cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Reproductive System Symbiotic Bacteria Are Conserved between Two Distinct Populations of Euprymna scolopes from Oahu, Hawaii.

ABSTRACT Female Hawaiian bobtail squid, Euprymna scolopes, harbor a symbiotic bacterial community in a reproductive organ, the accessory nidamental gland (ANG). This community is known to be stable over several generations of wild-caught bobtail squid but has, to date, been examined for only one population in Maunalua Bay, Oahu, HI. This study assessed the ANG and corresponding egg jelly coat (JC) bacterial communities for another genetically isolated host population from Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, HI, using 16S amplicon sequencing. The bacterial communities from the ANGs and JCs of the two populations were found to be similar in richness, evenness, phylogenetic diversity, and overall community composition. However, the Kaneohe Bay samples formed their own subset within the Maunalua Bay ANG/JC community. An Alteromonadaceae genus, BD2-13, was significantly higher in relative abundance in the Kaneohe Bay population, and several Alphaproteobacteria taxa also shifted in relative abundance between the two groups. This variation could be due to local adaptation to differing environmental challenges, to localized variability, or to functional redundancy among the ANG taxa. The overall stability of the community between the populations further supports a crucial functional role that has been hypothesized for this symbiosis. IMPORTANCE In this study, we examined the reproductive ANG symbiosis found in two genetically isolated populations of the Hawaiian bobtail squid, Euprymna scolopes. The stability of the community reported here provides support for the hypothesis that this symbiosis is under strong selective pressure, while the observed differences suggest that some level of local adaptation may have occurred. These two host populations are frequently used interchangeably as source populations for research. Euprymna scolopes is an important model organism and offers the opportunity to examine the interplay between a binary and a consortial symbiosis in a single model host. Understanding the inherent natural variability of this association will aid in our understanding of the conservation, function, transmission, and development of the ANG symbiosis.
Geometric description and characterization of time series signals

This paper considers time series signals in Rn as samples of an embedded space curve and proceeds to characterize such signals in terms of differential-geometric descriptors of their associated curves. In particular, a method of estimating curvature as a function of arc length is presented. Because arc length is invariant to reparameterization of a space curve, this approach provides a representation of the evolution of the time series that is invariant to local variations in the rate of the time series as well as displacement and rotation of the curve in space. The focus here is on ascertaining structural similarity of time series signals by measuring similarity of their curvatures, though extension to other applications and other geometric descriptors (e.g., torsion) is envisioned.
Chemoprevention of Prostate Cancer with Cruciferous Vegetables: Role of Epigenetics

Globally, prostate cancer is the second most frequently diagnosed cancer in men although the incidence of cancer varies greatly throughout the world. Nutrition and diet are important modifiable risk factors for prostate cancer development. Epidemiological studies have shown an inverse association between cruciferous vegetable intake and the risk of developing prostate cancer. Here we focus specifically on the molecular mechanisms by which phytochemicals in cruciferous vegetables, sulforaphane (SFN), indole-3-carbinol (I3C) and its derivative 3,3′-diindolylmethane (DIM), may prevent the initiation of prostate cancer and slow tumorigenesis. We have particularly emphasized a possible role for epigenetics in this process as many dietary factors can modulate epigenetic alterations and alter susceptibility to disease. We have identified known and possible epigenetic mechanisms by which these phytochemicals can alter detoxification pathways, sex hormone signaling, and genes that regulate cell cycle, apoptosis, inflammation, angiogenesis and metastasis. The ability of SFN, I3C or DIM to target aberrant epigenetic patterns, in addition to their effects on detoxification/carcinogen metabolism, may make them effective chemoprevention agents at multiple stages of the prostate carcinogenesis pathway. The identification of dietary epigenetic modulators and their use either alone or in combination, may increase efficacy of anti-cancer therapies and prevention strategies, without serious side effects.
Molecular Epidemiologic Analysis of Antibiotic Resistant Microorganisms

Antibiotic resistance presents a specific, readily available marker to use in the epidemiologic analysis of microorganisms. Historically, most epidemics like bubonic plague, cholera, influenza, and meningococcal infection involved microorganisms not subjected to the selective pressures of therapeutic antimicrobials. For such outbreaks, there were no antimicrobial resistance markers typifying the outbreak strains. Modern antimicrobial chemotherapy has brought with it selective pressures that favor emergence of resistant clones, whose phenotypic traits thereby provide the epidemiologist and clinical microbiologist with distinctive phenotypic and genotypic traits in these microorganisms.
The impact of reimbursement changes for intracoronary stents on providers and Medicare.

Context New Medicare reimbursement policies will move stents into a different diagnosis-related group (DRG) than conventional balloon angioplasty (percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty [PTCA]). Objective To examine the financial impact on hospitals and Medicare of these planned changes, taking into account costs, reimbursement, and the cost-offset effect of prevented complications. Design The economic impact of proposed reimbursement changes was modeled by using a retrospective clinical and economic data set from a single institution. Patients and methods A total of 421 consecutive interventional cases from 1996 were examined by using actual cost data. The new, proposed revenues were assigned to these cases. From the hospitals' perspective, the focus was on contribution margin (the difference between revenues and costs), risk adjusted for case-mix severity. From Medicare's perspective, the focus was on expenditures. Various assumptions were adopted for two clinical variables: the effectiveness of stents in preventing the major PTCA-related complications of myocardial infarction and coronary artery bypass graft surgery and the relative proportions of myocardial infarction and coronary artery bypass graft surgery in the mix of complications. Under current Medicare DRG policies, coronary artery bypass graft surgery is highly profitable for hospitals, whereas myocardial infarction as a complication of PTCA has a negative financial impact. Results Under the new Medicare reimbursement policies, hospitals experience higher profitability with stents than with conventional PTCA under most assumed levels of clinical effectiveness and mixes of myocardial infarction and coronary artery bypass graft surgery. For Medicare, under most circumstances (including percentages of stent use and levels of clinical effectiveness that represent contemporary practice) stents lead to greater expenditures. Conclusions Medicare reimbursement changes will substantially realign previously misaligned financial and clinical incentives for hospitals. The immediate effect on hospitals will be to enhance profitability, whereas the effect on Medicare will be to increase expenditures.
Financial Crisis, Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program,

In this paper, we study the FDIC’s Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program to examine the effectiveness of this government sponsored solution to the current banking crisis. We explore the impact of the program on the liquidity and credit crisis in the debt markets and the market value of the FDIC guarantee. Interestingly, we find a negative and significant 2-day abnormal stock return of -1.53% around FDIC-backed debt issue dates, suggesting stockholders held pessimistic views on the future prospects of these banks. Bondholders reacted positively to the issuances with a 2-day excess return of 0.32%, confirming the positive liquidity and credit effects in the debt market. We find a significant drop in yield spreads of AAA debt issues around the announcements of FDIC guarantee debt issues. Using multiple regressions, we confirm the drop in yield spreads of AAA financial bonds after the program started. Both findings suggest that the program effectively encouraged liquidity and confidence. Finally, FDIC backed debt trades at a discount of 132 bps to non-guaranteed debt, implying that the guarantee is valuable.
Fetal exposure to maternal active and secondhand smoking with offspring early-life growth in the Healthy Start study.

Previous studies have modeled the association between fetal exposure to tobacco smoke and body mass index (BMI) growth trajectories, but not the timing of catch-up growth. Research on fetal exposure to maternal secondhand smoking is limited. To explore the associations between fetal exposure to maternal active and secondhand smoking with body composition at birth and BMI growth trajectories through age 3 years. We followed 630 mother-child pairs enrolled in the Healthy Start cohort through age 3 years. Maternal urinary cotinine was measured at ~ 27 weeks gestation. Neonatal body composition was measured using air displacement plethysmography. Child weight and length/height were abstracted from medical records. Linear regression models examined the association between cotinine categories (no exposure, secondhand smoke, active smoking) with weight, fat mass, fat-free mass, and percent fat mass at birth. A mixed-effects regression model estimated the association between cotinine categories and BMI. Compared to unexposed offspring, birth weight was significantly lower among offspring born to active smokers (−343-g; 95% CI: −473, −213), but not among offspring of women exposed to secondhand smoke (−47-g; 95% CI: −130, 36). There was no significant difference in the rate of BMI growth over time between offspring of active and secondhand smokers (p = 0.58). Therefore, our final model included a single growth rate parameter for the combined exposure groups of active and secondhand smokers. The rate of BMI growth for the combined exposed group was significantly more rapid (0.27 kg/m2 per year; 95% CI: 0.05, 0.69; p < 0.01) than the unexposed. Offspring prenatally exposed to maternal active or secondhand smoking experience rapid and similar BMI growth in the first three years of life. Given the long-term consequences of rapid weight gain in early childhood, it is important to encourage pregnant women to quit smoking and limit their exposure to secondhand smoke.
Zonisamide for Cluster Headache Prophylaxis: A Case Series.

Objective There is very little literature surrounding the prophylactic use of zonisamide in cluster headaches. The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of zonisamide for prophylaxis of cluster headache in patients with chronic or episodic cluster headache. Background Both chronic and episodic cluster headaches are debilitating disorders which are often refractory to multiple prophylactic medication regimens. There is a scarcity of research in this area, and current prophylactic options for patients are fairly limited, which is troublesome for affected patients. Zonisamide is an established antiepileptic with a multifactorial mechanism of action which has shown to be useful in other headache disorders such as migraine. Methods Twenty cluster headache patients, both episodic (n = 12; ICHD 3.1.1) and chronic (n = 8; ICHD 3.1.2), who had been or currently were treated with zonisamide, were retrospectively evaluated. Effectiveness of the medication was assessed and identified as headache remission or a reduction in severity or frequency of cluster headache of greater than 50%. Responder status, side effects, and dosage were recorded. Results Fourteen (70%) patients responded to zonisamide treatment, while 6 (30%) did not. Recorded effective plasma zonisamide levels ranged from 10.2 to 31.9 μg/mL. Of the 6 non-responders, 2 stopped the medication due to ineffectiveness, while 4 discontinued the medication secondary to intolerable side effects ranging from gastrointestinal upset to malaise. No more serious adverse events occurred. Eight patients total experienced weight loss/anorexia which many perceived as a positive effect; they lost an average of 10.5% of their body weight in the first 6 months of therapy. Conclusions Zonisamide appears to be an effective prophylactic treatment for patients with chronic and episodic cluster headache disorders. Further research in this area is clearly warranted.
Perforated peptic ulcer

Abstract 1. 1. One hundred consecutive cases of perforated peptic ulcer operated on at the Henry Ford Hospital during the twenty year period from 1917 to 1936, are analyzed. 2. 2. The mortality rate was 20 per cent for the whole series, but was only 11.9 per cent during the last ten years. 3. 3. The improved results are due to better postoperative treatment, including the routine use of blood transfusions and gastric suction. 4. 4. Spinal anesthesia was also a definite factor in reducing the mortality rate. 5. 5. Gastroenterostomy and other gastric operations were performed on 14 per cent of the patients with a mortality rate of 14.3 per cent, while the mortality rate for simple closure was 18.1 per cent. In spite of these figures simple closure is recommended. 6. 6. Drainage was employed in all but one case. The use of drains is advocated because peritonitis is the chief cause of death after perforation. The author wishes to express his thanks to Dr. Henry P. Koehler for his assistance in the preparation of this material.
Role of magnetism on transition metal oxide surfaces in vacuum and solvent

The transition metal oxides MnO, FeO, NiO, and CoO are essential materials systems for catalysis applications and energy technologies. These materials exhibit a magnetic phase transition from paramagnetism to antiferromagnetism upon cooling. In this work, we show that an accurate treatment of the surfaces requires a description of the disordered local magnetic moments of the paramagnetic phase. We determine how the magnetic phase transition and the presence of solvent affect the surface energies using density-functional theory and a solvation model. To accurately account for the correlations in the $d$-electron system, and to match the observed magnetic order and band gaps of the room-temperature phases, we include the Hubbard-$U$ correction. In the case of MnO, FeO, and CoO, which are paramagnetic semiconductors or insulators at room temperature, we demonstrate the importance of the local magnetic moments and model the materials using special quasirandom structures. To determine the equilibrium shape of MnO, FeO, NiO, and CoO nanocrystals, we calculate the surface energies of their low-energy (100), (110), and (111) facets and perform the Wulff construction. For the (111) facet, we consider various reconstructions that remove the polar nature of the unreconstructed surface. The processing conditions of these oxide nanoparticles, in most cases, involve a solvent. To analyze the influence of the solvent environment on the surface energies of different facets and thereby the crystal shape, we calculate the surface energies of these oxides in water using the continuum solvation model VASPsol. We find that the surface energies decrease due to the dielectric screening. However, as the ratio of surface energies remains sufficiently similar, we predict that the equilibrium crystal shape is only weakly affected by the presence of the solvent.
Double Histidine Based EPR Measurements at Physiological Temperatures Permit Site-Specific Elucidation of Hidden Dynamics in Enzymes

Protein dynamics is at the heart of all cellular processes. Here, we utilize the dHis-CuII NTA label to obtain site-specific information on dynamics for both an α-helix and β-sheet site of GB1, the immunoglobulin binding domain of protein G. Spectral features found in our CW-EPR measurements were consistent with the overall rigid nature of GB1 and with predictions from molecular dynamics simulations. Using this information, we show the potential of this approach to elucidate the role of dynamics in substrate binding of a functionally necessary α-helix in human glutathione transferase A1-1 (hGSTA1-1). We observe two dynamical modes for the helix. The addition of the inhibitor GS-Met and GS-Hex resulted in hGSTA1-1 to favor the more rigid active state conformation, while the faster mode potentially aids the search for substrates. Together the results illustrate the remarkable potential of the dHis-based labelling approach to measure site-specific dynamics using room temperature lineshape analysis.
Trajectories in estimated glomerular filtration rate in youth-onset type 1 and type 2 diabetes: The SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study.

Abstract Aims We sought to characterize the direction and associated factors of eGFR change following diagnosis of youth-onset type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Methods We assessed the direction of eGFR change at two visits (mean 6.6 years apart) in SEARCH, a longitudinal cohort study of youth-onset type 1 and type 2 diabetes. We used the CKiDCr-CysC equation to estimate GFR and categorized ‘rising’ and ‘declining’ eGFR as an annual change of ≥3 ml/min/1.73 m2 in either direction. Multivariable logistic regression evaluated factors associated with directional change in eGFR. Results Estimated GFR declined in 23.8% and rose in 2.8% of participants with type 1 diabetes (N = 1225; baseline age 11.4 years), and declined in 18.1% and rose in 15.6% of participants with type 2 diabetes (N = 160; baseline age 15.0 years). Factors associated with rising and declining eGFR (versus stable) in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes included sex, age at diagnosis, baseline eGFR and difference in fasting glucose between study visits. Additional factors in type 1 diabetes included time from baseline visit, HbA1c and body mass index. Conclusions Over the first decade of diabetes, eGFR decline is more common in type 1 diabetes whereas eGFR rise is more common in type 2 diabetes.
The Relationship between Varicella (Chicken Pox) and Scarlet Fever in Contemporary Hong Kong

Scarlet fever epidemics have reemerged in China, the UK, and Hong Kong. This research tests whether the scarlet fever epidemics in Hong Kong are linked to varicella epidemics. Varicella infection is a known risk for invasive Group A Streptococcal infections, and new historical research also shows that varicella epidemics were associated with scarlet fever epidemics in the early 20th century in the United States. This analysis examines the relationship between these two disease in Hong Kong from 2011 to 2015 and compares varicella rates before and after the reintroduction of scarlet fever. Analysis shows that scarlet fever and varicella have synchronous annual epidemic cycles, and a mathematical model of the relationship between scarlet fever and varicella is estimated. Varicella rates were unchanged by the return of scarlet fever, but annual varicella cycles may have influenced the size and timing of scarlet fever outbreaks.
Supporting Peace by Broadening “Youth” and Attending to Their Diverse Development in Transitional Societies

Younger generations have been increasingly recognized as essential actors in transitional justice and peace building. Still, focus on young people in these settings remains limited and seldom involves young people in the processes that impact them. In this chapter, we argue for expanding how, who, and in what ways youth are considered in transitional societies, as well as how they initiate and participate in local processes of building cultures of peace. We begin by surveying predominant approaches in key areas where transitional processes interface with young people. We aim to identify trends in critiques of three prominent and developed areas of programming, namely, reintegration, education, and memorialization. We then describe everyday peace, which draws attention to how young people cope, respond, and build peace in families, peer groups, schools, and communities. This framework allows space for the contested and challenging complexity of peace in a transitional society. Building on everyday peace, we argue for a developmental approach with recognition of the varied ways that young people make meaning. This expanded focus includes applications for incorporating a broader range of youth and their perspectives and bridging gaps between national processes and young people’s local lives.
Marking to remember: Territoriality and failure to forget

This paper links parallel discussions of territoriality and organizational forgetting to examine why public organizations may experience difficulties during political shifts using public accounts o...
A Game and a Dare

It’s a lost cause. Don’t even try. And by this I mean, celebrate! Yippee! There was a time not too long ago when educators believed that their job was to help learners make sense of things – to make sense of their world, to make sense of mathematics and language, static electricity and genocide, how to string a longbow, or how to sew just the right number of pleats in a skirt.
Vector Quantization with a Growing and Splitting Elastic Net

A new vector quantization method is proposed which generates codebooks incrementally. New vectors are inserted in areas of the input vector space where the quantization error is especially high until the desired number of codebook vectors is reached. A one-dimensional topological neighborhood makes it possible to interpolate new vectors from existing ones. Vectors not contributing to error minimization are removed. After the desired number of vectors is reached, a stochastic approximation phase fine tunes the codebook. The final quality of the codebooks is exceptional. A comparison with two well-known methods for vector quantization was performed by solving an image compression problem. The results indicate that the new method is significantly better than both other approaches.
A Comparison of Dynamical Models of the Andromeda Nebula and the Galaxy

(1) From new radial velocities of 67 Hii regions in M 31, rotational velocities and a mass model of M 31 are derived, and compared with the rotation curve and Schmidt mass model of our galaxy. (2) It is shown that in M 31 the distribution of Hii regions as identified by Baade agrees with the distribution of neutral hydrogen determined from 21-cm observations. Also, the rotation curve derived from the H ii velocities outside of the nucleus is similar to the rotation curve derived from 21-cm H i observations.
Dependence of integrated cross sections on the rotational states of 23Na in the reaction 25Mg(d, α)23Na at 21 MeV

Abstract The integrated cross sections for production of K = 3 2 states in the 25 Mg ( d , α) 23 Na reaction obey a linear relation of the form α = a(2I + 1) − b. A comparison of these resullts with similar data from the 27Al(d, α)25Mg reaction suggests that the negative intercept is a consequence of band mixing in the states of 23Na.
MEMS-based storage devices and standard disk interfaces: a square peg in a round hole?

MEMS-based storage devices (MEMStores) are significantly different from both disk drives and semiconductor memories. The differences motivate the question of whether they need new abstractions to be utilized by systems, or if existing abstractions will be sufficient. This paper addresses this question by examining the fundamental reasons that the abstraction works for existing devices, and by showing that these reasons also hold for MEMStores. This result is shown to hold through several case studies of proposed roles MEMStores may take in future systems and potential policies that may be used to tailor systems' access to MEMStores. With one noted exception, today's storage interfaces and abstractions are as suitable for MEMStores as for disks.
Influence of cognitive eating restraint on total-body measurements of bone mineral density and bone mineral content in premenopausal women aged 18-45 y: a cross-sectional study.

Background: We examined the relation between cognitive eating restraint (CER) and total-body measurements of bone mineral density (BMD) and bone mineral content (BMC). Objective: Our objective was to determine whether women with CER had lower total-body BMD and BMC than did other women. Design: Premenopausal women, 90-150% of ideal weight, had measurements of their BMD and BMC made and completed questionnaires on physical activity, weight history, body size satisfaction, dieting history, eating behavior, and childbearing history. Bone measurements were examined for differences between groups with low and high CER scores by using analysis of covariance and quartiles of body weight to adjust for body size differences. CER was assessed by using the Three-Factor Eating Inventory and was defined as a score ≥9; normal eating restraint (NER) was defined by a score <9. Total-body BMC, BMD, and fat and lean masses were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Results: Fifty-two percent of the women were classified as having CER. Women with CER were significantly more dissatisfied with their bodies. Analysis of covariance, with weight as the covariate, indicated a significant difference in BMC between women in preplanned pairs from the 5 lowest and 5 highest CER levels. No significant differences in BMD were observed between groups. Significantly lower BMC was found in women with high CER scores and body weights <71 kg than in those with high CER scores and weights ≥ 71 kg. Conclusions: BMC was significantly differently between women with low and high CER scores. BMC was significantly lower in women with body weights <71 kg and classified with CER. Lower BMC in women with high CER scores may indicate an increased risk of osteoporosis.
Nonlinear Elastic Behavior of Unidirectional Composites With Fiber Waviness Under Compressive Loading

Nonlinear elastic behavior of unidirectional composites with fiber waviness under compressive loading was investigated theoretically and experimentally. Unidirectional carbon/epoxy composites with uniform, graded, and localized fiber waviness were studied. Complementary strain energy was used to derive the material nonlinear stress-strain relations. Nonlinear material properties obtained from shear and longitudinal and transverse compression tests were incorporated into the analysis. Compression tests of specimens with known fiber waviness were conducted to verify the constitutive relations. Experimental results were in good agreement with predictions based on the constitutive model.
The interpretation of voltage-concentration relations.

Abstract The dependence of a cell's membrane potential upon ion concentrations is often described via a Goldman constant field equation (with coefficients called permeabilities) or what may be called the Hodgkin-Horowicz equation. The latter is derived by assuming that different ion species traverse separate pathways of at least formally constant conductance. If one assumes truly constant “permeabilities” or “conductances”, then these two equations have essentially different forms. So the literature has been culled for voltage-concentration data which unambiguously fit an equation of one of these two forms. Eight or nine are found to fit a Hodgkin-Horowicz relation; none, a Goldman one. This adds to the evidence that different ion species traverse relatively separate pathways through cell membranes (and that these pathways are long compared to a Debye length). It also indicates the desirability of generally describing voltage-concentration data with a Hodgkin-Horowicz relation rather than a Goldman one.
Revisiting the Retrospective Pretest.

The purpose of the present study was to examine a common practice in some areas of program evaluation, the retrospective pretest, and to present recommendations regarding its use. The authors review literature to emphasize first, that bias is likely in both prospective and retrospective ratings, and second, that under some circumstances, retrospective pretests may introduce greater bias than traditional pretests. The authors examined data from 100 participants who attended a family program at 15 sites. Results supported the hypothesis that items on which parents were asked to endorse socially desirable parenting behaviors resulted in greater discrepancies between prospective and retrospective ratings. Effect sizes calculated from prospective ratings were comparable with published effect sizes from research trials of the same program. The authors conclude that replacing traditional with retrospective pretests does not eliminate bias. They recommend traditional pretests for examination of program effects an...
English for all? Neoliberalism, globalization, and language policy in Taiwan

This article examines the nexus of neoliberalism, globalization, and the spread of English, using English-language education (ELE) policies in Taiwan between 2000 and 2008 as a case study. Data from ethnographic work, including interviews with school principals and education managers, is contextualized using recent theoretical innovations in the sociolinguistics of globalization and language and neoliberalism. Neoliberalism venerates the ideals of ‘choice’, ‘competition’, and the ‘free market’. For students and parents, English proficiency is less a ‘choice’ than a necessity for success in education and employment. ‘English for all’ policies are thus imperatives rather than opportunities when individuals, schools, and regions are put into deleterious ‘competition’ with each other in public education, and when public education is pressured by a parallel ‘free’ market private education sector. The structural function of English as a valued capital is examined alongside language ideologies regarding the ‘earlier-the-better’ argument for L2 acquisition and the idealization of the native-speaking teacher. (Taiwan, neoliberalism, globalization, English, sociolinguistics, language policy)*
Inhibition of Escherichia coli H+-ATPase by venturicidin, oligomycin and ossamycin

The antibiotics venturicidin, oligomycin and ossamycin were investigated as potential inhibitors of the Escherichia coli H+-ATPase. It was found that venturicidin strongly inhibited ATP-driven proton transport and ATP hydrolysis, while oligomycin weakly inhibited these functions. Inhibition of the H+-ATPase by venturicidin and oligomycin was correlated with inhibition of F0-mediate proton transport. Both inhibitors were found to interfere with the covalent reaction between dicyclohexyl[14C]carbodiimide and the F0 subunit c (uncE protein). Ossamycin had no direct inhibitory effect on E. coli F0 or F1; rather, it was found to uncouple ATP hydrolysis from proton transport.
Health and appearance concerns in young Caucasian and African-American women.

Objective: The primary aim of this study was to examine the health- and appearance-related concerns of young African-American and Caucasian females. Research Methods: Participants were twenty Caucasian and twenty African-American college women, who were matched on age and BMI. All participants were administered the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire (MBSRQ), a demographics instrument, and a short inventory to assess concerns about health, appearance, and weight management, in a single testing session; height and weight data were self-reported. Results: African-American women and Caucasian women were not significantly different in their level of health consciousness or perception of health; however, African-American women were significantly more satisfied with their physical appearance in comparison to Caucasian women. Among African-American women, perception of health and level of health consciousness were highly related; this relationship was not found in Caucasian women. In addition, perception of health was related to satisfaction with appearance in both groups, although the relationship was stronger among African-Americans. Among Caucasian women, satisfaction with physical appearance was highly correlated with perception of weight status (from underweight to very overweight); this relationship was not found among African-American females. An inverse relationship between body mass index (BMI) and appearance evaluation was found only for Caucasian females. Discussion: These findings suggest that, on the whole, young African-American and Caucasian college females report similar evaluations of health and values placed on appearance and health, and differ primarily in terms of satisfaction with physical appearance.
A Uniqueness Result for a Singular Nonlinear Eigenvalue Problem

Alfonso CastroDepartment of Mathematics, Harvey Mudd College, Claremont,CA 91711, USA (castro@math.hmc.edu)Eunkyung KoDepartment of Mathematics and Statistics, Mississippi State University,Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA (ekko1115@gmail.com)R. ShivajiDepartment of Mathematics and Statistics, University of North Carolinaat Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412, USA (shivaji@uncg.edu)
Christian Schools and Demographic Change: Two Case Studies

This article explores how two Christian school systems have responded to neighborhood demographic change. Researchers conducted interviews, attended meetings, and reviewed documents to explore two case studies—one of a school struggling to redefine its identity, purpose, and vision in response to demographic change, and another school that has redefined itself and developed a more diversified student and family base. Content analysis of interviews revealed several findings in three main areas: resistance to change, call for change, and readiness for change.
Efficacy of Lasalocid and Decoquinate Against Coccidiosis in Naturally Infected Dairy Calves

A 56-d growth study compared the effects of lasalocid and decoquinate, or a combination of the two, on rate of gain and control of naturally occurring coccidiosis in weaned Holstein calves. Sixty-four calves (mean BW of 188 kg; age 16 wk) were blocked by BW and degree of oocyst shedding and assigned randomly to one of four treatments with 4 calves per pen and 4 pens per treatment. Treatment groups included an unmedicated control group, lasalocid at 1 mg/kg of BW, decoquinate at .5 mg/kg of BW, or lasalocid plus decoquinate. For the combination treatment, decoquinate was fed at the recommended rate for 28 d, followed by lasalocid for the remaining 28 d of the study. Diets were based on dry-rolled corn and haylage and were fed once daily for ad libitum feed consumption. Calves were weighed weekly, and feces were collected for quantitation of oocyst shedding. Oocyst shedding was low, and clinical coccidiosis was not observed. However, unmedicated calves shed oocysts at a higher rate than medicated calves. Small differences were found among treatments on overall rate of gain and gain efficiency. There was little advantage in gain or performance when calves with subclinical coccidiosis were medicated with anticoccidial agents.
Stationary phase properties of the organic molten salt ethylpyridinium bromide in gas chromatography

The organic molten salt, 1-ethylpyridinium bromide, is suitable for use as a stationary phase in gas chromatography. It has a usable liquid temperature range of 110 to 160°C. It undergoes a single phase transition at 110°C which corresponds to the bulk melting point. Below the melting point the phase may be used as a selective adsorbent, although column efficiency and peak symmetry deteriorate as the temperature is lowered from the melting point. Above the melting point, ethylpyridinium bromide can be used to separate a wide variety of organic compounds retaining strongly those compounds possessing large dipole or hydrogen bonding functional groups.
Estimating the value of the historical designation externality

Purpose – A long‐standing argument for historic preservation of houses has been the positive externalities that it produces. The purpose of this paper is to quantify the externality associated with the designation of historical houses in San Diego, California under the Mills Act.Design/methodology/approach – The Mills Act allows for individual houses to be designated as historically significant. This results in neighborhoods where historically designated houses are side‐by‐side with houses with no particular historic significance. The positive externality hypothesis predicts that the value of a house should be a function of the number of historically designated houses within the neighborhood. The proximity of historically designated houses on the sales price of other non‐historic houses is valued using hedonic regression analysis.Findings – The results suggest that a house's value is increased by 3.8 per cent by having a historical house within 250 ft, and by 1.6 per cent by having a historical home locat...
Density functional theory applied to a difference in pathways taken by the enzymes cytochrome P450 and superoxide reductase: spin States of ferric hydroperoxo intermediates and hydrogen bonds from water.

Cytochrome P450 monooxygenase and superoxide reductase (SOR) have the same first atom coordination shell at their iron active sites: an Fe[N4S] center in a square-pyramidal geometry with the sixth coordinate site open for the catalytic reaction. Furthermore, both pass through ferric hydroperoxo intermediates. Despite these similarities, the next step in their catalytic cycle is very different: distal oxygen protonation and O−O cleavage (P450) versus proximal oxygen protonation and H2O2 release (SOR). One of the factors leading to this difference is the spin state of the intermediates. Density functional theory (DFT) applied to models for the ferric hydroperoxo, (SCH3)(L)FeIII−OOH (L = porphyrin for P450 and four imidazoles for SOR), gives different ground spin states; the P450 model with the porphyrin, which contrains the Fe−N distances, prefers a low-spin ground state, whereas the SOR model with four histidines, in which Fe−N bonds are extendable, prefers a high-spin ground state. Their ground spin state...
Application of Wavelets and Self-similarity to Enterprise Network Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems

Securing enterprise networks has so far been considered under two broad topics (i. e. intrusion detection systems - IDS and intrusion prevention systems - IPS). So far, there is no algorithm, which guarantees absolute protection for a given network from intruders. Most existing IDS and IPS techniques introduce high false positive and false negative rates, which need to be eliminated or reduced considerably. This paper will concentrate on network packets behavior leading to network-based intrusion detection. It will employ anomaly detection as its analysis strategy. In the field of signal analysis, the methods of wavelet transform have gotten wide application because of its unique merit. That idea will be tapped in this paper. The self-similarity property of real network traffic will be used together with the signal detection abilities of wavelets in detecting attacks. The technique used here will also try to reduce the effectiveness of distributed attacks, which deny authorized users access to system resources. Securing of all network security data, which is an important limitation to existing IDS and IPS is ensured by this technique.
Management Research and Managerial Practice: A Complex and Controversial Relationship

The relationship between management research and managerial practice is an issue that for many years has commanded attention from diverse parties such as business writers, students, and faculty mem...
Implications of changes in the secondary school: mathematics curriculum for the computer science and computer engineering curricula

Many professors of computer science and computer engineering are relatively unaware of the changes in the secondary mathematics curriculum in the last decade. The changes in mathematics have major implications for the design of computer science and computer engineering curricula in the colleges and universities. The thesis of this paper is that changes can be made in computer science courses to accommodate the changes in mathematics prerequisites and will result in strengthening the undergraduate program and allowing more time for advanced computer science topics.
Importing the homology concept from biology into developmental psychology

To help introduce the idea of homology into developmental psychology, this article presents some of the concepts, distinctions, and guidelines biologists and philosophers of biology have devised to study homology. Some unresolved issues related to this idea are considered as well. Because homology reflects continuity across time, developmental scientists should find this concept to be useful in the study of psychological/behavioral development, just as biologists have found it essential in the study of the evolution and development of morphological and other characteristics. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 55: 13–21, 2013.
Characterization of prostaglandin formation by human amnion cells in monolayer culture

In the present investigation, we found that among the prostanoids that human amnion cells, which are maintained in monolayer culture, secrete into the culture medium, prostaglandin E2 is by far the predominant one. In the presence of inhibitors of prostaglandin synthase, the production of prostaglandin E2 by these cells is abolished. Amnion cells maintained in the presence of fetal calf serum produce greater quantities of prostaglandin E2 than do cells maintained in serumless medium. In the amnion cells, there is little or no metabolism of prostaglandin E2; this also is true of amnion tissue. The unique characteristics of prostaglandin biosynthesis and metabolism by human amnion cells in monolayer culture are identical with those of human amnion tissue. Hence, we suggest that amnion cells in culture constitute an excellent model for investigations of the regulation of prostaglandin E2 biosynthesis in this tissue.
Association of bone mineral density with incidental renal stone in long-term survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Purpose Our objective was to evaluate the association between low bone mineral density (BMD) and incidental renal stones among long-term survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
Domain-specific language models and lexicons for tagging

Accurate and reliable part-of-speech tagging is useful for many Natural Language Processing (NLP) tasks that form the foundation of NLP-based approaches to information retrieval and data mining. In general, large annotated corpora are necessary to achieve desired part-of-speech tagger accuracy. We show that a large annotated general-English corpus is not sufficient for building a part-of-speech tagger model adequate for tagging documents from the medical domain. However, adding a quite small domain-specific corpus to a large general-English one boosts performance to over 92% accuracy from 87% in our studies. We also suggest a number of characteristics to quantify the similarities between a training corpus and the test data. These results give guidance for creating an appropriate corpus for building a part-of-speech tagger model that gives satisfactory accuracy results on a new domain at a relatively small cost.
Sensitive detection of 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine in DNA by 32P-postlabeling assay and the basal levels in rat tissues

Oxidative damage from reactive oxygen species including free radicals has been considered to play a vital role in many degenerative diseases and measurement of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (Oh 8 dG) in tissue DNA has been used as a benchmark for oxidative DNA damage. We report here an ultrasensitive 32 P-postlabeling method to detect and quantitate Oh 8 dG in DNA and have determined basal levels of Oh 8 dG in rat tissues. The method is comprised of DNA digestion to 3'-monophosphates, 5'- 32 P-labeling, conversion to 5'-monophosphates and separation by a 2-directional PEI- cellulose TLC (D1 = 1.5 M formic acid ; and D2 = 0.6 M ammonium formate, pH 6.0). Under these conditions, all radioactive contaminants were either removed from the chromatogram (normal nucleotides and 32 Pi) or remained at the origin (ATP and other contaminants), while Oh 8 dG migrated in the middle of the chromatogram. Calf thymus DNA incubated with ascorbic acid and H 2 O 2 produced predominantly one spot under the chromatography conditions used ; a chromatographically identical spot was also detected in untreated DNA, but at a much lower level (125 ± 40 Oh 8 dG/10 6 nucleotides). A chromatographically identical spot was also found in dGp incubated with ascorbic acid and H 2 O 2 , but not with dAp, dCp or dTp. When applied to rat tissue DNA, the assay readily permitted detection of Oh 8 dG in the liver, lung, kidney, heart, brain, spleen, intestines and mammary epithelial cells of 3-month old female Sprague-Dawley rats. The tissue Oh 8 dG levels were found in the range of 87 ± 29 to 133 ± 49 per 10 6 nucleotides, with liver and heart being the highest and kidney and brain the lowest. These values are in the vicinity to those found by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry but 10-50 times higher than those reported by HPLC-electrochemical detection. Because of its high sensitivity (<1 Oh 8 dG per 10 5-6 nucleotides) to detect Oh 8 dG using nanogram quantity of DNA digest, the 32 P-postlabeling method is likely to be valuable in quantitating Oh 8 dG in human tissue biopsies.
The effect of surface morphology on friction during forming of electrogalvanized sheet steel

Abstract In the automotive industry, the surface morphology of sheet steel is controlled to improve both paint finish and formability. Formability, in turn, is influenced by the friction between the sheet and stamping tools, which the industry commonly measures with the ‘drawbead simulator’ (DBS) test. This investigation evaluated the use of various surface parameters as predictors of the frictional properties of electrogalvanized (EG) steel sheet as measured in the DBS test. The surfaces of a set of commercial EG steel sheets were measured using a profilometer and tested for friction in a DBS machine. The results were compared to various statistical measures of the sheet surfaces. The best of the simple measures proved to be a combination of two parameters: the arithmetic average roughness ( R a ) and the mean wavelength of the roughness, as determined from the Fourier power spectrum. Surfaces with higher R a were more likely to have lower friction in the DBS tests. But low friction can be obtained with lower values of the R a if the roughness is concentrated at the shorter wavelengths (below 500 μm). Surfaces with roughness distributed in the shorter wavelengths have the additional benefit of being easily painted to a high quality finish.