cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of patient-ventilator asynchronies and effects on sleep quality in neuromuscular patients using long term non-invasive ventilation

Background: There are few studies on the association between asynchronies and arousals in patients using long term noninvasive ventilation (NIV) and among them, only one has been performed on neuromuscular patients. Moreover, in the real life of home ventilated neuromuscular patients sleep fragmentation is probably far from being perfectly corrected. Objective: The aim of this work was to investigate the prevalence of patient-ventilator asynchronies and their association with sleep quality in stable neuromuscular patients chronically ventilated after optimization of ventilator setting. Methods: Eighteen patients were included in the study. Sleep was recorded during ventilator application using standard polysomnography. Physiologic tracings were scored for autotriggerings, patient-ventilator desynchronizations, prolonged insufflations (PI) and respiratory arousals. Results: Most frequent asynchronies were autotriggerings and desynchronizations (83.33% and 77.77% of patients, median/h 1.11 (IQR 0.43-2.84) and 0.23 (IQR 0.12-1.00) respectively). Desynchronization was the asynchrony most frequently associated with arousal (median 73.61%, IQR 15.91-96.88) followed by autotriggering (median 60%, IQR 0-90.9). PI was not frequent and almost never associated with arousal (median 0 IQR 0-100). Asynchronies were significantly correlated with leaks (r=0.49 p= 0.035). Conclusion: Patient-ventilator asynchronies may still occur in neuromuscular patients receiving home long term NIV and can contribute to sleep fragmentation. Monitoring of quality of ventilation should be included in long term programme of neuromuscular patients.
Surviving in a Toxic World

The world can be a dangerous place. Although the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is probably best known as a model organism thriving in the undemanding environment of research laboratories, in nature it lives in the soil, exposed to many toxic compounds that are often produced by the microorganisms on which it feeds. One group of these compounds, the avermectins, are produced by the soil bacterium, Streptomyces avermitilis ( 1 ). On page 574 of this issue, Ghosh et al. ( 2 ) report that a natural variation in a C. elegans gene, glc-1 , confers resistance to the avermectins and also to S. avermitilis . Because avermectin resistance is a serious problem in veterinary medicine ( 3 ), and ivermectin (a semisynthetic avermectin) is used to control human parasitic diseases such as river blindness ( 4 ), this result has wider implications for effective parasite control and human health.
Efficient, low-noise, single-photon frequency conversion

We demonstrate simultaneous low-noise and efficient frequency conversion in a periodically poled LiNbO 3 waveguide with spectral filtering. We achieve >50% external conversion efficiency and 600 noise counts per second at peak conversion.
The Aarskog syndrome in three brothers

A sibship is reported of three brothers who all manifested short stature and identical facial, digital, and genital anomalies consistent with Aarskog's syndrome. In addition, all manifested ophthalmoplegia and growth delay of prenatal onset, features uncommon among patients previously reported with this syndrome. The mother had some of the digital anomalies seen in her three boys, but otherwise was unaffected. The pattern of inheritance seen in our family and in those previously reported indicates that the syndrome is either X-linked recessive or autosomal dominant, with limited expression in the female.
Agglomeration behavior of solid nickel on polycrystalline barium titanate

Abstract This letter describes the phenomenon that takes place between nickel/barium titanate couples when heated under conditions employed in multilayer ceramic capacitor manufacturing practice: a 4 h, 1300 °C isothermal anneal in 1% H 2 –99% N 2 . Dense, sputtered nickel films were observed to dewet the titanate and agglomerate into discrete or interconnected islands via a solid-state process. Up to a critical film thickness value of ∼ 1.4 μm, the degree of agglomeration was found to display an exponential dependence on the thickness of the original nickel film.
Imaging in Psoriatic Arthritis

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA), a chronic inflammatory arthritis associated with psoriasis, is often associated with significant inflammation and joint damage leading to a decrease in quality of life measures. Plain radiographs have traditionally been used to detect and estimate the extent of joint damage. Newer imaging modalities such as ultrasound and MRI however, have provided the ability to detect joint damage earlier and measure the extent of joint damage more accurately, than with radiographs. These imaging modalities also provide a sensitive means of assessing for the presence of and quantifying the amount of inflammation. Furthermore, these imaging modalities can help with the identification of enthesitis, tendonitis, and dactylitis, features that can help make a diagnosis of PsA. Additionally, MRI and scintigraphy can help in the early detection and assessment of sacroiliitis and axial disease. In addition to benefits with diagnosis and prognosis, recent advances in imaging techniques have led to their increased use in the assessment of efficacy of novel therapies for psoriatic arthritis. Imaging modalities therefore allow for early detection, assessment of joint inflammation and joint damage as well as in the estimation of disease activity of PsA and thereby enable the clinician to treat PsA early, adequately, and safely.
Current and Future Land Use around a Nationwide Protected Area Network

Land-use change around protected areas can reduce their effective size and limit their ability to conserve biodiversity because land-use change alters ecological processes and the ability of organisms to move freely among protected areas. The goal of our analysis was to inform conservation planning efforts for a nationwide network of protected lands by predicting future land use change. We evaluated the relative effect of three economic policy scenarios on land use surrounding the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Wildlife Refuges. We predicted changes for three land-use classes (forest/range, crop/pasture, and urban) by 2051. Our results showed an increase in forest/range lands (by 1.9% to 4.7% depending on the scenario), a decrease in crop/pasture between 15.2% and 23.1%, and a substantial increase in urban land use between 28.5% and 57.0%. The magnitude of land-use change differed strongly among different USFWS administrative regions, with the most change in the Upper Midwestern US (approximately 30%), and the Southeastern and Northeastern US (25%), and the rest of the U.S. between 15 and 20%. Among our scenarios, changes in land use were similar, with the exception of our ‘‘restricted-urban-growth’’ scenario, which resulted in noticeably different rates of change. This demonstrates that it will likely be difficult to influence land-use change patterns with national policies and that understanding regional land-use dynamics is critical for effective management and planning of protected lands throughout the U.S.
Alaryngeal speech: Proposed research areas

Future research directions in the area of alaryngeal speech are presented. The postoperative alaryngeal speech mechanism is described as a system of valves. The necessary quantitative and qualitative measures are outlined. The need for systematic, longitudinal, interdisciplinary research on large numbers of patients at different levels of alaryngeal speech proficiency is emphasized.
Stress-assisted laser cutting of amorphous alloys

Abstract The application of a tensile stress during electron beam and laser cutting of amorphous alloy ribbon has successfully improved edge quality by eliminating melt bending. The tensile force also acts to reduce the energy requirements of cutting since the ribbon is severed by solid-state deformation before melting. Ribbons of amorphous Fe 78 B 13 Si 9 0.5 cm wide can be severed in 0.1 s using a tensile parting load of 2.0 kg and a 50 W pulsed mode CO 2 laser. The dependence of cutting time on laser power was established as d(ln P)/d(ln t) = −0.5.
Stable Planar Six-π-Electron Six-Membered N-Heterocyclic Carbenes with Tunable Electronic Properties

Carbene analogues of borazines are highly thermally stable. Keeping quasi-identical steric demands, the electronic properties of the carbene can be precisely tuned by varying the nature of the substituents at the boron centers.
Efficacy of an insomnia intervention on fatigue, mood and quality of life in breast cancer survivors.

Title. Efficacy of an insomnia intervention on fatigue, mood and quality of life in breast cancer survivors Aim. This paper is a report of a study to describe the efficacy of cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia on fatigue, mood and quality of life in breast cancer survivors. Background. Women who receive primary treatment for breast cancer often complain of insomnia. Rarely evaluated in insomnia intervention studies is the effect of cognitive behavioural treatment on the psychosocial outcomes of fatigue, mood and quality of life. Method. Data were collected between December 2002 and March 2004 with 72 women who were at least 3 months post-completion of primary treatment without current evidence of disease. Women were randomly assigned to either the cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia group, which received stimulus control instructions, sleep restriction therapy and sleep education and hygiene, or the component control group which received sleep education and hygiene only. The 10-week study consisted of 2 weeks of pre-treatment, 6 weeks of treatment and 2 weeks of post-treatment. Fatigue, mood and quality of life were measured at pre- and post-treatment. Findings. Women receiving cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia had significant improvements in fatigue, trait anxiety, depression and quality of life. The component control group also had statistically significant increases in quality of life, with a trend suggestive of lower depression at post-treatment. Conclusion. Globally, as the number of survivors in this population continues to grow, it is imperative that nurses continue testing interventions that may positively affect quality of life and the commonly experienced symptoms of fatigue, anxiety and depression.
Identification of the major genetic determinant for neurovirulence of tick-borne orbiviruses.

Abstract Three members of the Great Island antigenic subgroup (Kemerovo serogroup) of tick-borne obiviruses produced fatal infections following intracerebral insulation of 2-day-old mice. The average survival times and PFU/LD50 ratios of mice inoculated with Wexford (WEX) virus were significantly greater than those of either Nugget (NUG) or Great Island (GI) virus. Reassortant viruses were isolated following dual infections of cell cultures with a spontaneous temperaturesensitive (ts) mutant of WEX virus, and either NUG wild-type virus or a is mutant of GI virus. The neurovirulence for mice and derivation of the genomic RNA segments were determined for the reassortants. Analysis of this data revealed that the pathogenic phenotype of the reassortant viruses depended on the parental origin of genomic segment 4. The major genetic determinant of serotype specificity was not shown to influence neurovirulence in these investigations.
Guest Editorial: Cryospheric Science and Engineering

Abstract : This Special Issue of Cold Regions Science and Technology contains a sampling of papers that were presented at the Cryospheric Science and Engineering Symposium held at the U.S. Army ERDC Cold Regions Research and Engineering Lab in Hanover, NH on 19 October 2006. The Symposium brought together cold regions engineers and scientists to share results on topics spanning many cold regions issues. Some of the topics have been important endeavors for many decades. Other topics are new areas arising from innovations in sensing and technology to address issues driven by climate change and/or the impact of human activity on the environment. The most detailed naturally-archives records of environment and climate are found in ice cores drilled in polar and high-altitude regions. How did ice coring science get its start? The Langway paper provides a description of the IGY-era activities and international development of the early polar ice cores.
Realizing a singular first fundamental form as a nonimmersed surface in Euclidean 3-space

We describe local properties of the first fundamental form for a C∞ surface in Euclidean 3-space $$\mathbb{E}^{3} $$ which fails to immerse on a small set D0. We then show that (subject to the regularity assumption KdA ≠ 0, on D0) given such a locally defined analytic tensor on an open subset of the plane there exists an analytic mapping into $$\mathbb{E}^{3} $$ whose first fundamental form is the given tensor. We then describe several global consequences of the condition KdA ≠ 0 on D0.
Sexual Maturity and Productivity in the Chicken as Affected by the Quality of Illumination During the Growing Period

ABSTRACT WITH the advent of off-season brooding and the rearing of replacement pullets and cockerels in confinement, the question of artificial light during the rearing period of chickens has become of major importance. The lighting during the hours of darkness of immature chickens being confinement reared is a common practice in New England, used mainly as insurance against piling and crowding. The experiments of Callenbach et al. (1944), in which June-hatched Single Comb White Leghorn pullets were used, indicated that a constant 24-hour daily incandescent lighting program during the growing period inhibited the onset of sexual maturity and reduced the intensity of lay during the entire laying period. Much better results were obtained by these investigators, either by withholding the use of lights until the age at which sexual maturity would normally occur, or by providing a 4-week unlighted period prior to the expected date of the onset of lay in . . .
Esophageal P‐Synchronous Pacing

An esophageal electrode can be employed to provide atrial sensing which then can be used to change from temporary right ventricular (VVI) pacing to P-synchronous (VAT) pacing. Two cases of postoperative aortic valve replacement, each with new complete heart block (CHB) and dopamine dependency, are presented. In both cases, establishment of P-synchronous pacing resulted in improved hemodynamic status characterized by successful weaning from dopamine and maintenance of adequate cardiac output (CO).
Slow-flow venous pressure for detection of arteriovenous graft malfunction

Slow-flow venous pressure for detection of arterviovenous graft malfunction. Background Early detection with elective intervention of malfunctioning arteriovenous (AV) grafts improves access viability. Herein, we evaluated outlet venous pressure (OP), normalized by mean arterial blood pressure (MABP), at varying blood flow (Qb) rates in the detection of venous outlet stenosis. Methods This single-center, observational study included stable dialysis patients with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) AV grafts. Phase I involved the determination of the optimal Qb (0, 50, 250, or 400mL/min) and threshold OP/MABP. Sixty-one patients were followed up for 6 months. The primary end point was graft thrombosis. Phase II assessed serial slow-flow pressure (SFpr = OP/MABP at Qb of 50mL/min) in a larger sample size ( N = 152). The primary end point was graft thrombosis. Phase III implemented the use of SFpr monitoring in the detection and correction of outlet lesion(s). Results In phase I, 21 patients developed graft thrombosis. The most significant difference in pressure between the functioning and thrombosed grafts was at Qb of 0mL/min and SFpr. The threshold of OP/MABP at Qb 0 (>0.53) and SFpr (>0.6) were predictive of graft thrombosis. In phase II, 37 of 42 patients with graft thrombosis had SFpr>0.6 (sensitivity 88.1%; specificity 97.2%; positive and negative predictive values were 90.2% and 95.5%, respectively). In phase III, 13 patients with SFpr>0.6 had outlet lesions on angiography. Conclusion Serial SFpr used in conjunction with angiography and angioplasty provides a strategy for reducing the incidence of thrombosis. This technique has comparable sensitivity and specificity to other existing methods. This technique is both time-efficient and cost-effective.
Inhibitory control and errorless discrimination learning.

Pigeons learned to discriminate between a positive stimulus (white key) and a negative stimulus (red or green key, depending on the subject) via Terrace's fading procedure. Generalization tests, conducted with intermittent reinforcement for key pecking at various wavelengths, yielded minima at the value of the negative stimulus in most “errorless” birds. Terrace's contrary finding of flat gradients in errorless subjects probably resulted from a floor-effect (i.e., virtually zero responding) produced by his extinction-test procedure. The present and other findings do not support Terrace's conclusions that the negative stimulus of an errorless discrimination is behaviorally neutral; inhibition apparently develops to the nonreinforced stimulus even during errorless discrimination learning. A negative correlation between stimulus and reinforcer seems the crucial factor in producing an inhibitory stimulus.
Hyperimmune human IgG or recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor as adjunctive therapy for group B streptococcal sepsis in newborn rats.

Group B streptococcus (GBS) continues to cause considerable morbidity and death in newborn infants despite the use of antibiotics. We investigated the use of adjunctive therapies to be used with antibiotics in the treatment of neonatal sepsis, using a neonatal rat model of established GBS disease. After the development of GBS bacteremia, a human IgG preparation hyperimmune for GBS, administered with pencillin, decreased the mortality rate compared with the use of penicillin alone (14% vs 57%; p =0.02). Similarly, recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, administered in a range of doses to animals with bacteremia, decreased mortality rates. The greatest effect was noted at a dose of 0.05 μ g/kg (mortality rate 39% in combination with penicillin vs 76% for penicillin alone; p
Paralysis after transforaminal epidural injection and previous spinal surgery

Objective This case discusses a rare but devastating complication of transforaminal epidural injection. Elements in the patient’s history that may be risk factors are discussed. Case report A 64-year-old man was evaluated for chronic low-back pain after multiple spine surgeries. After the most recent surgery, he suffered transient cauda equina symptoms. Because conservative therapy was not helpful for spinal stenosis and neuroclaudication, a left L2 transforaminal epidural injection was attempted, but a posterolateral fusion mass made this procedure impossible. A left L1 transforaminal approach was successful, and 1 mL of iopamidol (Isovue) contrast was injected, followed by 5 mL of a solution of 0.125% bupivacaine and 40 mg of triamcinolone. Approximately 1 to 2 minutes after injection, the patient described discomfort in the lower abdomen, and 1 minute later, he was unable to move his lower extremities. An MRI showed T2 signal change in the conus medullaris gray matter at T11–12, consistent with an acute vascular infarct. Spinal shock protocol with high-dose methylprednisolone was begun without change. More than 4 years later, the patient continues to be troubled by persistent paraparesis and chronic pain. Conclusions This case report is part of a new and growing body of literature that demonstrates the potential risk of transforaminal injection. Further study is necessary to ensure that spinal vascular injuries can be kept to an acceptably rare level.
Electric organ discharge patterns during dominance related behavioral displays inGnathonemus petersii (Mormyridae)

1. The electric organ discharge (EOD) patterns seen in pairs of mormyrid fishes (Gnathonemus petersii) during displays related to aggression and establishment of dominance are described. 2. A new method of reliably separating the discharges of the two fish was used. In this method a fine wire was attached to the tail of one animal (Fig. 1). 3. Discharge patterns were examined at different stages during the characteristic sequence of overt behavioral events which usually occurred after an intruder was put into a tank in which another fish of the same species had been resident for 1 hour or more. The resident attacked the intruder immediately, the intruder being initially unresponsive. After a few minutes, however, the two fish entered into intense, mutual, antiparallel displays (Fig. 2). The displays occurred repeatedly during a period of 0.5–30 min. This period ended suddenly with one of the fish clearly dominant as shown by one-sided attacks and avoiding behavior by the submissive fish. 4. All attacks were accompanied by a smooth acceleration to a high discharge rate which was usually terminated abruptly (Fig. 3). Anti-parallel behavior was accompanied by similar accelerations in both fish. Interdischarge intervals during these high rates changed discretely between those of about 15 msec and those of about 9 msec (Figs. 3–9). Initial attacks before the antiparallel period usually produced no effect or a brief acceleration in the discharges of the attacked animal. Similar attacks when dominance was well established caused a slowing of the discharge rate of the attacked fish. 5. The echo response in which one fish responds to the EOD of another with a discharge of its own at a latency between 11 and 14 msec was seen at all stages of the encounter. This latency corresponded rather exactly to the gap in the interval histogram between the shorter intervals around 9 msec and the longer ones around 15 (Figs. 11, 12). This correspondence led to a degree of avoidance of near synchronous discharges during those attacks which did not cause either slowing or accelerations in the attacked animal (Fig. 11). A degree of synchrony avoidance also occurred during the mutually high discharge rates of antiparallel behavior. This resulted from the phase locking of the two discharge trains which was often present at these times and which was probably due to the echo responses (Fig. 13). 6. Several features of the individual discharge trains and of their interaction were examined during the period of antiparallel activity. This was done in order to see if some critical parameter could be detected which would allow one to predict the winner of the encounter and which might be used as a signal by the fish themselves. No single feature among those we examined was clearly and consistently related to the outcome of the encounter.
Cks1 proteasomal turnover is a predominant mode of regulation in breast cancer cells: role of key tyrosines and lysines.

Abstract Constitutive levels of Cks1 protein are very high in mammary carcinoma tissue and in breast tumor cell lines. However, despite being transcribed at relatively high levels, Cks1 protein is very low in normal mammary tissue. Also, basal Cks1 is barely detectable in primary human mammary epithelial cells (HMECs). Epoximicin, a proteasome inhibitor, induced detectable endogenous Cks1 in HMECs, and upregulated it above the basal level in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Interestingly, transiently transfected Cks1 is remarkably unstable and accumulates only upon proteasomal blockade in multiple cell lines even when driven by the strong CMV promoter-enhancer. We examined the stability of site-directed Cks1 mutants in order to identify the structural determinants of its turnover in cancer cells. Since protein turnover is regulated by phosphorylation, and phosphoproteomic studies reveal phosphorylated tyrosines in Cks1, we replaced its five conserved tyrosines (Y) with phenylalanine (F), both individually and in combinations. We find that like wild-type, all transiently transfected mutant Cks1 vectors, even when driven by the CMV promoter-enhancer, expressed detectable protein only in cells treated with epoximicin. However, turnover of the Y8F, Y12F and Y19F Cks1 mutants was more rapid than that of wild-type, Y7F and Y57F. Since lysines are modified by ubiquitination or acetylation we also examined the consequences of lysine to arginine (K-R) substitutions on Cks1 proteasomal turnover. We found that the individual mutations K4R, K26R, K30R, and K34R slowed Cks1 turnover, while the K79R mutation or the combined mutation K75-76-78-79R increased turnover. Taken together, regulation of Cks1 protein stability is crucially dependent on specific tyrosine and lysine residues which are potential sites for post-translational modifications.
Free-configuration biased sampling for motion planning

In sampling-based motion planning algorithms the initial step at every iteration is to generate a new sample from the obstacle-free portion of the configuration space. This is usually accomplished via rejection sampling, i.e., repeatedly drawing points from the entire space until an obstacle-free point is found. This strategy is rarely questioned because the extra work associated with sampling (and then rejecting) useless points contributes at most a constant factor to the planning algorithm's asymptotic runtime complexity. However, this constant factor can be quite large in practice. We propose an alternative approach that enables sampling from a distribution that provably converges to a uniform distribution over only the obstacle-free space. Our method works by storing empirically observed estimates of obstacle-free space in a point-proximity data structure, and then using this information to generate future samples. Both theoretical and experimental results validate our approach.
Issues in MPEG compression of ultrasound sequences

As part of ongoing research on hardware and software technologies for telemedicine, we have explored compression algorithms for ultrasound. Efficient compression is essential to PACS and telemedicine systems supporting ultrasound video sequences due to limited system resources such as archival storage and bus and network bandwidths. We have studied MPEG compression of ultrasound sequences and the impact of varying encoding parameters such as quantization scale on B and BC mode sequences. Our results indicate that standard interframe MPEG coding is not optimal for all echocardiographic sequences. Adjustment of MPEG quantization and sequencing parameters can provide improvements in compression ratio and/or image quality. Three areas for improvement in MPEG compression of ultrasound sequences have been identified and methods are suggested by which these issues may be addressed.
Amplitude reduction and phase lag in fluidized-bed pressure measurements

Abstract Dual statitic pressure probes (DSPPs) provide detailed information on fluidized-bed hydrodynamics. However, the geometry of the DSPP and the type of transducer across which the probe stems are connected have a profound influence on the measured differential pressure. Analysis shows that it is important to choose a transducer with low dead volumes and even more important to ascertain that the dead volumes associated with each transducer tapping are equal. Partial blockage of one of the tubes will also precipitate erroneous data collection. Experimental results support the analysis.
Resolution of structural isomers of sialylated oligosaccharides by capillary electrophoresis.

Abstract The resolution of structural isomers in mixtures of oligosaccharides is often challenging. Capillary electrophoresis was employed to separate three sets of structural isomers of sialylated oligosaccharides found in human milk and bovine colostrum. Different running buffers were necessary to achieve optimal baseline resolution. To resolve 3′- and 6′-sialyllactoses, 0.2 M aqueous sodium phosphate containing 40% methanol as an organic modifier was used as a running buffer. To resolve 3′- and 6′-sialyllactosamines, 0.4 M aqueous sodium phosphate without organic modifier was used. Baseline resolution of sialyllacto-N-tetraose-a and -b and sialyllacto-N-neotetraose-c was achieved with a 0.4 M Tris–HCl buffer containing 250 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate and 10% methanol as the organic modifier. Thus, each of these sets of structural isomers of sialylated oligosaccharides required a unique running buffer with respect to buffer type, concentration, pH, presence of organic modifiers, and surfactants. Similar electrophoresis conditions may be useful for resolving and analyzing other structural isomers of acidic oligosaccharides by capillary electrophoresis.
Uveitis: Advances in understanding of pathogenesis and treatment

Uveitis is a leading cause of blindness affecting individuals of all ages, genders, and races. Uveitis may be due to autoimmune, infectious, toxic, malignant, or traumatic processes. Some evidence supports an association between conditions previously presumed to be autoimmune and viral infectious agents. For autoimmune uveitis, therapy is nonspecific, typically beginning with corticosteroids. For nonresponsive disease or for corticosteroid sparing, recent reports on mycophenolate mofetil, infliximab, and interferon therapy show success for various forms of uveitis. Treatment of the complications of uveitis, especially cystoid macular edema, is difficult. Vitamin E appears to offer little benefit, whereas octreotide may be effective. Recent collaborative efforts at standardization in the field should enhance studies on these conditions.
Some Reflections On A Few Of The Pitfalls In The World Of Foundation Grant Making

This paper offers some reflections on the grant-making process from a former foundation executive. Some of the opportunities, challenges, and pitfalls inherent in the foundation world are described, and one approach to grant making, the “call for proposals,” is examined as an example of the need for greater attention to and investment in the science of grant making itself, to maximize the potential return from philanthropy.
Phenomenology: A New Way of Viewing Organizational Research

Phenomenological studies, as a research method, are noticeably infrequent in the research literature. Organizational researchers are urged to consider phenomenological analysis to study traditional research problems. This paper introduces the reader to phenomenology and demonstrates the relevance of phenomenological analysis to organizational research. It presents an overview of the major features of phenomenology and discusses those components appropriate to designing a phenomenological research model. Phenomenological designs are contrasted with scientific/normatiave paradigms.
Geographic variation in cardiovascular disease risk factors among American Indians and comparisons with the corresponding state populations.

Objectives: (1) To compare the prevalence of self-reported CVD, diabetes, hypertension, fair/poor perceived health status, and current tobacco use from three surveys of American Indians - two in the Southeast (Catawba Diabetes and Health Survey [CDHS] and Lumbee Diabetes and Health Survey [LDHS]) and one in the upper Midwest (Inter-Tribal Heart Project [ITHP]). (2) To compare the prevalence estimates from the CDHS, LDHS, ITHP with those for the corresponding state populations (South Carolina, North Carolina, Minnesota and Wisconsin, respectively) derived from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Methods: Pearson's Chi-square analyses were used to detect statistically significant differences in the age-adjusted prevalence estimates across the study populations. Results: Among these three populations of American Indians, the ITHP participants had the highest prevalence estimates of diabetes (20.1%) and current cigarette smoking (62.8%). The CDHS participants had the highest prevalence est...
C-H bond activation by a rare cationic iridium dinitrogen complex. An important electronic effect in the chemistry of the hydridotris(pyrazolyl)borate ligand

The controlled, efficient functionalization of saturated hydrocarbons remains an elusive goal. These workers and others have focused on developing homogeneous transition metal complexes capable of dehydrogenating alkanes. Two Ir(III) compounds, Cp*(PMe{sub 3})Ir(Me)OTf (Cp = C{sub 5}Me{sub 5}, OTf = OSO{sub 2}Cf{sub 3}) and [Cp*(PMe{sub 3})Ir(Me)(ClCH{sub 2}Cl)][BAr{sub f}], BAr{sub f}=B[3,5-C{sub 6}H{sub 3}(CF{sub 3}){sub 2}]{sub 4}, that are capable of cleaving carbon-hydrogen bonds under extremely mild conditions were reported. The hydrotris(3,5-dimethylpyrazolyl)borate (Tp{sup Me{sub 2}}) ligand occupies substantially increased space in the coordination spheres of metals, but otherwise is thought to function as a close analogue of Cp*. The properties of this ligand have also led to the synthesis, characterization, and reactivity toward C-H bonds of [Tp{sup Me{sub 2}}(PMe{sub 3})Ir(Me)N{sub 2}][BAr{sub f}], the first structurally characterized monomeric iridium dinitrogen complex.
User evaluations on form factors of tangible magic lenses

Magic Lens is a small inset window embedded in a large context display, which provides an alternative view to the region of interest selected from the context view. This metaphor is used for 3D visualization in our Augmented Virtual Environment infrastructure, SCAPE (Stereoscopic Collaboration in Augmented and Projective Environments), which is composed of an immersive room display for a high level of detail, life-size virtual world and a workbench display for simplified god-like view to the world. A tangible Magic Lens is used on the workbench display to allow direct and intuitive selection of continuous levels of detail, bridging the gap between the two extreme levels of detail in SCAPE. This paper presents our first step to the user evaluations of tangible Magic Lens. We conducted two sets of user evaluations, one mainly testing the lens aspect ratio, and another for the lens size. For both of the tests, two types of tasks are conducted: information gathering and relating the detailed information with the context. We found that the aspect ratio of a lens plays more important role in user preference for smaller lenses than for larger ones. Meanwhile, the size of a lens is the most important factor that affects the user performance in the two types of tasks.
A Model for Environmental Education

(1973). A Model for Environmental Education. The Journal of Environmental Education: Vol. 5, Awareness/Attitudes/Action, pp. 38-39.
Ectopic expression of ADP ribosylation factor 1 (SaARF1) from smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora Loisel) confers drought and salt tolerance in transgenic rice and Arabidopsis

Salinity and drought are two very important abiotic stressors that negatively impact the growth and yield of all sensitive crop plants. Genes from halophytes have been shown to be useful to engineer crop plants that can survive under adverse soil and water conditions. The present report establishes, for the first time, the physiological role of a class one ADP ribosylation factor gene (SaARF1) from the halophyte Spartina alterniflora (smooth cordgrass) in imparting salinity and drought stress tolerance when expressed in both monocot (rice) and dicot (Arabidopsis) systems. The Arabidopsis and rice plants overexpressing ARF1 are many-fold more tolerant to salt and drought than wild-type (WT) plants. The transgenics exhibited improved growth and productivity relative to WT through tissue tolerance by maintaining higher relative water content and membrane stability, and higher photosynthetic yield by retaining higher chlorophyll concentration and fluorescence under stress conditions compared to WT. These findings indicated that genes from halophyte resources can be useful to engineer and improve salt and drought stress tolerance in both monocot and dicot plants.
Prepyriform electrical activity after loss of peripheral or central input, or both ☆

Abstract The prepyriform cortex receives its primary input via the lateral olfactory tract on its surface and additional input from the central nervous system on its basal or ventricular side. This anatomical arrangement makes possible the surgical separation of the cortex from its peripheral input (de-afferentation), its central input (undercutting), or both (isolation). Undercutting the prepyriform cortex left neural input from the olfactory bulb and possible humoral influences intact and did not seriously affect the EEG activity in this cortex in the waking state. The sleep records were radically altered by this operation, in that high-amplitude low-frequency waves failed to appear on disappearance of the normal 40 cps bursts. A low-amplitude, 14–20 cps, component remained after de-afferentation and/or total neuronal isolation of the cortex by bulb removal. The latter was probably volume-conducted from adjacent neocortex or was possibly generated “spontaneously” by the cortex in isolation. The results imply that the EEG activity of sleep occurs in this cortex as the result of a central input to the cortex and not secondary to the withdrawal of an input previously maintaining the waking state. The preparation might be useful for cytochemical and other studies of prolonged sleep deprivation.
Associations of oral health items of the Vanderbilt Head and Neck Symptom Survey with a dental health assessment.

Summary Objectives The Vanderbilt Head and Neck Symptom Survey (VHNSS) version 2.0 oral symptom subscale addresses underreported oral health issues. We report the associations of xerostomia, dental health, dentures and trismus questions with oral examination findings. Materials and methods Between May 2011 and April 2012, fifty head and neck cancer (HNC) patients treated with chemoradiotherapy completed the 50-item VHNSS survey, an oral health assessment by a dentist, salivary flow, and inter-incisal opening (IIO) measurements. Results Patient reported “problems with dry mouth” correlated with unstimulated salivary flow (−0.43, p = 0.002). “Cracked teeth” (0.55, p = 4 on any dental question identified 83% of patients with urgent or emergent needs. The ROC curve separated routine from urgent/emergent dental issues (0.89, p Conclusions Clinically significant oral health issues pertaining to xerostomia, dental health and trismus may be identified using the oral health subscale of the VHNSS version 2.0. MASCC guidelines should be followed by patients with xerostomia. The observation that a score of >4 is highly predictive of dental issues is important and needs further validation. If confirmed, this would be a useful screening tool for identifying and referring HNC patients for dental care. Patients with trismus should receive physical therapy.
Simple Relational Contracts to Motivate Capacity Investment: Price Only vs. Price and Quantity

Because of long lead times associated with product development and building capacity, a supplier must initiate investment in capacity when the product development effort is ongoing. Because the product is ill defined at this point in time, the buyer is unable to commit to the future terms of trade through a court-enforceable contract. Instead, to provide incentives for capacity investment, the buyer informally promises future terms of trade. The prospect of future interaction creates an incentive for the buyer to pay the supplier as promised. We characterize optimal price-only and price-and-quantity promises and compare their performance. If the production cost is low and either the capacity cost is low or the discount factor is high, then the buyer should promise to purchase a specific quantity rather than simply promise to pay a per unit price; otherwise, the buyer should simply promise to pay a specified unit price.
p14ARF genetic polymorphisms and susceptibility to second primary malignancy in patients with index squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck

BACKGROUND: p14ARF, an alternate reading frame (ARF) product of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2A locus, plays a critical role in crosstalk between the tumor protein 53 (p53) and retinoblastoma (Rb) pathways and in cellular anticancer mechanisms. Therefore, the authors of this report investigated the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the p14ARF gene and the risk of developing a second primary malignancy (SPM) after an index squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). METHODS: The log-rank test and Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the association of 2 p14ARF SNPs (reference SNP [rs]3731217 and rs3088440) with SPM-free survival and with the risk of developing an SPM among 1287 patients who had SCCHN. RESULTS: Patients with either p14ARF variant genotypes of the 2 polymorphisms had a significantly reduced SPM-free survival compared with patients with no variant genotypes (log-rank test; P = .006). Compared with the p14ARF thymine-thymine (TT) and guanine-guanine (GG) genotypes, the variant genotypes of p14ARF TG/GG and guanine-adenine (GA)/AA were associated with a significantly moderately increased risk of developing an SPM (p14ARF rs3731217: adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.48; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.00-2.19; p14ARF rs3088440: aHR, 1.61; 95% CI, 1.07-2.43). Moreover, after combining the variant genotypes of the 2 SNPs, patients who had variant genotypes were at significantly greater risk of developing an SPM compared with patients who had no variant genotypes (aHR, 3.07; 95% CI, 1.54-6.12), and the risk was particularly pronounced in several subgroups. CONCLUSIONS: The current results suggested that there is a modestly increased risk of developing an SPM after an index SCCHN with each p14ARF polymorphism, and there is an even greater risk of developing an SPM for patients with combined variant genotypes of the 2 SNPs. Therefore, p14ARF polymorphisms may be susceptible markers of the risk of developing an SPM in patients with SCCHN. Cancer 2011. © 2010 American Cancer Society.
Biogeochemical characterization of a lithified paleosol: Implications for the interpretation of ancient Critical Zones

Abstract Modern soils are characterized by an array of physical, chemical, mineralogical, and biological laboratory analyses of samples taken from horizons of pedogenic profiles. In contrast, fossil soils (paleosols) are typically characterized from assays of whole-rock molecular oxides because of sample lithification where element sources are unconstrained. Here we for the first time subject a lithified paleosol to an array of modern soil analytical techniques and new pedotransfer functions, providing a glimpse into the colloidal world of an ancient Critical Zone as an analog to research conducted on a network of modern Critical Zones. This methodology provides a framework for decoding a previously unknown archive of terrestrial biogeochemical information at multiple temporal and spatial scales. Application to a paleosol within an early Paleocene Critical Zone reveals that many biogeochemical properties have been preserved since burial that are similar to modern clay-rich, Vertisols. The measured and calculated physical properties of this paleosol include clay content and mineralogy, bulk density and water retention, available water capacity, and coefficient of linear extensibility (shrink–swell potential). The chemical properties include cation exchange capacity, exchangeable cations, base saturation, and exchangeable sodium percentage. The solution properties electrical conductivity and pH seem reasonable, but are interpreted with less confidence because of their greater vulnerability to alteration from fluid flow. New pedotransfer functions to reconstruct pre-burial organic carbon and nitrogen contents provide invaluable information of organically-derived nutrient content. The sum of the measured properties of the early Paleocene paleosol in context of reconstructed regional environmental conditions indicate the presence of a mid-successional hardwood forest in a humid climate with high water holding capacity, high nutrient retention, and rapid flux of elements through biogeochemical cycling.
Secondary forest succession in New Hampshire, USA

Abstract Secondary forest succession in the northern hardwood and spruce-hemlock forests of central New Hampshire, USA, was examined by regressing percentage composition of the major species over stand age, using both temporary and remeasured plots in essentially uncut stands ranging in age from 3 to over 190 years. Plots were classified by site: fine till, sandy till, and softwood sites. Successional change varied by site, and five ecological species roles were detected: dominating climax, stable climax, minor climax, persistent successional, and temporary successional species. After heavy cutting, stands on fine till sites move through an abundance of successional species such as pin cherry (Prunus pensylvanica L.), aspen (Populus spp), paper birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh.), and yellow birch (B. alleghaniensis Britton) toward a predominence of sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) and American beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.). A similar trend occurs on sandy till, although red maple (A. rubrum L.) — a low nutrient-demanding species — is a more common successional species and American beech is much more aggressive than sugar maple. On softwood sites (shallow, dry, wet, or poorly aerated soils), the successional species, including high proportions of red maple, are succeeded by a predominance of eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr.) and, especially at higher elevations, red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.). On these softwood sites, a persistent representation of successional species is maintained by frequent stand disturbances. On fine and sandy till, exogenous disturbance has a minimal influence on the composition of the climax forest. Minimum time-to-climax was estimated at 170 years and 250 years on fine till and softwood sites, respectively, using the species composition of old-growth forests in the region as standards.
Sparse Aperture Holographic Synthesis with Multiple Speckle Realizations

Sparse aperture holographic synthesis enables large scale high resolution imaging with sources in variable states of coherence. Using incoherent sources increases bandpass coverage and reduces speckle effects.
An Fgf/ Gremlin inhibitory feedback loop triggers termination of limb bud outgrowth

During organ formation and regeneration a proper balance between promoting and restricting growth is critical to achieve stereotypical size. Limb bud outgrowth is driven by signals in a positive feedback loop involving fibroblast growth factor (Fgf) genes, sonic hedgehog (Shh) and Gremlin1 (Grem1). Precise termination of these signals is essential to restrict limb bud size. The current model predicts a sequence of signal termination consistent with that in chick limb buds. Our finding that the sequence in mouse limb buds is different led us to explore alternative mechanisms. Here we show, by analysing compound mouse mutants defective in genes comprising the positive loop, genetic evidence that FGF signalling can repress Grem1 expression, revealing a novel Fgf/Grem1 inhibitory loop. This repression occurs both in mouse and chick limb buds, and is dependent on high FGF activity. These data support a mechanism where the positive Fgf/Shh loop drives outgrowth and an increase in FGF signalling, which triggers the Fgf/Grem1 inhibitory loop. The inhibitory loop then operates to terminate outgrowth signals in the order observed in either mouse or chick limb buds. Our study unveils the concept of a self-promoting and self-terminating circuit that may be used to attain proper tissue size in a broad spectrum of developmental and regenerative settings.