cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Linking Survey and Administrative Data to Measure Income, Inequality, and Mobility.

BackgroundIncome is one of the most important measures of well-being, but it is notoriously difficult to measure accurately. In the United States, income data are available from surveys, tax records, and government programs, but each of these sources has important strengths and major limitations when used alone. ObjectivesWe link multiple data sources to develop the Comprehensive Income Dataset (CID), a prototype for a restricted micro-level dataset that combines the demographic detail of survey data with the accuracy of administrative measures. MethodsBy incorporating information on nearly all taxable income, tax credits, and cash and in-kind government transfers, the CID surpasses previous efforts to provide an accurate and comprehensive measure of income for the population of United States individuals, families, and households. We also evaluate the accuracy of different income sources and imputation methods. ConclusionsWhile still in development, we envision the CID enhancing Census Bureau surveys and statistics by investigating measurement error, improving imputation methods, and augmenting surveys with the best possible estimates of income. It can also be used for policy related research, such as forecasting and simulating changes in programs and taxes. Finally, the CID has substantial advantages over other sources to analyze numerous research topics, including poverty, inequality, mobility, and the distributional consequences of government transfers and taxes.
Importance of Self-Forgiveness and Social Support in Potentially Reducing Loneliness in Men Who Have Sex with Men

Higher levels of loneliness in men who have sex with men (MSM) are associated with negative outcomes such as depression, anxiety, and sexual impulsivity. By identifying what may reduce loneliness i...
Titanium reactors for redox-sensitive hydrothermal experiments: An assessment of dissolved salt on H2 activity-concentration relations

Abstract Fixed-volume titanium alloy hydrothermal reactors permit research into fundamental aspects of mineralogy and aqueous geochemistry at the T-P conditions encountered on the frontiers of submarine and terrestrial geothermal system exploration. The impressive mechanical strength of new titanium alloys facilitate studies involving fluids and minerals at conditions up to 500 °C and 50 MPa. The corrosion resistance of titanium is a well-known attribute that also allows experiments to be performed in acidic, NaCl-bearing aqueous fluids. Titanium, however, can suffer irreversible surface reactions in aqueous fluids at high temperatures that may produce or consume appreciable concentrations of dissolved hydrogen (H2(aq)), complicating the interpretation of redox processes in homogenous and heterogeneous chemical systems. Here we report results of hydrothermal experiments designed to examine the direction and magnitude of changes in dissolved H2(aq) in deionized water and NaCl bearing aqueous fluid contained within a newly constructed Ti alloy (Ti-6242) reactor. The redox sensitivity of these and related experiments, however, required testing and assessing surface passivation involving pre-treatment with nitric acid at moderately high temperature. Results indicate that passivation procedures were required to render the Ti surface of the reactor unreactive in both low and high hydrogen-bearing fluid (H2O and NaCl-H2O systems). Once passivated, experiments were then conducted at 400 °C to assess the effect of dissolved NaCl on dissolved H2(aq) concentrations coexisting with the well-known HM (hematite-magnetite) redox buffer. These data indicate highly non-ideal activity-concentration relations for H2(aq) in the NaCl bearing fluids. Accordingly, the common assumption of unity for the activity coefficient of dissolved H2(aq) in hydrothermal fluids is not supported. The implications of this are important for accurate redox reconstruction for compositionally variable natural and experimental hydrothermal systems at elevated temperatures and pressures. The experimental strategy of monitoring the rate and magnitude of H2(aq) production and consumption in situ, during on-going experiments, provides quantitative insight on the effectiveness of the passivation process and the usefulness of redox buffers in hydrothermal geochemical applications.
Connotation and Textual Analysis in Real Estate Listings

Abstract Real estate listings typically include objective, factual information about property characteristics, along with subjective, descriptive language. How the agent constructs the content of t...
Surgical treatment of anomalous left main coronary artery with an intraconal course.

Objective Anomalous left main coronary artery (LMCA) with an intraconal course is a relatively rare form of anomalous aortic origin of a coronary artery (AAOCA) from the wrong sinus of Valsalva. There is currently a paucity of information regarding this entity. The purpose of this article is to review our surgical experience with repair of anomalous LMCA with an intraconal course. Methods This was a retrospective review of 12 patients with an anomalous LMCA and an intraconal course who underwent surgical repair. The median age at surgery was 15 years (range 2-47). The seven oldest patients all had preoperative symptoms of exertional chest pain and one also had exertional syncope. The five youngest patients had no preoperative symptoms. One of these patients had a hemodynamically significant ventricular septal defect and one patient was the sibling of a patient who had undergone repair of AAOCA. Results The 12 patients underwent surgical repair including unroofing of the myocardial bridge overlying the intraconal LMCA and a LeCompte procedure. There was no early or late mortality and there were no significant complications. All 12 patients have resumed normal, unrestricted activities. Conclusions Twelve patients with an anomalous LMCA and intraconal course presented to our institution for treatment. Surgical repair was performed successfully in all 12, with resolution of symptoms in the 7 patients who were symptomatic preoperatively. These results suggest that the surgical treatment is safe and efficacious in patients with an anomalous LMCA and intraconal course.
Hexokinase is necessary for glucose-mediated photosynthesis repression and lipid accumulation in a green alga

Global primary production is driven largely by oxygenic photosynthesis, with algae as major contributors. The green alga Chromochloris zofingiensis reversibly switches off photosynthesis in the presence of glucose in the light and augments production of biofuel precursors (triacylglycerols) and the high-value antioxidant astaxanthin. Here we used forward genetics to reveal that this photosynthetic and metabolic switch is mediated by the glycolytic enzyme hexokinase (CzHXK1). In contrast to wild-type, glucose-treated hxk1 mutants do not shut off photosynthesis or accumulate astaxanthin, triacylglycerols, or cytoplasmic lipid droplets. We show that CzHXK1 is critical for the regulation of genes related to photosynthesis, ketocarotenoid synthesis and fatty acid biosynthesis. Sugars play fundamental regulatory roles in gene expression, physiology, metabolism, and growth in plants and animals, and we introduce a relatively simple, emerging model system to investigate conserved eukaryotic sugar sensing and signaling at the base of the green lineage.
Through veiled mirrors: Fish fins giving insight into size regulation

Faithful establishment and maintenance of proportion is seen across biological systems and provides a glimpse at fundamental rules of scaling that underlie development and evolution. Dysregulation of proportion is observed in a range of human diseases and growth disorders, indicating that proper scaling is an essential component of normal anatomy and physiology. However, when viewed through an evolutionary lens, shifts in the regulation of relative proportion are one of the most striking sources of morphological diversity among organisms. To date, the mechanisms via which relative proportion is specified and maintained remain unclear. Through the application of powerful experimental, genetic and molecular approaches, the teleost fin has provided an effective model to investigate the regulation of scaling, size, and relative growth in vertebrate organisms. This article is categorized under: Establishment of Spatial and Temporal Patterns > Regulation of Size, Proportion, and Timing Adult Stem Cells, Tissue Renewal, and Regeneration > Regeneration Comparative Development and Evolution > Regulation of Organ Diversity.
Learning What a Good Structural Variant Looks Like

Abstract Structural variations (SVs) are an important class of genetic mutations, yet SV detectors still suffer from high false-positive rates. In many cases, humans can quickly determine whether a putative SV is real by merely looking at a visualization of the SV’s coverage profile. To that end, we developed Samplot-ML, a convolutional neural network (CNN) trained to genotype genomic deletions using Samplot visualizations that incorporate various forms of evidence such as genome coverage, discordant pairs, and split reads. Using Samplot-ML, we were able to reduce false positives by 47% while keeping 97% of true positives on average across several test samples.
Does Cannabis Intake Protect Against Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease? A Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Study

Background and Aim: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common chronic liver disease. Previous observational studies suggested that cannabis use may be associated with a lower risk for NAFLD but the causal relationship remains unclear. We aim in this study to examine the causal effect of cannabis consumption on the risk of NAFLD using a Mendelian randomization analysis. Clarifying this causal effect is important for cannabis-based drug discovery for NAFLD. Methods: We used data from the largest-to-date GWAS meta-analysis on lifetime use of cannabis (yes or no) consisting of three cohorts (International Cannabis Consortium (ICC), 23andMe, and the UK Biobank) of European ancestry (total N=184,765). We also used other GWAS data on cannabis use dependence and cannabis use disorder. The NAFLD GWAS data were generated from the UK Biobank population (1,122 cases and 399,900 controls). The inverse variance weighted (IVW) method was used to assess the causal impact of cannabis lifetime use on the risk of NAFLD. We also performed a sensitivity analysis using weighted median estimator and MR-Egger. Results: There was no statistically significant causal effect between either the lifetime cannabis use, cannabis use dependence or cannabis use disorder and the risk for NAFLD (p>0.05 for all tests). No significant pleotropic effect was observed based on both MR-PRESSO global test (p = 0.99) and the modified Q’ statistics. However, the study may be underpowered. Conclusion: Our results demonstrated no evidence that cannabis consumption has a causal effect of protection against the development of NAFLD.
An Encryption-Aware PHY Security Framework for 4-Node Gaussian Wiretap Channels With Joint Power Constraint

In traditional physical layer security paradigm, no leakage of confidential information to the eavesdropper is tolerated regardless of whether the message is encrypted or not. This will result in an achievable secure transmission rate that is significantly smaller than the channel capacity. This article presents a novel approach that allows treatment of physical layer security in conjunction with encryption to achieve a flexible trade-off of system resources. We propose a novel framework to model the interplay between secured transmission rate and error probability in error prone ciphertexts. To this end, we use the concept of rate-equivocation region to establish such a connection. To clearly describe the application of our framework, we consider the case of 4-node Gaussian wiretap channel. For such a channel, we characterize the rate-equivocation region in different scenarios, and then use it to study the achievable rate of encryption-aware physical layer security. The obtained results show that, for a fixed transmission power, the prior knowledge of encryption can significantly increase the secured transmission rate. In addition, encryption-aware physical layer security can achieve a target transmission rate at a reduced transmission power compared to the conventional encryption-agnostic physical layer security.
Self-sustained instability, transition, and turbulence induced by a long separation bubble in the footprint of an internal solitary wave. II. Flow statistics

Using a high-accuracy-and-resolution implicit Large Eddy Simulation we study the development of the bottom boundary layer (BBL) driven by the long separation bubble which forms under an internal solitary wave (ISW) of depression propagating against a barotropic background current. We obtain insights on the structure of the initial instability in the form of a global mode with a distinct transverse structure, and that of the self-sustained transition and resulting fully developed turbulence along the bed. Comparisons are made to similar flow features previously found in shorter separation bubbles typical of applications in aerodynamics.
Möbius Polynomials of Face Posets of Convex Polytopes

The Mobius polynomial is an invariant of ranked posets, closely related to the Mobius function. In this paper, we study the Mobius polynomial of face posets of convex polytopes. We present formulas for computing the Mobius polynomial of the face poset of a pyramid or a prism over an existing polytope, or of the gluing of two or more polytopes in terms of the Mobius polynomials of the original polytopes. We also present general formulas for calculating Mobius polynomials of face posets of simplicial polytopes and of Eulerian posets in terms of their f-vectors and some additional constraints.
Elevated levels of IgA and IgG2 in individuals with chronic spinal cord injury.

To determine circulating levels of antibodies (IgA, IgM, IgG1-4) in individuals with SCI as compared to uninjured individuals. Prospective, observational study. Outpatient clinic of a Department of...
The place of 5-aminolaevulinic acid-photodynamic therapy in the treatment landscape of urethral warts: A systematic review.

Abstract Background Human papilloma virus (HPV) infection is the most common sexually transmitted disease worldwide and the main cause of genital warts. Clear recommendations for the management of urethral warts, which are often hard to detect and difficult to treat, are still lacking. Objective To summarize all available data describing treatment modalities of urethral warts, compare their efficacy and side effects, and provide physicians a treatment strategy outline. Material and methods Till June 2020, we conducted a systematic review of articles studying the different treatment modalities of urethral condylomas. A chi-square test was used to compare the recurrence rates between treatment modalities, the complete clearance rates at first follow-up and the rates of adverse events. Results A total of 26 articles with 1730 patients were included in our review. 61 % of patients were deemed completely cured on the first follow-up while 21 % recurred. 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) mediated photodynamic therapy (PDT) was the most common treatment and yielded the lowest recurrence rate (7.5 %) followed by laser therapy (24 %) and topical therapy (31 %) (p Conclusion ALA-PDT appears to be the most effective treatment of urethral condylomas in term of clearance and recurrence rate, but with a higher risk of adverse events. Management should be tailored to the type of lesion found at presentation.
Strategies to Balance Energy Security, Business, Trade and Sustainable Development

Energy is pivotal for socio-economic and cultural development. Last century witnessed a drastic increase, on one hand on the consumption of energy and, on the other on greenhouse gases emissions. Traditionally, energy security has been linked with the need to guarantee supply and, in turn, enables economic growth. Against this background, countries focused on diversifying both energy sources and trade partners while at the same time increasing investment in energy infrastructure and technology. Investment in low-carbon energy sources for enhancing national energy policies prompts for a new understanding of energy security. The aim is, in fact, not anymore limited to securing provision but also to strengthen diversification and counteract the negative effects of energy consumption on the environment. The need to include a sustainability component to energy in trade, business and in the society at large, is adding a further layer of complexity in shaping national and international energy policy. Strategies to balance energy security, business, trade, and sustainable development are urgently needed in the Anthropocene. Creative and innovative approaches to energy policy could be found in countries where energy consumption is on a steady rise and environmental degradation is crystal clear.
Hewing Fiction from History: The Writing of History, Conflict and Trauma in House of Stone

This article is based on a public lecture I gave at Oxford University in May 2019. It looks at my critically acclaimed novel House of Stone and the role of literature in shaping the complex human e...
Neutron radiography: an overview

Neutron radiography is a nondestructive testing technique similar to x-radiography that can have important advantages in many specific situations. Large thicknesses of some dense metals can be penetrated; high sensitivity can be obtained for small details containing hydrogen and certain other light elements; materials of similar density can be contrasted: and highly radioactive objects can be neutron radiographed without interference from the gamma radiation. During the decade 1965 to 1975, industrial application of neutron radiography has grown rapidly due to (1) availability of suitable neutron sources, (2) advancements of the techniques, and (3) widening appreciation of the capabilities. Over 100 centers are now performing neutron radiography. Most use neutron beams of predominantly thermal energy from a nuclear reactor source, but there are examples of different techniques, some using different neutron energies, and some using accelerator or isotopic neutron sources.
Abstract 17302: A Meta-Analysis of Major Adverse Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Events in Patients Undergoing Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation Using Edwards SAPIEN valve versus Medtronic CoreValve for Severe Aortic Stenosis

Background: In patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS) who are at high risk for surgery, a transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is an emerged alternative procedure using Edwards SAPIEN ...
Pilot study: fenofibrate for patients with primary biliary cirrhosis and an incomplete response to ursodeoxycholic acid

Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2011; 33: 235–242 Summary Background Newer therapies are needed for patients with primary biliary cirrhosis and incomplete response to ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA). Fenofibrate is a fibric acid postulated to regulate immune response and cell proliferation. Aim To evaluate the efficacy and safety of fenofibrate in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis and incomplete response to UDCA. Methods We undertook a pilot study involving 20 patients with primary biliary cirrhosis and serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) ≥ 2× ULN. Nonparametric statistical tests and Spearman correlation test were used as appropriate. Results Twenty patients received fenofibrate (160 mg/day) in addition to UDCA for 48 weeks. Median serum ALP decreased significantly at 48 weeks compared with baseline values [351 (214–779) U/L at baseline vs. 177 (60–384) U/L at 48 weeks, P < 0.05]. A rebound in ALP occurred upon drug discontinuation. Serum aspartate aminotransferase and Immunoglobulin M also decreased significantly, while bilirubin and albumin remained unchanged. Median IL-1 decreased from 28.9 (2.7–10 000) to 11.3 (2.5–277.7) pg/mL (P = 0.049), and median IL-6 from 4.6 (3.2–5205) to 3.5 (3.2–73.4) pg/mL (P = 0.027). Heartburn was the most frequent adverse event, leading to discontinuation of two study subjects. Conclusions Combination therapy of fenofibrate and UDCA induced significant biochemical improvement in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis and incomplete response to UDCA. Further studies are warranted.
A Persistent Periocular Cystic Squamous Cell Carcinoma

A 53-year-old man with a history of multiple cutaneous facial squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) presents with a progressively enlarging cystic mass of his right brow for two months associated with periocular pain and numbness along the right side of his scalp. In addition, several subcutaneous lesions were noticed along the nasolabial and nasojugal areas. All lesions were excised and confirmed to be SCC on pathology with perineural spread observed with the primary brow lesion. The presence of a cystic lesion and/or multiple subcutaneous lesions should prompt consideration of a metastatic presentation of SCC. Furthermore perineural invasion of SCC can be associated with sensory and/or motor deficits.
An Exploration of Indexed and Non-Indexed Open Access Journals: Identifying Metadata Coding Variations

The intent of this investigation was to learn what factors may have contributed to low usage of a small set of reputable open access scholarly journals, as evidenced in graduate student reference lists. Inquiry into differences among open access sources referenced between 2005 and 2014 revealed that non-indexed journals were being used notably fewer times than their commercially indexed counterparts. A comparison of HTML source code between indexed and non-indexed journals illustrated that certain metadata and other coding features may have affected the visibility of non-indexed journal content. The study suggests to librarians the presence of less visible empirical literature on the web and to smaller, independent academic publishers, the need to apply better quality metadata and optimization strategies to their open access journal content.
Dissolution of calcium bilirubinate and calcium carbonate debris remaining after methyl tert-butyl ether dissolution of cholesterol gallstones.

Methyl tert -butyl ether rapidly dissolves cholesterol gallstones, although insoluble debris may remain. Total gallstone dissolution could be achieved if safe solvents for these noncholesterol components can be developed. We evaluated the in vitro ability of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, citrate, dimethyl sulfoxide, and ionic or nonionic detergents to dissolve the predominately calcium bilirubinate and calcium carbonate debris remaining after methyl tert -butyl ether gallstone dissolution. Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid 1% or 2% at pH 9.5 was the most effective of the solvents studied for dissolving calcium and bile pigment. The addition of cholate (25-200 mM) or polysorbate (1%-10%) to ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid 1% at pH 9.5 enhanced pigment dissolution compared to ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid alone. Dissolution of pellets prepared from human gallstones and composed predominantly of either calcium bilirubinate or calcium carbonate was 80% and 85% at 4 h using ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid 1% plus polysorbate-20 1% at pH 9.5. We conclude that ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, either alone or with a detergent, is an effective solvent for methyl tert butyl ether-insoluble gallstone debris and deserves assessment in vivo.
SMAD2 and the relationship of colorectal cancer to inflammatory bowel disease.

Abstract Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) affecting the colon [Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC)] are associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer (CRC). Our previous work using oligonucleotide array data indicated that SMAD2 was significantly underexpressed in UC dysplastic tissue compared to benign UC. The aim of this current study was to determine whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the SMAD2 gene are associated with IBD dysplasia/cancer. We performed an SNP haplotype-based case-control association study. Leukocyte DNA was obtained from 489 unrelated Caucasians (158 UC, 175 CD, 71 CRC, 85 controls). Eleven SNPs were genotyped. All 11 SNPs were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in the control population. Strong linkage disequilibrium was observed among nearly all SMAD2 SNPs. There were no significant associations between SMAD2 allele or haplotype frequencies. Power calculations indicated good power for single-marker analysis (>0.8) and reasonably good power against effects of 0.1-0.15 for haplotype analysis. SMAD2 SNPs were not associated with the development of IBD dysplasia/cancer. This incongruity between our previous microarray data and the findings from this genotype study may be attributed to mechanisms such as alternative splicing of pre-mRNA SMAD2 and/or cross talk with other cellular pathways.
Indolent enterococcal abscess mimicking recurrent renal cell carcinoma on MR imaging and PET/CT after radiofrequency ablation.

A case of asymptomatic enterococcal abscess was found to mimic recurrent renal cell carcinoma (RCC) on gadoliniumenhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and positron emission tomography/computed tomography (CT) 15 months after radiofrequency ablation for RCC. This case illustrates that indolent infection can closely mimic recurrent neoplasm on imaging. The authors suggest that if bacterial and fungal cultures had been performed during the CT-guided biopsy, the subsequent open surgical procedure might have been avoided.
A Trim and Fill Examination of the Extent of Publication Bias in Communication Research

Publication bias can occur when a study is not published in an academic journal because the study did not find a statistically significant result. It can bias meta-analytic estimates upwards because the meta-analyses are missing studies that provide small estimates of the effect size under study. This paper describes the trim and fill technique of estimating the impact of publication bias on meta-analyses (Duval & Tweedie, 2000a, 2000b) and provides a working example. A sample of 68 meta-analyses of communication research were tested for publication bias using the trim and fill technique. The results suggest that most communication meta-analyses are not substantially affected by publication bias.
Surface emitting second harmonic generation in vertical resonator

The efficiency of surface emitting second harmonic generators can be significantly increased by resonating the second harmonic field in a vertical cavity structure. These resonant devices can be several orders of magnitude more efficient than similar nonresonant devices. Milliwatt visible outputs can be expected for tens of milliwatts of infra-red input in a doubly resonant structure for reasonable device parameters.
Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Long-Acting Release Octreotide for Treatment of Graves' Ophthalmopathy

Context Despite a strong rationale for trials of somatostatin analogs in the treatment of Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO), recent studies have provided conflicting results. Objective The objective of the study was to determine whether octreotide long-acting release (LAR) is effective treatment for active GO. Design This was a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Setting The setting was a single tertiary referral center. Patients Twenty-nine consecutive euthyroid patients with active GO [clinical activity score (CAS) >or= 3] were enrolled; 25 completed the study. Intervention Patients received four monthly doses of either octreotide LAR (20 mg) or saline by im injections. Main outcome measures Primary measure was a change in CAS; the secondary measure was changes in retrobulbar tissue volume, proptosis, lid fissure width, range of motion, and diplopia fields. Results Median (range) CAS change was 2.5 (1, 5) in the treatment and 1.0 (0, 7) in the placebo group (P = 0.02). Median lid fissure width improved in the treatment group, (decreased 1 mm on the right and 0.5 mm on the left), compared with the placebo group (no change on the right, P Conclusions CAS improved to a greater extent in octreotide-LAR-treated patients than the control group. However, this finding may not represent clinical benefit because patients with higher baseline CAS were overrepresented in the treatment group, and the control group was small. In contrast, treatment-related improvement in eyelid fissure width was noted, suggesting that octreotide LAR may be useful in the treatment of a subgroup of active GO patients with significant lid retraction.
Lower levels of urinary 2-hydroxyestrogens in polycystic ovary syndrome.

Context: Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have anovulation due to arrested follicular maturation. The substrate (2hydroxyestrogen) and product (2-methoxyestrogen) of catechol-Omethyl transferase (COMT) have been shown to modulate proliferation and angiogenesis of granulosa cells. Objective: The objective of the study was to evaluate COMT ovarian expression as well as the production of estrogen metabolites (2-hydroxyestrogen and 2-methoxyestrogen) in subjects with PCOS. Design: Immunohistochemistry was used to assess COMT expression in ovarian tissues. Urinary levels of 10 different estrogens and estrogen metabolites were measured using enzyme-labeled immunoassays and/or liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. Setting: The study was conducted at a tertiary university referral center. void urinary samples were collected from 49 subjects with PCOS and 36 healthy control subjects. Main Outcome Measure(s): COMT protein expression in ovarian tissues was measured. Urinary levels of 2-hydroxyestrogen and 2-methoxyestrogen levels in PCOS patients were also measured. Results: Whereas immunohistochemistry showed that COMT was expressed in ovaries from control and PCOS subjects, its expression was significantly higher in ovaries from subjects with PCOS, in both the follicular structures and ovarian stroma. The urinary 2-hydroxyestrogen level was significantly lower in subjects with PCOS, compared with normal controls (P 0.009). Additionally, urinary 2-hydroxyestrogen levels negatively correlated with serum insulin levels in subjects with PCOS (r 0.333, P 0 .031). Conclusions: Urinary 2-hydroxyestrogen is decreased in subjects with PCOS, which could be due in part to increased ovarian expression of COMT. Further studies are needed to ascertain the role of estrogen metabolism in PCOS before this information can be used in clinical settings. (J Clin Endocrinol Metab 92: 3285–3291, 2007)
Numerical Simulations Initialized with Radar-Derived Winds. Part I: Simulated Data Experiments

Abstract Techniques to initialize the boundary layer in a numerical model with radar-derived wind fields are tested with simulated data of a gust front. Experiments show that Newtonian relaxation or “nudging” applied to the velocity fields is not capable of retrieving the buoyancy in the gust front. The traditional thermodynamic retrieval method is then applied to the simulated velocity data. Tests are performed to determine the sensitivity to the tendency terms, time smoothing, length of the data assimilation window, random error in the velocity fields, sloping terrain, and the nonhydrostatic terms. Two methods to initialize the flow in the data-void region above the boundary layer are also examined. The first solves the linear gravity wave equation, given the forcing at the top of the boundary layer. The second assumes irrotational flow and a divergence profile that exponentially damps the motion in the vertical. Both methods result in less than 10% arms error after 40 min compared with over 40% error i...
Multiple methods: research methods in education projects at NSF1

Projects on science and mathematics education research supported by the National Science Foundation (US government) rarely employ a single method of study. Studies of educational practices that use experimental design are very rare. The most common research method is the case study method and the second most common is some form of experimental design. However, most studies use a combination of methods to study educational practices such as case study and survey. The types of methods found in this group of education researchers represent the best quality available to the education community. The proposals were selected from those carefully reviewed by a panel of senior researchers.
Evidence of secretion of an aldosterone-stimulating substance by the kidney.

HAEMORRHAGE causes a two-fold increase in aldosterone secretion in hypophysectomized dogs1. We have found recently that nephrectomized hypophysectomized dogs fail to show this rise, and that saline extracts of dog kidney contain an aldosterone-stimulating substance.
The thermomigration of biphase vapor-liquid droplets in solids

Abstract The thermomigration of biphase vapor-liquid droplets was studied in KCl as a function of droplet size and the relative proportions of gas and liquid phases in the droplets. Droplets containing more than 10 vol. % of gas migrated down thermal gradients toward lower temperatures in contrast to the usual thermomigration behavior of simple gas or liquid inclusions up thermal gradients in solids. By considering viscous gas flow, vapor diffusion, liquid diffusion, evaporation and condensation and liquid currents driven by surface tension gradients, the observed thermomigration behavior of biphase vapor-liquid droplets can be adequately explained. The results of this and previous investigations were applied to the thermomigration problems associated with the proposed storage of highly radioactive waste products in abandoned salt mines. The thermomigration of naturally occurring brine droplets in a salt formation up thermal gradients generated by the vigorous self heating of these nuclear wastes is shown to be capable of causing an undesirable inflow of water into the nuclear waste crypts. In addition, the thermomigration of contaminated vapor-liquid droplets created on the salt crypt walls in a direction away from the crypt may lead to a modest dispersal of radioactive wastes in the salt formation. Droplet migration along the gravitational field or along the weak natural thermal gradient of the earth would be prevented by the trapping of droplets on grain boundaries in the salt. Thus, the escape of radioactivity to the outside environment is unlikely even on a geological time scale.
Persons With Dementia Who Become Lost in the Community: A Case Study, Current Research and Recommendations

Providing care for persons with dementia presents several serious challenges. Among these is the possibility that a person with dementia will become lost in the community and face the risk of injury or death. Caregivers often cite anxiety about this possibility as a reason for placing their loved ones in a professional-care setting. Our case study and review of research show that all persons with dementia are at risk, regardless of age, past behavior, and sex. Thus, health care providers have an important role to play in educating caregivers about this risk and assisting them in preventing or responding to such situations. In addition, health care providers should ensure that their respective professionalcare facilities have appropriate measures in place to prevent and respond to these eventualities. Finally, health care providers can educate local law enforcement personnel about dementia in general and more specifically about research-based strategies for searching for persons with dementia who have become lost in the community.
Correlates of sexual risk-taking behaviour among HIV seropositive gay men in concordant primary partner relationships

This study sought to understand how person, perceived health risks, psychosocial, and mental health factors relate to unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) among 91 HIV seropositive (HIV + ) gay men in concordant primary partner relationships. The data was drawn from a larger sample of 464 HIV + men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM) from mainstream gay venues, AIDS service organizations, and public sex environments in New York City and San Francisco. The findings from this study suggest that UAI is a common behaviour among HIV + gay men in seroconcordant couples, which may compromise their health due to the possibility of HIV reinfection and the transmission of other sexually transmitted diseases. Results from our analyses indicated that lower perceived risk of HIV reinfection, lower behavioural intentions for condom use, and higher CD4 counts were predictive of HIV + gay men engaging in UAI with their HIV + primary partner. In situations where there is discordance in HIV strain type or in dyads where monogamy is ...
Efficient algorithms for exact ranked twig-pattern matching over graphs

Querying large-scale graph-structured data with twig patterns is attracting growing interest. Generally, a twig pattern could have an extremely large, potentially exponential, number of matches in a graph. Retrieving and returning to the user this many answers may both incur high computational overhead and overwhelm the user.In this paper we propose two efficient algorithms, DP-B and DP-P, for retrieving top-ranked twig-pattern matches from large graphs. Our first algorithm, DP-B, is able to retrieve exact top-ranked answer matches from potentially exponentially many matches in time and space linear in the size of our data inputs even in the worst case. Further, beyond the linear-cost result of DP-B, our second algorithm, DP-P, could take far less than linear time and space cost in practice. To the best of our knowledge, our algorithms are the first to have these performance properties. Our experimental results demonstrate the high performance of both algorithms on large datasets. We also analyze and compare the performance trade-off between DP-B and DP-P from the theoretical and practical viewpoints.
Evidence on the political economy of the urbanization process

Urbanization and economic development go hand-in-hand as a country moves from a rural-agricultural base to an urban-industrial base. This paper argues that urbanization per se occurs in response to the basic sector shift out of agriculture, and government policies such as price controls and trade protection of industry affect the process only indirectly through their effect on sector composition. However, urban concentration, the extent to which a country's urban resources are concentrated in one or two large cities as opposed to more evenly spread, is much more directly affected by policies and politics. The paper finds specifically that investments in inter-regional infrastructure facilitates urban deconcentration away from primate to hinterland cities, as does increasing democratization or increasing fiscal decentralization. The findings move beyond establishing basic correlations in the data to trying to quantify causal effects in a panel framework with instrumental variables estimation.
Contemporary Techniques of Mandibular Reconstruction

The mandible is an important structure for function, esthetics, and quality of life. Mandibular defects can result from ablative cancer surgery, trauma, osteoradionecrosis, and osteomyelitis. Reconstruction of these defects remains a challenge. The ideal reconstruction would provide a solid arch to articulate with the upper jaw, restoring swallowing speech, mastication, and esthetics. The optimal technique continues to be debated. The reconstructive surgeon must take into account the patient’s desires, medical condition, compliance, and the specific defect. Therefore, modern mandibular reconstruction requires the surgeons to have many options at their expertise. Many reconstruction modalities have been attempted and reported. These modalities include reconstruction bars with or without pedicled myocutaneous flaps, alloplasts, free grafts including particulate or cortical bone, pedicled osteomyocutaneous flaps, and a variety of free vascularized bone flaps.“’ No one method of reconstruction deals with all the variables affecting each patient with a mandibular defect. It is important to mention that one option is no reconstruction of the mandible. Komisar3 concluded that mandibular continuity did not enhance the functional rehabilitation in the majority of patients he studied with oropharyngeal malignancies.
Role of planned preoperative irradiation in the management of clinical stage B2-C (T3) bladder carcinoma in the 1980s.

In recent years the role of planned preoperative irradiation in the management of clinical stage B2-C (T3) bladder cancer has been questioned by a number of investigators. Much of the confusion regarding the efficacy of combined therapy results from studies that compare the results of treatment of pathological stage B2-C patients treated by cystectomy alone versus clinical stage B2-C patients treated by preoperative irradiation plus cystectomy. Such comparisons are biased because of 1) the exclusion of a large number of pathological stage D patients from cystectomy-alone series and their inclusion in preoperative irradiation plus cystectomy series and 2) the inclusion in the cystectomy-alone series of patients whose clinical stages were less than or equal to T2. The purpose of this paper is to compare the results of treatment in patients with clinical stage B2-C bladder carcinoma following radical cystectomy alone versus preoperative irradiation plus cystectomy. This article reviews the rationale for administering preoperative irradiation, the effect of preoperative irradiation on the pathological specimen (including down-staging, the effect on regional lymph nodes, and radioresponsiveness according to tumor configuration, i.e., papillary vs. solid), the impact of preoperative irradiation on pelvic recurrence and 5-year survival, and the effect of preoperative irradiation on operative and postoperative complications. This paper cites all known literature on the subject in the English language. Data comparing 5-year survival results of radical cystectomy alone versus preoperative irradiation plus cystectomy are analyzed in three different ways: a) retrospective comparisons of historical results, b) comparison of contemporaneous "modern-day" (1960-1980) series comprising 1185 patients who received either radical cystectomy alone or preoperative irradiation plus cystectomy, and c) review of the results of six randomized trials. Preoperative results are also analyzed according to dose level (2,000 cGy versus 4,000 cGy vs. 4,500-5,000 cGy). The data presented indicate that the addition of preoperative irradiation to cystectomy for clinical stage B2-C (T3) bladder cancer adds approximately 15-20 percentage points to the 5-year survival, leading to a survival figure that is approximately half again that achieved by cystectomy alone.
The reaction of mothers to improvement in their schizophrenic daughters.

Summary Eight mother-schizophrenic daughter pairs were studied intensively over periods ranging from 4 to 48 months. In four of these pairs, mothers' condition worsened as their daughters' illnesses improved. Two mothers felt less anxious coincident with daughters' improvement and decreasing resentment; while in the two remaining pairs mothers' emotional status varied with the patients' expressions of resentment which were not necessarily a manifestation of the degree of illness. The role of hostility as expressed towards mother is emphasized as one of the important factors in this phenomenon of reciprocating psychopathology.
Electromagnetic radiation induced by a gravitational wave

The electromagnetic radiation induced by a gravitational wave incident on a point charge and a static point dipole is calculated using a multipole expansion of the fields. The calculation is easily extended to the case of a relativistic source. The presence of this radiation does not violate the principle of equivalence. Estimates are made of the electromagnetic radiation induced by a plane gravitational wave incident on a plasma. For hot plasmas the radiated power can be considerably enhanced; however, it is still rather small and the frequency of the radiation would probably be too low for this process to be of any astrophysical significance.
Global left ventricular impairment and myocardial revascularization: determinants of survival.

Abstract Of 2,782 patients undergoing isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) from 1970 through 1979, 196 exhibited severe global impairment of left ventricular (LV) wall motion preoperatively (LV score, greater than or equal to 15; ejection fraction, less than 0.40 in all patients and less than 0.30 in 67%). The initial 89 patients (Group 1) underwent CABG without potassium chloride cardioplegia. The subsequent 107 patients (Group 2) were given potassium chloride cardioplegia intraoperatively. Group B patients received more grafts per patient (3.1 versus 2.5; p p p p Preoperative congestive heart failure resulted in higher operative mortality (14.3% versus 4.5%; p p p Potassium chloride cardioplegia may influence operative survival favorably by reducing perioperative myocardial infarction in patients with severe LV dysfunction. Long-term survival relates to completeness of revascularization and severity of congestive heart failure as variables independent of methods of myocardial protection.
Barriers to rotation in methyl formate by dynamic NMR spectroscopy and barriers to 1,3 oxygen-to-oxygen migration in methyl formate and trifluoromethyl formate by ab initio calculations.

Free-energy barriers of 9.85 and 11.91 ± 0.15 kcal/mol at −70.8 °C were found by dynamic NMR spectroscopy for the E-to-Z and Z-to-E conversions, respectively, of methyl formate (1) enriched in 13C to 99% for the carbonyl carbon [methyl formate 13C (2)]. These barriers are higher than the literature values reported for −53 °C. The free-energy barrier to 1,3 oxygen-to-oxygen migration of the methyl group in methyl formate was determined by ab initio calculations at several levels. The value of 58.7 kcal/mol obtained at the MP2/6-311+G (df,pd) level was compared to a literature barrier for this process (MINDO/3) and to barriers for related compounds. A free-energy barrier of 63.0 kcal/mol for the oxygen − to − oxygen migration of the CF3 group in trifluoromethyl formate (3) was calculated at the MP2/6-31+G* level.
Solution properties of polystyrene prepared under high pressure

The molecular weight, the size, and the second virial coefficient have been determined for a series of styrene polymers prepared under high pressure (0 to 4000 atmospheres) using light scattering techniques. The intrinsic viscosity–molecular weight relationship, the size–molecular weight relationship, and the magnitude of the second virial coefficient reveal no significant differences when compared to similar data of regular polystyrene. Structural differences due to the method of polymerization do not exist to the extent that they can be revealed by such measurements.