cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Climate change: Snakes tell a torrid tale.

The discovery in Colombia of a giant species of fossil snake is news in itself. But a wider, more controversial inference to be drawn is that tropical climate in the past was not buffered from global warming. The discovery of the world's largest known snake — living around 60 million years ago in tropical South America — has important implications for our understanding of the evolution of global climate. The fossil, found in northeastern Columbia — is of a relative of the boa constrictor; it was 13 metres long (compared to about 10 metres for the longest live snakes reported) and would have weighed more than a tonne. A snake this size would have required mean annual temperatures between 30 and 34 ° C, higher than the tropics today. This calls into question the idea that the climate system has a 'thermostat' that regulates tropical temperatures.
The application of Chace's vector equations to the computer generation of Burmester curves

Abstract A vector method for the generation of Burmester curves by computer is described. It is based on the graphical method due to L. Burmester and applies Chace's vector equations (Case 1 and Case 3) for solving vector triangles. Stevensen's VECTOR and CHACE subroutine subprograms are used in the computer program. An application of the program to the problem of guiding the boom of a front loader is discussed.
Personal experience as a guide to teaching

Abstract In this paper, the authors analyze their experiences in using storytelling about teaching to prepare second-career teacher candidates. Cases of two program participants are developed to show how personal experiences, rather than multicultural program ideals, became instantiated as guides for teaching practice. The authors show how prospective teachers developed a speech community in which they clarified their individual paths to school success and attempted to transport these understandings to instructing students of color who were struggling in school. For analyses, the authors draw on ideas about how people work in differing social groups with particular discourses that support group cohesiveness and ideals. Implications for teacher education using narrative as a vehicle for critical reflection are presented.
Surface charge relaxation and the pearling instability of charged surfactant tubes

The pearling instability of bilayer surfactant tubes was recently observed during the collapse of fluid monolayers of binary mixtures of Dimyristoylphosphocholine (DMPC): Palmitoyloleoylphosphoglycerol (POPG) and Dipalmitoylphosphocholine (DPPC):POPG surfactants. It can be explained by a Rayleigh-like instability under the action of the bilayer surface tension. The magnitude of surface tension is dictated by the electrostatic interaction between charged surfactants. Relaxation of charged molecules is proposed here as an additional mechanism driving the instability. We find the functional dependence of the electrostatic surface tension and relaxation energies on the screening length ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ explicitly. Relaxation lowers the cost of bending a tube into pearls making the cylindrical tube even more unstable. It is known that for the weak screening case in which the tube radius is smaller than the screening length of the solution, this effect is important. However, for the case of strong screening it is negligible. For the experiments mentioned, the situation is marginal. In this case, we show that the effect of relaxation remains small. It contributes about 20% to the total electrostatic energy.
Time of Beauty, Time of Fear: The Romantic Legacy in the Literature of Childhood; Romanticism and Childhood: The Infantilization of British Literary Culture

Time of Beauty, Time of Fear: The Romantic Legacy in the Literature of Childhood, edited by James Holt McGavran, Jr., Iowa City, U of Iowa P, 2012, xxv + 237. Romanticism and Childhood: The Infanti...
Anancinae (Proboscidea: Gomphotheriidae) from the Middle Awash Valley, Afar, Ethiopia

ABSTRACT Late Miocene to early Pliocene gomphothere proboscideans (Family Gomphotheriidae: Subfamily Anancinae) from the Middle Awash Valley, Ethiopia, were recovered throughout 350 m of strata, representing some 1½ to 2 my. Specimens referred to the genus Anancus from the Adu-Asa and Sagantole Formations are more complete and more extensive than any described previously from sub-Saharan Africa. Three evolutionary stages referable to A. kenyensis, as well as a much more derived new form of Anancus, are recognizable from dental remains.
Some Effects of Conceptual Design Principles on Power System Reliability

System reliability is to a considerable extent influenced by the manner in which individual system components are interconnected and the protective functions are incorporated into the design. How well these factors have been considered in the design stage will come to light only in the presence of a system disturbance since most systems, even the substandard ones, usually operate fairly successfully in the steady-state condition. The real test of a reliable system, however, is measured by its transient performance; that is, the ability to 1) remove only the faulted circuit; 2) remove the fault quickly to help assure that the remainder of the system will be transiently stable; and 3) clear the fault completely.
Effects of aphidicolin on the repair and fixation of potentially lethal damage sensitive to β-araA

Abstract The effects of aphidicolin, a specific inhibitor of DNA polymerase a, on the repair and fixation of potentially lethal damage (PLD) sensitive to treatment with β-araA—a drug acting via inhibition of DNA polymerases a and β-have been studied. Three μg/ml of aphidicolin given after irradiation did not produce any significant modification in cell survival. More damage was nevertheless fixed by a given concentration of β-araA in the presence of aphidicolin to a degree that 10 μM β-araA given together with 3 μg/ml aphidicolin produced an effect similar to that of 70 μM β-araA given alone. Although aphidicolin significantly enhanced the effectiveness of β-araA in fixing PLD, it did not significantly increase the sector of lesions affected. Combined treatment with β-araA and aphidicolin reduced or eliminated the shoulder from the survival curve without affecting the slope, an effect similar to that observed after treatment of cells with β-araA alone. The presence of aphidicolin during the time interval trey allowed for repair of the β-araA sensitive PLD resulted in a significant reduction in the repair rate. Based on these results, the necessity of distinction between inhibition of a repair process and fixation of the damage undergoing repair is discussed, as well as the possible involvement of DNA polymerase α and β in the repair and fixation of the DNA damage that underlies repair of PLD.
Zeeman tuning of II–VI-based diluted magnetic semiconductor superlattices

Abstract Electronic levels in II–VI-based diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMSs, e.g. Zn1−xMnxTe) experience extremely large Zeeman shifts when a magnetic field is applied, reaching values of the order of 100 meV at low temperatures. Zeeman shifts of the conduction and the valence band can then have profound consequences on the properties of DMS/non-DMS superlattices, since they provide the opportunity of tuning the band alignment in such structures simply by varying the applied field. We discuss the consequences of such Zeeman-tuning, with emphasis on the creation of spatial spin modulation and on mapping of wave function distribution in superlattices.
An extreme case of aortic root pseudoaneurysm after allograft root replacement: A technical challenge

FIGURE 2. Preoperative echocardiogram (in diastole) showing poorly seated allograft (black arrows) with extensive dehiscence, leading to aorto-annular discontinuity and a pseudoaneurysm behind the allograft communicating with the left ventricle (white arrow). Aortic valve regurgitation is trivial. Yellow arrow shows vein graft to left main coronary button; asterisks mark native LVOT. Video clip is available online.
Biomarkers of Alzheimer disease in plasma

Plasma and serum biochemical markers proposed for Alzheimer disease (AD) are based on pathophysiologic processes such as amyloid plaque formation [amyloid β-protein (Aβ), Aβ autoantibodies, platelet amyloid precursor protein (APP) isoforms], inflammation (cytokines), oxidative stress (vitamin E, isoprostanes), lipid metabolism (apolipoprotein E, 24S-hydroxycholesterol), and vascular disease [homocysteine, lipoprotein (a)]. Most proteins or metabolites evaluated in plasma or serum thus far are, at best, biological correlates of AD: levels are statistically different in AD versus controls in some cohorts, but they lack sensitivity or specificity for diagnosis or for tracking response to therapy. Approaches combining panels of existing biomarkers or surveying the range of proteins in plasma (proteomics) show promise for discovering biomarker profiles that are characteristic of AD, yet distinct from nondemented patients or patients with other forms of dementia.
Early childhood education on‐line: Challenges and rewards

Abstract This paper describes our collaborative experiences in the process of developing, designing, and facilitating an online graduate level course in early childhood education. Data collection strategies included: pre/post course questionnaires, informal conversations with students, and university course evaluations. This information described the experiences of novice computer users as they engaged in their content area (early childhood education) and also developed expertise in navigating the computer environment.
Concept similarity and conceptual information alteration via English-to-Chinese and Chinese-to-English translation of medical article titles

This article investigated the phenomena of concept similarity and conceptual information alteration in medical translation as information transfer between English and Chinese. The purpose of this investigation was twofold: One was to explore conceptual information alteration through concept similarity in the translation of medical article titles between English and Chinese, and the other was to examine the reliability of inter-judge agreements on concept similarity for assessing conceptual information alteration via English-to-Chinese and Chinese-to-English translation of medical article titles. A research corpus of 100 article titles in English and Chinese were randomly selected from an existing collection of article titles obtained from two English medical journals and two Chinese medical journals. Findings were based on (1) the judges' pairing of concepts in both the original and translated titles, and (2) the judges' judgments on concept similarity of the paired concepts. Cohen's Kappa was used for determining the reliability of the judges' judgments. The results showed (1) the judges' ratings on concept similarity of the paired concepts were substantially reliable; (2) the loss of conceptual information was much greater than the gain in both English-to-Chinese and Chinese-to-English translation; and (3) there were two kinds of conceptual information alteration: One was apparent and the other latent. The results are also applicable to cross-language information retrieval on parallel corpora between different languages as well as between English and Chinese. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Design of a High-Precision DDS-Based Configurable Clock Generator

Configurable clock is necessary for many applications such as digital communication systems, however, using the conventional direct digital frequency synthesizer (DDS) as a pulse or clock generator may cause jitter problems. People usually employ phase-interpolation approaches to generate a pulse or clock with correct time intervals. This work proposes a new phase-interpolation DDS scheme, which uses the output of the phase accumulator to provide an initial voltage on an integration capacitor by pre-charging in the first phase, and then performs integration operation on the same integration capacitor in the second phase. By using single capacitor integration, the instability of the delay generator existed in the phase-interpolation DDS can be avoided, and the impact caused by capacitance error in the circuit implementation also can be reduced. Furthermore, without ROM tables, the proposed DDS using pre-charging integration not only reduces the spurious level of the clock output, but also has a low hardware complexity.
Self-consistent collective excitation in critical region of second order phase transitions

Abstract A self-consistent formalism is proposed which determines collective excitations in the critical region of second order phase transitions.
Suicidal tendencies of mentally retarded adults in community settings

Mentally retarded suicide attempters and suicide ideators living in community settings were compared to a group of nonsuicidal mentally retarded adults referred for outpatient mental health services on a number of demographic and life history variables. The methods of suicide attempts were similar to those used by the general population. Precipitants of suicide attempts and presenting problems on clinic referral suggest needed types of mental health services.
Orosomucoid in Schizophrenia

OROSOMUCOID, a glycoprotein extremely rich in carbohydrate, is the principal constituent of the perchloric acid-soluble seromucoid fraction of human serum1. In contrast to the seromucoid fraction which contains several proteins and represents more than one biological entity, orosomucoid is homogeneous and behaves as a single protein. With the production of specific chicken antiorosomucoid sera2,3, it has become possible to investigate the clinical significance of orosomucoid. Interest in doing so arises from the fact that elevations of seromucoid and total serum glycoprotein-levels occur in a number of diseases; for example, in malignancy, tuberculosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis4. Elevations in this chemically defined group of proteins also occur in response to a wide range of non-specific stressors such as fractures, epinephrine injection, and burns5.
Intracisternal injection of pancreatic polypeptide stimulates gastric emptying in rats.

Abstract In the present study, we evaluated the effects of central administration of pancreatic polypeptide (PP) on gastric emptying of a liquid meal in conscious rats using a phenol red method. Intracisternal injection of PP (0.5–2.0 μg) speeds gastric emptying of a test meal in a dose-dependent manner. In contrast, i.p. injection of PP at the same doses inhibited gastric emptying in a dose-related fashion. Bilateral gastric branch vagotomy abolished the increase in gastric emptying evoked by intracisternal PP. These results demonstrate that PP speeds gastric emptying through the vagal system when given centrally but slows emptying when given peripherally.
Vapor-heat treatment of carambolas infested with Caribbean fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae).

Subjecting carambolas, Averrhoa carambola L., infested with Caribbean fruit fly, Anastrepha suspense (Loew), larvae to vapor heat (saturated hot air) at 46-46.3°C (air speed of 1.0-1.1 m/s ) for 90 min followed by cooling in relatively still air at ≈23 ± 0.5°C provided probit 9 security (99.9968% mortality) with 95% confidence. When mfested carambolas were exposed to vapor heat at 46-46.3°C for 90 min and then immediately immersed in 13 ± 0.2°C water for 1 h, 3 of an estimated larval population of 45,856 survived, indicating that rapid cooling of the fruit reduced larval mortality. Vapor-heat treatment of carambolas at 49-49.3°C for 45 or 60 min damaged the fruits. Shelf life and color quality of carambolas treated with vapor heat at 46-46.3°C for 90 or 120 min or 46-46.3°C for 60 or 90 min were not significantly reduced compared with controls.
Coordination of Transcription Factor Phosphorylation and Histone Methylation by the P-TEFb Kinase during Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Transcription

The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) Tat protein recruits positive transcription elongation factor b (P-TEFb) to the transactivation response (TAR) RNA structure to facilitate formation of processive transcription elongation complexes (TECs). Here we examine the role of the Tat/TAR-specified cyclin-dependent kinase 9 (CDK9) kinase activity in regulation of HIV-1 transcription elongation and histone methylation. In HIV-1 TECs, P-TEFb phosphorylates the RNA polymerase II (RNAP II) carboxyl-terminal domain (CTD) and the transcription elongation factors SPT5 and Tat-SF1 in a Tat/TAR-dependent manner. Using in vivo chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis, we demonstrate the following distinct properties of the HIV-1 transcription complexes. First, the RNAP II CTD is phosphorylated at Ser 2 and Ser 5 near the promoter and at downstream coding regions. Second, the stable association of SPT5 with the TECs is dependent upon P-TEFb kinase activity. Third, P-TEFb kinase activity is critical for the induction of methylation of histone H3 at lysine 4 and lysine 36 on HIV-1 genes. Flavopiridol, a potent P-TEFb kinase inhibitor, inhibits CTD phosphorylation, stable SPT5 binding, and histone methylation, suggesting that its potent antiviral activity is due to its ability to inhibit several critical and unique steps in HIV-1 transcription elongation.
Influence of CO2, nitrate, phosphate, and silicate limitation on intracellular dimethylsulfoniopropionate in batch cultures of the coastal diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana

We measured intracellular dimethyl sulfoniopropionate (DMSP) concentrations in nutrient-limited batch cultures of the coastal diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana. Under N, P, CO2, and Si growth limitation, intracellular DMSP concentrations decreased to low values during the exponential phase of growth and increased under nutrient limitation. The intracellular DMSP concentration increased exponentially with decreasing growth rate and cellular chlorophyll a, in response to the type and degree of nutrient limitation. For a given growth rate, N-limited cells showed the greatest increase in cellular DMSP concentrations, CO2 and Si limitation had an intermediate effect, and P limitation caused the smallest increase. The results demonstrate the importance of nutrient limitation in enhancing DMSP concentrations in marine algae. This enhancement may be linked in part to the role of DMSP as a cellular antioxidant and to increased oxidative stress within cells during nutrient limitation. The replacement of DMSP, a sulfur-containing osmolyte, for N-containing osmolytes such as proline may also explain at least some of the DMSP increase under N limitation. Our results also point to the possible importance of diatom blooms in global or regional sulfur cycles.
Jam Tomorrow: The Limits of International Economic Law

The chasm between the rich and the poor has become unfathomable. As a recent UN study explains, global wealth is distributed “as if one person in a group of ten takes 99% of the total pie and the others share the remaining 1%.” The assets of the world’s three richest individuals exceed the combined Gross National Products of all of the least developed countries, with a population totaling 600 million people. This Article asks whether existing international economic law; including the law governing and generated by the IMF, the WTO, and the World Bank; can bridge this chasm and realize distributive justice. This question is particularly timely in view of the current economic meltdown and the election of a President explicitly committed to reducing economic inequality “Distributive justice” is an ambiguous goal. If we simply mean “more fair than what we have now,” “distributive justice” is within easy reach, since we could hardly do worse. Merely rolling back some of the generous de-regulation and outright gifts that have brought us here would be a start, and has already begun. The global economic crisis has certainly toppled some of the mighty, but the worst-off are even worse off, and many are likely to join them.As a threshold question, accordingly, it should be established what, exactly, is required for actual “distributive justice”. I take as a starting point the relatively modest objective of the Millennium Development Goals - to halve the number living in extreme poverty, i.e., subsisting on less than $1 a day, by 2015. As economist Jeffrey Sachs points out, the wealth is still there. It is just a matter of moving it around.My thesis here is that this is not going to happen under the aegis of international economic law for two reasons. First, this is not an objective of international economic law. This argument draws on Marxist theory. Second, even if the political will were there, it would not happen because “international economic law” is not a coherent legal subject with the capacity to make it happen. This argument draws on postmodern theory. But I urge neither a Marxist nor a postmodern ‘solution’ to the problem. I simply hope to show first, that neoliberalism cannot be relied upon to produce distributive justice, and second, that neoliberalism is not the only game in town.
Spanish/English bilingual listeners on clinical word recognition tests: what to expect and how to predict.

Purpose The current study was an attempt to provide initial evidence on how to predict the optimal language in which to conduct speech perception testing for Spanish/English (S/E) bilingual listene...
Selective Photoproduction of O2 from the Mn4O4 Cubane Core: A Structural and Functional Model for the Photosynthetic Water‐Oxidizing Complex

Cores for thought! A new [Mn4 O4 ]6+ "cubane" core complex (L6 Mn4 O4 ) with six facially bridging phosphinate chelate ligands (L- =(MePh)2 PO2- ) was synthesized. Photo-excitation releases molecular O2 by intramolecular coupling of two core oxygen atoms and selective rearrangement to a [Mn4 O2 ]6+ "butterfly" core ([L5 Mn4 O2 ]+ ; see scheme). Thus the Mn4 O4 cubane core exhibits unique reactivity in O2 evolution which may account for its presence in the photosynthetic enzyme.
Cellular Proteins Associated with the Interior and Exterior of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus Virions

Virus particles (virions) often contain not only virus-encoded but also host-encoded proteins. Some of these host proteins are enclosed within the virion structure, while others, in the case of enveloped viruses, are embedded in the host-derived membrane. While many of these host protein incorporations are likely accidental, some may play a role in virus infectivity, replication and/or immunoreactivity in the next host. Host protein incorporations may be especially important in therapeutic applications where large numbers of virus particles are administered. Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) is the prototypic rhabdovirus and a candidate vaccine, gene therapy and oncolytic vector. Using mass spectrometry, we previously examined cell type dependent host protein content of VSV virions using intact (“whole”) virions purified from three cell lines originating from different species. Here we aimed to determine the localization of host proteins within the VSV virions by analyzing: i) whole VSV virions; and ii) whole VSV virions treated with Proteinase K to remove all proteins outside the viral envelope. A total of 257 proteins were identified, with 181 identified in whole virions and 183 identified in Proteinase K treated virions. Most of these proteins have not been previously shown to be associated with VSV. Functional enrichment analysis indicated the most overrepresented categories were proteins associated with vesicles, vesicle-mediated transport and protein localization. Using western blotting, the presence of several host proteins, including some not previously shown in association with VSV (such as Yes1, Prl1 and Ddx3y), was confirmed and their relative quantities in various virion fractions determined. Our study provides a valuable inventory of virion-associated host proteins for further investigation of their roles in the replication cycle, pathogenesis and immunoreactivity of VSV.
Use of cellulose nitrate for alpha autoradiography

Abstract Plastic- and specimen-supported cellulose nitrate detector films were employed in the alpha autoradiography of metallographic specimens containing uranium and plutonium. For autoradiographs made with plastic-supported film, the film was removed from the specimen prior to developing in 6 N sodium hydroxide. For autoradiographs made with specimen-supported film, the film was developed directly on the polished surface of the specimen. The specimen-supported detector film was placed on the surface of the specimen by one of two methods: (1) dropping a 5.5% solution of pyroxylin (form of cellulose nitrate) in amyl acetate onto the surface, or (2) wetting or fixing onto the surface a film of cellulose nitrate which had been stripped from a glass plate. Finer alpha tracks were obtained by developing the exposed cellulose nitrate in 6 N sodium hydroxide at room temperature rather than at 50–60°C. Resolution of the cellulose nitrate detector film was improved by use of a 0.00045-in aluminum absorber between the specimen and the film.
Reassessing the bipolar-unipolar dichotomy

Abstract This paper is a critical review of the literature on the dichotomous classification of affective disorders into unipolar and bipolar types. The majority of genetic studies show significant overlap in the liability to develop two forms of illness, and the majority of lithium studies show a similar clinical responsiveness of both groups to both acute and maintenance treatment. Biological studies comparing the two groups are difficult to interpret as most have compared manics to depressives without controlling for motor activity, excitement, and other state-dependent clinical variables. Viewed in light of our research findings in a recent genetic study of affective states, we believe these data suggest that the separation of affective disorders by polarity may have been premature, and that the search for heterogeneity should now be carried out using alternative strategies.
Combination Therapy for the Treatment and Prevention of Hepatic Encephalopathy

OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the efficacy and safety of combination therapy for the treatment and prevention of hepatic encephalopathy (HE).DATA SOURCES:A PubMed MEDLINE search was conducted (1947-June 2012) using the key terms lactulose, lactitol, nonabsorbable disaccharide, metronidazole, rifaximin, neomycin, probiotics, and hepatic encephalopathy. Searches were limited to include articles published in English.STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION:Study selection included published trials, case reports, and case series of humans with HE who were treated with combination therapy of rifaximin, lactulose, lactitol, metronidazole, neomycin, and/or probiotics.DATA SYNTHESIS:Only 6 studies that evaluated the benefits of combination drug therapy in the treatment or prevention of HE were available for review. Four studies addressed the treatment of HE, 2 found no significant difference between lactulose/neomycin versus placebo or rifaximin/lactulose, 1 assessed the use of rifaximin/lactulose without a control group, and...
Evolving the Capacity to Understand Actions, Intentions, and Goals

We synthesize the contrasting predictions of motor simulation and teleological theories of action comprehension and present evidence from a series of studies showing that monkeys and apes—like humans—extract the meaning of an event by (a) going beyond the surface appearance of actions, attributing goals and intentions to the agent; (b) using details about the environment to infer when an action is rational or irrational; (c) making predictions about an agent's goal and the most probable action to obtain the goal, within the constraints of the situation; (d) predicting the most probable outcome of actions even when they are physiologically incapable of producing the actions; and (e) combining information about means and outcomes to make decisions about social interactions, some with moral relevance. These studies reveal the limitations of motor simulation theories, especially those that rely on the notion of direct matching and mirror neuron activation. They provide support, however, for a teleological the...
Process integration considerations towards 300 mm TSV manufacturing-moving beyond the champion SEM

Through-silicon via (TSV) will transition to high volume production when end-customer value (as exhibited by functionality, performance, form factor, etc) are delivered at equivalent yield and cost. While this has been successfully achieved for CMOS image sensors (starting with 200mm), significant work remains to be done in the TSV value chain (design-materials-process-packaging-test) in the communication and memory segments. This talk will address key unit process/process integration challenges and highlight recent internal/ partner and industry findings in the context of TSV manufacturability at 300 mm.
The study of fossil spider species

Abstract The definition of what constitutes a species has been an area of contention in biology since before the time of Darwin. Here, we discuss concepts of species in regards to the Araneae and particularly focus on diagnosing fossils. Spiders are primarily diagnosed by their copulatory organs, which may be difficult to observe in fossils due to a number of confounding factors, thus potentially hindering identification and systematic classification. However, despite potential difficulties, fossils should and must be studied alongside extant Araneae in order to garner a full understanding of the evolutionary history of this megadiverse group.
Predictors of Adherence to a Skill-Building Intervention in Dementia Caregivers

Background. Treatment adherence is a widely recognized problem in health services but understudied in caregiver intervention research. This study examines caregiver sociodemographic and psychological characteristics, patient illness severity, and treatment implementation factors as predictors of caregiver adherence to a skills training intervention to help families manage dementia care problems at home. Methods. The sample consisted of 105 caregivers randomized to the Home Environmental Skill-Building Program at the Philadelphia site of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer’s Caregiver Health (REACH I). The intervention, implemented by occupational therapists, consisted of education, problem solving, communication, environmental and task simplification techniques, and home modifications. Adherence was measured by a proportion score representing the percentage of strategies used by participants compared to the total number of strategies prescribed during intervention (Strategy Use). Results. Regression analysis with intraclass correlation adjustment for interventionist effects revealed that caregivers with better physical health (p , .001), greater treatment exposure (p , .001), more problem areas addressed (p ¼ .012), and for whom more active therapeutic techniques (role play) were used (p ¼ .004) demonstrated greater adherence. Other caregiver characteristics, patient cognitive impairment, and troublesome behaviors were not significantly related to caregiver adherence. Conclusions. Modifiable caregiver and treatment implementation factors, including active engagement of caregivers, were associated with adherence, whereas patient characteristics were not. Caregivers with poor health may be at risk for not benefiting from intervention, suggesting that efforts, including instruction in preventive care and allocating time to attend to their own health care needs, be directed towards improving their health.
C-terminal threonines and serines play distinct roles in the desensitization of rhodopsin, a G protein-coupled receptor

‘Rod’ cells in the eye enable us to see in starlight. Inside these cells, a protein called rhodopsin is activated by light, which leads to an electrical signal being produced that travels to the brain. The duration of the electrical signal depends on the time it takes for the rhodopsin to be deactivated. Rhodopsin is a member of a large class of receptor proteins known as G protein-coupled receptors that regulate many processes throughout the body. Previous studies have shown that rhodopsin is deactivated by the attachment of phosphate groups to the protein. This allows another protein called arrestin to bind to rhodopsin. The phosphates can be attached to particular amino acids—the building blocks of proteins—at one end of rhodopsin. Three of these are a type of amino acid called serine. Previous work has shown that light increases the speed at which phosphate groups are added to these serines, suggesting that they are important for producing rapid electrical signals. The other three amino acids are of a different type—called threonine—but it is less clear what role they play in deactivating rhodopsin. Here, Azevedo et al. studied mutant forms of rhodopsin that were missing the serines or threonines in mice. The experiments show that loss of the serines only slightly slowed the electrical signals. However, loss of the threonines resulted in much slower electrical signals that ended at random times. This was due to rhodopsin being less able to bind to arrestin. Azevedo et al. propose a new model for how rhodopsin is deactivated. Once light activates the protein, phosphate groups are rapidly added to the serines, which begins to lower the activity of rhodopsin. However, it is the slower addition of phosphates to the threonines that is essential to promote arrestin binding and fully deactivate the protein. Other proteins belonging to the G protein-coupled receptor family also have these serines and threonines, and thus, may be regulated in a similar way.
Evaluation of the validity of medical students' self-assessments of proficiency in clinical simulations

Abstract Background The accuracy of self-assessments has not been well supported in the literature. This study was undertaken to examine the validity of medical students' ratings of their proficiency during encounters with simulated patients and simulation devices. Methods Confidential self-assessments for 10 skills were collected from 195 students during a formal clinical skills assessment related to 3 cases at the end of a surgery clerkship. The cases required students to gather data from simulated patients and perform procedures such as rectal examinations, nasogastric tube insertions, and suturing on bench simulation models. The patients were trained to assess student performance. Results There were significant differences between student self-assessments and simulated patient scores for general clinical skills as opposed to procedural skills. Students' mean self-assessments in the data gathering and interpersonal skills were 2–6 % points higher than ratings of their proficiency by simulated patients. However, self-assessments on procedures were 5–8 points lower than patient ratings. The median correlation between self-assessments and patient ratings for general clinical skills such as data gathering and interpersonal skills was 0.08 (not significant), whereas the median correlation between student and patient ratings in procedures was 0.22 (P Conclusions Third-year medical students' self-assessments for specific procedures are more valid than self-assessments of general clinical skills. Students are less confident in their procedural skills compared with general clinical skills. Although self-assessments should not be used as the sole measure of performance in clinical simulations, self-assessments for specific procedures can provide supplemental information on proficiency.
Bipolar stimulation of a three-dimensional bidomain incorporating rotational anisotropy

A bidomain model of cardiac tissue was used to examine the effect of transmural fiber rotation during bipolar stimulation in three-dimensional (3-D) myocardium. A 3-D tissue block with unequal anisotropy and two types of fiber rotation (none and moderate) was stimulated along and across fibers via bipolar electrodes on the epicardial surface, and the resulting steady-state interstitial (/spl Phi//sub /spl epsiv//) and transmembrane (V/sub m/) potentials were computed. Results demonstrate that the presence of rotated fibers does not change the amount of tissue polarized by the point surface stimuli, but does cause changes in the orientation of /spl Phi//sub /spl epsiv//, and V/sub m/ in the depth of the tissue, away from the epicardium. Further analysis revealed a relationship between the Laplacian of /spl Phi//sub /spl epsiv//, regions of virtual electrodes, and fiber orientation that was dependent upon adequacy of spatial sampling and the interstitial anisotropy. These findings help to understand the role of fiber architecture during extracellular stimulation of cardiac muscle.
Tyrosinase activity in the sera of patients with malignant melanoma: Method and specificity

Serum tyrosinase activity has been measured by adapting the [3]tyrosine assay for tyrosinase and significant elevations of serum tyrosinase activity were found in patients with malignant melanoma. In contrast to findings in a study which utilized [14C]tyrosine, augmented levels of tyrosinase activity were not observed in sera from patients with other malignancies, including subjects with carcinoma of the breast. The results of the examinations for soluble tyrosinase activity in human malignant melanoma tissue-cultured lines were all positive, whereas human cell lines from carcinoma of the breast, carcinoma of the colon and sarcoma uniformly showed no activity. The method employed for detecting tyrosinase activity holds promise as a specific diagnostic test and may be valuable for monitoring the response to clinical treatment of patients with malignant melanoma.
Simplifying connection-based communication

Connection-based communication can improve performance of programs on distributed-memory systems, but it complicates programming. By defining connections at compile time, the Programmed Communication Service tool chain simplifies creation of these programs. >
Dasymetric mapping with object-oriented classification and GIS

Monitoring and modeling urbanization require reliable analytical technologies and suitable methods of visualization. However, aggregated demographic data from the population census are associated with analytical and cartographic problems due to the arbitrary nature of areal unit partitioning (Mennis, 2003). To remedy these problems of census data, dasymetric mapping with remote sensing can be employed. This method uses land use/land cover information extracted from remotely sensed images to obtain an improved estimation of where people actually live (Liu, 2004). An areal interpolation technique is then applied to disaggregate the census population data into spatial units with homogenous land use (Mennis, 2003). The advent of IKONOS imagery opened an opportunity for dasymetric mapping at detailed map scales (Liu, 2004). Within the above context, this paper examines the possibilities of generating more heterogeneous population density maps using dasymetric mapping with object-oriented classification in urban areas.
Efficient Simulation of Mobile-To-Mobile Rayleigh Fading using Gaussian Quadrature

The Gaussian quadrature rules (GQRs) are used to construct a wireless fading simulator based on the popular sum of sinusoids (SoS) method. The general statistics of the proposed simulator are given. This simulator is also shown to perform well for important design parameters. An extension of the GQRs is employed to build uncorrelated simulators, which are important in frequency selective and MIMO simulators. These simulation techniques are then applied to the mobile-to-mobile (MtM) spectrum and are compared with the best known SoS techniques for the MtM spectrum. Although the proposed method is more complex, the efficiency and accuracy are significantly better than the previously proposed methods.
Does Trainee Involvement Affect Anticipatory Guidance in Well-Child Care?

Background. Studies demonstrate gaps in anticipatory guidance during well-child visits, but none consider academic teaching hospitals where physician trainees also provide counseling. We prospectively assessed parental perception of anticipatory guidance at the outpatient clinic of an academic teaching hospital. Methods. Parents of patients newborn to <60 months old completed questionnaires regarding providers seen and anticipatory guidance preferences. Results. Of 204 parents, 40% saw the child’s primary attending alone. There was no association between providers seen and the number of topics covered. Seeing the child’s primary attending alone increased the odds that parents’ priority topics were covered compared with another attending (odds ratio [OR] = 0.31; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.11-0.90) or the addition of a resident (OR = 0.35; 95% CI = 0.16-0.77) or medical student (OR = 0.33; 95% CI = 0.12-0.90). Conclusions. Priority anticipatory guidance is covered only one third as often when the well...
IL-17 receptor signaling and T helper 17-mediated autoimmune demyelinating disease

Allergic asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the lung. The symptoms include bronchial hyperreactivity, infiltration of CD4+ Th2 cells, neutrophils, eosinophils and mast cells, as well as hyperplasia of smooth muscle, often associated with elevated serum IgE concentrations. The sensitization and progression towards allergic asthma are a result of reactivity of the airway epithelial cells and innate immune cells to allergens, and the subsequent induction of adaptive immunity. Recent studies have shown that IL-25 (also known as IL-17E), a member of the structurally related IL-17 family, functions as an important mediator of Th2 responses. IL-25 is produced by airway epithelial cells, T lymphocytes of the CD4+ subset with a Th2 profile, and by innate effector eosinophils and basophils. Although recombinant IL-25 can induce Th2 immunity: elevated IL-4, IL-5, IL-13, eosinophilia and IgE, endogenous IL-25 is crucial for allergen-induced pulmonary inflammation in a mouse asthma model. These findings clearly demonstrate that IL-25 is an important mediator of the Th2 responses, which suggests that IL-25 lies upstream of the classical Th2 cytokine pathway. We recently have reported that Act1 is an essential signaling molecule for IL-25R signaling [85xThe critical role of epithelial-derived Act1 in IL-17- and IL-25-mediated pulmonary inflammation. Swaidani, S. et al. J. Immunol. 2009; 182: 1631–1640PubMedSee all References[85]. Mice deficient in Act1 have abolished IL-25-induced expression of Th2 cytokines (IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13) and chemokines (Eotaxin, TARC and RANTES) in the airway and reduced allergen-induced pulmonary eosinophilia. Importantly, Act1 deficiency in epithelial cells results in diminished IL-25-induced Th2 responses and lung inflammation [85xThe critical role of epithelial-derived Act1 in IL-17- and IL-25-mediated pulmonary inflammation. Swaidani, S. et al. J. Immunol. 2009; 182: 1631–1640PubMedSee all References[85]. Therefore, epithelial-derived Act1 is required for IL-25-mediated pulmonary inflammation.
Martha Derthick as Paradoxical Postmodernist: A Quarter-Century Reappraisal of Policymaking for Social Security

Martha Derthick has long been my favorite bread-and-butter political scientist. If you want to know how the U.S. federal government really works, you can't do better than read her work. But re-reading Policymaking for Social Security in 2003, I discovered a Derthick I'd never known: Derthick the Paradoxical Postmodernist.
A review of acrylamide neurotoxicity. Part I. Properties, uses and human exposure.

Two factors have stimulated the present intense investigation of acrylamide neurotoxicity. These are the health hazard accompanying the vast and increasing industrial production of acrylamide, and the promise of illuminating the mechanism of dying-back disease in the human nervous system by employing acrylamide as an experimental tool. The present paper discusses the industrial uses of acrylamide, its regulation, and the prevention, detection and clinico-pathologic features of human intoxication. Bearing on the cumulative nature of acrylamide neurotoxicity, separate sections review the chemistry, biochemistry, toxicology and metabolic fate of acrylamide. Clinical, electrophysiological and morphologic data on acute and chronic acrylamide intoxication of experimental animals, and possible etiologies of nervous system damage, are considered in detail in a companion paper (P. S. Spencer and H. H. Schaumburg, Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences, 1:151, 1974).
A Poly(acrylonitrile)-Functionalized Porous Aromatic Framework Synthesized by Atom-Transfer Radical Polymerization for the Extraction of Uranium from Seawater

In order to ensure a sustainable reserve of fuel for nuclear power generation, tremendous research efforts have been devoted to developing advanced sorbent materials for extracting uranium from seawater. In this work, a porous aromatic framework (PAF) was surface-functionalized with poly(acrylonitrile) through atom-transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). Batches of this adsorbent were conditioned with potassium hydroxide (KOH) at room temperature or 80 °C prior to contact with a uranium-spiked seawater simulant, with minimal differences in uptake observed as a function of conditioning temperature. A maximum capacity of 4.81 g-U/kg-ads was obtained following 42 days contact with uranium-spiked filtered environmental seawater, which demonstrates a comparable adsorption rate. A kinetic investigation revealed extremely rapid uranyl uptake, with more than 80% saturation reached within 14 days. Relying on the semiordered structure of the PAF adsorbent, density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal coopera...
Improved Sensitivity and Resolution in 1H−13C NMR Experiments of RNA

NMR studies of the structure and dynamics in RNA are greatly facilitated by the use of 13C-labeled molecules and 1H−13C correlation experiments. We demonstrate here that spin-state selective 13C frequency editing yields greatly improved sensitivity and resolution in 1H−13C correlation spectra of RNA. A sensitivity enhanced version of the previously introduced TROSY sequence (Pervushin et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 1997, 94, 12366−12371) is proposed, which offers a √2 signal enhancement. When compared to a sensitivity enhanced HSQC sequence an up to 3-fold increase in both the sensitivity and resolution is observed for the base carbons in a 15% 13C-labeled 33-mer RNA at a magnetic field strength of 14.1 T. This increase results from the relaxation interference between the 13C chemical shielding anisotropy (CSA) and the 1H−13C dipolar interaction, as well as the simultaneous detection of 1H and 13C steady-state polarizations. Simulations indicate that the enhancement effect is maximal at currently a...
A protohistoric Piman burial and a consideration of Piman burial practices.

ABSTRACTThe discovery of a single interment during construction of facilities at the Ina Road Wastewater Treatment Plant, Tucson, Arizona, in 1975 is reported. The associated lithic artifacts are described, and they are interpreted as typical of the protohistoric Sobaipuri. The archaeological rarity of Upper Piman burials led the authors to consult seventeenth through twentieth century documentary sources for comparative data, and the results of this research are presented as a description of Upper Piman burial practices. Discussion of variation in mortuary customs is offered, along with considerations of Piman cemetary locations and the identification of Piman interments.
Assignments to the Students

The students in this course were given a number of assignments specific to the content of the course (App. 3), to be addressed in group sessions of the students. The group experiences together with the teachers’ subsequent handouts on how the assignments perhaps should have been dealt with (App. 4) were instructive: contrary to a central element in the founding doctrine of the EBM movement, gaining mastery of the theory relevant to true understanding of practice-relevant clinical research evidently commonly is too challenging for busy practitioners to take the time to acquire