cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Understanding the Demographic Challenge: Education, Orthodoxy and the Fertility of American Jews

Fertility is a key contributor to the demographic vitality of American Jewry. Recent studies have found that the fertility rate of American Jews is below that of the general public and below replacement level. The Jewish community is asking whether fertility rates are amenable to policy intervention and, if so, what sorts of interventions have the potential to increase fertility rates. This paper uses data from the Pew Research Center’s (A portrait of Jewish Americans: Findings from a Pew Research Center Survey of U.S. Jews, 2013) Survey of U.S. Jews to examine the fertility of American Jewish women currently of childbearing age. Drawing on the Theory of Conjunctural Action and on fertility patterns in the broader U.S. population, it models the fertility of American Jewish women as a function of sociodemographic and religious characteristics, focusing particularly on the roles of education and Orthodoxy. While Orthodox women have birthrates that contribute to strong population growth, fertility rates among the non-Orthodox do not reach replacement level, with the college educated majority likely to average only 1.5 births by age 40. The potential of various policy interventions designed to increase fertility are discussed, including indirect benefits like free or subsidized childcare, lobbying for changes in U.S. public policy and actively nurturing pronatalist norms in communal institutions.
Trade policy and the United States labour market

Abstract The United States Government proposed a sweeping review of existing trade deals when the current Administration took office in January 2017. This paper reviews the ongoing changes, and considers the potential impact of two strands of the trade policy debate on the United States labour market. First, we consider policy decisions that may impact the location decision of multinational enterprises, especially within the context of the renegotiation of NAFTA. Second, we review the policy debate related to the steel industry, and the potential channels through which an import tariff on steel imports may impact the labour market.
Tone quest: exploring the (ir)resolvable paradoxes and infinite (im)possibilities of “epic tone” in (rock ‘n’ roll) musical consumption constellations

ABSTRACTOne of the driving forces for consumer-musicians in the market of rock “n” roll musical creation is the quest for “epic tone” (i.e. production of a distinct and unique sound). Such tone is not the result of a single product or practice, but of a complex consumption constellation composed of a multitude of cultural processes and material factors in which the sum is often greater than the parts. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the market forces that directly impact these musical consumption constellations have exposed (and exacerbate) the inherent paradox in the quest. To help consumers create virtually any possible tone, the marketplace has increased the focus on the structural and functional components that compose these constellations, while subsequently decreasing the focus on the anti-structural and anti-functional aspects that underlie actual sound production. Consequently, the marketplace both stimulates and inhibits the (im)possible quest for epic tone.
Merleau-Ponty on Politics, History, and Violence

Merleau-Ponty's political philosophy readily lends itself to division into two main periods. The first, Marxian, period began in 1944 and ended in mid 1950. The second, post-Marxian or “liberal,” period began in mid 1950 and lasted until his death in 1961.
The American Revolution (II): The Origin and Nature of Colonial Grievances

Colonial grievances were not new in July 1776 but rather were as old as the British Empire and a constant feature of imperial governance. The continuous stream of grievances was not, however, evidence that “the spirit of the colonies demanded freedom from the beginning.” Paradoxically, grievances helped make the Empire work. They facilitated imperial development for two reasons. First, people lodging grievances could rely on a communication network for processing them, a system that helped integrate the many different subjects and places in the empire. Second, from the colonial perspective, the imperial grievance system had a safety valve: war. When the empire was at war, metropolitan policy-makers and local governors were more willing to compromise with provincial interests and acceded to claims that had been or threatened to become the source of grievances. The two together – the imperial grievance system and the leverage enjoyed by colonists during war – generated the sense throughout North America that the imperial constitution was a flexible set of institutions responsive to provincial claims and yet also efficient enough to facilitate common projects, like carrying out transatlantic commerce and waging war. The imperial constitution, with the grievance system at its core, provided the possibility for change that is essential to any workable constitution. By the middle of the 1770s, however, the grievance network no longer performed effectively. A system that for over a century helped bind the North American colonies to the empire suddenly, after an unusually long and stable period of peace, fragmented and became an instrument of rebellion. Only then, in the Declaration of Independence, were the many and sometimes inconsistent colonial grievances compiled into a “history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.” These grievances were irremediable and flowed outside the imperial constitution. The genre to which they now belonged was the international declaration of war.
Optimized Design of Single-sided Quadratic Phase Outer Volume Suppression Pulses for Magnetic Resonance Imaging

In Magnetic Resonance Imaging, outer volume suppression pulses only need to saturate the magnetization on one side of the region of interest (ROI), so there is no need for them to be symmetric. Single-sided quadratic phase outer volume suppression pulses (OVS) make use of this fact to reduce the peak RF excitation pulse power, while maintaining the high selectivity on one side of the passband. Therefore, single-sided pulses are appropriate for single-shot fast spin echo cardiac imaging, as well as for spectroscopic imaging studies of brain and prostate cancer. The low peak RF value is achieved by designing Shinnar-Le Roux (SLR) polynomials with quadratic phase, which is a FIR filter design problem. Due to the relaxation of the magnitude constraints on one side of the passband (the ‘do not care’ region) it is possible to reduce the peak RF power by extending the quadratic phase beyond the passband. The polynomials are designed using a weighted least squares algorithm in which significant weighting is given to the frequency bands over which the magnitude profile is fixed, and a lower weight is applied beyond the transition width on the ‘do not care’ side. We improve the design of single-sided quadratic phase OVS pulses by optimizing the range of frequencies over which the phase of the pulse is quadratic. This is achieved by iteratively increasing the extent of the ‘do not care’ region, using convex optimization methods at each iteration to find the optimal polynomial with the lowest peak coefficient. Applying the SLR transform to the polynomial with the minimum peak, we get the lowest peak RF pulse that produces the desired single-sided saturation profile. Using this procedure the peak RF power can be reduced by additional 5-10 percent, while the profile’s ripple is comparable with the ripple of double-sided pulses.
University-Based Education and the Formation of Entrepreneurial Capabilities:

In this study, we examine the influence of university-based education on students’ entrepreneurial capabilities. While the prevalence of entrepreneurship education is dramatically increasing worldw...
Ecosystem spatial self-organization: Free order for nothing?

Abstract Ecosystems are complex adaptive systems (CAS) by nature, which means that macroscopic patterns and properties emerge from, and feed back to affect, the interactions among adaptive individual ecological agents. These agents then further adapt (genetically) to the outcomes of those interactions. The concept of self-organization has become increasingly important for understanding ecosystem spatial heterogeneity and its consequences. It is well accepted that ecosystems can self-organize, and that resulting spatial structures carry functional consequences. Feedbacks from the outcome of spatial pattern to the individual agents from which patterns emerge, are an essential component of the definition of CAS but have been rarely examined for ecosystems. We explore whether spatial self-organization provides a mechanism for such feedback for ecosystems as CAS, that is, whether ecosystem-level outcomes of self-organized patterning could feed back to affect or even reinforce local pattern-forming processes at the agent level. Diffuse feedbacks of ecological and evolutionary significance ensue as a result of spatial heterogeneity and regular patterning, whether this spatial heterogeneity results from an underlying template effect or from self-organization. However, feedbacks directed specifically at pattern-forming agents to enhance pattern formation—reinforcing feedback—depend upon the level of organization of agents. Reinforcing evolutionary feedbacks occur at the individual level or below. At the ecosystem level, evidence for mechanisms of feedback from outcomes to patterning to agents forming the patterning remain tenuous. Spatial self-organization is a powerful dynamic in ecosystem and landscape science but feedbacks have been only loosely integrated so far. Self-organized patterns influencing dynamics at the ecosystem level represent “order for free”. Whether or not this free order generated at the ecosystem level carries evolutionary function or is merely epiphenomenal is a fundamental question that we address here.
Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Localized Prostate Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Over 6,000 Patients Treated On Prospective Studies.

Purpose Utilization of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for treatment of localized prostate cancer is increasing. Guidelines and payers variably support the use of prostate SBRT. We therefore sought to systematically analyze biochemical recurrence-free survival (bRFS), physician-reported toxicity, and patient-reported outcomes after prostate SBRT. Methods and Materials A systematic search leveraging Medline via PubMed and EMBASE for original articles published between January 1990 and January 2018 was performed. This was supplemented by abstracts with sufficient extractable data from January 2013 to March 2018. All prospective series assessing curative-intent prostate SBRT for localized prostate cancer reporting bRFS, physician-reported toxicity, and patient-reported quality of life with a minimum of 1-year follow-up were included. The study was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement. Meta-analyses were performed with random-effect modeling. Extent of heterogeneity between studies was determined by the I2 and Cochran's Q tests. Meta-regression was performed using Hartung–Knapp methods. Results Thirty-eight unique prospective series were identified comprising 6116 patients. Median follow-up was 39 months across all patients (range, 12-115 months). Ninety-two percent, 78%, and 38% of studies included low, intermediate, and high-risk patients. Overall, 5- and 7-year bRFS rates were 95.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 91.3%-97.5%) and 93.7% (95% CI, 91.4%-95.5%), respectively. Estimated late grade ≥3 genitourinary and gastrointestinal toxicity rates were 2.0% (95% CI, 1.4%-2.8%) and 1.1% (95% CI, 0.6%-2.0%), respectively. By 2 years post-SBRT, Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite urinary and bowel domain scores returned to baseline. Increasing dose of SBRT was associated with improved biochemical control (P = .018) but worse late grade ≥3 GU toxicity (P = .014). Conclusions Prostate SBRT has substantial prospective evidence supporting its use, with favorable tumor control, patient-reported quality of life, and levels of toxicity demonstrated. SBRT has sufficient evidence to be supported as a standard treatment option for localized prostate cancer while ongoing trials assess its potential superiority.
Pharmacologic inhibition of lysine specific demethylase-1 (LSD1) as a therapeutic and immune-sensitization strategy in diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG)

Abstract Background Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is an incurable pediatric brain tumor. Mutations in the H3 histone tail (H3.1/3.3-K27M) are a feature of DIPG, potentially rendering them therapeutically sensitive to small-molecule inhibition of chromatin modifiers. Pharmacological inhibition of lysine specific demethylase-1 (LSD1) shows promise in pediatric cancers such as Ewing’s sarcoma, but has not been investigated in DIPG, which was the aim of our study. Methods Patient-derived DIPG cell lines and pediatric high-grade glioma (pHGG) datasets were used to evaluate effects of several LSD1 inhibitors on selective cytotoxicity and immune gene expression. Immune cell cytotoxicity was assessed in DIPG cells treated with LSD1 inhibitors and informatics platforms were used to determine immune infiltration of pHGG and impact on survival. Results Selective cytotoxicity and an immunogenic gene signature was established in DIPG lines using several clinically-relevant LSD1 inhibitors. Pediatric high-grade glioma patient sequencing data demonstrated survival benefit using this LSD1-dependent gene signature. On-target binding of catalytic LSD1 inhibitors was confirmed in DIPG and pre-treatment of DIPG with these inhibitors increased lysis by natural killer (NK) cells. CIBERSORT analysis of patient data confirmed NK infiltration is beneficial to patient survival while CD8 T-cells are negatively prognostic. Catalytic LSD1 inhibitors are non-perturbing to NK cells while scaffolding LSD1 inhibitors are toxic to NK cells and do not induce the gene signature in DIPG cells. Conclusions LSD1 inhibition using catalytic inhibitors are both selectively cytotoxic and promote an immune gene signature that is associated with NK cell killing, representing a therapeutic opportunity for pHGG. Key points LSD1 inhibition using several clinically relevant compounds is selectively cytotoxic in DIPG. An LSD1-controlled gene signature predicts survival in pediatric high-grade glioma patients. LSD1 inhibition enhances NK cell cytotoxicity against DIPG with correlative genetic biomarkers. Importance of the study This is the first study to evaluate inhibition of LSD1 in a uniformly lethal type of pediatric brain tumor: DIPG. We demonstrate selective cytotoxicity of several clinically relevant compounds against patient derived DIPG cells, and identify an immune gene signature that is upregulated in DIPG cells by catalytic inhibitors of LSD1. This immune gene signature is predictive of prognosis in pHGG, consistent with the rationale of promoting this signature through LSD1 inhibition. NK cell killing of DIPG is enhanced by LSD1 inhibition, providing functional confirmation of this gene signature, and represents the first report of LSD1 inhibition promoting NK cell cytotoxicity of cancer cells. Given the poor prognosis of pHGGs and lack of effective treatments, our results suggest use of LSD1 inhibition as a single agent or in combination with NK cell therapy may be a safe and efficacious strategy.
Incorporating Opioids into Micro - to Nano - Structurally Optimized Silica Xerogel Controlled Release Delivery Systems Prevents Abuse

Analgesics is a multibillion dollar worldwide industry. Oxycodone, an opioid, is currently administered using controlled release tablets; although this has resulted in considerable control over pain management, the controlledrelease tablets have been abused by drug users. Measures to curb illicit use of the drug have not been successful, to date. This study proposes that by incorporating the medicine into a micro- to nano-structurally optimized delivery material, release concentrations that cannot exceed therapeutic target levels will be achieved and therefore, curbing its misuse, even when the carrier material is crushed. Using Dextromethorphan (Dextro) as a model drug, silica xerogels (sol-gels) were synthesized by mixing tetramethoxysilane, Deionized water and HCl, in addition to Dextro-methanol solution. Different drug loads and water-to-alkoxide ratios were observed to alter the micro- and nanostructurural properties. Different particle sizes were produced by crushing the xerogel discs, after which they were sieved and immersed in 5mg/ml PBS solution. Concentration of released Dextro was measured spectrophotometrically at 280 nm. The effect of particle size on in vitro release of Dextro from xerogels, as a function of immersion time, demonstrated that both micro- to nano-sized particles exhibited timedependent release of Dextro. Although the release from nano-sized particles was noticeably faster than from the micro-sized ones, they did not show any burst release. Data obtained demonstrate that synthesizing a delivery system capable of achieving the controlled-release of therapeutically relevant doses and misuse resistance are attainable.
Serving the Need: Engaging in Virtual Video Reference with Students

In March 2020, many academic librarians were abruptly forced into an online service environment due to the global COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Although some librarians had been providing synchronous v...
Broadband Slow Light in Topologically Protected Waveguides

We demonstrate that broadband slow light can be achieved over the entire bandgap by periodically loading a topologically protected unidirectional waveguide with low-Q resonances. We discuss implementations and limitations in both reciprocal and nonreciprocal systems.
Asymmetric dependence in the stochastic frontier model using skew normal copula

Abstract In this paper, a new skew normal copula-based stochastic frontier model (SFM) is proposed to investigate the asymmetric dependence among the disturbances U (representing technical inefficiency) and V (representing noise). By employing the skew-normal copula in SFM, the asymmetric joint behavior of U and V can be parameterized, thereby allowing the data to have the opportunity to determine the adequacy of the independence or symmetric copula assumption. The skewness of ordinary least square residuals under copula-based SFM is discussed. The performance of the proposed skew normal copula-based SFM is evaluated through simulation studies and an analysis of a real data set.
Discrete spectrum of the graviton in the AdS5 black hole background

The discrete spectrum of fluctuations of the metric about an AdS5 black hole background are found. These modes are the strong coupling limit of so-called glueball states in a dual 3-d Yang–Mills theory with quantum numbers JPC=2++,1−+,0++. For the ground state modes, we find the mass relation m(0++)<m(2++)<m(1−+). Contrary to expectation, the mass of our new 0++ state (m2=5.4573) associated with the graviton is smaller than the mass of the 0++ state (m2=11.588) from the dilaton. In fact the dilatonic excitations are exactly degenerate with our tensor 2++ states. We find that variational methods gives remarkably accurate mass estimates for all three low-lying levels while a WKB treatment describes the higher modes well.
Civilian GNSS Spoofing, Detection, and Recovery

This chapter's goal is to report on the state of the body of research into spoofing and detection. It reviews the fundamental approaches that can be used for global navigation satellite system spoofing and spoofing detection. The chapter discusses progress in these areas and defines the state of the art at the time of writing. It describes various types of spoofing attacks and the technology used to mount them. The chapter covers spoofing detection systems. It also discusses methods for recovering authentic position, navigation, and timing (PNT) information after an attack has been detected. Spoofing detection is useful even if an authentic PNT solution is not recoverable. In that case, the user receiver is lost, but it is better to know that one is lost than to believe a false position fix. Best of all, however, would be a recovery that allowed. The chapter reviews the methods of testing defenses against spoofing.
Salivary Aβ Secretion and Altered Oral Microbiome in Mouse Models of AD.

Background Beta amyloid (Aβ) peptide containing plaque aggregations in the brain are a hallmark of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). However, Aβ is produced by cell types outside of the brain suggesting that the peptide may serve a broad physiologic purpose. Objective Based upon our prior work documenting expression of amyloid β precursor protein (APP) in intestinal epithelium we hypothesized that salivary epithelium might also express APP and be a source of Aβ. Methods To begin testing this idea, we compared human age-matched control and AD salivary glands to C57BL/6 wild type, AppNL-G-F , and APP/PS1 mice. Results Both male and female AD, AppNL-G-F , and APP/PS1 glands demonstrated robust APP and Aβ immunoreactivity. Female AppNL-G-F mice had significantly higher levels of pilocarpine stimulated Aβ 1-42 compared to both wild type and APP/PS1 mice. No differences in male salivary Aβ levels were detected. No significant differences in total pilocarpine stimulated saliva volumes were observed in any group. Both male and female AppNL-G-F but not APP/PS1 mice demonstrated significant differences in oral microbiome phylum and genus abundance compared to wild type mice. Male, but not female, APP/PS1 and AppNL-G-F mice had significantly thinner molar enamel compared to their wild type counterparts. Conclusion These data support the idea that oral microbiome changes exist during AD in addition to changes in salivary Aβ and oral health.
CHAPTER 6 – APPLICATIONS TO PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

Publisher Summary The applications of integral equations are not restricted to ordinary differential equations. The most important applications of integral equations arise in finding the solutions of boundary value problems in the theory of partial differential equations of the second order. The boundary value problems for the equations of elliptic type can be reduced to Fredholm integral equations, while the study of parabolic and hyperbolic differential equations leads to Volterra integral equations. This chapter examines the linear partial differential equations of the elliptic type, specifically to the Laplace, Poisson, and Helmholtz equations, wherein the most interesting and important achievements of the theory of integral equations lie. Three types of boundary conditions arise in the study of elliptic partial differential equations. The first type is the Dirichlet condition. The second type is the Neumann condition. The Green's function is an auxiliary function that plays the same crucial role in the integral-equation formulation of partial differential equations as it plays in the case of ordinary differential equations. This function depends on the form of the differential equation, the boundary condition, and the region.
Purification and characterization of an amyloidogenic repeat domain from the functional amyloid Pmel17

Abstract The pre-melanosomal protein (Pmel17) is a human functional amyloid that supports melanin biosynthesis within melanocytes. This occurs in the melanosome, a membrane-bound organelle with an acidic intraluminal pH. The repeat region of Pmel17 (RPT, residues 315–444) has been previously shown to form amyloid aggregates under acidic melanosomal conditions, but not under neutral cytosolic conditions, when expressed and purified using a C-terminal hexa-histidine tag (RPT-His). Given the importance of protonation states in RPT-His aggregation, we questioned whether the histidine tag influenced the pH-dependent behavior. In this report, we generated a tagless RPT by inserting a tobacco etch virus (TEV) protease recognition sequence (ENLYGQ(G/S)) immediately upstream of a native glycine residue at position 312 in Pmel17. After purification of the fusion construct using a histidine tag, cleavage with TEV protease generated a fully native RPT (nRPT) spanning resides 312–444. We characterized the aggregation of nRPT, which formed amyloid fibrils under acidic conditions (pH ≤ 6) but not at neutral pH. Characterizing the morphologies of nRPT aggregates using transmission electron microscopy revealed a pH-dependent maturation from short, curved structures at pH 4 to paired, rod-like fibrils at pH 6. This was accompanied by a secondary structural transition from mixed random coil/β-sheet at pH 4 to canonical β-sheet at pH 6. We also show that pre-formed nRPT fibrils undergo disaggregation upon dilution into pH 7 buffer. More broadly, this strategy can be utilized to generate native amyloidogenic domains from larger proteins by utilizing intrinsic N-terminal glycine or serine residues.
Many-Antenna Full-Duplex with Fully Digital and Hybrid Beamforming Radios

Next generation wireless systems are expected to use a very large number of antennas at base stations (BSs). For example, the 3GPP has already included support for up to 128 antenna BSs for sub-6 GHz cellular systems in its standard specifications. The traditional approach to build many-antenna BSs is to connect each antenna element to a separate Tx-Rx RF chain (an architecture referred to as folly digital) . However, it is possible to reduce the cost and power consumption of the BS by connecting each RF chain to an array of antennas by using phased arrays or switched beam antennas (an architecture referred to as hybrid beamforming) .
Innate immune signaling drives late cardiac toxicity following DNA damaging cancer therapies

Abstract Late cardiac toxicity is a potentially lethal complication of cancer therapy, yet the pathogenic mechanism remains largely unknown, and few treatment options exist. Here we report DNA damaging agents such as radiation and anthracycline chemotherapies induce delayed cardiac inflammation following therapy due to activation of cGAS and STING-dependent type I interferon signaling. Genetic ablation of cGAS-STING-signaling in mice inhibits DNA damage induced cardiac inflammation, rescues late cardiac functional decline, and prevents death from cardiac events. Treatment with a STING antagonist suppresses cardiac interferon signaling following DNA damaging therapies and effectively mitigates cardiotoxicity. These results identify a therapeutically targetable, pathogenic mechanism for one of the most vexing treatment-related toxicities in cancer survivors.
Factitious Disorder in Crohn's Disease: Recurrent Pancytopenia Caused by Surreptitious Ingestion of 6-Mercaptopurine

Factitious disorder is a rare psychiatric illness characterized by the willful and deceptive induction of illness for the purpose of assuming the sick role. It presents a substantial diagnostic challenge, as patients often go to great lengths to conceal their deception. Accordingly, its presence in the full spectrum of gastrointestinal diseases is likely underappreciated. While factitious gastrointestinal bleeding, abdominal pain and diarrhea are relatively common, factitious non-gastrointestinal symptoms in the setting of gastrointestinal illness have been infrequently reported. We present the case of a patient with Crohn's disease with recurrent pancytopenia attributed to the surreptitious ingestion of 6-mercaptopurine. In patients with possible access to immunomodulatory drugs, a high suspicion for and early identification of factitious disorder may improve patient outcomes and avoid invasive and costly diagnostic evaluations.
Performance analysis of an edge optical burst switching node with a large number of wavelengths

We consider an edge optical burst switching (OBS) node with or without converters, and with no buffering. The OBS node serves a number of users, each connected to the switch with a fiber link that supports multiple wavelengths. Each wavelength is associated with a 3-state Markovian burst arrival process which permits short and long bursts to be modeled. In a previous paper [18], we modeled the edge OBS node as a closed multi-class non-product-form queueing network, which we analyzed approximately by decomposition. In this paper, we develop computationally efficient approximate algorithms to analyze an edge node in the limiting case where the number of wavelengths is large. This limiting case is of practical importance since WDM technology will permit hundreds of wavelengths in a fiber.
Understanding Morality from an Evolutionary Perspective: Challenges and Opportunities

In recent years, there has been a proliferation of new research on moral thinking informed by evolutionary theory. The new findings have emanated from a wide variety of fields. While there is no shortage of theoretical models that attempt to account for specific research findings, Matthew Keefer's goals in this essay are more general. First, he examines the strength of the evolutionary approach to understanding morality and moral emotions as adaptations to cooperation. Second, he considers the importance of unconscious processing for generating ethical (or unethical) behavior and the complex relation among moral emotions, intuitions, and conscious moral reasoning. Third, he underscores the importance of understanding self-deception and self-serving biases in moral thinking and behavior. Keefer ends the essay with a discussion of some implications of these considerations for professional ethics and moral education.
The Effect of Decortication and Extrusion on the Digestibility of Sorghum by Preschool Children

The effect of decortication and extrusion on the apparent protein quality and digestibility of sorghum (S. vulgare) was evaluated in comparative balance studies in nine children 7-24 months of age. Sorghum provided (as kilocalories) 8% protein and 62% carbohydrate in the study diet. Lysine was supplemented to 3% of protein. Casein provided 6.4% protein kilocalories in the control diet. A mixture of sucrose, dextrimaltose and cornstarch provided carbohydrate. Both diets contained 30% fat kilocalories as soybean-cottonseed oil blend. Balance studies were carried out during the last 6 days of three 9-day dietary periods: control-sorghum-control. Apparent N absorption from sorghum was 81 +/- 4% and did not differ from control. Apparent N retention, 21 +/- 6%, was expectedly lower than the preceeding control (27 +/- 8%, P less than 0.05) and following control (33 +/- 7%, P less than 0.01) values. The control values differed significantly from each other (P less than 0.05). Fecal weights and energy losses showed only minor differences between the two diets. These data contrast sharply with previous results obtained with whole-grain sorghum and suggest that the use of decortication and low cost extrusion processing can markedly improve the apparent protein quality and digestibility of sorghum.
A new rectangular waveguide to coplanar waveguide transition

A novel rectangular-waveguide-to-coplanar-waveguide transition is described. The transition uses a ridge in one of the broad walls of the waveguide and a nonradiating slot in the opposite wall to split and rotate the electromagnetic fields of the rectangular waveguide TE/sub 10/ mode into the coplanar waveguide (CPW) fields. This transition should permit the use of CPW-based circuits in the millimeter-wave frequency range and the development of microwave probes above 50 GHz for fast and inexpensive testing of the millimeter-wave circuits. >
Abstract 3757: Vacuolar ATPase ‘a’ subunit mediates platinum resistance in ovarian cancer

Development of resistance to platinum compounds significantly hinders successful ovarian cancer treatment. Understanding the molecular alterations in chemo-resistance is important for developing therapeutic strategies for reversal of resistance. Vacuolar-H + −ATPases (V-ATPases) are multi-subunit proton pumps that play key roles in regulating cytosolic/extracellular pH and drug tolerance in tumor cells. The present study begins to decipher the role of V-ATPase `a’ subunit isoforms (major pH sensing unit) in cisplatin resistance. For this, cisplatin resistant human ovarian cancer cell lines A2780 and TOV112D were generated in lab by stepwise increase in drug pressure. Comparative expression profiling revealed that V-ATPase `a` subunit levels correlated with cisplatin resistance and each of the a1,a2 and a3 isoforms were significantly up regulated in the resistant lines. Isoform-specific shRNAs were employed to selectively and stably reduce mRNA levels for VATPase ‘a’ subunit in cisplatin resistant cell lines and determine their effect on cisplatin/carboplatin sensitivity, DNA damage and apoptosis. V-ATPase a2 or a3 isoform knocked down resistant lines exhibited sensitization to cisplatin and carboplatin. In vitro effects showed increased DNA damage by forming platinum DNA adducts which led to higher levels of apoptosis. In conclusion, inhibition of V-ATPase `a` subunit expression by monoclonal antibodies or V-ATPase inhibitors could serve as a therapeutic strategy to overcome cisplatin resistance and has a potential as a combination therapy along with platinum drugs for treatment of chemo-resistant ovarian carcinoma. Citation Format: Arpita Kulshrestha, Gajendra K. Katara, Sahithi Pamarthy, Alice Gilman-Sachs, Kenneth D. Beaman. Vacuolar ATPase ‘a’ subunit mediates platinum resistance in ovarian cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 3757. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-3757
Validation and enhancement of a computable medication indication resource (MEDI) using a large practice-based dataset.

Linking medications with their indications is important for clinical care and research. We have recently developed a freely-available, computable medication-indication resource, called MEDI, which links RxNorm medications to indications mapped to ICD9 codes. In this paper, we identified the medications and diagnoses for 1.3 million individuals at Vanderbilt University Medical Center to evaluate the medication coverage of MEDI and then to calculate the prevalence for each indication for each medication. Our results demonstrated MEDI covered 97.3% of medications recorded in medical records. The “high precision subset” of MEDI covered 93.8% of recorded medications. No significant prescription drugs were missed by MEDI. Manual physician review of random patient records for four example medications found that the MEDI covered the observed indications, and confirmed the estimated prevalence of these medications using practice information. Indication prevalence information for each medication, previously unavailable in other public resources, may improve the clinical usability of MEDI. We believe MEDI will be useful for both clinical informatics and to aid in recognition of phenotypes for electronic medical record-based research.
In vivo contribution of LCAT to apolipoprotein B lipoprotein cholesteryl esters in LDL receptor and apolipoprotein E knockout mice

Previous studies have indicated that LCAT may play a role in the generation of cholesteryl esters (CE) in plasma apolipoprotein B (apoB) lipoproteins. The purpose of the present study was to examine the quantitative importance of LCAT on apoB lipoprotein CE fatty acid (CEFA) composition. LCAT(-/-) mice were crossed into the LDL receptor (LDLr)(-/-) and apoE(-/-) background to retard the clearance and increase the concentration of apoB lipoprotein in plasma. Plasma free cholesterol was significantly elevated but total and esterified cholesterol concentrations were not significantly affected by removal of functioning LCAT in either the LDLr(-/-) or apoE(-/-) mice consuming a chow diet. However, when functional LCAT was removed from LDLr(-/-) mice, the CEFA ratio (saturated + monounsaturated/polyunsaturated) of plasma LDL increased 7-fold because of a 2-fold increase in saturated and monounsaturated CE, a 40% reduction in cholesteryl linoleate, and a complete absence of long chain (>18 carbon) polyunsaturated CE (20:4, 20:5n-3, and 22:6n-3), from 29.3% to 0%. Removal of functional LCAT from apoE(-/-) mice resulted in only a 1.6-fold increase in the CEFA ratio, due primarily to a complete elimination of long chain CE (7.7% to 0%). Our results demonstrate that LCAT contributes significantly to the CEFA pool of apoB lipoprotein and is the only source of plasma long chain polyunsaturated CE in these mice.
Natural and artificial voids in insulation

AHIGH VOLTAGE Schering bridge with broadband differential amplifier and cathode-ray oscillograph were used to check the onset and offset of ionization as well as the change in conduction caused by surface effects within the void.
Maternal and Paternal Perceptions of Social Competence in Children and Adolescents

We examined maternal and paternal perceptions of social competence in children and adolescents. One hundred forty-seven parents rated scenarios depicting children who varied in age, gender, and social competence. Parents also completed questionnaires assessing the amount of time they spend with their own children, their gender identity, their psychological symptoms, and their affectivity. Results indicated that the amount of time parents spend with their own children was related to maternal and paternal ratings, whereas affectivity was related to paternal ratings. In contrast, parents’ gender identity and psychological symptoms were unrelated to their ratings of social competence. Finally, there was an interaction between parent gender and the level of social competence depicted in the scenarios they rated, suggesting that there were differences in maternal and paternal ratings. These findings emphasize the importance of examining the perceptions of both mothers and fathers when assessing social competence in children and adolescents.
Innovation or Notoriety

The purpose of this column is to give some perspective and words of advice to new inventors. When you choose to be an innovator, you will have lots of fun intellectually, but the road can be pretty bumpy when it comes to the politics of receiving proper credit for your ideas, and when it comes to "selling" your ideas and seeing them through to implementation. This column documents some of the possible bumps in the road, including the three stages toward acceptance of a new idea: ridicule, opposition, and obviousness.
Implementation of a fetal cardiology comprehensive program at a moderate sized University Medical Center

Abstract The fetal cardiology program at the Children's Heart Center at Golisono Children's Hospital at Strong was developed to insure quality diagnosis of the fetus with congenital heart disease including hemodynamic assessment and evaluation of fetal arrhythmias. An additional aim was to improve delivery of care to the fetus and mother with a prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart disease with a particular emphasis on high quality surgical outcomes. This article addresses the development of this program at a moderate sized medical center. There was a particular emphasis on delivering high quality prenatal and postnatal care to the mother and fetus by developing a comprehensive program that includes pediatric cardiology, perinatology, and pediatric cardiothoracic surgery. This combined program can then deal with the mother and fetus with structural heart disease, arrhythmias, and cardiomyopathy and provide complete patient care to both. Here, we will review the method used to develop the fetal cardiology service at the Children's Heart Center at Strong, address the care of the mother and fetus before, during and after delivery, and specifically review how surgical cases are managed through the perinatal period.
Profile of Life Participation After Stroke and Aphasia

This study sought to obtain authentic information about life participation after stroke and aphasia. An interview was conducted with 40 individuals from diverse backgrounds and living in 2 geographic locations who had aphasia of at least 9 months. Participants were interviewed using the Profile of Functional Activities and Life Participation (PFALP), a semistructured, conversational approach to obtain self-reported information about a person's life participation profile. Life participation profiles were unique for each participant. Overall, participants reported having difficulty with many activities for which they judged themselves to be moderately impaired and for which they reported low performance satisfaction. Interview data provided information about participation restrictions related to communication and other areas. Results highlight the need for personally relevant follow-up assessment of life participation among people with chronic aphasia to identify and guide viable interventions that extend beyond the traditional scope of care.
Stability of Teacher Effectiveness: A Replication

AbstractEighty-nine fifth grade teachers were studied to establish the temporal stability of their relative effectiveness on the average level of students' educational achievement in two consecutive years. Residual gain scores for these teachers' classes were correlated across years. The correlations range between .13 and .49 for different subtests of the Metropolitan Achievement Test used to measure student achievement. The correlations are found to represent a relatively small overall impact of teacher consistency on the achievement levels of students.
Prognostic model of event‐free survival for patients with androgen‐independent prostate carcinoma

BACKGROUND The current study was conducted to develop a prognostic model of event-free survival (EFS) in men with androgen-independent prostate carcinoma (AIPC). METHODS Data from 160 patients diagnosed with AIPC between 1989–2002 were reviewed. No patient had received cytotoxic chemotherapy. A univariate Cox proportional hazards model identified significant predictors of EFS. Recursive partitioning analysis divided these significant variables into prognostic risk groups. The final prognostic model was tested with a Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS The final prognostic risk model included the presence of metastatic disease at the time of androgen-independent disease progression (P = 0.040), time to prostate-specific antigen (PSA) recurrence (P = 0.043), and PSA doubling time (P < 0.01). Three highly independent risk groups were identified. The observed median EFSs were 6.1 months (95% confidence interval [95= CI], 3.4–8.8 months), 33.6 months (95= CI, 25.3–41.9 months), and 96.1 months (95= CI, 57.9–134.3 months) for the low-risk, intermediate-risk, and high-risk groups, respectively. Each risk group was found to be independently predictive of EFS (P < 0.01). Patients who died of prostate carcinoma experienced significantly more clinical events than those who died of other causes (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS The prognostic model in the current study stratified patients into three highly significant and independent risk groups for EFS. A detailed PSA history and knowledge of metastatic disease are sufficient to risk-stratify patients with AIPC. One very unique aspect of this model was that it was developed from a patient cohort that never received chemotherapy. Cancer 2005. © 2005 American Cancer Society.
Effect of beta-adrenergic receptor stimulation on regional myocardial metabolism: Importance of coronary vessel patency

Abstract The possibility that the subendocardial region of the left ventricle would exhibit a more anaerobic form of metabolism than the subepicardial region during beta-adrenergic receptor stimulation was examined in the open chest dog. The additional effect of reduced coronary vessel patency was also examined. Beta stimulation was achieved by administering isoproterenol intravenously for 4 minutes, after which time a transmural tissue sample was procured from the beating left ventricle for estimating outer and inner wall levels of pyruvate, lactate, and tissue water content. Results in the animal with a normal coronary circulation revealed relatively higher inner wall levels of both pyruvate and lactate, but no outer to inner wall difference in the lactate/pyruvate ratio. An absolute increase in tissue pyruvate was noted in both regions. Results in the animal with reduced coronary vessel patency revealed a relatively higher inner wall level of lactate, but not pyruvate, and a higher lactate/pyruvate ratio in the inner than the outer wall. An absolute increase in tissue lactate was noted in both regions. Tissue water content was uniform in all studies. These findings suggest that, although the subendocardial region may be the site of greatest metabolic activity during beta-adrenergic receptor stimulation, the presence of a normal coronary circulation insures against the development of a more anaerobic form of metabolism there. However, a reduction in coronary vessel patency does predispose the subendocardial region to a more anaerobic form of metabolism during beta-adrenergic receptor stimulation.
Adrenarche and Middle Childhood

Middle childhood, the period from 6 to 12 years of age, is defined socially by increasing autonomy and emotional regulation, somatically by the development of anatomical structures for subsistence, and endocrinologically by adrenarche, the adrenal production of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). Here I suggest that DHEA plays a key role in the coordinated development of the brain and body beginning with middle childhood, via energetic allocation. I argue that with adrenarche, increasing levels of circulating DHEA act to down-regulate the release of glucose into circulation and hence limit the supply of glucose which is needed by the brain for synaptogenesis. Furthermore, I suggest the antioxidant properties of DHEA may be important in maintaining synaptic plasticity throughout middle childhood within slow-developing areas of the cortex, including the insula, thamalus, and anterior cingulate cortex. In addition, DHEA may play a role in the development of body odor as a reliable social signal of behavioral changes associated with middle childhood.
2D CSI proton MR spectroscopy of human spinal vertebra: feasibility studies.

This report focuses on proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) of spine vertebra acquired with two-dimensional chemical shift imaging (2D CSI), utilizing the stimulated echo acquisition mode (STEAM) sequence. Both validity and reproducibility studies were performed. To validate the 2D CSI method, its spectra were compared with those obtained with the single-voxel (SV) method. Five normal volunteers were scanned. The reproducibility of 2D CSI was examined by performing spectroscopy on two different occasions, on three normal volunteers. Data show that the STEAM 2D CSI technique results in MRI spectra comparable to those obtained with the STEAM SV method. 2D CSI offers significant time savings and convenient multi-voxel spectral analysis at a substantially higher signal-to-noise ratio. The 2D CSI method was then applied to a patient with a small vertebral hemangioma. The results demonstrated that the voxels containing the hemangioma exhibit different spectra than the neighboring voxels of the same vertebra. Additionally, a case of vertebral osteoporosis was investigated. Results showed a significant increase in the lipid-to-water ratio (LWR). It is suggested that 2D CSI may be powerful in identifying physiological as well as pathological changes of the bone marrow. Furthermore, covering a more extensive area of the vertebral body will maximize the chances of depicting a small focus of pathologic tissue. A more detailed bone marrow pattern was noticed in on one subject whose spectra show more lipid peaks. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2000;11:287–293. © 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.