cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Foreign Aid, International Organizations, and the World's Children

Recent improvement in child mortality has taken place in all regions of the world. In developing countries, major remaining causes are neonatal problems, diarrheal diseases, vaccine-preventable diseases, and respiratory diseases. Foreign aid has come in many forms, among them individual persons, nongovernmental organizations, national governments, and international agencies. Governmental involvement in health activities abroad can advance foreign policy interests as well as help protect a country9s citizens against existing and potential disease foci. Intergovernmental health agencies, regional and worldwide, have been in existence only in this century; the World Health Organization is barely 50 years old and suffers from US delinquency in paying its dues. Child labor has health aspects in industrialized as well as in developing countries. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child has significant implications for health. Despite broad support, including that of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the United States has not ratified the convention, the only nation in the world beside Somalia not to do so.
The physician's role in directing long-term care. Understanding the rules is important for protecting your patients and your practice.

PREVIEWMeeting the healthcare needs of patients who require long-term care presents many challenges, not the least of which are local and federal regulations, a formidable bureaucracy, and confusing paperwork. Despite these obstacles, long-term care patients often are among those with the greatest need for well-trained physicians and high-quality medical services. This article reviews elements of long-term care, with an emphasis on how primary care physicians should order and provide services.
Relaxation of Anisotropic Thermal Diffusivity in a Polymer Melt Following Step Shear Strain

Forced Rayleigh light scattering is used to examine anisotropic thermal heat conduction due to deformation in a polymeric liquid. Thermal diffusivity is measured in both the flow and neutral directions in a polyisobutylene melt following the imposition of a step shear strain. The thermal diffusivity in the flow and neutral directions increases and decreases, respectively, immediately following the deformation before relaxing to an equilibrium value. Comparison of the difference between measured flow and neutral direction thermal diffusivities with the analogous flow-induced birefringence supports arguments for a proportionality between stress and thermal diffusivity.
A.A., constructivism, and reflecting teams.

Numerous studies and clinical anecdotes reveal a relationship between attendance at A.A. meetings and/or degree of involvement in A.A. and maintenance of sobriety. Hypotheses as to how A.A. and/or the A.A. meeting is helpful to its members have ranged from a focus on factors common to all therapy groups, to aspects of A.A. “treatment” which are behavioral in nature. Presented here is another way of understanding A.A.'s effectiveness within the frame of more recent, constructivistic approaches to family therapy. In particular, the A.A. topic meeting is compared to the reflecting team concept of Tom Anderson.
Dynamic Technology and Psychic Passivity

Exploring the Market Mentality IN THE NINETEEN THIRTIES Peter Drucker, in a widely read book, proclaimed the end of Economic Man. In fact, a number of economic and political treatises during the last two decades have participated in the obsequies for this celebrated character of scientific fiction. These memorials for the passing of Economic Man served also to signalize the desertion by social scientists of the mechanistic psychological economics regnant during the first two centuries of industrialism. Unhappily, the funeral services for "the late lamented" have been more satisfying than have been the efforts to construct a surrogate model. The new "Soviet Man" can hardly be any more acceptable in the democratic West than was the "Political Man" of the fascist-nazi heydays, though to be sure his life span has already demonstrated considerably more stamina. Nor can "Sociological Man" be regarded as an heir to the throne, especially in a society in which sociology, for example, is still regarded as a newcomer if not as a vagrant in the community of the sciences. Perhaps our best hopes lie in the mounting attack of the interdisciplinary studies, with psychologists in the vanguard of the assault and anthropologists throwing strong support. The new model of industrial man is likely to be less rational, less aggressive, less self-sufficient, and above all less certain than his predecessor. At least this is the impression one gains from a review of these three studies.' This impression is greatly strengthened by the fact that each writer pursues his own psychological bent but arrives at some strikingly similar conclusions. Thus, Katona bends the knee to Wertheimer and Gestalt psychology. McLuhan traces through numerous advertising exhibits the cultural themes of industrial society. Bergler follows the now familiar pathways of psychoanalytical depth analysis. The methodology of each study is likewise different: Katona's econometrics, McLuhan's content analysis, and Bergler's interview and case interpretations. Yet the area of their agreement is spacious, although disturbing. The society 1 George Katona, Psychological Analysis of Economic Behavior (New York, McGrawHill, 1951, vii+ 347 pp.); H. M. McLuhan, The Mechanical Bride: Folklore of Industrial Man (New York, Vanguard Press, 1951, vi+ 157 pp.); and Edmund Bergler, Money and Emotional Conflicts (New York, Doubleday, 1951, viii + 269 pp.).
Clinical podogeriatrics: assessment, education and prevention

Podogeriatrics can be defined as that special area of podiatric medical practice that focuses on prevention, health promotion, the treatment and management of the foot and related problems, disability, deformity, and the pedal complications of chronic diseases in later life. The term podogeriatrics developed as an evolution related to need. Although there has been recognition that foot problems in the older population are common and require special consideration, it was not until 1958, when Public Law 85–908 was enacted, that the health care system began to seriously consider the health care and related needs of the older person. The 1958 Act established the first White House Conference on Aging in 1960. A series of events also developed during this same period that gradually enhanced the progress of podogeriatrics as an element of care. In 1959, an editorial appeared in the Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association entitled ‘‘Our Contributions to the Total Well-Being of our Older People.’’ The 1960 Annual Meeting of the American Podiatric Medical Association sponsored a special program on the special problems of aging, which led to a special publication to be used during the 1960White House Conference on Aging. In addition, the American Podiatric Medical Association established a council on public health and created a committee on aging to develop information on foot health for older Americans. That committee then became known as podogeriatrics and remained a component of the public health effort of the profession. In 1959, a visit to England by representatives of the Philadelphia Department of Health identified that foot care was one of the most popular health services for
A comparison of four repair techniques for Champer's chiasma flexor digitorium superficialis lacerations: Tested in an in vitro model

The relative strengths of 4 methods for repair of the flexor digitorum superficialis tendon were examined in 14 fresh-frozen cadaver hands (40 tendons). All tendons underwent sharp zone II transection at Camper's chiasma. All transections were repaired with 4.0 Ethibond (Ethicon Inc, Sommerville, NJ) using modified Becker, modified Kessler, horizontal mattress, or simple sutures. Flexion of the repaired digit at a constant excursion rate was rendered up to tendon rupture. The modified Becker technique withstood breaking forces (57.9 N) significantly greater than the other techniques examined. Forces up to 34 N have been measured in vivo during unresisted active finger motion. Thus, the modified Becker technique appears to provide adequate strength for early active flexor digitorum superficialis motion.
Effect of dietary macronutrient composition on AMPK and SIRT1 expression and activity in human skeletal muscle.

Adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK), silent mating type information regulation 2 homologue 1 (SIRT 1), and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ co-activator α (PGC1α) constitute an energy sensing cellular network that controls mitochondrial biogenesis. Caloric restriction activates both AMPK and SIRT-1 to increase ATP production from fat oxidation. We characterized AMPK and SIRT 1 expression and activity in human skeletal muscle in response to dietary fat or carbohydrate intake on the background of either overfeeding or caloric restriction. AMPK phosphorylation and acetylation of PGC1α (as a measure of SIRT activity) were determined. Euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp and muscle biopsies were performed in human subjects participating in 2 separate studies. In study 1, 21 lean healthy individuals were overfed for 5 days, while in study 2, 18 obese otherwise healthy individuals consumed a calorie-restricted diet for 5 days. Under both conditions – overfeeding and caloric restriction – high fat/low carbohydrate (HF/LC) diet significantly increased phosphorylation of AMPK and deacetylation of PGC1α in skeletal muscle without affecting total amounts of AMPK, PGC1α, or SIRT 1. In contrast, low fat/high carbohydrate (LF/HC) hypocaloric diet reduced phosphorylation of AMPK and deacetylation of PGC1α. Our data indicate that a relative deficiency in carbohydrate intake or, albeit less likely, a relative excess of fat intake even in the absence of caloric deprivation is sufficient to activate the AMPK-SIRT 1-PGC1α energy-sensing cellular network in human skeletal muscle.
Continuous pH measurement for anaerobic digestion

Continuous pH measurement of anaerobic mixed liquors in laboratory reactors can be expensive, unreliable and often frustrating. Conventional combination electrodes operates for only a short time before failure. In most cases, deposition of insoluble precipitates on the porous ceramic or glass fiber junction renders the probe unfit for further use. The resistance of the glass electrode also increases with time and may give problems, although it is not as susceptible to failure and is relatively easy to clean. This communication describes a simple inexpensive apparatus for continuous pH measurement of anaerobic mixed liquors. (Refs. 1).
Extraction of a compact analytical data file from a complex binary image for use in real-time learning

For a binary image containing only curves (and lines) in a background infested by binary noises, (e.g., salt-and-pepper noise,) a very efficient way to extract the image data, and to save them in a very compact file for an accurate and complete image recall later, is very attractive to many image processing and pattern recognition systems. This paper reports the data-extraction method we developed recently for inputting a binary image to a special neural-network pattern recognition system, the noniterative, real-time learning system. We use an adaptive/tracking window to track the direction of a continuous curve in the binary image, and record the xy-coordinates of all points on this curve until the window hits an end point, or a branch point, or the original starting point. By scanning this tracking window across the whole image frame, we can then segment the original binary image into many single curves. The xy"s of points on each curve can then be analyzed by a curve fitting process, and the analytic data can be stored very compactly in an analog data file. This data file can be recalled very efficiently to reconstruct the original binary image, or can be used directly for inputting to a special neural network and for carrying out an extremely fast pattern learning process. This paper reports the image-processing steps, the programming algorithm, and the experimental results on this novel image extraction technique. It will be verified in each experiment by reconstructing the original image from the compactly extracted analog data file.© (2005) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Experience-dependent plasticity in the mushroom bodies of the solitary bee Osmia lignaria (Megachilidae).

All members of the solitary bee species Osmia lignaria (the orchard bee) forage upon emergence from their natal nest cell. Conversely, in the honey bee, days-to-weeks of socially regulated behavioral development precede the onset of foraging. The social honey bee's behavioral transition to foraging is accompanied by neuroanatomical changes in the mushroom bodies, a region of the insect brain implicated in learning. If these changes were general adaptations to foraging, they should also occur in the solitary orchard bee. Using unbiased stereological methods, we estimated the volume of the major compartments of the mushroom bodies, the neuropil and Kenyon cell body region, in adult orchard bees. We compared the mushroom bodies of recently emerged bees with mature bees that had extensive foraging experience. To separate effects of general maturation from field foraging, some orchard bees were confined to a cage indoors. The mushroom body neuropil of experienced field foragers was significantly greater than that of both recently emerged and mature caged orchard bees, suggesting that, like the honey bee, this increase is driven by outdoor foraging experience. Unlike the honey bee, where increases in the ratio of neuropil to Kenyon cell region occur in the worker after emerging from the hive cell, the orchard bee emerged from the natal nest cell with a ratio that did not change with maturation and was comparable to honey-bee foragers. These results suggest that a common developmental endpoint may be reached via different development paths in social and solitary species of foraging bees. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol, 2008
Cylindrical Penning traps with orthogonalized anharmonicity compensation

Abstract Compensated Penning traps with cylindrical ring and compensation electrodes and flat endcaps are considered as alternatives to high precision traps with hyperbolic ring and endcap electrodes. Cylindrical and flat electrodes can be more easily and precisely constructed, especially for the very small traps which are desirable for ion trapping. They are easily studied since Laplace's equation can be solved by a series expansion which is discussed in most electricity and magnetism textbooks. A central new result is that a judicious choice of the height-to-diameter ratio for a cylindrical trap makes the axial oscillation frequency of a trapped particle independent of adjustments in the compensation potential, just as has been recently proposed for hyperbolic traps. Other properties of such orthogonalized cylindrical traps appear to be adequate for particle trapping so that properly designed cylindrical traps are promising alternatives for high precision work, ready for laboratory testing. Whether or not cylindrical traps will be able to replace hyperbolic traps entirely for the highest precision work, a major point of this paper is that orthogonalized traps can be built with any reasonable electrode geometry. Special access traps with orthogonalized anharmonicity compensation are thus completely feasible, though numerical calculations will be generally required for their design.
Effect of selection for pseudo-self compatibility in advanced inbred generations of Nemesia strumosa Benth.

Highly pseudo-self compatible (PSC) Nemesia strumosa plants were selfed and intercrossed to produce progenies of the F5 through F7 generations. Though high PSC progenies were obtained, none were truebreeding. Progenies from crossing inbred high PSC plants to low PSC plants consisted of either mostly low PSC plants or both low and intermediate plants. A backcross to the high PSC parent of a progeny from a low times high cross produced a family with a PSC frequency distribution skewed toward low PSC but with a few high PSC plants. These data may be explained if PSC genes at some or most loci are incompletely dominant to non-PSC genes and threshold numbers of PSC genes are required for PSC expression and for 100% PSC plants. Dominance may also occur at some loci. Although only a small number of genes may be required to produce a high PSC plant, the total number of PSC genes may be large.
The MMP2 calculational method

The molecular mechanics (MMP2) program and procedures for the treatment of conjugated hydrocarbons, and some of the results which they can achieve are described. The program is an updated version of the similar MMP1 program, but contains some differences. It is based on an SCF π system calculation, rather than on the VESCF method used earlier. All parameters are compatible with those in the MM2 program. Hence it is possible to calculate heats of formation, resonance energies, and structures for conjugated hydrocarbons in a way that is consistent with the calculations on non-conjugated molecules. The overall results as far as structure and energy are somewhat better than they were with the MMP1 program.
Expression and function of kainate receptors in the rat olfactory bulb.

Although recent results suggest roles for NMDA and AMPA receptors in odor encoding, little is known about kainate receptors (KARs) in the olfactory bulb (OB). Molecular, immunological, and electrophysiological techniques were used to pro- vide a functional analysis of KARs in the OB. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction revealed that the relative level of expression of KAR subunits was GluR5 & GluR6 & KA2 > KA1 ! GluR7. In situ hybridization data imply that mitral/tufted cells express mostly GluR5 and KA2, whereas interneurons express mostly GluR6 and KA2. Immunohistochemical double-labeling experiments (GluR5/6/7 or GluR5 + synap- sin) suggest that KARs are expressed at both synaptic and extrasynaptic loci. This heterogeneous expression of KAR subunits suggests that KARs may play a multitude of roles in odor processing, each tailored to the function of specific OB circuits. A func- tional analysis, using whole-cell electrophysiology, suggests that one such role is to increase the frequency of glutamate transmission while attenuating the amplitude of individual events, likely via a presynaptic depolarizing mechanism. Such effects would be important to odor processing particularly by OB glomeruli. In these highly com- partmentalized structures, an increase in the frequency of glutamate release and the high density of extrasynaptic KARs, activated by spillover, could enhance glomerular synchronization and thus the transfer of more specific sensory information to cortical structures. Synapse 61:320-334, 2007. V C 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Electron spin polarization from the photosynthetic light reaction: Photosystem I

L Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 A. Electron acceptors of Photosystem I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 B. Historical background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 II. Experimental techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 A. Modulation effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 B. Generation and detection of transient signals . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 C. Orientation of photosynthetic membranes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 III. Measurement of spin polarization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 IV. Origin of spin polarization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 V. Orientation of iron-sulfur centers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 VI. Radical pair mechanism for membrane-bound radicals . . . . . . . . . . . 73 A. One-site model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 B. Two-site model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 C. Orientation effects due to g tensor anisotropy . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 VII. Calculated polarization of P700 + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 A. One-site model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 B. Two-site model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Vil/. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 IX. Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 X. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Pharmacokinetics of acyclovir suspension in infants and children.

Eighteen children from 3 weeks to 6.9 years of age were given an oral acyclovir suspension for herpes simplex or varicella-zoster virus infections. Thirteen patients who were 6 months to 6.9 years old received 600 mg/m2 per dose, and three infants and two children less than 2 years old were given 300 mg/m2 per dose. The drug was given four times a day, except to one infant who was treated with three doses a day. Among the 13 children who received the 600-mg/m2 dose, the maximum concentration in plasma (Cmax) was 0.99 +/- 0.38 microgram/ml (mean +/- standard deviation), the time to maximum concentration (Tmax) was 3.0 +/- 0.86 h, the area under the curve (AUC) was 5.56 +/- 2.17 micrograms.h/ml, and the elimination half-life (t1/2) was 2.59 +/- 0.78 h. The three infants less than 2 months of age who received the 300-mg/m2 dose had a Cmax of 1.88 +/- 1.11 micrograms/ml, a Tmax of 4.10 +/- 0.48 h, an AUC of 6.54 +/- 4.32 micrograms.h/ml, and a t1/2 of 3.26 +/- 0.33 h. The acyclovir suspension was well tolerated by young children. No adverse effects requiring discontinuation of the drug occurred.
Large-scale parallel lattice Boltzmann–cellular automaton model of two-dimensional dendritic growth

Abstract An extremely scalable lattice Boltzmann (LB)–cellular automaton (CA) model for simulations of two-dimensional (2D) dendritic solidification under forced convection is presented. The model incorporates effects of phase change, solute diffusion, melt convection, and heat transport. The LB model represents the diffusion, convection, and heat transfer phenomena. The dendrite growth is driven by a difference between actual and equilibrium liquid composition at the solid–liquid interface. The CA technique is deployed to track the new interface cells. The computer program was parallelized using the Message Passing Interface (MPI) technique. Parallel scaling of the algorithm was studied and major scalability bottlenecks were identified. Efficiency loss attributable to the high memory bandwidth requirement of the algorithm was observed when using multiple cores per processor. Parallel writing of the output variables of interest was implemented in the binary Hierarchical Data Format 5 (HDF5) to improve the output performance, and to simplify visualization. Calculations were carried out in single precision arithmetic without significant loss in accuracy, resulting in 50% reduction of memory and computational time requirements. The presented solidification model shows a very good scalability up to centimeter size domains, including more than ten million of dendrites. Program summary Program title: 2Ddend Catalogue identifier: AEQZ_v1_0 Program summary URL: http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/AEQZ_v1_0.html Program obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen’s University, Belfast, UK Licensing provisions: Standard CPC license, http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/licence/licence.html No. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 29,767 No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 3131,367 Distribution format: tar.gz Programming language: Fortran 90. Computer: Linux PC and clusters. Operating system: Linux. Has the code been vectorized or parallelized?: Yes. Program is parallelized using MPI. Number of processors used: 1–50,000 RAM: Memory requirements depend on the grid size Classification: 6.5, 7.7. External routines: MPI ( http://www.mcs.anl.gov/research/projects/mpi/ ), HDF5 ( http://www.hdfgroup.org/HDF5/ ) Nature of problem: Dendritic growth in undercooled Al–3 wt% Cu alloy melt under forced convection. Solution method: The lattice Boltzmann model solves the diffusion, convection, and heat transfer phenomena. The cellular automaton technique is deployed to track the solid/liquid interface. Restrictions: Heat transfer is calculated uncoupled from the fluid flow. Thermal diffusivity is constant. Unusual features: Novel technique, utilizing periodic duplication of a pre-grown “incubation” domain, is applied for the scaleup test. Running time: Running time varies from minutes to days depending on the domain size and number of computational cores.
Elytra color as a signal of chemical defense in the Asian ladybird beetle Harmonia axyridis

Carotenoid- and melanin-based colors are valuable indicators of quality in many vertebrates, but their signaling role in invertebrates remains relatively unexplored. The Asian ladybird beetle Harmonia axyridis is an ideal organism for studies of this nature because males and females exhibit highly variable red and black colors on their elytra and are chemically defended with an alkaloid (harmonine). We used digital photography to quantify elytra coloration and absorbance spectrophotometry and gas chromatography mass spectrometry analyses to quantify pigment and alkaloid concentrations, respectively, in wild-caught male and female H. axyridis. We predicted that extensive or intense coloration would be an aposematic signal of high-alkaloid stores. We found that carotenoid pigments largely controlled variation in red elytra coloration. There was no relationship between alkaloid content and either elytra redness or carotenoid pigment concentration in either sex. However, we found a positive correlation between the extent of elytra coloration and alkaloid content. Animals with proportionally more red (or less black) on the elytra were more alkaloid-rich; this relationship was particularly strong in females. We also found that females with lighter black spots had greater amounts of harmonine than those with darker spots. These results suggest that elytra color patterns have the potential to reveal information about chemical defensiveness to mates or predators. Prior studies in this species show that nonmelanic forms are typically less active and yet more sexually attractive than melanic forms, and both results may be explained by the fact that nonmelanics are better chemically defended.
"Micromanagement" of the U.S- Aid Budget and the Presidential Allocation of Attention

How presidents allocate their attention is the subject of much popular commentary and speculation, but little systematic scholarly research. I focus on an apparent case of presidential "micromanagement"?the practice within the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon White Houses of requiring presidential approval for small (often $5 to $10 million) foreign aid expenditures. I sketch the outlines of a theory of presidential attention, and show that the degree of presi dential attention to such expenditures is a function of the changing balance of payments posi tion of the United States, and officials' assessment of the severity of the Soviet threat in the less developed world. How presidents allocate their time and attention is a venerable part of the folklore of the presidency. Does a president like to spend time talking with people, or is he a loner? Does the president read a great deal, or not? Does he make a habit of attending National Security Council meetings, or does he rely on subordinates to conduct business without him and then receive a report on the proceedings afterward? How much vaca tion time does he take at Camp David or his ranch or estate? Even his biological func tions are subject for discussion, or at least speculation. Was this president one who needed a lot of sleep? Was the president one who was ill a great deal, and so unable to perform much strenuous work? Among journalists, biographers, and the general public, this type of discussion of the presidency is commonplace, and always seems to attract a large and attentive audience. Aside from the common fascination with the great and the powerful and the desire to understand their daily lives in human terms, the interest in how a president allocates his attention across a range of activities is part of how many people come to evaluate presidential performance. Comments about such allocations of time usually have a nor
A Model of the Travel Time of Migrating Juvenile Salmon, with an Application to Snake River Spring Chinook Salmon

Abstract We develop a model of the travel time of juvenile salmonids migrating through a river r each. The model is derived from an advection–diffusion equation with an absorbing boundary at the downstream collection site. The resulting travel time distribution is determined by two biologically meaningful parameters: migration rate and the rate of population spreading. The model is applied to travel time distributions for 46 cohorts of juvenile spring chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha migrating through the Lower Granite Pool (52 km in length) in the Snake River. Parameters are estimated using maximum likelihood. A Pearson X 2 goodness-of-fit test shows that the model is not rejected (∝ = 0.05) for the majority of cohorts.
Development of a Homogeneous, Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer-Based in Vitro Recruitment Assay for Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor δ via Selection of Active LXXLL Coactivator Peptides

Abstract The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are nuclear receptors activated by fatty acids and their metabolites. The PPARδ subtype is believed to be involved in lipoprotein regulation and may have a role in reverse cholesterol transport. While the range of biological roles of PPARδ still remains unclear, it is of therapeutic interest in cardiovascular diseases. Here we report a homogeneous in vitro assay for studying ligand activation of PPARδ. We surveyed a panel of peptides containing the LXXLL motifs derived from coactivator protein sequences. Peptides with the best response were used to develop a sensitive and homogeneous recruitment assay for PPARδ. The optimized assay has a signal-to-background ratio of about 8:1 and an assay quality parameter Z′-factor value of 0.8. The assay signal generated is stable for hours to even overnight. This simple recruitment assay can provide agonist and/or antagonist information that cannot be assessed by receptor-binding assay, and can be used for characterization and screening of ligands that modulate the activation of PPARδ.
ENERGY FLOW ANALYSIS OF BEAMS AND PLATES FOR RANDOM DISTRIBUTED LOADING

The time- and frequency-averaged energy response of beams and plates excited by a random distributed loading was investigated. Two methods for calculating the input power density from the cross-spectral density of the distributed excitation were developed, used, and compared. The energy response was calculated using energy flow analysis and modal analysis. Assuming the input impedance was that of comparable structures of infinite extent, energy flow analysis was found to yield energy density predictions in good agreement with the spatially averaged energy density response obtained using modal analysis and exact transfer functions for the power density input estimation. The benefits of this approach are discussed for the case of a simply supported plate excited by a turbulent boundary layer wetting only half of the span of the plate.
Tracers, Transfer through Membranes, and Coefficients of Transfer

The rate of flow of a tagged species of a material substance through a permeable membrane is proportional to the rate of flow of the substance itself when, and only when, the species mole fraction of the substance is the same on both sides of the barrier. The ratio of the osmotic transfer coefficient of a substance in a particular barrier to the exchange coefficient, determinable with a tracer, is greater than 1.
Failure mechanisms of thermal barrier coatings exposed to elevated temperatures

The failure of a ZrO2-8%Y2O3/Ni-14% Al-0.1% Zr coating system on Rene 41 in Mach 0.3 burner rig tests was characterized. High flame and metal temperatures were employed in order to accelerate coating failure. Failure by delamination was shown to precede surface cracking or spalling. This type of failure could be duplicated by cooling down the specimen after a single long duration isothermal high temperature cycle in a burner rig or a furnace, but only if the atmosphere was oxidizing. Stresses due to thermal expansion mismatch on cooling coupled with the effects of plastic deformation of the bond coat and oxidation of the irregular bond coat are the probable life limiting factors. Heat up stresses alone could not fail the coating in the burner rig tests. Spalling eventually occurs on heat up but only after the coating has already failed through delamination.
High quantum efficiency photodetectors for quantum instruments

Achieving detector quantum efficiencies of 90% or greater is enabling for many experiments involving squeezed and entangled light. This paper discusses why poor quantum efficiency reduces one’s ability to exploit squeezed light and describes a light trap approach to improving the detection quantum efficiency.
Estimating soil moisture using remote sensing data: A machine learning approach

Abstract Soil moisture is an integral quantity in hydrology that represents the average conditions in a finite volume of soil. In this paper, a novel regression technique called Support Vector Machine (SVM) is presented and applied to soil moisture estimation using remote sensing data. SVM is based on statistical learning theory that uses a hypothesis space of linear functions based on Kernel approach. SVM has been used to predict a quantity forward in time based on training from past data. The strength of SVM lies in minimizing the empirical classification error and maximizing the geometric margin by solving inverse problem. SVM model is applied to 10 sites for soil moisture estimation in the Lower Colorado River Basin (LCRB) in the western United States. The sites comprise low to dense vegetation. Remote sensing data that includes backscatter and incidence angle from Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) are used to estimate soil water content (SM). Simulated SM (%) time series for the study sites are available from the Variable Infiltration Capacity Three Layer (VIC) model for top 10 cm layer of soil for the years 1998–2005. SVM model is trained on 5 years of data, i.e. 1998–2002 and tested on 3 years of data, i.e. 2003–2005. Two models are developed to evaluate the strength of SVM modeling in estimating soil moisture. In model I, training and testing are done on six sites, this results in six separate SVM models – one for each site. Model II comprises of two subparts: (a) data from all six sites used in model I is combined and a single SVM model is developed and tested on same sites and (b) a single model is developed using data from six sites (same as model II-A) but this model is tested on four separate sites not used to train the model. Model I shows satisfactory results, and the SM estimates are in good agreement with the estimates from VIC model. The SM estimate correlation coefficients range from 0.34 to 0.77 with RMSE less than 2% at all the selected sites. A probabilistic absolute error between the VIC SM and modeled SM is computed for all models. For model I, the results indicate that 80% of the SM estimates have an absolute error of less than 5%, whereas for model II-A and II-B, 80% and 60% of the SM estimates have an error less than 10% and 15%, respectively. SVM model is also trained and tested for measured soil moisture in the LCRB. Results with RMSE, MAE and R of 2.01, 1.97, and 0.57, respectively show that the SVM model is able to capture the variability in measured soil moisture. Results from the SVM modeling are compared with the estimates obtained from feed forward-back propagation Artificial Neural Network model (ANN) and Multivariate Linear Regression model (MLR); and show that SVM model performs better for soil moisture estimation than ANN and MLR models.
Health and Human Rights Education in U.S. Schools of Medicine and Public Health: Current Status and Future Challenges

Background Despite increasing recognition of the importance of human rights in the protection and promotion of health, formal human rights education has been lacking in schools of medicine and public health. Our objectives were: 1) to determine the nature and extent of health and human rights (HHR) education among schools of medicine (SOMs) and public health (SPHs); 2) to identify perceived barriers to implementing HHR curricula; 3) to learn about deans' interests and attitudes toward HHR education, and; 4) to identify factors associated with offering HHR education. Methods and Principal Findings We conducted a cross-sectional survey among deans of all accredited allopathic SOMs and SPHs in the United States and Puerto Rico. Seventy-one percent of U.S. SOMs and SPHs responded. Thirty-seven percent of respondents indicated that their schools offered some form of HHR education. Main barriers to offering HHR education included competition for time, lack of qualified instructors and lack of funding. Among schools not offering HHR education, 35% of deans were interested in offering HHR education. Seventy-six percent of all deans believed that it was very important or important to offer HHR education. Multiple regression analysis revealed that deans' attitudes were the most important factor associated with offering any HHR education. Conclusion Findings indicate that though a majority of deans of SOMs and SPHs believe that knowledge about human rights is important in health practice and support the inclusion of HHR studies in their schools, HHR education is lacking at most of their institutions. These results and the growing recognition of the critical interdependence between health and human rights indicate a need for SOMs and SPHs to work towards formal inclusion of HHR studies in their curricula, and that HHR competency requirements be considered to overcome barriers to its inclusion.
I cannot stand this anymore

A 28-year-old right-handed man presented with medically intractable focal reflex epilepsy. He previously underwent resection of a right parietal lobe cortical dysplasia. Postoperatively, he developed focal reflex epilepsy triggered by motor activation of the left lower extremity. These were refractory to multiple antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) and vagal nerve stimulation therapy (VNS), and prevented standing and walking. Clinical examination showed mild left hemiparesis and left lower extremity myoclonic seizures triggered by motor activation and standing (see online supplementary video 1). Scalp EEG showed focal seizure discharges consisting of rhythmic midline central sharp waves. Brain MRI showed postoperative signal hyperintensity in the region of the prior resection (figure 1A). Subtraction ictal single-photon emission CT coregistered to MRI (SISCOM) demonstrated ictal hyperperfusion in the near prior resection cavity in leg motor area (figure 1B). Figure 1 (A) …
Teaching consultants airway management skills

Airway management skills are integral to the practice of anaesthesiology and also to the practice of emergency medicine and allied health professions such as respiratory care, emergency medical technology, and emergency and critical care nursing. The basic information to be taught is the same but the level of detail will vary depending on the audience. The learning process usually involves progression from didactic lessons to skills training on inanimate models to supervised clinical practice. Modalities that may be used for skills training include cadavers, recently dead patients, videotapes, mannequins, simulators and virtual reality trainers. To maintain knowledge and skills, review and possible retraining should be conducted on an approximately annual basis.
A comparative evaluation of four basic system-level diagnosis strategies for hypercubes

The approach of mutual-testing-based system diagnosis is considered for its cost effectiveness in diagnosing n-cubes (n-dimensional hypercube multi-computer systems). Processors test each other and the test results are collected and analyzed to determine faulty processors. Four basic diagnosis strategies based on this approach are considered for n-cubes: one-t, one-t'/t', seq-t, and seq-t'/t'. One-t and one-t'/t' are one-step strategies which involve only one test phase and one repair phase. The goal is to identify and replace all faulty-processors through one mutual test phase. The other two are sequential strategies which involve multiple iterative test and repair phases. >
Rapid PCR in a continuous flow device

Continuous flow polymerase chain reaction (CFPCR) devices are compact reactors suitable for microfabrication and the rapid amplification of target DNAs. For a given reactor design, the amplification time can be reduced simply by increasing the flow velocity through the isothermal zones of the device; for flow velocities near the design value, the PCR cocktail reaches thermal equilibrium at each zone quickly, so that near ideal temperature profiles can be obtained. However, at high flow velocities there are penalties of an increased pressure drop and a reduced residence time in each temperature zone for the DNA/reagent mixture, that potentially affect amplification efficiency. This study was carried out to evaluate the thermal and biochemical effects of high flow velocities in a spiral, 20 cycle CFPCR device. Finite element analysis (FEA) was used to determine the steady-state temperature distribution along the micro-channel and the temperature of the DNA/reagent mixture in each temperature zone as a function of linear velocity. The critical transition was between the denaturation (95 °C) and renaturation (55 °C–68 °C) zones; above 6 mm s−1 the fluid in a passively-cooled channel could not be reduced to the desired temperature and the duration of the temperature transition between zones increased with increased velocity. The amplification performance of the CFPCR as a function of linear velocity was assessed using 500 and 997 base pair (bp) fragments from λ-DNA. Amplifications at velocities ranging from 1 mm s−1 to 20 mm s−1 were investigated. The 500 bp fragment could be observed in a total reaction time of 1.7 min (5.2 s cycle−1) and the 997 bp fragment could be detected in 3.2 min (9.7 s cycle−1). The longer amplification time required for detection of the 997 bp fragment was due to the device being operated at its enzyme kinetic limit (i.e., Taq polymerase deoxynucleotide incorporation rate).
Convergence of the Robbins-Monro algorithm under arbitrary disturbances

The Robbins-Monro algorithm under arbitrary deterministic disturbances is studied and necessary and sufficient conditions on the noise sequence are obtained for convergence of the algorithm. We introduce a notion of persistently disturbing noise sequences, and show that it characterises convergence of the algorithm under each fixed noise sequence. The results obtained are stronger than previous conditions and the proof techniques are simpler, involving only basic notions of convergence. >
Parallel algorithms for physical design

Parallel algorithms are developed for three problems that are commonly encountered in the physical design of VLSI circuits. These are maze routing using Lee's router, the 0/1 knapsack problems, and linear assignment. The latter two problems are frequently encountered in the placement and routing phases of standard cell and sea of gates chip design. The algorithms presented here have been programmed on the NCUBE hypercube multicomputer. Experimental results indicating the amount of speedup achieved are also presented. >
Significant differences in proton trimethyl ammonium signals between human gastrocnemius and soleus muscle.

Purpose To study the apparent heterogeneous characteristics of trimethyl ammonium (TMA) in healthy human muscles at rest, and to illustrate the importance of establishing the baseline characteristics of proton metabolites in muscles with a West Nile patient. Materials and Methods Point-resolved spectroscopy (PRESS) magnetic resonance spectroscopy imaging (MRSI) with lipid suppression and optional outer-volume presaturation were used to acquire 1H spectra of human muscles at rest at 1.5 Tesla. A total of 28 subjects (27 normal volunteers and 1 patient with West Nile disease) between the ages of 22 and 76 participated in the study. Results The apparent T2 values of TMA for soleus and gastrocnemius muscles in normal volunteers are 180 ± 50 and 80 ± 20 msec, respectively. This difference has profound effects on the apparent spectral pattern of 1H metabolites. The TMA/total creatine (tCr) spectral pattern of the soleus muscle of a West Nile patient resembles that of gastrocnemius muscle of healthy volunteers. Conclusion There are significant differences in the apparent T2 values of TMA between healthy soleus and gastrocnemius muscles at rest. It is important to establish the baseline characteristics of proton metabolites before clinical or physiological studies can be performed. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2004;19:617–622. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
HIV/AIDS and the rest of the global health agenda

HIV/AIDS has reached the pinnacle of the global health agenda. More than 26 000 individuals attended the most recent international AIDS confereeence, one of the largest gatherings on international health in history. Annual funding to address HIV/AIDS in lowe and middleeincome countries has risen 28efold since 1996, reaching $8.3 billion in 2005.
A Membrane-Associated Protein, FliX, Is Required for an Early Step in Caulobacter Flagellar Assembly

The ordered assembly of the Caulobacter crescentus flagellum is accomplished in part through the organization of the flagellar structural genes in a regulatory hierarachy of four classes. Class II genes are the earliest to be expressed and are activated at a specific time in the cell cycle by the CtrA response regulator. In order to identify gene products required for early events in flagellar assembly, we used the known phenotypes of class II mutants to identify new class II flagellar genes. In this report we describe the isolation and characterization of a flagellar gene, fliX. A fliX null mutant is nonmotile, lacks a flagellum, and exhibits a marked cell division defect. Epistasis experiments placed fliX within class II of the flagellar regulatory hierarchy, suggesting that FliX functions at an early stage in flagellar assembly. The fliX gene encodes a 15-kDa protein with a putative N-terminal signal sequence. Expression of fliX is under cell cycle control, with transcription beginning relatively early in the cell cycle and peaking in Caulobacter predivisional cells. Full expression of fliX was found to be dependent on ctrA, and DNase I footprinting analysis demonstrated a direct interaction between CtrA and the fliX promoter. The fliX gene is located upstream and is divergently transcribed from the class III flagellar gene flgI, which encodes the basal body P-ring monomer. Analysis of the fliX-flgI intergenic region revealed an arrangement of cis-acting elements similar to that of another set of Caulobacter class II and class III flagellar genes, fliL-flgF, that is also divergently transcribed. In parallel with the FliL protein, FliX copurifies with the membrane fraction, and although its expression is cell cycle controlled, the protein is present throughout the cell cycle.