cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Impact of PTSD-Linked Strain Sensitivity on Violent Offending: Differences in Effects During Adolescence Versus Early Adulthood.

Objectives Investigate the relevance of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-linked strain sensitivity associated with exposure to violence for predicting violence outcomes among juvenile offenders during adolescence and early adulthood. Methods This study uses the Pathways to Desistance data and to test relevant relationships. Two series of negative binomial regression models were estimated to test hypotheses, one corresponding to each period of the life course. Results Results indicated that witnessed violence interacted with PTSD status in adolescence, indicating that individuals afflicted with PTSD demonstrated heightened sensitivity to this strain, manifested in increased violent offending. Conclusions Results indicate that witnessed violence may act as a trigger during adolescence, resulting in juvenile offenders with PTSD responding with violence. This may have treatment implications for individuals suffering from PTSD.
Recruitment Efforts to save a Teacher-preparation Program:

When enrollments dropped sharply in Florida State University's teacher-preparation program in visual disabilities, major efforts were made to recruit undergraduate and graduate students and hence t...
Psychological Distress Mediates the Prospective Association of Household Income with Body Mass Index in Adolescent Girls

The primary objective of this study was to examine whether psychological distress mediates the relationship between income and increases in body mass index in adolescent girls. To answer this question, we analyzed data from 2379 participants in the longitudinal NHLBI Growth and Health Study using regularized regression and path analysis. The exposure was household income at age 9–10 and the outcome was body mass index at age 18–19. Income negatively predicted psychological distress, which in turn predicted psychological and behavioral factors that were associated with increases in body mass index. Overall, psychological distress and related variables accounted for around 20% of the relationship between income and increases in body mass index in adolescent girls. The impacts of income on a complex constellation of psychological risks for obesity support the evaluation of income support policies for reducing economic inequalities in obesity. Obesity reduction programs focused on changing psychological distress should be developed with consideration of the household economic environment.
The Negative Predictive Value of a PI-RADS Version 2 Score of 1 on Prostate MRI and the Factors Associated With a False-Negative MRI Study

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to calculate the negative predictive value of a prostate MRI study with a Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System version 2 (PI-RADSv2) score of 1 (hereafter referred to as a PI-RADS 1 MRI study) and to explore the patient characteristics and MRI-based factors associated with an MRI study with false-negative results. MATERIALS AND METHODS. A total of 542 consecutive patients with a PI-RADS 1 MRI study obtained between January 2016 and July 2019 were retrospectively identified. Patient charts were examined to identify those patients who subsequently underwent systematic prostate biopsy within 1 year of undergoing MRI or at any later date if the biopsy was negative. Patient characteristics and MRI-specific factors were recorded. Two blinded radiologists evaluated the quality of the axial T2-weighted, DWI, and apparent diffusion coefficient sequences; measured the volume of the bladder, the prostate gland, and rectal gas; and determined whether the peripheral zone was avidly enhancing and whether low signal intensity was seen in 50% or more of the peripheral zone on T2-weighted images. Interobserver agreement was tested. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression models were built. RESULTS. A total of 150 patients (median age, 63 years; interquartile range, 56-70 years) were included. Of these patients, 19 (13%) had prostate cancer with a Gleason score of 3 + 4 or greater, yielding a negative predictive value of 87%. Both low T2 signal intensity in the peripheral zone and the prostate-specific antigen level were associated with a false-negative PI-RADS 1 assessment (odds ratio, 4.9 [95% CI, 1.6-14.9; p = 0.006] and 1.1 [95% CI, 1.0-1.2; p = 0.03], respectively). A cutoff prostate-specific antigen level of 3.97 ng/mL resulted in sensitivity and specificity of 89% and 21%, respectively. There was moderate interobserver agreement for low T2 signal intensity in the peripheral zone (κ coefficient = 0.75). CONCLUSION. Even among select patients who undergo subsequent biopsy because of a high clinical suspicion of prostate cancer, a PI-RADS 1 prostate MRI study has a high negative predictive value. A T2-hypointense peripheral zone and an elevated prostate-specific antigen level are significantly associated with a false-negative MRI study.
A Quality Improvement Approach to Implementing Secondhand Smoke Exposure Screening and Interventions in the Inpatient Pediatric Setting

Goal: Given that children of lower socioeconomic status are more likely to be exposed to the harmful effects of tobacco, we worked with nurse and physician champions to implement a screening and intervention protocol at our clinical site, the inpatient pediatric ward of a safety net hospital with an almost exclusively Medicaid population. This protocol aims to improve both the quality and equity of pediatric healthcare. Current State: On the inpatient pediatric ward, no standardized screening tool for secondhand smoke exposure (SHSE) currently exists. Upon chart review, …
Peer effects in smoking cessation: An instrumental variables analysis of a worksite intervention in Thailand

While smoking is widely acknowledged to be a social activity, limited evidence exists on the extent to which friends influence each other during worksite-based tobacco cessation interventions. Drawing on data from adult smokers (N = 1823) in a large, cluster randomized controlled trial in worksites in Thailand, this study examines the presence of social spillovers in the decision to abstain from smoking. We leverage a unique aspect of social network structure in these data-the existence of non-overlapping friendship networks-to address the challenge of isolating the effects of peers on smoking behavior from the confounding effects of endogenous friend selection and bidirectional peer influence. We find that individuals with workplace friends who have abstained from smoking during the trial are significantly more likely to abstain themselves. Instrumental variables estimates suggest that abstinence after 3 and 12 months increases 26 and 32 percentage points, respectively, for each additional workplace friend who abstains. These findings highlight the potential for workplace interventions to use existing social networks to magnify the effect of individual-level behavior change, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where tobacco cessation support tends to be limited.
Facilities for Nano Materials Examination at the Pulstar Reactor

The PULSTAR is a 1-MWth nuclear research reactor located at North Carolina State University. It is fueled by uranium dioxide assemblies enriched to 4% or 6% in U-235 and is currently under licensing for operation at 2-MWth power. The PULSTAR is a center for irradiation testing and pre/post irradiation examination of materials. Among its unique capabilities are positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS) and neutron powder diffraction (NPD) facilities. The PAS facility provides an intense positron beam reaching 6 × 108 e+ /s, which drives two spectrometers; the e+ -PAS and the Ps-PAS, used for studies of defects in thin film materials. A Na-22 bulk PAS system is also operational, which is used for studying millimeter scale materials. All spectrometers are capable of performing Doppler Broadening Spectroscopy (DBS) and Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy (PALS). To date, the PAS systems have been used to characterize various materials (unirradiated and irradiated) that include graphite, soft matter, and metal-organic frameworks (MOF). The NPD facility uses a double focusing single crystal silicon rotating monochromator producing neutron beams with different energies. A position sensitive detection bank covers a scattering angle of 5°-125°. The facility is used in the examination of unirradiated and irradiated materials including graphitic materials, magnetic materials without rare-earth elements, and anode materials used in lithium batteries. The collected diffraction patterns can be processed to produce atomic pair distribution functions. The PAS and NPD facilities are available through user programs including the US DOE’s Nuclear Science User Facilities (NSUF) and the US NSF’s Research Triangle Nanotechnology Network (RTNN).
Severe post-COVID-19 costochondritis in children

Although children comprise the fewest cases of COVID-19 infection, symptoms, and complications among the various age groups affected, new long-term consequences are being reported. Here, we report a case of severe costochondritis unresponsive to traditional management in a child who had COVID-19 infection a few months earlier. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of post-COVID-19 costochondritis (PCC) that has been successfully managed with colchicine. We recommend the consideration of colchicine as therapy for PCC in children presenting with severe musculoskeletal chest pain unresponsive to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or steroids. Physicians should maintain a high clinical suspicion for PCC to prevent unnecessary steroid treatment, frequent emergency department visits, and potential for drug abuse in these patients with severe chest pain.
Surface-based analysis of the developing cerebral cortex

Abstract The human cerebral cortex undergoes dynamic and regionally heterogeneous development during infancy. Cortical surface-based analysis, which explicitly reconstructs topologically-correct and geometrically-accurate surface representations of the highly-folded, thin cerebral cortex, is the key to precisely measure, integrate, and map brain structural, functional, and connectivity information from multimodal infant MR images. However, due to dynamic image contrast and brain size, shape, and folding degree, especially during the first postnatal year, cortical surface-based computational tools tailored for neonates, infants and toddlers are highly needed, as conventional tools developed for adults are not suitable. In this chapter, we will introduce major challenges, available solutions, and key steps in cortical surface-based analysis of infant MR images. These steps include cortical topology correction, surface reconstruction, surface registration, surface parcellation, atlas construction, computation and integration of biologically meaningful multimodal cortical properties, e.g. cortical thickness, surface area, myelin content, cortical folding, diffusivity, structural and functional connectivity. We will also discuss the limitations of current works and some promising directions for future works.
Outcomes Over Follow-up ≥10 Years After Surgical Myectomy for Symptomatic Obstructive Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.

For over 50 years, surgical septal myectomy has been the preferred treatment for drug-refractory heart failure symptoms in obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). However, given the relatively youthful adult ages at which HCM surgery is usually performed, it is informative to evaluate longer-term results of myectomy after ≥10 years. We identified 139 consecutive obstructive HCM patients (50 ± 15 years of age; 55% men) who underwent surgical myectomy, 2003 to 2010 at Tufts HCM Center and followed 11.3 ± 2.7 years (range to 17). Operative mortality was low (0.6%) and left ventricular (LV) outflow gradients at rest were reduced from 56 ± 40 mm Hg preoperatively to 1 ± 7 mm Hg postoperatively, durable over the study period, with no patient requiring reoperation for the residual gradient. Over follow-up, 129 of 139 patients (93%) were alive ≥10 years after myectomy, including 17 patients ≥15 years. Of 118 patients with complete long-term clinical follow-up data, 109 (92%) experienced clinical improvement to New York Heart Association classes I or II. In 9 patients (8%) refractory class III/IV symptoms reoccurred 6.6 ± 3.9 years postoperatively, including 4 who ultimately underwent a heart transplant. After myectomy, there were 2 late HCM-related deaths, but none suddenly; notably 6 patients (12%) with prophylactic implantable cardioverter-defibrillators experienced appropriate therapy terminating ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation after myectomy. Survival following myectomy was 91% at 10 years (95% confidence interval: 85, 96%) not different from the age- and gender-matched general United States population (log-rank p = 0.64). In conclusion, myectomy provides permanent abolition of outflow gradients with reversal of heart failure and highly favorable long-term survival, representing a low-risk:high-benefit option when performed in experienced HCM centers. Myectomy did not protect absolutely against arrhythmic sudden death events, underscoring the importance of risk stratification in operative patients.
Sinus of Valsalva aneurysm causing extrinsic compression of the left main coronary artery.

An 84-year-old woman with aortic valve stenosis presented with a month-long history of mid-sternal chest pain with exertion that was relieved with rest. Stress testing was performed, which revealed possible ischemia in the anterior wall. She then underwent coronary angiography and was found to have
Mechanisms of tolerance to herbivore damage: what do we know?

Identifying mechanisms of tolerance to herbivore damage will facilitate attempts to understand the role of tolerance in the evolutionary and ecological dynamics of plants and herbivores. Investigations of the physiological and morphological changes that occur in plants in response to herbivore damage have identified several potential mechanisms of tolerance. However, it is unlikely that all physiological changes that occur following damage are tolerance mechanisms. Few studies have made direct comparisons between the expression of tolerance and the relative expression of putative mechanisms. I briefly review empirical evidence for some of the better-studied potential mechanisms, including increased photosynthetic activity, compensatory growth, utilization of stored reserves, and phenological delays. For each of these mechanisms I discuss reasons why the relationship between tolerance and these characters may be more complicated than it first appears. I conclude by discussing several empirical approaches, including herbivore manipulations, quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis, and selection experiments, that will further our understanding of tolerance mechanisms.
Methods for studying the neural basis of voluntary behavior, part II: wavelet decompositions and other joint time-frequency analyses of local field potentials

Changes in a cell's spike rate are the outcome of pre-processing occurring in its thousands of dendro-dendritic and dendro-axonal synapses. In this paper we describe a sequence of analytic steps, including a novel use of the continuous wavelet transform, that we have developed for studying the synaptic pre-processing accompanying behaviorally significant spike rate variance seen in our movement tasks. Synaptic membrane activity is highly nonstationary, which poses difficulties for traditional spectral techniques such as Fourier analysis because of the frequency-time compromises inherent in such techniques. Thus, we apply multiple joint time-frequency techniques to our LFP data to visualize distributions of energy at different frequencies across task-time. First we segment the task into behavioral phases associated with significant co-modulation of spike rate and LFP amplitude fluctuations on single trials. Next we use coherence analyses to select representative LFPs from each area, and select a so-called mother wavelet for the continuous wavelet transform, yielding a time resolution at the millisecond scale. The mother wavelet is chosen for its proven biological plausibility and its ability to allow complete LFP reconstruction. Because of its partially redundant representation of energy across frequency and time, the continuous wavelet transform is particularly suitable for visualizing the task's "time-frequency topology". We then cross-validate these results by performing orthogonal versus non-orthogonal wavelet transforms and other JTFAs such as Gabor and short-time Fourier analyses. Finally, we use the discrete wavelet transform to combine data for a given task across trials, and test for non-background distribution of energy across frequency and time with chi-squared analyses.
The Actin Side-Binding Domain of Gelsolin Also Caps Actin Filaments. Implications for Actin Filament Severing

Gelsolin is an actin filament-severing and -capping protein which is inhibited by polyphosphoinositides (PPI). Severing requires gelsolin binding to the side of the filaments through a site in segments 2 and 3 (S2-3) to position another site in segment 1 (S1) to sever filaments. In this paper, we report that S2-3, like S1, caps actin filaments. Since neither S1 and S2-3 caps as well as gelsolin, and neither severs actin filament, S2-3 may actively contribute to severing by capping filaments cooperatively with S1. We used deletional mutagenesis to locate the S2-3 sequence required for actin filament side binding, capping, and PPI binding and found that these sites are located close to the NH2 terminus of S2 (residues 161-172). S3, a segment which has no known function up to now and does not by itself bind actin, contributes to stable capping and may contain an additional PPI-binding site.
Studies of 3-dimensional voltage distributions induced in homogeneous media volume conductors by round and butterfly magnetic coils

Magnetic coils (MCs) for physiological stimulation of the human nervous system are discussed. Using a butterfly MC at threshold intensity over the motor cortex, focal movements can be elicited in contralateral digits. These observations can in part be explained by physical models of homogeneous volume conductors which allow measurement of induced voltage gradients in 3-D space. In an infinite-volume conductor, a round MC induces the greatest voltage gradient under the windings. The butterfly MC induces a sharp, central peak separated from smaller lateral peaks. >
Mining multi-dimensional data with visualization techniques

This paper describes a method to generate classification rules by using an interactive multidimensional data visualization and classification tool, called PolyCluster. PolyCluster is a system that adopts state-of-the-art algorithms for data visualization and integrates human domain knowledge into the construction process of classification rules. In addition, PolyCluster proposes a pair of novel and robust measurements, called the Average External Connecting Distance and the Average Internal Connecting Distance to evaluate the quality of the induced clusters. Experimental evaluation shows that PolyCluster is a visual-based approach that offers numerous improvements over previous visual-based techniques.
Electromagnetic Stirring of Plutonium Metal Part I: Theoretical Calculations and System Design (LA-UR-13-23071)

Currently one difficulty presented in the induction melting and casting of Pu is stirring of the metal during melting. Stirring is typically performed mechanically by an operator, who plunges a stir rod into the melt, or by a complex mechanical system. These methods have several inherent problems; vacuum degradation associated with mechanical actuation through containment and plunging of impurity rich skull back into the melt which has been shown to introduce casting defects.
Text segmentation in mixed-mode images

Block based algorithms have found widespread use in image and video compression. However, popular algorithms such as JPEG, which are very effective in compressing continuous tone images, do not perform well with mixed-mode images which have a substantial text component. With a growing number of applications where such images occur, e.g., color facsimile, digital libraries and educational videos, there are advantages in being able to classify each block as being text or continuous tone. With such a classification, different compression parameters or even algorithms may be employed for the two kinds of data to obtain high compression with minimal loss in visual quality. In this paper we analyze and compare four methods for block classification in mixed mode images, namely variance, absolute-deviation, edge, and DCT based methods. Our evaluation of each scheme is based on the accuracy of segmentation, robustness across different types of images and sensitivity to the threshold used for segmentation. Our results show that DCT based segmentation offers the best accuracy and robustness. Another advantage of DCT is that it is compatible with standards like JPEG, MPEG and H.261. >
De l'importance de tater le pouls.

The physician Bordeu (1722-1776) is best known as a character in Diderot's Reve de d'Alembert. Yet his medical writings are worth studying for their synthesis of ancient and modern medicine. In particular, his "Recherches sur le pouls par rapport aux crises," published in 1756, is a valuable source for investigating subtle changes in the methods of and reasons for pulse taking. Bordeu proposed to read more from the pulse than the usual patient's temperament. He thought that the blood stream manifested bodily activities, indicated where diseases occurred, and predicted when and where crises took place, which could relieve morbid matters. The study of "Recherches sur le pouls" shows how he adapted traditional and current theories to his specific goals. In accord with the sensationists, he wanted to increase the use of touch to advance medical knowledge. Bordeu chose the pulse while Auenbrugger (1728-1809) turned his attention to percussion. Both physicians were striving for means to bring into focus a picture from inside the patient's body to the physician's mind. Bordeu's vitalist perspective used pulse feeling to reach functions; Auenbrugger's mechanistic bent applied percussion to reveal organs. Both correctly insisted that their method detected unsuspected pathologies; percussion is still widely used, while pulse feeling is often neglected.
Christian Higher Education at the Start of the 21st Century: A Review Essay

Dockery, David S. (2012). Faith and learning: A handbook for Christian higher education. Nashville, TN: B&H Academic. ISBN 978-1-4336-7311-5, 548 pages.190 Hawthorne, John W. (2014). A first step i...
Rapid analysis of forensic samples using an atmospheric solid analysis probe interfaced to a linear ion trap mass spectrometer.

RATIONALE This paper highlights the simplicity of interfacing an Atmospheric Solid Analysis Probe (ASAP) to a Linear Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer and shows that this technique can be used for the rapid generation of high-quality data from a range of sample types with minimal or no sample preparation. METHODS For a solid sample or surface deposit, the process entails rubbing a capillary melting tube a few times on the sample to transfer material to the capillary surface and then introducing it into the source of the mass spectrometer. Similarly, for a liquid sample, a capillary tube is dipped into the sample to just coat the surface or a few microliters may be applied to the tip of a capillary before being analyzed by Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Ionization in both positive and negative mode. RESULTS A rodenticide containing brodifacoum, black tar heroin and its impurities (morphine, codeine, noscapine, papaverine, and monoacetylmorphine), crack cocaine and 1-methylaminoanthraquinone dyestuff were successfully analyzed directly without any sample preparation. All compounds were detected using full scan mass spectrometry (MS), followed by confirmation by MS/MS. Preliminary results suggest that this technique could be used for quantitation. CONCLUSIONS Interfacing the ASAP to an ion trap mass spectrometer allows the ability to perform full scan, MSn experiments, and rapid positive/negative switching from a single sample introduction. Because of these features, this instrument is very useful for rapid, routine analysis and for confirmation with the use of in-house MS/MS libraries. Published in 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
Evaluation of screening tests for detection of antibiotic residues in goat milk

Abstract Twenty Alpine does were used in this study to evaluate the effectiveness of cowside screening tests in detecting antibiotic residues in goat milk. Ten goats received procaine penicillin G intramuscularly in the hind quarters (2 ml of drug preparation or 600000 IU of procaine penicillin G). The remaining ten were treated with cephapirin sodium (200 mg cephapirin activity), 5 ml in each udder half (10 ml total) via intramammary infusion. Milk samples were collected during the evening milking before drug treatment (control) and subsequently every 24 h after treatment until antibiotic residue tests were negative. This experiment was repeated at four different stages of lactation. Delvotest P, Penzyme test and Bacillus sterothermophilus var. calidolactis disk assay (BsDA) were performed to screen all samples. Using BsDA results as standard references, the Penzyme test did not show any false-positive results in any samples from does treated with either penicillin G or cephapirin. The Delvotest P yielded approximately 7% false-positive results among milk samples at 48 h and 72 h sampling after penicillin G treatment and at 96 h sampling after cephapirin treatment. In contrast to cow milk, the increased somatic cell counts of goat milk did not elevate the false-positive results of Delvotest P. The results of this study indicated that the withholding time of milk not to be used for food was to be 72 h (six milkings) for penicillin G and 120 h (ten milkings) for cephapirin. The Penzyme test can be used as a goatside screening test because of its high sensitivity and specificity, and its quick results (20–25 min).
Pain Thresholds in Rats during Recovery from Rem Sleep Deprivation

Using 30 Sprague-Dawley female rats, threshold to pain was measured over the course of recovery from REM sleep deprivation. Relative to the untreated controls and to their own pretreatment thresholds, the REM-deprived animals showed significantly reduced pain thresholds which were still evident 96 hours after the termination of the REM deprivation. Possible implications of these data for research with analgesic drugs were noted.
Functional dissection of Toxoplasma gondii Perforin-Like Protein 1 reveals a dual domain mode of membrane binding for cytolysis and parasite egress

The recently discovered role of a perforin-like protein (PLP1) for rapid host cell egress by the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii expanded the functional diversity of pore-forming proteins. Whereas PLP1 was found to be necessary for rapid egress and pathogenesis, the sufficiency for and mechanism of membrane attack were yet unknown. Here we further dissected the PLP1 knock-out phenotype, the mechanism of PLP1 pore formation, and the role of each domain by genetic complementation. We found that PLP1 is sufficient for membrane disruption and has a conserved mechanism of pore formation through target membrane binding and oligomerization to form large, multimeric membrane-embedded complexes. The highly conserved, central MACPF domain and the β-sheet-rich C-terminal domain were required for activity. Loss of the unique N-terminal extension reduced lytic activity and led to a delay in rapid egress, but did not significantly decrease virulence, suggesting that small amounts of lytic activity are sufficient for pathogenesis. We found that both N- and C-terminal domains have membrane binding activity, with the C-terminal domain being critical for function. This dual mode of membrane association may promote PLP1 activity and parasite egress in the diverse cell types in which this parasite replicates.
Near Data Processing: Impact and Optimization of 3D Memory System Architecture on the Uncore

A promising recent development that can provide continued scaling of performance is the ability to stack multiple DRAM layers on a multi-core processor die. This paper analyzes the interaction between the interconnection network and the memory hierarchy in such systems, and its impact on system performance. We explore the design considerations of a 3D system with DRAM-on-processor stacking and note that full advantages of 3D can only be achieved by configuring the memory with high number of channels. This significantly increases memory level parallelism which results in decreasing the traffic per DRAM bank, reducing their queuing delays, but increasing it on the interconnection network, making remote accesses expensive. To reduce the latency and traffic on the network, we propose restructuring the memory hierarchy to a memory-side cache organization and also explore the effects of various address translations and OS page allocation strategies. Our results indicate that a carefully designed 3D memory system can already improve performance by 25-35% without looking towards new sophisticated techniques.
The Reiss Screen for Maladaptive Behavior: Confirmatory factor analysis

We tested the factorial stability of the Reiss Screen for Maladaptive Behavior (Reiss, 1988a, The Reiss Screen for Maladaptive Behavior test manual). Reasonable fit was demonstrated in a geographically diverse sample of 448 individuals with mild, moderate, severe and profound mental retardation according to four measures of overall fit: RMSEA, ECVI, NNFI, and NFI. The results confirm Reiss' (1988a) factor solution of this widely used dual diagnosis (mental retardation and mental illness) screening instrument.
Catecholamines, opioid peptides, and true opiates in the chromaffin cells of the eel: immunohistochemical evidence.

Abstract An immunohistological analysis of the chromaffin cell system of the American eel revealed the presence of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and dopamine-β-hydroxylase (DBH) in all cells. However, phenylethanolamine- N -methyltransferase (PNMT) was seen only in a fraction of the chromaffin cells. This suggests the presence of both norepinephrine and epinephrine cells and the absence of specific dopamine cells. The chromaffin cells are most numerous in the anterior region of the posterior cardinal vein, where they occupy a subendothelial position. Their number decreases caudally, and a relatively small number are present in the larger veins of the opisthonephric kidney. No PNMT-positive cells were identified in this region, although a radioenzymatic assay had previously shown the presence of epinephrine. Methionine-enkephalin immunoreactivity seems to be restricted to the chromaffin cells. However, particularly large amounts of leucine immunoreactivity occur in the interrenal cells, with smaller quantities in the chromaffin cells. The chromaffin cells of the eel also contain morphine immunoreactivity.
Interrelationships between Reading Disability and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Abstract Evidence from a number of investigations suggests a considerable overlap between reading disability (RD) and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We investigate the relationship between RD and ADHD in a cohort of 186 children 7.5–9.5 years of age, recruited explicitly to address classification and definitional issues in these disorders. Using multivariate methods, we examine the hypothesis that RD and ADHD represent separate diagnostic entities that frequently co-occur in the same individual. The results suggest that RD is characterized by deficits within the language system, in particular a subcomponent within that system, phonological processing; in contrast, such linguistic deficits are not characteristic of ADHD unless ADHD is associated with RD. When children with both RD and ADHD are examined, both the linguistic deficits associated with RD and the behavioral characteristics associated with ADHD are apparent, but these deficits are not synergistic. We conclude that RD and ADHD r...
The Singular History of a Canine Transmissible Tumor

In this issue of Cell, Murgia et al. (2006) confirm that the infectious agent of canine transmissible venereal tumor is the cancer cell itself and that the tumor is clonal in origin. Their findings have implications for understanding the relationship between genome instability and transmissible cancer and for conservation biology, canine genomics, and companion animal medicine.
Reproducibility of Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness Measurements Using Optical Coherence Tomography

Purpose: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a new technology that uses near-infrared light in an interferometer to produce approximately 10-µm resolution crosssectional images of the tissue of interest. The authors performed repeated quantitative assessment of nerve fiber layer thickness in individuals with normal and glaucomatous eyes, and they evaluated the reproducibility of these measurements. Methods: The authors studied 21 eyes of 21 subjects by OCT. Each subject underwent five repetitions of a series of scans on five separate occasions within a 1-month period. Each series consisted of three circular scans around the optic nerve head (diameters, 2.9, 3.4, and 4.5 mm). Each series was performed separately using internal (fixation with same eye being studied) and external (fixation with contralateral eye) fixation techniques. The eye studied and the sequence of testing were assigned randomly. Results: Internal fixation (IF), in general, provides a slightly higher degree of reproducibility than external fixation (EF). Reproducibility was better in a given eye on a given visit than from visit to visit. Reproducibility as measured by intraclass correlation coefficients were as follows: circle diameter (CD), 2.9 mm, 0.51/0.57 (normal/glaucoma) (IF), 0.43/0.54 (EF); CD, 3.4 mm, 0.56/0.52 (IF), 0.43/0.61 (EF); CD, 4.5 mm, 0.53/0.43 (IF), 0.42/0.49 (EF). Conclusions: Nerve fiber layer thickness can be reproducibly measured using OCT. Internal is superior to external fixation; each circle diameter tested provides adequate reproducibility.
A simple method for studying run-length distribution of exponentially weighted moving average charts

A numerical procedure using integral equations is presented for the tabulation of moments of run lengths of exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) charts. Both average run lengths (ARL's) and standard deviations of run lengths (SDRL's) are presented for the twosided EWMA chart assuming normal observations, along with an example illustrating how to design such a chart. The procedure given extends easily to many nonnormal cases and to one-sided versions of the EWMA chart.
Abrogation of Brd4 cellular function contributes to the oncogenic mechanisms of translocation t(15;19)-associated carcinoma

Background Brd4 (bromodomain-containing protein 4) is an important epigenetic reader that plays a crucial role in cellular proliferation and cell cycle progression. Several recent studies have identified Brd4 as a critical therapeutic target in a number of different cancers. Brd4 is also an important target of several oncogenic viruses and the translocation t (15;19) that accounts for a highly aggressive carcinoma. The t(15;19) translocation results in the novel in-frame fusion of the Brd4 N-terminal component with almost the entire sequence of Nut (Nuclear protein in testis) molecule, leading to the formation of a novel fusion oncogene, Brd4-Nut. The mechanism by which the Brd4-Nut fusion product contributes to oncogenesis remains to be clearly defined.
Detection of restricted predominant epitopes of Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus capsid proteins expressed in the λgt11 system: differential patterns of antibody reactivity among different mouse strains☆

Abstract Intracerebral injection of mice with Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus results in chronic demyelination in susceptible strains, and serves as a model system for the study of multiple sclerosis. The role of individual epitopes in the disease process remains to be elucidated. Random fragments of DNA from the viral capsid protein genome covering the coding regions from VP1, VP2, and VP3 have been expressed in the λgt11 vector system. Fusion proteins from the clones were expressed and probed with antibodies from both resistant and susceptible strains of mice. Each strain displays a distinctive pattern with certain fusion proteins recognized by all of the strains and others recognized uniquely by either the susceptible or the resistant strains.
THE RETENTION OF SENSORY EXPERIENCE. I. INTENSITY.

(1963). The Retention of Sensory Experience: I. Intensity. The Journal of Psychology: Vol. 56, No. 2, pp. 283-290.
Survival of conidia of Aspergillus flavus in dried foods

Abstract The survival of conidia of Aspergillus flavus in dried processed foods with water activities (aw) of 0.78 or less was monitored over 48 weeks at 21°C. Aspergillus differential medium (ADM) containing 30 μg/ml of tetracycline and ADM containing 50 μg/ml of streptomycin sulfate and 10 μg/ml of 2,6-dichloro-4-nitroanaline (botran) were compared for their ability to recover viable conidia from foods. The survival of conidia at aw 0.32 to 0.78 varied greatly among foods, the rate and extent of death of conidia being enhanced with increasing aw. The rate of destruction of conidia was more rapid in most acid foods in the range pH 6.81 to 3.75 but no effect of pH on survival was demonstrated in corn meal acidified with citric acid. The two ADM were judged to be equally acceptable as selective agars for supporting colony formation by A. flavus.
Hydrogen trap states in ultrahigh-strength AERMET 100 steel

Hydrogen (H) trap states and binding energies were determined for AERMET 100 (Fe-13.4Co-11Ni-3Cr-1.2Mo-0.2C), an ultrahigh-strength steel using thermal desorption methods. Three major H desorption peaks were identified in the precipitation-hardened microstructure, associated with three distinct metallurgical trap states, and apparent activation energies for desorption were determined for each. The lattice diffusivity (D L ) associated with interstitial H was measured experimentally and verified through trapping theory to yield H-trap binding energies (E b ). Solid-solution elements in AERMET 100 reduce D L by decreasing the pre-exponential diffusion coefficient, while the activation energy for migration is similar to that of pure iron. M2C precipitates are the major reversible trap states, with E b of 11.4 to 11.6 kJ/mol and confirmed by heat treatment that eliminated these precipitates and the associated H-desorption peak. A strong trap state with E b of 61.3 to 62.2 kJ/mol is likely associated with martensite interfaces, austenite grain boundaries, and mixed dislocation cores. Undissolved metal carbides and highly misoriented grain boundaries trap H with a binding energy of 89.1 to 89.9 kJ/mol. Severe transgranular hydrogen embrittlement in peak-aged AERMET 100 at a low threshold-stress intensity is due to H repartitioning from a high density of homogeneously distributed and reversible M2C traps to the crack tip under the influence of high hydrostatic tensile stress.
Lessons Learned about Schools and Their Responsibility To Foster Safety Online.

The Internet has provided an expansive environment that enhances many existing teaching and learning approaches while facilitating new activities that are free of traditional constraints. As a resu...
Analysis of excess free energy based equations of state models

A comparison is made of the capabilities of various equation of state (EOS) + excess free energy (G{sup ex}) models in representing the activity-coefficient models they incorporate. Such EOS models need to reproduce the excess Gibbs free energy behavior of the activity-coefficient models as closely as possible in order to represent low-pressure vapor-liquid equilibrium behavior of complex mixtures accurately, and also to make accurate the vapor-liquid predictions at higher temperatures and pressures using only low-pressure information. It is demonstrated that the EOS models that use the excess Helmholtz free energy instead of the excess Gibbs free energy, and that combine the EOS with activity-coefficient models at the infinite pressure limit, are successful for calculations of the type just described.
The Effective Content of Surreal Algebra

This paper defines and explores the properties of several effectivizations of the structure of surreal numbers. The construction of one of previously investigated systems, the metadyadics, is shown to be effectively equivalent to the construction of the surreals in . This equivalence is used to answer several open questions concerning the metadyadics. Results obtained seem to indicate that the metadyadics best capture the notion of a recursive surreal number.
Acoustic Thermometry Results from 271 to 552 K

The NIST acoustic thermometer determines the thermodynamic temperature from measurements of ratios of the speed of sound of argon in a nearly spherical cavity. We report recent results for T − T90 on 12 isotherms spanning the range 271–552 K. (T is the thermodynamic temperature and T90 is the temperature on the International Temperature Scale of 1990.) The results are in excellent agreement with recent acoustic thermometry results reported by Benedetto et al. in the range from 273 to 380 K and with our previously reported results at 303, 430, and 505 K. The combined data sets are sufficiently redundant and sufficiently distributed over the temperature range to support a re-determination of the reference function for standard platinum resistance thermometers for a future temperature scale. The isotherms were analyzed using several methods; the T−T90 results and related uncertainties are insensitive to the method chosen. The thermal expansion of the stainless-steel resonator was deduced from the frequencies of the microwave resonances of the cavity. To clearly identify two nearly degenerate eigenmodes in our nearly axially symmetric resonator, two phased coupling probes were used to control the azimuthal angle of the microwave excitation.
Monte carlo techniques

Monte Carlo techniques are often the only practical way to evaluate difficult integrals or to sample random variables governed by complicated probability density functions. Here we describe an assortment of methods for sampling some commonly occurring probability density functions.
Live Cell Biochemistry Implicates Protein Kinase a Modulation of L-Type CaV1.4 Channels

The regulation of L-type Ca2+ channels by protein kinase A (PKA), though biologically crucial, has long remained mechanistically storied and complex, as studied in native cells at one extreme, and through in vitro biochemistry at the other. Here, we adopt a different tactic and focus initially on an intermediate context, using ideas drawn from synthetic biology and live-cell biochemistry. We set out to create a form of PKA modulation in L-type channels, based on our recent findings that: (a) calmodulin (CaM) competes for binding at a channel C-terminal ‘IQ’ domain with an ‘ICDI’ module in the C-terminal extremity of L-type CaV1.3/1.4 channels, and (b) dislodging CaM profoundly suppresses peak channel opening by severalfold and eliminates their Ca2+-dependent inactivation (CDI) (Adams et al (2014), Cell in press). We reasoned that implanting a synthetic phosphorylation site in ICDI might weaken IQ interaction in a PKA-sensitive manner, allowing channels to rebind CaM and undergo CDI. Cognizant that full-bore PKA signaling is best conserved within certain native rather than model cells, we performed live-cell FRET interaction assays (IQ versus ICDI) in adult guinea-pig ventricular myocytes renown for strong PKA signaling. To our surprise in control experiments, we discovered that IQ interaction with the wild-type ICDI of L-type CaV1.4 channels is already sharply attenuated by PKA activation, whereas ICDI modules from other L-type isoforms showed no such modulability. Accordingly, we synthesized chimeric L-type CaV1.3 channels fused to the CaV1.4 ICDI module, and endowed such channels with robust forskolin-dependent enhancement of CDI, as observed in HEK293 cells. For wild-type CaV1.4 channels, we now also resolved analogous forskolin activatable CDI. This effect, discovered through a synthetic live-cell biochemical approach, might underlie the dopaminergic regulation of CaV1.4 implicated in circadian control within the retina.
The quasiquadrennial oscillation of Jupiter's equatorial stratosphere

Jupiter's 4-5 yr stratospheric equatorial temperature oscillation is compared here with two long-period oscillations of zonal winds in the earth's equatorial stratosphere, and it is proposed that the same mechanism - forcing by the stress of vertically propagating waves - responsible for the oscillations on both planets. Jupiter's temperature oscillation has been observed for slightly more than two cycles and closely resembles the temperature signatures of the earth's semiannual oscillation and quasi-biennial oscillation. If the mechanisms responsible for these oscillations are indeed similar, Jupiter's oscillation indicate that there is significant vertical momentum transport due to equatorially trapped atmospheric waves, and it may provide a means for probing the poorly understood process of the generation of these waves by convection.
Improvement in spatial resolution of track-etching microradiography☆

Abstract In the conventional microradiography of minerals, biological samples, and other specimens, for example by neutron-induced autoradiography, the spatial resolution which can be obtained is limited to about 10–40 μm, the range of fission fragments or alpha particles in the polymer registration medium. Several possible methods for improving resolution into the 2 microspheres as a “point source” of fission fragments. Absorber foils ∼10–15 μm thick between object and detector were shown to reduce the diameter of the undesirable “halo”, but best results have been obtained with glass detectors with a high critical registration angle and with the selective perforation of polymer (polycarbonate or cellulose nitrate) detector foils with a thickness slightly less than the particle range. The relative advantages and disadvantages of the various approaches are discussed.
Above and beyond the syllabus: transformation in an adult, foreign language classroom

While many students in a foreign language classroom are successful at learning the prescribed curriculum, they may never move beyond the grammar and vocabulary to experience transformative learning. On the other hand, students who do not achieve proficiency may experience a perspective transformation as a result of studying a foreign language. This study examines the experiences of three adult women who completed two semesters of a college level Spanish course. Data were collected through the Learning Activities Survey and interviews. Results showed participants experienced perspective transformation in three areas: 1) identified with Hispanic cultures, 2) increased awareness of diversity, and 3) became aware of ethnocentricity. Three types of classroom activities appeared to make significant contributions to perspective transformation: 1) meeting native speakers, 2) collaborative learning, and 3) viewing and analysing films.
Reduction of the incidence of new mastitis infections by "pre-squirting" teats.

Abstract "Pre-squirting" is a technique for flushing out the streak canal of a lactating cow while avoiding movement of milk from the teat back into the udder. When 500 colony-forming units of Streptococcus agalactiae were placed into the streak canal, pre-squirting before let down at succeeding milkings reduced the number of new udder infections. In contrast to this result, pre-squirting was not effective against challenging S. agalactiae placed into the teat cistern.