cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Reminder Cards Improve Physician Documentation of Obesity But Not Obesity Counseling

Background and objectives Physicians frequently fail to document obesity and obesity-related counseling. We sought to determine whether attaching a physical reminder card to patient encounter forms would increase electronic medical record (EMR) assessment of and documentation of obesity and dietary counseling. Methods Reminder cards for obesity documentation were attached to encounter forms for patient encounters over a 2-week intervention period. For visits in the intervention period, the EMR was retrospectively reviewed for BMI, assessment of "obesity" or "morbid obesity" as an active problem, free-text dietary counseling within physician notes, and assessment of "dietary counseling" as an active problem. These data were compared to those collected through a retrospective chart review during a 2-week pre-intervention period. We also compared physician self-report of documentation via reminder cards with EMR documentation. Results We found significant improvement in the primary endpoint of assessment of "obesity" or "morbid obesity" as an active problem (42.5% versus 28%) compared to the pre-intervention period. There was no significant difference in the primary endpoints of free-text dietary counseling or assessment of "dietary counseling" as an active problem between the groups. Physician self-reporting of assessment of "obesity" or "morbid obesity" as an active problem (77.7% versus 42.5%), free-text dietary counseling on obesity (69.1% versus 35.4%) and assessment of "dietary counseling" as an active problem (54.3% versus 25.2%) were all significantly higher than those reflected in EMR documentation. Conclusions This study demonstrates that physical reminder cards are a successful means of increasing obesity documentation rates among providers but do not necessarily increase rates of obesity-related counseling or documentation of counseling. Our study suggests that even with such interventions, physicians are likely under-documenting obesity and counseling compared to self-reported rates.
Intestinal Obstruction: A Complication of Percutaneous Cystotomy. A Case Report

The percutaneous suprapubic bladder catheter has become an important tool for the urologist because of its efficacy, simplicity and wide range of applications. A case of intestinal obstruction secondary to percutaneous cystotomy with the Bonanno suprapubic bladder drainage catheter is reported.
Tripping Elicits Earlier and Larger Deviations in Linear Head Acceleration Compared to Slipping

Slipping and tripping contribute to a large number of falls and fall-related injuries. While the vestibular system is known to contribute to balance and fall prevention, it is unclear whether it contributes to detecting slip or trip onset. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of slipping and tripping on head acceleration during walking. This information would help determine whether individuals with vestibular dysfunction are likely to be at a greater risk of falls due to slipping or tripping, and would inform the potential development of assistive devices providing augmented sensory feedback for vestibular dysfunction. Twelve young men were exposed to an unexpected slip or trip. Head acceleration was measured and transformed to an approximate location of the vestibular system. Peak linear acceleration in anterior, posterior, rightward, leftward, superior, and inferior directions were compared between slipping, tripping, and walking. Compared to walking, peak accelerations were up to 4.68 m/s2 higher after slipping, and up to 10.64 m/s2 higher after tripping. Head acceleration first deviated from walking 100-150ms after slip onset and 0-50ms after trip onset. The temporal characteristics of head acceleration support a possible contribution of the vestibular system to detecting trip onset, but not slip onset. Head acceleration after slipping and tripping also appeared to be sufficiently large to contribute to the balance recovery response.
An In-Depth Investigation of a Z-Source Ultrasparse Matrix Converter in Buck and Boost Modes of Operation

Z-source networks are recently being employed to enhance the boosting capability of matrix converters. This paper concentrates on cascaded Z-source ultrasparse matrix converter (ZSUSMC), where the Z-source network is placed between the three-switch input rectifier stage and the six-switch output inverter stage. Two space vector modulation schemes, with and without a zero state in the rectifier stage modulation, are presented and their advantages and disadvantages are discussed. In addition, restrictions imposed on the converter operation in buck mode, which arise from unidirectional nature of the ultrasparse matrix converter, are discussed and a solution is proposed for offsetting those limitations. Furthermore, an optimal switching pattern, which results in minimum possible number of changes in the switching states as well as even distribution of the shoot-through state over the entire control period, is proposed. Also, common-mode voltages of the converter in all possible switching configurations are calculated. Hardware-in-the-loop studies of a ZSUSMC-based permanent magnet synchronous motor drive are carried out to evaluate the performance of the drive under the proposed modulation techniques. The obtained results are compared with a recent study and the superiority of the proposed method in terms of converter input/output current quality is demonstrated.
Throughfall Chemistry and Canopy Processing Mechanisms

Forest canopies receive chemical inputs from the atmosphere by rainfall, cloud droplet capture, and the accumulation of particles and vapors by dry deposition. These chemical inputs interact with surfaces in the canopy and are released to the forest floor primarily as throughfall (TF). A quantitative understanding of chemical fluxes in TF requires examination of the mechanisms of TF processing by forest canopy components. One such mechanism involves interactions between anthropogenic acidity inputs and the forest canopy, which may increase chemical fluxes in TF. The processes that control the inorganic chemistry of coniferous forest TF include atmospheric inputs from wet and dry deposition as well as physical, chemical, and biological processes that occur on forest canopy surfaces. A review of these processes suggests that dry deposition washoff, diffusion, uptake, and cation exchange control TF chemistry. In this chapter we use these processes to generate hypothetical patterns for ion-specific TF chemical fluxes. We compare these hypotheses to short-term sequential samples of the net ionic fluxes in TF and two coniferous forests that differ in atmospheric inputs. Substantial progress has been made toward the development of a general model of TF chemistry. Experiments are proposed to address the questions that remain for the development of such a model.
Nocturia is associated with poor sleep quality among older women in the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures

Objectives (1) To examine relationships between frequency of nocturia and self-reported sleep quality and objective sleep measures in older women, and (2) to estimate the amount of variation in sleep measures that is specifically attributable to frequency of nocturia. Design and setting Secondary, cross sectional analysis of the multicenter prospective cohort Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (SOF). Participants Community-dwelling women aged ≥80 years. Measurements Frequency of nocturia in the previous 12 months, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index sleep quality subscale, and actigraphy-measured wake after sleep onset (WASO) and total sleep time (TST). Results Of 1,520 participants, 25% (n = 392) reported their nocturia frequency was 3–4 times/night and an additional 60% (n = 917) reported their nocturia frequency was 1–2 times/night. More frequent nocturia was associated with poor sleep quality (3–4/night: 26.8% reported fairly bad or very bad sleep quality; 1–2/night: 14.7%; 0/night: 7.7%; P < .001) and longer WASO (3–4/night: 89.8 minutes; 1–2/night: 70.6; 0/night: 55.5; P < .001). In nested regression models, a nocturia frequency of 3–4/night quadrupled the odds of poor sleep quality (odds ratio: 4.26 [95% CI 1.65, 11.01]; P = .003) and was associated with a 37-minute worsening in WASO (95% CI 26.0, 49.0; P < .001). Frequency of nocturia explained an additional 6% variation in WASO, above and beyond demographic, medical/psychiatric conditions, and medication factors (∆R2 = 0.06). Conclusions Nocturia is common among octogenarian and nonagenarian women and is independently associated with poor sleep quality and longer wake time at night. Interventions that improve nocturia may be useful in improving sleep quality and wake time at night.
III-V infrared focal plane array development in US (Conference Presentation)

Distribution Statement A: Approved for public release. Abstract III-V Infrared Focal Plane Array Development in US Authors: Meimei Tidrow, Sumith Bandara, Leslie Aitcheson, Lucy Zheng, Neil Baril, Alicia Williams This presentation describes the continuation of work and unprecedented progress stemming from a national effort called Vital Infrared Sensor Technology Acceleration (VISTA). VISTA is a U.S. Department of Defense research and development program that made tremendous strides in the development of III-V antimony-based infrared detectors, pioneering much of the work in this area and transitioning results to industry partners. As part of this success, the program demonstrated very large-format high operating temperature mid-wavelength as well as mid-wavelength/long-wavelength dual band 720x1280 12-m pitch infrared focal plane arrays. While the program ended in 2015, DoD is continuing pursuit of this highly-flexible technology for advanced infrared sensors under numerous programs. Their interest is in capitalizing on this material system’s ability to reduce cost, size, weight, and power requirements of sensor systems, while providing small pixel sizes, very high operability, and large formats—all with high performance. In this presentation, we will outline recent work and results under DoD programs stemming from final results of VISTA.
Death Penalty, Overview

The death penalty (capital punishment) has been one of the most widely used punishments; no people or nation seems to have been exempt from some recourse to this form of violence under the law. Today, the death penalty is still in evidence, but many countries have abolished it entirely and others have severely limited its use, preferring instead to sentence capital offenders to long terms of imprisonment. The principal explanation for the decline in the use of the death penalty is twofold: the availability of imprisonment as an adequate alternative punishment, and the increasing influence of international human rights law. Underlying that influence is the belief (more widespread in Europe today than in the United States) that the death penalty is cruel, inhumane, and unnecessary.
Left ventricular catheter ablation using direct, intramural ethanol injection in swine.

Introduction: Limitations in lesion volume and particularly lesion depth may negatively effect the efficacy of catheter ablation procedures using radiofrequency energy. This study evaluated the safety and efficacy of myocardial ablation using direct intramural injection of ethanol with a novel injection catheter system.
Accidental Antidepressants: Search for Specific Action

Serendipity has been invoked to explain a number of discoveries in psychopharmacology. These have included the pharmacoconvulsive therapies in the 1930s (which originated in the idea of using transfused blood from schizophrenics to treat epileptics), and the “uricosuric agent” lithium, studied in the 1940s for the treatment of gout. Today electroconvulsive therapy and lithium carbonate are standard treatments for affective disorders. Of the primary antidepressant medications developed in the 1950s, monoamine oxidase inhibitors evolved from the clinical observation of euphoric reactions of tuberculosis patients to iproniazid; the prototype tricyclic antidepressant, imipramine, was synthesized in the search for a better neuroleptic. So, the classic antidepressants were the truly accidental ones.
ESIFT: Efficient System for Error Injection

Computer use in high dependability applications is rapidly increasing. These applications require the computer to be able to detect, locate, isolate and recover from software, hardware or security attacks errors. To evaluate the dependability of a computer system design, it is critical to be able to assess its ability to detect, locate, recover from errors, and to estimate coverage and latencies. Fault-injection tools play critical role in the evaluation and validation of dependable systems. They generate statistics on error coverage and latencies. This helps to identify good fault tolerance technique that detects and prevent system failures. In this paper, we present an Efficient Fault Injection System for Transient Fault (ESIFT). ESIFT is based on Python extended GDB which makes ESIFT portable across a wide variety of systems. ESFIT operates at near native speed enabling the dependability evaluation of large system. Unlike traditional techniques which evaluate only the faulty system behavior, ESIFT evaluates, concurrently, both the faulty and the fault-free system behavior. This allows faster error detection and latency evaluation.
Constraining scatter in the stellar mass–halo mass relation for haloes less massive than the Milky Way

NASA from the Space Telescope Science Institute [HST-HF2-51353.001-A]; NASANational Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) [NAS5-26555]
Haemophilus-Dominant Nasopharyngeal Microbiota Is Associated With Delayed Clearance of Respiratory Syncytial Virus in Infants Hospitalized for Bronchiolitis

The relation of nasopharyngeal microbiota to the clearance of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in infants hospitalized for bronchiolitis is not known. In a multicenter cohort, we found that 106 of 557 infants (19%) hospitalized with RSV bronchiolitis had the same RSV subtype 3 weeks later (ie, delayed clearance of RSV). Using 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing and a clustering approach, infants with a Haemophilus-dominant microbiota profile at hospitalization were more likely than those with a mixed profile to have delayed clearance, after adjustment for 11 factors, including viral load. Nasopharyngeal microbiota composition is associated with delayed RSV clearance.
Growth Hormone Releasing Factor

Growth hormone releasing factor (GRF) is a member of the pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP)/glucagon superfamily, and is the least conserved of the peptides among different species …
An Intelligent Versatile Model-Based Trajectory-Optimized Active Gate Driver for Silicon Carbide Devices

Using silicon carbide (SiC) power devices can potentially improve the efficiency of a power electronic system, but it may also introduce severe electromagnetic interference (EMI) problems due to the fast switching speed. The conventional gate driver cannot provide the flexibility to adjust the switching speed of SiC dynamically. To address this issue, an intelligent versatile active gate driver (AGD) is proposed to achieve optimized switching trajectory for power devices. The proposed AGD has five operation modes, i.e., faster/normal/slower the turn-on process and slower/normal turn-off process. The availability of multiple operation modes offers extra freedom to improve the switching performance and enable it to be versatile across various systems. The proposed AGD can provide more switching speed adjustment resolution than the other AGDs allowing for fine tuning of the switching speed of SiC power devices. In addition, a novel model-based trajectory optimization strategy is proposed to determine the optimal gate driver output voltage by trading the EMI noise against the switching energy losses. The functionalities of the multi-level AGD are validated with the experimental results. The hardware design consideration is also given for the product commercialization purpose.
Abstract 2642: Antisense oligonucleotide-based induction of dominant-negative variants of STAT3 and EGFR in breast and lung cancer cells

The signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is linked to multiple cancers, including breast and lung adenocarcinomas, where it is known to activate multiple oncogenic pathways and serve as a bypass mechanism in drug resistance. For example, STAT3 is known to be a driver in some basal-like Triple-negative breast cancers (TNBC) and a resistance mechanism to EGFR inhibitors in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Thus STAT3 has become an attractive target in cancer therapeutics. A naturally occurring alternative splicing variant, STAT3-beta, is truncated and lacks the C-terminal trans-activation domain. Stat3-beta can act in a dominant negative fashion. We recently demonstrated that splice-switching oligonucleotides (SSOs) can be used to induce a shift in endogenous expression from the abundant, oncogenic STAT3-alpha to the truncated dominant-negative STAT3-beta isoform. This leads to decreased cell viability in triple-negative breast cancer cells and to tumor regression in mice, as compared to full STAT3 knock-down or controls. Our aim was to test a panel of next-generation SSOs in order to evaluate their efficacy in basal-like breast cancer cells, which are typically refractory to tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Based on our previous studies, we generated a panel of optimized SSOs targeting STAT3, and assayed the extent of the STAT3 alpha-to-beta switch, at the RNA and protein level, and at their efficacy at eliciting cell apoptosis in MDA-MB-468 TNBC cells, and identified one which show a 5-10 fold improvement of activity in vitro, compared to our previous leading published compound. The optimized STAT3 SSO sequence was also tested in RTK inhibitor-resistant H1975 non-small cell lung cancer cells and was found to be effective in killing the cancer cells as compared to Stat3 knockdown. We also used a similar antisense approach to induce the expression of a dominant-negative variant of the EGFR and tested in combination with our STAT3 SSO. While both the SSO-induced dominant negative variants of EGFR or STAT3 were able to effectively kill lung cancer cells individually, we observed a marked synergistic increase in inhibition when the two compounds where used in combination. Citation Format: Prasad Subramaniam, Luca Cartegni. Antisense oligonucleotide-based induction of dominant-negative variants of STAT3 and EGFR in breast and lung cancer cells [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2642.
Metastatic follicular thyroid carcinoma to the mandible: a case report and literature review

Objective To explore the clinicopathological characteristics,differential diagnosis and the therapeutic method of metastatic follicular thyroid carcinoma( FTC) to the mandible. Methods A case report of metastatic follicular thyroid carcinoma to the mandible was reported and the relevant literatures were reviewed. Results The patient was a49-year-old woman. A gigantic swelling was located in the lower right side of the face. Histopathologically,follicular or block-like structure lined with circular cells,which contained intraluminal colloid. The oncocyte with abundant amount of cytoplasm and small nuclei,mitotic figures were not obvious. Immunohistochemically,tumour cells expressed TTF-1,TG. Yet CK20,Calcitonin,CgA,Syn were negative. Conclusion FTC is prone to spread hematogenously,when it transfer to the mandible,in order to release the patient's symptom and improve her quality of life to a proper level,a salvage operation should be taken into account. The outcome may be poor when the metastasis occured.
18 highlights from the International Criteria for ECG interpretation in athletes

ECG interpretation in athletes is a required skill for the sports medicine physician. Whether used for screening or diagnostic purposes, ECG facilitates the detection of conditions at risk for sudden cardiac death (SCD). ECG interpretation standards have evolved over the last decade as scientific studies improved the division of physiological from pathological ECG changes. The Seattle Criteria (2013) provided consensus recommendations by an international panel of experts in sports cardiology and emerged as a practical guideline to improve ECG interpretation accuracy.1 In 2017, the International Criteria was released by the same expert panel and intended to supersede prior guidelines as the current standard for ECG interpretation in athletes.2 Each revision of ECG standards has improved specificity without compromising sensitivity for ECG-detectable pathological conditions associated with SCD.3–5 In a cohort of 5258 college athletes from the USA, application of the International Criteria lowered the false-positive rate compared with the Seattle Criteria from 2.8% to just 1.3%.3 Likewise, in a cohort of 11 168 adolescent soccer players from the UK, the total number of athletes with an abnormal ECG was reduced 57% by moving from the Seattle Criteria (4.3%) to the International Criteria (1.8%).4 The most substantive change is the introduction of a ‘yellow’ box or list of borderline ECG findings in which two or more borderline findings …
Effect of Customizable Interactive Online Learning Tools on Students’ Engagement in the Learning Process: Flow and Utilitarian/Hedonic Values

This study was designed to test the effect of interactive online learning tools with customizable challenge level options on students’ learning experience. The results found that customizable interactive online learning tools can facilitate student’s flow experience by increasing curiosity and interest about the online activity. As expected, results showed the critical role of flow in increasing students’ positive emotion such as pleasure and arousal while working on the online activity. In addition, students’ flow experience during the e-learning process had a significant impact on students’ perceived values of the interactive online learning tool, particularly on perceived hedonic value. Therefore, providing customizable challenge options that could help students match their skill levels in online learning activities is essential to increase students’ flow experience during the e-learning process, which will play a critical role in engaging students in an activity and encouraging positive e-learning experience.
Y-site Administration of Imipenem/Cilastatin/Relebactam With Common Intravenous Medications

Abstract Purpose Imipenem/cilastatin/relebactam has shown efficacy in complicated intra-abdominal and urinary tract infections in the RESTORE IMI-1 study, and it was recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. A press release announced that another Phase III study (RESTORE IMI-2) in patients with hospital-acquired and ventilator-associated pneumonia has met the primary end point. Critically ill patients with multidrug-resistant infections are expected to receive several pharmaceutical intravenous drugs while admitted in hospitals, warranting the need for Y-site compatibility studies. This study was conducted to evaluate the physical compatibility of imipenem/cilastatin/relebactam for injection during Y-site administration with common injectable intravenous medications. Methods Imipenem/cilastatin/relebactam was prepared to the concentration of 5 mg/mL, and other intravenous tested drugs were reconstituted as per the package inserts. Y-site was simulated as a 2-drug combination by mixing 5 mL of each in a glass tube, with reversing of the order of mixing; physical characteristics were recorded, and pH changes and turbidity were measured at time intervals. Findings Imipenem/cilastatin/relebactam was found to be compatible with a wide range of intravenous medications, facilitating co-administration with various IV medications. Implications The compatibility reported is limited to a 2-h observation period in this study to adequately cover imipenem/cilastatin/relebactam infusion time. In addition, it is based on the measured turbidity with no chemical assay of the components of the admixture.
A Service to Blind Clients

To sum up, the case record should contain a sufficiently detailed report of the early contacts and of the worker's observations and findings so that it serves as a factual basis for sound evaluatio...
Charge-transfer satellites and chemical bonding in photoemission and x-ray absorption of SrTi O 3 and rutile Ti O 2 : Experiment and first-principles theory with general application to spectroscopic analysis

First-principles, real-time-cumulant, and Bethe-Salpeter-equation calculations fully capture the detailed satellite structure that occurs in response to the sudden creation of the core hole in both photoemission and x-ray absorption spectra of the transition-metal compounds $\mathrm{SrTi}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ and rutile $\mathrm{Ti}{\mathrm{O}}_{2}$. Analysis of the excited-state, real-space charge-density fluctuations betrays the physical nature of these many electron excitations that are shown to reflect the materials' solid-state electronic structure and chemical bonding. This first-principles development of the cumulant-based core hole spectral function is generally applicable to other systems and should become a standard tool for all similar spectroscopic analysis going beyond the quasiparticle physics of the photoelectric effect.
An ethnographic exploration of adolescent homophobic language in a rural religiously-conservative high school

Multiple qualitative and quantitative studies have investigated homophobic language and its associated correlates. However, very few studies have approached this phenomenon from an ethnographic met...
End-of-life decision making in the context of chronic life-limiting disease: a concept analysis and conceptual model

Abstract Background Conceptual ambiguities prevent advancements in end-of-life decision making in clinical practice and research. Purpose To clarify the components of and stakeholders (patients, caregivers, healthcare providers) involved in end-of-life decision making in the context of chronic life-limiting disease and develop a conceptual model. Method Walker and Avant's approach to concept analysis. Findings End-of-life decision making is a process, not a discrete event, that begins with preparation, including decision maker designation and iterative stakeholder communication throughout the chronic illness (antecedents). These processes inform end-of-life decisions during terminal illness, involving: 1) serial choices 2) weighed in terms of potential outcomes 3) through patient and caregiver collaboration (attributes). Components impact patients' death, caregivers' bereavement, and healthcare systems' outcomes (consequences). Discussion Findings provide a foundation for improved inquiry into and measurement of the end-of-life decision making process, accounting for the dose, content, and quality the antecedent and attribute factors that collectively contribute to outcomes.
Simulation-based study of COVID-19 outbreak associated with air-conditioning in a restaurant

COVID-19 has shown a high potential of transmission via virus-carrying aerosols as supported by growing evidence. However, detailed investigations that draw direct links between aerosol transport and virus infection are still lacking. To fill in the gap, we conducted a systematic computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-based investigation of indoor airflow and the associated aerosol transport in a restaurant setting, where likely cases of airflow-induced infection of COVID-19 caused by asymptomatic individuals were widely reported by the media. We employed an advanced in-house large eddy simulation solver and other cutting-edge numerical methods to resolve complex indoor processes simultaneously, including turbulence, flow-aerosol interplay, thermal effect, and the filtration effect by air conditioners. Using the aerosol exposure index derived from the simulation, we are able to provide a spatial map of the airborne infection risk under different settings. Our results have shown a remarkable direct linkage between regions of high aerosol exposure index and the reported infection patterns in the restaurant, providing strong support to the airborne transmission occurring in this widely reported incident. Using flow structure analysis and reverse-time tracing of aerosol trajectories, we are able to further pinpoint the influence of environmental parameters on the infection risks and highlight the need for more effective preventive measures, e.g., placement of shielding according to the local flow patterns. Our research, thus, has demonstrated the capability and value of high-fidelity CFD tools for airborne infection risk assessment and the development of effective preventive measures.
The Restricted Nature of the Profit Motive: Perspectives from Law, Business, and Economics

This essay investigates the permissible limits of the profit motive in business contexts by examining theory and cases from law, business, and economics. This essay aims to remind the reader that the theoretical principles upon which the profit motive is founded require abidance to law, ethics, and customary societal rules. Accordingly, the application of the profit motive as a purported justification for illegal or immoral business decisions does not withstand scrutiny. Part I distinguishes between restricted and unrestricted profit motives, and illustrates this distinction by the use of three business cases that improperly appeal to the unrestricted profit motive. Part II utilizes economic theory to reveal the restricted nature of the profit motive. Part III utilizes legal cases to display the restrictions placed on the profit motive by law. Finally, Part IV suggests that the unrestricted profit motive often results from intra- and inter-organizational power imbalances and contends that curbing such imbalances will aid in the proper application of the restricted profit motive.
4‐[3‐(4‐Pyrid­yl)prop­yl]pyridinium trihydrogen pyromellitate

The title salt, C13H15N2+·C10H5O8−, manifests hydrogen-bonded one-dimensional chains parallel to the crystallographic b-axis direction, consisting of alternating monoprotonated 1,3-di-4-pyridylpropane mol­ecules and singly deprotonated pyromellitic acid anions. The chains inter­act via C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds to form two-dimensional layers parallel to the bc plane, which in turn stack to establish the three-dimensional crystal structure.
Performing Dark Arts: A Cultural History of Conjuring

Reviewed Medium: book Authors: Michael Mangan Year: 2007 Pages: 280 Publisher: University of Chicago Press ISBN: 978-1841501499 (soft cover). Prices: $35.00 USD(soft cover).
Uncoupled expression of Moloney murine leukemia virus envelope polypeptides SU and TM: a functional analysis of the role of TM domains in viral entry.

Moloney murine leukemia virus ecotropic envelope expression plasmids were used to demonstrate that the synthesis of the retroviral envelope SU and TM polypeptides can be uncoupled with retention of biologic activity. By substituting a glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol (GPI) membrane anchor for part or all of the retroviral envelope transmembrane protein and creating several deletion variants of the TM subunit, we have begun to dissect the role of the TM protein in envelope function. We show that a GPI-anchored envelope can be incorporated into virions and binds receptor. We found that the envelope cytoplasmic tail, while not required, influences the efficiency of retroviral transduction at some step after membrane fusion (possibly by interacting with core). The membrane-spanning domain of TM is involved in membrane fusion, and this function is distinct from its role as a membrane anchor. As few as eight amino acids of the putative membrane-spanning domain are sufficient to achieve membrane anchoring of envelope but not to mediate membrane fusion. In addition, though not required, the membrane-spanning domain may have some direct role in the incorporation of envelope into virions. Finally, the extracellular domain of TM, besides containing the putative fusion domain and interacting with SU, may influence the synthesis or stability and the glycosylation of envelope, possibly by affecting oligomerization of the complex and proper intracellular transit. Images
Ophthalmology: Cataracts dissolved

Mutations underlying hereditary cataracts in two families impair the function of an enzyme that synthesizes the lens molecule lanosterol. The finding may lead to non-surgical prevention and treatment of cataracts. See Letter p.607
Optimal compression of generalized Prandtl-Ishlinskii hysteresis models

Prandtl-Ishlinskii (PI) hysteresis models have been used widely in magnetic and smart material-based systems. A generalized PI model, consisting of a weighted superposition of generalized play operators, is capable of characterizing saturated and asymmetric hysteresis. The fidelity of the model hinges on accurate representation of the envelope functions, play operator radii, and corresponding weights. Existing work has typically adopted some predefined play radii, the performance of which could be far from optimal. In this paper, novel schemes are proposed for optimally compressing generalized PI models, subject to a complexity constraint characterized by the number of play operators. An information-theoretic tool, entropy, is adopted to capture the information loss in replacing a group of weighted play operators with a single play operator. The optimal compression algorithm is reformulated as an optimal control problem and solved with dynamic programming, the computational complexity of which is shown to be much lower than that of exhaustive search. Simulation results are first presented to examine the performance of the proposed approach in approximating a PI model consisting of a large number of play operators, where cases with different types of weight distributions are explored. The approach is further applied to compress an experimentally identified generalized PI model for the complex hysteresis behavior between the resistance and temperature of vanadium dioxide, a promising multifunctional material. Both simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithms in general yield far more superior performance than a typically adopted scheme where the play radii are assigned uniformly.
GENIC HETEROGENEITY AT TWO ALCOHOL DEHYDROGENASE LOCI IN DROSOPHILA PSEUDOOBSCURA AND DROSOPHILA PERSIMILIS

A sequential electrophoretic survey of the second chromosome loci, alcohol dehydrogenase-6 ( Adh-6 ) and octanol dehydrogenase ( Odh ), was performed on 147 isochromosomal lines of Drosophila pseudoobscura and 60 lines of its sibling species, D. persimilis . Gels run with a variety of acrylamide concentrations and buffer pH's revealed the presence of 18 alleles of Adh-6 in the two species, where only eight had been previously detected by conventional electrophoretic methods. Only two alleles were added with our techniques to the previous total of nine in both species at the largely monomorphic Odh locus. Both enzymes show a predominance of one allele, with the other variants being fairly rare. There was no evidence of increased genetic divergence between the two species, but we found a striking increase in differentiation of Adh-6 alleles between the main body of D. pseudoobscura populations and the conspecific isolate from Bogota, Colombia. These results are compared with our previous surveys of xanthine dehydrogenase in these species and discussed in reference to theories of genic polymorphism.
Water, Treatment of Swimming Pools, Spas, and Hot Tubs

The swimming pool market has grown at an average of about 3% per year over the last 10 years. The total number of pools in 1991 was about in the United States. The number of spas and hot tubs has grown rapidly since 1970, with an estimated spas and hot tubs in 1991 in the United States in a growing market. Most swimming pools are of the recirculating type. Through filtration, chemical treatment, and dilution with rain and makeup water, the water can be reused without draining and refilling. Sanitizing chemicals must be added regularly to oxidize pool contaminants and kill and control disease-carrying bacteria and other organisms introduced by swimmers and dirt entering the water. It is also necessary to destroy algae whose spores are carried into the water by wind and rain. The pH of pool water must be maintained within a desirable range for swimmer comfort and optimal effectiveness of chlorine sanitizers. In order to control the corrosive or scaling tendencies of pool water, it is also necessary to maintain a proper balance between pH, alkalinity, and hardness. Undesirable trace metals such as iron, manganese, or copper are sometimes found in source water or formed by corrosion of pool equipment. Unless removed, these metals discolor pool water and cause stains, especially damaging to plaster pool surfaces. Filtration of pool water is necessary for removal of suspended solids which otherwise cloud water and interfere with the disinfection process. Keywords: Water; Swimming pools; spas; Hot tubs; Chlorine-based sanitizers; Ozone; QUATS; Water quality maintenance; Sanitizers; Chemical feeders; Disease transmission; Ancillary chemicals; Disinfection; Sanitizer storage; Test kits
Recent trends in the prevalence of under‐ and overweight among adolescent girls in low‐ and middle‐income countries

SummaryBackground Most studies of childhood malnutrition in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) focus on children <5 years, with few focusing on adolescence, a critical stage in development. Objective This study aimed to evaluate recent trends in the prevalence of under- and overweight among girls (15–18 years) in LMICs. Methods Data are from Demographic and Health Surveys (53 countries) and national surveys conducted in Indonesia, China, Vietnam, Brazil and Mexico. The most recent surveys with sample sizes ≥50 when stratified by rural–urban status were included: 46.6% of countries had a survey conducted in the past 5 years, while the most recent survey for 10.3% of countries was over 10 years old. The overall rural sample size was 94 857 and urban sample size was 81 025. Under- and overweight were defined using the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) sex- and age-specific body mass index cut points. Results South Asia had the highest prevalence of underweight; nearly double that of East Asia and the Pacific and sub-Saharan Africa, and increasing annually by 0.66% in rural areas. Latin America and the Caribbean had the highest regional prevalence of overweight in both rural and urban settings, and this prevalence is increasing annually by about 0.50%. In urban areas, 38% of countries had both an under- and overweight prevalence ≥10%. Conclusions There is substantial variation across and within regions in the burden of under- and overweight, with increasing dual burdens in urban areas. Innovative public health interventions capable of addressing both ends of the malnutrition spectrum are urgently needed.
Charged particle tracking, plastic scintillating fiber and radiation damage

Abstract We explain what tracking is, give a couple of historical examples and note some relevant characteristics of the Superconducting Super Collider environment. We discuss the need for compromise in the absence of adequate funding, underline the importance of detector simulation and focus on the need for high uniform tracker efficiency. Finally we emphasise the connection between radiation damage and efficiency.
Velocity and Stress in the Deep-Ocean Boundary Layer

Abstract In order to predict the response of deep ocean sediments to the near-bottom currents, accurate estimates of the near-bottom velocity and the boundary shear stress are necessary. Because of the unsteady nature of deep ocean currents, dynamic models are required. This can be accomplished either by time stepping methods or by the use of Fourier transform techniques. Here the latter is applied to the momentum equation and the results are compared to data from the HEBBLE region in the North Atlantic Ocean. An eddy viscosity is employed for closure; however, because the unsteady nature of the problem requires it to vary in time, the uniform one-dimensional Ekman layer equations become nonlinear. Results show that if the Fourier transform method includes the turbulence adjustments in this way, it predicts very accurately both stress and velocity fields.
Fe/+/ ions in the high latitude F-region

Ion mass-spectrometer measurements on Atmosphere Explorer C orbits from December 1974 to December 1976 were surveyed poleward of + or - 30 deg for instances in which the Fe(+) number density exceeded the spectrometer threshold sensitivity of 30/cu cm. The occurrences of Fe(+) within the altitude range covered by the orbit, 220 to 320 km, revealed a distinct pattern apparently associated with regions of upward plasma transport. At night a band of such events occurred between 50 and 60 deg invariant latitude, which typically corresponded to the location of the main ionospheric trough. In this region large upward ion drifts due to the drag of an equatorward-blowing neutral wind are expected. The Fe(+) band extends past 0600 MLT to about 1100 MLT during the summer, but is not observed in the afternoon. The dayside distributions possibly result from the upward drifts of F-region ions detected by backscatter techniques after dawn during summer. At higher latitudes patches of Fe(+) were detected in regions where strong plasma drifts often prevail and hence where poleward E x B drift motions and atmospheric expansion through Joule heating can lift the ions upwards.
Bootstrap Tests for Multivariate Directional Alternatives

Tests on multivariate means that are hypothesized to be in a specified direction have received attention from both theoretical and applied points of view. One of the most common procedures used to test this cone alternative is the likelihood ratio test (LRT) assuming a multivariate normal model for the data. However, the resulting test for an ordered alternative is biased in that the only usable critical values are bounds on the null distribution. The present paper provides empirical evidence that bootstrapping the null distribution of the likelihood ratio statistic results in a bootstrap test (BT) with comparable power properties without the additional burden of assuming multivariate normality. Additionally, the tests based on the LRT statistic can reject the null hypothesis in favor of the alternative even though the true means are far from the alternative region. The BT also has similar properties for normal and nonnormal data. This anomalous behavior is due to the formulation of the null hypothesis and a possible remedy is to reformulate the null to be the complement of the alternative hypothesis. We discuss properties of a BT for the modified set of hypotheses (MBT) based on a simulation study. The resulting test is conservative in general and in some specific cases has power estimates comparable to those for existing methods. The BT has higher sensitivity but relatively lower specificity, whereas the MBT has higher specificity but relatively lower sensitivity.
African-American parents' trust in their child's primary care provider.

Abstract Objective Patients' trust in their primary care providers has important implications in terms of health outcomes and, among minority patients, mitigating racial health disparities. This study aims to identify family, provider, and health care setting characteristics that predict African American parents' trust in their child's primary care provider and whether provider partnership-building communication style explains this association. Methods Data were collected via retrospective telephone interviews completed 2 weeks after a child's health care visit to 1 of 7 pediatric primary care clinics in Washington, DC (3 community health centers, 3 private practices, and 1 hospital-based clinic). Four hundred twenty-five self-identified African American parents of children 0 to 5 years of age participated. Parents completed several standard survey instruments about trust and provider communication style as well as demographic questionnaires about their family and their child's provider. Results A step-wise linear regression revealed significant independent effects of having a previous relationship with the provider and seeing a provider in a community health center (CHC) on higher trust. There was also evidence of mediation by provider communication style, suggesting that parents who take their child to a CHC report greater trust in their child's provider because they have higher perceptions of provider partnership building. Conclusions African American parents' trust in their child's provider may be enhanced by continuity of care and greater use of a partnership-building communication style by providers.
The green sturgeon and its environment: introduction

The green sturgeon, Acipenser medirostris, is one of two acipenserid fishes native to the temperate waters of the Pacific coast of North America. Originally, three species of sturgeon were described from this region, and this one named ‘‘medirostris’’ or ‘‘middle snout’’ based on the length of its rostrum relative to the other purported species (Ayers 1854), both of which were later determined to be white sturgeon, Acipenser transmontanus (Moyle 2002). The green sturgeon is similar in appearance to the congeneric white sturgeon, with which it cooccurs, except that its barbels are usually closer to the mouth than to the tip of the snout. Green sturgeon are heavily armored, possessing one dorsal, two lateral and two bottom rows of scutes or bony plates (Moyle 2002). In addition, there are often one or two large scutes behind the dorsal fin, as well as one behind the anal fin, which are both lacking in the white sturgeon. The common name of the species is apt due its distinctly olive-green body color, with olivaceous stripes usually present on its sides and ventral surface. Green sturgeon are currently thought to be comprised of two genetically distinct breeding populations (Israel et al. 2004): a northern distinct population segment (DPS) consisting of fish that spawn in the Rogue River, Oregon (Erickson et al. 2002), and the Klamath River, California (Van Eenennaam et al. 2001), and a southern DPS that spawns in the Sacramento River, California. Increasingly, many fish species are being recognized as consisting of multiple, genetically distinct stocks. In many cases, these stocks are managed separately because of distinctive phenotypic, physiological, and behavioral characteristics representative of the unique adaptations each stock has to the environmental conditions in a particular habitat (Waples 1995). Although little is known about what distinguishes these green sturgeon populations biologically, several unique physical characteristics differentiate the river systems in which they occur. Tidal flows in an expansive estuary, voluminous flows, long river length, and multiple tributaries in an extensive watershed distinguish the Sacramento River from the Rogue and Klamath Rivers with their small estuaries, relatively short length, and smaller watersheds. Based on the best information available to the National Marine Fisheries Service (Adams et al. in press), the southern DPS was A. P. Klimley (&) P. J. Allen J. T. Kelly Department of Wildlife, Fish & Conservation Biology, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA e-mail: apklimley@ucdavis.edu
Comparative genetics of longevity and cancer: insights from long-lived rodents.

Among rodent species, there is a wide diversity in lifespans and cancer susceptibilities, which makes comparative studies of rodents an attractive strategy for identifying molecular mechanisms that underlie ageing and cancer. This Review describes the various biological insights provided by comparative rodent genomics, including those from whole-genome sequencing of long-lived and highly cancer-resistant species. Such progress has potential implications for understanding and modulating human disease.