cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Is there a morphometric cause of Chiari malformation type I? Analysis of existing literature

Although many etiologies have been proposed for Chiari malformation type I (CM-I), there currently is no singular known cause of CM-I pathogenesis. Advances in imaging have greatly progressed the study of CM-I. This study reviews the literature to determine if an anatomical cause for CM-I could be proposed from morphometric studies in adult CM-I patients. After conducting a literature search using relevant search terms, two authors screened abstracts for relevance. Full-length articles of primary morphometric studies published in peer-reviewed journals were included. Detailed information regarding methodology and symptomatology, craniocervical instability, syringomyelia, operative effects, and genetics were extracted. Forty-six studies met inclusion criteria, averaging 93.2 CM-I patients and 41.4 healthy controls in size. To obtain measurements, 40 studies utilized MRI and 10 utilized CT imaging, whereas 41 analyzed parameters within the posterior fossa and 20 analyzed parameters of the craniovertebral junction. The most commonly measured parameters included clivus length (n = 30), tonsillar position or descent (n = 28), McRae line length (n = 26), and supraocciput length (n = 26). While certain structural anomalies including reduced clivus length have been implicated in CM-I, there is a lack of consensus on how several other morphometric parameters may or may not contribute to its development. Heterogeneity in presentation with respect to the extent of tonsillar descent suggests alternate methods utilizing morphometric measurements that may help to identify CM-I patients and may benefit future research to better understand underlying pathophysiology and sequelae such as syringomyelia.
Determinants of Customer Satisfaction in Mobile Commerce

The major aim of the research paper is to measure the impact of m-quality factors on the customer satisfaction in m-commerce of University undergraduates in Sri Lanka. Primary data was collected from University undergraduates in four Universities in Sri Lanka. Convenience sampling method was used to obtain 285 responses from University undergraduates. The collected data were used to test the model using multiple regression analysis. The result reveals that in this research vendor quality (i.e. responsiveness and brand image) were found to be important factors affecting customer satisfaction. Moreover, the customization but not the interactivity of website quality contributed to the formation of customer satisfaction. Together these factors explained approximately 36 per cent of the variance in customer satisfaction.
MANAGEMENT OF MUCOSAL PREMALIGNANT LESIONS

SUMMARY Oral precancer, consisting of leukoplakia, erythroplakia, and oral submucous fibrosis, has a well-documented malignant transformation rate that may be related to the prevalence and degree of dysplasia present in the lesion. This rate does not diminish with duration of the lesion; therefore, long-term surveillance is essential for the proper management of patients afflicted with these lesions. Prevention consists of removal of risk factors, particularly the use of tobacco products and alcohol. To prevent submucous fibrosis, chewing of betel products must cease. ST is a risk factor for leukoplakia and cancer. Identification of high-risk lesions is facilitated by regular complete clinical examination supplemented by vital staining with toluidine blue. Treatment consists of removal of the lesion by surgery (laser, scalpel, or electrosurgery) and occasionally by cryotherapy. The laser is least damaging to surrounding normal tissue, does not cause scarring or edema, and is not painful. Biologic manipulation with retinoids holds promise but is not yet adequately reliable or sustainable because of side effects.
Proflavine Binding to Transfer Ribonucleic Acid, Synthetic Ribonucleic Acids, and Deoxyribonucleic Acid

Abstract The ability of proflavine to directly inhibit protein synthesis has led to an investigation of complex formation between the drug and ribonucleic acid. Evidence has been obtained from absorption and fluorescence spectra, as well as heat denaturation curves, that proflavine forms a complex with transfer ribonucleic acid which is qualitatively similar to the deoxyribonucleic acid-proflavine complex. Additional studies with polyadenylate, polyuridylate, and polycytidylate emphasize the importance of nucleic acid secondary structure, the ionic environment, and the molar ratio of nucleotide to proflavine in determining the type of drug-nucleic acid complex which will be formed.
REVIEW ARTICLE: Cortical control of eye and head movements: integration of movements and percepts

The cortical control of eye movements is well known. It remains unclear, however, as to how the eye fields of the frontal lobes generate and coordinate eye and head movements. Here, we review the recent advances in electrical stimulation studies and evaluate relevant models. As electrical stimulation is conducted in head-unrestrained, behaving subjects with the evoked eye and head movements sometimes being indistinguishable from natural gaze shifts, a pertinent question becomes whether these movements are evoked by motor programs or sensory percepts. Recent stimulation studies in the visual cortex and the eye fields of the frontal lobes have begun to bring both possibilities to light. In addition, cognitive variables often interact with behavioral states that can affect movements evoked by stimulation. Identifying and controlling these variables are critical to our understanding of experimental results based on electrically evoked movements. This understanding is needed before one can draw inferences from such results to elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying natural and complex movements.
A scheduling algorithm for conditional resource sharing

A novel scheduling algorithm for dataflow graphs with nested conditional branches is presented. The algorithm employs a bottom-up approach to transform a dataflow graph with conditional branches into an 'equivalent' one that has no conditional branches. A schedule is then obtained for the latter, using a conventional scheduling algorithm, from which a schedule for the former is derived. Experimental results demonstrated that such an approach is quite effective. The proposed bottom-up hierarchical approach is computationally more effective than a global nonhierarchical one. >
On Stochastic Volatility and More Powerful Parametric Tests of Event Effects on Unsystematic Returns

Econometricians often emphasize that the use of a larger information set results in better parameter estimates and stronger hypotheses tests. The use of information on the stochastic behavior of the volatility of asset returns results in the formulation of more powerful parametric tests of the impact of a certain event (stock split, corporate restructuring, change in regulation, etc.) on assets' unsystematic returns. The key assumption in this study is that return volatility follows a mean-reverting diffusion whose discrete-time filter is a GARCH model. Using test statistics derived under this more general system of stochastic prices and volatility results in up to 18% higher rates of rejection of the false null hypothesis than the rejection rates of the pre-existing parametric tests. At the same time, the true null is rejected at the correct levels. The methodology is also applied to corporate spin-offs, resulting in some findings at variance with those obtained using the traditional test.
Demographic Trends & Market Segments for Nursing & Rehabilitation in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania

In the United States, nursing and rehabilitation services for long–term care are licensed within each state and are delivered in facilities that typically serve clients within geographic regions. Many of these facilities are owned by regional authorities, such as local governments. In Pennsylvania, county governments often are public providers of nursing and rehabilitation services. Targeting these services for regions will become increasingly complex. The Claremont Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, offers a 290-bed facility that provides state-of-the-art therapeutic nursing care meeting a variety of needs. In this report, demographic trends and market segments that will affect the demand for nursing and rehabilitation services in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, are provided. At least three major demographic trends will affect the market for residents of the Claremont Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. First, an “older” Cumberland County is expected through 2020. Second, older residents will become increasingly more concentrated in Cumberland County than in the entire Commonwealth. And, third, the size of the economically dependent population of Cumberland County relative to the size of the County’s working age population will become larger over time.Two approaches were taken to identify the market segments that are served by the Claremont Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. First, analyzed were characteristics of lifestyles and life stages pertaining to the last household of residence for 286 current Claremont residents. A major assumption of this first analysis is that the lifestyles and life stages of current residents of the Claremont Nursing and Rehabilitation Center contributed to the personal and financial decisions they made to reside in the Center. Second, characteristics of lifestyles and life stages were analyzed pertaining to the households of people who hold powers of attorney for the 286 current residents of the Claremont Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. Considered through this second analysis is the possibility that holders of powers of attorney for residents might have played strong roles in the decisions to choose and maintain residence at the Center over long-term care alternatives that might be available. Residents’ former households and the households of people who hold their powers of attorney were remarkably similar. For the most part, these households represented a variety of lifestyles and life stages that are common in rural life and that signify lifelong hard work and rewards. The report identifies the media vehicles most likely to be listened to, read, or watched by these types of households and the leisure activities that engage these households. The information in this report is useful for designing marketing and media strategies to better reach and serve potential residents for services provided by the Claremont Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.
Can Prices Be Trusted? a Test of the Ability of Experts to Outperform or Influence the Market

This paper reconsiders the efficiency of the market using the results from a Wall Street Journal contest of the ability of professional investment analysts to outperform the market with their month...
High Court Headlines: An Analysis of Case Characteristics Associated with Media Attention to Supreme Court Rulings

The United States Supreme Court’s communication with the American public is primarily mediated through the national press; consequently, the media’s choice of which cases to cover shapes the public’s perception of the High Court. This study identifies Supreme Court rulings that received special attention in two prominent print media sources, the New York Times and the Washington Post, and tests the relationship between media attention and particular cases characteristics. Findings demonstrate that media attention in these sources is strongly associated with indicators of legal importance, intra-Court conflict, and sensational issue areas.
Noninvasive Multimodal Imaging to Predict Recovery of Locomotion after Extended Limb Ischemia.

Acute limb ischemia is a common cause of morbidity and mortality following trauma both in civilian centers and in combat related injuries. Rapid determination of tissue viability and surgical restoration of blood flow are desirable, but not always possible. We sought to characterize the response to increasing periods of hind limb ischemia in a porcine model such that we could define a period of critical ischemia (the point after which irreversible neuromuscular injury occurs), evaluate non-invasive methods for characterizing that ischemia, and establish a model by which we could predict whether or not the animal’s locomotion would return to baselines levels post-operatively. Ischemia was induced by either application of a pneumatic tourniquet or vessel occlusion (performed by clamping the proximal iliac artery and vein at the level of the inguinal ligament). The limb was monitored for the duration of the procedure with both 3-charge coupled device (3CCD) and infrared (IR) imaging for tissue oxygenation and perfusion, respectively. The experimental arms of this model are effective at inducing histologically evident muscle injury with some evidence of expected secondary organ damage, particularly in animals with longer ischemia times. Noninvasive imaging data shows excellent correlation with post-operative functional outcomes, validating its use as a non-invasive means of viability assessment, and directly monitors post-occlusive reactive hyperemia. A classification model, based on partial-least squares discriminant analysis (PLSDA) of imaging variables only, successfully classified animals as “returned to normal locomotion” or “did not return to normal locomotion” with 87.5% sensitivity and 66.7% specificity after cross-validation. PLSDA models generated from non-imaging data were not as accurate (AUC of 0.53) compared the PLSDA model generated from only imaging data (AUC of 0.76). With some modification, this limb ischemia model could also serve as a means on which to test therapies designed to prolong the time before critical ischemia.
Finding associations among SNPS for prostate cancer using collaborative filtering

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer related deaths among men. Because of the slow growing nature of prostate cancer, sometimes surgical treatment is not required for less aggressive cancers. Recent debates over prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening have drawn new attention to prostate cancer. Genome-based screening can potentially help in assessing the risk of developing prostate cancer. Due to the complicated nature of prostate cancer, studying the entire genome is essential to find genomic traits. Due to the high cost of studying all Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs), it is essential to find tag SNPs which can represent other SNPs. Earlier methods to find tag SNPs using associations between SNPs either use SNP's location information or are based on data of very few SNP markers in each sample. Our study is based on 2300 samples with 550,000 SNPs each. We have not used SNP location information or any predefined standard cut-offs to find tag SNPs. Our approach is based on using collaborative filtering methods to find pairwise associations among SNPs and thus list top-N tag SNPs. We have found 25 tag SNPs which have highest similarities to other SNPs. In addition we found 16 more SNPs which have high correlation with the known high risk SNPs that are associated with prostate cancer. We used some of these newly found SNPs with 5 different classification algorithms and observed some improvement in prostate cancer prediction accuracy over using the original known high risk SNPs.
The National Ignition Facility and industry

The mission of the National Ignition Facility is to achieve ignition and gain in inertial confinement fusion targets in the laboratory. The facility will be used for defense applications such as weapons physics and weapons effects testing, and for civilian applications such as fusion energy development and fundamental studies of matter at high temperatures and densities. The National Ignition Facility construction project will require the best of our construction industries and its success will depend on the best products offered by hundreds of the nation's high technology companies. Three-fourths of the construction costs will be invested in industry. This article reviews the design, cost and schedule, and required industrial involvement associated with the construction project.
Euler potentials of current-free fields expressed in spherical harmonics

Given a magnetic field B = -del(vector differential operator)(sub gamma) with gamma expanded in spherical harmonics, it is shown that analytic Euler potentials may be derived for B if gamma is asymmetrical but contains only the contribution of a single index n. This work generalizes a result for sectorial harmonics with n = m, derived by Willis and Gardiner (1988).
Scale effects in convoluted thermal/spatial statistics of plasticity initiation in small stressed volumes during nanoindentation

The elastic–plastic transition of crystals at small length scales can be quantitatively evaluated by sudden discontinuities (pop-ins) on nanoindentation load–displacement curves. For defect free crystals under nanocontacts, pop-in stress fluctuations result purely from the thermally activated process of homogeneous dislocation nucleation, while at intermediate contact sizes, fluctuations can arise from the spatial statistics of pre-existing defects. Here, we find that the convolution of the above thermal and spatial effects exhibits a distinct dependence on the stressed volume size, dislocation density and geometric factors that describe crystallography and slip anisotropy. These essential features are captured in a unified model that includes both homogeneous dislocation nucleation and heterogeneous activation of pre-existing dislocations. Our theoretical predictions compare remarkably well with experimental findings. In particular, the model describes the observed strong and complex dependence of pop-in...
Afferent projections related to attack sites in the pontine tegmentum.

Abstract Attack by a cat on a rat was elicited by electrical stimulation of the ventral parabrachial nucleus or the paralemniscal pontine reticular formation. The attack was quiet and it differed from similar behavior elicited at other sites in that the cat not only bit the rat but struck it with its paw. Horseradish peroxidase was deposited at the attack sites. Cells sending projections to the attack sites were located in gyrus proreus, anterior, central, and medial amygdala, the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, lateral, dorsal and perifornical hypothalamus, as well as the central gray matter, superior colliculus, midbrain reticular formation, locus coeruleus, nucleus of the lateral lemniscus, and nucleus interpositus. Additional sites of cells of origin appeared with less regularity. This distribution of sites correlates well with the sites from which attack can be elicited or modulated.
One city's ‘urban cosmography’

Illustrations of urban scenes naturally describe the physical characteristics of the places depicted. These representations also express implicitly broader beliefs which tie the spatial order of the surrounding world to local systems, institutions, and human actions. Images of a city embody, therefore, an ‘urban cosmography’, a concept inspired by early modern artisans' attempts to chart the contours of the world, both known and unknown. Seen from this perspective, historical graphics such as maps, posters, and birds-eye views document a city's position within a continually evolving universal order. This paper will review graphics drawn from the history of one city in particular: Baltimore, Maryland. Like other cities on the eastern seaboard of the US, Baltimore has been represented by diverse visual arts for more than two centuries. With the advent of digital and social media, Baltimore's development will depend even more upon the city's local and global interrelationships. ‘Urban cosmography’ is, theref...
A SIMPLE SEPARATION OF LARGE QUANTITIES OF 8-HYDROXYQUINOLINE FROM TRACE GALLIUM

Abstract A simple method for the removal of large amounts of 8-hydroxyquinoline from aqueous solutions containing traces of gallium has been devised. It involves steam volatilisation of the organic compound, and gives > 97% recovery of gallium as a non-volatile residue.
Differenzierungsleistungen wiederholt fragmentierter Teilstücke männlicher Genitalscheiben von Drosophila melanogaster nach Kultur in vivo

Zusammenfassung Methoden wurden entwickelt, die erlaubten, die Regenerations- und Regulationsleistungen von Fragmenten mannlicher Genitalscheiben zu untersuchen, die 1 2 , 1 4 , 1 8 etc. bis 1 512 des ursprunglichen Zellmaterials enthalten. Dabei wird vor jeder erneuten Halbierung den Teilstucken durch eine Kultur in vivo in einem jungen larvalen oder in einem adulten Transfer-Wirt die Gelegenheit zum regenerativen Wachstum der Blasteme gegeben. Wiederholt halbierte Fragmente konnen mehrmals symmetrische Ganzapparate bilden. Mit fortschreitendem Fragmentierungsgrad und zunehmender Dauer des Aufenthaltes in vivo setzt sich eine Tendenz zur Differenzierung von “Monokulturen” durch, wobei die noch vorhandenen einzelnen Strukturelemente hypertrophieren. In einzelnen Fallen fuhren die Bedingungen der andauernden in vivo-Kultur zu “bedeutungsfremden Differenzierungen,” indem aus proliferierenden Blastemen der Genitalscheibe u.a. Kopfstrukturen hervorgehen.
Cupric yersiniabactin is a virulence-associated superoxide dismutase mimic

Many Gram-negative bacteria interact with extracellular metal ions by expressing one or more siderophore types. Among these, the virulence-associated siderophore yersiniabactin (Ybt) is an avid copper chelator, forming stable cupric (Cu(II)-Ybt) complexes that are detectable in infected patients. Here we show that Ybt-expressing E. coli are protected from intracellular killing within copper-replete phagocytic cells. This survival advantage is highly dependent upon the phagocyte respiratory burst, during which superoxide is generated by the NADPH oxidase complex. Chemical fractionation links this phenotype to a previously unappreciated superoxide dismutase (SOD)-like activity of Cu(II)-Ybt. Unlike previously described synthetic copper-salicylate (Cu(II)-SA) SOD mimics, the salicylate-based natural product Cu(II)-Ybt retains catalytic activity at physiologically plausible protein concentrations. These results reveal a new virulence-associated adaptation based upon spontaneous assembly of a non-protein catalyst.
Changing ideologies of artisanal “productivisation”: ORT in late imperial Russia

The Society for the Promotion of Artisanal and Agricultural Work among the Jews in Russia (ORT) was established in St Petersburg in 1880. In its post‐1921 form, as the World ORT Union, the organisation, with its headquarters in London, still operates in scores of countries throughout the world. This article analyses the ideological changes in ORT's craftsmen‐related programmes during the first decades of its history: from the initial careful attempts to use qualified artisan labour as one of the ways to adapt the Jewish population to the economic, social and political conditions of the Russian empire, to later Jewish nation‐building projects that incorporated elements of economic autonomy. Founded by maskilic intellectuals and entrepreneurs, from the 1900s ORT was gradually taken over by more radical activists. Some of them, including its future chairman Leon Bramson (1869–1941) and its leading economist Boris Brutskus (1874–1938), came from the Petersburg apparatus of the Jewish Colonization Association,...
New architectures and components for optical target recognition at the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command

Poor performance in key components has limited the development of optical target recognition systems. New components are now available, however, that exhibit size and speed characteristics compatible with image processing applications. The U.S. Army Aviation & Missile Command has recently begun a program to exploit the new devices for both homing and imagery analysis applications. New architectures and algorithms which exploit the modulation characteristics of the new devices are being developed and tested. Part of the program is also aimed at funding improvements in the devices to better meet the requirements for optical target recognition. This paper will discuss the overall program, specific devices under consideration, and present the architectures and algorithms under development. Any experimental results available at the time will also be presented, with more detailed results to be presented at a later conference.© (1999) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Anesthesia and incident dementia: a population-based, nested, case-control study.

Abstract Objective To test the hypothesis that exposure to procedures requiring general anesthesia during adulthood is not significantly associated with incident dementia using a retrospective, population-based, nested, case-control study design. Participants and Methods Using the Rochester Epidemiology Project and the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer's Disease Patient Registry, residents of Olmsted County, Minnesota, diagnosed as having dementia between January 1, 1985, and December 31, 1994, were identified. For each incident case, a sex- and age-matched control was randomly selected from the general pool of Olmsted County residents who were dementia free in the index year of dementia diagnosis. Medical records were reviewed to determine exposures to procedures requiring anesthesia after age 45 years and before the index year. Data were analyzed using logistic regression. Results We analyzed 877 cases of dementia, each with a corresponding control. Of the dementia cases, 615 (70%) underwent 1681 procedures requiring general anesthesia; of the controls, 636 (73%) underwent 1638 procedures. When assessed as a dichotomous variable, anesthetic exposure was not significantly associated with dementia (odds ratio, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.73-1.10; P=.27). In addition, no significant association was found when exposure was quantified as number of procedures (odds ratios, 0.87, 0.86, and 1.0 for 1, 2-3, and ≥4 exposures, respectively, compared with none; P=.51). Conclusion This study found no significant association between exposure to procedures requiring general anesthesia after age 45 years and incident dementia.
New materials and new structures for uncooled sources suitable for datacom and telecom applications

Optical communication systems operating at 10 Gbit/s such as 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) are becoming more and more important, even in Local Area Networks (LAN) and Metropolitan Area Networks (MAN). This market requires optical transceivers of low cost, size and power consumption, driving a need for "hot" transmitter: uncooled DFB lasers directly modulated at 10 Gbit/s for short link (up to 10 km) and high operating temperature integrated (hybrid or monolithic) solution, like laser and electro absorption modulator at 10 Gbit/s, for longer distance (40 - 80 km). The paper describes the current status of these devices for different applications. We will report results on uncooled high speed 1300 nm DFB laser which is capable of being manufactured in high volume at the low cost demanded by the GbE market. Combining an optimized active region based on InGaAsP strained MQW (Multi Quantum Well) and a low parasitic lateral confinement region, we have fabricated 10 Gbit/s directly modulated uncooled DFB lasers which work up to 100°C (chip temperature), with eye diagram perfectly open (showing an extinction ratio > 5 dB @ 100°C), and with Bit Error Rate over 10 km without error floor up to 10 -12 . We will report the optimization and the results of an electro-abosorption modulator (EAM) based on quantum confined Stark effect in strained multiple quantum wells (MQWs), suitable for 40 - 80 km propagation of 10Gb/s optical signals on standard single-mode fiber at 1550 nm. The MQW structure has been designed and fabricated to obtain high extinction ratio, low insertion loss and negative chirp at 1550 nm, 60°C. Devices demonstrated a contrast ratio of above 10 dB, insertion loss of 5 dB and a negative chirp at 10 Gb/s, 60°C with a voltage swing of 2 V.
Synergistic interaction between Toll-like receptor agonists is required for induction of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in Lewis rats.

To investigate whether TLR agonists can replace mycobacteria in adjuvant to induce EAE in Lewis rats, we immunized rats with MBP peptide (MBP(68-86)) in IFA, supplemented with TLR agonists. Rats immunized with MBP(68-86) plus CpG-ODN or LPS in IFA did not develop EAE. In contrast, rats immunized with MBP(68-86) plus CpG-ODN and LPS in IFA developed clinical EAE. Spleen cells proliferated and secreted IFN-γ in response to MBP(68-86), and secreted IL-6 and IL-12p40 in response to CpG-ODN and LPS. However, rats immunized with MBP(68-86) plus CpG-ODN and PolyI:C, a TLR3 agonist, did not develop EAE. We conclude that selected combinations of TLR agonists can facilitate the induction of EAE by MBP peptide via the innate immune system.
GENDER DIFFERENCES IN NAMING AND EPONYMY IN PSYCHOLOGY

Four analyses were made to assess gender differences concerning naming in psychology (1) analysis of gender naming in pre-1975 textbooks, (2) analysis of gender naming in post-1975 textbooks, (3) a...
Prevalence and correlates of HIV unsafe sex and STIs among women working in China's entertainment industry

Abstract Female entertainment workers in China are at risk of sexually acquiring HIV, but risk factors of their unsafe sex remain understudied. Using information from a venue-based sample of 724 female entertainment workers in Shanghai, this paper examines the prevalence and risk factors of unsafe sex and STIs. While both measures of unsafe sex and history of common STIs suggest that participants in this study appear to have lower rates of unsafe sex and STIs than reported in the literature, venue-based female entertainment workers are at risk of sexually acquiring HIV. Risk factors of unsafe sex include both individual cognitive (information, motivation, and behavioral skills) and social factors. However, HIV-related information and most social factors are not directly and independently associated with unsafe sex. Behavioral intervention is needed for female entertainment workers in China. However, individual-based cognitive approach alone may be limited in effectiveness in reducing unsafe sex among fema...
Human airway and peripheral blood eosinophils enhance Th1 and Th2 cytokine secretion

Background: The effector function of eosinophils involves their release of toxic granule proteins, reactive oxygen species, cytokines, and lipid mediators. Murine studies have demonstrated that eosinophils can also enhance T cell function. Whether human eosinophils, in particular, airway eosinophils, have similar immunoregulatory activity has not been fully investigated. The aim of this study was to determine whether human blood and airway eosinophils can contribute to Th1 and Th2 cytokine generation from CD4+ T cells stimulated with superantigen. Methods: Eosinophils were obtained from blood or bronchoalveolar lavage fluid 48 h after segmental allergen bronchoprovocation. Purified eosinophils were co-cultured with autologous CD4+ blood T cells in the presence of staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB). Cytokine levels in the supernatant fluid were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Eosinophil expression of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II and co-stimulatory molecules was assessed by flow cytometry before culture, 24 h after granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) stimulation, and 24 h after co-culture with CD4+ T cells and SEB. Results: Interleukin (IL)-5, IL-13, and interferon (IFN)-γ generation increased when CD4+ T cells were co-cultured with either blood or airway eosinophils in the presence of SEB. The ability of eosinophils to enhance cytokine generation was independent of their source (blood vs airway), activation by GM-CSF, or detectable expression of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR, CD80, or CD86. Conclusion: Our data demonstrate that SEB-induced generation of Th1 and Th2 cytokines is increased in the presence of human blood and airway eosinophils. Thus, eosinophils can have an immunoregulatory function in pathogen-associated allergic diseases such as atopic dermatitis, chronic sinusitis, and asthma exacerbations.
Countering Deficit Thinking: Agency, Capabilities and the Early Learning Experiences of Children of Latina/o Immigrants

This article documents what happened in a first grade classroom when young Latina/o children of immigrants had consistent classroom-based opportunities to use their agency in their learning. Applying theoretical constructs from development economics to data from the Agency and Young Children ethnographic project, we explore three forms of agency that young children in Ms Bailey's class used so often that it became routine and normal to see on an everyday basis. These forms of agency include (1) initiating projects, (2) designing projects and (3) pursuing inquiry through questions. With each form of agency, we point out the types of capabilities that were possible because of children being able to use that particular form. We then discuss how these forms of agency debunk some of the deficit discourses that are used to justify the current narrowing of curriculum for young children from marginalized communities, specifically Latina/o children of immigrants.
Galactic absorption of high-energy gamma-rays from Cygnus X-3

The importance of cosmic blackbody photons as an absorbing gas for the attenuation of high-energy photons via pair production in photon-photon collision is examined for the specific case of gamma rays from Cyg X-3. Recent observational results on this photon flux in the range from 2 x 10 to the 15th to 2 x 10 to the 16th eV are corrected for this attenuation. The absorption optical depth to the source is about unity, and the corrected flux is about a factor of three higher; as a result, it does not extrapolate from the data at lower energies (10 to the 12th eV).
Tryptophan auxotrophs were obtained by random transposon insertions in the Methanococcus maripaludis tryptophan operon.

Methanococcus maripaludis is an anaerobic, methane-producing archaeon that utilizes H2 or formate for the reduction of CO2 to methane. Tryptophan auxotrophs were constructed by in vitro insertions of the Tn5 transposon into the tryptophan operon, followed by transformation into M. maripaludis. This method could serve for rapid insertions into large cloned DNA regions.
High-resolution transmission electron microscopy of silicon re-growth at controlled elevated temperatures

Direct observations of atomic surf ace rearrangements and dislocation reactions using high-resolution transmission electron microscope (TEM) techniques have been described for gold and for cadmium telluride1–6. A major disadvantage of these experiments has been that they rely on the heating effect of the imaging electron beam to raise the temperature of the sample so that thermally activated processes can be induced. This severely restricts the materials which can be studied and significantly reduces the control of the observer in bringing about changes of interest. We have previously suggested4 that many solids would be open to such investigation if an appropriate temperature range could be reached. Using a simple Arrhenius kinetic law, we estimated, for example, that silicon would need to be held at ∼600 °C to make equivalent observations to those seen in CdTe. Recognizing the contemporary technological applications of silicon, such a step would be important in fundamental studies of device circuits. We report here that this type of imaging can indeed be performed successfully, without recourse to specialized instrumentation, and that new insights can be gained concerning defect production phase transformations in this important material.
N-Glycosylation of MDA-7/IL-24 Is Dispensable for Tumor Cell–Specific Apoptosis and “Bystander” Antitumor Activity

Biochemical and genetic mutation-based analyses confirm that the MDA-7/IL-24 protein can induce transformed cell-specific apoptosis through a mechanism involving endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-associated pathways. Covalent modifications by N-linked glycans in the ER contribute to the conformational maturation and biological functions of many proteins. Because MDA-7/IL-24 is a glycosylated protein, we investigated the role of glycosylation in mediating the specific biological and "bystander" antitumor activities of this cytokine. An adenovirus vector expressing a nonsecreted and nonglycosylated version of MDA-7/IL-24 protein was generated via deletion of its signal peptide and point mutations of its three N-glycosylated sites. In this study, we showed that this intracellular nonglycosylated protein was as effective as wild-type MDA-7/IL-24 protein in inducing apoptosis in multiple tumor cell lines. Both constructs (a) displayed transformed cell specificity and localization to the ER compartment, (b) mediated apoptosis through JAK/STAT-independent and p38(MAPK)-dependent pathways, (c) induced sustained ER stress as evidenced by expression of ER stress markers (BiP/GRP78, GRP94, XBP-1, and eIF2alpha), and (d) generated proteins that physically interacted with BiP/GRP78. Additionally, an expression construct containing the mda-7/IL-24 signal peptide linked to the mutated nonglycosylated mda-7/IL-24 gene retained the ability to induce bystander antitumor activity. These studies reveal that MDA-7/IL-24 glycosylation is not mandatory for inducing cell death or bystander activities in different cancer cells, providing new insights into the mechanism by which MDA-7/IL-24 induces apoptosis and ER stress.
Racism in America and in Other Race-Centered Nation-States: Synchronic Considerations

This essay offers a theoretical overview and revision of fundamental concepts essential for understanding racism as a routinized aspect of everyday life in America and in other western and westernized industrial nation-states in which race is a central historical principle of social organization, social stratification, and human values and development.
Flow Structures of a Radial-Inlet Swirler

The upstream and downstream flows of a radial inlet swirler were investigated by using a 2-D Laser Doppler Velocimetry (LDV) probe. The radial profiles of axial and tangential velocities at various axial locations were obtained. The effects of Reynolds Number, swirler exit configuration and combustor outlet condition were examined. The results reveal that the combustor outlet condition has strong influence on the downstream flow field of the swirler. The effect of Reynolds Number depends on the swirler exit configurations. The influence of the convergent configuration from swirl chamber to orifice on the flow fields is very small whereas the influence of the divergence at the swirler exit is significant. The upstream and downstream flows of the radial inlet swirler are of sub-critical nature, thus the swirler exit configuration and combustor outlet condition significantly affect the flow fields.Copyright © 2000 by ASME
Molecular Partition Functions For Amino Acids And Beyond

The Distance Constraint Model (DCM) provides a novel paradigm for describing protein thermodynamics [1] based on a Free-Energy Decomposition (FED), which assigns free energy contributions to specific molecular interactions. Unique to the DCM, non-additivity in entropy components is explicitly calculated using constraint theory as the total free energy of a system is reconstituted from its molecular parts. In prior work, a minimal DCM (mDCM) involving three empirical fitting parameters has been used to successfully predict protein flexibility and stability in proteins [1-4]. Although the mDCM captures essential physics, it is based on an oversimplified FED involving effective energy and entropy parameters universally applied to all residues. Employing, in part, principal component analysis, we constructed a residue-specific energy and entropy spectrum that depends on secondary backbone conformation states. The resulting molecular partition function predicts surprisingly rich temperature-dependent energy and entropy contributions. This method is general, and works for any type of chemical group and other types of molecular interactions, such as hydrogen bonds. Our new FED is self-consistent, complete and computationally simple. It defines the first all-atom DCM parameterization that is analogous to a molecular mechanics force field. This work is supported by NIH R01 GM073082, and we gratefully acknowledge partial support for H. Wang from the Charlotte Research Institute through a Duke Postdoctoral Fellowship.[1] Livesay, Dallakyan, Wood and D.J. Jacobs. FEBS Lett. 576, 468-476 (2004).[2] Jacobs and Dallakayan, Biophys. J. 88, 1-13 (2005).[3] Livesay, Huynh, Dallakyan and Jacobs, Chem. Central J. 2, 17 1-20 (2008).[4] Mottonen, Minli Xu, Jacobs and D.R. Livesay. Proteins, in press (2008).
Molecular profiling of prostate cancer progression

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed malignancy and the second most common cause of cancer death in North American males. It is largely unknown why some tumors progress to aggressive, potentially life-threatening disease whereas others remain latent for decades. Although cancer classification based on gene expression has been successful for several types of malignancies, expression analysis in prostate cancer is complicated by the heterogeneity of the tumor (even within a single specimen) and by contaminating normal cells. We have developed an approach that combines trimming and sectioning of frozen samples with associated histopathological review to isolate and verify percent tumor and grade within a given specimen. Messenger RNA from more than 40 normal, benign prostatic hyperplasia, and low- and high-grade prostate tumor samples was isolated and compared with a single reference to generate over 300,000 data points. Gene expression profiles of all prostate samples were correlated with Gleason score, clinical stage and other phenotypic and pathologic descriptors. Using a series of statistical tools, including multidimensional scaling, we have recognized unique clusters of samples that seem to correlate with tumor aggressiveness. Statistical analysis of these data also identified a subset of genes that distinguish tumor specimens from each other as well as from normal prostate tissue. Random permutation of the sample labels clearly indicates that the subset of genes separating tumor subgroups far exceeds that expected by chance alone (P=0.002). This work indicates that investigation of prostate cancer based on gene expression can identify genes that may help distinguish more aggressive forms of this disease.
Accessing out-of-tuple data: a performance study

Abstract In an OR-DBMS, multi-megabyte attributes generally store only metadata within the tuple; the data itself is in external objects. The objects and the tuples generally start on the same node in a shared-nothing system, but tuples move around without their data during query processing. In this paper, we study how to execute a method on an attribute when the tuple is on one node, and the data is on another. We study four techniques, based on whether to ship the method or the data and whether to ship one-by-one or in larger units. We present a series of performance studies, which establish that the effect of the various solutions on the disk utilization is far more significant than their effect on the network load.
Breadth-first CS 1 for scientists

This paper describes an introductory CS course designed to provide future scientists with a one-semester overview of the discipline. The course takes a breadth-first approach that leverages its students' interest and experience in science, mathematics, and engineering. In contrast to many other styles of CS 1, this course does not presume that its students will study more computer science, but it does seek to prepare them should they choose to do so. In addition to describing the curriculum and resources, we summarize our preliminary assessments of this course and a comparison with the more traditional, imperative-first introduction it replaced. The data thus far suggest that this CS for Scientists course improves our students' understanding of CS, its applications, and practice.
A specific decrease of the fluorescence depolarization of perylene in muscle membranes from mice with muscular dystrophy

Abstract The microviscosity of erythrocyte membranes and muscle microsomes from age matched 6-week old control mice REJ 129 Dy/Dy, and mice with muscular dystrophy REJ 129 dy/dy has been estimated by measuring the fluorescence depolarization of perylene. There was no difference between the erythrocyte membranes. The muscle microsomes from dystrophic animals had about 20% lower values than the controls. The temperature dependence indicated that a transition occurs in both sets of muscle microsomes, but the transition temperature was lower in the dystrophic microsomes. Cholesterol, phospholipid and triglyceride analyses of the membranes showed no difference between the erythrocyte membranes. The largest difference in the muscle microsomes was a two-fold increase in cholesterol level found in the dystrophic microsomes. No simple correlation could be made between the lipid analysis and the microviscosity measurements. Since the change in microviscosity is found in membranes isolated from the tissue primarily affected by the dy gene, we suggest that the change in microviscosity may be important in the development of the disease.
Virtual Medical Care: How Are Our Patients Using Online Health Information?

An increasing percentage of Internet users are seeking health information online. The purpose of our study was to determine the extent of Internet access and online health-seeking and the feasibility of implementing Internet services for our urban, residency-based practice. Using a self-administered survey, we obtained information on use of the Internet, demographics and socioeconomic profile, presence of a chronic medical condition and self-rated health from 300 consecutive patients. Complete surveys were obtained by 203 (68 percent). Responses were compared based on demographic, socioeconomic, and medical variables using Chi-square analysis. Results showed that our sample population tended to be under age 50, female, non-Hispanic Black, low income, and healthy. Seventy-seven percent of respondents had accessed the Internet at least once, 79 percent had used the Internet to find health-related information, 73 percent used the online information to make a health-related decision, 50 percent shared the information with their provider. In conclusion, we confirmed a high rate of Internet usage in our specific patient population, characterized by low socioeconomic status, low education level, and high minority percentages. Our patients not only access online health information, but also make changes based on this information, with only about half of all patients sharing this information with their physicians. It is unclear how this system of 'virtual medical care' influences overall patient health.