cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Reference free quantitative ultrasound classification of fatty liver

The backscatter coefficient (BSC) describes the scattering properties of a medium and can be used to characterize tissue, such as fatty liver. To calculate the BSC, a calibration spectrum is needed, which can be acquired using a reference phantom method before or after the clinical scanning procedure is complete. This requires yet another scanning procedure that can disrupt the busy clinical flow. Therefore, we have explored the use of a convolutional neural network (CNN) as a means of eliminating an external reference step while still capable of classifying liver disease in a rabbit model of fatty liver. Sixty New Zealand white rabbits were separated into five cohorts with each cohort maintained on a special high fat diet to induce different degrees of fatty liver. One week before scanning, rabbits were placed on normal chow. Rabbit livers were scanned in vivo using an L9-4/38 linear array connected to a SonixOne scanner. Raw RF data were collected from the scans and used for quantitative ultrasound (QUS) analysis. Immediately after scanning, the rabbit liver was extracted and the percent lipids in the liver were estimated using the Folch assay. The rabbit livers were classified into two classes: high fat (lipid percentage >= 5%) and low fat (lipid percentage <5%). The 5% threshold was equal to the median of lipid percentages of all the rabbits. Livers were classified using traditional QUS approaches and compared with a CNN approach where no reference was utilized, and the raw RF signals were used as the inputs. The attenuation and the BSC were estimated from the RF using a reference phantom technique. The attenuation slope, attenuation midband-fit, the effective scatterer diameter, and the effective acoustic concentration were extracted from the attenuation and the BSC and used as features to train a kernel support vector machine (SVM) for the task of liver lipid classification. A CNN was designed to simultaneously extract the features from the raw RF and perform liver lipid classification without using a reference phantom. Six-fold cross validation was performed to quantify the accuracy of the SVM classifier using the QUS parameters and the CNN classifier using the RF. The average training and testing accuracies across six folds using the QUS approach was 68.94% and 59.12%, respectively. The average training and test accuracy using the CNN approach were 81.03% and 73.81% for training and testing, respectively. The results demonstrate that the CNN can be used to classify fatty liver without the need for an external reference scan, i.e., reference-free QUS.
Keeping journal club relevant in the COVID-19 pandemic: The 'Rapid Fire' 5-minute format.

There has been an explosion of data published in a short period of time about COVID-19. It can be difficult for learners to stay on top of the latest information while also critically appraising each new piece of information. As a result, there can be a lack of local consensus on how to best manage these patients as new data continually becomes available.
Evaluation of Railway Sheathless Access System for Transradial Coronary and Peripheral Interventions.

Abstract Objective Evaluate efficacy and safety of Railway Sheathless Access System™ (Railway) in the first 200 consecutive cases at our center. Background Transradial Intervention (TRI) is limited by the frequent occurrence of spasm, radial artery occlusion (RAO) and inability to use larger guide catheters (GC). The small size of radial artery (RA) is the primary reason for these limitations. Railway allows downsizing by sheathless GC access with GC of any shape or brand. Methods Procedural and clinical variables were recorded prospectively for every case with intended use of Railway in the medical records. Hospital wide documentation of arm pain, radial spasm and pre-discharge evaluation of RAO with reverse Barbeau's test was performed by nurses. We retrospectively reviewed the data of the first consecutive 200 cases with the intended use of the Railway. Results Railway was used successfully to complete intended procedure in 199 (99.5%) of the 200 patients. Railway was used with a 6 Fr (171) or 7 Fr (29) GC of various shapes to achieve sheathless access in 197 patients and for tracking the GC through severe RA tortuosity or mitral paravalvular leak in the rest. Three patients (1.5%) had spasm and forearm pain, two (1%) patients had small ( Conclusion Railway Sheathless Access System can be used routinely for TRI with high success rate and low complication rate.
Science Journalism and Pandemic Uncertainty

Novel risks generate copious amounts of uncertainty, which in turn can confuse and mislead publics. This commentary explores those issues through the lens of information seeking and processing, with a focus on social media and the potential effectiveness of science journalism.
Overview of Antibiotics

During hospital rounds with the inpatient team, a medical student asks the attending “How do you decide what empiric antibiotic therapy to start for a patient hospitalized with a presumed infection?” The attending physicians explains the principles for deciding on empiric antibiotic therapy: (1) Identify the site(s) of infection. (2) Identify the most common infecting pathogens for the site(s), taking into account the patient’s immune status, medical history, and recent exposures. (3) Initiate antimicrobial treatment based on local susceptibility patterns of these pathogens and drug penetration at the site(s) of infection.
Text Messaging to Increase Compliance with Adjuvant Endocrine Therapy in Breast Cancer

Many breast cancer patients do not complete long-term hormonal therapies. Text messaging emerged as a tool to enhance medication compliance, but a trial of twice-weekly text message reminders (published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology) failed to improve adherence. The results, however, pave the way for 2nd generation texting approaches.
These Stories Must Be Told: Preliminary Observations by a Black Scholar Practitioner on Silences in the Archive

As a scholar practitioner, a trained philosophical theologian, Methodist clergywoman, and social enterprise founder who is conducting oral histories as part of my doctoral internship in the IUPUI A...
Rich and abundant spider communities result from enhanced web capture breadth and reduced overlap in urban greenspaces.

Urbanization is a key contributor to biodiversity loss, but evidence is mounting that cities can support rich arthropod communities, including rare and threatened species. Furthermore, greenspace is growing within hundreds of "shrinking cities" that have lost population resulting in a need to demolish an overabundance of infrastructure creating vacant land. Efforts are underway to transform vacant lots, often viewed as blighted areas, into habitats that promote biodiversity and generate ecosystem services, such as urban agroecosystems. To understand how reconfiguring these greenspaces might influence species conservation, elucidation of the factors that drive the distribution of an urban species pool is needed. In particular, the importance of species interactions in structuring urban communities is poorly understood. We tested hypotheses that (1) greater breadth of prey captured by web-building spiders and reduced overlap of prey capture among individuals facilitates the conservation of genera richness and abundance and (2) heterogeneity within a greenspace patch facilitates enhanced dietary niche breadth and greater resource partitioning. In 2013 and 2014, the abundance, breadth and degree of overlap in prey capture of sheet web spiders (Linyphiidae) was measured using web mimic traps at 160 microsites (0.25 m2 ) situated in four urban vacant lots and four urban farms in the city of Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Within a subset of 40 microsites, we used vacuum sampling and hand collection to measure the abundance and genera richness of Linyphiidae. Spider richness and abundance were significantly reduced within urban farms relative to vacant lots. The distribution of spiders and prey was explained by habitat structure, with microsites dominated by tall grasses and flowering plants, with a high bloom abundance and richness, supporting greater prey capture and a higher genera richness and abundance of spiders. In 2014, web capture overlap was significantly greater within microsites dominated by bare ground. These findings illustrate that urban greenspace conservation efforts that focus on reducing bare ground and incorporating a diversity of grasses and flowering plant species can promote linyphiid spiders, potentially by relaxing exploitative competition for shared prey.
Effect of P2G on Suppression of New Energy Fluctuations and Carbon Capture and Dynamic Simulation of Gas Pipeline

The rise of power-to-gas (P2G) technology provides an effective way for the absorption of low-carbon intermittent energy sources such as wind energy and photovoltaics. At the same time, the application and promotion of power-to-gas (P2G) are beneficial to the realization of carbon-neutral goals and realize carbon recycling. This paper analyzes the principle of the power-to-gas process, including the two steps of power-to-hydrogen (P2H) and methanation, and analyzes how to use a power-to-gas facility to increase the grid-connected ratio of new energy power generation and alleviate wind and solar abandonment. This paper proposed a solution to the above problem, and analyzed the effect of power-to-gas on carbon capture, at the same time calculated the number of carbon emissions that can be reduced in the unit of energy produced, and finally, we can conclude that power-to-gas is effective in stabilizing new energy volatility and carbon neutrality and have significant social benefits and economic value. The main component of natural gas is methane, so the methane produced by P2G can be directly injected into the natural gas pipeline. Since the rate of methane production fluctuates frequently. Therefore, it will cause frequent fluctuations of the gas in the pipeline, which may cause the gas pressure, flow, and pipeline pack to exceed the limitation. This paper uses the method of characteristic to solve the differential equation of the pipeline to analyze the dynamic fluctuation process of pressure, flow rate, and pipeline-pack, and finally compared with thermodynamic calculation to verify the correctness of the algorithm.
A Legal and Ethical Analysis of the Effects of Triggering Conditions on Surrogate Decision-Making in End-of-Life Care in the US

The central claim of this paper is that American states' use of so-called "triggering conditions" to regulate surrogate decision-making authority in end-of-life care leaves unresolved a number of important ethical and legal considerations regarding the scope of that authority. The paper frames the issue with a case set in a jurisdiction in which surrogate authority to withdraw life-sustaining treatment is triggered by two specific clinical conditions. The case presents a quandary insofar as the clinical facts do not satisfy the triggering conditions, and yet both the appropriate surrogates and the care team agree that withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment is in the best interest of the patient. The paper surveys applicable law across the 50 states and weighs the arguments for and against the inclusion of such triggering conditions in relevant legal regimes. The paper concludes by assessing the various legal and policy options states have for regulating surrogate decision-making authority in light of the moral considerations (including epistemic difficulties), and notes the possibility for conflict within ethics teams arising from the potential tension between prudence, risk-aversion, and moral obligation.
Ubel, Peter: Critical decisions: how you and your doctor can make the right medical choices together

Though written for a popular audience, Peter Ubel’s Critical Decisions: How You and Your Doctor Can Make the Right Choices Together will be important reading for medical practitioners and theorists alike. In it, Ubel presents a new approach for making medical decisions directly to health care consumers, drawing on his research on the psychology of medical decision-making and training in medicine and bioethics. This approach focuses on communication between doctors and patients rather than on patients’ rights or physicians’ duties. Given the target audience, the book is rarely explicit about its arguments. But implicit in Ubel’s narrative is the claim that, like it or not, there is a new order in medicine, where patients and physicians must literally work together to make medical decisions; and, moreover, that there are empirically measurable ways to assess our failures and increase our successes at doing so. His narrative is engaging and fresh. For its purposes, the book is excellent. However, for the readers of this journal, it is likely to reveal unquestioned assumptions and unasked questions that deserve Ubel’s attention. After summarizing the text, I will return to them by way of conclusion. Critical Decisions has four parts (and thirteen chapters). Part I describes the ‘‘rise of the empowered patient’’ (p. 21), by covering familiar ground to David Rothman [1] on the increasing influence of academic bioethics on patient care from 1970 to 1995. One of Ubel’s most evident rhetorical gifts is his ability to weave powerfully his own personal experiences into the narrative, adding meaning to his claims and supporting his authorial credibility. In the beginning of Part I, he describes a 1995 case in which he was the on-call ethics consultant tasked with aiding a surgeon make a preference-sensitive decision for a cancer patient whose preferences were unknown. Ubel compares that patient’s experience to Betty Ford’s, who, in 1975, consented to a biopsy but ended up receiving a radical mastectomy while under anesthetic, without being informed of her diagnosis or asked of her opinion
Accounting for toxicity risks in pollution control : does it matter?

It is important for environmental regulators to weight pollutants for their relative toxicity risk when developing priorities for pollution control efforts at the industrial or regional level. But at high levels of aggregation, the choice of indicator need not be the subject of immense debate. The accounting and public release of information about industrial toxic pollution emissions is meeting increasing criticism in that these listings typically do not account for the different toxicity risks associated with different pollutants. A firm emitting a large amount of a relatively harmless substance is ranked as a heavier polluter than a firm emitting a small quantity of a potent substance. Such unweighted rankings of firms, it is argued, may lead to a misallocation of resources and a wrong prioritization of efforts in pollution control. This is a particular problem in developing countries, where sources for pollution control are typically scarce. To account for varying toxicity risk, a number of organizations have developed thresholds or exposure limits for various pollutants. But many toxicity risk factors and methods are currently available, and different risk indicators yield different results and hence priorities. So Dasgupta, Laplante, and Meisner review seven risk methods and construct 10 sets of toxicity risk factors from those indicators. They apply those factors to the 3,426 industrial municipalities of Brazil and explore Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in detail. After ranking states and municipalities for their pollution intensity, results indicate that at the state level, risk-weighted rankings remain largely the same across the 10 sets of toxicity risk factors used in this paper. By and large the result also holds true at the municipal level. Although at the state level the unweighted ranking is relatively similar to the risk-weighted ranking, at the municipal level significant differences were found between the risk-weighted and unweighted rankings. These findings suggest that it is important for environmental regulators to weight pollutants for their relative toxicity risk when developing priorities for pollution control efforts at the industrial or regional level. But at high levels of aggregation, the choice of indicator need not be the subject of immense debate. This paper - a product of Environment and Infrastructure, Development Research Group - is part of a larger study on industrial pollution. Susmita Dasgupta may be contacted at sdasgupta@worldbank.org.
The effect of financial liberalization on the efficiency of credit allocation: Some evidence from Korea

Abstract This paper examines Korea's recent experience with financial liberalization to find empirical evidence for the McKinnon-Shaw hypothesis regarding the effect of financial liberalization on the allocative efficiency of credit. This involves analyzing changes in the variation of average borrowing costs across different sectors and industries using consolidated balance sheets and income statements from firms. It demonstrates that there has been a substantial improvement in the efficiency of credit allocation since 1980, when the Korean Government started to implement various financial liberalization reforms.
Color Vision, Neural Basis of

The brain determines color from different wavelengths. Specialized cells in the retina, thalamus, primary visual cortex and higher brain areas achieve color perceptions by taking into account chromatic context, which explains various color illusions and color constancy. Keywords: cones; primary visual cortex; double-opponent cells; chromatic axes; color constancy; cytochrome oxidase blobs; achromatopsia; V1; V4; V8; color perception; parallel processing; Hering; Helmholtz; opponent colors
Thymidine triphosphate synthesis in senescent WI38 cells: Relationship to loss of replicative capacity

Abstract The effect of in vitro age on thymidine triphosphate (TTP) synthesis was assessed in WI38 cultures according to the following measurements: (1) thymidine kinase activity of broken cell preparations; (2) in situ incorporation of [3H]thymidine into acid-soluble material; and (3) total intracellular TTP content as determined by an enzymatic assay. All three parameters were maximal in exponentially proliferating populations and minimal in quiescent monolayers; no signifcant differences between young and old cultures were observed despite the reduced replicative capacity of the latter. The addition of serum to density-arrested cultures induced both TTP synthesis and DNA replication after a lag of approx. 12 h; although a greater percentage of young cells initiated replication as compared with old, pool sizes expanded to a similar extent in both populations. Pool expansion did not require entry into S phase; the pool sizes of control and cytosyl arabinoside-treated cultures were comparable. These findings suggest that senescent cells retain the ability to synthesize TTP, even though they are incapable of replicating DNA. Because TTP synthesis is a cell cycle-dependent event that normally begins in late G1, senescent cells might be blocked in the latter portion of the prereplicative phase and not in G0 as are quiescent cells.
Motion Analysis System for Robot Traction Device Evaluation and Design

Though much research has been conducted regarding traction of tires in soft granular terrain, little empirical data exist on the motion of soil particles beneath a tire. A novel experimentation and analysis technique has been developed to enable detailed investigation of robot interactions with granular soil. This technique, the Shear Interface Imaging Analysis method, provides visualization and analysis capability of soil shearing and flow as it is influenced by a wheel or excavation tool. The method places a half-width implement (wheel, excavation bucket, etc.) of symmetrical design in granular soil up against a transparent glass sidewall. During controlled motion of the implement, high-speed images are taken of the sub-surface soil, and are processed via optical flow software. The resulting soil displacement field is of very high fidelity and can be used for various analysis types. Identification of clusters of soil motion, shear interfaces and shearing direction/magnitude allow for analysis of the soil mechanics governing traction. The Shear Interface Imaging Analysis Tool enables analysis of robot-soil interactions in richer detail than possible before. Prior state-of-art technique relied on long-exposure images that provided only qualitative insight, while the new processing technique identifies sub-millimeter gradations in motion and can do so even for high frequency changes in motion. Results are presented for various wheel types and locomotion modes: small/large diameter, rigid/compliant rim, grouser implementation, and push-roll locomotion.
Breastfeeding in the American Workplace

Introduction 472 I. Benefits of Breastfeeding and Employment  Barrier to Breastfeeding ..... 473 A. Rates of Breastfeeding within the United States 473 B. Benefits of Breastfeeding 474 1. Benefits to the Infant 474 2. Benefits to the Mother 476 3. Benefits to Society and the Private Sector 477 C. Why Are the Breastfeeding Rates So Low? 478 D. Women and Employment 479 E. Working Women and Breastfeeding 480 II. American Legislative and Legal Response to the Needs of Mothers in the Workplace 483 A. Pregnancy Discrimination Act and Title VII 483 1. Breastfeeding Under Title VII and the PDA 484 B. Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 486 1. Breastfeeding Under the ADA 487 2. Problems with the ADA 487 C. Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 488 1. Applying the FMLA to Breastfeeding 489 2. Problems with the FMLA. 489 3. Various State Rulings that Expand the FMLA. 491 D. Breastfeeding as a Constitutional Privacy Right 491 1. Problems with Breastfeeding as a Constitutional Privacy Right .... 492 III. The Next Step: Breast-Pumping Breaks 494 A. Description of Previous Breast-Pumping Proposals 494 B. Breast-pumping Directly Addresses Breastfeeding Issues Related to Working Mothers 495 C. Addresses Other Workplace-Related Issues for Women 496 D. Feasibility 497 1. Congress 497 2. Public support 498
Remarks on the Green’s function of the linearized Monge–Ampère operator

In this note, we obtain sharp bounds for the Green’s function of the linearized Monge–Ampere operators associated to convex functions with either Hessian determinant bounded away from zero and infinity or Monge–Ampere measure satisfying a doubling condition. Our result is an affine invariant version of the classical result of Littman–Stampacchia–Weinberger for uniformly elliptic operators in divergence form. We also obtain the Lp integrability for the gradient of the Green’s function in two dimensions. As an application, we obtain a removable singularity result for the linearized Monge–Ampere equation.
Gamma Rays from the Deuteron Bombardment of Be 9 , B 10 , N 14 , and F 19

A magnetic lens pair spectrometer has been used to study the radiations produced by the bombardment of certain light nuclei with deuterons from a Van de Graaff accelerator. Gamma rays from the bombardment of ${\mathrm{Be}}^{9}$ with 2.5-Mev deuterons were observed at 6.00\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.06, 5.10\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.1, and 4.52\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.1 Mev. At 3.85-Mev bombarding energy no lines were observed between 6.5 and 8.0 Mev with an intensity as great as 5 percent of that of the 6.0-Mev line. Gamma rays from the bombardment of ${\mathrm{B}}^{10}$ with 2.0-Mev deuterons were observed at 8.93\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.04, 8.57\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.04, 7.30\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.03, 6.75\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.03, 6.50\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.03, 5.03\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.03, 4.73\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.03, and 4.49\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.05 Mev. Gamma rays from the bombardment of ${\mathrm{N}}^{14}$ with 4.0-Mev deuterons were observed at 10.73\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.08, 10.04\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.04, 9.13\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.06, 8.33\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.04, 7.31\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.04, 6.81\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.04, 6.33\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.05, 6.12\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.06, and 5.26\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.04 Mev. Gamma rays from the bombardment of ${\mathrm{F}}^{19}$ with 3.6-Mev deuterons were observed at 11.51\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.2, 10.61\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.1, 9.97\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.1, and 9.34\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.1 Mev. All the energies of gamma rays given above are corrected for Doppler shifts.A comparison is made for some of the reactions of the relative ($d, p$) and ($d, n$) cross sections.
The hypothalamic-adenohypophyseal-gonadal axes in the developing chick embryo: I. LH sensitivity

The data of the present investigation demonstrate that by Day 7.5 of development the gonads of both male and female chick embryos respond to LH administration, as evidenced by elevation of plasma E2 levels. This gonadal response continues on Days 8.5 and 9.5. The capacity of the early embryonic testes and ovaries to synthesize and secrete E2 following chronic LH administration indicates that the gonadal mechanism(s) for response to gonadotrophins are already present at an early embryonic age. The findings also provide information regarding the functional development of the hypothalamic-adenohypophyseal-gonadal (HAG) axes in the chick embryo.
Primary vagally mediated decelerations in heart rate during tonic rapid eye movement sleep in cats

Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep results in profound state-dependent alterations in heart rate. The present study describes a novel phenomenon of a primary deceleration in heart rate that is not prec...
Genetic Considerations in Childhood Epilepsy

This report reviews various lines of evidence demonstrating important genetic influences in the epilepsies, with special emphasis on childhood epilepsy. Five pertinent topics are discussed: (a) examples of dominant, recessive, and X-linked single-gene disorders known to be associated with epilepsy, (b) examples of gross chromosomal aberrations associated with epilepsy, (c) discussion of multifactorial and polygenic inheritance and issues of genetic heterogeneity with specific reference to idiopathic generalized epilepsy, febrile seizures, and infantile spasms, (d) brief review of experimental clues to possible pathogenetic mechanisms underlying genetic forms of epilepsy, and (e) an overview of strategies for applying genetic linkage analysis to hereditary epileptic disorders.
Self-Rated Health and Residential Segregation: How Does Race/Ethnicity Matter?

Despite recent declines, racial segregation remains a detriment to minority neighborhoods. However, existing research is inconclusive as to the effects racial segregation has on health. Some argue that racial segregation is related to poor health outcomes, whereas others suspect that racial segregation may actually lead to improved health for some minority communities. Even less is known about whether minority access to white neighborhoods improves health. We address these gaps with individual data from the 2010 Public Health Management Corporation’s Southeastern Pennsylvania Household Health Survey and census tract data from the 2010 Decennial Census and the 2006–2010 American Community Survey. We implement logistic multilevel models to determine whether and how a resident’s self-rated health is affected by the racial/ethnic segregation of their neighborhoods. Our key finding suggests that the effects of segregation on self-rated health depend on an individual’s race/ethnicity, with blacks and Latino residents most likely to experience adverse effects. Particularly, minorities living in predominantly white communities have a significantly higher likelihood to report poor/fair health than they would in segregated minority neighborhoods. These findings make clear that access to white neighborhoods is not sufficient to improve minority health; fuller neighborhood integration is necessary to ensure all have health equity.
Fatty acid biosynthesis in the silkmoth, Hyalophora cecropia

Abstract Gas chromatographic and mass spectrographic analysis established that the six major fatty acids of Hyalophora cecropia are palmitic, palmitoleic, stearic, oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acids. Radiotracer studies at several developmental stages reveal that H. cecropia can synthesize only straight-chain saturated and mono-unsaturated fatty acids from acetate. This insect does have the capacity to lengthen palmitic acid to stearic acid and can dehydrogenate both to the corresponding monoenes. The data demonstrate that the rates of lipid synthesis from acetate, distribution of label among various fatty acids, chain lengthening, and desaturation are functions of developmental stage. An analysis of our data and that in the literature suggests that no insect has been shown to synthesize polyenoic acids or can synthesize monoenoic acids other than by direct desaturation of existing or newly synthesized saturated fatty acids.
Induction of Interleukin-1 Release by High- and Low-Passage Isolates of Borrelia burgdorferi

Low-passage isolates of Borrelia burgdorferi induced arthritis when injected into the hind paws of irradiated hamsters, while high-passage isolates did not. To examine a possible mechanism for induction of arthritis, peritoneal exudate cells were coincubated with high- and low-passage isolates of B. burgdorferi, and the resultant conditioned medium was assayed for interleukin-1 (IL-1) activity. Comparable amounts of IL-1 activity were detected in culture supernatants generated by high- and low-passage spirochetes and were dependent on the number of spirochetes added. Live B. burgdorferi stimulated greater release of IL-1 activity than did heat-killed organisms. No evidence of release of IL-1 due to shedding of soluble components from spirochetes was obtained. A recombinant human IL-1 receptor antagonist blocked the proliferative activity of conditioned medium in a murine thymocyte assay for IL-1 activity. The greater ability of low-passage spirochetes to survive in vivo may be more important than the ability to induce IL-1 production in the pathogenesis of Lyme arthritis.
Motor control goes beyond physics: differential effects of gravity and inertia on finger forces during manipulation of hand-held objects

According to basic physics, the local effects induced by gravity and acceleration are identical and cannot be separated by any physical experiment. In contrast—as this study shows—people adjust the grip forces associated with gravitational and inertial forces differently. In the experiment, subjects oscillated a vertically-oriented handle loaded with five different weights (from 3.8 N to 13.8 N) at three different frequencies in the vertical plane: 1 Hz, 1.5 Hz and 2.0 Hz. Three contributions to the grip force—static, dynamic, and stato-dynamic fractions—were quantified. The static fraction reflects grip force related to holding a load statically. The stato-dynamic fraction reflects a steady change in the grip force when the same load is moved cyclically. The dynamic fraction is due to acceleration-related adjustments of the grip force during oscillation cycles. The slope of the relation between the grip force and the load force was steeper for the static fraction than for the dynamic fraction. The stato-dynamic fraction increased with the frequency and load. The slope of the dynamic grip force–load force relation decreased with frequency, and as a rule, increased with the load. Hence, when adjusting grip force to task requirements, the central controller takes into account not only the expected magnitude of the load force but also such factors as whether the force is gravitational or inertial and the contributions of the object mass and acceleration to the inertial force. As an auxiliary finding, a complex finger coordination pattern aimed at preserving the rotational equilibrium of the object during shaking movements was reported.
Do Orientation Materials Help Students Successfully Complete Online Courses

OCICU is the Online Consortium of Independent Colleges and Universities and consists of five provider institutions which are located throughout the United States and Ireland. This consortium is the first of its kind to exist in distance education. The researchers wanted to understand the importance of orientation materials to successfully completing an online course taken from another institution. The review of the literature revealed several factors of teaching online that supported the position that pro-active development of orientation materials is essential to the growth and development of online learning and results in additional revenue to participating institutions.
Crowd storage: storing information on existing memories

This paper introduces the concept of crowd storage, the idea that digital files can be stored and retrieved later from the memories of people in the crowd. Similar to human memory, crowd storage is ephemeral, which means that storage is temporary and the quality of the stored information degrades over time. Crowd storage may be preferred over storing information directly in the cloud, or when it is desirable for information to degrade inline with normal human memories. To explore and validate this idea, we created WeStore, a system that stores and then later retrieves digital files in the existing memories of crowd workers. WeStore does not store information directly, but rather encrypts the files using details of the existing memories elicited from individuals within the crowd as cryptographic keys. The fidelity of the retrieved information is tied to how well the crowd remembers the details of the memories they provided. We demonstrate that crowd storage is feasible using an existing crowd marketplace (Amazon Mechanical Turk), explore design considerations important for building systems that use crowd storage, and outline ideas for future research in this area.
Infected Rathke cleft cysts: distinguishing factors and factors predicting recurrence

BACKGROUND: Rathke cleft cysts (RCCs) are benign sellar lesions that are generally asymptomatic but sometimes warrant transsphenoidal drainage. Small case reports have described infected RCCs, but this phenomenon remains uncharacterized. OBJECTIVE: We reviewed RCCs over 23 years at our institution to determine factors predicting infection and recurrence. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the magnetic resonance images, laboratory results, microbiology, and pathology of 176 RCC patients (1985-2008) who underwent initial operation at our institution (n = 170) or at another institution followed by recurrence managed at our institution (n = 6). RESULTS: There were 3 RCC categories: cysts cultured intraoperatively during initial surgery (n = 21), cysts not cultured during initial surgery but cultured during subsequent surgery (n = 9), and cysts that were never cultured (n = 146). Cultured cysts were larger (1.6 vs 1.2 cm; P = .002) and had more frequent pituitary dysfunction (76% vs 30%; P < .001) than noncultured cysts. Restricted diffusion was also more common in cultured cysts (50% vs 0%; P = .02). Of cysts cultured at initial or subsequent surgery, 48% and 44%, respectively, had positive cultures (n =14) and were treated with antibiotics. The most common organisms were Staphylococcus epidermidis (64%) and Propionibacterium acnes (57%). Kaplan-Meier recurrence rates were 13% (culture positive/antibiotic treated), 31 % (culture negative/not antibiotic treated), and 9% (noncultured) (P = .002, cultured vs noncultured ; P = .002, culture negative/not antibiotic treated vs non-cultured; P = .5 culture positive/antibiotic treated vs noncultured). CONCLUSION: Suspected RCC infection, regardless of culture results, is a strong predictor of recurrence and may warrant antibiotic treatment. With antibiotic treatment, the recurrence rate of infected RCC approaches that of noninfected cysts. The higher recurrence rates reported in other series may reflect underrecognition of occult infection.
THE USE OF MODELS FOR STUDYING THE CIRCULATION IN GLASS TANKS

The conditions that must be satisfied in a model experiment, in order to ensure that the circulation at the liquid in the model shall be similar to that of the molten glass in a full-sized tank, are deduced from the general theory of models, by the aid of several simplifying assumptions. A discussion of the conditions shows that it will probably, though not certainly, be impracticable to satisfy all of them; and the discussion serves as a warning against the premature acceptance of conclusions from model experiments in which the required conditions were not satisfied.
The Effect of Melittin on Na+ and Rb+ Transport in Cultured Skin Fibroblasts of the Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat

Melittin effect on transport of Na+ and Rb+(K+ analog) was examined in cultured skin fibroblasts originating from the Spontaneously Hypertensive, Wistar Kyoto and Wistar rats. Melittin increased both Na+ (22Na++) uptake and 86Rb+ efflux as well as the activity of the Na+-pump (ouabain sensitive 86Rb+ uptake) in all three preparations. The effect of the toxin was maximal at a dose of 160–240ng/105 cells/ml. At this does, fibroblasts of the Spontaneously Hypertensive rat demonstrated the greatest response to melittin with respect to the increase in Na+ and Rb+ fluxes and increase in the intracellular Na+ concentrations. It is concluded that melittin can be utilized as a probe to delineate subtle differences in the cellular regulation of Na+ and K+ in the Spontaneously Hypertensive rat as compared with its normotensive controls.
The application of a piecewise-linear multi-category pattern classifier with self-evolving capabilities to the interpretation of mass spectra

Abstract A piecewise-linear pattern classifier is applied to the interpretation of low resolution mass spectral data. A criterion for internal generation of new weight vectors based on periodic evaluation of a function is tested. Results are presented for classification problems pertaining to molecular formula and structural information and are compared with results from a binary pattern classifier.
Beyond Therapy Beyond the Beltway: An Opening Argument for a Public Debate on Enhancement Biotechnologies

Three features of the Report stand out: (1) The Report embraces the modern biotechnological enterprise, acknowledging its benefits, but devotes its primary energy to raising and exploring worries associated with current and prospective uses of biotechnologies—a stance I refer to as a “postBaconian straddle”; (2) the inquiry is conducted primarily from within a neoAristotelian framework, imported on the coattails of the natural-law commitments of the American Declaration of Independence, and gives short shrift to other framing perspectives—this is no effort at philosophical ecumenicalism; and (3) the Report prescinds from discussion of particular policy issues—these are not yet ripe for consideration, the Report contends—and instead engages in an extended philosophical inquiry directed to the public, not to bioethics experts or policymakers. In the section below, I examine these distinctive features and their cumulative force, concluding that the Report’s project is best understood as an “opening argument” to the “public court”—a philosophically rich and rhetorically well-crafted effort to persuade public deliberators both of the questions that need to be addressed and an apt framework for addressing them. I then review and comment on the contents of the Report—the
Notes on bias in estimators for simultaneous equation models

Abstract We derive an approximate finite sample bias expression for 2SLS. We apply it to the case of non-identification and local non-identification. We also calculate the similar expression for OLS. We find that 2SLS has less bias than OLS in all cases.
Drinking and driving: Detecting the "dark figure" of compliance

Abstract The “dark figure” of undetected alcohol-impaired driving in the United States is acknowledged to be very high. However, this “dark figure” may lead to premature pessimism about the prospects for deterrence unless there is a countervailing estimate of “the other dark figure”—the rate of compliance with the drinking-driving laws under conditions of negligible arrest risk. This was a feasibility study in the use of survey data (N = 1,401) to identify patterns of compliance on the last drinking occasion as a function of social roles as drivers and passengers. A small but statistically significant proportion of U.S. drivers took these steps to reduce alcohol-impaired driving: reduction of drinking before driving, allocation of the driving role to low volume drinkers, and relinquishment of the driving role to an alternate driver after heavy drinking. There was no evidence for the selective use of public transportation as a means for diverting heavy drinkers from alcohol-impaired driving.
Dose rate dependence of the relative biological effectiveness of 103Pd for continuous low dose rate irradiation of BA1112 rhabdomyosarcoma cells in vitro relative to acute exposures.

Purpose: To measure the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of continuous low dose rate irradiation (CLDRI) using 103Pd sources relative to acute high dose rate irradiations (AHDRI) from a 250 kVp x-ray beam and an x-ray beam having an equivalent mono-energetic photon energy equal to the average energy of the 103Pd source for BA1112 rhabdomyosarcoma cells.Materials and methods: A customized 103Pd irradiator was built to provide CLDRI using 103Pd at different dose rates relevant to clinical interstitial brachytherapy to BA1112 rhabdomyosarcoma cells growing in exponential phase in culture. A special x-ray beam that simulates the photon energies emitted by the 103Pd source was also developed to provide acute high dose rate irradiation at those energies. Cell survival curves from different irradiation conditions were measured. The RBE with respect to AHDRI using standard 250 kVp x-rays was determined from the doses required to achieve a cell surviving faction of 0.01.Results: For acute irradiation, the R...
Dynamic perfusion computed tomography in the diagnosis of cerebral vasospasm.

0.001, 0.001; 8.1 1.9 s versus 2.5 0.39 s, P 0.001). CONCLUSION: The present study suggests that, in general, quantitative measurements of rCBF and regional MTT by PCT show high concordance rates with the clinical course, vasospasm severity, and hemodynamic impairments in patients with cerebral vasospasm aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.
Apparent phosphorylation of glycogen synthase in mammalian cells lacking cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase.

The capacity of liver extracts to synthesize glycogen utilizing UDP-glucose as the glucose donor was first reported in [ 11. Glycogen synthase (uridine diphosphate glucose: glycogen 4_cr-glucosyl transferase, EC 2.4.1 .l l), the enzyme catalyzing this reaction, is a key enzyme in the regulationof glycogen synthesis in vivo [2,3]. Hormones promote the interconversion of synthase between activated dephosphorylated and deactivated phosphorylated forms [4,5]. Purified cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase phosphorylated and deactivated purified glycogen synthase [6]. Thus it has been assumed that regulation of glycogen synthase involved interconversion between two kinetic forms: a D (or b) form, with activity largely dependent on the presence of the allosteric activator, glucose-6-P; and an I (or a) form, with activity essentially independent of glucose-6-P. This assumption led to the widespread use of the -/+ glucose-6-P activity ratio as a measure of the activation state of glycogen synthase. However, the regulation of glycogen synthase is more complex (reviewed [3,7,8]). These reports in& cate: (9
Activities of clarithromycin, azithromycin, and ofloxacin in combination with liposomal or unencapsulated granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor against intramacrophage Mycobacterium avium-Mycobacterium intracellulare.

The effects of ofloxacin, clarithromycin, and azithromycin in combination with granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) against Mycobacterium avium-Mycobacterium intracellulare (MAI) were evaluated in an in vitro human macrophage infection model. Treatment of MAI-infected macrophages with GM-CSF alone induced a maximal killing effect at 1000 U/mL, and the potency was increased 100-fold by encapsulating the cytokine within liposomes. Antibiotics were applied at concentrations close to their clinically achievable serum trough and peak levels. Addition of GM-CSF to azithromycin and therapeutic trough concentrations of ofloxacin and clarithromycin was associated with significant (P < .01) augmentation of antimycobacterial activity compared with the effects of the agents alone. However, the enhancement effect by GM-CSF was not seen with therapeutic peak concentrations of ofloxacin and clarithromycin. Thus, GM-CSF may be a useful adjunct in the treatment of MAI infections with azithromycin, clarithromycin, and ofloxacin.
Curriculum-Based Early Literacy Assessment and Differentiated Instruction with High-Risk Preschoolers

Early childhood educators working within a Response to Intervention (RTI) framework are concerned with monitoring children's progress to make appropriate adjustments to their teaching to promote language and literacy development. A curriculum-based approach can be effective in helping teachers to maximize the quality of universal instruction for all students and to provide differentiated support for individual children. This article describes the application of curriculum-based, progress-monitoring procedures and multitiered instruction in classrooms serving low-income preschoolers. Preliminary data document the benefits of utilizing curriculum-based, progress-monitoring data and providing teachers with training and support to differentiate instruction to improve early literacy outcomes.
The relative importance of local conditions and regional processes in structuring aquatic plant communities

SUMMARY 1. The structure of biological communities reflects the influence of both local environmental conditions and processes such as dispersal that create patterns in species’ distribution across a region. 2. We extend explicit tests of the relative importance of local environmental conditions and regional spatial processes to aquatic plants, a group traditionally thought to be little limited by dispersal. We used partial canonical correspondence analysis and partial Mantel tests to analyse data from 98 lakes and ponds across Connecticut (northeastern United States). 3. We found that aquatic plant community structure reflects the influence of local conditions (pH, conductivity, water clarity, lake area, maximum depth) as well as regional processes. 4. Only 27% of variation in a presence ⁄ absence matrix was explained by environmental conditions and spatial processes such as dispersal. Of the total explained, 45% was related to environmental conditions and 40% to spatial processes. 5. Jaccard similarity declined with Euclidean distance between lakes, even after accounting for the increasing difference in environmental conditions, suggesting that dispersal limitation may influence community composition in the region. 6. The distribution of distances among lakes where species occurred was associated with dispersal-related functional traits, providing additional evidence that dispersal ability varies among species in ways that affect community composition. 7. Although environmental and spatial variables explained a significant amount of variation in community structure, a substantial amount of stochasticity also affects these communities, probably associated with unpredictable colonisation and persistence of the plants.