cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Are Phobos and Deimos the result of a giant impact

Despite many efforts an adequate theory describing the origin of Phobos and Deimos has not been realized. In recent years a number of separate observations suggest the possibility that the martian satellites may have been the result of giant impact. Similar to the Earth–Moon system, Mars has too much angular momentum. A planetesimal with 0.02 Mars masses must have collided with that planet early in its history in order for Mars to spin at its current rate (Dones, L., Tremaine, S. [1993]. Science 259, 350–354). Although subject to considerable error, current crater-scaling laws and an analysis of the largest known impact basins on the martian surface suggest that this planetesimal could have formed either the proposed 10,600 by 8500-km-diameter Borealis basin, the 4970-km-diameter Elysium basin, the 4500km-diameter Daedalia basin or, alternatively, some other basin that is no longer identifiable. It is also probable that this object impacted Mars at a velocity great enough to vaporize rock (>7 km/s), which is necessary to place large amounts of material into orbit. If material vaporized from the collision with the Mars-spinning planetesimal were placed into orbit, an accretion disk would have resulted. It is possible that as material condensed and dissipated beyond the Roche limit forming small, low-mass satellites due to gravity instabilities within the disk. Once the accretion disk dissipated, tidal forces and libration would have pulled these satellites back down toward the martian surface. In this scenario, Phobos and Deimos would have been among the first two satellites to form, and Deimos the only satellite formed—and preserved—beyond synchronous rotation. The low mass of Phobos and Deimos is explained by the possibility that they are composed of loosely aggregated material from the accretion disk, which also implies that they do not contain any volatile elements. Their orbital eccentricity and inclination, which are the most difficult parameters to explain easily with the various capture scenarios, are the natural result of accretion from a circum-planetary disk.
Many Citations Support Global Warming Trend

Arguing against conclusions about global warming reached by Donald Kennedy in his Editorial “An unfortunate U-turn on carbon” (30 Mar., p. [2515][1]), S. Fred Singer says, “…the overwhelming balance of evidence shows no appreciable warming trend in the past 60 years; hence, it is unlikely to
The genomics of autoimmune disease in the era of genome-wide association studies and beyond.

Recent advances in the field of genetics have dramatically changed our understanding of autoimmune disease. Candidate gene and, more recently, genome-wide association (GWA) studies have led to an explosion in the number of loci and pathways known to contribute to autoimmune phenotypes. Since the 1970s, researchers have known that several alleles in the MHC region play a role in the pathogenesis of many autoimmune diseases. More recent work has identified numerous risk loci involving both the innate and adaptive immune responses. However, much remains to be learned about the heritability of autoimmune conditions. Most regions found through GWA scans have yet to isolate the association to the causal allele(s) responsible for conferring disease risk. A role for rare variants (allele frequencies of <1%) has begun to emerge. Future research will use next generation sequencing (NGS) technology to comprehensively evaluate the human genome for risk variants. Whole transcriptome sequencing is now possible, which will provide much more detailed gene expression data. The dramatic drop in the cost and time required to sequence the entire human genome will ultimately make it possible for this technology to be used as a clinical diagnostic tool.
On the torsional waves in an elastic bar with long-range cohesive forces

With reference to some of the results obtained in [1], the equation of motion and the equations of nonlocal stress components in the form of Kroener-Eringen are transformed into the Fourier space. A lengthy calculation using a separable form of the nonlocal elastic moduli leads to the governing equation of the problem with two types of solutions. In each case the nonlocal phase velocity and, respectively, the nonlocal group velocity of the very short waves turn out to be by about 36% less than the velocities of their classical counterparts.
Response variability in retarded children

Abstract Eight retarded girls responded on an eight-key manipulandum under a series of reinforcement schedules: continuous (CRF 1), variable interval (VI 1′), extinction (EXT), noncontingent (NC), and a second exposure to continuous reinforcement (CRF 2). The distribution of responses among the eight keys was taken as the measure of response variability, or alternatively, response preference. During CRF 1, four S s exhibited preferences for certain keys, while four S s exhibited essentially no preferences. It was found that the VI, EXT, and NC schedules affected preferences in six of the eight S s. The general effect of these schedules was an increased preference (decreased variability). For the preference S s, the increased preferences were usually for previously preferred keys. During CRF 2, four S s showed a return to their original CRF 1 patterns, while two S s continued to maintain heightened key preferences. Two S s failed to show preference changes at any time in the study. The results were discussed in terms of the differentiation of alternate response forms. A possible relation between response patterning and variability was suggested.
Risk and Protective Factors for Educational Achievement Among Serious Offending Girls

Using longitudinal data, this analysis: (1) documented educational outcomes for serious offending girls, and (2) identified risk and protective factors associated with academic achievement in mid-adolescence and degree attainment by early adulthood. In mid-adolescence, girls performed nearly one standard deviation below the population mean on academic achievement tests. Low IQ and special education needs were strong correlates of poor academic achievement, but living in a highly educated neighborhood was associated with higher academic achievement scores. By early adulthood, 62.7% of girls had received a General Educational Development (GED) or high school degree, and mid-adolescent academic achievement was the strongest predictor of degree attainment. Results suggest a need for early academic intervention targeting individual and neighborhood factors among offending girls.
Prevalence of Protozoan Infections in Darkling Beetles from Poultry Houses in North Carolina

A study was conducted from November 1990 to February 1992 on the prevalence of protozoan infections in the darkling beetle, Alphitobius diaperinus (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae), from turkey and broiler houses in the southeastern, northeastern, and central Piedmont regions of North Carolina. Darkling beetles were commonly infected with the eugregarine Gregarina alphitobii, an undescribed species of Gregarina (Eugregarinorida, Gregarinidae) and the neogregarine Farinocystis tribolii (Neogregarinorida, Lipotrophidae). Both eugregarine and neogregarine parasites were present throughout the sampling period. A decreasing trend in percentage infection by eugregarines in darkling beetles from broiler houses was observed through time while percentage infection in turkey houses showed a variable trend. Percentage neogregarine infection exhibited a variable trend with a significant difference in the overall rate of infection in the two types of production houses. Neogregarine infection was higher in the broiler houses than in the turkey houses. Both adult and larval stages of the beetle were infected with the gregarines with higher levels of infection observed in the larval stages. Mixed infections with both types of gregarines were highest in the smallest larvae.
Presynaptic receptors and alterations in norepinephrine release in spontaneously hypertensive rats

The ability of blood vessels to constrict to a given stimulus is significantly increased in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Such an increase in the vasoconstrictor responsiveness contributes to the elevated peripheral vascular resistance noted in SHR. The present review discusses evidence in support of the concept that an increased release of norepinephrine during sympathetic nerve stimulation may contribute to the increase in vasoconstrictor responsiveness and, subsequently, to an increase in vascular resistance in the SHR. Several studies suggest that the exocytotic release of norepinephrine from sympathetic nerves may be altered by endogenously occurring neurohumoral substances which produce their effects by interacting with presynaptic receptors located on postganglionic sympathetic nerves. Therefore, it is postulated that alterations in presynaptic regulation of norepinephrine release, resulting from changes in the functioning of one or more of these presynaptic receptors, may lead to a greater release of norepinephrine in the SHR. This review summarizes the results of studies evaluating presynaptic receptor mechanisms and norepinephrine release in the SHR. These studies suggest that norepinephrine release during sympathetic nerve stimulation is greater in the SHR and that alterations in some of the presynaptic receptor mechanisms may be responsible for this phenomenon.
INFLUENCE OF IONIC STRENGTH ON THE REMOVAL OF As5+ BY ADSORBING COLLOID FLOTATION

The aim of this work was to study the influence of ionic strength (IS) (with NaCl and Na2SO4) on the removal of As5+ by adsorbing colloid flotation (ACF), using as collector sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS). The morphology of the precipitate retained in the foam was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM/EDS). The effect of an increase in the IS by adding NaCl proved to be insignificant on the As5+ removal by ACF. On the other hand, by adding SO4 2− ions, the same increase in IS resulted in a removal decrease of 62.2%. By introducing, however, 80 mg L−1 of Al3+ such deleterious effects from IS were minimized since an increase in As5+ floatability (37.7% without Al3+ and 76.5% with Al3+) was noticed. Through SEM/EDS analyses, it was possible to observe that both morphology and composition of the precipitate produced in the solution and retained in the foam depend on the physico-chemical conditions of the system, i.e., on the species present in the solution.
Determination of cardiac output by transcutaneous continuous-wave ultrasonic Doppler computer

To evaluate the accuracy of a new, portable, continuous-wave Doppler computer (Ultracom) in measuring cardiac output (CO), simultaneous thermodilution CO and Doppler CO were measured in triplicate in 39 selected patients. Technically adequate Doppler CO studies were obtained in 36 patients. Aortic root diameter was measured by echocardiography and the cross-sectional area was calculated. A continuous-wave Doppler transducer was placed in the suprasternal notch, directed toward the ascending aorta and angled until the maximal velocity signal was achieved. The systolic velocity integral was computed using fast Fourier transform technique. The Doppler CO was computed from the equation: CO = aortic cross-sectional area X systolic velocity integral X heart rate. Interobserver and intraobserver variability studies were also performed. CO measured by thermodilution ranged from 1.86 to 10.1 liters/min (mean 5.26 +/- 1.91 [+/- standard deviation]) and CO by the Doppler method ranged from 1.63 to 10.9 liters/min (mean 5.32 +/- 1.83). The correlation coefficient was 0.97 (p less than 0.001) and standard error of the estimate was 0.42. The regression equation showed that Doppler CO = 0.408 + 0.93 X thermodilution CO. The correlation in 29 volunteers for interobserver variability was 0.98 (p less than 0.001) and in 18 volunteers for intraobserver variability was 0.97 (p less than 0.001). Thus, CO can be determined accurately in many patients using this Doppler technique by trained and experienced persons; intra- and interobserver variability is small.
Estimates on Moser Embedding

A convexity relation in terms of dimension is obtained for Gagliardo–Nirenberg embedding constants. Such estimates give bounds with the correct asymptotic dependence on dimension.
Entwurf, Synthese und Eigenschaften von Molekülaggregaten mit ausgeprägten nichtlinearen optischen Eigenschaften zweiter Ordnung

Der Entwurf, die Synthese, die Charakterisierung und das Erarbeiten von grundlegendem Verstandnis neuartiger molekularer und makromolekularer Systeme mit ausgepragten, makroskopisch zu beobachtenden nichtlinearen optischen Eigenschaften ist ein intensiv bearbeitetes Forschungsgebiet im Grenzbereich zwischen moderner Chemie, Physik und Materialwissenschaften. Die Herausforderungen, die diese Arbeiten uber photonische Materialien kennzeichnen, sind typisch fur einen wichtigen Ansatz der gegenwartigen chemischen Forschung: Durch rationalen Aufbau supramolekularer Anordnungen mit vorherbestimmten kollektiven Eigenschaften, die durch „eingebaute” intermolekulare Wechselwirkungen und bestimmte raumliche Beziehungen erzielt werden, will man zu neuartigen Materialien mit definierten Funktionen gelangen. Diese Ubersicht geht auf eine Reihe von Ansatzen zur Herstellung von Materialien mit nichtlinearen optischen Eigenschaften zweiter Ordnung sowie auf deren Mikrostruktur und optische Eigenschaften ein. Diese Materialien enthalten nicht punktsymmetrisch angeordnete Chromophore mit groser molekularer Hyperpolarisierbarkeit und konnen die Frequenz einfallenden Lichtes in effektiver Weise verdoppeln oder andere nichtlineare optische Eigenschaften zweiter Ordnung zeigen. So liefern sie einen Beitrag zu dem Wissen, das fur die Entwicklung neuartiger Techniken mit photonischen Elementen notig ist. Wir beschreiben Gast-Wirt-Anordnungen aus Chromophoren und Makromolekulen, glasartige Makromolekule mit eingebauten Chromophoren, thermisch vernetzte Anordnungen aus Makromolekulen und Chromophoren und intrinsisch azentrische, durch Selbstorganisation gebildete, Chromophore enthaltende Supergitter.
Hypothesis Testing in Multivariate Linear Models with Randomly Missing Data

A common problem in multivariate general linear models is partially missing response data. The usual analysis method in the presence of missing data is listwise deletion. An approach is presented which allows hypothesis testing using all data which are observed. An EM algorithm was used for parameter estimation. Rao's F approximation for Wilks’ A with adjusted error degrees of freedom was evaluated using a Monte Carlo simulation. The resulting test statistic consistently yielded slightly conservative test sizes and substantially greater test powers than listwise deletion.
On labeled vertex-transitive digraphs with a prime number of vertices

We enumerate, up to isomorphism, several classes of labeled vertex-transitive digraphs with a prime number of vertices.
Renal transcription of high-affinity type-2 cationic amino acid transporter is up-regulated in LPS-stimulated rodents.

Objective: Sepsis stimulates renal nitric oxide (NO) biosynthesis through up-regulation of inducible NO synthase (iNOS) expression. Type-2 cationic amino acid transporter (CAT-2) mediation of trans-membrane L-arginine (L-Arg) transportation has been identified as one of the crucial regulatory mechanisms involved in the formation of NO by iNOS. We had previously shown that CAT-2B, a high-affinity alternative-spliced transcript of the CAT-2, is involved in induced NO biosynthesis by iNOS (Nitric Oxide, 2002). In this present study, we sought to assess the effects of sepsis on the expression of CAT-2B in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated rat kidney. Methods: Forty rats were randomized to either a normal saline (N/S)-treated group or a LPS-treated group. Renal NO production was determined using chemiluminescence. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR was used to determine the mRNA concentrations of iNOS and L-Arg transporters (CAT-1, CAT-2 and CAT-2B) in kidney. Results: Lipopolysaccharide-coinduced iNOS, CAT-2 and CAT-2B mRNA expression in kidney and caused renal NO overproduction. A significant linear regression relationship was defined between renal NO concentrations and iNOS, CAT-2 and CAT-2B, respectively. On the contrary, CAT-1 expression was not affected by LPS-stimulation. Conclusions: We provide the first evidence to illustrate that sepsis/septic shock induces the transcription of high-affinity CAT-2B in renal tissues. Transcription of iNOS, CAT-2 and CAT-2B correlates well with renal NO biosynthesis. Regulation of L-Arg uptake by modulating the expression regulation of induced CAT-2 and CAT-2B might be a potential target for therapies against renal pathologic conditions related to NO overproduction.
Shape transformation by boundary representation interpolation: A recursive approach to establishing face correspondences

The issues relating to the shape transformation problem are discussed and a new algorithm is presented for computing the transformation of one shape into another. In this algorithm, the boundary definitions of the two initial shapes are used and a mapping is established between the vertices and edges of the respective objects. New vertices and edges are introduced into the object definitions when necessary to establish a one-to-one vertex correspondence and to match connectivity relationships between vertices. These can then be used to do a vertex-to-vertex interpolation that maintains valid polyhedral topologies for all of the intermediate shapes. The algorithm establishes a mapping between areas of the object such that adjacency relationships are preserved. These areas are recursively subdivided so that adjacency relationships of subareas are also preserved. During subdivision, vertices and edges are added to the boundaries of subareas so that a one-to-one mapping is established between them. Subdivision continues until each subarea consists of a single face. The algorithm presented works for objects that are topologically equivalent to spheres and can easily be extended to other pairs of objects as long as they are topologically equivalent to each other.
Optical-disk associative-memory breadboard

This system provides rapid location of free form text retrieved from an optical disk by content addressing. A highly parallel, spatial intensity integrating correlator has been breadboarded using commercially available off-the-shelf components for proof of concept and identification of key component characteristics. Performance is found to be sensitive to light source coherence, optics modulation transfer function, media bit placement and contrast uniformity. Simplified processing algorithms extendable to on-chip implementation are evaluated with simulated and experimental results.© (1993) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Korean Dietary Habits and Health Beliefs in the San Francisco Bay Area

Abstract According to the 1990 census, nearly 800,000 Korean Americans live in the U.S., with 33% living in California. It is important that health practitioners understand their culturally based food and health habits and changes that may occur after Koreans live in the U.S. Dietary habits, health beliefs and health practices of 195 Korean adults in the San Francisco Bay Area were assessed by a food frequency questionnaire. Relationships between demographic information and food habits, health beliefs and practices were determined. Most subjects (96%) consume rice once a day and kimchi several times a week (80%). Subjects consumed milk products (50%) and tofu products (40%) several times a week. Vegetables are still used more often than meat products. Data on questions concerning use of ginseng products and preferred methods of treating illness were also collected. Ginseng was used by over half the subjects in order to promote health and stamina. A majority of the subjects consumed traditional foods and medicines for minor illnesses (hot ginger, lemon, herb or honey tea, soy bean sprouts, spicy meat, or bone marrow soup, and samgyetang (type of game hen soup). Younger subjects and those with greater length of residence in the U.S. were slightly more likely to follow American food habits. The majority of subjects (51%), however, preferred to use western medicine and hospitals over traditional medical therapies. According to this study, traditional food habits and health beliefs still influence present-day eating patterns and health practices of Koreans surveyed in the San Francisco Bay Area. Thus, dietitians need to be aware of them and adapt dietary recommendations accordingly.
Differential Induction of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis by Myelin Basic Protein Molecular Mimics in Mice Humanized for HLA-DR2 and an MBP85-99-Specific T Cell Receptor

Abstract Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune neurological disease characterized by infiltration of peripheral inflammatory cells to the central nervous system (CNS) and demyelination of CNS white matter. Epidemiological evidence suggests a possible infectious trigger. One potential mechanism by which an infectious agent may trigger MS is via molecular mimicry wherein T cells generated against foreign epitopes cross-react with self-myelin epitopes, such as myelin basic protein (MBP), with sufficient sequence similarity. It has been previously reported that an MBP 85–99 -reactive T cell clone derived from an MS patient cross-reacted with multiple bacterial-derived mimic peptides in vitro . We show that the same mimic peptides can induce clinical disease in two different strains of mice transgenic for both a human MBP 85–99 -specific TCR and HLA-DR2 (MHC II), albeit with different disease patterns – relapsing–remitting vs. monophasic. Interestingly, clinical disease correlates with CNS infiltration of CD4 + T cells and F4/80 + macrophages, but not with in vitro proliferative or cytokine responses of splenocytes in response to either MBP 85–99 or its mimics.
Blue herd: automated captioning for videoconferences

Blue Herd is a project in IBM Research to investigate automated captioning for videoconferences. Today videoconferences are held among meeting participants connected with a variety of devices: personal computers, mobile devices, and multi-participant meeting rooms. Blue Herd is charged with studying automated real-time captioning in that context. This poster explains the system that was developed for personal computers and describes our experiments to include mobile devices and multi-participant meeting rooms.
SU-GG-T-448: Online Isocenter Corrections Based On Image Registration and Automatic Target Finding in SRS/SRT Cranial Treatment with the Bite-Block Frame System

Purpose: Based on the 3D‐3D image registration and mapping the imaging space to the stereotactic frame coordinate space, an online software was developed to automatically update the target isocenter position prior to each non‐invasive SRS/SRT treatment. The prescription dose can then be delivered to the entire target volume according to the treatment plan. Method and Materials: The key concept of SRS/SRT technique is the use of stereotactic coordinates to define the target volume and all other structures within the stereotactic frame space. This software will automatically setup stereotactic coordinate system through localize the 9‐rod positions of the stereotactic frame in computed tomography(CT)images. The CTimaging spaces of both planning and pretreatment are then mapped to the stereotactic coordinate spaces using transformation matrices. The correct target isocenter are determined by fusing pretreatment CT with the planning CT based on the mutual information derived from 3D volume CTimages. The final visual verification of the treatment isocenter is coincided with planning isocenter through the registration of a pair of orthogonal digitally reconstructedradiographs (DRRs) generated from pretreatment and planning CTimages.Results: A sphere and a rectangle structures within a SRS head phantom were chosen as the targets to evaluate the accuracy of our software. Within the head phantom, the accuracy for repositioned isocenter can be achieved within 0.1 mm for displacements and 0.2 degree for rotations. Also three non‐invasive SRS/SRT patient data sets were used to evaluate the software, and the results were verified with Radionics XKnife RT4 system, the translational discrepancies between reconstructed and optimized isocenters are within 0.5 mm. Conclusion: Using this software for the non‐invasive SRS/SRT treatment, patient setup accuracy within 0.5 mm can be achieved without the discomfort from the pin fixed to the patient's skull.
The quality of merC, a module of the mer mosaic.

We examined a region of high variability in the mosaic mercury resistance (mer) operon of natural bacterial isolates from the primate intestinal microbiota. The region between the merP and merA genes of nine mer loci was sequenced and either the merC, the merF, or no gene was present. Two novel merC genes were identified. Overall nucleotide diversity, π (per 100 sites), of the merC gene was greater (49.63) than adjacent merP (35.82) and merA (32.58) genes. However, the consequences of this variability for the predicted structure of the MerC protein are limited and putative functional elements (metal-binding ligands and transmembrane domains) are strongly conserved. Comparison of codon usage of the merTP, merC, and merA genes suggests that several merC genes are not coeval with their flanking sequences. Although evidence of homologous recombination within the very variable merC genes is not apparent, the flanking regions have higher homologies than merC, and recombination appears to be driving their overall sequence identities higher. The synonymous codon usage bias (ENC) values suggest greater variability in expression of the merC gene than in flanking genes in six different bacterial hosts. We propose a model for the evolution of MerC as a host-dependent, adventitious module of the mer operon.
Twenty-four hour rhythm in monoamine oxidase activity in specific areas of the rat brain stem

Diurnal variations in activities of both type A and type B monoamine oxidase (MAO) in specific areas of the brain stem were investigated in male rats maintained on a 12 h light-12 h dark schedule (06.00 to 18.00 h light). A significant diurnal variation in the activity of both type A and type B MAO was observed in the areas A1, A2 and in the locus coeruleus, but not in the cerebellar cortex. For both type A and type B MAO lowest activities were found during the morning, while highest activities occurred in the late afternoon and the beginning of the night. These results may reflect a role of MAO in the circadian variation of the concentrations of catecholamines in the brain stem.
In vivo technique for determining transcriptional mutagenesis.

When an elongating RNA polymerase encounters DNA damage on the template strand of a transcribed gene it can either be arrested by or be transcribed through the lesion. Lesions that arrest RNA polymerases are thought to be subject to transcription-coupled repair, whereas that damage that is bypassed can cause miscoding, resulting in “mutations” in the transcript (transcriptional mutagenesis). We have developed a technique using a plasmid-based luciferase reporter assay to determine the extent to which a particular type of DNA base modification is capable of causing transcriptional mutagenesis in vivo. The system uses Escherichia coli strains with different DNA repair backgrounds and is designed to detect phenotypic changes caused by transcriptional mutagenesis under nongrowth conditions. In addition, this method is capable of indicating the extent to which a particular DNA repair enzyme (or pathway) suppresses the occurrence of transcriptional mutagenesis. Thus, this technique provides a tool with which the effects of various genes on non-replication-dependent pathways resulting in the generation of mutant proteins can be gauged.
Rosiglitazone activation of PPARγ suppresses fractalkine signaling

The nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) is a key transcriptional regulator of both lipid metabolism and inflammation. The importance of PPARgamma is accentuated by the widespread use of synthetic PPARgamma agonists, thiazolidinediones (such as rosiglitazone), as drugs for insulin resistance and type II diabetes. Fractalkine (FKN) and FKN receptor (FR) play an important role in the immune responses by regulating leukocyte migration and adhesion to inflamed peripheral tissues. In this study, we have identified a novel link between PPARgamma activation and FKN signaling. On one hand, the activation of PPARgamma by rosiglitazone in macrophages not only represses the transcription of the FR gene, but also prevents the plasma membrane translocation of the FR protein. On the other hand, the activation of PPARgamma by rosiglitazone in endothelial cells also impedes the nuclear export of FKN. Together, these data suggest that PPARgamma activation represses FKN signaling. These findings indicate a previously unrecognized mechanism that may contribute to the anti-inflammatory effect of PPARgamma.
Assessing Pragmatic Language in Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Yale in vivo Pragmatic Protocol

Purpose This study compared pragmatic language in youths (9–17 years) with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and those with typical development (TD) on the Yale in vivo Pragmatic Protocol (YiPP), a se...
Framing disease: An underappreciated mechanism for the social patterning of health

The emerging fields of social epidemiology and population health seek to understand the social determinants of health. Especially, with regards to how income inequality causes health disparities, attention has been focused on material and psychosocial mechanisms. I use examples from the epidemiological and social science literature to argue for a third broad etiological framework: the role played by the ways we generally recognize, define, name, and categorize disease states and attribute them to a cause or set of causes. These framing effects shape population health by influencing: health and illness beliefs; patterns of consumption and other behaviors; perceptions of what interventions and policies work; class, ethnic, and other social dynamics; and clinical and public health practices. Important characteristics of many framing phenomena are their capacity to be self-perpetuating and their performative power. A better understanding of framing effects can lead to deploying them more deliberatively and flexibly to improve individual and population health.
LIFE-HISTORY EVOLUTION AND THE MICROEVOLUTION OF INTERMEDIARY METABOLISM: ACTIVITIES OF LIPID-METABOLIZING ENZYMES IN LIFE-HISTORY MORPHS OF A WING-DIMORPHIC CRICKET

Abstract Although a considerable amount of information is available on the ecology, genetics, and physiology of life-history traits, much more limited data are available on the biochemical and genetic correlates of life-history variation within species. Specific activities of five enzymes of lipid biosynthesis and two enzymes of amino acid catabolism were compared among lines selected for flight-capable (LW[f]) versus flightless (SW) morphs of the cricket Gryllus firmus. These morphs, which exist in natural populations, differ genetically in ovarian growth (100–400% higher in SW) and aspects of flight capability including the size of wings and flight muscles, and the concentration of triglyceride flight fuel (40% greater in LW[f]). Consistently higher activity of each enzyme in LW(f) versus SW-selected lines, and strong co-segregation between morph and enzyme activity, demonstrated genetically based covariance between wing morph and enzyme activity. Developmental profiles of enzyme activities strongly par...
The cutaneous bacterium Janthinobacterium lividum inhibits the growth of Trichophyton rubrum in vitro

Background Tinea pedis (athlete's foot) is a fungal infection that is both widespread and challenging to treat. Standard treatments consist of topical and systemic therapies of antifungal agents, such as miconazole, itraconazole, and terbinafine. The extended nature of topical therapy and the toxicity of long-term systemic therapy limit the utility of current treatments. An alternate approach relies on an understanding of bacterial–fungal interactions. Specifically, a probiotic antifungal bacterium such as Janthinobacterium lividum can counter infection; Janthinobacterium is a major constituent of the human skin microbiota. Janthinobacterium lividum has been shown to ameliorate the effects of the cutaneous fungal disease chytridiomycosis in a vertebrate species (Rana muscosa). Methods Dual-culture plate challenge assays were performed using J. lividum and Trichophyton rubrum, the leading cause of athlete's foot. Results In all cases, T. rubrum colonies grew significantly smaller when co-cultured with J. lividum. Conclusion These in vitro results suggest that J. lividum merits further investigation as a human cutaneous probiotic.
Wind interaction with falling ejecta: Origin of the parabolic features on Venus

A quantitative model in which the parabolic features are produced by the interaction of the zonal winds with material ejected ballistically from the impact crater is proposed. As the ejecta particles fall through the atmosphere, the winds transport them downwind from their entry point, smaller particles being transported a greater distance. Since the ejecta distribution is initially axially symmetric and smaller particles are thrown farther from the crater, the winds blow the particles on the upwind side back upon one another, leading to a pile-up of material. On the downwind side, the winds disperse the ejecta particles and no pile-up occurs. The resulting thickness distribution on the Venusian surface matches the observed parabolic features closely. The dual parabolic features associated with the crater Carson is also explained by this model.
A fully differential pulse-shaping filter for measurement of radiation particles

A tunable monolithic CMOS continuous-time pulse shaping filter using fully differential transconductance blocks is described. A capacitor divider is used to design an active RC section with gain. An improved buffered CR section is derived.
MEMBER‐BANK BORROWING: AN ADDITIONAL COMMENT

MY REFERENCE to the decline in bank borrowings in 1958 is intended to refer to their low general level in that period of comparative ease in contrast with the preceding period of comparative tightness. The point is that the observed association in 1958 of reduced levels of borrowings and high values for the least-cost spread may readily be explained in terms of Federal Reserve moves to ease credit via all three traditional instruments. Thus this decline need not support Polakoff's thesis that bankers' reluctance to borrow overcomes their cupidity in the upper ranges of the least-cost spread.
Mining biological networks for unknown pathways

Motivation: Biological pathways provide significant insights on the interaction mechanisms of molecules. Presently, many essential pathways still remain unknown or incomplete for newly sequenced organisms. Moreover, experimental validation of enormous numbers of possible pathway candidates in a wet-lab environment is time-and effort-extensive. Thus, there is a need for comparative genomics tools that help scientists predict pathways in an organism's biological network. Results: In this article, we propose a technique to discover unknown pathways in organisms. Our approach makes in-depth use of Gene Ontology (GO)-based functionalities of enzymes involved in metabolic pathways as follows: Model each pathway as a biological functionality graph of enzyme GO functions, which we call pathway functionality template. Locate frequent pathway functionality patterns so as to infer previously unknown pathways through pattern matching in metabolic networks of organisms. We have experimentally evaluated the accuracy of the presented technique for 30 bacterial organisms to predict around 1500 organism-specific versions of 50 reference pathways. Using cross-validation strategy on known pathways, we have been able to infer pathways with 86% precision and 72% recall for enzymes (i.e. nodes). The accuracy of the predicted enzyme relationships has been measured at 85% precision with 64% recall. Availability: Code upon request. Contact: ali.cakmak@case.edu Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Cognitive effects of androgen deprivation therapy in an older cohort of men with prostate cancer

Objective To determine the baseline prevalence of cognitive impairment in older men treated with ADT and to assess changes in cognitive performance over time.
Psychophysiologic and behavioral effects of tactile stimulation on infants with congenital heart disease

A within-subjects, counterbalanced, repeated measures design was employed to determine the effects of gender and six different types of verbal and tactile stimuli on the arousal of 24 infants hospitalized for congenital heart disease during their first 6 months of life. Infants were systematically assigned to different sequences of the various stimuli. Measures of arousal included heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, and activity level. Results indicated that the use of touch conducive to neural excitation (i.e., intense, vigorous, extensive touching of highly innervated body areas) produced higher heart rates (p less than .01) and systolic blood pressure (p less than .002) as well as greater activity (p less than .01) than did other types of tactile stimulation or soothing verbal stimulation. Girls appeared more physiologically responsive to touch than boys and a subset of infants showed evidence of distress during more arousing stimulation.
Vaccination Against Zoster Remains Effective in Older Adults Who Later Undergo Chemotherapy

Background. Approximately 40% of adults develop invasive cancer during their lifetimes, many of whom require chemotherapy. Herpes zoster (HZ) is common and often severe in patients undergoing chemotherapy, yet there are no data regarding whether these patients retain specific protection against HZ if they had previously re10 ceived zoster vaccine. We conducted a study to determine whether zoster vaccine was effective in patients who subsequently underwent chemotherapy. Methods. The cohort study consisted of Kaiser Permanente Southern California members aged ≥60 years treated with chemotherapy. The exposure variable was receipt of zoster vaccine prior to initiation of chemotherapy. Incident HZ cases were identified using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision diagnostic codes. HZ 15 incidence rates were calculated; hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression models. Results. There were 91 and 583 HZ cases in the vaccinated and unvaccinated cohorts, respectively, yielding an incidence rate of 12.87 (95% CI, 10.48–15.80) vs 22.05 (95% CI, 20.33–23.92) per 1000 person-years. Thirty-month cumulative incidence was 3.28% in the vaccinated group and 5.34% in the unvaccinated group (P< .05). The adjusted 20 HR for HZ was 0.58 (95% CI, .46–.73) and showed no significant variation by age, sex, or race. HZ incidence rates remained increased in the small subgroup of persons receiving zoster vaccine within 60 days before chemotherapy, but this was the only group affected by indication bias. No vaccinated patients underwent hospitalization for HZ, compared with 6 unvaccinated patients. Conclusions. Zoster vaccine continues to protect against HZ if recipients later undergo chemotherapy. Our find25 ings provide an additional rationale for offering zoster vaccine to indicated adults while they are immunocompetent.
Clusterin protects against oxidative stress in vitro through aggregative and nonaggregative properties

Clusterin protects against oxidative stress in vitro through aggregative and nonaggregative properties. Perturbations of cell interactions, an early event in acute renal injury, have important pathophysiologic consequences. We hypothesized that promotion of cell interactions protects cells from injury. To test this hypothesis, a single cell suspension of LLC-PK 1 cells (porcine proximal tubular cell line) treated with albumin (control) was compared to cells aggregated with fibrinogen or purified human clusterin (aggregation graded 0 to 4). Following aggregation, the cells were injured with 1.5 mM hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) for three hours. Cell aggregation induced by clusterin but not fibrinogen protected against oxidant injury by H 2 O 2 . Complete abrogation of cytotoxicity occurred at a clusterin concentration of 2.5 μg/ml, which resulted in an aggregation score of 1. In the absence of aggregation, clusterin at concentrations of 20 and 50 μg/ml, but not lower doses, partially protected against injury induced by H 2 O 2 . Cell aggregation induced by both clusterin and fibrinogen partially protected against endogenously generated oxidant stress induced by incubating LLC-PK 1 cells with aminotriazole and 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB). In conclusion, clusterin protects against models of oxidant stress in vitro , whether generated by exogenously administered hydrogen peroxide, or from endogenously produced peroxide, and such protective effects can accrue from aggregative and nonaggregative properties of clusterin.
Range effects of an irrelevant dimension on classification.

In univariate classification tasks, subjects sort stimuli on the basis of the only attribute that varies. In orthogonal classification tasks, often calledfiltering tasks, there additionally are trial-to-trial variations in irrelevant attributes that the subjects are instructed to ignore. Performance is generally slower in filtering tasks than in univariate control tasks. We investigated this slowing in experiments of how the range of irrelevant trial-to-trial variation affects responses in pitch/loudness classification tasks. Using two levels of pitch and of loudness as stimuli, Experiment 1 replicated prior work showing that responses are slowed more when the range of the irrelevant dimension is made larger. Also in Experiment 1, sequential analyses showed that response time depends both on sequence and on the stimulus set independent of sequence. Experiments 2 and 3 used several levels on the irrelevant dimension and showed that responses to categorize loudness are slowed more by larger trial-to-trial pitch differences, but only on trials when the response repeats. When the response changes, performance is essentially unaffected by trial-to-trial variation. This interaction supports the conclusion that slowed average performance in orthogonal clairrelevantssification tasks, which is known asGarner interference, is not due to difficulties that subjects have in filtering stimulus attributes. It is due to how subjects process successive stimulus differences. We call for more frequent reports of sequential analyses, because these can reveal information that is not available from data averages.
Mutagenesis of the La Crosse Virus glycoprotein supports a role for Gc (1066-1087) as the fusion peptide.

Abstract The La Crosse Virus (LACV) M segment encodes two glycoproteins (Gn and Gc), and plays a critical role in the neuropathogenesis of LACV infection as the primary determinant of neuroinvasion. A recent study from our group demonstrated that the region comprising the membrane proximal two-thirds of Gc, amino acids 860–1442, is critical in mediating LACV fusion and entry. Furthermore, computational analysis identified structural similarities between a portion of this region, amino acids 970–1350, and the E1 fusion protein of two alphaviruses: Sindbis virus and Semliki Forrest virus (SFV). Within the region 970–1350, a 22-amino-acid hydrophobic segment (1066–1087) is predicted to correlate structurally with the fusion peptides of class II fusion proteins. We performed site-directed mutagenesis of key amino acids in this 22-amino acid segment and determined the functional consequences of these mutations on fusion and entry. Several mutations within this hydrophobic domain affected glycoprotein expression to some extent, but all mutations either shifted the pH threshold of fusion below that of the wild-type protein, reduced fusion efficiency, or abrogated cell-to-cell fusion and pseudotype entry altogether. These results, coupled with the aforementioned computational modeling, suggest that the LACV Gc functions as a class II fusion protein and support a role for the region Gc 1066–1087 as a fusion peptide.
Nonlinear Fiber Core Liquid and Nematic Liquid Crystal Film for Wide Temporal Bandwidth Optical Limiting Application

Nonlinear absorption processes in an extremely nonlinear optical fiber core liquid, and recently observed supra-optical-nonlinearity in dopant modified nematic liquid crystals, are discussed in the context of optical limiting and anti-laser dazzling application.
Protocol-dependent message-passing performance on Linux clusters

In a Linux cluster, as in any multiprocessor system, the inter-processor communication rate is the major limiting factor to its general usefulness. This research is geared toward improving the communication performance by identifying where the inefficiencies lie and trying to understand their cause. The NetPIPE utility is being used to compare the latency and throughput of all current message-passing libraries and the native software layers they run upon for a variety of hardware configurations.
LOSS DETERMINATION METHODOLOGY FOR A PIEZOELECTRIC CERAMIC: NEW PHENOMENOLOGICAL THEORY AND EXPERIMENTAL PROPOSALS

The key factor to the miniaturization of piezoelectric devices is power density, which is limited by the heat generation or loss mechanisms. There are three loss components in general in piezoelectric vibrators/resonators, i.e., dielectric, elastic and piezoelectric losses. The mechanical quality factor, determined by these three factors, is the Figure Of Merit (FOM) in the sense of loss or heat generation. In this paper, we introduce a new loss phenomenology and innovative measuring methods based on the theory. First, quality factors at resonance and antiresonance for the k31, k33, kt and k15 vibration modes are derived theoretically, and the methodology for determining loss factors in various orientations (i.e., loss anisotropy) is provided. For simplicity, we focus on materials with ∞ mm (equivalent to 6 mm) crystal symmetry for deriving the loss factors of a polycrystalline ceramic, and 14 different loss factors among 20 in total can be obtained from the measurements. Second, we propose the experimental methods for measuring both mechanical quality factors QA and QB at the resonance and antiresonance modes: a continuous admittance/impedance spectrum measuring method (traditional with temperature rise) and a burst mode (to circumvent the temperature effect).
Design principles for intelligent environments

This paper describes design criteria for creating highly embedded, interactive spaces that we call Intelligent Environments. The motivation for building these systems is to bring computation into the real, physical world to support what is traditionally considered non-computational activity. We describe an existing prototype space, known as the Intelligent Room, which was created to experiment with different forms of natural, multimodal human-computer interaction. We discuss design decisions encountered while creating the Intelligent Room and how the experiences gained during its use have shaped the creation of its successor.