cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
1631 Update on assessing risk for upper limb musculoskeletal disorders

The aim of this Special Session is to discuss recent changes to risk assessment tools for upper extremity MSDs. This session will present recent findings from large prospective epidemiologic studies on carpal tunnel syndrome and other upper extremity disorders. Then other presenters will discuss how those findings have modified common risk assessment models such as the Strain Index, the ACGIH Hand Activity Level, and other methods. R. Bonfiglioli2, B. Evanoff3, D. Rempel1, J. Kapellusch4, B. Weber5 2Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy 3Division of General Medical Science, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, USA 4University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, Milwaukee, USA 5Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (IFA), Sankt Augustin, Germany
Numerical Solutions of Coupled Parabolic Systems with Time Delays

A monotone iterative scheme is developed for the numerical solutions of coupled parabolic systems with time delays. The differential equation system is discretized by the finite difference method. Using upper and lower solutions as initial iterations, we construct two sequences that converge to a unique solution of the discretized system. The convergence and stability of this numerical scheme are also obtained.
Outer Space of Science: A Video Ethnography of Reagency in Ghana

In May 2007, the month before the Heidelberg conference entitled “Geographies of Science,” there appeared two bits of news, little-read stories beneath the notice of the regular press, apart from a few local papers. The irrelevance of the articles owed partly to their subject matter—science and technology in Africa, which is rarely reported on to begin with—and partly to their highly conventional, repetitive message of failure and promise.
Abstract LB-244: Overcoming resistance to DNA targeted agents by epigenetic activation of Schlafen 11 (SLFN11) expression with class I histone deacetylase inhibitors

Purpose: Schlafen 11 (SLFN11), a putative DNA/RNA helicase is a dominant genomic determinant of response to DNA damaging agents and is frequently not expressed in cancer cells. Whether histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors can be used to release SLFN11 and sensitize SLFN11-inactivated cancers to DNA-targeted agents is tested here. Experimental Design: SLFN11 expression was examined in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), in cancer cell line databases and in patients treated with romidepsin. Isogenic cells overexpressing or genetically inactivated for SLFN11 were used to investigate the effect of HDAC inhibitors on SLFN11 expression and sensitivity to DNA damaging agents. Results: SLFN11 expression is suppressed in a broad fraction of common cancers and cancer cell lines. In cancer cells not expressing SLFN11, transfection of SLFN11 sensitized the cells to camptothecin, topotecan, hydroxyurea and cisplatin but not to paclitaxel. SLFN11 mRNA and protein levels were strongly induced by class I (romidepsin, entinostat), but not class II (roclinostat) HDAC inhibitors in a broad panel of cancer cells. SLFN11 expression was also enhanced in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with circulating cutaneous T-cell lymphoma treated with romidepsin. Consistent with the epigenetic regulation of SLFN11, camptothecin and class I HDAC inhibitors were synergistic in many of the cell lines tested. Conclusion: This study reports the prevalent epigenetic regulation of SLFN11 and the dominant stimulatory effect of HDAC inhibitors on SLFN11 expression. Our results provide a rationale for combining class I HDAC inhibitors and DNA damaging agents to overcome epigenetic inactivation of SLFN11-mediated resistance to DNA-targeted agents. Citation Format: Azam Ghafoor, Sai-Wen Tang, Anish Thomas, Junko Murai, Jane B. Trepel, Susan E. Bates, Vinodh N. Rajapakse, Yves Pommier. Overcoming resistance to DNA targeted agents by epigenetic activation of Schlafen 11 (SLFN11) expression with class I histone deacetylase inhibitors [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-244.
Closed-loop Economic Model Predictive Control for Scheduling and Control Problems

Abstract In this work, we show how scheduling and control problems can be treated within a unified optimization formulation. By transcribing discrete-time scheduling models into state-space form, a single dynamic model encompassing both layers can be optimized online as an instance of economic model predictive control (MPC), which inherits theoretical closed-loop properties from MPC theory. With the addition of suitable terminal constraints, a worst-case bound can be derived for the economic performance of the nominal closed-loop system, which helps to eliminate pathological behavior that can result from rescheduling too infrequently or without regard to recursive feasibility. Via an example system, we illustrate how constant feedback (i.e., reoptimization) and the inclusion of terminal constraints leads to better performance, even in the nominal case when no disturbances are present. With a unified treatment, the system is able to respond optimally and in real time to changing market conditions or process constraints, leading to improved economic performance and stability properties.
Image Classification for Robotic Plastering with Convolutional Neural Network

Inspecting robotically fabricated objects to detect and classify discrepancies between virtual target models and as-built realities is one of the challenges that faces robotic fabrication. Industrial-grade computer vision methods have been widely used to detect manufacturing flaws in mass production lines. However, in mass-customization, a versatile and robust method should be flexible enough to ignore construction tolerances while detecting specified flaws in varied parts. This study aims to leverage recent developments in machine learning and convolutional neural networks to improve the resiliency and accuracy of surface inspections in architectural robotics. Under a supervised learning scenario, the authors compared two approaches: (1) transfer learning on a general purpose Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) image classifier, and (2) design and train a CNN from scratch to detect and categorize flaws in a robotic plastering workflow. Both CNNs were combined with conventional search methods to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the system. A web-based graphical user interface and a real-time video projection method were also developed to facilitate user interactions and control over the workflow.
Androgen and Androgen Receptor as Enhancers of M2 Macrophage Polarization in Allergic Lung Inflammation

Allergic asthma is a disease initiated by a breach of the lung mucosal barrier and an inappropriate Th2 inflammatory immune response that results in M2 polarization of alveolar macrophages (AM). The number of M2 macrophages in the airway correlates with asthma severity in humans. Sex differences in asthma suggest that sex hormones modify lung inflammation and macrophage polarization. Asthmatic women have more M2 macrophages than asthmatic men and androgens have been used as an experimental asthma treatment. In this study, we demonstrate that although androgen (dihydrotestosterone) reconstitution of castrated mice reduced lung inflammation in a mouse model of allergic lung inflammation, it enhanced M2 polarization of AM. This indicates a cell-specific role for androgens. Dihydrotestosterone also enhanced IL-4-stimulated M2 macrophage polarization in vitro. Using mice lacking androgen receptor (AR) in monocytes/macrophages (ARfloxLysMCre), we found that male but not female mice exhibited less eosinophil recruitment and lung inflammation due to impaired M2 polarization. There was a reduction in eosinophil-recruiting chemokines and IL-5 in AR-deficient AM. These data reveal an unexpected and novel role for androgen/AR in promoting M2 macrophage polarization. Our findings are also important for understanding pathology in diseases promoted by M2 macrophages and androgens, such as asthma, eosinophilic esophagitis, and prostate cancer, and for designing new approaches to treatment.
Skull Stripping Using Confidence Segmentation Convolution Neural Network

Skull stripping is an important preprocessing step on cerebral Magnetic Resonance (MR) images because unnecessary brain structures, like eye balls and muscles, greatly hinder the accuracy of further automatic diagnosis. To extract important brain tissue quickly, we developed a model named Confidence Segmentation Convolutional Neural Network (CSCNet). CSCNet takes the form of a Fully Convolutional Network (FCN) that adopts an encoder-decoder architecture which gives a reconstructed bitmask with pixel-wise confidence level. During our experiments, a crossvalidation was performed on 750 MRI slices of the brain and demonstrated the high accuracy of the model (dice score: \(0.97\pm 0.005\)) with a prediction time of less than 0.5 s.
A Novel Structure to Suppress Transverse Modes in Radio Frequency TC-SAW Resonators and Filters

In this letter, we present simulation and measurement results of a novel structure to suppress transverse modes in radio frequency temperature-compensated surface acoustic wave (TC-SAW) resonators and filters. We propose a bent TC-SAW resonator structure to suppress such transverse modes which in general trapped between the busbars, based on the fact that higher TC-SAW wave modes in the resonator suffer higher loss at the resonator boundary. The higher wave modes leak energy out from the resonator busbars after multiple bounces along the length of the resonator. By adding this structure to our existing transverse mode suppression technique, we successfully suppress the bulk of the transverse modes in the resonators and filters. To test the effectiveness of the proposed structure, we fabricate the bent resonators and filters in a standard TC-SAW fabrication process on 128YX lithium niobate (128YX-LN) substrate. The measured long-term evolution band 39 filter response shows the effectiveness of this structure in suppressing transverse modes.
On the Existence of Stock Price Bubbles—The Smoking Gun—Discounts and Premiums on Closed-End Funds and ETFs

It is continually debated in the academic and professional literature whether stock prices exhibit or have exhibited bubbles. In this article the author argues that the persistence of closed-end fund (CEF) and exchange-traded fund (ETF) discounts and premiums, a phenomenon believed to be inexplicable by rational asset pricing theory, is due to the existence of stock price bubbles. Price bubbles in the stocks underlying the funds and in the market prices of the fund shares themselves generate the discounts and premiums. This rational asset pricing theory that explains the persistent of these discounts and premiums on CEFs and ETFs across both time and varying market conditions represents the proverbial smoking gun proving the existence of stock price bubbles. TOPICS:Exchange-traded funds and applications, mutual funds/passive investing/indexing, exchanges/markets/clearinghouses
Tisagenlecleucel CAR T-cell therapy in secondary CNS lymphoma.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells targeting CD19 have emerged as a leading engineered T-cell therapy for relapsed/refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The phase 1/2 clinical trials that led to US Food and Drug Administration approval excluded patients with central nervous system (CNS) involvement, due to strict eligibility criteria. Here, we report on our institutional experience with 8 secondary CNS lymphoma patients treated with commercial tisagenlecleucel. No patient experienced greater than grade 1 neurotoxicity, and no patient required tocilizumab or steroids for CAR T-cell–mediated toxicities. Biomarker analysis suggested CAR T-cell expansion, despite the absence of systemic disease, and early response assessments demonstrated activity of IV infused CAR T cells within the CNS space.
Contextualized Representations for Low-resource Utterance Tagging.

Utterance-level analysis of the speaker’s intentions and emotions is a core task in conversational understanding. Depending on the end objective of the conversational understanding task, different categorical dialog-act or affect labels are expertly designed to cover specific aspects of the speakers’ intentions or emotions respectively. Accurately annotating with these labels requires a high level of human expertise, and thus applying this process to a large conversation corpus or new domains is prohibitively expensive. The resulting paucity of data limits the use of sophisticated neural models. In this paper, we tackle these limitations by performing unsupervised training of utterance representations from a large corpus of spontaneous dialogue data. Models initialized with these representations achieve competitive performance on utterance-level dialogue-act recognition and emotion classification, especially in low-resource settings encountered when analyzing conversations in new domains.
Cauda Equina Syndrome Secondary to Diffuse Infiltration of the Cauda Equina by Acute Myeloid Leukemia: Case Report and Literature Review.

Background Cauda equina syndrome (CES) results from the dysfunction of the lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal rootlets composing the cauda equina. The underlying etiology is most commonly compression secondary to a large herniated lumbosacral disk; however, any pathology affecting the rootlets can result in the syndrome. Methods We present a rare case of CES secondary to neoplastic polyradiculitis in a patient with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and review the pertinent literature. A 72-year-old male with a medical history of AML presented with 2 weeks of difficulty ambulating, followed by acute-onset low back pain radiating to the buttocks bilaterally. Results Imaging of the lumbar spine demonstrated diffuse enhancement and thickening of the cauda equina rootlets. Lumbar puncture showed numerous blasts with monocytoid features consistent with AML, and the patient was diagnosed with polyradiculopathy of the cauda equina secondary to diffuse metastatic infiltration. Conclusions Central nervous system involvement of leukemia is poorly understood, even though such lesions are not uncommon in advanced disease. As treatment has improved, many types of leukemia, such as AML, are believed to be curable, and patients with the disease are living longer. With improved survival, it is reasonable to suspect that such involvement by AML may become more common. Our patient is a classic presentation of CES secondary to diffuse infiltration by AML and serves as an example of this rare manifestation of hematologic malignancy.
An exploratory assessment of pediatric patient and parent needs after implantable cardioverter defibrillator implant

Background Placement of an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) is often accompanied by psychological adjustment issues in pediatric patients and their parents. Although anxiety, depression, and lowered quality of life have been seen in these patients, no studies have investigated patient or parent reported needs. This exploratory study describes the needs of pediatric ICD patients and parents and assesses whether patient factors of age, gender, depression, and anxiety are associated with specific needs. Methods ICD patients ages 8-21 years and their parents completed a needs analysis survey assessing various domains of functioning. Patients also completed self-reported measures of depression and anxiety. Results Thirty-two patients (28% female) and their parents (72% mothers) completed the survey. Patients' most frequently endorsed needs involved educational issues: understanding their cardiac event/diagnosis (34%), medications (34%), and how the ICD would change their lifestyle (31%). Parents' most frequently endorsed needs involved family issues; almost half of parents (47%) were concerned about their children's frustration with their overprotectiveness and 28% were concerned with their child feeling depressed or anxious. Patients who reported feeling overprotected (12.1 ± 3.4 vs 17.4 ± 3.5 years; P = .001) were significantly younger than those who did not. Experiencing peer issues was more frequently endorsed by females than males (33% of females vs 4% of males; P = .026). Conclusions ICD patients and parents endorsed markedly different needs. Patients focused on understanding their ICD, whereas parents were more focused on their children's emotional needs. Novel ways of educating patients about their device and clinic-based screenings of emotional functioning may serve to meet these needs.
Questions for the Consultant: Seizures and Epilepsy

Issues regarding management of acute and chronic seizures constitute one of the more frequent consultations that all neurologists encounter. With a significant medical and surgical therapeutic armamentarium now available, many clinicians are perplexed about how to approach the most basic of seizure consultation questions. In this article, four of the most commonly asked seizure consultation questions are reviewed: when antiepileptic drug (AED) treatment should be initiated; how to choose an AED; when to refer a patient for surgery; and when to withdraw AEDs in a seizure-free patient. By utilizing frequently encountered clinical scenarios, the decision-making process to best illustrate application of existing clinical evidence to the individual patient is explored.
PURIFICATION OF MEMBRANE–BOUND OXYGENASES: ISOLATION OF TWO ELECTROPHORETICALLY HOMOGENEOUS FORMS OF LIVER MICROSOMAL CYTOCHROME P-450

Evidence has been obtained from enzyme fractionation that liver microsomal cytochrome P–450 (P–450 LM ) exists in multiple forms. Two of these have been isolated in a homogeneous state. They are designated according to their relative electrophoretic mobilities on polyacrylamide gel in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate as P–450 LM 2 and P–450 LM 4 . P–450 LM 2 , which was isolated from phenobarbital–induced rabbits, has a subunit molecular weight of 48,700, and P–450 LM 4 from β–naphthoflavone–induced rabbits has a subunit molecular weight of 55,300. These proteins also differ in their optical and electron paramagnetic resonance spectra, catalytic activities, and other properties. Studies on the mechanism of action of P–450 LM 2 have shown that it produces hydrogen peroxide during substrate hydroxylation in the presence of molecular oxygen in a reconstituted enzyme system containing NADPH, NADPH–cytochrome P–450 reductase, and phosphatidylcholine. Peroxides also serve as oxygen donors for substrate hydroxylation, catalyzed by P–450 LM 2 in the absence of molecular oxygen, NADPH, and the reductase. P–450 LM 2 is a two–electron acceptor under anaerobic conditions; the reduced protein reacts with O 2 to form two different oxyferro complexes, as shown by stopped flow methods. The rate of decomposition of the second complex appears to be altered by the presence of cytochrome b 5 or NADPH–cytochrome P–450 reductase. A scheme is presented to account for these and other related findings on the mechanism of P–450 LM –catalyzed hydroxylation reactions.
Pleistocene sands of the Mississippi River Alluvial Aquifer produce the highest groundwater arsenic concentrations in southern Louisiana, USA

Abstract Geostatistical and geospatial analysis techniques were employed to evaluate relationships between high arsenic (As), iron (Fe), and manganese (Mn) concentrations in groundwaters from the Pleistocene Mississippi River Alluvial Aquifer (MRAA) in south-central Louisiana. The MRAA is recharged by the Mississippi River, and its groundwater contains Fe concentrations that range from 0.43 to 179 µmol kg−1 (n = 40) and As concentrations that range from 26 nmol kg−1 up to 8500 nmol kg−1 (i.e., 637 µg kg−1). Arsenic speciation analysis reveals a mix of redox states with As(V) accounting for between ca. 18% and ca. 84% of the total dissolved As (mean ± 1σ = 61.6 ± 24.4%, n = 6). Spatial distributions of As, Fe, and Mn concentrations suggest that the reductive dissolution of Fe/Mn oxides/oxyhydroxides is the likely source of As to the MRAA groundwaters. Geostatistical and geospatial analyses were employed to produce interpolation maps that show concentrations of As, Fe, and Mn decrease with distance from the Mississippi River. Spatial correlations are stronger between groundwater As and Fe concentrations (r = 0.710, PAs*Fe
Single-centre parental survey of paediatric rehabilitation services for children with cerebral palsy.

Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common childhood motor disability. The dose of usual care for rehabilitation therapies is unknown. The purpose of this study was to describe current dosage of rehabilitation services for children with CP recruited from a paediatric hospital system in the USA. 96 children with CP were included in this cross-sectional survey. Parents reported frequency, intensity, time and type of therapy services. Weekly frequency was the most common. Children with CP received 0.9–1.2 hours/month of each discipline in the educational setting and 1.5–2.0 hours/month in the clinical setting, lower than the recommendations for improvements in motor skills.
Abstract 040: Bedscales: Non-Contact Home Health Monitor For Longitudinal Characterization Of Periodic Breathing In Chronic Heart Failure

Periodic breathing (PB), including its subtype Cheyne-Stokes respiration, is a pattern of sleep-disordered breathing marked by cyclic modulations in tidal volume and respiratory rate. PB is commonl...
Not too close! impact of roommate status on MRSA and VRE colonization and contamination in Nursing Homes.

Multiple room occupancy is common in Nursing Homes (NHs), and its role in transmission of antibiotic-resistant pathogens is unclear. We investigated prevalence of patient colonization and environmental contamination with vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in NH roommates, compared it with expected prevalence, and determined specific body and environmental sites that may act as sources of roommate colonization. Roommate contamination was associated with index patient’s colonization (relative risk (RR): 2.57 (95% CI 1.04–6.37)) for MRSA, and index patient’s immediate environment contamination for VRE (RR: 3.60 (95% CI 1.59–8.12)). When specific index patient sites associated with roommate colonization were investigated, the side table (Fisher’s p = 0.029 and 0.047 for VRE and MRSA, respectively) and the nurse call button (p = 0.001 and 0.052) stood out, together with patient hands in the case of VRE (p = 0.026). Future studies should be carried out to establish whether these sites should be a specific target of infection prevention campaigns in NHs with multiple occupancy rooms.
Is flood resilience planning improving? A longitudinal analysis of networks of plans in Boston and Fort Lauderdale

Abstract As climate change increases flood risk, there is growing recognition that the multiple plans cities adopt often work at cross purposes and encourage development in areas at risk of current and future flooding. There have been calls for a more coordinated approach to planning for current and future flood risks, but is planning rising to the challenge? We apply the Plan Integration for Resilience Scorecard (PIRS) methodology to spatially evaluate policies that would impact physical vulnerability to flooding in the network of different city plans that shape land use and steer development in Boston, MA and Fort Lauderdale, FL. Unlike previous applications of this approach, we look at how the plan network is changing over time. Between 2015 and 2019, attention on climate change grew in both cities, as did the number of plans and policies across the network with the potential to decrease physical vulnerability. New types of plans, such as climate change adaptation plans, play an important role in reducing flood risks. However, plans perpetuate past disparities in policy attention. As the first study to analyze how city networks of plans and their potential impact on resilience evolve over time, this work has important implications for planning scholarship and practice as well as hazard and climate change governance more broadly.
Vortex Formation Times in the Glottal Jet, Measured in a Scaled-Up Model.

In this paper, the timing of vortex formation on the glottal jet is studied using previously published velocity measurements of flow through a scaled-up model of the human vocal folds. The relative timing of the pulsatile glottal jet and the instability vortices are acoustically important since they determine the harmonic and broadband content of the voice signal. Glottis exit jet velocity time series were extracted from time-resolved planar DPIV measurements. These measurements were acquired at four glottal flow speeds (uSS = 16.1–38 cm/s) and four glottis open times (To = 5.67–23.7 s), providing a Reynolds number range Re = 4100–9700 and reduced vibration frequency f* = 0.01−0.06. Exit velocity waveforms showed temporal behavior on two time scales, one that correlates to the period of vibration and another characterized by short, sharp velocity peaks (which correlate to the passage of instability vortices through the glottis exit plane). The vortex formation time, estimated by computing the time difference between subsequent peaks, was shown to be not well-correlated from one vibration cycle to the next. The principal finding is that vortex formation time depends not only on cycle phase, but varies strongly with reduced frequency of vibration. In all cases, a strong high-frequency burst of vortex motion occurs near the end of the cycle, consistent with perceptual studies using synthesized speech.
Sendai targets at risk

How can we measure disaster loss reduction in the absence of reliable loss data on the economic and human impacts? Existing loss accounting systems vastly underestimate the true burden of disasters, both nationally and globally.
Isolation and characterization of the human gene for ADP-ribosylation factor 3, a 20-kDa guanine nucleotide-binding protein activator of cholera toxin.

Abstract ADP-ribosylation factors (ARFs) are approximately 20-kDa guanine nucleotide-binding proteins that stimulate the ADP-ribosyltransferase activity of cholera toxin in vitro. Five different human ARFs have been identified by cDNA cloning. Northern analysis using ARF 3-specific oligonucleotides identified two mRNAs of 3.7 and 1.2 kilobases (kb). We report here the complete nucleotide sequence of the 3.7-kb ARF 3 mRNA derived from three overlapping cDNAs isolated from human hippocampus and fetal brain cDNA libraries, as well as the structure of human ARF 3 gene. Sequences of two overlapping genomic clones indicated that the ARF 3 gene spans approximately 18.3 kb and contains five exons and four introns. The conserved amino acid sequences involved in guanine nucleotide binding by ARF 3 are distributed among separate exons, as found in other GTP-binding protein genes. Translation initiates in exon 2 which includes the sequence GXXXXGK that probably participates in phosphate binding and GTP hydrolysis. The sequence DVGG in exon 3 coordinates binding of Mg2+ and the beta-phosphate of GDP. In the ARF 3 gene in contrast to those of other GTP-binding proteins, the sequence NKXD (which is thought to contribute to the specificity of interaction with the guanine ring) is divided between exons 4 and 5. The latter encodes the COOH-terminal 53 amino acids of ARF 3 and contains greater than 2500 base pairs of untranslated DNA. The sequence AATTAA is 19 bases 5' to the polyadenylation addition site of the 3.7-kb mRNA. Multiple transcription start sites were identified by primer extension and S1 and mung bean nuclease analyses. The 5'-flanking region of exon 1 contains neither a TATA nor a CAAT box, but is high in GC content (greater than 70%) and includes three potential Sp1-binding sites (GC box), consistent with the promoters described for several housekeeping genes. The 1.2-kb ARF 3 mRNA is shown to arise by use of an alternative polyadenylation signal (AACAAA) at nucleotide 1091 within the ARF 3 cDNA.
Gene and enhancer trapping: mutagenic strategies for developmental studies.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the merits and drawbacks of the use of mutagenic strategies in mouse that have been used in developmental systems. These approaches include the analysis of spontaneous mutations, chemical mutagenesis, and insertional mutagenesis, using transgenes, retroviruses or transposons, and trapping vectors; these approaches are compared with an emphasis on the potential, for using gene and enhancer trapping to dissect mammalian development. By far the most frequent mutagenic strategy used in systems other than mammals is chemical mutagenesis. It has been used to generate a high frequency of mutations in a relatively random manner. Several technical advances provide alternatives to chemical mutagenesis in higher organisms. These advances allow the insertion of foreign pieces of DNA into the genome of an organism of choice, and in some cases these insertional events may lead to mutations in endogenous genes. One strategy that appears to be particularly promising in mammals, the enhancer or promoter trap, has been borrowed from “lower” systems. This strategy is a natural extension of insertional mutagenesis, in which the insertional element also contains a reporter gene whose activity can be analyzed after the insertion into the chromosome.
Observations of multiple seismic events

Two or more dispersed wave trains each with constant amplitude will interfere giving a resultant wave train which is amplitude modulated, if the individual waves have their principal energies in a common frequency band and if the trains arrive with time separations small compared to their total length. The dispersive characteristics of the trains need not be the same. If the component trains are of comparable magnitude, the modulation due to interference becomes significant and a "beat" phenomenon occurs. Multiple trains of dispersed seismic surface waves may occur because of a temporal and/or spatial distribution at the source or because of multipath propagation. Each of these causal mechanisms influences the amplitude and phase spectra of the resultant wave train; derived properties such as phase velocities and amplitude ratios are also influenced. In the case of multipath propagation, wavelength dependent time delays may occur. Two cases of twin earthquakes are analyzed, and the significant features of interference are demonstrated. In one case, estimates are obtained for the amplitude ratio and time delay of the second shock with respect to the first. The interpretation of seismograms and spectra influenced by multiple events is discussed.
Couple-Based Interventions for Adults With Eating Disorders

A significant number of adults with eating disorders fail to achieve relief from the disorder, with many dropping out of treatment or relapsing. The standard treatment remains individual therapy despite partners being negatively affected and typically wanting to help in an effective and loving way. We propose that couple-based interventions, which leverage the support of a partner and the relationship in treatment, may improve outcome and recovery rates for adults with eating disorders. In this article, we survey the empirical literature supporting the treatment of adults in a couple context and describe our existing and emerging couple-based interventions for eating disorders.
Stress, health, and depressive symptoms in older adults at three time points over 18 months.

This descriptive study is a secondary analysis of data that examined depressive symptoms in a random sample of 429 community-dwelling adults aged 65 years and older. Participants were classified as having consistently high (n = 20), consistently low (n = 327), or fluctuating (n = 82) levels of depressive symptoms, based on scores from the Center for Epidemiological StudiesDepression Scale (CES-D; L. S. Radloff, 1977) at three time points over the course of 18 months. Differences in stress (life events and daily hassles), health (selfassessed health and physical complaints), and biographic variables among the 3 groups were examined. One quarter of the sample reported high depressive symptoms at least once over 18 months. There were significant differences among the 3 symptom groups on each of the stress and health measures and on marital status. The findings support the relationship among stress, health, and depressive symptoms over time. Implications for clinicians and researchers are discussed.
Reliable multicast MAC protocol for wireless LANs

Reliable multicast in wireless applications is gaining importance with the development in technology. Applications like multicast file transfer, distributed computing, chat and whiteboard applications need reliability. However, due to mobility and wireless channel characteristics, obtaining reliability in data transfer is a difficult and challenging task. IEEE 802.11 does not support reliable multicast due to its inability to exchange RTS/CTS and ACKS with multiple recipients. However, several MAC layer protocols have been proposed that provide reliable multicast. For example, J. Kuri et al. [July 2001] have proposed the leader-based, probability-based, and delay-based protocols. These protocols work around the problem of multiple CTSs/ACKs colliding by providing ways to have only one of the multicast recipient nodes respond with a CTS or an ACK. These protocols perform well in low mobility wireless LANs but the performance degenerates as the mobility of nodes increases. In this paper, we discuss the inherent drawbacks of these protocols and provide an alternative approach. We present an extension to the IEEE 802.11 MAC layer protocol to provide the link level reliability to both unicast as well as multicast data communications. The extension is NAK based and uses tones, instead of conventional packets, to signal a NAK. We also incorporate dual tones, proposed by J. Deng et al. [Oct. 1998], to prevent an incoming mobile node from interrupting an ongoing transmission. Simulation results suggest that our MAC performs better than those proposed by J. Kuri et al. [July 2001] in terms of both data throughput as well as reliability.
Physiological and structural differences in spatially distinct subpopulations of cardiac mitochondria: influence of cardiac pathologies

Cardiac tissue contains discrete pools of mitochondria that are characterized by their subcellular spatial arrangement. Subsarcolemmal mitochondria (SSM) exist below the cell membrane, interfibrillar mitochondria (IFM) reside in rows between the myofibrils, and perinuclear mitochondria are situated at the nuclear poles. Microstructural imaging of heart tissue coupled with the development of differential isolation techniques designed to sequentially separate spatially distinct mitochondrial subpopulations have revealed differences in morphological features including shape, absolute size, and internal cristae arrangement. These findings have been complemented by functional studies indicating differences in biochemical parameters and, potentially, functional roles for the ATP generated, based upon subcellular location. Consequently, mitochondrial subpopulations appear to be influenced differently during cardiac pathologies including ischemia/reperfusion, heart failure, aging, exercise, and diabetes mellitus. These influences may be the result of specific structural and functional disparities between mitochondrial subpopulations such that the stress elicited by a given cardiac insult differentially impacts subcellular locales and the mitochondria contained within. The goal of this review is to highlight some of the inherent structural and functional differences that exist between spatially distinct cardiac mitochondrial subpopulations as well as provide an overview of the differential impact of various cardiac pathologies on spatially distinct mitochondrial subpopulations. As an outcome, we will instill a basis for incorporating subcellular spatial location when evaluating the impact of cardiac pathologies on the mitochondrion. Incorporation of subcellular spatial location may offer the greatest potential for delineating the influence of cardiac pathology on this critical organelle.
Osteogenesis in bone defects in rats: the effects of hydroxyapatite and demineralized bone matrix.

ABSTRACT Hydroxyapatite (HA) and Demineralized Bone Matrix (DBM) are being investigated as potential osteogenic agents with hopes that these substances can be used to induce bone formation in non-union fractures. This study was done to determine the relative effects of HA and DBM implanted as moldable phospholipid composites in bone defects that result in nonunions. We studied 22 ten-month-old Long-Evans male rats with 5.0 mm unilateral radial defects implanted with HA, DBM, and a combination of both substances. Control defects were left unfilled. Eight weeks after implantation, the histological sections demonstrated a decrease in bone formation with HA relative to controls. The HA crystals were encapsulated by connective tissue stroma made up of collagenous elements, fibroblasts, and blood vessels. There were no indications of bone formation within the fibrous stroma. 45Calcium, alkaline phosphatase, and bone gla protein (BGP) assays demonstrated a 16% increase in bone formation in rats implanted with DBM, an 80% decrease in groups implanted with HA (p = 0.01) and an 80% decrease with DBM plus HA (p = 0.01). Radiologic analysis corresponds well with histological and biochemical results. We conclude that osteogenesis in non-union defects is enhanced by the implantation of DBM, while HA interferes with bone formation in the rat model. In the presence of both substances, HA appears to impede new bone growth, negating any positive effects seen with DBM.
Dispersion and Subsidence of the Exhaust of a Supersonic Transport in the Stratosphere

A theoretical model is presented that describes the early time history of the wake of an aircraft. This theory shows that far downstream of the aircraft, buoyancy dominates the growth of the wake. For a supersonic transport flying in the stratosphere, the stable stratification will limit the growth of the wake. Data of the visible width of the wake from laboratory experiments in a towing tank and from studies on the growth of contrails from subsonic aircraft verify the model for a neutral atmosphere. A model is developed to show that the exhaust gases of a supersonic transport can sink due to differential radiative cooling caused by the high concentration of water vapor and the lower concentration of ozone in the wake. Estimates of the rate of subsidence are given for aircraft flying between 16 and 27 km.
Saline Drinking Effects on Food and Water Intake in Rats

19 female albino rats were water and food deprived for 24 hr. and given nothing, water, 0.9% (isotonic) saline or 1.8% saline for 2 hr. During the second hour powdered food was provided. During the...
Religiousness, Race, and Psychological Well-Being: Exploring Social Psychological Mediators

Research and theory combine to suggest that the relationship between religious belief and psychological well-being should be more positive among Black than among White individuals. Further, this relationship should be mediated by social psychological aspects of religion that have positive implications for well-being, such as self-enhancing religious attributions and a positive social identity associated with one's religious affiliation. These predictions were examined in a sample of 66 Black and 59 White university students. Religious belief salience and psychological well-being were moderately positively correlated, but only among Black subjects. The relationship between religious belief and well-being was partially mediated by attributions to God that enhance life meaning and positive social identification resulting from one's religious affiliation, again only among Black subjects. Implications of these results for the self-maintenance of Black college students are discussed.
Integration of the modified Cam-Clay model in non-linear finite element analysis

Abstract The application of effective stress, elasto-plastic soil models in non-linear finite element analysis is achieved by integrating the rate constitutive equations numerically over a discrete sequence of time steps. The integration algorithm and the tangent stiffness operator of the model control the convergence characteristics of the global iteration solution. This paper presents full details for implementing the Modified Cam Clay constitutive equations in a non-linear finite element analysis using an implicit integration scheme with consistent linearization of the tangent constitutive matrix. Numerical examples of some geotechnical boundary value problems illustrate the accuracy and robustness of the algorithm.
Seasonal vitamin D changes and the impact on health risk assessment.

Abstract Objective To investigate seasonal variation of vitamin D levels in 148,821 serum samples during a 2 year time period in a northern-latitude city in the United States. Methods Total vitamin D assay testing by chemiluminescence was performed on the DiaSorin Liaison. Vitamin D results were extracted from the laboratory information system without patient identification during 2011 and 2012 and separated by season and vitamin D results: less than 10 ng/mL (deficient), 10–20.0 ng/mL (insufficient), 20.1–30 ng/mL (borderline), 30.1–40 ng/mL (sufficient), 40.1–100 ng/mL, and greater than 100 ng/mL. Results The seasonal winter period constituted the months of January through March; spring, April through June; summer, July through September; and fall, October through December. The data set analyzed included 36,643 samples during the winter, 38,299 in spring, 36,141 in summer, and 37,738 in fall and demonstrated an expected rise and fall in vitamin D levels. Conclusion This retrospective epidemiological study demonstrates seasonal variation of vitamin D levels at clinical decision points. Although not unexpected, this variation has an impact on studies relating low vitamin D levels to higher rates of cancer, cardiovascular disease, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, autoimmune disease, and a host of other health risk assessments.
Meeting novel experimental needs with an Apple Pascal controlled interfacing system

In this article, we describe how to combine an inexpensive interface with an independent timing card to solve some common timing and programming problems. Problems were encountered when we tried, by modifying commercial software, to create novel programs that would accurately control events in our operant conditioning chambers. The solution was to combine a Life Science Associates (LSA) Apple Interfacing System with an Applied Engineering Timemaster II H.O. timing card. Three aspects of the solution are described: (1) LSA’s interfacing hardware; (2) the Timemaster II H.O. timing card; and (3) the Pascal commands necessary to access the timing card. An example, a program to control a concurrent variable-interval schedule, shows how the timing card is used in conjunction with the interface to control and monitor experiments. The system offers many advantages over earlier researcher-built approaches and provides a flexible, accurate, and inexpensive alternative to commercial systems.
Stearic-1-14C acid adsorption on metals and the contact angle as a function of surface coverage

Abstract Stearic-1- 14 C acid was adsorbed as close-packed monomolecular layers on metallographically polished iron, nickel, chromium, and AISI types 304 and 416 stainless steels. Measurements of the adsorbed radioactivity allowed the determination of the number of adsorbed molecules per unit area and the effective area per molecule on each of the metals. Desorption and exchange experiments indicated two types of adsorption bonding in these systems; the relative amounts of each bonded type were determined for each metal. Methylene iodide contact angles were measured on both freshly prepared, completely intact monolayers and on monolayers which had been partially depleted during the desorption process. These measurements have allowed the determination of the variation in the magnitude of the contact angle as a function of surface coverage.
Trevor Kletz, friend and mentor

Abstract I am very pleased to have this opportunity to present these thoughts on my personal relationship with Trevor Kletz and the impact he has had on my own career in the field of process safety.
Determination of Epoxy Equivalent Weight of Glycidyl Ether Based Epoxides via Near Infrared Spectroscopy

Abstract A method to quantify the epoxy equivalent weights (EEW) of glycidyl ether-based epoxides using near infrared spectroscopy (NIR) in combination with the Lambert–Beer law has been developed and validated by NMR and titration studies (ASTM D 1652). EEWs of a series of commercial aromatic epoxy prepolymers based on diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A (DGEBA) and aliphatic epoxy prepolymers based on polypropylene glycol were determined via NIR. For instance, the commercial epoxide, Epon 828, was determined to possess an EEW of 186.44 ± 0.15 and 185.43 ± 2.55 via titration and NIR, respectively. Furthermore, the method was also validated to be applicable to determining EEW of rubber toughened epoxy prepolymers for two commercial materials. The results were supported and consistent with the EEW reported by the suppliers. NIR technique has been confirmed to be an excellent and rapid method to characterize epoxides as it is non-destructive and does not require the use of solvents or other chemicals.