cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Unreliable and Difficult-to-Access Food for Those in Need: A Qualitative and Quantitative Study of Urban Food Pantries

For individuals who are food insecure, food pantries can be a vital resource to improve access to adequate food. Access to adequate food may be conceptualized within five dimensions: availability (item variety), accessibility (e.g., hours of operation), accommodation (e.g., cultural sensitivity), affordability (costs, monetary or otherwise), and acceptability (e.g., as related to quality). This study examined the five dimensions of access in a convenience sample of 50 food pantries in the Bronx, NY. The design was cross-sectional. Qualitative data included researcher observations and field notes from unstructured interviews with pantry workers. Quantitative data included frequencies for aspects of food access, organized by the five access dimensions. Inductive analysis of quantitative and qualitative data revealed three main inter-related findings: (1) Pantries were not reliably open: only 50% of pantries were open during hours listed in an online directory (several had had prolonged or indefinite closures); (2) Even when pantries were open, all five access dimensions showed deficiencies (e.g., limited inventory, few hours, pre-selected handouts without consideration of preferences, opportunity costs, and inferior-quality items); (3) Open pantries frequently had insufficient food supply to meet client demand. To deal with mismatch between supply and demand, pantries developed rules for food provision. Rules could break down in cases of pantries receiving food deliveries, leading to workarounds, and in cases of compelling client need, leading to exceptions. Adherence to rules, versus implementation of workarounds and/or exceptions, was worker- and situation-dependent and, thus, unpredictable. Overall, pantry food provision was unreliable. Future research should explore clients' perception of pantry access considering multiple access dimensions. Future research should also investigate drivers of mismatched supply and demand to create more predictable, reliable, and adequate food provision.
Linguistic Indicators of Reflective Practice among Music Education Majors.

The purpose of this study was to examine linguistic indicators of reflective practice in preservice music teachers’ written reflections following peer-teaching experiences. In an instrumental rehea...
From Moonshine to Mock Moonshine

The “Monstrous Moonshine” conjecture (now a theorem) of Conway and Nortan has given rise to a large body of new mathematics. This theorem has been extended to other groups revealing unexpected relations to conformal field theory, quantum gravity, black holes, and string theory in physics and to Ramanujan’s mock theta functions and its extensions in mathematics. We call these results which have been discovered in the last few years “Mock Moonshine.” In this survey article, we will discuss some recent developments connecting diverse areas of mathematics and theoretical physics and indicate directions for future research.
Airway epithelial cells prime plasmacytoid dendritic cells to respond to pathogens via secretion of growth factors

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (PDCs) are critical for defense against respiratory viruses because of their propensity to secrete high levels of type I interferons (IFN). The functions of PDCs in the lung can be influenced by airway epithelial cells. We examined the effect of human primary bronchial epithelial cells (PBECs) on PDC functions by performing RNA-sequencing of PDCs after co-culture with air liquid interface differentiated PBECs. Functional analysis revealed that PDCs co-cultured with PBECs displayed upregulation of type I IFN production and response genes. Upregulated transcripts included those encoding cytosolic sensors of DNA, ZBP-1,IRF-3, and NFkB as well as genes involved in amplification of the IFN response, such as IFNAR1, JAK/STAT, ISG15. In keeping with the RNA-seq data, we observe increased secretion of type I IFN and other cytokines in response to influenza in PDCs co-cultured with PBECs. The PDCs also primed Th1 responses in T cells. The enhanced response of PDCs co-cultured with PBECs was due to the action of growth factors, GMCSF, GCSF, and VEGF, which were secreted by PBECs on differentiation. These data highlight possible mechanisms to enhance the production of type-I IFN in the airways, which is critical for host defense against respiratory infections.
22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome

The term 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS) includes several clinical syndromes, most notably DiGeorge syndrome and velocardiofacial syndrome (VCFS), whose phenotypes reflect the breadth of phenotype and severity of this syndrome. Cardinal abnormalities include conotruncal heart defects, thymus hypoplasia or aplasia causing cellular immunodeficiency, parathyroid insufficiency with hypocalcemia, and palate defects or velopharyngeal insufficiency. Patients with 22q11DS can have congenital defects and comorbidities in virtually any body system, many of which interfere with sleep.
Roles of the ClpX IGF loops in ClpP association, dissociation, and protein degradation

IGF-motif loops project from the hexameric ring of ClpX and are required for docking with the self-compartmentalized ClpP peptidase, which consists of heptameric rings stacked back-to-back. Here, we show that ATP or ATPγS support assembly by changing the conformation of the ClpX ring, bringing the IGF loops closer to each other and allowing efficient multivalent contacts with docking clefts on ClpP. In single-chain ClpX pseudohexamers, deletion of one or two IGF loops modestly slows association with ClpP but strongly accelerates dissociation of ClpXP complexes. We probe how changes in the sequence and length of the IGF loops affect ClpX-ClpP interactions and show that deletion of one or two IGF loops slows ATP-dependent proteolysis by ClpXP. We also find that ClpXP degradation is less processive when two IGF loops are deleted.
Comparing CALL and VAL-ED: An Illustrative Application of a Decision Matrix for Leadership Feedback Instruments.

Initiatives to increase leadership accountability coupled with efforts to promote data-driven leadership have led to widespread adoption of instruments to assess school leaders. In this article, we...
Optimal Water Allocation under Deficit Irrigation in the Context of Colorado Water Law

AbstractThe common belief is that there are opportunities in the agricultural sector to use less irrigation water and thus make saved water available for municipal and industrial uses. The key is f...
SMURF-seq: efficient copy number profiling on long-read sequencers

We present SMURF-seq, a protocol to efficiently sequence short DNA molecules on a long-read sequencer by randomly ligating them to form long molecules. Applying SMURF-seq using the Oxford Nanopore MinION yields up to 30 fragments per read, providing an average of 6.2 and up to 7.5 million mappable fragments per run, increasing information throughput for read-counting applications. We apply SMURF-seq on the MinION to generate copy number profiles. A comparison with profiles from Illumina sequencing reveals that SMURF-seq attains similar accuracy. More broadly, SMURF-seq expands the utility of long-read sequencers for read-counting applications.
Neuronal, stromal, and T-regulatory cell crosstalk in murine skeletal muscle

A distinct population of Foxp3+CD4+ regulatory T (Treg) cells promotes repair of acutely or chronically injured skeletal muscle. The accumulation of these cells depends critically on interleukin (IL)-33 produced by local mesenchymal stromal cells (mSCs). An intriguing physical association among muscle nerves, IL-33+ mSCs, and Tregs has been reported, and invites a deeper exploration of this cell triumvirate. Here we evidence a striking proximity between IL-33+ muscle mSCs and both large-fiber nerve bundles and small-fiber sensory neurons; report that muscle mSCs transcribe an array of genes encoding neuropeptides, neuropeptide receptors, and other nerve-related proteins; define muscle mSC subtypes that express both IL-33 and the receptor for the calcitonin-gene-related peptide (CGRP); and demonstrate that up- or down-tuning of CGRP signals augments or diminishes, respectively, IL-33 production by muscle mSCs and later accumulation of muscle Tregs. Indeed, a single injection of CGRP induced much of the genetic program elicited in mSCs early after acute skeletal muscle injury. These findings highlight neural/stromal/immune-cell crosstalk in tissue repair, suggesting future therapeutic approaches.
Hotspot detection in pancreatic neuroendocrine images using local depth

There is a recent and increasing trend in the incidence of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs). Ki-67 proliferative index is required for routine pathologic evaluation of PNETs. This index has been found to be a consistent prognostic factor to assess clinical/prognostic outcome of PNETs. Unfortunately, we still lack a standardized method to reliably obtain the Ki-67 proliferative index. As part of a large study to standardize this index, here we present an accurate, easy-to- use, reproducible method to identify tumor nuclei and hotspots within PNETs. We modified the U-Net image segmentation architecture to identify tumor positive and negative nuclei. We also introduced the concept of local depth for identification of hotspots. On an independent test set of 8 whole slide images, the modified U-Net achieved a sensitivity of 96.2% and specificity of 93.3%. The hotspot detection framework resulted in a dice coefficient of 0.81. The method has the potential to not only facilitate the detection of tumor nuclei, but can be adapted to reproduce hotspots by pathologists.
Evening chronotype, alcohol use disorder severity, and emotion regulation in college students.

The evening chronotype is strongly associated with greater alcohol use, though mechanisms underlying this association are not well understood. The current study evaluated emotion regulation as a potential mechanism linking evening chronotype and alcohol use. Participants were 81 undergraduate students. Chronotype was assessed using the Composite Scale of Morningness (CSM). Alcohol use disorder severity was assessed using the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT). Participants recorded daily sleep patterns using an online diary for seven days. Participants then completed a standardized laboratory emotion regulation task. Self-reported affect, high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV), and pre-ejection period (PEP) were measured throughout the task. Sleep duration on non-free days (defined as days when sleep was restricted by morning obligations such as work or school) was evaluated as a moderator. Thirty-one evening chronotypes (CSM scores ≤ 26) were compared to 50 non-evening chronotypes (CSM scores >26). Evening chronotypes reported significantly greater symptoms of alcohol use disorder (F = 4.399, p = .039). In the full sample, emotion regulation was successful for altering affective but not autonomic reactivity to emotional stimuli. There were no chronotype differences in self-reported affect, HF-HRV, or PEP during the emotion regulation task. Longer sleep duration on non-free days was associated with increased HF-HRV during negative emotion regulation among non-evening chronotypes. Moderated mediation revealed that emotion regulation did not mediate the association between evening chronotype and alcohol use, irrespective of sleep duration on non-free days. This study is consistent with the literature on chronotype and substance use, demonstrating that undergraduate evening chronotypes endorse greater severity of alcohol use disorder. Given that emotion regulation did not successfully alter autonomic reactivity to emotional stimuli, emotion regulation as a potential mechanism linking chronotype and alcohol use remains inconclusive. Longer sleep duration appears to be protective for non-evening chronotypes in terms of parasympathetic control during the regulation of negative emotions.
Seeing Perfection: Ancient Egyptian Images beyond Representation

This Element offers a new approach to ancient Egyptian images informed by interdisciplinary work in archaeology, anthropology, and art history. Sidestepping traditional perspectives on Egyptian art, the Element focuses squarely on the ontological status of the image in ancient thought and experience. To accomplish this, section 2 takes up a number of central Egyptian terms for images, showing that a close examination of their etymology and usage can help resolve long-standing question on Egyptian imaging practices. Section 3 discusses ancient Egyptian experiences of materials and manufacturing processes, while section 4 categorizes and discusses the different purposes and functions for which images were created. The Element as a whole thus offers a concise introduction to ancient Egyptian imaging practices for an interdisciplinary readership, while at the same introducing new ways of thinking about familiar material for the Egyptological reader.
The Birth of Philosophy, The Philosophy of Birth: Heidegger, Plato, and the Gift of Being

This article explores certain structural resonances between Plato’s Theaetetus and Martin Heidegger’s (1979) Heraclitus lectures from 1943 to 1944. Specifically, it is argued that these two texts, ...
Presenting Historical Content: The Inquiry Connections of a Neglected Practice

In the last three decades, history education has focused overwhelmingly on inquiry. In teacher education, the recent turn to “Core Practices” or “High-Leverage Practices” (HLPs) has been applied to...
The seasonal microclimate trends of a large scale extensive green roof

Abstract At nearly 27,500 m2, the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center (JJCC) located in New York City, hosts one of the largest extensive green roofs in the United States. This paper explores three years of fine scale microclimate data collected at the JJCC green roof and its potential ability to reduce the urban heat island intensity (UHII). Surface energy fluxes and microclimate parameters on four different surfaces are analyzed before and after installation of the southern section of the green roof, offering a unique before/after, test/control study. The results indicate that the temperatures of the air above the green roof, and its exterior surface are different (e.g. lower) than those measured above and on, respectively, the black roof that preceded it. Differences in the maximum daytime air and surface temperature between the black and green roof were 1.80 °C and 18.4 °C, respectively. Installation of the green roof increased evapotranspiration, modifying the roof’s surface energy balance, and reduced the median summer nighttime UHII (compared to the pedestrian level station) by 0.91 °C. Though microclimatic conditions on two sections of the green roofs vary somewhat, the research findings generally support the statement that green roofs are a moderately effective strategy for mitigating the UHI effect.
Associations of Telemedicine vs. In-Person Ambulatory Care Visits on Cancellation Rates and 30-Day Follow-Up Hospitalizations and Emergency Department Visits

ImportanceStudies have shown that telemedicine use in specific conditions can promote continuity of care, decreases healthcare costs, and can potentially improve clinical outcomes. The COVID-19 pandemic forced many healthcare systems to expand access for patients using telemedicine, but little is known about cancellation frequencies in telemedicine vs. in-person appointments and its impact on clinical outcomes. ObjectiveCompare ambulatory clinic cancellation rates, 30-day inpatient hospitalizations rates, and 30-day emergency department visit rates between in-person and video telemedicine appointments, and examine differences in cancellation rates by age, race/ethnicity, gender, and insurance. DesignA retrospective cohort study. SettingThe largest academic healthcare system in the state of Georgia with ambulatory clinics in urban, suburban and rural settings. ParticipantsAdults scheduled for an ambulatory clinic appointment from June 2020 to December 2020 were included. Each appointment was identified as either a video telemedicine or in-person clinic appointment. Demographics including age, race, ethnicity, gender, primary insurance, and comorbidities were extracted from the electronic medical record. Main Outcomes and MeasuresThe primary process outcome was ambulatory clinic cancellation rates. The primary clinical outcomes were 30-day hospitalization rates and 30-day emergency department visit rates. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess differences in the clinical outcomes between appointment types. ResultsA total of 1,652,623 ambulatory clinic appointments were scheduled during the study period. Ambulatory appointment cancellations rates were significantly lower among telemedicine appointments compared to in-person appointments (20.5% vs. 31.0%, p <.001). Cancellation rates were significantly lower for telemedicine appointments than in-person appointments regardless of gender, age, race, ethnicity, primary insurance, or specialty (p <.05 for all sub-groups). Telemedicine appointments was associated with lower 30-day hospitalization rates compared to in-person appointments (2.1% vs. 2.8%; aOR: 0.72, 95% CI: 0.71 to 0.74). There was no difference in 30-day emergency department visit rates between telemedicine and in-person appointment patients (2.6% vs. 2.6%: aOR: 1.00, 95% CI: 0.98 to 1.02) Conclusions and RelevanceOur findings suggest that there are fewer barriers to attending an ambulatory care visit via telemedicine relative than in-person. Moreover, using telemedicine was not associated with any more frequent adverse clinical events compared with in-person visits.
NINETEEN ROCKY MOUNTAIN ELK (CERVUS CANADENSIS NELSONI) KILLED IN AN AVALANCHE IN THE THREE SISTERS WILDERNESS

On 10 August 2018 we investigated reports of dead Rocky Mountain Elk (Cervus canadensis nelsoni) melting out of the snow above No Name Lake in the Three Sisters Wilderness, Oregon. We identified 15 elk partially lodged in the snow and 4 elk submerged in the lake. The elk were scattered across the slope and had suffered multiple compound fractures of the leg bones, suggestive of a traumatic incident. Soft tissues, such as eyes and tongue, were well preserved and had not been subject to scavenging or extensive decomposition
The Effects of Endotoxin on Macrophages and T-Lymphocytes

The immune response is generated by a complex series of interactions between three major lymphoreticular cell types, macrophages and B and T lymphocytes (Fig. 1). This response is initiated by the interaction of an external stimulus, such as an antigen or mitogen, with each of all of these cells. The initial stimulation also results in the production of a number of soluble intercellular messengers i.e., lymphokines or monokines, that act within the system to produce a marked amplification of the response.
Qualitatively and quantitatively similar effects of active and passive maternal tobacco smoke exposure on in utero mutagenesis at the HPRT locus.

Induced mutagenesis in utero is likely to have life-long repercussions for the exposed fetus, affecting survival, birth weight and susceptibility to both childhood and adult-onset diseases, such as cancer. In the general population, such exposures are likely to be a consequence of the lifestyle choices of the parents, with exposure to tobacco smoke one of the most pervasive and easily documented. Previous studies attempting to establish a direct link between active smoking and levels of somatic mutation have largely discounted the effects of passive or secondary exposure, and have produced contradictory results. Data from three studies of possible smoking effects on in utero mutagenesis at the HPRT locus were compiled and reanalyzed, alone and in combination. Where possible, passive exposure to environmental tobacco smoke was considered as a separate category of exposure, rather than being included in the non-smoking controls. Molecular spectra from these studies were reanalyzed after adjustment for reported mutation frequencies from the individual studies and the entire data set. A series of related studies on mutation at the X-linked HPRT locus in human newborn cord blood samples has led to the novel conclusion that only passive maternal exposure to tobacco mutagens has a significant effect on the developing baby. We performed a pooled analysis of the complete data from these studies, at the levels of both induced mutation frequency and the resulting mutational spectrum. Our analysis reveals a more commonsensical, yet no less cautionary result: both active maternal smoking and secondary maternal exposure produce quantitatively and qualitatively indistinguishable increases in fetal HPRT mutation. Further, it appears that this effect is not perceptibly ameliorated if the mother adjusts her behavior (i.e. stops smoking) when pregnancy is confirmed, although this conclusion may also be affected by continued passive exposure.
Torturing the Ticking Bomb Terrorist: An Analysis of Judicially Sanctioned Torture in the Context of Terrorism

Alan Dershowitz's book examines recent acts of global terrorism and analyzes the reasons why terrorism is successful. In an effort to reduce the frequency and severity of terrorist attacks, Dershowitz discusses different proposals that would deter terrorism while striking a balance between security and liberty. One of Dershowitz's most controversial proposals calls for the use of judicially sanctioned torture to force a terrorist suspect to reveal information that would prevent an imminent terrorist attack. This Book Review explores the justifications for judicially sanctioned torture and ultimately argues that such a proposal would be morally and legally prohibited.
The Ghosts of the Hope Natural Gas Decision

value" process of fixing utility rates expounded in Smyth v. Ames,' it might perhaps have done a service in finally laying a ghost3 which appeared to be still at large despite the decision two years before in Federal Power Commission v. Natural Gas Pipeline Co." But the Court went much further-it not only tried to exorcise one ghost but in the process it set free several others which had long been at rest, and moreover it created some new ones of its own due to the utter
The Semiosis of the Clinton Impeachment Debate

The attempt in 1998-99 to remove William Jefferson Clinton from the office of the presidency of the United States through the impeachment process was justified on the grounds of the immorality of the actions which he was accused of taking. During the long public debate over this matter, there was a substantial disconnect between the dominant view that Clinton was understood as a person of dubious morality and the dominant view that Clinton ought not be removed from office. At the same time, those who led the attempt to remove him from office were charged with engaging in a naked grab for power behind the facade of a hypocritical rhetoric of morality. These phenomena can be explained by the fact that all of the major themes in this long discourse sounded in one or another of the ancient myths of kingship. In turn, these myths each rest on one or another of the deep cosmologies to which humans appeal in order to create the cognitive World that is the milieu of the conscious human. Thus, the discourse rested on deeply principled foundations. And, as a political matter, Clinton was not removed from office because a substantial majority of the populace held one or another concept of kingship for which the morality of the incumbent is irrelevant.
Characterization of Influenza Virus Ribonucleic Acid Duplex Produced by Annealing In Vitro

A ribonuclease-resistant ribonucleic acid (RNA) with a sedimentation coefficient of 12S was obtained by self-annealing influenza virus-specific RNA isolated from infected cells. It had the properties of double-stranded RNA. (i) Sedimentation behavior in sucrose gradient was independent of salt concentration. (ii) Thermal transition profile was sharp; the melting temperature is 83 C in 0.1 SSC (0.15 m NaCl plus 0.015 m sodium citrate) and 98 C in SSC. (iii) Buoyant density in cesium sulfate was 1.58 g/cm(3) compared to 1.64 g/cm(3) for single-stranded RNA. (iv) It gave rise to single-stranded RNA after denaturation. (v) The 12S RNA duplex contained both plus and minus strands of influenza virus. Labeled plus strands could be displaced by extraneous cold plus strands and extraneous (32)P-labeled plus strands could be incorporated into duplex after denaturation and reannealing.
A pertussis toxin-sensitive G-protein mediates some aspects of insulin action in BC3H-1 murine myocytes.

The involvement of G-proteins in the insulin signal transduction system has been studied in detail using the murine BC3H-1 myocyte system. Pertussis toxin (PT) treatment, previously shown to attenuate some of the metabolic effects of insulin in this cell line (Luttrell, L.M., Hewlett, E.L., Romero, G., and Rogol, A.D. (1988) J. Biol. Chem. 263, 6134-6141), abolished insulin-induced generation of diacylglycerol and inositolglycan mediators with no effects on either the autophosphorylation of the insulin receptor or the phosphorylation of the major endogenous substrates for insulin-stimulated tyrosine kinase activity (pp185 and pp42-45). In vitro ADP-ribosylation and immunoblotting studies suggest that the major PT substrate is a 40-kDa protein of the G alpha family. This protein band did not exhibit detectable tyrosine phosphorylation upon stimulation of either intact cells or cell membranes with insulin. In the presence of low concentrations of GTP, insulin treatment of isolated myocyte plasma membranes resulted in a small (30-40%) but significant stimulation of GTP hydrolysis. This effect was best observed in the presence of small concentrations of sodium dodecyl sulfate. The rate of guanosine 5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate) (GTP gamma S) binding to BC3H-1 membranes was also significantly increased in the presence of insulin. The effects of insulin on GTP hydrolysis and GTP gamma S binding were found to be dependent on the concentration of insulin. These effects were not detected in plasma membranes prepared from PT-pretreated BC3H-1 myocytes. In contrast, pretreatment with the B (inactive) subunit of PT did not alter the response of myocyte membranes to insulin. High affinity binding of [125I]iodoinsulin to myocyte plasma membranes was reduced by 60-70% in the presence of guanine nucleotides. Similar effects on insulin binding were produced by PT pretreatment of the cells. In contrast, adenine nucleotides had no effect on insulin binding. Scatchard analysis of the binding data showed that the observed effects of guanine nucleotides and PT on insulin binding resulted either from a reduction in the number of high affinity insulin binding sites or from a significant reduction of the affinity of insulin for its receptor. Low affinity binding sites did not appear to be affected by either guanine nucleotides nor PT pretreatment. These results provide substantial evidence suggestive of a noncovalent interaction between the insulin receptor and a regulatory G-protein system during the process of insulin signaling.
Transient circadian internal desynchronization after light-dark phase shift in monkeys

In four conscious chair-acclimatized squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) studied with lights on (600 lx) from 0800 to 2000 h daily (LD 12:12), prominent 24-h rhythms in feeding, drinking, activity, body temperature, and urinary potassium, sodium, and water excretion were seen. When the monkeys were subjected to 36 h of darkness followed by 36 h of light each variable demonstrated a circadian rhythm which was not passively dependent on the light-dark cycle. After the 24-h light-dark cycle was abruptly phase-delayed by 8 h, all the rhythms resynchronized with the new light-dark cycle phase, demonstrating that light-dark cycles are an effective zeitgeber. However, the resynchronization of the rhythms of feeding, drinking, activity, and body temperature was 90% complete within approximately 2 days while the 90% resynchronization of the urinary rhythms took approximately 5 days. These results suggest that the circadian timing system in S. sciureus may consist of several spontaneously oscillating units which can become transiently uncoupled during pertubations of environmental time cues.
Not quite dead: why Egyptian doctors refuse the diagnosis of death by neurological criteria.

Drawing on two years of ethnographic fieldwork in Egypt focused on organ transplantation, this paper examines the ways in which the “scientific” criteria of determining death in terms of brain function are contested by Egyptian doctors. Whereas in North American medical practice, the death of the “person” is associated with the cessation of brain function, in Egypt, any sign of biological life is evidence of the persistence, even if fleeting, of the soul. I argue that this difference does not exemplify an irresolvable culture clash but points to an unsettling aspect of cadaveric organ procurement that has emerged wherever organ transplantation is practiced. Further, I argue that a misdiagnosis of the problem, as one about “religious extremism” or a “civilizational clash,” has obfuscated unresolved concerns about fairness, access, and justice within Egyptian medical spheres. This misdiagnosis has led to the suspension of a cadaveric procurement program for over 30 years, despite Egypt’s pioneering efforts in kidney transplantation.
THE SPINOCERVICAL TRACT: DORSAL COLUMN LINKAGE, CONDUCTION VELOCITY, PRIMARY AFFERENT SPECTRUM.

Conduction velocity of single units, verified components of spinocervical tract and over-all conduction velocity determined in dorsal column of cat
Two photic pathways contribute to pineal evoked responses

Abstract In this study, average photic evoked responses were recorded simultaneously in freely behaving rats from the pineal body and the ventromedial hypothalamus; permanent semimicroelectrodes were implanted several days before the experiments were begun, and both local anesthesia (xylocaine), sympathectomy, and general anesthesia (barbiturate) were used as tools to find out whether or not photic responses are transmitted to the pineal via the superior cervical ganglion (scg)-nervi conorii and/or through another CNS route. The experiments demonstrated that the photic evoked responses recorded from the pineal are transmitted via two separate routes: one, a fast pathway with a “shorter” latency, via the CNS, i.e., the habencular posterior commissure complex, and the other a “slower” (or longer) pathway via the scg to the pineal.
Absence of hypoglycemia in canine splanchnic arterial occlusion (SAO) shock.

Abstract The mechanisms of death in splanchnic arterial occlusion (SAO) shock or acute mesenteric ischemia have been under intensive investigation in recent years, although mortality rates in patients still remain around 80%. Various lethal mechanisms have been suggested and described. The primary purpose of the present study was to determine the role of glucose in SAO shock. The three major arteries to the splanchnic region of dogs, celiac, superior, and inferior mesenteric, were occluded for a 90- to 120- min period. Upon release of the occlusion, shock was manifested by marked hypotension, acidosis, and hemoconcentration and was 100% lethal within 120 min, although dextran (6%) was administered during the occlusion and postocclusion period to maintain hematocrit constant. During occlusion as well as ±30 to 120 min postocclusion, blood glucose levels were found to be equal to or above control (preocclusion) values. Insulin remained above control levels throughout the course of shock. Results document the fact that neither hypoglycemia nor hypoinsulinemia is a contributory factor in the rapid circulatory collapse leading to death in the SAO shock.
On the Topology of Discrete Strategies

In this paper we explore a topological perspective of planning in the presence of uncertainty, focusing on tasks specified by goal states in discrete spaces. We introduce strategy complexes. A strategy complex is the collection of all plans for attaining all goals in a given space. Plans are like jigsaw pieces. Understanding how the pieces fit together in a strategy complex reveals structure. That structure characterizes the inherent capabilities of an uncertain system. By adjusting the jigsaw pieces in a design loop, one can build systems with desired competencies. The paper draws on representations from combinatorial topology, Markov chains, and polyhedral cones. Triangulating between these three perspectives produces a topological language for describing concisely the capabilities of uncertain systems, analogous to the concepts of reachability and controllability in other disciplines. The major nouns in this language are topological spaces. Three key theorems illustrate the sentences in this language. (a) Goal attain-ability: There exists a strategy for attaining a particular goal from anywhere in a system if and only if the strategy complex of a slightly modified system is homotopic to a sphere. (b) Full controllability : A system can move between any two states despite control uncertainty precisely when its strategy complex is homotopic to a sphere of dimension two less than the number of states. (c) General structure: Any systemâs strategy complex is homotopic to the product of a spherical part, modeling full controllability on subspaces, and a general part, modeling adversarial capabilities. This paper contains a number of additional results required as stepping stones, along with many examples. We provide algorithms for computing the key structures described. Finally, we show that some interesting questions are hard. For instance, it is NP-complete to determine the most precisely attainable goal of a system with perfect sensing, but uncertain control.
Bryostatin Modulates Latent HIV-1 Infection via PKC and AMPK Signaling but Inhibits Acute Infection in a Receptor Independent Manner

HIV's ability to establish long-lived latent infection is mainly due to transcriptional silencing in resting memory T lymphocytes and other non dividing cells including monocytes. Despite an undetectable viral load in patients treated with potent antiretrovirals, current therapy is unable to purge the virus from these latent reservoirs. In order to broaden the inhibitory range and effectiveness of current antiretrovirals, the potential of bryostatin was investigated as an HIV inhibitor and latent activator. Bryostatin revealed antiviral activity against R5- and X4-tropic viruses in receptor independent and partly via transient decrease in CD4/CXCR4 expression. Further, bryostatin at low nanomolar concentrations robustly reactivated latent viral infection in monocytic and lymphocytic cells via activation of Protein Kinase C (PKC) -α and -δ, because PKC inhibitors rottlerin and GF109203X abrogated the bryostatin effect. Bryostatin specifically modulated novel PKC (nPKC) involving stress induced AMP Kinase (AMPK) inasmuch as an inhibitor of AMPK, compound C partially ablated the viral reactivation effect. Above all, bryostatin was non-toxic in vitro and was unable to provoke T-cell activation. The dual role of bryostatin on HIV life cycle may be a beneficial adjunct to the treatment of HIV especially by purging latent virus from different cellular reservoirs such as brain and lymphoid organs.
Strategies for reducing large fMRI data sets for independent component analysis

In independent component analysis (ICA), principal component analysis (PCA) is generally used to reduce the raw data to a few principal components (PCs) through eigenvector decomposition (EVD) on the data covariance matrix. Although this works for spatial ICA (sICA) on moderately sized fMRI data, it is intractable for temporal ICA (tICA), since typical fMRI data have a high spatial dimension, resulting in an unmanageable data covariance matrix. To solve this problem, two practical data reduction methods are presented in this paper. The first solution is to calculate the PCs of tICA from the PCs of sICA. This approach works well for moderately sized fMRI data; however, it is highly computationally intensive, even intractable, when the number of scans increases. The second solution proposed is to perform PCA decomposition via a cascade recursive least squared (CRLS) network, which provides a uniform data reduction solution for both sICA and tICA. Without the need to calculate the covariance matrix, CRLS extracts PCs directly from the raw data, and the PC extraction can be terminated after computing an arbitrary number of PCs without the need to estimate the whole set of PCs. Moreover, when the whole data set becomes too large to be loaded into the machine memory, CRLS-PCA can save data retrieval time by reading the data once, while the conventional PCA requires numerous data retrieval steps for both covariance matrix calculation and PC extractions. Real fMRI data were used to evaluate the PC extraction precision, computational expense, and memory usage of the presented methods.
Women's Health: research, progress and priorities.

Director, Office of Research on Women’s Health, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA Tel.: +1 301/402-1770; Fax: +1 301/402-1798; E-mail: orwh-research@ od.nih.gov ‘As an instrument for presenting the most important advances in research on sex and gender, and for discussing their clinical relevance, Women’s Health will serve an important role in a movement that gained momentum two decades ago in the USA.’
Radiographic manifestations of aortic stenosis and aortic valvular insufficiency.

B ECAUSE of the prompt use of antibiotics in the treatment of streptococcal infections, there has been a great reduction in the incidence of rheumatic fever. This has resulted in a dramatic decrease in mitral valvular and multivalvular heart disease. However, the incidence of isolated aortic valvular stenosis has remained unchanged. Aortic valvular stenosis is now the most common valvular disease seen at Indiana University Medical Center. The correct diagnosis, particularly in the elderly, is often missed or delayed, since the clinical symptoms and signs may be nonspecific.4 The conventional radiographs may play a major role in the diagnosis and in the differentiation among valvular, subvalvular, and supravalvular aortic stenosis. This presentation will include a description of the radiographic finding in 94 patients with aortic valvular stenosis, 24 with idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis, and 29 with supravalvular aortic stenosis. Patients with discrete subvalvular aortic stenosis are not included, since the vast majority have associated congenital cardiac anomalies.12 All patients were studied with cardiac catheterization and angiocardiography. All patients with aortic valvular stenosis were operated.
A biomechanical and ergonomic evaluation of patient transferring tasks: bed to wheelchair and wheelchair to bed

A laboratory study was conducted in an effort to reduce back stress for nursing personnel while performing the patient handling tasks of transferring the patient from bed to wheelchair and wheelchair to bed. These patient handling tasks were studied using five manual techniques and three hoist-assisted techniques. The manual techniques involved one-person and two-person transfers. One manual technique involved a two-person lift of the patient under the arms; the others used a rocking and pulling action and included the use of assistive devices (a gait belt using a two-person transfer, a walking belt with handles using a one-person and a two-person transfer, and a patient handling sling with cutout areas to allow for a hand grip (Medesign) for a one-person transfer). The three mechanical hoists were Hoyer, Trans-Aid and Ambulift. Six female nursing students with prior patient transfer experience served both as nurses and as passive patients. Static biomechanical evaluation showed that pulling techniques, as compared to lifting the patient, required significantly lower hand forces and produced significantly lower erector spinae and compressive forces at the L5/S1 disc (P greater than or equal to 0.01). Shear force, trunk moments and the percentage of females who were capable of performing the transfers (based on static strength simulation) also favoured pulling methods. Perceived stress ratings for the shoulder, upper back, lower back and whole body were lower for pulling methods than those for lifting the patient (P less than or equal to 0.01). Patients found the pulling techniques, with the exception of when using the gait belt, felt more comfortable and more secure than the lifting method (P less than or equal to 0.01). However, a number of subjects believed that the patient handling sling (Medesign) and the walking belt with one person making the transfer would not work for those patients who could not bear weight and those who were heavy, contracted or combative. A walking belt with two persons was the preferred manual method. Two out of three hoists (Hoyer lift and Trans-Aid) were perceived by the nurses to be as physically stressful as manual methods. Patients found these two hoists to be more uncomfortable and felt less secure than with three of the five manual methods (one- and two-person walking belts and Medesign). Ambulift was found to be the least stressful, the most comfortable, and the most secure among all eight methods. Pulling techniques and hoists took significantly longer amounts of time to make the transfer than manually lifting the patient (P less than or equal to 0.01). The two-person walking belt using a pulling technique and Ambulift are recommended for transferring patients from bed to wheelchair and wheelchair to bed. A large-scale field study is needed to verify these recommendations.
University leadership in island climate change mitigation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the University of Hawaii at Manoa's (UHM's) initiatives in achieving greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions on campus and at the state level.Design/methodology/approach – UHM has taken a “lead by example” approach to climate change mitigation in terms of working to meet the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, becoming a founding member of The Climate Registry, and providing university leadership in crafting the policy to meet Hawaii's Climate Change Solutions Act of 2007.Findings – Universities are uniquely poised to play a role in not only climate change research, education, and community outreach, but also in the regional and national policy‐making arena. In the absence of federal legislation, states are paving the way to create binding US GHG reduction commitments – making crafting innovative and appropriate policy all the more important and meaningful at the state and regional levels.Practical implications – The paper discus...
Performance characteristics needed for protein crystal diffraction x-ray detectors

During the 1990's, macromolecular crystallography became progressively more dependent on synchrotrons X-ray sources for diffraction data collection. Detectors of this diffraction data at synchrotrons beamlines have evolved over the decade, from film to image phosphor plates, and then to CCD systems. These changes have been driven by the data quality and quantity improvements each newer detector technology provided. The improvements have been significant. It is likely that newer detector technologies will be adopted at synchrotron beamlines for crystallographic diffraction data collection in the future, but these technologies will have to compete with existing CCD detector systems which are already excellent and are getting incrementally better in terms of size, speed, efficiency, and resolving power. Detector development for this application at synchrotrons must concentrate on making systems which are bigger and faster than CCDs and which can capture weak data more efficiently. And there is a need for excellent detectors which are less expensive than CCD systems.
Reversible figures and the motion after-effect

Abstract Recent reports have indicated that the McCollough effect is contingent upon the subjective organization of the test patterns which have reversible configuration. This finding is extended to the motion after-effect.
Women in Science: Racial and Ethnic Differences and the Differences They Make

Often the term “women” is assumed to include women of color in the same way as the terms “African American” and “Hispanic” are assumed to include both women and men. Although women of color and non-Hispanic white women are under represented in the science labor force, the rates of and factors contributing to this under representation differ by race and ethnicity. Consequently, disaggregating data on women in science by race and ethnicity is crucial to capture these differences. Such distinctions are critical to developing effective policy, practice, and programs to increase the participation of women in science.
Orientation dependence of the solid-liquid interface stress: atomistic calculations for copper

We present an atomistic study of the solid?liquid interface stress in copper for four different interface orientations: (1?0?0), (1?1?0), (1?1?1) and (3?1?0). For the (1?1?0) and (3?1?0) orientations, the interface stress is found to be anisotropic, while for the (1?0?0) and (1?1?1) orientations it is isotropic by crystal symmetry. The magnitude and sign of the interface stress depend on the interface orientation. Examination of stress profiles across the interfaces reveals competition between the compression of a narrow solid layer and tension of the adjacent liquid layer within the interface region. The sign of the interface stress is dictated by balance between these tensile and compressive contributions.
Four studies of crisis in parents of prematures

The responses of 86 families to the birth of a premature baby have been investigated in four linked studies in order to refine the concept and understanding of crisis. Patterns of the grappling behavior during the crisis were identified which enabled accurate predictions of the short-term mental health outcome. Psychological tasks presented by the stress of premature delivery were also identified. The adequacy with which these tasks were accomplished was predictive of the patterns of early maternal care and mother-child relationships. Results indicate that this type of study is relevant to studies of the causation of mental health and mental illness and to preventive intervention. Certain methodologic and research implications are derived from these studies and point to further research effort which is now practical and desirable.
The Future of Tropical Forests in the Tide of Global Climate Change

Tropical forests are disappearing at an alarming rate. It is estimated that approximately 13 million ha of forests are lost in the world annually (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Na...
Egypt’s Future: Yet Another Turkish Model?

The Turkish model deemed most relevant to 2011-12 post-Mubarak Egypt was the Islamist-led transformation of the polity and economy that occurred following the rise to power of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the 2002 general election. As it transpired, this version of the Turkish model lasted but one year before another took its place. That model was the political project of the Turkish military that seized power in September 1980. This thirty-one year old Turkish model of a constitutionally empowered executive body, controlled by the military appears to have trumped the contemporary, Islamist one in Egypt. But the Turkish military coup of 1980 unwittingly and unintentionally laid the groundwork for the transition that ultimately swept it from power and its leaders into jail. The pertinent question then is will Egypt’s civilian political and economic actors be similarly and sufficiently astute to exploit the opportunities they inevitably will have even under military rule? Egyptian political fo...