cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
On-line prediction of yield grade, longissimus muscle area, preliminary yield grade, adjusted preliminary yield grade, and marbling score using the MARC beef carcass image analysis system.

The present experiment was conducted to evaluate the ability of the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center's beef carcass image analysis system to predict calculated yield grade, longissimus muscle area, preliminary yield grade, adjusted preliminary yield grade, and marbling score under commercial beef processing conditions. In two commercial beef-processing facilities, image analysis was conducted on 800 carcasses on the beef-grading chain immediately after the conventional USDA beef quality and yield grades were applied. Carcasses were blocked by plant and observed calculated yield grade. The carcasses were then separated, with 400 carcasses assigned to a calibration data set that was used to develop regression equations, and the remaining 400 carcasses assigned to a prediction data set used to validate the regression equations. Prediction equations, which included image analysis variables and hot carcass weight, accounted for 90, 88, 90, 88, and 76% of the variation in calculated yield grade, longissimus muscle area, preliminary yield grade, adjusted preliminary yield grade, and marbling score, respectively, in the prediction data set. In comparison, the official USDA yield grade as applied by online graders accounted for 73% of the variation in calculated yield grade. The technology described herein could be used by the beef industry to more accurately determine beef yield grades; however, this system does not provide an accurate enough prediction of marbling score to be used without USDA grader interaction for USDA quality grading.
The influence of surface tension and equilibrium contact angle on the spreading and receding of water droplets impacting a solid surface

An experimental investigation was performed to study the effect of surfactant on the spreading and receding of water droplets on a flat, isothermal surface. Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was added to water to lower both the surface tension and the equilibrium contact angle. Two parameters, initial velocity and initial droplet diameter, were varied. A high-speed camera recorded the droplet deformation process, including both the spreading and receding phases. Adding the surfactant had two primary effects on the spreading phase; it increased duration of the spreading phase and increased the spreading rate of the droplet. Both of these effects ultimately resulted in an increased maximum spreading diameter. In the receding phase, the surfactant decreased the rate of receding. In the initial deformation process, it was found that the droplet collapsed at nearly a constant rate, regardless of surfactant concentration. Maximum spreading diameter was found to agree with several analytical models from different sources within 10%. Instantaneous spreading diameter was compared to an energy balance model, which also showed good agreement.
Cyclic Variations in Nitrogen Uptake Rate of Soybean Plants: Effects of External Nitrate Concentration

Net uptake of NO3- by non-nodulated soybean plants [Glycine max (L.) Merr. cv. Ransom] growing in flowing hydroponic cultures containing 0.5, 1.0 and 10.0 mol m-3 NO3- was measured daily during a 24-d period of vegetative development to determine if amplitude of maximum and minimum rates of net NO3- uptake are responsive to external concentrations of NO3-. Removal of NO3- from the replenished solutions during each 24-h period was determined by ion chromatography. Neither dry matter accumulation nor the periodicity of oscillations in net uptake rate was altered by the external NO3- concentrations. The maxima of the oscillations in net uptake rate, however, increased nearly 3-fold in response to external NO3- concentrations. The maxima and minima, respectively, changed from 4.0 and 0.6 mmol NO3- per gram root dry weight per day at an external solution level of 0.5 mol m-3 NO3- to 15.2 and -2.7 mmol NO3- per gram root dry weight per day at an external solution level of 10.0 mol m-3 NO3-. The negative values for minimum net uptake rate from 10.0 mol m-3 NO3- solutions show that net efflux was occurring and indicate that the magnitude of the efflux component of net uptake was responsive to external concentration of NO3-.
Continuous wave 1.3 /spl mu/m InAs-InGaAs quantum dot VCSELs on GaAs substrates

Summary form only given. Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) emitting at 1.3 /spl mu/m and integrated with GaAs-based microelectronic circuits have many potential applications in optical communication systems. Several approaches exist for the realization of 1.3 /spl mu/m VCSELs. A promising approach for the realization of longer wavelength VCSELs is the use of self-organized InAs-InGaAs quantum dot (QD) active gain regions. In 1997 we demonstrated QD VCSELs on GaAs with peak emission wavelengths near 1.0 /spl mu/m and sub-milliampere threshold currents. We have now extended the QD peak emission wavelength to 1.3 /spl mu/m by selectively varying the physical size and composition of the InAs-InGaAs dots and herein report room temperature continuous wave (CW) 1.3 /spl mu/m QD VCSELs. While striving to maximize the uniformity of the QDs to increase device efficiency at a single emission wavelength, we have also experimented with sheets of QDs wherein the dot size is purposely nonuniform. Though less efficient, these nonuniform QD active regions have potential applications in tunable VCSELs where a broad gain bandwidth is required.
The Myth of American Ability: Cooper’s Leatherstocking, the Frontier Tradition, and the Making of the American Canon

Key Words: Disability; Able-bodiedness; Frontier; Myth James Fenimore Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales have achieved canonical literary status in the US academy and provide a representative example of the frontier tradition in American writing. Through a close reading of Cooper’s first romance, I argue that America’s longstanding frontier narrative is predicated on the cultural projection of the able-bodied hero. In The Pioneers , Cooper relies on dueling constructions of disability and able-bodiedness to distinguish his white hero from his friend and Native American counterpart, Chingachgook. While Chingachgook’s disability provides the logic for his eventual suicide and removal from the narrative, Natty Bumppo’s strength of character becomes registered through the physical perfection of his body. In celebrating Natty Bumppo’s passage from old age in The Pioneers to new youth in The Deerslayer , the critical tradition surrounding the Leatherstocking series has tacitly endorsed Cooper’s corporeal hierarchy, suggesting that the myth of the American frontier relies upon a much deeper myth of American ability.
The ups and downs of anorexia nervosa.

Objective We updated our incidence study by identifying Rochester, Minnesota, residents diagnosed with anorexia nervosa during 1985 through 1989. Method From a community-based epidemiologic resource, 2,806 medical records with diagnoses including anorexia nervosa, eating disorder, bulimia, amenorrhea and other conditions were screened to identify new cases of anorexia nervosa. Results Two hundred eight (193 females and 15 males) residents fulfilled standard diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa. The overall age-sex-adjusted incidence rate was 8.3 per 100,000 person-years. The age-adjusted incidence among females was 15.0 per 100,000 person-years compared to 1.5 per 100,000 among males. The long-term linear increase for 15 to 24-year-old females noted during the first 50 years of the study continued. The disorder remained less frequent among older females. Discussion Anorexia nervosa remains a relatively common disorder among young females. While there are short-term fluctuations in incidence, the long-term increasing trend for 15 to 24-year-old females has continued. © 1999 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 26: 397–405, 1999.
Generalized linear mixed models in time series studies of air pollution

Abstract Generalized additive models (GAMs) with natural cubic splines (NS) as smoothing functions have become standard analytical tools in time series studies of health effects of air pollution. A GAM with NS as a smoother is reduced to a generalized linear model and is denoted by GLM+NS in literature. The amount of smoothing is controlled by the parameter degrees of freedom (df) in the fitted NS. While a large amount of smoothing could result in a less biased parameter estimate, over–smoothing may attenuate important signals in the data. In practice, this issue is often addressed by sensitivity analyses with different df values. Smoothing can also be achieved by assuming the parameters of the splines as random effects with an appropriate distribution. In time series studies of health effects of air pollution the outcome variable, daily mortality (or morbidity), is commonly assumed to follow a Poisson distribution. With assuming parameters of the natural cubic spline smoother random, a generalized linear mixed model is resulted and, denoted by GLMM+NS. We investigate the validity of this mixed modeling approach through a simulation study. Our simulation results show that for small true pollution effects, fitting a GLMM+NS model results in absolute biases similar to those obtained from the fitting of a GLM+NS, but provides larger empirical standard deviations than a GLM+NS. It can be noted that as the variability in the observed time series data can be different over the study period, the assumption of a variable amount of smoothing over a study period is more realistic and the larger standard deviation may reflect reality. We provide an application of GLMM+NS utilizing data from the Allegheny County Air Pollution Study with interest in estimating the relative risk of cardiopulmonary hospital admissions for a 20 μg/m 3 increase in PM 10 .
Frozen section during partial nephrectomy: does it predict positive margins?

Objective To investigate the clinical utility of frozen section (FS) analysis performed during partial nephrectomy (PN) and its influence on intra-operative management. Patients and Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of consecutive PN cases from 2010 to 2013. We evaluated the concordance between the intra-operative FS diagnosis and the FS control diagnosis, a postoperative quality assurance measure performed on all FS diagnoses after formalin fixation of the tissue. We also evaluated the concordance between the intra-operative FS diagnosis and the final specimen margin. Operating reports were reviewed for change in intra-operative management for cases with a positive or atypia FS diagnosis, or if the mass was sent for FS. Results A total of 576 intra-operative FSs were performed in 351 cases to assess the PN tumour bed margin, 19 (5.4%) of which also had a mass sent for FS to assess the tumour type. The concordance rate between the FS diagnosis and the FS control diagnosis was 98.3%. There were 30 (8.5%) final positive specimen margins, of which four (13.3%) were classified as atypia, 17 (56.7%) as negative and nine (30%) as positive on FS diagnosis. Intra-operative management was influenced in six of nine cases with a positive FS diagnosis and in one of nine cases with an FS diagnosis of atypia. Conclusions The relatively high false-negative rate, controversy over the prognosis of a positive margin, and inconsistency in influencing intra-operative management are arguments against the routine use of FS in PN cases.
N-Polar GaN/AlN MIS-HEMT for Ka-Band Power Applications

In this letter, we demonstrate the millimeter-wave power performance from N-polar GaN-based metal-insulator-semiconductor high-electron-mobility transistors. The device consists of a GaN spacer structure with an AlN barrier to reduce the alloy scattering. High Si doping in GaN without excessive surface roughening has been achieved using a digital doping scheme with a low ohmic contact resistance of 0.16 Ω·mm. An fT and an fMAX of 56 and 130 GHz, respectively, were obtained for a 150-nm gate length. A peak output power of 1.9 W/mm with a power-added efficiency (PAE) of 14% was achieved for VDS = 20 V, and a peak output power of 2.2 W/mm with a 12% efficiency and a linear transducer power gain of 5.7 dB was achieved for VDS = 30 V at 30 GHz. The cause of the low PAE was determined to be due to the current collapse from the RF-IV measurements, and remedies have been suggested to minimize the dc-RF dispersion.
The analysis of vehicle crash injury-severity data: A Markov switching approach with road-segment heterogeneity

Time-constant assumptions in discrete-response heterogeneity models can often be violated. To address this, a time-varying heterogeneity approach to model unobserved heterogeneity in ordered response data is considered. A Markov switching random parameters structure (which accounts for heterogeneity across observations) is proposed to accommodate both time-varying and time-constant (cross-sectional) unobserved heterogeneity in an ordered discrete-response probability model. A data augmented Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm for non-linear model estimation is developed to facilitate model estimation. The performance of the cross-sectional heterogeneity model and time-varying heterogeneity model are examined with vehicle crash-injury severity data. The time-varying heterogeneity model (Markov switching random parameters ordered probit) is found to provide the best overall model fit. Two roadway safety states are shown to exist and roadway segments transition between these two states according to Markov transition probabilities. The results demonstrate considerable promise for Markov switching models in a wide variety of applications.
Treatment of Children’s Problems

This book reviews the history of clinical psychology and describes the assessment and treatment of a variety of psychological disorders. The present chapter focuses on the history of children and their mental health treatment. This task is a particular challenge because the conceptualization of childhood itself has only evolved relatively recently (Senn, 1975). In many otherwise advanced civilizations, such as classical China and ancient Greece, there were no words to designate a person in a special developmental period prior to puberty. The word “child” signified only a kinship relationship, while terms like “boy” signaled a dependent male of any age (Aries, 1960/1962). In medieval Europe, children were largely regarded as inadequate, small, mentally slow adults. With the exception of sexual intercourse and military combat, they were treated like and expected to eat, work, and play like adults (Owens, 1987). Only within this century has the concept of childhood as a special, protected period of development come about. While psychological treatment, in general, is a fairly new phenomenon, such treatment of children is even more recent.
N-Acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) Induction of Hyphal Morphogenesis and Transcriptional Responses in Candida albicans Are Not Dependent on Its Metabolism

N-Acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) stimulates important signaling pathways in a wide range of organisms. In the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans, GlcNAc stimulates hyphal cell morphogenesis, virulence genes, and the genes needed to catabolize GlcNAc. Previous studies on the GlcNAc transporter (NGT1) indicated that GlcNAc has to be internalized to induce signaling. Therefore, the role of GlcNAc catabolism was examined by deleting the genes required to phosphorylate, deacetylate, and deaminate GlcNAc to convert it to fructose-6-PO4 (HXK1, NAG1, and DAC1). As expected, the mutants failed to utilize GlcNAc. Surprisingly, GlcNAc inhibited the growth of the nag1Δ and dac1Δ mutants in the presence of other sugars, suggesting that excess GlcNAc-6-PO4 is deleterious. Interestingly, both hxk1Δ and an hxk1Δ nag1Δ dac1Δ triple mutant could be efficiently stimulated by GlcNAc to form hyphae. These mutants could also be stimulated to express GlcNAc-regulated genes. Because GlcNAc must be phosphorylated by Hxk1 to be catabolized, and also for it to enter the anabolic pathways that form chitin, N-linked glycosylation, and glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchors, the mutant phenotypes indicate that GlcNAc metabolism is not needed to induce signaling in C. albicans. Thus, these studies in C. albicans reveal a novel role for GlcNAc in cell signaling that may also regulate critical pathways in other organisms.
Systematic Review of Complications of Tonsillotomy versus Tonsillectomy

Objective. Intracapsular tonsillotomy continues to gain accep- tance as an alternative to traditional tonsillectomy. Despite large clinical studies, there is a lack of consensus as to which technique offers lower complication rates. This study seeks to analyze the available data and surmise the compli- cation rates of partial tonsillectomy as compared with tradi- tional tonsillectomy. Data Sources. MEDLINE was searched using multiple search terms. Review Methods. After the MEDLINE search, the following inclusion criteria were applied: English language, human sub- jects, and related to partial tonsillectomy. Multiple tonsillot- omy techniques were included. The results of these studies were summated and the results analyzed. Subgroup analysis was then performed. Results. Thirty-three studies met inclusion criteria. Tonsillotomy had a lower postoperative bleeding rate, lower postoperative dehydration rate requiring medical care, reduced days of analgesic use, and reduced days to return to normal diet compared with tonsillectomy. When separated into higher versus lower quality studies, the differences in bleeding and dehydration were negligible, while differences in return to diet and days of analgesic use persisted. Mean intraoperative blood loss was similar for both techniques. Insufficient data were available to assess tonsil regrowth rates. Conclusions. Tonsillotomy appears to be a safe technique that may offer some advantages over tonsillectomy in terms of postoperative morbidity, but differences in hemorrhage and dehydration were not evident in high-quality studies. Data regarding tonsil regrowth rates and efficacy in treating sleep- disordered breathing are not yet sufficient for formal analysis, which may preclude widespread acceptance of this technique.
Impulse purchases of sport team licensed merchandise: what matters?

This two-stage study investigated a proposed model of impulse buying of sport team licensed merchandise among college students (N = 464) enrolled in a large Midwestern university. The proposed model included measures of impulsivity, psychological attachment to sport, and financial situation. The proposed model was tested with structural equation modeling. The results indicated that the proposed model (RMSEA = .058; NFI = .916; CFI = .947, χ2/df = 2.57), along with the partial models of impulsivity (RMESA = .062, NFI = .96, CFI = .98, χ2/df = 2.78) and psychological attachment (RMSEA = .057; NFI = .98; CFI = .988, χ2/df = 2.50), fit the data with a degree of reasonable fit. This study illustrates how personal, psychosocial, and situational factors might interact to influence impulse buying of sport team licensed merchandise.
CATTELL-HORN-CARROLL BROAD COGNITIVE ABILITY PROFILES OF LOW MATH ACHIEVERS

This study extends previous research examining the relations between Cattell-Horn-Carroll cognitive abilities and math achievement. The cognitive profiles of children with normative weaknesses in Math Calculation Skills or Math Reasoning were compared to those of their average-achieving peers. The cognitive profile of the low Math Calculation Skills group (n = 68) was similar to that of their average-achieving peers. The low Math Reasoning group (n = 52) scored lower than their average-achieving peers on the cognitive abilities as a set and on Fluid Reasoning and Comprehension–Knowledge. When individual profiles were considered, approximately half of the children with normative math weaknesses demonstrated commensurate weaknesses in one or more cognitive abilities, which may inform diagnostic models of learning disabilities. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 42: 1–12, 2005.
Polylysine: an activator of smooth muscle contractility.

Polycationic amines are known to affect a wide variety of biochemical reactions and have thus been used as probes of mechanism in cell-free systems and isolated cell fractions (Ahmed et al., 1986; Groschel-Stewart et al., 1989). Polycations are of particular interest to the study of the mechanisms of regulation of contractility in smooth muscle for they are reported to be modulators of phosphoprotein phosphatases (DiSalvo et al., 1985). Phosphatases play a major role in the control of the level of myosin light chain phosphorylation, which in smpoth muscle is the primary transduction mechanism for regulation of contractility (Hartshorne, 1987). A specific phosphatase inhibitor would be of interest not only in terms of the mechanism of crossbridge regulation, but also in terms of identification of the nature of the physiologically relevant phosphatase in smooth muscle. We have thus studied the effects of polylysine on the contractility and ATPase activity of “skinned” (permeabilized) smooth muscle fibers and ATPase activity of smooth muscle actomyosin. For comparison we have also studied the effects of polylysine on actomyosin prepared from skeletal muscle.
Coronary artery aneurysms in Behçet's disease.

Behcet's disease is a rare chronic autoimmune vasculitis with characteristic skin findings. Vascular involvement generally affects veins more than arteries, and coronary arterial involvement is extremely uncommon. Here we report the significant coronary artery aneurysms detected in a 41-year-old man with Behcet's disease who had been in remission for 13 years. Our case illustrates the necessity of initial non-invasive cardiac assessment of patients with Behcet's disease.
Habitat selection, facilitation, and biotic settlement cues affect distribution and performance of coral recruits in French Polynesia

Habitat selection can determine the distribution and performance of individuals if the precision with which sites are chosen corresponds with exposure to risks or resources. Contrastingly, facilitation can allow persistence of individuals arriving by chance and potentially maladapted to local abiotic conditions. For marine organisms, selection of a permanent attachment site at the end of their larval stage or the presence of a facilitator can be a critical determinant of recruitment success. In coral reef ecosystems, it is well known that settling planula larvae of reef-building corals use coarse environmental cues (i.e., light) for habitat selection. Although laboratory studies suggest that larvae can also use precise biotic cues produced by crustose coralline algae (CCA) to select attachment sites, the ecological consequences of biotic cues for corals are poorly understood in situ. In a field experiment exploring the relative importance of biotic cues and variability in habitat quality to recruitment of hard corals, pocilloporid and acroporid corals recruited more frequently to one species of CCA, Titanoderma prototypum, and significantly less so to other species of CCA; these results are consistent with laboratory assays from other studies. The provision of the biotic cue accurately predicted coral recruitment rates across habitats of varying quality. At the scale of CCA, corals attached to the “preferred” CCA experienced increased survivorship while recruits attached elsewhere had lower colony growth and survivorship. For reef-building corals, the behavioral selection of habitat using chemical cues both reduces the risk of incidental mortality and indicates the presence of a facilitator.
Electrical accidents in the mining industry, 1990-1999

This National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health study was conducted to focus future research on the most significant electrical problems in the mining industry. Data from 1926 mine electrical accidents (including 75 fatalities) that occurred between 1990 and 1999 were studied. Coal and metal-nonmetal operator- and contractor-reported data are presented. Electricity was the 4th leading cause of death reported in mining despite being the 14th leading cause of injuries. During the 1990s, 1 of every 272 mining accidents resulted in a fatality. In comparison, 1 of every 26 mine electrical accidents was fatal. Burns were the leading nature of Injury in electrical accidents, but were rarely fatal. Electrical shock caused 70 of the 75 electrical fatalities reported. About one-half of mine electrical accidents and fatalities were sustained during electrical maintenance. Small mines experience a disproportionately high number of electrical accidents and fatalities based on total average employment. The injury severity for victims of nonfatal mine electrical injuries does not increase with age in victims 50 years and older, unlike many other types of occupational accidents. High-reaching mobile equipment is involved in about 20% of mine electrical fatalities, indicating that overhead power line hazards need to be addressed. Electrical accident narratives containing the six most frequently mentioned keywords (breaker, cable, battery, ground, energized and meter) were further analyzed to more accurately determine causal factors. Technical suggestions for mitigating electrical hazards are proposed.
Evidence for Asphericity in the Type IIn Supernova SN 1998S

We present optical spectropolarimetry obtained at the Keck II 10 m telescope on 1998 March 7 UT along with total flux spectra spanning the first 494 days after discovery (1998 March 2 UT) of the peculiar Type IIn supernova (SN) 1998S. The SN is found to exhibit a high degree of linear polarization, implying significant asphericity for its continuum-scattering environment. Prior to the removal of interstellar polarization, the polarization spectrum is characterized by a flat continuum (at p ≈ 2%) with distinct changes in polarization associated with both the broad (symmetric, half-width near zero intensity 10,000 km s-1) and narrow (unresolved, full width at half-maximum less than 300 km s-1) line emission seen in the total flux spectrum. When analyzed in terms of a polarized continuum with unpolarized broad-line recombination emission, an intrinsic continuum polarization of p ≈ 3% results, suggesting a global asphericity of 45% from the oblate, electron-scattering dominated models of Hoflich. The smooth, blue continuum evident at early times is shown to be inconsistent with a reddened, single-temperature blackbody, instead having a color temperature that increases with decreasing wavelength. Broad emission-line profiles with distinct blue and red peaks are seen in the total flux spectra at later times, suggesting a disklike or ringlike morphology for the dense (ne ≈ 107 cm-3) circumstellar medium, generically similar to what is seen directly in SN 1987A, although much denser and closer to the progenitor in SN 1998S. Implications of the circumstellar scattering environment on the spectropolarimetry are discussed, as are the effects of uncertainty in the removal of interstellar polarization; the importance of obtaining multiple spectropolarimetric epochs in future studies to help better constrain the interstellar polarization value is particularly stressed. Using information derived from the spectropolarimetry and the total flux spectra, an evolutionary scenario for SN 1998S and its progenitor are presented.
Simulation and modeling of group behavior during emergency evacuation

Modeling group behavior is very critical in the context of simulations designed for training personals or evacuation decision making strategies. The behavior of agents in such simulations plays a very important role. Agent behavior in complex environments such as emergency evacuation scenario involves collaboration with other agents. A simple example can be a group of people in a building trying to reach an exit by minimizing their travel time. A further complex situation would be involving several group of people trying to reach multiple exits. This paper describes how complex simulation environments involving group behavior can be constructed by fusing human behavior into the simulation. The developed prototype system is able to demonstrate some emergent human social behaviors, such as competitive, queuing, and herding behaviors.
Experiments with learning rules for a single neuron

In this paper we investigate a variation of perceptron-like learning rules for single neural unit. The existing learning rules lack one important element: if the patterns are not linearly separable, the rule either does not converge or converges to an approximate solution. So, the deficiency is that one can not draw any conclusion as to the nature of the problem (linear or nonlinear). We propose to design a class of dual purpose rules such that (1) if the patterns are linearly separable, the performance of a rule will be equivalent to that of the perceptron rule and (2) if the patterns are not linearly separable then the rule will indicate to that effect and therefore, appropriate nonlinear methods (e.g., multilayer neural network, nonlinear transformation on input-space etc.) can be used to address this problem. We present experimental results with linearly-separable as well as linearly nonseparable data using the proposed rule and compare its performance with that of the perceptron rule.
Pediatric nerve biopsy in tertiary referral frequently assists in diagnosis and therapeutic management (P2.001)

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the usefulness of peripheral nerve biopsies in children refereed to a tertiary care center BACKGROUND: Childhood peripheral nerve diseases are both unique and similar to their adult counterparts. Comprehensive evaluation of the utility of nerve biopsies in affected children has not been reported. DESIGN/METHODS: Utilizing an electronic-medical-record retrieval system we identified 316 pediatric (≤18 yo) nerve biopsies from children where clinical information was available. RESULTS: : Median age at biopsy was 9.8 yrs (4days-18yrs). Median follow up was 6 months (0-480 months). Ten children died in the study period related to their neurological illnesses. Cutaneous sensory nerves were most commonly biopsied, but 18 underwent targeted fascicular proximal biopsies. Pre-biopsy diagnoses were diverse including; polyneuropathy n=150, CNS disease and polyneuropathy n=34; hypotonia n=15; polyradiculoneuropathy n=18; plexopathy n=15; sciatic neuropathy n=13; mononeuropathy n=22, among others. A distinct histopathologic diagnosis was possible in 113 (36[percnt]) most commonly: inflammatory/autoimmune, including CIDP n=29; neoplasm n=22; hypertrophic inherited neuropathy n=19; vasculitis n=14; giant axonal neuropathy n=5, among others. Nerve biopsy confirmed the suspected clinical diagnosis in 91 cases (29[percnt]), changed or refined the initial clinical diagnosis in 182 cases (58[percnt]) and was non-contributory in 43 cases (13[percnt]). Only 3 children reported difficulty with postoperative pain at the biopsy site beyond 1 month. Patient treatment was modified in 80 cases (25[percnt]) as a direct result of the biopsy. Of these 80 cases, 59 (19[percnt] of the entire cohort) were documented to have a direct clinical improvement related to a change in treatment most commonly by immunotherapy, but also by radiation, surgery for excision of tumor, chemotherapy and direct medical council. Certain pre-biopsy diagnosis provided low yield including, hypotonic infant. CONCLUSIONS: Tertiary nerve biopsy referral among select children has a high diagnostic yield frequently altering treatment with clinical improvements. Study Supported by: NINDS K08NS065007 (C.J.K.) Disclosure: Dr. Ida has nothing to disclose. Dr. Dyck has nothing to disclose. Dr. Selcen has nothing to disclose. Dr. Bodensteiner has received personal compensation in an editorial capacity for Pediatric Neurology. Dr. Mauermann has nothing to disclose. Dr. Dyck has nothing to disclose. Dr. Klein has nothing to disclose.
Pair-Pair Approximation to the Generalized Many-Body Expansion: An Alternative to the Four-Body Expansion for ab Initio Prediction of Protein Energetics via Molecular Fragmentation.

We introduce a “pair–pair” approximation to the generalized many-body expansion (pp-GMBE) as an approximation to a traditional four-body expansion, the latter of which is accurate but quickly becomes numerically unstable and ultimately intractable as the number of “bodies” (fragments) increases. The pp-GMBE method achieves a good balance between accuracy and efficiency by defining significant fragment pairs and then fragment quartets. An efficient fragmentation scheme is introduced for proteins such that the largest subsystems contain about 60 atoms. Application of the pp-GMBE method to proteins with as many as 70 amino acids (1142 atoms) reveals that pp-GMBE energies are quite faithful to those obtained when the same level of density functional theory is applied to the entire macromolecule. When combined with embedding charges obtained from natural population analysis, the pp-GMBE approach affords absolute energies that differ by 1–3 kcal/mol from full supersystem results, but it yields conformational en...
Human Intelligence: The Demography of Intelligence

By nature men are nearly alike. By practice they get to be far apart. – Confucius (attribution in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations , 15th ed., 1980) People are not all the same. There are young people, old people, and people in between. Nevertheless, we do make distinctions, ranging from binary decisions about the right to vote to the minimum age at which one qualifies for a pension. Many of these distinctions are based on the underlying presumption that intelligence grows, and then declines. There are mandatory retirement age requirements for air traffic controllers and commercial aviators, largely because of our beliefs about changes in their cognitive capabilities. In the United States federal judges are appointed for life. Many of the individual states have mandatory age limits for judges. There are men and women, a sharper biological distinction than young and old. Historically, many societies have assumed that men and women have different cognitive capacities. In contemporary post-industrial societies there is a presumption of equality. But does “equality” mean “identity?” Should we regard a low incidence of women in corporate law practice with suspicion? Should the acceptable percentage of women in corporate law practice be the same as the acceptable percentage of women working as helicopter pilots? People are identified with, and self-identify with, various racial and ethnic groups. Do these groups differ in intelligence? To some people the answer is obvious – they do. Other people believe that even the suggestion of a difference is evidence that the speaker is prejudiced.
Legal Planning for Unmarried Committed Partners: Empirical Lessons for a Preventive and Therapeutic Approach

Increasing rates of cohabitation among unmarried couples have brought a number of contentious issues to the forefront of American political and corporate decision making. An approach to the issues facing unmarried committed partners founded in therapeutic jurisprudence and preventive law suggests that attorneys can help individuals in nonmarital committed relationships to privately order their affairs in a manner that is both legally effective and therapeutic. The present analysis examines the application of therapeutic jurisprudence and preventive law principles to the issues involved in the long-term property and health care planning of unmarried couples.
Impact of Public Infrastructure on Output of U.S. Food Manufacturing Industries: A Heterogeneous Dynamic Panel Approach

Este estudio analiza los impactos a largo plazo de la infraestructura publica en la produccion de 34 industrias manufactureras / procesadoras de alimentos de los Estados Unidos durante 1958-2000 utilizando metodos de paneles dinamicos heterogeneos, incluidos los metodos de grupo medio y grupo agrupado medio. Los resultados sugieren que la infraestructura publica tiene un impacto en el rendimiento a largo plazo en las industrias de fabricacion y procesamiento de alimentos de los Estados Unidos. Un aumento del 1% en la infraestructura publica aumenta la produccion de fabricacion de alimentos de los Estados Unidos en un 0,06% a largo plazo. El impacto positivo a largo plazo de la infraestructura publica en la produccion de alimentos sugiere su importancia para el sector de fabricacion de alimentos de la inversion continua en infraestructura publica.
5-fluorouracil-induced coronary vasospasm.

BackgroundCardiotoxicity is a rare but well-documented adverse effect of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). The underlying cause of this side effect of 5-FU is uncertain.MethodsWe present a case report of a 63...
Retrograde Intramedullary Nailing for Ankle Arthrodesis

This is a retrospective study of retrograde intramedullary rodding for ankle arthrodesis in 19 ankles in 16 patients. The preoperative diagnosis of 16 patients was diabetic neuropathic arthropathy in seven patients, rheumatoid arthritis in three patients, post traumatic arthrosis in three patients, paraplegia with fixed equinovarus of the foot in two patients, and avascular necrosis of the talus in one patient. Retrograde intramedullary rodding for ankle arthrodesis was done as a salvage procedure in each patient. Fourteen of the 19 ankles had radiographic evidence of solid arthrodesis. In the four patients with five ankles with pseudarthrosis, no case was clinically significant. There was one deep infection and one broken rod. Thirteen of the 16 patients are ambulatory, and nine required either an ankle-foot orthosis or shoe modification. The standard method of ankle fusion using crossed cancellous screws is the procedure of choice because it preserves the subtalar joint. Retrograde intramedullary rodding for ankle arthrodesis should be considered for patients with significant posttraumatic arthrosis and bone loss following distal tibial plafond fractures, concomitant subtalar arthrosis, severe osteopenia, such as in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, or neuropathic arthropathy.
Seeing Double: Is Old Delhi Modern?

Dekho, Purani Dilli (Seeing Double) is an essayistic, experimental film that uses the aesthetics of ethnographic film practice to explore the entangled issues of re-presentation and subjectivity of place. The film is composed of a series of encounters, where objects and people form part of a material network and a filmic context for the question ‘Is Old Delhi Modern?’ In this essay I use the film as a topic and resource to explore strategies for recovering a vernacular definition of modernity. The essay is divided into three parts. First, I describe the context of the conference for which the film was produced and some of the debates and ideas to which I was responding. Second, I introduce several ongoing onto-theoretical debates around the subject of alternative modernities. Third, building on this discussion, I use still images from the film as a reference to discuss the critical reading practice that I hope to engender, as well as the strategies of re-presentation employed in the film. Inasmuch as this...
Vortex Structure: Lattice, Glass, or Liquid?

Recent measurements of the dissipation in cuprate superconductors in a magnetic field have been interpreted as providing evidence for the presence of new phases in type II superconductors: flux liquids or flux glasses. We suggest that a more conventional interpretation in terms of the electrodynamics of vortices can adequately account for all the observations. Based on this model, we propose a magnetic phase diagram.
Induction of prolonged latency in psittacosis-infected cells by aminopterin.

SummaryPsittacosis virus was sensitive to aminopterin during the early stages of replication in tissue cultured cells. After hour 20 of virus infection, a factor appeared in the infected cells which reversed the effect of aminopterin on virus. Folinic acid reversed the inhibitory effect of aminopterin on virus and cells. Psittacosis virus, inhibited in tissue culture cells by medium containing aminopterin, remained latent for at least 4 weeks, and resumed replication after addition of folinic acid to the culture medium.
Abstract A57: Breast adipocytes bioactivate Vitamin D3 and regulate hormone-induced epithelial cell growth

Vitamin D3, a nutritionally modulated hormone, participates as a negative growth regulator of mammary gland development and transformation. However, the mechanism behind breast specific vitamin D3 synthesis, metabolism, and signaling to maintain glandular homeostasis and inhibit the onset of mammary transformation remains unknown. Our objective was to test the concept that vitamin D3 signaling in mammary adipose tissue contributes to the negative growth regulation of mammary epithelial cells. We hypothesized that the mammary adipose tissue bioactivates 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 [25(OH)D3] to the active metabolite, 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25(OH)2D3], and induces adipocyte Vitamin D3 Receptor (VDR) signaling along with paracrine secretion of 1,25(OH)2D3 to surrounding mammary epithelial cells to regulate growth of normal and transformed breast epithelial cells. We utilized mammary glands from VDR knockout (KO) and wild type (WT) mice for various procedures including ex vivo co-cultures with mammary epithelium and adipocytes, gene and protein expression assays, immunohistochemistry, and whole mount analysis. We discovered that breast adipocytes express essential signaling components of the vitamin D3 endocrine system and have the ability to bioactivate 25(OH)D3 to 1,25(OH)2D3 inducing mammary specific vitamin D3-responsive gene expression. Breast adipocytes likely participate to maintain localized vitamin D3 homeostasis and contribute to 1,25(OH)2D3-induced growth regulation of mammary epithelial cells in response to various hormonal stimulations, modulating mammary development and differentiation. Thus, our work suggests that breast adipose tissue serves as a vital endocrine mediator of Vitamin D3 signaling and offers a possible mechanism by which elevated 25(OH)D3 serum concentrations reduce the susceptibility to breast cancer. Citation Information: Cancer Prev Res 2010;3(12 Suppl):A57.
Baseline survey on drug resistance of smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis cases in Zhangzhou city

Objective To investigate the drug resistance of smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis(TB) cases in Zhangzhou for the disease control and prevention.Methods Smear positive TB cases in four counties were randomly selected from 2010 to 2011.The samples were identified and drug(rifampicin,isoniazid,streptomycin,ofloxacin and kanamycin and so on) susceptibility tests were carried out.Results Totally 194 smear positive TB cases were enrolled.The total drug resistance rate account for 25.3%(49/194) and the highest rate was in aged 35-44 group(35.1%).The single drug resistance rate was 11.9%,the two drugs resistance rate was 4.1%,and multi-drugs resistance rate was 9.3%.In drug resistant cases,11 cases were resistant to ofloxacin,and 9 of them were new cases,and no case was resistant to kanamycin.Conclusion The prevalence of drug resistant TB in Zhangzhou is still serious and TB control faced with the challenge of multi-drug resistance.Active and effective measures should be taken to control TB drug resistance.
Is the Prescription Opioid Epidemic a White Problem

In this article, the author examines prescription opioid use in the U.S. Particular focus is given to whether or not this problem is primarily an issue amongst the white population. Additional topics discussed include how the life expectancy of U.S. white persons has declined as the result of drug overdoses, the history of OxyContin, an opioid drug, and opioid marketing.
Numerical modeling of the morphodynamic response of a low-lying barrier island beach and foredune system inundated during Hurricane Ike using XBeach and CSHORE

Abstract Follet's Island (FI) is a sediment-starved barrier island located on the Upper Texas Coast; a stretch of coastline along the Gulf of Mexico that experiences on average four hurricanes and four tropical storms per decade. During Hurricane Ike, water levels and wave heights at FI exceeded the 100-year and 40-year return values, respectively, leading to significant overtopping and morphology changes of this low-lying barrier island. The physical processes governing the real-time morphodynamic response of the beach and dune system during 96 h of hurricane impact were modeled using XBeach (2D) and CSHORE (1D). Hydrodynamic boundary conditions were obtained from ADCIRC/SWAN model runs validated with measured buoy and wave gauge data while LiDAR surveys provided pre- and post-storm measured topography. XBeach displayed a decent model skill of 0.34 and provided numerical outputs of the entire 2D domain such as topography, suspended sediment load and bed load which was very useful in visualizing erosion and deposition patterns. CSHORE also displayed a decent model skill of 0.33 and was able to accurately predict the post-storm beach slope and shoreline, but was less effective at simulating the foredune morphology. Modeling results show that the complete morphodynamic response of FI to Hurricane Ike was governed by a sequence of impact regimes, including swash, collision, overwash, inundation, and storm surge ebb.
The great English heist in African studies

This is a paper in celebration of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s contribution to the way we think about language. I argue that the discussion of English in the academy needs to move forward from the possessio...
A comparison between mathematicians’ and students’ use of examples for conjecturing and proving

Abstract Examples can play a productive role in the development of conjectures and proofs, but there is more to learn about what makes example use productive. The example use of mathematicians, who themselves are experts at developing conjectures and proofs, may provide insight into ways to support students in using examples productively. In this paper, we compare the example use of six mathematicians and 38 middle school, high school, undergraduate students as they reasoned about interviewer-provided conjectures and developed their own conjectures. We note broad similarities between the two groups in terms of the purposes for which they used examples and the strategies with which they selected and used examples. In the context of these similarities, we highlight two key areas in which the populations differed: (1) the coordination (or lack thereof) between purpose and strategy of examples, and (2) the role of the logical structure of conjectures in choosing and using examples.
In Search of Dracula’s Oracular History

This chapter is concerned with recovering Dracula’s narrative voice and tracing its evolution beginning with and following the publication of the novel. It shall proceed by tracing how history has shaped and morphed Dracula’s narrative voice in response to shifting moral, cultural, and technological stimuli. While this chapter aims less to record Dracula’s entire stage and film progeny, it does purpose to construct from it a basic outline that not only chronicles a rich history of narrativity but captures his changing complexity in relation to narrativity by exposing interrelationships that bear in mind relevant production history, as well as Dracula’s continuously evolving cultural conceptualization and visualization.