cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Trends of Supplemental Screening in Women With Dense Breasts

Abstract Purpose The objective of this study was to survey current trends in supplemental screening across various practice types and to understand factors that affect these practice patterns. Methods In this institutional review board–exempt study, a 12-question survey was sent out to ACR lead interpreting physicians. The survey inquired about practice features and the utilization of supplemental screening. Results A total of 902 of 4,688 lead interpreting breast imaging physicians (19.2%) responded to our survey. Of those respondents, 617 respondents (68.4%) worked in practices that offered supplemental breast cancer screening. Screening ultrasound was the most commonly utilized supplemental screening modality (53%). There was variability in methods of referral for supplemental screening, with referral through the ordering provider (56%) being the most common. Academic practices, private practices with breast specialization, and practices in the Northeast were more likely to provide supplemental screening (P Conclusions The majority of practices surveyed are utilizing supplemental screening, but there is significant variability in the modalities used and the methods of referral. There are practice features that correlate with the availability of supplemental screening, and understanding these features provides further insight into current trends in supplemental screening utilization.
Algorithm to identify transgender and gender nonbinary individuals among people living with HIV performs differently by age and ethnicity.

Abstract Purpose HIV research among transgender and gender nonbinary (TGNB) people is limited by lack of gender identity data collection. We designed an EHR-based algorithm to identify TGNB people among people living with HIV (PLWH) when gender identity was not systematically collected. Methods We applied EHR-based search criteria to all PLWH receiving care at a large urban health system between 1997 and 2017, then confirmed gender identity by chart review. We compared patient characteristics by gender identity and screening criteria, then calculated positive predictive values for each criterion. Results Among 18,086 PLWH, 213 (1.2%) met criteria as potential TGNB patients and 178/213 were confirmed. Positive predictive values were highest for free-text keywords (91.7%) and diagnosis codes (77.4%). Confirmed TGNB patients were younger (median 32.5 vs. 42.5 years, P Conclusion EHR-based criteria can identify TGNB PLWH, but success may differ by ethnicity and age. Retrospective versus intentional, prospective gender identity data collection may capture different patients. To reduce misclassification in epidemiologic studies, gender identity data collection should address these potential differences and be systematic and prospective.
Data-Driven Fault Classification Using Support Vector Machines

Detecting faulty condition of rolling-element bearings is significant in improving system reliability and preventing machine failure in industrial operations. In this paper, a machine learning pipeline is developed using filtered data through time domain features to train support vector machines with radial basis function, polynomial and linear kernels for multi-level fault diagnosis and classification. Overall accuracy rate and F-score values were used as figures of merit to evaluate and validate the performance of the machine learning model. SVM classifier showed significantly high overall accuracy rate of 91% to 99% and F-score of 0.81 to 0.99 with time domain statistical features due to the capability of this method in elimination of irrelevant features as well as reducing the dimensionality of the data. In addition, the high accuracy rate of SVMs in class-specific detection of localized bearing faults show the significant potential of data-driven classification modeling for fault detection in industrial and manufacturing operations.
Evaluation of Barrett's Esophagus

Barrett's esophagus (BE) is the condition in which a metaplastic columnar epithelium that is predisposed to malignancy replaces the stratified squamous epithelium that normally lines the distal esophagus. BE develops as a consequence of chronic gastroesophageal reflux disease and predisposes to esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). Several societal guidelines recommend screening and surveillance for BE to reduce the risk of EAC and its related morbidity and mortality. Even among persons undergoing screening and surveillance, a substantial proportion of cases of EAC can be missed. Consequently, the armamentarium for the evaluation of BE has expanded rapidly over the past decade. In this article, we summarize the pathophysiology and diagnosis of BE. We also discuss the latest advancements in the evaluation of BE.
Correction to: Updates to the Regional Seismic Travel Time (RSTT) Model: 2. Path-dependent Travel-time Uncertainty

The regional seismic travel time (RSTT) model and software were developed to improve travel-time prediction accuracy by accounting for three-dimensional crust and upper mantle structure. Travel-time uncertainty estimates are used in the process of associating seismic phases to events and to accurately calculate location uncertainty bounds (i.e. event location error ellipses). We improve on the current distance-dependent uncertainty parameterization for RSTT using a random effects model to estimate slowness (inverse velocity) uncertainty as a mean squared error for each model parameter. The random effects model separates the error between observed slowness and model predicted slowness into bias and random components. The path-specific travel-time uncertainty is calculated by integrating these mean squared errors along a seismic-phase ray path. We demonstrate that event location error ellipses computed for a 90% coverage ellipse metric (used by the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization International Data Centre (IDC)), and using the path-specific travel-time uncertainty approach, are more representative (median 82.5% ellipse percentage) of true location error than error ellipses computed using distance-dependent travel-time uncertainties (median 70.1%). We also demonstrate measurable improvement in location uncertainties using the RSTT method compared to the current station correction approach used at the IDC (median 74.3% coverage ellipse).
Swabs by emergency responders (SWABBER): Enhancing care beyond the cancer center during the COVID-19 pandemic

97Background: The COVID-19 pandemic caused sudden changes in healthcare delivery, and new policies were rapidly implemented to ensure safety for patients and staff. However, COVID-19 testing requir...
CLOSURE ON STRESS AGAINST UNDERGROUND STRUCTURAL CYLINDERS

THE COMMENTS BY ALTERMAN ARE APPRECIATED, AS IS HIS EMPHASIS ON RELIABLE MEASUREMENTS ON PROTOTYPE SOIL-STRUCTURE SYSTEMS. THE FIELD COMPACTION PROCEDURE FOR THE SOIL BACKFILL AND THE CULVERT BEDDING CONDITIONS INFLUENCE GREATLY THE MAGNITUDE OF BENDING MOMENTS WHICH DEVELOP IN THE CULVERT WALL. SINCE IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO MODEL THE FIELD INSTALLATION IN SMALL SIZE EXPERIMENTS, THE INFLUENCE OF BEDDING CONDITIONS WAS DISCUSSED. THE WRITER DOES NOT BELIEVE THAT THE TANGENTIAL WALL DISPLACEMENTS WERE SIGNIFICANTLY RESTRAINED BY THE WAY THE TEST SECTION WAS DESIGNED. THE EXPERIMENTAL DATA SHOWED THAT CONCEPTS FROM CONTINUUM MECHANICS LEAD TO REALISTIC ANALYSIS OF SOIL-STRUCTURE INTERACTION. HOWEVER THE FINITE ELEMENT METHOD OF ANALYSIS CAN NOW BE USED TO MAKE SUCH A STUDY MORE GENERAL AND TO CONSIDER FIELD SITUATIONS. REPORTS ISSUED: STRESSES AGAINST UNDERGROUND STRUCTURAL CYLINDERS, KAARE HOEG, ASCE PROC. PAPER 6022, JULY 1968.
Comments on Section 3: Innovative Technologies for Science Learning and Instruction in Taiwan: A Global Perspective

The incredible breakthroughs in science, technology, and engineering over the past 25 years have brought about unprecedented new opportunities to explain complex phenomena, harness natural resources, and improve the quality of life for individuals throughout the globe. Advances in communication technologies have united people across the globe. However, these and other scientific, technology, and engineering developments give rise to a myriad of global issues. Global warming, severe and unpredictable weather patterns, pandemics, uneven distribution of health and dietary attention and supplies, loss of species diversity, and pollution of our waterways and air serve as examples that have arisen from living in a scientific and technological society. Science education can play an important role in preparing citizens to design solutions to these problems. Through science education learners can develop deep understanding of the big ideas of science, learn to collaborate and communicate with one another, and develop capabilities to apply scientific ideas and practices in new situations to find solutions to problems. The use of innovative technologies in the teaching and learning of science can provide unprecedented opportunities to allow students to use ideas to find solutions to problems, explain phenomena, and explore new areas to learn more.
Epidemiology of diabetes mellitus among the elderly in the United States.

Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common chronic diseases affecting the elderly in the United States. It has been diagnosed in 9.6% of people aged 65 years and older, and an additional 9.3% of this age group meet oral-glucose-tolerance-test criteria for the disease but have not been diagnosed as diabetic. Diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes affect almost one in every five persons aged 65 years and older. Elderly people with diabetes receive most of their medical care from general and family physicians and internists. Their hospitalization rates are twice those of elderly people without diabetes. Vascular complications are often twice as prevalent as among people without diabetes and cause three fourths of the deaths of elderly diabetic patients.
Will taxpayers ever like taxes?: Responses to the U.S. Tax Reform Act of 1986☆

Abstract Major policy changes like the 1986 Tax Reform Act (TRA) in the United States provide natural experiments to study attitudinal and behavior responses to law. Surprisingly, public evaluations of the TRA became increasingly negative after passage, while general support for the tax system became more positive in response to the changes. To explain this puzzle, we propose a dynamic model of taxpayer attitudes that is consistent with the observed loose linkage between logically-connected concepts. We briefly review the political context, objectives and impacts of the 1986 Tax Reform Act, and present several studies testing the impact of self-interest, prior beliefs, and social discussion on changes in attitudes and behavior. Results suggest that the complexity of taxes and difficulty in knowing objective impacts weakens the role of self-interest in attitudinal changes, thereby strengthening the role of prior beliefs and discussion. Evaluations of tax laws are most responsive to more politically-oriented influences.
Shakespeare’s Children

Shakespeare had a thing for children. Ann Blake counts 30, Mark Heberle 39, Mark Lawhorn 45, and Carol Chillington Rutter counts well over 50 child parts. What it means that Shakespeare included more child figures in his plays and poems than his contemporaries remains an incitement to conversation as a recent burst of scholarship makes evident. That this interest follows the institutionalization of the study of children’s literature and the formation of childhood studies programs is instructive. Approaches taken by humanities scholars may not hold the same political sway as psychological or sociological studies, some of which have real implications for the policies and standards that impact the lives of actual children. But since attempts to tell the history of childhood often produce fantasies of the ideal, sentimental child, the works of Shakespeare offer an opportunity to understand constructions and fictions of childhood in a time of the rapidly shifting cultural and historical valuation of children. This essay examines central questions and problems in the study of early modern child figures, reviews past approaches to and recent publications on early modern children, suggests topics yet to be explored in the context of the child figures of Shakespeare and his contemporaries (sexuality, temporality, sovereignty, humanity, and economy), and concludes by suggesting we think of Shakespeare’s children not as strictly historical or affective objects but, rather, as figures pressed to signify with respect to cultural expectations of value, sovereignty, and futurity.
Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis of Corynebacterium diphtheriae: a Possible Epidemiological Aid

Abstract In this preliminary study, the use of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis as an aid in the characterization of Corynebacterium diphtheriae was evaluated and a standardized method was developed. The electrophoretic patterns of 17 gravis, 14 mitis, and 2 intermedius types of C. diphtheriae were compared with the electrophoretic patterns of 5 Robinson and Peeney stock gravis serotype strains. Each of the 5 stock serotype strains had different electrophoretic patterns, although some common bands were present. The 17 gravis strains isolated in the United States showed patterns identical to those of the stock gravis serotype II strain. The 14 mitis strains examined produced 6 different electrophoretic patterns, irrespective of geographical location. One mitis pattern corresponded with the pattern of gravis serological type II. The two intermedius strains examined had identical electrophoretic patterns that resembled the pattern of gravis serotype IV. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of C. diphtheriae strains may prove to be a useful epidemiologic tool in establishing the distribution and occurrence of various C. diphtheriae types.
Slim by Design: Menu Engineering Strategies for Promoting High-Margin, Healthy Foods

In a world of rising obesity, restaurants have become a regulatory target. One profitable overlooked solution may be for restaurants to focus on menu engineering strategies that could increase sales of relatively healthier, high margin appetizers and entrees. Recent lab and field research in consumer psychology and behavioral economics offer promising solutions that responsible restaurants can use to guide their customers to healthier decisions by using the three-step menu engineering process of 1) shifting attention, 2) enhancing taste expectations, and 3) increasing perception of value. A review of these studies provides key implications that can both increase the healthfulness of what customers order along with the profits of the restaurant.
Experimental tests of a topside generation mechanism for auroral medium frequency radio emissions

[1] Medium frequency (MF) burst is a ground-level, impulsive auroral radio emission at 1.3–4.5 MHz associated with substorm onset. Using continuous wave measurements, Bunch and LaBelle (2009) discovered that MF burst consists of a structured feature that appears as a “backwards seven” on a frequency-time spectrogram. LaBelle (2011) suggested that this fine structure results from Langmuir waves on the topside of the ionosphere that mode-convert into L-mode electromagnetic waves. This theory predicts that the lower frequency boundary of a “backwards-seven” fine structure must exceed the maximum L-mode cutoff (fL) along the wave propagation path. To test this prediction, we analyzed 186 fine structures from two sites over multiple seasons. To account for the possibility of wave refraction into regions of lower density, the values for fL were calculated assuming that the maximum plasma frequency ranged from 0–5% below the upper frequency boundary of the observed fine structure; for these conditions 96–100% of the fine structures had a lower frequency boundary above fL. The theory further predicts that the MF burst upper frequency boundary must lie below the maximum ionospheric plasma frequency along the source magnetic field line. We analyzed fifteen MF bursts that occurred while the Sondrestrom Incoherent Scatter Radar (ISR) measured the local ionospheric density. In all cases, the upper frequency boundary was below the maximum ionospheric plasma frequency measured by the radar. These two studies are consistent with the idea that MF bursts originate as Langmuir waves on the topside of the ionosphere that subsequently mode-convert to L-mode waves.
Transparency and Representationalist Theories of Consciousness

Over the past few decades, as philosophers of mind have begun to rethink the sharp divide that was traditionally drawn between the phenomenal character of an experience (what it’s like to have that experience) and its intentional content (what it represents), representationalist theories of consciousness have become increasingly popular. On this view, phenomenal character is reduced to intentional content. This article explores a key motivation for this theory, namely, considerations of experiential transparency. Experience is said to be transparent in that we ‘look right through it’ to the objects of that experience, and this is supposed to support the representationalist claim that there are no intrinsic aspects of our experience.
The Packing Server for real-time scheduling of MapReduce workflows

This paper develops new schedulability bounds for a simplified MapReduce workflow model. MapReduce is a distributed computing paradigm, deployed in industry for over a decade. Different from conventional multiprocessor platforms, MapReduce deployments usually span thousands of machines, and a MapReduce job may contain as many as tens of thousands of parallel segments. State-of-the-art MapReduce workflow schedulers operate in a best-effort fashion, but the need for real-time operation has grown with the emergence of real-time analytic applications. MapReduce workflow details can be captured by the generalized parallel task model from recent real-time literature. Under this model, the best-known result guarantees schedulability if the task set utilization stays below 50% of total capacity, and the deadline to critical path length ratio, which we call the stretch ϕ, surpasses 2. This paper improves this bound further by introducing a hierarchical scheduling scheme based on the novel notion of a Packing Server, inspired by servers for aperiodic tasks. The Packing Server consists of multiple periodically replenished budgets that can execute in parallel and that appear as independent tasks to the underlying scheduler. Hence, the original problem of scheduling MapReduce workflows reduces to that of scheduling independent tasks. We prove that the utilization bound for schedulability of MapReduce workflows is dependent on the underlying independent task scheduling policy, and β is a tunable parameter that controls the maximum individual budget utilization.
The challenge of non-ergodicity in network neuroscience

Ergodicity can be assumed when the structure of data is consistent across individuals and time. Neural network approaches do not frequently test for ergodicity in data which holds important consequences for data integration and intepretation. To demonstrate this problem, we present several network models in healthy and clinical samples where there exists considerable heterogeneity across individuals. We offer suggestions for the analysis, interpretation, and reporting of neural network data. The goal is to arrive at an understanding of the sources of non-ergodicity and approaches for valid network modeling in neuroscience.
Does nasogastric tube decompression get used less often with laparoscopic and hand-assisted compared with open colectomy?

Laparoscopic surgery is associated with well-known benefits, one of which is earlier return of bowel function. Since the laparoscopic approach to colon resections was introduced in the early 1990s, it has become the standard of care. Hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery (HALS) is a surgical approach in which dissection is facilitated by the surgeon’s hand within the abdominal cavity during laparoscopy. The purpose of this study was to compare the incidence of postoperative ileus and the need for nasogastric tube (NGT) decompression in patients undergoing elective colon resections. Following institutional review board approval, we performed a retrospective review of a prospectively collected database. Included were patients who underwent elective left-sided large bowel resections between 2009 and 2012. Exclusion criteria were urgent operation, stoma creation, ASA IV classification, NGT left in place at the end of surgery, and postoperative anastomotic leakage. Patients were divided into three groups: laparoscopic surgery, HALS, and open surgery. We evaluated the incidence of postoperative ileus and the use of nasogastric decompression in each group. A total of 243 patients were included in this study; 73 patients underwent open surgery, 89 patients underwent HALS, and 81 patients underwent laparoscopic surgery. The proportion of patients who needed postoperative nasogastric decompression was significantly reduced in patients undergoing laparoscopic surgery (3.7 %) or HALS (4.5 %) compared with those who underwent open resection (17.8 %). The time from surgery to first flatus and first bowel movement, the time to tolerate solid diet, and the total length of postoperative hospital stay also were all significantly reduced in the laparoscopic and HALS groups compared with the open surgery group. There were no significant differences in any of these measures between the laparoscopic group and the hand-assisted group. Like laparoscopy, HALS is associated with less postoperative ileus and necessitates less NGT decompression than does open surgery.
A new synthetic route to bulky “second generation” tris(imidazol-2-ylidene)borate ligands: synthesis of a four coordinate iron(II) complex

A bulky tripodal tris(carbene)borate ligand, prepared from 1-tert-butylimidazole, is cleanly transferred to iron(II) by a magnesium reagent.
Experimental and theoretical studies of the stabilities of talc, antigorite and phase A at high pressures with applications to subduction processes

We have experimentally determined the equilibrium talc ⇄ enstatite + quartz/coesite + H2O to 40 kbar in the system MgOSiO2H2O (MSH) using both synthetic and nearly pure Mg end-member natural talc and other synthetic starting materials for the other solid phases. At 40 kbar, the equilibrium dehydration boundary lies ∼ 150°C higher than that calculated using data from the existing internally consistent thermochemical data bases. The reason for this discrepancy lies in the erroneous compressibility data of talc in the data bases. We have retrieved the compressibility of talc from the experimental phase equilibrium data, and have also calculated sereral other equilibria in the MSH system involving talc, antigorite and the dense hydrous magnesium silicate (DHMS), commonly referred to as phase A. Comparison of these equilibria with selected thermal profiles at the leading edge of young and old subducting oceanic slabs, along with the dehydration condition of basaltic amphibole and solidus of mantle peridotite, provides an explanation for the observed heights of the volcanic fronts above subducting oceanic lithosphere. Further, it is found that in cold oceanic slabs (≥ 50 Ma with subduction velocity of ≥ 10 cm/y), antigorite will transform to the DHMS phase A through a vapor conserved reaction at a depth of ∼ 200 km. Phase A will then serve as a carrier of water into the deeper mantle.
Petrology of Medicine Lake Highland volcanics: Characterization of endmembers of magma mixing

Lavas from Medicine Lake volcano, Northern California have been examined for evidence of magma mixing. Mixing of magmas has produced basaltic andesite, andesite, dacite and rhyolite lavas at the volcano. We are able to identify the compositional characteristics of the components that were mixed and to estimate the time lag between the mixing event and eruption of the mixed magma. Compositional data from pairs of phenocrysts identify a high alumina basalt (HAB) and a silicic rhyolite as endmembers of mixing. Mg-rich olivine or augite and Ca-rich plagioclase are associated with the HAB component, and Fe-rich orthopyroxene and Na-rich plagioclase are associated with the rhyolitic component. Some lavas contain multiple phenocryst assemblages suggesting the incorporation of several magmas intermediate between the HAB and silicic components. Glass inclusions trapped in Mg-rich olivine and Na-rich plagioclase are similar in composition to the proposed HAB and rhyolite end members and provide supportive evidence for mixing. Textural criteria are also consistent with magma mixing. Thermal curvature of the liquidus surfaces in the basalt-andesite-rhyolite system allows magmas produced by mixing to be either supercooled or superheated. Intergranular textures of basaltic andesites and andesites result from cooling initiated below the liquidus. The trachytic textures of silicic andesites form from cooling initiated above the liquidus. Reversed compositional zoning profiles in olivine crystals were produced by the mixing event, and the homogenization of the compositional zoning has been used to estimate the time interval between magma mixing and eruption. Time estimates are on the order of 80 to 90 h, suggesting that the mixing event triggered eruption.
Discrete-Time Survival Factor Mixture Analysis for Low-Frequency Recurrent Event Histories

In this article, the latent class analysis framework for modeling single event discrete-time survival data is extended to low-frequency recurrent event histories. A partial gap time model, parameterized as a restricted factor mixture model, is presented and illustrated using juvenile offending data. This model accommodates event-specific baseline hazard probabilities and covariate effects; event recurrences within a single time period; and accounts for within- and between-subject correlations of event times. This approach expands the family of latent variable survival models in a way that allows researchers to explicitly address questions about unobserved heterogeneity in the timing of events across the lifespan.
Morphological study of the effects of intranasal zinc sulfate irrigation on the mouse olfactory epithelium and olfactory bulb

The effects of intranasal zinc sulfate (ZnSO4) irrigation on the morphology of the olfactory epithelium and olfactory bulb were studied in mice with short survival times (as early as 1 day) and with long survival times (up to 593 days) after the irrigation procedure. As in several previous studies, the olfactory epithelium was completely destroyed within a few days after the ZnSO4 treatment. Within 2-4 days, the septum and turbinates were covered by a new, cuboidal epithelium, the cells of which differed significantly from any cells normally seen in the olfactory epithelium. Slowly, over several months, small areas of the olfactory epithelium regenerated in many of the animals. The ultrastructural changes occurring in the olfactory bulb from 1 to 25 days (the reactive stage) were characterized by degenerating olfactory axons and axon terminals, hypertrophy of astroglial cell processes, and proliferation of or extravasation by phagocytic cells. By 25 days after intranasal ZnSO4 irrigation, the number of reactive glial processes and phagocytic cells returned to normal. In some mice with survival times of 150 days or longer, there was reinnervation of small areas of the olfactory bulb by regenerated olfactory axons. These new olfactory axons innervated only superficial glomeruli or the outer portions of deeper glomeruli, but they formed synaptic contacts with mitral/tufted cells and periglomerular cells that did not differ from control animals. These findings were supported by tract-tracing experiments with 3H-amino acids and by behavioral analysis. In summary, the ultrastructural changes observed in the olfactory bulb in this study were not significantly different from those observed after surgical lesions of the olfactory epithelium or nerve.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Extracellular microbial polysaccharides: Generalized power law for biopolysaccharide solutions.

A generalized power low model, , is shown to described satisfactorily the shear viscosity data for xanthan gum solutions from 0.18 g/L to nearly 4 g/L and low to intermediate shear rates. Since mixing, mass and heat transfer, residence time distributions, and power input for agitation and aeration all depend on shear viscosity, this equation provides a simple prediction of this important quantity over the shear rate ranges characteristic of fermentations.
Preeclampsia is associated with reduced serum levels of placenta growth factor

Abstract Objectives: Adequate vascular development of the placental bed is essential for normal pregnancy. We assessed serum levels of placenta growth factor, an angiogenic factor, throughout normal pregnancy and determined its association with preeclampsia. Study Design: Serum samples were collected from (1) 308 healthy pregnant women throughout normal gestation, (2) at delivery from 30 each gestational age–matched patients with normal pregnancy and preeclampsia, and (3) maternal and cord blood samples from normal deliveries with and without labor (n = 37 each). Placenta growth factor levels were determined with an antigen-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: Maternal placenta growth factor levels during normal pregnancy increased from the first trimester to the late second trimester; they subsequently declined from 30 weeks' gestation to delivery. Significantly less maternal placenta growth factor ( P P = .0189) and cord serum samples ( P Conclusion: Decreased levels of placenta growth factor during preeclampsia could influence endothelial cell and trophoblast function, thereby contributing to the pathogenesis of the disease. (Am J Obstet Gynecol 1998;179:1539-44.)
Clonidine analgesia and suppression of operant responding: dissociation of mechanism.

Abstract In the rat the effects of clonidine and xylazine were compared on a measure of analgesia (tail-withdrawal) from hot water) and on operant responding maintained by a fixed-ration 20-response schedule of food presentation. Clonidine (2–8 mg/kg) produced dose-dependent increases in tal-withdrawal latency and was approximately twice as potent as xylazine (8–16 mg/kg) in this test. This analgesic effect of 8 mg/kg of clonidine was antagonized by phenoxybenzamine (10 mg/kg), and high doses of yohimbine (5–10 mg/kg), whereas the effect of 2 mg/kg of clonidine was potentiated by a nonanalgesic dose of nisoxetine (10 mg/kg). Clonidine (0.0062–0.2 mg/kg) and xylazine (0.25–8 mg/kg) produced a dose-dependent suppression of fixed-ratio responding. The potency of clonidine in this task was approximately 40 times greater than that of xylazine. The suppression of responding produced by both drugs was antagonized by low doses of yohimbine (0.5—2 mg/kg), which was maximally effective at a dose of 1 mg/kg. The data suggest that when using this type of assay for analgesia, the antinociceptive effects of clonidine which are measured are a result of stimulation of α-adrenergic receptors or noradrenergic neurons or by adrenergic receptors which inhibit noradrenergic neurons.
Helix control in polymers: case of peptide nucleic acids (PNAs).

The helix is a critical conformation exhibited by biological macromolecules and plays a key role in fundamental biological processes. Biological helical polymers exist in a single helical sense arising from the chiral effect of their primary units—for example, DNA and proteins adopt predominantly a right-handed helix conformation in response to the asymmetric conformational propensity of D-sugars and L-amino acids, respectively. In using these homochiral systems, nature blocks our observations of some fascinating aspects of the cooperativity in helical systems, although when useful for a specific purpose, “wrong” enantiomers may be incorporated in specific places. In synthetic helical systems, on the contrary, incorporation of non-racemic chirality is an additional burden, and the findings discussed in this review show that this burden may be considerably alleviated by taking advantage of the amplification of chirality, in which small chiral influences lead to large consequences. Peptide nucleic acid (PNA...
Electoral Connections: The Effects of the Personal Vote on Political Patronage, Bureaucracy and Legislation in Postwar Italy

This article examines the relationship between the legislature and the public administration in postwar Italy (understood as the period from about 1948 through 1994). Italian public administration is normally characterized as badly designed and inefficient, and government performance is usually classed as poor. I argue by contrast that bureaucratic inefficiency, excessive legislation and widespread bureaucratic corruption were features of Italian public administration that were deliberately designed by legislators and intended to enhance the re-election prospects for incumbents by providing them with opportunities for extensive constituency service. The underlying incentives stemmed from the candidates’ search for the personal vote, essential for retaining public office. Differences in the laws regulating the financing of political campaigns explain why excessive bureaucratization in the Italian context also resulted in extensive political corruption. ‘For a country as prosperous as Italy,’ reports a standard textbook on postwar Italian politics, ‘the resulting quality of public services – education, health, social security, justice, transport – is exceptionally low’. 1 Not surprisingly, public dissatisfaction with the national bureaucracy and with political performance more generally has traditionally run high in Italy, much higher than in other West European countries. 2 Why has postwar Italian public administration and government performed so badly? This article argues that Italian public administration performed comparatively poorly during the postwar era as a result of the deliberate behaviour of parliamentary officials, who were concerned to enhance their own re-election prospects. ‘Bad government’ provided reasons for members of parliament to offer voters compensatory constituency services. It also enhanced the partisan political loyalty of civil servants, who were typically appointed on a patronage basis, by providing them with extensive opportunities to engage in bureaucratic corruption. While the overall system that emerged was not itself planned, the interactions and behaviours that underpinned it were strategic and self-serving. This interpretation is an application and extension of a model of bad government originally elaborated with the United States in mind. 3 It stands in stark contrast to at least two other interpretations of government performance that have been forwarded specifically to understand the Italian case and that rest on more general theoretical foundations:
Effect of age and degree of immune activation on cytochrome P450 3A4 activity after influenza immunization.

Study Objective. To measure age- or sex-related changes in cytochrome P450 (CYP) activity secondary to influenza vaccination. Design. Open-label, single-dose study. Setting. General clinical research center at a university hospital. Subjects. Fifteen healthy volunteers aged 22–51 years. Intervention. Each subject was given an erythromycin breath test (ERMBT) to measure CYP3A4 activity before influenza immunization and again on day 7 after immunization. Blood was drawn before immunization and on day 28 after immunization to measure influenza antibody concentrations. Measurements and Main Results. Age of subject and change in ERMBT results after influenza immunization were correlated (correlation coefficient −0.624, p<0.015). However, no correlations could be made between antibody concentrations after influenza immunization or change in antibody concentrations from baseline and age. Conclusion. Decreases in CYP3A4 activity after influenza immunization are associated with increasing age. The decreases in CYP3A4 activity, however, are not associated with influenza antibody concentrations. This study bears repeating in an older cohort since the study sample did not include elderly individuals.
Treatment of Hemophilia With Genetic Engineering

Summary Hemophilia is a disorder characterized by decreased amounts of functional, circulating coagulation proteins VIII or IX. It has been well documented that by maintaining factor levels at ≥ 1% the major complications of severe disease, such as spontaneous bleeding, are averted. Successful gene transfer for hemophilia would result in persistent transgene expression at levels ≥ 1%. Hemophilia is an ideal candidate for the application of gene transfer because of the wide therapeutic window for the relevant factors, the availability of animal models, the ability of many tissues other than the liver to produce the coagulation proteins, and the desire for more convenient and cost-efficient treatments. For these reasons, hemophilia has the potential to be one of the first severe genetic disorders to be treated, if not cured, with gene therapy. This paper summarizes the progress and challenges of gene transfer studies for hemophilia.
Aspirin induces apoptosis through release of cytochrome c from mitochondria.

Abstract Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) reduce the risk for cancer, due to their anti proliferative and apoptosis-inducing effects. A critical pathway for apoptosis involves the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria, which then interacts with Apaf-1 to activate caspase proteases that orchestrate cell death. In this study we found that treatment of a human cancer cell line with aspirin induced caspase activation and the apoptotic cell morphology, which was blocked by the caspase inhibitor zVAD-fmk. Further analysis of the mechanism underlying this apoptotic event showed that aspirin induces translocation of Bax to the mitochondria and triggers release of cytochrome c into the cytosol. The release of cytochrome c from mitochondria was inhibited by overexpression of the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2 and cells that lack Apaf-1 were resistant to aspirin-induced apoptosis. These data provide evidence that the release of cytochrome c is an important part of the apoptotic mechanism of aspirin.
Controllability of distributed bilinear systems

A discussion of recent results of Ball, Marsden, & Slemrod [1] for controllability of distributed bilinear systems will be given.
Connexin and AMPA Receptor Expression Changes Over Time in the Rat Olfactory Bulb

Circadian rhythms affect olfaction by an unknown molecular mechanism. Independent of the suprachiasmatic nuclei, the mammalian olfactory bulb (OB) has recently been identified as a circadian oscillator. The electrical activity in the OB was reported to be synchronized to a daily rhythm and the clock gene, Period1, was oscillatory in its expression pattern. Because gap junctions composed of connexin36 and α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptors (AMPARs) have been reported to work together to synchronize firing of action potentials in the OB, we hypothesized that circadian electrical oscillations could be synchronized by daily changes in the expression of connexins and AMPAR subunits (GluR1–4). We examined the OB for the presence of clock genes by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and whether Period2, connexins, and AMPARs fluctuated across the light/dark cycle by quantitative PCR or SDS–PAGE/Western blot analysis. We observed significant changes in the messenger RNA and protein expression of our targets across 24 or 48 h. Whereas most targets were rhythmic by some measures, only GluR1 mRNA and protein were both rhythmic by the majority of our tests of rhythmicity across all time scales. Differential expression of these synaptic proteins over the light/dark cycle may underlie circadian synchronization of action potential firing in the OB or modify synaptic interactions that would be predicted to impact olfactory coding, such as alteration of granule cell inhibition, increased number of available AMPARs to bind glutamate, or an increased gap junction conductance between mitral/tufted cells.
Application of a robust linear control design to a truss structure with nonlinear joints

An efficient nonlinear equivalent beam finite-element method for the application of a full state feedback design is described, which is robust to plant uncertainties to a beamlike truss structure with nonlinear elements. The method may be extended to model nonlinear structures with other types of control systems, such as model-based compensators.
On the validity of the core-point-charge approximation for inner subshells of atoms

Abstract In order to test the validity of approximating the effects of various atomic inner subshells by means of point charges at the nuclei, the electron repulsion and exchange integrals involving these inner electrons and valence electrons were computed for a series of atoms. The point-charge approximation was found to be very poor for the 3s, and 3p subshells of the first-row transition elements.
Female College Student Awareness of Exposures to Environmental Toxins in Personal Care Products and Their Effect on Preconception Health

This research study investigated college women's usage of personal care products and their views on health effects from exposures during the preconception period. Many personal care products and cosmetics contain chemical ingredients that have been known to disrupt human endocrine and neurological systems, and contribute to infertility and adverse birth outcomes. Seventy-two female college students from a single, medium-sized university campus completed a researcher-developed questionnaire. Findings provide insight into the daily exposures young women experience during their reproductive years. Results can inform occupational and environmental health nurses about the personal daily exposures of young women when conducting risk assessments in the workplace or at a school, and can aid in developing interventions that support the environmental health of employees or future employees.
On the mechanism of enzyme action. XLIX. The effect of acetate on fat formation in Fusarium lini Bolley and the influence of added naphthoquinones.

Abstract 1. 1. When Fusarium lini Bolley (FlB) is grown on an acetate-containing medium the fat formed is more saturated than the fat formed when glucose is employed as substrate. These differences were shown to be due to the higher oleic acid content in the fat formed by Fusarium lini Bolley from glucose. These differences are thought to be due to the fact that when glucose is used as the carbon source, alcoholic fermentation is proceeding concurrently with fat formation. 2. 2. Acetate as a substrate for fat formation is about 43% more advantageously utilized than glucose in the case of Fusarium lini Bolley. 3. 3. The mat weights and the amounts of fat formed increase linearly with the concentration of acetate employed, up to a value of 2%. 4. 4. When various naphthoquinones were added to the culture media containing acetate as the carbon source, the mat weights were not appreciably lowered when compared to the control. The data indicate that, in general, these quinones have very little effect on a system utilizing acetate as the carbon source.
The kinetics of linear systems with special reference to periodic reactions

It is shown on the basis of (1) conservation of mass, (2) positive concentrations, and (3) the principle of detail balancing that periodic reactions cannot occur in a closed system described bylinear differential equations. The matrix,A, of the rate equations must be such that |A|=0,aij>0 fori≠j,aii<0, andVAV−1=B, whereV is diagonal andB is symmetric. These properties ofA imply that the latent roots are real and non-positive and that neither catalysis nor inhibition can be described bylinear equations. It is further shown that periodic reactions cannot occur in anopen system for which the matrix associated with the chemical reactions has the above properties and in which thesimple law of diffusion is obeyed. The relation of these results to Onsager's reciprocal relations and to previous work on periodic and cyclic chemical reactions is discussed. The utility of certain of these results for the treatment of isotope kinetics is indicated.
Fruit Trees and Family Trees in an Anthropogenic Forest: Ethics of Access, Property Zones, and Environmental Change in Indonesia

Landscapes are culture before they are nature; constructs of the imagination projected onto wood and water and rock. … But once a certain idea of landscape, a myth, a vision, establishes itself in an actual place, it has a peculiar way of muddling categories, of making metaphors more real than their referents; of becoming, in fact, part of the scenery (Simon Schama 1995:61).
A practical approach to coma diagnosis in the unresponsive patient.

Diagnosis of coma in the unresponsive patient can be done in a relatively short time by making key observations that will confirm disease of either the brain stem or the hemispheres, the two locations in which coma originates. Determining the location of the lesion is the primary goal in early assessment of the unresponsive patient. Examination of the patient’s eyes is the single most important step in understanding coma.
Structure of water and counterions in DNA

Abstract Monte Carlo simulation have been performed to study the hydration of two DNA conformers: the right-handed B-DNA and the left-handed Z-DNA, both in the double helix conformation. The models used to represent the polyelectrolytes consist of three full pitches (60 and 72 nucleotides units for B- and Z-DNA, respectively). The simulations have been carried out at a temperature of 300 K with 500 water molecules per pitch and as many counterions as necessary to neutralize DNA. In the present studies three different mono-charged counterions have been considered: Li+, Na+ and K+. During the Monte Carlo process either the water molecules or the counterions are subject to displacements [1]. The Monte Carlo walks, for these six simulations, have been analyzed in such way to give, for the counterions, information about their position (not yet determined by experiments), and the number of water molecules in their first hydration shell. Some of the counterions have, in the first hydration shell, the same number of water molecules as determined for the same ion in solution [2], but some other lose one or even two water molecules and complete their coordination by binding DNA atoms. There is preference for the three kind of ions here analyzed, to bind either the PO−4 groups of the N7 atoms in guanine and adenine [3]. The water structure in the first hydration shell of the DNA is analyzed for specific sites (for example for the nitrogen or the nitrogen or the oxygen atoms at he bases) or for groups of sites (for example the bases of the PO−4). For both DNA conformers, the polyelectrolytes loses water from the first hydration shell if K+ is replaced with Na+ or Na+ with Li+. As known in B-DNA, there are two grooves, the minor and major. The water was found to be highly structured in both grooves. In the minor groove there is either long filament of water molecules running along the groove or small filaments connecting two phosphate groups belonging to the same strand. In the major groove the water molecules form filaments connecting phosphate groups belonging to two different strands [4]. The first and the last type of filaments are stable for a sufficiently long time as to be detected by X-ray diffraction, as shown recently [5]. These results have been obtained performing, for each of the six simulations, 106 displacements (after equilibration). As known, after each displacement the interaction energy of the system, namely, the interaction energy between water-DNA, water-ions, ion-ion, ion-DNA and water-water is computed. In the present study the interaction energies are calculated with potentials obtained fitting thousands of ab initio computations [6]; for the water-water the MCY potential [7], obtained from Configuration Interaction computations, has been used.
A conventional explanation for the axial ratio anomalies of bar-within-ring galaxies

Previously reported excesses of highb/a(disk) andb/a(ring) values for bar-within-ring galaxies are found to be due to a selection effect. Three other anomalous properties appear to remain problematic for flat disk models.