cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Comparison of Lead Arsenic Cadmium and Mercury Contamination on Fish and Fish Products

The limited standards of lead,arsenic,cadmium and mercury Contamination on fish and fish products at home and abroad were compared.The factors of impact in pollution of different region and time were analyzed,The limited standards of lead,arsenic,cadmium and mercury should be revised according to different species,parts of the fish and processing factors.
County TB 2003～2008 Ruoergai direct sputum smear microscopy results

Objective:To Ruoergai County,the prevalence of tuberculosis,sputum smear to enhance the quality of management and improve the detection rate of sputum smear positive.Methods:According to "China′s TB Control Program-sputum smear microscopy laboratory quality assurance manual," the use of direct sputum smear examination luxuriant Nissl staining method.Results:The rate of newly diagnosed smear-positive patients 33.8%,follow-up patients with smear-positive rate of 5.4%;male patients with newly diagnosed smear-positive rate of 30.1%,women newly diagnosed smear-positive rate of 38.9%.Young adults newly diagnosed smear-positive cases was higher than other age groups;caseous(purulent sputum) the highest rate of smear-positive;morning sputum,night-time the highest rate of sputum smear-positive.Conclusion:For patients qualified to step up publicity to retain the sputum sample,sputum night to strengthen the early morning sputum collection and examination,so as to further enhance the detection rate of tuberculosis patients.
Cheese Quality Evaluation

Computer vision applications for quality evaluation have spanned a wide spectrum of cheese quality attributes. These include overall appearance, such as cheese color, and inclusions such as herbs, spices, etc. to various end use and microstructural characteristics. Inspection of uniformity of distribution of sauce and toppings on baked pizza has been studied via computer vision technology. Several end use and functional qualities of cheese lend themselves readily for image processing. These include various factors that are important for cooked or baked cheese and cheese-containing foods including meltability, oiling-off, browning, and blister formation, etc. Examining the morphology and integrity of cheese shreds has been a challenging application due to the rather entangling nature of shreds and their propensity for fragmentation. Evaluating cheese defects, such as calcium lactose crystal formation and mechanical openings, have also been performed with computer vision. Finally, since cheese texture and quality attributes are manifested by the internal microstructure, objective evaluation of two-dimensional, three-dimensional, and even time evolution of four-dimensional cheese microstructure made possible by computer vision methodologies has been very useful.
Uncertainty in Pacific decadal oscillation indices does not contribute to teleconnection instability

The Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO) has been used extensively to understand low-frequency climate variability and its impact on ecological and hydrological systems. In the last few years, however, numerous studies have identified various weaknesses in the PDO paradigm. These range from disagreement between proxy-based reconstructions to instability in teleconnections to discrepancy between the publicly available indices. The potential impact of differences between indices on teleconnection stability is evaluated using the 20th Century Reanalysis and Climatic Research Unit Time-Series (CRU TS) 3.22 data. While disagreements between the indices may influence the interpretation of climate drivers in particular years, they do not appear to contribute to teleconnection instability in any significant way. Ruling out this simple explanation for teleconnection instability provides further evidence that the PDO is too simplistic a framework for understanding Pacific atmosphere–ocean impacts on remote climate and suggests that variable relationships between the PDO and climate are likely related to the complex origins of this variability.
Identification of a Novel Renal Coccidian (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) from the Great-Horned Owl ( Bubo virginianus ), USA.

Abstract We diagnosed renal coccidiosis in two of five Great-horned Owls (Bubo virginianus) examined in eastern Tennessee, US, 2007–13. Histopathologic examination of the kidneys revealed multifocal mild-to-moderate dilation and epithelial hyperplasia of collecting ducts. Renal collecting duct epithelial cells contained intracytoplasmic microgametocytes, macrogametocytes, and sporulating and sporulated oocysts. Renal coccidiosis in affected birds did not result in significant inflammation. Sequence analysis of the amplified partial 18S short subunit ribosomal RNA coding region from examination of formalin fixed tissue by using PCR disclosed a 93% identity to Eimeria reichenowi in GenBank, suggesting a novel Eimeria sp.
Lowering the Bar: How Lawyer Discipline in New York Fails to Protect the Public

A study of all lawyer discipline cases in New York from mid-2008 through 2013 and many cases in earlier decades reveals that the system for lawyer discipline in New York is seriously deficient. Clients are not protected. The cases take far too long, often many years. Sanctions are dramatically inconsistent. There is no statewide effort to reconcile different sanctions in different courts. Many cases do not attempt to reconcile sanctions with those in similar cases from the same court. Secrecy is rampant. In the small number of cases where discipline is public, a prospective client cannot easily discover a lawyer's disciplinary record.
Uncovering Pathogenic Mechanisms of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Using Mouse Models of Crohn's Disease–Like Ileitis: What is the Right Model?

Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, together known as inflammatory bowel disease, are debilitating chronic disorders of unknown cause and cure. Our evolving understanding of these pathologies is enhanced greatly by the use of animal models of intestinal inflammation that allow in vivo mechanistic studies, preclinical evaluation of new therapies, and investigation into the causative factors that underlie disease pathogenesis. Several animal models, most commonly generated in mice, exist for the study of colitis. The appropriateness of their use often can be determined by their mode of generation (ie, chemical induction, T-cell transfer, targeted genetic manipulation, spontaneously occurring, and so forth), the type of investigation (mechanistic studies, pathogenic experiments, preclinical evaluations, and so forth), and the type of inflammation that occurs in the model (acute vs chronic colitis, tissue injury/repair, and so forth). Although most murine models of inflammatory bowel disease develop inflammation in the colon, Crohn’s disease most commonly occurs in the terminal ileum, where a very limited number of mouse models manifest disease. This review discusses appropriate experimental applications for different mouse models of colitis, and highlights the particular utility of 2 highly relevant models of Crohn’s-like ileitis—the spontaneous SAMP1/YitFc inbred mouse strain and the genetically engineered TnfΔAU-rich element/+ mouse model of tumor necrosis factor overexpression, both of which bear strong resemblance to the human condition. Similar to patients with Crohn’s disease, SAMP1/YitFc ileitis develops spontaneously, without chemical, genetic, or immunologic manipulation, making this model particularly relevant for studies aimed at identifying the primary defect underlying the occurrence of Crohn’s ileitis, as well as preclinical testing of novel treatment modalities.
Potential Metabolic Activation of Representative Alkylated Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons 1-Methylphenanthrene and 9-Ethylphenanthrene Associated with the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in Human Hepatoma (HepG2) Cells

Exposure to petrogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PPAHs) is the major human health hazard associated with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Alkylated phenanthrenes are the most abundant PPAHs present in the crude oil and could contaminate the food chain. We describe the metabolism of a C1-phenanthrene regioisomer 1-methylphenanthrene (1-MP) and a C2-phenanthrene regioisomer 9-ethylphenanthrene (9-EP) in human HepG2 cells. The structures of the metabolites were identified by HPLC-UV-fluorescence detection and LC-MS/MS. Side chain hydroxylation of 1-MP and 9-EP was observed as the major metabolic pathway. The formation of 1-(hydroxymethyl)-phenanthrene was confirmed by reference to an authentic synthetic standard. However, formation of the bioactivated sulfate was not detected. Tetraols were also identified as signature metabolites of 1-MP and 9-EP, indicating that metabolic activation occurred via the diol-epoxide pathway. O-Monosulfonated-catechols were discovered as signature metabolites of the o-q...
The role of GABARAPL1/GEC1 in Autophagic Flux and Mitochondrial Quality Control in MDA-MB-436 Breast Cancer Cells

The clearance of cellular damaged molecules and organelles are dependent on a fundamental process called autophagy which is now emerging as an important pathway in cancer biology. Since the discovery of the phenomena and the genetic program in the 1960 and 1990s, autophagy has been found to play an important role in a broad range of pathologies including breast cancer. One key feature of macroautophagy is the formation of the double membraned vesicles which contain lipidated microtubule associated protein 1A/1B light chain 3 (LC3-II). LC3 has 7 homologs in humans, one of the understudied LC3 homolog is GABARAPL1/GEC1 which was first discovered as an early estrogen-regulated gene, and later found to be an autophagy effector gene. High expression of GABARAPL1 mRNA is associated with a better outcome for patients with lymph node-positive breast cancer (1). Overexpression of GABARAPL1 protein decreased MCF7 proliferation and tumor growth in xenografts (1;2). We have shown that downregulation of GABARAPL1 in MDA-MB-436 cells promotes cell growth, colony formation and invasion through mechanisms involving decreased autophagic flux, decreased lysosomal number, increased mitochondrial number, mtDNA damage, oxidative protein damage, as well as glutathione, and resistance to oxidative stress-induced cell death (3). These results demonstrate that GABARAPL1 is important in integrating cellular metabolism with proliferation and resistance to cell death. Recent bioinformatics studies have found that GABARAPL1 transcripts are downregulated in all breast cancers independent of stage, race, age, menopause status, or BRCA. Furthermore, while prior studies have shown that GABARAPL1 gene is epigenetically regulated, and bioinformatics studies have found that its expression is mutually exclusive with EZH2. Thus understanding how GABARAPL1 is regulated in breast cancer cells and the exact mechanisms of how GABARAPL1 plays a role in suppressing lysosomal biogenesis, and enhancing mitochondrial number, bioenergetics, and reductive potential will be important for us to better understand tumorigenesis and therapeutic strategies against cancers with loss of tumor suppressor gene GABARAPL1 and is thus our current focus.
SNPTB: nucleotide variant identification and annotation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis genomes

Whole genome sequencing (WGS) has become a mainstay in biomedical research. The continually decreasing cost of sequencing has resulted in a data deluge that underlines the need for easy-to-use bioinformatics pipelines that can mine meaningful information from WGS data. SNPTB is one such pipeline that analyzes WGS data originating from in vitro or clinical samples of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and outputs high-confidence single nucleotide polymorphisms in the bacterial genome. The name of the mutated gene and the functional consequence of the mutation on the gene product is also determined. SNPTB utilizes open source software for WGS data analyses and is written primarily for biologists with minimal computational skills.
Chemistry topics posing incommensurate difficulty to students with low math aptitude scores

The identification of students at risk for academic failure in undergraduate chemistry courses has been heavily addressed in the literature. Arguably one of the strongest and most well-supported predictors of undergraduate success in chemistry is the mathematics portion of the SAT (SAT-M), a college-entrance, standardized test administered by the College Board. While students scoring in the bottom quartile of the SAT-M (herein referred to as at-risk) perform significantly worse on first-semester chemistry assessments, little is known of the topics on which these students differentially struggle. The purpose of this study is to provide insight as to which first-semester chemistry topics present an incommensurate challenge to at-risk students. Students were identified as either at-risk or not at-risk via SAT-M scores. Students’ assessment responses were collected across four semesters of first-semester chemistry courses at a large, public university (N = 5636). At-risk students struggled consistently across all topics but disproportionately with mole concept and stoichiometry. Analyzing the trend in topics suggests that the struggles of at-risk students are not entirely attributable to topics that rely heavily on algorithms or algebraic math. Moreso, at-risk students found to have performed well on mole concept and stoichiometry went on to perform similarly as their not at-risk peers. The results support an instructional emphasis on these topics with reviewed literature offering promising, practical options to better serve at-risk students and broaden representation in the sciences.
Hypokalemia syndrome in dairy cows: 10 cases (1992-1996)

Objective To evaluate clinical findings in cows with recumbency associated with hypokalemia. Design Retrospective case series. Animals 10 adult dairy cows with weakness or recumbency and hypokalemia. Procedure Signalment, history, physical examination findings, results of diagnostic tests, and response to treatment were extracted from the medical record of each cow. Results 8 cows were recumbent on admission and 2 were profoundly weak. All cows had been given isoflupredone acetate as treatment for ketosis prior to admission. All were hypokalemic (serum potassium concentration, 1.4 to 2.3 mEq/L) with no other apparent cause for recumbency. Despite treatment with potassium, plasma potassium concentrations within the reference range were achieved in only 6 of the 9 cows treated. Two cows responded to treatment. Three cows died, 3 were euthanatized, 2 improved clinically and were discharged, 1 was discharged while still recumbent, and 1 was sent to slaughter prior to treatment. Histologic examination of muscle tissue from 2 cows revealed myonecrosis and vacuolation consistent with hypokalemic myopathy. Clinical implications Hypokalemia should be considered in the differential diagnosis for cows that are weak or recumbent, particularly after treatment for ketosis with isoflupredone acetate. Aggressive treatment with potassium salts administered orally is indicated.
Manual Queries and Machine Translation in Cross-Language Retrieval and Interactive Retrieval with Cheshire II at TREC-7.

For TREC-7, the Berkeley ad-hoc experiments explored more phrase discovery in topics and documents. We utilized Boolean retrieval combined with probabilistic ranking for 17 topics in ad-hoc manual entry. Our cross-language experiments tested 3 di erent widely available machine translation software packages. For language pairs (e.g. German to French) for which no direct machine translation was available we made use of English as a universal intermediate language. For CLIR we also manually reformulated the English topics before doing machine translation, and this elicited a signi cant performance increase for both quad language retrieval and for English against English and French documents. In our Interactive Track entry eight searchers conducted eight searches each, half on the Cheshire II system and the other half on the Zprise system, for a total of 64 searches. Questionnaires were administered to gather information about basic demographic and searching experience, about each search, about each of the systems, and nally, about the user's perceptions of the systems.
Moral Authority Leadership and Progressive Islamic Discourse: The Gulen Movement and the Nahdlatul Ulama in Comparative Historical Perspective

Much of the current scholarships on Islamic social movements in Muslim-majority countries focus on the political discourses of conservative/fundamentalist Islamic groups such as Al Qaeda and Hamas. Fewer scholarships have examined the role of theological ideas in influencing the political discourse of progressive/liberal leaning Islamic groups such as the Gulen Movement (GM) from Turkey and the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) from Indonesia. Virtually none of the scholarships on these two movements have examined them from a comparative historical perspective. Utilizing constructivist international relations theory, this study attempts to make a theoretically informed cross-regional comparison between these two groups. It analyzes similar and different strategies utilize by these groups to promote and institutionalize progressive Islamic ideas - defined in this study as theological support toward democracy, state-religion separation, and religious tolerance/pluralism - within their respective societies. By conducting comparative historical, cross-regional study of these two Islamic movements, my project serves as a theory development exercise of the role of moral authority leadership and its role in disseminating new theological ideas beyond the artificial regional boundaries that has historically made scholarship on political Islam and Islamic social movements in the Middle East and Southeast Asia to exist largely separately, with little dialogue and collaboration with one another. This study brings together existing knowledge about Islamic social movements from the two countries in order to develop a new theory on the role of theological change within Islamic social movements that is generalizable across the Islamic world. The data of this research consist of historical documents, secondary studies, and in-depth interviews with officials and activists from these movements.
Process Stream Analysis by X-Ray Spectroscopy

X-ray fluorescence equipment now available for continuous plant process stream analysis can simultaneously or sequentially analyze for several elements. The type of instrument chosen should depend on process conditions and requirements. Equally as important as the instrument is the sample-handling system. Maintenance of instrument and sampling system are also vital. Finally, optimum use of the data provided by the system must be made. A well-chosen, well-engineered application can have great value.
Glia-neuron energy metabolism in health and diseases: New insights into the role of nervous system metabolic transporters

The brain is, by weight, only 2% the volume of the body and yet it consumes about 20% of the total glucose, suggesting that the energy requirements of the brain are high and that glucose is the primary energy source for the nervous system. Due to this dependence on glucose, brain physiology critically depends on the tight regulation of glucose transport and its metabolism. Glucose transporters ensure efficient glucose uptake by neural cells and contribute to the physiology and pathology of the nervous system. Despite this, a growing body of evidence demonstrates that for the maintenance of several neuronal functions, lactate, rather than glucose, is the preferred energy metabolite in the nervous system. Monocarboxylate transporters play a crucial role in providing metabolic support to axons by functioning as the principal transporters for lactate in the nervous system. Monocarboxylate transporters are also critical for axonal myelination and regeneration. Most importantly, recent studies have demonstrated the central role of glial cells in brain energy metabolism. A close and regulated metabolic conversation between neurons and both astrocytes and oligodendroglia in the central nervous system, or Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system, has recently been shown to be an important determinant of the metabolism and function of the nervous system. This article reviews the current understanding of the long existing controversies regarding energy substrate and utilization in the nervous system and discusses the role of metabolic transporters in health and diseases of the nervous system.
Cutting and shuffling with diffusion: Evidence for cut-offs in interval exchange maps.

Low-dimensional dynamical systems are fruitful models for mixing in fluid and granular flows. We study a one-dimensional discontinuous dynamical system (termed "cutting and shuffling" of a line segment), and we present a comprehensive computational study of its finite-time mixing properties including the effect of diffusion. To explore a large parameter space, we introduce fit functions for two mixing metrics of choice: the number of cutting interfaces (a standard quantity in dynamical systems theory of interval exchange transformations) and a mixing norm (a more physical measure of mixing). We compute averages of the mixing metrics across different permutations (shuffling protocols), showing that the latter averages are a robust descriptor of mixing for any permutation choice. If the decay of the normalized mixing norm is plotted against the number of map iterations rescaled by the characteristic e-folding time, then universality emerges: mixing norm decay curves across all cutting and shuffling protocols collapse onto a single stretched-exponential profile. Next, we predict this critical number of iterations using the average length of unmixed subsegments of continuous color during cutting and shuffling and a Batchelor-scale-type diffusion argument. This prediction, called a "stopping time" for finite Markov chains, compares well with the e-folding time of the stretched-exponential fit. Finally, we quantify the effect of diffusion on cutting and shuffling through a Peclet number (a dimensionless inverse diffusivity), showing that the system transitions more sharply from an unmixed initial state to a mixed final state as the Peclet number becomes large. Our numerical investigation of cutting and shuffling of a line segment in the presence of diffusion thus presents evidence for the latter phenomenon, known as a "cut-off" for finite Markov chains, in interval exchange maps.
Why Be Creative: A Multilevel Examination of Individual and Group Creativity on Performance

This paper develops and empirically tests a multilevel mediating model examining the effect of individual and team creativity on employee performance. We propose that support for creativity will po...
La política de la pobreza y el gobierno de los asentamientos informales en Chile

Informal settlements in Chile are understood as territorial concentrations of poverty. This understanding has shaped housing policy for informal settlements. However, despite the fact that poverty rates have reduced considerably in the country, informal settlements have not reduced as expected. Building upon Foucault’s framework of governmentality, I examine the framing of poverty that has become taken-for-granted today. Through the examination of official state documents and presidential discourses, I trace the concepts used to describe informal settlements between the 1940s and the 1990s. The concept of poverty gains predominance during the military dictatorship (1973-1989) and consolidates as a framing to understand informal settlements only starting from the 1990s. This framing, that I refer to as “the politics of poverty” became instrumental to transform informal settlements into a governable population, from collective and political actions aimed to negotiate access to housing, to individual and de-politicized actions seeking government assistance. The implications of this transformation are discussed.
Development of a logic model for a service learning, dog walking course for college students

Despite overwhelming evidence of the importance of physical activity, only 20% of US adults meet physical activity recommendations. A subsector of the population vulnerable to inactivity is college students. There is a disconnect between evidence-based physical activity programming and dissemination into college communities, which may be overcome through logic model development and evaluation. The purpose of this paper is to discuss logic model development for a service-learning, dog walking program for undergraduates. Participants were undergraduates (18-25 years). Process evaluations and observational data were used in a content analysis to determine major themes to create the logic model. A set of resources were needed to complete program activities, which led to short- and long-term outcomes. The overarching goal of the program is to improve the overall health status of college students and companion animals. This logic model may have significant public health impact as it can serve as a framework for universities wanting to develop, implement, and evaluate a service-learning, dog walking program for students.
Therapist mindfulness and subjective vitality: the role of psychological wellbeing and compassion satisfaction

AbstractBackground: Mindfulness and vitality are related constructs in the literature; however, mindfulness and vitality have not been fully examined in the literature, specifically with mental hea...
Teacher and Video Modeling: A Survey of Use and Perspectives.

The current study investigated special education teacher use of and perspectives on video modeling (VM) interventions to improve skills of students with disabilities using survey methodology. To da...
#rebel: Rebel communication strategies in the age of social media:

How have rebel communication strategies been shaped by the increasingly social nature of the internet and the constant changes of information and communication technology in a Web 2.0 world? Rebel ...
Electrophoretic deposition of iron oxide nanoparticles to achieve thick nickel/iron oxide magnetic nanocomposite films

For modern switching power supplies, current bulk magnetic materials, such as ferrites or magnetic metal alloys, cannot provide both low loss and high magnetic saturation to function with both high power density and high efficiency at high frequencies (10-100 MHz). Magnetic nanocomposites comprised of a ferrite and magnetic metal alloy provide the opportunity to achieve these desired magnetic properties, but previously investigated thin-film fabrication techniques have difficulty achieving multi-micrometer film thicknesses which are necessary to provide practical magnetic energy storage and power handling. Here, we present a versatile technique to fabricate thick magnetic nanocomposites via a two-step process, consisting of the electrophoretic deposition of an iron oxide nanoparticle phase into a mold on a substrate, followed by electro-infiltration of a nickel matrix. The deposited films are imaged via scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy to identify the presence of iron and nickel, confirming the infiltration of the nickel between the iron oxide nanoparticles. A film thickness of ∼7 μm was measured via stylus profilometry. Further confirmation of successful composite formation is obtained with vibrating sample magnetometry, showing the saturation magnetization value of the composite (473 kA/m) falls between that of the iron oxide nanoparticles (280 kA/m) and the nickel matrix (555 kA/m). These results demonstrate the potential of electrophoretic deposition coupled with electro-infiltration to fabricate magnetic nanocomposite films.
Only, or, and free choice presuppositions

Bar-Lev and Fox (Natl Lang Semant 28:175–223, 2020), B-L&F, redefine the exhaustification operator, Exh, so that it negates innocently excludable (IE) alternatives and asserts innocently includable (II) ones. They similarly redefine the exclusive particle only so that it negates IE-alternatives and presupposes II ones. B-L&F justify their revision of only on the basis of Alxatib’s finding (in: Proceedings of NELS 44, 2014) that only presupposes free choice (FC) in cases like Kim was only allowed to eat soup or salad. I show challenges to B-L&F’s view of only and argue against extending II to its meaning. Instead I propose that FC is better treated as a “presuppositional implicature” in such cases. I show the details of how this can be done and identify the necessary (and occasionally novel) auxiliary assumptions.
History and Primary: The Obama Reelection

Democrat Barack Obama is going to defeat Republican Mitt Romney by a comfortable margin in the 2012 presidential election. This forecast comes from a statistical model that uses the primary performance of the candidates and a cycle in presidential elections to predict the presidential vote. In plain English, Obama has history on his side as well as the fact that he was unchallenged in the primaries. The model, called The Primary Model because of its heavy reliance on primaries, covers elections from 1912, the beginning of presidential primaries. Since 1952, however, only the New Hampshire Primary is used; we justify the choice of New Hampshire at some length.
Ccr4-Not as a mediator of environmental signaling: a jack of all trades and master of all

The cellular response to environmental exposures, such as nutrient shifts and various forms of stress, requires the integration of the signaling apparatus that senses these environmental changes with the downstream gene regulatory machinery. Delineating this molecular circuitry remains essential for understanding how organisms adapt to environmental flux, and it is critical for determining how dysregulation of these mechanisms causes disease. Ccr4-Not is a highly conserved regulatory complex that controls all aspects of the gene expression process. Recent studies in budding yeast have identified novel roles for Ccr4-Not as a key regulator of core nutrient signaling pathways that control cell growth and proliferation, including signaling through the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (TORC1) pathway. Herein, I will review the current evidence that implicate Ccr4-Not in nutrient signaling regulation, and I will discuss important unanswered questions that should help guide future efforts to delineate Ccr4-Not's role in linking environmental signaling with the gene regulatory machinery. Ccr4-Not is highly conserved throughout eukaryotes, and increasing evidence indicates it is dysregulated in a variety of diseases. Determining how Ccr4-Not regulates these signaling pathways in model organisms such as yeast will provide a guide for defining how it controls these processes in human cells.
Symptomatic Improvement of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia: A Comparative Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of 4 Different Minimally Invasive Therapies.

Abstract Purpose To review and compare the outcomes of prostatic artery embolization (PAE) with 3 other minimally invasive surgical treatments for benign prostatic hyperplasia, including photoselective vaporization (PVP), prostatic urethral lift (PUL), and water vapor thermal therapy (WV). Methods A literature review was used to identify 35 publications, which included 2,653 patients (studies, patients): PVP (13, 949), PUL (9, 577), WV (3, 330), and PAE (10, 728). The international prostate symptom score (IPSS) and the international index of erectile function (IIEF-5) and quality of life (QOL) scores were recorded at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months. Meta-analyses, pooling the standardized mean difference between scores recorded before and after treatment, were conducted for each modality and time point to assess the magnitude of a therapy’s effect to yield pooled effect sizes. A negative score indicates IPSS and QOL improvement. A positive score indicates IIEF-5 improvement. Results At 6 and 12 months, the IPSS and QOL were most improved after PVP, followed by that after PAE, PUL, and, lastly, WV (measured only at 12 months). Between 6 and 12 months, the IPSS and QOL improved with PAE and worsened with PVP and PUL. Only PAE demonstrated statistical improvement in the IIEF-5, which improved from 6 to 12 months. Conclusions PVP and PAE resulted in the largest improvements in the IPSS and QOL. Only PAE resulted in improvement of the IIEF-5.
Determinants of Psychosocial Distress in Breast Cancer Patients at a Safety Net Hospital.

Abstract Introduction Psychosocial distress screening of cancer patients is an American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer mandate for accredited cancer programs. We evaluated psychosocial distress in breast cancer patients to characterize risk factors for high distress scores at a safety net hospital. Materials and Methods The psychosocial distress screening form includes a list of potential issues and a distress score scaled from 1 through 10. Psychosocial distress screening results were retrospectively analyzed, along with patient demographics and clinical data. Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel test was applied to identify predictors for high distress scores, which were defined as a score of 5 and greater. Results 775 distress screens were completed by 171 breast cancer patients. High distress scores were reported in 21.3%. Patients who had no evidence of disease at time of screening were less likely to report a high distress score compared to those who were newly diagnosed or in active treatment (odds ratio 0.51, 95% CI, 0.38-0.68, P Conclusion Status of cancer at time of screening, particularly newly diagnosed cancer and active treatment of cancer were associated with high distress scores in this patient group. While there should be an emphasis to ensure patients with these risk factors receive psychosocial distress screening, routine periodic screening for all patients should continue to be implemented to ensure quality cancer care.
Role of Motivating Wants in a Hierarchical Network Model for Advertising

The impact of advertising on the association between consumer needs, attributes and brands is investigated using a hierarchical network model. Needs are operationalized as motivating wants that describe the current state of an individual, different from the desired state for which the attributes and brands are valued. We propose and test the presence of a hierarchical memory structure linking motivating wants with attributes and brands, and show that advertising effectiveness increases when the advertising message taps into an individual's pre-existing motivating wants. Understanding the cognitive associations between motivating wants and brand attributes can help marketers design more effective communications.
An Optimization-Based Approach to Time-Critical Cooperative Surveillance and Coverage with UAVs

We present a path planning algorithm for time-critical cooperative surveillance using a set of unmanned aerial platforms. The unique constraints imposed by maneuver limits and body-fixed cameras make the problem quite challenging. An Integer Programming (IP) based strategy for successfully operating within these constraints is developed. The main contribution of the paper is the incorporation of highly constrained motion and sensor capabilities of the vehicles in the mathematical programming formalism. Simulation and experimental results are presented to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed approach.
The Burnside groups and small cancellation theory

In a pair of recent papers (one to appear and one forthcoming), the author develops a general version of small cancellation theory applicable in higher dimensions, and then applies this theory to the Burnside groups of sufficiently large exponent. The present article gives a brief introduction to the methods and techniques involved in the proofs. Many of the ideas originate with the recent work of A. Yu. Olshanskii and S. V. Ivanov. Some familiarity with their work on the Burnside problem is assumed.
Biomass burning in north Africa and its possible relationship to climate change in the Mediterranean basin.

This manuscript assesses whether biomass burning in North Africa could affect the heat budget of the Mediterranean region. The principal biomass burning activities in North Africa are forest and maquis fires, burning of agricultural wastes, and the domestic use of firewood. In the Mediterranean zones of the five North African nations, forest fires emit 1.33 Gg yr−1 of black carbon to the atmosphere; burning of agricultural wastes, 7.27 Gg yr−1, and burning of fuelwood, 5.16 Gg ye−1. The working model calculates maximum atmospheric black carbon emissions during August, September, and October as a result of forest fires and burning of agricultural residues. The atmospheric loading of North African black carbon from the estimated burning activities ranges between 0.01 and 0.05 µg BC m−3. This estimated black carbon loading is low compared to observations of the western Mediterranean aerosol, which suggests that the European continent, rather than North Africa, is the likely source region for black carbon in the Mediterranean aerosol. While North African biomass burning may be insignificant on a global scale, the emitted particulates could potentially affect the Mediterranean climate. From estimates of Saharan dust, black carbon, and biomass burning aerosols transported to the north over the Mediterranean Sea, I have calculated the relative optical depths of these three categories of particulates. The optical depth of summed black carbon and biomass burning aerosols is only seven percent that of Saharan dust. Thus, North African biomass burning particulates cause a small impact on the Mediterranean climate and heat budget compared to Saharan dust particles.
Alignment of U3 region sequences of mammalian type C viruses: identification of highly conserved motifs and implications for enhancer design.

Abstract We aligned published sequences for the U3 region of 35 type C mammalian retroviruses. The alignment reveals that certain sequence motifs within the U3 region are strikingly conserved. A number of these motifs correspond to previously identified sites. In particular, we found that the enhancer region of most of the viruses examined contains a binding site for leukemia virus factor b, a viral corelike element, the consensus motif for nuclear factor 1, and the glucocorticoid response element. Most viruses containing more than one copy of enhancer sequences include these binding sites in both copies of the repeat. We consider this set of binding sites to constitute a framework for the enhancers of this set of viruses. Other highly conserved motifs in the U3 region include the retrovirus inverted repeat sequence, a negative regulatory element, and the CCAAT and TATA boxes. In addition, we identified two novel motifs in the promoter region that were exceptionally highly conserved but have not been previously described.
The Interleukin-2-mTORc1 Kinase Axis Defines the Signaling, Differentiation, and Metabolism of T Helper 1 and Follicular B Helper T Cells

The differentiation of CD4(+) helper T cell subsets with diverse effector functions is accompanied by changes in metabolism required to meet their bioenergetic demands. We find that follicular B helper T (Tfh) cells exhibited less proliferation, glycolysis, and mitochondrial respiration, accompanied by reduced mTOR kinase activity compared to T helper 1 (Th1) cells in response to acute viral infection. IL-2-mediated activation of the Akt kinase and mTORc1 signaling was both necessary and sufficient to shift differentiation away from Tfh cells, instead promoting that of Th1 cells. These findings were not the result of generalized signaling attenuation in Tfh cells, because they retained the ability to flux calcium and activate NFAT-transcription-factor-dependent cytokine production. These data identify the interleukin-2 (IL-2)-mTORc1 axis as a critical orchestrator of the reciprocal balance between Tfh and Th1 cell fates and their respective metabolic activities after acute viral infection.
Overcrowding factors of mosquito larvae.

Third-instar larvae of the southern house mosquito Culex Pipiens quinquefasciatus Say, raised under overcrowded conditions (5-7 larvae/ml) produced chemical factors which were highly toxic to 1st-instar larvae of this species. In addition to being highly toxic to younger larvae, overcrowding factors slowed down growth and development of younger larvae and produced morphological aberrations in larvae exposed to suspension of extracts of these factors. Overcrowded cultures of larvae maintained under septic and aseptic conditions, showed approximately similar activity when supernates from the cultures were evaluated against younger larvae. Infusions of larval food (without any larvae), under septic and aseptic conditions also produced some toxic factors, but the nature and quantity of these factors produced were different from those elaborated in overcrowded larval cultures. Tap water control and less crowded larval cultures were devoid of these factors. The toxic overcrowding factors were ether extractable, but some factors also were extracted in the aqueous layer as determined by bioassay techniques. Ether extract of larval homogenates was free of toxic overcrowding factors. Overcrowding factors isolated from cultures of C. p. quinquefasciatus and streaked on thin layer chromatograms showed 2 zones where biological activity was most obvious. Ether eluate from I of these 2 zones was further streaked on a thin layer chromatogram using a 2nd solvent system. The most active materials were located at the solvent front. Material from this zone as well as 2 other zones showed quick killing action and residual activity against 1st-instar larvae. In some tests, the overcrowding factors manifested biological activity for as long as 22 days. Overcrowding factors of C. p. quinquefasciatus showed considerable activity against 1st-instar larvae of Culex tarsalis Coquillett; the yellow. fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti (L.); and Anopheles albimanus Wiedemann. In 1 experiment overcrowding factors from a larval culture of A. aegypti were extracted with ether. This material showed high activity against larvae of C. p. quinquefasciatus . Ethanol elution of concentrated ether extract showed considerably higher biological activity than water suspensions of the same materials. It is postulated that ethanol either synergizes the factors or increases their availability to the larvae.
Parental support and pressure and children's extracurricular activities: relationships with amount of involvement and affective experience of participation

Abstract This study examined children's perceptions of their parents' involvement in all types of extracurricular activities, extending research beyond the sports domain. The Parental Involvement in Activities Scale (PIAS) was developed to measure children's perceptions of their parents' involvement. The PIAS resulted in a 16-item measure with 2 factors, “support” and “pressure.” The amount of time children spend in their activities and their affective experience of participation were also assessed. Perceived parental support positively predicted participants' amount of extracurricular involvement. Perceived parental support and pressure predicted children's affective experience of participation. Present results suggest that parental support and pressure are variables that may be central to understanding how to optimize children's extracurricular involvement. Recommendations are made regarding how parents can modify their involvement to contribute to their children's positive experience of extracurricular activities, while minimizing involvement that contributes to negative experience.
Dye lasers: triaxial and quadraxial flashlamp-pumped types compared

The author compares the performance of the water-cooled triaxial dye cell with both that of a water-cooled quadraxial dye cell and a dye-cooled triaxial dye cell.(AIP)
Nanometer-Scale Vertical-Sidewall Reactive Ion Etching of InGaAs for 3-D III-V MOSFETs

This letter introduces a novel inductively coupled plasma-reactive ion etching (ICP-RIE) technique based on a BCl3/SiCl4/Ar chemistry for fabricating sub-20 nm diameter InGaAs nanowires with smooth, vertical sidewall and high aspect ratio (>10). To mitigate dry-etch damage, RIE is followed by a digital etch method comprised of multiple cycles of self-limiting low power O2 plasma oxidation and diluted H2SO4 rinse. Using these technologies, we demonstrate vertical InGaAs gateall-around nanowire MOSFETs with 30 nm diameter. Digital etch improves both the subthreshold swing and peak transconductance, indicating enhanced sidewall interfacial quality. The combination of RIE and digital etch techniques proposed here is promising for future 3-D III-V MOSFETs.
Shifting forest composition and primate diets: a 13-year comparison of the Tana River mangabey and its habitat.

We compared the feeding behavior of a group of Tana River mangabeys (Cercocebus galeritus), densities of 25 diet species, and fruit availability of nine species in a 16.25 ha Tana River forest in southeastern Kenya studied in 1988 and in 2000–2001. For both studies, we enumerated all reproductively sized individuals of the 25 diet species and sampled nine of those species monthly for fruit availability. Mangabey feeding data were collected monthly from January to December 1988 and August 2000 to July 2001 using identical methods. We found a 17% increase in stem number of the 25 species between studies. Estimates of fruit production were lower in 2000 for five of the nine species monitored. Species composition of the mangabey diets shifted between 1988 and 2000–2001. We suggest that changes in forest composition may be due to declining human disturbance, elephant loss, changes in the river's hydrologic regime, and the 1997/98 ENSO event. Possible reasons for lower fruit availability are a younger demographic profile of the forest and changes in the river's hydrological regime. Only some of the changes in the mangabey diet mirrored changes in stem abundance and/or fruit availability. Mangabey dietary changes underscore their high degree of flexibility that allows them to persist in such a dynamic forest habitat. Am. J. Primatol. 70:339–348, 2008. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Effects of age and IQ on paced auditory serial addition task (PASAT) performance

Abstract The Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (PASAT) is a neuropsychological instrument used by clinicians and researchers to measure attention and information processing, to evaluate impairments, and to quantify changes in performance over time. The PASAT is sensitive to these subtle deficits in neurocognitive functioning. Clinical interpretation of test results requires comparison relative to the normal population. The present data, compiled from 526 normal, healthy US adults, represents the first published comprehensive normative study of the Levin modification of the PASAT. Analyses were conducted to assess the effect of the demographic variables of age, IQ, gender, race, and education on PASAT performance. Education and race had no significant effect. Gender exerted minimal statistical significance that was not considered clinically meaningful. Age and IQ did significantly affect PASAT test results. For both clinical and research purposes, the age and intellectual functioning of subjects must be ...
Motor endplate involvement in the extraocular muscles of the myotonic rat

The motor endplates from the extraocular muscles of rats administered 20,25-diazacholesterol were examined by electron microscopy. Many anomalies were found at various levels of the junctional complex. Electron microscopy showed disrupted sole-plate nuclei, disruptions of the junctional sarcoplasm, atypical sarcoplasmic extensions, simplified postsynaptic areas, and interposition of Schwann cell cytoplasm between axonal terminal and muscle fiber with a reduplication of basement membrane, as well as atrophic and disrupted axonal terminals. These data indicate that the motor endplate is affected as well as the muscle fiber in myotonic dystrophy.