cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Bayesian Nonparametrics for Compliance to Exposure Standards

Abstract A Bayesian nonparametric view of compliance to occupational standards is achieved through predictive distributions. The common assumption of lognormality of environmental exposures is relaxed while recognizing the practicality of a finite number of possible samples. These probability of compliance calculations are conditional on observing some of the samples. Familiar binomial and normal modes are identified with the classical perspective as limits of Bayesian nonparametric and parametric strategies, when the number of observed samples increases. In this situation, extensive previous sample data provide a correspondence between the classical and Bayesian approaches, rather than little or no previous information. Using an example, alternative procedures are illustrated and compared. Currently used methodology can be anti-conservative for protecting employees.
Sex-Biased Networks and Nodes of Sexually Antagonistic Conflict in Drosophila

Sexual antagonism, or conflict, can occur when males and females harbor opposing reproductive strategies. The large fraction of sex-biased genes in genomes present considerable opportunities for conflict to occur, suggesting that sexual antagonism may potentially be a general phenomenon at the molecular level. Here, we employ a novel strategy to identify potential nodes of sexual conflict in Drosophila melanogaster by coupling male, female, and sex-unbiased networks derived from genome-wide expression data with available genetic and protein interaction data. We find that sex-biased networks comprise a large fraction (~1/3) of the total interaction network with the male network possessing nearly twice the number of nodes (genes) relative to the female network. However, there are far less edges or interaction partners among male relative to female subnetworks as seen in their power law distributions. We further identified 598 sex-unbiased genes that can act as indirect nodes of interlocus sexual conflict as well as 271 direct nodal pairs of potential conflict between male- and female-biased genes. The pervasiveness of such potentially conflicting nodes may explain the rapid evolution of sex-biased as well as non-sex-biased genes via this molecular mechanism of sexual selection even among taxa such as Drosophila that are nominally sexually dimorphic.
Subchronic treatment with fluoxetine attenuates effects of acute fluoxetine on female rat sexual behavior.

Abstract These experiments were designed to evaluate the hypothesis that fluoxetine-induced sexual dysfunction in female rats derived from disruption of neuroendocrine events that normally facilitate sexual behavior. If so, exogenous hormonal priming to ovariectomized rats should eliminate fluoxetine's effect. Ovariectomized rats were subchronically treated with 10 mg/kg fluoxetine or distilled/deionized water vehicle for 9 consecutive days. On the 8th day of treatment, rats were primed with 10 μg estradiol benzoate followed 48 h later with 500 μg progesterone. In a pretest for sexual behavior on the 10th day, there was no difference between subchronic treatments. Sexual receptivity was again monitored 30 min after injection on the 10th day (acute treatment) with distilled/deionized water, 10 mg/kg fluoxetine or 20 mg/kg fluoxetine. Thereafter, the female's behavior was monitored for 20 min in a male preference procedure. After the acute treatment in rats subchronically treated with water, fluoxetine (10 or 20 mg/kg) significantly reduced both lordosis frequency and quality and reduced (but not significantly) time spent with the male. In rats subchronically treated with fluoxetine, the lordosis-inhibiting effect of an acute injection with fluoxetine was significantly attenuated relative to that of the subchronically water-treated rats. In contrast to expectation, subchronic treatment with fluoxetine increased, rather than reduced, the relative time females spent near the male. Activity, as measured by center crossings, and grooming were also reduced by subchronic treatment with fluoxetine.
Household-level predictors of the presence of servants in Northern Orkney, Scotland, 1851–1901

Servants were an important part of the northwestern European household economy in the preindustrial past. This study examines household-level characteristics that are predictive of the presence of rural servants using data from Orkney, Scotland. The number of servants present in a household is related to household composition, landholding size, and the marital status of the household head. In addition, the sex of the particular servant hired reveals that the labor of male and female servants is not fungible. The sex of the servant hired is related to the ratio of male and female household members of working age, the occupation of the head, household composition, and the size of the household's landholding.
Numerical simulation of particle-driven gravity currents

Particle-driven gravity currents frequently occur in nature, for instance as turbidity currents in reservoirs. They are produced by the buoyant forces between fluids of different density and can introduce sediments and pollutants into water bodies. In this study, the propagation dynamics of gravity currents is investigated using the FLOW-3D computational fluid dynamics code. The performance of the numerical model using two different turbulence closure schemes namely the renormalization group (RNG) \({k-\epsilon}\) scheme in a Reynold-averaged Navier-Stokes framework (RANS) and the large-eddy simulation (LES) technique using the Smagorinsky scheme, were compared with laboratory experiments. The numerical simulations focus on two different types of density flows from laboratory experiments namely: Intrusive Gravity Currents (IGC) and Particle-Driven Gravity Currents (PDGC). The simulated evolution profiles and propagation speeds are compared with laboratory experiments and analytical solutions. The numerical model shows good quantitative agreement for predicting the temporal and spatial evolution of intrusive gravity currents. In particular, the simulated propagation speeds are in excellent agreement with experimental results. The simulation results do not show any considerable discrepancies between RNG \({k-\epsilon}\) and LES closure schemes. The FLOW-3D model coupled with a particle dynamics algorithm successfully captured the decreasing propagation speeds of PDGC due to settling of sediment particles. The simulation results show that the ratio of transported to initial concentration Co/Ci by the gravity current varies as a function of the particle diameter ds. We classify the transport pattern by PDGC into three regimes: (1) a suspended regime (ds is less than about 16 μm) where the effect of particle deposition rate on the propagation dynamics of gravity currents is negligible i.e. such flows behave like homogeneous fluids (IGC); (2) a mixed regime (16 μm 40 μm) where the PDGC rapidly loses its forward momentum due to fast deposition. The present work highlights the potential of the RANS simulation technique using the RNG \({k-\epsilon}\) turbulence closure scheme for field scale investigation of particle-driven gravity currents.
How the Ideology of Low Fat Conquered America

This article examines how faith in science led physicians and patients to embrace the low-fat diet for heart disease prevention and weight loss. Scientific studies dating from the late 1940s showed a correlation between high-fat diets and high-cholesterol levels, suggesting that a low-fat diet might prevent heart disease in high-risk patients. By the 1960s, the low-fat diet began to be touted not just for high-risk heart patients, but as good for the whole nation. After 1980, the low-fat approach became an overarching ideology, promoted by physicians, the federal government, the food industry, and the popular health media. Many Americans subscribed to the ideology of low fat, even though there was no clear evidence that it prevented heart disease or promoted weight loss. Ironically, in the same decades that the low-fat approach assumed ideological status, Americans in the aggregate were getting fatter, leading to what many called an obesity epidemic. Nevertheless, the low-fat ideology had such a hold on Americans that skeptics were dismissed. Only recently has evidence of a paradigm shift begun to surface, first with the challenge of the low-carbohydrate diet and then, with a more moderate approach, reflecting recent scientific knowledge about fats.
The hole drilling method in photoelasticity ‐application of an optimisation approach

This paper presents a least squares inverse problem solution for the case of photoelastic fringes around a hole in a biaxially loaded plate for two problems. Problem 1 relates to an infinite plate in which the circular hole is drilled first and then the loads are applied. Problem 2 is the residual stress problem in which the hole is drilled after the biaxial load is applied to the infinite plate. This hybrid experimental numerical approach permits utilisation of as many points of information as desired, away from the edge of the hole and the axes of symmetry. Also, no a priori knowledge is needed as to the orientation of the principal axes of symmetry. Its implementation, using simulated photoelastic fringes, yields accurate predictions of the magnitude and orientation of the far field stresses.
Air drying using corn grits as the sorbent in a pressure swing adsorber

The goal of the work was to evaluate the operation of a pressure-swing air dryer utilizing corn grits as the adsorbent. Compressed air of known moisture content was dried using the starch-containing sorbent over an 88-day period. Performance was evaluated based on both drying characteristics and structural integrity of the grits
The intracellular movement of endocytic vesicles in cultured granulosa cells

Ligand binding to cell surface receptors induces rapid internalization of ligand-receptor complexes by receptor mediated endocytosis. We have examined the intracellular movement of endocytic vesicles, induced by the lectin concanavalin A (Con A), in cultured rat ovarian granulosa cells using fluorescence and electron microscopy. Within 20 minutes of ligand treatment at 37 degrees C, numerous Con A-containing endocytic vesicles form, which migrate to the cell center by 60 minutes. Double label fluorescence microscopy, using fluorescein-Con-A and rhodamine immunofluorescent staining of tubulin or vimentin, indicates that during vesicle migration microtubules and 10-nm filaments are altered in their organization. By 30 minutes, vesicles are associated with microtubule bundles, which subsequently collapse around the nucleus. Similarly, 10-nm filaments accumulate around the nucleus in conjunction with the perinuclear aggregation of endocytic vesicles. Electron microscopy of Con A-horseradish peroxidase-labeled cells demonstrates that endocytic vesicles fuse to form large receptosome-like structures during intracellular migration and these structures are associated with cytoplasmic microtubules and 10-nm filaments. Taxol, a drug that stabilizes microtubules, prevents endocytic vesicle translocation to the Golgi region. Nocodazole, which causes microtubule disassembly, results in the collapse of 10-nm filaments and the central aggregation of endocytic vesicles. The data indicate that the cytoskeleton participates in the directed intracellular movement of endocytic vesicles; the possible subcellular basis for this movement is discussed.
Autoantibodies in Endometriosis Sera Recognize a Thomsen–Friedenreich-like Carbohydrate Antigen

Autoantibody responses to endometrial antigens are a common feature of endometriosis. Antibody responses to a number of serum and tissue antigens such as alpha(2)-Heremans Schmidt glycoprotein (alpha(2)-HSG), transferrin, and carbonic anhydrase have been identified. The nature of the epitopes recognized on these proteins has not been determined. In this study we show that the serum antibody response to alpha(2)-HSG and carbonic anhydrase is against a common carbohydrate epitope which is also expressed on bovine fetuin. Removal of carbohydrate moieties from these antigens resulted in loss of antibody binding. Antibody reactivity with alpha(2)-HSG, fetuin and other antigens was removed by binding with the lectin jacalin. Jacalin specifically binds the Thomsen-Friedenreich antigen (Galbeta1-3GalNAc). Demonstrating that the autoantibodies also reacted with other Thomsen-Friedenreich antigen-bearing proteins, serum IgA1 and haemopexin confirmed an association with this epitope. These antigens have not been previously described as autoantigens in endometriosis and are of interest since they raise the possibility that this autoimmune response may either play a direct role in the disease process or reflect an abnormality of glycosylation in endometriosis. These results may also prove useful in the development of a serum diagnostic test for endometriosis.
System-level memory modeling for bus-based memory architecture exploration

System-level design (SLD) provides a solution to the challenge of increasing design complexity and time-to-market pressure in modern embedded system designs. In this paper, we propose a novel system-level approach to memory design, which was not yet well addressed in existing SLD methodologies. In particular, we extend the SpecC methodology by defining various memory models at different levels of abstraction and a set of refinement rules that support fast and accurate memory architecture exploration. We demonstrate the experimental results using a case study in which we show the benefit of our approach.
Tight bounds for dynamic convex hull queries (again)

The dynamic convex hull problem was recently solved in O(lg n) time per operation, and this result is best possible in models of computation with bounded branching (e.g., algebraic computation trees). From a data structures point of view, however, such models are considered unrealistic because they hide intrinsic notions of information in the input.In the standard word-RAM and cell-probe models of computation, we prove that the optimal query time for dynamic convex hulls is, in fact, Theta(lg n / lglg n), for polylogarithmic update time (and word size). Our lower bound is based on a reduction from the marked-ancestor problem, and is one of the first data structural lower bounds for a nonorthogonal geometric problem. Our upper bounds follow a recent trend of attacking nonorthogonal geometric problems from an information-theoretic perspective that has proved central to advanced data structures. Interestingly, our upper bounds are the first to successfully apply this perspective to dynamic geometric data structures, and require substantially different ideas from previous work.
Community-Level and Species-Specific Associations between Phytoplankton and Particle-Associated Vibrio Species in Delaware's Inland Bays

Vibrio species are an abundant and diverse group of bacteria that form associations with phytoplankton. Correlations between Vibrio and phytoplankton abundance have been noted, suggesting that growth is enhanced during algal blooms or that association with phytoplankton provides a refuge from predation. Here, we investigated relationships between particle-associated Vibrio spp. and phytoplankton in Delaware's inland bays (DIB). The relative abundances of particle-associated Vibrio spp. and algal classes that form blooms in DIB (dinoflagellates, diatoms, and raphidophytes) were determined using quantitative PCR. The results demonstrated a significant correlation between particle-associated Vibrio abundance and phytoplankton, with higher correlations to diatoms and raphidophytes than to dinoflagellates. Species-specific associations were examined during a mixed bloom of Heterosigma akashiwo and Fibrocapsa japonica (Raphidophyceae) and indicated a significant positive correlation for particle-associated Vibrio abundance with H. akashiwo but a negative correlation with F. japonica. Changes in Vibrio assemblages during the bloom were evaluated using automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (ARISA), which revealed significant differences between each size fraction but no significant change in Vibrio assemblages over the course of the bloom. Microzooplankton grazing experiments showed that losses of particle-associated Vibrio spp. may be offset by increased growth in the Vibrio population. Moreover, analysis of Vibrio assemblages by ARISA also indicated an increase in the relative abundance for specific members of the Vibrio community despite higher grazing pressure on the particle-associated population as a whole. The results of this investigation demonstrate links between phytoplankton and Vibrio that may lead to predictions of potential health risks and inform future management practices in this region.
Efficient Macromodeling for On-Chip Interconnects

The improved T and improved /spl Pi/ models are proposed for on-chip interconnect macromodeling. Using global approximations, simple approximation frames are derived and applied to modeling of on-chip distributed RC interconnects. The applications lead to equivalent circuit models for on-chip interconnects, which are represented by the improved T and improved /spl Pi/ models. By matching the first three moments of an open-ended interconnect, the improved /spl Pi/ model with AWE is consequently obtained, which retains the symmetric structure. The new models for distributed RC interconnects are independent of CMOS gates, and therefore can be directly incorporated into SPICE frames. Numerical experiments show that for current feature sizes, the improved T and improved /spl Pi/ modeling methods can be used to accurately evaluate on-chip interconnect effects, while the computational costs are comparable to the original T and original /spl Pi/ modeling. The presented macromodeling approaches are useful for quick simulation and layout optimization.
Evolution of Single-Copy DNA and the ADH Gene in Seven Drosophilids

Single-copy DNA was isolated from Drosophila melanogaster and hybridized with total genomic DNA of D. melanogaster, D. mauritiana, D. simulans, D. pseudoobscura, D. willistoni, D. hydei and D. virilis. The duplexes were thermally eluted from hydroxyapatite and the data used to assess the relatedness of each species to D. melanogaster. The general pattern of relatedness was similar to that predicted by morphological methods but with some notable exceptions. The rate of nucleotide substitution was estimated to be greater than 0.66% of bases per million years. An unexpected, rapidly evolving component of D. melanogaster single-copy DNA was identified. The relatedness of these species was also studied with respect to the gene coding for alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH). The ADH gene, previously cloned from D. melanogaster (Goldberg 1980), was hybridized with Southern blots of genomic digests of the seven species. The intensity and position of the hybridizing bands suggest the amount of divergence of the gene. Divergence was quantitated by reassociation of a fragment of the cloned ADH gene with total DNA of the seven drosophilids and thermal elution of the resultant duplexes from hydroxyapatite. The ADH gene was isolated from genomic clone libraries of D. melanogaster, D. simulans and D. mauritiana and further studied by comparison of position of restriction sites. Species relationships deduced from comparison of total single-copy DNA and the ADH gene were consistent, demonstrating that a single gene can reflect divergence of the entire genome.
Cristóbal Nonato, novela irreverente del descubrimiento

La obra narrativa de Carlos Fuentes, denominada por el mismo La edad del tiempo , sufre un cambio de piel y celebra un festin del lenguaje, Cristobal Nonato . Las formas cosmologicas que dominan y predominan en la zona sagrada y consagrada de este escritor se instauran en esta novela que alude y se adelanta al quinto centenario del descubrimiento de America; se inscribe asi en la celebracion polemica de este suceso, al que conmemora con una particularidad muy especial: su irreverencia.
Identification and Treatment of Sleep Apnea in Patients With Chronic Headache

This study investigates the relationship between nocturnal or morning headache and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (sleep apnea). It is not known if headache of any type is more common in patients with sleep apnea than in other patients, but morning headache is a symptom of sleep apnea. A method is needed for identifying patients with chronic headache who might benefit from evaluation and treatment of sleep apnea. We performed a retrospective assessment of frequency of morning headache in patients grouped according to final diagnosis: sleep apnea (n = 72), periodic leg movements of sleep (n = 28), and psychophysiologic insomnia (n = 42). Prospective overnight sleep studies were obtained in a different group of 19 patients who presented for evaluation of headache. We selected certain patient characteristics as possibly indicative of sleep apnea-related headache. The retrospective study showed that 24% of patients with sleep apnea had frequent morning headache, which was not different from the other groups. In the separate group of 19 patients with chronic headache and suspected sleep disorder, 17 had sleep apnea. Nasal continuous positive airway pressure was prescribed to 14 patients. Marked improvement in headache occurred and persisted in 4 patients and moderate improvement in 3. Responders to therapy were more likely to have vascular headaches than mixed or tension headaches, more severe sleep apnea, and a nocturnal or morning timing to their headaches. However, there was large overlap in severity of sleep apnea and likelihood of response. We conclude that morning headache is not more common in sleep apnea than in other sleep disorders. However, over 30% of patients with chronic headache and other symptoms of sleep apnea have significant improvement in headache after treatment of sleep apnea.
Facile one-pot synthesis of organic dye-complexed microgels for optical detection of glucose at physiological pH

With a rational design of functional co-monomers, low-cost dye-complexed microgels, capable of continuous glucose detection at physiological pH, were readily synthesized in one-pot via precipitation polymerization in water.
A brief primer on microRNAs and their roles in angiogenesis

Development of the vasculature is a complex, dynamic process orchestrated by a balance of pro and anti-angiogenic signaling pathways. The same signaling pathways are mis-regulated and exploited during pathological angiogenesis in cancer, inflammation and cardiovascular diseases and contribute to disease progression. In the last decade, small non-coding RNA molecules termed microRNAs (miRs) have emerged as key regulators of several cellular processes including angiogenesis. It is becoming clear that miRs function in complex networks and regulate gene expression both at the mRNA and protein levels thereby altering cellular signaling responses to specific stimuli. In the vasculature, miRs can function either in a pro-angiogenic manner and potentiate angiogenesis or act as anti-angiogenic miRs by enhancing cell death and decreasing endothelial proliferation. This review aims to provide an update on how microRNAs regulate gene expression and illustrate miR function in the vasculature with a discussion of potential applications of miRs as anti-angiogenic therapeutics.
Transformational Play: Using Games to Position Person, Content, and Context

Videogames are a powerful medium that curriculum designers can use to create narratively rich worlds for achieving educational goals. In these worlds, youth can become scientists, doctors, writers, and mathematicians who critically engage complex disciplinary content to transform a virtual world. Toward illuminating this potential, the authors advance the theory of transformational play. Such play involves taking on the role of a protagonist who must employ conceptual understandings to transform a problem-based fictional context and transform the player as well. The authors first survey the theory and then ground their discussion in two units that, as part of their design-based research methodology, have simultaneously given rise to and been informed by their theory of transformational play. They close with a discussion of research and design challenges.
Multi-timescale Internet traffic engineering

The Internet is a collection of packet-based hop-by-hop routed networks. Internet traffic engineering is the process of allocating resources to meet the performance requirements of users and operators for their traffic. Current mechanisms for doing so, exemplified by TCP's congestion control or the variety of packet marking disciplines, concentrate on allocating resources on a per-packet basis or at data timescales. This article motivates the need for traffic engineering in the Internet at other timescales, namely control and management timescales, and presents three mechanisms for this. It also presents a scenario to show how these mechanisms increase the flexibility of operators' service offerings and potentially also ease problems of Internet management.
Statewide Estimates of Stalking Among High School Students in Kentucky Demographic Profile and Sex Differences

This large, statewide sample from 26 high schools provided the first population-based estimates of stalking victimization and perpetration among adolescent females and males. Our stalking definition required that pursuing tactics occurred at least 3 times in the past 12 months and included being followed, spied on, or monitored; someone showed up or waited for you when you did not want them to; and receiving unwanted messages. Among 18,013 students, 16.5% disclosed being stalked and 5.3% stalking; 2.8% disclosed both stalking victimization and perpetration. A majority of students reported being most afraid of a former boyfriend or girlfriend as the stalker.
Introduction to Artificial Intelligence

A brief overview of artificial intelligence is supplemented with exercises using a commercial neural network shell. The problems are classification of microorganisms and characterization of flow in tanks.
Osmotic Regulation in the Tadpoles of the Crab-Eating Frog (Rana Cancrivora)

1. Salinity tolerance, osmoregulatory mechanisms and some effects of salinity on embryonic development and metamorphosis have been studied in the tadpoles of the euryhaline crab-eating frog (Rana cancrivora). 2. Tadpoles in developmental stages III-XIX survive well in all salinities from fresh water to 32% sea water. They are good osmoregulators over this entire range, plasma osmotic concentration changing by only 250 m-osmoles/l. in the face of environmental concentration changes of 900 m-osmoles/l. Na, Cl, and K account for over 90% of plasma osmotic concentration in all external concentrations. 3. The osmoregulatory mechanisms used by the tadpoles appear to be similar to those used by euryhaline teleost fishes. In hyperosmotic media they probably drink, then excrete salts by an extrarenal pathway. 4. A metamorphosis in osmoregulatory mechanisms occurs simultaneously with morphological metamorphosis. The osmoconforming behaviour of adult frogs is fully developed in the tadpoles by developmental stage XXV. As in other anuran species there probably is no significant urea production before metamorphosis. 5. Both early embryonic development and the completion of metamorphosis beyond stage XIX apparently require low salinities. 6. The pattern of osmoregulation shown by tadpoles of the freshwater R. limnocharis is identical with osmoregulatory patterns found in adult freshwater anurans. 7. Evolutionary and ecological implications of the data are discussed.
Back translated peptide K-mer search and local alignment in large DNA sequence databases using BoND-SD-tree indexing

In the past, genome sequence databases had used main memory indexing, such as the suffix tree, for fast sequence searches. With next generation sequencing technologies, the amount of sequence data being generated is huge and main memory indexing is limited by the amount of memory available. K-mer based techniques are being more used for various genome sequence database applications such as local alignment. K-mer can also provide an excellent basis for creating efficient disk based indexing. In this paper, we have proposed a k-mer based database searching and local alignment tool using box queries on BoND-SD-tree indexing. BoND-tree is quite efficient for indexing and searching in Non-Ordered Discrete Data Space (NDDS). We have conducted experiments on searching DNA sequence databases using back translated protein query sequences and have compared with existing methods. We have also implemented local alignment of back translated protein query sequences with large DNA sequence databases using this index based k-mer search. Performances of this local alignment approach has been compared with that of Tblastn of NCBI. The results are quite promising and justify significance of the proposed approach.
One size fits all? Determinants of sperm transfer in a highly dimorphic orb‐web spider

The evolutionary significance of widespread hypo-allometric scaling of genital traits in combination with rapid interspecific genital trait divergence has been of key interest to evolutionary biologists for many years and remains poorly understood. Here, we provide a detailed assessment of quantitative genital trait variation in males and females of the sexually highly dimorphic and cannibalistic orb-weaving spider Argiope aurantia. We then test how this trait variation relates to sperm transfer success. In particular, we test specific predictions of the one-size-fits-all and lock-and-key hypotheses for the evolution of genital characters. We use video-taped staged matings in a controlled environment with subsequent morphological microdissections and sperm count analyses. We find little support for the prediction of the one-size-fits-all hypothesis for the evolution of hypo-allometric scaling of genital traits, namely that intermediate trait dimensions confer highest sperm transfer success. Likewise, our findings do not support the prediction of the lock-and-key hypothesis that a tight fit of male and female genital traits mediates highest sperm transfer success. We do, however, detect directional effects of a number of male and female genital characters on sperm transfer, suggesting that genital trait dimensions are commonly under selection in nature. Importantly, even though females are much larger than males, spermatheca size limits the number of sperm transferred, contradicting a previous hypothesis about the evolutionary consequences of genital size dimorphism in extremely size-dimorphic taxa. We also find strong positive effects of male body size and copulation duration on the probability of sperm transfer and the number of sperm transferred, with implications for the evolution of extreme sexual size dimorphism and sexual cannibalism in orb weavers.
Abstract P76: Effect of Patient Activation on Self-Management Behaviors in Heart Failure

Background Disease management and chronic care models have evidenced success with heart failure (HF) patients but have not fully explored patients' engagement/activation in self- care. Objective Determine efficacy of a patient activation intervention (Heart PACT Program) compared to usual care on activation and self-care management in HF. Methods This study was a 4-year, randomized, 2-group, repeated-measures design (baseline, 3 months, and 6 months). Following consent, 84 patients were stratified by activation level and randomly assigned to usual care (n = 41), or usual care plus the activation intervention (n = 43). The primary outcome variables were patient activation using the Patient Activation Measure (PAM) (Hibbard et al., 2005), and self-care using the Self-Care for Heart Failure Index (SCHFI) (Riegel et al., 2004) and the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) Specific Adherence Scale. The intervention consisted of individual meetings and phone call follow-up over 6 months based on the patient's level of activation: stage 1 or 2 (low activation), stage 3 (medium), or stage 4 (high) as assessed by the patient's self-report PAM score and brief interview. The leaders collaborated with patients to improve activation and self-management of HF: adhering to medications; monitoring weight, blood pressure, and symptoms; and implementing health behavior goals. Findings Participants were primarily male (99%), Caucasian (77%), and classified as NYHA III (52%). The mean age was 66 years (SD 11). The majority (71%) of participants reported 3 or more comorbid conditions. The intervention group compared to the usual care group showed a significant increase in activation/PAM scores from baseline to 6 months (significant group by time interaction linear contrast, F=16.90, p=.02). Although the baseline MOS mean was lower in the intervention group, results revealed a significant group by time effect (F=9.16, p = .001) with the intervention group improving more over time. There were no significant group by time interactions for the SCHFI. Conclusion Patient activation can be improved through targeted intervention. The patient activation model has the potential to change approaches to tailored patient education for self-management in heart failure.
Conformational dynamics of a membrane protein chaperone enables spatially regulated substrate capture and release.

Membrane protein biogenesis poses enormous challenges to cellular protein homeostasis and requires effective molecular chaperones. Compared with chaperones that promote soluble protein folding, membrane protein chaperones require tight spatiotemporal coordination of their substrate binding and release cycles. Here we define the chaperone cycle for cpSRP43, which protects the largest family of membrane proteins, the light harvesting chlorophyll a/b-binding proteins (LHCPs), during their delivery. Biochemical and NMR analyses demonstrate that cpSRP43 samples three distinct conformations. The stromal factor cpSRP54 drives cpSRP43 to the active state, allowing it to tightly bind substrate in the aqueous compartment. Bidentate interactions with the Alb3 translocase drive cpSRP43 to a partially inactive state, triggering selective release of LHCP’s transmembrane domains in a productive unloading complex at the membrane. Our work demonstrates how the intrinsic conformational dynamics of a chaperone enables spatially coordinated substrate capture and release, which may be general to other ATP-independent chaperone systems.
Family Therapy in Malaysia: An Update

This article describes the ongoing social and cultural changes among Malaysian families since obtaining independence from British colonialism. Also included is a description on how family therapy could play an importance role in the future of mental health in Malaysia.
Wind tunnel interference on oscillating airfoils in low supersonic flow

Supersonic flow past a slowly oscillating two-dimensional airfoil in a wind tunnel with porous walls is considered. Starting from Sauer's solution for the slowly oscillating airfoil in an unbounded supersonic flow it is shown how this solution can be extended to take wall interference into account. This new and quite elementary theory is compared with an earlier analysis by Drake using Laplace-transform techniques and with a method of characteristics solution by Platzer and Pierce.
Principles of pediatric combination vaccines and practical issues related to use in clinical practice

Background. During the past two decades the number of injections that are required per office visit to fulfill the recommended childhood immunization schedule has increased dramatically. Methods. By reviewing the literature, the principles associated with pediatric combination vaccines are discussed, and practical issues related to their use in clinical practice are evaluated. Results. The ideal combination vaccine is safe, effective and easy to store and use, and its antigenic components fit within the recommended immunization schedule. The ideal combination is associated with fewer adverse reactions than the separately administered antigens, with improved efficacy and higher immune responses compared with its component vaccines. An acceptable combination vaccine must provide comparable efficacy and safety to its component vaccines. Although there are a limited number of combination vaccines already available [diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis, inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) and measles-mumps-rubella], effort is being focused on combining these vaccines with other routine vaccines of infancy including Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) and hepatitis B vaccine (HepB). Currently under review by the Food and Drug Administration are diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis (DTPa)-HepB-IPV and DTPa-Hib-IPV combination vaccines, and two DTPa-HepB-IPV-Hib vaccines have been licensed in Europe. As more combination vaccines become available, issues such as interchangeability and administration of extra doses are raised; however, it is important not to miss a vaccination opportunity. Conclusions. The number of injections required to fulfill the recommended childhood immunization schedule at each visit creates problems for patients and practitioner, sometimes risking a missed opportunity for vaccination. The development of combination vaccines will circumvent this problem and increase compliance and vaccination coverage rates.
Focal Adhesion Formation and Reorganization on Nanopatterned Surfaces

Understanding cell to substrate or cell to cell interactions can contribute to improving biocompatibility of implants, wound healing, tissue engineering, and cancer metastasis. Cell signaling is regulated by the interactions of membrane bound protein with the extracellular matrix (ECM) that control changes during cell migration, adhesion, and proliferation. These changes are often regulated by focal adhesion (FA) complexes. These FAs are anchoring points of the cell to the substrate and are important mechanotranducers for a variety of fundamental cell functions. It is known that cells on nanolined surfaces form their FA parallel to the nanostructures and affects cell behavior. There has been little study of the spatial organization of the individual FA proteins with respect to these structures and how mechanosensing machinery is affected. In this study, we used the z-phasor super-resolution analysis technique to look at the architecture of the FA complex. We have found that FA proteins are stacked at a higher z-position when formed on our nanolines (L860). In addition, we used a vinculin FRET tension sensor (VinTS) using the FLIM/Phasor analysis to study how the rearrangement on L860 affects cellular tension. We report that cells on L860 experience higher tension than those on flat. Insight into how proteins assemble with respect to their local landscapes will provide information about cell coordination, motility and invasiveness.
Meta-analysis of clinical efficacy and safety of glucocorticoids therapy on meconium aspiration syndrome

Objective To assess the efficacy and safety of glucocorticoids treatment for meconium aspiration syndrome(MAS).Methods Besides manually searching,PubMed,MEDLINE,EMBASE,EBSCOhost,the Cochrane Library,the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials(CENTRAL),Ovid,Chinese Biological Medical Literature Database(CBM),Wanfang Chinese Periodical Datase and VIP Chinese Periodical Database were electronically searched from the establsihment of the database till December 2010.All randomized controlled trials(RCTs)about glucocorticoid treatment initiated within postnatal 48 hours in MAS newborns were eligible.Standard methods of the Cochrane Collaboration were employed to evaluate the methodological quality of the trials.Meta-analysis was performed with RevMan 5.0.23 software,and proper effective model was used according to heterogeneity of the included studies.Descriptive analysis was utilized if meta-analysis was inappropriate.Results A total of 1 012 literatures were reviewed.Five RCTs enrolled with 295 participants were eligible for this meta-analysis,among them 1 trial was in low risk of bias,3 were moderate and 1 was in high risk of bias.Meta-analysis showed that glucocorticoid treatment significantly decreased the hospital stays(MD=-5.42,95%CI:-7.38 to-3.45,P0.000 1)and the incidence of sepsis(OR=0.33,95%CI:0.12 to 0.78,P=0.01).Meta-analysis in subgroups indicated that budesonide inhalation decreased significantly the hospital stays(MD=-6.11,95%CI:-8.88 to-3.34,P0.000 1),the duration of respiratory distress(SMD=-1.56,95%CI:-2.12 to-1.00,P0.000 01),the duration of oxygen therapy(SMD=-1.22,95%CI:-1.96 to-0.48,P=0.001)and the incidence of sepsis(OR=0.25,95%CI:0.07 to 0.95,P=0.04).None of glucocorticoid therapies significantly influenced the mortality during hospitalization,duration of chest X-ray clearance,or incidence of oral thrush,superficial fungal infection or meningitis.Descriptive analysis indicated that the glucocorticoids had no effect on the incidence of persistent pulmonary hypertension newborn,air leak,hyperglycemia,hypertension,chronic lung disease(CLD),delayed growth or development.Conclusions Budesonide suspension inhalation initiating within 48 hours postnatal in MAS newborns can significantly shorten hospital stays,duration of respiratory distress and oxygen therapy.Glucocorticoid treatment neither improves the final outcome of MAS newborns,nor increases the incidence of secondary infection.
Life Cycle Assessment of Aluminum Alloy Cable and Copper Cable

The method of life cycle assessment(LCA) was applied to investigate the environmental impacts of aluminum alloy cable and copper cable which have the same current carrying capacity during the whole life cycle.The results showed that the six environmental characteristic indicators of aluminum alloy cable,including the Chinese abiotic depletion potential(CADP),the energy depletion potential,the acidification potential,the global warming potential,the eutrophication potential and the industrial water use,are superior to those of copper cable,and especially has significant advantage in CADP.For the aluminum alloy cable,only the land resource potential is higher than that of copper cable.
Promiscuity Promotes Tolerance

Immunological tolerance has fascinated many of us for decades. The quasi-random rearrangement of gene segments encoding the Ag-specific receptors of lymphocytes occasionally generates specificities capable of recognizing the body’s own constituents. Because these autoreactive specificities are
Bisexual Phenomena Among Gay-Identified Men

A high proportion of self-identified gay men exhibit aspects of bisexuality during their lives. Some identify as bisexual before later identifying as gay; this has been called transitional bisexuality. Although many gay men report no attraction to women-or even sexual disgust toward them-others report some slight attraction to women. The latter have been studied as mostly homosexual men. We studied men with and without a history of transitional bisexuality, as well as mostly homosexual (i.e., those with Kinsey scores of 5) and completely homosexual (i.e., those with Kinsey scores of 6) men with respect to their sexual history with women, their current self-reported sexual arousal and disgust toward women and men, and their patterns of genital sexual arousal to female and male stimuli. Gay men with a history of transitional bisexuality generally lacked current sexual attraction and sexual arousal to women, compared with other gay men. Thus, transitional bisexuality among future gay men is mostly a matter of transitional bisexual identification. In contrast, mostly homosexual men showed statistically significant increases in genital arousal to female stimuli, compared with completely homosexual men.
Consequences of Testing Memory

Abstract Studies using a wide variety of conditions and a diverse set of procedures show that testing memory affects future behavior. The studies have used differing terminology and have been ascribed to differing specialty areas of the literature. Partly, for this reason, the various phenomena have been described in ways, suggesting they differ in substance. In this chapter, we relate many of these phenomena and show that they might be due to a set of common memory processes, processes that can act through conscious, strategic or unconscious, implicit means. The critical strand that links the phenomena is that memory is a continuous process that constantly stores and retrieves information.
When can the cause of a population decline be determined

Inferring the factors responsible for declines in abundance is a prerequisite to preventing the extinction of wild populations. Many of the policies and programmes intended to prevent extinctions operate on the assumption that the factors driving the decline of a population can be determined. Exogenous factors that cause declines in abundance can be statistically confounded with endogenous factors such as density dependence. To demonstrate the potential for confounding, we used an experiment where replicated populations were driven to extinction by gradually manipulating habitat quality. In many of the replicated populations, habitat quality and density dependence were confounded, which obscured causal inference. Our results show that confounding is likely to occur when the exogenous factors that are driving the decline change gradually over time. Our study has direct implications for wild populations, because many factors that could drive a population to extinction change gradually through time.
Optical polarization control of photo-pumped stimulated emissions at 238 nm from AlGaN multiple-quantum-well laser structures on AlN substrates

We demonstrate the capability to control the optical polarization of room-temperature stimulated emissions (SEs) at 238–239 nm from optically pumped AlGaN multiple-quantum-well (MQW) heterostructures on bulk AlN. The results of structural and optical characterizations provided evidence that altering the strain state in the pseudomorphically grown MQW laser structures enabled the switching of the polarization direction of the SE from predominantly transverse electric (TE) at 238 nm to predominantly transverse magnetic (TM) at 239 nm. The SE observed at 238 nm represents the shortest peak wavelength with TE polarization yet reported for AlGaN materials grown on any type of substrate.
Vitamin D insufficiency among African Americans in the southeastern United States: Implications for cancer disparities.

B72 Accumulating evidence suggests that vitamin D may play an inhibitory role for certain cancers that occur more frequently among African Americans than whites. Vitamin D levels tend to be higher in the South, but scant data exist on black-white differences in vitamin D status among Southerners. The purpose of this study was to determine and compare the prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency, and the predictors of insufficiency, among black and white adult residents of the South. We performed a cross-sectional analysis of serum 25(OH)D, the major circulating form of vitamin D, using baseline blood samples from a stratified random sample of 395 Southern Community Cohort Study (SCCS) participants enrolled at community health centers. Participants were African American and white adults aged 40-79 who enrolled in the study from 2002-2004. We defined hypovitaminosis D as serum 25(OH)D levels 400 IU/day, the prevalence of hypovitaminosis D was 41% for females and 23% for males. Body mass index (BMI) was a strong predictor of risk for hypovitaminosis D among black women (OR=6.5, 95%CI 1.7-25.1 for BMI >30kg/m2 vs. 18-24.9kg/m2). UVR exposure estimated by residential location was positively associated with 25(OH)D levels among all groups except white women. We conclude that hypovitaminosis D affects a substantial proportion of the African American population studied, even in this geographical area and those meeting recommended dietary guidelines. Vitamin D should continue to be a studied target for improving health and reducing racial health disparities in the US.