cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Learning to Picture God from Those Who Cannot See

As preachers seek to address the visual character of our culture by including components the congregation must physically see in the sermon, the church's way of describing God is almost exclusively visual, and this emphasis on physically seeing God, or having physical sight as the frame of reference by which we experience God, contributes to the "fragmentation" of people who are blind - and, by implication, all people who live with disabilities - from the church, the faith, and from God, since they are not able to "picture" God as the church does when it gathers to worship. Craig A. Satterlee, a homiletician who is legally blind, proposes six ways preachers and congregations can learn to picture God from people who cannot see and bring that perspective to the sermon. Satterlee's suggestions are (1) ask people who cannot see how they "picture" God; (2) name people who cannot see as models of faith; (3) reimagine Scripture; (3) choose language carefully; (5) preach to all our senses; and (6) make the visual aspects of preaching auxiliary rather than essential.
Coparenting cooperation and child adjustment in low-income mother-grandmother and mother-father families

Coparenting represents an important resource for mothers and children, particularly those confronting the multiple risks associated with economic disadvantage. The present study considers how coparenting cooperation in mother-grandmother and mother-father families relates to mothers' parenting and children's adjustment among a community sample of 117 urban, low-income, predominantly African American families with one preschool and one early school age child. Unique to the present study was almost equal representation of mother-grandmother and mother-father coparent families. We examined whether mother-reported coparenting cooperation was associated with mothers' harsh and positive parenting, and children's social competence and behavior problems. We also considered whether patterns linking coparenting cooperation to parenting and child development were consistent across coparenting configuration and child age. Results indicate positive influences of coparenting cooperation on mothers' positive parenting o...
Agency Theory and Beyond: Contracted Providers' Motivations to Properly Use Service Monitoring Tools

This article uses agency and stewardship theories to explain different motivations for contracted providers to properly use service monitoring tools. To examine different motivations for proper tool use, seven case studies were conducted on early childhood programs in three communities in Upstate New York. The case studies specifically focused on the reporting forms that the early childhood programs completed. Data sources included (1) interviews with government agency and contracted provider employees, (2) content analysis of key documents relating to the service monitoring tools, and (3) attendance at meetings between government agencies and contracted providers on the service monitoring tools. This article finds support for both agency and stewardship theories.
Means, motive, and opportunity: Case study research as praxis

Pediatric nurse practitioner survival strongly depends on the implementation of nursing research. As active clinicians, pediatric nurse practitioners are always seeking ways to enhance health promotion, which should include research and practice. Case study research as praxis provides a method that enhances both health promotion and scientific knowledge. This article provides an overview and an example of research as praxis to give pediatric nurse practitioners an exciting research methodology alternative.
Atomic probes: a search for conduction through a single molecule

We present a novel approach in an effort to perform electrical measurements at the level of a single molecule. A mechanical controllable break junction is utilized in combination with a molecular deposition technique in fluid to obtain the system: metal-molecule-metal. The I - V curve of this system shows pronounced features over a large voltage scale.
Evidence for a Role of Protein Kinase C in the Stimulation of Lipolysis by Growth Hormone and Isoproterenol

The mechanism that underlies activation of lipolysis by GH is not yet understood. Although cAMP is thought to be involved, the biochemical linkages between GH and cAMP are unknown, and lipolysis produced by GH differs from that produced by such typical activators of adenylate cyclase as the catecholamines with regard to time course, maximum response, and dependence on other factors such as glucocorticoids or theophylline. The present studies were undertaken to evaluate the possibility that activation of protein kinase C by GH may play an important role in the production of the delayed increase in lipolysis. Phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), a known activator of protein kinase C, increased lipolysis in segments of adipose tissue of hypophysectomized rats, and, as with GH, this effect was potentiated by theophylline. The lipolytic effects of PMA were concentration-dependent, required a shorter lag period than those of human GH, increased as the concentration of PMA was raised from 0.1 to 10 jtM, and were add...
Equivalence of integral equations in the molecular theory of fluids

Abstract It is proven that, under physically reasonable conditions, the correlation functions satisfying the BBGKY equations for an infinite system are also solutions of the Mayer-Montroll and Kirkwood-Salsburg equations. The relation between these correlation functions and the probability distributions for finding a fixed number of particles in a given finite region of an infinite system is investigated. The Gibbsian nature of these probability distributions is shown to depend on the range of the intermolecular forces.
Impact of socioeconomic status on the diagnosis to treatment interval in Waldeyer's ring carcinoma.

Objective: To examine the impact of socioeconomic status on the diagnosis to treatment interval in Waldeyer's ring cancers by comparing the experience of a public hospital and an academic tertiary care medical center. Design: Retrospective review. Setting: Otolaryngology clinic of a public hospital and an academic medical center. Patients: One hundred seven patients with Waldeyer's ring carcinoma who were diagnosed and treated at San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH) or at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center (UCSFMC) from January 1995 through December 2000 were included in the study. The same departments of otolaryngology–head and neck surgery and radiation oncology staff both hospitals. All radiation therapy was provided at UCSFMC. Patients included in the study had a histologic diagnosis of Waldeyer's ring carcinoma, primary treatment with radiation, and no prior treatment of Waldeyer's ring carcinoma. Main Outcome Measures: The time of diagnosis to start of radiation therapy, dose of radiation, number of treatment days, duration of treatment, and 1 and 3 year survival were recorded. Differences between the two groups were analyzed using Student's t test. Results: The time course from diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma to start of radiation therapy was 56 days at SFGH compared with 34 days at UCSFMC. This difference was statistically significant (P = .0001). Difference in diagnosis to treatment intervals for base of tongue cancer was also significant at 66 days at SFGH compared with 31 days at UCSFMC (P = .0038). For cancer of the tonsil, the diagnosis to treatment interval was 70 days at SFGH versus 40 days at UCSFMC (P = .0005). Dose of radiation, number of days of treatment, and duration of treatment were not statistically different. Only patients with cancer of the tonsil demonstrated a statistically significant difference in 3 year survival (P = .0175). Conclusion: Although radiation therapy delivery appears similar between the public and tertiary care medical centers, there appears to be a statistically significant delay in the initiation of therapy for patients at the public institution. It is possible that this influences 3 year survival in cancer of the tonsil.
Usuality, regularity, and fuzzy set logic

Abstract Most varieties of approximate reasoning in knowledge-based systems rely on if-then rules using some form of material implication in many-valued logic. We review material implication under three major logical systems: propositional logic, predicate logic, and set logic. Difficulties in the use of each of these for approximate reasoning are discussed. Recent work by Zadeh and others in the concepts of usuality, regularity, and dispositional reasoning supports a new approach to approximate reasoning based on fuzzy set logic and regularity. This approach resembles nonmonotonic logic schemes such as circumscription but differs in focusing on degrees of regularity and abnormality rather than using a two-valued logic. Regularity-conditioned inferences preserve important aspects for fuzzy modus ponens while eliminating the questionable inference modes of confirmation, denial, presumption, and prejudice. We conclude the discussion with an example based on the relation between fast driving and poor fuel efficiency.
Relativistic K — LL Auger transition rates

TheoreticalK—LL Auger transition rates are presented for a large range of the atomic number. These calculations are performed with the relativistic Hartree-Fock-Slater model. A comparison is made with the earlier calculations of Listengarten and of Asaad. TheZ-dependence of severalK—LL lines of Listengarten's calculations is in error. A detailed comparison of the experimental relative intensities with our theoretical calculations is also presented. A satisfactory agreement between the experiments and our theory is obtained forZ>55.
Porcine adenoviral vectors evade preexisting humoral immunity to adenoviruses and efficiently infect both human and murine cells in culture

Preexisting immunity against human adenoviruses (HAd) limits the efficiency of transduction of HAd vectors in humans. In addition, development of a vector-specific immune response after the first inoculation with a HAd vector further lowers vector uptake following readministration. We investigated the usefulness of porcine adenovirus serotype 3 (PAd3)-based vectors as a supplement to HAd vectors. Here we demonstrate that preexisting HAd-specific neutralizing antibodies in humans do not cross-neutralize PAd3. In order to generate E1A-deleted PAd3 vectors, an E1-complementing cell line of porcine origin was produced. E1A-deleted PAd3 vector expressing green fluorescent protein; GFP (PAd-GFP) and E1-deleted HAd5 vector expressing GFP (HAd-GFP) transduced human cell lines with comparable efficiencies. Both of these vectors efficiently transduced murine MT1A2 breast cancer cell line, while PAd-GFP transduced murine NIH 3T3 fibroblast cell line significantly better (P < 0.05) than HAd-GFP. These results suggest that PAd3 vectors would be promising supplement to HAd vectors as a delivery vehicle for recombinant vaccines and gene therapy applications.
Self-consistent approximations for field theories at finite temperature

Various mean field approximations at finite temperature are used for calculating ground state energies and propagators of the theory in two dimensions and quantum chromodynamics (QCD). In the case of the theory a symmetry restoration is observed above a critical coupling constant if a temperature independent renormalization is used. In the case of QCD the mean field approximation is insufficient but can be regarded as a starting point for more complicated approximations, which are discussed qualitatively.
138-Kv pipe cable construction

IN 1956, Public Service Electric & Gas Co. constructed a 13-mile, 138-kv pipe cable from West Orange (N.J.) Switching station to a proposed switching station in Cranford. Special construction was required to permit this cable to be rated up from its normal value of 190 mva to 225 mva, to meet high terminal pressures resulting from a static head of 515 feet, and to anchor the cable on a steep grade near one end of the line.
Using the Physician Global Assessment in a Clinical Setting to Measure and Track Patient Outcomes

Importance In dermatology, the development of objective, standardized quality measures that can be used in a clinical setting is important to be able to respond to the needs of payers and credentialing and licensure bodies and to demonstrate dermatologic value. Objective To examine the feasibility of using Physician Global Assessment (PGA) scores to collect and track patient acne and psoriasis outcomes over time. Design, Setting, and Participants The PGA severity scores were included on physicians’ billing sheets for patients with acne and psoriasis seen at a tertiary care center outpatient dermatology clinic from June 2011 through October 2012. A subset of patients from 5 clinics completed Patient Global Assessments (PtGAs) between November 2011 and May 2012. Thirty dermatology clinicians saw a total of 2770 patients with acne and 1516 patients with psoriasis in clinic, recording PGA scores for each patient. The PtGA scores were collected from 52 and 103 patients with acne and psoriasis, respectively, within the larger sample. Main Outcomes and Measures Longitudinal PGA severity scores were collected for acne and psoriasis. The PGA severity scores were analyzed over time, with the hypothesis that patient scores for both acne and psoriasis would improve between the initial and follow-up visits. The PtGA scores from a subset of clinics and dates were compared with PGA scores to assess within-clinic reliability, with the hypothesis that there would be good agreement between clinician and patient assessments. Results New patient PGA outcomes showed considerable improvement over time. At 3-month follow-up, 14.6% of the acne cohort was graded as effectively clear, compared with 2.1% at baseline ( P P Conclusions and Relevance The PGA can be readily incorporated into practice to track patient acne and psoriasis outcomes over time, representing an opportunity for dermatologists to evaluate performance and validate practice guidelines.
Presence of glutamine:fructose-6-phosphate amidotransferase for glucosamine-6-phosphate synthesis in endothelial cells: effects of hyperglycaemia and glutamine.

Aims/hypothesis. Recent studies show that glucosamine infusion impairs endothelium-dependent blood flow in normoglycaemic rats. The pathophysiological relevance of this finding, however, depends on whether de novo glucosamine synthesis occurs in endothelial cells. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis of whether glutamine:fructose-6-phosphate amidotransferase (the first and key regulatory enzyme in hexosamine synthesis) is present for endothelial glucosamine synthesis. Methods. Bovine venular, bovine aortic, human microvascular, human umbilical vein, and rat coronary microvascular endothelial cells were used to measure glutamine:fructose-6-phosphate amidotransferase activity. To determine glucosamine-6-phosphate synthesis in intact cells, they were incubated for 1 h in Krebs bicarbonate buffer containing 5, 15 or 30 mmol/l [U-14C]glucose and 0.5, 2 or 4 mmol/l glutamine. The [14C]Glucosamine-6-phosphate and its end products ([14C]UDP-N-acetylglucosamine and [14C]UDP-N-acetylgalactosamine) were separated by HPLC. Results. There were high glutamine:fructose-6-phosphate amidotransferase activities in all endothelial cells studied. Exposure of cells to 15 to 30 mmol/l glucose or 2 to 4 mmol/l glutamine increased enzyme activity. Glucosamine-6-phosphate, UDP-N-acetylglucosamine and UDP-N-acetylgalactosamine syntheses increased with increasing extracellular concentrations of glucose from 5 to 30 mmol/l or of glutamine from 0.5 to 4 mmol/l. Conclusion/interpretation. Our results show the presence of glutamine:fructose-6-phosphate amidotransferase for de novo glucosamine synthesis in endothelial cells and the modulation of this pathway by hyperglycaemia and glutamine. As glucosamine inhibits endothelial nitric oxide synthesis, these findings could have important implications for impaired endothelium-dependent relaxation and vascular dysfunction in diabetes mellitus. [Diabetologia (2001) 44: 196–202]
Effect of tactual scanning mode on braille and shape recognition

Two experiments studied the influence of tactual scanning mode and finger locus on pattern recognition. In Experiment 1, observers made visual matches to braille characters that were examined with either lateral scanning or free tracing. In Experiment 2, the same tactile scanning modes were used to explore embossed shapes. Performance was comparable with the extreme fingertip and the fingerpad. However, lateral scanning was inferior to tracing and yielded much lower recognition scores in both experiments.
Site-specific relaxation and recombination by the Tn3 resolvase: Recognition of the DNA path between oriented res sites

We studied the dynamics of site-specific recombination by the resolvase encoded by the Escherichia coli transposon Tn3. The pure enzyme recombined supercoiled plasmids containing two directly repeated recombination sites, called res sites. Resolvase is the first strictly site-specific topoisomerase. It relaxed only plasmids containing directly repeated res sites; substrates with zero, one or two inverted sites were inert. Even when the proximity of res sites was ensured by catenation of plasmids with a single site, neither relaxation nor recombination occurred. The two circular products of recombination were catenanes interlinked only once. These properties of resolvase require that the path of the DNA between res sites be clearly defined and that strand exchange occur with a unique geometry. A model in which one subunit of a dimeric resolvase is bound at one res site, while the other searches along adjacent DNA until it encounters the second site, would account for the ability of resolvase to distinguish intramolecular from intermolecular sites, to sense the relative orientation of sites and to produce singly interlinked catenanes. Because resolvase is a type 1 topoisomerase, we infer that it makes the required duplex bDNA breaks of recombination one strand at a time.
Robust Linear-Optimal Control Laws for Active Suspension Systems

The stability robustness of linear-optimal control laws for quarter-car active suspension systems is evaluated using stochastic robustness analysis. Simultaneous parameters variations and neglected actuator and sensor dynamics are considered for LQ active suspension systems and for a single-measurement LQG system to determine the effects of uncertainty on system stability. The results indicate that neglected actuator and sensor dynamics have a small effect on stability robustness, while parameter uncertainty, particularly that of the «sprung mass» is of great concern
Effects of chronic alcohol consumption on neutrophilic host defense in rats

Abstract Human alcohol abusers have increased vulnerability to infections. It has been hypothesized that one contributing cause of this vulnerability is the detrimental effect of alcohol on neutrophil function. In order to test this hypothesis, we have evaluated the chemotactic responsiveness of the neutrophils of rats (n=12; 712 at 150g starting weight/young and 512 at 250g starting weight/mature) fed with a 33% chronic alcohol diet (BIO-SERV liquid alcohol diet #F1697/LD'82), with weight-matched pair-fed (n=12) and weight-matched normal ad libitum diet (n=12) rats serving as controls. The differential count for the neutrophils in rats fed with a chronic alcohol diet was low for both young (6.4±0.3%) and mature (7.0±0.2%) rats. These low counts were similar to the neutrophil count of young pair-fed isoenergetic rats (6.5±0.2%), but differed significantly (P ad libitum (young: 10.7±0.2%; mature: 10.9±0.8%) controls. In addition, there was a significant presence of band neutrophils in the rats fed with the chronic alcohol diet (n=1112; 15.0±2.1%), and this differed significantly (P ad libitum (n=712; 2.2±0.3%) controls. Neutrophils isolated from the blood samples of all alcohol diet rats (blood alcohol levels at 359±127 mg/dl range) were viable (trypan-blue exclusion ≥97%); however, these neutrophils were chemotactically non-responsive (2.8±2.3 neutrophils/100x oil field using LPS-endotoxin activated plasma as chemoattractant) and differed significantly (P ad libitum (26.3±3.0 neutrophils/100x oil field) controls. A detailed analysis revealed a unique and significant (P
Conflicts of Interest in Biomedical Research

FINANCIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST IN ACADEMIC BIOmedical research first entered the public consciousness during the 1980s, along with a series of widely publicized episodes of scientific misconduct. In some of these episodes, faculty investigators were accused of having fabricated or falsified research data on therapeutic products in which they had substantial financial interests. The linkage was unfortunate because it has imprinted indelibly in the minds of members of Congress and the media that financial conflicts of interest in biomedical research are inherently wrong and often accompanied by scientific misrepresentation or misconduct. These issues are again before us, in a context of increasing administration, congressional, and public concern about the adequacy of the current system of protections of human subjects in general, and more specifically, in response to recent tragic events that occurred in gene transfer experiments in settings in which both investigators and their institutions are alleged to hold financial interests have been linked to the deaths of several research participants. Once again, there are calls for increased federal interposition into the conduct of academic biomedical research and strengthened federal guidance, if not regulation, of faculty researchers’ behaviors and privileges. In the early 1990s, both the Association of American Medical Colleges and the Association of Academic Health Centers published monographs that provided guidance to academic centers for the management of individual and institutional financial conflicts of interest in research. The guidelines were well received at the time, and their insights and wisdom are worth recalling as academic medicine again finds itself on the defensive in the face of renewed public concern about financial conflicts of interest in research and demands for expanded governmental oversight. At times like these, it becomes easy to lose perspective about conflicts of interest and forget the reasons the public is so generous in its support of biomedical research and the public policy that shapes the process that creates new products to ease suffering and disability. Absence of context can lead to proposed remedies that could damage both the scientific process and the translation of scientific discoveries into public benefit. On the other hand, it is of equal concern that the nation’s medical schools and teaching hospitals, which remain the fount of new medical knowledge from which most novel diagnostic methods and treatments derive, may have been insufficiently responsive to the profound changes that have transformed the culture of academic medicine since the birth of recombinant DNA technology in the early 1970s and the passage of the Bayh-Dole Act in 1980, and thereby allowed themselves to become vulnerable to corrosive public skepticism. This Commentary addresses both of these issues in the hope of providing perspective and context that will help inform the renewed public debate.
Beyond a software library: building an Organon

It is well understood that an organization requires some means to store and provide access to software information available to it. While a library metaphor has proven to be of some value in creating systems to support organizational needs, this metaphor has unnecessarily limited the vision necessary to implement systems which will effectively support software engineers as they struggle to build tomorrow's complex systems. This paper introduces some ideas intended to stimulate thinking about more advanced systems that are both enabling and open. To be enabling, they must provide access to information beyond cataloging software assets in the traditional sense. To be open, they must admit connectivity to information sources and tools that are constantly changing both in their scope and availability. An Organon is such a system. >
Crioglobulinemia mixta asociada a infección por hepatitis C y gangrena de miembros inferiores

Cryoglobulinemia is a systemic disorder in which the blood contains inmunoglobulins that reversibly precipitate in the cold, giving rise to immune complex deposition that may cause small vessel vasculitis. A strong association with Hepatitis C has been made in the latest years. We describe a patient with hepatitis C and Cryoglobulinemia who wazzu developed one of the most severe crises with clinical manifestations of gangrene in feet and upper extremities. Patient ended with amputation of the lower limbs. His life was saved with plasmapheresis, use of frozen plasma, steroids, heparin and alfa interferon. In this article we report the case and we do a review of the literature on cryoglobulinemia.
Moderate threat causes longer lasting disruption to processing in anxious individuals

Anxiety is associated with increased attentional capture by threat. Previous studies have used simultaneous or briefly separated (<1 s) presentation of threat distractors and target stimuli. Here, we tested the hypothesis that high trait anxious participants would show a longer time window within which distractors cause disruption to subsequent task processing, and that this would particularly be observed for stimuli of moderate or ambiguous threat value. A novel temporally separated emotional distractor task was used. Face or house distractors were presented for 250 ms at short (∼1.6 s) or long (∼3 s) intervals prior to a letter string comprising Xs or Ns. Trait anxiety was associated with slowed identification of letter strings presented at long intervals after face distractors with part surprise/part fear expressions. In other words, these distractors had an impact on high anxious individuals' speed of target identification seconds after their offset. This was associated with increased activity in the fusiform gyrus and amygdala and reduced dorsal anterior cingulate recruitment. This pattern of activity may reflect impoverished recruitment of reactive control mechanisms to damp down stimulus-specific processing in subcortical and higher visual regions. These findings have implications for understanding how threat-related attentional biases in anxiety may lead to dysfunction in everyday settings where stimuli of moderate, potentially ambiguous, threat value such as those used here are fairly common, and where attentional disruption lasting several seconds may have a profound impact.
Lack of Chromatin and Nuclear Fragmentation In Vivo Impairs the Production of Lupus Anti-Nuclear Antibodies

Nuclear autoantigens in systemic lupus erythematosus are thought to derive primarily from apoptotic cells, yet there is no direct evidence that interfering with apoptosis impairs the generation of lupus autoantibodies. Here we use a mouse model that lacks the endonuclease caspase-activated DNase (CAD), resulting in an absence of chromatin and nuclear fragmentation during apoptotic cell death. We show that in this mouse, production and release into circulation of chromatin is impaired after exposure to several apoptotic triggers, but that the absence of CAD does not interfere with upstream steps of apoptosis or immune system function. Finally we show that in CAD-mutant mice, impaired lupus autoimmunity is skewed toward known cytoplasmic components, and autoimmunity toward membrane autoantigens is preserved, while autoimmunity toward chromatin and other lupus nuclear targets is severely impaired or absent. We also show, as control, that the induction of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis is not affected by the absence of CAD. Thus, our work in vivo strongly suggests that apoptotic molecular steps during cell death generate nuclear autoantigens to sustain the specific autoimmune response in systemic lupus erythematosus.
Long-term persistence of adaptive thermogenesis in subjects who have maintained a reduced body weight

Background After weight loss, total energy expenditure -- in particular, energy expenditure at low levels of physical activity -- is lower than predicted by actual changes in body weight and composition. An important clinical issue is whether this reduction, which predisposes to weight regain, persists over time. Objective We aimed to determine whether this disproportionate reduction in energy expenditure persists in persons who have maintained a body-weight reduction of > or =10% for >1 y. Design Seven trios of sex- and weight-matched subjects were studied in an in-patient setting while receiving a weight-maintaining liquid formula diet of identical composition. Each trio consisted of a subject at usual weight (Wt(initial)), a subject maintaining a weight reduction of > or =10% after recent (5-8 wk) completion of weight loss (Wt(loss-recent)), and a subject who had maintained a documented reduction in body weight of >10% for >1 y (Wt(loss-sustained)). Twenty-four-hour total energy expenditure (TEE) was assessed by precise titration of fed calories of a liquid formula diet necessary to maintain body weight. Resting energy expenditure (REE) and the thermic effect of feeding (TEF) were measured by indirect calorimetry. Nonresting energy expenditure (NREE) was calculated as NREE = TEE - (REE +TEF). Results TEE, NREE, and (to a lesser extent) REE were significantly lower in the Wt(loss-sustained) and Wt(loss-recent) groups than in the Wt(initial) group. Differences from the Wt(initial) group in energy expenditure were qualitatively and quantitatively similar after recent and sustained weight loss. Conclusion Declines in energy expenditure favoring the regain of lost weight persist well beyond the period of dynamic weight loss.
Aerobic uranium (VI) bioprecipitation by metal-resistant bacteria isolated from radionuclide- and metal-contaminated subsurface soils

In this study, the immobilization of toxic uranium [U(VI)] mediated by the intrinsic phosphatase activities of naturally occurring bacteria isolated from contaminated subsurface soils was examined. The phosphatase phenotypes of strains belonging to the genera, Arthrobacter, Bacillus and Rahnella, previously isolated from subsurface soils at the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Oak Ridge Field Research Center (ORFRC), were determined. The ORFRC represents a unique, extreme environment consisting of highly acidic soils with co-occurring heavy metals, radionuclides and high nitrate concentrations. Isolates exhibiting phosphatase-positive phenotypes indicative of constitutive phosphatase activity were subsequently tested in U(VI) bioprecipitation assays. When aerobically grown in synthetic groundwater (pH 5.5) amended with 10 mM glycerol-3-phosphate (G3P), phosphatase-positive Bacillus and Rahnella spp. strains Y9-2 and Y9602 liberated sufficient phosphate to precipitate 73% and 95% of total soluble U added as 200 microM uranyl acetate respectively. In contrast, an Arthrobacter sp. X34 exhibiting a phosphatase-negative phenotype did not liberate phosphate from G3P or promote U(VI) precipitation. This study provides the first evidence of U(VI) precipitation via the phosphatase activity of naturally occurring Bacillus and Rahnella spp. isolated from the acidic subsurface at the DOE ORFRC.
Transforming Growth Factor-β and the Immune Response: Implications for Anticancer Therapy

Immune homeostasis is a delicate balance between the immune defense against foreign pathogens and suppression of the immune system to maintain self-tolerance and prevent autoimmune disease. Maintenance of this balance involves several crucial networks of cytokines and various cell types. Among these regulators, transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) is a potent cytokine with diverse effects on hematopoietic cells. Its pivotal function within the immune system is to maintain tolerance via the regulation of lymphocyte proliferation, differentiation, and survival. In addition, TGF-beta controls the initiation and resolution of inflammatory responses through the regulation of chemotaxis and activation of leukocytes in the periphery, including lymphocytes, natural killer cells, dendritic cells, macrophages, mast cells, and granulocytes. Through its pleiotropic effects on these immune cells, TGF-beta prevents the development of autoimmune diseases without compromising immune responses to pathogens. However, overactivation of this pathway can lead to several immunopathologies under physiologic conditions including cancer progression, making it an attractive target for antitumor therapies. This review discusses the biological functions of TGF-beta and its effects on the immune system and addresses how immunosuppression by this cytokine can promote tumorigenesis, providing the rationale for evaluating the immune-enhancing and antitumor effects of inhibiting TGF-beta in cancer patients.
Organizing for Success: Party Organizational Strength and Electoral Performance in Postcommunist Europe

This article explores the effects of party organizational strength on party success and survival in the new postcommunist democracies. Organizational strength is defined as extensive network of branch offices, large membership, and professional staff. Using quantitative information on parties in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, and Poland, the study shows that strong organization helps parties increase their vote share significantly and steadily. Focused comparisons of “most similar” parties with different electoral performance from Estonia and the Czech Republic further exemplify the significant independent role that organizational strength plays in helping parties succeed electorally.
Cloning and sequence analysis of an infectious clone of Citrus yellow mosaic virus that can infect sweet orange via Agrobacterium-mediated inoculation

Citrus yellow mosaic virus (CYMV), a member of the family Caulimoviridae, genus Badnavirus, causes citrus mosaic disease, a disease that occurs commonly in India. The CYMV genome has been cloned and its complete nucleotide sequence determined. Its DNA genome is 7559 bp in length and contains six putative open reading frames (ORFs), all on the plus-strand of the genome and each capable of encoding proteins with a molecular mass of greater than 10 kDa. ORF 3, the largest ORF, encodes a putative polyprotein for functions involved in virus movement, assembly and replication. The other ORFs encode proteins whose exact functions are not completely understood. The genome also contains a plant tRNA(met)-binding site, which may serve as a primer for minus-strand DNA synthesis, in its intergenic region. Phylogenetic analysis of the badnaviruses revealed that CYMV is most closely related to Cacao swollen shoot virus. It was demonstrated that a construct containing 1.4 copies of the cloned CYMV genome could infect sweet orange via Agrobacterium-mediated inoculation.
Intestinal Nitrogen Recycling and Utilization in Health and Disease

The role of intestinal microflora in digestive and metabolic processes has received increasing attention from researchers and clinicians. Both enterocytes and small intestine luminal microorganisms can degrade peptides and amino acids (AA). Further, enterocytes can utilize ammonia via glutamate, glutamine, citrulline, and urea synthesis, whereas luminal microbes will deaminate AA, hydrolyze luminal urea, and recycle this ammonia by synthesis of new microbial cells. Although, undoubtedly, some indispensable AA may arise from N cycling and microbial synthesis in the intestinal lumen, the actual net impact on protein nutrition status appears to be limited in humans and animals. Moreover, potential contributions of the recycled N as colonic luminal microbial proteins to AA in blood depend on colonic protein digestion and AA absorption. Finally, new evidence indicates that gut microbial metabolism may be enhanced by prebiotics and probiotics, with the prospects of new treatment paradigms for eliminating undesirable secondary N metabolites and ameliorating complications in whole-body N metabolism under the conditions of intestinal stress, liver disease, and kidney failure.
Drinking in snakes: kinematic cycling and water transport

Snakes are purported to drink by sucking water into their mouths and then compressing the oral cavity to force water into the oesophagus. Video recordings of drinking behaviour in 23 snakes representing 14 species from three families, combined with simultaneous recordings of water volumes consumed, show that all the snakes vary widely in the amount of water taken in when drinking. This variation is not correlated with kinematic events. Kinematic recordings and indirect measurements of water flow suggest that moving water into the mouth can be decoupled from the processes that move water into the oesophagus and that, infrequently, water may continue flowing into the mouth during both opening (suction) and closing (presumed compression) of the mouth. Drinking in snakes is not a simple, stereotyped behaviour. Different snake species differ in both drinking kinematics and water inflow patterns. Vertical excursions of the mandible are smallest in booids and larger, but highly variable, in different viperids and colubrids. Cyclic movements of the tongue seen in booids are not evident in viperids or colubrids. All the snakes usually take in water at rates far below their potential maximum rate. Although drinking is apparently achieved by suction, a single model cannot explain all water movement patterns in snakes. At a practical level, functional morphological studies of drinking in snakes (and possibly many other animals) must demonstrate that fluid flow actually correlates with kinematic events. Without such an empirical demonstration, interpretation of other measurements (pressure, movement, etc.) is unlikely to produce meaningful models.
Disclosure of Industry Payments to Physicians: An Epidemiologic Analysis of Early Data From the Open Payments Program

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Open Payments program implements Section 6002 of the Affordable Care Act requiring medical product manufacturers to report payments made to physicians or teaching hospitals as well as ownership or investment interests held by physicians in the manufacturer. To determine the characteristics and distribution of these industry payments by specialty, we analyzed physician payments made between August 1, 2013, and December 31, 2013, that were publicly disclosed by Open Payments. We compared payments between specialty types (medical, surgical, and other) and across specialties within each type using the Pearson χ(2) test and the Kruskal-Wallis test. The number of physicians receiving payments was compared with the total number of active physicians in each specialty in 2012. We also analyzed physician ownership interests. Allopathic and osteopathic physicians received 2.43 million payments totaling $475 million. General payments represented 90% of payments by total value ($430 million) (per-physician median, $100; interquartile range [IQR], $31-$273; mean ± SD, $1407±$23,766), with the remaining 10% ($45 million) as research payments (median, $2365; IQR, $592-$8550; mean ± SD, $12,880±$66,743). Physicians most likely to receive general payments were cardiovascular specialists (78%) and neurosurgeons (77%); those least likely were pathologists (9%). Reports of ownership interest in reporting entities included $310 million in dollar amount invested and $447 million in value of interest held by 2093 physicians. In conclusion, the distribution and characteristics of industry payments to physicians varied widely by specialty during the first half-year of Open Payments reporting.
Is the Glass Half-Full?: Gonzales v. Carhart and the Future of Abortion Jurisprudence

In Gonzales v. Carhart, 127 S. Ct. 1610 (2007), the Court reversed course from Stenberg v. Carhart, a decision issued just seven years before and, in a 5-4 decision written by Justice Kennedy, upheld the “Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003” (“the Act”). The question for advocates after Carhart v. Gonzales is how to prevent the case from being extended by those intent on Roe’s destruction. This paper argues that we must start by illuminating the decision’s limitations, and by recognizing and appealing to the aspect of Justice Kennedy that remains a moderating influence on the other four in his Carhart majority. The good news is that there is much in the opinion that reaffirms the Casey framework, and much of that framework remains viable and intact. Specifically, this paper argues that Carhart eliminates neither the core decision making aspect of the right to abortion, nor the rule that a state may not restrict access to abortions that are “necessary, in appropriate medical judgment, for preservation of the life or health of the mother.” I also argue that the language in Carhart about preventing women from regretting their abortions is sui generis, limited to method bans, like this one, which: 1) the Court believes ban only the intact DE and 2) the Court believes would impact only a tiny percentage of abortion procedures, all of which can still be performed by an alternative procedure which the Court believes is just as safe. It is only in these circumstances, and where a regulation does not otherwise impose an undue burden, that “the State may use its regulatory power to bar certain procedures and substitute others.”
The Politics of Beauty: Locke, Shaftesbury, and Burke

I argue that liberalism adulterates beauty, that Shaftesbury cannot resist the survival agenda of Locke, and that Burke's concept of the sublime is the result.
Redrawing the US Obesity Landscape: Bias-Corrected Estimates of State-Specific Adult Obesity Prevalence.

Background State-level estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) underestimate the obesity epidemic because they use self-reported height and weight. We describe a novel bias-correction method and produce corrected state-level estimates of obesity and severe obesity. Methods Using non-parametric statistical matching, we adjusted self-reported data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) 2013 (n = 386,795) using measured data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) (n = 16,924). We validated our national estimates against NHANES and estimated bias-corrected state-specific prevalence of obesity (BMI≥30) and severe obesity (BMI≥35). We compared these results with previous adjustment methods. Results Compared to NHANES, self-reported BRFSS data underestimated national prevalence of obesity by 16% (28.67% vs 34.01%), and severe obesity by 23% (11.03% vs 14.26%). Our method was not significantly different from NHANES for obesity or severe obesity, while previous methods underestimated both. Only four states had a corrected obesity prevalence below 30%, with four exceeding 40%–in contrast, most states were below 30% in CDC maps. Conclusions Twelve million adults with obesity (including 6.7 million with severe obesity) were misclassified by CDC state-level estimates. Previous bias-correction methods also resulted in underestimates. Accurate state-level estimates are necessary to plan for resources to address the obesity epidemic.
A comparison of the ketolytic effect of succinic acid with glucose.

Koranyi and Szent-Gyorgyi1 have reported recently that succinic acid given as the calcium salt in daily amounts of 5 to 10 gm. or less is able to decrease the ketosis in diabetics. In the present investigations we have compared the ketolytic action of succinic acid with that of glucose when administered twice daily to fasting male rats weighing approximately 200 gm., in which the endogenous ketonuria was induced by the previous administration of a high butter-fat diet low in protein, as reported earlier.2 The studies on ketonuria were made on the second to fifth fast days inclusive during which sodium chloride solution (fasting controls), sodium succinate in doses from 9.95 to 149.2 mg. per 100 gm. rat daily, or glucose in equivalent amounts (7.55 to 113.2 mg. per 100 gm. rat) was fed. Urine collections were made daily. The ketonuria of the fasting controls usually rises to a maximum on the third fast day, after which it diminishes rapidly. In Table I a summary of the data is given. No ketolytic effect ob...
Evaluation of Two Pupation Methods for Mass Production of Mediterranean Fruit Fly (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Two methods of pupation for mass production of Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), were compared. Mean pupal weight, adult eclosion, and fecundity were significantly higher for larvae pupated in boxes of vermiculite than for those pupated in trays without any pupation medium. Adults reared from pupae without pupation medium emerged 1 day later and were shorter-lived than those reared from larvae that had pupated in vermiculite. These results are of considerable significance to the selection of a pupation technique for a mass-production facility.
Preservice Teachers and Self-Assessing Digital Competence

This study compares matched surveys of subjective self-assessment and objective assessment on seven domains of digital competence for preservice teachers at a large Southwest public university. The...
Analysis of the Water-soluble Proteins in Medical Latex Gloves

In this study,the content of water-soluble proteins in medical natural rubber latex gloves was determined by the modified Lowry method,and the effect of the different extraction time(2 hours,4 hours,8 hours) on the content of water-soluble proteins was explored.Statistics showed that the average protein content for the 2 h group,the 4 h group and the 8 h group was 124.14 ±29.09 μg/g,183.58±33.22 μg/g and 190.58±29.97 μg/g,respectively.By t-test,there was a highly statistically significant difference between the 2 h group and 4 h group(p=0.000),and between the 2 h group and 8 h group(p=0.000).Between the 4 h group and 8 h group,the difference was not statistically significant(p=0.563).
Effect of Glucocorticoid on Serum Cytokines in Children with Primary Nephrotic Syndrome

Objective To study the effect of glucocorticoid on serum interleukin(IL)-1,IL-6,transforming growth factor-β_1(TGF-β_1) and tumor necrosis factor alpha(TNF-α) in children with primary nephrotic syndrome(PNS).Methods The levels of cytokines on serum were compared in 3 different patho-type,and IL-1,IL-6,TGF-β_1 and TNF-α in serum were detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) in 25 children with PNS before and after treatment with glucocorticoids.Results Significant difference of IL-1,IL-6,TGF-β_1 and TNF-α were found between the two group before and after the treatment(P0.01).No difference of IL-1,IL-6,and TNF-α were found among the patho-types of minimal change nephritic disease(MCD),mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis(MsPNG) and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis(FSGS)(P0.05).The level of TGF-β_1 in MCD was lo-wer than that in MsPNG,FSGS before and after the treatment(P0.01),but there were no difference between MsPNG and FSGS before the treatment(P0.05),and the level of it in FSGS was higher than that in MsPNG after the treatment(P0.01).Conclusions It is suggested that glucocorticoid might inhibit serum IL-1,IL-6,TGF-β_1 and TNF-α in children with PNS.Different patho-types of PNS have different levels of TGF-β_1,and it is the highest in FSGS.Therefore,therapeutic reaction for glucocorticoid is insensitive.