cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Myocutaneous Flaps for Challenging Problems in Head and Neck Reconstruction

• We treated three cases of recurrent head and neck carcinoma viewed as challenging reconstructive problems because of the extent of the extirpative surgery necessary and the substantial risk of complications that would be associated with previous treatment techniques. In each case, the versatility of myocutaneous flaps is illustrated. In case 1, a double-paddle pectoralis major flap was employed. In case 2, with an exposed infected carotid artery and a failed pectoralis major flap, reconstruction was accomplished by using an ipsilateral trapezius myocutaneous flap. In case 3, for reconstruction of the pharynx with a low esophagostoma, a double-paddle pectoralis major and split-thickness skin graft were used. (Arch Otolaryngol1983;109:396-399)
Fairness in Multi-Agent Sequential Decision-Making

We define a fairness solution criterion for multi-agent decision-making problems, where agents have local interests. This new criterion aims to maximize the worst performance of agents with a consideration on the overall performance. We develop a simple linear programming approach and a more scalable game-theoretic approach for computing an optimal fairness policy. This game-theoretic approach formulates this fairness optimization as a two-player zero-sum game and employs an iterative algorithm for finding a Nash equilibrium, corresponding to an optimal fairness policy. We scale up this approach by exploiting problem structure and value function approximation. Our experiments on resource allocation problems show that this fairness criterion provides a more favorable solution than the utilitarian criterion, and that our game-theoretic approach is significantly faster than linear programming.
Stenting of Aortic Coarctation: Acute, Intermediate, and Long-Term Results of a Prospective Multi-Institutional Registry—Congenital Cardiovascular Interventional Study Consortium (CCISC)

Introduction: Since the 1980s, stent implantation has evolved as an important therapeutic strategy for coarctation of the aorta. However, available data is frequently flawed by short follow-up, lack of adequate follow-up imaging, and retrospective nature of data collection. Methods: Data was prospectively collected using a multicenter registry congenital cardiovascular interventional study consortium (CCISC). Between 2000 and 2009, 302 patients from 34 centers with a median weight of 58 kg underwent stent implantation for coarctation. Eligible patients (44%) completed intermediate follow-up (3–18 months) with integrated imaging (cath, CT, MRI), whereas 21% completed long-term follow-up (>18–60 months). Procedural success was defined as UL/LL systolic gradient of less than 20 mm Hg, lack of significant recurrent obstruction, and freedom from unplanned repeat intervention. Results: Acute procedural success was 96%. Cumulative intermediate success was 86%, and cumulative long-term success was 77%. Unplanned repeat interventions were required in 4%, and aortic wall complications were seen in 1% of patients (dissection n = 1 and aneurysm n = 3). Other adverse events (n = 15) occurred mainly acutely and included technical complications such as stent malposition (n = 9). At long-term follow-up, 23% of patients continued to have systolic blood pressure above the 95th centile, 9% had an upper-to-lower limb blood pressure gradient in excess of 20 mm Hg, and 32% were taking antihypertensive medication. Conclusions: This study documented acute, intermediate, and long-term outcome data comparable or superior with other surgical or interventional series. However, even with successful initial stent therapy, patients continue to require long-term follow-up and have associated long-term morbidity, relating to aortic wall complications, systemic hypertension, recurrent obstruction as well as need for repeat intervention. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Developmental changes in trait and situational denial under stress during childhood.

— Decline in denial usage during childhood was examined by obtaining four measures of denial from 34, 6-, 8- and 10-year-old boys. Significant age declines were observed for two trait denial measures and one situational denial measure. Positive relationships among denial measures were observed only for the trait measures. It appears that knowledge of trait denial may not be very useful in predicting situational denial; and that future research should be directed toward more detailed examination of cognitive processes associated with defensive outcomes and toward changes in external factors, such as peer evaluation of defensive behaviors, which could impact on the production of defensive responses.
Aspirin acetylates the tricyclic antidepressant amoxapine spontaneously to N-acetylamoxapine in vitro and in vivo

1. N-Acetylamoxapine is formed nonenzymically in vitro, and in mice, from amoxapine, a tricyclic antidepressant, and aspirin. 2. Formation of acetylamoxapine from amoxapine and aspirin in vitro was maximal at pH 5.0 since this pH optimized reactant solubilities as well as decreasing aspirin hydrolysis. 3. Formation of aceylamoxapine from amoxapine and aspirin in mouse stomachs was rapid, and the pH study indicates that the intestinal pH would favour formation even more. 4. Acetylamoxapine administered to mice produced the same CNS-related signs, leading to death, as with amoxapine, but much larger doses and longer time periods were required to elicit these effects. As brain and liver levels of amoxapine in animals dying from acetylamoxapine administration were less than half those found in animals given lethal doses of amoxapine, the toxicity in mice of acetylamoxapine may not be due solely to deacetylation of acetylamoxapine to the parent compound.
A new shartegosuchid crocodyliform from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of western Colorado

A small new basal crocodyliform, Fruitachampsa callisoni gen. nov., sp. nov., is represented by several partial skeletons from the Morrison Formation at the Fruita Paleontological Area near Grand Junction, Colorado. It is placed in the Family Shartegosuchidae Efimov, 1988, previously comprising three genera from the Late Jurassic locality of Shar Teeg in western Mongolia and possibly a fourth genus from the Early Cretaceous of Siberia. Shartegosuchids share a sculpted palatal surface of the pterygoids, the absence of a mandibular fenestra, and posterior maxillary teeth and post-caniniform dentary teeth with a flat and horizontal apical region and vertical crenulations extending basally from it. Fruitachampsa and Shartegosuchus form a clade supported by ventral half of the lacrimal tapering ventroposteriorly, sculpturing on palatines, and lower teeth absent anterior to caniniforms. The shartegosuchids are most parsimoniously considered to be outside of the mesoeucrocodylian clade and are possibly allied with the Asian taxa Shantungosuchus, Sichuanosuchus, and Zosuchus. Fruitachampsa is unusual in possessing a series of small protuberances along the occipital margin of the parietal and squamosal and procoelous vertebrae, and lacking an antorbital fenestra or fossa. This is the first occurrence of a shartegosuchid in North America, and the close relationship of Fruitachampsa with Shartegosuchus nested among other Asian taxa indicates it dispersed to North America from Asia.
CFTR Potentiators: Not an Open and Shut Case

Insights into the positive and negative effects of drugs to treat cystic fibrosis (CF) patients with a common mutation raise questions about how we discover and translate CF therapeutics (Veit et al. and Cholon et al., this issue).
Distribution-Free Marginal Analysis of Repeated Measures

In many clinical trials the principal objective is to assess the effects of treatment on the progression of disease as reflected by a set of K repeated measures on each subject over time. This paper reviews the application of the Wei-Lachin (I) multivariate rank procedure to the marginal analysis of such repeated measures where some observations are missing at random. With Wilcoxon scores, this analysis (2,3) yields an estimate of the MannWhitney difference to reflect the difference between groups in the distributions for each of the K measures. This is especially useful for measures on an ordinal scale. The methods are introduced using analyses of repeated cholesterol measurements at four points in time in the National Cooperative Gallstone Study (4). Based on the vector of Mann-Whitney differences, a variety of summary test statistics can be computed. The nature of the alternative hypotheses and rejection regions are then contrasted for the K df T2-like omnibus test and for two alternate one df tests: the test of stochastic ordering and the test of association. More detailed analyses then are presented using repeated ordinal gradings of the severity of retinopathy in the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (5,6,7). Finally, related methods and group sequential procedures are reviewed.
Low Back Syndromes: Integrated Clinical Management

Morris CE, ed. New York, NY 10121, McGraw-Hill, 2006, hardcover, 768 pp, illus, ISBN: 0071374728; $90. This textbook presents an interdisciplinary and seemingly exhaustive evidence-based approach toward the understanding of low back pain, pain syndromes, and the clinical intervention for patients who have these syndromes. What appears on the surface to be a chiropractic approach to the patient with low back pain is, in fact, a multidisciplinary approach to understanding this clinical challenge. This textbook is arranged into 6 parts. The chapters within each part effectively utilize tables, charts, and illustrations to augment the reader’s understanding of the content. Each chapter begins with a content outline containing learning objectives and ends with a summary highlighting the important content and concepts covered. “Clinical Pearls” located throughout the chapters focus the reader on important concepts and enhance their understanding of these concepts. The references that are included at the end of each chapter seem to be both current and exhaustive. The writing style is clear and thorough, …
Hypoxia-inducible factor-2α is essential in activating the COX2/mPGES-1/PGE2 signaling axis in colon cancer.

inducible factor (HIF), robustly enhanced colon carcinogenesis and potentiated COX2 expression in normal colon epithelium and tumors. In this study, we hypothesize that HIF regulates COX2 expression in colon tumors, and this regulation is critical for HIF- mediated colon carcinogenesis. COX2 was demonstrated to be a direct target gene of HIF-2α, and genetic disruption of HIF-2α abolished the induction of COX2 in tumors. Furthermore, inhibi- tion of COX2 by nimesulide reduced HIF-2α-induced colon tumor formation. Interestingly, the levels of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), the downstream effector of COX2, remained elevated in normal and tumor tissues of the nimesulide-treated Vhl ΔIE /Apc min/+ mice. Further examination revealed that the terminal PGE2 synthesis enzyme microsomal prostaglandin E synthase 1 (mPGES-1) was overexpressed in the colon of Vhl ΔIE /Apc min/+ mice. mPGES-1 was demonstrated to be a direct target gene of HIF-2α, and genetic dis- ruption of HIF-2α abolished the induction of mPGES-1 in colon tumors. Together, our findings demonstrate that HIF-2α is a major regulator of COX2/mPGES-1/PGE2 pathway in colon tumors.
Selecting concise training sets from clean data

The authors derive a method for selecting exemplars for training a multilayer feedforward network architecture to estimate an unknown (deterministic) mapping from clean data, i.e., data measured either without error or with negligible error. The objective is to minimize the data requirement of learning. The authors choose a criterion for selecting training examples that works well in conjunction with the criterion used for learning, here, least squares. They proceed sequentially, selecting an example that, when added to the previous set of training examples and learned, maximizes the decrement of network squared error over the input space. When dealing with clean data and deterministic relationships, concise training sets that minimize the integrated squared bias (ISB) are desired. The ISB is used to derive a selection criterion for evaluating individual training examples, the DISB, that is maximized to select new exemplars. They conclude with graphical illustrations of the method, and demonstrate its use during network training. Experimental results indicate that training upon exemplars selected in this fashion can save computation in general purpose use as well. >
Effect of variations in dietary fat and carbohydrate intake on postprandial lipemia in patients with noninsulin dependent diabetes mellitus.

The effect of dietary composition on concentrations of postprandial lipoproteins was studied in eight sulfonylurea-treated patients with noninsulin dependent diabetes mellitus. Two diets were consumed by each patient for 2 weeks in random order, one contained (as percent of total calories) 15% protein, 40% fat, and 45% carbohydrate (CHO), whereas the other consisted of 15% protein, 25% fat, and 60% CHO. At the end of each dietary period, patients were given Vitamin A (60,000 U/m2) with their noon meal, and the concentration of triglyceride (TG) and retinyl esters in plasma and two lipoprotein fractions (Sf > 400 and Sf 20-400) determined over the next 12 h. The results indicated that both postprandial TG and retinyl ester concentrations were higher in plasma (Sf > 400, and Sf 20-400 lipoproteins), when patients ate the 25% fat/60% CHO diet. Thus, replacing saturated fat with CHO accentuates the magnitude of postprandial lipemia. Since TG-rich lipoproteins may be atherogenic, appropriate dietary advice for...
Joint Event Location — The JHD Technique and Applications to Data from Local Seismic Networks

The joint hypocenter determination (JHD) technique is a relatively simple but efficient way to account for lateral velocity variations not included in the one-dimensional velocity models used to locate seismic events. The basic idea behind the technique is the simultaneous location of a group of events and the determination of a common set of station corrections. Under appropriate conditions the station corrections absorb the unmodeled velocity variations, thus improving the locations of the events. From the experience gained so far it appears that JHD always improves relative locations, while absolute locations may or may not be affected by some amount of error, depending on the nature of the lateral velocity variations. When they are very large, as when sedimentary basins and crystalline rocks are juxtaposed, the JHD locations may be affected by a systematic shift from the true locations. Here we discuss in detail four data sets which show different aspects of the JHD analysis. One is a synthetic data set based on actual data from the flat portion of the Nazca plate recorded in the Andean foreland in Argentina. These data are used to show the effect on location of exact and approximate implementations of the JHD technique. The other data sets come from the Loma Prieta, California, mainshock-aftershock sequence, from the New Madrid, central U.S.A., seismic zone, and from the Campi Flegrei, a volcanic area in Italy. The Loma Prieta and New Madrid data illustrate the improvements in absolute and relative locations that can be achieved when using JHD, while the Campi Flegrei data show the significant effect of complicated velocity variations on earthquake location. Finally, analyses of actual and synthetic data show that the JHD station corrections can be used for a semi-quantitative assessment of the 3-D lateral velocity variations under a local network.
Influence of acute and chronic respiratory alkalosis on preexisting chronic metabolic alkalosis.

The severity of the alkalemia produced by a reduction in arterial carbon dioxide tension (PaCO2) in normal humans and animals is ameliorated by buffer and renal responses that diminish the levels of plasma bicarbonate concentration ([HCO3-]p). These adjustments have even greater potential importance in preventing extreme degrees of alkalemia when hypocapnia occurs in the presence of an initially elevated [HCO3-]p (mixed respiratory and metabolic alkalosis). The aim of the present study was to characterize the acute (approximately 3 h) and chronic (5 days) acid-base effects of respiratory alkalosis when superimposed on chronic metabolic alkalosis. Ten dogs were made alkalotic by the repeated administration of ethacrynic acid and the provision of a chloride-restricted diet. Hypocapnia (delta PaCO2 = 10 mmHg) was then superimposed by exposing the animals to 11% O2 in an environmental chamber. A large fall in [HCO3-]p occurred in the acute hypocapnic phase that was further augmented in the chronic phase; the corresponding delta [HCO3-]p/delta PaCO2 slopes were 0.43 and 0.71 meq.l-1.mmHg-1, respectively, values substantially larger than those previously reported for hypocapnia in normals as well as in animals with preexisting HCl acidosis. Hyperlactatemia was responsible, on average, for 43% of the decrement in [HCO3-]p during acute hypocapnia but for only 20% of the delta [HCO3-]p during the chronic phase of the study. The striking decrement in [HCO3-]p observed in response to the chronic reduction in PaCO2 was sufficient not only to prevent the development of extreme alkalemia but also to offset entirely the effect of hypocapnia on plasma [H+].
Pigmies and Brobdignagians: Arts Writing, Dickensian Character, and the Vanishing Victorian Life-Size

This essay argues that Charles Dickens's “larger than life” characters were critically shaped by the Victorians' increasing doubts about the life-size as a visual standard in painting and sculpture. Departing from a tendency to read Dickens's excesses as the products of larger thematic design or as the results of structural exigency, this essay proposes instead that his famously “static” and “flat” characters were significantly influenced by debates about static and flat forms of art. In novels like Bleak House (1852–53) and Little Dorrit (1855–57), Dickens investigated contemporary commentators' assertions that the perception of the “size of life” was a trick of the eye. Ultimately, his investigations went beyond exploration and were transformed into practice. What we have long taken as characterological exaggeration should in fact be reread as an effort to encapsulate lived visual experience.
Producing biodiesel from soybeans in Zambia: An economic analysis

Facing a huge fiscal burden due to imports of its entire petroleum demand in the face of ample supply of agricultural land to produce biofuels, Zambia has recently introduced a biofuel mandate. However, a number of questions, particularly those related to the economics of biofuels, have not been fully investigated yet. Using an empirical model, this study analyzes the economics of meeting the biodiesel mandate using soybean oil. The study finds that meeting the biodiesel mandate would reduce social welfare, mainly because of the welfare loss to fuel consumers and net reduction in foreign exchange earnings due to soybean oil imports. However, if Zambia increases its domestic soybean supply, as well as oil yield, soybean-based biodiesel is likely to be welfare-beneficial. The country’s welfare is found to be the highest under expanded soybean production and its domestic processing but with no biodiesel mandate.
Altered Sr Atomic Environment in La2-xSrxCuO4

The Sr local atomic environment in the high T c superconductor La 2-x Sr x CuO 4 was probed by polarized XAFS measurements at the Sr K-edge on oriented powder samples with x = 0.075, 0.1 at T=20K. We confirmed that Sr indeed substitutes at the La site in this compound, but alters the first neighbor oxygen environment. This was found by determining the location of the neighboring metal atoms up to the fifth shell distances through fitting the Sr XAFS, and comparing with La K-edge polarized XAFS in the same samples and with diffraction results. The significant distortions in the immediate oxygen environment of the Sr atoms can be an important factor contributing to the mechanism of the structural and high T c phase transitions in these cuprates.
The Philosophy of Foucault: Are we still who Foucault says we are?

As I write this, it is twenty-one years since Foucault's death. His last published book that does not deal with ancient practices is twenty-nine years old. Since his death, we have seen the rise of the internet, DVDs, cell phones, gated communities, Tivo, sport utility vehicles, email and instant messaging. The United States has started three wars: two in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. Terrorism, not communism, is the chosen enemy of what would charitably be called Western democracies. Neoliberalism has come to replace welfare liberalism in many quarters as the reigning economic philosophy of the state. Europe has made steps toward integration; the Soviet Union has disintegrated. China seeks to position itself as the next great national power as the United States squanders its resources, its military and its good will. In short, much has changed. To admit that much has changed requires us to ask of Foucault a question that is an ineluctably Foucauldian one. Are we still who Foucault has said that we are? Do we remain the normalized beings of discipline, the “empirico-transcendental” doublet – the man – of The Order of Things , the products of bio-power, the moral legacy of a Reason that seeks to keep its madness at bay? Are the accounts Foucault offers us still accounts of the character of our being? Or have we moved on? Are we in another episteme , another archive, another genealogical moment from the one Foucault has brought us to?
Loss of Interdependent Binding by the FoxO1 and FoxA1/A2 Forkhead Transcription Factors Culminates in Perturbation of Active Chromatin Marks and Binding of Transcriptional Regulators at Insulin Sensitive Genes

FoxO1 binds to insulin response elements located in the promoters of insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 1 (IGFBP1) and glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase), activating their expression. Insulin-mediated phosphorylation of FoxO1 promotes cytoplasmic translocation, inhibiting FoxO1-mediated transactivation. We have previously demonstrated that FoxO1 opens and remodels chromatin assembled from the IGFBP1 promoter via a highly conserved winged helix motif. This finding, which established FoxO1 as a "pioneer" factor, suggested a model whereby FoxO1 chromatin remodeling at regulatory targets facilitates binding and recruitment of additional regulatory factors. However, the impact of FoxO1 phosphorylation on its ability to bind chromatin and the effect of FoxO1 loss on recruitment of neighboring transcription factors at its regulatory targets in liver chromatin is unknown. In this study, we demonstrate that an amino acid substitution that mimics insulin-mediated phosphorylation of a serine in the winged helix DNA binding motif curtails FoxO1 nucleosome binding. We also demonstrate that shRNA-mediated loss of FoxO1 binding to the IGFBP1 and G6Pase promoters in HepG2 cells significantly reduces binding of RNA polymerase II and the pioneer factors FoxA1/A2. Knockdown of FoxA1 similarly reduced binding of RNA polymerase II and FoxO1. Reduction in acetylation of histone H3 Lys-27 accompanies loss of FoxO1 and FoxA1/A2 binding. Interdependent binding of FoxO1 and FoxA1/A2 possibly entails cooperative binding because FoxO1 and FoxA1/A2 facilitate one another's binding to IGFPB1 promoter DNA. These results illustrate how transcription factors can nucleate transcriptional events in chromatin in response to signaling events and suggest a model for regulation of hepatic glucose metabolism through interdependent FoxO/FoxA binding.
Adaptive graphics

This article presents the idea of a unifying framework that allows visual representations of information to be customized and mixed together into new ones. The net result is a fine-grained approach to representing data, better suited to accessing and rendering it over networks. Although the focus is on geometric models and 3D shape representations, many issues discussed are relevant to network-based visualization in general.
Probing Ionophore Selectivity in Argon-Tagged Hydrated Alkali Metal Ion–Crown Ether Systems

Crown ethers are an important family of compounds that are closely related to naturally occurring ionophores. Thus, crown ethers are useful in modeling the size-selective behavior of ionophores. Using a combination of infrared predissociation spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations, we have investigated M+(18-crown-6 ether)(H2O)1–4 Ar complexes, where M = Li, Na, K, Rb and Cs in the gas phase. The argon-tagging technique was used to lower the internal energies (effective temperatures ∼100 K), yielding well-resolved spectra in the OH stretching region for systems containing up to three waters. Spectral changes were monitored as both the size of the ion and degree of hydration were varied. While there is not a particular spectroscopic signature of gas-phase selectivity reported in this work, the unique role that K+ plays in the systems studied, as a “bridge” between the smaller and larger alkali metal ions, is consistent with the well-known special affinity for K+ by 18-crown-6 ether in the ...
Development of a new model system to dissect isoform specific Akt signalling in adipocytes.

Protein kinase B (Akt) kinases are critical signal transducers mediating insulin action. Genetic studies revealed that Akt1 and Akt2 signalling differentially contribute to sustain lipid and glucose homoeostasis; however Akt isoform-specific effectors remain elusive due to the lack of a suitable model system to mechanistically interrogate Akt isoform-specific signalling. To overcome those technical limitations we developed a novel model system that provides acute and specific control of signalling by Akt isoforms. We generated mutants of Akt1 and Akt2 resistant to the allosteric Akt inhibitor MK-2206. We then developed adipocyte cell lines, in which endogenous Akt1 or Akt2 has been replaced by their corresponding drug-resistant Akt mutant. Treatment of those cells with MK-2206 allowed for acute and specific control of either Akt1 or Akt2 function. Our data showed that Akt1W80A and Akt2W80A mutants are resistant to MK-2206, dynamically regulated by insulin and able to signal to Akt downstream effectors. Analyses of insulin action in this cellular system showed that Akt1 and Akt2 are both able to mediate insulin regulation of the transcription factor forkhead box O1 (FoxO1) and the glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4), revealing a redundant role for these Akt kinases in the control of glucose transport into fat cells. In contrast, Akt1 signalling is uniquely required for adipogenesis, by controlling the mitotic clonal expansion (MCE) of pre-adipocytes that precedes white adipose cell differentiation. Our data provide new insights into the role of Akt kinases in glucose transport and adipogenesis and support our model system as a valuable tool for the biochemical characterization of signalling by specific Akt isoforms.
Joint mode selection and resource allocation for D2D communications under queueing constraints

Device-to-device (D2D) communication underlaid with cellular networks is a new paradigm, proposed to enhance the performance of cellular networks. By allowing a pair of D2D users to communicate directly and share the same spectral resources with the cellular users, D2D communication can achieve higher spectral efficiency, improve the energy efficiency, and lower the traffic delay. In this paper, we propose a novel channel matching algorithm for joint mode selection and channel allocation with the goal of maximizing the system throughput under statistical queueing constraints. Seven possible modes are considered, namely the D2D cellular mode, D2D dedicated mode, uplink dedicated mode, downlink dedicated mode, uplink reuse mode, downlink reuse mode, and D2D reuse mode. Using tools from stochastic network calculus, the throughput is characterized by determining the effective capacity. We formulate the channel allocation problem as a maximum-weight matching problem, which can be solved by employing the Hungarian algorithm. Via simulation results, we verify the performance improvements achieved by our proposed matching algorithm.
A Theory of Punitive Damages

A contemporary theory of punitive damages must answer two questions: (1) what place, if any, do punitive damages have in the civil law of tort, given that they appear to involve an idea of criminal punishment? (2) why are punitive damages subject to special constitutional scrutiny, as in the Supreme Court's decision in BMW v. Gore, if they really are part of the civil law of tort? The article offers a theory that can answer both of these questions. Punitive damages have a double aspect, corresponding to two senses of "punitive." Insofar as they pertain to the state's goal of imposing a punishment upon a defendant who merits deterrence or retribution, they have a criminal aspect. Insofar as they pertain to the plaintiff's "right to be punitive," they have a civil aspect. Drawing upon the theory of civil recourse that the author has developed as a challenger to corrective justice theory, the article explains what a "right to be punitive" means. It then uses the recourse theory of punitive damages to support a rational reconstruction of the Supreme Court's constitutional jurisprudence of punitive damages. When a case can be understood as involving principally a plaintiff's right to be punitive, heightened constitutional scrutiny is not appropriate. However where, as in BMW v. Gore, the state is essentially imposing punishment, the excessiveness of a damages award is properly scrutinized under heightened constitutional standards.
Descending the Watershed: Rethinking the "Place" of Curriculum

The watershed provides a definable unit of ecology and community which can be used by educators to frame educational experiences for diverse groups of people. In this paper, a first person phenomenological approach is used to describe an expedition for teachers from the uppermost beginning of a Northern Rocky Mountain watershed to its river output at the bottom. Along the way, the landscape and experiences of the workshop participants are interpreted through principles of teaching and learning drawn from a theory of Educating (Gowin, 1981). The author describes key concepts such as "place," shared meaning, cultural perspectives, complexity, scale, connectedness and interdisciplinarity in the context of environmental education. The conclusions focus on the role of people and "place" in the construction of new knowledge about the environment and takes traditional curriculum theory a step beyond simple educative events.
Long-Term Impacts of a Career Development Workshop for Undergraduates

AbstractFor 15 years, the Undergraduate Leadership Workshop (ULW) has connected undergraduate students with scientists, engineers, educators, and leadership at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado. The week-long program gives students exposure to research areas and to graduate school and career options in the atmospheric sciences. The ULW provides mentoring, training in leadership and professional skills, and a chance to meet peers in this field. An evaluation of the program, including surveys and focus groups of alumni from the past 15 years, has yielded insights into the program’s short- and long-term impacts. The main themes that have emerged are that the ULW provides 1) exposure to a whole new world of careers in the atmospheric sciences; 2) a sense of belonging to a group of students who are also interested in weather and climate; 3) long-term support and a professional network of peers; and 4) an increase in interest in pursuing a science, technology, engineering,...
Comparative effectiveness of chemotherapy vs resection of the primary tumour as the initial treatment in older patients with Stage IV colorectal cancer.

AIM The objectives were to determine trends in the use of chemotherapy as the initial treatment and to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of initial chemotherapy vs resection of the primary tumour on survival (intention-to-treat analysis) in Stage IV colorectal cancer (CRC). METHOD This cohort study used 2000-2011 data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare linked database, including patients ≥ 66 years of age presenting with Stage IV CRC. Cox proportional hazards models and instrumental variable analysis were used to compare the effectiveness of chemotherapy as the initial treatment with resection of the primary tumour as the initial treatment, with 2-year survival as the end point. RESULTS The use of chemotherapy as the first treatment increased over time, from 26.8% in 2001 to 46.9% in 2009 (P < 0.0001). The traditional Cox model showed that chemotherapy as the initial treatment was associated with a higher risk of mortality [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.35; 95% CI: 1.27-1.44]. When accounting for known and unknown confounders in an instrumental variable analysis, chemotherapy as the initial treatment suggested benefit on 2-year survival (HR = 0.68; 95% CI: 0.44-1.04); however, the association did not reach statistical significance. The study findings were similar in six subgroup analyses. CONCLUSION The use of chemotherapy as the initial therapy for CRC increased substantially from 2001 to 2009. Instrumental variable analysis found that, compared with resection, chemotherapy as the initial treatment offers similar or better 2-year survival in patients with Stage IV CRC. Given the morbidity and mortality associated with colorectal resection in elderly patients, chemotherapy provides an option to patients who are not good candidates for resection.
Predictors of Maternal Trust in Doctors About Advice on Infant Care Practices: The SAFE Study

Abstract Objective To determine predictors of maternal trust in doctors about advice on infant care practices. Methods Using probability sampling methods, we recruited mothers from 32 US maternity hospitals. Mothers completed a survey 2 to 6 months postpartum that included questions about maternal trust in doctors regarding 6 infant care practices and physician characteristics (doctor asked mother's opinion, doctor is qualified, infant sees 1 main doctor who is/is not of the same ethnicity/race). Prevalence estimates and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for maternal trust in physician advice for each infant care practice. Multivariate logistic regression was used to calculate the independent association of maternal and physician characteristics and trust for each infant care practice, controlling for sociodemographic characteristics. Results Of the 3983 mothers enrolled from January 2011 to March 2014, 3297 (83%) completed the follow-up survey. Maternal trust in the doctor varied according to infant care practice with highest trust for vaccination (89%) and lowest trust for pacifier use (56%). In the adjusted analyses, for all infant care practices, mothers were more likely to trust their doctors if they reported that the doctors were qualified (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], >3.0 for all practices) or if the doctor had asked their opinion (AOR, 1.76–2.43). For mothers who reported seeing 1 main doctor, white mothers were more likely to trust physicians for almost all infant care practices if they reported the doctor was the same race (AOR, 1.54–2.19). Conclusions Physician characteristics and ways of communication were significantly associated with maternal trust in doctors about advice on infant care practices.
Parity-time symmetry in metamaterials and metasurfaces

In this tutorial we discuss metamaterials and metasurfaces with balanced loss and gain, yielding unusual electromagnetic responses for a variety of applications, from imaging to scattering manipulation and sensing.
ASPECTS (Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score) Measurement Using Hounsfield Unit Values When Selecting Patients for Stroke Thrombectomy

Background and Purpose—The ASPECTS (Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score) is a quantitate score that measures the extent of early ischemic changes. Our aim was to investigate how measurement of AS...
Distal Femoral Osteotomy Survivorship: a Population-based Study

Objectives:Malalignment of the lower extremity can lead to functional impairment and degenerative changes at an early age. Distal femoral osteotomies (DFO) are often performed concurrently with art...
The impact of childhood neighborhood disadvantage on adult joblessness and income.

Abstract Research on residential inequality focuses heavily on adult economic outcomes as crucial components of the intergenerational transmission of poverty. Yet, empirical evidence on whether youth neighborhoods have a lasting impact on adult economic outcomes at the national level is scarce. Further, we know little about how youth neighborhood effects on adult economic outcomes manifest. This study uses 26 years (14 waves) of restricted panel data from the NLSY79 and the NLSY Children and Young Adults cohorts – data that have never been used to analyze long-term neighborhood effects – to examine whether youth neighborhood disadvantage impacts adult economic outcomes through sensitive years in childhood, teen socialization, duration effects, or cumulative effects. Sibling fixed effects models that net out unobserved effects of shared family characteristics suggest that youth neighborhood disadvantage increases joblessness and reduces income in adulthood. However, exposure across specific developmental stages of youth does not appear to act as a significant moderator while sustained exposure yields pernicious effects on adult economic outcomes. Moreover, these results are robust to alternative variable specifications and cousin fixed effects that net out potentially unobserved confounders, such as the inheritance of neighborhood disadvantage across three generations.
The ABC Transporter Eato Promotes Cell Clearance in the Drosophila melanogaster Ovary.

We thank members of our laboratory for helpful comments and assistance, especially Albert Mondragon, Alla Yalonetskaya, Johnny Elguero, and Victoria Jenkins, and Todd Blute for assistance with microscopy. This work was supported by National institutes of Health grants R01 GM-060574 and R01 GM-094452 to K.M. T.M.C. was supported by National Science Foundation-Research Experiences for Undergraduates (BIO-1659605) and C.V.T. was supported by Boston University's Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program. (R01 GM-060574 - National institutes of Health; R01 GM-094452 - National institutes of Health; BIO-1659605 - National Science Foundation-Research Experiences for Undergraduates; Boston University's Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program)
More Research Needed to Increase Policies for HPV Vaccine Uptake.

The authors discuss the need for more research to support vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) infections. They mention the states that have developed policies regarding the vaccinations, the need for more research into disparities in vaccination, and the arguments against vaccination.
Plasma anandamide concentrations are lower in children with autism spectrum disorder.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by restricted, stereotyped behaviors and impairments in social communication. Although the underlying biological mechanisms of ASD remain poorly understood, recent preclinical research has implicated the endogenous cannabinoid (or endocannabinoid), anandamide, as a significant neuromodulator in rodent models of ASD. Despite this promising preclinical evidence, no clinical studies to date have tested whether endocannabinoids are dysregulated in individuals with ASD. Here, we addressed this critical gap in knowledge by optimizing liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry methodology to quantitatively analyze anandamide concentrations in banked blood samples collected from a cohort of children with and without ASD (N = 112). Anandamide concentrations significantly differentiated ASD cases (N = 59) from controls (N = 53), such that children with lower anandamide concentrations were more likely to have ASD (p = 0.041). In keeping with this notion, anandamide concentrations were also significantly lower in ASD compared to control children (p = 0.034). These findings are the first empirical human data to translate preclinical rodent findings to confirm a link between plasma anandamide concentrations in children with ASD. Although preliminary, these data suggest that impaired anandamide signaling may be involved in the pathophysiology of ASD.
Structure of the Malondialdehyde Deoxyguanosine Adduct M1G When Placed Opposite a Two-Base Deletion in the (CpG)3 Frameshift Hotspot of the Salmonella Typhimurium hisd3052 Gene

Malondialdehyde (MDA) is a toxic and mutagenic metabolite produced by lipid peroxidation, and prostaglandin biosynthesis. MDA induces frameshift mutations in tester strains of Salmonella typhimurium. It reacts with DNA, and at physiological pH the major adduct is a pyrimidopurinone formed by reaction with guanine: M1G [3-(2’-deoxy-β-D-erythro-pentofuranosyl)pyrimido[1,2-α]-purin-10(3H)-one]. When site-specifically incorporated into a duplex oligodeoxynucleotide containing a frameshift-prone (CG)3, repeat derived from the Salmonella typhimurium hisd3052 gene, spontaneous opening of M1G to the N2-(3-oxo-1propenyl)-dG species occurred. In this work d(ATCGCMCGGCATG), (M=M1G) was annealed to d(CATGCCGCGAT) to model the putative strand slippage intermediate which would precede a two base deletion in the (CG), iterated repeat. 1H NMR studies indicate that in contrast to the duplex DNA structure, M1G remains intact. A single bulge conformation exists. M1G and its 3’-neighbor cytosine are unpaired. The M1G is intrahelical and stacked, whereas the unpaired cytosine is poorly stacked and appears to be extrahelical.
Behavioral immune system activity predicts downregulation of chronic basal inflammation

Here, we present a mechanistically grounded theory detailing a novel function of the behavioral immune system (BIS), the psychological system that prompts pathogen avoidance behaviors. We propose that BIS activity allows the body to downregulate basal inflammation, preventing resultant oxidative damage to DNA and promoting longevity. Study 1 investigated the relationship between a trait measure of pathogen avoidance motivation and in vitro and in vivo proinflammatory cytokine production. Study 2 examined the relationship between this same predictor and DNA damage often associated with prolonged inflammation. Results revealed that greater trait pathogen avoidance motivation predicts a) lower levels of spontaneous (but not stimulated) proinflammatory cytokine release by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), b) lower plasma levels of the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6), and c) lower levels of oxidative DNA damage. Thus, the BIS may promote health by protecting the body from the deleterious effects of inflammation and oxidative stress.
Role of psychological variables in the determination of the worker's wage: Further evidence from the United States

The current study examines the roles of three psychological variables, job satisfaction, positive attitude and self‐satisfaction, in the determination of the worker's wage. Using two samples from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youths, 1979 (NLSY79), the study for the first time models a possible simultaneous relationship among these four variables and estimates these equations by an appropriate two‐stage procedure. Our results indicate that the worker's wage is positively related to these psychological variables. This finding has important policy implications and thus it calls for future research in this direction.
Degeneracy and genetic assimilation in RNA evolution

The neutral theory of Motoo Kimura stipulates that evolution is mostly driven by neutral mutations. However adaptive pressure eventually leads to changes in phenotype that involve non-neutral mutations. The relation between neutrality and adaptation has been studied in the context of RNA before and here we further study transitional mutations in the context of degenerate (plastic) RNA sequences and genetic assimilation. We propose quasineutral mutations, i.e. mutations which preserve an element of the phenotype set, as minimal mutations and study their properties. We also propose a general probabilistic interpretation of genetic assimilation and specialize it to the Boltzmann ensemble of RNA sequences. We show that degenerate sequences i.e. sequences with more than one structure at the MFE level have the highest evolvability among all sequences and are central to evolutionary innovation. Degenerate sequences also tend to cluster together in the sequence space. The selective pressure in an evolutionary simulation causes the population to move towards regions with more degenerate sequences, i.e. regions at the intersection of different neutral networks, and this causes the number of such sequences to increase well beyond the average percentage of degenerate sequences in the sequence space. We also observe that evolution by quasineutral mutations tends to conserve the number of base pairs in structures and thereby maintains structural integrity even in the presence of pressure to the contrary. We conclude that degenerate RNA sequences play a major role in evolutionary adaptation.
Pharmacologic Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder

There is no pharmacotherapy regimen that improves the overall symptoms of borderline personality disorder. When used for six months or less, antipsychotics can improve paranoia, dissociation, mood lability, anger, and global functioning.
Training Police Officers to Handle Suicidal Persons

The Center for the Administration of Justice at Temple University in Philadelphia conducts training for persons attending the police academy. Part of the crisis intervention training includes dealing with a suicidal person. Didactic material is presented on depression and suicide. Class members are then taught the technique of reflection and practice briefly with each other. The technique is demonstrated by the instructor with an actor posing as a suicidal person. Finally, some members of the class get an opportunity to use the techniques with the actor. Feedback and suggestions are given by other class members and the instructor.