cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Neighborhoods, sleep quality, and cognitive decline: Does where you live and how well you sleep matter?

Abstract Introduction We evaluated the association between neighborhood socioeconomic status (NSES) and sleep quality on cognitive decline in the Health and Retirement Study. Methods Health and Retirement Study participants (n = 8090), aged 65+ with DNA and multiple biennial cognitive observations (abbreviated Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status), were included. Participants were grouped into quartiles of NSES and sleep quality scores. We adjusted for apolipoprotein E e4, demographic, and cardiovascular risk factors. Random effects modeling evaluated cognitive change over time. Results NSES and sleep were significantly associated with cognitive decline, and there was a significant interaction between them ( P = .02). Significant differences between high/low NSES and high/low sleep quality ( P Discussion Sleep and NSES were associated with cognitive decline; the association between sleep and cognition appeared stronger among those with low NSES. The association between low NSES, poor sleep quality, and cognitive decline was roughly equivalent to the association between apolipoprotein E e4 and cognitive decline.
On the Corrosion Performance of Monel 400 in Molten LiCl-Li 2 O-Li at 923 K

The corrosion resistance of a Ni-Cu alloy, Monel 400, in molten LiCl-Li2O-Li at 923 K (650 °C) was investigated. Exposure testing of Monel 400 samples submerged in molten LiCl-2 wt pct Li2O solutions with Li concentrations between zero and 1 wt pct was performed at 923 K (650°C) for 20 hours. Post exposure surface analysis was performed using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, optical microscopy, micro-Vickers hardness testing, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, while inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy was used to quantify the rate of material leaching. The extent of material degradation was observed to be strongly correlated to the concentration of metallic Li in the molten LiCl-Li2O system.
Literature Review of Arthroscopic Knots

Knot tying is a basic surgical skill. As the indications for arthroscopy have expanded, attention has turned to how arthroscopic surgery compares with open surgery, so the ability to tie secure knots arthroscopically is essential for surgeons who wish to achieve results comparable with open repairs. Though the principles of open and arthroscopic repair are the same, arthroscopic knots are more difficult than hand-tied ones. Despite the large number of knot options and suture types, most of the time the choice of the knots is not based on scientific evidence but on empirical data and surgeon’s preference. The present chapter reviewed different arthroscopic knots and their biomechanical properties.
Effects of Game Pitch Count and Body Mass Index on Pitching Biomechanics in 9- to 10-Year-Old Baseball Athletes.

Background:Pitching while fatigued and body composition may increase the injury risk in youth and adult pitchers. However, the relationships between game pitch count, biomechanics, and body composi...
Culturally Competent Multicultural Workforce

Globalization and the internationalization of the economy have contributed to changing patterns of supply and demand in healthcare workforce. Several studies have documented the value of a multicultural workforce in business, healthcare, and education. While diversity in the workforce needs to better represent the growing diversity in the population served, the need for cultural competence development of all health professionals is recommended by public and private stakeholders worldwide. Approaches for cultural competence training of diverse healthcare workforce that aim toward global citizenship and the attributes of global citizens are presented. Three case studies demonstrate application of this guideline in different parts of the world with recommendations for approaches at the individual, organizational, and community levels.
Lemurs Making a Living in Unpredictable Environments

The lemurs of Madagascar have been the subject of field research for over five decades, the resulting considerable body of literature providing important new insights into the ecology, behavior, and evolution of Madagascar’s unique primate radiation. Lemurs: Ecology and Adaptation, edited by Lisa Gould and Michelle Sauther, represents a compilation of 20 chapters by 29 contributors who have conducted field work in Madagascar. The editors’ rationale for publishing this volume is to provide a single source for disseminating the results of new research on lemurs spanning the last fifteen years, including summaries of long-term research on well-known taxa as well as newly studied species. They believe these contributions will provide a better understanding of mammalian adaptations to harsh environments, many of which arise from anthropogenic causes. The book is divided into four sections covering lemur origins and ecology, the evolution of lemur traits, ecology and adaptation, and lemur adaptations to changing environments. Section One sets the evolutionary stage for the sections that follow, its three chapters providing reviews of lemur origins (Tattersall), the history of ecological studies of lemurs (Jolly and Sussman), and the ecology of recently extinct lemurs (Godfrey et al.). Malagasy lemurs are, not surprisingly, monophyletic, most likely derived, according to Tattersall, from a single forest canopy dwelling African strepsirrhine ancestor that colonized Madagascar during the early Tertiary. We learn from Godfrey et al.’s fascinating contribution that the ecological profiles of Madagascar’s primate communities were substantially different in the past than they are in the present, and that the special adaptations that are present in extinct forms most likely reflect the species’ energy conservation lifestyles. Jolly and Sussman catapult us into the present with a comprehensive and engagingly written review of the history of ecological studies of Malagasy lemurs, supplemented with a detailed summary of all lemur research conducted since the 1950s. Section Two is composed of three review and two data chapters focusing on the evolution of lemur traits. Cuozzo and Yamashita review recent data on the impact of ecology on teeth in extant lemurs and conclude (unsurprisingly) that tooth morphology is related to physical properties of food, yielding optimal designs for processing specific food. Curtis explores the proximate J Mammal Evol (2008) 15:215–217 DOI 10.1007/s10914-008-9073-y
Chapter 9 - Stamping: Relative Tooling Cost

This chapter discusses stamping and the methodology for estimating the relative tooling cost of proposed stamped parts based on configuration information and on the assumption that progressive dies are used. Stamping is a process by which thin–walled metal parts are formed from sheets of metal. Unlike in injection molding and die casting, where the total relative tooling cost can be determined at the configuration stage of design, in stamping, only the maximum and minimum relative tooling cost can be determined. The reason is that some of the details required to finalize the relative tooling cost can only be determined after the parametric design. The chapter presents a systematic approach for identifying, at the configuration design stage, those features of the part that significantly affect the cost of stampings by providing a detailed explanation of various methods to estimate the relative cost of stamped parts and die construction costs. A great deal of information concerning tooling cost is provided to help guide the generation and selection of part configurations before the parametric design is done.
Comparative Skeletal Muscle Aging

The decline in skeletal muscle function is characteristic of aging organisms across species ranging from C. elegans to humans. This is a multifaceted process involving changes in both the quantity (sarcopenia) and quality of skeletal muscle with age. This chapter describes age-related changes in several aspects of muscle function, including energy metabolism, muscle contraction, stem cell and injury repair and response to cellular stress. We pay particular attention to the effect of aging on different muscle fiber types. These fiber type differences, which are often overlooked, may explain some of the apparent contradictory results in the literature.
Eicosanoid/Signal Transduction Interactions: Evidence of Two Induced Pathways of Phosphoinositide Biosynthesis by LTB4 in Cultured Human Epidermal Cells

Hydrolysis of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-biphosphate (PtdIns4,5P2) resulting in the generation of two “putative second messengers”: inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate (Ins1,4,5P3) and diacylglycerol (DAG) is now recognized as an essential pathway for generating modulators of a wide variety of hormonal signals (Hokin, 1985; Berridge, 1984; Nishizuka, 1984). The replenishment of cellular PtdIns4,5P2 depends on the sequential phosphorylation of the 4- and 5-hydroxy groups of the inositol ring by PtdIns and PtdInsP kinases respectively, implying that the mode of phosphorylation of the phosphoinositides is an important aspect in the generation of molecules involved in the signal transduction systems. An outline of the inositol phospholipid cascade showing the conventional pathway as well as the putative 3-kinase pathway resulting in phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate (PtdIns3,4,5P3) is shown in Fig. 1. Open image in new window Figure 1. An Outline of the Cellular Mechanisms Involved in Receptor-Coupled Transmembrane Signalling
Duplex Evaluation After Renal Intervention

Duplex sonography to detect hemodynamically significant renal artery stenosis and renal artery occlusion has evolved as the screening test of choice for main renal artery disease. In addition, renal duplex sonography is a valuable intraoperative study to confirm the technical success of open renal artery repair and useful to establish the hemodynamic result after percutaneous intervention. Finally, renal duplex is a valuable follow-up surveillance technique to evaluate both open operative repair and percutaneous intervention, with or without stenting. This chapter summarizes these applications and the anticipated results of each technique.
In poor health: Supermarket redlining and urban nutrition

Over the past 100 years, ethnic minorities and the poor have become increasingly concentrated and isolated in low-income urban neighborhoods. While the demographic changes in cities are well documented, the parallel history of urban retailing is less well known. Little research has been done on changes in urban food retailing, particularly as they concern the urban poor. As the residential character of urban neighborhoods changed during the 20th century, so did the amenities available in those neighborhoods. The low point for urban retailing was in the 1980s, when cities experienced a net loss of supermarkets even as, nationally, store openings exceeded closings. The trend toward fewer, bigger stores located outside cities has continued to the present. Some critics have referred to this disinclination of large chains to locate in cities as `supermarket redlining'. Changes in food availability are a key element in the changing social conditions of the urban poor and, as good nutrition is critical for good health, a contributing factor in the decline of urban health. This paper will examine changes in urban retail food availability, the impact these changes have had on the health status of the urban poor, strategies utilized by the urban poor to address inadequate access to quality food sources, and the role of supermarkets in distressed communities.
An Analysis of the External Environmental and Internal Organizational Factors Associated With Adoption of the Electronic Health Record

AN ANALYSIS OF THE EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENTAL AND INTERNAL ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ADOPTION OF THE ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD By Clemens Scott Kruse, Ph.D. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University, 2013 Dissertation Director: Carolyn Watts, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Health Administration Despite a Presidential Order in 2004 that launched national incentives for the use of health information technology, specifically the Electronic Health Record (EHR), adoption of the EHR has been slow. This study attempts to quantify factors associated with adoption of the EHR and Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE) by combining multiple organizational theories and empirical studies. The study is conducted in two phases. The primary phase of this study identifies and evaluates the effects of external environmental and internal organizational factors on healthcare organizations to adopt the EHR. From secondary data, twelve IVs (df=19) are chosen based on existing models and literature. Logistic regression is used to determine the association between the environmental factors and EHR adoption. The secondary phase of this study examines the adoption of five variations of CPOE using the same IVs from phase one. This EHR component of CPOE is chosen due to its promotion as a solution to help cross the quality chasm (IOM, 2001). Secondary data are analyzed and logistic regression is used to quantify the association between the factors of EHR adoption and CPOE adoption. Eleven of the twelve IVs are significant between the two phases (p<.1). This study uses data from 2009 because the HITECH Act was passed that year and significant government incentives were offered for those health care organizations (HCOs) that meet the qualifications of meaningful use. This study serves as a baseline for future studies, extends the work of other empirical studies, and fills a gap in the literature concerning factors associated with the adoption of the EHR and specific dimensions of CPOE. The Kruse Theory developed is strongly based in literature and reflects complexity commensurate with the health care industry.
Conclusion: Police, Judicial, and Prison Reform

This chapter concludes the volume with a discussion about the issue of reforming major institutions. It begins with a discussion of the police and the different measures that have been taken to reform the police in various cases. Next, it turns to the issue of the penitentiary system, which requires serious reforms. Some prisons in cases studied in this volume have major issues with overcrowding. Moreover, some prisons, such as in El Salvador and Mexico, have functioned as schools of crime where criminal groups have organized. The chapter then explores the issue of judicial reform. Many countries seeking to combat the high levels of corruption and impunity require judicial reforms. It focuses on the reforms that have occurred in Mexico and highlights some of the major challenges. Moreover, it finishes with an examination of the role of international institutions in helping countries reform their judiciary system.
Challenges facing teachers in Tanzania: the implementation of the paradigm shift towards a competence-based curriculum in ordinary level secondary schools in Iringa municipality

This study assesses the challenges facing teachers in the implementation of the paradigm shift towards a competence-based curriculum in public secondary schools in Iringa municipality. The study was guided by three research objectives, namely: to investigate the teachers’ understanding about the paradigm shift towards a competence-based curriculum in secondary schools; to find out the importance of the competence-based curriculum in the students’ academic performance; and to examine the challenges facing teachers in the implementation of a competence-based curriculum in public secondary schools. The study adopted case study design, whereby three public secondary schools were selected. The study involved 39 respondents, namely 24 students, 3 school heads, and 12 teachers. The study employed mainly qualitative research approach. Data was collected through interviews and focus group discussions and was analyzed through content analysis in the light of the research objectives. The findings have revealed that teachers were aware of the paradigm shift towards a competence-based curriculum; however, most of them seem not to implement it due to various factors, including: lack of teaching and learning materials, and poor or low level of language proficiency on the part of some teachers and most students. It was also found out that most teachers were not provided with in-service training as a strategy to improve their teaching-learning situation; as a result, old approaches or traditional-learning-methods were still used by most teachers. The study recommends that regular in-service training for teachers be conducted and adequate teaching and learning materials be provided, so as to enable the implementation of the competence-based curriculum.
Iowa's Multiple Offense

(1955). Iowa's Multiple Offense. Journal of Health, Physical Education, Recreation: Vol. 26, No. 7, pp. 9-18.
Exceptionally Preserved Cambrian Fossils in the Genomic Era

Palaeontological data plays a key role in reconstructing the biology, ecology and evolution of the biosphere throughout the history of life on Earth. Whereas modern molecular-based technologies have led to significant progress in understanding the developmental biology and phylogenetic relationships of extant animal phyla, Cambrian soft-bodied fossils represent the only way of studying the morphology of their extinct ancestors. This chapter provides an overview of the significance of exceptionally preserved Cambrian fossils and their contribution towards illuminating the origin of animal body plans. Over the last few decades, conceptual and technical advances have distanced Cambrian fossils away from their previous misconception as failed evolutionary experiments. Current efforts focus instead on clarifying the evolutionary links between these fascinating organisms and their extant descendants, made possible in part by the discovery of new exceptional deposits, and the improved knowledge of their unusual geological history capable of preserving delicate but informative tissues such as guts and brains.
A strictly American institution: Neil O'Brien, blackface minstrelsy, and the invention of white Catholic identity

This article examines the politics of race, religion and nation in relation to blackface minstrelsy during the first decades of the twentieth century. Having been superseded by more modern amusements, minstrelsy was outdated as a performance genre, yet the minstrel show served as a forum for Neil O'Brien and the Knights of Columbus fraternal society to participate in the invention of a white American Catholic identity. For fraternal society members, estranged from national belonging by religious difference, these performances situated the group as proponents of an old-fashioned American tradition, structured around anti-blackness. At a time of anti-Catholic sentiment, Catholic fraternal society members gathered for minstrel performances, distancing themselves from black people and marking themselves as white Americans.
Mixed Race in Brazil: Classification, Quantification, and Identification

Race mixture (mesticagem) has been fundamental to Brazilian history, culture, and politics. Brazil has validated this racial blending by recognizing multiracials, along with whites, blacks, and Native Americans, in everyday parlance as well as officially on the census and other instruments of data collection. Categories of racial difference between white and non-white are relative, representing the positive and negative extremes, respectively, on a continuum in which physical appearance, combined with class and cultural factors, has determined one’s race and location in the social hierarchy. Yet, extensive miscegenation and the absence of legalized racial discrimination became essential to Brazil’s racial democracy ideology, which deflected attention and public policy away from tracking and addressing pervasive race-based inequality. Borrowing from Goldberg, as well as Omi and Winant, we argue the racial state has played a pivotal role in this continuous tension between the politics of racial inclusion and equality and those of racial inequality and exclusion. Censuses and other official instruments of data collection are not neutral documents that report only ‘facts’ but rather are themselves instruments of state and elite control that reflect the social construction of race. The classification, quantification, and identification of mixed race individuals have been central to these dynamics.
Narration in the Second Person: Destabilizing the Real in This Mournable Body

What does the second person narration of This Mournable Body (2018) tell us about the real? This Mournable Body occupies a post-conflict temporality marked by trauma, as does the previous installat...
CHAPTER 16 – Classifying Unsolvable Problems

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses classifying unsolvable problems. Once one gets used to the fact that there are explicit problems, such as the halting problem, that have no algorithmic solution, one is led to consider certain questions. As an answer to such questions, the modification of the programming language S is required to permit the use of oracles. The modified version of S, thus, contains four kinds of statement: increment, decrement, conditional branch, and this new kind of statement called an oracle statement. Execution of this oracle statement has the intuitive effect of answering the computer's question. An out-of-bounds condition is recognized and the computer halts without reaching a terminal snapshot. A G-computation is defined just like computation except that the word successor is replaced by G-success. It is useful to be able to work with oracles that are functions of more than one variable. A one-one recursive function f whose domain and range are both N is called a recursive permutation. As a recursive permutation provides what is essentially a mere change of notation, recursively isomorphic sets may be thought of as containing the same information presented in different notation.
Human Herpesvirus 6

Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) is a member of the family Herpesviridae. This family of eight viruses includes four Alphaherpesvirinae (herpes simplex virus type 1 [HSV-1], herpes simplex virus type 2 [HSV-2], human herpesvirus 8 [HHV-8], and varicella-zoster virus [VZV]); one Gammaherpesvirinae (Epstein–Barr virus [EBV]); and three Betaherpesvirinae (cytomegalovirus [CMV], HHV-6, and human herpesvirus 7 [HHV-7]) [1]. Common physical traits of these clinically important DNA viruses include large size (150–200 nm), an icosahedral nucleocapsid encased in an envelope that has multiple surface projections, and a large number of structural proteins. Their genomes are linear and double-stranded, varying in size from 120 to 230 kb and specifying a large number of enzymes involved in nucleic acid metabolism. The intranuclear replication of herpesviruses is complex and destruction of the infected cells accompanies the production of progeny.
Novel Melatonin, Estrogen, and Progesterone Hormone Therapy Demonstrates Anti-Cancer Actions in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 Breast Cancer Cells:

A novel melatonin, estrogen, and progesterone hormone therapy was developed as a safe bio-identical alternative hormone therapy for menopausal women based on the Women's Health Initiative findings that PremPro™ increased breast cancer risk and mortality of all types of breast cancer in postmenopausal women. For HER2 breast cancer, melatonin, estrogen, and progesterone delayed tumor onset and reduced tumor incidence in neu female mice. For other breast cancers, its actions are unknown. In this study, melatonin, estrogen, and progesterone hormone therapy were assessed in human ER+ (MCF-7) and triple negative breast cancer (MDA-MB-231) cells, and found to decrease proliferation and migration of both breast cancer lines. Inhibition of MEK1/2 and 5 using PD98059 and BIX02189, respectively, inhibited proliferation and migration in MDA-MB-231 cells and proliferation in MCF-7 cells; however, when combined with melatonin, estrogen, and progesterone, BIX02189 blocked melatonin, estrogen, and progesterone-mediated inhibition of migration in MCF-7 cells and induced Elf-5. For MDA-MB-231 cells, BIX02189 combined with melatonin, estrogen, and progesterone inhibited proliferation and increased pERK1/2 and β1-INTEGRIN; levels of pERK5 remained low/nearly absent in both breast cancer lines. These findings demonstrate novel anti-cancer actions of melatonin, estrogen, and progesterone in ER+ and triple negative breast cancer cells through intricate MEK1/2- and MEK5-associated signaling cascades that favor anti-proliferation and anti-migration.
Research methodologic quality varies significantly by subspecialty: An analysis of AAOS meeting abstracts.

Abstract Background The purpose of this study was to compare the level of evidence and study type of clinical abstracts accepted to the 2017 AAOS Annual Meeting based on subspecialty. Methods All clinical abstracts presented at the 2017 AAOS Annual Meeting were assessed by two independent raters for LOE and study type. Nonparametric statistics and chi-square test were used to compare LOE and study types between subspecialties. Results A total of 1083 abstracts met inclusion criteria. There was a significant difference in LOE of abstracts by subspecialty (p Discussion Methodologic quality of clinical studies presented at the 2017 AAOS Annual Meeting differed significantly among subspecialties. Orthopedic researchers should look to the fields producing the highest quality studies in an effort to improve methodological quality.
[Survey of snail distribution in Four-lake Basin of Hubei Province].

Objective To investigate the distribution of Oncomelania snails in Four-Lake Basin of Hubei Province, so as to provide scientific evidence for the development of snail control interventions. Methods The snail distribution was surveyed by means of the retrospective study and cross-sectional survey in the Four-Lake Basin in Spring of 2016. The data pertaining to the endemic situation of schistosomiasis were collected and analyzed in the Four-Lake Basin from 2008 to 2018, and the associations of snail habitat areas with the prevalence of Schistosoma japonicum in humans and bovines were examined. Results There were 16 003 snail habitats in the 9 schistosomiasis-endemic counties (districts) in the Four-Lake Basin in 2016, covering an area of 246 million m 2 . The mean density of living snails was 0.622 5 snails/0.1 m 2 , which was relatively high in weed-type settings (0.688 0 snails/0.1 m 2 ) and ditches (0.706 4 snails/0.1 m 2 ). Type I (current snail habitats, 53.03%) and Ⅱ- Ⅳ (historical snail habitats, 46.97%) settings were predominant snail habitats. A big change was seen in snail habitats in dry farmland, marshland and paddy farmland, and environmental modification resulted in satisfactory snail control effectiveness. In addition, the area of snail habitats positively correlated with the changes in the prevalence of S. japonicum infections in humans ( r = 0.842, P < 0.01) and livestock ( r = 0.695, P < 0.01). Conclusion The integrate strategy with an emphasis on the control of the source of S. japonicum infections results in remarkable snail control effectiveness in the Four-Lake Basin; however, there is a risk of re-emerging snail habitats. ［摘要］ 目的 调查湖北省四湖流域钉螺分布, 为制订钉螺控制措施提供科学依据。 方法 采用回顾性调查和现况调查相结合的方法, 于2016年春季对四湖流域钉螺分布现状进行调查。收集、分析2008-2018年四湖流域钉螺分布面积、人群和家畜血吸虫感染率等疫情指标, 对钉螺分布面积与人畜血吸虫感染率的相关关系进行分析。 结果 2016年, 四湖流域的9个血吸虫病流行县 (市、区) 共有钉螺孳生环境16 003处, 钉螺分布面积2.46亿m2; 活螺平均密度0.622 5只/0.1 m2, 其中以杂草型和沟渠型环境较高, 分别为0.688 0只/0.1 m2和0.706 4只/0.1 m2。钉螺孳生环境中, 现有螺环境 (Ⅰ类环境) 和历史有螺环境 (Ⅱ ~ Ⅳ类环境) 分别占53.03%和46.97%。旱地、滩地、水田等钉螺孳生环境改变较大, 通过环境改造措施消灭钉螺的效果较好。2008-2018年, 四湖流域钉螺分布面积与人群、家畜血吸虫感染率均呈正相关关系 ( r 人群=0.842, P < 0.01; r 家畜= 0.695, P < 0.01) 。 结论 四湖流域实施以传染源控制为主的血吸虫病综合防治策略对钉螺控制效果较好, 但仍面临螺情反弹的风险。
Comparison of Electrocardiogram Interpretations by Computer Algorithms, Pediatric Emergency Department Physicians, and Pediatric Cardiologists

Background Electrocardiograms (EKGs) are a fundamental tool for detecting cardiac abnormalities. Computer interpretation of EKGs are commonly used to increase efficiency and facilitate interpretation. However, computer interpretation of EKGs is based on pattern recognition, and measured intervals are not always accurate. Therefore, reliance on computer interpretations alone may lead to errors. Further, concerns have been raised about the consistency and accuracy of EKG interpretations performed by non-cardiologists compared to interpretations by cardiologists. We evaluated the accuracy of EKG interpretations at a single pediatric academic institution, comparing the interpretations of a computer (C), …
Contributions of social determinants of health to systolic blood pressure in United States adult immigrants: Use of path analysis to validate a conceptual framework:

ObjectiveValidate a conceptual framework and identify pathways between antecedent (life-course socioeconomic status (L-SES)), predisposing (age, sex, married, homeless as a child), enabling (health...
Oncology expressive arts: providing a window to reflect on a stressful experience.

Evaluate changes in mood, perceived need for help, and task enjoyment after participation in a one-time Oncology on Canvas expressive arts workshop intervention.Mixed methods design. Sample: milita...
Environmental Agents and Autism: Once and Future Associations

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses some hypotheses related to the role of environment in autism. The chapter examines the way environmental factors might be etiologically related to autism. The clinical correlation of disorders led to the identification of congenital rubella as a risk factor for autism. Other fetal infections associated with diffuse brain damage, cerebral palsy, visual impairment, and deafness are also reported to result in symptoms of autism. Cytomegalovirus and herpes simplex encephalitis have both been reported in cases of autism. Environmental factors may either protect persons at genetic risk for autism or promote the occurrence of symptoms of autism. These factors might be protective, as in the case of supplemental folic acid during gestation preventing spina bifida. Environmental factors may also contribute to the development of symptoms.
Organizing “Below and to the Left”: Differences in the Citizenship and Transnational Practices of Two Zapatista Groups

This article examines the political transnational practices—that is, both the physical and symbolic border-crossing political practices—of two Zapatista groups. This study seeks to contribute to the existing body of literature on transnationalism and citizenship by focusing on immigrants' political transnational activities in the global South, as well as transnational activists' practices in the global North influenced by the global South. I argue that transnational ideological and political influences are bidirectional, that is, influences also flow from the global South to the global North. In addition, I argue that different transnational practices are strongly shaped by structural opportunities and constraints on activists, in this case, by citizenship status and economic class. Mv arguments are drawn from fieldwork and in-depth interviews conducted in the San Francisco Bay Area with two Zapatista groups, which I name the Localizers and the Globalizers.
The Neurally Controlled Animat: Biological Brains Acting with Simulated Bodies

The brain is perhaps the most advanced and robust computation system known. We are creating a method to study how information is processed and encoded in living cultured neuronal networks by interfacing them to a computer-generated animal, the Neurally-Controlled Animat, within a virtual world. Cortical neurons from rats are dissociated and cultured on a surface containing a grid of electrodes (multi-electrode arrays, or MEAs) capable of both recording and stimulating neural activity. Distributed patterns of neural activity are used to control the behavior of the Animat in a simulated environment. The computer acts as its sensory system providing electrical feedback to the network about the Animat's movement within its environment. Changes in the Animat's behavior due to interaction with its surroundings are studied in concert with the biological processes (e.g., neural plasticity) that produced those changes, to understand how information is processed and encoded within a living neural network. Thus, we have created a hybrid real-time processing engine and control system that consists of living, electronic, and simulated components. Eventually this approach may be applied to controlling robotic devices, or lead to better real-time silicon-based information processing and control algorithms that are fault tolerant and can repair themselves.
Special Research Perspectives Issue on the IS Core/Identity Debate

In the last several years, a number of thoughtful papers have been published on the state of the IS Discipline, and more specifically what should or should not be the essence or ‘core’ of the discipline. AIS sponsored journals such as JAIS and CAIS have been the outlet for many of these papers as such debate and opinion is important for the continued development of the discipline. Indeed, that is why the authors of following papers have decided to publish their ideas in JAIS. We welcome the opportunity to publish these thoughtful arguments as we believe they further enhance our understanding of the IS discipline. But a bit of background is in order.
Short Sales and Deficiency Liability: The Pointlessness of Purposes

Commentary on recent decisions applying California anti-deficiency statutes to borrowers' agreements to remain liable for shortfall following lenders’ consents to short sales.
Characterization of the interaction of XML functional dependencies with DTDs

With the rise of XML as a standard model of data exchange, XML functional dependencies (XFDs) have become important to areas such as key analysis, document normalization, and data integrity. XFDs are more complicated than relational functional dependencies because the set of XFDs satisfied by an XML document depends not only on the document values, but also the tree structure and corresponding DTD. In particular, constraints imposed by DTDs may alter the implications from a base set of XFDs, and may even be inconsistent with a set of XFDs. In this paper we examine the interaction between XFDs and DTDs. We present a sound and complete axiomatization for XFDs, both alone and in the presence of certain classes of DTDs; we show that these DTD classes induce an axiomatic hierarchy. We also give efficient implication algorithms for those classes of DTDs that do not use disjunction or nesting.
Laboratory test fixture for nonrigid payloads (projectiles)

A laboratory test fixture for nonrigid payloads is described which allows payload arrangements to undergo the simultaneous spinning and coning motions experienced by a projectile in flight. The fixture enables the destabilizing phenomena associated with the nonrigid payload to be created in a controlled laboratory environment where special instrumentation can measure the physical effects of interest. The results are used to evaluate the potential destabilizing influence of the payload and to support the evolution and validation of theoretical analyses describing the associated fluid dynamics situation. The author describes the operational aspects of the fixture and reviews several research and development projects for which it has been used. Engineering design aspects of the XM761 and M825 smoke screening projectiles are described. In addition, the role played by the fixture in evolving a general theory for homogeneous viscous liquid fills is reviewed. Studies associated with payloads composed of viscoelastic fluids and other unconventional compositions are addressed including methods of reducing or eliminating the problem. >
Genetic and Metabolic Control of Enzymes Responsible for Histidine Degradation in Salmonella typhimurium 4-IMIDAZOLONE-5-PROPIONATE AMIDOHYDROLASE AND N-FORMIMINO-l-GLUTAMATE FORMIMINOHYDROLASE

Abstract The third and fourth enzymes of the pathway of histidine degradation in Salmonella typhimurium are induced by histidine and repressed by glucose. An improved assay for the third enzyme, 4-imidazolone-5-propionate amidohydrolase, was developed and some properties of this enzyme were studied. Mutants with decreased stability of this enzyme have been isolated. Their lesions are unlinked by transduction to the cluster containing the genes for the histidine-degrading enzymes. Mutants lacking 4-imidazolone-5-propionate amidohydrolase or the fourth enzyme, N-formimino-l-glutamate formiminohydrolase, have also been isolated. Their lesions are located in two closely linked genes near the cluster of genes controlling the synthesis of the first two enzymes of the pathway (histidase and urocanase). Mutations leading to increased levels of the third and fourth enzymes are located to one side of this pair of genes. The following observations suggest that these two clusters form separate units of expression. (a) While the two enzyme activities within each pair are coordinately controlled upon induction or catabolite repression, there is no apparent coordination between the pairs. (b) Mutations affecting the level of enzymes from 1 pair of genes and located to one side of them have no effect on the level of enzymes from the other pair. (c) A gene controlling the inducibility of all four enzymes is located between the two clusters. It is suggested that the units of expression correspond to two operons controlled by a single regulatory gene located between them.
Adhesive Refractory Protective Coating for Investment Casting

A refractory protective coat has been developed that greatly reduces scale formation and is capable of lowering sandblasted casting roughness 30 to 50%. When applied as a thin film to the refractory model, it remains as a tacky base which will fix wax and plastic.
The AERI: new deployments, upgrades, and measurement applications

The AERI (Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer) has served as a primary instrument for the continuous measurement of down welling infrared emission within the DOE-ARM (Department of Energy - Atmospheric Radiation Measurement) program since 1993. AERI instruments have been deployed at ARM measurement sites that include the NSA (North Slope of Alaska), the TWP (Topical Western Pacific), and the SGP (Southern Great Plains). Marine versions of the AERI instrument (M-AERIs) have also operated on board ships by the University of Miami to measure SST (Sea Surface Temperature). The UW-SSEC (University of Wisconsin - Space Science and Engineering Center) operates an AERI instrument that is housed in a mobile vehicle (Winnebago) and that has been used in support of several field campaigns for surface emissivity measurements and for satellite instrument validation. Efforts are now underway to upgrade and modify the AERI systems that will implement a rapid sampling scheme to improve temporal resolution. ARM is in the process of redeploying SGP boundary facility AERIs to additional TWP and NSA field sites. The NSA AERIs are equipped with detectors suitable for extended spectral range (3.3-25 microns) and has been be used in support of the M-PACE (Mixed Phase Cloud Experiment) in the fall of 2004. The UW-SSEC is also undertaking activities to develop an AERI to be part of the AMF (ARM Mobile Facility) and expect to upgrade this instrument to a M-AERI that will be suitable for SST and emissivity measurements during field deployments. This manuscript will summarize the AERI modifications and upgrades that are underway.
Interactions of nuclear estrogen receptor with DNA and RNA.

Abstract The interactions of the nuclear estrogen receptor from hen oviduct with nucleic acids were studied by competition assay using DNA-cellulose centrifugation. We demonstrated that the estradiol-receptor complex binds similarly well to poly(A) RNA and denatured DNA. The estrogen receptor was found to interact more strongly with poly(G), poly(U) than with poly(A), poly(C). The receptor complex binds similarly to poly(A) and poly(dA), and to poly(U) and poly(dU). However, the receptor complex shows stronger binding to poly(G) than to poly(dG) and to poly(C) than to poly(dC). Studies with heteropolyribonucleotides indicated that poly(U 1 G 1 ) is more effective in competing for the estrogen receptor, and poly(AC) and poly(AUG) are moderately effective, whereas poly(ACU) is least effective. GMP and dGMP showed some competition for the nuclear receptor at 300-fold higher nucleotide concentrations than that of the synthetic poly(G). Observations that the nuclear estrogen receptor binds to poly(A) RNA and interacts selectively with polyribonucleotides suggest that the estrogen receptor-RNA interaction may play a role for the function of estrogens in gene regulation.
Evolution of the Zonal Mean State in the Equatorial Middle Atmosphere during October 1978-May 1979

The week-to-week evolution of the zonal mean state of the equatorial middle atmosphere is studied using daily mapped temperatures derived with the Limb Infrared Monitor of the Stratosphere (LIMS) instrument on Nimbus 7. The characteristics of the LIMS instrument and rocket data are described. The development of the zonal mean state at low latitudes, and the relation between the evolution of the zonal mean state and extratropical changes are examined. The residual circulation is estimated using a radiative algorithm. Advection by the residual mean circulation, and the role of inertial acceleration in mean meridional circulations are discussed.
ONE-POT SYNTHESIS OF DEOXYADENOSINE 3'-THIOPHOSPHATES

Abstract A mild and efficient one-step method of thiophosphorylation was devised for acid-sensitive nucleosides. The procedure is based on thiophosphorylation of nucleoside magnesium alkoxide by 2-chloro-2-thio-1,3,2-dioxaphospholane. The utility and efficiency of this method combined with deprotection of the resulting cyclic triester was demonstrated by its application to the synthesis of both adenosine 3′-and 5′-thiophosphates. The procedure does not require protection of the exocyclic amino group and can be successfully used for the thiophosphorylation of nucleosides that are unusually sensitive to depurination.
Accuracy of endoscopic databases for assessing patient symptoms: comparison with self-reported questionnaires in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus

Background: Endoscopic databases are increasingly used for clinical research, but their validity as research instruments has not been assessed. We compared the accuracy of endoscopic indications recorded in an endoscopic database with patient symptom questionnaires. Methods: All patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus referred to the outpatient gastroenterology practice were prospectively evaluated using recognized symptom questionnaires. For patients undergoing esophagogastroduodenoscopy, the procedure indications recorded in the endoscopic database and the patient’s self-reported symptom scores were compared. Results: Ninety-three patients were evaluated. The symptoms of nausea/vomiting, diarrhea, and anorexia were highly predictive for the presence of these symptoms on the patient questionnaires. The symptoms of dyspepsia/abdominal pain did not predict well the presence of these symptoms on the questionnaire. Patients reported frequent and severe symptoms that were not recorded as indications for the procedures. The overall agreement (kappa statistic) was highly variable, from slight (κ = 0.07 for anorexia) to moderate (κ = 0.44 for diarrhea). Conclusions: Endoscopic indications are variably associated with self-reported symptom scores. These findings raise concerns about using some endoscopic database indications as accurate representations of patients’ symptoms. Until performance characteristics of a given database are known, symptom-oriented research should use validated questionnaires whenever possible. (Gastrointest Endosc 2000;51:129-33.)
The Effects of Context, Meaning Frequency, and Associative Strength on Semantic Selection: Distinct Contributions from each Cerebral Hemisphere

The visual half-field procedure was used to examine hemispheric asymmetries in meaning selection. Event-related potentials were recorded as participants decided if a lateralized ambiguous or unambiguous prime was related in meaning to a centrally presented target. Prime-target pairs were preceded by a related or unrelated centrally presented context word. To separate the effects of meaning frequency and associative strength, unambiguous words were paired with concordant weakly related context words and strongly related targets (e.g., taste-sweet-candy) that were similar in associative strength to discordant subordinate-related context words and dominant-related targets (e.g., river-bank-deposit) in the ambiguous condition. Context words and targets were reversed in a second experiment. In an unrelated (neutral) context, N400 responses were more positive than baseline (facilitated) in all ambiguous conditions except when subordinate targets were presented on left visual field-right hemisphere (LVF-RH) trials. Thus, in the absence of biasing context information, the hemispheres seem to be differentially affected by meaning frequency, with the left maintaining multiple meanings and the right selecting the dominant meaning. In the presence of discordant context information, N400 facilitation was absent in both visual fields, indicating that the contextually consistent meaning of the ambiguous word had been selected. In contrast, N400 facilitation occurred in all of the unambiguous conditions; however, the left hemisphere (LH) showed less facilitation for the weakly related target when a strongly related context was presented. These findings indicate that both hemispheres use context to guide meaning selection, but the LH is more likely to focus activation on a single, contextually relevant sense.
The effects of graphemic, phonetic, and semantic relationships on access to lexical structures

The question of whether or not lexical information is accessed directly from a visual code or by a process of phonetic mediation was investigated in three lexical decision experiments. Phonetic similarity influenced decisions about visually presented words only when they were to be discriminated from orthographically regular nonwords. When consonant strings or random letter strings were used as nonwords, phonetic similarity effects were absent, and graphemic similarity exerted a powerful effect while evidence of semantic priming was found. This pattern was interpreted as evidence of direct lexical access, which is probably the normal processing mode for skilled readers. Phonetic coding, when it occurs, may be a storage strategy rather than a part of the addressing chain for lexical structures.