advantages provided by the variable voltage design methodology to choose the voltage for each application on the same processor optimally for this purpose. We also discuss how to partition applications among the processors to achieve the same goal. We formulate the problem on an abstract QoS model and present how to allocate resources (e.g., CPU time) and determine the voltage profile for every single processor. Experiments on media benchmarks have also been studied.
Access to Oral Health Care: The Role of Federally Qualified Health Centers in Addressing Disparities and Expanding Access

Objectives. We examined utilization, unmet need, and satisfaction with oral health services among Federally Qualified Health Center patients. We examined correlates of unmet need to guide efforts to increase access to oral health services among underserved populations.Methods. Using the 2009 Health Center Patient Survey, we performed multivariate logistic regressions to examine factors associated with access to dental care at health centers, unmet need, and patient experience.Results. We found no racial or ethnic disparities in access to timely oral health care among health center patients; however, uninsured patients and those whose insurance does not provide dental coverage experienced restricted access and greater unmet need. Slightly more than half of health center patients had a dental visit in the past year, but 1 in 7 reported that their most recent visit was at least 5 years ago. Among health center patients who accessed dental care at their health center, satisfaction was high.Conclusions. These ...
Numerical Studies of Near-Field Plume-Vortex Interactions

In this study, fluid mixing and chemical reactions in the near-field wake of an aircraft has been investigated. The plume-vortex regime is studied using a 3D parallel LES code. Simulations of engine plume interaction with the wing-tip vortex of B737 and B747 have been carried out and some comparisons with data have been used to demonstrate the ability of the LES method. Inclusion of detailed gas phase kinetics and simple heterogeneous processes have been carried out to evaluate the effect of turbulent mixing on the chemical processes in the plume-vortex regime. Finally, to determine the impact of temporal assumptions (often used in such flow simulations) comparison with spatial simulations are carried out. Many features of the computed flow field show reasonable agreement with experimental data. The entrainment of the engine plumes into the wing-tip vortex and also the partial detrainment of the plume were numerically captured and analyzed. The impact of fluid mechanics on the chemical process has been estimated. Results indicate that a significant difference between spatial and temporal simulation exists (especially in the predicted SOs concentration). This has important implications for the prediction of sulfuric acid aerosols in the wake and may partly explain the discrepancy between past numerical studies and the data. Analysis of the results also show that spatial simulation is more suitable for the near-field interaction process. For example, it was determined that detrainment (observed in the B747 contrail) was only captured using the spatial model.
Constrictive pleuropericarditis: a dominant clinical manifestation in Whipple’s disease

Background: Whipple’s disease is a rare, multisystemic, chronic infectious disease which classically presents as a wasting illness characterized by polyarthralgia, diarrhea, fever, and lymphadenopathy. Pleuropericardial involvement is a common pathologic finding in patients with Whipple’s disease, but rarely causes clinical symptoms. We report the first case of severe fibrosing pleuropericarditis necessitating pleural decortication in a patient with Whipple’s disease. Case presentation: Our patient, an elderly gentleman, had a chronic inflammatory illness dominated by constrictive pericarditis and later severe fibrosing pleuritis associated with a mildly elevated serum IgG4 level. A pericardial biopsy showed dense fibrosis without IgG4 plasmacytic infiltration. The patient received immunosuppressive therapy for possible IgG4-related disease. His poor response to this therapy prompted a re-examination of the diagnosis, including a request for the pericardial biopsy tissue to be stained for Tropheryma whipplei. Conclusions: Despite a high prevalence of pleuropericardial involvement in Whipple’s disease, constrictive pleuropericarditis is rare, particularly as the dominant disease manifestation. The diagnosis of Whipple’s disease is often delayed in such atypical presentations since the etiologic agent, Tropheryma whipplei, is not routinely sought in histopathology specimens of pleura or pericardium. A diagnosis of Whipple’s disease should be considered in middle-aged or elderly men with polyarthralgia and constrictive pericarditis, even in the absence of gastrointestinal symptoms. Although Tropheryma whipplei PCR has limited sensitivity and specificity, especially in the analysis of peripheral blood samples, it may have diagnostic value in inflammatory disorders of uncertain etiology, including cases of polyserositis. The optimal approach to managing constrictive pericarditis in patients with Whipple’ sd isease is uncertain, but limited clinical experience suggests that a combination of pericardiectomy and antibiotic therapy is of benefit.
Reconstitution of the Protein Kinase A Response of the Rat Prolactin Promoter: Differential Effects of Distinct Pit-1 Isoforms and Functional Interaction with Oct-1

PRL gene transcription is primarily regulated by dopamine, which lowers cAMP levels and inhibits protein kinase A (PKA) activity. Current data indicate that the cAMP/PKA response maps to the most proximal Pit-1/Pit-1β binding site footprint I (FP I) on the rat PRL (rPRL) promoter. Pit-1, a POU-homeo domain transcription factor, is specifically expressed in the anterior pituitary and is required both for the normal development of anterior pituitary cell types, somatotrophs, lactotrophs, and thyrotrophs, and for the expression of their hormones: GH, PRL, and TSHβ. Pit-1 has been shown to functionally interact, via FP I, with several transcription factors, including Oct-1, a ubiquitous homeobox protein, and thyrotroph embryonic factor, which is found in lactotrophs, to activate basal rPRL promoter activity. Pit-1β/GHF-2, a distinct splice isoform of Pit-1, acts to inhibit Ras-activated transcription from the rPRL promoter, which is mediated by a functional interaction between Pit-1 and Ets-1 at the most dist...
MMSE Noise Power and SNR Estimation for OFDM Systems

This paper proposes a minimum mean-square error (MMSE) filtering technique to estimate the noise power that takes into account the variation of the noise statistics across the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) sub-carrier index as well as across OFDM symbols. The proposed method provides many local estimates that allow tracking of the variation of the noise statistics in frequency and time. The MMSE filter coefficients are obtained from the mean-squared-error (MSE) expression, which can be calculated using the noise statistics. Evaluation of the performance with computer simulations shows that the proposed method tracks the local statistics of the noise more efficiently than conventional methods.
In situ endothelin in coronary artery disease

Despite the significant advances made in the understanding and treatment of coronary artery disease much remains unclear about the pathogenesis of this complex atherothrombotic process. Atherogenesis may reflect a combination of multiple factors interacting with one another leading to coronary artery occlusion. One potential participant may be endothelin-1 (ET-1), a potent mitogenic vasoconstrictor. The presence of endothelin within saphenous veins before insertion and after removal during coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) because of bypass closure, within internal mammary arteries before and after surgical intervention, and within native coronary artery segments resected during CABG was demonstrated immunocytochemically with an antiendothelin antibody and aminoethyl carbazole as the indicator chromogen. Increased amounts of ET-1 were observed in failed venous grafts, in damaged internal mammary artery grafts, and in vessels of the myocardium. These results suggest that ET-1 may play a significant pathophysiologic role in the evolution of coronary heart disease.
Experimental confirmation of the polygyny threshold model for red-winged blackbirds

The polygyny threshold model assumes that polygynous mating is costly to females and proposes that females pay the cost of polygyny only when compensated by obtaining a superior territory or male. We present, to the authors' knowledge, the first experimental field test to demonstrate that females trade mating status against territory quality as proposed by this hypothesis. Previous work has shown that female red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) in Ontario prefer settling with unmated males and that this preference is adaptive because polygynous mating status lowers female reproductive success. Other evidence suggests that nesting over water increases the reproductive success of female red-winged blackbirds. Here we describe an experiment in which females were given choices between two adjacent territories, one owned by an unmated male without any over-water nesting sites and the other by an already-mated male with over-water sites. Females overwhelmingly preferred the already-mated males, demonstrating that superior territory quality can reverse preferences based on mating status and supporting the polygyny threshold model as the explanation for polygyny in this population.
Managing cardiac devices near the end of life: a survey of hospice and palliative care providers.

Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) and pacemakers may change the character of an individual’s eventual death. The objective of this study was to explore hospice and palliative care provider attitudes and experience in managing ICDs and pacemakers for patients near the end of life. A voluntary survey was distributed to session attendees at a national conference. Doctors and nurses surveyed overwhelmingly agreed it is appropriate to disable these devices in a terminally ill patient who does not wish to be resuscitated or prolong life. However, respondents emphasized a less defined burden for pacemakers. Respondents also reported limited involvement in such cases and few institutional protocols. As more terminal patients have these devices, research and education on device management protocols/guidelines and on provider communication skills are critical.
Flow due to an oscillating sphere and an expression for unsteady drag on the sphere at finite Reynolds number

Unsteady flow due to an oscillating sphere with a velocity U0cosωt’, in which U0 and ω are the amplitude and frequency of the oscillation and t’ is time, is investigated at finite Reynolds number. The methods used are: (i) Fourier mode expansion in the frequency domain; (ii) a time-dependent finite difference technique in the time domain; and (iii) a matched asymptotic expansion for high-frequency oscillation. The flow fields of the steady streaming component, the second and third harmonic components are obtained with the fundamental component. The dependence of the unsteady drag on ω is examined at small and finite Reynolds numbers. For large Stokes number, e = (ωa2/2v)½ [Gt ] 1, in which a is the radius of the sphere and v is the kinematic viscosity, the numerical result for the unsteady drag agrees well with the high-frequency asymptotic solution; and the Stokes (1851) solution is valid for finite Re at e [Gt ] 1. For small Strouhal number, St = ωa/U0 [Lt ] 1, the imaginary component of the unsteady drag (Scaled by 6πU0pfva, in which Pf is the fluid density) behaves as Dml ∼ (h0Stlog St–h1St), m = 1,3,5… This is in direct contrast to an earlier result obtained for an unsteady flow over a stationary sphere with a small-amplitude oscillation in the free-stream velocity (hereinafter referred to as the SA case) in which D1∼ –h1 St (Mei, Lawrence & Adrian 1991). Computations for flow over a sphere with a free-stream velocity U0(1–α1+α1cosωt’) at Re = U02a/v = 0.2 and St [Lt ] 1 show that h0 for the first mode varies from 0 (at α1 = 0) to around 0.5 (at α1 = 1) and that the SA case is a degenerated case in which the logarithmic dependence of the drag in St is suppressed by the strong mean uniform flow.The numerical results for the unsteady drag are used to examine an approximate particle dynamic equation proposed for spherical particles with finite Reynolds number. The equation includes a quasi-steady drag, an added-mass force, and a modified history force. The approximate expression for the history force in the time domain compares very well with the numerical results of the SA case for all frequencies; it compares favourably for the PO case for moderate and high frequencies; it underestimates slightly the history force for the PO case at low frequency. For a solid sphere settling in a stagnant liquid with zero initial velocity, the velocity history is computed using the proposed particle dynamic equation. The results compare very well with experimental data of Moorman (1955) over a large range of Reynolds numbers. The present particle dynamic equation at finite Re performs consistently better than that proposed by Odar & Hamilton (1964) both qualitatively and quantitatively for three different types of spatially uniform unsteady flows.
Bad Cosmic Behavior

I call cosmic behavior bad when any species of existent has a deleterious effect upon another species.
Needed: a more inclusive research paradigm to learn about the health needs of rural women.

C w ural America’s population is highly diverse— georaphically, culturally, economically, politically, nd in their health status. Data on the health of rural esidents in the United States are sparse, conflicting, nd often nonexistent. According to the Department f Health and Human Services (DHHS), there has een some improvement in collecting and reporting ealth data for predominate minorities, but that is ot the case for most of the underrepresented and conomically disadvantaged subgroups found in he more remote regions of our nation. Too often, indings from larger studies are generalized to rural ubgroups without taking into consideration their articular cultural preferences and health beliefs. As n example, empirically based information about he self care behaviors of Puerto Ricans with a iagnosis of diabetes may not be applicable to other Hispanic” groups such as Mexican American omen who are migrant farm workers. Information btained from a study focusing on women in an mish community in Pennsylvania may be different n the women in a Mennonite or Hutterite commuity in a north central state. The list of critical health ssues in women is the same whether they be rural r urban: cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancers, isky lifestyle behaviors, mental illness, substance buse, domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, and intergenrational poverty. However, comprehensive data to upport culturally appropriate “evidence-based”
Evaluation of concurrent pools

Performance considerations affecting the design of a mechanism that preserves locality and avoids high-latency remote references called the concurrent pools data structure are explored. The effectiveness of three different implementations of concurrent pools is evaluated. Experiments performed on a BBN Butterfly multiprocessor under a variety of workloads shown that the three implementations perform similarly well for light workloads, but that with stressful workloads it appears that a simple algorithm can provide better performance than a complex algorithm, designed to keep remote accesses to a minimum. Implementations can benefit by taking into account information on the nature of the operations performed by each process to help balance the elements among processes that need them. >