cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Conservative management of De Quervain's tendinopathy with an orthopedic manual physical therapy approach emphasizing first CMC manipulation: a retrospective case series

De Quervain's tendinopathy (DQT) is a musculoskeletal disorder that limits hand function of affected individuals. Management of DQT can include splinting, activity modification, medications, corticosteroid injections, physical therapist management, and surgery. There is limited evidence to support the combination of manual therapy and exercise interventions within an Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy (OMPT) approach when managing patients with DQT. Three patients identified with DQT underwent a multi-modal treatment regimen including carpometacarpal (CMC) thrust and non-thrust manipulation, end range radiocarpal mobilization, mobilization with movement (MWM), strengthening exercises, and grip proprioception training. Outcomes were assessed using the numeric pain rating scale (NPRS), Jamar hand dynamometer grip strength, and the Quick Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (Quick DASH) questionnaire. These measures were administered at baseline and discharge. Each patient demonstrated improvements in all outcome measures and required ten visits or less to reach a satisfactory outcome. The NPRS improved by a mean of 7.1 points on a 0-10 scale, Quick DASH improved by an average of 37.1%, and grip strength improved by a mean of 27.6 pounds. Each patient was able to return to daily tasks without pain and all improvements were maintained at six month follow-up. An impairment based OMPT management approach was effective in managing three patients with DQT. The inclusion of first CMC manipulation within this multi-modal approach may enhance conservative management of patients with DQT. Because a cause and effect relationship cannot be inferred from a case series, further research is recommended to investigate the efficacy of this management approach.
A Theory-Based Course Development Framework: A Case Study

In this paper, the authors first introduce a theory-based course development framework that organically combines learner-centered design, backward design, project-based learning, and universal design for learning. The authors then describe their design considerations in the developing of an Introduction to FinTech course following the proposed framework. Qualitative data gathered from interviews with students who took the course and the course developer was analyzed to verify the effectiveness of the developed course. The results suggest that the proposed framework is well suited for the Introduction to FinTech course. A list of best practices, along with potential improvements drawn from the data analysis, are presented. The primary contribution of the paper is the proposed theory-based course development framework, which is flexible and can be easily adapted to guide the design and development of computing courses in various subjects.
Diagnostic Accuracy and Safety of Confirm Rx™ Insertable Cardiac Monitor in Pediatric Patients.

Insertable cardiac monitors (ICM) are subcutaneously implanted devices that monitor a patient’s heart rate and rhythm (Rossano in Pediatrics 112(3):e228, 2003). The diagnostic accuracy and safety of the Confirm RxTM (Abbott, Minneapolis, MN) ICM in pediatric patients is unknown. This is a single center, retrospective, IRB-approved review of patients ≤ 21 years implanted with Confirm RxTM ICMs from 2017 to 2020. Data collected included demographics, indications, presence of P-wave and R-wave amplitude at implantation and follow-up, number/appropriateness of transmissions pre and post implementation of SharpSenseTM technology, reprogramming to improve accuracy, time from implantation to arrhythmia detection, and complications. There were 29 patients (median age: 8 years, 59% females). P-waves were identified in all patients and average R-wave amplitude was 0.85 mV (0.26–1.03 mV). There was no significant difference in R-wave amplitude based on size (BSA ≥ 1.5 m2: 0.76 mV, < 1.5 m2: 0.91 mV) or congenital heart disease (+CHD: 0.86 mV, −CHD: 0.85 mV). Arrhythmias identified were the following: wide complex tachycardia (1), supraventricular tachycardia (4), bradycardia/sinus pause (3), and premature ventricular contraction (1). SharpSenseTM implementation decreased the false-positive rate in device-initiated transmissions (55.4% to 0%, p < 0.00001). Average time from implantation to arrhythmia detection was 2.63 months (range: 0–8.8). A single complication of cellulitis occurred. Confirm RxTM is appropriate for implant in pediatric patients regardless of age, BSA, or CHD. Implementation of SharpSense™ technology dramatically decreased the false-positive rate. Follow-up studies could utilize additional monitoring devices to provide analysis on potential events that the Confirm RxTM ICM missed.
Initial Development and Validation of the Self-Efficacy for Engineering Design (SEED) Survey for Undergraduate Students in Mechanical Engineering

This Work In Progress describes the development and validation of a 34-item student-focused Self-Efficacy for Engineering Design (SEED) survey. Content validity was achieved using experts’ judgments. Construct validity was performed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The survey validation was accomplished using 256 mechanical engineering students, distributed over three classes. The SEED survey consists of two subscales that measure the self-efficacy for (a) design competencies (SEDC) and (b) personal competencies (SEPC). SEDC consists of 8 subscales, which are (a) identifying customer needs, (b) establishing target specifications, (c) generating product concepts, (d) selecting a product concept, (e) system-level design, (f) detailed design, (g) prototyping, and (h) evaluating the design. SEPC consists of 4 subscales, which are (a) openness, (b) conscientiousness, (c) extraversion, and (d) agreeableness.
Engagement With the Gurus of Gaming Culture: Parasocial Relationships to Let’s Players:

Let’s Players have emerged as a successful class of entertainers in the YouTube® universe. Most of their broadcasts not only relate to video games and gaming but also feature elements of talk shows...
Advanced Practice Providers Role in Rural Dermatology

Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants are vastly expanding medical and dermatologic services in rural medicine. Specifically, in rural dermatology, physicians face a multitude of obstacles. There are simply too few dermatologists in rural areas to see the number of patients requiring their care. Well-trained, experienced APPs are capable of aiding dermatologists to help fill this void.
A virtual coaching model of professional development to increase teachers' digital learning competencies

Abstract Recent changes in the United States education system have accelerated the need for enhanced technology-based teaching and learning techniques (i.e., digital literacy) and support. Currently, digital literacy integration research focuses primarily on students. Teacher-focused research highlights teaching digital literacy versus using it to learn. Furthermore, little research assesses the effectiveness of professional development methods in providing digital literacy support to teachers. This mixed-methods experimental study addresses these concerns by creating a virtual coaching professional development model to increase teachers' Digital Learning Identity. With teachers demonstrating concerns over staying current with changing technology, study results indicate coaching as one innovative approach to professional development.
What's the "Positive" in Positive Psychology? Teleological Considerations Based on Creation and Imago Doctrines

While positive psychology has considered a social science perspective of optimal development and living, a pressing question for the integration of psychology and theology is to consider what Chris...
Injectosomes in Gram-Positive Bacteria

Gram-positive bacteria are enclosed by a single membrane and therefore have apparently not evolved or acquired secretion systems similar to the type I, III, and IV systems found in the gram-negative bacteria. Although type III and IV systems are not found in gram-positive bacterial pathogens, these pathogens still translocate effectors into eukaryotic cells. This chapter examines the structure-function aspects of the cholesterol-dependent cytolysins (CDCs) and how the CDC mechanism has been adapted for use by Streptococcus pyogenes to form its injectosome. The most recognizable feature of the CDC primary structure is the conserved undecapeptide that is located near the carboxy terminus of the CDCs. The CDCs are highly soluble proteins once released from the secretion system of the bacterial cell; and they undergo a remarkable transition that results in their conversion from soluble molecules into a supramolecular pore-forming membrane complex. The S. pyogenes injectosome is composed of two known components, SLO and the Sec-dependent secretion pathway; in combination, they are necessary for the translocation of the NAD+ glycohydrolase (SPN) from S. pyogenes into the cytoplasm of human keratinocytes. SPN is a 52-kDa protein that contains a typical signal peptide for a Sec-dependent protein and is found in the supernatant of cultured organisms. No SPN-related enzymes have been identified in other gram-positive bacteria, and SPN is not structurally related to any known protein. The injectosome of S. pyogenes is a paradigm that will impact several areas of biology because of the many interesting questions posed by this system.
Identification of novel regulatory NFAT and TFII-I binding elements in the calbindin-D28k promoter in response to serum deprivation.

Calbindin-D28k, a key regulator of calcium homeostasis plays a cytoprotective role in various tissues. We used serum free (SFM) and charcoal stripped serum (csFBS) culture media as models of cellular stress to modulate calbindin D28k expression and identify regulatory cis-elements and trans-acting factors in kidney and beta cells. The murine calbindin-D28k promoter activity was significantly upregulated under SFM or csFBS condition. Promoter analysis revealed evolutionary conserved regulatory cis-elements and deletion of 23 nt from +117/+139 as critical for basal transcription. Bioinformatics analysis of the promoter revealed conserved NFAT and TFII regulators elements. Forced expression of NFAT stimulated promoter activity. Inhibition of NFAT transcriptional activity by FK506 attenuated calbindin-D28k expression. TFII-I was shown to be necessary for basal promoter activity and to act cooperatively with NFAT. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays, NFAT was shown to bind to both proximal and distal promoter regions. ChIP assays also revealed recruitment of TFII to the -36/+139 region. Knockdown of TFII-I decreased promoter activity. In summary, calbindin-D28k expression during serum deprivation is partly regulated by NFAT and TF-II. This regulation may be important in vivo during ischemia and growth factor withdrawal to regulate cellular function and maintenance.
Time is not the problem

Attempts to quantize general relativity encounter an odd problem. The Hamiltonian that normally generates time evolution vanishes in the case of general relativity as a result of diffeomorphism invariance. The theory seems to be saying that time does not exist. The most obvious feature of our world, namely that time seems to progress and that the world changes accordingly becomes a problem in this presumably fundamental theory. This is called the problem of time. In this essay we argue that this problem is the result of an unphysical idealization. We are caught in this "problem of time" trap because we took a wrong turn in the early days of relativity by permanently including a split of geometry and matter into our physical theories. We show that another possibility exists that circumvents the problem of time and also sheds new light on other problems like the cosmological constant problem and the horizon problem in early universe cosmology.
The Case for Market-based Push Caching

Web caches currently deployed on the Internet operate under a pull model in which client request streams determine the content of the cache. An alternative push model would allow web servers to pro-actively replicate their contents to caches. Given the finite amount of cache space, a question arises as to which objects should be kept in cache. In [GS95], the authors propose a push caching model whereby the content of the cache is determined by participating servers in a co-operative fashion. In this paper we explore an auction-based scheme that achieves an efficient allocation of disk space based on utilities revealed by both content servers and web caches. We show that our approach provides higher user valuation than traditional replacement policies without sacrificing overall hit rate. At the same time we solve the truthful revelation incentive problems associated with a cooperative approach. Our approach both implements e-commerce in caching service, and improves the infrastructure for supporting other e-commerce by providing quality of service differentiation.
Real Interest Rates and the Cost of Capital: A Comparison of the United States and Japan

Abstract Previous studies have reported a lower cost of capital in Japan than in the United States and attributed the difference to lower real interest rates in Japan. This paper argues that the approach employed in previous studies is biased in favor of the hypothesis that Japanese capital costs are lower. The paper employs an alternative approach. It presents rational expectations tests of the hypothesis that real riskless interest rates are equal across the two countries. The hypothesis that real riskless rates are equal is rejected by data from the period 1976–1985. Although real riskless rates are not equal, the difference favored the U.S. as often as Japan, and by equal orders of magnitude during the decade 1976–1985. The results therefore do not support the nation that Japan has consistently benefitted from lower costs of capital over the decade. Forward parity and ex ante purchasing power parity are also rejected by the data, though these rejections need not imply unexploited financial market opportunities and therefore cannot be said to have caused the differences in real interest rates.
Microscopic Methods for Measuring the Elasticity of Gel Substrates for Cell Culture: Microspheres, Microindenters, and Atomic Force Microscopy

In conjunction with surface chemistry, the mechanical properties of cell culture substrates provide important biological cues that affect cell behavior including growth, differentiation, spreading, and migration. The phenomenon has led to the increased use of biological and synthetic polymer-based flexible substrates in cell culture studies. However, widely used methods for measuring the Young's modulus have proven difficult in the characterization of these materials, as they tend to be relatively thin, soft, hydrated, and tethered to glass substrates. Here we describe three methods that have been applied successfully to probe the flexibility of soft culture substrates.
Cognitive Deficits in Adolescents Who Developed Diabetes Early in Life

A comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests was administered to 125 adolescents with a history of insulin-dependent diabetes, and to 83 demographically similar nondiabetic control subjects. To test the hypothesis that developing this disease early in life greatly increases the risk of manifesting significant cognitive impairments, diabetic subjects were assigned to an "early-onset" (diagnosis before age 5 years) or a "lateronset" subgroup. Results showed that subjects with early onset of diabetes performed more poorly than either subjects with later onset of diabetes or nondiabetic control subjects on virtually all tests, including measures of intelligence, school achievement, visuospatial ability, memory, motor speed, and eye-hand coordination. Moreover, multiple regression analyses demonstrated that the age at onset and the duration of diabetes seem to affect neuropsychological functioning in very different ways. The duration of the disease best predicted performance on those tests requiring highly overlearned, primarily verbal, skills whereas the age at onset best predicted scores on tests requiring the ability to process relatively unfamiliar, typically nonverbal, information in novel ways. Although the etiology of these deficits remains unclear, there is a possibility that they are secondary to mild brain damage that develops as a consequence of multiple episodes of serious hypoglycemia early in life.
Regulation of TGF beta gene expression in rat liver intoxicated with carbon tetrachloride.

Transforming growth factor beta (TGF beta) has been implicated as having a central role in the postinflammatory tissue regeneration and fibrosis. To test its potential involvement in events that follow hepatotoxin-mediated liver regeneration and fibrosis, we quantitated changes in the steady-state levels of TGF beta mRNA in parenchymal and nonparenchymal cells at various times after an acute treatment with CCl4, and also compared TGF beta gene expression in these two cell types from livers subjected to chronic CCl4 treatment. The parenchymal and nonparenchymal cells from normal liver contained undetectable amounts of TGF beta mRNA. In contrast, we could readily detect TGF beta specific transcripts in both the parenchymal and nonparenchymal cells after acute injury. Nonparenchymal cells from acutely injured liver contained fivefold greater amounts of TGF beta mRNA, which peaked at 48 h and declined thereafter. In chronically treated rat livers (1, 2, 3, and 7 wk after the initiation of CCl4 treatment), inc...
IC3-guided abstraction

Localization is a powerful automated abstraction-refinement technique to reduce the complexity of property checking. This process is often guided by SAT-based bounded model checking, using counterexamples obtained on the abstract model, proofs obtained on the original model, or a combination of both to select irrelevant logic. In this paper, we propose the use of bounded invariants obtained during an incomplete IC3 run to derive higher-quality abstractions for complex problems. Experiments confirm that this approach yields significantly smaller abstractions in many cases, and that the resulting abstract models are often easier to verify.
Persistence in breast cancer disparities between African Americans and whites in Wisconsin.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer (BC) mortality is higher in African American women compared to white women despite having a lower incidence. The reasons for this remain unclear, despite decades of research. Reducing BC health disparities is a priority but has had limited success. OBJECTIVE: To assess progress in eliminating breast cancer-related health disparities in Wisconsin by comparing trends in breast cancer outcomes in African American and white women from 1995 to 2006 and comparing results nationally. METHODS: Age-adjusted breast cancer (BC) incidence and stage data from the Wisconsin Cancer Reporting System and age-adjusted mortality data from National Center of Health Statistics were used to evaluate trends in incidence and mortality from 1995 to 2006 for African Americans and whites. The relative disparity was evaluated by rate ratios. Trends in distribution of in situ vs malignant disease were examined. National trend data were obtained from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database. RESULTS: Age-adjusted incidence decreased 10% in Wisconsin compared to 7% nationally. Incidence of BC was lower in African American compared to white women. BC mortality in African American women declined in Wisconsin, but remained higher than white females. Age-adjusted mortality in Wisconsin declined approximately 23%, matching national trends. Non age-adjusted stage data trended toward a decrease in malignant, but increased in situ disease. CONCLUSIONS: Despite an overall reduction in BC mortality from 1995 to 2006, a persistent disparity in mortality remains for African American women, demonstrating no significant progress in reducing BC health disparities.
A systematic tradeoff methodology for acquiring and validating imprecise requirements

Requirement analysis is one of the most important phases in a software development process. Existing requirement methodologies are limited in specifying requirements that are usually vague and imprecise, and in supporting tradeoff analysis between the conflicting requirements. In this paper, the elasticity of imprecise requirements is captured using fuzzy logic to facilitate tradeoffs between conflicting requirements. Based on the marginal rate of substitution in decision science, we have developed a systematic approach to elicit the structures and the parameters of imprecise requirements, to validate the scheme for aggregating requirements, and to assess relative priorities of conflicting requirements.
Spectral Karyotype Analysis of T-Cell Acute Leukemia

Analysis of 15 cases of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia with spectral karyotyping (SKY), which can identify all chromosomes simultaneously, clarified the chromosome rearrangements in 3 cases and confirmed them in 11 others; no abnormal cells were identified in 1 case, which had only 10% abnormal cells. Five of the latter cases had a normal karyotype. Thus, the use of SKY substantially improves the precision of karyotype analysis of malignant cells, which in turn leads to a more accurate assessment of the genotypic abnormalities in those cells.
The New Transparency: Police Violence in the Context of Ubiquitous Surveillance

Media and surveillance scholars often comment on the purported empowering quality of transparency, which they expect participatory media to promote. From its Enlightenment origins, transparency is related to accountability and legitimacy: its increase is believed to promote these. It has earned a position as an unassailed, prime normative value in contemporary liberal and social democracies. Though still valued, transparency is undergoing change in an era of ubiquitous surveillance. Publics still anticipate governmental and corporate self-disclosure and for such entities to operate visibly; but increasingly, deliberate and incidental surveillance by a range of sources, both institutional and informal, documents the activities of such authorities. More often, civilians participate in producing or amplifying transparency. This article explores this new transparency through a study of U.S. police, focusing on the discourse of police accountability activists and cop watchers to describe how their work adapts traditional notions of transparency. Recognizing the resilience of the police institution despite the new visibility of its violence, the article challenges the presumption that increased transparency will promote institutional reform or crisis. It concludes with a critical comment on prominent expectations that promoting the visibility of police can protect publics and ensure police accountability. This conclusion has implications for other forms of the new transparency, including whistleblowing (e.g., Edward Snowden) and leaking (e.g., WikiLeaks).
Altered Protein Formation as a Result of Suppression in Neurospora Crassa

Abstract The mutant td201 of Neurospora crassa is mutated in the trp-3 locus and forms an altered tryptophan synthetase. A suppressor mutation, su2-6, in this mutant, unlinked to the trp-3 locus, results in the production of wild-type tryptophan synthetase activity, which accounts for the alleviation of the tryptophan or indole requirement. This enzyme activity is associated with a protein physically dissimilar to the wild-type enzyme. A second altered protein, a serologically cross-reacting material is also formed in the suppressed mutant, in addition to the altered enzyme normally formed by the td201 mutant. Normal growth, equivalent to that of wild type, is not restored in the suppressed mutant even with tryptophan supplementation. The relationship of the data to possible mechanisms of suppression is discussed.
The treatment of plasma cell myeloma.

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the recent advances made in the treatment of plasma cell myeloma. A plasma cell neoplasm results when a cell, which normally differentiates and produces an immunoglobulin, undergoes a malignant transformation and the neoplastic daughter cells successfully establish a tumor clone. The diagnosis of a plasma cell neoplasm requires the demonstration of an increased proliferation of plasma cells, or of related cells, which may have lymphoid features. A therapy directed at reducing the number of proliferating plasma cells is the most important aspect of the medical management of patients with plasma cell neoplasms. Supportive care designed to prevent or relieve the major complications of infections, pathological fractures, hypercalcemia, renal failure, and the hyperviscosity syndrome are of great importance in the management of these patients. The evaluation of the responses to therapy is very important for the development of new drugs. In the evaluation of a response to therapy, a clear distinction must be made between changes in the manifestations of the disease that are thought to be the result of tumor regression and the changes that frequently accompany tumor regression, but may also occur as an indirect effect such as a rise in hemoglobin and gain in weight following testosterone therapy. The effectiveness of different methods of treatment must be evaluated along with an analysis of the factors that influence survival. The drugs tested in the treatment of plasma cell myeloma may be classified into (1) agents that are probably ineffective; (2) agents tha may produce objective effects, but fail to prolong survival; and (3) alkylating agents that produce objective improvement and prolonged survival. Alkylating agents (melphalan and cyclophosphamide) are the only antineoplastic drugs capable of producing objective improvement in the direct manifestations of plasma cell tumors, and also prolonging survival significantly.
Glucose-6-Phosphatase Activity Is Not Suppressed but the mRNA Level Is Increased by a Sucrose-Enriched Meal in Rats

The expression of glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase) mRNA is repressed by insulin and stimulated by cAMP and dexamethasone, with the insulin effect dominant. Both lipids and glucose increase the expression of G6Pase mRNA under conditions in which insulin is either absent or at basal levels. The aim of the present study was to investigate dietary nutrient regulation of G6Pase mRNA and protein under postprandial conditions. Male rats (n = 6-8/group) were deprived of food for 48 h and then either remained food deprived (FD) or were refed diets containing 68% cornstarch and 12% corn oil (ST; % energy), 68% sucrose and 12% corn oil (SU) or 35% cornstarch and 45% corn oil (HF) for 3 h. Rats were anesthetized, blood was drawn from the portal vein, and the liver was removed and immediately processed for subsequent analyses. Energy intake over the 3-h refeeding period did not differ among groups (209 +/- 25 kJ). Portal vein glucose and insulin were 5.0 +/- 0.2 mmol/L and 90 +/- 18 pmol/L, respectively, in FD rats and were not significantly different among the refed groups (14.5 +/- 1.2 mmol/L and 1302 +/- 154 pmol/L, respectively). Compared with the FD rats, G6Pase mRNA was approximately 50% lower in ST and HF groups, whereas it was approximately 1.6 fold higher in SU-refed rats (P < 0.05). G6Pase activity in whole liver homogenates was lower in ST and HF rats than in FD and SU rats. Insulin receptor substrate (IRS) phosphorylation, IRS-association with phosphatidylinositol 3 (PI3)-kinase and activation of protein kinase B (PKB) were not significantly different among the refed groups. However, glycogen synthase kinase-3alpha phosphorylation was lower and cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) phosphorylation was higher in SU rats than in ST and HF refed groups. Thus, the postprandial environment after ingestion of sucrose appears to overcome the dominant effects of insulin on G6Pase mRNA, perhaps via cellular changes that reduce phosphorylation of, and therefore activate, glycogen synthase kinase-3alpha.
Structure and properties of Zr–Ta–Cu–Ni–Al bulk metallic glasses and metallic glass matrix composites

Abstract We have developed a series of alloys which, upon cooling from the melt, form two-phase microstructures consisting of crystalline Ta-rich solid solution particles embedded in a bulk metallic glass matrix. These alloys have the general composition (Zr 70 Ni 10 Cu 20 ) 90− x Ta x Al 10 where 0⩽ x ⩽12 (all compositions are in atomic percent). These alloys have mechanical properties consistent with metallic glasses, including high yield strength (∼2 GPa) and large elastic elongation (∼2%). However, they also show much larger plastic strain to failure (up to 16%) in uniaxial compression than monolithic metallic glasses.
International trade analysis of impact of North American Free Trade Agreement on US pecan producers

The objective of this study was to examine the economic impact of NAFTA on US producers of pecans. An econometric method was used to develop supply and demand functions for the United States and an excess supply function for Mexico. The equations were used to measure gains for US consumers and losses for US pecan producers and the government. The increase in Mexican real disposable national income necessary to offset losses to US pecan producers in the aftermath of NAFTA was also measured. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Warm-Core Formation in Tropical Storm Humberto (2001)

At 0600 UTC 22 September 2001, Humberto was a tropical depression with a minimum central pressure of 1010 hPa. Twelve hours later, when the first global positioning system dropwindsondes (GPS sondes) were jettisoned, Humberto’s minimum central pressure was 1000 hPa and it had attained tropical storm strength. Thirty GPS sondes, radar from the WP-3D, and in situ aircraft measurements are utilized to observe thermodynamic structures in Humberto and their relationship to stratiform and convective elements during the early stage of the formation of an eye. The analysis of Tropical Storm Humberto offers a new view of the pre-wind-induced surface heat exchange (pre-WISHE)stageoftropicalcycloneevolution.Humbertocontainedamesoscaleconvectivevortex(MCV) similar to observations of other developing tropical systems. The MCV advects the exhaust from deep convection in the form of an anvil cyclonically over the low-level circulation center. On the trailing edge of the anvilanareaofmesoscaledescentinducesdryadiabaticwarmingin thelowertroposphere.Thenascentwarm core at low levels causes the initial drop in pressure at the surface and acts to cap the boundary layer (BL). As BL air flows into the nascent eye, the energy content increases until the energy is released from under the cap on the down shear side of the warm core in the form of vigorous cumulonimbi, which become the nascent eyewall. This series of events show one possible path in which a mesoscale convective system may evolve into a warm-cored structure and intensify into a hurricane.
OASIS: A New Concept for Promoting the Quality of Life for Older Adults

of which is directed toward the goal of maintaining a high quality of life to preserve one's sense of purpose and worth. Thus the program goes beyond the tradi­ tional basic offerings of food, clothing, and shelter provided by other programs. The enhancement of the quality of life for the older adult has been a stated goal of health profes­ sionals and social service agencies in traditional med­ ical programs and community programs like senior citizen and nutrition centers. However, many older adults have negative feelings about senior citizen and nutrition centers although they still want and need opportunities for socializing and enrichment. The OASIS program was designed with this realization in mind When the program was proposed to the United States Administration on Aging, its officials perceived OASIS as an opportunity for the public and private sectors to collaborate on a demonstration project. Funding for OASIS began in 1982
Melnikov vector in higher dimensions

A HOMOCLINIC orbit to a hyperbolic singular point of a system of autonomous ordinary differential equations is an orbit that is contained in the intersection of the stable and unstable manifolds of that singular point. Along the homoclinic orbit, tangent bundles of the stable and unstable manifolds do not span the whole space, and the intersection of these tangent bundles, in general, is of higher dimension. When a time periodic perturbation is applied to this system, the original stable and unstable manifolds will be perturbed. These are the stable and unstable manifolds of a Poincare map associated with the perturbed system. Furthermore, if the perturbation depends on parameters, then we are led to a bifurcation problem and we are interested in how the intersection of the stable and unstable manifolds of the Poincare map depends on parameters. If these two manifolds intersect transversally, namely if tangent spaces of these two manifolds at a point of intersection span the whole space, then ‘horseshoes’ will be created by the Smale-Birkhoff theorem [ 1 l] and the system exhibits an extremely rich dynamical behavior. If the stable and unstable manifolds of the Poincare map have quadratic tangency, then a still more complicated dynamics would occur, see [8]. One of the analytical methods to deal with these problems is the Poincare-Melnikov-Arnold method, often simply called the Melnikov method [2, 7, lo]. This method is based on measuring the separation of the stable and unstable manifolds of (a Poincare map of) the system. This method has been extensively studied, see, e.g. [3, 4, 6, 131 and references therein. However for higher dimensional systems this method seems not to have been fully developed. For example it is often assumed that a given system is a completely integrable Hamiltonian system. In this case the stable and unstable manifolds of a hyperbolic singular point coincide along a homoclinic orbit and hence we have a homoclinic manifold. In this situation the Melnikov method can be used not only to verify the transversal intersection but also to verify the tangential intersection. The purpose of these notes is to establish the Melnikov method for systems of higher dimension from a unified and geometrical viewpoint and to examine the possibilities and limitations of this method. This paper is organized as follows. In Section 2 we derive the expressions of the stable and unstable manifolds of a Poincare map associated with a periodically perturbed system. Using these expressions we obtain the separation vector between the stable and unstable manifolds in Section 3. The Melnikov vector is obtained as the first order approximation of the separation vector. In Section 4 we derive sufficient conditions for the transversal intersection of the stable and unstable manifolds of the Poincare map. In general these conditions cannot be necessary and sufficient conditions. However in Section 5 we consider a special situation in which the
Estrogen Receptor-α, Sexual Dimorphism and Reduced-Size Liver Ischemia and Reperfusion Injury in Mice

Estrogen (E(2)) exerts its effect on target organs principally by interacting with specific estrogen receptors (ER) such as ER-alpha or ER-beta. The role that these E(2) receptors play in mediating the protective effects observed in RSL+I/R induced injury remains to be defined. To study the role of ER-alpha, we anesthetized female and male wild type (wt; C57Bl/6) and ER-alpha-deficient (alphaERKO) mice and subjected them to 70% liver ischemia for 45 min followed by resection of the remaining 30% nonischemic lobes and reperfusion of the ischemic tissue. For some experiments, wt and alphaERKO male mice were injected with E(2). Survival was monitored on a daily basis while liver injury was assessed by quantifying serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels and histopathology. Hepatic eNOS mRNA levels were evaluated using semi-quantitative RT-PCR. Our data showed that untreated females or males treated with E(2) survived RSL+I/R surgery indefinitely whereas all male mice given vehicle died within 3-5 days following surgery. This protective effect was diminished in alphaERKO female mice such that only 40% of alphaERKO females survived 7 d following RSL+I/R. Furthermore, liver injury was significantly higher in alphaERKO females compared with their wt counterparts and similar to those seen in wild type males and alphaERKO males. The protective effect observed in wild type females or E(2) treated males correlated well with increases in hepatic eNOS message whereas both male and female alphaERKO mice exhibited significantly lower levels of eNOS mRNA. We conclude that this protection may in part be due to the E(2)/ER-alpha-mediated activation of eNOS.
Microdissection-based allelotyping discriminates de novo tumor from intrahepatic spread in hepatocellular carcinoma

A total of 103 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) arising in native livers discovered at the time of transplantation underwent allelic loss analysis. HCC mutational allelotyping targeted 10 genomic loci (1p, 3p, 5q, 7q, 8q, 9p, 10q, 17p, 17q, 18q) using 18 polymorphic microsatellite markers situated in proximity to known tumor suppressor genes associated with human carcinogenesis. Gene analysis was performed on microdissected tissue samples removed from 4-μm thick histologic sections at specific topographic sites selected on the basis of representative cellular characteristics. Microdissection targets included largest tumor nodule at 2 locations as well as up to 3 additional tumor nodules in each case. HCC genotyping characteristics including mutational profile and cumulative fractional allelic loss (FAL) were correlated with clinical and pathologic features. Individual nodules of HCC showed 2 patterns of mutational change: (1) essentially concordant mutational profiles consistent with intrahepatic spread of tumor, or (2) discordant mutational profiles consistent with independent primary cancer formation. In 15 of 56 cases (27%) in which the HCC was in a multinodular, bilobar form (T4), sufficient discordance in the allelic loss profile enabled a more accurate T-stage classification with better prediction of recurrence-free survival. In conclusion, microdissection genotyping of HCC is an effective and objective means to (1) distinguish between de novo HCC tumor formation versus intrahepatic spread of cancer and to (2) improve on current methods for prediction of tumor aggressiveness and recurrence-free survival after liver transplantation. (Hepatology 2003;37:871-879.)
Biogenetically-modelled total syntheses (−)-nocardicin A and (−)-nocardicin G

Abstract A protected form of L-seryl-D-(p-hydroxyphenyl)glycine was cyclized in a biogenetic sense and partially deprotected to give (−)-t-butyl 3-amino nocardicinate (5) from which (−)-nocardicin A (1) and (−)-nocardicin G (11) were prepared.
Saving our souls: Hacking's archaeology and Churchland's neurology

Etude de l'ouvrage de I. Hacking intitule «Rewritting the soul; multiple personnality and the sceinces of memory» (1995), developpant une approche archeologique du desordre de la personnalite multiple (MPD) et des sciences de la memoire, a la lumiere de l'ouvrage de P. Churchland intitule «The engine of reason: the seat of soul» (1995) qui aborde les sciences du cerveau d'un point de vue neurologique, en general, et eliminativiste, en particulier
IP micro-mobility protocols

The IETF Mobile IP Working Group is discussing a number of enhancements to the base protocol to reduce the latency, packet loss and signaling overhead experienced during handoff. In this article, we discuss a number of "micro-mobility protocols" that extend Mobile IP with fast handoff and paging capabilities. The aim of this article is not to provide an exhaustive survey of these protocols. Rather, we discuss the motivation behind micro-mobility, present common characteristics that a number of proposals share and briefly describe some of the key contributions discussed by the working group. In the longer term there is a need to understand the differences between many of the micro-mobility proposals discussed in this article in terms of, complexity of the design choice, and performance differences. As part of that process we have recently made available the Columbia Micro-mobility Suite (CMS). The CMS software is freely available from the web (comet.columbia.edu/micromobility) and includes ns source code extensions for Cellular IP, Hawaii and Hierarchical Mobile IP.
Experimental Validation of Computer-Simulated Glenoid Preparation for Total Shoulder Arthroplasty

The use of three-dimensional (3D) computer simulations for pre-operative planning of total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA) has greatly increased in the past decade [1,2]. These studies have primarily focused on optimizing glenoid resurfacing to elucidate the factors involved in glenoid loosening, the most common cause of TSA failure [3,4]. While finite element analyses have investigated the effects of glenoid resurfacing parameters such as implant placement and depth of reaming on the stresses associated with the glenoid/cement/implant construct, none have determined if their method for simulating glenoid surface preparation is physically representative or accurate. In TSA, the first step in glenoid resurfacing is reaming the glenoid surface in preparation for the placement of the glenoid implant. The purpose of this study was to validate the volume removed as determined by computer simulated reaming against the volume removed by ream of cadaveric scapulae.© 2011 ASME
Progress in gas detector technology for medical imaging research

The x-ray capture, conversion into charge carriers, ion transport mechanisms and image formation mechanisms within a high-gas pressure digital radiographic system, operating up to 60 atm., are presented and analyzed. In detail, the physics of the high-pressure KCD imaging detectors is exposed, analyzed and related to the detector and image quality parameters. Specifically, this study indicates that ion diffusion cannot account for all the experimental observations. It advances the hypothesis that, at sufficiently high pressures, formation of molecular clusters with narrowed mobility distribution take place, through energy exchange mechanism, with local potential forces such that they compensate the space charge distortion of the applied field strength.
Two Molecular Weight Species of Thrombospondin-2 Are Present in Bone and Differentially Modulated in Fractured and Nonfractured Tibiae in a Murine Model of Bone Healing

We report two immuoreactive species of thrombospondin-2 (TSP2), sized approximately 200 and 125 kDa, in the long bones of growing, but not skeletally mature, mice. In vitro osteoblasts secrete a 200-kDa species into the culture medium as early as day 3, and it appears in the cell-matrix layer by day 7. A 125-kDa species appears in the cell-matrix layer in parallel with mineralization; it is not detected in cell-conditioned medium. Unilateral tibial fracture induced a time-dependent upregulation of the 200-kDa species at the site of trauma. By contrast, relative levels of the 125-kDa species at the fracture site were lower than in bones from naive control animals. In the contralateral untouched control tibia, the 200-kDa species was rapidly and substantially reduced compared to bone harvested from naive control mice. Levels of the 125-kDa species in the untouched tibia declined gradually with time postfracture. TSP2 gene expression in uninjured control bone decreased modestly by 21 days postfracture. On the day of fracture, the osteoblast differentiation potential of MSCs harvested from uninjured bones decreased compared to those harvested from naive control animals. The presence of two isoforms suggests that TSP2 may undergo posttranscriptional or posttranslational processing in skeletal tissue. Our data also suggest that, in the context of trauma, the two TSP2 isforms are differentially modulated at injured and noninjured skeletal sites in an animal undergoing fracture healing.
Prevalence and risk factors for post thrombotic syndrome after deep vein thrombosis in children: a cohort study.

Abstract Background While post thrombotic syndrome (PTS) is increasingly recognized as a frequent and potentially serious complication of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in children, limited information is available regarding predictors of PTS. Methods Using the Mayo Clinic Master Diagnostic Index, all pediatric patients (age 0 to 18 years) with a potential DVT based on ICD-8 codes over the 15-year period, 1995 to 2009 were identified. A validated PTS survey instrument was mailed to eligible patients followed by a second mailing and three reminder phone calls for non-responders. Baseline clinical and radiographic characteristics were abstracted from patient medical records and tested as potential predictors of PTS using logistic regression. Associations were summarized by calculating odds ratios (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals. Results Ninety patients agreed to participate. The mean age (± SD) at DVT diagnosis and survey completion were 12.8 (± 6.1) and 19.3 (± 7.7) years, respectively. Fifty three respondents (59%) reported mild PTS whereas 12 (13%) reported moderate-to-severe PTS. Pain (34%) and dilated blood vessels (40%) were the most frequent PTS symptom and sign, respectively. On multivariate analysis, predictors of PTS included duration between incident DVT and survey completion (OR 1.75; 95% CI: 1.08 – 2.84) and number of thrombosed vein segments (OR 1.40; 95% CI: 1.05 – 1.86). Conclusion Over 70% of children with DVT report subsequent symptoms or signs of PTS, though only 13% report clinically significant, moderate-to-severe PTS. Number of thrombosed vein segments at diagnosis and time duration between incident DVT and survey completion were independent predictors of PTS.
The (Mis)Education of Monica and Karen

Monica and Karen, two typical in-state students starting college at a mid-tier public university in the Midwest, encounter organizational arrangements best designed to serve affluent, out-of-state ...
Thin film rupture

Abstract A system of equations which describe the dynamics of a thin two-dimensional free film is analyzed in the vicinity of rupture. These equations contain the effects of surface tension and van der Waals forces. A similarity solution is sought, and a dominant balance argument is proposed and supported with numerical calculations.
Growth of ruthenium islands on Pt(hkl) electrodes obtained via repetitive spontaneous deposition

Abstract We have examined the ruthenium island growth on Pt(111), Pt(100), and Pt(110) surfaces resulting from repeated spontaneous depositions of ruthenium from a 1 mM RuCl 3 in 0.1 M HClO 4 solution. Scanning tunneling microscopy and cyclic voltammetry were used to characterize the multiple depositions. We found that the details of the island growth were strongly single-crystal substrate dependent. On Pt(111), after four depositions, approximately 30–35% of the surface is covered with large (2–12 nm) ruthenium islands of varying heights. About 65% of the islands surface is a monolayer high, while 25% consists of two ruthenium layers and 10% consists of three monolayers or higher. However, it was revealed via STM imaging, that on Pt(100) and Pt(110), the two and three dimensional growth of the islands is much lower. It was possible to obtain 40% coverage of ruthenium on Pt(100) with 92% of the island area a monolayer high, while the island size ranged from 0.5–4 nm. On Pt(110), the tendency to grow in three dimensions is even less, as 98% of the islands peppering the surface are a monolayer high. These results are discussed as they pertain to possible use of additive island-covered nanoparticles in methanol oxidation fuel cell catalysis.