cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
UV-B-Induced photooxidation of vitamin E in mouse skin.

Topically applied α-tocopherol (α-TH, vitamin E) inhibits UV-B (290−320 nm) photocarcinogenesis, yet α-TH undergoes rapid photooxidation by UV-B in vitro. To examine the effect of UV-B on α-TH in vivo, we studied the fate of α-TH in UV-B-irradiated mouse skin. [14C]-α-TH was applied to mouse skin at various times prior to UV-B irradiation. UV-B irradiation for 1 h at a dose rate of 2.6−2.9 J m-2 s-1 resulted in consumption of 40−60% of the applied dose and formation of oxidation products. The major product fraction formed in UV-B-irradiated mice treated topically with α-TH contained an α-TH dihydroxy dimer and its two-electron oxidation product, a spirodimer. Products previously identified as being derived from photochemical or peroxyl radical scavenging reactions of α-TH were also observed, including α-tocopherolquinone (α-TQ), α-tocopherolquinone 2,3-epoxide (α-TQE 1), α-tocopherolquinone 5,6-epoxide (α-TQE 2), and 8a-(hydroperoxy)epoxytocopherones. These results indicate that topically applied α-TH is ...
ON BUYING LEGISLATURES

This paper analyzes a simple spatial voting model that includes lobbyists who are able to buy votes on bills to change the status quo. The key results are: (i) if lobbyists can discriminate across legislators when buying votes, then they will pay the largest bribes to legislators who are slightly opposed to the proposed change, rather than to legislators who strongly support or strongly oppose the change; (ii) equilibrium policies exist, and with quadratic preferences these equilibria always lie between the average of the lobbyists' ideal points and the median of the legislators' ideal points; and (iii) “moderate” lobbyists, whose positions on a policy issue are close to the median of the legislators' ideal points, will prefer the issue to be salient, while more extreme lobbyists will generally prefer the issue to be obscure.
Observations on control of N2 and N3 neck disease in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck by intra-arterial chemoradiation

Patients with head and neck squamous cell cancer with N2 and N3 neck disease have a poor prognosis and are at risk to fail regionally despite combined surgery and radiation. Twenty-two patients with N2 and N3 neck disease (and T3-4 primaries) were treated with intra-arterial, high-dose cisplatin (CDDP), 150 mg/m2 per week for 4 weeks, and concurrent radiation. All patients were followed for at least 2 years or until death from any cause. Twenty patients had a complete response at the primary site. Two of the 20 with a complete response later had a neck recurrence and died. Five patients with palpable nodes after treatment underwent fine-needle aspiration (FNA), one of which was positive and two suggestive of cancer. Six neck dissections were performed in this group, only two of which had positive nodes. This chemoradiation protocol may offer reasonable control of N2 and N3 neck disease in advanced head and neck squamous cell cancer. Neck dissection appeared to be necessary in only those patients with nodes 8 weeks after treatment in whom FNA was positive or suggestive of cancer. Because of the relatively small size of this series, additional accrual and monitoring of such patients is planned.
Electronic Coherence Mediated Quantum Control of Chemical Reactions in Polyatomic Molecules

We report order-of-magnitude quantum coherent control of the yield of photofragment ions following the creation of electronic coherence in the Rydberg states of dicyclopentadiene (C10H12) molecules using a pair of phase-locked femtosecond near-infrared laser pulses.
Carbon chemistry of Apollo 14 size-fractionated fines.

TOTAL carbon measurements of crystalline lunar rocks returned by the Apollo missions have revealed only low concentrations of carbon (10–50 p.p.m.)1–3. The breccias and fines, however, have, in general, higher carbon concentrations (up to 200 p.p.m.). This carbon is more concentrated in the finer fractions1 and is correlated with the noble gas content of the solar wind2. It has been postulated that most of the carbon associated with the fines and breccia originated in the solar wind1,4. The dissolution of lunar material in mineral acids and direct pyrolysis have been the principal techniques used to reveal the nature of this lunar carbon; in particular, experiments5–8 on Apollo 12 samples using deuterated reagents have shown the presence of indigenous CH4 and C2H6. The CD4, C2D4 and C2D6 also released are evidence for the presence of hydrolysable carbides in the samples. The yields of these gases from several samples have been shown6,7 to correlate with various parameters related to exposure to the solar wind. Shallow etching of fines with NaOD released more than 60% of the CH4 found by complete dissolution7, indicating that most of the CH4 is in the surface of the grains and may therefore be connected with implantation by the solar wind5.
Addressing School Psychology's Need for Rigorous Scholarship with Applied Value

It is contended that practicing school psychologists and their academic trainers often exist in different universes. The two groups’ lack of shared realities and daily tasks threatens the applicability of much of the published school psychology literature, which is currently prepared and reviewed largely by professor-trainers, not practitioners. Under new editorship, the Journal of Applied School Psychology intends to continue publication of traditional articles but also to investigate an array of publication alternatives that may ultimately help provide publications possessing both rigorous scholarship and applied value.
Overt and Covert Pacing of Suggestions to Phases of the Breathing Cycle to Enhance Hypnotic Responding

This study tested the hypothesis that the pacing of suggestions to phases of the breathing cycle can enhance responding in hypnosis. Ninety-six subjects at three levels of hypnotizability responded to suggestions for coolness/numbness and arm lightness/levitation both paced and counter-paced to the phase of breathing (inhalation) claimed to enhance responding to them. As a test of pacing as a technique for indirect hypnosis, the covert pacing of such suggestions was compared to overt pacing. Results failed to demonstrate a relationship between the pacing of the phases of breathing and its hypothesized effects. Responding to suggestions was related to level of hypnotizability and an interaction was noted between overtness/covertness of pacing and level of hypnotizability.
HIV-1 Tat- and Vpr-responsive MicroRNAs of Neuronal Cells

Based on Exiqon hybridization array profiling, >2-fold differential expression of 69 microRNAs was reported in both SH-SY5Y cells and primary human fetal neurons in response to HIV-1 Tat (1) or Vpr (2) in experiments with shared controls. Corrections now indicate that raw and normalized data from three profiling platforms, including two not initially described, were recently uploaded to the Gene Expression Omnibus ({"type":"entrez-geo","attrs":{"text":"GSE44265","term_id":"44265"}}GSE44265 and {"type":"entrez-geo","attrs":{"text":"GSE44266","term_id":"44266"}}GSE44266) for MIAME data policy compliance (3, 4). The data suggest that the described Exiqon profiling was uniformly unsuccessful for the mainstay SH-SY5Y experiments and for several of the fetal neuron samples. Only 12 confirmed miRNAs were detected above background plus two standard deviations in all conditions of the SH-SY5Y experiment. It is unclear how reliable, quantile normalized data could be generated from background-level signal, but the processed values as provided also show no consistent changes of reported miRNAs for SH-SY5Y or fetal neurons. Given the quality of the Exiqon data, especially for the cell line experiments advanced as the primary support, the authors are commended for providing additional, unpublished Agilent and Affymetrix data. However, the “quantile normalized” Agilent data are unnormalized raw values. Distributions of the “processed” Affymetrix data appear similarly inconsistent with normalization. MIAME compliance aside, data across the various platforms and cell types seem to challenge, e.g. the reported quantitative PCR finding of Tat-mediated, >400-fold miR-34a up-regulation. Experimental and analytical replication is needed, guided by an indication of which arrays contributed to Fig. 3 in both Refs. 1 and 2, correctly normalized data, and appropriate details of data processing.
Novel mechanism of cellular DNA topoisomerase II inhibition by the pyranonaphthoquinone derivatives α-lapachone and β-lapachone

Purpose: The mechanisms of intracellular topoisomerase II inhibition by the pyranonaphthoquinone derivatives α-lapachone and β-lapachone were studied. Methods: Cell-based mechanistic studies were designed based on the in vitro mechanisms [17] and primarily involved the use of cultured KB (nasopharyngeal tumor cells) cells and the etoposide-resistant sub-line KB-7d. Results: The KB-7d cells exhibited collateral sensitivity to α-lapachone; this supports the possibility of catalytic inhibition of topoisomerase II in the cells. Interestingly, both compounds induced an increase (two- to threefold) in reversible double-stranded DNA breaks in cell lines with a reduced expression of topoisomerase II. However, these drug-induced DNA breaks became irreversible at treatment times greater than 1 h. Studies showed that DNA breaks in KB-7d cells were not caused by endonucleases. Use of antioxidants abolished the appearance of cellular DNA breaks; this suggests involvement of the oxidation–reduction cycle of pyranonaphthoquinones in topoisomerase II inhibition; however, irreversible DNA breaks were not a result of drug-induced oxidative stress. Conclusions: On the basis of the findings, it is proposed that the compounds, on longer incubation with cells, induce abortive dissociation of topoisomerase II from the DNA, leading to an irreversible accumulation of high molecular weight DNA fragments. In addition to establishing topoisomerase II as an intracellular target of α-lapachone, the results suggest that both compounds can be classified as neither typical poisons nor as typical catalytic inhibitors of the enzyme. In summary, both compounds are members of a new inhibitor class, and α-lapachone, in particular, can be considered a potential lead for the development of drugs to treat multidrug-resistant cell lines with lower expression of topoisomerase II.
Heterogeneous partial feedback design in heterogeneous OFDMA cellular networks

Modern heterogeneous networks have an inherent heterogeneous structure such as user densities and large scale channel effects that motivates this work on heterogeneous partial feedback design. In this paper, we address the partial feedback design issue in an OFDMA-based macro-pico cellular system employing the best-M partial feedback strategy. We consider the scenario with one picocell inside a macrocell, and investigate a scheduling policy which tracks the small scale channel effects in order to guarantee fairness among users as well as exploiting the multiuser diversity. We derive a closed form expression for the average spectral efficiency of the network with best-M partial feedback for the identified representative scenarios. We carry out asymptotic analysis using extreme value theory to derive an approximation to the average spectral efficiency in order to determine the minimum required partial feedback with minimal loss in system performance.
Effects of cyclosporins and transforming growth factor β1 on thyroid hormone action in cultured fetal rat limb bones

To study the mechanism of action of thyroid hormones on bone, we examined the effects of immunosuppresive and nonimmunosuppressive cyclosporins, as well as of transforming growth factor β1 (TGFβ1), 17β-estradiol (E2), and dihydroxytestosterone (DHT) on thyroxine (T4)-and triiodothyronine (T3)-stimulated bone resorption in fetal rat limb bones. The immunosuppressive cyclosporins A (CsA) and G (CsG) inhibited thyroid hormone (T4+T3)-stimulated resorption and β-glucuronidase release into the culture medium, whereas the weak or nonimmunosuppressive cyclosporins D (CsD) and H (CsH) did not show this effect. Increasing the medium calcium concentration reduced the ability of T4 to stimulate 45Ca release, while not significantly affecting the response to CsA. TGFβ1 elicited a biphasic effect when administered together with T4. During the first 3 days of culture, TGFβ1 elicited a small, nonsignificant decrease in released 45Ca; during a subsequent 3 days of culture, it enhanced T4-stimulated bone resorption significantly. These effects differed from those of TGFβ1 on parathormone-stimulated resorption. E2 and DHT did not influence the action of T4 on bone tissue. These results suggest that the mechanism of action of thyroid hormones on bone may involve immune factors, as well.
High population density enhances recruitment and survival of a harvested coral reef fish

A negative relationship between population growth and population density (direct density dependence) is necessary for population regulation and is assumed in most models of harvested populations. Experimental tests for density dependence are lacking for large-bodied, harvested fish because of the difficulty of manipulating population density over large areas. We studied a harvested coral reef fish, Lutjanus apodus (schoolmaster snapper), using eight large, isolated natural reefs (0.4–1.6 ha) in the Bahamas as replicates. An initial observational test for density dependence was followed by a manipulation of population density. The manipulation weakened an association between density and shelter-providing habitat features and revealed a positive effect of population density on recruitment and survival (inverse density dependence), but no effect of density on somatic growth. The snappers on an individual reef were organized into a few shoals, and we hypothesize that large shoals on high-density reefs were less vulnerable to large piscivores (groupers and barracudas) than the small shoals on low-density reefs. Reductions in predation risk for individuals in large social groups are well documented, but because snapper shoals occupied reefs the size of small marine reserves, these ecological interactions may influence the outcome of management actions.
Bloc Voting on the International Court of Justice

The results of a Rice-Beyle cluster bloc analysis of votes in the International Court of Justice reveal several two- and three-judge blocs, but these blocs do not conform closely to the blocs which would be expected on the basis of the political alignments or common cultural patterns of the judges' countries. These results are reinforced by the analysis of predetermined blocs based upon the political alignments and common legal systems of the judges' countries, although the Soviet and Polish judges do show distinctive voting patterns from the rest of the Court. A conceptual framework of the judicial decision making process is then introduced to help explain the results, leading to the conclusions that while social background and personal and policy attitudes do not seem to be major factors in explaining judicial behavior of the judges, the factor of judicial role perceptions, stemming primarily from professional traming and associations, may be of great significance.
End-Adsorbed Polymer Brushes in High- and Low-Molecular-Weight Matrices

Numerical self-consistent-field theory (Scheutjens-Fleer theory) is used to describe the crossover from dry brush behavior, where the matrix from which the polymers adsorb is itself a high-molecular-weight polymer, to wet brush behavior, where the matrix is a small-molecule solvent. The free energy, f*, required to add an additional chain to an existing brush is calculated for different values of N a , N b , χ, and z * , where N b and N a are the respective degrees of polymerization of the adsorbing and nonadsorbing molecules, χ is the Flory interaction parameter between different segment types, and z * is the integrated volume fraction of adsorbing chains. In situations where the adsorbing and nonadsorbing molecules have the same statistical segment length, f* is completely specified by N b /N a , XN a , and z*/R g , where R g is the unperturbed radius of gyration of the adsorbing molecules. For a large range of these parameters, results for f*, and the closely related adsorption isotherms, are in good agreement with analytic predictions from a simple scaling argument.
ERBB3 is required for metastasis formation of melanoma cells

Melanoma is curable when it is at an early phase but is lethal once it becomes metastatic. The recent development of BRAFV600E inhibitors (BIs) showed great promise in treating metastatic melanoma, but resistance developed quickly in the treated patients, and these inhibitors are not effective on melanomas that express wild-type BRAF. Alternative therapeutic strategies for metastatic melanoma are urgently needed. Here we report that ERBB3, a member of the epidermal growth factor receptor family, is required for the formation of lung metastasis from both the BI-sensitive melanoma cell line, MA-2, and the BI-resistant melanoma cell line, 451Lu-R. Further analyses revealed that ERBB3 does not affect the initial seeding of melanoma cells in lung but is required for their further development into overt metastases, indicating that ERBB3 might be essential for the survival of melanoma cells after they reach the lung. Consistent with this, the ERBB3 ligand, NRG1, is highly expressed in mouse lungs and induces ERBB3-depdnent phosphorylation of AKT in both MA-2 and 451Lu-R cells in vitro. These findings suggest that ERBB3 may serve as a target for treating metastatic melanomas that are resistant to BIs. In support of this, administration of the pan-ERBB inhibitor, canertinib, significantly suppresses the metastasis formation of BI-resistant melanoma cell lines.
Parathyroid hormone stimulates expression of the Notch ligand Jagged1 in osteoblastic cells.

We previously demonstrated that activation of the Parathyroid Hormone Receptor (PTH1R) in osteoblastic cells increases the Notch ligand Jagged1 and expands hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) through Notch signaling. However, regulation of Jagged1 by PTH in osteoblasts is poorly understood. The present study demonstrates that PTH treatment increases Jagged1 levels in a subpopulation of osteoblastic cells in vivo and in UMR106 osteoblastic cells in vitro. Since PTH(1-34) activates both Adenylate Cyclase/Protein Kinase A (AC/PKA) and Protein Kinase C (PKC) downstream of the PTH1R in osteoblastic cells, we independently determined the effect of either pathway on Jagged1. Activation of AC with Forskolin or PKA with PTH(1-31) or cell-permeable cAMP analogues increased osteoblastic Jagged1. This PTH-dependent Jagged1 increase was blocked by H89 and PKI, specific PKA inhibitors. In contrast, PKC activation with phorbol ester (PMA) or PTH(13-34) did not stimulate Jagged1 expression, and PTH-dependent Jagged1 stimulation was not blocked by Go6976, a conventional PKC inhibitor. Therefore, PTH treatment stimulates osteoblastic Jagged1 mainly through the AC/PKA signaling pathway downstream of the PTH1R. Since Jagged1/Notch signaling has been implicated not only in stromal-HSC interactions but also in osteoblastic differentiation, Jagged1 may play a critical role in mediating the PTH-dependent expansion of HSC, as well as the anabolic effect of PTH in bone.
Abnormal cerebral cortical convolutions in an XYY fetus.

Because of maternal disease a pregnancy was electively terminated at 21 weeks of fetal gestation. At autopsy the fetus showed an abnormal pattern of cerebral cortical convolutions involving the frontal lobes. Karyotypic analysis revealed an XYY sex chromosome constitution. This observation, if confirmed in other XYY cases, raises the possibility that a developmental abnormality of the cerebral cortex may be involved in the higher-than-normal risk for behavioral disability exhibited by men with this genotype.
pT0 Prostate Cancer: Predictive Clinicopathologic Features in an American Population

Introduction: The pT0 stage of prostate cancer describes the radical prostatectomy (RP) specimen where no cancer can be identified. Given known racial and geographic differences in prostate cancer incidence and survival, we reviewed our experience with pT0 disease to determine applicability of these predictive features in an American population. Materials and Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted for all RPs at one state tertiary care institution during a 20-year period (1991-2011). Clinicopathologic features of pT0 patients were collected and their relevant pathologic material re-reviewed. Results: Of a total of 1,635 RPs performed, 4 (0.2%) not receiving neoadjuvant therapy or other prior prostate surgeries were stage pT0. Biopsies from 3 of 4 patients were re-evaluated and confirmed a small focus, Conclusions: Stage pT0 prostate cancer is very uncommon, occurring with an incidence of 0.1%, and in our experience occurs only in clinical T1c patients with pre-biopsy prostate specific antigen
Citizen Grievance Letters as a Gubernatorial Control Device in Wisconsin

n modern democracies the dilemma between giving administrators the power and discretion they need to act effectively and at the same time protecting the rights of citizens from administrative abuse remains largely unresolved.' Twentieth century reformers have, however, almost uniformly agreed upon the proposition that the chief executive should be vested with increased prestige and power pari passu the growth of governmental services.2 They have advocated a concentration of power in the chief executive and maintained that the chief executive should be held responsible for exercising control over administrative agencies.3 At the level of the American states reformers have recommended increasing the importance of and power in the office of governor in accordance with the rapid expansion of governmental services.4 Despite this plea, studies show that the office of governor
Adaptive Optical Signal Processing Architecture Using Signed-Digit Number System

Adaptive signal processing presents extremely demanding requirements to current signal processing hardware. In this paper Signed-Digit arithmetic techniques are evaluated for applicability in adaptive signal processing architectures. It is shown that signed-digit arithmetic offers the advantage of parallelism in computation without the accompanying conversion problems of the residue arithmetic representation. A brief overview of the basic features of signed-digit arithmetic are presented with structures for addition and multiplication. It has been shown that these primitives can be used for matrix operations, including least-square minimization. In optical implementations of residue arithmetic architectures, look-up tables are generally used, which can also be used for a signed-digit implementation.
Hadronic charm decays

I summarize recent data on the decay of charmed mesons into hadronic final states which can be used to test factorization models and help elucidate the important role of final-state interactions. I will emphasize recent results on the resonant substructure in charmed-meson decays.
High-Energy Nucleon-Nucleon Scattering

The nucleon-nucleon problem is discussed from the standpoint of analyticity in angular momentum. A unique continuation of the partial-wave helicity amplitudes is given. The high-energy nucleon-nucleon problem is then considered from the point of view of the various Regge poles that have the same quantum numbers as the nucleon-antinucleon channel. In particular, the contribution of these Regge trajectories to nucleon-antinucleon scattering and, hence, their contribution by crossing to nucleon-nucleon scattering is given. The resulting formulas should be adequate to describe the total cross section and angular distribution for energies greater than approximately 3 BeV in the laboratory system.
Person-environment congruence in the light of the person-situation controversy

Abstract Despite years of debate, the person-situation controversy has not been resolved. There is evidence for both the consistency and the variability of behavior. The question now framed is how much of each there is, and the kind of person, situation, and process units that need to be considered. A static similarity perspective on individual environment interaction no longer seems reasonable, even when domain-specific situations are studied. Models of person-environment interaction that are dynamic, interpretive, process oriented, and which focus on the stasis and flow of behavior are preferable to static descriptive models. A theory of goal-directed behavior is described which focuses on people as active agents in ongoing exchanges with the environment.
NFAT4 is expressed in primary astrocytes and activated by glutamate.

Calcium signaling is a critical component of astrocyte activation but little information is available regarding the identity and function of transcriptional targets of calcium signaling in these cells. As a first step in elucidating the mechanisms that astrocytes use to regulate transcription in response to raised intracellular calcium concentrations, we have investigated expression and activation of the calcium activated transcription factors of the NFAT family. We report here that NFAT4 is expressed in U373 astrocytoma cells and in primary cultures of astrocytes. Treatment of U373 cells or primary astrocytes with the calcium ionophore A23187, or the neurotransmitter glutamate, leads to NFAT nuclear translocation and increased DNA binding to a NFAT consensus site through a cyclosporin A-sensitive process. These data suggest that NFAT4 functions as a calcium-responsive transcription factor in astrocytes.
Somatic symptoms of anxiety: Comparison of self-report and physiological measures ☆

The frequently reported absence of significant correlations between patient rating scales and physiological measures has led to the belief that patients cannot reliably perceive physiological changes that are experienced under conditions of stress. To determine whether or not this conclusion is justified for patients with clinical anxiety, self-reports and psychophysiological recordings were examined and compared in 20 patients suffering from generalized anxiety disorder. No systematic correlations were found between patient ratings and physiological measures of somatic symptomatology during periods of rest or psychological stress (Stroop Test). However, parallel directional changes in the two sets of measures were observed upon exposure to stress, indicating that patients could accurately report the direction, but not the degree, of changes in physical symptoms of anxiety. These results suggest that patient reports of physical symptoms such as sweating and rapid heart rate can be useful in clinical evaluation and research settings that do not require quantitative assessment of physiological activity.
High-sensitivity C-reactive protein as an associate of clinical subsets and organ damage in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective C-reactive protein (CRP) may play an anti-inflammatory role during the acute phase of inflammation and is also used as a marker of inflammation associated with cardiovascular disease. In the present study, we investigated the association between high-sensitivity CRP (hsCRP) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) manifestations, autoantibodies, and organ damage. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 610 SLE patients from a prospective cohort had more than 1 hsCRP measurement. Organ damage was assessed using the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC)/American College of Rheumatology Damage Index. Multiple linear regression models were used to adjust for age, gender, ethnicity, disease duration, body mass index, education, disease activity, current prednisone dose, statin use, and estrogen use. Results After adjusting for confounders, hsCRP was associated with myocarditis, cardiac murmur, interstitial pulmonary fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension, gastrointestinal lupus manifestations, and anemia. Anti-dsDNA antibodies and lupus anticoagulant were associated with hsCRP in unadjusted models, and these associations remained significant after adjustment for confounders. hsCRP levels were significantly higher in patients with pulmonary, musculoskeletal, and endocrine damage, and a total SLICC Damage Index score ≥1. After adjustment, hsCRP was associated with pulmonary, musculoskeletal, and total damage, but no longer with endocrine damage. Conclusions hsCRP is associated with a broad range of clinical features and organ damage in SLE, particularly in the pulmonary and musculoskeletal systems. This association holds true independent of sociodemographic, disease activity, and treatment factors and may be useful to identify high-risk SLE patients who would benefit from additional screening and surveillance studies.
Muscle activity during patient transfers: a preliminary study on the influence of lift assists and experience

The purpose of this study was to examine muscle activity patterns during patient handling during manual transfers, and transfers using floor and ceiling lifts. EMG patterns during transfers from bed to wheelchair and wheelchair to bed as well as patient repositioning in novices and experienced participants were examined. Surface EMG was recorded from the upper and lower erector spinae, latissimus dorsi and trapezius muscles bilaterally. Overall, normalized mean and peak muscle activity were lowest using the ceiling lift, increasing with the floor lift, which were lower than manual transfers (novices: all p < 0.01). Experienced patient handlers demonstrated approximately two times greater trapezius and latissimus dorsi activity than novices, combined with lower mean erector spinae activity (p < 0.05, for most tasks). Integrated EMG for all muscles was directly proportional to the transfer time and was lowest during the manual transfer followed by the ceiling lift, with the floor lift being highest. The difference between the muscle activity patterns between the experienced and novice patient handlers may suggest a learned behaviour to protect the spine by distributing load to the shoulder. Further examination of the muscle activation patterns differences between experience levels could improve training techniques to develop better patient handling strategies.
Linkage of Left Ventricular Contractility to Chromosome 11 in Humans: The HyperGEN Study

Impaired left ventricular (LV) contractility is a major cause of cardiovascular death, especially congestive heart failure. The identification of susceptibility genes that contribute to impaired LV contractility may uncover mechanisms underlying LV contractile impairment and the development of congestive heart failure. The Hypertension Genetic Epidemiology Network (HyperGEN) collected echocardiographic measurements of myocardial contractility in a large biethnic sample of hypertensive siblings (390 blacks and 398 whites in 179 and 165 sibships, respectively). All participants expressed hypertension before age 60 years, and the mean age of siblings was 52 years in blacks and 61 years in whites. We adjusted myocardial contractility for gender, age, and age 2 , and we calculated standardized residuals separately for men and women in both ethnic groups. We conducted multipoint variance components linkage analysis using GENEHUNTER2 and 387 anonymous markers (CHCL8 marker set). We found evidence for significant linkage to a microsatellite marker, D11S1993 (lod, 3.93 in blacks), ≈54 cM from the tip of the short arm of chromosome 11, that accounted for 72% of the phenotypic variation in LV contractility. A chromosome 22 locus showed suggestive evidence for linkage (lod, 2.83 in whites and 1.15 in blacks). The chromosome 11 peak coincides with the region containing myosin-binding protein C. Mutations in this gene are linked to familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Our results show strong evidence for linkage of a region of chromosome 11 with LV contractility in blacks and suggest that an important gene for impaired LV contractility is harbored in this region.
The hemodynamic properties of amlodipine in anesthetised and conscious dogs: comparison with nitrendipine and influence of beta-adrenergic blockade.

The hemodynamic actions of the new dihydropyridine calcium-channel blocker amlodipine were assessed and compared with those of nitrendipine using anesthetised dogs and were also investigated in conscious dogs with and without beta-adrenergic blockade. After bolus intravenous administration, amlodipine (25 to 1600 μg/kg) or nitrendipine (1 to 128 μg/kg) was administered to anesthetised dogs at 30-minute intervals, caused dose-related reductions in systemic and coronary vascular resistances with corresponding increases in cardiac output and coronary flow. Nitrendipine, unlike amlodipine, caused marked acute hypotension. The onset of action of amlodipine was markedly slower than that of nitrendipine, and effects were maintained for 30 minutes—recovery from nitrendipine was largely complete at 30 minutes. In conscious dogs, amlodipine (250, 500, 1000 μg/kg IV) caused dose-related reductions in systemic vascular resistance that approached maximum within 5 minutes and persisted for over 4 hours. Reflex increases in heart rate, cardiac output, and cardiac contractility were attentuated by prior treatment with propranolol, resulting in earlier and greater falls in blood pressure, but no marked adverse effects on cardiac contraction or conduction. In the absence of propranolol, maximum falls in blood pressure occurred 3 to 4 hours after the dose, possibly as a result of the changed baroceptor sensitivity induced by amlodipine. These results show amlodipine to have the basic hemodynamic profile of other dihydropyridine calcium-channel blockers, but in addition it demonstrates a slower onset and longer duration of action; the reasons behind these pharmacodynamic properties are discussed.
In vivo hyperoxic exposure increases cultured lung fibroblast proliferation and c-Ha-ras expression.

Exposure to hyperoxia has been demonstrated to alter the cell number of lung fibroblasts in vivo. The precise mechanism of lung fibroblast proliferation after hyperoxic exposure has not been elucidated, however. We examined the growth characteristics of lung fibroblasts isolated from 21-day-old rats exposed to air or 100% O2 for 8 days. Cell proliferation was assessed by hemocytometry, [3H]thymidine incorporation, and fractional labeling with the thymidine analog bromodeoxyuridine. Under all conditions tested, fibroblasts isolated from O2-exposed rats grew more rapidly than those from air-exposed rats. Conditioned medium from fibroblasts isolated from hyperoxia-exposed rats failed to increase the [3H]thymidine incorporation of control cells to that observed in cells isolated from hyperoxia-exposed animals, suggesting that an autocrine growth factor was not responsible for the excess proliferation. Sensitivity to exogenous growth factors was assessed by measuring the response to increasing concentrations o...
Physical Activity and Asthma Symptoms among New York City Head Start Children

The coincidence of both an obesity epidemic and an asthma epidemic among children in the United States has suggested that childhood overweight and sedentary lifestyles may be risk factors for asthma development. We therefore conducted a study of those factors among children enrolled in Head Start Centers located in areas of New York City with high asthma hospitalization rates. Data were gathered from 547 children through an intensive home visit, and physical activity was measured on 463 children using the Actiwatch accelerometer. Data on allergy and asthma symptoms and demographic variables were obtained from parents' responses to a questionnaire and complete data were available from 433 children. Overall physical activity was highest in warmer months, among boys, among children whose mothers did not work or attend school, and among children of mothers born in the United States. Activity was also positively associated with the number of rooms in the home. The season in which the activity data were collected modified many of the associations between demographic predictor variables and activity levels. Nearly half the children were above the range considered healthy weight. In cross-sectional analyses, before and after control for demographic correlates of physical activity, asthma symptoms were not associated with physical activity in this age group. Comparing the highest quartile of activity to the lowest, the odds ratio for asthma was 0.91 (95% CI = 0.46, 1.80). However, the novel associations with physical activity that we have observed may be relevant to the obesity epidemic and useful for planning interventions to increase physical activity among preschool children living in cities in the northern United States.
Men's Friendships: Performances of Masculinity:

A man's friendship is more than simply a product of being a man. It is a performance of masculinity that is influenced by gendered expectations. Using structural equation modeling to analyze 98 men...
Pedestrian Injuries: The Association of Alcohol Consumption with the Type and Severity of Injuries and Outcomes

Background Literature on the effect of alcohol ingestion on short-term outcomes for trauma patients shows conflicting results. We performed this study to investigate the prevalence of positive alcohol screens and the effect of alcohol level on injury patterns, injury severity, and outcomes in pedestrians and bicyclists involved in a collision with an automobile. Study design The study population included all pedestrians and bicyclists older than 10 years, treated in any of the 13 trauma centers in the Los Angeles County Emergency Services System during the calendar year 2003, who were involved in a collision with an automobile and had a blood alcohol level measured. The alcohol negative group was defined as those patients with a blood alcohol level ≤0.05 g/dL. Low and high alcohol groups were defined as those having blood alcohol levels>0.05 g/dL to Results There were 1,042 patients who met study criteria. Overall, 606 patients (58%) had a negative alcohol screen, 84 (8%) had low alcohol levels, and 352 (34%) had high alcohol levels. Alcohol level was not notably associated with severity of injury, admission hypotension, ICU length of stay, major complications, and injury pattern (head, chest, abdomen, or extremity Area Injury Score). Mortality was similar in the three alcohol level groups, but the overall complication rate and hospital length of stay were markedly higher in the high alcohol level group than they were in the negative alcohol level group. Conclusions In pedestrians and bicyclists involved in a collision with an automobile, a high alcohol level is not associated with body area severity of injury, overall severity of injury, and hospital mortality. But high alcohol level is notably associated with higher overall complication rate and longer hospital length of stay.
LoST: Local State Transfer -- An Architectural Style for the Distributed Enactment of Business Protocols

Local State Transfer (LoST) is a simple, declarative approach for enacting communication protocols. LoST is perfectly distributed and relies only upon the local knowledge of each business partner. It involves a novel treatment of the information bases of protocols, especially in terms of how their parameters are specified. As a result, LoST can capture subtle patterns of interaction that more complex approaches cannot handle well. Further, LoST lends itself to implementations that are robust against unordered and lossy message transmission.
Multisensory information boosts numerical matching abilities in young children

This study presents the first evidence that preschool children perform more accurately in a numerical matching task when given multisensory rather than unisensory information about number. Three- to 5-year-old children learned to play a numerical matching game on a touchscreen computer, which asked them to match a sample numerosity with a numerically equivalent choice numerosity. Samples consisted of a series of visual squares on some trials, a series of auditory tones on other trials, and synchronized squares and tones on still other trials. Children performed at chance on this matching task when provided with either type of unisensory sample, but improved significantly when provided with multisensory samples. There was no speed–accuracy tradeoff between unisensory and multisensory trial types. Thus, these findings suggest that intersensory redundancy may improve young children’s abilities to match numerosities.
Gait deviations in patients with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis

The purpose of this study was to describe quantitatively the gait patterns of patients with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA). Thirty children with JRA and 30 healthy children were evaluated using a computerized gait analysis system. Time-distance characteristics and joint angle excursions were studied. The subjects with JRA walked with significantly decreased velocity, cadence, and stride length. We found no significant difference in step width nor in the percentage of time spent in each phase of the gait cycle. The anterior pelvic tilt of subjects with JRA was significantly increased throughout the gait cycle. Hip extension at the end of single-limb stance and ankle plantar flexion during weight release also were significantly decreased for subjects with JRA. No significant difference between the two groups was noted in knee joint excursion. Areas of emphasis for physical therapy of patients with JRA include increasing velocity, cadence, stride length, hip extension, and ankle plantar flexion and decreasing excessive anterior pelvic tilt.
The synthesis of stable grasps in the plane

This paper addresses the problem of synthesizing stable grasps on arbitrary planar polygons. Each finger is a virtual spring whose stiffness and compression can be programmed. The contacts between the finger tips and the object are point contacts without friction. We prove that all force-closure grasps can be made stable, and it costs O(n) time to synthesize a set of n virtual springs such that a given force-closure grasp is stable. We can also choose the compliance center and the stiffness matrix of the grasp, and so choose the compliant behavior of the grasped object about its equilibrium. The planning and execution of grasps and assembly operations become easier and less sensitive to errors.
Performance of Dipole Magnets in Helium II

Data from tests in He II of four 1-meter-long magnets are presented. The maximum quench current is increased up to 30 percent, compared with tests in He I. Data from calorimetric measurements of heat generated during cyclic operation are presented. Quenches were induced by heaters placed near the conductor, and the energy required to induce quenches in He II and in He I are compared.
Virtual karyotyping with SNP microarrays reduces uncertainty in the diagnosis of renal epithelial tumors.

Background Renal epithelial tumors are morphologically, biologically, and clinically heterogeneous. Different morphologic subtypes require specific management due to markedly different prognosis and response to therapy. Each common subtype has characteristic chromosomal gains and losses, including some with prognostic value. However, copy number information has not been readily accessible for clinical purposes and thus has not been routinely used in the diagnostic evaluation of these tumors. This information can be useful for classification of tumors with complex or challenging morphology. 'Virtual karyotypes' generated using SNP arrays can readily detect characteristic chromosomal lesions in paraffin embedded renal tumors and can be used to correctly categorize the common subtypes with performance characteristics that are amenable for routine clinical use.
Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy family studies of DUX4 expression: evidence for disease modifiers and a quantitative model of pathogenesis

Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD), the most prevalent myopathy afflicting both children and adults, is predominantly associated with contractions in the 4q35-localized macrosatellite D4Z4 repeat array. Recent studies have proposed that FSHD pathology is caused by the misexpression of the DUX4 (double homeobox 4) gene resulting in production of a pathogenic protein, DUX4-FL, which has been detected in FSHD, but not in unaffected control myogenic cells and muscle tissue. Here, we report the analysis of DUX4 mRNA and protein expression in a much larger collection of myogenic cells and muscle biopsies derived from biceps and deltoid muscles of FSHD affected subjects and their unaffected first-degree relatives. We confirmed that stable DUX4-fl mRNA and protein were expressed in myogenic cells and muscle tissues derived from FSHD affected subjects, including several genetically diagnosed adult FSHD subjects yet to show clinical manifestations of the disease in the assayed muscles. In addition, we report DUX4-fl mRNA and protein expression in muscle biopsies and myogenic cells from genetically unaffected relatives of the FSHD subjects, although at a significantly lower frequency. These results establish that DUX4-fl expression per se is not sufficient for FSHD muscle pathology and indicate that quantitative modifiers of DUX4-fl expression and/or function and family genetic background are determinants of FSHD muscle disease progression.
Effect of plasticizer type on gelation and fusion of PVC plastisol, dialkyl phthalate series

Different grades of PVC resins and a variety of plasticizers are used to adjust processability and properties of plastisol. The plastisol, which is a dispersion of fine particles of PVC in plasticizer, is coated on a substrate and heated in an oven to gel and fuse. In the gelation stage the resin particles become swollen with plasticizer and then, in the fusion stage the entire system fuses to become one homogeneous phase. The finished products are flexible PVC such as coated fabrics and surgical globes. Different plasticizers, because of the difference in solvent power, affect the process of gelation and fusion, and hence, processability. This paper examines such an effect systematically by employing a homologous series of plasticizers, dialkyl phthalates. The progress of gelation and fusion are followed by the measurements of dynamic moduli and by the observation with a scanning electron microscope. As it may be expected, the shorter the alkyl chain, the higher the solvent power of the plasticizer.
Estimation of Resilient Modulus of Subgrade Soils for Design of Pavement Structures

Field and laboratory testing programs were conducted to develop an efficient methodology for estimating resilient modulus ( Mr ) values of subgrade soils for use in the design of pavement structures. The field testing program consisted of obtaining Shelby tube samples of subgrade soils from different pavement projects throughout Louisiana. The laboratory program included conducting repeated load triaxial Mr tests as well as physical property tests on the collected samples. The validity of the correlation equations developed by the long-term pavement performance (LTPP) to predict the Mr was examined. In general, the LTPP model underestimated the values of Mr coefficients obtained in this study. A comprehensive regression analysis was conducted to develop models that predict the Mr coefficients of different subgrade soils in Louisiana using different physical properties. A good agreement was observed between the measured and predicted Mr coefficient values. Furthermore, the developed models had a better pre...