cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effects of timeout on a discrimination between fixed-ratio schedules.

Abstract A discrimination was established between two fixed-ratio schedules of reinforcement. In one, fixed ratio 25, the reinforcer was delivered on the twenty-fifth response; on the other, fixed ratio 50, the fiftieth response was reinforced. In the first component of a chain, either fixed ratio 25 or fixed ratio 50 was randomly programmed on the center key of a three-key pigeon box. Reinforcement of a single peck on the side key was contingent upon discriminating which schedule had just been completed on the center key. During test trials, a timeout was introduced after the first response on fixed ratio 25 and after either the first or twenty sixth response on fixed ratio 50. When the timeout followed the first response on fixed ratio 25 and fixed ratio 50, the accuracy of the discrimination was unaffected. When the timeout followed the first response on fixed ratio 25 and the twenty sixth response on fixed ratio 50, the accuracy of the discrimination decreased rapidly to chance as a function of the duration of the timeout. The loss of discrimination was primarily due to errors after fixed ratio 50 was completed. The timeout appears to weaken the control over the choice response by the response-produced stimuli which preceded the timeout. The results are consistent with the interpretation that the discrimination between fixed ratio 25 and fixed ratio 50 is maintained by chaining of response-produced stimuli within the ratio cycle.
From Anonymous Announcer to Radio Personality, From Pied Piper to Payola: The American Disc Jockey, 1950–1970

The Pied Pipers of Rock ‘N‘ Roll: Radio Deejays Of The 50s And 60s By Wes Smith. Marietta, Georgia: Longstreet Press, Inc., 1989. Illustrated. 300 pp. Hardback. $16.95.
Investor protection, ownership, and the cost of capital

The authors combine the agency theory of the firm with risk diversification incentives for insiders. Principal-agent problems between insiders and outsiders force insiders to retain a larger share in their firm than they would under a perfect risk diversification strategy. The authors predict that this higher share of insider ownership and the resulting exposure of insiders to higher idiosyncratic risk will result in underinvestment and higher cost of capital. Using firm-level data from 38 countries, the authors provide evidence in support of their theoretical model, showing that the premium for bearing idiosyncratic risk varies between zero and six percent and decreases in the level of outside investor protection. The results of the study imply that policies aimed at strengthening investor protection laws and their enforcement will improve capital allocation and result in higher growth.
Artificial neural networks for diagnosis and survival prediction in colon cancer

ANNs are nonlinear regression computational devices that have been used for over 45 years in classification and survival prediction in several biomedical systems, including colon cancer. Described in this article is the theory behind the three-layer free forward artificial neural networks with backpropagation error, which is widely used in biomedical fields, and a methodological approach to its application for cancer research, as exemplified by colon cancer. Review of the literature shows that applications of these networks have improved the accuracy of colon cancer classification and survival prediction when compared to other statistical or clinicopathological methods. Accuracy, however, must be exercised when designing, using and publishing biomedical results employing machine-learning devices such as ANNs in worldwide literature in order to enhance confidence in the quality and reliability of reported data.
A coupled soil-snow-atmosphere transfer model

A comprehensive search of the literature reveals that most snow models motivated by snow hazard investigation do not take into account the liquid water and vapor transport in the soil. A soil-snow-atmosphere transfer model has been developed by coupling a slightly modified version of the SNTHERM snow physics model with our land surface process (LSP) model. The coupled one-dimensional model includes two-way liquid and vapor moisture transport between snow and soil, which are ignored in SNTHERM, and includes ice lenses and ponding in soil, which are absent in both LSP and SNTHERM models. The coupled model, initialized with snow properties from measurements of the NASA Cold Land Processes Field Experiment (CLPX), was run for 14 days to examine the effects of snow melting and refreezing on soil temperature and moisture distributions for a bare soil in Colorado during early spring. Preliminary results show the simulation in temperature show more agreement with considering the mass and energy transport to the soil. The simulation is less efficient in liquid moisture content because this site may be heterogeneous, with a large extent of buried vegetation or the occurrence of the ice lens and ponding. There is a 35% maximum difference downward in soil heat flux at the snow/soil interface between SSAT and SNTHERM. This coupled model will be used to develop a further soil-snow-vegetation-atmosphere transfer model calibrated for prairie and alpine terrains. It will also help prepare the cold lands community to interpret the satellite brightness observations from satellite missions, such as the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission and the Hydrosphere State (HYDROS) mission.
Effect of Nicotine on Oviducal Lactate Dehydrogenase During Early Pregnancy in the Rat

The effect of nicotine on oviducal lactate dehydrogenase (LDII) activity during early pregnancy was investigated in the rat. Rats were injected s.c. with either nicotine (7.5 mg nicotine tartrate) in 0.2 ml saline or with saline (0.2 ml) twice daily from the morning of proestrus (Day 0 of pregnancy) until the day of sacrifice. Rats were sacrificed between 1000 h and 1200 h on Day 2 or Day 3 of pregnancy; the oviducts were removed, and oviducal flushings collected, and the oviducts homogenized. The flushings and homogenates were analyzed electrophoretically and spectrophotometrically to determine the LDFI isozymal distribution and the total specific activity of the enzyme, respectively. Compared with the flushings of control rats, the flushings of nicotine-treated rats showed a significant increase in specific activity of LDI-I in pregnant rats on both Day 2 and Day 3. Although the specific activity of the enzyme in the Day 2 oviducal homogenates was unaffected by nicotine, it was significantly increased in the Day 3 experimental samples. No LDII-4 isozyme was detected in either the oviducal homogenates or the flushings of any of the groups of rats. There was no alteration in the distribution of any of the isozymes or in the percentage of B subunits in the Day 2 oviducal homogenates of the nicotine-treated rats compared with the controls. In the Day 3 samples, the concentration of LDH-5 relative to the total was significantly less in the experimental group, and the percentage of B subunits was significantly greater in this group. Nicotine caused marked alterations in the relative concentrations of LDI-I isozymes in the oviducal flushings of both groups of pregnant rats; the percentage of B subunits was significantly increased in the nicotinetreated Day 2 pregnant rats but was significantly decreased in the Day 3 experimental group. Nicotine was found to induce a 12 h delay in cleavage of rat ova from the 2-cell to the 4-cell stage, confirming a previous finding. It is concluded that unless LDH exerts an inhibitory effect on development at the high concentrations found in the oviduct of the nicotine-treated rats, an additional mediator must be implicated in the regulatory function of nicotine on the development of the rat ovum.
Labor in Retreat: Class and Community Among Men's Clothing Workers of Chicago, 1871–1929 . By Youngsoo Bae. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2001. Pp. vii, 295. $26.95, paper.

“Why did the American labor movement decline so drastically in the 1920s?” (p. 1). Youngsoo Bae seeks to understand the transformation of the American labor movement by following the path of the men's garment industry union, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers (ACW), from its origins as a progressive industrial union to an “AFL-type business union” (p. 2) by the end of the 1920s.
Formation and diagenesis of bedding cycles in uppermost Cretaceous chalks of the Dan Field, Danish North Sea

Metre-scale lithologic cycles, visible in core and on logs from Maastrichtian chalks of the Dan Field, were examined to determine their mechanisms of deposition and relation to hydrocarbon production. The lower parts of cycles consist of porous, cream-coloured, largely non-stylolitic, commonly laminated chalk with limited bioturbation (mainly escape burrows). Cycles are capped by thinner intervals of white to grey, hard, stylolitic chalk with concentrations of bioclastic material, intense burrowing and few preserved primary sedimentary structures. The cycle caps contain nearly twice as much Mg as compared to the more porous parts of cycles and also have slightly larger δ18O values (−4·1‰ for the caps; −4·4‰ for porous zones). There is a significant reduction of average cycle thickness, as well as total thickness of the Maastrichtian chalk section, from SW to NE across the Dan Field. The cycle thinning largely results from a reduced thickness of porous chalks from the lower parts of cycles and thus is reflected in lower average porosity and permeability on the NE side of the field. These data indicate that episodic winnowing removed fine-grained constituents from highstanding northeastern areas. Porous cycle bases were deposited at relatively high rates that precluded complete bioturbation; preserved laminae, coupled with escape burrows, reflect episodic sediment influx in areas that flank the seafloor highs. Cycle tops apparently accumulated more slowly (throughout the region, but especially on seafloor highs), perhaps because of reduced productivity of planktic organisms. Slower sedimentation allowed more complete bioturbation and destruction of sedimentary structures, and also led to incipient high-magnesium calcite seafloor cementation (sufficient to yield firmer sediment and enhanced burrow preservation, but not to form true hardgrounds). Thus, the elevated magnesium contents and reduced porosity of the cycle caps reflect very early diagenetic processes that were only partially modified by burial diagenesis. Rates of chalk deposition, as inferred from physical and geochemical evidence, appear to be a significant control on reservoir characteristics in North Sea chalks. The highest average porosities and permeabilities are found in areas with the highest sediment accumulation rates where seafloor diagenesis is minimized. Topographic depressions at the time of sedimentation can thus be expected to have the best production characteristics, and synsedimentary topographic highs should have the thinnest sections and the poorest petrophysical properties.
Heat of Annealing in Simple Alkali Silicate Glasses

The enthalpy changes associated with annealing of glass were studied in simple and mixed alkali silicate glasses. The data indicate that during prolonged annealing the glass comes to a metastable equilibrium state and has a unique heat of solution which depends on its fictive temperature. The heats of solution of these glasses show a linear dependence on fictive temperature, and the magnitude of this dependence is related to the molar volume of the glass. The significance of these heat effects is discussed. The maximum heat effects which can occur on annealing sodium silicate glasses were measured and were approximately half as large as the enthalpy changes associated with the structural arrangements that occur during crystallization of these glasses.
Physical-chemical determinants of turn conformations in globular proteins.

We present a method with the potential to generate a library of coil segments from first principles. Proteins are built from alpha-helices and/or beta-strands interconnected by these coil segments. Here, we investigate the conformational determinants of short coil segments, with particular emphasis on chain turns. Toward this goal, we extracted a comprehensive set of two-, three-, and four-residue turns from X-ray-elucidated proteins and classified them by conformation. A remarkably small number of unique conformers account for most of this experimentally determined set, whereas remaining members span a large number of rare conformers, many occurring only once in the entire protein database. Factors determining conformation were identified via Metropolis Monte Carlo simulations devised to test the effectiveness of various energy terms. Simulated structures were validated by comparison to experimental counterparts. After filtering rare conformers, we found that 98% of the remaining experimentally determined turn population could be reproduced by applying a hydrogen bond energy term to an exhaustively generated ensemble of clash-free conformers in which no backbone polar group lacks a hydrogen-bond partner. Further, at least 90% of longer coil segments, ranging from 5- to 20 residues, were found to be structural composites of these shorter primitives. These results are pertinent to protein structure prediction, where approaches can be divided into either empirical or ab initio methods. Empirical methods use database-derived information; ab initio methods rely on physical-chemical principles exclusively. Replacing the database-derived coil library with one generated from first principles would transform any empirically based method into its corresponding ab initio homologue.
Intraarterial Therapy with a New Potent Inhibitor of Tumor Metabolism (3-bromopyruvate): Identification of Therapeutic Dose and Method of Injection in an Animal Model of Liver Cancer

Purpose A potent new adenosine triphosphate inhibitor—3-bromopyruvate (3-BrPA)—has been shown to have antitumor effects when injected intraarterially in the hepatic artery of rabbits with VX-2 tumors. The authors performed a stepwise study in rabbits to determine the therapeutic dose and method of delivery of 3-BrPA. Materials and methods White New Zealand rabbits with VX-2 tumors were used for this study. Eight animals were examined to establish the maximum tolerated dose (2.5 or 5.0 mmol/L of 25-mL 3-BrPA) as a single bolus injection. The 2.5 mmol/L dose was then used to compare three methods of delivery: injection of one bolus, two 12.5-mL serial bolus injections administered 1 hour apart, and continuous infusion of 25 mL for 1 hour. Finally, dose-response analysis was performed by using 10 groups of three animals each, with 1-hour intraarterial infusions of 3-BrPA (25 mL) at incremental doses of 0.25 mmol/L (range, 0.5–2.5 mmol/L) with phosphate buffered saline used for control animals. All animals were sacrificed at 48 hours, and histopathologic analysis was performed. χ 2 statistics were used to analyze the data. Results The maximum tolerated dose of 3-BrPA was 2.5 mmol/L; however, it caused substantial peripheral liver necrosis. These effects were minimized when 3-BrPA was infused over 1 hour. Complete tumor necrosis was identified in all samples with at least 2.0 mmol/L of 3-BrPA. The 1.75 mmol/L concentration was identified as therapeutic because it caused complete tumor apoptosis and minimal toxicity ( P Conclusions The results identified both the therapeutic dose (1.75 mmol/L) and the method of infusion (1 hour intraarterial infusion) of 3-BrPA. This potent new treatment may prove to be an effective way of treating liver cancer and may become part of a new class of anticancer drugs based on the inhibition of tumor metabolism.
Chemisorption and electronic charge transfer at ionic semiconductor surfaces

Abstract Effective charges attributed to surface atoms at single crystal polar or nonpolar surfaces of ionic semiconductors are changed only by less than one percent as compared with bulk values. Formation of intrinsic point defects or extrinsic chemisorption-induced defects, however, may lead to significant charge redistribution and hence to significant changes in core-level binding energies as well as valence band features. The energies relative to the Fermi energy of uppermost occupied electronic states attributed to neutral, negative, and positive adsorption complexes determine the direction of an additional delocalized charge exchange between free electrons in the semiconductor and defects or adsorption complexes.
Sperm, Egg, and a Petri Dish Unveiling the Underlying Property Issues Surrounding Cryopreserved Embryos

The rapidly advancing field of biotechnology continually presents new, controversial issues for debate. Advances in reproductive technology have maintained a high public and legal profile because o...
Hijacked DNA repair proteins and unchained DNA polymerases

Somatic hypermutation of immunoglobulin (Ig) genes occurs at a frequency that is a million times greater than the mutation in other genes. Mutations occur in variable genes to increase antibody affinity, and in switch regions before constant genes to cause switching from IgM to IgG. Hypermutation is initiated in activated B cells when the activation-induced deaminase protein deaminates cytosine in DNA to uracil. Uracils can be processed by either a mutagenic pathway to produce mutations or a non-mutagenic pathway to remove mutations. In the mutagenic pathway, we first studied the role of mismatch repair proteins, MSH2, MSH3, MSH6, PMS2 and MLH1, since they would recognize mismatches. The MSH2–MSH6 heterodimer is involved in hypermutation by binding to U:G and other mismatches generated during repair synthesis, but the other proteins are not necessary. Second, we analysed the role of low-fidelity DNA polymerases η, ι and θ in synthesizing mutations, and conclude that polymerase η is the dominant participant by generating mutations at A:T base pairs. In the non-mutagenic pathway, we examined the role of the Cockayne syndrome B protein that interacts with other repair proteins. Mice deficient in this protein had normal hypermutation and class switch recombination, showing that it is not involved.
Practical applications for epigenetic biomarkers in cancer diagnostics

Cancer represents a major global health problem and improvement of cancer treatment requires the development of new and useful molecular diagnostic tests that enable the detection of occult tumors, direction of personalized treatments, monitoring of patients during therapeutic intervention and prediction of long-term clinical outcomes. The ideal molecular diagnostic for cancer testing will be based upon non-invasive sources of DNA and will employ biomarkers that have excellent sensitivity, specificity and overall predictive value. Numerous genes are known to be hypermethylated during cancer development and progression. These methylation-sensitive genes represent potentially valuable epigenetic biomarkers for development of practical cancer molecular diagnostics. In fact, many epigenetic biomarkers have proven to possess excellent predictive value in assays designed to detect occult (or developing) neoplasms and/or forecast clinical course/outcome. The progress to date in this emerging area of cancer diagn...
Construction Engineering Conference and Workshop 2014: Setting an Industry–Academic Collaborative Research Agenda

AbstractConstruction engineering is a vital discipline in industry practice, providing essential facilities and systems for modern society. Despite its undisputed importance, basic research intensity and focus has been declining, which is compounded by challenges in collaboration between industry and academia. This study therefore aimed to revitalize construction engineering by emphasizing basic research, exploring barriers and enablers, and collaboratively establishing an ambitious research agenda. These objectives were addressed via a dedicated research conference and workshop held in March 2014 in Seattle. The event outcomes included new collaborations for 49% of workshop participants. In addition, the workshop identified four fundamental attributes of basic construction engineering research, including the drive to further knowledge, to improve construction delivery, to serve industry, and to pursue sustainability. Ultimately, this paper presents a research agenda for construction engineering based on ...
Challenges in the Analysis of Rural Populations in the United States

Rural Demography in the United States is faced with a number of unique challenges. In this chapter we summarize some of the most important of these. We first concentrate on the issues related to the definition of what is rural both conceptually and empirically arguing that many of the challenges involve issues related to what “rural” is and where it is; that is, how its geography is linked to its populations. We then examine the unique problems created by the small population sizes in rural areas using four areas of analysis as examples of the challenges related to defining rurality and spatially locating rural areas. The four areas examined represent critical areas of analysis in both the measurement of demographic change in rural areas and in two areas where rurality has come to form a major differentiator of conditions and outcomes. We first examine the analysis of rates of fertility, mortality, and migration in sparsely settled areas. These basic demographic processes, essential to the understanding of demographic change in any area, pose unique problems for their analysis in rural settings. Similarly, the second example, the analysis of the estimation and projection of demographic processes, involves analysis and methods that require unique approaches in their projection in rural areas. Analysis in the third example area, the examination of the prevalence and incidence of diseases and disorders in rural areas, has faced similarly challenging issues related to obtaining sufficient data to delineate areas with uniquely high and low disease prevalence and incidence. Finally, large-scale environmental and other developments in rural areas often create problems that would not occur in more urban settings where resources to handle such developments are more developed. The analysis involved in establishing the population-related impacts of large-scale environmental and industrial projects in rural areas is of critical importance, if they are to be adequately mitigated. In the final part of this chapter we discuss the potential created by recently developed techniques to both operationalize and integrate the key dimensions of rurality and to link these dimensions with given pieces of geography. We believe that such techniques will help to ensure the homogeneity of areas being compared and help identify the dimensions of rurality that create demographic differences.
Rousey and the New Retirement Funds Exemption

This article describes, analyzes and evaluates two recent developments affecting the treatment of the retirement savings of debtors who file bankruptcy. On April 4, Rousey v. Jacoway, 125 S. Ct. 1561 (2005), interpreted problematic language in section 522(d)(10)(E) of the Bankruptcy Code to exempt from creditors such debtors' traditional (that is non-Roth) Individual Retirement Accounts. On April 20, that result was ratified and extended by provisions of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 codified in various other subparagraphs of section 522(b) of the Code.
Utilization of radiation therapy in early-stage Hodgkin disease and its impact on survival

8511 Background: Despite numerous randomized trials confirming the benefit of consolidation radiation therapy (RT) in the management of early stage Hodgkin disease (HD), utilization of RT in this s...
The Structure of Angular Polycycloisoprene

Abstract Lewis and Bro nsted acids, heat, silent electric discharge and cathode rays cause progressing isomerization of synthetic and natural cis-1,4-polyisoprene to yield a polymeric product which has the empirical formula, (C5H8)n identical with that of the initial rubber hydrocarbon. The reaction, commonly carried out in benzene with stannic chloride as catalyst, is accompanied by an increase in specific gravity, refractive index and polymer melt temperature and a decrease in unsaturation, intrinsic viscosity and molecular weight of the material. The resulting polymer, readily soluble in a variety of solvents, is known as cyclized rubber, cyclo-caoutchouc, or “Pliolite-NR”, manufactured by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. Staudinger recognized as early as 1926 that the reaction proceeds by isomerization and intramolecular cyclization. D'lanni postulated formation of cyclohexane rings within the polymer chain, while Veersen extended D'lanni's proposal and suggested random protonation of bonds leadi...
Effects of microsite conditions on seedling establishment on the foreland of Coleman Glacier, Washington

Abstract Questions: How do physical microsite conditions of microsites affect germination and seedling survival in different successional stages? Do different species germinate in similar microsites in a given successional stage? Location: Coleman Glacier foreland, Mount Baker, Washington State, USA. Methods: Two methods were used to characterize safe sites. 1. Grids of 300 10 cm × 10 cm plots were located in four different age classes on the foreland. 2. 105 pairs of plots, with and without seedlings of Abies amabilis, were located in each age class. For each plot we identified all seedlings and all individuals < 1 m tall. Microsite characteristics such as topography and presence of rocks or woody debris were noted for each plot. Microsite characteristics were compared between plots with and without each species. In addition we examined the effect of distance from seed sources on the presence of Alnus viridis seeds and seedlings in a newly disturbed area. Results: In early successional sites, seedlings o...
An isolated human voluntary muscle preparation.

SummaryCortisone systemically administered to day-old chicks is a powerful growth inhibitor for the 18-day period of this study. A partial reversal of this growth inhibitory activity of cortisone may be accomplished by the simultaneous administration of beef amniotic fluid.
Experimental pyelonephritis in rats with aminonucleoside-induced nephrotic syndrome.

SummaryRats with nephrosis induced by treatment with aminonucleoside showed an increased susceptibility to pyelonephritis when challenged with Escherichia coli. The incidence of pyelonephritic lesions, determined histologically, was significantly greater in these animals than in rats injected with E. coli only. The organisms were gradually removed from the normal kidney and were no longer demonstrable by culture 30 days after injection. In contrast, at 30 days, significant numbers of E. coli were still present in the kidneys of some rats with aminonucleo-side-induced nephrosis. It is suggested that functional vascular alterations or, possibly, changes in renal enzyme patterns may be the important factors in the pathogenesis of this type of pyelonephritis.
A Multiple Quantum NMR (MQNMR) Study of Hydrogen Microstructure in Boron Doped a-Si:H

An IR and multiple quantum NMR (MQNMR) study of hydrogen microstructure in three boron doped a-Si:H is discussed. The total Si-bonded H content of all films was 6.5 ± 1.0 at.% as determined by the 640 cm-1 IR wagging mode, but their boron content, which was determined by secondary ion mass spectrometry, ranged from 0.02 to 0.3 at. %. The number of correlated hydrogen, as measured at a preparation time of 600 fus, was found to be more weakly dependent on the boron content than previously observed in phosphorous-doped glow-discharge films. Upon annealing at 220°C the MQNMR spectrum show a moderate increase in the number of correlated hydrogen in all three samples.
Knowledge of Disease Prevention and Health Behaviors Among Elders in Haidian District of Beijing

Objective To understand present status of the disease prevention knowledge and health behaviors among elderly people in Haidian district of Beijing,and to provide a basis for advancing health education work towards them. Methods Stratified random sampling method was employed to select 1 290 elderly from communities in Haidian district and questionnaires were conducted among them. Results The awareness rate of the prevention knowledge was 74. 7%, and rates of prevention and control of infectious disease and chronic non-communicable disease were 82. 7% and 65. 3% respectively. Health behavior formation rate was 56. 2%, higher in women than in men with statistical difference. Conclusion The awareness rates of disease prevention knowledge and health behavior formation are comparatively low,and thus three-level health education network should be fully implemented to improve the situation.
Shunt operations for portal hypertension.

At the present time, the subject of portal-systemic shunting continues to be controversial. No one shunt has been shown to be clearly superior to others. Furthermore, the merits of shunt operations in prolonging the life of the cirrhotic patient by preventing death from hemorrhage continue to be the subject of much discussion.
An Extended Polyhedral Model for SPMD Programs and Its Use in Static Data Race Detection

Despite its age, SPMD (Single Program Multiple Data) parallelism continues to be one of the most popular parallel execution models in use today, as exemplified by OpenMP for multicore systems and CUDA and OpenCL for accelerator systems. The basic idea behind the SPMD model, which makes it different from task-parallel models, is that all logical processors (worker threads) execute the same program with sequential code executed redundantly and parallel code executed cooperatively. In this paper, we extend the polyhedral model to enable analysis of explicitly parallel SPMD programs and provide a new approach for static detection of data races in SPMD programs using the extended polyhedral model. We evaluate our approach using 34 OpenMP programs from the OmpSCR and PolyBench-ACC (PolyBench-ACC derives from the PolyBench benchmark suite and provides OpenMP, OpenACC, CUDA, OpenCL and HMPP implementations.) benchmark suites.
Actigraphic sleep measures and diet quality in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos Sueño ancillary study

Summary Using a cross-sectional probability sample with actigraphy data and two 24-h dietary recalls, we quantified the association between sleep duration, continuity, variability and timing with the Alternative Healthy Eating Index-2010 diet quality score and its components in 2140 Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos participants. The Alternative Healthy Eating Index diet quality-2010 score ranges from 0 to 110, with higher scores indicating greater adherence to the dietary guidelines and lower risk from major chronic disease. None of the sleep measures was associated with total caloric intake as assessed using dietary recalls. However, both an increase in sleep duration and sleep efficiency were associated with healthier diet quality. Each standard deviation increase in sleep duration (1.05 h) and sleep efficiency (4.99%) was associated with a 0.30 point increase and 0.28 point increase, respectively, in the total Alternative Healthy Eating Index-2010 score. The component of Alternative Healthy Eating Index-2010 most strongly associated with longer sleep duration was increased nuts and legumes intake. The components of Alternative Healthy Eating Index-2010 most strongly associated with higher sleep efficiency were increased whole fruit intake and decreased sodium intake. Both longer sleep duration and higher sleep efficiency were significantly associated with better diet quality among US Hispanic/Latino adults. The dietary components most strongly associated with sleep duration and sleep efficiency differed, suggesting potentially independent mechanisms by which each aspect of sleep impacts dietary choices. Longitudinal research is needed to understand the directionality of these identified relationships and the generalizability of these data across other ethnic groups.
H. R. POLT, Jovellanos and his English sources. Economic, philosophical, and political writings. The American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, 1964. (Transactions, New series, Vol. 54, Part 7).

Se reseno el libro: Jovellanos and his English sources. Economic, philosophical, and political writings.
E1A-Based Determinants of Oncogenicity in Human Adenovirus Groups A and C

A broad spectrum of genetic and molecular investigations carried out with group C, Ad2 and Ad5, and with group A, Ad12, have shown that early regionl (El) gene products are sufficient for complete transformation of rodent cells in vitro by these viruses. During the past quarter century, the processes by which E1A proteins, in cooperation with E1B proteins, perturb the cell cycle and induce the transformed phenotype, have become well defined. Somewhat less understood is the basis for the differential oncogenicity of these two groups of viruses, and the processes by which the E1A proteins of Ad12 induce a tumorigenic phenotype in transformants resulting from infection of cells in vivo and in vitro. In this chapter we review previous findings and present new evidence which demonstrates that Ad12 E1A possesses two or more independent functions enabling it to induce tumors. One of these functions lies in its capacity to repress transcription of MHC class I genes, allowing the tumor cells to avoid lysis by cytotoxic T lymphocytes. We have shown that class I repression is mediated through increased binding of repressor COUP-TF and decreased binding of NF-kB to the class I enhancer. In addition to mediating immune escape, DA also determines the susceptibility of transformants to Natural Killer (NK) cell lysis, and in this case, also, Ad12 transformants are not susceptible. By using Ad 12 mutants containing chimeric E1A Ad12-Ad5 genes, point mutations, or a specific deletion, we have shown that the unique spacer region of Ad12 E1A is an oncogenic determinant, but is not required for transformation in vitro. Given that the E1A regions responsible for class I repression are first exon encoded, we have examined a set of cell lines transformed by these altered viruses, and have found that while they display greatly reduced tumorigenicity, they maintain a wild-type capacity to repress class I transcription. Whether the spacer contributes to NK evasion remains unresolved. Lastly, we discuss the properties of the Ad2/Ad5 E1A C-terminal negative modulator of tumorigenicity, and examine the effects on transformation, tumor induction and transformant tumorigenicity, when the Ad5 negative modulator is placed by chimeric construction in Ad12 E1A.
Interaction with calf-thymus DNA and photoinduced cleavage of pBR322 by rhodium(III) and iridium(III) complexes containing crown thioether ligands

Abstract In this report, we present our investigation on the photoinduced cleavage of plasmid pBR322 and the binding interactions with calf-thymus (CT) DNA by a series of thioether metal complexes. The complexes of interest are rhodium and iridium complexes containing thiacrown ligands 1,4,7-trithiacyclononane (9S3) and 1-oxa-4,7-dithiacyclononane (9S2O), and the complexes are abbreviated as [Rh(9S3)Cl3], [Rh(9S2O)Cl3], and [Ir(9S3)Cl3]. In the nicking assay, pBR322 was treated with each complex and irradiated at 254 and 350 nm, respectively, in concentration- and time-dependent studies. The nicking assay revealed that, under exposure to 254-nm radiation, [Rh(9S3)Cl3] and [Rh(9S2O)Cl3] cleaved pBR322 efficiently forming a nicked form, while [Ir(9S3)Cl3] was least efficient. For the 350-nm irradiation, a similar trend was observed, with [Rh(9S3)Cl3] being the most efficient one, however with a lower efficiency than at 254 nm. An ethidium bromide displacement assay was also carried out to evaluate the binding interaction of each compound with CT-DNA by titrating the pre-equilibrated complex of CT-DNA and EB with the investigated complexes. The efficient concentration to achieve a 50% loss in fluorescent emission was found to be 24 μM for [Rh(9S3)Cl3] and 35 μM for [Rh(9S2O)Cl3], while [Ir(9S3)Cl3] was an ineffective DNA binder.
A Layered Model for AI Governance

AI-based systems are “black boxes,” resulting in massive information asymmetries between the developers of such systems and consumers and policymakers. In order to bridge this information gap, this article proposes a conceptual framework for thinking about governance for AI.
Web-based Dissemination and Visualization of Operational 3D Mesoscale Weather Models

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses web-based dissemination and visualization of operational 3D mesoscale weather models. Visualization is critical to the effective analysis and dissemination and assessment of data generated by numerical weather prediction. Such weather simulations, used for either research or operational forecasting, typically involve the time-varying solution of a large set of coupled partial differential equations on a single or multiple nested meshes using finite difference methods. Appropriate mapping of user goals to the design of pictorial content has been useful in the development of interactive applications with sufficient bandwidth for timely access to the model data. When remote access to the model visualizations is required, the limited bandwidth becomes the primary bottleneck. To help address these problems, visualizations are presented on a Web page as a meta-representation of the model output and serve as an index to simplify finding other visualizations of relevance. This approach to Web-based visualization has shown promise in an operational environment. The spreadsheet/abstraction notion can be further expanded to serve as an index for more traditional Web-based visualizations as well as visualizations that can be developed on technologies available to support entertainment and e-business applications.
The Impact of Multiple Real-Time Scaffolding Experiences on Science Inquiry Practices

Computer-assisted assessment environments, such as intelligent tutoring systems, simulations, and virtual environments are now being designed to measure students’ science inquiry practices. Some assessment environments not only evaluate students’ inquiry practice competencies, but also provide real-time scaffolding in order to help students learn. The present study aims to examine the impact of real-time scaffolding from an animated, pedagogical agent on students’ inquiry performance across a number of practices. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: receiving scaffolding or no scaffolding. All participants completed three virtual labs: Flower (a general pretest), Phase Change, and Density. Results showed that students who received immediate feedback during assessment performed better on subsequent inquiry tasks. These findings have implications for designers and researchers regarding the benefits of including real-time scaffolding within intelligent assessment systems.
Preferred sampler inlet configurations for collection of aerosolized nano-scale materials

ABSTRACTBackground: Due to the lack of standard industrial hygiene sampling protocols for collection of nano-scale materials, sampling inlet device selection is left to individual researchers and professionals.Objective: The objective of this study was to compare nano-scale aspiration efficiency for common inlet configurations with that of an open-ended sampler tube that is a commonly used inlet for direct reading instruments such as a condensation particle counter.Methods: A polydisperse aerosol was generated using an electric motor as the aerosol source. Typical aerosols generated by this method produced particles with geometric mean mobility diameters of approximately 30 nm with geometric standard deviations of approximately 2. Comparison of raw particle counts in size ranges measured with a scanning mobility particle analyzer was made by determining the fractional difference between the selected inlet and that of the open-ended tube.Results: Particle size distributions were nearly identical for all in...
CYP24A1: Structure, Function, and Physiological Role

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews the enzymatic pathways, the structure–function relationships, and the role of CYP24A1 in the catabolism of 1,25(OH)2D. Catabolism of 1,25(OH)2D occurs through CYP24A1-mediated modification of the secosteroid's aliphatic side-chain. CYP24A1 is a mitochondrial inner membrane cytochrome P450 enzyme that utilizes the soluble iron–sulfur protein adrenodoxin and the flavoenzyme adrenodoxin reductase for NADPH-derived electron transfer into its heme center. The enzyme exhibits multifunctionality and the pathways catalyzed by the protein are mapped out in this chapter. In addition, this chapter presents the putative additional biological roles of the enzyme and one of its main catalytic products, together with the perspectives offered by pharmacological modulation of its activity. Finally, it suggests that inhibition of CYP24A1 activity could be beneficial to enhance 1,25(OH)2D action. The rationale for such an inhibitory treatment is apparent in improving the efficacy of the vitamin D hormone and D analogs in cancer therapy and in the treatment of hyperproliferative diseases such as psoriasis. Novel findings suggest that CYP24A1 inhibitors could also help in the clinical management of chronic kidney disease.
Cytokines in Multiple Myeloma

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a clonal plasma cell neoplasm which remains incurable despite conventional therapy; and new treatment strategies are therefore urgently required (1,2). MM cells predominantly localize in bone marrow (BM), and their interaction with BM stromal cells (BMSCs) stimulates transcription and secretion of cytokines from BMSCs. Cytokines in turn not only promote the growth and survival of MM cells, but also reduce efficacy of conventional drugs (2). For example, adherence of MM cells to BMSCs triggers interleukin-6 (IL-6) and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) production from BMSCs, which induces MM cell growth and protect against dexamethasone (Dex)-induced MM apoptosis (3–8). High serum levels of IL-6 and IGF-I in MM patients (9,10) also correlate with clinical drug-resistance in MM. Cytokines trigger three signaling cascades in MM cells: mitogen-activated extracellular kinase 2(MEK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK); phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3-kinase)/AKT; and Janus kinases (JAK)-signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) pathways. Novel treatment strategies based on targeting these signaling pathways are now being designed to block cytokine-mediated growth/survival and drug-resistance. In this chapter, we review the role of various cytokines in the biology of MM, as well as novel therapies that overcome cytokine-mediated growth, survival, migration and chemoresistance.
Structure-Property Relations in Skutterudites

Vigorous research efforts over the past few years to identify new, efficient thermoelectric materials that would supercede the existing materials base of thermoelectrics has resulted in several interesting structures. A common feature of many of these novel thermoelectrics is a relatively open atomic configuration that offers numerous possibilities to modify the material with the aim of maximizing its thermoelectric efficiency. Among these novel thermoelectrics, skutterudites have attracted the greatest attention. An in-depth account of the physical, chemical, and materials issues pertaining to skutterudites has been published recently1, and the relevance of skutterudites to thermoelectricity was pointed out2. In the space available here, I will focus on the interrelation between the structural and bonding characteristics of skutterudite compounds and their transport properties that ultimately determine whether skutterudites will fulfill their promise as novel thermoelectric materials.
Predicting household residency among youth from vulnerable families

Abstract This study examined the relationship between maternal social stability and household residency among youth in vulnerable families. Data on the household residency of biological children (under 18 years of age) was collected from 259 mothers in Baltimore, Maryland. Only half (50%) of the mothers lived with at least one of their biological children. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine which maternal characteristics and stability factors predicting the likelihood of a child not living with their biological mother. A history of mental health diagnoses as well as economic and housing instability were the strongest predictors of children not living with their biological mothers. Social stability factors such as incarceration history, and receipt of food stamps were not associated with an increased likelihood that children were not living with their biological mother. Maternal economic and housing instability may be the basis on which vulnerability begins for youth. These findings serve as the foundation for future researchers interested in identifying factors that may moderate or mediate the complex relationship between maternal stability and childhood outcomes.
Opioid Overdose After Surgical Discharge

This pharmacoepidemiology study uses commercial claims database data to describe the rate of opioid overdose 1 to 3 months after surgical discharge by dose and procedure from 2004 to 2015.
Modeling seasonal onset of coastal ice

To support regional management planning decisions, and to protect human health and safety, we developed a new statistical model that simulates the onset of seasonal ice cover along the shoreline of a US National Park (the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, or APIS). Our model encodes relationships between different modes of climate variability and regional ice cover from 1972 to 2015, and successfully simulates both the timing of ice onset and the probability that ice cover might form at all in a particular winter season. We simulate both of these endpoints using a novel combination of statistical hazard (or survival) and beta regression models. Our analysis of coastal ice cover along the APIS reinforces findings from previous research suggesting that the late 1990s signified a regime shift in climate conditions across North America. Before this period, coastal ice cover conditions at the APIS were often suitable for pedestrian access, while after this period coastal ice cover at the APIS has been highly variable. Our new model accommodates this regime shift, and provides a stepping stone towards a broad range of applications of similar models for supporting regional management decisions in light of evolving climate conditions.
Impairment of cognitive flexibility in type 2 diabetic db/db mice

Impaired executive function is a major peril for patients with type 2 diabetes, reducing quality of life and ability for diabetes management. Despite the significance of this impairment, few animal models of type 2 diabetes examine domains of executive function such as cognitive flexibility or working memory. Here, we evaluated these executive function domains in db/db mice, an established model of type 2 diabetes, at 10 and 24 weeks of age. The db/db mice showed impaired cognitive flexibility in the Morris water maze reversal phase. However, the db/db mice did not show apparent working memory disturbance in the spatial working memory version of the Morris water maze or in the radial water maze. We also examined axon initial segments (AIS) and nodes of Ranvier, key axonal domains for action potential initiation and propagation. AIS were significantly shortened in medial prefrontal cortex and hippocampus of 26-week-old db/db mice compared with controls, similar to our previous findings in 10-week-old mice. Nodes of Ranvier in corpus callosum, previously shown to be unchanged at 10 weeks, were elongated at 26 weeks, suggesting an important role for this domain in disease progression. Together, the findings help establish db/db mice as a model of impaired cognitive flexibility in type 2 diabetes and advance our understanding of its pathophysiology.