cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of Compliance with Osteoporosis Treatment Guidelines After Initiation of a Pharmacist-Run Osteoporosis Service at a Family Medicine Clinic

Background:Osteoporosis affects more than 10 million Americans, and fracture complications are devastating to patients and society. Despite the availability of guidelines and performance measures, osteoporosis is not optimally managed. Pharmacists have been pivotal in management of other disease states, and a multidisciplinary approach to osteoporosis management may improve patient outcomes.Objective:To establish a pharmacist-run osteoporosis service at a family medicine clinic and to evaluate short-term compliance with osteoporosis treatment guidelines before and after initiation of the service.Methods:A pharmacist-run osteoporosis service was established in October 2008. Adults with the diagnosis of osteoporosis before initiation of the service were included in evaluation of short-term compliance with treatment guidelines, including appropriate dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan frequency, pharmacotherapy, calcium and vitamin D supplementation, and nonpharmacologic education. Of 42 referred pa...
Organic matter sources to the water column and surficial sediments of a marine bay

Sediment trap and net plankton samples were collected monthly for a year at three depths in a marine bay (Dabob Bay, Washington). These materials and subsamples from a sediment box core were analyzed for lignin oxidation products as well as elemental and stable carbon isotope compositions. The sediment core was compositionally uniform over its entire 50-cm length. The elemental and lignin compositions of the sediment trap and core samples indicate nitrogen-rich (atomic C : N = 7.5) plankton-derived organic matter mixed with vascular plant debris. At most, vascular plant debris accounts for 10% (nonwinter months) to 35% (winter months) of the total organic carbon in the upper water column (30 m) sediment trap samples and consists predominantly of gymnosperm wood along with some nonwoody gymnosperm tissues and angiosperm woods. Bulk land-derived organic matter in Dabob Bay contains a maximum of 50% vascular plant debris and comprises an average of one-third of the total organic carbon in the sediment trap samples and two-thirds of the total organic carbon in the underlying sediments. Lignin in the sediment trap and core samples shows evidence (from elevated vanillic acid:vanillin ratios) of white-rot fungal degradation before (but not after) introduction to the water column at the study site. Vascular plant debris introduced to the bay has already lost almost half of its initial bulk polysaccharide. Glucose yields are particularly low whereas rhamnose and fucose are obtained in excess of expected yields and must have additional sources. Lignin and neutral sugars together account for ~20% of the total organic carbon in the sediment trap and core samples. Overall, the sediments of Dabob Bay compositionally resemble the gymnosperm wood-rich particulate material introduced to the overlying water column during winter and poorly record the input of plankton and other types of vascular plant debris during nonwinter months.
Enantioselective Nucleophilic Aromatic Substitution with Small‐Molecule Chiral Selectors

Small-molecule rationally designed chiral selectors have been shown to influence the stereochemical outcome of a variety of organic transformations. For instance, in a recent report, we demonstrated that a chiral selector (in conjunction with an achiral phase-transfer catalyst) could selectively inhibit one enantiomer of electron-deficient aromatic amides from forming Meisenheimer adducts (Scheme 2). We now extend this methodology to performing enantioselective nucleophilic aromatic substitutions. Initial studies involved biphasic kinetic resolutions with a chiral selector in conjunction with an achiral phase-transfer catalyst (Scheme 3). The results are consistent with previous data taken for biphasic reactions (e.g., Scheme 1) where the chiral selector effectively shields the more highly complexed enantiomer from reaction. With neutral nucleophiles such as amines, the enantioselective nucleophilic aromatic substitutions can also be conducted in single-phase systems. Several examples are given.
A Microfluidic Assay for Measuring Electrical Conductivity of Gap Junction Channels

We have developed a microfluidic sensor to measure the electrical coupling through gap junctions across a 2D sheet of cultured Normal Rat Kidney cells. The chip is based on a tri-stream laminar flow with conductive solutions on either end and a nonconductive solution in the middle stream. When an electrical voltage is applied, the current can only pass through the cell sheet, thereby enabling us to measure the electrical coupling of gap junctions between cells. Using this sensor we have measured the effect of 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate (2-APB) on Cx43 channels. We show that 2-APB reversibly inhibits electrical coupling of Cx43 in NRK cells. Moreover, we screened other potential candidates to block Cx43, 1-Heptanol and GsMTx-4, and examined their effects on Cx43 gap junctions.
Protein binding of nifedipine

The protein binding of nifedipine in concentrations up to 1200 ng ml-1 has been measured in serum, pure human albumin solution and pure human alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (AAG) solutions by ultrafiltration. The drug was extensively bound in serum from four healthy volunteers with a mean (+/- s.d.) fraction bound of 0.992 +/- 0.008. In albumin solution (40 g litre-1) the mean (+/- s.d.) fraction bound 0.970 +/- 0.012, was not significantly different (P greater than 0.05) from that in serum, suggesting that albumin is the major, but not necessarily the only, binding protein for nifedipine in serum. The binding of nifedipine in solutions of AAG was proportional to the AAG concentration and ranged from 0.514 +/- 0.059 to 0.755 +/- 0.035 in solutions containing 50 and 150 mg % AAG, respectively. Binding of nifedipine in all protein solutions was linear.
Quality of alcohol use histories collected at intake to substance user treatment

Many survey questions on alcohol require complex cognitive tasks, such as long-term recall, shifting reference periods, and numeric calculation. Moreover, alcohol-related impairment is known to affect cognitive ability. To assess the quality of data on self-reported alcohol use, internal consistency analyses were conducted as part of a comprehensive multisite prospective study of drug user treatment outcome undertaken in 11 cities throughout the United States (DATOS). Contrary to expectation, analyses found high levels of internal consistency. For questions on age of initiation of different types of alcohol use, over 99% of respondents (N = 2,842) reported consistent answers for each pair of logically related questions. Reports of being drunk and of quantity of alcohol consumed were similarly consistent.
Efficient Extension of Slipped DNA Intermediates by DinB Is Required To Escape Primer Template Realignment by DnaQ

ABSTRACT We show that Escherichia coli DinB polymerase, which creates single-base deletions, prefers to extend slipped DNA substrates with the skipped base at the −4 position. A DinB(Y79L) variant, which extends these substrates less efficiently in vitro, allows the proofreading function of polymerase III to reverse their formation in vivo.
Multiplicity Results for Some Elliptic Problems with Concave Nonlinearities

) implies that the variational functionalassociated with (1) is bounded below and coercive. Coercive ellipticproblems of this type with *=0 have been studied by Ambrosetti andMancini [3], Struwe [9], Ambrosetti and Lupo [2], and other authors.Here we prove the existence of more solutions for *>0 sufficiently small
Self-Actualization: The Zenith of Entrepreneurship

This paper presents entrepreneurship literature which supports a treatment of entrepreneurial drive as a continuum. Behavioral differences among entrepreneurs are presented and examined in the light of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. The two perspectives are linked by a perspective of entrepreneurial activity as a vehicle which can support one's advancement through all levels of the hierarchy. This perspective is examined empirically with a database of 156 entrepreneurs, and the authors conclude that the respondents in this study who displayed higher entrepreneurial drive did view their businesses as vehicles for achieving self-esteem and self-actualization. Those respondents displaying lower entrepreneurial drive viewed their firms as vehicles for providing basic financial needs.
Depalmitoylated Ras traffics to and from the Golgi complex via a nonvesicular pathway

Palmitoylation is postulated to regulate Ras signaling by modulating its intracellular trafficking and membrane microenvironment. The mechanisms by which palmitoylation contributes to these events are poorly understood. Here, we show that dynamic turnover of palmitate regulates the intracellular trafficking of HRas and NRas to and from the Golgi complex by shifting the protein between vesicular and nonvesicular modes of transport. A combination of time-lapse microscopy and photobleaching techniques reveal that in the absence of palmitoylation, GFP-tagged HRas and NRas undergo rapid exchange between the cytosol and ER/Golgi membranes, and that wild-type GFP-HRas and GFP-NRas are recycled to the Golgi complex by a nonvesicular mechanism. Our findings support a model where palmitoylation kinetically traps Ras on membranes, enabling the protein to undergo vesicular transport. We propose that a cycle of depalmitoylation and repalmitoylation regulates the time course and sites of Ras signaling by allowing the protein to be released from the cell surface and rapidly redistributed to intracellular membranes.
Exploiting the Properties of Query Workload and File Name Distributions to Improve P2P Synopsis-Based Searches

Modern P2P systems use hybrid searches to improve search efficiency. They use a synopsis of neighborhood content to determine whether to use a structured or unstructured overlay to satisfy a particular query. Because of their size restrictions, a synopsis cannot hold all the terms from every file in the neighborhood. The challenge is to choose the terms that should be represented in the synopsis. In this work, we investigated the distribution of query terms and file terms in Gnutella networks. We observed that there was a mismatch between terms that were popular among file names and the terms that were popular among the queries generated by the user. Because the query behavior changed with time, a synopsis based on only static set of popular file terms was ill-suited to support efficient searches. We used these observations to design a synopsis creation algorithm that dynamically adapted to the query workload and selected terms for the synopsis to reflect popular terms in both the query workload and file distribution. Our preliminary experimental analysis showed that our Query-Adaptive synopsis improved the search performance over the traditional file-based synopsis model.
Nursing Update on Retinopathy of Prematurity

One of the problems that plagues premature infants is retinopathy of prematurity, a potentially blinding disease that occurs because the retina is immature before 34 weeks gestation and must develop in a suboptimal environment when a baby is born early. Prevention by minimizing oxygen exposure has been somewhat effective, but survival of the tiniest babies has led to a recent resurgence in cases. Oxygen targeting and early surgery show promise to reduce the risk of blindness in the smallest premature infants. Nurses play an important role in oxygen management and parental support.
A Program for Handling Map Projections of Small Scale Geospatial Raster Data

Scientists routinely accomplish small-scale geospatial modeling using raster datasets of global extent. Such use often requires the projection of global raster datasets onto a map or the reprojection from a given map projection associated with a dataset. The distortion characteristics of these projection transformations can have significant effects on modeling results. Distortions associated with the reprojection of global data are generally greater than distortions associated with reprojections of larger-scale, localized areas. The accuracy of areas in projected raster datasets of global extent is dependent on resolution. To address these problems of projection and the associated resampling that accompanies it, methods for framing the transformation space, direct point-to-point transformations rather than gridded transformation spaces, a solution to the wrap-around problem, and an approach to alternative resampling methods are presented. The implementations of these methods are provided in an open source software package called MapImage (or mapIMG , for short), which is designed to function on a variety of computer architectures.
Manners externalize semantics for on-demand composition of context-aware services

Architectural mismatch; the semantic and syntactic gap preventing component composition, can be partially alleviated through the ubiquity of the protocols for service composition (syntax). And yet, the semantics of service or component composition have remained elusive. The contribution of this paper builds on the notions introduced by grammar-oriented object design (GOOD) using the notion of manners to specify the semantics of services and drive their automated composition through dynamically reconfigure architectures enabled through GOOD. This leads to the use of manners for explicit service semantics representation in a re-configurable architectural style. We describe the base requirements for automated component and services composition and show how automated assembly of components and services can be accomplished through a dynamically reconfigurable (DyRec) architectural style. In addition, we show how this vision of dynamic reconfiguration is naturally supported by the Web services framework, because it derives from some of the core requirements of the service oriented architectures (SOA) style embodied by Web services. Further, we discuss how such a DyRec architectural style can be implemented using grammar-oriented object design (GOOD) and describe a project that led to a tool called the Business Compiler, to accomplish dynamic composition and collaboration.
Self-Concept and Motivational Patterns of Resilient African American High School Students:

This study of 138 urban subjects examined the role of self-concept and motivation in aiding resilient African American high school sophomores to obtain academic competence. In this study, high school sophomoresfrom an impoverished, stressful background with grade point averages of 2.75 or above were considered academically resilient. To determine resiliency status, socioeconomic status was determined by the Hollingshead Two Factor Index and stress by a self-report measure. Self-concept and motivation were measured by the High School Assessment of Academic Self-Concept and the Assessment of Personal Agency Beliefs. Findings suggest that resilient African American high school students differedfrom their nonresilient peers in the cognitive domain: cognitive ability, cognitive environmental support, cognitive control, and cognitive importance. They also placed more emphasis on extracurricular activities and material gain.
Effects of curcumin on retinal oxidative stress and inflammation in diabetes

Oxidative stress and inflammation are implicated in the pathogenesis of retinopathy in diabetes. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of curcumin, a polyphenol with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, on diabetes-induced oxidative stress and inflammation in the retina of rats. A group of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats received powdered diet supplemented with 0.05% curcumin (w/w), and another group received diet without curcumin. The diets were initiated soon after induction of diabetes, and the rats were sacrificed 6 weeks after induction of diabetes. The retina was used to quantify oxidative stress and pro-inflammatory markers. Antioxidant capacity and the levels of intracellular antioxidant, GSH (reduced form of glutathione) levels were decreased by about 30–35%, and oxidatively modified DNA (8-OHdG) and nitrotyrosine were increased by 60–70% in the retina of diabetic rats. The levels of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were elevated by 30% and 110% respectively, and the nuclear transcription factor (NF-k B) was activated by 2 fold. Curcumin administration prevented diabetes-induced decrease in the antioxidant capacity, and increase in 8-OHdG and nitrotyrosine; however, it had only partial beneficial effect on retinal GSH. Curcumin also inhibited diabetes-induced elevation in the levels of IL-1β, VEGF and NF-k B. The effects of curcumin were achieved without amelioration of the severity of hyperglycemia. Thus, the beneficial effects of curcumin on the metabolic abnormalities postulated to be important in the development of diabetic retinopathy suggest that curcumin could have potential benefits in inhibiting the development of retinopathy in diabetic patients.
Laughing and Health: A Study Using Parse's Research Method

The purpose of this research was to uncover a structure of the lived experience of laughing and health using Parse's research method. Twenty men and women over 65 years of age volunteered to participate in the study. The structure of the lived experience of laughing and health was found to be a potent buoyant vitality sparked through mirthful engagements, prompting an unburdening delight deflecting disheartenments while emerging with blissful contentment. Recommendations for further research and practice are suggested.
Threat to Gender Representation: Identity and Identification

To investigate the effect of a threat to gender identity on the use of defense mechanisms, college students were given false feedback regarding their sex-role identity. Male and female students who were given gender-contrary feedback showed a marked increase in the use of the defense of identification, as compared to students who were given gender-consistent feedback. Further, both affect change and the use of identification was a function of the degree of discrepancy between feedback condition and conscious gender identity.
The glyceryl ester of prostaglandin E2 mobilizes calcium and activates signal transduction in RAW264.7 cells.

Glyceryl prostaglandins (PG-Gs) are generated by the oxygenation of the endocannabinoid, 2-arachidonylglycerol, by cyclooxygenase 2. The biological consequences of this selective oxygenation are uncertain because the cellular activities of PG-Gs have yet to be defined. We report that the glyceryl ester of PGE2, PGE2-G, triggers rapid, concentration-dependent Ca2+ accumulation in a murine macrophage-like cell line, RAW264.7. Ca2+ mobilization is not observed after addition of PGE2, PGD2-G, or PGF2α-G but is observed after addition of PGF2α. Moreover, PGE2-G, but not PGE2, stimulates a rapid but transient increase in the levels of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) as well as the membrane association and activation of PKC. PGE2-G induces a concentration-dependent increase in the levels of phosphorylated extracellular signal regulated kinases 1 and 2 through a pathway that requires the activities of PKC, IP3 receptor, and phospholipase C β. The results indicate that PGE2-G triggers Ca2+ mobilization, IP3 synthesis, and activation of PKC in RAW264.7 macrophage cells at low concentrations. These responses are independent of the hydrolysis of PGE2-G to PGE2.
Valence Band Offset at Amorphous Boron Carbide / Silicon Interfaces

In order to understand the fundamental charge transport in a-B4-5C:H/Si heterostructure devices, we have utilized x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to determine the valence band offset at interfaces formed by Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition of a-B4-5C:H on (100) Si. For such interfaces, we observed relatively small valence band offset values of ± 0.25 eV.
America and the Age of Genocide: Labeling a Third-Party Conflict “Genocide” Decreases Support for Intervention Among Ingroup-Glorifying Americans Because They Down-Regulate Guilt and Perceived Responsibility to Intervene

Drawing on research on the collapse of compassion and group processes and interrelations, four experiments investigated how labeling a conflict "genocide" affects distant bystanders' support for intervention. The genocide label (compared with no label or the label "not a genocide") weakened Americans' support for intervention in a crisis analogous to Darfur. Ingroup glorification moderated this effect such that the genocide label decreased support at high levels of glorification (Studies 1-3). Ingroup attachment, if anything, moderated such that the genocide label increased support at high levels of attachment (Studies 1 and 3). Importantly, the effects occurred even when controlling for conservatism (Studies 1 and 3), gender, religion, military affiliation, and level of education (Study 2). Decreases in anticipated guilt over possible nonintervention (Studies 1 and 3) among high glorifiers, and a subsequent decrease in perceived obligation to intervene (Study 3), mediated the effect of the genocide label on support for intervention.
Comparative Evaluation of Statistical and Mechanistic Models of Escherichia coli at Beaches in Southern Lake Michigan.

Statistical and mechanistic models are popular tools for predicting the levels of indicator bacteria at recreational beaches. Researchers tend to use one class of model or the other, and it is difficult to generalize statements about their relative performance due to differences in how the models are developed, tested, and used. We describe a cooperative modeling approach for freshwater beaches impacted by point sources in which insights derived from mechanistic modeling were used to further improve the statistical models and vice versa. The statistical models provided a basis for assessing the mechanistic models which were further improved using probability distributions to generate high-resolution time series data at the source, long-term “tracer” transport modeling based on observed electrical conductivity, better assimilation of meteorological data, and the use of unstructured-grids to better resolve nearshore features. This approach resulted in improved models of comparable performance for both class...
The Fertility of Dialogue: Levinas and Plato on Education

In several places in Totality and Infinity , Levinas criticizes Socratic education for being emblematic of the totalizing tendency of Western thought. Levinas finds in Socratic maieutics another instance of the reduction of exteriority to interiority, heteronomy to autonomy, and the Other to the Same. Here, I explore Levinas’s critique and offer a possible response by arguing that maieutics does not deny the alterity of others but requires it. I find, therefore, that a Platonic conception of education as maieutics could be a promising resource for rethinking how we engage students in the classroom in a way that is consonant with Levinas’s ethics.
Investigating New Bootstrapping Approaches of Bagging Classifiers to Account for Class Imbalance in Bioinformatics Datasets

One major challenge posed by bioinformatics datasets is class imbalance which occurs when one class has many more instances than the other class(es). Its undesirable effect on the classification performance is compounded with the fact that, in general, the class with fewer instances is the class of interest. Bagging has been utilized by practitioners in the field to overcome the challenge of class imbalance and to improve the classification performance. Our motivation for this study is to investigate whether changes to the bootstrapping step of bagging classifiers can further improve their performance. Specifically, these modifications to the bootstrapping process take into account the membership of the classes. We performed an extensive empirical study utilizing four bootstrap approaches within bagging framework using three feature rankers along with four feature subset sizes and two base classifiers across 15 imbalanced bioinformatics datasets. Three of these bootstrap approaches were proposed and implemented by our research team for this study. Our results show that all new approaches improve performance over the classic bootstrap approach, with balanced bagging having the highest performance, however, observed increases in performance are not statistically significant. We recommend the balanced bootstrap approach because it shows the most improvement, in terms of frequency of having the highest performance, and it generates fully balanced bootstrap datasets that can account for the class imbalance problem. The uniqueness of this paper is proposing and implementing the three innovative bootstrapping approaches to examine the effects of these bootstrapping processes against the classic one on the performance of bagging classifiers in the domain of bioinformatics.
Abstract 1: Apolipoprotein E2 and Apolipoprotein E4 Promote Macrophage Inflammation and Dysfunction Through Distinct Mechanisms

ApoE3 is the most common apoE variant in humans. Carriers of the apoE4 variant have increased risk of coronary artery disease, while apoE2 carriers have lower plasma lipid levels, reduced risk of coronary artery disease, but an increased risk of peripheral vascular disease. The differing effects of apoE2 and apoE4 on vascular disease manifestation have not been completely elucidated. ApoE2, apoE3 and apoE4 gene replacement (knock-in) mice were used to examine the influence apoE variants have on macrophage function and response to dietary challenge. Peritoneal macrophages isolated from apoE4 mice displayed less efferocytosis capacity and were more apoptotic even under basal conditions when compared to apoE3 and apoE2 macrophages. Stimulation with LPS or oxLDL increased apoptosis more robustly in apoE4 and apoE2 macrophages compared with apoE3 macrophages. Immunoblot analysis showed increased endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in apoE4 macrophages, with IRE1α and JNK being up-regulated 2- and 4-fold, respectively, compared with apoE2 and apoE3 macrophage. Phosphorylated PERK was 2-fold higher in apoE4 macrophages when stressed with LPS or oxLDL, compared with apoE3 or apoE2 macrophages. The pro-apoptotic protein, CHOP, was also up-regulated in apoE4 macrophages compared with apoE3 macrophages when exposed to oxLDL. When knock-in mice were challenged with a lipid-rich meal via gastric lavage, postprandial increase in neutrophil cell count was similar between apoE3 and apoE4 mice but was much higher in apoE2 mice. The robust postprandial neutrophil response in apoE2 mice coincided with their delay in postprandial clearance of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins. Interestingly, when the animals were maintained on a high fat, high cholesterol Western-type diet for 4 weeks, tissue macrophages were found to be more inflamed in both apoE2 and apoE4 mice compared to apoE3 mice. These results document distinct pro-inflammatory mechanisms: apoE2 increases postprandial inflammation through defective receptor binding and delayed lipid clearance, while apoE4 promotes inflammation by reducing macrophage function and increasing ER stress. These findings may help to elucidate the disparate influences on peripheral versus coronary artery diseases.
An Evaluation of Splitless and On-Column Injection Techniques for the Determination of Priority Micropollutants

Pour l'analyse quantitative de melanges de composes dont les points d'ebullition couvrent un grand domaine, tels que les biphenyles polychlores, les dispositifs d'injection a depot direct sont les seuls qui donnent des resultats satisfaisants
The NHLBI-UnitedHealth Global Health Centers of Excellence Program: Assessment of Impact of Federal Funding Through a Social Network Analysis.

Highlights Team science is gaining acceptance as a bona fide framework for effective collaborative research. One of the original goals of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Instituteâ€“UnitedHealth Global Health Centers of Excellence (COE) Program was to fund individual COE research. The value-added outcome of the COE network was to foster global collaboration to combat noncommunicable cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases through the conduct of team science across multiple disciplines and diverse geographical locations. This article analyzes the impact of federal funding through a social network analysis and the unexpected relationships among the COE Program members that resulted from team science and established the social and professional networks that nurtured professional collaboration among these team members.
Disruption of Vector Host Preference with Plant Volatiles May Reduce Spread of Insect-Transmitted Plant Pathogens

Plant pathogens can manipulate the odor of their host; the odor of an infected plant is often attractive to the plant pathogen vector. It has been suggested that this odor-mediated manipulation attracts vectors and may contribute to spread of disease; however, this requires further broad demonstration among vector-pathogen systems. In addition, disruption of this indirect chemical communication between the pathogen and the vector has not been attempted. We present a model that demonstrates how a phytophathogen (Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus) can increase its spread by indirectly manipulating the behavior of its vector (Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama). The model indicates that when vectors are attracted to pathogen-infected hosts, the proportion of infected vectors increases, as well as, the proportion of infected hosts. Additionally, the peak of infected host populations occurs earlier as compared with controls. These changes in disease dynamics were more important during scenarios with higher vector mortality. Subsequently, we conducted a series of experiments to disrupt the behavior of the Asian citrus psyllid. To do so, we exposed the vector to methyl salicylate, the major compound released following host infection with the pathogen. We observed that during exposure or after pre-exposure to methyl salicylate, the host preference can be altered; indeed, the Asian citrus psyllids were unable to select infected hosts over uninfected counterparts. We suggest mechanisms to explain these interactions and potential applications of disrupting herbivore host preference with plant volatiles for sustainable management of insect vectors.
Examination of the foot in rheumatic disease.

(1986). Examination of the foot in rheumatic disease. Postgraduate Medicine: Vol. 79, No. 2, pp. 258-264.
The epidemiology of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) and the weight of evidence argument.

This paper demonstrates that Wald's meta-analysis is an unadjusted combination of unadjusted estimates. There are many differences among the design and implementation of the original studies combined here. One consequence of these differences is that studies of spousal smoking and lung cancer mortality conducted in the United States have a lower combined RR than those done elsewhere. Here it is shown that adjustment for this stratification results is a non significant finding as to the association of ETS with lung cancer. Likewise, the addition, for illustration, of Varela's Ph.D. thesis that is the largest case-control study to date, changes the overall results from a significant to a non-significant result. This paper does not attempt to update Wald's meta-analysis with more recent studies. This is being done, I believe by the Environmental Protection Agency. I have given here my reasons for suspecting the conclusions of meta-analysis of non-randomized studies and the illustrations provided here of the effect of publication bias and covariate adjustment support this view.
The Identification of Emotionally Disturbed Elementary School Children

This study demonstrated that emotionally disturbed children in grades four, five, and six can be identified as effectively through use of a teacher rating scale and a group intelligence test as through use of these two sources of information plus arithmetic achievement, reading achievement, a modified sociometric technique (a class play), and a self-concept inventory. The teacher rating scale and group intelligence test results can be useful in making decisions as to which children should be referred to a psychologist for individual diagnostic study. While contributing little to prediction, other information such as achievement, sociometric status, and self-concept may prove useful in understanding and meeting pupil needs in the educational setting.
Are Traditional Public Health Strategies Consistent with Contemporary American Values

From November 2002 to July 2003 there were 8,098 probable cases of severe accute respiratory syndrome ("SARS") in twenty-nine countries, with 774 deaths. The SARS epidemic demonstrated the capability of global econimic and transportatins systems to spead an infection thousand of miles withing hours. It also demonstrated the challenges of using the traditional public health measures of surveilllance, contact tracing, quartantine, and isolation in modern, independent, and population dense societies.
Characterization and Recovery of Valuables from Waste Copper Smelting Slag

Silicate slags produced from smelting copper concentrates contains valuables such as Cu and Fe as well as heavy metals such as Pb and As which are considered hazardous. In this paper, various slags were characterized with several techniques: SEM-MLA, XRD, TG-DTA and ICP-MS. A recovery process was developed to separate the valuables from the silicates thereby producing value-added products and simultaneously reducing environmental concerns. Results show that the major phases in air-cooled slag are fayalite and magnetite whereas the water-cooled slag is amorphous. Thermodynamic calculations and carbothermal reduction experiments indicate that most of Cu and Fe can be recovered from both types using minor amounts of lime and alumina and treating at 1350°C (1623K) or higher for 30 min. The secondary slag can be recycled to the glass and/or ceramic industries.
FDA Advisory Committees: The Role of Statisticians

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) convenes an advisory committee to provide feedback about the strength of evidence supporting approval of a medical product such as a drug, device, or biologic...
Uveitis in Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis (GPA)

Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (previously Wegener’s granulomatosis) is a rare systemic inflammatory disease that can affect any organ but more commonly the sinuses, lungs, kidneys, and eyes. Ophthalmological disease is the manifesting feature of GPA in 8–16 % of patients but develops in an estimated 50–60 % of patients (Pakrou et al. in Semin Arthritis Rheum. 35:284–292, 2006, [4]). Orbital disease, episcleritis, scleritis, and conjunctivitis are the most common ophthalmological manifestations of GPA, but uveitis has also been reported (less than 10 % of GPA cases). The diagnosis is established by serologic testing for ANCA (Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody) which is present in 80–90 % of patients with GPA. The mainstay of treatment is high dose corticosteroids along with cytotoxic agents (cyclophosphamide, methotrexate) and more recently biologic therapies (Rituximab).
Intensity modulated radiation therapy with pulsed reduced dose rate as a reirradiation strategy for recurrent central nervous system tumors: An institutional series and literature review.

Abstract Background Pulsed reduced dose rate (PRDR) is a reirradiation technique that potentially overcomes volume and dose limitations in the setting of previous radiation therapy for recurrent central nervous system (CNS) tumors. Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) has not yet been reported as a PRDR delivery technique. We reviewed our IMRT PRDR outcomes and toxicity and reviewed the literature of available PRDR series for CNS reirradiation. Methods and materials A total of 24 patients with recurrent brain tumors received PRDR reirradiation between August 2012 and December 2014. Twenty-two patients were planned with IMRT. Linear accelerators delivered an effective dose rate of 0.0667 Gy/minute. Data collected included number of prior interventions, diagnosis, tumor grade, radiation therapy dose and fractionation, normal tissue dose, radiation therapy planning parameters, time to progression, overall survival, and adverse events. Results The median time to PRDR from completion of initial radiation therapy was 47.8 months (range, 11-389.1 months). The median PRDR dose was 54 Gy (range, 38-60 Gy). The mean planning target volume was 369.1 ± 177.9 cm 3 . The median progression-free survival and 6-month progression-free survival after PRDR treatment was 3.1 months and 31%, respectively. The median overall survival and 6-month overall survival after PRDR treatment was 8.7 months and 71%, respectively. Fifty percent of patients had ≥4 chemotherapy regimens before PRDR. Toxicity was similar to initial treatment, including no cases of radiation necrosis. Conclusion IMRT PRDR reirradiation is a feasible and appropriate treatment strategy for large volume recurrent CNS tumors resulting in acceptable overall survival with reasonable toxicity in our patients who were heavily pretreated. Prospective studies are necessary to determine the optimal timing of PRDR reirradiation, the role of concurrent systemic agents, and the ideal patient population who would receive the maximal benefit from this treatment approach. Summary Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) has not yet been reported as a pulsed reduced dose rate (PRDR) delivery technique for recurrent brain tumors and may allow for safe and comprehensive reirradiation for large volume tumors. We reviewed our IMRT PRDR outcomes and toxicity and reviewed the literature of available PRDR series for recurrent central nervous system tumors. We conclude that IMRT PRDR reirradiation is a feasible and appropriate treatment strategy for large volume recurrent brain tumors resulting in acceptable overall survival with reasonable toxicity in our patients who were heavily pretreated.
Sociocultural Anthropology in 2016: In Dark Times: Hauntologies and Other Ghosts of Production

This essay reflects on sociocultural anthropological scholarship in 2016. The review does not create categories or rubrics—as some reviewers have done in the past. Rather, it narrativizes emergent issues and offers a number of ways of considering how a range of analytics have predetermined our anthropological practice. I survey “dark” anthropology through the ontological turn this year and conclude by amplifying the research and call to decolonize and engage our methodologies. Through this review, I revisit particular conceptions of structure and agency, especially in the context of neoliberal capitalism, and consider how that has forced us to rethink the classic tension between culture and materiality. The year 2016 was marked by a certain specter of death at the interstices of life, crisis, and a burgeoning urgency and sense of reflection on the various kinds of reifications the production of anthropological knowledge manifests. As such, the year saw important pleas, correctives, and reengagements of anthropological discourse and thematic production. The operative framework for this review deploys an anthropological hauntology, a modality through which to make sense of the specters of our discursive being. This raises questions about ethnographic research in relation to its modes of production. [sociocultural anthropology, ontology, death, decolonizing methodology, disenchantment, crisis]
A Pleistocene Ostracode Fauna From South Florida

A Pleistocene ostracode fauna with 41 species was recovered from carbonate sediments that occur in Palm Beach County, Florida. The fauna is described and three new species are named; these are "Aurila" bellegladensis, Megacythere edwardsi and Hemicytherura vokesae. Ostracode occurrence data and petrological evidence indicate that the sediments were deposited under fully marine conditions at a water depth of from 0 to 23 meters and in a tropical or subtropical climate regime.
Exercise N-13 cardiac positron emission tomography myocardial perfusion imaging detecting ischemia in an adult patient with anomalous aortic origin of the left main coronary artery from the right coronary sinus

Anomalous aortic origin of a coronary artery is a rare congenital condition that has variable presentations from atypical chest pain to syncope and cardiac arrest. Commonly used myocardial perfusion imaging techniques, stress agents, and perfusion agents may have limited ability to detect inducible ischemia in this rare patient group. We herein describe a unique case of anomalous left main coronary artery from a common right coronary sinus ostium with a subpulmonic and intramyocardial course. This patient had multiple atypical chest pain presentations and multiple-negative pharmacologic single-photon emission-computed tomography stress tests performed. Significant ischemia was detected via N-13 exercise cardiac positron emission tomography and with surgical intervention she had resolution of her symptoms.
Turbo Code Implementations on Fixed Point DSP’s

This paper presents the results of research in the implementation of turbo decoding algorithms on the TI TMS320 digital signal processor. Empirical results are presented for algorithms that were published in [2]. This study focuses on implementing turbo decoding algorithms on the TMS3206201 fixed point DSP architecture, but the issues that are discussed are applicable to other processing architectures such as FPGA, CPLD, and ASIC. Benchmarks for evaluating the performance of hardware implementations are featured, as well as performance results for efficient Implementations on the Texas Instruments TMS320C6201 fixed point DSP.
The Problem of Justice

The search for the meaning of justice must begin with a decision concerning the method to be employed. Rational understanding begins with definitions.1 In my efforts at understanding I propose a new approach to the idea of definition: definition by inference from assumptions, that is to say, from presuppositions. We must ask what the term, justice, has meant in some typical theoretical and practical contexts. I am aware of course that all definitions are limitations and so apt to prove inadequate. Actual material existence and abstract logical structures both have a way of escaping in depth and extent of complexity which puts them beyond all meagre formulations. But they do mark the first phase of a rationality on its way to full systematization by means of axioms, rules of inference and the proofs of theorems. Such later fully systematized stages stand or fall by the earlier. They are therefore vulnerable, and the more so since they are the more easily altered.
Playing to Learn: Using Hands-on Activities to Boost Learning in Computer Science (Abstract Only)

Active learning techniques are widely reported to enhance student learning and increase student engagement. They provide a powerful tool to reinforce course concepts and allow students with diverse backgrounds and learning styles to master essential concepts efficiently. In addition, many students and faculty find hands-on activities to be fun and memorable. Workshop attendees will participate in five hands-on activities covering concepts that are commonly taught in introductory programming courses including variable declaration, object instantiation, parameter passing, memory management, and the software development process. Workshop participants will be challenged to create additional activities to be included in an online repository. Instructors of introductory programming courses at the undergraduate and K-12 level who are interested in creating memorable learning experiences using free and low-cost props will find this participatory workshop to be relevant to their teaching. Come ready to play!
Dance Partners Making Meaningful Connections

This article describes a physical activity program that matches Rowan University health and physical education majors with students from a secondary school for students with disabilities, and creat...
Augmentation of calcium current by hypoxia in carotid body glomus cells.

Several lines of evidence indicate that transduction of the hypoxic stimulus at the carotid body involves an increase in cytosohc Ca2+ ([Ca2+]1) via activation of voltage-gated Ca2+ channels in the glomus cells. However, reported responses to hypoxia include either no effect on or inhibition of Ca2+ current in glomus cells. The apparent discrepancy between the effects of hypoxia on [Ca2+] and Ca2+ channel activity prompted us to re-examine the effects of low oxygen on Ca2+ currents in glomus cells. Experiments were performed on freshly dissociated glomus cells from rabbit carotid bodies. Ca2+ channel activity was monitored using the whole-cell configuration of the patch clamp technique with Ba2+ as the charge carrier. Hypoxia (pO2= 40 mmHg) augmented the Ca2+ current by 24% (at 0 mV). This augmentation was seen in a CO2/HCO3 but not in a HEPES buffered extracellular solution. However, when the extracellular pH (pH ) of a HEPES buffered solution is lowered from 7.4 to 7.0, then the Ca2+ current in glomus cells is augmented by hypoxia by 20%. Nisoldipine, an L-type Ca2+ channel blocker (2 μM), prevented augmentation of the Ca2+ current by hypoxia. On the other hand, an N- and P- type Ca2+ channel blocker (2 μM ω-conotoxin MVIIC) did not prevent the augmentation of the Ca2+ current by hypoxia. Protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitors, staurosporine (100 nM) and bisindolylmaleimide (2 μM), prevented augmentation by hypoxia. Okadaic acid (100 nM), an inhibitor of serine/threonine phosphatases also prevented augmentation of Ca2+ current by hypoxia; whereas, norokadaone, an inactive analog of okadaic acid, had no effect. These results suggest that hypoxia augments Ca2+ current through L-type Ca2+ channels via a PKC and/or phosphatase-sensitive pathways.
RNA and Protein Interactions Modulated by Protein Arginine Methylation

This review summarizes the current status of protein arginine N-methylation reactions. These covalent modifications of proteins are now recognized in a number of eukaryotic proteins and their functional significance is beginning to be understood. Genes that encode those methyltransferases specific for catalyzing the formation of asymmetric dimethylarginine have been identified. The enzyme modifies a number of generally nuclear or nucleolar proteins that interact with nucleic acids, particularly RNA. Postulated roles for these reactions include signal transduction, nuclear transport, or a direct modulation of nucleic acid interactions. A second methyltransferase activity that symmetrically dimethylates an arginine residue in myelin basic protein, a major component of the axon sheath, has also been characterized. However, a gene encoding this activity has not been identified to date and the cellular function for this methylation reaction has not been clearly established. From the analysis of the sequences surrounding known arginine methylation sites, we have determined consensus methyl-accepting sequences that may be useful in identifying novel substrates for these enzymes and may shed further light on their physiological role.
Liquid Crystalline Solutions from Polyhydrazides in Aqueous Organic Bases

Aromatic polyhydrazides are well known from the work of Frazer, Wallenberger and Sweeny (1, 2) as precursors to poly-1, 3, 4-oxadiazoles. Polyamide-hydrazides have been described in detail by Black, Preston, and coworkers (3, 4, 5) and by Culbertson and Murphy (6). High tenacity, high modulus fibers have been made from poly (terephthalic hydrazide) (7) and from polyamide-hydrazides with ordered structures (5).