cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Adult attachment insecurity and associations with diabetes distress, daily stressful events and self-management in type 1 diabetes

Anxious and avoidant attachment may be detrimental for diabetes distress and management. Additionally, individuals’ perceptions of their partner’s involvement may affect these associations. The study explored cross-sectionally and at the daily level whether anxious and avoidant attachment associated with diabetes distress or stressors and diabetes management, and whether higher perceived collaboration and support (CS M age = 46.82; 52.3% women) completed measures of diabetes distress, diabetes-related C&S, self-care, average blood glucose (hemoglobin A1c), and attachment insecurity, and daily diary measures of diabetes-related C&S, diabetes stressors, mean blood glucose, and self-care. Higher anxious and avoidant attachment associated with higher diabetes distress. Higher anxious attachment associated with more daily stressors. Anxious attachment associated with lower self-care. C&S did not moderate any associations. Findings highlight the need to consider attachment when designing interventions to reduce diabetes-related distress.
The Stupid as Ludonarrative Dissonance

“Ludonarrative dissonance” derives from Clint Hocking’s review of the videogame Bioshock, and refers to instances where gameplay seemingly runs counter to the narrative. The procedural (e.g., mechanics, or gameplay) versus narrative debate has waned within the ludic discipline, however, in the larger gaming community these underlying tensions surfaced in the most toxic rhetoric. Gone Home met tremendous hostility (in the “Gamergate” controversy), because conventional gameplay is elided in favor of narrative. The narrative focuses on a young queer woman, and this vividly contrasts with the supposed “default” videogame demographic. And for these reasons Gone Home might be read as stupid. Casual games (typically phone-based games), relatively unplayable without micro-transactions, are implicitly placed in a contingent relationship with triple-A console games, also, might be viewed as stupid.
Low threshold for nitrogen concentration saturation in headwaters increases regional and coastal delivery

USGSUnited States Geological Survey; National Science Foundation Hydrologic Sciences ProgramNational Science Foundation (NSF)NSF - Directorate for Geosciences (GEO); USGS Water Resources Availability Program; USGS Mendenhall Postdoctoral FellowshipUnited States Geological Survey; US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and AgricultureUnited States Department of Agriculture (USDA); US Department of Energy Subsurface Biogeochemistry Research Program, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's scientific focus area; Virginia Agricultural Experimental Station
Learning of Complex-Structured Tasks from Verbal Instruction

This paper presents a novel approach to robot task learning from language-based instructions, which focuses on increasing the complexity of task representations that can be taught through verbal instruction. The major proposed contribution is the development of a framework for directly mapping a complex verbal instruction to an executable task representation, from a single training experience. The method can handle the following types of complexities: 1) instructions that use conjunctions to convey complex execution constraints (such as alternative paths of execution, sequential or non-ordering constraints, as well as hierarchical representations) and 2) instructions that use prepositions and multiple adjectives to specify action/object parameters relevant for the task. Specific algorithms have been developed for handling conjunctions, adjectives and prepositions as well as for translating the parsed instructions into parameterized executable task representations. The paper describes validation experiments with a PR2 humanoid robot learning new tasks from verbal instruction, as well as an additional range of utterances that can be parsed into executable controllers by the proposed system.
Early-Detection and Treatment of Torticollis in Infants Using Augmented Reality

Pediatric physical therapists (PTs) have long struggled to diagnose and treat congenital muscular torticollis (CMT) at early stages, when such diagnosis and treatment would do the most good. Much of this problem is that very young infants and toddlers have difficulty with poses, are difficult to measure due to their small size, lack of compliancy, and inability to remain stationary. It often takes a team of pediatric PTs to perform these measurements, and usually in a clinical setting. We wish to create a toolset and a methodology that allows for simpler diagnostics, more comprehensive monitoring and treatment, and wider access to such care and treatment by creating TorticollisAR - an Augmented Reality (AR) application that performs critical measurements in a familiar, convenient setting (such as the home). The app uses tracking markers integrated into either bands or clothing to take measurements in real-time and while the subject is in motion.
The economic effects of expanded compensation disclosures

Abstract This paper analyzes the effects of expanded compensation disclosures on manager pay. For identification, I use the introduction of the Compensation Discussion and Analysis (CD&A) in the 2007 proxy season, a significant expansion in required compensation disclosures, to compare manager pay at firms with and without the disclosure in a difference-in-differences analysis. These disclosures are associated with increasing pay, contrary to the conventional wisdom that pay disclosures reduce pay levels via better shareholder monitoring. I hypothesize that enhanced ex ante disclosures of incentive plans reduce boards’ flexibility to make ex post adjustments or to use subjectivity and pressure boards toward more formulaic plans. Both effects impose higher payout risk on managers, leading to increased pay levels. Consistent with this hypothesis, the CD&A introduction is associated with lower likelihood to earn variable cash pay, greater use of formula-based pay, and higher pay at firms with more volatile measures of performance.
Asset liquidity, business risk, and beta

Abstract Extant literature posits that because of leverage, equity beta estimates from a single factor capital asset pricing model based on an equity-only market index are biased. We show analytically that this leverage bias is intimately related to the firm's asset structure per se, the firm's asset liquidity (i.e., cash holdings) and business risk. This is mainly because riskless cash holdings and risky real assets jointly determine the relevant risk for asset pricing. We empirically confirm that asset liquidity and business risk can marginally explain the leverage bias in the cross-section of stocks returns.
Deep attention mask regional convolutional neural network for head-and-neck MRI multi-organ auto-delineation

The superior soft-tissue contrast obtained by MRI allows contouring target and organs-at-risk (OARs) accurately and reliably in head-and-neck cancer radiotherapy. However, the delineating of OARs is labor-intensive and subjective. We propose a mask regional convolutional neural network (R-CNN) for fully automated OAR delineation in head-and-neck (HN) MRI. A deep attention feature pyramid network (DAFPN) was used as the backbone to extract pyramid features, while the location and size of each region-of-interest (ROI) are estimated by the feeding features extracted from DAFPN into a regional proposal network (RPN). The final OAR contours were predicted by feeding cropped features within these ROIs (location and size) into a subnetwork to perform segmentation within ROIs. A retrospective study was performed on 45 HN cancer patients who underwent radiation therapy. MR images and their manual contours were collected for training and testing the proposed method. Five-fold cross-validation method was conducted to evaluate the proposed method. The mean Dice similarity coefficients of brain stem, esophagus, larynx, mandible, optic chiasm, left optic nerve, right optic nerve, oral cavity, left parotid, right parotid, pharynx, and spinal cord are 0.88, 0.52, 0.88, 0.77, 0.56, 0.59, 0.57, 0.90, 0.81, 0.81, 0.76, and 0.69, respectively. After the model training, all OAR can be segmented within 10 seconds. The accurate HN OAR delineation enables further development of MRI-only based radiotherapy workflow for HN cancer.
HOMOZYGOSITY FOR THE G ALLELE OF THE MIF-173 PROMOTER POLYMORPHISM IS ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED RISK OF BRONCHOPULMONARY DYSPLASIA

Background: In preterm neonates bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a common disease causing severe morbidity and mortality. Although prematurity, barotrauma and pulmonary oxygen toxicity are well-known risk factors in the pathogenesis of BPD, current evidence suggests an interindividual variability and susceptibility. MIF is a regulator of the innate immune response that has recently been implicated in murine fetal lung development and in surfactant production by pulmonary epithelium and plays a possible role in lung development in humans (Kevill KA. J Immunol 2008). The human MIF promoter gene contains a functionally relevant –173G/C polymorphism, with the G allele associated with low gene expression and low MIF serum levels. Aims: To investigate the relationship between MIF genotype and the occurrence of BPD. Methods: We determined the MIF-173G/C genotype in a prospective cohort of 89 preterm neonates (gestational age ⩽34 weeks) with respiratory distress syndrome, observed from neonatal intensive care unit admission to discharge. Results: 22/89 neonates (24.7%) developed BPD, defined as oxygen requirement at 36 weeks post-conceptional age. The frequency of neonates with the G/G genotype who developed BPD (37.0%) was higher (p = 0.03) than that of neonates carrying the C allele (9.1%). After adjusting for birth weight, days of mechanical ventilation and of O2 therapy, the G/G genotype remained associated with BPD (p = 0.018, odds ratio 254.5, 95% CI 2.5 to >1000). Conclusions: Our results, in humans, identify the low MIF producer G/G promoter genotype as a risk factor for BDP and support a role of MIF in lung maturation. This study was approved by the hospital ethics committee. Funding: Supported by a grant from the Italian Ministry of Health.
Imitating the Divine Interruption of Deteriorating Human Conversations: Speaking the Gospel in a New Language:

Recent scholarship uses the metaphor of language to articulate why, even with good intentions, we Christians can hand on meanings and values at odds with the Christian message. Our “native” languag...
Simple methodology to visualize whole-brain microvasculature in three dimensions.

Significance: To explore brain architecture and pathology, a consistent and reliable methodology to visualize the three-dimensional cerebral microvasculature is beneficial. Perfusion-based vascular labeling is quick and easily deliverable. However, the quality of vascular labeling can vary with perfusion-based labels due to aggregate formation, leakage, rapid photobleaching, and incomplete perfusion. Aim: We describe a simple, two-day protocol combining perfusion-based labeling with a two-day clearing step that facilitates whole-brain, three-dimensional microvascular imaging and characterization. Approach: The combination of retro-orbital injection of Lectin-Dylight-649 to label the vasculature, the clearing process of a modified iDISCO+ protocol, and light-sheet imaging collectively enables a comprehensive view of the cerebrovasculature. Results: We observed ∼threefold increase in contrast-to-background ratio of Lectin-Dylight-649 vascular labeling over endogenous green fluorescent protein fluorescence from a transgenic mouse model. With light-sheet microscopy, we demonstrate sharp visualization of cerebral microvasculature throughout the intact mouse brain. Conclusions: Our tissue preparation protocol requires fairly routine processing steps and is compatible with multiple types of optical microscopy.
COVID-19 and sustainable tourism

The dual health and economic crises of the COVD-19 pandemic have thrown the disruptive forces acting on the travel and tourism (T&T) sector into sharp relief, drawing attention to the interconnected and hyper-dependent nature of sustainability, health and business. Lockdowns and social distancing strategies effectively closed and could ultimately decimate the sector. With the pandemic affording people and planet some short-term relief from T&T’s impact on communities, destinations and the environment, this is the time to re-imagine the sector. Looking ahead, a range of approaches to advance sustainable T&T could help it ‘build back better’, attenuating its negative impacts and advancing the contribution T&T makes to global citizenship and to a more balanced economy and equitable society. T&T business leaders are widening their view of sustainability beyond immediate operational impact to consider the broader systems in which they operate, adopting sustainability leadership practices for the twenty-first century and beyond. COVID-19 represents a ‘teachable moment’ for the T&T sector to accelerate sustainability, paying greater attention to the trade-offs and dilemmas presented by its activities. Indeed, T&T has enormous potential to educate the traveler and drive fulfilment of the Sustainable Development Goals. We propose that adopting the ‘Culture of Health’ framework could serve to fast track the sector’s move to sustainable T&T, supported by conscious consumerism and greater governmental oversight.
Picosecond laser generated plasma as a source of singly charged ions for external injection into an EBIS

Abstract The focus of this paper is on practical aspects of ion generation by picosecond lasers as a source of low charge state ions for external injection of ions into an electron beam ion source (EBIS). For a ps-laser, compared to a ns-laser currently used at Relativistic Heavy Ion Collier Electron Beam Ion Source (RHIC EBIS), the influence of heat conductivity in the solid target is almost negligible, which results in a lower target consumption rate and less vacuum pressure rise. By using a laser with high repetition rate, it is possible to produce quasi continuous 1+ ion beams for periods of tens of milliseconds, making it possible to take advantage of the ability of the EBIS to accumulate ions in the “slow” injection capture mode. Producing such an ion pulse train is now feasible since ps-lasers with pulse energy up to 10 mJ and rep-rate up to 10 kHz have recently become commercially available. The advantages of this lower current accumulation scheme include: (1) easier beam transport due to lower space charge of lower beam currents required compared to the present single pulse fast injection scheme, (2) better EBIS pulse to pulse ion output stability since pulse to pulse ion variations of the laser source are averaged over a long train of laser pulses, and (3) the possible addition of an isotope separator in which rare beams could be produced and selected at run time from less expensive (unenriched) targets. We studied the properties of plasmas generated by a ps-laser with 1.27 mJ energy within an 8 ps pulse and a repetition rate up to 400 Hz at Argonne National Laboratory to investigate feasibility and specify parameters for a laser ion source for RHIC EBIS using a “slow” injection mode. Al, Ti, Cu, Nb, and Ta targets were tested with various target translation speeds. We demonstrated that a both “slow” and “fast” injection modes are accessible with a single ion source geometry and single injection line, providing the most attractive option for an ion source for external injection into RHIC EBIS trap based on a ps-laser.
The 2020 presidential debates: reasoned argument or political theater

After what was widely perceived to be a disastrous first debate in 2020, the second debate was viewed as a vast improvement, a shift that fulfilled the pedagogical functions of presidential debates...
Differentially expressed genes in platinum-resistant high-grade serous ovarian cancer

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify genes and pathways differentially expressed in platinum resistant high grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) when compared to sensitive HGSOC. Methods: A total of 37 patients with HGSOC tissue samples underwent RNA sequencing performed by TEMPUS (N=37, 21 platinum sensitive, 16 resistant; 85% Stage III-IV; 58% received neoadjuvant chemotherapy). RNA gene expression data and significantly impacted pathways were analyzed using Advaita Bio's iPathwayGuide. Differentially expressed (DE) genes were identified using FDR of 0.05 and fold-change of 1.5. Genes from several impacted canonical metabolic pathways were validated by PCR against external data sets in a separate ovarian cancer sample group (n=15), platinum resistant ovarian cancer mouse tumor model, and wild-type sensitive and platinum resistant ovarian cancer cell lines. Relative gene expression was calculated using the comparative Ct method, also referred to as the “2 DDCT”, using L27 as internal control gene. Download : Download high-res image (333KB) Download : Download full-size image Results: We identified 177 differentially expressed (DE) genes out of a total of 16,607 genes (1.1%) with measured expression. 15 pathways were found to be significantly impacted. Of the 15 canonical pathways, all were up regulated in the resistant HGSOC and the majority of the most significantly altered (5/10) were related to metabolism (Retinol metabolism (p-value = 0.002); Tyrosine Metabolism (p-value = 0.005); Tryptophan Metabolism (p-value = 0.009); and Phenylalanine Metabolism (p-value = 0.012); CYP Drug Metabolism (p-value = 0.022)). A total of 3 separate genes from the CYP family and two from the Dopa Decarboxylase family of genes were validated against an external data set of human ovarian tissue samples, cell lines, mouse ovarian tumor model, and found to have similarly increased gene expression in the genes tested in the platinum resistant groups. Compilation of KEGG analysis and the common network genes revealed pathways associated with amino acid metabolism to be most significantly altered. Conclusions: We describe the identification of a unique transcriptomic profile associated with platinum resistance. Interestingly, the main pathways identified are related to metabolism, suggesting that the survival to chemotherapy demands a major metabolic adaptation. These findings also represent a first step towards the identification of biomarkers for the detection of chemo-resistant disease and metabolism-based drug targets specific for chemo-resistant tumors. Further validation of this model is required in order to determine its clinical value.
Sense of Purpose Following a Dementia Diagnostic Appointment: Comparing Self- and Other-Reports of Care Recipients and Care Partners.

Objective: Purpose in life tends to decline in older adulthood and it is thought that intact cognitive functioning is required for purposeful living. Thus, it is likely that individuals may perceive older adults who are experiencing cognitive declines associated with dementia as having a reduced sense of purpose. Biases such as these may influence how individuals, especially care partners, interact with those with dementia. Method: This study examined how sense of purpose changed following a dementia diagnostic appointment for both the person receiving a diagnosis and their care partner. This study also explored how each individual perceived the other member of the dyad’s sense of purpose. Older adults (47 care recipients and 75 care partners, 57% female; Mage = 68.5 years, SDage = 12.0 years) provided self- and other-report ratings of sense of purpose before and after their appointment at a specialized memory clinic. Results: Overall, both care recipients and care partners’ sense of purpose declined following a dementia diagnostic appointment (t(85) = 7.01, p < .001). However, when comparing self-reports and other-reports of purpose, care partners reported that care recipients experienced a lower sense of purpose in life than the care recipients reported about themselves. Conclusions: Care recipients and partners reported less purpose in life following their dementia diagnostic appointment. Care partners may hold certain biases regarding sense of purpose towards care recipients. These findings can inform future work regarding how care recipients and care partners can plan purposeful lives following a dementia diagnosis.
From a Farm on the Plains—Roy Simonson

Roy Simonson was born in 1908 in Agate, North Dakota where his parents had settled in 1896. They grew wheat and other grains. In 1927, he enrolled at North Dakota Agricultural College as a student in civil engineering. A soil course taught by Charles Kellogg changed the direction of his studies and he graduated in 1934. At the recommendation of Charles Kellogg, he started his Ph.D. studies at the University of Wisconsin in Madison under Emil Truog. He graduated in 1938 and was hired at Iowa State College where he conducted soil survey and taught soils. In 1943, he was hired as soil correlator for the Division of Soil Survey in the south-east. After 6 years as soil inspector in Knoxville and several brief stints of soil survey work in the Pacific, Roy became the assistant chief of the Division of Soil Survey where he worked until his retirement in 1973. He died in 2008, 100 years old.
On the Existence of Magnetic Monopoles

The vortex theory of electromagnetism shows that the concept of magnetic monopoles is inconsistent with the fundamental character of the magnetic field. This is because the magnetic field is a vortex-like field without any sources. Therefore, magnetic monopoles do not exist.
Isolation of a cysteine-peptide at the active site of histidine ammonia-lyase.

Abstract Histidine ammonia-lyase from Pseudomonas is a tetrameric protein which contains 4 reactive cysteinyl residues per mole of tetramer; these must be in the reduced form for optimal activity. The reduced enzyme can be selectively alkylated with iodo[14C2]acetate. A single radioactive peptide is found in the tryptic digest of this material, with the following amino acid composition: Cys(Cm), 1; Asp, 2; Glu, 1; Gly, 2; Ala, 1; Leu, 2; Ile, 1; Ser, 2; Thr, 1; Pro, 1; His, 2; and Arg, 1. Four moles of the peptide are recovered per mole of tetrameric enzyme (molecular weight 215,000). This result suggests that the tetrameric enzyme is composed of four very similar or identical polypeptide chains.
Performance of clonal strains of triumph potatoes

Even though differences in strains vary a great deal from year to year, there seem to be a few important consistent differences. Under the conditions at Alliance with dry land culture, yields have been greatest with the later strains in all years except the very dry or drought years. Early types have produced the smoothest best type tubers that generally cracked slightly less at harvest time. Early strains almost always yielded more No. 2 size tubers, but the late strains generally produced the greatest number No. 3 size tubers. Apparently the earliest and latest are not the most desirable strains. The midseason strains seemed the most suitable for tuber production under the range of conditions that occurred. During the ten years of these tests climatic conditions varied from one extreme to another as much as they have varied during the last 50 years.
Biomechanical evaluation of a novel suturing scheme for grafting load-bearing collagen scaffolds for rotator cuff repair

Abstract Background Currently, there are no well-established suture protocols to attach fully load-bearing scaffolds which span tendon defects between bone and muscle for repair of critical sized tendon tears. Methods to attach load-bearing tissue repair scaffolds could enable functional repair of tendon injuries. Methods Sixteen rabbit shoulders were dissected (New Zealand white rabbits, 1 yr. old, female) to isolate the humeral–infraspinatus muscle complex. A unique suture technique was developed to allow for a 5 mm segmental defect in infraspinatus tendon to be replaced with a mechanically strong bioscaffold woven from pure collagen threads. The suturing pattern resulted in a fully load-bearing scaffold. The tensile stiffness and strength of scaffold repair were compared with intact infraspinatus and regular direct repair. Findings The failure load and displacement at failure of the scaffold repair group were 59.9 N (standard deviation, SD = 10.7) and 10.3 mm (SD = 2.9), respectively and matched those obtained by direct repair group which were 57.5 N (SD = 15.3) and 8.6 mm (SD = 1.5), ( p > 0.05). Failure load, displacement at failure and stiffness of both of the repair groups were half of the intact infraspinatus shoulder group. Interpretation With the developed suture technique, scaffold repair showed similar failure load, displacement at failure and stiffness to the direct repair. This novel suturing pattern and the mechanical robustness of the scaffold at time zero indicates that the proposed model is mechanically viable for future in vivo studies which has a higher potential to translate into clinical uses.
Patterns in column strict fillings of rectangular arrays

In this paper, we study pattern matching in the set F_{n,k} of fillings of the k x n rectangle with the integers 1,...,kn such that the elements in any column increase from bottom to top. Let P be a column strict tableau of shape 2^k. We say that a filling F in F_{n,k} has P-match starting at i if the elements of F in columns i and i+1 have the same relative order as the elements of P. We compute the generating functions for the distribution of P-matches and nonoverlapping P-matches for various classes of standard tableaux of shape 2^k. We say that a filling F in F_{n,k} is P-alternating if there are P-matches of F starting at all odd positions but there are no P-matches of F starting at even positions. We also compute the generating functions for P-alternating elements of F_{n,k} for various classes of standard tableaux of shape 2^k.
Scale, frequency, time, and the scale transform

The author develops the relationship between time, frequency, and scale, and their respective operators and representations. A scale operator is proposed and its eigenfunctions are obtained. This leads to the scale transform. The convolution and correlation theorems for scale are developed. The concepts of filtering and linear shift-invariant systems are formulated for scale. >
Helium conservation by discontinuous introduction in the flowing atmospheric-pressure afterglow source for ambient desorption-ionization mass spectrometry

As helium availability declines in many parts of the world and helium prices rise, it is desirable to limit helium use by plasma-based sources for ambient desorption-ionization mass spectrometry (ADI-MS). Here, helium flow to the flowing atmospheric-pressure afterglow (FAPA) source is interrupted to reduce total helium consumption. The FAPA glow discharge can be sustained for up to several minutes after the helium flow is halted, without damaging the source. As a result, a stable discharge can be maintained indefinitely by introducing relatively short periods of helium flow just before the discharge extinguishes. When helium flow is restored, the signal rises and reaches a steady state after 20 s; signal integration after this time yields mass spectra that are very similar, sensitivities that are 71% of those under continuous-flow conditions, and comparable precision.
Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation for Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia in Adults

Autologous bone marrow transplantation remains an investigational treatment for adult ALL. Despite many anecdotal studies showing efficacy, the rarity of ALL has prevented the large randomized trials necessary to confirm effectiveness. Candidates for autoBMT include adult patients in first CR with adverse risk factors and all patients who have experienced disease relapse. It remains debatable which preparative regimen is optimal, whether purging is necessary, or if chemotherapy or immunotherapy administered after transplantation can decrease disease relapse. Overall, every effort should be made to enter ALL patients on well-designed randomized multi-institutional trials. These trials should compare autologous transplantation to newer more intensive chemotherapy regimens and should take into account the heterogeneity of ALL. A quality of life analysis should be performed as one high-dose treatment may be less toxic and better tolerated than multiple cycles of consolidation chemotherapy. Strategies aimed at enhancing an autologous graft-versus-leukemia effect after transplantation may enhance long-term survival. Many more studies are needed to further define the optimal role of autoBMT in adult ALL.
Routes of Chloroform Exposure and Body Burden from Showering with Chlorinated Tap Water

While there is an awareness of the need to quantify inhalation exposure from showers, the potential for dermal exposure to organic contaminants in showers has not been appreciated or explored. To establish routes of environmental exposure from showers, comparisons of the concentration of chloroform in exhaled breath after a normal shower with municipal tap water were made with those after an inhalation-only exposure. The postexposure chloroform breath concentrations ranged from 6.0-21 micrograms/m3 for normal showers and 2.4 to 10 micrograms/m3 for inhalation-only exposure, while the pre-exposure concentrations were all less than the minimum detection limit of 0.86 micrograms/m3. According to an F-test, the difference between the normal shower and the inhalation-only exposures was considered significant at a probability of p = 0.0001. Based on the difference, the mean internal dose due to dermal exposure was found to be approximately equal to that due to the inhalation exposure. The effect of the showering activities on the concentration of chloroform shower air was examined by comparing air concentrations during a normal shower with the air concentrations obtained when the shower was unoccupied. The F-test showed that there is no significant difference between the two sets of data.
Infantile cystinosis presenting as chronic constipation

An infant presented with persistent constipation as the first clinical symptom of cystinosis before evidence of renal Fanconi's syndrome. The history of muscle weakness, failure to thrive, polydipsia, and polyuria prompted subsequent clinical and laboratory evaluations, leading to the correct diagnosis of cystinosis. Primary and persistent constipation as an initial manifestation of cystinosis has not been reported previously. Although rare, cystinosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of constipation if other suggestive signs or symptoms are present.
Did a muscle fuel gauge conquer the brain

AMP-activated protein kinase has a crucial role in coupling substrate availability with substrate oxidation in skeletal muscle. Recent findings suggest that this biochecmical fuel sensor also participates in the hypothalmic recognition of the body's energy status.
SOLUBILIZATION OF MEMBRANE ASSOCIATED PHOSPHATIDYLINOSITOL KINASE FROM SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE

ATP: phosphatidylinositol (PI) 4-phosphotransferase (PI kinase, EC 2.7.1.67) catalyzes the phosphorylation of PI to form PI 4-monophosphate. A variety of solubilization agents were examined for their ability to release PI kinase from the microsomes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The most effective agent to solubilize the enzyme was sodium deoxycholate. Maximal solubilization was obtained with 1% sodium deoxycholate and 10 mM MgCl2. A 2.3-fold increase in specific activity was achieved with 91% of the activity solubilized. The sodium deoxycholate solubilized PI kinase remained at the top of a glycerol gradient whereas the membrane associated enzyme sedimented to the bottom of a glycerol gradient.
Diurnal Variations of Plasma Testosterone in Stallions

Diurnal variations in plasma testosterone levels in stallions were d etermined by a radioimmunoassay technique. A mean concentration of plasma testosterone of 3.06 + or -1.27 ng/ml was found in animals sample d between 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. 8 other stallions were sampled every 4 hours. The maximum mean plasma testosterone concentration was observed in samples obtained at 8:00 a.m. and the minimum at 8:00 p.m. The difference between minimum and maximum values was statistically significant (p less than .10). Diurnal variations in other species are noted.
Properties of Portland cement made from contaminated sediments

Hundreds of millions of cubic meters of contaminated sediments are dredged from US harbors and waterways annually for maintenance of navigation, environmental remediation, or both. In recent years, inexpensive ocean dumping has been largely eliminated as a disposal alternative causing a crisis in the management of sediment. This paper presents a new beneficial use alternative for contaminated dredged material, which is to use dredged material as a feedstock in the conventional manufacture of Portland cement. The paper demonstrates the efficacy of the process at the bench and pilot scales, and presents a summary of practical and economic considerations. A bench scale manufacture was carried out with feedstock mixtures containing 1–12% dredged material from the New York/New Jersey (NY/NJ) harbor. The clinkers were quantitatively analyzed with X-ray powder diffraction and differences in phase concentrations were observed in the clinker samples manufactured with dredged material (decreased alite and increased belite) suggesting that additional burn time was needed to account for the quartz present in the sediments. The free chloride concentrations in the clinker samples were below ACI limits for cement used with reinforcing steel; however, the chloride in the dredged material remains a manufacturing concern and is expected to increase annual maintenance costs. A pilot scale manufacture was carried out in a batch rotary kiln; X-ray diffraction analysis and ASTM tests for strength, soundness, and setting time suggested that with better optimized burning conditions, dredged material can be successfully incorporated into full scale manufacture.
A Point Mutation in atpC1 Raises the Redox Potential of the Arabidopsis Chloroplast ATP Synthase γ-Subunit Regulatory Disulfide above the Range of Thioredoxin Modulation

The light-dependent regulation of chloroplast ATP synthase activity depends on an intricate but ill defined interplay between the proton electrochemical potential across the thylakoid membrane and thioredoxin-mediated redox modulation of a cysteine bridge located on the ATP synthase gamma-subunit. The abnormal light-dependent regulation of the chloroplast ATP synthase in the Arabidopsis thaliana cfq (coupling factor quick recovery) mutant was caused by a point mutation (G to A) in the atpC1 gene, which caused an amino acid substitution (E244K) in the vicinity of the redox modulation domain in the gamma-subunit of ATP synthase. Equilibrium redox titration revealed that this mutation made the regulatory sulfhydryl group energetically much more difficult to reduce relative to the wild type (i.e. raised the Em,7.9 by 39 mV). Enzymatic studies using isolated chloroplasts showed significantly lower light-induced ATPase and ATP synthase activity in the mutant compared with the wild type. The lower ATP synthesis capacity in turn restricted overall rates of leaf photosynthesis in the cfq mutant under low light. This work provides in situ validation of the concept that thioredoxin-dependent reduction of the gamma-subunit regulatory disulfide modulates the proton electrochemical potential energy requirement for activation of the chloroplast ATP synthase and that the activation state of the ATP synthase can limit leaf level photosynthesis.
On Producing Random Responses

This paper has surveyed studies of response patterning in an attempt to illustrate the various ways in which this fact of behavior has been used in psychology. The view is expressed that response biasing takes on significance as an important dependent variable when we note that human Ss are unable to generate binary choices in a random sequence even when instructed to do so. Production of random sequences may be intimately related to processes of set and attention; success in generating responses randomly indicates ability to maintain an appropriate set for randomness. Techniques for measuring response patterning, or variability, were reviewed, and a new method was described. Data were presented to illustrate the difficulties encountered by students and psychiatric patients when instructed to generate a random sequence of binary choices. Almost nothing is known about the correlates of ability to maintain a set for randomness, yet there are marked individual differences in this ability. Generating random c...
Insight into analogies: Evidence from eye movements

Eye movements were recorded while participants solved picture analogies in which they had to identify the object in one picture that “went with” an object in another, simultaneously presented picture. The pattern of saccades between objects, but not the time spent looking at objects, was a very sensitive measure of the time course of both relational and object-matching processes. The results show that processing of relations between objects precedes processing of matches between objects for young adults solving simple analogies.
Establishment of early donor engraftment after reduced-intensity allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation to potentiate the graft-versus-lymphoma effect against refractory lymphomas

Abstract Reduced-intensity allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloHSCT), which typically results in mixed chimerism initially after transplantation, has had limited efficacy in chemotherapy-refractory lymphomas. We hypothesized that the rapid establishment of complete donor chimerism would potentiate a graft-versus-lymphoma effect. Fifteen patients with chemotherapy-refractory lymphoma initially received induction with a conventional chemotherapy regimen (etoposide, prednisone, vincristine, cyclophosphamide, adriamycin, fludarabine [EPOCH-F]) to deplete host T cells and provide disease control prior to alloHSCT. Patients then received conditioning with fludarabine and cyclophosphamide followed by alloHSCT from HLA-matched siblings. Graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis consisted of cyclosporine alone. EPOCH-F resulted in 73% of patients having partial responses or stable disease. EPOCH-F depleted host CD4 + T cells from a median of 235 cells/μL to 56 cells/μL. Fourteen patients underwent alloHSCT, and all had >95% donor engraftment by day 14 after transplantation. The incidence of Grade II to III acute graft-versus-host disease was 71%. There were two therapy-related deaths. There were 8 partial responses and 3 complete responses (CRs) at day 28. Five additional CRs were observed at day 100 without withdrawal of cyclosporine or donor lymphocyte infusion. The rate of CRs for all 15 patients was 60%. The 1-year progression-free survival rate from time of study entry is 67% with only 1 relapse among 9 CRs. At a median potential follow-up of 28 months, the overall survival rate is 53%. These data demonstrate that a potent and durable graft-versus-lymphoma effect can occur against chemotherapy-refractory lymphomas and suggest that this effect may be associated with rapid, complete donor chimerism after reduced-intensity alloHSCT. © 2003 American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation 9:162-169 (2003)
No Moral Absolutes

Being a moral agent, particularly in our professional roles, can be difficult and agonizing since there are no moral absolutes determining what we have to do. Kenneth Kipnis in, “A Defense of Unqua...
Molecular simulations of cooperative ring flip motions in single chains of polystyrene

Abstract We characterize the concerted motion of phenyl ring rotation and main chain reorientation for single chains of polystyrene hexamer in a systematic manner by defining a multidimensional reaction coordinate for this motion in terms of the internal coordinates of the polymer. Multidimensional reaction paths and the energy profile along these paths are determined for three different chain conformations for both syndiotactic and isotactic polystyrene hexamers. Our approach makes use of adiabatic potential energy surfaces in the “essential” torsional-angle space of the molecule. The reduced dimensionality of this space, compared to the full Cartesian coordinate space, offers improved computational efficiency, allows the use of rigorous search techniques for transition states, and provides a better physical picture of molecular conformations and their transformations. This detailed atomistic study of conformational transitions in single polystyrene chains represents the first step towards characterizing cooperative conformational transitions, as well as other coupled kinetic processes, that occur in bulk polymers.
Analysis of myogenesis by somatic cell hybridization: III. Myogenic competence of hybrids derived from rat L6 myoblasts and mouse primary fibroblasts and myoblasts

Hybrid cells derived from rat L6 myoblasts and mouse primary fibroblasts (M x F hybrids), as well as those derived from rat L6 myoblasts and mouse primary myoblasts (M x M hybrids), were examined for their ability to engage in myogenesis as judged by muscle fiber formation plus the expression of skeletal muscle myosin and creatine kinase (CK). Of 172 primary hybrid colonies scored, 59% were myogenic in the M x F fusion and 97% exhibited muscle fiber formation in the M x M fusion. Individual hybrid clones from each cross were isolated, expanded and analyzed for myogenic capabilities as well. All three M x M and all ten M x F isolated clones exhibited preferential elimination of mouse chromosomes. Nonetheless, all were capable of fusing spontaneously and of elaborating skeletal muscle myosin and CK. The three M x M hybrids expressed only MM-CK whereas nine out of ten M x F hybrids produced all three CK isoenzymes (MM, MB, BB). These results suggest that M x M hybrids express CK patterns reminiscent of the rat L6 parental cells while M x F hybrids apparently mimic mouse muscle fiber CK patterns. Various models are discussed which address these phenomena.
Optical Characterization Of GaAs/AlxGai-xAs Quantum Well Structures And Superlattices By Photoluminescence And Photoexcitation Spectroscopy.

We present (I) low temperature excitation-wavelength-dependent photoluminescence studies in GaAs/AlxGai-xAs quantum well structures, which reveal the well thickness variations along the MBE growth direction, and (II) the photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy work carried out in the region of unconfined transitions with a series of GaAs/AlxGal-xAs superlattices which have a fixed well size and aluminum concentration in the barrier. We have found that the changes in the barrier widths of the superlattice samples can drastically affect the strengths and energies of the unconfined transitions.
Constructing contracts: Making discrete mathematics relevant to beginning programmers

Although computer scientists understand the importance of discrete mathematics to the foundations of their field, computer science (CS) students do not always see the relevance. Thus, it is important to find a way to show students its relevance. The concept of program correctness is generally taught as an activity independent of the programming process, hence many CS students perceive it as unnecessary, and even irrelevant. The concept of contracts, on the other hand, is generally taught as an integral part of the programming process. Most CS students have little difficulty understanding the need to establish contracts via preconditions and postconditions. In order to improve teaching program correctness concepts, we implemented ProVIDE, an enhanced integrated development environment (IDE). ProVIDE assists student programmers in contract construction. Rather than asking for both a precondition and postcondition for each of the student's methods, ProVIDE asks the student to simply supply a postcondition. ProVIDE then helps the student construct the appropriate precondition by leading him or her through an axiomatic proof of the method's correctness. Thus, the proof of of the method's correctness is a side-effect of the student's need to construct an appropriate precondition.
Recurrent Pediatric Headache: A Comprehensive Review

Recurrent pediatric headache is an increasingly common chronic pain syndrome in children and adolescents that is associated with impairments in functioning and quality of life; the condition thus warrants continued clinical and research attention. This article provides a review of the major areas of and developments in pediatric headache research so as to equip pediatric psychologists with a comprehensive knowledge base for this condition. The epidemiology of pediatric headache is reviewed, followed by an overview of clinical features, diagnosis and assessment, etiology, and pharmacological and psychological treatments. Finally, the article concludes with an identification of current trends and areas for further research.
Why can you hit someone on the arm but not break someone on the arm?—a neuropsychological investigation of the English body-part possessor ascension construction

Recent developments in linguistic theory suggest that many grammatical constructions (e.g. datives, passives, locatives, resultatives, etc.) impose semantic restrictions on which verbs can occur in them. This has led to the ‘grammatically relevant semantic subsystem hypothesis’, which maintains that features of meaning that determine the interaction between verbs and constructions are segregated from other features of meaning that are irrelevant to grammar. This paper focuses on the English body-part possessor ascension construction—e.g. Sam hit Bill on the arm vs. ∗Sam broke Bill on the arm. Previous research suggests that only verbs that include the general notion of ‘contact’ as an invariant part of their semantic structure can occur in this construction; other idiosyncratic features of verb meaning, such as the specific types of contact encoded by tap, slap, and pat, are effectively invisible to the construction. In a series of experiments, two brain-damaged patients with left perisylvian lesions (out of a total of five tested) manifested the following dissociation: they passed a verb–picture matching test that required them to discriminate between subtle aspects of verb meaning that are irrelevant to the construction, but they failed a grammaticality judgment test that required them to determine whether the same verbs satisfy the semantic conditions of the construction. Their poor performance on the judgment test could not be attributed to a purely syntactic impairment, since they had no trouble with a separate test that evaluated their knowledge of the basic syntactic structure of the construction. Overall, the results suggest that the patients have a disorder that selectively affects their appreciation of grammatically relevant aspects of meaning.