cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Utah Early Neuropathy Scale: a sensitive clinical scale for early sensory predominant neuropathy

Early neuropathy is often sensory predominant and prominently involves small-diameter nerve fibers. Established neuropathy examination scales such as the Michigan Diabetic Neuropathy Scale (MDNS) and the Neuropathy Impairment Score-Lower Leg (NIS-LL) focus primarily on large-fiber sensory and motor function. Here, we validate the Utah Early Neuropathy Scale (UENS), a physical examination scale specific to early sensory predominant polyneuropathy. Compared with other scales, the UENS emphasizes severity and spatial distribution of pin (sharp) sensation loss in the foot and leg and focuses less on motor weakness. UENS, MDNS, and NIS-LL were compared in 215 diabetic or prediabetic subjects, with (129) or without neuropathy (86), and repeated in 114 neuropathy subjects after 1 year of follow-up. Neuropathy severity was also evaluated with nerve conduction studies, quantitative sensory testing, quantitative sudomotor axonal reflex testing, and intraepidermal nerve fiber density determination. The UENS had a high degree of interrater reliability (interclass correlation of 94%). UENS correlated significantly to MDNS and NIS-LL (p < 0.01), and more significantly than MDNS or NIS-LL to confirmatory tests. In this cohort, UENS had a superior profile to receiver operating characteristic analysis across a range of scores, with a sensitivity (92%) higher than MDNS (67%) or NIS-LL (81%), without sacrificing specificity. UENS more closely correlated with change in ancillary and small-fiber neuropathy measures over 1 year follow-up than did MDNS or NIS-LL. UENS is a sensitive and reproducible clinical measure of sensory and small-fiber nerve injury and may be useful in trials of early neuropathy.
Comprehensive Analysis of Genes Expressed by Rare Microchimeric Fetal Cells in the Maternal Mouse Lung

During pregnancy, cells from each fetus travel into the maternal circulation and organs, resulting in the development of microchimerism. Identification of the cell types in this microchimeric population would permit better understanding of possible mechanisms by which they affect maternal health. However, comprehensive analysis of fetal cells has been hampered by their rarity. In this study, we sought to overcome this obstacle by combining flow cytometry with multidimensional gene expression microarray analysis of fetal cells isolated from the murine maternal lung during late pregnancy. Fetal cells were collected from the lungs of pregnant female mice. cDNA was amplified and hybridized to gene expression microarrays. The resulting fetal cell core transcriptome was interrogated using multiple methods including Ingenuity Pathway Analysis, the BioGPS gene expression database, principal component analysis, the Eurexpress gene expression atlas, and primary literature. Here we report that small numbers of fetal cells can be flow sorted from the maternal lung, facilitating discovery-driven gene expression analysis. We additionally show that gene expression data can provide functional information about fetal cells. Our results suggest that fetal cells in the murine maternal lung are a mixed population, consisting of trophoblasts, mesenchymal stem cells, and cells of the immune system. Detection of trophoblasts and immune cells in the maternal lung may facilitate future mechanistic studies related to the development of immune tolerance and pregnancy-related complications, such as pre-eclampsia. Furthermore, the presence and persistence of mesenchymal stem cells in maternal organs may have implications for long-term postpartum maternal health.
Rationale for the use of genistein‐containing soy matrices in chemoprevention trials for breast and prostate cancer

Pharmacologists have realized that tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) have potential as anti-cancer agents, both in prevention and therapy protocols. Nonetheless, concern about the risk of toxicity caused by synthetic TKIs restricted their development as chemoprevention agents. However, a naturally occurring TKI (the isoflavone genistein) in soy was discovered in 1987. The concentration of genistein in most soy food materials ranges from 1-2 mg/g. Oriental populations, who have low rates of breast and prostate cancer, consume 20-80 mg of genistein/day, almost entirely derived from soy, whereas the dietary intake of genistein in the US is only 1-3 mg/day. Chronic use of genistein as a chemopreventive agent has an advantage over synthetic TKIs because it is naturally found in soy foods. It could be delivered either in a purified state as a pill (to high-risk, motivated patient groups), or in the form of soy foods or soy-containing foods. Delivery of genistein in soy foods is more economically viable ($1.50 for a daily dose of 50 mg) than purified material ($5/day) and would require no prior approval by the FDA. Accordingly, investigators at several different sites have begun or are planning chemoprevention trials using a soy beverage product based on SUPRO, an isolated soy protein manufactured by Protein Technologies International of St. Louis, MO. These investigators are examining the effect of the soy beverage on surrogate intermediate endpoint biomarkers (SIEBs) in patients at risk for breast and colon cancer, defining potential SIEBs in patients at risk for prostate cancer, and determining whether the soy beverage reduces the incidence of cancer recurrence.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Safety knowledge, safety behaviors, depression, and injuries in Colorado farm residents.

BACKGROUND: Changing safety behavior has been the target of injury prevention in the farming community for years but significant reductions in the number of farming injuries have not always followed. This study describes the relationships between safety knowledge, safety behavior, depression, and injuries using 3 years of self-reported data from a cohort of farm residents in Colorado. METHODS: Farm operators and their spouses (n = 652) were recruited in 1993 from a farm truck registration list using stratified probability sampling. Respondents answered ten safety knowledge and ten safety behavior questions. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale was used to evaluate depression. The most severe farm work-related injury over a 3-year period was the outcome variable. Factor analysis was used to produce a single measure of safety knowledge for logistic regression models to evaluate the relationships between injuries, safety knowledge, and behaviors. RESULTS: Safety knowledge was significantly associated with wearing personal protective equipment. None of the safety behaviors were significantly associated with injuries. In the presence of depression, low safety knowledge increased the probability of injury (OR 3.87, 95% CI 1.00-15.0) in models adjusted for age, sex, hours worked per week, and financial problems. Compared to those not depressed, those depressed with a low safety score showed significantly greater risk of injury than those depressed with a high score in adjusted models (OR 3.09, CI 1.31-7.29 vs. OR 0.86, CI 0.31-2.37). CONCLUSIONS: Future work on injuries in the farming community should include measures of mood disorders and interactions with safety perceptions and knowledge. Language: en
An examination of transtheoretical predictors of condom use in late-adolescent heterosexual men

The purpose of the current study was to examine Transtheoretical Model (TTM) predictors of condom use in heterosexual men and to test the applicability of additional predictors of condom use (condom attitudes and interpersonal processes). Participants were 168 sexually active undergraduate men. Multiple regression analyses indicated that pros, condom self-efficacy, condom attitudes, and processes of change were significant predictors of condom use. Several variables added unique variance above and beyond others, and a final model accounted for 55% of the variance in condom use. Results underscore the importance of TTM variables and interpersonal processes such as partner support in heterosexual men. Suggestions for how these variables might be incorporated into interventions aimed at increasing condom use are discussed.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis Hip1 dampens macrophage proinflammatory responses by limiting toll-like receptor 2 activation

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a highly successful human pathogen that evades host innate immunity by interfering with macrophage functions. In addition to avoiding macrophage microbicidal activities, M. tuberculosis triggers secretion of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines in macrophages. The levels of proinflammatory cytokines induced by clinical M. tuberculosis isolates are thought to play an important role in determining tuberculosis disease progression and severity, but the mechanisms by which M. tuberculosis modulates the magnitude of inflammatory responses remain unclear. Here we show that M. tuberculosis restricts robust macrophage activation and dampens proinflammatory responses through the cell envelope-associated serine hydrolase Hip1 (hydrolase important for pathogenesis 1). By transcriptionally profiling macrophages infected with either wild-type or hip1 mutant bacteria, we found that the hip1 mutant induced earlier and significantly higher levels of several proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines. We show that increased activation of Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2)- and MyD88-dependent signaling pathways mediates the enhanced cytokine secretion induced by the hip1 mutant. Thus, Hip1 restricts the onset and magnitude of proinflammatory cytokines by limiting TLR2-dependent activation. We also show that Hip1 dampens TLR2-independent activation of the inflammasome and limits secretion of interleukin-18 (IL-18). Dampening of TLR2 signaling does not require viable M. tuberculosis or phagocytosis but does require Hip1 catalytic activity. We propose that M. tuberculosis restricts proinflammatory responses by masking cell surface interactions between TLR2 agonists on M. tuberculosis and TLR2 on macrophages. This strategy may allow M. tuberculosis to evade early detection by host immunity, delay the onset of adaptive immune responses, and accelerate disease progression.
Radical Anion Arylation: Diethyl Phenylphosphonate

Radical anion arylation: diethyl phenylphosphonate product: diethyl phenylphosphonate Keywords: photochemical reactions; replacement reactions, miscellaneous; iodobenzene; photochemical apparatus
Etchback Method for SEM Investigation of Metal Step Coverage of IC Devices

Coverage by interconnect metal over various heights of the geometrical structure of IC's can be critical to device performance. Thin metal at steps can become a site for potential failure by a variety of mechanisms.1 SEM examination of devices may routinely be used to verify good step coverage,2 provided faithful samples can be prepared. A chemical etch formulation of phosphoric and acetic acids has been developed to overcome the problems of cross-sectioning. Controlled, reproducible etch rates for aluminum and silicon aluminum interconnect material have been obtained. Exposing a device to the etch for an exact length of time, with subsequent SEM analysis at critical step coverage points, easily reveals if sufficient metal was originally present at the location as required by process specification, e.g. to meet current density requirements. A further feature of the etchback method is its applicability to localized voided regions in metal. Voids may occur at critical step coverage sites, making true metal thickness uncertain and not readily measurable by SEM. A series of careful etching and cross-sectioning experiments, followed by SEM analysis, was carried out to determine etching action within voids. Downward etch rate in the bottom of voids was found to be equal to downward etch rate at the open planar surface of smooth metal. Lateral etch rate within voids was 75% of the downward etch rate. Reproducible performance of the etchback method enables convenient and quick sample preparation for SEM analysis of metal step coverages.
Cellular Transcription Factors Enhance Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 oriS-Dependent DNA Replication

The herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) origin of DNA replication, oriS, contains three binding sites for the viral origin binding protein (OBP) flanked by transcriptional regulatory elements of the immediate-early genes encoding ICP4 and ICP22/47. To assess the role of flanking sequences in oriS function, plasmids containing oriS and either wild-type or mutant flanking sequences were tested in transient DNA replication assays. Although the ICP4 and ICP22/47 regulatory regions were shown to enhance oriS function, most individual elements in these regions, including the VP16-responsive TAATGARAT elements, were found to be dispensable for oriS function. In contrast, two oriS core-adjacent regulatory (Oscar) elements, OscarL and OscarR, at the base of the oriS palindrome were shown to enhance oriS function significantly and additively. Specifically, mutational disruption of either element reduced oriS-dependent DNA replication by 60 to 70%, and disruption of both elements reduced replication by 90%. The properties of protein-DNA complexes formed in gel mobility shift assays using uninfected and HSV-1-infected Vero cell nuclear extracts demonstrated that both OscarL and OscarR are binding sites for cellular proteins. Whereas OscarR does not correspond to the consensus binding site of any known transcription factor, OscarL contains a consensus binding site for the transcription factor Sp1. Gel mobility shift and supershift experiments using antibodies directed against members of the Sp1 family of transcription factors demonstrated the presence of Sp1 and Sp3, but not Sp2 or Sp4, in the protein-DNA complexes formed at OscarL. The abilities of OscarL and OscarR to bind their respective cellular proteins correlated directly with the efficiency of oriS-dependent DNA replication. Cooperative interactions between the Oscar-binding factors and proteins binding to adjacent OBP binding sites were not observed. Notably, Oscar element mutations that impaired oriS-dependent DNA replication had no detectable effect on either basal or induced levels of transcription from the ICP4 and ICP22/47 promoters, as determined by RNase protection assays. The Oscar elements thus appear to provide binding sites for cellular proteins that facilitate oriS-dependent DNA replication but have no effect on transcription of oriS-flanking genes.
The Bourgeois Virtues: Ethics for an Age of Commerce

The Bourgeois Virtues: Ethics for an Age of Commerce . By Deirdre N. McCloskey. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2006, 616 pp., ISBN 0-226-556-638, $32.50 hardcover. Deirdre McCloskey ...
Stresses induced in a purely elastic earth model under various tectonic loads.

Elastic model for evaluating stresses in Earth induced by density variations or topographic irregularities
Preconception care in managed care: the translating research into action for diabetes study.

Objectives: This study was undertaken to examine the rates of preconception counseling in managed care for women with diabetes and associated patient and physician characteristics. Study design: Participants included women aged 18 to 45 years enrolled in a study of diabetes care in managed care. Women were asked if they recalled discussions regarding glucose control before conception (n = 236) and use of family planning until glucose control was achieved (n = 227). Hierarchical logistic regression models accounted for patient and physician characteristics. Results: Fifty-two percent of women recalled being counseled about glucose control and 37% recalled family planning advice. In adjusted models, patient age (years) (odds ratio [OR] 0.91, 95% CI 0.86-0.96) and body mass index (BMI) (kg/m 2 ) (OR 0.96, 95% CI 0.93-0.99) remained significant predictors of glucose control counseling. Similarly, patient age (years) (OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.89-0.99) and BMI (kg/m 2 ) (0.96, 95% CI 0.93-0.99) remained significant predictors of family planning counseling. Conclusions: Preconception counseling rates for diabetic women are low and associated with
A Comparison of the Accuracy of an Electromagnetic and a Hybrid Ultrasound-Inertia Position Tracking System

Results of a comparison study of the tracking accuracy of two commercially available wide-range position tracking systems suitable for CAVEs are presented. An experiment was conducted with Flock of Birds and IS-900 tracking systems installed in the same CAVE environment to compare their accuracy. Another experiment was performed with a newly deployed IS-900 to investigate the impact of different ultrasound emitter configurations on the accuracy of the location tracking. The results show that the IS-900 has a much better accuracy over a larger range of operation than does the Flock of Birds; however, it is sensitive to the optimality of the ultrasound emitters configuration.
Hypersonic Boundary Layer Transition for the X-33 Phase II Vehicle

A status review of the experimental and computational work performed to support the X-33 program in the area of hypersonic boundary-layer transition is presented. Global transition fronts are visualized using thermographic phospor measurements. Results are used to derive transition correlations for "smooth body" and discrete roughness models and a computational tool is developed to predict transition onset for X-33 using these correlations. The X-33 thermal protection system appears to be conservatively designed based on these models. Additional study is needed to address concerns related to surface waviness before final conclusions can be made. A discussion of future test plans is included.
Me as a Boy: On Raising an Asian American and Autistic Son

The experience of raising an autistic son leads an Asian American woman to reflect on her becoming anorexic as an adolescent.
Hypothesis Testing of Population Percentiles via the Wald Test with Bootstrap Variance Estimates

Testing the equality of percentiles (quantiles) between populations is an effective method for robust, nonparametric comparison, especially when the distributions are asymmetric or irregularly shaped. Unlike global nonparametric tests for homogeneity such as the Kolmogorv-Smirnov test, testing the equality of a set of percentiles (i.e., a percentile profile) yields an estimate of the location and extent of the differences between the populations along the entire domain. The Wald test using bootstrap estimates of variance of the order statistics provides a unified method for hypothesis testing of functions of the population percentiles. Simulation studies are conducted to show performance of the method under various scenarios and to give suggestions on its use. Several examples are given to illustrate some useful applications to real data.
“The Future Golden Day of the Race”: Millennialism and Black Americans in the Nadir, 1877–1901 *

At the turn of the century, Edward W. Blyden, resident of Liberia and former Presbyterian missionary from America, read to some African natives the following description from the New York Independent of the burning of a black man in Georgia: Sam Hose was burned on Sunday afternoon in the presence of thousands of people. Before the fire had been kindled the mob amused themselves by cutting off the ears, fingers, toes, etc. to carry away as mementos. After the burning, and before the body was cool, it was cut to pieces, the heart and liver being especially cut up and sold. Small pieces of bone brought 25 cents, and “a bit of liver, crisply cooked, sold for 10 cents.” So eager were the crowd to obtain souvenirs that a rush for the stake was made, and those near the body were forced against and had to fight for their escape.
A Time Adaptive Grid on the QUAL2E Water Quality Model.

Water quality models are used extensively for maintaining and monitoring the waste assimilative capacity of water bodies when these bodies are exposed to conta…
Representations of the Warrior-bishop in Eleventh-century Lotharingia

Given the legal proscriptions against clerics bearing arms, the biographers of bishops who engaged in warfare faced a difficult task when they attempted to justify their heroes' military activities. In eleventh-century Lotharingia, they did so by styling bishops as defenders of an oppressed populace. Two such biographies from Liege reach the opposite assessment of the warrior-bishop. Their contrasting tone reveals changes in attitudes about the relationship between the church and warfare over the course of the eleventh century, when issues of episcopal power and righteous violence dominated the discourse, not only at Liege but far beyond it.
HIV risk factors among 188 young students with HIV infection or AIDS in Yunnan province

Objective To investigate HIV risk factors among young students with HIV infection or AIDS in Yunnan province so as to provide evidence for the prevention and treatment of HIV infection or AIDS.Methods The data of young students with HIV infection or AIDS not less than 15 years of age reported in Yunnan province during 1989-2010 were analyzed.Results Up to the end of 2010,188 young students with HIV infection or AIDS were reported in Yunnan province and the number was increasing in recent years.The cases were reported in 15 prefectures and cities with significant regional differences.The highly educated cases above 20 years of age accounted for a large proportion.Before 2004,the most important risk factor for HIV infection was needle-sharing among injecting drug users.Since 2005,sexually transmitted infection had been the major risk factor for HIV infection and male homosexual transmission accounted for 59% in 2010.Conclusions The number of young students with HIV infection or AIDS reported in Yunnan province has been increasing rapidly in recent years.The major risk factor for HIV transmission among young students is sexual behaviors,especially male homosexual behaviors,suggesting that sexual transmission among young students,especially among junior college students and undergraduate students,should be paid due attention and corresponding health education and intervention efforts should be strengthened among such population.
HIV-1 Gag, Envelope, and extracellular determinants cooperate to regulate the stability and turnover of virological synapses

ABSTRACT Retroviruses spread more efficiently when infected and uninfected cells form tight, physical interfaces known as virological synapses (VSs). VS formation is initiated by adhesive interactions between viral Envelope (Env) glycoproteins on the infected cell and CD4 receptor molecules on the uninfected cell. How high-avidity Env-CD4 linkages are resolved over time is unknown. We describe here a tractable two-color, long-term (>24 h) live cell imaging strategy to study VS turnover in the context of a large cell population, quantitatively. We show that Env9s conserved cytoplasmic tail (CT) can potently signal the recruitment of Gag capsid proteins to the VS, a process also dependent on residues within Gag9s N-terminal matrix (MA) domain. Additionally, we demonstrate that Env9s CT and Gag9s MA domain both regulate the duration of interactions between viral donor and target cells, as well as the stability of this interaction over time (i.e., its capacity to resolve or form a syncytium). Finally, we report the unexpected finding that modulating extracellular fluid viscosity markedly impacts target T cell trafficking and thus affects the duration, stability, and turnover of virus-induced cell-cell contacts. Combined, these results suggest a stepwise model for viral cell-to-cell transmission wherein (i) Env-receptor interactions anchor target cells to infected cells, (ii) Env signals Gag9s recruitment to the cell-cell contact dependent on an intact Env CT and Gag MA, and (iii) Env CT and Gag MA, in conjunction with extracellular forces, combine to regulate VS stability and infectious outcomes. IMPORTANCE HIV-1 spreads efficiently at physical, cell-cell interfaces known as virological synapses (VSs). The VS provides for spatiotemporal coupling of virus assembly and entry into new host cells and may transmit signals relevant to pathogenesis. Disrupting this mode of transmission may be critical to the goal of abolishing viral persistence in infected individuals. We describe here a long-term live cell imaging strategy for studying virus-induced effects on cell behavior in the context of a large cell population. We demonstrate cooperative roles for viral Gag capsid proteins and Envelope glycoproteins in regulating VS formation and turnover. We also show that modulating fluid viscosity markedly affects T cell trafficking and VS stability. Thus, extracellular factors also play an important role in modulating the nature of infectious cell-cell interactions. In sum, our study provides new tools and insights relevant to exposing vulnerabilities in how HIV-1 and other viruses spread infection among cells, tissues, and people.
THE MICROSCOPE : ITS EFFECT ON YOUR PRACTICE

A number of different areas in which the microscope can help you and your practice have been covered. The bottom-line success depends on you and your commitment. If you make an honest, sincere effort, you will find yourself rejuvenated, and your practice will become more successful and endodontics more enjoyable.
Molecular mimicry in the pathogenesis of rheumatic diseases.

SUMMARY Evidence has been presented to support the conclusion that epitope-specific cross-reactive autoimmunity generated in response to a microorganism can result in an inflammatory sequela. The role of this mechanism in the pathogenesis of the experimental disease, adjuvant arthritis, appears clear. In the case of human rheumatic conditions, such as rheumatic fever and the HLA-B27-associated reactive arthritides, the role is not yet established, but clinical evidence suggests that the hypothesis is an attractive one.
Poetics of Melancholia and Misogyny in August Strindberg and The Father

Though Strindberg seemed to suffer with his misogyny for the better part of his life, he found outlets for it in his plays, most notably in Miss Julie. Katharine Rogers states there are a variety of cultural reasons for the phenomenon: (1) rejection of or guilt about sex; (2) a reaction against the idealization with which men have glorified women; (3) patriarchal feeling, the wish to keep women subject to men (Moi, 26). Of these notions about misogyny, point two is more in line with the notion of melancholia and misogyny as cooperative components in a psychological matrix. It is this notion that this chapter addresses.
Musculoskeletal Cancer Surgery: Treatment of Sarcomas and Allied Diseases

Martin Malawer and Paul H. Sugarbaker, editors. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers; 2001. 632 pages. $219.00. This thirty-six-chapter book is an illustrative text that describes specific techniques for the resection and reconstruction of primary bone and soft-tissue sarcomas. The author-editors are leading surgeons in the field of limb-salvage surgery: Dr. Malawer is an experienced orthopaedic oncologist and has developed many of the techniques described in this book, and Dr. Sugarbaker is a surgical oncologist who has contributed to the chapters that describe amputation, resection of soft-tissue sarcoma, and abdominoinguinal approaches for the resection of pelvic tumors. Drs. Malawer and Sugarbaker (either alone or with coauthors) contributed thirty-one of the thirty-six chapters in this book. Although the text is fairly comprehensive, readers should keep in mind that the vast majority of the information was contributed by the editors themselves or by those they have trained and clearly reflects their opinions and preferred techniques. The bibliographies that follow the individual chapters are concise but often are limited …
Trichostatin A Inhibits Retinal Pigmented Epithelium Activation in an In Vitro Model of Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy.

Abstract Purpose: Proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) is a blinding disorder that develops after a retinal tear or detachment. Activation of the retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) is implicated in PVR; however, the mechanisms leading to enhanced RPE proliferation, migration, and contraction remain largely unknown. This study utilized an in vitro model of PVR to investigate the role of acetylation in RPE activation and its contribution to the progression of this disease. Methods: ARPE-19 cells, primary cultures of porcine RPE, and induced pluripotent stem cell-derived RPE (iPS-RPE) were utilized for cellular and molecular analyses. Cells treated with transforming growth factor beta 2 (TGFβ2; 10 ng/mL) alone or in the presence of the broad-spectrum histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, trichostatin A (TSA; 0.1 μM), were assessed for contraction and migration through collagen contraction and scratch assays, respectively. Western blotting and immunofluorescence analysis were performed to assess α-smooth mus...
Parental perceptions of teen driving: restrictions, worry and influence

Abstract Introduction Parents play a critical role in preventing crashes among teens. Research of parental perceptions and concerns regarding teen driving safety is limited. We examined results from the 2013 Summer ConsumerStyles survey that queried parents about restrictions placed on their teen drivers, their perceived level of “worry” about their teen driver’s safety, and influence of parental restrictions regarding their teen’s driving. Methods We produced frequency distributions for the number of restrictions imposed, parental “worry,” and influence of rules regarding their teen’s driving, reported by teen’s driving license status (learning to drive or obtained a driver’s license). Response categories were dichotomized because of small cell sizes, and we ran separate log-linear regression models to explore whether imposing all four restrictions on teen drivers was associated with either worry intensity (“a lot” versus “somewhat, not very much or not at all”) or perceived influence of parental rules (“a lot” versus “somewhat, not very much or not at all”). Results Among the 456 parent respondents, 80% reported having restrictions for their teen driver regarding use of safety belts, drinking and driving, cell phones, and text messaging while driving. However, among the 188 parents of licensed teens, only 9% reported having a written parent-teen driving agreement, either currently or in the past. Worrying “a lot” was reported less frequently by parents of newly licensed teens (36%) compared with parents of learning teens (61%). Conclusions and Practical Applications Parents report having rules and restrictions for their teen drivers, but only a small percentage formalize the rules and restrictions in a written parent-teen driving agreement. Parents worry less about their teen driver’s safety during the newly licensed phase, when crash risk is high as compared to the learning phase. Further research is needed into how to effectively support parents in supervising and monitoring their teen driver.
A New Approach to Pipeline Leak Detection Using Electromagnetic Sensing

Many different approaches have been adopted for identifying leaks in pipelines. Leak detection systems, however, generally suffer from a number of difficulties and limitations. For existing and new pipelines, these inevitably force significant trade-offs to be made between detection accuracy, operational range, responsiveness, deployment cost, system reliability, and overall effectiveness. Existing leak detection systems frequently rely on the measurement of secondary effects such as temperature changes, acoustic signatures or flow differences to infer the existence of a leak.This paper presents an alternative approach to leak detection employing electromagnetic measurements of the material in the vicinity of the pipeline that can potentially overcome some of the difficulties encountered with existing approaches. This sensing technique makes direct measurements of the material near the pipeline resulting in reliable detection and minimal risk of false alarms. The technology has been used successfully in other industries to make critical measurements of materials under challenging circumstances. A number of prototype sensors were constructed using this technology and they were tested by an independent research laboratory. The test results show that sensors based on this technique exhibit a strong capability to detect oil, and to distinguish oil from water (a key challenge with in-situ sensors).Copyright © 2016 by ASME
148. Screening and Optimization of Antisense Oligonucleotide for Skipping Human Dystrophin Exon 51 and 53

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) results from dystrophin gene mutations, causing shift of the reading frame and preventing production of a functional protein. Most DMD mutations occur in the parts of the gene that are not critical for its function, therefore restoration of the reading frame by antisense oligonucleotide-mediated exon skipping is a viable approach. The efficacy of antisense therapy has now been proven in animal models and in clinical trials.Therapeutic effect of exon skipping largely depends on the efficiency of individual antisense oligoneotide, which has to be identified by screening. This study aims specifically to search for the most effective morpholino (PMO) oligomer to target the human dystrophin exon 51 and exon 53 for the correction of the relevant DMD mutations. We established the GFP reporter myoblast cell cultures and screened more than 40 PMOs targeting each of exon 51 and exon 53. We also examined the PMOs in normal human myoblast cultures and in humanized DMD (hDMD) mice with local delivery by i.m injection to identify PMOs of maximal skipping potency. Finally we selected 5 oligomers as vivo-PMOs targeting each of the exon 51 and 53 and examined their exon skipping efficiency in the hDMD mice by systemic delivery. We were able to identify PMOs with high exon skipping efficiency in all muscles. The selected PMOs will be further validated in patient-derived fibroblasts and then be applied to clinical trials for DMD treatment.
Catalytic properties and heat stabilities of novel recombinant human N-acetyltransferase 2 allozymes support existence of genetic heterogeneity within the slow acetylator phenotype.

Human N-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2) catalyzes the N-acetylation of numerous aromatic amine drugs such as sulfamethazine (SMZ) and hydrazine drugs such as isoniazid (INH). NAT2 also catalyzes the N-acetylation of aromatic amine carcinogens such as 2-aminofluorene and the O- and N,O-acetylation of aromatic amine and heterocyclic amine metabolites. Genetic polymorphism in NAT2 modifies drug efficacy and toxicity as well as cancer risk. Acetyltransferase catalytic activities and heat stability associated with six novel NAT2 haplotypes (NAT2*6C, NAT2*14C, NAT2*14D, NAT2*14E, NAT2*17, and NAT2*18) were compared with that of the reference NAT2*4 haplotype following recombinant expression in Escherichia coli. N-acetyltransferase activities towards SMZ and INH were significantly (p < 0.0001) lower when catalyzed by the novel recombinant human NAT2 allozymes compared to NAT2 4. SMZ and INH N-acetyltransferase activities catalyzed by NAT2 14C and NAT2 14D were significantly lower (p < 0.001) than catalyzed by NAT2 6C and NAT2 14E. N-Acetylation catalyzed by recombinant human NAT2 17 was over several hundred-fold lower than by recombinant NAT2 4 precluding measurement of its kinetic or heat inactivation constants. Similar results were observed for the O-acetylation of N-hydroxy-2-aminofluorene and N-hydroxy-2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo [4,5-b] pyridine and the intramolecular N,O-acetylation of N-hydroxy-N-acetyl-2-aminofluorene. The apparent V max of the novel recombinant NAT2 allozymes NAT2 6C, NAT2 14C, NAT2 14D, and NAT2 14E towards AF, 4-aminobiphenyl (ABP), and 3,2′-dimethyl-4-aminobiphenyl (DMABP) were each significantly (p < 0.001) lower while their apparent K m values did not differ significantly (p > 0.05) from recombinant NAT2 4. The apparent V max catalyzed by NAT2 14C and NAT2 14D were significantly lower (p < 0.05) than the apparent V max catalyzed by NAT2 6C and NAT2 14E towards AF, ABP, and DMABP. Heat inactivation rate constants for recombinant human NAT2 14C, 14D, 14E, and 18 were significantly (p < 0.05) higher than NAT2 4. These results provide further evidence of genetic heterogeneity within the NAT2 slow acetylator phenotype.
MPI Process and Network Device Affinitization for Optimal HPC Application Performance

High Performance Computing(HPC) applications are highly optimized to maximize allocated resources for the job such as compute resources, memory and storage. Optimal performance for MPI applications requires the best possible affinity across all the allocated resources. Typically, setting process affinity to compute resources is well defined, i.e MPI processes on a compute node have processor affinity set for one to one mapping between MPI processes and the physical processing cores. Several well defined methods exist to efficiently map MPI processes to a compute node. With the growing complexity of HPC systems, platforms are designed with complex compute and I/O subsystems. Capacity of I/O devices attached to a node are expanded with PCIe switches resulting in large numbers of PCIe endpoint devices. With a lot of heterogeneity in systems, applications programmers are forced to think harder about affinitizing processesas it affects performance based on not only compute but also NUMA placement of IO devices. Mapping of process to processor cores and the closest IO device(s) is not straightforward. While operating systems do a reasonable job of trying to keep a process physically located near the processor core(s) and memory, they lack the application developer's knowledge of process workflow and optimal IO resource allocation when more than one IO device is connected to the compute node.In this paper we look at ways to assuage the problems of affinity choices by abstracting the device selection algorithm from MPI application layer. MPI continues to be the dominant programming model for HPC and hence our focus in this paper is limited to providing a solution for MPI based applications. Our solution can be extended to other HPC programming modelssuch as Partitioned Global Address Space(PGAS) or a hybrid MPI and PGAS based applications. We propose a solution to solve NUMA effects at the MPI runtime level independent of MPI applications. Our experiments are conducted on a two node system where each node consists of two socket Intel® Xeon® servers, attached with up to four Intel® Omni-Path fabric devices connected over PCIe. The performance benefits seen by MPI applications by affinitizing MPI processes with best possible network device is evident from the results where we notice up to 40% improvement in uni-directional bandwidth, 48% bi-directional bandwidth, 32% improvement in latency measurements and finally up to 40% improvement in message rate.
Harmless Error as Constitutional Common Law: Congress's Power to Reverse Arizona v Fulminante

When the Supreme Court announced in Arizona v Fulminantel that the introduction of a coerced confession into evidence in criminal trials may be treated as "harmless error," critics attacked the decision as a crabbed reading of the Constitution's grand protections of the rights of the criminally accused. The Los Angeles Times reported that the Court "knocked down one of the pillars of constitutional law,"2 and complained that the decision "seriously eroded one of the Constitution's fundamental protections."3 Steven Shapiro, Associate Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said that the case reflected the Rehnquist Court's increased willingness "to balance fundamental constitutional rights against the desire to preserve and uphold criminal convictions."4 Even Justice Stevens added to the chorus: "an extraordinarily aggressive Supreme Court has reached out to announce a host of new rules narrowing the federal Constitution's protection of individual liberties. The prosecutor's use of a coerced confession-no matter how vicious the police conduct may have been-may now constitute harmless error."' These criticisms reflect the now-predominant understanding of the harmless error rule as being a doctrine of constitutional law. They each assume that the Supreme Court decisions that expand the scope of harmless error analysis by the same token contract the sweep of constitutional rights.
The role of sleep dysfunction in the relationship between trauma, neglect and depression in methamphetamine using men

Abstract Background Childhood abuse and neglect, or childhood trauma (CT), has been associated with methamphetamine use, HIV, and depression. This study explored the potential for sleep dysfunction to influence the relationship between CT and depression in methamphetamine using men. Methods A total of N = 347 men were enrolled: 1) HIV-uninfected, non-methamphetamine (MA) using heterosexual and homosexual men (HIV- MA-; n = 148), 2) MA-using MSM living with HIV (HIV+ MA+; n = 147) and 3) HIV-uninfected, MA using MSM (HIV- MA+; n = 52). Participants completed measures of demographic characteristics, sleep dysfunction, childhood trauma, and depression. Results Participants were on average 37 years old (SD = 9.65). Half of participants were Hispanic, and 48.1% had a monthly personal income of less than USD$500. Controlling for sleep dysfunction and control variables, the impact of CT on depression decreased significantly, b = 0.203, p Limitations Important limitations included the cross-sectional design of the study, and the self-reported measure of sleep. Conclusions Results highlight the use of sleep interventions to prevent and treat depression, and the utility of assessing sleep disturbances in clinical care.
The Continuous Time Model

In Chapters Two and Three, attention was given to the female population stratified in a finite number of w + 1 age intervals that were indexed by i for 0≤;i≤w. In addition, the female births were considered on discrete time intervals of the form (t — h, i]. This led to the discrete time population renewal equation (2.23) of the form $$\text{B}_h \text{(}t\text{) = }\sum\limits_{i\text{ = 0}}^w {\phi _{i\text{ + 1}} } \text{B}_h \text{(t - (}i\text{ + 1)}h\text{)}h$$ (4.1) and its attendant solution.
On the analyticity of solutions of sums of squares of vector fields

The note describes, in simple analytic and geometric terms, the global Poisson stratification of the characteristic variety Char L of a second-order linear differential operator −L = X 1 2 + ... + X r 2 , i.e., a sum-of-squares of real-analytic, real vector fields X i on an analytic manifold Ω. It is conjectured that the leaves in the bicharacteristic foliation of each Poisson stratum of Char L propagate the analytic singularities of the solutions of the equation Lu = f ∊ C ω. Closely related conjectures of necessary and sufficient conditions for local, germ and global analytic hypoellipticity, respectively, are stated. It is an open question whether the new conjecture regarding local analytic hypoellipticity is equivalent to that put forward by the author in earlier articles.
366. Impact of Obesity in Patients With Candida Bloodstream Infections

Background Candidemia contributes to prolonged hospitalizations, increased cost, and increased morbidity and mortality. Obesity worsens clinical outcomes for bacterial infections, though little is known about fungal infections. The purpose of this study was to assess if clinical outcomes differ in obese vs. non-obese patients with candidemia.
The Mustassaf of Castelló de la Plana

This chapter examines the institution of the mustassaf, a municipal officer in the towns of the post-Conquest Crown of Aragon. The origin of this office and its etymology is traced back to ancient Greece and thence through the Byzantine and Arab worlds to the newly conquered Kingdom of Valencia. The mustassaf became the second most powerful town official and his responsibilities expanded to include oversight of the marketplace, public health, building and infrastructure, and the town’s defenses. After a discussion of the legal foundation of the office of the mustassaf, four case studies are laid out in which specific aspects of the mustassaf’s regulatory role are elucidated.
Serum Sex Hormones and the Risk of Fracture Across the Menopausal Transition: Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation

CONTEXT Sex steroid hormones have been linked to fractures in older women. OBJECTIVE To test the hypothesis that hormones measured over the menopausal transition predict fractures. SETTING Seven US clinical centers. SUBJECTS AND MEASUREMENTS Two thousand nine hundred sixty women (average age, 46.4 ± 2.7 years) who had at least two repeat hormone measures and prospective information on fractures. Fasting serum was collected annually for hormone assays. Estradiol (E2) was measured with a modified direct immunoassay. FSH and SHBG were measured with two-site chemiluminescence immunoassays. Hormones were lagged (visit year -1) and transformed using log base 2. Incident fractures were ascertained at each annual visit. All medications including hormone therapy were time varying covariates. Discrete survival methods were used. RESULTS Five hundred eight (17.2%) women experienced an incident fracture over an average follow up of 8.8 ± 4.4 years. Women who experienced an incident fracture were more likely to be white, report high alcohol intake and diabetes, and less likely to report premenopausal status at baseline. A woman whose log E2 was twice that of another had a 10% lower risk of fracture independent of covariates, relative risk (95% CI) = 0.90 (0.82, 0.98). Neither FSH nor SHBG were associated with fractures. CONCLUSIONS Serum E2 levels may help to identify women at higher risk of fractures over the menopausal transition. However, hormone assays must be standardized across laboratories for clinical implementation and further work is needed to define E2 thresholds.
F11 Prevalence of cigarette smoking in huntington’s disease

Background There is some evidence that Huntington’s Disease (HD) patients are more likely to consume cigarettes than the general population. Aims To compare the prevalence of cigarette smoking within four different groups of Enroll-HD subjects (manifest HD, pre-manifest HD, genotype negative, and family controls) and to compare Unified Huntington’s Disease Rating Scale Total Motor Score (UHDRS-TMS) between smokers and non-smokers to determine whether motor symptom level is related to cigarette use. Methods/techniques The percentage of smokers versus non-smokers within each group of Enroll-HD subjects was calculated. ‘Smoker’ was defined as any participant who used 1 or more cigarettes daily in the past year. Percentage of smokers within all gene negative groups combined was also calculated. A p-value hypothesis test was done to test statistical significance. The average TMS score on the UHDRS motor exam was calculated for both smokers and non-smokers and a two-tailed, two sample unequal variance t-test was done. Results/outcome The percentage of smokers within manifest HD, pre-manifest HD, genotype negative, and family control groups were 25.8%, 22.7%, 18.5%, and 15.6%, respectively (p-value Conclusions It was determined that there is a statistically significant difference between the number of smokers in each Enroll-HD group, and that the prevalence of smokers within HD-manifest patients is significantly higher. It was also determined that non-smokers had more motor symptoms, on average. It is unclear from these data whether this difference comes from patients who quit smoking because of HD motor symptoms or if smokers are more likely to seek medical care.
Characterizing finite fields via minimal ring extensions

Let A be a finite local (commutative unital) ring. If A is not a field, there exists a positive integer N such that |B|≤N for each ring B such that A⊂B is an inert (minimal ring) extension. It foll...
Bang for Your Buck: A Single-Case Experimental Design Study of Practice Amount and Distribution in Treatment for Childhood Apraxia of Speech

Purpose The aim of this study was to examine 2 aspects of treatment intensity in treatment for childhood apraxia of speech (CAS): practice amount and practice distribution. Method Using an alternat...