cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Alterations in platelet bioenergetics in Group 2 PH-HFpEF patients

Author(s): Nguyen, Quyen L; Wang, Yinna; Helbling, Nicole; Simon, Marc A; Shiva, Sruti | Abstract: BackgroundPulmonary hypertension (PH) is characterized by elevated pulmonary artery pressure but classified into subgroups based on disease etiology. It is established that systemic bioenergetic dysfunction contributes to the pathogenesis of pulmonary arterial hypertension classified as World Health Organization (WHO) Group 1. Consistent with this, we previously showed that platelets from Group 1 PH patients demonstrate increased glycolysis and enhanced maximal capacity for oxidative phosphorylation, which is due to increased fatty acid oxidation (FAO). However, it remains unclear whether identical mitochondrial alterations contribute to the pathology of other PH subgroups. The most prevalent subgroup of PH is WHO Group 2, which encompasses pulmonary venous hypertension secondary to left heart disease. Here, we hypothesized that platelets from Group 2 subjects show bioenergetic alteration compared to controls, and that these changes were similar to Group 1 PH patients.Method and resultsWe isolated platelets from subjects with Group 2 PH and controls (n = 20) and measured platelet bioenergetics as well as hemodynamic parameters. We demonstrate that Group 2 PH platelets do not show a change in glycolytic rate but do demonstrate enhanced maximal capacity of respiration due at least partially to increased FAO. Moreover, this enhanced maximal capacity correlates negatively with right ventricular stroke work index and is not changed by administration of inhaled nitrite, a modulator of pulmonary hemodynamics.ConclusionsThese data demonstrate that Group 2 PH subjects have altered bioenergetic function though this alteration is not identical to that of Group 1 PH. The implications of this alteration for disease pathogenesis will be discussed.
Comparative Analysis of Environmental and Social Costs of Trenchless Cured-in-Place Pipe Renewal Method with Open-Cut Pipeline Replacement for Sanitary Sewers

AbstractThe development of underground infrastructure, environmental concerns, and economic trends is influencing society, resulting in the advancement of technology for more efficient, environment...
Risk assessment of hypertension in carotid body surgeries: A NSQIP analysis.

Objectives Carotid body tumors (CBT) are rare paragangliomas of the carotid body at the carotid bifurcation. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of hypertension on outcomes in carotid body tumor surgery. Study design A retrospective database review. Methods Data on carotid body resections performed from 2005 to 2014 were drawn from the American College of Surgeons' National Surgical Quality Improvement database. Two groups were created based on the presence of preoperative hypertension. These groups were analyzed for demographics, comorbidities, and postoperative complications using bivariate and multivariate methods. Results Of the 452 patients included in the analysis, 49.3% had hypertension. Those with hypertension were significantly more likely to have additional comorbidities, which were controlled for by multivariate analysis to focus on hypertension. These hypertensive patients also had significantly longer hospital stays. Multivariate analysis showed that patients with hypertension undergoing carotid body resections had increased risk for overall medical complications but did not have increased risk for postoperative surgical complications or specific medical complications CONCLUSION: This statistically robust study revealed that hypertension does not independently increase a patient's risk for specific postoperative surgical complications following a carotid body tumor resection. However, hypertension increases the risk for postoperative medical complications and longer hospital stays. It is notable that almost half of all CBT patients have hypertension, and these hypertensives patients are significantly more likely to carry additional comorbid conditions that may have an adverse effect on outcomes including overall medical complications. Level of evidence NA Laryngoscope, 130: 2008-2012, 2020.
Their Hands Communicate and Their Eyes Listen: Perceptions of Small Group Messages Amongst Deaf College Basketball Players:

This study concentrated on small group communication amongst Deaf basketball players. The central aim of the current research was to explore how outsiders perceive the communication of Deaf athlete...
Stress in ASL: empirical evidence and linguistic issues.

The study of signed languages provides an opportunity to identify those characteristics of language that are universal and to investigate the effect of production modality (signed vs. spoken) on the grammar. Over time, American Sign Language (ASL) has accommodated itself to the production and perception requirements of the manual/visual modality, resulting in a prosodic system that is comparable in function to spoken languages but different in means of expression. The present focus is on phrasal prominence in ASL. I review the marking of stress and phrase boundaries in ASL, and discuss prominence assignment at the phrasal level, with brief mention of lexical stress. At the kinematic level, there is a modality effect in marking of linguistic prominence but no modality effect with respect to marking phrase position. Of significance is the fact that ASL lacks phrasal prominence plasticity, that is the ability to move prominence to mark focus in a sentence location other than phrase final. I review the typolo...
[Application of BenMAP-CE software in health risk assessment of air pollution in China].

Objective To promote the application of air pollution health risk assessment software BenMAP-CE developed by the US Environmental Protection Agency in China's air pollution health risk assessment. Methods According to China's air quality and health impact monitoring data characteristics, the software's operational analysis process and principle, scope of application, required data, export and import settings and application examples are systematically introduced. Results Through the software, the parameters of the research area of China can be input into the module, and the health benefit analysis can be carried out according to the change of air quality. Conclusion The software is suitable for China's air pollution health risk assessment, and has guiding significance and reference value for the formulation of environmental policies.
Conceptual change in perspective

I argue that Sarah Sawyer's and Herman Cappelen's recent accounts of how speakers talk and think about the same concept or topic even when their understandings of that concept or topic substantiall...
Urogenital myiasis - An atypical presentation.

ABSTRACT The infestation of the human body by maggots has been reported worldwide and occurs most commonly in people of lower socioeconomic status and poor personal hygiene. Urogenital is the rarest site of myiasis presentations. Here we report the case of a 20-year-old, sexually inactive female student who presented with a necrotic growth in the paraurethral region infested with numerous maggots. The lesion involved the urethra and the bladder base. She was treated with debridement and bladder irrigation. The cystoscopy and local examination performed 2 weeks after admission, confirmed the complete healing of the urogenital lesion. Managing this patient’s unique challenge was to assess the extent of the involvement and removal of all maggots from the deepest wound portion. The female internal and external urogenital myiasis is a very occasional and under-reported health hazard. Reporting such cases increases the public and physician awareness about the mode of presentation, right diagnosis, and available treatment options.
The Jacobi Curvature Operator in Semi Riemannian Geometry and the Energy Momentum Stress Tensor of the Gravitational Field

We give a justification for generalizing the notion of the energy momentum stress tensor in general relativity which results in the Jacobi curvature tensor being the embodiment of total energy momentum stress including gravity in general relativity.
Youth prediabetes and type 2 diabetes: Risk factors and prevalence of dysglycaemia

BACKGROUND The American Diabetes Association recommends risk-based screening for dysglycaemia (prediabetes and type 2 diabetes) in youth with overweight/obesity plus ≥1 risk factor. However, evidence for these recommendations is lacking. OBJECTIVES Examine the association between the number of risk factors and the prevalence of dysglycaemia in youth with overweight/obesity at initial presentation. METHODS In a paediatric obesity registry, youth (>10 and <20 years old, body mass index ≥85th percentile) were categorized into four groups according to number of risk factors (1, 2, 3 and ≥4). Based on oral glucose tolerance test, participants were classified into normal glucose tolerance or dysglycaemia. RESULTS Of 635 youth, 31.5% had prediabetes and 6.1% had type 2 diabetes. The prevalence of dysglycaemia was 23.1% with 1 risk factor and increased to 44.9% with ≥4 risk factors (p = 0.025). Dyslipidaemia, family history of type 2 diabetes and maternal history of gestational diabetes were significantly associated with dysglycaemia. Fasting and 2-h insulin, 2-h glucose increased (all p < 0.0001) and ALT increased (p = 0.001) with increasing risk factors. Insulin sensitivity and β-cell function deteriorated significantly with increasing risk factors. CONCLUSION Screening for dysglycaemia in youth with obesity and any additional risk factor is warranted to target early management.
Epicardial HDAC3 promotes myocardial growth through a novel microRNA pathway

Rational: Establishment of the myocardial wall requires proper growth cues from nonmyocardial tissues. During heart development, the epicardium and epicardium-derived cells (EPDCs) instruct myocardial growth by secreting essential factors including fibroblast growth factor 9 (FGF9) and insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2). However, it is poorly understood how the epicardial secreted factors are regulated, in particular by chromatin modifications for myocardial formation. Objective: To understand whether and how histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3) in the developing epicardium regulates myocardial growth. Methods and Results: We deleted Hdac3 in the developing murine epicardium and mutant hearts showed ventricular myocardial wall hypoplasia with reduction of EPDCs. The cultured embryonic cardiomyocytes with supernatants from Hdac3 knockout (KO) mouse epicardial cells (MECs) also showed decreased proliferation. Genome-wide transcriptomic analysis revealed that Fgf9 and Igf2 were significantly down-regulated in Hdac3 KO MECs. We further found that Fgf9 and Igf2 expression is dependent on HDAC3 deacetylase activity. The supplementation of FGF9 or IGF2 can rescue the myocardial proliferation defects treated by Hdac3 KO supernatant. Mechanistically, we identified that microRNA (miR)-322 and miR-503 were upregulated in Hdac3 KO MECs and Hdac3 epicardial KO hearts. Overexpression of miR-322 or miR-503 repressed FGF9 and IGF2 expression, while knockdown of miR-322 or miR-503 restored FGF9 and IGF2 expression in Hdac3 KO MECs. Conclusions: Our findings reveal a critical signaling pathway in which epicardial HDAC3 promotes compact myocardial growth by stimulating FGF9 and IGF2 through repressing miR-322/miR-503, providing novel insights in elucidating etiology of congenital heart defects, and conceptual strategies to promote myocardial regeneration.
Biobehavioral Treatment and Rehabilitation for Persons with Schizophrenia

Unlike other maladies described in this text, schizophrenia is a disorder that pervades all aspects of human functioning (cognitive, affective, instrumental, social interaction) and has protean manifestations. Therefore, a comprehensive approach to treatment must have multiple aims: 1. Amelioration or elimination of positive symptoms (e.g., delusions, hallucinations, thought disorder) and negative symptoms (e.g., apathy, amotivational syndrome, blunted affect) of the disorder. 2. Remediation of functional deficits in social, instrumental, educational, and occupational domains using instructional technology and behavior analysis and therapy. 3. Alleviation or control of deviant and disturbing behaviors that are associated with the symptoms and may be the individual’s immature and counterproductive way of meeting his or her instrumental and affiliative needs (e.g., modification of oppositional behavior). 4. Improvement of the personal well-being and subjective quality of life of the afflicted individual.
Quasi-optical array VCO's

Quasi-optical array voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) are presented. A quasi-optical VCO consists of an array of oscillators, a variable capacitance array, and a mirror. In the oscillator array, a large number of MESFETs feed a two-dimensional periodic metal structure on a dielectric substrate. The mirror provides feedback for locked power-combining of the oscillators. The electrical frequency tuning is achieved with another array loaded with varactor diodes. When the varactor bias voltage is changed, the capacitance of the diodes changes, which in turn modulates the frequency of the output power-combined wave. Two types of array are presented, one consisting of short dipoles, and the other of bow-tie elements. As expected, the bow-tie VCO has better performance than the dipole VCO, due to its broadband impedance. The best result obtained from a bow-tie VCO is a 10% tuning bandwidth with a power change of less than 2 dB. Modulating the gate bias is shown to be inferior to varactor array tuning. >
Geochemical and isotopic tracing of water in nested southern Minnesota corn-belt watersheds.

Land-use changes over the last century in southern Minnesota have influenced riverine water chemistry. A nested watershed approach was used to examine hydrologic pathways of water movement in this now agriculturally intensive region. From field scale subsurface tile-drains of the Beauford ditch to the respective outlets of the Cobb River and Blue Earth River, more than 125 samples were collected for major dissolved ions and isotopes between March 1994 and June 1996 over a range of climatic conditions that included snowmelt and storm-flows. Results indicate that riverine water chemistry is dominated by subsurface tile-drained row crop agriculture. In the mid-1990s, regional ground water discharge into the Cobb and Blue Earth Rivers comprised less than 10% of the total flow based on ionic mixing calculations. Ammonia, present in manure or as anhydrous, is readily exchanged in the soil. This ion exchange releases increasing ratios of magnesium, sodium and strontium relative to calcium, the dominant cation. Soil thaw and snowmelt recharge influenced March-April tile-drain and ditch water isotopic values. Light 6D values increased as spring infiltration-derived water was displaced from the soil zone by heavier summer precipitation. δ 15 N followed a similar but opposite pattern with relatively heavy March-April tile-drain and ditch values trending to lighter δ 15 N through the growing season. The future of southern Minnesota riverine water quality is closely linked to the management of the landscape. To improve the riverine environment, land owners and managers will need to address cropping systems, fertilization practices and drainage.
Metabolism of sugars by genetically diverse species of oral Leptotrichia

Summary Leptotrichia buccalis ATCC 14201 is a gram-negative, anaerobic rod-shaped bacterium resident in oral biofilm at the tooth surface. The sequenced genome of this organism reveals three contiguous genes at loci: Lebu_1525, Lebu_1526 and Lebu_1527. The translation products of these genes exhibit significant homology with phospho-α-glucosidase (Pagl), a regulatory protein (GntR) and a phosphoenol pyruvate-dependent sugar transport protein (EIICB), respectively. In non-oral bacterial species, these genes comprise the sim operon that facilitates sucrose isomer metabolism. Growth studies showed that L. buccalis fermented a wide variety of carbohydrates, including four of the five isomers of sucrose. Growth on the isomeric disaccharides elicited expression of a 50-kDa polypeptide comparable in size to that encoded by Lebu_1525. The latter gene was cloned, and the expressed protein was purified to homogeneity from Escherichia coli TOP10 cells. In the presence of two cofactors, NAD+ and Mn2+ ions, the enzyme readily hydrolyzed p-nitrophenyl-α-glucopyranoside 6-phosphate (pNPαG6P), a chromogenic analogue of the phosphorylated isomers of sucrose. By comparative sequence alignment, immunoreactivity and signature motifs, the enzyme can be assigned to the phospho-α-glucosidase (Pagl) clade of Family 4 of the glycosyl hydrolase super family. We suggest that the products of Lebu_1527 and Lebu_1525, catalyze the phosphorylative translocation and hydrolysis of sucrose isomers in L. buccalis, respectively. Four genetically diverse, but 16S rDNA-related, species of Leptotrichia have recently been described: L. goodfellowii, L. hofstadii, L. shahii and L. wadei. The phenotypic traits of these new species, with respect to carbohydrate utilization, have also been determined.
A derepressible active transport system for glucose in Neurospora crassa.

Abstract Two glucose uptake systems have been detected in ungerminated conidia of wild type Neurospora crassa, strain 74A; the high affinity system has been characterized. Uptake and substrate competition experiments showed that the high affinity system was relatively specific for d-glucose but also transported the nonmetabolizable analogues 6-deoxy-d-glucose, 2-deoxy-d-glucose, and 3-O-methyl-d-glucose. The system exhibited a Km of 0.07 mm and a Vmax of 4 mµmoles per mg, dry weight, per min for 3-O-methyl-d-glucose uptake. The nonmetabolizable analogues were accumulated against concentration gradients; chromatographic analysis showed that the material accumulated in each case was the free sugar. Uptake by the high affinity system was inhibited by azide and dinitrophenol. These results were consistent with an active transport mechanism for uptake. Two alternative mechanisms, group translocation and coupled transport, were considered unlikely because no transitory substrate derivative could be detected during uptake and because influx of 3-O-methyl-d-glucose was not coupled to efflux of any organic metabolite. The high affinity system was repressed when the conidia were germinated on glucose medium but was restored when the glucose was either depleted or removed from the medium. This restoration was inhibited by cycloheximide. Two additional kinetic features were of importance in interpreting 3-O-methyl-d-glucose transport. First, previously accumulated substrate stimulated the subsequent influx of 3-O-methyl-d-glucose. The stimulation was proportional to the internal substrate concentration and was inhibited by azide. Second, efflux appeared to be a carrier-mediated process, but, in contrast to the high affinity uptake system, it was not inhibited by azide or by sulfhydryl reagents.
A Monte Carlo paradigm for capillarity in porous media

[1] Wet porous media are ubiquitous in nature as soils, rocks, plants, and bones, and in engineering settings such as oil production, ground stability, filtration and composites. Their physical and chemical behavior is governed by the distribution of liquid and interfaces between phases. Characterization of the interfacial distribution is mostly based on macroscopic experiments, aided by empirical formulae. We present an alternative computational paradigm utilizing a Monte Carlo algorithm to simulate interfaces in complex realistic pore geometries. The method agrees with analytical solutions available only for idealized pore geometries, and is in quantitative agreement with Micro X-ray Computed Tomography (microXCT), capillary pressure, and interfacial area measurements for natural soils. We demonstrate that this methodology predicts macroscopic properties such as the capillary pressure and air-liquid interface area versus liquid saturation based only on the pore size information from microXCT images and interfacial interaction energies. The generality of this method should allow simulation of capillarity in many porous materials.
NCP: Service replication in data centers through software defined networking

Enterprise systems often use replication technology to keep multiple instances of applications or data stores in synchronization. Existing data replication techniques are primarily storage based and are usually applied at coarse time granularity. Furthermore, they can not be used to achieve service replication that requires state synchronization in addition to disk synchronization. In this context, we present NCP: a system that uses network based replication to enable service replication in data centers through software defined networking. NCP overcomes challenges associated with network based replication through the use of server virtualization, multicore and software defined networking (SDN) technologies. NCP allows its users to identify flows based on network addresses and ports and to specify a replication target for each such flow. NCP OpenFlow controller, then, automatically determines the ideal switch for replication, install redirection rules as well as special routing rules for replicated packets in the network. NCP middlebox appliance captures the redirected packets, orders them to reconstruct a network session and replays them on to a primary server and a set of replica servers that were chosen as the target of replication. Our experimental evaluation of NCP demonstrates that network based replication can enable scalable service replication in real time with minimal overheads.
When Does the Glue of Social Ties Dissolve

Prior research has highlighted the importance of prior ties in ensuring the stability of interorganizational collaborations, but has provided little understanding of how the ongoing performance cue...
Termination of Pregnancy in Two Patients During Psychiatric Hospitalization for Depressive Symptoms and Substance Dependence

Two pregnant substance-dependent patients were hospitalized for depression with suicidal ideation. Each requested termination of her pregnancy. This presented the treatment team with two clinical issues: could the team legally offer pregnancy termination and, if so, what were the ethical implications of facilitating such a procedure given the current depressive symptoms and substance dependence. The purpose of this report is to present a conceptual approach that clinicians can use when faced with ethically-challenging decisions and to demonstrate how this approach can be applied to actual clinical scenarios.
Leveraging Lead User Knowledge in Software Development—The Case of Weblog Technology

Firms increasingly rely upon information technology (IT) to manage organizational knowledge, though this does not inevitably result in increased knowledge sharing. In contrast, we know that in the case of non‐commercial open software development, IT plays a central role in knowledge sharing between software developers. This paper acknowledges the impact of a blogosphere—a system of connected weblogs (i.e. personalized and informal publications on the Internet in reverse chronological order)—on the motivation of lead users to develop commercial software together with the employees of a large for‐profit organization. On the basis of multi‐method data, collected over a 28‐month period, our results indicate parallels to the field of open source software: we argue that weblog technology and its features evoke intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to engage in knowledge sharing within a commercial software development project.
Mass-transfer rates in the presence of an oscillating boundary layer

Abstract The boundary-layer form of the convective-diffusion equation has been solved under a spatially uniform but sinusoidally oscillating wall-concentration boundary condition. An analytical solution for the stationary-state local wall flux is found for two cases: (i) the wall moves at a constant velocity, and (ii) the fluid flows past a static wall. The flux in the leading-edge region is in phase with the wall concentration oscillation and decays in the same manner as the steady-state flux for each case. In both cases at large dimensionless distance from the leading edge (corresponding to a high oscillation frequency), the time-dependent contribution to the flux becomes independent of streamwise position; but the time-averaged wall flux follows the normal decay of the Leveque solution when the time-averaged wall concentration is used as the boundary condition. A spatially uniform, but time-dependent, boundary layer thickness is established in marked contrast to the increasing growth under steady-state conditions. The results presented here may be used as a basis for calculating the mass-transfer rate in the presence of an arbitrary wall-concentration oscillation which may also be spatially nonuniform.
A broad-band microwave superconducting thin-film transformer

The design, construction, and testing of a broadband superconducting transformer based on a Dolph-Chebyshev distribution are described. The transformer is completely compatible with thin-film circuit topologies and allows access to 50- Omega coaxial launchers. The transformer is a taper that utilizes only one side of the substrate and features a coplanar waveguide to microstrip transition without the use of via holes. The taper provides a characteristic impedance transformation from 50 Omega to 2 Omega over a frequency range from 5 to 15 GHz. The taper provides a much larger bandwidth than a linear taper with the same length and impedance transformation. >
The Role of Arg165 Towards Base Flipping, Base Stabilization and Catalysis in M.HhaI.

Abstract Arg165 forms part of a previously identified base flipping motif in the bacterial DNA cytosine methyltransferase, M.HhaI. Replacement of Arg165 with Ala has no detectable effect on either DNA or AdoMet affinity, yet causes the base flipping and restacking transitions to be decreased ∼16 and 190-fold respectively, thus confirming the importance of this motif. However, these kinetic changes cannot account for the mutant's observed 105-fold decreased catalytic rate. The mutant enzyme/cognate DNA cocrystal structure (2.79 A resolution) shows the target cytosine to be positioned ∼30° into the major groove, which is consistent with a major groove pathway for nucleotide flipping. The pyrimidine-sugar χ angle is rotated to approximately +171°, from a range of −95° to −120° in B DNA, and −77° in the WT M.HhaI complex. Thus, Arg165 is important for maintaining the cytosine positioned for nucleophilic attack by Cys81. The cytosine sugar pucker is in the C2′-endo-C3′-exo (South conformation), in contrast to the previously reported C3′-endo (North conformation) described for the original 2.70 A resolution cocrystal structure of the WT M.HhaI/DNA complex. We determined a high resolution structure of the WT M.HhaI/DNA complex (1.96 A) to better determine the sugar pucker. This new structure is similar to the original, lower resolution WT M.HhaI complex, but shows that the sugar pucker is O4′-endo (East conformation), intermediate between the South and North conformers. In summary, Arg165 plays significant roles in base flipping, cytosine positioning, and catalysis. Furthermore, the previously proposed M.HhaI-mediated changes in sugar pucker may not be an important contributor to the base flipping mechanism. These results provide insights into the base flipping and catalytic mechanisms for bacterial and eukaryotic DNA methyltransferases.
Geomorphology, geography, and New Orleans after Iberville and Bienville

Abstract The geophysical and geographic legacy of New Orleans was partially exposed shortly after it was founded in 1718, and completely exposed in the tragic and chaotic events of the fall 2005 hurricane season. Frequent and strong hurricanes that make landfall on broad, low-lying coastal lands, along with seasonal river flooding, combined to make a risky environmental setting for the future metropolitan area that became New Orleans. This precarious setting was further supported by a geopolitical and cultural melange that expanded into the organic soils between delta levees. Higher and more expansive flood protection levees were developed, which compensated—albeit intermittently—for the loss of the protective fringe of coastal wetlands. Repetitive disasters resulting from levee failure around and within New Orleans tragically demonstrate the inadequacy of scientific and engineering prowess operating in a restricted social–political framework. These problems beg for the clearly articulated and meaningful participation of all to appreciate the inevitability of change and the co-dependent interrelationships between people and place.
Medicaid Billing Data Used to Study the Effects of Marketed Drugs

Over the past 12 years, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has provided funding for the development of The Computerized Online Medicaid Pharmaceutical Analysis and Surveillance System (COMPASSR...
Generalized sharp-blow waves containing a trailing finite-amplitude discontinuity in the domain interior

Abstract The classical sharp-blow wave in one-dimensional gas dynamics portraying disturbances following a surface impact or explosion forecasts the severest possible power-law decay in the strength of a leading shock wave entering a uniform medium. In a Lagrangian formulation, the present work establishes, for the same decay law, a new class of solutions for which the existence of an interior trailing shock discontinuity in response to a boundary back-pressure presence is a central thesis. It is determined that if the back pressure lies below a certain critical level relative to the frontal pressure, the strength of the trailing discontinuity is invariant but is inversely related to the magnitude of the relative back pressure. At the critical pressure level, the solution is at its weak-interior-shock limit, recognizable as the continuous wave previously discovered by Adamskii and Popov ( Appl. Math. PMM Vol. 23, pp. 793–806). With vanishing boundary pressure for the extreme case, the solution formally reaches its strong-interior-shock limit while physically reducing to the sharp-blow streaming description. In between the two limits, representative wave domains have been evaluated for γ = 7 5 , where solutions are partially analytic. In each of the cases considered, the wave domain lying beyond the trailing shock wave is compressive and piston-like medium termination is achieved.
Self-esteem and likability: Separating fact from fantasy

Abstract Much research has demonstrated the “vicious cycle” of low self-esteem in nonsocial task performance settings. The present study explores the possibility that social situations may also provide opportunities for low (and high) selfesteem individuals to respond in ways that maintain their self-image. More specifically, it has been shown that low self-esteem individuals believe that others like them to a lesser extent than do high self-esteem persons; such beliefs are bound to perpetuate individuals' self-esteem levels. This study is designed to investigate whether the self-perceptions of either or both groups are consistent with reality (as measured by others' actual liking for them), or are merely reflective of the perceiver's attitude. Unacquainted, opposite sex dyads completed self-esteem and self-likability measures before engaging in a “getting acquainted” conversation. Participants then rated their liking for their partners and estimated their partners' liking for them. Relative to high self-esteem participants, low self-esteem subjects rated themselves as less likable prior to the conversation and estimated that their partners liked them to a lesser extent after the conversation. However, low self-esteem subjects were actually rated by their partners as equally likable as the high self-esteem participants. Alternative explanations, limitations, and implications are discussed.
Achondrogenesis Type 1B

Clinical features of achondrogenesis type 1B (ACG1B) include extremely short limbs with short fingers and toes, hypoplasia of the thorax, protuberant abdomen, and hydropic fetal appearance caused by the abundance of soft tissue relative to the short skeleton. The face is flat, the neck is short, and the soft tissue of the neck may be thickened. Death occurs prenatally or shortly after birth. The diagnosis of ACG1B rests on a combination of clinical, radiologic, and histopathologic features. SLC26A2 (DTDST) is the only gene in which mutation is known to cause ACG1B. Treatment of manifestations: Palliative care for liveborn neonates. ACG1B is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner. At conception, each sib of a proband with ACG1B has a 25% chance of being affected, a 50% chance of being an asymptomatic carrier, and a 25% chance of being unaffected and not a carrier. Once an at-risk sib is known to be unaffected, the risk of his/her being a carrier is 2/3. Carrier testing for at-risk relatives and prenatal testing for pregnancies at increased risk are possible if both disease-causing alleles in the family are known and the carrier status of the parents has been confirmed. Ultrasound examination after 14-15 weeks' gestation can be diagnostic.
Bootstrapping the Kaplan—Meier Estimator

Abstract Randomly censored data consist of iid pairs of observations (Xi, δi), i = 1, …, n; if δ i = 0, Xi denotes a censored observation, and if δ i = 1, Xi denotes an exact “survival” time, which is the variable of interest. For estimating the distribution F of the survival times, the product-limit estimator proposed by Kaplan and Meier (1958) has been studied extensively and it has been shown to enjoy a number of optimality properties (Wellner 1982). See Gill (1980, chaps. 1–4; 1983) for a modern treatment and for references. With censored data, bootstrapping can be carried out using two different resampling plans introduced by Efron (1981) and Reid (1981), respectively. With Efron's plan one takes a random sample with replacement from (X 1), …, (Xn , δ n ), whereas with Reid's plan one takes a random sample from the Kaplan—Meier estimator. The purpose of this article is to study the asymptotic behavior of the bootstrapped Kaplan—Meier estimator with both resampling plans. The approach adopted uses the...
On a formula for the asymptotic dimension of free products

We prove an exact formula for the asymptotic dimension (asdim) of a free product. Our main theorem states that if A and B are nitely generated groups with asdimA = n and asdimB n, then asdim(A B) = maxfn; 1g:
On the Solution of the Thomas-Fermi Equation by Differential Quadrature

On utilise la methode de quadrature differentielle pour resoudre l'equation de Thomas-Fermi
Ontogeny of ppp(A2′p)nA-binding protein in mouse brain

Mouse brain tissue extracts at various stages of development show a drastic change in the specific activity of pp(A2'p)3A-[32P]pCp binding protein. Identification of the ppp(A2'p)3A-[32P]pCp binding protein was established by (i) binding to the specific ligand ppp(A2'p)3A-[32P]pCp, (ii) displacement of binding by nanomolar concentrations of pppA(pA)3, and (iii) affinity labeling techniques in which periodate oxidized ppp(A2'p)3A-[32P]pC was specifically cross-linked to a protein with a molecular weight of 85000. These data suggest that the ppp(A2'p)3A-[32P]pCp protein is closely associated with the process of cellular proliferation and differentiation.
Transitions in nuclear disassembly as viewed by fragment charge correlations.

Central heavy-ion collisions in the (nearly) symmetric entrance channels {sup 20}Ne+{sup 27}Al, {sup 40}Ar+{sup 45}Sc, {sup 87}Kr+{sup 93}Nb, and {sup 129}Xe+{sup 139}La have been systematically studied at many intermediate beam energies. The relative sizes of the three largest fragments in the central events are studied using new variables defined from charge Dalitz plots. Autocorrelations between these variables and the method used to select the central events are investigated. Also described are the hidden constraints on these variables that are imposed by definition. For increasing beam energies, the average values of these variables imply transitions from sequential binary disassembly to multifragmentation at beam energies of {similar_to}50 and {similar_to}30 MeV/nucleon in the {sup 40}Ar+{sup 45}Sc and {sup 129}Xe+{sup 139}La entrance channels, respectively. Similar trends are observed for the central {sup 20}Ne+{sup 27}Al and {sup 87}Kr+{sup 93}Nb reactions.
An Instructional Approach for Improving the Writing of Literature Reviews

The authors engaged in a team-teaching approach to foster improvements in the writing and evaluation of scholarly literature reviews by their graduate students in music education. A focal point of the semester-long project was the analysis and public critique of each author's dissertation literature review by the other author, using a variant of a rubric for evaluating literature reviews by Boote and Beile. Students further refined the rubric by evaluating literature reviews in current music education journals and then used the rubric to guide their own writing. Student reflections and responses were gathered through questionnaires and interviews, with indications that the process had a twofold effect: (a) improved skills in conceptualizing, writing, and analyzing literature reviews and (b) increased collegiality as students perceived their instructors as peer scholars.
Excessive circulating large molecular weight immunoreactive glucagon components in subjects with the idiopathic postprandial syndrome.

The glucagon RIA measures several molecular components in human plasma. Clinical disorders have been described associated with abnormal elevations of certain of these components. This report documents another clinical disorder, the idiopathic postprandial syndrome, which also appears associated with excessive circulating large molecular weight immunoreactive glucagon (IRG) components. During studies of glucose homeostasis in subjects with apparent idiopathic postabsorptive hypoglycemia, 80 subjects were evaluated using oral glucose tolerance tests; 18 subjects were found to have clinical and laboratory findings consistent with the disorder, and of these, 3 had markedly elevated basal total plasma IRG levels. Plasma IRG responses in the subjects after oral glucose or mixed meals were variable. Physical characterization of the excessive large molecular weight IRG components revealed molecular weight estimates of 300,000 and 345,000 daltons in 2 subjects and of more than 200,000 daltons in the third subject....
Gene-Expression Signature Predicts Postoperative Recurrence in Stage I Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients

About 30% stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients undergoing resection will recur. Robust prognostic markers are required to better manage therapy options. The purpose of this study is to develop and validate a novel gene-expression signature that can predict tumor recurrence of stage I NSCLC patients. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was performed to identify recurrence-related genes and a partial Cox regression model was used to generate a gene signature of recurrence in the training dataset −142 stage I lung adenocarcinomas without adjunctive therapy from the Director's Challenge Consortium. Four independent validation datasets, including GSE5843, GSE8894, and two other datasets provided by Mayo Clinic and Washington University, were used to assess the prediction accuracy by calculating the correlation between risk score estimated from gene expression and real recurrence-free survival time and AUC of time-dependent ROC analysis. Pathway-based survival analyses were also performed. 104 probesets correlated with recurrence in the training dataset. They are enriched in cell adhesion, apoptosis and regulation of cell proliferation. A 51-gene expression signature was identified to distinguish patients likely to develop tumor recurrence (Dxy = −0.83, P 85%. Multiple pathways including leukocyte transendothelial migration and cell adhesion were highly correlated with recurrence-free survival. The gene signature is highly predictive of recurrence in stage I NSCLC patients, which has important prognostic and therapeutic implications for the future management of these patients.
Angle-based band selection for material identification in hyperspectral processing

In this article we present a method for hyperspectral band selection that yields superior classification results while only using a subset of the available bands. The approach originates from a comprehensive physical and mathematical understanding of the distance metrics used to compare hyperspectral signals, and it exploits an exact decomposition of a common metric, the Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM), to select bands which increase the angular contrast between target classes. Using real spectroradiometer and sensor data collected by the HYDICE sensor, the technique significantly improves the discrimination performance for two spectrally similar classes, while using only a fraction of the available bands. The approach is extended to a hierarchical architecture for material identification using spectral libraries that is shown to outperform the traditional angle-based classifier which employs all available bands. Consequently, better material identification performance can be achieved using significantly fewer bands, thus introducing dramatic benefits for the design and utilization of spectral libraries.© (2003) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Prevalence and predictors of rhabdomyolysis in patients with hypophosphatemia

Abstract purpose: We undertook this study to determine the prevalence and predictors of rhabdomyolysis in the hypophosphatemic state. patients and methods: To identify patients with hypophosphatemia, we reviewed medical admissions for the period of January through December 1989. The hypophosphatemic state was considered whenever the serum phosphate was less than or equal to 2.0 mg/dL. Rhabdomyolysis secondary to hypophosphatemia was defined when serum creatine kinase levels were greater than or equal to 224 IU/L; it occurred within 72 hours of the hypophosphatemic episode; and it subsequently normalized. Patients who had any other independent etiology for rhabdomyolysis were excluded. Clinical and biochemical characteristics of patients with rhabdomyolysis (Group I) and patients without rhabdomyolysis (Group II) were compared. Variables that predicted rhabdomyolysis in hypophosphatemia were identified by stepwise logistic regression using a backward elimination procedure. results: One hundred twenty-nine patients were found to have hypophosphatemia. Forty-six (Group I) of 129 patients (36%) showed biochemical evidence of rhabdomyolysis. There was no difference in serum phosphate and potassium concentrations between Group I and Group II patients. Patients in Group I showed higher values for serum osmolality (p conclusion: We conclude that rhabdomyolysis commonly occurs in the hypophosphatemic state and that at times severe hypophosphatemia as an etiology may be masked because of ongoing rhabdomyolysis. Serum sodium, chloride, glucose, blood urea nitrogen, uric acid, and osmolality have a predictive role for the occurrence of rhabdomyolysis in the hypophosphatemic state that shows a high specificity and a moderate sensitivity.
Dimensionality reduction using magnitude and shape approximations

High dimensional data sets are encountered in many modern database applications. The usual approach is to construct a summary of the data set through a lossy compression technique, and use this lower dimensional synopsis to provide fast, approximate answers to the queries. In this paper, we develop a novel dimensionality reduction technique based on partitioning the high dimensional vector space into orthogonal subspaces. First, we find a relation between the Euclidian distance of two n-dimensional vectors and the Euclidian distances of their projections on the orthogonal subspaces. Then, based on this relation we develop a method to approximate the Euclidian distance using novel inner product approximation. This process allows us to incorporate the shape information of the vectors to this approximation. While the inner product approximation is symmetric, i.e., captures only the magnitude information of the data, the proposed method takes both the magnitude and shape information of the original vectors into account through partitioning. In the experiments, we demonstrate the effectiveness of our technique by comparing it with commonly used methods.
Neural adaptation in response to chronic imipramine and electroconvulsive shock: evidence for separate mechanisms

The effects of chronic imipramine and electroconvulsive shock alone or combined were assessed on rat brain beta-adrenoceptors and serotonin2 (5-HT2) receptors and on dynorphin and thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) levels. These treatments resulted in regionally discrete and treatment-specific patterns of change in beta-adrenoceptor and 5-HT2 receptor density and in TRH and dynorphin levels. Electroconvulsive shock eliminated the serotonergic component of hippocampal DHA binding, suggesting an effect of this treatment on 5-HT1 receptors. The effects of combined electroconvulsive shock and imipramine treatments on cortical 5-HT2 and beta-adrenoceptor density appeared to be the additive sum of the individual treatment effects. No treatment interaction was observed on hippocampal 5-HT2 and beta-adrenoceptors, except after day 2. No treatment interaction on peptide content was observed at any time. These results demonstrate independent anatomical specificity for the effects of electroconvulsive shock and imipramine and provide evidence that the mechanisms responsible for their antidepressant actions differ.
It's Time for PsychoNeuroImmunology

It is intuitively obvious that the mind and the body are joined in ways that are not yet understood. The mission of the PsychoNeuroImmunology Research Society (PNIRS) is to delineate these relationships, to try to understand their connections at the molecular level and to use this knowledge to prevent and relieve human pain and suffering. Members of our Society have already made substantial and important contributions toward accomplishing these goals. For example, regulation of the neuroendocrine system by proinflammatory cytokines and development of the concept of sickness behavior have now become established and well-accepted tenets in psychoneuroimmunology. Although we possess some of the research tools that are needed to accomplish our goals, we need more. We must continue to apply new information that is constantly being generated in the biological sciences, such as what may be found in the recently completed mapping and sequencing of the human genome. There will always be fundamental discoveries that can and should be used to advance the field of psychoneuroimmunology and to help us accomplish our mission. Our research is needed to minimize human afflictions and to learn how patients can better participate in their own health management. That is why the time for psychoneuroimmunology is now.