cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Holocene dynamics of the Florida Everglades with respect to climate, dustfall, and tropical storms

Aeolian dust is rarely considered an important source for nutrients in large peatlands, which generally develop in moist regions far from the major centers of dust production. As a result, past studies assumed that the Everglades provides a classic example of an originally oligotrophic, P-limited wetland that was subsequently degraded by anthropogenic activities. However, a multiproxy sedimentary record indicates that changes in atmospheric circulation patterns produced an abrupt shift in the hydrology and dust deposition in the Everglades over the past 4,600 y. A wet climatic period with high loadings of aeolian dust prevailed before 2800 cal BP (calibrated years before present) when vegetation typical of a deep slough dominated the principal drainage outlet of the Everglades. This dust was apparently transported from distant source areas, such as the Sahara Desert, by tropical storms according to its elemental chemistry and mineralogy. A drier climatic regime with a steep decline in dustfall persisted after 2800 cal BP maintaining sawgrass vegetation at the coring site as tree islands developed nearby (and pine forests covered adjacent uplands). The marked decline in dustfall was related to corresponding declines in sedimentary phosphorus, organic nitrogen, and organic carbon, suggesting that a close relationship existed between dustfall, primary production, and possibly, vegetation patterning before the 20th century. The climatic change after 2800 cal BP was probably produced by a shift in the Bermuda High to the southeast, shunting tropical storms to the south of Florida into the Gulf of Mexico.
Ergodicity of some mappings of the circle and the line

Ifφ is inner and has a fixed point inD, thenφ as a mapping of the circle is exact. Ifφ has a “fixed” point onT, then the condition Σ(1−|φ n(0)|)=∞ impliesφ m is weak mixing for allm. These results when transferred to the line by a conformal mapping of the disc onto the upper half plane give a proof of the total weak mixing for the Boole transformation.
Special Neurological Examination of Children with Learning Disabilities

UMMARY Children with ‘minimal brain dysfunction’ and learning disabilities were found to have significantly more minor neurological signs than control children. Many of these signs become less obvious or disappear by the age of 11 years; therefore older cases are more similar to controls, whereas younger cases show lags or deficits at the highest levels of central nervous system functioning—language, fine motor co-ordination and cross-modality integrations. RESUME Examen neurologique particulier chez les enfants presentant des troubles des apprentissages Les enfants avec des troubles cerebraux minimes et des difficultes d'apprentissage presentent plus de signes neurologiques mineurs que les controles. Beaucoup de ces signes deviennent moins evident ou disparaissent vers l'âge de onze ans; de ce fait, la similitude avec les controles chez les enfants plus âges est plus grande tandis que les plus jeunes cas montrent des retards ou des deficits au plus haut niveau de fonctionnement du systeme nerveux central: langage, coordination motrice fine et integrations complexes. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Eine spezielle neurologische Untersuchung der Kinder mit Kernschwierigkeiten Kinder mit minimaler cerebraler Dysfunktion und Lernschwierigkeiten haben significant haufiger leichte neurologische Symptome als Kontrollkinder. Viele dieser Symptome gehen zuruck oder verschwinden bis zum elften Lebensjahr; daher sind die alteren Falle ahnlich den Kontrollen, wahrend die jungeren Falle Verzogerungen und Ausfalle im Bereich der differenzierten Zentralnervensystemfunktionen—Sprache, feinmotorische Koordination und komplexe cerebrale Funktionsmechanismen—zeigen. RESUMEN Un examen neurologico especial de ninos con dificultades en el aprendizage Se encontro que ninos con disfuncion cerebral minima y dificultades de aprendizage tenian significativemente mas signos neurologicos menores que los controles. Muchos de estos signos se hacen menos aparentes o desaparecen a los 11 anos de edad; por ello los casos de mas edad son mas semejantes a los controles, mientras que los mas jovenes muestran lagunas o deficits en los niveles mas altos de las funciones del SNC: lenguage, coordination motora fina a integracion cruzada.
Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25 produces furanomycin, a non-proteinogenic amino acid with selective antimicrobial properties

Background: Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25 has been extensively studied because of its plant growth promoting properties and potential as a biocontrol agent. The genome of SBW25 has been sequenced, and among sequenced strains of pseudomonads, SBW25 appears to be most closely related to P. fluorescens WH6. In the authors’ laboratories, WH6 was previously shown to produce and secrete 4-formylaminooxyvinylglycine (FVG), a non-proteinogenic amino acid with selective herbicidal and antimicrobial activity. Although SBW25 does not have the genetic capacity to produce FVG, we were interested in determining whether this pseudomonad might produce some other type of non-proteinogenic amino acid. Results: P. fluorescens SBW25 was found to produce and secrete a ninhydrin-reactive compound with selective antimicrobial properties. This compound was purified from SBW25 culture filtrate and identified as the non-proteinogenic amino acid L-furanomycin [2S,2′R,5′S)-2-amino-2-(5′methyl-2′,5′-dihydrofuran-2′-yl)acetic acid]. Conclusions: The identification of furanomycin as a secondary metabolite of SBW25 is the first report of the production of furanomycin by a pseudomonad. This compound was known previously only as a natural product produced by a strain of Streptomyces. This report adds furanomycin to the small list of non-proteinogenic amino acids that have been identified as secondary products of pseudomonads. This study also extends the list of bacteria that are inhibited by furanomycin to include several plant pathogenic bacteria.
Long-range random potential in thin-film structures

We develop a theory of long-range random potential caused by charge-density fluctuations in thin nonmetal structures sandwiched between two conducting electrodes. This model applies to many practical systems including thin-film photovoltaics and classical $p\text{\ensuremath{-}}n$ and Schottky junctions. The lateral screening due to the conducting electrodes leads to the screening length close to the structure thickness. We have analytically calculated the random potential amplitude for three practically important cases: point-charged defects, spherical grains, and columnar grains. Implications of our findings for polycrystalline devices are discussed.
A unified systolic architecture for artificial neural networks

Abstract This paper proposes a generic iterative model for a wide variety of artificial neural networks (ANNs), single-layer feedback networks, multilayer feed-forward networks, and hierarchical competitive networks, as well as some probabilistic models. A unified formulation is provided for both the retrieving and the learning phases of most ANNs. On the basis of the formulation, a programmable ring systolic array is developed. The architecture maximizes the strength of VLSI in terms of intensive and pipelined computing and yet circumvents the limitation on communication. It may be adopted as a basic structure for a universal neurocomputer architecture.
Standard threads and distributivity

On a given standard thread (J, ∘), all operations * over which ∘ distributes are determined and among such operations those which are continuous are identified. A standard thread is a topological semigroup on a closed real number interval whose largest element is an identity and smallest element is a zero for the semigroup. A quotient operation can be defined forx ⩾ y on a standard thread by $$\frac{y}{x}: = \min \{ w \in J|y = x \circ w\} .$$ The operations * in question are shown to be generated by pairs of functionsp, q:J → J such that $$x * y = \left\{ {\begin{array}{*{20}c} {x \circ q\left( {\frac{y}{x}} \right) if x \geqslant y} \\ {p\left( {\frac{x}{y}} \right) \circ y if x \leqslant y.} \\ \end{array} } \right.$$ Those functionsp andq which generate operations * over which ∘ distributes are completely identified.
Extraction of Water from Polar Lunar Permafrost with Microwaves - Dielectric Property Measurements

Remote sensing indicates the presence of hydrogen rich regions associated with the lunar poles. The logical hypothesis is that there is cryogenically trapped water ice located in craters at the lunar poles. Some of the craters have been in permanent darkness for a billion years. The presence of water at the poles as well as other scientific advantages of a polar base, have influenced NASA plans for the lunar outpost. The lunar outpost has water and oxygen requirements on the order of 1 ton per year scaling up to as much as 10 tons per year. Microwave heating of the frozen permafrost has unique advantages for water extraction. Proof of principle experiments have successfully demonstrated that microwaves will couple to the cryogenic soil in a vacuum and the sublimed water vapor can be successfully captured on a cold trap. The dielectric properties of lunar soil will determine the hardware requirements for extraction processes. Microwave frequency dielectric property measurements of lunar soil simulant have been measured.
MANAGEMENT OF THE NECK IN PATIENTS WITH HEAD AND NECK CANCER TREATED BY CONCURRENT CHEMOTHERAPY AND RADIATION

The current high level of interest in organ preservation strategies for patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck undoubtedly will result in increasing numbers of patients managed initially with chemotherapy and radiation, either sequentially or concurrently. In some protocols, surgery, and neck dissection in particular, will either be mandatory or offered based on the degree of response to treatment and initial stage of neck disease. Head and neck oncologic surgeons need to be involved and at the forefront of such trials, to allow meaningful data regarding pathologic response to treatment to be obtained, as well as to define the role of surgery in such patients. Although present data is limited, it would appear that in patients achieving a complete response to chemoradiation, the role of neck dissection may be more limited than in the past, even for patients with N2 to N3 neck disease at presentation. Surgical complications may be increased in this heavily treated patient population, and subsequent surgery should be designed to minimize the risk of wound complications, especially if performed before the patient has made a full recovery from the metabolic and immunologic derangements associated with chemoradiation. Head and neck surgeons need to play an active role in the design and conduct of chemoradiation trials so that these and other relevant questions will be answered by the data generated.
Maintenance of oxidative phosphorylation protects cells from Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans leukotoxin-induced apoptosis.

Subnanomolar concentrations (3 × 10−10 M) of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans leukotoxin (Ltx) trigger apoptosis of JY cells, as shown by a decrease in mitochondrial transmembrane potential (ΔΨm), hyperproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and release of cytochrome c from the intermembrane space. When compared with heat-inactivated leukotoxin (ΔI Ltx) controls, ATP levels in Ltx-treated JY cells continued to decrease during a 24 h experiment while cytoplasmic ADP concentrations were increasing. These results suggest that a blockage occurred in ATP/ADP exchange. To maintain ATP/ADP exchange, JY cells were transfected with bcl-2 and bcl-xL and incubated with Ltx. ATP levels of the transfected cells decreased to 67% (JY/bcl-2) and 73% (JY/bcl-xL) after the experiment. Furthermore, cytochrome c remained localized to the mitochondrial fraction of Ltx-treated JY/bcl-2 and JY/bcl-xL cells, whereas its presence in the cytoplasmic fraction of JY/gen cells suggests an uncoupling of electron transport. Expression of bcl-2 and bcl-xL in cells inhibited downstream apoptotic events such as cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, DNA fragmentation and activation of a family of caspases. The results indicate that Ltx induces apoptosis through a mitochondrial pathway that involves decreased levels of the ADP in the mitochondrial matrix, a lack of substrate for ATP synthetase and arrest of oxidative phosphorylation.
041 Aged Rats Display Increased Ischemia‐Reperfusion Skin Injury in the in vivo Magnet Model

Introduction: Ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury is commonly associated with numerous pathologies including pressure sores, venous stasis ulcers, and lower extremity diabetic ulcers. The purpose of this study is to further investigate the relationship between age and ischemia-reperfusion skin injury in a rat model utilizing magnets for the purpose of injury creation. Methods: Magnets were designed for subcutaneous placement and calibrated such that a second magnet placed externally over them would cause compression that exceeds capillary perfusion pressure (ischemia). Removing the external magnet results in reperfusion of the skin. After placing subcutaneous magnets in aged and young Fisher 344 rats, repeated cycles of external magnet placement and removal were performed. Results: Visual analysis of the skin revealed statistically significant greater areas of injury in the aged rats relative to their younger counterparts (37.4 ± 13.3% vs. 24.1 ± 14.8%, P < .02) Conclusions: Aged rats demonstrate an increased degree of injury relative to their younger counterparts in response to ischemia-reperfusion injury. Future studies will attempt to delineate differences in the markers of IR injury (such as myeloperoxidase and vitamin E levels) in aged versus young rats, giving insight to the mechanisms responsible for the impaired wound healing seen in the elderly.
Changes in Scholarly Influence in Major American Criminology and Criminal Justice Journals Between 1986 and 2005

To investigate changes in scholarly influence in criminology and criminal justice over 20 years, the most‐cited scholars in six major American journals were determined for 2001–05, and the results were compared with those obtained for 1996–2000, 1991–95, and 1986–90. The most‐cited scholars in 2001–05 were Robert J. Sampson in American criminology journals and Francis T. Cullen in American criminal justice journals. Highly cited scholars in American criminology journals focused on longitudinal/criminal career research and/or criminological theories, while those in American criminal justice journals focused on these topics or on criminal justice issues. Some highly cited authors were specialized, with one or two highly cited major works, while others were versatile, with many different works cited a few times each. Over time, older scholars such as Marvin E. Wolfgang were cited less often, while younger scholars such as Robert J. Sampson were increasingly cited. The waxing and waning of criminological infl...
Public School Resources in Rural Communities: An Examination of Size Economies in Eastern Nebraska Public School Districts

An average total cost function for 53 selected public school districts in Eastern Nebraska over the time period 1981–84 is estimated. A quality of educational services index is developed and used to account for quality differences between school districts over time. Using a covariance model to pool time series and cross-sectional data, significant economies of size were found. The empirical findings also are discussed in regard to the issue of school consolidation.
Density decomposition options in the orbital local plasma approximation

Abstract We consider several variants of the orbital local plasma approximation, as groundwork for materials-specific calculation of the stopping cross section of condensed phase targets, in particular ultrathin films. The various methods are tested on atoms, where comparison is possible with other, more accurate, results. The agreement of one of the schemes with standard methods for these test systems is good enough that we recommend its use in cases of condensed systems (for which calculated orbital mean excitation energies, densities, and shell corrections are not readily available).
Association of Incident Cardiovascular Disease with Periodic Limb Movements During Sleep In Older Men: Outcomes of Sleep Disorders in Older Men (MrOS) Study

Background—Periodic limb movements during sleep (PLMS) cause repetitive sympathetic activation and may be associated with increased cardiovascular risk. We hypothesized that PLMS frequency (periodic limb movement index [PLMI]) and PLMS arousal frequency (periodic limb movement arousal index [PLMAI]) are predictive of incident cardiovascular disease, including coronary heart disease, peripheral arterial disease, and cerebrovascular disease, in an elderly male cohort. Methods and Results—A total of 2911 men in the observational Outcomes of Sleep Disorders in Older Men (MrOS) Sleep Study cohort underwent in-home polysomnography with PLMS measurement and were followed up for 4 years for the outcomes coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, peripheral arterial disease, and all-cause cardiovascular disease, which included coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and peripheral arterial disease. Cox proportional hazards regression assessed the association between PLMI, PLMAI, and these outcomes. ...
Collaborative filtering on skewed datasets

Many real life datasets have skewed distributions of events when the probability of observing few events far exceeds the others. In this paper, we observed that in skewed datasets the state of the art collaborative filtering methods perform worse than a simple probabilistic model. Our test bench includes a real ad click stream dataset which is naturally skewed. The same conclusion is obtained even from the popular movie rating dataset when we pose a binary prediction problem of whether a user will give maximum rating to a movie or not.
Teaching NeuroImages: Hypothermia and corpus callosum agenesis in Shapiro syndrome Too cold, even for a Viking

A 58-year-old man presented with daily hour-long spells of hypothermia, hyperhidrosis, and hypotension. Results of laboratory studies, including thyroid-stimulating hormone, free thyroxine, total/bioavailable testosterone, morning cortisol, and urine osmolality, were normal. MRI of the brain
Assuring mission assurance in a tactical-cyber environment

Mission assurance is the justified confidence from a system customer and user that the system will function as intended without exploitable vulnerabilities. For military communications and sensor systems "intended function" includes key attributes that the system and its information are available when needed and can be trusted to be accurate and secure. Exploitable vulnerabilities can be due to cyber attacks, implementation flaws, or inherent system weaknesses. This paper describes a system engineering approach to quantify the level of mission assurance expected in a real-world environment, including diverse considerations such as: cyber-attack, user errors, component failures, logistic delays and weather outages. The resulting mission assurance metric supports system optimization and customer assurance of system robustness.
Reliability and Validity of FE Exam Scores for Assessment of Individual Competence, Program Accreditation, and College Performance

This study explores whether fundamentals of engineering (FE) exam scores are reliable and valid measures of individual competence, program accreditation, and college performance, each of these being processes commonly assessed using FE scores. Findings indicate that a trend exists toward erosion of reliability and validity as one moves further from the individual assessment level. That is, FE exam scores are probably reliable and valid indicators of minimal technical competency at the individual level. However, program-level assessments require a careful, fine-grained comparison of the subject-content statistics reported by NCEES relative to stated program objectives, and in certain cases, FE exam data will not serve as reliable and valid assessment indicators for some engineering programs. Further, assessment of entire engineering schools based on college-wide FE exam pass rates is inappropriate and cannot be rationally supported.
Delivery of Cardiolipins to the Salmonella Outer Membrane Is Necessary for Survival within Host Tissues and Virulence

The outer membrane (OM) of Gram-negative bacteria is an asymmetric lipid bilayer that serves as a barrier to the environment. During infection, Gram-negative bacteria remodel their OM to promote survival and replication within host tissues. Salmonella rely on the PhoPQ two-component regulators to coordinate OM remodeling in response to environmental cues. In a screen for mediators of PhoPQ-regulated OM remodeling in Salmonella Typhimurium, we identified PbgA, a periplasmic domain-containing transmembrane protein, which binds cardiolipin glycerophospholipids near the inner membrane and promotes their PhoPQ-regulated trafficking to the OM. Purified-PbgA oligomers are tetrameric, and the periplasmic domain contains a globular region that binds to the OM in a PhoPQ-dependent manner. Thus, PbgA forms a complex that may bridge the envelope for regulated cardiolipin delivery. PbgA globular region-deleted mutant bacteria are severely attenuated for pathogenesis, suggesting that increased cardiolipin trafficking to the OM is necessary for Salmonella to survive within host tissues that activate PhoPQ.
Normal mammography and ultrasonography in the setting of palpable breast cancer

Abstract Background Each year thousands of women present to general surgeons with palpable breast masses, some of which are clinically ambiguous and the majority of which are benign. In addition, surgeons are frequently faced with the question of whether to biopsy those palpable abnormalities in the setting of normal radiographic studies. One might propose that such lesions could be safely observed rather than immediately biopsied. If these lesions were not biopsied, how many cancers would escape detection? To address this issue, a population of patients with known, palpable breast cancer was retrospectively examined to determine the frequency of normal or benign findings on both mammography and ultrasonography. Methods Between January 1998 and December 2001, 351 women with breast carcinoma presented initially with palpable tumors. The medical records of these remaining 351 cases were retrospectively reviewed to examine the radiographic characteristics of the palpable carcinomas. Results Of the 351 cases in the study group, 13 (3.7%) patients with palpable breast cancers had mammogram and sonogram examinations that were both normal, benign, or nonspecific in appearance. Conclusions The results of this study indicate that nearly 4% of women with breast cancer who present with palpable lumps will have normal or benign findings on both mammography and ultrasonography. These data support prior studies of similar false negative rates and may provide some reassurance to surgeons and patients regarding clinical breast lumps, as the decision of whether to biopsy still rests in the surgeon’s hands. However, inappropriate reliance on these tests for an evaluation of a palpable abnormality will result in a number of missed tumors.
Strategic Thinking in an Era of Intervention. Thinking Out of a Box With No Sides

As the world emerges from the Cold War, it has become characterized by the dissolution of traditional boundaries. National borders have become more porous to migration, information, capital, and even military presence. This dissolution of boundaries has been translated to the strategic realm, which, like the world of nations, has become chaotic. The strategic process has become a fusion of all elements of national power. Distinctions among diplomatic, military, and economic power are gone. Failing to recognize this new development will result in the instruments of power becoming misaligned, leading to weak policy that may shatter when tested. The strategist must define structure in the chaos. Any emerging structure will hinge more than ever on the perception of the strategist. Recognizing this is critical to overcoming the inherent vulnerabilities. No longer limited to the battlefield, Clausewitz's coup d'oeil must be cultivated at all strategic levels.
Effects of tyrosine kinase inhibition on bone metabolism: untargeted consequences of targeted therapies

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are at the forefront of molecular-targeted therapies for cancer. With the advent of imatinib for the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia, a new wave of small-molecule therapeutics redefined the oncologic treatment to become chronically administered medications with tolerable side-effect profiles compared with cytotoxic agents. Effects on bone mineral metabolism were observed during early imatinib treatment, in the form of hypophosphatemia with increased urinary phosphorus excretion. This finding led to detailed investigations of off-target effects responsible for changes in bone cell maturation, activity, and impact on bone mass. Subsequently, another BCR-Abl inhibitor (dasatinib), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors (sorafenib and sunitinib) as well as rearranged during transfection (RET) inhibitors (vandetanib and cabozantinib) were developed. Inhibition of bone resorption appears to be a class effect and is likely contributed by TKI effects on the hematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cells. As long-term, prospective, clinical outcomes data accumulate on these targeted therapies, the full extent of off-target side effects on bone health will need to be considered along with the significant benefits of tyrosine kinase inhibition in oncologic treatment.
Graduating general surgery resident operative confidence: perspective from a national survey

Abstract Background General surgical training has changed significantly over the last decade with work hour restrictions, increasing subspecialization, the expanding use of minimally invasive techniques, and nonoperative management for solid organ trauma. Given these changes, this study was undertaken to assess the confidence of graduating general surgery residents in performing open surgical operations and to determine factors associated with increased confidence. Methods A survey was developed and sent to general surgery residents nationally. We queried them regarding demographics and program characteristics, asked them to rate their confidence (rated 1–5 on a Likert scale) in performing open surgical procedures and compared those who indicated confidence with those who did not. Results We received 653 responses from the fifth year (postgraduate year 5) surgical residents: 69% male, 68% from university programs, and 51% from programs affiliated with a Veterans Affairs hospital; 22% from small programs, 34% from medium programs, and 44% from large programs. Anticipated postresidency operative confidence was 72%. More than 25% of residents reported a lack of confidence in performing eight of the 13 operations they were queried about. Training at a university program, a large program, dedicated research years, future fellowship plans, and training at a program that performed a large percentage of operations laparoscopically was associated with decreased confidence in performing a number of open surgical procedures. Increased surgical volume was associated with increased operative confidence. Confidence in performing open surgery also varied regionally. Conclusions Graduating surgical residents indicated a significant lack of confidence in performing a variety of open surgical procedures. This decreased confidence was associated with age, operative volume as well as type, and location of training program. Analyzing and addressing this confidence deficit merits further study.
Does Breast Augmentation Confer Risk of or Protection From Suicide

Abstract Background Recent studies have suggested that suicide rates in breast augmentation patients are higher than those in the general population of women. Objective The author sought to establish the expected rate of suicide in breast augmentation patients and to compare the expected and actual rates. Methods The literature was reviewed to characterize the demographic, behavioral, and other qualities of the prototypical breast augmentation patient compared with those in the general population of women. By and large, presurgery characteristics of breast augmentation patients are similar to those of other women, but some relatively small demographic, behavioral, and other differences between these patients and other women were identified. These were used to develop a formal estimate of the expected rate of suicide among breast augmentation patients, which was then compared with established estimates of its actual rate. Results On the basis of demographic and other presurgery factors, the expected suicide rate among breast augmentation patients could be as high as 4 times the rate among the general population of women. Estimates of its actual rate are lower. Conclusions Suicide rates among breast augmentation patients appear to be lower than the expected rate when these patients' demographic and other pre-surgery characteristics are taken into account. The most plausible mechanism for this protective effect is increased satisfaction with body image.
Flux-dependent scaling behavior in Cu(100) submonolayer homoepitaxy

The average separation of two-dimensional islands in Cu(100) submonolayer homoepitaxy as a function of the deposition flux at 213 K has been studied using spot profile analysis low-energy electron diffraction. As the flux decreases, a large change in the apparent critical island size, from one to a value between seven and 12 atoms, is obtained even though the temperature is held constant. This is shown to be consistent with a recently proposed dimer shearing mechanism which has a significant influence on the stability of islands with eight atoms or less.
Case-Control Study of Bladder Cancer and Water Disinfection Methods in Colorado

A population-based case-control study of bladder cancer and drinking water disinfection methods was conducted during 1990-1991 in Colorado. Surface water in Colorado has historically been disinfected with chlorine (chlorination) or with a combination of chlorine and ammonia (chloramination). A total of 327 histologically verified bladder cancer cases were frequency matched by age and sex to 261 other-cancer controls. Subjects were interviewed by telephone about residential and water source histories. This information was linked to data from water utility and Colorado Department of Health records to create a drinking water exposure profile. After adjustment for cigarette smoking, tap water and coffee consumption, and medical history factors by logistic regression, years of exposure to chlorinated surface water were significantly associated with risk for bladder cancer (p = 0.0007). The odds ratio for bladder cancer increased for longer durations of exposure to a level of 1.8 (95% confidence interval 1.1-2.9) for more than 30 years of exposure to chlorinated surface water compared with no exposure. The increased bladder cancer risk was similar for males and females and for nonsmokers and smokers. Levels of total trihalomethanes, nitrates, and residual chlorine were not associated with bladder cancer risk after controlling for years of exposure to chlorinated water.
Inter-rater reliability for movement pattern analysis (MPA): measuring patterning of behaviors versus discrete behavior counts as indicators of decision-making style

The unique yield of collecting observational data on human movement has received increasing attention in a number of domains, including the study of decision-making style. As such, interest has grown in the nuances of core methodological issues, including the best ways of assessing inter-rater reliability. In this paper we focus on one key topic – the distinction between establishing reliability for the patterning of behaviors as opposed to the computation of raw counts – and suggest that reliability for each be compared empirically rather than determined a priori. We illustrate by assessing inter-rater reliability for key outcome measures derived from movement pattern analysis (MPA), an observational methodology that records body movements as indicators of decision-making style with demonstrated predictive validity. While reliability ranged from moderate to good for raw counts of behaviors reflecting each of two Overall Factors generated within MPA (Assertion and Perspective), inter-rater reliability for patterning (proportional indicators of each factor) was significantly higher and excellent (ICC = 0.89). Furthermore, patterning, as compared to raw counts, provided better prediction of observable decision-making process assessed in the laboratory. These analyses support the utility of using an empirical approach to inform the consideration of measuring patterning versus discrete behavioral counts of behaviors when determining inter-rater reliability of observable behavior. They also speak to the substantial reliability that may be achieved via application of theoretically grounded observational systems such as MPA that reveal thinking and action motivations via visible movement patterns.
THE BIOCHEMISTRY OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE*

▪ Abstract Several genes have been identified for monogenic disorders that variably resemble Parkinson's disease. Dominant mutations in the gene encoding α-synuclein enhance the propensity of this protein to aggregate. As a consequence, these patients have a widespread disease with protein inclusion bodies in several brain areas. In contrast, mutations in several recessive genes (parkin, DJ-1, and PINK1) produce neuronal cell loss but generally without protein aggregation pathology. Progress has been made in understanding some of the mechanisms of toxicity: Parkin is an E3 ubiquitin ligase and DJ-1 and PINK1 appear to protect against mitochondrial damage. However, we have not yet fully resolved how the recessive genes relate to α-synuclein, or whether they represent different ways to induce a similar phenotype.
The clinical measurement, measurement method and experimental condition ontologies: expansion, improvements and new applications

Background The Clinical Measurement Ontology (CMO), Measurement Method Ontology (MMO), and Experimental Condition Ontology (XCO) were originally developed at the Rat Genome Database (RGD) to standardize quantitative rat phenotype data in order to integrate results from multiple studies into the PhenoMiner database and data mining tool. These ontologies provide the framework for presenting what was measured, how it was measured, and under what conditions it was measured.
Dose-response relationships for radicals trapped in irradiated solids.

Abstract Nelson, W. H. Dose–Response Relationships for Radicals Trapped in Irradiated Solids. Radiat. Res. 163, 673–680 (2005). This work develops a modified description of the dose–response relationships for radical production by ionizing radiation. The main new feature is incorporation of the concept of the target and the possibility that the population of targets can undergo depletion at increased doses. The resulting mathematical relationships are capable of describing the decrease in product yield at increasing doses as is sometime observed. In addition, the description preserves the general properties of the widely used relationships. Finally, the expressions provide the possibility for estimating the average mass of the target.
Candida albicans Cek1 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Signaling Enhances Fungicidal Activity of Salivary Histatin 5

Candida albicans is a major etiological organism for oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC), while salivary histatin 5 (Hst 5) is a human fungicidal protein that protects the oral cavity from OPC. C. albicans senses its environment by mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation that can also modulate the activity of some antifungal drugs, including Hst 5. We found that phosphorylation of the MAPK Cek1, induced either by N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) or serum, or its constitutive activation by deletion of its phosphatase Cpp1 elevated the susceptibility of C. albicans cells to Hst 5. Cek1 phosphorylation but not hyphal formation was needed for increased Hst 5 sensitivity. Interference with the Cek1 pathway by deletion of its head sensor proteins, Msb2 and Sho1, or by addition of secreted aspartyl protease (SAP) cleavage inhibitors, such as pepstatin A, reduced Hst 5 susceptibility under Cek1-inducing conditions. Changes in fungal cell surface glycostructures also modulated Hst 5 sensitivity, and Cek1-inducing conditions resulted in a higher uptake rate of Hst 5. These results show that there is a consistent relationship between activation of Cek1 MAPK and increased Hst 5 susceptibility in C. albicans.
Optimal Rebinning of Time-of-Flight PET Data

Time-of-flight (TOF) positron emission tomography (PET) scanners offer the potential for significantly improved signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and lesion detectability in clinical PET. However, fully 3D TOF PET image reconstruction is a challenging task due to the huge data size. One solution to this problem is to rebin TOF data into a lower dimensional format. We have recently developed Fourier rebinning methods for mapping TOF data into non-TOF formats that retain substantial SNR advantages relative to sinograms acquired without TOF information. However, mappings for rebinning into non-TOF formats are not unique and optimization of rebinning methods has not been widely investigated. In this paper we address the question of optimal rebinning in order to make full use of TOF information. We focus on FORET-3D, which approximately rebins 3D TOF data into 3D non-TOF sinogram formats without requiring a Fourier transform in the axial direction. We optimize the weighting for FORET-3D to minimize the variance, resulting in H2-weighted FORET-3D, which turns out to be the best linear unbiased estimator (BLUE) under reasonable approximations and furthermore the uniformly minimum variance unbiased (UMVU) estimator under Gaussian noise assumptions. This implies that any information loss due to optimal rebinning is as a result only of the approximations used in deriving the rebinning equation and developing the optimal weighting. We demonstrate using simulated and real phantom TOF data that the optimal rebinning method achieves variance reduction and contrast recovery improvement compared to nonoptimized rebinning weightings. In our preliminary study using a simplified simulation setup, the performance of the optimal rebinning method was comparable to that of fully 3D TOF MAP.
The Lived Experience of Contentment: A Study Using the Parse Research Method

The purpose of this study was to answer the research question, What is the structure of the lived experience of contentment? The participants were 10 women volunteers. The Parse research method, a phenomenological-hermeneutic method, was used to uncover the meaning of contentment. The major finding of this study is the structure: Contentment is a satisfying calmness amid the arduous as resolute liberty arises with benevolent engagements. The structure provides knowledge about contentment and its connection to health and quality of life. It is discussed in relation to the principles and concepts of human becoming and in relation to how it can inform future research and practice.
TEMPERATURE-SENSITIVE YEAST MUTANTS DEFECTIVE IN MEIOTIC RECOMBINATION AND REPLICATION

A system is described for isolating temperature-sensitive mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae with defects in early meiotic events. We used an otherwise haploid strain disomic (n+1) for chromosome III, and heteroallelic at the leucine-2 locus. Meiotic development was initiated by exposure of the strain to acetate sporulation medium, and monitored by the appearance of leucine-independent intragenic recombinants. Mutant isolation was based on the recovery of thermally induced defects in recombination. The temperature-sensitive characteristic was included to allow eventual characterizations of the temporal period during meiosis when each gene performs its essential function. Following mutagenesis with either ethyl methane sulfonate or nitrosoguanidine individual clones were tested at 34 degrees and 24 degrees for acetate-induced recombination. Starting with 2700 clones, derived from cells that survived mutagenic treatment, we isolated 48 strains with thermally induced lesions in recombination. In the majority of mutants premeiotic replication occurred normally, or nearly normally, at the restrictive temperature, indicating that the meiotic cycle was initiated and that there was a defect in an event required for intragenic recombination. We also detected mutants where the thermally induced lesion in recombination resulted from temperature-sensitive premeiotic DNA synthesis.
Community Support for Disabled Bus Riders: What Can We Do?

This paper discusses the implementation of one type of information systems for the New York City bus transit service, as a case study to provide value-added transportation services for the people in need of mobile wheelchairs. Information technology is a key for finding out flexible transportation services especially for disabled people. Useful information supplies psychological reassurance to these vulnerable people to make them feel more safe and secure. Residents in metropolitan areas increasingly view the convenience of public transportation, and they are becoming used to supply and retrieve the information gathered for regional community. The accessibility improvement needs the exact same type of the cooperation of transportation companies and regional residents. The widespread use of mobile wheelchairs has a socioeconomic impact. The significance of this research for the longer-term goals lies in its implications for adaptation of this kind of intelligent models into the future welfare activities.
MAGNETIC EXCHANGE COUPLING IN FERROMAGNET/SUPERCONDUCTOR/FERROMAGNET MULTILAYERS

The possibility of magnetic exchange coupling between two ferromagnets (F) separated by a superconductor (S) spacer is analyzed using the functional integral method. For this coupling to happen three basic conditions need to be satisfied. First, an indirect exchange coupling between the ferromagnets must exist when the superconductor is in its normal state. Second, superconductivity must not be destroyed due to the proximity to ferromagnetic boundaries. Third, roughness of the $F/S$ interfaces must be small. The appearance of the superconducting gap causes a reduction of the indirect exchange coupling existent in the normal state. This reduction is temperature dependent, being weaker near the critical temperature and stronger at zero temperature.
A NOVEL TAG REMOVAL TECHNIQUE FOR TAGGED CARDIAC MRI AND ITS APPLICATIONS

In this paper we present a novel tag removal method for tagged cardiac MR images. This method is based on a 2D band-stop filtering technique, which selectively attenuates the tag pattern's frequency components in the spatial-frequency domain. To automatically design the band-stop filter, we developed a mean shift-based clustering method to partition the power spectrum image into several harmonic regions. Then a principal component analysis-based multivariate fitting procedure is implemented to model the harmonic peak. We have tested this tag removal method on a variety of tagged cardiac MR images with different imaging settings, which turned to be robust and computationally modest. Comparing with previous tag removal methods, the results of this new method are more consistent with the original image's appearance, and can recover more detailed structures, such as the papillary muscles. Based on the new tag-removed images, we have tested segmenting the left ventricular endocardium and papillary muscles using a conventional segmentation method, and achieved better performance than using the previous tag removal method
Modulation of Vigilance in the Primary Hypersomnias by Endogenous Enhancement of GABAA Receptors

The biology underlying excessive daytime sleepiness (hypersomnolence) is incompletely understood. After excluding known causes of sleepiness in 32 hypersomnolent patients, we showed that, in the presence of 10 μM γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from these subjects stimulated GABAA receptor function in vitro by 84.0 ± 40.7% (SD) relative to the 35.8 ± 7.5% (SD) stimulation obtained with CSF from control subjects (Student’s t test, t = 6.47, P
Effects of starvation on hypothalamic FSH-RF and pituitary FSH in male rats.

The effects of complete food removal for 7 days were determined on hypothalamic content of FSH-RF, pituitary FSH content and concentration, and weight of the anterior pituitary, testes and sex accessories of male rats. Control male rats were fed ad lib. for 7 days. On day 8 each rat was weighed, killed by decapitation, and the appropriate organs were removed and weighed. Hypothalamic FSH-RF was assayed by the method of Mittler and Meites, and FSH by the method of Steelman and Pohley. The starved rats showed a large reduction in hypothalamic FSH-RF and in pituitary FSH levels as compared to the ad lib. fed controls. There were significant decreases in weight of the anterior pituitary, seminal vesicles and prostate in the starved rats but testicular weight remained unchanged. These results suggest that starvation inhibits FSH release by decreasing hypothalamic FSH-RF activity. (Endocrinology 88: 1246, 1971)
Synaptic Defects in the Spinal and Neuromuscular Circuitry in a Mouse Model of Spinal Muscular Atrophy

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a major genetic cause of death in childhood characterized by marked muscle weakness. To investigate mechanisms underlying motor impairment in SMA, we examined the spinal and neuromuscular circuitry governing hindlimb ambulatory behavior in SMA model mice (SMNΔ7). In the neuromuscular circuitry, we found that nearly all neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) in hindlimb muscles of SMNΔ7 mice remained fully innervated at the disease end stage and were capable of eliciting muscle contraction, despite a modest reduction in quantal content. In the spinal circuitry, we observed a ∼28% loss of synapses onto spinal motoneurons in the lateral column of lumbar segments 3–5, and a significant reduction in proprioceptive sensory neurons, which may contribute to the 50% reduction in vesicular glutamate transporter 1(VGLUT1)-positive synapses onto SMNΔ7 motoneurons. In addition, there was an increase in the association of activated microglia with SMNΔ7 motoneurons. Together, our results present a novel concept that synaptic defects occur at multiple levels of the spinal and neuromuscular circuitry in SMNΔ7 mice, and that proprioceptive spinal synapses could be a potential target for SMA therapy.
Synthesis and properties of equine β-melanotropin analogs with substitution in residue position 1

Five analogs of equine β-melanotropin have been synthesized by the solid phase method. The NH2-terminal aspartic acid was substituted with amino acids (Gly, Trp, Ile, Lys and Nα-acetyl-Asp) differing widely in physicochemical properties. On the basis of their lipolytic potencies it was concluded that this position plays a negligible role in this activity.