cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
On indices of mortality: deficiencies, validity, and alternatives.

Abstract Three indices of mortality, the Ratio of Rates Index, the Average of Relatives Index, and the Standardized Mortality Ratio, are examined. The former, which is the ratio of two age-standardized rates, is described. The effect of the choice of three population structures as a standard population upon this particular index is explored. The Average of Relatives Index is compared, in a similar manner, to the Ratio of Rates Index. The algebraic equivalence of the Ratio of Rates Index and the Standardized Mortality Ratio is noted and the general deficiency of each of these indices is discussed (particularly their dependence upon the choice of a standard population). A new index of mortality, the Relative Risk Index, is proposed. This index is derived from the view that the age-specific comparison of the populations being compared is, in reality, equivalent to comparisons in a 2 × 2 table. Hence, age-specific relative risks can be calculated and combined, using weights proposed for combining 2 × 2 tables by Cochran, Mantel and Haenszel. The proposed index is compared to the aforementioned three indices and the advantages of the new index are presented.
Gaze-contingent video resolution degradation

Experimental results are presented evaluating two wavelet- based gaze-contingent video resolution degradation methods under three foveal Region of Interest (ROI) placement strategies. ROI placement is described by the introduction of a novel visualization of viewers' scanpaths, termed Volumes of Interest (VOIs). VOIs represent foveal loci of gaze in 3D space-time. Three ROI placement strategies, ideal, preattentive, and aggregate, are used to determine the location of an unprocessed, dynamic spatial resolution region corresponding to the projected dimension of the fovea. Results indicate imperceptible degradation effects of both ideal and preattentive strategies under a visual tracking paradigm.
Left ventricular mass regression after porcine versus bovine aortic valve replacement: a randomized comparison.

Background It is unclear whether small differences in transprosthetic gradient between porcine and bovine biologic aortic valves translate into improved regression of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy after aortic valve replacement. We investigated transprosthetic gradient, aortic valve orifice area, and LV mass in patients randomized to aortic valve replacement with either the Medtronic Mosaic (MM) porcine or an Edwards Perimount (EP) bovine pericardial bioprosthesis. Methods One hundred fifty-two patients with aortic valve disease were randomly assigned to receive either the MM (n = 76) or an EP prosthesis. There were 89 men (59%), and the mean age was 76 years. Echocardiograms from preoperative, postoperative, predismissal, and 1-year time points were analyzed. Results Baseline characteristics and preoperative echocardiograms were similar between the two groups. The median implant size was 23 mm for both. There were no early deaths, and 10 patients (7%) died after dismissal. One hundred seven of 137 patients (78%) had a 1-year echocardiogram, and none required aortic valve reoperation. The mean aortic valve gradient at dismissal was 19.4 mm Hg (MM) versus13.5 mm Hg (EP; p Conclusions Small differences in transprosthetic gradient and indexed aortic valve orifice area exist between porcine and bovine aortic valves. Despite this, both prostheses allow similar regression of LV mass during the first year after aortic valve replacement.
Characteristics of a High-Speed Multipath Core for a Coincident-Current Memory

Design factors and operational features of a multiaperture ferrite memory core are discussed showing how a low coercive force, low switching coefficient material may be used for a high-speed coincident current storage device. The formulation, geometry, and important processing variables are given and a method of handling large numbers of asymmetrical cores for electrical test is described. Electromagnetic characteristics, pulse drive and bias test conditions are given. Data is presented showing the effect on core responses of varying net drive, pulse duration, half select drive and temperature. This device represents about a four-fold speed increase in comparison with present coincident current toroids.
Investigating pristine inner experience: implications for experience sampling and questionnaires.

Abstract We argue that inquiring about directly apprehended (“pristine”) inner experience requires four overlapping methodological characteristics: effectively limiting investigation to specific, clearly identified moments; effectively limiting investigation to pristine experience; bracketing presuppositions; and iteratively acquiring skills. We compare and contrast Descriptive Experience Sampling (DES), other (non-DES) experience sampling methods, and questionnaires and conclude that whereas non-DES sampling methods and questionnaires appear to inquire about pristine inner experience, they fall short on all four methodological counts and therefore might be better understood as investigating an ill-defined mixture of presuppositions, judgments about experience, and pristine experience itself. Typical experience sampling studies and questionnaires can be valid and useful, but their validity and utility does not (or at least does not necessarily) arise from their phenomenological fidelity.
Summary of the scientific conference on dietary fatty acids and cardiovascular health: conference summary from the nutrition committee of the American Heart Association.

The objective of this Executive Summary is to provide a synopsis of the research findings presented at the American Heart Association conference “Dietary Fatty Acids and Cardiovascular Health—Dietary Recommendations for Fatty Acids: Is There Ample Evidence?” held on June 5–6, 2000, in Reston, Va. The conference was held to summarize the current understanding of the effects of fatty acids on risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer, as well as to identify gaps in our knowledge base that need to be addressed. There is great interest in learning more about the biological effects of the individual fatty acids, their role in chronic disease risk, and their underlying mechanisms of action. As research advances are made, there is always the need to question how new findings may be translated into practice. There is a long history of research providing the basis for the modification of existing dietary guidelines. Research findings have been used to verify intake criteria and are considered along with practical issues of implementation to establish new guidelines. A substantive body of consistent evidence sufficient to defend a dietary recommendation or a change in existing dietary guidance is essential. The conference highlighted the progress that has been made in understanding the biological effects of fatty acids and also addressed the need to learn more about how different fatty acids affect the risk of chronic disease, within the context of refining dietary guidance to further enhance health. As study designs have become increasingly rigorous, a number of megatrends have emerged from the data.1 2 There is increased emphasis on identifying the type of fat that best correlates with disease end points. The classic studies of Keys et al3 and Hegsted et al4 have shown that saturated fatty acids (ie, those with a carbon chain length of C12:0 …
High Range Resolution Ultrasonic C Scan For Nondestructive Evaluation Of Composite Materials

High range resolution ultrasonic c scan for nondestructive evaluation of composite materialsR. Zapp, B. Ho and L. LiDepartment of Electrical Engineering, Michigan State UniversityEast Lansing, Michigan 48824AbstractA low cost high range resolution ultrasonic imaging system has been developed to nondestructivelyevaluate composite material as well as biological tissue and agricultural products. The system which iscapable of dual displays, B and C scans, utilizes high frequency sampling and phase processing of the r.f.signal in order to achieve range resolutions of .5 mm and range accuracies of .1 mm. A pseudorandomsequence signal processing scheme is under development to enhance the signal- to-noise ratio for low level
Modular Synthesis and Preliminary Biological Evaluation of Stereochemically Diverse 1,3-Dioxanes

Modular synthesis and substrate stereocontrol were combined to furnish 18,000 diverse 1,3-dioxanes whose distribution in chemical space rivals that of a reference set of over 2,000 bioactive small molecules. Library quality was assessed at key synthetic stages, culminating in a detailed postsynthesis analysis of purity, yield, and structural characterizability, and the resynthesis of library subsets that did not meet quality standards. The importance of this analysis-resynthesis process is highlighted by the discovery of new biological probes through organismal and protein binding assays, and by determination of the building block and stereochemical basis for their bioactivity. This evaluation of a portion of the 1,3-dioxane library suggests that many additional probes for chemical genetics will be identified as the entire library becomes biologically annotated.
AKAP15 anchors cAMP-dependent protein kinase to brain sodium channels.

Abstract The voltage-sensitive sodium channel is regulated by cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) phosphorylation. Using purified preparations of rat brain sodium channels, we have shown that the α subunit was phosphorylated by a co-purifying protein kinase. The co-purifying kinase was stimulated by cAMP and phosphorylated PKA substrate peptides. Both the regulatory and catalytic subunits of PKA were detected by immunoblotting in purified sodium channel preparations. Bound PKA was immunoprecipitated with anti-SP19 antibodies directed against the sodium channel α subunit. PKA bound to sodium channels phosphorylated the sodium channel α subunit on the same four serine residues as observed with exogenously added PKA, indicating that association with the sodium channel does not restrict the sites of phosphorylation. Analysis of proteins with high affinity for the type II α regulatory subunit of PKA in a gel overlay assay identified a 15-kDa cAMP-dependent protein kinase-anchoring protein (AKAP) in these preparations. Determination of its amino acid sequence by mass spectrometry revealed two peptides identical to AKAP15, a recently described AKAP that targets PKA to skeletal muscle calcium channels. The co-purifying AKAP was also immunoreactive with antibodies generated against AKAP15, and antibodies directed against AKAP15 co-immunoprecipitated the sodium channel. Our results indicate that PKA is bound to brain sodium channels through interaction with AKAP15. Association of AKAP15 with both skeletal muscle calcium channels and brain sodium channels suggests that it may have broad specificity in targeting PKA to ion channels for regulation.
Vacuum Filtration of Large Volumes in the Laboratory

Laboratory vacuum filtration of large volumes of liquids may be safely, easily, and economically accomplished without the use of pumps and without the necessity for placing receivers under vacuum. In the method described the lowered pressure is generated by the filtrate as it falls down a vertical tube.
Source apportionment of airborne particulate matter in Southeast Texas using a source-oriented 3D air quality model

Abstract A nested version of the source-oriented externally mixed UCD/CIT model was developed to study the source contributions to airborne particulate matter (PM) during a two-week long air quality episode during the Texas 2000 Air Quality Study (TexAQS 2000). Contributions to primary PM and secondary ammonium sulfate in the Houston–Galveston Bay (HGB) and Beaumont–Port Arthur (BPA) areas were determined. The predicted 24-h elemental carbon (EC), organic compounds (OC), sulfate, ammonium ion and primary PM 2.5 mass are in good agreement with filter-based observations. Predicted concentrations of hourly sulfate, ammonium ion, and primary OC from diesel and gasoline engines and biomass burning organic aerosol (BBOA) at La Porte, Texas agree well with measurements from an Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS). The UCD/CIT model predicts that EC is mainly from diesel engines and majority of the primary OC is from internal combustion engines and industrial sources. Open burning contributes large fractions of EC, OC and primary PM 2.5 mass. Road dust, internal combustion engines and industries are the major sources of primary PM 2.5 . Wildfire dominates the contributions to all primary PM components in areas near the fires. The predicted source contributions to primary PM are in general agreement with results from a chemical mass balance (CMB) model. Discrepancy between the two models suggests that further investigations on the industrial PM emissions are necessary. Secondary ammonium sulfate accounts for the majority of the secondary inorganic PM. Over 80% of the secondary sulfate in the 4 km domain is produced in upwind areas. Coal combustion is the largest source of sulfate. Ammonium ion is mainly from agriculture sources and contributions from gasoline vehicles are significant in urban areas.
Retinal remodeling triggered by photoreceptor degenerations.

Many photoreceptor degenerations initially affect rods, secondarily leading to cone death. It has long been assumed that the surviving neural retina is largely resistant to this sensory deafferentation. New evidence from fast retinal degenerations reveals that subtle plasticities in neuronal form and connectivity emerge early in disease. By screening mature natural, transgenic, and knockout retinal degeneration models with computational molecular phenotyping, we have found an extended late phase of negative remodeling that radically changes retinal structure. Three major transformations emerge: 1) Muller cell hypertrophy and elaboration of a distal glial seal between retina and the choroid/retinal pigmented epithelium; 2) apparent neuronal migration along glial surfaces to ectopic sites; and 3) rewiring through evolution of complex neurite fascicles, new synaptic foci in the remnant inner nuclear layer, and new connections throughout the retina. Although some neurons die, survivors express molecular signatures characteristic of normal bipolar, amacrine, and ganglion cells. Remodeling in human and rodent retinas is independent of the initial molecular targets of retinal degenerations, including defects in the retinal pigmented epithelium, rhodopsin, or downstream phototransduction elements. Although remodeling may constrain therapeutic intervals for molecular, cellular, or bionic rescue, it suggests that the neural retina may be more plastic than previously believed.
Chance inheritance: the subtle power of birth order

Where you sit in the sequence of your siblings may affect how you turn out – influencing health, height, intelligence and even sexuality
A new form of the cokriging equations

Myers developed a matrix form of the cokriging equations, but one that entails the solution of a large system of linear equations. Large systems are troublesome because of memory requirements and a general increase in the matrix condition number. We transform Myers’s system into a set of smaller systems, whose solution gives the classical kriging results, and provides simultaneously a nested set of lower dimensional cokriging results. In the course of developing the new formulation we make an interesting link to the Cauchy-Schwarz condition for the invertibility of a system, and another to a simple situation of coregionalization. In addition, we proceed from these new equations to a linear approximation to the cokriging results in the event that the crossvariograms are small, allowing one to take advantage of a recent results of Xie and others which proceeds by diagonalizing the variogram matrix function over the lag classes.
Steric effects in coordination of 1,1,1-tris(dimethylaminomethyl)ethane and of 1,1,1-tris(monomethylaminomethyl)ethane—II. Zinc iodide and cadmium iodide complexes☆

Abstract The coordination characteristics of the ligands 1,1,1-tris(monomethylaminomethyl)ethane (TSN) and 1,1,1-tris(dimethylaminomethyl)ethane (TTN) have been investigated by the preparation and characterization of their zinc iodide and cadmium iodide complexes. The structures of the complexes were established from 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, IR spectroscopy and complementary physical-chemical studies. The zinc iodide complexes TSNZnI2 and TTNZnI2 are isomorphous with their chloro and bromo analogues, which indicates that the size of the halo group has no effect on the stereochemistry. The ligands in all of these zinc complexes are bidentate; the bound and free “legs” of the TSN ligands in these complexes exchange rapidly on the NMR time scale, while those of the TTN ligands do not. In contrast, cadmium iodide forms an ionic complex, [TSNCdI][CdI3], and a covalent complex, TTNCdI2, which differ stereochemically from the LZnX2 complexes. In both cadmium complexes, the ligands are tridentate, due to a combination of the larger size of cadmium and the ability of these tripod systems to distort outwards about the C3 ligand axis, thus lessening the steric interactions between the adjacent donor centres. Consequently, the cation [TSNCdI]+ and the neutral complex TTNCdI2 have bicyclic, cage-like structures featuring tetra- and pentacoordinated cadmium centres, respectively.
Relative effectiveness of reappraisal and distraction in regulating emotion in late-life depression

Objectives The present study compares the effectiveness of two strategies, reappraisal and distraction, in reducing negative affect in older adults induced by focusing on personally relevant negative events and stressors. Participants 30 adults with major depressive disorger (MDD) and 40 never-depressed (ND) comparison participants ages 60 years and over (mean age = 69.7 years). Design and Measurements Participants underwent three affect induction trials, each followed by a different emotion regulation strategy: distraction, reappraisal, and a no-instruction control condition. Self-reported affect was recorded pre- and post-affect induction, and at one-minute intervals during regulation. Results Across groups, participants reported greater reductions in negative affect with distraction than reappraisal or the no-instruction control condition. An interaction between group and regulation condition indicated that distraction was more effective in reducing negative affect in the MDD group than the ND group. Conclusions These results suggest that distraction is an especially effective strategy for reducing negative affect in older adults with MDD. Finding ways to incorporate distraction skills into psychotherapeutic interventions for late-life MDD may improve their effectiveness, especially for short-term improvement of affect following rumination.
EFFECTS OF STARVATION ON DISTRIBUTION OF MINERAL NUTRIENTS IN FRENCH PRUNE TREES GROWN IN CULTURE SOLUTIONS.

Leaf samples were taken for analysis, from the entire group of French prune trees starved for various elements (2), at three dates during 1930, the second year of starvation. The first collections were on May 15, the second on July 25, and the third and last on November 5. By the time of the last collection, several groups of trees (-Ca, -P, -N) had dropped all of their leaves, and therefore no analyses are reported for leaves of these groups, and for this date. In most respects, the second year analyses (tables I, II; figs. 1, 2) agree with the analyses of the leaves taken at the close of the 1929 season. Leaves from -K cultures were consistently high (on dry-weight basis) in N and P2O5 throughout the entire season of 1930. These leaves were about 30 per cent, above normal in CaO and MgO, but showed only 31 per cent, of normal K2O on November 5. The CaO content of leaves starved for calcium started at 51 per cent, of normal (on May 15), and fell to 38.6 per cent, normal by July 25. They were low in N and in ash, and high in MgO and K2O throughout the season.
Characterization of some ternary III-V semiconductor/electrolyte interfaces utilizing electrochemical impedance spectroscopy

Abstract Single crystal GaInP 2 and Ga 1− x Al x As-aqueous electrolyte interfaces were investigated utilizing electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Both materials have band gaps that are much larger than the theoretical free energy required to decompose water (1.23 eV) and may do so depending on the energetic positions of the band edges. Impedance spectra (500 μHz-100 kHz) were used to model the interface in terms of a space-charge layer capacitance, a constant phase element and oxide film capacitance in some cases, and associated resistances. The flat-band potential and carrier concentrations were determined from Mott-Schottky plots. It was found that the corresponding band edges of both materials fall short of encompassing both the hydrogen and oxygen redox levels and are thus not capable of splitting water in the absence of an external bias.
A Standardized Method for Determination of Who Should Be Listed as Authors on Scholarly Papers

A handy method is described of selecting among the inevitable onslaught of 100 to 200 potential coauthors that mysteriously appear whenever a journal article is submitted for publication. The “relative authorship weighting scale” helps to decide who actually qualifies as an author and serves as an objective means of determining the appropriate order in which these various goldbrickers should be listed on the manuscript. (Chest 1991; 99:786)
It Was Heaven: An Interview with Evelyn Witkin

Evelyn Witkin came of age at the dawn of bacterial genetics. In 1941 and with World War II looming, she began her PhD studies at Columbia University, and soon, with her very first experiment, she serendipitously cracked open a new field of research by discovering bacteria resistant to ultraviolet (UV) light.
Metal-nonmetal transition in sodium-argon films

Films of sodium and argon have been formed on substrates held at 5 K. As composition is varied, a metal-nonmetal transition is observed which is qualitatively different from previously reported measurements on the sodium-argon system.
Looking Awry at St Erkenwald

Abstract Saint Erkenwald has always invited historicist readings. An approach that explores the poem's libidinal investments and ethical blind spots from outside its own doctrinal assumptions can help us better understand both its dynamics and its place in our own critical discourse, in which we strategically adopt, but do not necessarily share, the poet's eschatological assumptions. The “daunger” experienced by Erkenwald in his confrontation with the pagan judge, his mirror image in the poem, derives from the apparent failure of divine revelation to “unlouke” the mystery of what ought to be done in the circumstances, while the judge's account of his probity and righteousness contains its own contradictory elements. The poem's reliance on one formal procedure (i.e., baptism) to resolve its ethical deadlock over the fate of the virtuous pagan is undermined by its own structural symmetries, which tend to erase the kind of distinction that the sacrament is said to confer.
Estimating thermal contact resistance using sensitivity analysis and regularization

Characterization of the thermal contact resistance is important in modeling of multi-component thermal systems which feature mechanically mated surfaces. Thermal resistance is phenomenologically quite complex and depends on many parameters including surface characteristics of the interfacial region and contact pressure. Although most studies seek a single value as a function of these parameters, in general, the contact resistance is non-uniform over the interface. In this paper, a technique is developed for extracting non-uniform contact resistance values from experiments in two-dimensional configurations. To begin, a two-dimensional model problem is formulated for a known contact resistance between two mated surfaces. An inverse problem is devised to estimate the variation of the contact resistance by using the BEM to determine sensitivity coefficients for specific temperature measurement points in the geometry. Temperature measured at these discrete locations can be processed to yield the contact resistance between the two mating surfaces using a simple matrix inversion technique. The inversion process is sensitive to noise and requires using a regularization technique to obtain physically possible results. The regularization technique is then extended to a genetic algorithm for performing the inverse analysis. Numerical simulations are carried out to demonstrate the approach. Random noise is used to simulate the effect of input uncertainties in measured temperatures at the sensors.
Between the Newsroom and the Classroom: Education Standards and Practices for Print Journalism in Egypt and Jordan

This study surveyed a convenience sample of journalism educators at Arab universities and journalism practitioners at daily Arab newspapers in Egypt and Jordan to determine the degree of alignment ...
Dissociation heat transfer characteristics of methane hydrates

Etude des limitations du transfert de chaleur lors de la dissociation d'hydrates de methane
Circuit and architecture trade-offs for high-speed multiplication

VLSI implementations of high-performance parallel multipliers are discussed. Circuit building blocks required for partial-product reduction are analyzed and two schemes leading to highly regular layouts are proposed. The circuit implementations related to the first-scheme in three different BiCMOS technologies are discussed. The die size and performance for nominal design rule values are compared, and the trend in scaling the feature sizes is studied. A silicon implementation of a prototype slice of an IEEE double-precision floating point multiplier in a 0.8- mu m double-metal BiCMOS technology is presented. >
Circulating levels of inflammatory cytokines and risk of colorectal adenomas.

The association between obesity and colorectal neoplasia may be mediated by inflammation. Circulating levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) are elevated in the obese. Adipose tissue can produce and release the inflammatory cytokines that are potentially procarcinogenic. We examined circulating levels of CRP, IL-6, and TNF-α in relation to risk factors and the prevalence of colorectal adenomas. Plasma levels of CRP, IL-6, and TNF-α were quantified in 873 participants (242 colorectal adenoma cases and 631 controls) in a colonoscopy-based cross-sectional study conducted between 1998 and 2002. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate associations between levels of inflammatory cytokines, colorectal adenomas, and known risk factors. Several known risk factors for colorectal neoplasia were associated with higher levels of inflammatory cytokines such as older age, current smoking, and increasing adiposity. The prevalence of colorectal adenomas was associated with higher concentrations of IL-6 and TNF-α, and to a lesser degree, with CRP. For IL-6, adjusted odds ratios for colorectal adenomas were 1.78 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.18–2.68) for the second highest plasma level, and 1.84 (95% CI: 1.24– 2.74) for the highest level compared with the reference level. A similar association was found with TNF-α, with adjusted odds ratios of 1.54 (95% CI: 1.02–2.33) and 1.65 (95% CI: 1.09–2.50), respectively. Our findings indicate that inflammation might be involved in the early development of colorectal neoplasia, and suggest that systemic inflammatory cytokines might be an indicator of obesity and other risk factors for colorectal neoplasia.
The hepatitis B virus X protein targets the basic region-leucine zipper domain of CREB.

Abstract The X gene product encoded by the hepatitis B virus, termed pX, is a promiscuous transactivator of a variety of viral and cellular genes under the control of diverse cis-acting elements. Although pX does not appear to directly bind DNA, pX-responsive elements include the NF-kappa B, AP-1, and CRE (cAMP response element) sites. Direct protein-protein interactions occur between viral pX and the CRE-binding transcription factors CREB and ATF. Here we examine the mechanism of the protein-protein interactions occurring between CREB and pX by using recombinant proteins and in vitro DNA-binding assays. We demonstrate that pX interacts with the basic region-leucine zipper domain of CREB but not with the DNA-binding domain of the yeast transactivator protein Gal4. The interaction between CREB and pX increases the affinity of CREB for the CRE site by an order of magnitude, although pX does not alter the rate of CREB dimerization. Methylation interference footprinting reveals differences between the CREB DNA and CREB-pX DNA complexes. These experiments demonstrate that pX titers the way CREB interacts with the CRE DNA and suggest that the basic, DNA-binding region of CREB is the target of pX. Transfection assays in PC12 cells with the CREB-dependent somatostatin promoter demonstrate a nearly 15-fold transcriptional induction after forskolin stimulation in the presence of pX. These results support the significance of the CREB-pX protein-protein interactions in vivo.
Linfadenitis tuberculosa en infección VIH: Hallazgos histológicos

Introduction: Coinfection of human virus immunodeficiency (VIH) and tuberculosis changes the histological features of tuberculosis; this is particularly frequent in tuberculous lymphadenitis. Objective: To identify main histological diferences between tuberculous lymphadenitis associated to VIH and not associated to VIH. Design: Descriptive, transversal, comparative stufy. Setting: Pathological Anatomy Service, Dos de Mayo Hospital. Participants: Patients with tuberculous lymphadenitis associated or not to VIH. Interventions: Study of histological differences between lymphadenitis tuberculosis associated with HIV and non associated with HIV, during 2005 and first half of 2006. Main outcome measures: Histological presentation of tuberculosis. Results: Twenty-two cases of tuberculous lymphadenitis were identified, 27,3% showed VIH coinfection; caseum necrosis was identified in 83,3% of cases HIV-associated and in 100% of nonHIV associated cases (p=0,00). Koch bacillus was identified in 50% of associated HIV cases and it was not identified in any non related HIV case (p=0,01). We also found an attributable risk of 52,3% for the development of caseum necrosis and presence of Langhans cells. Conclusions: We found higher presence of mycobacterium in HIV positive patients and higher presence of caseum necrosis in HIV negative patients.
Investigating the Function of Ddr48p in Candida albicans

Candidiasis now represents the fourth most frequent nosocomial infection both in the United States and worldwide. Candida albicans is an increasingly common threat to human health as a consequence of AIDS, steroid therapy, organ and tissue transplantation, cancer therapy, broad-spectrum antibiotics, and other immune defects. The pathogenic potential of C. albicans is intimately related to certain key processes, including biofilm formation and filamentation. Ddr48p is a damage response protein that is significantly upregulated during both biofilm formation and filamentation, but its actual function is unknown. Previous studies have indicated that this protein may be essential in C. albicans but not Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here we examined the function of Ddr48p and investigated the role of this protein in biofilm formation and filamentation. We demonstrated that this protein is not essential in C. albicans and appears to be dispensable for filamentation. However, DDR48 is required for the flocculation response stimulated by 3-aminotriazole-induced amino acid starvation. Furthermore, we examined the response of this deletion strain to a wide variety of environmental stressors and antifungal compounds. We observed several mild sensitivity or resistance phenotypes and also found that Ddr48p contributes to the DNA damage response of C. albicans. The results of this study reveal that the role of this highly expressed protein goes beyond a general stress response and impinges on a key facet of pathogenesis, namely, the ability to sense and respond to changes in the host environment.
Special Considerations in Design of Trials with Elderly Subjects: Unexplained Weight Loss, Body Composition and Energy Expenditure

Wasting and cachexia are significant problems in the elderly that increase mortality and morbidity. It is presently unclear as to the physiological mechanism underlying unexplained weight loss. We examine heart failure as a physiological model to demonstrate the importance of measuring several physiological outcome variables that have increased our understanding of wasting and cachexia in the elderly. These include the assessment of: energy expenditure, body composition, physical activity and exercise tolerance. We review recent data that has assessed energy expenditure in free-living heart failure patients using stable isotope methodology (doubly labeled water). Preliminary results show low levels of daily energy expenditure in heart failure patients due to extremely low levels of physical activity. Thus, a hypermetabolic state in free-living heart failure patients is not supported by these findings. The low level of physical activity is likely a consequence of their reduced exercise capacity and contributes to their skeletal muscle atrophy. This concept is support by the relationship between peak VO 2 and muscle mass (r = 0.92; P < 0.01), as measured from dual energy x-ray absorptiometry. An understanding of the physiological factors influencing energy dysregulation and low exercise capacity may help guide future therapeutic interventions to restore energy balance and increase functional independence in patients with chronic heart failure.
Revisiting Burnout Among Special Education Teachers: Do Age, Experience, and Preparation Still Matter?:

A study of special education teacher burnout conducted nearly 20 years ago was replicated with a sample of 300 current teachers to examine changes that may have occurred due to evolution of the field. Specifically, the relationships of participants' age, amount of regular and special education teaching experience, certification status, and amount of professional preparation to three dimensions of burnout—emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment—were examined. Results of the current study are reported, analyzed, and compared to those of the earlier study. A major finding is that teachers' age, amount of special education experience, and amount of preparation have markedly increased in the 20 years between the two studies. A second major finding is that age, experience, certification status, and preparation are not as significantly related to the experience of professional burnout as in the past, although older, more experienced teachers do appear to find more personal accomplish...
Improved Low-Order Modeling of a Pitching and Perching Plate

A low-order point vortex model for the unsteady aerodynamics of agile ight of micro air vehicles is developed further in this work. A vortex is released from both the trailing and leading edges of the at plate section, and the strength of each is determined by enforcing the Kutta condition at the edges. We derive a new evolution equation for the vortex position by equating the rate of change of its impulse with that of an equivalent surrogate vortex with identical properties but constant strength. This approach leads to a model that admits more general criteria for ‘shedding’ (i.e. freezing the strength of the vortex) than the previous model developed by the authors, based on the Brown{Michael equation (AIAA Paper 2010-4281). We show that the results of the new model, when applied to a pitching or perching wing, agree much better with experiments and high-delity simulations than the previous model. Current limitations of the model and extensions to more general unsteady aerodynamic problems are discussed.
An aquacultural evaluation of Florida, northern, and hybrid largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides

Abstract Largemouth bass (Centrarchidae) strain evaluation experiments conducted to determine suitability of this species for aquaculture are summarized. Strain comparisons of two subspecies, Micropterus salmoides salmoides (northern) and M. s. floridanus (Florida), and the two F t hybrids were characterized under an intensive culture regime. Food trainability, growth, survival, feed conversion, stress response, response to low temperature, and responses to low dissolved oxygen coupled with water quality perturbations were characterized. All strains were reared communally and separately and tested for the various performance characters after electrophoretic identification. Northern largemouth bass grew faster, resisted net-stress better, tolerated ammonia in the water better, trained to eat pelleted food more readily, tolerated low temperatures and low oxygen better, and converted food to biomass more efficiently than the other three strains of largemouth bass tested.
DEVS-FIRE: Towards an Integrated Simulation Environment for Surface Wildfire Spread and Containment

Simulating wildfire spread and containment remains a challenging problem due to the complexity of fire behavior. In this paper, the authors present an integrated simulation environment for surface wildfire spread and containment called DEVS-FIRE. DEVS-FIRE is based on the discrete event system specification (DEVS) and uses a cellular space model for simulating wildfire spread and agent models for simulating wildfire containment. The cellular space model incorporates real spatial fuels data, terrain data and temporal weather data into the prediction of wildfire behavior across both time and space. DEVS-FIRE is designed to be integrated with stochastic optimization models that use the scenario results from the simulation to determine an optimal mix of firefighting resources to dispatch to a wildfire. Preliminary computational experiments with fuel, terrain and weather data for a real forest demonstrate the viability of the integrated simulation environment for wildfire spread and containment.
Self‐Diffusion of Ca in Single‐Crystal CaF2

The self-diffusion of Ca in single-crystal CaF2 was determined by a tracer serial-sectioning technique. From 987° to 1246°C, the results can be described by Analyzing these results on the basis of a Ca ion vacancy diffusion mechanism, the enthalpy of migration, hm, can be estimated as 1.75 eV. The order of magnitude of the preexponential factor can be satisfactorily explained on the basis of lattice strain entropy effects.
Inhaled Iloprost in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

OBJECTIVETo review the pharmacology, pharmacodynamics, and clinical trials evaluating inhaled iloprost in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).DATA SOURCESA MEDLINE search (1996–February 2005) was performed using the key words pulmonary hypertension, iloprost, and epoprostenol. Information regarding Food and Drug Administration approval was obtained via the Internet.STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTIONAll clinical trials using inhaled iloprost in PAH published in English were identified. Additionally, references from the identified articles were reviewed.DATA SYNTHESISA stable analog of prostacyclin, inhaled iloprost is thought to promote benefit in PAH through vasodilation, antiproliferative effects, and inhibition of platelet aggregation. In a placebo-controlled trial of 203 patients, inhaled iloprost significantly improved the combined endpoint of change in New York Heart Association functional class and 10% improvement in 6-minute walk distance (p = 0.007). Small, short-term clinical trials demonstrat...
Global Two-Channel AVHRR Retrievals of Aerosol Properties over the Ocean for the Period of NOAA-9 Observations and Preliminary Retrievals Using NOAA-7 and NOAA-11 Data

Abstract Described is an improved algorithm that uses channel 1 and 2 radiances of the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) to retrieve the aerosol optical thickness and Angstrom exponent over the ocean. Specifically discussed are recent changes in the algorithm as well as the results of a sensitivity study analyzing the effect of several sources of retrieval errors not addressed previously. Uncertainties in the AVHRR radiance calibration (particularly in the deep-space count value) may be among the major factors potentially limiting the retrieval accuracy. A change by one digital count may lead to a 50% change in the aerosol optical thickness and a change of 0.4 in the Angstrom exponent. On the other hand, the performance of two-channel algorithms weakly depends on a specific choice of the aerosol size distribution function with less than 10% changes in the optical thickness resulting from replacing a power law with a bimodal modified lognormal distribution. The updated algorithm is applied t...
Disappearing into the Object: Aesthetic Subjectivities and Organizational Control in Routine Cultural Work

Taking a labor process approach to organizations in cultural industries, this article compares expressive and routine workers (audio engineers and studio attendants) within a US music-recording organization. I describe a practical control strategy that aims to reproduce the pleasurable feel of expressive work among routine cultural workers. Because this strategy depends upon workers’ aesthetic experiences of technological objects, I term this strategy aesthetic enrollment. Drawing upon theories of aesthetic experience and Callon and Law’s enrollment processes, I theorize this strategy as a form of control. Engineers come to love their ability to express creativity at work and appear captivated by the organization’s aesthetically compelling technical artifacts (music equipment or “gear”). Among rehearsal hall attendants, management provides similar aesthetically appealing, expressive technologies. These objects afford experiences among routine staff that resemble those found in more expressive occupations, providing opportunities for creativity in the context of routine, task-oriented work. This strategy manages the “feel” of work and thus incorporates employees by way of their relationship with technical artifacts – part of the organization’s aesthetic landscape.
Role of Embolization in the Treatment of Renal Masses

Renal arterial embolization (RAE) performed for the treatment of renal masses has been proven to be a safe and effective technique, with several decades of experience. RAE is well tolerated with few complications, particularly if the time interval from embolization to surgery is reduced to less than 48 hours. Review of the literature suggests that RAE is also extremely effective for palliation of symptoms in the setting of nonoperative advanced stage renal cell carcinoma. In addition, this technique plays a large role in the management of angiomyolipomas that are symptomatic or at risk of spontaneous rupture. To date, RAE has not been evaluated in a randomized controlled setting, which has contributed to its underutilization. All of these potential benefits warrant the need for prospective studies for further validation.
On Becoming a Bilingual Teacher: A Transformative Process for Preservice and Novice Teachers:

This study explores the personal transformation process experienced by future bilingual educators enrolled in a graduate school of education that is committed to rigorous, collaborative, innovative...
Evolution of Enzymatic Activities in the Enolase Superfamily:Galactarate Dehydratase III from Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58

The genome of Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58 encodes 12 members of the enolase superfamily (ENS), eight of which are members of the mandelate racemase (MR) subgroup and, therefore, likely to be acid sugar dehydratases. Using a library of 77 acid sugars for high-throughput screening, one protein (UniProt entry A9CG74; locus tag Atu4196) showed activity with both m-galactarate and d-galacturonate. Two families of galactarate dehydratases had been discovered previously in the ENS, GalrD/TalrD [Yew, W. S., et al. (2007) Biochemistry 46, 9564–9577] and GalrD-II [Rakus, J. F., et al. (2009) Biochemistry 48, 11546–11558]; these have different active site acid/base catalysis and have no activity with d-galacturonate. A9CG74 dehydrates m-galactarate to form 2-keto-3-deoxy-galactarate but does not dehydrate d-galacturonate as expected. Instead, when A9CG74 is incubated with d-galacturonate, 3-deoxy-d-xylo-hexarate or 3-deoxy-d-lyxo-hexarate is formed. In this reaction, instead of abstracting the C5 proton α to the c...
Hydrocarbon Flame Speed Enhancement with High-Power Pulsed Microwaves

Recent developments have been made in the investigation of a pulsed microwave enhanced combustion system that demonstrates a significant increase in the laminar flame speed of a CH4/air stagnation flame. Previous research has quantified a 20%-25% flame speed enhancement with a 1.3 kW continuous wave (CW) microwave system and new, pulsed magnetron radiation results qualitatively show a similar level of increase with 50 times less power. This apparent ability to actively control hydrocarbon flame speed may prove to be a viable tool for issues that plague hypersonic combustors. The significance of the move towards a pulsed microwave system is two-fold. For one, the question of coupling efficiency is slightly alleviated with the 25 W average power, 1000 Hz repetition rate (0.001 duty cycle) pulses. Secondly the short-pulsed microwave system has proven to not create the parasitic breakdown effect that was seen with high levels of CW-radiation. In fact, even with generation of a pulsed plasma in the post-flame region, the enhancement remains and at this point qualitatively appears to be of a greater magnitude than that seen with the CW system.
Educational Perspectives: Bundling NRP: A Comprehensive Maternal Neonatal Resuscitation Program

Obstetric and neonatal care providers will rarely be required to carry out simultaneous maternal and neonatal resuscitation. However, if this event occurs, a perfect performance of basic life support, advanced cardiac life support with considerations for pregnancy, and neonatal resuscitation guidelines will afford the woman and her child the best chance for survival. Training for rare events with such high stakes is challenging. It is time to consider moving from a traditional life-support training format to one that is bundled with all of the life-support programs required for a specific unit. Organizing resuscitation training so that care providers from a specific unit train together allows them time to practice key nontechnical skills as a team. Team building in this manner supports the adoption of the cognitive, technical, and nontechnical skills required for this difficult event.
Immunologic diagnosis of schistosomiasis: III. The effects of nutritional status and infection intensity on intradermal test results in St. Lucian children*

The question of the insensitivity of immediate and delayed skin testing in children was studied with respect to both nutritional status and intensity of infection. Ninety-seven children on the island of St. Lucia, 5 to 11 years of age, with almost equal male: female distribution, all excreting eggs of Schistosoma mansoni were tested as follows: qualitative and quantitative stool examinations; anthropometric measurements (height, weight, mid-arm circumference and triceps skinfold thickness); hematocrit; fluorescent antibody test; and skin tests with control material, S. mansoni adult worm antigen (both Puerto Rican and St. Lucian strains), and intermediate strength PPD tuberculin. The anthropometric measurements revealed marginal malnutrition among the children. The overall positive intradermal response rate for each of the two antigens was similar, being 56% for the immediate and 37% for the delayed test. There was no relationship discernible between relative over- and under-nutrition and the skin test responses. A striking and highly significant positive association was revealed, however, between the intensity of infection, as shown by quantitative egg counts, and the sensitivity and extent of both the immediate and delayed skin test reactions.