cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effect of family history, obesity and exercise on breast cancer risk among postmenopausal women.

We examined effects of obesity and lifetime exercise patterns on postmenopausal breast cancer risk according to family history in a large population-based case control study conducted in Los Angeles County, California, because we hypothesized that both factors would affect risk through similar mechanistic pathways, and that their effects would be stronger among women with a family history. We studied 1883 postmenopausal breast cancer case subjects and 1628 postmenopausal control subjects ranging in age from 55-72 years. Cases were diagnosed with incident breast cancer in the late 1980s and 1990s. Controls were individually matched to case subjects on age, ethnic origin and neighborhood. In-person interviews determined known breast cancer risk factors including: height, weight, lifetime exercise, and family history of breast and other cancers. Breast cancer risk was raised among women who had at least 1 first-degree relative with breast cancer (odds ratio [OR] = 1.68; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.36-2.08). Risk increased with increasing levels of body-mass index (wt-kg/ht-m(2)) (p-trend = 0.005). Breast cancer risk was reduced among women who maintained, on average, 17.6 metabolic equivalent of energy expenditure (MET)-hr of activity/week from menarche onward (OR = 0.66; 95% CI = 0.48-0.90). Body-mass index, adjusted for lifetime exercise, was strongly associated with breast cancer risk among women with a positive family history of breast cancer (p-trend < 0.0001), but only weakly associated among women with no family history (p-trend = 0.08; homogeneity of trends p = 0.0005). In contrast, the risk reduction associated with exercise activity, adjusting for body-mass index, was limited to women without a family history of breast cancer (p-trend = 0.001; homogeneity of trends p = 0.005). Body-mass index and exercise activity, both modifiable risk factors for breast cancer, seem to have differential effects depending on a woman's family history of breast cancer, and may impact risk through different biological mechanisms.
SHORT-TERM ARTERIAL TRAVEL TIME PREDICTION FOR ADVANCED TRAVELER INFORMATION SYSTEMS

While vehicular flows on freeways are often treated as uninterrupted flows, flows on arterials are conceivably much more complicated because vehicles traveling on arterials are not only subject to queuing delay but also to signal delay. Prediction of travel time is potentially more challenging for arterials than for freeways. This article proposes a simple model for arterial travel time prediction. The proposed approach decomposes total delay on an arterial into link delay and intersection delay. Intersection delay in the context of arterial travel time prediction is very different from the average delay at an intersection. The proposed approach reduces the delay at each intersection, a non-negative continuous variable, into two distinctive states, a state of zero-delay and a state of nominal delay, coupled with a one-step transition matrix that relates the delay to a through vehicle at an intersection to its delay status at the adjacent upstream intersection. The parameters of the transition matrix are b...
Public and Secret Agents: Personal Power and Reflective Agency in Male Memories of Childhood Violence and Bullying.

In‐depth interviews with adult men regarding their childhood experiences with hegemonic displays of violence and bullying and the meaning they make of those experiences as adults were analysed using the theoretical work of R.W. Connell, and critiques of that work. The conclusion reached is that memories of childhood experiences of violence and bullying remain active in the adult psyche and the meanings of these experiences are framed by individuals’ relative distance from or proximity to local hegemonic ideals, often reducing this issue to a binary of hegemonic or non‐hegemonic. In doing so, males are able toemphasise the importance of personal power. Males who were proximate to hegemonic masculine practices either as students and/or adults are seen to reduce patriarchy to an issue of individual agency, while males who were less hegemonic in school describe themselves as largely powerless in the presence of hegemonic males. These males then recast their experiences in order to retroactively increase the p...
Been There, Bottled That: Are State and Behavioral Work Engagement New and Useful Construct “Wines”?

DANIEL A. NEWMANTexas A&M UniversityDAVID A. HARRISONPennsylvania State UniversityMacey and Schneider (2008) have providedan informative treatise on the psychologicalconstruct of employee engagement. Webelieve their conceptual work is a thought-provoking exemplar of how intuitive con-structs (such as engagement) can begin tobe legitimized for the academic audience,hopefully strengthening communicationbetween scientists and practitioners. Theyattempt to specify the meaning of the popu-lar concept vis-a`-vis more long-standingconstructsofjobsatisfaction,organizationalcommitment, job involvement, positiveaffect and affectivity, and proactive and cit-izenship behavior. The engagement label issummarily applied to describe psychologi-cal states, traits, and behaviors. Much effortis spent parsing among established con-structswithregardtotheirpartialconceptualoverlap with the newer label.We offer three reactions to Macey andSchneider’s paper. First, because employeeengagement comprises no new conceptualcontent,butratherablendofoldcontent,itismost appropriately speciﬁed as a higherorder latent construct. Second, the utility ofa state engagement construct depends uponevidence for its discriminant validity fromrelated higherorderconstructs,namelyover-alljobattitude.Third,thetermengagement—even as typically used by practitioners andlaypersons—canbeparsimoniouslyconcep-tualized as a second-order factor of widelystudied work behaviors, including focal jobperformance, withdrawal behavior, and citi-zenship behavior. That term and constructhave already been forwarded and expli-catedinpriorwork,includingameta-analyticsummary of attitude–behavior relationshipsinvolving more than 500 original studies(Harrison, Newman, & Roth, 2006). Thisprevious work supported a broad attitude–engagementmodelthat unifiedseveralindi-vidual-level constructs in both the predictorand the criterion spaces and offered analternative view on employee engagement,suggesting that (a) engagement should bedistinguished from job attitudes and (b)engagement can be both intuitivelyand par-simoniously modeled as a higher orderbehavioral construct.Is Engagement a New Construct?Welaudthegeneralgoalofcoalescingideasand evidence into abstractions that can
PLASMA AND URINE CARNITINE CONCENTRATIONS IN PATIENTS RECEIVING VALPROIC ACID

A rare, fatal, and unexplained Reye's-like syndrome occurs in patients taking valproic acid(VPA). Patients on VPA also experience asymptomatic elevations of serum NH3. This NH3 concentration has been inversely correlated with serum carnitine(J Peds 101: 782, 1983). Total and free carnitine concentrations were measured in plasma and urine from 21 children on VPA, as well as serum NH3, VPA, SGPT and SGOT. The mean carnitine was 39.8(± 21) uM/1 (nl = 50 ± 20), and the mean NH3, 59 uM/l(nl ≤ 35). The other parameters were not abnormal. Three patients had serum carnitine concentrations ≤ 20 and they were asymptomatic. Serum carnitine did not correlate with the dose of VPA, its serum level, or serum NH3. Total urinary carnitine was normal, but 84% of it was esterified(nl = 50%). The absence of a correlation of carnitine and NH3 contrasts with an earlier report and may be secondary to population differences. The high proportion of esterified carnitine in urine suggests that this is a pathway for VPA excretion. Therapy with VPA may reduce serum carnitine. As a marked reduction of carnitine is one cause of recurrent Reye's syndrome, as interaction between carnitine and VPA may explain the fatal hepatotoxicity of that anticonvulsant.
Application of an improved microelectrophoresis technique and immunoelectrophoresis of the serum proteins on cellulose acetate

Abstract Applications of a recently described adaptation of a microelectrophoresis technique and equipment to use with a cellulose acetate membrane in the study of blood protein fractions are described. The properties of the membrane, properly utilized, allow much better results to be obtained than with filter paper and exhibit technical and practical advantages over gels. The application of the material for rapid immunoelectrophoresis is described. For this purpose, it is markedly superior to gel supports in speed and operational facility. When employed with the technique described, it yields approximately the same degree of definition of immunologically distinguishable fractions as that of gel supports.
A synthetic lethal approach targeting mutant isocitrate dehydrogenase in acute myeloid leukemia

Pathogenic mutations of the genes encoding isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) and 2 (IDH2) occur in people with acute myeloid leukemia or other tumors. A new study identifies a dependence of IDH-mutated cells on the anti-apoptosis regulator BCL-2 and indicates a 'synthetic lethal' strategy for the treatment of leukemias.
Verbs as Implicit Quantifiers.

Two studies are reported investigating the hypothesis that in simple sentences of the form “Subjects verb objects,” the verb provides implicit information concerning the proportion of the object class which is “verbed.” In the first study, respondents were asked to supply object quantifiers for a systematic collection of unquantified sentences. As anticipated, it was found that object quantifiers were primarily determined by two semantic dimensions of the verb (rather than the object) of the sentence: a “manifest-subjective” dimension and a “positive-negative” dimension. In the second study, cued recall of quantifiers was examined in sentences varying in verb type and level of explicit quantifiers. As predicted, frequency of correct recall was an interactive function of level of quantifier and type of verb in the sentence, and errors were distorted in the direction of the level of quantifier “appropriate” to the verb.
ICMF programming language (ICMF/L1)

ICMF/L1 is a poly-level language designed to facilitate microprogramming for the Integer Coefficients Microprogrammed Filter ICMF. It is based on APL syntactic rules and has its inherent facilities, independently from the APL level installed. Compilation, assembly, update and microprogram output aids are provided to enable a widespread use by hardware specialists, in a large variety of structural combinations : intermixing APL statements with ICMF/L1 instructions, macro creation and Imbedding, address relocation, program loops, listing after or during compilation, output to magnetic or punched cards. Modular subsets of microprograms can be easily defined to meet different needs. Performance in on-line compilation and assembly is particularly interesting.
A study of the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of L-lactide by Ph2SnX2 precursors (X = NMe2, OPri): the notable influence of initiator group

Studies of the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of L-lactide by Ph2SnX2 reveal that X (X=NMe2 or OPri) influences not only the rate of polymerization but also the nature of the polymer formed. Gel permeation chromatography (GPC), mass spectral analysis and 1H NMR spectroscopy of the polymers from these reactions revealed that for X=NMe2, a bimodal molecular weight distribution of polylactide (PLA) is obtained. This is indicative of both cycles and long chains (24 kDa) being formed by both intra- and interchain transesterification. This extensive transesterification results in regeneration of the Ph2Sn[OCHMeC(O)NMe2]2 species as the resting state of the tin(IV) species. Conversely, for X=OPri only a unimodal molecular weight distribution is observed in addition to Ph2Sn[OCHMeC(O)OPri]2, which is indicative of only interchain transesterification. Similar observations were seen in studies of ROP of L-lactide by Ph3SnX precursors.
Estimating species richness by a Poisson-compound gamma model

We propose a Poisson-compound gamma approach for species richness estimation. Based on the denseness and nesting properties of the gamma mixture, we fix the shape parameter of each gamma component at a unified value, and estimate the mixture using nonparametric maximum likelihood. A least-squares crossvalidation procedure is proposed for the choice of the common shape parameter. The performance of the resulting estimator of N is assessed using numerical studies and genomic data.
Language and Conflict: The Political History of Arabisation in Sudan and Algeria

Upon decolonisation, nationalist leaders in two North African countries, Algeria and Sudan, promoted a policy called Arabisation (ta'rib), which sought to impose standard literary Arabic at the expense of English (in Sudan), French (in Algeria), and other local languages (in both places). This language policy reflected the worldview of Muslim leaders, who hoped to break from the colonial past and start afresh while forging alliances with Arab Islamic states. Arabisation succeeded in expanding the use of literary Arabic in Sudanese and Algerian government bureaus as well as in schools and universities. However, in some circles it helped to stimulate oppositional identities that rejected pan-Arabism as a focal point for national pride and that challenged the cultural foundations of national cohesion. Taking a comparative approach, this study argues that Arabic language policy in Algeria and Sudan featured strongly in postcolonial nationalism and civil conflict. It concludes by considering the status of language cultures and policies today in Algeria, the Republic of the Sudan, and the newly independent Republic of South Sudan, and contends that state-led efforts at ‘language rationalisation’ have not eliminated multilingualism in practice.
Executive function skills are associated with reading and parent-rated child function in children born prematurely

Abstract Background Preterm children are at risk for executive function (EF) problems, which have been linked to behavior and learning problems in full term children. In this study, we examine the relationship between EF and functional outcomes in preterm children. Aim To evaluate (1) EF skills of 9- to 16-year-old children born across the spectrum of gestational age (GA), (2) relationship of degree of prematurity to EF skills, and (3) contributions of EF skills to two functional outcomes — reading scores and parent-rated child function. Method Preterm children Results Compared to full term controls, preterm children had poorer EF performance on a complex planning and organization task and did not increase planning time as task difficulty increased. Their spatial memory capacity was not different. GA contributed to EF skills, but was mediated by IQ. EF contributed to the variance in reading skills but did not add to the variance in reading when IQ was considered. EF skills significantly contributed to the variance in parent-rated child function, but IQ did not. Conclusion EF skills contribute to measures of functional outcome in this high-risk population. The use of EF skills as an early marker for learning and functional problems and as a target for intervention in children born preterm warrants future study.
Stress as a risk factor for seizures among adults with epilepsy.

Summary: This study examines the effects of major life events, daily hassles and uplifts, and daily stress levels as they increase or decrease the risks of having seizures and estimates risk ratios for specific stressors and perceived stress levels. Utilizing a prospective design, 12 adults with severe epilepsy monitored the occurrence of seizures, stressors, and stress levels over a 3-month period. In within-individual analyses, high stress levels and stressful events were associated with more frequent seizures for most participants. The association between higher stress levels and increased seizures was confirmed in group analyses. This study provides empirical evidence of the association between stress and seizures and describes the use of a statistical model that is useful for investigating risk factors as they influence physical and mental illness. RESUMEN Este estudio examina los efectos de los acontecimientos importantes de la vida, los esfuerzos y recompensas diarias y los niveles de tension emocional que puedan aumentar o reducir los riesgos de padecer ataques y tambien estima la proporcion de riesgos de ciertos esfuerzos asi como los niveles de percepcion de los mismos. Utilizando un diseno prospectivo, 12 adultos con epilepsia severa se monitorizaron ellos mismos la ocurrencia de ataques, factores que condicionaban tension emocional y los niveles de tension durante un periodo de 3 meses. En los analisis intra-individuales se encontro una asociacion entre los altos niveles de tension, y los acontecimientos que producian tension, con un incremento de la frecuencia de ataques en la mayoria de los participantes. La asociacion entre los niveles altos de tension emocional y el incremento de ataques fue confirmada en los analisis de grupo. El estudio proporciona evidencia empirica de que existe una asociacion entre tension emocional (stress) y ataques y tambien describe la utilizacion de un modelo estadistico que tiene la utilidad de investigar los factores de riesgo que pueden influenciar enfermedades fisicas y mentales.
Distributed Multi-Depot Routing without Communications

We consider and formulate a class of distributed multi-depot routing problems, where servers are to visit a set of requests, with the aim of minimizing the total distance travelled by all servers. These problems fall into two categories: distributed offline routing problems where all the requests that need to be visited are known from the start; distributed online routing problems where the requests come to be known incrementally. A critical and novel feature of our formulations is that communications are not allowed among the servers, hence posing an interesting and challenging question: what performance can be achieved in comparison to the best possible solution obtained from an omniscience planner with perfect communication capabilities? The worst-case (over all possible request-set instances) performance metrics are given by the approximation ratio (offline case) and the competitive ratio (online case). Our first result indicates that the online and offline problems are effectively equivalent: for the same request-set instance, the approximation ratio and the competitive ratio differ by at most an additive factor of 2, irrespective of the release dates in the online case. Therefore, we can restrict our attention to the offline problem. For the offline pr oblem, we show that the approximation ratio given by the Voronoi partition is m (the number of servers). For two classes of depot configurations, when the depots form a line and when the ratios between the distances of pairs of depots are upper bounded by a sublinear function f(m) (i.e., f(m) = o(m)), we give partition schemes with sublinear approximation ratios O(logm) and �(f(m)) respectively. We also discuss several interesting open problems in our formulations: in particular, how our initial results (on the two deliberately chosen classes of depots) shape our conjecture on the open problems.
Dislocation of a total hip arthroplasty: acute management in the ED ☆

Dislocation is one of the most common complications of total hip arthroplasty (THA). Because of the growing number of patients undergoing THA annually and the immense number of patients who have previously undergone the procedure, familiarity with the diagnosis and treatment of this complication is critical. Although the most common direction of dislocation is posterior, anterior dislocations do occur, and correctly identifying the direction of dislocation is important before attempted closed reduction as both the reduction maneuvers used and the postoperative instructions afterward are distinct for an anterior as opposed to a posterior dislocation. We present the current case of an anterior hip dislocation that was unable to be closed reduced as the direction of dislocation was presumed to be posterior. Although a shoot through lateral is recommended in all cases to confirm the direction of dislocation, we highlight how the physician can differentiate the direction of dislocation based on the position of the foot and location of the lesser trochanter on the anteroposterior radiograph.
Chemical doping tunes the half-metallic properties of AlN nanoribbons

Spin-polarized first-principles calculations have been conducted to study the electronic structures and magnetic properties of O and S functionalized zigzag aluminium nitride (AlN) nanoribbons. Chemical functionalization with O atoms at the edges strengthens the half-metallic properties of the AlN by adding new electronic states at the Fermi level for one spin-channel and widening the gap of the other. On the contrary, edge-termination with S atoms renders the AlN ribbon a semiconductor. Peierls instabilities towards the dimerization and trimerization of the doping atoms were observed.
Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Exhibit Impaired Candida Albicans-Specific Th17 Responses

Accumulating data implicate the CD4+ T cell subset (Th17 cells) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). IL-17 is an inflammatory cytokine that induces tumor necrosis factor (TNF)α, IL-1β and IL-6, all of which are targets of biologic therapies used to treat RA. RA patients are well documented to experience more infections than age-matched controls, and biologic therapies further increase the risk of infection. The Th17/IL-17 axis is vital for immunity to fungi, especially the commensal fungus Candida albicans. Therefore, we were prompted to examine the relationship between RA and susceptibility to C. albicans because of the increasing interest in Th17 cells and IL-17 in driving autoimmunity, and the advent of new biologics that target this pathway. We analyzed peripheral blood and saliva from 48 RA and 33 healthy control subjects. To assess C. albicans-specific Th17 responses, PBMCs were co-cultured with heat-killed C. albicans extract, and IL-17A levels in conditioned supernatants were measured by ELISA. The frequency of Th17 and Th1 cells was determined by flow cytometry. As a measure of IL-17A-mediated effector responses, we evaluated C. albicans colonization rates in the oral cavity, salivary fungicidal activity and levels of the antimicrobial peptide β-defensin 2 (BD2) in saliva. Compared to controls, PBMCs from RA subjects exhibited elevated baseline production of IL-17A (P = 0.004), although they had similar capacity to produce IL-17A in response to Th17 cell differentiating cytokines (P = 0.91). However RA PBMCs secreted less IL-17A in response to C. albicans antigens (P = 0.006). Significantly more RA patients were colonized with C. albicans in the oral cavity than healthy subjects (P = 0.02). Concomitantly, RA saliva had reduced concentrations of salivary BD2 (P = 0.02). Nonetheless, salivary fungicidal activity was preserved in RA subjects (P = 0.70). RA subjects exhibit detectable impairments in oral immune responses to C. albicans, a strongly Th17-dependent opportunistic pathogen, despite an overall elevated baseline production of IL-17A.
Topics in the two-dimensional sampling and reconstruction of images

Mathematical analysis of image sampling and interpolative reconstruction is summarized and extended to two dimensions for application to data acquired from satellite sensors such as the Thematic mapper and SPOT. It is shown that sample-scene phase influences the reconstruction of sampled images, adds a considerable blur to the average system point spread function, and decreases the average system modulation transfer function. It is also determined that the parametric bicubic interpolator with alpha = -0.5 is more radiometrically accurate than the conventional bicubic interpolator with alpha = -1, and this at no additional cost. Finally, the parametric bicubic interpolator is found to be suitable for adaptive implementation by relating the alpha parameter to the local frequency content of an image.
Accurate garbage collection in uncooperative environments revisited

Implementing a concurrent programming language such as Java by means of a translator to an existing language is attractive as it provides portability over all platforms supported by the host language and reduces development time—as many low-level tasks can be delegated to the host compiler. The C and C++ programming languages are popular choices for many language implementations due to the availability of efficient compilers on a wide range of platforms. For garbage-collected languages, however, they are not a perfect match as no support is provided for accurately discovering pointers to heap-allocated data on thread stacks. We evaluate several previously published techniques and propose a new mechanism, lazy pointer stacks, for performing accurate garbage collection in such uncooperative environments. We implemented the new technique in the Ovm Java virtual machine with our own Java-to-C-C++ compiler using GCC as a back-end compiler. Our extensive experimental results confirm that lazy pointer stacks outperform existing approaches: we provide a speedup of 4.5p over Henderson's accurate collector with a 17p increase in code size. Accurate collection is essential in the context of real-time systems, we thus validate our approach with the implementation of a real-time concurrent garbage collection algorithm. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. A preliminary version of this work was presented at the 16th International Conference on Compiler Construction (CC 2007), part of the Joint European Conferences on Theory and Practice of Software (ETAPS 2007), March 26–30, 2007, Braga, Portugal.
Economic downturns and male cesarean deliveries: a time-series test of the economic stress hypothesis

Background In light of the recent Great Recession, increasing attention has focused on the health consequences of economic downturns. The perinatal literature does not converge on whether ambient economic declines threaten the health of cohorts in gestation. We set out to test the economic stress hypothesis that the monthly count of cesarean deliveries (CD), which may gauge the level of fetal distress in a population, rises after the economy declines. We focus on male CD since the literature reports that male more than female fetuses appear sensitive to stressors in utero.
Aerodynamics of Wedge-Shaped Deflectors for Jet Noise Reduction

A wedge-shaped deflector placed in the fan exhaust of a turbofan engine can reduce jet noise in a range of azimuthal directions opposite the wedge. The aerodynamics of the fan flow deflector (FFD) wedge are investigated with pressure surveys and flow visualization. The flow field is found to differ substantially from that of a classical wedge-shaped cylinder. There is a significant force developed on the side of the FFD wedge, whereas the classical wedge develops nearly zero side force. The base pressure coefficient of the FFD wedge is substantially less negative than that of the classical wedge. Consequently, the FFD wedge develops about 75% less drag than one would have expected from 2D wedge data.
Fragile X mental retardation protein regulates trans-synaptic signaling in Drosophila

Fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common inherited determinant of intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorders, is caused by loss of the fragile X mental retardation 1 (FMR1) gene product (FMRP), an mRNA-binding translational repressor. A number of conserved FMRP targets have been identified in the well-characterized Drosophila FXS disease model, but FMRP is highly pleiotropic in function and the full spectrum of FMRP targets has yet to be revealed. In this study, screens for upregulated neural proteins in Drosophila fmr1 (dfmr1) null mutants reveal strong elevation of two synaptic heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs): GPI-anchored glypican Dally-like protein (Dlp) and transmembrane Syndecan (Sdc). Our recent work has shown that Dlp and Sdc act as co-receptors regulating extracellular ligands upstream of intracellular signal transduction in multiple trans-synaptic pathways that drive synaptogenesis. Consistently, dfmr1 null synapses exhibit altered WNT signaling, with changes in both Wingless (Wg) ligand abundance and downstream Frizzled-2 (Fz2) receptor C-terminal nuclear import. Similarly, a parallel anterograde signaling ligand, Jelly belly (Jeb), and downstream ERK phosphorylation (dpERK) are depressed at dfmr1 null synapses. In contrast, the retrograde BMP ligand Glass bottom boat (Gbb) and downstream signaling via phosphorylation of the transcription factor MAD (pMAD) seem not to be affected. To determine whether HSPG upregulation is causative for synaptogenic defects, HSPGs were genetically reduced to control levels in the dfmr1 null background. HSPG correction restored both (1) Wg and Jeb trans-synaptic signaling, and (2) synaptic architecture and transmission strength back to wild-type levels. Taken together, these data suggest that FMRP negatively regulates HSPG co-receptors controlling trans-synaptic signaling during synaptogenesis, and that loss of this regulation causes synaptic structure and function defects characterizing the FXS disease state.
Women's Access to Credit: Does It Matter for Household Efficiency?

Studies that assess the impact of credit constraints on farm households' efficiency have largely used the household as the unit of analysis. This can be problematic when there are gender-based market imperfections and asymmetries in how rights, resources, and responsibilities are distributed within the household. Constraints on women matter: in addition to the efficiency loss associated with the husbands' credit constraints, when women are unable to meet their needs for capital, their households experienced an additional 11% drop in efficiency. This suggests that there are efficiency-based arguments for enhancing women's access to capital and that studies based only on the household's head may significantly underestimate the true economic impact of credit constraints. Copyright 2008, Oxford University Press.
THE COLONY MORPHOLOGY OF TUBERCLE BACILLI : V. INFLUENCE OF THE PH OF THE CULTURE MEDIUM ON COLONY FORM.

The colony topography of tubercle bacilli is significantly affected by altering the pH of the culture medium on which the organisms are grown. Under the conditions of these experiments, avian tubercle bacilli produce two variants, rough and smooth. The former are most numerous on the most acid medium used (pH 6.0); the smooth colonies are obtained over a broad range of pH. Three colonial variants of bovine and human tubercle bacilli are described. Both mammalian types produce greater numbers of rough colonies at pH 6.0. The bovine type strains produce greatest numbers of smooth colonies in the pH range 6.4 to 6.8, and intermediate colonies on alkaline medium. The human type strains produce greatest numbers of smooth colonies at pH 6.4 and large numbers of intermediate colonies at pH 6.8 and pH 7.2. Included among the avian and bovine strains studied are organisms of widely varying pathogenic properties. Virulent and attenuated strains of a given type produce similar colonial variants under similar environmental conditions.
Hypersonic Boost-Glide Weapons

The United States, Russia and China are developing hypersonic boost-glide vehicles. A simple model of their trajectory is developed by assuming that the vehicle does not oscillate during the transition to equilibrium gliding. This model is used to analyze U.S. Department of Defense data on test flights for the Hypersonic Technology Vehicle-2. This glider's lift-to-drag ratio—a key performance parameter—is estimated to be 2.6. The model is also used to calculate the tactical warning time that a boost-glide attack would afford an adversary. Other aspects of boost-glide weapons’ military effectiveness are explored. Approximate calculations suggest that, compared to existing non-nuclear weapons, boost-glide weapons could penetrate more deeply but would be less effective at destroying silos. The distance at which a boost-glide weapon armed with a particle dispersion warhead could destroy a mobile missile is also calculated; it is expected to be significantly larger than for an explosive warhead.
Intraocular T-cell Lymphoma due to Mycosis Fungoides and Response to Intravitreal Methotrexate

Purpose: To report a case of mycosis fungoides with subsequent intraocular involvement and good response to intravitreal methotrexate.Design: Case report.Methods: Retrospective chart review.Results: This is a rare case of intraocular T-cell lymphoma due to mycosis fungoides, which responded to intravitreal methotrexate therapy in a previous vitrectomized eye.Conclusions: Intraocular T-cell lymphoma is a rare manifestation of mycosis fungoides and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of chronic uveitis in patients with this history. Intravitreal methotrexate may be an effective adjunctive treatment for this condition.
Investigation of RF spiral surface coils for NMR spectroscopy

Although used extensively in magnetic resonance imaging, radio frequency (RF), surface coils have not been applied widely to high-resolution spectroscopy. Inherent sensitivity limitations and potential field distortions primarily have hampered their utility. However, surface coils do offer several benefits that could prove useful in NMR spectroscopy. Easy to construct through the use of photolithography, these coils can be scaled and configured to the samples under investigation, especially cultured cells and other ex vivo biological samples. Surface coils also can be arrayed to improve coverage areas and signal-to-noise ratios (SNR). However, in designing microcoils, optimization of the geometrical parameters by taking the eddy current losses into account has considerable importance and can substantialy improve SNR. Here, the authors develop an semi-analytical model to estimate the losses for the spiral geometry that is valid for wide range of geometrical parameters.
α1-Adrenoceptor subtypes on rat afferent arterioles assessed by radioligand binding and RT-PCR

We utilized [3H]prazosin saturation and competition radioligand binding studies to characterize the expression of α1-adrenoceptors in preglomerular vessels. mRNA for adrenoceptor subtypes was assay...
Stress Analysis of Noncircular Rings for Monocoque Fuselages

The application of the method of least work to the analysis of fuselage rings admits two possible sources of computational error: the errors introduced in solving the simultaneous equations and the errors due to the final expressions for the bending moments around the ring being obtained, as a rule, in terms of differences of large numbers. These errors are generally recognized, and methods » 6 are available either to eliminate the first source of error or to reduce the second source. A method that reduces both sources of error is suggested in the present paper, and the advantage of such a procedure is illustrated by a numerical example.
Reliability analysis and condition-based maintenance of systems with dependent degrading components based on thermodynamic physics-of-failure

In this paper, we present a new reliability model and a unique condition-based maintenance model for complex systems with dependent components subject to respective degradation processes, and the dependence among components is established through environmental factors. Common environmental factors, such as temperature, can create the dependence in failure times of different degrading components in a complex system. The system under study consists of one dominant/independent component and n statistically dependent components that are all subject to degradation. We consider two aspects that link the degradation processes and environmental factors: the degradation of dominant/independent component is not affected by the state of other components, but may influence environmental factors, such as temperature; and the n dependent components degrade over time and their degradation rates are impacted by the environmental factors. Based on the thermodynamic study of the relationship between degradation and environmental temperature, we develop a reliability model to mathematically account for the dependence in multiple components for such a system. Considering the unique dependent relationship among components, a novel condition-based maintenance model is developed to minimize the long run expected cost rate. A numerical example is studied to demonstrate our models, and sensitivity analysis is conducted to test the impact of parameters on the models.
Multiple strategies to boost online discrete mathematics class

This tutorial examines student feedback from a Discrete Mathematics course taught in face-to-face and online settings. Student feedback for the two types of sessions is found to be comparable. The authors believe that, if an online class is well designed and delivered, it can achieve the same quality of student learning as a face-to-face class. The paper shares thoughts about challenges, course settings, strategies that work well, and possible future work.
An Argument for Tailoring Patent Misuse Remedies

This essay argues that the reasoning of the Supreme Court's opinion in Illinois Toolworks, Inc. v. Independent Ink, Inc., undercuts the reasoning behind the default remedy for patent misuse, which is that the patent in question may not be enforced against any party, not merely against the victim of the alleged misuse, until the misuse ceases and its effects are dissipated. Because the remedy is not tailored to any probable harm from misuse, courts should take advantage of the Toolworks reasoning to pare back misuse remedies. In my view, circuit courts now have authority to tailor misuse remedies to actual harm in cases where the misuse involves a tying arrangement that meters the use of a patented good. In cases involving other forms of misuse, reform must await further Supreme Court action.
Optimization of Vibrocompaction Design for Liquefaction Mitigation of Gravity Caisson Quay Walls

AbstractGravity-type caisson walls are a type of popular but easily damaged waterfront construction structure, especially in seismic regions. Various forms of mitigation have been successfully applied to improve their performance when subjected to liquefaction. Establishment of an effective, reliable, and easily implemented liquefaction remedial design procedure based on commonly used ground improvement technology is important. In this study, following the philosophy of performance-based design, a novel optimization process was developed and applied to a well-known case study. The vibrocompaction method was examined within a framework of a well-calibrated case history to hypothetically improve the seismic performance of a damaged caisson quay wall to an acceptable level. This study includes three major steps: first, the constitutive model used in this study for describing liquefaction was calibrated based on the published data; second, a caisson quay wall case history damaged by liquefaction was simulated...
Population Dynamics of the Cereal Leaf Beetle, Oulema melanopus (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), at Low Population Densities

The dynamics of a low-density population of the cereal leaf beetle (CLB) were studied at the Kellogg Biological Station, Kalamazoo Co., Mich., from 1976 to 1980. Correlation analyses revealed significant correlations between within-generation survival and egg and pupal survival. Egg survival was found to be the most variable from year to year and very dependent upon parasitism by Anaphes flavipes , whose parasitism rate was not correlated with egg density. The total proportion of CLB eggs parasitized by A. flavipes , however, was affected by CLB egg phenology. Survival of CLB pupae from Tetrastichus julis was found to be positively correlated with pupal survival, while CLB pupal survival from Diaparsis temporalis was found to be negatively correlated. Very low levels of parasitism by Lemophagus curtus were observed in this study.
Relationship between cathepsin activity, sulfhydryl levels, and mitotic activity in regenerating liver.

SummaryCell division in regenerating liver is associated with a high sulfhydryl level showing a maximum at peak mitotic activity.
Student Enrollment Survey of Poultry Science Majors in Land Grant Institutions

Abstract A student enrollment survey of poultry students was designed and a questionnaire was sent to each land grant institution requesting the number of students majoring in poultry. Results from this survey indicated that there are 338 undergraduate and 365 graduate students working toward a degree in poultry.
Use of Steam at Subatmospheric Pressure to Cook Poultry Parts

Abstract The potential feasibility of cooking cut-up broiler parts in steam a t subatmospheric pressures was demonstrated. Accurately controlled cooking temperatures ranging from 76°C. to 90°C., with selected internal end point temperatures ranging from 71°C. to 85 °C., were tested. As an alternative to atmospheric pressure steam or hot water cooking, the use of subatmospheric pressure offers possible advantages in rapid, accurate control of temperature of cooking medium and in minimum overcooking and leaching of surface layers.
Post-transcriptional Modifications Modulate rRNA Structure and Ligand Interactions

ConspectusPost-transcriptional modifications play important roles in modulating the functions of RNA species. The presence of modifications in RNA may directly alter its interactions with binding partners or cause structural changes that indirectly affect ligand recognition. Given the rapidly growing list of modifications identified in noncoding and mRNAs associated with human disease, as well as the dynamic control over modifications involved in various physiological processes, it is imperative to understand RNA structural modulation by these modifications. Among the RNA species, rRNAs provide numerous examples of modification types located in differing sequence and structural contexts. In addition, the modified rRNA motifs participate in a wide variety of ligand interactions, including those with RNA, protein, and small molecules. In fact, several classes of antibiotics exert their effects on protein synthesis by binding to functionally important and highly modified regions of the rRNAs. These RNA regio...
Monitoring of Construction at Site 41BX1199, Government Canyon State Natural Area, Bexar County, Texas

In FebrualY 2002, archaeologists from the Center for Archaeological Research at The University of Texas at San Antonio monitored the construction of roads and parking lots and the clearing ofland on site 41BXl199 in Govemment Canyon State Natural Area. These roads and parking lots were being built to provide/facilitate access to picnic and tent camping areas planned for when the state natural area becomes a state park. Archaeological monitoring identified no significant archaeological deposits and conflll1led the Oliginal assessment of the site as having no research potential. The construction activities did not impact any significant intact cultural deposits on site 4IBXl199. Monitoring at Site 41 BXl199, Bexar County, Texas
223 IMPROVEMENTS IN CAROTID ARTERY INTIMA-MEDIA THICKNESS IN TYPE 2 DIABETIC PATIENTS USING PEROXISOME PROLIFERATOR-ACTIVATED RECEPTOR γ LIGAND, ROSIGLITAZONE

Purpose Measurement of the carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) using high resolution B-mode ultrasonagraphy has emerged as a useful tool for assessing coronary atherosclerosis and cardiac risk. A primary contributor towards coronary atherogenesis in patients with diabetes is endothelial cell dysfunction. The insulin sensitizer and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) ligand, rosiglitazone (RSG), has been shown to improve endothelial function in preclinical and clinical trials. It has been argued that such improvements may be secondary to corresponding improvements in glucose control over time. We hypothesized that RSG would reduce IMT over a period of 6 months and improve blood vessel health through its positive effect on the endothelium. Methods RSG 2-4 mg was given daily for 6 months to 15 insulin resistant diabetics (9 male). IMT was measured at baseline and again at 6 months. Each IMT measurement was initiated by the SonoCalc operator at a location in the adventitia of the segment to be measured. Various sonographic interfaces were then initially outlined automatically. If any substantial variance was detected by the operator between the SonoCalc automated IMT border and a border that would have appeared more correct, progressively controlled edit options were employed to achieve satisfactory semi-automatic SonoCalc measurements. The automated and semi-automated SonoCalc software program computed the average thickness of the intima-media complex in each application mode. Results A trend for improvement in IMT was seen after 6 months. Mean diameter of the intima-media complex at baseline was 0.882 mm while the corresponding measurement at 6 months was 0.862 mm, representing a decrease in 0.02 mm. Although a positive observation, the trend in decreased IMT was not statistically significant (P = 0.198). Conclusions In conclusion, our preliminary data demonstrates trends in improvements in IMT with RSG in insulin resistant type 2 diabetics after 6 months of therapy. Further evaluation will need to be performed with a larger sample size or a longer duration of study to confirm these results.
A Gain Correction Method Based on Threshold for Flat-Panel Detector

In order to remove the stripes and ring artifacts caused by the defects of the detector and to improve the reconstructed image quality from flat panel detector in dental CT,a new gain correction method based on threshold w as proposed. The air images w ere collected under the same radiation conditions as the normal scan to calculate the gain coefficient matrix by the normalization method. What's more,the attenuation of the object w as taken into account. With the matrix of the gain coefficient and the result of the threshold judgment,the gain correction w as performed on each pixel of the image one by one according to the calculated gain coefficient matrix. Experimental result show ed that a large number of stripes and ring artifacts in the image w ere effectively removed after the correction,w ith no stripes introduced again. The quality of the reconstructed image w as improved significantly.
Cloning of Fiber-specific Promoter LTP3 from Color Cotton (Gossyium hirhsutum) and Its Expression Specificity in Tobacco

PCR were performed to clone LTP3 promoter from color cotton.Sequencing analysis results indicated that it contained 1 548 nt;the homology is 99% compared with the LTP3 reported by Liu,and only 4 nucleotides were changed.The LTP3(1548bp) promoter was fused with the E.coli.β-glucuronidase gene(GUS) and transformed into tobacco.The results suggested that GUS expressions under control of LTP3 promoter were detected only in the trichomes of transgenic tobacco leaves,while the positive control,contains Cauliflower mosaic Virus(CaMV) 35S promoter and GUS gene,was constitutively expressed,and there are no GUS expression in the negative control(untransformation plants).The results indicated that LTP3 promoter can be used to express the heterologous genes in tobacco leaves.
Fabrication of Al_3Ti Intermetallic Compound with Mechanical Alloying and Heat Treatment

The Al3Ti intermetallic compound was fabricated by mechanical alloying and heat treatment in air with powder of high pure Al and Ti.The microstructure and morphologic evolution of the raw powder blend were monitored by X-ray diffraction and scan electron microscopy.The crystal structure of the powder after heat treatment was investigated by the X-ray diffraction.The results indicate that the raw powder transform to the amorphous powder after high-energy milling 60h.The amorphous powder transform to the powder of Al3Ti intermetallic compound by the heat treatment at temperature above 500℃.