cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Revisiting Territorial Pragmatism in the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict

A noted American specialist on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict presents an up-to-date analysis of that conflict based in part on his field work in the summer of 2010. The paper revisits the concept of territorial pragmatism, drawing on experience that illustrates the distance between each population and the maximalist claims that are articulated by a minority on their respective sides. The author's extensive research at the local scale, which commenced in the late 1980s, reflects the many ways in which Palestinians and Israelis search for a modus vivendi driven by practical exigencies rather than conflicting ideologies.
Food-safety Educational Goals for Dietetics and Hospitality Students

Abstract Objective To identify food-safety educational goals for dietetics and hospitality management students. Design Written questionnaires were used to identify educational goals and the most important food safety competencies for entry-level dietitians and foodservice managers. Subjects The sample included all directors of didactic programs in dietetics approved by the American Dietetic Association and baccalaureate-degree hospitality programs with membership in the Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education. Fifty-one percent of the directors responded. Statistical analysis Descriptive statistics were calculated. χ 2 analysis and independent t tests were used to compare educators' responses for discrete and continuous variables, respectively. Exploratory factor analysis grouped statements about food safety competence. Internal consistency of factors was measured using Cronbach α. Results Thirty-four percent of dietetics programs and 70% of hospitality programs required or offered food safety certification. Dietetics educators reported multiple courses with food safety information, whereas hospitality educators identified 1 or 2 courses. In general, the educators rated food-safety competencies as very important or essential. Concepts related to Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HAACP), irradiation, and pasteurization were rated less highly, compared with other items. Competencies related to reasons for outbreaks of foodborne illness were rated as most important. Applications/conclusions Food safety certification of dietitians and an increased emphasis on HAACP at the undergraduate level or during the practice component are suggested. Research is recommended to assess the level of food-safety competence expected by employers of entry-level dietitians and foodservice managers. J Am Diet Assoc. 2000;100:919-927 .
Ketoconazole and Candidiasis: A Controlled Study

A double-blind, placebo-controlled study was undertaken to determine the efficacy of ketoconazole in the treatment of candidiasis. The drug was administered orally in the dosage of 200 mg/m2 of body surface per day for two weeks to cancer patients with oral candidiasis. Randomization in a 2:1 ratio provided 36 patients treated with ketoconazole and 20 managed with a placebo. Regression of visible lesions was achieved in 26 (72%) of 36 ketoconazole-treated and four (20%) of 20 untreated patients; eradication of culturable organisms occurred in 12 (36%) of 33 ketoconazole-treated and one (7%) of 14 untreated patients; and resolution of lesions plus eradication of Candida albicans occurred in nine (25%) of 36 ketoconazole-treated and one (5%) of 20 untreated patients. Although the therapeutic efficacy of ketoconazole was demonstrated for oropharyngeal candidiasis, the magnitude of its efficacy was less than that desired.
Functions of haptic perceptual activity in persons with visual and developmental disabilities.

Abstract The paper reviews the author's research on the effects of perceptual experience and cognitive-developmental factors on haptic scanning behavior of blind and/or mentally retarded children and adults. The results indicate that haptic information may be gathered more efficiently by one scanning style over another, and differences in in efficient style usage may vary positively with haptic perceptual experience. However, accurate processing of haptic information may depend on the availability of cognitive structures that in turn influence scanning style selection and utilization, rather than directly on scanning styles themselves.
Visually discernible myocardial echocardiographic contrast after intravenous injection of sonicated dextrose albumin microbubbles containing high molecular weight, less soluble gases☆

Abstract Objectives.The central hypothesis of this study was that microbubble survival, and subsequent left ventricular and myocardial ultrasound contrast, could be improved by altering microbubble gas to consist of a higher molecular-weight (less diffusible) and less soluble gas. Background.Microbubble survival after intravenous injection is shortened because of rapid diffusion of blood-soluble room air gases (nitrogen and oxygen) across the permeable bubble membrane into blood. Methods.Thirteen open chest dogs received intravenous injections of a constant dose of sonicated dextrose albumin that was incubated with either room air or 100% nitrogen, 100% helium or 100% sulfur hexafluoride. Nitrogen (100%) is less blood soluble than room air, whereas helium and sulfur hexafluoride are the least soluble. Sulfur hexafluoride has the slowest diffusion rate. To further decrease the diffusion rate, each sample was administered during inhalation of room air and again during brief inhalation of the same gas with which it had been incubated. Results.The highest peak videointensity in the left ventricular cavity was produced by the sonicated dextrose albumin incubated with sulfur hexafluoride, the gas having lowest blood solubility and diffusion rate, while sulfur hexafluoride was briefly inhaled during the period of intravenous injection (peak videointensity 139 ± 10 vs. 54 ± 11 for room air-exposed sonicated dextrose albumin, p 80% of the intravenous injections of sulfur hexafluoride-exposed sonicated dextrose albumin when the agent was given as an 8-fold concentrated sample during brief inhalation of sulfur hexafluoride. Conclusions.Visual myocardial echocardiographic contrast is possible after intravenous injection of sonicated dextrose albumin if the microbubbles contain a gas with low blood solubility and diffusivity.
Combination Therapy Accelerates Diabetic Wound Closure

Background Non-healing foot ulcers are the most common cause of non-traumatic amputation and hospitalization amongst diabetics in the developed world. Impaired wound neovascularization perpetuates a cycle of dysfunctional tissue repair and regeneration. Evidence implicates defective mobilization of marrow-derived progenitor cells (PCs) as a fundamental cause of impaired diabetic neovascularization. Currently, there are no FDA-approved therapies to address this defect. Here we report an endogenous PC strategy to improve diabetic wound neovascularization and closure through a combination therapy of AMD3100, which mobilizes marrow-derived PCs by competitively binding to the cell surface CXCR4 receptor, and PDGF-BB, which is a protein known to enhance cell growth, progenitor cell migration and angiogenesis. Methods and Results Wounded mice were assigned to 1 of 5 experimental arms (n = 8/arm): saline treated wild-type, saline treated diabetic, AMD3100 treated diabetic, PDGF-BB treated diabetic, and AMD3100/PDGF-BB treated diabetic. Circulating PC number and wound vascularity were analyzed for each group (n = 8/group). Cellular function was assessed in the presence of AMD3100. Using a validated preclinical model of type II diabetic wound healing, we show that AMD3100 therapy (10 mg/kg; i.p. daily) alone can rescue diabetes-specific defects in PC mobilization, but cannot restore normal wound neovascularization. Through further investigation, we demonstrate an acquired trafficking-defect within AMD3100-treated diabetic PCs that can be rescued by PDGF-BB (2 μg; topical) supplementation within the wound environment. Finally, we determine that combination therapy restores diabetic wound neovascularization and accelerates time to wound closure by 40%. Conclusions Combination AMD3100 and PDGF-BB therapy synergistically improves BM PC mobilization and trafficking, resulting in significantly improved diabetic wound closure and neovascularization. The success of this endogenous, cell-based strategy to improve diabetic wound healing using FDA-approved therapies is inherently translatable.
GENDER DIFFERENCES IN VASCULAR COMPLICATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH TRANSFEMORAL AND TRANSRADIAL CARDIAC CATHETERIZATION AND PCI: A SINGLE-CENTER EXPERIENCE

Recent data indicate that overall clinical outcomes are similar after cardiac catheterization (CATH) and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) from the transfemoral (TF) and transradial (TR) approaches, but that vascular and bleeding complications (VC+BC) are lower from TR versus TF. Whether
Coronary events in patients undergoing orthotopic liver transplantation: perioperative evaluation and management

Patients with advanced liver disease have a high prevalence of cardiac risk factors. The stress of liver transplant surgery predisposes these patients to major cardiac events, such as myocardial infarction or ventricular arrhythmias in addition to heart failure exacerbation. Liver transplant patients who experience coronary events in the perioperative period have a decreased five-yr survival rate. Cardiovascular risk stratification prior to liver transplant can be accomplished by dobutamine stress echocardiography, stress myocardial perfusion imaging, cardiac computed tomography, and coronary angiography. Pre-liver transplant management of cardiovascular pathology includes cardiovascular intervention like percutaneous coronary intervention, coronary bypass graft surgery, or medical management. Thorough screening and optimal management of underlying cardiovascular pathology and cardiovascular risk factors should decrease the incidence of new cardiac events in liver transplant recipients.
Ion Channeling Analysis of Disorder

The use of ion channeling to characterize disorder in semiconductors is briefly reviewed. At high defect densities the ion channeling/backscattering technique can give the depth distribution of defects with a resolution ∼ 10 nm. Quantitative analysis of the defect depth profile requires that a single type of defect dominates the scattering of partiicles out of channeling trajectories. This scattering process is characterized by two defect-specific quantities: the direct scattering factor and the dechanneling cross-section. For impurity-associated defects the lattice location of the impurity atoms can be determined to within ∼ 0.1 A by simultaneously measuring the impurity and host atom signals as a function of tilt angle about channeling directions. The channeling technique can detect a wide range of intrinsic defects including interstitials, dislocations, stacking faults, microtwins, and amorphous clusters. Examples of the application of channeling to study defects in silicon will be given for the cases: 1) hydrogen trapping at defects; 2) ion implantation doping; and 3) epitaxial growth of layers.
Constructing the creative neighborhood: Hopes and limitations of creative city policies in Berlin

Abstract Recent urban development policies have put much emphasis on the establishment of creative cities. The creative city promises to be a new city, a transformative shift from the existing and conventional ways of urbanization to one that includes creativity and livability for all. Yet, this goal is often not achieved nor is it even necessarily pursued. The dominant creative city policies are not different from the current system of urban entrepreneurialism and growth-driven urban development. The paper presents the development of Kolonie Wedding in Berlin as an example of the promise and limitations of creative city initiatives. Here, guided art walks were introduced to revitalize the local economy and property market and re-imagine the neighborhood as creative and lively. However, the initiative reinforces social and ethnical boundaries, enhances exclusion and advocates for gentrification instead of challenging these practices. The paper calls for an overhaul and revision of the creative city model in which equality, and not growth and centrality, stand at its center. Such an approach includes the enactment of creativity not as an urban development strategy but as a human right.
COMPARATIVE ANATOMY OF THE SEEDS OF COTTONS AND OTHER MALVACEOUS PLANTS. II. HIBISCEAE

THE ANATOMY of the tribes Malveae and Ureneae of the family Malvaceae was reported in an earlier paper (Reeves, 1936). The work being reported in the present paper deals with the seeds of the tribe Hibisceae. The sequence of genera included here in general is that of Schumann (1895), and the species of Gossypium are arranged according to Watt (1907). The classification of the cottons proposed by Zaitzev (1927-1928), which in some respects seems superior to all others, could not be used because of its incompleteness. This report is a continuation of the earlier paper, and the methods used are the same. PARITIUM TILIACEUM Juss.-Seeds of Paritium tiliaceum were sent to the writer from Coconut Grove, Florida, by Mr. H. F. Loomis of the Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture. The seed is campylotropous, but its cuirvature is only a little more than 45 degrees (fig. 29). It is dark brown in color and bears numerous short, brown epidermal hairs. Stages of development were not studied, and therefore the tissues arising from each integument were not determined. The internal structure of the mature seed, however, is similar to that of Abelmoschus esculentus. The palisade cells are covered by one or two layers of cells which are shriveled and often fragmentary (fig. 30). The palisade cells themselves are similar to those of Gossypium hirsutum, except that they are generally smaller. The light line is conspicuous. The fragmentary remains of the protoplast and the markings on the cell walls a-re also similar to those of Gossypium hirsutum. Below the palisade tissue is a pigmented tissue. Its cells have thick walls and their lumina are filled with a substance identical in appearance with that found in the pigment layers of the genera described heretofore in this paper. The cells in the pigmented layer may or may not be compressed. The next tissue is the fringe tissue with peculiar markings on its cell walls (fig. 31). The cells of this tissue also are brown in color. Closely attached to it are the remains of the endosperm, which usually consist of a single row of cells. In the embryo the folding of the cotyledons is essentially like that of Malvaviscus drummondii. Crystals which are soluble in hydrochloric acid but insoluble in acetic acid, sulphuric acid, and xylene are very abtundant in the mesophyll tissues of the cotyledons. Results of the other microchemical tests conducted on the seed of this species indicate that the epidermal hairs are composed largely of lignin but partially of cellulose. The epidermis seems to be composed chiefly
Production of intestinal lesions by feeding karaya gum and other materials to rats

When fed diets including granular karaya gum, bran or a poor grade of psyllium material, hooded rats proved to be more susceptible than albino rats to the development of lesions in the lower bowel. Serious intestinal lesions were found in 3 of 5 hooded rats fed large amounts of karaya gum for from 396 to 711 days.
Denervation alterations in surface membrane glycoprotein glycosyltransferases of mammalian skeletal muscle.

Abstract Plasma membrane fractions isolated from rat skeletal muscle demonstrate an increased carbohydrate composition after 7 days of denervation. Total hexose content increased 3.5-fold (from 278 to 985 nmol/mg protein), hexosamine increased 1.7-fold (from 30 to 52 nmol/mg protein), and sialic acid increased 2.5-fold (from 17 to 43 nmol/mg protein). The cytidine monophosphate (CMP) sialic acid-sialyl transferase and uridine diphosphate (UDP) galactose-galactosyl transferase activities localized in the enriched skeletal muscle plasma membrane fraction were also found to increase with denervation. Sialyl transferase activity increased from 27 to 50 pmol sialic acid transferred/mg protein/h using the acceptor asialo-fetuin. The galactosyl transferase activity increased from 21 to 44 pmol galactose transferred/mg protein/h using the acceptor asialo-agalacto-fetuin. These alterations in composition and transferase activities may help explain the renewed capacity for cell-cell interactions associated with denervation.
Improved Display Techniques for Sodar Measurements

Abstract Improved quantitative display techniques, including digital false-color systems, for use with sodar or other similar remote probing systems are discussed. With sodar the use of a false-color system greatly facilitates real-time measurements of temperature and velocity structure functions, the dissipation rates of turbulent kinetic energy and temperature variance in the planetary boundary layer of the atmosphere, and the vertical wind and wind shear profiles.
Absence of rapid terpene turnover in several diverse species of terpene-accumulating plants.

Terpenes are commonly believed to undergo rapid metabolic turnover in plants, but the evidence for this process comes largely from studies that used detached organs or applied radiolabeled precursors in unnatural ways. When 14CO2 pulse labeling experiments were carried out with intact plants of four taxonomically distant, terpene-accumulating species, no significant turnover of monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes or diterpenes was detected in young foliage over a two week period after exposure to 14CO2. These results are consistent with those of other investigations performed under physiologically realistic conditions, and caution against the uncritical incorporation of turnover into models or theories concerning plant chemical defense.
Transcriptome assembly, gene annotation and tissue gene expression atlas of the rainbow trout.

Efforts to obtain a comprehensive genome sequence for rainbow trout are ongoing and will be complemented by transcriptome information that will enhance genome assembly and annotation. Previously, transcriptome reference sequences were reported using data from different sources. Although the previous work added a great wealth of sequences, a complete and well-annotated transcriptome is still needed. In addition, gene expression in different tissues was not completely addressed in the previous studies. In this study, non-normalized cDNA libraries were sequenced from 13 different tissues of a single doubled haploid rainbow trout from the same source used for the rainbow trout genome sequence. A total of ~1.167 billion paired-end reads were de novo assembled using the Trinity RNA-Seq assembler yielding 474,524 contigs > 500 base-pairs. Of them, 287,593 had homologies to the NCBI non-redundant protein database. The longest contig of each cluster was selected as a reference, yielding 44,990 representative contigs. A total of 4,146 contigs (9.2%), including 710 full-length sequences, did not match any mRNA sequences in the current rainbow trout genome reference. Mapping reads to the reference genome identified an additional 11,843 transcripts not annotated in the genome. A digital gene expression atlas revealed 7,678 housekeeping and 4,021 tissue-specific genes. Expression of about 16,000–32,000 genes (35–71% of the identified genes) accounted for basic and specialized functions of each tissue. White muscle and stomach had the least complex transcriptomes, with high percentages of their total mRNA contributed by a small number of genes. Brain, testis and intestine, in contrast, had complex transcriptomes, with a large numbers of genes involved in their expression patterns. This study provides comprehensive de novo transcriptome information that is suitable for functional and comparative genomics studies in rainbow trout, including annotation of the genome.
Labral Base Refixation in the Hip: Rationale and Technique for an Anatomic Approach to Labral Repair

Recent literature has defined the importance of anatomic repair in shoulder and knee arthroscopy. New advances in hip arthroscopy have created opportunities to apply the principle of anatomic repair to the hip. To address the obstacles in the restoration of labral anatomy, we describe an anatomic approach to labral refixation. We reviewed the literature on biomechanics of the labrum to identify the factors that are essential to the function of the labrum. Existing techniques for arthroscopic labral repair and potential challenges in restoration of labral anatomy were reviewed. A list of criteria for anatomic labral repair was created, and a technique for anatomic labral base refixation was developed. The technique incorporates the understanding of the function and biomechanical role of the labrum and builds on existing techniques to fulfill the criteria for restoration of anatomy. Our purpose was to review the anatomy, biomechanics, and existing repair techniques of the labrum, as well as to describe the rationale and surgical steps for anatomic labral base refixation in the hip.
Constructing the Ownership of Social Problems: Fun and Profit in the Welfare State

Links between the emergence of social problems and the welfare state are examined, with particular attention to the place of the “troubled persons” professions, mass media and educational institutions, the place of the language of conflict and consensus in social problems activities, contested and uncontested definitions of problem conditions, how meanings and problems are transformed, and how mobilization activities contribute to these transformations. The paper ends with a plea to move the study of social problems closer to the study of how social movements and institutions affect and are affected by the interpretations, the language, and the symbols that constitute seeing a situation as a social problem in historical and institutional context.
A Decision Theoretic Approach to Imputation in Finite Population Sampling

Abstract Consider the situation where observations are missing at random from a simple random sample drawn from a finite population. In certain cases it is of interest to create a full set of sample values such that inferences based on the full set will have the stated frequentist properties even though the statistician making those inferences is unaware that some of the observations were missing in the original sample. This article gives a Bayesian decision theoretic solution to this problem when one is primarily interested in making inferences about the population mean.
Hypothyroidism and antibody production in immature male chickens.

This study was conducted to determine if hypothyroidism has an effect on humoral immunity in immature male chickens. Two week old Single Comb White Leghorn male chicks were used as experimental animals. Two experiments were conducted using different methods to induce hypothyroidism. In Experiment 1, birds were surgically thyroid-ectomized (Tx group) and in Experiment 2, hypothyroidism was induced by supplementing the feed throughout the experiment with 0.1% propylthiouracil (PTU group). Antibody production against sheep red blood cells (SRBC) (thymus-dependent antigen) and Brucella abortus (BA) (thymus-independent antigen) was tested at 4 weeks of age. Serum concentrations of T4 and T3 were measured in birds from each treatment group at 5 and 9 weeks of age. Body weights were recorded and birds were then autopsied and thyroid gland weights were measured.Hypothyroidism was successfully induced in both Tx and PTU birds, as reflected by significant reduction in body weights in both groups, enlargement of thy...
Lending our Financial Machinery to Latin America

In the history of every country, the transitional period between two stages of economic development has been marked by new problems and intricate readjustments of the economic life and machinery. The United States is now passing through the transitional period from a nation whose interests have been largely centered within its own borders to one stepping out into the arena of world competition. For the past twenty years, practically every business change has been a change toward greater and greater production totals. The nation must muster its trained thinkers to reorganize the financial and industrial machinery, as well as to remold the thought of the people in order that the rapid growth of commerce and the necessary readjustments may be facilitated. The development of foreign markets makes imperative a vastly-expanded financial machinery, not alone to offer all possible trade and banking facilities to the international merchants, but to present stable channels through which investment capital may flow to borrowing countries.
Helping satisfy multiple objectives during a service desk conversation

Agents manning a service desk have the unenviable task of satisfying multiple conflicting objectives. Specifically, businesses require the agents to meet pre-specified customer satisfaction levels while keeping the cost of operations low or meeting sales targets, objectives that end up being complementary. Additional complexity is introduced by the fact that the objectives are often inter-dependent and have to be met in real-time. Moreover, business might change the objectives from time to time e.g. from reducing cost of operation to increasing sales of slow moving product. In this paper, we describe CallAssist - a speech enabled real-time dialog management system that dynamically helps agents in building a conversation that meets the various business objectives while satisfying customer requirements. An added benefit of our solution is the ability to adapt to changing business needs without incurring agent re-training costs. We provide evaluation results displaying the efficiency and effectiveness of our system.
'Unfair' Arbitration Clauses

The article reexamines the most common academic criticisms of "mandatory" arbitration of consumer disputes. First, it presents the results of an empirical study of "unfair" arbitration clauses, based on a sample of dispute resolution clauses in franchise agreements. The study finds that while some provisions identified by arbitration critics as unfair are common in the sample, others (such as clauses providing for biased arbitrators) are very rare. Second, it describes plausible circumstances under which both parties to pre-dispute arbitration clauses -- even clauses containing "unfair" provisions -- will be made better off by arbitration. Third, it argues that business reputation and arbitration institutions may constrain corporate opportunism in the use of pre-dispute arbitration agreements. Accordingly, increased government regulation of arbitration may be unnecessary, or at least more limited than some have proposed.
Politics and Esthetics

This essay examines the intersection and history of esthetics and politics. Esthetics now provides specific forms or categories of understanding for politics and public life; in the language of social movements, esthetics often supplies the ‘frames’ by which we perceive the world. I discuss the sociological literature on esthetics, and explore some of its connections to politics broadly conceived. I argue that an adequate sociological approach to esthetic politics must explore the history, characteristics, and intersection of the esthetic sphere and popular culture, for these two realms have influenced political ideas and practices.
Description of versatile optical polarimetric scatterometer that measures all 16 elements of the Mueller matrix for reflection and transmission: application to measurements of scatter cross sections, ellipsometric parameters, optical activity, and the complex chiral parameters

A detailed description of an optical polarimetric scatterometer, its capabilities, and special application are presented. This instrument measures the 4×4 Mueller matrix elements as well as bidirectional reflective distribution functions (scatter cross sections) for light that is scattered from a target. Incident polarized light at wavelengths λ=0.6328 and λ=1.06 μm can be directed toward the target in an arbitrary direction. The receiver can be located anywhere in the solid angle 4π. Backscatter measurements, most commonly used in remote sensing, can also be obtained. The scatterometer has been used to validate different analytical/numerical solutions to a broad class of electromagnetic scattering problems, in controlled laboratory experiments. The optical constants of liquids and solids can be determined by relating the Mueller matrix elements to the ellipsometric parameters. Recently, the relationships between the Mueller matrix elements and the parameters related to the optical activity have been derived. Thus, the scatterometer has the potential to detect, identify, and characterize optical rotation and circular dichroism of biological and chemical materials that possess chiral properties. These relationships are based on depolarization of waves reflected and transmitted through optically active media. Only the eight quasi off-diagonal elements of the Mueller matrix are sensitive to optical activity.
Erratum: Effect of Selected Airborne Contaminants on PEMFC Performance (J. Electrochem. Soc., 161, F280 (2014))

On page F283, the values for Hsoln/R in Table II should be negative. The correction changed the values for f and fr, because they were calculated from Hsoln/R. The corrected Table II is given below. The data in TableII in the original paper showed that the majority of contaminants had fr values near one which indicated that most of the contaminants were not scavenged by liquid water. The exceptions were iso-propanol, acetonitrile, and acetone because they respectively had fr values of 0.73, 0.88, and 0.92. The corrected data indicated that no contaminants were scavenged by liquid water because all values for fr were near one. This situation changed the original conclusion for iso-propanol: the performance effect was lower at wet conditions (50% inlet relative humidity) than at dry conditions (0% inlet relative
Exploiting Syllable Structure in a Connectionist Phonology Model

In a previous paper (Touretzky & Wheeler, 1990a) we showed how adding a clustering operation to a connectionist phonology model produced a parallel processing account of certain "iterative" phenomena. In this paper we show how the addition of a second structuring primitive, syllabification, greatly increases the power of the model. We present examples from a non-Indo-European language that appear to require rule ordering to at least a depth of four. By adding syllabification circuitry to structure the model's perception of the input string, we are able to handle these examples with only two derivational steps. We conclude that in phonology, derivation can be largely replaced by structuring.
A simple ICP-MS procedure for the determination of total mercury in whole blood and urine.

A simple and sensitive procedure for total mercury in whole blood and urine using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is described. Specimens are prepared by precipitation-extraction with 50% v/v hydrochloric acid containing EDTA and cysteine, centrifuged, and filtered through fritended screening column; the filtrates are directly analyzed by ICP-MS. The method is linear between 2 and 200 micrograms/L in the specimen with an absolute sensitivity of 0.2 microgram/L in the final supernatant. The assay variability at various concentrations (microgram/L) of mercury are as follows: intra-assay whole blood (n = 20)-4.6 +/- 0.6 (c.v. 12.3%), 18.3 +/- 1.1 (c.v. 6.1%), 56.4 +/- 2.8 (c.v. 5.0%); inter-assay whole blood (n = 15)-5.7 +/- 1.0 (c.v. 16.8%), 19.7 +/- 2.7 (c.v. 13.5%), and 50.1 +/- 6.9 (c.v. 13.7%); urine (n = 20)-9.3 +/- 1.2 (c.v. 12.9%), 29.6 +/- 2.2 (c.v. 7.4%). Recovery of organic and inorganic mercury from blood samples ranges from 91.6% to 110.2%. The method is suitable for analysis of total mercury, both organic and inorganic, in whole blood and urine.
Executive control and felt concentrative engagement following intensive meditation training.

Various forms of mental training have been shown to improve performance on cognitively demanding tasks. Individuals trained in meditative practices, for example, show generalized improvements on a variety of tasks assessing attentional performance. A central claim of this training, derived from contemplative traditions, posits that improved attentional performance is accompanied by subjective increases in the stability and clarity of concentrative engagement with one’s object of focus, as well as reductions in felt cognitive effort as expertise develops. However, despite frequent claims of mental stability following training, the phenomenological correlates of meditation-related attentional improvements have yet to be characterized. In a longitudinal study, we assessed changes in executive control (performance on a 32-minute response inhibition task) and retrospective reports of task engagement (concentration, motivation, and effort) following one month of intensive, daily Vipassana meditation training. Compared to matched controls, training participants exhibited improvements in response inhibition accuracy and reductions in reaction time variability. The training group also reported increases in concentration, but not effort or motivation, during task performance. Critically, increases in concentration predicted improvements in reaction time variability, suggesting a link between the experience of concentrative engagement and ongoing fluctuations in attentional stability. By incorporating experiential measures of task performance, the present study corroborates phenomenological accounts of stable, clear attentional engagement with the object of meditative focus following extensive training. These results provide initial evidence that meditation-related changes in felt experience accompany improvements in adaptive, goal-directed behavior, and that such shifts may reflect accurate awareness of measurable changes in performance.
Assessing intertrainer effects on the empathic understanding scale: Training the trainer

The purpose of this study was to develop a procedure that would provide a preliminary assessment of the level of intertrainer agreement on the Empathic Understanding scale. To illustrate the proposed procedure, a pilot study was undertaken in which 30 excerpts of helping interactions that included the client's statement, therapist response, and client's subsequent response were rated by experienced raters trained by a Carkhuff trainer and a non-Carkhuff trainer. Results indicated that raters trained by different trainers make significantly different judgments about the level of therapist empathy at high levels of empathy. Results of this study were discussed in light of possible scale reliability and construct validity problems. A detailed description and rationale of the proposed procedure was outlined.
Receptors for gangliosides and related glycosphingolipids on central and peripheral nervous system cell membranes.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the receptors for gangliosides and related glycosphingolipids on central and peripheral nervous system cell membranes. The chapter focuses on the detection and characterization of novel protein receptors for gangliosides and related glycosphingolipids in the nervous system. The incorporated strategy is to identify ganglioside (and related) binding activities using synthetic glycosphingolipid-based radioligands, to characterize the structural and tissue specificity of binding activities, and to purify the responsible protein receptors. The chapter also discusses the identification of a ganglioside receptor in the central nervous system and a receptor for sulfoglucuronyl glycosphingolipids in the peripheral nervous system. Through the use of semi-synthetic glycosphingolipidbased neoglycoconjugates—which combine multivalence—sequestering or removal of the lipid moiety, and facile radioiodination, research is successful in demonstrating unique binding activities for gangliosides and sulfoglucuronyl glycosphingolipids in the central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nervous system (PNS) respectively. Although the identification of the functional roles of these glycosphingolipid- specific binding activities await further studies, their differential tissue and membrane distribution suggests that they may be involved in ‘trans' interactions between myelinating cells and axons.
Clinical Manifestations of Cardiovascular Dysfunction in Sepsis

During the last four decades, sepsis and septic shock have emerged as the most common cause of ICU mortality [1–4]. The National Hospital Discharge Survey of the Center for Disease Control’s National Center for Health Statistics found septicemia to be the 13th leading cause of death in the United States and recorded over 2.5 million septicemia related hospital discharges in the United States from 1979 to 1987 [5]. Estimates of the annual incidence of gram-negative bacteremia in American intensive care units 20 years ago varied between 72000 and 300000 cases/yr [4, 7, 8]. With a case fatality rate of 33–40% for gram-negative bacteremia and as high as 90% with gram-negative shock [1, 4, 6], associated annual mortality was estimated to be between 18 000 and 100 000 per year [4, 7, 8]. While some of these latter patients eventually succumbed to multisystem organ failure, most died of the refractory hypotension and cardiovascular collapse of septic shock. From 1979 to 1987, the cost for caring for such patients accounted for 5–10 billion dollars in health care expenditures annually [5]. There is little reason to believe that the incidence and annual mortality have been significantly different in any other developed nation. Similarly, the associated health care expenditures would be quite substantial. Given the documented increase in incidence of gram-negative bacteremia over the last half century and the fact that the estimates reviewed above do not include substantial and increasing numbers of episodes of septicemia associated with gram-positive organisms and fungi, the true current incidence, associated mortality and health care costs of sepsis and septic shock are probably considerably higher.
Familiarization Effects on Consonant Intelligibility in Dysarthric Speech.

Background/Aims: This study investigates the effects of familiarization on naive listeners' ability to identify consonants in dysarthric speech. Methods: A total of 120 listeners (30 listeners/speaker) participated in experiments over a 6-week period. Listeners were randomly assigned to one of the three familiarization conditions: a passive condition in which listeners heard audio recordings of words, an active condition in which listeners heard audio recordings of words while viewing the written material of words, and a control condition in which listeners had no exposure to the audio signal prior to identification tasks. Results: Familiarization improved naive listeners' ability to identify consonants produced by a speaker with dysarthria. The active familiarization method exhibited an advantage over the other conditions, in terms of the magnitude and rapidness of improvement. One-month delayed test scores were higher than pre-familiarization scores, but the advantage of active familiarization was not present for all speakers. Conclusion: This study supports familiarization benefits in enhancing consonant intelligibility in dysarthria and suggests that perceptual learning mechanisms be harnessed for developing effective listener-oriented intervention techniques in the management of dysarthria. Current findings call for further research on a familiarization protocol that can subserve segmental learning with maximum efficacy.
The spatial distribution of gender differences in obesity prevalence differs from overall obesity prevalence among US adults.

Abstract Purpose Although obesity disparities between racial and socioeconomic groups have been well characterized, those based on gender and geography have not been as thoroughly documented. This study describes obesity prevalence by state, gender, and race and/or ethnicity to (1) characterize obesity gender inequality, (2) determine if the geographic distribution of inequality is spatially clustered, and (3) contrast the spatial clustering patterns of obesity gender inequality with overall obesity prevalence. Methods Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2013 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System were used to calculate state-specific obesity prevalence and gender inequality measures. Global and local Moran's indices were calculated to determine spatial autocorrelation. Results Age-adjusted, state-specific obesity prevalence difference and ratio measures show spatial autocorrelation (z-score = 4.89, P-value Conclusions Clustering of gender inequality suggests that spatial processes operating at the state level, such as occupational or physical activity policies or social norms, are involved in the etiology of the inequality and necessitate further attention to the determinates of obesity gender inequality.
Modulation of axonal regeneration in neurodegenerative disease: focus on Nogo.

Recent work has demonstrated that axonal regeneration in the central nervous system is limited by myelinderived Nogo binding to an axonal Nogo Receptor. The Nogo system appears to have a physiologic role in regulating structural plasticity. The possibility that the Nogo system contributes to pathologic and compensatory plasticity in Alzheimer’s Disease is considered.
Laboratory biology of a uniparental strain of Meteorus pulchricornis (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), an exotic larval parasite of the gypsy moth (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae)

The ovipositional response of a uniparental Korean strain of the parasite Meteorus pulchricornis (Wesmael) offered first to third instars of the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar (L.), indicated that parasitization was significantly higher in hosts offered as second instars. Over their lifetimes, which averaged 44 d, females of M. pulchricornis offered 15 second instars per day deposited an average of 268 eggs and attacked an average of 194 hosts. Rates of parasitization and superparasitization averaged 32 and 31%, respectively. At 24°C, development from egg to adult required 16–32 d. The uniparental Korean strain of M. pulchricornis differed from the biparental European strain by its thelytokous mode of reproduction and by having a reduced tendency to attack third instars of gypsy moth, the preferred host for the European strain. Production of F1 males by a few individual females in quarantine suggested that biparental strains of M. pulchricornis are present in the Far East. Attempts to hybridize the uniparental Korean strain with the biparental European strain were unsuccessful.
Comparison of the clinical manifestations of severe acute respiratory syndrome and Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia.

Background and Purpose: The clinical manifestations of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and mycoplasma pneumonia are similar. However, administration of corticosteroid to Mycoplasma pneumoniae patients suspected of having SARS may unnecessarily increase the risk of opportunistic infection. We compared the clinical course of 13 SARS patients and 6 patients with mycoplasma pneumonia treated during the outbreak of SARS in Taiwan. Methods: Patients admitted due to suspicion of SARS with a subsequent diagnosis of SARS or Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia were included. Results: The initial clinical manifestations were similar in patients with SARS and those with M. pneumoniae infection However, SARS patients had more severe lymphopenia (p = 0.013) and anemia (p=0.007), and more persistent pulmonary infiltrates (p = 0.023). Respiratory failure developed in 15.4% of the SARS patients and in none of the M. pneumoniae patients. Recovery from thrombocytopenia was associated with defervescence in 12 SARS patients and radiographic improvement in 6 in the following 5 days. In those with unsatisfactory resolution of the pulmonary infiltrates, corticosteroid therapy was associated with rapid radiographic improvement. Conclusions: Because of similar initial presentations, differentiating SARS from M. pneumoniae pneumonia is very difficult based on symptomatology. In this series, lymphopenia and anemia were more severe in SARs than in M. pneumoniae infection, and SARS patients had more persistent and more new pulmonary infiltrates after hospltalization.
Extragenital Split Thickness Skin Graft for Urethral Reconstruction

AbstractThe reconstructive surgeon often is called upon to correct a severe deformity after previous operative attempts have failed, leaving a scarred and ischemic surgical field. A successful result requires an innovative operative approach and thorough knowledge of the established principles, as well as willingness to apply and to modify them. Frequently, one is faced with the so-called hypospadias cripple in whom little acceptable genital skin is available for urethral and penile reconstruction. When a salvage procedure is necessary in these instances we have used a free split thickness graft of extragenital skin. This technique was used in 11 male patients between 8 and 21 years old, the majority of whom were seen after multiple failed hypospadias or epispadias repairs. Complications included urethral stricture in 2 boys and fistula in 2 others. Long-term results have been excellent with a followup of 4 years. Although this procedure has not been accepted widely in the past, we believe that it can be ...
Clinicopathologic and Histopathologic Renal Abnormalities in Dogs with Coccidioidomycosis.

Background We observed evidence of protein-losing nephropathy in some dogs with coccidioidomycosis, suggestive of immune complex glomerulonephritis (ICGN). The goal of this study was to understand the prevalence of renal histopathologic lesions and proteinuria in dogs with coccidioidomycosis. Hypothesis Biochemical and histopathological evidence of glomerular lesions is present in dogs with coccidioidomycosis. Animals Hundred and fifty-six dogs with naturally occurring coccidioidomycosis. Methods Retrospective case series. Clinical information and results of clinicopathologic testing were retrieved from the University of California, Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH). Microscopic sections of renal tissue procured from necropsy of dogs with coccidioidomycosis were examined to evaluate the nature and distribution of lesions. Results A total of 156 dogs with coccidioidomycosis were identified; 87 dogs had serum biochemistry and a urinalysis performed, 17 had urine protein:creatinine ratios (UPCs), and 24 had renal tissue available for histopathology. Eleven (13%) of the 87 dogs were azotemic, 55 (63%) were proteinuric (of which 14 [25%] had clinically relevant proteinuria defined as ≥3+ or ≥500 mg/dL), and 14 dogs had UPC ≥0.5 (range, 0.5–21.5, median 4.2). Thirteen (54%) of 24 dogs had renal histopathologic lesions suggestive of ICGN. Seven of these dogs had urinalyses performed; 5 (71%) had clinically relevant proteinuria as described above. Two dogs (33%) with normal glomeruli had granulomatous nephritis, 1 of which had intralesional Coccidioides spherules. Conclusions and Clinical Importance Coccidioidomycosis should be considered as a possible contributor to glomerular disease in dogs. Whether similar lesions occur in other mammalian hosts, including humans, warrants further investigation.