cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Virtual grand rounds as a novel means for applicants and programs to connect in the era of COVID-19.

Abstract Background COVID-19 has disrupted the 2020–2021 residency application cycle with the cancellation of away rotations and in-person interviews. This study seeks to investigate the feasibility and utility of video conferencing technology (VCT) as an opportunity for applicants to interact with faculty from outside programs. Methods 18 prospective urology applicants were randomized to 6 urology programs to give a virtual grand rounds (VGR) talk. Presentations were recorded and analyzed to determine audience engagement. Students were surveyed regarding perceived utility of VGR. Faculty were surveyed to determine system usability of VCT and ability to evaluate the applicant. Results 17 students completed the survey, reporting a 100% satisfaction rate with VGR. A majority felt this was a useful way to learn about outside programs. 85 physicians completed the faculty survey, with nearly half feeling confident in their ability to evaluate the applicant. Video transcription data shows sessions were interactive with minimal distractions. Conclusions VGR can be a useful means for medical students to express interest in programs as well as an additional marker for faculty to evaluate applicants.
Drug Shortages and the Defense Production Act

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, US hospitals have faced shortages of critical drugs, including sedatives and neuromuscular blocking agents needed to intubate patients and maintain ventilatory support, opioids for pain control and sedation, antibiotics to address secondary bacterial infections, and bronchodilators to open airways 1 In response to limited supplies of ventilators and personal protective equipment, the Trump administration invoked the Defense Production Act (DPA), but shortages of personal protective equipment remain The DPA is a Korean War era law that enables the president to manage critical resources in times of scarcity by providing authority to gather confidential business information, allocate existing supplies, expand domestic production, and compel private industry to fulfill government manufacturing contracts 2 Use of the DPA does not require a large-scale crisis but must support the national defense, including the protection of critical infrastructure More fundamentally, use of the DPA could, in the long term, limit incentives for the health care industry to invest in improvements that could avert future shortages at lower cost, such as strengthening contractual supply-assurance provisions, engaging with multiple suppliers, preparing alternate treatment protocols and other contingency plans, and holding larger inventories in reserve Because it is unknown how this pandemic will evolve in the coming months, more information is needed about inventories and supply chains to ensure long-term availability of essential products
Improvement In Metabolic Co-morbidities After Implantation of Cardiomems In Patients with Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction Phenotype

Introduction Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) patient population often have other comorbidities including obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension and diabetes comprising the metabolic syndrome. The impacts of hemodynamic monitoring via Cardiomems on these co-morbidities remains unknown. Methods A retrospective analysis of 29 patients with HFpEF (EF 45% or greater) with Cardiomems was reviewed at a single center. Weight, body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressures (SBP), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), triglycerides (TGL), hemoglobin A1C (HA1C), and pulmonary artery diastolic pressures (PADP) were assessed at baseline and six months post implant. Paired t-tests and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test were used as appropriate to test differences between time points. Results Twenty nine patients, 31% male, 62% NICM, mean age of 73 years were analyzed. At time of Cardiomems implantation, average weight was 102.55 kgs ± 22.70, BMI was 38.01 kg/m^2 ± 8.30, SBP was 135 mmHg ± 19, HDL was 42.4 mg/dl ± 11.3, TGL was 150.5 mg/dl ± 60.3, and PADP was 20.10 mmHg ± 5.72. At six month follow-up, with a decrease by 21% in PADP to 15.86 ± 5.76, (p = Conclusion The addition of controlling PADP with Cardiomems implantation results in improvement in the comorbidities associated with the metabolic syndrome. Further studies are warranted to validate these findings and delineate clinical significance on a patient's quality of life.
Checkerboard-Mask Coronagraphs for High-Contrast Imaging

We present yet another new family of masks for high-contrast imaging, as required for the planned Terrestrial Planet Finder space telescope. We call these masks "checkerboard" masks. They consist of two "bar-code" masks, one rotated 90° with respect to the other. Each bar-code mask provides contrast to the 10-5 level. The checkerboard mask then achieves a 10-10 level of contrast everywhere except along the two axes of symmetry, where the contrast remains at the 10-5 level. With these designs, we are able to reduce the inner working angle to 2λ/D for each bar code, which translates to 2λ/D along the diagonal of the associated checkerboard mask. We show that by combining a Lyot-plane checkerboard mask with an image-plane occulter we can achieve even tighter inner working angles, although as with occulting designs in general pointing error and stellar size become nontrivial issues. Checkerboard masks can be thought of as the binary-mask analog of Nisenson's apodized square aperture concept.
Innate immune signaling in Drosophila shifts anabolic lipid metabolism from triglyceride storage to phospholipid synthesis to support immune function

During infection, cellular resources are allocated toward the metabolically-demanding processes of synthesizing and secreting effector proteins that neutralize and kill invading pathogens. In Drosophila, these effectors are antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) that are produced in the fat body, an organ that also serves as a major lipid storage depot. Here we asked how activation of Toll signaling in the larval fat body perturbs lipid homeostasis to understand how cells meet the metabolic demands of the immune response. We find that genetic or physiological activation of fat body Toll signaling leads to a tissue-autonomous reduction in triglyceride storage that is paralleled by decreased transcript levels of the DGAT homolog midway, which carries out the final step of triglyceride synthesis. In contrast, Kennedy pathway enzymes that synthesize membrane phospholipids are induced. Mass spectrometry analysis revealed elevated levels of major phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine species in fat bodies with active Toll signaling. The ER stress mediator Xbp1 contributed to the Toll-dependent induction of Kennedy pathway enzymes, which was blunted by deleting AMP genes, thereby reducing secretory demand elicited by Toll activation. Consistent with ER stress induction, ER volume is expanded in fat body cells with active Toll signaling, as determined by transmission electron microscopy. A major functional consequence of reduced Kennedy pathway induction is an impaired immune response to bacterial infection. Our results establish that Toll signaling induces a shift in anabolic lipid metabolism to favor phospholipid synthesis and ER expansion that may serve the immediate demand for AMP synthesis and secretion but with the long-term consequence of insufficient nutrient storage.
A Child with Papillary Thyroid Cancer and Metastatic Pulmonary Disease: Role of Radioactive Iodine Therapy

Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most common pediatric endocrine malignancy. Cervical lymph node metastases occur in the vast majority of pediatric PTC, whereas pulmonary metastases occur in up to 25% of cases (depending on the series) and generally only with concomitant significant locoregional lymph node disease. Pulmonary metastases are typically micronodular and usually demonstrate excellent radioactive iodine (RAI) uptake, making them amenable to successful treatment with 131I. Although some children will demonstrate a complete response to RAI therapy, others will have persistent albeit stable disease following one or more courses of 131I. Clinical response to RAI may take several years to manifest, and more than one 131I treatment will need to be considered, especially in those children with high-volume pulmonary metastatic disease. Despite a higher risk of pulmonary metastases compared with adults, the risk of disease-specific mortality remains very low in children, and survival over decades is the norm. Therefore, the risks of repeated courses of 131I therapy (e.g., pulmonary fibrosis and secondary malignancies) need to be balanced against the risks of the disease itself, making the management of pulmonary metastatic disease in young children challenging. Contemporary approaches include postoperative risk stratification to identify those children at highest risk for distant metastatic disease and a more conservative approach to RAI treatment. Moreover, improved knowledge of the molecular drivers of pediatric PTC should help to improve risk stratification and provide a more individualized treatment approach in these patients.
Elevation Correlates With Significant Changes in Relative Abundance in Hummingbird Fecal Microbiota, but Composition Changes Little

The microbial communities living on and in vertebrate hosts have myriad effects on their hosts, potentially including fitness and speciation. Microbiomes are influenced by both intrinsic (from the host) and extrinsic (from the environment) factors, but the relative contributions of each are unknown for most non-model species. Abiotic environmental factors can influence the microbiome directly but it is less clear how abiotic gradients shape microbiome communities in the wild. Here, we captured eight wild Anna’s hummingbirds from three different elevations along their elevational distribution in California and moved them directly to a middle (“Within Range”) elevation. After some time at this elevation, the birds were moved in captivity to an “Above Range '' elevation, and two birds were later moved back to the Within Range elevation. Fecal and food samples were collected longitudinally and the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene analyzed. The most abundant phyla in all samples were Fusobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and Proteobacteria, Individual Bird ID explained the greatest amount of microbiome variation at 27.5%, signifying some amount of stability in the Anna’s hummingbird fecal microbiome. Sample elevation explained 19.6% (p = 0.001) of the variation using weighted UniFrac, but only 2.0% (p = 0.047) using unweighted UniFrac, implying a change in abundance of bacterial lineages in the microbiome but not in the presence or absence of the microbes. Additionally, Fusobacteria were 7.0x more abundant in the Above Range elevation samples while Firmicutes were 0.3x lower. A thorough understanding of how the environment can shape the microbiome may assist in conservation efforts and a general understanding of host-microbiome relationships in an era of rapid and global environmental change.
Can Non-Intervention Survive Afghanistan?

There's a nice scene in the film The Godfather during which one of the headstrong sons wants to confront a rival with some proposition and the old don cautions him, "Mention it; don't insist." That would also be good advice for America in the aftermath of the swift and brutal Russian invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979. An eerie euphoria is sweeping this country, like the one that inflamed Europe in August 1914. Don Vito's counsel doesn't betoken cowardice — just healthy realism and an interest in staying alive. The one thing that almost anyone (doves as well as hawks, liberals and conservatives alike) would say about Afghanistan is that we can't just sit on our hands. I wonder: Why not? That sounds precisely like what we ought to be doing. Curiously, however, the one position that has hardly been expounded in the current American " great debate" is nonintervention, that is, the case for doing nothing. Not symbolic measures, not oblique retaliations, not vague threats, not verbal doctrines, not basing and deployment schemes, but flat nothing. These are times that try the souls of non-interventionists. Opinion is divided: the triumphant hawks; the chastened doves, only recently converted to fear and bellicose reaction; the other doves, the left-liberal remnant, embarrassed by the erosion of the factual basis of their position and straining to find another benign formula for avoiding a final slide into intervention. Worse perhaps than the vindictive hawks are the repentant doves, who feel personally outraged by the Russians for mocking their earlier notions of how the world works. "Betrayed, yes, that's the word," complains Senator Ed Muskie; Russia "just ran out on us." George Ball, the old reliable devil's advocate of "hopeful" diplomatic solutions, now wants bigger defense budgets, more airlift, sea-lift, Marines, and bases throughout the Middle East, revival of the draft, and urgent coercion of Israel into a settlement favoring pan-Islamic goals. Clark Clifford, who wisely encouraged Lyndon Johnson to abandon Vietnam, is peddling American arms and threats around South Asia.
Medullary Kappa-Opioid Receptor Neurons Inhibit Pain and Itch Through a Descending Circuit

In perilous and stressful situations, the ability to suppress pain can be critical for survival. The rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM) contains neurons that robustly inhibit pain processing in the spinal cord through a top-down modulatory pathway. Although much is known about the role of the RVM in the inhibition of pain, the precise identities and mechanisms of pain-inhibitory neurons in the RVM have never been identified. We now expose a cellular circuit that inhibits pain and itch in mice. Through a combination of molecular, tracing, and behavioral approaches, we found that RVM neurons containing the kappa-opioid receptor (KOR) inhibit itch and pain. With chemogenetic inhibition, we uncovered that these neurons are required for stress-induced analgesia. Using intersectional chemogenetic and pharmacological approaches, we determined that RVM KOR neurons inhibit pain and itch through a descending circuit. Lastly, we identified a dynorphinergic pathway arising from the PAG that modulates nociception within the RVM. These discoveries highlight a distinct population of RVM neurons capable of broadly and robustly inhibiting itch and pain.
Anatomy of Hematopoiesis and Local Microenvironments in the Bone Marrow. Where to

The shape and spatial organization -the anatomy- of a tissue profoundly influences its function. Knowledge of the anatomical relationships between parent and daughter cells is necessary to understand differentiation and how the crosstalk between the different cells in the tissue leads to physiological maintenance and pathological perturbations. Blood cell production takes place in the bone marrow through the progressive differentiation of stem cells and progenitors. These are maintained and regulated by a heterogeneous microenvironment composed of stromal and hematopoietic cells. While hematopoiesis has been studied in extraordinary detail through functional and multiomics approaches, much less is known about the spatial organization of blood production and how local cues from the microenvironment influence this anatomy. Here, we discuss some of the studies that revealed a complex anatomy of hematopoiesis where discrete local microenvironments spatially organize and regulate specific subsets of hematopoietic stem cells and/or progenitors. We focus on the open questions in the field and discuss how new tools and technological advances are poised to transform our understanding of the anatomy of hematopoiesis.
Tax Evasion in an Overlapping Generations Model with Public Investment

The current analysis of the impact of stricter enforcement of tax laws on tax evasion ignores the most policy relevant case where it has effects running from public revenue to public expenditure. The paper shows that the existing results in literature apply to this policy relevant case, but under certain restrictions on the government policy. Using a dynamic general equilibrium model, it shows that the benefits of stricter enforcement are realized immediately but these immediate effects are slightly smaller than the long-run effects derived in the literature. When stricter enforcement is used as a tool to raise revenue for public investment, the positive impact on growth from increased public investment is tempered by a negative general equilibrium effect arising from reduced private capital accumulation.
Newly generated granule cells show rapid neuroplastic changes in the adult rat dentate gyrus during the first five days following pilocarpine-induced seizures

Long-term neuroplastic changes to dentate granule cells have been reported after seizures and were shown to contribute to recurrent excitatory circuitry. These changes include increased numbers of newborn granule cells, sprouted mossy fibers, granule cell layer dispersion, increased hilar ectopic granule cells and formation of hilar basal dendrites on granule cells. The goal of the current study was to determine the acute progression of neuroplastic changes involving newly generated granule cells after pilocarpine-induced seizures. Doublecortin (DCX) immunocytochemical preparations were used to examine the newly generated granule cells 1-5 days after seizures were induced. The results showed that there are rapid neuroplastic changes to the DCX-labeled cells. At 1 day after seizures were induced, there were significant increases in the percentage of DCX-labeled cells with hilar basal dendrites and in the progenitor cell population. At 2 days after seizures were induced, an increase in the thickness of the layer of DCX-labeled cells occurred. At 3 days after seizures were induced, the number of DCX-labeled cells was significantly increased. At 4 days after seizures were induced, developing synapses were observed on DCX-labeled hilar basal dendrites. Thus, newly generated granule cells in the adult dentate gyrus display neuroplastic changes by 1 day after pilocarpine-induced seizures and further changes occur to this population of cells in the subsequent 4 days. The presence of synapses, albeit developing ones, on hilar basal dendrites during this period indicates that newly generated granule cells become rapidly incorporated into dentate gyrus circuitry following seizures.
Elder Abuse Prevention: Emerging Trends and Promising Strategies by L. Nerenberg

Most people who write to entertain create stories or novels that reflect important aspects of themselves. Those aspects may be their backgrounds, philosophy, or even vision. More rarely do people w...
Colony Size Can Be Used To Determine the MIC of Fluconazole for Pathogenic Yeasts

This report describes a new statistical method for estimating the MIC of fluconazole for yeasts pathogenic to humans. This method is based on comparison of the colony sizes on solid media containing different concentrations of fluconazole. By this method, the MICs of fluconazole for 10 yeast strains were comparable to results obtained by the standard method recommended by the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards. This method is simple to perform and easy to interpret. The turnaround time is faster than other methods. The method should be applicable to the determination MICs of other antifungal drugs for yeasts.
The C-terminal Domain (CTD) of Human DNA Glycosylase NEIL1 Is Required for Forming BERosome Repair Complex with DNA Replication Proteins at the Replicating Genome DOMINANT NEGATIVE FUNCTION OF THE CTD

The human DNA glycosylase NEIL1 was recently demonstrated to initiate prereplicative base excision repair (BER) of oxidized bases in the replicating genome, thus preventing mutagenic replication. A significant fraction of NEIL1 in cells is present in large cellular complexes containing DNA replication and other repair proteins, as shown by gel filtration. However, how the interaction of NEIL1 affects its recruitment to the replication site for prereplicative repair was not investigated. Here, we show that NEIL1 binarily interacts with the proliferating cell nuclear antigen clamp loader replication factor C, DNA polymerase δ, and DNA ligase I in the absence of DNA via its non-conserved C-terminal domain (CTD); replication factor C interaction results in ∼8-fold stimulation of NEIL1 activity. Disruption of NEIL1 interactions within the BERosome complex, as observed for a NEIL1 deletion mutant (N311) lacking the CTD, not only inhibits complete BER in vitro but also prevents its chromatin association and reduced recruitment at replication foci in S phase cells. This suggests that the interaction of NEIL1 with replication and other BER proteins is required for efficient repair of the replicating genome. Consistently, the CTD polypeptide acts as a dominant negative inhibitor during in vitro repair, and its ectopic expression sensitizes human cells to reactive oxygen species. We conclude that multiple interactions among BER proteins lead to large complexes, which are critical for efficient BER in mammalian cells, and the CTD interaction could be targeted for enhancing drug/radiation sensitivity of tumor cells.
Improving VoIP quality through path switching

The current best-effort Internet cannot readily provide the service guarantees that VoIP applications often require. Path switching can potentially address this problem without requiring new network mechanisms, simply by leveraging the robustness to performance variations available from connectivity options such as multi-homing and overlays. In this paper, we evaluate the effectiveness and benefits of path switching in improving the quality of VoIP applications, and demonstrate its feasibility through the design and implementation of a prototype gateway. We argue for an application-driven path switching system that accounts for both network path characteristics and application-specific factors (e.g., codec algorithms, playout buffering schemes). We also develop an application path quality estimator based on the ITU-T E-model for voice quality assessment, and an application-driven path switching algorithm that dynamically adapts the time scales over which path switching decisions are made to maximize voice quality. Through network emulation and experiments over a wide-area multi-homed test bed, we show that, with sufficient path diversity, path switching can yield meaningful improvements in voice quality. Hence by exploiting the inherent path diversity of the Internet, application-driven path switching is a viable option in providing quality-of-service to applications.
Transitional Care Interventions To Prevent Readmissions for People With Heart Failure

Almost 25% of patients hospitalized with heart failure (HF) are readmitted within 30 days. This systematic review of 47 trials examined the efficacy of transitional care interventions to reduce rea...
Structure of alternative supersymmetry schemes in nuclei

Abstract The structural differences of two group chain decompositions for a multi- j IBA supersymmetry applicable to nuclei in an O(6) region are discussed in terms of core polarization, and compared to data for 197 Pt. It is shown that the wave functions for the lowest two representations are identical in the two chains. This is interpreted in terms of the concept of stretched configurations and leads to suggested experiments to better distinguish the two alternative supersymmetries. Analogous results for an SU(5) region are briefly outlined.
Insoluble components of concentrated air particles mediate alveolar macrophage responses in vitro.

We sought to characterize the bioactive constituents of concentrated ambient air particles (CAPs) through correlation of alveolar macrophage (AM) biological responses (production of TNF, macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP-2), nitrite; cell viability) to components of particle samples. CAPs samples collected on different days showed a range of bioactivity and a strong correlation was found between AM cytokine release and increased AM light scatter, a flow cytometric measure of relative particle load. Evaluation of soluble and insoluble fractions of CAPs suspensions indicate that 1) most biological effects on AMs are mediated by insoluble components and certain particle adsorbed factors such as endotoxin; 2) the variable bioactivity of CAPs collected on different days arises primarily from differences in the relative proportion of insoluble and soluble mass present in particle suspensions; and 3) the activation state of the AM influences which insoluble components are most bioactive. Use of endotoxin neutralizing agents (e.g., polymyxin-B) showed particle-adsorbed endotoxin in CAPs suspensions causes activation of normal (control) AMs while other (nonendotoxin) components are predominantly responsible for the enhanced cytokine release observed by primed AMs incubated with CAPs. The AM biological response did not correlate with any of a panel of elements quantified within insoluble CAPs samples (Al, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, S, Ti, V). These data demonstrate an important role for cell activation and phagocytosis of insoluble particulate matter in the response of AMs to CAPs suspensions.
Intrathyroidally Generated Iodide: The Role of Transport in Its Utilization*

Thyroid iodide labeled 72 h earlier with 131I was separated from organic iodine by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The concentration of thyroid radioiodide was not significantly diminished 2 h after the administration of perchlorate (100 mg NaClO4) alone, but perchlorate reduced the rise in glandular radioiodide caused by simultaneously given TSH (1 IU). When propylthiouracil (PTU; 20 mg) was given along with it, perchlorate decreased thyroid radioiodide even in rats not treated with TSH. In rats given perchlorate, PTU caused a much slighter augmentation of the TSH-induced increase in the thyroid radioiodide concentration than in the absence of perchlorate. These results are interpreted as follows. Perchlorate-discharged iodide in rats not given TSH is largely transported iodide. Perchlorate can discharge intrathyroidally generated (internal) iodide too, but this is unequivocally reflected by a decrease in the thyroid iodide concentration only when the production of internal iodide is enhanced by TSH....
Unsaturated hydraulic conductivity modeling for porous media with two fractal regimes

A reliable means to predict the saturation-dependence of the hydraulic conductivity would have important applications and implications across soil science. In our efforts to improve predictive capabilities we apply a bimodal pore size distribution to generate simultaneously the soil water retention curve (SWRC) and the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity K in porous media. Our specific pore size model incorporates two fractal regimes, which we treat within the pore–solid fractal approach. The calculation of the hydraulic conductivity employs critical path analysis from percolation theory, which has already been shown to perform the best overall among models commonly employed. To evaluate the developed piecewise functions, 8 soil samples with different textures, e.g., loam, silt loam, sandy loam and clay are selected. All soils show almost the same cross-over point on both water retention and hydraulic conductivity curves on semi-log plots. We find that the piecewise water retention and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity models fit well the measured data. However, the hydraulic conductivity curves predicted from the water retention data agree relatively well with the measured one just for the first regime and tend to underestimate K in the second. We also compare our results with those obtained from unimodal pore-size distribution reported by Ghanbarian-Alavijeh and Hunt (2012). Comparing the measured data with the unimodal and bimodal models indicates that the bimodal distribution provide somewhat more realistic predictions than the unimodal one. If prediction is sacrificed and we simply try to model K using our results, we find that we can generate a very accurate phenomenological description of K with only a slight change in the values of the fractal dimensionality. Reasons for this discrepancy are discussed.
Modulation of plasma complement by the initial dose of epirubicin/docetaxel therapy in breast cancer and its predictive value

Modulation of plasma complement by the initial dose of epirubicin/docetaxel therapy in breast cancer and its predictive value
Floodwater Oxygen Content, Ethylene Production and Lenticel Hypertrophy in Flooded Mango (Mangifera indica L.) Trees

A system was developed to test the effects of floodwater 02 concentration on ethylene evolution and stem lenticel hypertrophy, and the effects of exogenous ethylene on stem lenticel hypertrophy in mango (Mangifera indica L.) trees. Dissolved 02 concentrations of 1-7 x 10~9 m3 m~3 generally resulted in hypertrophy of stem lenticels within about 6 d of flooding, whereas floodwater 02 concentrations of 13-15 x 10 9 m3 m 3 delayed hypertrophy until about day 9. After 14 d of flooding, there were more than twice the number of hypertrophied lenticels per tree with floodwater 02 concentrations of 1-7 x 10"9 m3 m~3 than with floodwater 02 concentrations of 15 x 10 9 m3 m~3. Ethylene evolution from stem tissue immediately above the floodline increased 4- to 8-fold in trees exposed to floodwater 02 concentrations of 1-2 x 10~9 m3 in 3. increased 2-fold for trees exposed to floodwater 02 concentrations of 6-7 x 10~9 m3 m~3, but remained constant with floodwater 02 concentrations of 13-15 x 10~9 m3 m~3. Plants maintained in highly oxygenated floodwater (13-15 x 10"9 m3 m~3), and given exogenous ethylene developed many hypertrophied lenticels, whereas plants in highly oxygenated water and not given ethylene developed fewer or no hypertrophied lenticels. These data suggest that ethylene plays a role in promotion of stem lenticel hypertrophy in flooded mango trees, and that floodwater dissolved oxygen concentration can regulate stem lenticel hypertrophy and ethylene evolution in this species.
Toxicological Studies with Mirex in Bobwhite Quail

Abstract Bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus) received dietary mirex in concentrations of 1, 20, and 40 ppm to investigate reproductive effects of long term exposure to this chemical. Residue analyses of F0 generation breeders indicated that male adipose tissue contained approximately 10 times the mirex level in the diet. Elimination of mirex in females probably was facilitated by egg laying, which reduced mirex buildup in adipose tissue to five times the dietary level. Both sexes were noted to concentrate mirex in fat and breast tissue in direct proportion to the intake of dietary mirex. Eggs collected from F0 generation breeders were not affected deleteriously by mirex as measured by embryo survival to 3 weeks, and the number of eggs failing to hatch. Indeed, increased rates of egg fertility and hatchability were associated with higher dietary concentrations. Chick survival data was obtained in F0 and F1 generation hatchlings from hatching through 2 weeks. No chick mortality attributable to pesticide stress was detected in either group of birds. Eggs collected from F1 generation breeders that received 1 ppm were not affected harmfully as measured by embryonation, embryo survival, and hatchability rates. Comparison of residues in wild bobwhites with residues in our experimental findings indicates mirex is apparently not affecting deleteriously reproductive success of wild quail.
COSTS OF EDUCATING CHILD HFALTH ASSOCIATES

The direct costs of training child health associates were determined by analyzing the actual expenses for a seven year period (July, 1968 - June, 1975) of the three-year, University of Colorado School of Medicine's Child Health Associate Program. Costs were allocated into six categories: start-up, teaching, administration, evaluation, deployment and student support. The costs were calculated per trainee(N = 61) per year of training. The estimated time spent by the faculty in administrative, teaching and research activities was also determined. Administrative and teaching expenses of the Child Health Associate Program were S4655/student/year. Start-up, evaluation, deployment and student support costs totaled S3848/student/year. Conclusion: Child health associates are fully prepared to diagnose and treat more than 90% of ambulatory pediatric patients at a cost of less than one-third the expense of educating a pediatrician to perform the same functions and activities. A rational health planning policy should include the extensive utilization of child health associates as primary health care providers for children.
The cross-shelf structure of wind- and buoyancy-driven circulation over the North Carolina inner shelf

Abstract Circulation and transport over the North Carolina shelf were studied as part of an interdisciplinary CoOP study in 1994. Shipboard data and moored instruments reveal two important influences on the density distribution. Winds in the area reverse every few days, driving upwelling and downwelling circulation alternately, and a low-salinity coastal buoyancy current from Chesapeake Bay is present only during downwelling. Empirical orthogonal functions reveal that variability in temperature and cross-shore circulation is dominated by upwelling and downwelling, while patterns in salinity and along-shore circulation are primarily due to the buoyancy current. The observed density distribution goes through a cycle, showing each influence in turn. After a period of equatorward winds, the thermocline bends downward at the nearshore end, and a coastal wedge of low-salinity water is observed. When the winds turn poleward, the thermocline bends upward and the low-salinity water moves offshore. This cycle repeats four times during our study period with modest variations.
Enrichment of meiotic recombination hotspot sequences by avidin capture technology

Abstract About 40% of the hotspots for meiotic recombination contain the degenerate consensus sequence 5′-CCNCCNTNNCCNC-3′. Here we present a novel protocol for enriching hotspot sequences from digested genomic DNA by using biotinylated oligonucleotides and streptavidin-coated magnetic beads. The captured hotspots can be released by simple digestion with restriction enzymes for subsequent characterization by second generation sequencing or PCR. The capture protocol specifically enriches hotspot sequences, judged by using fluorophore-conjugated synthetic oligonucleotides and synthetic double-stranded oligonucleotides in combination with PCR. The capture protocol enriches single-stranded DNA, denatured double-stranded DNA, and large fragments (> 3000 bp) of digested plasmid DNA with good efficacy. No false positive and false negatives were detected when enriching digested DNA from human cell cultures and primary human cells. The protocol can probably be adapted to enriching sequences other than the hotspot sequence by altering the sequence in the capture oligonucleotide. We intend to apply this protocol in studies assessing effects of micronutrient status on meiotic recombination events in human sperm.
Advance Notice for Transition-Related Problem Behavior: Practice Guidelines

Transitions between daily activities can occasion or elicit problem behavior in individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Providing advance notice to signal an upcoming transition is a common practice in early and special education settings (e.g., Riffel 2010; Sandall et al. 2005). While the literature contains many demonstrations of the efficacy of various advance notice procedures, other studies have shown negative results. Practitioners are faced with the challenge of deciding whether advance notice is a viable treatment option for transition-related problem behavior in light of these contradictory findings. To assist the practitioner in this decision-making process, we provide a brief review of the advance notice literature, concentrating on the studies reporting that advance notice is ineffective at reducing transition-related problems. The goal is to provide practitioners with a better understanding of the environmental conditions under which advance notice is likely to be ineffective at decreasing problem behavior as well as the conditions under which it can be effective at reducing transition-related problem behavior. Discriminating these conditions may yield a useful set of practice guidelines for deciding when advance notice is a viable treatment option for decreasing transition-related problem behavior.
Development of a handbook/database on EM window materials

A central depository for electromagnetic (EM) window material property data and information about survivability issues is necessary due to a vast amount of data being available which is dispersed throughout the EM community. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the development of a material property database and handbook on EM window materials. The proposed format of the handbook/database is given as are the key topics that are included.© (1994) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
The criminal justice degree and policing: conceptual development or occupational primer?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the value that police officers with criminal justice degrees place on their personal educational experiences, while also comparing those perceptions with officers educated in other academic disciplines. Its focus also rests on the degree's contribution to conceptual and managerial skills, as opposed to mere occupational expertise. Disagreement between the academic and law enforcement communities concerning the value of criminal justice education creates an imbalance eroding potential benefits. Recent studies highlight this division as even pre‐service majors regard the degree as unrelated to most policing functions.Design/methodology/approach – Police departments with 50 or more sworn officers from across the State of Alabama (United States) were the data collection sites (n=21). In total, 16 departments participated and 1,114 officers (57 percent) responded to a mail survey (2002).Findings – The paper finds that officers with criminal justice degrees (n=29...
A Likelihood Ratio Test for Equality of Natural Parameters for Generalized Riesz Distributions

An important classical problem is testing whether several centered multivariate normal distributions have the same covariance matrix, which is equivalent to testing that certain Wishart distributions have the same natural parameter. Wishart distributions, which are supported on sets of positive definite matrices, are a special case of generalized Riesz distributions, which are supported on sets of matrices related to the Markov properties of decomposable undirected graphs. This leads to the problem of testing whether several generalized Riesz distributions have the same natural parameter. In this paper, we derive the likelihood ratio statistic for this testing problem and find its moments.
Paradoxical Inequalities: Adolescent Peer Relations in Indian Secondary Schools

Peer relationships in secondary schools in two different cultural areas of India are compared. A general theory of status relations and a specification of the distinctive cultural features of each area are used to explain the observed differences in peer inequality, clique formation, petty deviance, putdowns, fashion consciousness, romantic relationships, and gossip. A surprising finding is that the degree of status inequality among school peers is inversely related to an ideological emphasis on equality and hierarchy: The more egalitarian the cultural ideology, the greater the inequality in peer relationships, and conversely, the more emphasis on hierarchy, the less the actual peer inequality. The apparent paradox is resolved by specifying the structural mechanisms through which cultural and ideological differences operate. Brief comparisons with the United States suggest that these findings are not unique to India.
A surrogate-assisted linkage inference approach in genetic algorithms

Linkage in terms of genetic algorithms is a measure of interdependence of groups of genes. When linkage exists, the fitness contribution of one gene depends on the allele setting of another. Our approach, a surrogate-assisted linkage inference genetic algorithm (SALIGA), is able to detect linkage for real-valued alleles. It uses a perturbation-based method with the aid of fitness surrogates and clustering techniques. Experimental results of linkage inference applied to several synthetic fitness functions are provided. The results demonstrate that SALIGA is able to reliably infer linkage and will correctly group the genes of an individual according to their linkage group membership, while using fewer fitness evaluations through a surrogate model. In addition, our results are augmented with a discussion regarding linkage detection through feature selection.
Parental efficacy, parental monitoring efficacy, and monitoring among Asian-Indian parents of adolescents living in Chennai, India

Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between parental efficacy and a new concept entitled parental monitoring efficacy, and to examine the association between parental monitoring efficacy and monitoring. We conducted two studies on two samples of Asian-Indian parents and adolescents living in Chennai, India. In the first study of 241 parents of adolescents in grades, 9–12, we constructed a new measure of parental efficacy that included two factors. The first factor, responding competently to negative adolescent behavior was more strongly predictive of parental monitoring efficacy than the second factor, instilling positive behavior. In the second study of 215 parents and adolescents in grades 10 and 12, parental monitoring efficacy predicted monitoring, especially adolescent disclosure and parental control. The importance of parental control as a monitoring technique among traditional Indian parents was discussed.
Experimental studies of drop dynamics in shear fields: Role of dynamic interfacial effects

Abstract The behavior of drops in shear fields is experimentally studied and the roles of interfacial viscous effects and interfacial tension gradients are investigated. Specifically, drop deformation, orientation, and internal and external circulation tests are reported and these are compared with various theoretical predictions. Only in the case of systems with very high bulk viscosities were dynamic interfacial effects found to be negligible. In lower viscosity systems, even those with only contaminant amounts of surface active agents, significant interfacial shear viscosities and apparent dilatational viscosities were obtained. The experimental results are consistent with the previous theoretical predictions of Flumerfelt, and the latter theory provides a basis for interfacial viscous property measurements.
Biochemical, physiological and morfological responses in common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) after long-term exposure to terbutryn in real environmental concentration

Abstract The effects of terbutryn at concentrations of 0.02 (reported concentration in Czech rivers), 0.2, and 2.0 μg l−1 were assessed in one-year-old common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) exposed for 90 days. Influence on biometric parameters, hematology, biochemistry, histology, and oxidative stress was investigated. Exposure to 0.02, 0.2 and 2.0 μg l−1 showed significant differences oxidative stress biomarkers compared to controls but exposure to 0.2 and 2.0 μg l−1 significantly affected biochemical and hematological profiles. Long-term exposure of terbutryn in carp resulted in slight alterations in internal organs and increased reactive oxygen species formation, resulting in oxidative damage to lipids and proteins and inhibition of antioxidant capacities.
Early Teacher–Child Relationships and the Trajectory of Children's School Outcomes through Eighth Grade

This study followed a sample of 179 children from kindergarten through eighth grade to examine the extent to which kindergarten teachers' perceptions of their relationships with students predict a range of school outcomes. Kindergarten teachers rated children's behavior and the quality of the teacher-child relationship. Followup data from first through eighth grade were organized by epoch and included academic grades, standardized test scores, work-habit ratings, and discipline records. Relational Negativity in kindergarten, marked by conflict and dependency, was related to academic and behavioral outcomes through eighth grade, particularly for children with high levels of behavior problems in kindergarten and for boys generally. These associations remained significant after controlling for gender, ethnicity, cognitive ability, and behavior ratings. The results have implications for theories of the determinants of school success, the role of adult-child relationships in development, and a range of early intervention and prevention efforts.
Connecting the pathology of posttraumatic stress and substance use disorders: monoamines and neuropeptides

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) co-occurs highly with substance use disorders (SUDs), yet the neurobiological basis for this comorbid relationship remains unclear. PTSD and SUDs result in similar pathological states including impulsive behavior, reward deficiency, and heightened stress sensitivity. Hence, PTSD and SUD may depend on overlapping dysfunctional neurocircuitry. Here we provide a short overview of the relationship between comorbid PTSD and SUD, as well as the potential role of select neurotransmitter systems that may underlie enhanced vulnerability to drug abuse in the context of PTSD.
Highly mode-selective quantum frequency conversion in a slab waveguide

We analyze sum-frequency generation (SFG) in a χ (2) slab waveguide with the goal of achieving a single spatial-mode operation. We first develop Green’s function formalism for the SFG equations and then perform singular-value decomposition (SVD) of the Green’s function. By adjusting the spatial profile of the pump, we manipulate the SVD spectrum to maximize the up-conversion of one signal mode while minimizing the up-conversion of all others, which opens a possibility of realizing a spatial-mode-selective quantum frequency converter for future optical communications.
Patient‐identified disease burden in facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy

Introduction: The multitude of symptoms associated with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) disease burden are of varying importance. The extent of these symptoms and their cumulative effect on the FSHD population is unknown. Methods: We conducted interviews with adult FSHD patients to identify which symptoms have the greatest effect on their lives. Each interview was recorded, transcribed, coded, and analyzed using a qualitative framework technique, triangulation, and a three-investigator consensus approach. Results: One thousand three hundred seventy-five quotes were obtained through 20 patient interviews. Two hundred fifty-one symptoms of importance were identified representing 14 themes of FSHD disease burden. Symptoms associated with mobility impairment, activity limitation, and social role limitation were most frequently mentioned by participants. Conclusions: There are multiple themes and symptoms, some previously underrecognized, that play a key role in FSHD disease burden. Muscle Nerve, 2012