cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Reduced numbers of switched memory B cells with high terminal differentiation potential in Down syndrome.

Children with Down syndrome (DS) have increased susceptibility to infections and a high frequency of leukemia and autoimmune disorders, suggesting that immunodeficiency and immune dysfunction are integral parts of the syndrome. A reduction in B-cell numbers has been reported, associated with moderate immunodeficiency and normal immunoglobulin levels. Here, we compared B-cell populations of 19 children with DS with those in healthy age-matched controls. We found that all steps of peripheral B-cell development are altered in DS, with a more severe defect during the later stages of B-cell development. Transitional and mature-naive B-cell numbers are reduced by 50% whereas switched memory B cells represent 10–15% of the numbers in age-matched controls. Serum IgM levels were slightly reduced, but all other immunoglobulin isotypes were in the normal range. The frequency of switched memory B cells specific for vaccine antigens was significantly lower in affected children than in their equivalently vaccinated siblings. In vitro switched memory B cells of patients with DS have an increased ability to differentiate into antibody-forming cells in response to TLR9 signals. Tailored vaccination schedules increasing the number of switched memory B cells may improve protection and reduce the risk of death from infection in DS.
Managing Elder Suicide: A Profile of American and Canadian Crisis Prevention Centers

Suicides among older adults in the United States and Canada in the last decade have accounted for an increasing share of all suicides. In both countries the use of firearms among older adults has steadily increased. Despite these trends, little is known about the extent to which crisis centers are prepared to prevent elder suicide. A survey of AAS-listed crisis prevention centers examined the training, knowledge, and current practices relevant to elder suicide among personnel in 321 crisis prevention centers in both countries. Results revealed insufficient training, a lack of familiarity with recent suicide trends, and limited outreach to older adults.
Probing Fundamental Accretion Physics with a Unique, Fully Implicit, 2D Hydrodynamic Evolutionary Code

The central accreting object in compact binaries and other accreting systems is usually hidden from direct observation, enshrouded by optically thick accretion disks or accretion columns, which are opaque to the radiation emitted by the central object as it accretes matter. However HST, EUVE, re-analyzed IUE spectra and ROSAT X-ray data have revealed an amazingly rich multi-wavelength spectroscopic database with which to study the response of the underlying degenerate stars, exposed during their quiescence or low state accretion phase, to the deposition of the mass, energy and angular momentum during their outburst or high state accretion phase. Theoretical analysis of the exposed white dwarfs with hydrodynamic accretion simulations of outburst and quiescence can deliver fundamental insight about the physics of magnetic or non-magnetic accretion onto the central object. Our 2-D, fully implicit hydrodynamic code is the first such implicit code to be applied in accretion physics. Comparing with the currently available 1-D, implicit (Sparks et al. 1993; Sion 1993, Proc. 2nd Technion Haifa Conf., TH2 hereafter) and 2-D, explicit codes (Kley 1993, TH2), this code simulates the heating and cooling processes on the accreting white dwarf with a more realistic geometry and much longer time steps. The code has been tested with the case of free fall of a pressureless gas. As the first application of this code, we will study the boundary layer in a CV system.
Big Bang Theory and Primordial Nuclei

A summary of the discussions of Working Group 1 (Rees, Reeves, Schramm, Steigman, Tammann, and TPW) on Big Bang Theory as it relates to primordial nuclei and their galactic evolution.
Divided by Borders: Mexican Migrants and Their Children

Preface: Ordinary Families, Extraordinary Families Acknowledgments/Agradecimientos 1. Sacrifice 2. Ofelia and German Cruz: Migrant Time versus Child Time 3. Gender and Parenting from Afar 4. Armando Lopez on Fatherhood 5. Children and Power during Separation 6. Middlewomen 7. Cindy Rodriguez between Two Worlds 8. Divided by Borders Appendix A: Research Design Appendix B: Family Descriptions Notes References Index
Specific and nonspecific staining in detecting staphylococcal alpha toxin on erythrocytes by immunofluorescence.

Abstract Specifically stained staphylococcal alpha toxin particles were detected on unstained and nonspecifically stained ghost membranes when rabbit erythrocytes were exposed to alpha toxin and stained with fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled specific antitoxin. Fading of the nonspecific staining was observed and was attributed to the degradation of the membranes by alpha toxin.
The Illness Narratives: Suffering, Healing, And The Human Condition

Based on twenty years of clinical experience studying and treating chronic illness, a Harvard psychiatrist and anthropologist argues that diagnosing illness is an art tragically neglected by modern medical training, and presents a compelling case for bridging the gap between patient and doctor.
De minimis risk concepts in the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Part 1: As Low As Reasonably Achievable

Although the legal use of the de minimis concepts of insignificant loss is centuries old, the application of such concepts to safety regulation is fairly recent. Among the suggested applications in regulating radiation hazards are: the setting of regulatory priorities; as a ‘floor’ for As Low As Reasonably Achieveable (ALARA) considerations; as a cut-off level for collective dose assessments; for setting outer bounds of geographical zones; as a floor for definitions of low-level waste; as a presumption of triviality in legal proceedings; to foster administrative and regulatory efficiency; and to provide perspective for public understanding, including policy judgments. This paper (Part 1 of a three part series) summarizes the historical evolution of the explicit treatment of de minimis risk concepts by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the exercise of the ALARA criterion in radiological protection and in facility decommission as a source of insight for more general applications in the social manageme...
Managing First Impressions of New Open Source Software Projects

One of the most important indicators of open source software (OSS) project success is the number of developers joining the project. Some OSS projects begin with a previously networked group of experienced developers who are then able to recruit other developers. However, the vast majority of OSS projects are initiated by one or at most a few developers who are not yet part of a collaborative network and have to wait for potential developers to notice and join their projects.
Distributive lattices with sufficiently many chain intervals

The idea of reductivity is introduced and basic properties are established. The major result is that a distributive lattice is reductive if and only if it has an essential extension which is a product of chains.
Physics of defects and hydrogen in dilute nitrides

First-principles theory is capable of unveiling physical properties of the various defects in dilute nitrides. The authors discuss some of their recent results for native defects, N–N pairs, as well as for hydrogen in GaAsN and GaPN. The studies have shown that defect physics of dilute nitrides is qualitatively different from that of conventional semiconductors owing to the involvement of nitrogen. This leads to a number of phenomena ranging from the existence of a new class of intrinsic traps, such as the N–N split interstitials, AsGa–N and VGa–N pairs, to a surprising modification of the fundamental bandgap by hydrogen.
Interference cancellation for a multicellular CDMA environment

This paper considers the performance of adaptive interference cancellation applied to a CDMA microcellular environment, by employing a circular cell geometry and a closed form expression for the Bit Error Rate of a CDMA system with interference cancellation to analyze the effect of out-of-cell interference. Results are presented which indicate that out-of-cell interference will severely limit the benefits of interference cancellation in a multicellular system. Attempts to cancel all out-of-cell interference will further degrade performance. However, the use of selective interference cancellation in which only the strongest out-of-cell interferers are cancelled may result in significant performance enhancement. These results agree closely with those obtained using a hexagonal geometry.
An improved long range potential for O(1D)+H2

Several dynamics studies have indicated that the product isotopic distributions and vibrational energy distributions in the reaction O(1D) + H2(HD) are very sensitive to the long range interaction of the reactants. In this paper, an improved calculation of the reactant region of the potential energy surface is reported. In agreement with previous work, no barrier is found to edge-on insertion (1 A-prime ground state water surface), but a smaller (less than 0.2 kcal/mol) barrier to collinear addition, 1 Sigma (+) surface, is found than in previous work. The long range potential obtained in the present work most closely resembles the SL3 surface.
Herbicide-tolerant tobacco mutants selected in situ and recovered via regeneration from cell culture

The herbicides Bentazone and Phenmedipharm kill the leaves of intact tobacco plants but do not affect callus cultures. Tolerant mutants were isolated by treating leaves of previously γ-irradiated haploid plants with herbicide then excising and culturing the green herbicide-resistant cell clones on the otherwise yellowed leaves. Among plants subsequently regenerated were a total of ten stable independently isolated mutants. Sexual crosses show these ten represent four Bentazone and two Phenmedipharm loci; all mutants were recessive to wild type.
Al2O3 nanoparticles induced simultaneous refinement and modification of primary and eutectic Si particles in hypereutectic Al–20Si alloy

Abstract It is well known that the mechanical properties of hypereutectic Al–Si alloys are affected by the size, volume fraction, and distribution of primary and eutectic Si particles. However, it is very difficult to simultaneously refine and modify Si particles in hypereutectic Al–Si alloys by conventional means. This study investigates an effect of nanoparticles on Si particles during solidification in hypereutectic Al–Si alloys. Various contents of γ-Al 2 O 3 nanoparticles were added in hypereutectic Al–20Si alloy melt and further dispersed through an ultrasonic cavitation based technique. The cast hypereutectic Al–20Si alloy with the nanoparticle addition showed a significant enhancement in both strengths and ductility. The ductility of the cast hypereutectic Al–20Si alloy was increased from 0.37% to 1.72% with an addition of 0.5 wt% γ-Al 2 O 3 nanoparticles. Yield strength and ultimate tensile strength of the nanocomposite also showed an improvement of about 6% and 26%, respectively. Study suggests that γ-Al 2 O 3 nanoparticles effectively induced simultaneous refinement of primary Si and modification of eutectic Si, resulting in superior ductility enhancement that is much higher than that conventional methods can offer. Microstructural analysis with optical and scanning electron microscope (SEM) revealed that the primary Si particles were refined from large star shapes with small features to polygon or blocky shapes with smooth edges and corners. Moreover, the large plate eutectic Si particles were also modified into the fine coralline-like ones. The results could have great potential for numerous applications.
Defense factors of vaginal lactobacilli.

Abstract Objective: To determine the antagonistic relationship between vaginal lactobacilli and endogenous vaginal microflora. Study Design: Twenty-two Lactobacillus strains were studied for the production of lactic acid, hydrogen peroxide, and bacteriocin. Results: Under standardized growth conditions, most strains increased their biomass by more than 4 times. Lactobacillus species grew best at a pH ≥ 4.5, and growth was retarded at a pH 2 O 2 and were graded as 2+ in one third of the strains and 1+ in others. No statistical correlation was found between H 2 O 2 lactic acid and bacteriocin production. Bacteriocin activity was tested on 4 strains of Gardnerella vaginalis . Approximately 80% of the lactobacilli tested produced bacteriocin that inhibited growth of G vaginalis . Six of the strains did not produce bacteriocin. Thirteen strains produced all 3 defense factors, whereas the others lacked 1 or 2 properties. Conclusions: Lactobacillus species grow best at a pH > 4.5. The pH of the media is dependent on the cell mass and on all organic acids produced by Lactobacillus species. Although all species produce organic acids, not all produce H 2 O 2 and bacteriocin. Not all strains of G vaginalis can be inhibited by lactobacilliproducing bacteriocin. (Am J Obstet Gynecol 2001;185:375-9)
Metal Dusting Corrosion of Cobalt

Metal dusting is a severe form of corrosive degradation of metals and alloys at high temperatures (350-950°C) in carbon-supersaturated gaseous environments. Fe, Ni, and Co, as well as alloys based on these metals are all susceptible. The corrosion manifests itself as a break-up of bulk metal to metal powder, hence, the term metal dusting. In the present study, metal dusting corrosion of pure cobalt is simulated in high carbon activity environments at temperatures between 350 and 950°C. The focus of this research is to understand reaction mechanisms by characterizing interfacial processes at the nanometer level. Cobalt corrodes by a combination of carbon diffusion and precipitation in the bulk metal and atom migration through surface carbon deposits. The nature of the carbon deposit is important in the overall corrosion process.
Management of blunt abdominal trauma in children.

Topic Over the last decade non-operative management of children with blunt abdominal trauma has been established as safe and efficacious. Purpose This paper reviews the clinical management and resource utilization patterns in a pediatric trauma center in the mid-Atlantic region. It focuses on the following issues admission to the intensive care unit, safe interval for activity restriction, pre and post imaging with CT, rate of laparotomy and transfusion requirements of children with blunt abdominal trauma. Nursing care and medical management from the initial evaluation through discharge are discussed. Sources Management of blunt abdominal injury in children was restructured using an algorithm suggested by the American Pediatric Surgical Association (APSA) trauma committee to coordinate care at a regional trauma center. Conclusions Results indicated a decrease in LOS from 6 days to 4 days, and a 20% reduction in total costs.
Influence of Mastitis on Properties of Milk. II. Acid Production and Curd Firmness

Abstract The effect of mastitis on acid production and curd firmness in skimmilk was investigated. Individual cow quarter-milk samples were categorized for mastitis by the Wisconsin Mastitis Test as negative (WMT 25mm). Acid production by single-strain cultures of Streptococcus lactis C2 and Streptococcus cremoris R1 was slower in the skimmilk from the positive samples than in the corresponding negative samples. The firmness of the coagulum at pH 5.0 and 4.8 produced by both cultures was over 70% lower in the positive skimmilk samples than in the corresponding negative samples.
The 1964 great Alaska earthquake: present day and cumulative postseismic deformation in the western Kenai Peninsula

Abstract Global Positioning System (GPS), triangulation and leveling data are used to derive models for the present day (last ∼5 years) and the 30-year average postseismic deformation on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska following the 1964 Alaska earthquake. The two datasets are inverted using a three-dimensional elastic dislocation model to estimate the magnitude and spatial distribution of slip on the North America–Pacific plate interface, allowing us to examine the time dependence of the processes controlling postseismic deformation. We determine that the 30-year average postseismic slip rate beneath the western Kenai Peninsula was about twice as large as the present day slip rate. The observations suggest a time-decaying process, but are not consistent with a single exponentially decaying relaxation process initiated immediately after the 1964 earthquake. We conclude that the postseismic deformation observed on the western Kenai Peninsula cannot be explained in terms of any single time-decaying process. Either multiple processes acting on different timescales or significant spatial propagation of the postseismic deformation, or both, must occur. In the latter case, postseismic deformation would not begin everywhere at the same time and the rate of spatial propagation would affect the timescale inferred for the postseismic processes.
Latent form of Scrapie virus: a new factor in slow-virus disease

Scrapie is an unusual slow-virus disease of sheep which is very much like kuru and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, both fatal, slow neuological diseases of man. In mice, scrapie usually has an incubation period of about 6 months. Intraperitoneal inoculation of virus particles into newborn mice caused no disease, and there was no detectable virus replication for 1 year, but high titers of scrapie were present in the spleen and brain at 18 months. Virus replication occurred in mice injected from 4 days after birth by all inoculation routes, wheter or not they were injected with scrapie virus on day 0. The results suggest that scrapie virus replicates peripherally only in thymocytes, which are not present in mice until a few days after birth. The latent state suggests that the comparable human diseases could appear in later life as a result of perinatal infection. In some respects these diseases resemble premature senility.
Determining the efficacy of microsatellite DNA-based mixed stock analysis of Lake Michigan's Lake Whitefish commercial Fishery

ABSTRACT Management of commercially exploited fish should be conducted at the stock level. If a mixed stock fishery exists, a comprehensive mixed stock analysis is required for stock-based management. The lake whitefish Coregonus clupeaformis comprises the primary commercial fishery across the Great Lakes. Recent research resolved that six genetic stocks of lake whitefish were present in Lake Michigan, and long-term tagging data indicate that Lake Michigan's lake whitefish commercial fishery is a mixed stock fishery. The objective of this research was to determine the usefulness of microsatellite data for conducting comprehensive mixed stock analyses of the Lake Michigan lake whitefish commercial fishery. We used the individual assignment method as implemented in the program ONCOR to determine the accuracy level at which microsatellite data can reliably identify component populations or stocks. Self-assignment of lake whitefish to their population and stock of origin ranged from >96% to 100%. Evaluation o...
Tropospheric-stratospheric wave propagation during El Niño-Southern Oscillation

[1] Traditional and 3-D extended Eliassen-Palm (EP) fluxes for the globe between the 3 and 600 hPa levels are used to calculate El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) composites. Few of the warm minus cold departures of the traditional EP fluxes are significant at the 95% confidence level. In contrast, the ENSO composite differences of the longitudinally dependent extended EP flux have broad regions of significance for a wide range of latitudes, longitudes, and heights. During an ENSO event, there are significant vertical fluxes of wave energy across the tropopause over the subtropical Pacific. In addition, there is substantial meridional exchange of wave energy in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere in this region. Proceeding northward, the changes in the stratosphere are associated with meridional exchanges of wave energy and strong vertical fluxes of wave energy across the Pacific and North America. The higher-latitude changes have a westward tilt with height and eastward group velocities, both suggesting the importance of Rossby waves. In the Atlantic region, there are strong downward fluxes of wave energy, which may be part of an important ENSO pathway into Europe. Overall, these results strongly suggest the importance of nonzonally averaged dynamics in the stratospheric responses to ENSO.
A practical approach to the living polymerization of functionalized monomers: application to block copolymers and 3‐dimensional macromolecular architectures

The tolerance of living free radical procedures to reactive functional groups, coupled with their ability to prepare well-defined random and block copolymers is demonstrated by the use of novel α-hydrogen alkoxyamine derivatives instead of the traditional TEMPO-based systems. This refinement in the nitroxide structure overcomes many limitations typically associated with TEMPO and has permitted a dramatic increase in the range of monomers, which can be polymerized under controlled conditions. The ability to prepare well-defined multi-arm star polymers from a variety of alkoxyamine terminated vinyl and non-vinyl linear polymers are major benefits when compared to traditional living procedures, such as anionic polymerizations.
The Ethical Dilemma of Coached Malingering Research.

Ethical dilemmas surrounding research in which investigators evaluate the efficacy of various «coaching» strategies designed to «outsmart» validity scales are discussed. On the one hand, it is important for psychologists who interpret these scales to know the extent to which they are susceptible to coached malingering. On the other hand, information contained in such articles (i.e., descriptions of coaching strategies and evaluations of their efficacy) may be misused. This issue is discussed in the context of competing demands between (a) the requirement of the American Psychological Association's Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct that psychologists maintain the integrity and security of tests and (b) the need to provide detailed descriptions of research procedures in scientific articles
Spectroscopic Evidence for the Formation of Goldfingers

Gold(I) has long been used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, but the therapeutically relevant biological targets of gold(I) are not well understood. Here, we report the results of a spectroscopic investigation into the formation of goldfingers. By exploiting a thiolate to gold charge-transfer band in the UV, we observed that gold(I) interacts with zinc finger peptides with a stoichiometry of one gold ion for each two cysteine residues, forming 1:1, 1.5:1, and 2:1 adducts with zinc finger peptides containing CCHH, CCHC, and CCCC donor sets, respectively. In addition, circular dichroism experiments provided evidence that goldfingers are more ordered than the corresponding metal-free peptides but do not exhibit the canonical zinc finger structure.
Solid-state NMR structural studies of the fibril form of a mutant mouse prion peptide PrP89-143(P101L).

Abstract The peptide fragment 89–143 of the prion protein (carrying a P101L mutation) is biologically active in transgenic mice when in a fibrillar form. Injection of these fibrils into transgenic mice (expressing full length PrP with the P101L mutation) induces a neurodegenerative prion disease (Kaneko et al., J. Mol. Biol. 295 (2000) 997). Here we present solid-state NMR studies of PrP 89–143 (P101L) fibrils, probing the conformation of residues in the hydrophobic segment 112–124 with chemical shifts. The conformations of glycine residues were analyzed using doubly 13 C=O labeled peptides by two-dimensional (2D) double-quantum correlation, and double-quantum filtered dephasing distance measurements. MQ-NMR experiments were carried out to probe the relative alignment of the individual peptides fibrils. These NMR studies indicate that the 112–124 segment adopts an extended β -sheet conformation, though not in a parallel, in register alignment. There is evidence for conformational variability at Gly 113. DQ correlation experiments provide useful information in regions with conformational heterogeneity.
Samarium/neodymium elemental and isotopic systematics in sedimentary rocks

Abstract Trace element (Sm, Nd, Th, Sc) and Nd-isotopic data for sedimentary rocks are examined in order to evaluate 1. (1) possible secular trends in the composition of the sedimentary mass and upper continental crust 2. (2) the role of tectonic setting in controlling the chemical and Nd-isotopic composition of the sedimentary mass. When plotted against either sedimentation age or average provenance age (determined mainly from Nd-model ages), Sm/Nd in sedimentary rocks decreases abruptly from about 0.21 to 0.19 at the Archean-Proterozoic transition, consistent with a change towards a more felsic upper crustal composition. The change is only somewhat less pronounced for turbidite sediments than for those of continental affinity. A trend toward increasing Sm/Nd, approaching or exceeding Archean values, is observed for Phanerozoic turbidites. This latter change is interpreted as indicating undifferentiated young crust as a component in the sediment, which has been lost from the older post-Archean record due to sedimentary and igneous intracrustal recycling processes. When plotted against sedimentation age, Th/Sc ratios exhibit a trend directly comparable to that of Sm/Nd. In this case, Th/Sc increases abruptly at the Archean/Proterozoic boundary from about 0.5 to 1.0 and then decreases to about 0.7 during the Phanerozoic. Nd-isotopic composition of modern sediments is affected by tectonic association with those deposited at active margin settings tending to have higher ϵ Nd reflecting younger provenance and higher and more scattered Sm/Nd reflecting less homogenized and differentiated provenance. It is likely that these distinctions can be traced back for about 1–2 Ga but, with the current data base, are not readily resolved in older sedimentary rocks. The degree to which the preserved sedimentary mass is open to new additions from the mantle, either through replacement during sedimentary recycling or sediment mass growth, is highly variable but averages about 15–25% during the Phanerozoic.
Cardiovascular and renal effects of calcitonin gene-related peptide in hypertensive dogs.

Abstract The systemic cardiovascular and renal effects of synthetic β-human calcitonin gene-related peptide (β-hCGRP) were examined in conscious normotensive and one-kidney one-clip (1K-1C) hypertensive dogs. β-hCGRP was infused intravenously at 10 and 50 ng/kg/min for 75-min periods each. Mean arterial pressure did not change significantly ( p>0.05 ) in either group during low dose infusion of β-hCGRP, but infusion of β-hCGRP at 50 ng/kg/min produced a fall in mean arterial pressure from 140±4 to 116±6 mmHg ( p ) in the hypertensive dogs ( n =4 ) and from 100±4 to 78±3 mmHg ( p ) in the normotensive dogs ( n =4 ). Heart rates increased significantly during infusion of β-hCGRP in both groups. Also, renal sodium and potassium excretion decreased ( p ) in the two groups at both the low and high doses of β-hCGRP. Creatinine clearance was unchanged in normal dogs and decreased ( p ) in 1K-1C hypertensive dogs at the high rate of β-hCGRP infusion. The clearance of p-aminohippurate increased approximately 20% ( p ) in both groups with the low dose infusion of β-hCGRP but further increases were elecited only in the normotensive dogs in response to the elevation in the β-hCGRP infusion rate. Plasma renin and aldosterone levels increased ( p ) above control levels during the maximum hypotensive response to β-hCGRP infusion in both groups. These data indicate that β-hCGRP is a potent blood pressure lowering agent with important effects on renal hemodynamics and excretory function in both normotensive and 1K-1C hypertensive dogs during sustained intravenous infusions.
Tablet formulation of an active pharmaceutical ingredient with a sticking and filming problem: direct compression and dry granulation evaluations

AbstractObjective: To develop a tablet formulation for an active pharmaceutical ingredient for which sticking and filming problems occurred during tablet punching.Methods: Direct compression and dry granulation tableting techniques were evaluated using factorial experimental design. The effects of chrome-coated punch tips, filler types and active percent in the tablet formulation by direct compression were evaluated. Similarly, for dry granulation using the roller compaction technique, three formulation factors – roller compaction pressure, intragranular filler percent and filler type – were studied. Tablets prepared by both techniques were characterized in regard to their compressibility index, tablet hardness, disintegration time, friability index and stickiness-filming index (an arbitrary index). Ten formulations were prepared by each technique. Using multiple response optimizations and estimated response surface plots, the data were analyzed to identify optimum levels for the formulation factors.Resul...
Estimating identification disclosure risk using mixed membership models

Statistical agencies and other organizations that disseminate data are obligated to protect data subjects’ confidentiality. For example, ill-intentioned individuals might link data subjects to records in other databases by matching on common characteristics (keys). Successful links are particularly problematic for data subjects with combinations of keys that are unique in the population. Hence, as part of their assessments of disclosure risks, many data stewards estimate the probabilities that sample uniques on sets of discrete keys are also population uniques on those keys. This is typically done using log-linear modeling on the keys. However, log-linear models can yield biased estimates of cell probabilities for sparse contingency tables with many zero counts, which often occurs in databases with many keys. This bias can result in unreliable estimates of probabilities of uniqueness and, hence, misrepresentations of disclosure risks. We propose an alternative to log-linear models for datasets with sparse...
Fecal blood levels in health and disease. A study using HemoQuant.

Abstract We tested HemoQuant, a quantitative assay of fecal blood based on the fluorescence of heme-derived porphyrin, in 106 healthy volunteers, 170 patients with gastrointestinal symptoms but with normal diagnostic studies, 44 patients with gastrointestinal cancer, 75 patients with benign polyps, and 374 patients with a variety of other benign gastrointestinal lesions, including ulcers and erosions. In 98 per cent of the healthy volunteers, fecal hemoglobin concentrations were less than 2 mg per gram of stool. Levels were similarly low in stools from patients with symptoms and normal studies and in patients with relatively minor benign lesions. Within these groups, levels were slightly higher in those who had ingested red meat or aspirin. The fecal hemoglobin concentration was higher in patients with gastrointestinal cancer than in any other group, and 97 per cent of those with colorectal cancer had levels above 2 mg per gram. The sensitivity of HemoQuant was significantly greater than that of the guaia...
Assisting the “virtual” user

The development of online assistance for remote users of computer-based systems depends upon the assumptions made about the barriers users face and about the available strategies for addressing them. Drawing from the domain of digital libraries and information discovery and retrieval, this commentary speculates about missed opportunities hidden by those assumptions. Critical questions about strategies to remove user barriers, to guide users past barriers, and to help educate users to anticipate and independently overcome barriers suggest transitions for online user assistance technologies that could take the form of "confusion recognizers," "assistance avatars," and "pedagogically aware" user interfaces.
Honoring the Ways of American Indian Women: A Group Therapy Intervention

A culturally grounded group intervention for a typically underserved population of urban American Indian women is described. The intervention is designed to increase interpersonal connection, improve inter-tribal acceptance and trust, and enhance psychological well being of marginalized urban American Indian women. Topics used to structure the intervention were generated collaboratively with tribal community members and included self-exploration and education, aging, body image, work, friendship, love commitment, and nurturance/motherhood. For illustrative purposes, the authors elaborate on two of these group therapy topics and provide member and leader reflections.
Removal of apical dominant shoot for disease resistance screening increases seed yield of container-grown plants

Host plant resistance is generally included as a means of mitigating production losses in peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.). Testing methods which do not impact yield are of particular value in the development of cultivars. The objectives of this research were to determine the viable seed yield of container-grown peanut plants and the impact of removing the apical dominant shoot on seed set, for use in disease testing. Two resistant cultivars, Tamspan 90 and Southwest Runner, and two susceptible cultivars, Okrun and Flavor Runner 458, were crossed in a diallel to produce F 1 seed. A total of 191 F 1 plants were evaluated in the greenhouse under two treatments, apical shoot removed or not removed, in 2003 to 2005. The mean seed set of the control group (apical shoot not removed) was 12 seed per plant compared with 15 seed per plant when the apical shoot was removed.
Steroids gold hydroxychloroquine

Recent literature has been replete with new and innovative ideas about the pathogenesis and treatment of both common and uncommon problems encountered in the practice of dermatology . But before discussing the "new, " let us briefly turn to the " old" and examine some recent data concerning some of the most commonly used drugs in dermatology, the corticosteroids , and two drugs often used in their place, gold compounds and hydroxychloroquine. An excellent comprehensive review of the use and abuse of corticosteroid therapy appeared in a recent issue of this JOURNAL.' As the author stressed, there are many unresolved issues concerning mainly the duration and degree of hypothalamic -pituitary-adrenal (HPA) suppression after a given steroid regimen, and the actual clinical importance of varying degrees of suppression of the HPA axis. Significant adrenal atrophy may occur after 10 days of high-dose corticosteroid therapy; this can sometimes be detected after as little as 5 days' therapy. 2 Chemical evidence of abnormal HPA responsiveness may be evident even earlier, depending on a number of factors as outlined below. I. Potency and biologic half-life of the glucocorticoid: A distinction must be drawn between the plasma half-life and the biologic half-life of the preparation used '.as a steroid's pharmacologic effects generally persist well beyond the presence
Inhibiting complement activation on cells at the step of C3 cleavage

Nearly half of the proteins in the complement system serve in regulation. Control at the central step of C3 activation is provided by an orchestrated interplay of membrane and plasma regulators. A model system employing Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells transfected with human regulators was employed to assist in making functional comparisons. Also, in this experimental setup, the pathway and magnitude of complement activation can be varied while monitoring C4b/C3b deposition and cleavage as well as cytotoxicity. This review describes lessons learned and the application of this model for functionally characterizing mutations in regulators associated with atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome.
Suppression of longitudinal versus transverse conduction by sodium channel block. Effects of sodium bolus.

BACKGROUNDArrhythmias resulting from treatment with sodium channel-blocking antiarrhythmic drugs have been successfully treated with sodium infusion, although the mechanism underlying this effect is uncertain.METHODS AND RESULTSIn this study, we used a multielectrode array to examine the effects of O-desmethyl encainide (ODE), a potent sodium channel-blocking metabolite of encainide, on conduction in canine ventricle. ODE depressed both longitudinal and transverse conduction velocities in a plasma concentration-related fashion (r = -0.74, -0.60; p less than 0.001). At ODE concentrations less than or equal to 300 ng/ml (n = 34), conduction velocity was depressed to the same extent in the longitudinal (-21.9 +/- 8.4%, SD) and transverse orientations (-22.0 +/- 8.8%). However, at concentrations greater than 300 ng/ml (n = 17), conduction was significantly more impaired longitudinally than transversely (-44.5 +/- 11.7% versus -34.4 +/- 13.7%, p less than 0.02). In 12 animals with high concentrations (mean, 43...
Study of turbulent heating effects in the high beta tokamak Torus II

Torus II is a rectangular cross section, high beta tokamak which has a glass vacuum vessel (aspect ratio of 3.5) filled with 12 mTorr helium. The plasma is heated by turbulent poloidal skin currents, induced by a fast (τr=1.7 μsec) reversal of the toroidal field which converts a toroidal Z pinch plasma into a tokamak plasma. By using the broadening of He II 4686 A and impurity lines, it is found that strong turbulence (Ẽ⩽30 kV/cm microscopic fields at frequency ⩽ωpi≈3×1010 rad/sec) is induced during the heating phase. The turbulent Ẽ fields maximize in the region of maximum induced poloidal skin current (α∂Bφ/∂r). The resulting high beta tokamak plasma, with <β≳v≈10% and ne≈1015 cm−3, has an initially peaked radial temperature profile with Ti≈180 eV at the plasma center. A few microseconds later, the He II‐determined ion temperature becomes nearly spatially flat at Ti≈75 eV, and then decreases slowly in time. Impurity ion lines indicated a temperature approximately 100 eV greater than He II. All line prof...
Going to "great lengths" to prevent the escape of genes that produce specialty chemicals.

In late 2002, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)'s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the agency that regulates field release of genetically engineered (transgenic) plants, found that the biotechnology company ProdiGene, Inc. failed to follow government regulations for
The ACTH Response to Dexamethasone in Persian Gulf War Veterans

The basis of postdeployment health symptoms in Gulf War veterans remains poorly understood. Alterations in the feedback regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis have been demonstrated in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other bodily disorders related to stress. The objective of this article was to examine whether similar HPA axis alterations are related to Gulf War deployment, postdeployment health symptoms, or PTSD. Plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) was measured on consecutive mornings at 08:00 h before and after a low dose of oral dexamethasone (DEX) at 23:00 h in Gulf War veterans with PTSD (n = 14), Gulf War veterans without PTSD (n = 11), and healthy veterans never deployed to a war zone (n = 12). Both Gulf War veterans with PTSD and Gulf War veterans without PTSD had significantly lower post-DEX ACTH levels than the nonexposed veterans, in the absence of group differences in basal ACTH or DEX levels. Among Gulf War veterans, post-DEX ACTH levels were significantly associated with musculoskeletal symptoms. Gulf War deployment and postdeployment health symptoms appear to be associated with alterations in feedback regulation of the pituitary gland that suggests a possible common link between postdeployment health symptoms and other chronic stress-related conditions.
NAIVE ATTRIBUTIONS FOR AN UNEXPECTED SPORTS OUTCOME

This study applied concepts derived from previous research on causal attribution to a real-world event, Super Bowl XXII. 65 undergraduates responded to a four-item survey, which included questions ...
A discrete-time multivariable MRAC scheme applied to a nonlinear aircraft model with structural damage

In this paper, a new discrete-time multivariable model reference adaptive control (MRAC) scheme is developed and its application to continuous-time nonlinear systems with structural damage is studied, for which several key technical issues are addressed. The relation of the infinite zero structures of the continuous-time nonlinear system and the linearized discrete-time system is established. Invariance properties of the system infinite zero structure and control gain matrix of the linearized discrete-time system under damage are studied for an aircraft flight control application. Desired system stability and asymptotic output tracking are ensured for the linearized discrete-time system with dynamics and damage uncertainties. A discrete-time linearization-based control design is constructed for control of a high-fidelity continuous-time nonlinear aircraft model with uncertain dynamics and structural damage. Simulation results show the desired system performance and demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed discrete-time adaptive control method for the nonlinear aircraft system model. ?
Acute stroke after carotid endarterectomy: time for a paradigm shift? Multicenter experience with emergent carotid artery stenting with or without intracranial tandem occlusion thrombectomy.

BACKGROUND: Stroke in the immediate postoperative period after carotid endarterectomy is a rare complication. Many centers have begun incorporating angiography before surgical re-exploration, which has the advantage of confirming carotid occlusion and treating tandem intracranial lesions if present. OBJECTIVE: To determine the safety and efficacy of this strategy. METHODS: A retrospective review was performed of all patients undergoing acute stenting of the carotid artery after carotid endarterectomy from November 2009 to June 2013 at 4 centers. Charts and angiographic images were reviewed. Eleven cases of carotid thrombosis within 72 hours of carotid endarterectomy and subsequent treatment strategies are summarized. RESULTS: All patients had >50% carotid stenosis before carotid endarterectomy. One patient had intraoperative occlusion and dissection of the internal carotid artery, which was noted on intraoperative carotid duplex ultrasound. All patients underwent postoperative computed tomography or computed tomography perfusion scans with subsequent cerebral angiography and stent reconstruction within 11 hours of symptom onset. In all cases, carotid recanalization was successfully completed between 32 and 160 minutes from groin puncture. There were no procedural complications. Four patients had a tandem middle cerebral artery occlusion, 3 of whom underwent successful recanalization. CONCLUSION: Emergent endovascular evaluation in the setting of acute post--carotid endarterectomy thrombosis is a safe and timely treatment option, with the benefit of detecting and treating embolic intracranial lesions. Immediate angiography and intervention in this rare surgical complication show promising initial results.
Fossil preservation through phosphatization and silicification in the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation (South China): a comparative synthesis

Phosphatized and silicified microfossils – preserved through replication of organic templates by authigenic calcium phosphate and silica, respectively – form through mechanistically similar mineralization processes but under notably different conditions. In order to characterize the environments and taphonomic processes associated with these preservational pathways, we compare phosphatized and silicified fossil assemblages in the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation (South China) in terms of stratigraphic and paleogeographic distribution, preservation, and biodiversity. Several differences are recognized: (1) phosphatization and silicification both occurred in sub-tidal Doushantuo sediments, but phosphatized fossils generally occur in shallower sub-tidal facies than silicified fossils; (2) although both phosphatized and silicified fossils are preserved three dimensionally, the latter are typically more compressed; and (3) whereas phosphatized assemblages are numerically dominated by multicellular acritarchs (putative metazoan eggs and embryos), silicified assemblages are dominated by prokaryotes. These differences can be explained by environmental and taphonomic distinctions. Phosphatized fossils occur in intraclastic phosphorites and phosphatic carbonates, and were likely fossilized near the suboxic/anoxic boundary in sediments under oxic bottom waters with redox and biogeochemical gradients conducive to P remineralization, phosphate burial via iron-pumping, and calcium phosphate precipitation. Reworking and winnowing of phosphatized fossils preferentially concentrated certain taxa prior to final burial. In contrast, silicified fossils typically occur in chert nodules, which formed deeper in the sediment column – in ferruginous pore waters and perhaps under ferruginous bottom waters – where bacterial sulfate reduction and pyrite formation created low-pH conditions conducive to calcite dissolution and silica precipitation. Once formed, chert nodules mostly remained in situ, but some were reworked with turbidites and olistostromes developed in slope facies. Despite these distinctions, phosphatized and silicified fossil assemblages in the Doushantuo Formation generally overlap in time and space, and representatives of all major groups (and many common genera) of Doushantuo organisms are present in both phosphorites and cherts. Consequently, although both preservational pathways have paleoenvironmental and taphonomic biases, their relative biases on taxonomic presence/absence data are minimal given sufficient sampling efforts, and paleobiologic and biostratigraphic information based on presence/absence (but not abundance) data from the Doushantuo Formation appears to be robust.
Qualitative decision making with integrated systems design methodology: A case study

System design is associated with building a formal morphology of the system, comprising the process of defining the system parameters, submodels, and criteria, selecting an optimal candidate, and preparing a detail implementation plan for the chosen candidate. It is primarily a wholistic approach to engineering a system, and is differentiated from operations research and other analytical methods. Specifically, operations research may be used to help resolve problems within a system, but usually does not replace the design and development process necessary to complete a system. However, it assists in the development process of the resulting configurations. This case study introduces a set of criterion function models and algorithms for the design of systems, along with mathematical foundations for building the models. Criteria for the system are determined and candidate system values are represented as probabilities in the [0, 1] range in order to achieve ordinal ranking of candidates on a cardinal scale. Both mutually exclusive and interactive design criteria could be represented by the developed models, which allow reflection of the nature of a wide variety of real-world systems. The developed models and algorithms are illustrated with a numerical example.