cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Colonial Buganda and the End of Empire : Political Thought and Historical Imagination in Africa

Colonial Buganda was one of the most important and richly documented kingdoms in East Africa. In this book, Jonathon L. Earle offers the first global intellectual history of the Kingdom, using a series of case studies, interviews and previously inaccessible private archives to offer new insights concerning the multiple narratives used by intellectuals. Where previous studies on literacy in Africa have presupposed 'sacred' or 'secular' categories, Earle argues that activists blurred European epistemologies as they reworked colonial knowledge into vernacular debates about kingship and empire. Furthermore, by presenting Catholic, Muslim and Protestant histories and political perspectives in conversation with one another, he offers a nuanced picture of the religious and social environment. Through the lives, politics, and historical contexts of these African intellectuals, Earle presents an important argument about the end of empire, making the reader rethink the dynamics of political imagination and historical pluralism in the colonial and postcolonial state.
Abstract 19784: Characterizing the Practice of Vascular Medicine at an Academic Medical Center

Introduction: There is increasing recognition of vascular medicine as a distinct subspecialty of internal medicine and cardiology. There are currently few vascular medicine training programs nation...
Phosphoinositide Hydrolysis Indicates Functional Receptors in Astrocytes and in Neoplastic Cells from the Human CNS

Astrocytes, the majority cell type in the CNS, have the potential to play a dynamic role in intercellular communication. Situated adjacent to neurons and to cells of the microvasculature, these glial cells display a variety of surface receptors (Murphy and Pearce, 1987). Astrocytes synthesize and release peptide mediators, such as met-enkephalin, somatostatin, endothelin-1 and -3 (Shinoda et al., 1989; MacCumber et al., 1990; Ehrenreich et al., 1991), and eicosanoids including prostaglandins E2, F2ur, D2, thromboxane A2, and the leukotrienes LTB4 and LTC4 (Murphy et al., 1988). Regulation of the synthesis and release of many of these agents from astrocytes is not completely understood. We have focussed on the mechanism by which prostanoid production in astrocytes is regulated by purinergic (P2y) receptor agonists. Most recently, we have demonstrated the evoked release of an astrocyte-derived (vaso)relaxing factor (ADRF) which is not a prostanoid but a nitrosyl compound with properties similar to nitric oxide. Thus, activation of specific receptors induces the synthesis and release of products from astrocytes with the potential to directly affect not only neuronal, but also vascular cell function.
Experiments and Results

In this chapter, we first analyze the average information content in a data set of experimentally annotated proteins and then evaluate performance accuracy of different function prediction methods using both topological and probabilistic metrics.
Entrepreneurial orientation rhetoric and franchise system size: The moderating role of military veteran recruitment

Abstract Many franchisors seek to enlist military veterans as franchisees because veterans’ military training and experience help them act entrepreneurially without straying outside a franchise's business model. We examine whether efforts to recruit veterans alter the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) rhetoric in franchisee recruitment material and number of franchises. Using a sample of Franchise 500 firms, we find that veteran recruitment has significant interactions with overall EO, innovativeness and risk-taking. Overall, our results suggest that recruiting veterans as franchisees offers important benefits to franchisors.
Effectiviness of Volar Static Hand-Wrist Orthesis in Stroke Patients

Objective: To evaluate the volar static hand-wrist orthoses, upper extremity motor development, manual dexterity and independence in daily life activities in stroke patients. Methods: Forty patients were prospectively randomized to use a volar splint or no splint (control group). All patients were included in a 6-week rehabilitation programme. Fugl-Meyer Assessment was used for clinical motor assessment, the Modified Ashworth Scale was employed for spasticity, the Nine Hole Peg Test (NHPT) was used for evaluating fine motor dexterity, and the Barthel index was employed for functional evaluation Results: Only a significant difference was found in the Modified Ashworth finger flexor values in Group 1 patients between hospitalisation and week 3 and week 6 but other scales were not significantly different among the groups. Conclusions: Volar static hand-wrist orthoses were shown to be particularly effective on finger flexors with exercise therapy in reducing muscle tone, and also beneficial exercise programmes in post-stroke rehabilitation.
The Relationship between Narratives, Wildlife Value Orientations, Attitudes, and Policy Preferences

Overabundance of white-tailed deer is a pervasive problem across the United States. Deer are blamed for increased risk of auto accidents, tick-borne diseases, and overbrowsing of native species. Le...
Exploring PubMed as a reliable resource for scholarly communications services

Objective: PubMed’s provision of MEDLINE and other National Library of Medicine (NLM) resources has made it one of the most widely accessible biomedical resources globally. The growth of PubMed Central (PMC) and public access mandates have affected PubMed’s composition. The authors tested recent claims that content in PMC is of low quality and affects PubMed’s reliability, while exploring PubMed’s role in the current scholarly communications landscape. Methods: The percentage of MEDLINE-indexed records was assessed in PubMed and various subsets of records from PMC. Data were retrieved via the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) interface, and follow-up interviews with a PMC external reviewer and staff at NLM were conducted. Results: Almost all PubMed content (91%) is indexed in MEDLINE; however, since the launch of PMC, the percentage of PubMed records indexed in MEDLINE has slowly decreased. This trend is the result of an increase in PMC content from journals that are not indexed in MEDLINE and not a result of author manuscripts submitted to PMC in compliance with public access policies. Author manuscripts in PMC continue to be published in MEDLINE-indexed journals at a high rate (85%). The interviewees clarified the difference between the sources, with MEDLINE serving as a highly selective index of journals in biomedical literature and PMC serving as an open archive of quality biomedical and life sciences literature and a repository of funded research. Conclusion: The differing scopes of PMC and MEDLINE will likely continue to affect their overlap; however, quality control exists in the maintenance and facilitation of both resources, and funding from major grantors is a major component of quality assurance in PMC. This article has been approved for the Medical Library Association’s Independent Reading Program .
Country Risk: Determinants, Measures and Implications – The 2017 Edition

As companies and investors globalize, we are increasingly faced with estimation questions about the risk associated with this globalization. When investors invest in China Mobile, Infosys or Vale, they may be rewarded with higher returns but they are also exposed to additional risk. When Siemens and Apple push for growth in Asia and Latin America, they clearly are exposed to the political and economic turmoil that often characterize these markets. In practical terms, how, if at all, should we adjust for this additional risk? We will begin the paper with an overview of overall country risk, its sources and measures. We will continue with a discussion of sovereign default risk and examine sovereign ratings and credit default swaps (CDS) as measures of that risk. We will extend that discussion to look at country risk from the perspective of equity investors, by looking at equity risk premiums for different countries and consequences for valuation. In the final section, we will argue that a company’s exposure to country risk should not be determined by where it is incorporated and traded. By that measure, neither Coca Cola nor Nestle are exposed to country risk. Exposure to country risk should come from a company’s operations, making country risk a critical component of the valuation of almost every large multinational corporation. We will also look at how to move across currencies in valuation and capital budgeting, and how to avoid mismatching errors.
The Economics of the Naturalist Food Paradigm

Challenges to the conventional paradigm have isolated industrial agriculture from consumer segments exhibiting preferences for a growing array of credence attributes, including organic, locally pro...
Kandungan Acid Detergent Fiber Dan Neutral detergent Fiber Jerami Jagung fermentasi Dengan Mengunakan Jamur Trichoderma Viride Dengan Lama Inkubasi Berbeda

The research was aimed at investingating acid detergent fibre neutral detergent Fiber content in corn straw fermented using Trichoderma Viride in different Incubation Time. It applied compeletey Randomizend Design consisting Of 4 treatments and 4 repetitions, hence, it resulted in 16 units of an experiment. The Treatments consisted of corn straw withhout inoculation (control), 7% corn straw Fermented with Trichoderma viride in 1 week incubation time, 7% corn straw Fermented with Trichoderma Viride in 2 weeks incubation time, and 7% corn straw fermented with Trichoderma Viride in 3 weeks incubation time. Analysis of variance result shows that corn straw fermented using Trichoderma Viride in different Incubation Time gave significant inflluance toward ADF content (p<0,05). Besides , corn straw fermentd using Trichoderma Viride in different incubation Time gave significant influence toward NDF content(p<0,05).
Comparison of Place Bonding Models in Recreation Resource Management

Conceptual studies of place bonding have often stopped short of verifying the relationship of scales/models to other relevant recreation behavior variables. The current paper addresses this concern...
Epigenome‐Wide DNA Methylation Association Analysis Identified Novel Loci in Peripheral Cells for Alcohol Consumption Among European American Male Veterans

BACKGROUND Hazardous alcohol consumption has significant adverse medical consequences. These effects may be mediated, in part, by alterations in DNA methylation. Thus, DNA methylation signatures in peripheral cells may provide biomarkers of the medical impact of alcohol use and the risk for future alcohol consumption. METHOD Using a high-density methylation array, we characterized epigenome-wide DNA methylation in saliva cells with respect to alcohol consumption in a large cohort of male European American veterans. In this study, DNA methylation of over 870,000 CpG DNA sites was profiled in 1,135 European American men. Alcohol consumption was assessed using the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test-Consumption (AUDIT-C). Linear regression was applied in an epigenome-wide association study (EWAS), adjusted for confounders. Gene set enrichment analysis was performed in the KEGG database with a correction for gene length. RESULTS We found that a total of 70 CpG sites reached EWAS-corrected significance (p < 6E-08) with small effects on alcohol consumption for individual CpG sites, including 64 new CpG sites and 6 CpG sites that were previously reported as associated with alcohol use disorder, liver function, body mass index, and lipid metabolism. The most significant CpG site was located in SLC7A11 (t = -11.34, p = 2.66E-28), a gene involved specifically in cysteine and glutamate transportation. The 70 significant CpG sites were located on 44 genes, including genes involved in amino acid transport and metabolism systems. We identified 68 pathways with a false discovery rate < 0.05. CONCLUSIONS We identified novel DNA methylation sites associated with alcohol consumption. Results may shed light on peripheral mechanisms of alcohol consumption on adverse health outcomes among heavy drinkers.
Metabolic and Inflammatory Effects of an ω‐3 Fatty Acid–Based Eucaloric Ketogenic Diet in Mice With Endotoxemia

Background Dietary strategies can aid in the management of critically ill patients. Very-low-carbohydrate diets have been shown to improve glucose control and the inflammatory response. We aimed to determine the effects of a eucaloric ketogenic diet (EKD) enriched with ω-3 fatty acids (O3KD) on glucose levels and inflammation in mice with endotoxemia. Methods Adult mice were fed 1 of 3 diets (control diet [CD], EKD, or O3KD). After 4 weeks, each group received saline or Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (5 mg/kg) intraperitoneally during the postprandial (PPP) or postabsorptive (PAP) periods. Blood glucose was measured at 0, 15, 30, 60, 90, 120, 180, and 240 minutes. Serum tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL) 6 were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Distribution of serum fatty acids was determined by gas liquid chromatography. Hepatic expression of genes involved in inflammation, as well as glucose and lipid metabolism, were determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Results During the PPP, glucose curves were comparable among the experimental groups. During the PAP, EKD showed a more pronounced increase in glucose levels at the first hour after LPS challenge compared with the CD-LPS group. During the PAP, IL6 was lower in O3KD-LPS compared with CD-LPS and EKD-LPS groups. These differences disappeared in the PPP. Similarly, TNF-α was lower in the O3KD-LPS group compared with the EKD-LPS group. The O3KD significantly increased the serum levels of the ω-3 eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids and decreased the ω-6 arachidonic acid. Conclusion An O3KD leads to reduced inflammation and maintains glucose homeostasis in mice with endotoxemia.
History and Philosophy of Science at Work: Making Regenerative Medicine Research Better

History of science and philosophy of science have found various ways to be friends over the millennia. I offer a case study in favor of the claim that in drawing on both history of science and philosophy of science, it is possible to make science better. Making this case requires understanding what it means to assert that the science is better as well as how we can know. I do not pretend to have an argument completely worked out for this claim. Yet I propose that the particular example of regenerative medical research allows a strong demonstration that at the very least goes far toward making such an argument.
Using Segmentation Masks in the ICCV 2019 Learning to Drive Challenge.

In this work we predict vehicle speed and steering angle given camera image frames. Our key contribution is using an external pre-trained neural network for segmentation. We augment the raw images with their segmentation masks and mirror images. We ensemble three diverse neural network models (i) a CNN using a single image and its segmentation mask, (ii) a stacked CNN taking as input a sequence of images and segmentation masks, and (iii) a bidirectional GRU, extracting image features using a pre-trained ResNet34, DenseNet121 and our own CNN single image model. We achieve the second best performance for MSE angle and second best performance overall, to win 2nd place in the ICCV Learning to Drive challenge. We make our models and code publicly available.
Advanced Prehospital Trauma Resuscitation With a Physician and Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist: The Shock Trauma “Go-Team”

Abstract Objective The R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center (STC) is Maryland's primary adult resource center for trauma care. The Shock Trauma “Go-Team” is a specialized component of Maryland's emergency medical system and is composed of a physician and certified registered nurse anesthetist. They are dispatched when advanced prehospital resuscitation is required. The purpose of this study is to describe the capabilities and historic epidemiology outcomes of the Go-Team. Methods A retrospective case series review of recoverable Go-Team records was performed from 2011 to 2018. Go-Team call logs/records were identified from multiple sources. Medical records were reviewed for patient demographics, mechanisms of injury, and treatments in the field. There was a total of 61 activations, with 22 deployments to the scene of injury. Results The majority of deployments were via helicopter (73%) and lasted 2 hours. The most common indications for deployment were motor vehicle entrapment (41%), trench collapse (14%), and building collapse (9%). Of the 22 patients treated by the Go-Team, 50% received at least 1 blood transfusion in the field, and 23% required an advanced airway. No field amputations were required. Conclusion The STC Go-Team is a unique multidisciplinary specialized component of a statewide emergency medical system.
Green Bisphenol A: A High Valued Building Block Isolated from Lignin Biowaste

Isolation of high-value chemicals from lignin has been a field of interest over the last few decades driven by growing environmental concerns. This study reports isolation of pyrolysate from the lab scale setup and further purification of it to be used in synthesis of bisphenol A (BPA), a high value building block used in a wide range of plastic materials. Kraft lignin from three different feedstocks were evaluated at different pyrolysis temperature conditions and a correlation between the pyrolysis conditions and yield of phenolics is presented. Phenolics were extracted and purified from the pyrolysate and then used for BPA synthesis. The reaction mixture after the BPA reaction was purified by column chromatography followed by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). The phenol and BPA were isolated with more than 70% purity. The purified phenolics and BPA were analyzed by gas chromatography—mass spectrometry (GC–MS), HPLC and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.
Factors related to the failure of weaning off ventilator

Objective To analyze the failure rate and failure factors related to ventilator weaning off in children. Methods Clinical data of 214 patients who received mechanical ventilation in pediatric intensive care unit of Tianjin Children's Hospital from Jan 2005 to Dec 2008 were analyzed retrospectively. Results There were 141 planned extubation events,122 of which were successful and 19 of which were unsuccessful.The failure rate of planned extubation was 13.5%. The failure rate of infants less than 6 months was higher than that of infants more than 6 months, but there was no significant difference ( 15.0% vs 9. 8%, P ＞0.05). The success rate of extubation in pneumonia cases (90. 7% )was higher than that in others (P ＜0. 05 ). The duration of mechanical ventilation had no effect on success rate of extubation ( (7. 64 ± 5.68 ) d vs (6. 95 ± 3. 14) d, P ＞ 0. 05 ). The duration of corticosteroid treatment after extubation in the successful group was less than that in the failure group ( ( 12. 35 ±9. 69) h vs ( 18.63 ± 12. 17) h,P ＜0. 05). According to the result of multiple linear regression analysis ( R2 = 0. 093), airway obstruction was the high risk factor of the extubation failure( F = 14. 256, P ＜ 0. 001 ). Conclusion Currently,weaning from mechanical ventilation in PICU depends on the combination of pediatricians' experience and objective indicators. The key point for improving the success rate of exubation is that we should explore reasonable and feasible extubation protocol and discover and exclude the related factors of exubation failure as earlier as possible. Key words: Mechanical ventilation; Extubation; Children
Luminescence from open-shell, first-row transition metal dipyrrin complexes.

Several first-row transition metal complexes of the 1,9-bis(2′,4′,6′-triphenylphenyl)-5-mesityl dipyrrinato ligand and its tetrahalogenated analogues have been synthesized and their luminescence spectra obtained. The protonated ligands, as well as the Li(I), Mn(II), Cu(I), Cu(II), and Zn(II) chelates show appreciable luminescence, despite the paramagnetism of the Mn(II) and Cu(II) ions. Fluorescence quantum yields (ΦF) as high as 0.67 were observed for the zinc complex. Luminescence was partially quenched by the introduction of heavy halogens to the backbone of the ligand, as well as by the introduction of paramagnetic metal ions. Room-temperature, solution state phosphorescence was observed from the halogenated dipyrrinato lithium salts, as well as from the non-halogenated Mn(II) complex.
Ethics and the Law: When Pleasantness Trumps Rules

The Talmud stresses the overarching principle “Her [the Torah’s] ways are the ways of pleasantness and all of her paths are peace,” a verse in Proverbs, to ensure that the laws of Scripture are value-driven rather than mainly rule-driven. Jewish sages understood that creating a peaceful, harmonious, and pleasant society was the focus of the Torah. In many cases, biblical laws were modified in order to maintain harmony and peace. Companies interested in solidifying their codes of ethics should examine this Talmudic approach, and their codes of ethics should similarly be guided by a core value such as compassion to bring their behavior into compliance with the spirit of the law rather than the letter of the law.
Acupuncture combined with Heixiaoyao powder for children with cerebral palsy and its effect on serum immune indexes and nerve growth related protein

OBJECTIVE To observe the efficacy of acupuncture combined with Heixiaoyao powder for children with cerebral palsy (liver-qi stagnation, spleen-kidney deficiency syndrome) and its effect on serum immune indexes and nerve growth related protein. METHODS A total of 180 children with cerebral palsy were randomly divided into a combined group (60 cases, 2 cases dropped off), an acupuncture group (60 cases, 4 cases dropped off) and a Chinese medication group (60 cases, 5 cases dropped off). On the basis of conventional treatment, the children in the combined group were treated with acupuncture [Baihui (GV 20), Sishencong (EX-HN 1), Shenting (GV 24), Benshen (GB 13), 30 min each time, twice a day] and Heixiaoyao powder; the children in the acupuncture group were treated with acupuncture, and the children in the Chinese medication group were treated with Heixiaoyao powder, the treatment was same with the combined group. All the children were treated for 6 consecutive days and rest for 1 day, totaling for 8 weeks. The Gesell developmental schedules (GDS) and TCM symptom scores were recorded before treatment, after treatment and at 3-month, 6-month and 12-month follow-up visit; the serum immune indexes (IgA, IgG and IgM) and nerve growth related protein [myelin basic protein (MBP), high mobility group box-1 (HMGB1), neuronspecific enolase (NSE)] were detected before and after treatment. The clinical efficacy of each group was evaluated. RESULTS The total effective rate was 91.4% (53/58) in the combined group, which was higher than 80.4% (45/56) in the acupuncture group and 78.2% (43/55) in the Chinese medication group (P<0.05). Compared before treatment, the GDS scores in the three groups were increased and the TCM symptom scores were reduced after treatment and at 3-month, 6-month and 12-month follow-up visit (P<0.05). The GDS score in the combined group was higher than that in the acupuncture group and the Chinese medication group, and the TCM symptom score was lower than that in the acupuncture group and Chinese medication group (P<0.05). After treatment, the serum levels of IgA, IgG and IgM in the combined group were increased (P<0.05), and the serum levels of MBP, HMGBl and NSE were decreased (P<0.05), and the improvements were superior to those in the acupuncture group and the Chinese medication group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION Acupuncture combined with Heixiaoyao powder could effectively improve the development quotient in children with cerebral palsy (liver-qi stagnation, spleen-kidney deficiency syndrome), regulate the serum immune indexes and nerve growth related protein levels.
A two-phase surrogate approach for high-dimensional constrained discrete multi-objective optimization

This paper presents a two-phase surrogate approach for high-dimensional constrained discrete multi-objective optimization. In Phase I, the algorithm searches for a feasible point using surrogates for the constraints and objectives. In Phase I iterations, the algorithm identifies the infeasible points that are nondominated according to three criteria: number of constraint violations, maximum constraint violation, and sum of squares of constraint violations. Moreover, the function evaluation point is chosen from a large number of trial points in the neighborhood of a current nondominated point according to the predicted values of the above criteria. In Phase II, the algorithm searches for Pareto optimal solutions using surrogates for the objectives and constraints. In Phase II iterations, the function evaluation point is chosen from trial points that are predicted to be feasible and nondominated in the neighborhood of a current nondominated point using distance criteria in the objective and decision spaces. The algorithm is implemented using RBF surrogates and tested on the Mazda benchmark problem that has 222 discrete variables, 54 constraints and 2 objectives. The proposed method found feasible points much more quickly and obtained much better sets of nondominated objective vectors than an NSGA-II implementation given a budget of only 3330 simulations.
EFFECTIVENESS OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS IN FAYOUM GOVERNORATE

The study aims basically at identifying the effectiveness of NGOs in FayoumGovernorate, Objectives of the study include the following: describe the presentsituation of the NGOs in Fayoum Governorate, identify the level of effectiveness ofthe NGOs in the study area, estimate the gap's size between the current level and theideal level of NGOs effectiveness, identify the degree of the target audience benefitfrom the NGOs Services, identify the most important problems facing the work of thestudies NGOs, and finally identify the most important suggestions to improve thestudy NGOs in the study area.Fayoum governorate had been selected to conduct the study, Personal interviewswith two different categories of respondents using questionnaire were made to obtainthe required data, directors of all the One hundred and forty-eight NGOs existed inFayoum governorate, and the second category was a sample of (300) rural householdsheads in Aladwa. A number of complementary statistical measures and techniqueswere utilized in the analysis of the collected data including: frequencies, arithmeticmean, weighted arithmetic mean, standard deviation.
Changes in Emergency Department Encounters for Vomiting After Cannabis Legalization in Colorado.

Importance Cannabis hyperemesis syndrome is an emerging clinical issue associated with cannabis use. Legalization of cannabis has led to an increase in vomiting-related illnesses in health care settings. Objective To examine whether legalization of cannabis in Colorado has been associated with increases in vomiting-related emergency department (ED) visits. Design, Setting, and Participants A cross-sectional design was used to assess the increase in ED claims for vomiting reported to the Colorado Hospital Association between January 1, 2013, and December 31, 2018, in counties that had no prior cannabis dispensaries before legalization compared with those that did. A total of 820 778 patients seeking care through Colorado EDs were included in the analysis. Exposures The number of medical and recreational cannabis dispensaries per county per quarter. Main Outcomes and Measures County per capita rate of vomiting-related ED claims per quarter. Results Vomiting-related ED health care encounters increased from 119 312 in 2013 to 153 699 in 2018 (29% increase). Over this period, 203 861 patients (25%) were aged 0 to 18 years; 114 201 (14%) were aged 19 to 25 years, and 502 771 (61%) were aged 26 years or older; 510 584 patients (62%) were female. Additional recreational dispensaries were associated with increased vomiting-related ED visits (incidence rate ratio, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.01-1.05), but counties with high baseline medical dispensary exposure experienced smaller increases in vomiting-related ED visits than counties with no baseline medical dispensary exposure (incidence rate ratio, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.95-0.99). Counties with a high number of medical marijuana dispensaries had increases at a 5.8% slower rate than counties with none. Conclusions and Relevance The findings of this study suggest that cannabis legalization in Colorado is associated with an increase in annual vomiting-related health care encounters with regard to exposure to these markets. It may be useful for health care clinicians to be aware of cannabis hyperemesis syndrome and inquire about cannabis use when appropriate.
Protein Profiles of Mannitol-Shocked Soybean Cell Suspension Cultures

Water deficit stress causes numerous cellular and biochemical consequences in plants. When the individual consequences of water stress are expanded to a regional if not global level, they involve periods of drought and concomitantly reduced crop yields. Water deficit stress is induced by the addition of a nonpermeating osmoticum, such as either mannitol or polyethylene glycol (PEG) to the growth medium (Bressan et al., 1981; Bressan, et al. 1982; Handa et al., 1982; Hasegawa et al., 1984; Heyser and Nabors, 1981; Premecz et al., 1978).
Implementation of an enhanced, permanently installed neutron activation diagnostic hardware for NIF

Neutron activation diagnostics are commonly employed as baseline neutron yield and relative spatial flux measurement instruments. Much insight into implosion performance has been gained by deployment of up to 19 identical activation diagnostic samples distributed around the target chamber at unique angular locations. Their relative simplicity and traceability provide neutron facilities with a diagnostic platform that is easy to implement and verify. However, the current National Ignition Facility (NIF) implementation relies on removable activation samples, creating a 1-2 week data turn-around time and considerable labor costs. The system described here utilizes a commercially-available lanthanum bromide (cerium-doped) scintillator with an integrated MCA emulator as the counting system and a machined zirconium-702 cap as the activation medium. The device is installed within the target bay and monitored remotely. Additionally, this system allows the placement of any activation medium tailored to the specific measurement needs. We discuss the design and function of a stand-alone and permanently installed neutron activation detector unit to measure the yield and average energy of a nominal 14 MeV neutron source with a pulse length less than one nanosecond.
The Transcriptome of Human Malaria Vectors

This chapter traces the development of gene expression studies in mosquitoes from a historical perspective. In addition, it reviews the relevant technologies that made the advances possible. While the principal focus is on the anopheline vectors of malaria, Anopheles gambiae in particular, the authors intend to cite relevant advances in other insects, most notably the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti. The rapid development of molecular techniques and their applications in model organisms such as the vinegar fly, Drosophila melanogaster, fostered the reemergence of interest in whether genetics bolstered by molecular biology could provide useful tools in combating malaria transmission. Extensive expressed sequence tag (EST) studies designed to dissect the molecular components of innate immunity in mosquitoes have generated large amounts of information on the mosquito transcriptome. Extensive cDNA sequencing also has been used to identify genes differentially expressed in insecticide-resistant and -susceptible mosquitoes. Serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) is based on the sequential analysis in large quantities of short cDNA sequence tags. Genes activated by both bacterial and malaria infection include those encoding a peptidoglycan recognition protein LB receptor, the gram-negative bacteria-binding protein opsonin, an fibrinogen- like lectin, a thioester-containing putative opsonin, the 14-D serine protease, the CED-6-like phagocytic adaptor,and the leucinerich repeat putative receptor. Monitoring genome-wide changes in gene expression patterns in whole A. gambiae specimens is now feasible, and it is expected that this will be possible with other vectors in the near future.
Hyperandrogenaemia in adolescent girls: origins of abnormal gonadotropin-releasing hormone secretion.

Polycystic ovarian syndrome is a common disorder characterized by ovulatory dysfunction and hyperandrogenemia (HA). Its origins begin peripubertally, as adolescent HA commonly leads to adult HA and decreased fertility. HA reduces inhibition of gonadotropin releasing hormone pulse frequency by progesterone, causing rapid LH pulse secretion and further increasing ovarian androgen production. Obese girls are at risk for HA and develop increased LH pulse frequency with elevated mean LH by late puberty. Many girls with HA do not exhibit normal LH pulse sensitivity to progesterone inhibition. Thus, HA may adversely affect LH pulse regulation during pubertal maturation leading to persistent HA.
Detection of myocardial ischemia in patients with diabetes mellitus.

The combination of clinical coronary artery disease and diabetes mellitus is a harbinger of adverse outcome. Recently, in a jointly issued statement, the American Diabetes Association, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and the American Heart Association indicated the importance of diabetes mellitus as a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease.1,2 Patients with diabetes mellitus often have premature coronary artery disease; the disease is often asymptomatic and in an advanced stage when detected.3 In general, the outcome of patients with diabetes mellitus is poorer than those without diabetes, and coronary artery disease in the diabetic patient may be less amenable to favorable interventional treatment compared with the nondiabetic population.4–6 Moreover, it seems that in women with diabetes mellitus and coronary artery disease, overall outcome has not improved to the extent observed in men, despite aggressive medical or interventional treatment.7 Such observations have led to the need for more aggressive approaches to preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic strategies in patients with diabetes mellitus. See p 32 Stress radionuclide myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) is used widely to evaluate patients with suspected or known coronary artery disease. A large body of evidence attests to the high diagnostic yield of stress MPI and its important incremental prognostic value over both clinical and angiographic variables for the prediction of major acute coronary events.8,9 The degree and extent of myocardial perfusion abnormalities observed on stress MPI are related directly to outcome. The greater the myocardial perfusion abnormality, the greater the likelihood of future cardiac events. On the other hand, unequivocally normal stress MPI is associated with an excellent outcome and a cardiac event rate of <1% per year. …
Avian scale development. IX. Scale formation by scaleless (sc/sc) epidermis under the influence of normal scale dermis.

Abstract Unlike normal scutate scales whose outer and inner epidermal surfaces elaborate β (β-keratins) and α (α-keratins) strata, respectively, the scaleless mutant's anterior metatarsal epidermis remains flat and elaborates only an α stratum. Reciprocal epidermal-dermal recombinations of presumptive scale tissues from normal and mutant embryos have demonstrated that the scaleless defect is expressed only by the epidermis. In fact, the scaleless anterior metatarsal epidermis is unable to undergo placode formation. More recently, it has been determined that the absence of epidermal placode morphogenesis into a definitive scale ridge actually results in the establishment of a scale dermis which is incapable of inducing the outer and inner epidermal surfaces of scutate scales. Can the initial genetic defect in the scaleless anterior metatarsal epidermis be overcome by replacing the defective dermis with a normal scutate scale dermis, i.e., a dermis with scale ridges already present? Or, are the genes involved in the production of a β stratum regulated by events directly associated with morphogenesis of the epidermal placode? In the present study, we combined scaleless anterior metatarsal epidermis (stages 36 to 42) with normal scutate scale dermis (stage 40, 41, or 42) old enough to have acquired its scutate scale-inducing ability. After 7 days of growth as chorioallantoic membrane grafts, we observed grossly and histologically, typical scutate scales in these recombinant grafts. Electron microscopic and electrophoretic analyses have verified that these recombinant scales are true scutate scales. The scaleless mutation, known to be expressed initially by the anterior metatarsal epidermis, can be overcome by exposing this epidermis to appropriate inductive cues, i.e., cues that direct the differentiation of the outer and inner epidermal surfaces of the scutate scales and the production of specific structural proteins. We have determined that the time between stages 38 and 39 is the critical period during which the normal scutate scale dermis acquires these inductive abilities.
The Quest for Physical Realism in Stellar Atmospheric Modeling

I attempt to summarize recent progress in, and future prospects of, the ongoing quest to improve the physical realism of models of stellar atmospheres.
HIV-Specific Cytotoxic Cell Frequencies Measured Directly Ex Vivo by the Lysispot Assay Can Be Higher or Lower Than the Frequencies of IFN-γ-Secreting Cells: Anti-HIV Cytotoxicity Is Not Generally Impaired Relative to Other Chronic Virus Responses

CD8+ T cells in HIV-infected patients are believed to contribute to the containment of the virus and the delay of disease progression. However, the frequencies of HIV-specific CD8+ T cells, as measured by IFN-γ secretion and tetramer binding, often do not correlate with a delay in disease progression during chronic infection. Using the Lysispot and ELISPOT assays, we measured the frequencies of cytotoxic and IFN-γ-secreting T cells responding to overlapping peptides from Gag, Nef, Env, and Pol consensus HIV-1 clade B sequences. PBMC from the majority of HIV-infected subjects have significant frequencies of HIV-specific cells that killed targets within 5 h directly ex vivo. The relative frequencies of IFN-γ-secreting and cytotoxic cells varied markedly between different HIV peptide pools within the same patient, and some T cells lysed targets without secreting IFN-γ. These results indicate that measurement of IFN-γ production alone may be insufficient to evaluate the breadth of the HIV-specific T cell response. Also, neither the CTL to IFN-γ ratios nor the ex vivo CTL frequencies specific for different HIV proteins were consistently lower than responses specific for two other chronic viral infections, human CMV and EBV, within the same subjects. Thus ex vivo cytotoxic T cell frequencies do not provide evidence for a model of “preterminal differentiation” of HIV-specific CD8+ T cells during chronic HIV infection. Analysis of the frequency of directly cytotoxic HIV-specific T cells may be of considerable value in the assessment of disease progression and the potential efficacy of HIV vaccines.
Visualizing stylistic variation

Texts vary not only by topic, but by style; indeed, often the variation between texts 'about the same thing' can be just as noticeable as the variation between texts 'about different things'. Some facets of this variation are quite easy to detect, and quite predictable when applied to categorization of texts by genre, functional style, or-tentatively-quality. Making use of such variation in a retrieval context is quite straightforward in principle; our work consists of an implementation of a visualization tool for document databases. The issues addressed include: (1) choice of stylistic items to investigate; (2) composition of dimensions of variation; and (3) judicious naming of dimensions for presentation. We use use principal components analysis to combine our quite large number of stylistic items into two most significant dimensions of variation and plot the document space under consideration into a plane. This space can be used as a first or last filter in an information retrieval task. The composition of the most significant dimensions is naturally corpus dependent, as is the naming of them: our work is tested on Internet and TREC data.
The Response to Conflict Scale: Psychometric Properties.

This study details the psychometric evaluation of the Response to Conflict Scale (RTC), a 24-item measure of maladaptive responses to marital conflict. The inventory showed high internal consistency, test-retest reliability, construct and discriminant validity, and classification efficiency. Clinical utility of the RTC is also discussed.
Bystander Sexual Violence Prevention Program: Outcomes for High- and Low-Risk University Men

This research reports the findings of an evaluation of a peer-facilitated, bystander sexual violence prevention program to determine its effectiveness at changing attitudes and behaviors related to sexual violence with university males who are at low- and high-risk of using sexually coercive behavior. Bystander interventions focus on men and women as bystanders to change social norms in a peer culture that supports abusive behaviors. Few studies have examined the effectiveness of these interventions with high-risk populations, which is the focus of this study.A bystander sexual violence prevention program was presented to 142 fraternity members. A quasi-experimental design utilizing pre-, post-, and follow-up surveys was used to compare the effectiveness of this prevention program with university males who are at low- and high-risk of using sexually coercive behavior in intervention and comparison groups.Participants’ risk status was measured prior to the intervention using the Modified-Sexual Experiences...
Group-wise automatic mesh-based analysis of cortical thickness

The analysis of neuroimaging data from pediatric populations presents several challenges. There are normal variations in brain shape from infancy to adulthood and normal developmental changes related to tissue maturation. Measurement of cortical thickness is one important way to analyze such developmental tissue changes. We developed a novel framework that allows group-wise automatic mesh-based analysis of cortical thickness. Our approach is divided into four main parts. First an individual pre-processing pipeline is applied on each subject to create genus-zero inflated white matter cortical surfaces with cortical thickness measurements. The second part performs an entropy-based group-wise shape correspondence on these meshes using a particle system, which establishes a trade-off between an even sampling of the cortical surfaces and the similarity of corresponding points across the population using sulcal depth information and spatial proximity. A novel automatic initial particle sampling is performed using a matched 98-lobe parcellation map prior to a particle-splitting phase. Third, corresponding re-sampled surfaces are computed with interpolated cortical thickness measurements, which are finally analyzed via a statistical vertex-wise analysis module. This framework consists of a pipeline of automated 3D Slicer compatible modules. It has been tested on a small pediatric dataset and incorporated in an open-source C++ based high-level module called GAMBIT. GAMBIT's setup allows efficient batch processing, grid computing and quality control. The current research focuses on the use of an average template for correspondence and surface re-sampling, as well as thorough validation of the framework and its application to clinical pediatric studies.
Characterization of glutamate toxicity in cultured rat cerebellar granule neurons at reduced temperature

We have defined conditions whereby glutamate becomes toxic to isolated cerebellar granule neurons in a physiologic salt solution (pH 7.4). In the presence of a physiologic Mg++ concentration, acute glutamate excitotoxicity manifests only when the temperature was reduced from 37°C to 22°C. In contrast to glutamate, N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) was non-toxic at either temperature at concentrations as high as 1 mM. Glycine strongly potentiated both the potency and efficacy of glutamate but revealed only a modest NMDA response. The non-NMDA receptor antagonist, 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxalinedione (CNQX), potently protected against glutamate challenge, although the contribution of antagonism at strychnine-insensitive glycine sites could not be excluded. To further characterize the non-NMDA receptor contribution to the excitotoxic response, the promiscuity of glutamate interaction with ionotropic receptors was simulated by exposing neurons to NMDA in the presence of non-NMDA receptor agonists. NMDA toxicity was potentiated four- to sevenfold when non-NMDA receptors were coactivated by a subtoxic concentration of AMPA, kainate, or domoate. These results suggest that non-NMDA receptor activation participates in the mechanism of acute glutamate toxicity by producing neuronal depolarization (via sodium influx), which in turn promotes the release of the voltage-dependent magnesium blockade of NMDA receptor ion channels. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Studies on the nature of iodothyronine binding in familial dysalbuminemic hyperthyroxinemia.

The effects of pH and anionic binding inhibitors were used to test the hypothesis that the increased T4 binding affinity of the variant albumin (Alb-FDH) of familial dysalbu-minemic hyperthyroxinemia (FDH) is due to an electrostatic bond with the ionized phenolic hydroxyl of the iodothyronine. As determined by charcoal adsorption from 2% serum in which binding to T4-binding globulin and transthyretin had been inhibited, increased T4 binding by Alb-FDH was pH dependent and proportional to the ionization of the phenolic hydroxyl. Increased T3 binding became apparent above physiological pH, as is consistent with the higher pK of the T3 phenolic hydroxyl. The iodothyroacetic analogs of T4 and T3 developed maximal increases in binding to Alb-FDH at about the same pH as the corresponding iodothyronines. Aspirin, salicylate, warfarin, and chloride, anions that have minimal stereochemical resemblance to the iodothyronines but bind to albumin cationic groups, inhibited T4 binding to FDH sera at concentrations that...
Zebrafish Hoxb1a regulates multiple downstream genes including prickle1b

Despite 30 years of Hox gene study, we have a remarkably limited knowledge of the downstream target genes that Hox transcription factors regulate to confer regional identity. Here, we have used a microarray approach to identify genes that function downstream of a single vertebrate Hox gene, zebrafish hoxb1a. This gene plays a critical and conserved role in vertebrate hindbrain development, conferring identity to hindbrain rhombomere (r) 4. For example, zebrafish Hoxb1a, similar to mouse Hoxb1, is required for the migration of r4-derived facial branchiomotor neurons into the posterior hindbrain. We have screened microarrays carrying more than 16,000 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) for genes that are differentially regulated in normal versus Hoxb1a-deficient r4 tissue. Using this approach, we have identified both positively and negatively regulated candidate Hoxb1a target genes. We have used in situ hybridization to validate twelve positively regulated Hoxb1a targets. These downstream targets are expressed in a variety of subdomains within r4, with one gene, a novel prickle homolog (pk1b), expressed specifically within the facial branchiomotor neurons. Using morpholino knock-down and cell transplantation, we demonstrate that the Hoxb1a target Prickle1b functions cell-autonomously to control facial neuron migration, a single aspect of r4 identity.