cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Geologic and Geochemical Evidence for the Nature and Development of the Middle Proterozoic (Keweenawan) Midcontinent Rift of North America

Abstract General models of active continental rifting must take into account the large plateau basalt provinces, many of which have been precursors of or associated with continental breakup. The Keweenawan (Middle Proterozoic) Midcontinent Rift (MCR) of North America, 2300 km long, is one such major continental rift, but it aborted before significant crustal separation was achieved. These plateau-basalt rifts, including the MCR, differ from the East African type in being dominated by broad subsidence rather than rift valleys, tholeiitic flood basalts rather than alkalic central volcanoes, and large positive gravity anomalies. Geologic and geophysical evidence is reviewed which contradicts some recent models which have been proposed for the development of the MCR. The basic causes of the pre-rift subsidence, the U-shaped nature of the structure, and the abrupt termination of its activity are obscure. A triple junction in the usual sense does not appear to have been formed.
Unobtrusive measurement of subtle nonverbal behaviors with the Microsoft Kinect

We describe two approaches for unobtrusively sensing subtle nonverbal behaviors using a consumer-level depth sensing camera. The first signal, respiratory rate, is estimated by measuring the visual expansion and contraction of the user's chest cavity during inhalation and exhalation. Additionally, we detect a specific type of fidgeting behavior, known as “leg jiggling,” by measuring high-frequency vertical oscillations of the user's knees. Both of these techniques rely on the combination of skeletal tracking information with raw depth readings from the sensor to identify the cyclical patterns in jittery, low-resolution data. Such subtle nonverbal signals may be useful for informing models of users' psychological states during communication with virtual human agents, thereby improving interactions that address important societal challenges in domains including education, training, and medicine.
Practical management of post-thyroidectomy hematoma

Thyroid diseases and surgery for thyroid neoplasms are both very common. Several complications of thyroidectomy are well known. Some of these are quite disturbing, such as recurrent laryngeal nerve injury and permanent hypoparathyroidism. However, postoperative hematoma often in the recovery room may be fatal. Close observation and early intervention are of utmost necessity in the post-thyroidectomy period. In a series of 600 thyroidectomies performed over a period of 11 years, eight patients developed postoperative hematoma. Seven of them underwent re-exploration, while one patient was treated conservatively. Two patients had second re-exploration for hematoma reaccumulation. All patients recovered very well after re-exploration except one elderly patient who required ventilatory support due to poor pulmonary reserve; after a week of ventilatory support and a tracheostomy, she too recovered well. One patient had the hematoma re-explored as late as 24 hours after the operation, while the remainder were re-explored within 4-6 hours after the initial procedure. Because of the extent of edema of the larynx and pharyngeal wall, it is very important that a senior, experienced person perform intubation in these patients. It is also very important to recognize that when the patients lie down flat, they may develop acute airway distress; hence, one must be prepared to intubate them emergently. We recommend close recovery room observation after thyroidectomy and early exploration and evacuation of hematoma in all patients who develop postoperative hematoma. A conservative approach may be considered in selected patients with minimal hematoma and no progression. However, it generally takes a long time for the hematoma to resorb. A better understanding of the complications of thyroidectomy will minimize morbidity and make thyroidectomy a safer procedure and a surgical triumph.
Intraoperative ventilation: incidence and risk factors for receiving large tidal volumes during general anesthesia

There is a growing concern of the potential injurious role of ventilatory over-distention in patients without lung injury. No formal guidelines exist for intraoperative ventilation settings, but the use of tidal volumes (VT) under 10 mL/kg predicted body weight (PBW) has been recommended in healthy patients. We explored the incidence and risk factors for receiving large tidal volumes (VT > 10 mL/kg PBW). We performed a cross-sectional analysis of our prospectively collected perioperative electronic database for current intraoperative ventilation practices and risk factors for receiving large tidal volumes (VT > 10 mL/kg PBW). We included all adults undergoing prolonged (≥ 4 h) elective abdominal surgery and collected demographic, preoperative (comorbidities), intraoperative (i.e. ventilatory settings, fluid administration) and postoperative (outcomes) information. We compared patients receiving exhaled tidal volumes > 10 mL/kg PBW with those that received 8-10 or 10 mL/kg PBW. 34.0% of all obese patients (body mass index, BMI, ≥ 30), 51% of all patients with a height 10 mL/kg PBW. Ventilation with VT > 10 mL/kg PBW is still common, although poor correlation with PBW suggests it may be unintentional. BMI ≥ 30, female gender and height < 165 cm may predispose to receive large tidal volumes during general anesthesia. Further awareness of patients' height and PBW is needed to improve intraoperative ventilation practices. The impact on clinical outcome needs confirmation.
Correction: Infant mortality trends in a region of Belarus, 1980- 2000

After the publication of this work [1], we noted that we inadvertently failed to acknowledge funding support for this project.
Dexmedetomidine: An Updated Review

Objective:To review recent literature on the safety and efficacy of dexmedetomidine.Data Sources:Articles were identified through searches of MEDLINE (1966–January 2007). Key words included dexmedetomidine, medetomidine, α2-agonist, and sedation. References from selected articles were reviewed for additional references.Study Selection and Data Extraction:Experimental and observational studies that focused on the safety and efficacy of dexmedetomidine in humans were selected.Data Synthesis:Dexmedetomidine is an α2-agonist for short-term sedation in critically ill patients. In postoperative patients, dexmedetomidine produced similar levels of sedation and times to extubation, with less opioid requirements compared with propofol. Dexmedetomidine has also been studied for sedation in critically ill medical and pediatric patients, as adjunct to anesthesia, and for procedural sedation. Hypotension, hypertension, and bradycardia are common adverse effects. Although dexmedetomidine is labeled only for sedation le...
Polymorphic type reconstruction for garbage collection without tags

Several papers, have recently claimed that garbage collection can be performed on untagged data in the presence of ML-style type polymorphism. They rely on the ability to reconstruct the type of any reachable object during garbage collection. The bad news is that this is false—there can be reachable objects in the program whose type cannot be determined by the garbage collector. The good news is that tag-free garbage collection can be performed anyway—any object whose type cannot be determined by the collector is, in fact, garbage. Such objects can be discarded by the collector. This is the key result of this paper.We present a type reconstruction algorithm that can determine the type of any non-garbage object. Unfortunately, the implementation of the tag-free collector for a polymorphically typed language is difficult in ways that were not described in the previous papers, and we address some implementation issues as well. However, we mainly describe how to perform type reconstruction during garbage collection and do not attempt to address practical issues of the garbage collection process.
Disparities in Renal Endowment: Causes and Consequences

In humans, nephrogenesis is completed by 36 weeks of gestation. Thus, human kidney development is complete at the time of birth in full-term infants. Those infants born before 36 weeks of gestation are still undergoing nephrogenesis for several weeks after their preterm birth and, accordingly, may be exposed to medications that impact the kidney during its final stages of renal development. The ultimate nephron number (nephron endowment) may influence future response to kidney injury, should it occur. The concept that nephron number may strongly influence blood pressure as well as susceptibility to kidney disease in later life developed in parallel with that of perinatal programming, which holds that the perinatal milieu causes changes that permanently alter organ structure and function, preordaining adult physiology to some extent. Both concepts together may help elucidate, at least in part, the pathogenesis of not only primary but secondary hypertension. This article summarizes human data on nephron number and its evaluation and considers the circumstances, implication, and management of persons born with or acquiring a decreased complement of nephrons early in life. Insufficient data exist to predict outcome or guide management. However, a common-sense approach of avoiding nephrotoxins and minimizing renal stress is indicated.
Enabling Dynamic Analysis of Project Plan through Transformations into Business Processes

After winning a request for proposals and closing a deal, a business transformation services project is transitioned to the delivery team so that the delivery work can start. In an effort to minimize the delivery costs and schedules, companies are standardizing the way projects are defined and delivered. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to verify whether these standard best-practices will be successful before using them during real engagements. Project managers use tools such as Microsoft Project to build their project plans, schedules, baselines, and resources, these tools provide a rich set of functions for static analysis of project plans (e.g., discover critical path, resource contention), but little support for running dynamic "what-if" scenarios. This paper proposes two methods of enabling dynamic analysis of project plans by transforming a project plan into a business process, these business processes can be loaded and simulated into tools that support the Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN). For the purpose of this study, IBM Websphere Business Modeler (WBM) was used for running simulations. The evaluation highlights the complexity of these transformations and shows that automated tools are indeed necessary to assist people in their analysis.
Difference in the number of insulin binding sites between cortisol-sensitive and cortisol-resistant lymphoma P1798 cells.

SummaryCortisol-sensitive and cortisol-resistant lymphoma PI798 cells specifically bind [125I]insulin. Resistant lymphocytes bind 40% less insulin than sensitive cells. These results suggest that insulin (or insulin-like substances) may play a role in growth regulation and/or response of this tumor to glucocorticoid therapy.
The First Year with the Literature-Based Basals: Examining Teachers' Theoretical Orientations and the Utilization of the Texts in One Rural School.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to explore how teachers of differing philosophical orientations toward reading react to the implementation of a literature‐based basal series. The respondents were teachers (N=12) in one rural elementary school in the Mid‐South. Data were gathered through completion of the Theoretical Orientation to Reading Profile (DeFord, 1985) and four interviews with each teacher during the first year of teaching with the new basal series. Findings revealed that a relationship between a teacher's theoretical orientation toward reading and the implementation of a new basal series was evident. Even though the new basals appear to be significantly different from the older readers (Hoffman et al, 1994; McCarthey 1994) real benefits will only be gained through greater teacher guidance.
HABITAT PATCH OCCUPANCY BY TOADS (BUFO PUNCTATUS) IN A NATURALLY FRAGMENTED DESERT LANDSCAPE

Amphibians are often thought to have a metapopulation structure, which may render them vulnerable to habitat fragmentation. The red-spotted toad (Bufo punctatus )i n the southwestern United States and Mexico commonly inhabits wetlands that have become much smaller and fewer since the late Pleistocene. This study tests two predictions based on metapopulation theory, that the incidence of habitat patch occupancy is directly related to patch size and that it is inversely related to patch isolation, and a third, potentially competing hypothesis, that patch occupancy is influenced by local environmental conditions. In a 20 000 km 2 area of the eastern Mojave Desert, 128 potential habitat patches (primarily springs) were identified and surveyed for local environmental characteristics and presence/ absence of B. punctatus. Patch size metrics reflected extent of water and riparian vegetation of several types. Patch isolation metrics were based on nearest-neighbor distances, cal- culated both as Euclidian distance and distance via connecting drainage channels. B. punc- tatus was found at 73% of the sites, including all of the 16 historic (pre-1970) sites. Patches were generally quite small, with water extending a median distance of only 200 m and median area of 72 m 2 . Median nearest-neighbor distances among patches were 1.8 km Euclidian distance (range: 0.4-22.0 km) and 6.8 km via drainage channels (range: 0.5- 64.9 km). Based on stepwise multiple logistic regression, the incidence of patch occupancy increased significantly with patch size and was also significantly related to elevation, lat- itude, and four metrics that were associated with rocky terrain, periodic scouring water flows, and ephemeral water. In contrast, incidence of patch occupancy was not significantly related to patch isolation. These findings are consistent with a ''patchy population'' model, rather than the classical equilibrium metapopulation model, implying frequent dispersal among patches and virtually no local extinctions. We speculate that B. punctatus in the Mojave Desert today occurs primarily in a patchy population or populations within mountain ranges that are isolated from patchy populations in other ranges. The influence of local environmental characteristics on patch occupancy demonstrates the importance of including patch quality metrics in tests of predictions for patch occupancy based on metapopulation theory.
Timed Up and Go, Cognitive, and Quality-of-Life Correlates in Parkinson's Disease

Abstract Objective To examine the relationship between Timed Up and Go (TUG) performance, verbal executive function (EF) performance, and quality-of-life (QOL) measures in Parkinson's disease (PD). Design Cross-sectional. Setting Sixteen movement disorder centers from across the United States. Participants Patients with PD (N=1964). Interventions Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures TUG test, immediate and delayed 5-word recall, verbal fluency, PD QOL Questionnaire. Results TUG performance and verbal EF performance were significantly associated with, and predictors of, QOL measures, having the greatest association and predictability with the mobility domain of the QOL measures. Conclusions The TUG test and verbal EF tests have QOL correlates, making the combined evaluation of mobility, cognitive, and QOL decline a potential examination tool to evaluate the sequelae of PD.
Detection of neovascular signals in a 3 day Walker 256 rat carcinoma by CW Doppler ultrasound.

Abstract An animal model was used to study tumor blood flow by the Doppler CW technique. The objective was to determine when neovascularity could be detected as a function of tumor size and time since transplantation. A Walker 256 carcinosarcoma tumor was innoculated into the flank of 17 Sprague-Dawley rats. Doppler examinations, using a 9 MHz CW probe, were performed daily from day 0 to day 7. The contralateral flank was used as a control. No signals were detected from the control side nor from the innoculated side until day 3. By day 3, Doppler signals could be easily detected in all tumor implants with a minimum weight of only 50 mg. These signals showed a mean systolic frequency shift of 3.3 ± 0.47 kHz at 3 days and 3.46 ± 0.58 kHz at 7 days. The diastolic Doppler shifted frequency was 1.78 ± 0.31 kHz at 3 days and 1.88 ± 0.23 kHz at 7 days giving a Pourcelot index of 0.47 ± 0.1 at 3 days and 0.46 ± 0.09 at day 7. These figures indicate the presence of low impedance vessels with high velocity flow such as has been reported in many human tumors. The vascular morphology was further evaluated by digital angiography which demonstrated coincidence between the site of the high velocity Doppler signals and the presence of arteriovenous anastomoses manifested by simultaneous arterial and venous filling. Further infusion techniques using India ink or Microfil® showed the chaotic arrangement of tumor vessels located around the growing edge of the tumor implant. The development of such vascularity is a well-recognized prerequisite for tumor growth and invasion. The ability to detect such development in tumors as small as 50 mg encourages further evaluation of Doppler techniques for the diagnosis and treatment of tumors in both animal models and humans.
Platelet Microbicidal Protein 1: Structural Themes of a Multifunctional Antimicrobial Peptide

Mammalian platelets release platelet microbicidal proteins (PMPs) as components of their antimicrobial armamentarium. The present studies defined the structure of PMP-1 and examined its structure-activity relationships. Amino acid sequencing and mass spectroscopy demonstrated that distinct N-terminal polymorphism variants of PMP-1 isolated from nonstimulated or thrombin-stimulated platelets arise from a single PMP-1 propeptide. Sequence data (NH 2 -[S]D 1 DPKE 5 SEGDL 10 HCVCV 15 KTTSL 20 . . .) enabled cloning of PMP-1 from bone marrow and characterization of its full-length cDNA. PMP-1 is translated as a 106-amino-acid precursor and is processed to yield 73-residue (8,053 Da) and 72-residue (7,951-Da) variants. Searches with the BLAST program and sequence alignments demonstrated the homology of PMP-1 to members of the mammalian platelet factor 4 (PF-4) family of proteins. On the basis of phylogenetic relatedness, congruent sequence motifs, and predicted three-dimensional structures, PMP-1 shares the greatest homology with human PF-4 (hPF-4). By integration of its structural and antimicrobial properties, these results establish the identity of PMP-1 as a novel rabbit analogue of the microbicidal chemokine (kinocidin) hPF-4. These findings advance the hypothesis that stimuli in the setting of infection prompt platelets to release PF-4-class or related kinocidins, which have structures consistent with their likely multiple roles that bridge molecular and cellular mechanisms of antimicrobial host defense.
Consistency issues in real-time database systems

A consistency model is presented of real-time database systems that distinguishes the external data consistency from the internal data consistency as maintained by traditional systems, to provide a transaction schedule to meet deadlines. External consistency requires that the data used by a transaction reflect the current physical environment; this is in contrast to internal consistency, which presents a view consistent with the predefined constraints of the database. It is suggested that external consistency is preferable to internal consistency for many transactions. Operationally consistent schedules are defined that emphasize the operational effect of databases to the external world. A protocol that ensures the external consistency of transactions is presented. >
Opioid inhibition of luteinizing hormone secretion in the postpartum lactating sow.

Twelve lactating sows were used at 22.4±0.8 days postpartum to determine whether endogenous opioid peptides (FOP) are involved in the suckling-induced inhibition of luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion. Four sows each received either 1, 2, or 4 mg/kg body weight of naloxone (NA L), an opiate antagonist, in saline i. v. Blood was collected at 15-mm intervals for 2 h before and 4 b after NAL treatment. All sows were then given 100 pg gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) in saline iv., and blood samples were collected for an additional h. Pigs were weaned after blood sampling. At 40 b after weaning, sows were treated and blood samples collected as during suckling. Serum concentrations of LH after treatment with NAL were similar for all doses; therefore, the data were pooled across doses. During suckling, serum concentrations of LH were 0.41±0.04 ng/ml before NAL treatment, increased to 0.65±0.08 ng/ml at 30 mm after NAL treatment, and remained elevated above pretreatmerit concentrations for 120 mm (p<0.05). Naloxone failed to alter serum concentrations of LH after weaning. Tbese data indicate that EOP may be involved in the suckling-induced suppression of LH secretion and that weaning may either decrease opioid inhibition of LH secretion or decrease pituitary LH responsiveness to endogenous GnRH released by NAL.
A Real-Time Coastal Ocean Prediction Experiment for MREA04

Abstract To provide a short-term ocean forecast for sea level variation, current, temperature, and salinity, an ocean nowcast/forecast system has been developed. The system is an integration of a data-assimilating, dynamical ocean model, a statistical data-analysis model, and various data streams for ocean bathymetry, climatological data, surface forcing, open boundary forcing, and observations. The system assimilates satellite data and in-situ measurements to produce an estimation of the current ocean state or nowcast and is forced with a meteorological forecast to produce an ocean forecast. During the MREA04 sea trial, the system was implemented for a region off the Portuguese coast with two-way nested grids and produced real-time ocean forecasts for the period of the experiment. The high density of real-time, in-situ observations during MREA04 provided a unique opportunity for the system to assimilate the in-situ observations in addition to satellite data and to perform a statistically meaningful evaluation of the system's forecast capability. The evaluation shows that the nowcast/forecast system has good skill in predicting the tide and fair skill in predicting the ocean temperature and salinity with overall rms errors of 0.5 °C and 0.15 psu for temperature and salinity, respectively. Assimilating in-situ CTD data produced a better nowcast/forecast than assimilating only satellite data. The forecast error increases as the forecast time increases, but the forecast error does not increase significantly over the nowcast error, which indicates that the error in the nowcast is the major source of the forecast error.
Dosage compensation can buffer copy-number variation in wild yeast

Evolution is driven by changes to the genes and other genetic information found in the DNA of an organism. These changes might, for example, alter the physical characteristics of the organism, or change how efficiently crucial tasks are carried out inside cells. Whatever the change, if it makes it easier for the organism to survive and reproduce, it is more likely to be passed on to future generations. DNA is organized inside cells in structures called chromosomes. Most of the cells in animals, plants, and fungi contain two copies of each chromosome. However, sometimes mistakes happen during cell division and extra copies of a chromosome—and hence the genes contained within it—may end up in a cell. These extra copies of genes might help to speed up the rate at which a species evolves, as the ‘spare’ copies are free to adapt to new roles. However, having extra copies of genes can also often be harmful, and in humans can cause genetic disorders such as Down syndrome. In the laboratory, chromosomes are commonly studied in a species of yeast called Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This species consists of several groups—or strains—that are genetically distinct from each other. Over the years, breeding the yeast for experiments has created laboratory strains that have lost some of the characteristics seen in wild strains. Earlier studies suggested that these cells fail to grow properly if they contain extra copies of chromosomes. Now, Hose et al. have studied nearly 50 wild strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In these, extra copies of chromosomes are commonplace, and seemingly have no detrimental effect on growth. Instead, Hose et al. found that cells with too many copies of a gene use many of those genes less often than would be expected. This process is known as ‘dosage compensation’. This dosage compensation has not been observed in laboratory strains, in part because the extra gene copies make them sickly and hard to study. Together, the results provide examples of how dosage compensation could help new traits to evolve in a species by reducing the negative effects of duplicated genes. This knowledge may have broad application, from suggesting methods to alleviate human disorders to implicating new ways to engineer useful traits in yeast and other microbes.
What light have resting state fMRI studies shed on cognition and mood in Parkinson’s disease?

Much remains unknown about non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD), which have variable occurrence, progression, and severity among patients. The existing suite of neuroimaging tools has yielded insight that cannot be garnered by traditional methods such as behavioral and post-mortem assessment. They provide information on brain activity and structure that is invaluable to understanding abnormalities associated with neurodegeneration in PD. Among these tools, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is often favored for its safety and spatial resolution. Resting state fMRI research capitalizes on the wealth of information that the brain offers when a person is not performing a motor or cognitive task. It is also a good means to study impaired and heterogeneous populations, such as people with PD. The present article reviews research that applies resting state fMRI to the ongoing hunt for biomarkers of PD non-motor symptoms. Thus far, research in this subfield has focused on two of the most common and significant non-motor symptoms: cognitive impairment and depression. These studies support resting state fMRI as a valid and practical tool for the study of these symptoms, but discrepancies among findings highlight the importance of further research with standardized procedures.
Abelian unipotent subgroups of finite orthogonal groups

If G is the special orthogonal group O + (V) of a quadratic space V over a finite field of characteristic p , and r is a positive integer, we determine the abelian p -subgroups of largest order in G whose fixed subspaces in V have dimension at least r . In particular, we determine the abelian subgroups of largest order in a Sylow p -subgroup of G , extending some results obtained with different methods by Barry (1979).
Off-line signature verification based on deformable grid partition and Hidden Markov Models

A Hidden Markov Model (HMM) approach to off-line signature verification is presented. First, each of the signature images is represented as a landmark point set, which includes turning points, isolated points, trifurcate points, intersection points and termination points on signature skeleton. Then we propose a novel deformable grid partition technique. Based on landmark point matching, we build the matching relations between planar regions to get the deformable grids, and then extract grid features from them. By using HMM in signature modeling, the deformable grid partition method shows remarkable improvements over traditional grid partition methods in discriminative ability.
The case report on the way out

I read with interest the farewell editorial by Professor Wilkinson ( [2003][1]), in which he reflects on his tenure as Editor of the Journal . He is to be congratulated for both his leadership as an accomplished Editor of one of the world’s most reputable psychiatry journals and for his thought-
Engineering cherry rootstocks with resistance to Prunus necrotic ring spot virus through RNAi‐mediated silencing

Prunus necrotic ringspot virus (PNRSV) is a major pollen-disseminated ilarvirus that adversely affects many Prunus species. In this study, an RNA interference (RNAi) vector pART27-PNRSV containing an inverted repeat (IR) region of PNRSV was transformed into two hybrid (triploid) cherry rootstocks, 'Gisela 6' (GI 148-1) and 'Gisela 7'(GI 148-8)', which are tolerant and sensitive, respectively, to PNRSV infection. One year after inoculation with PNRSV plus Prune Dwarf Virus, nontransgenic 'Gisela 6' exhibited no symptoms but a significant PNRSV titre, while the transgenic 'Gisela 6' had no symptoms and minimal PNRSV titre. The nontransgenic 'Gisela 7' trees died, while the transgenic 'Gisela 7' trees survived. These results demonstrate the RNAi strategy is useful for developing viral resistance in fruit rootstocks, and such transgenic rootstocks may have potential to enhance production of standard, nongenetically modified fruit varieties while avoiding concerns about transgene flow and exogenous protein production that are inherent for transformed fruiting genotypes.
Learning to recognize reusable software modules using an inductive classification system

An inductive classification system that uses inductive learning techniques, namely, variations on J.R. Quinlan's (1986) ID3 system to produce a decision tree that can be used to distinguish between reusable and nonreusable code modules, is described. To accomplish that task, a set of high-level concepts used by software engineers to characterize structurally understandable code is identified. Each of these concepts is operationalized in terms of code complexity metrics that can be easily calculated during the compilation process. These metrices are related to various aspects of the program structure including its coupling, cohesion, data structure, control structure, and documentation. The decision tree produced for a sample of 81 Pascal programs outperformed similar classification efforts by a group of professional programmers. >
Reduced NO-cGMP Signaling Contributes to Vascular Inflammation and Insulin Resistance Induced by High-Fat Feeding

Objective— Diet-induced obesity (DIO) in mice causes vascular inflammation and insulin resistance that are accompanied by decreased endothelial-derived NO production. We sought to determine whether reduced NO-cGMP signaling contributes to the deleterious effects of DIO on the vasculature and, if so, whether these effects can be blocked by increased vascular NO-cGMP signaling. Methods and Results— By using an established endothelial cell culture model of insulin resistance, exposure to palmitate, 100 μmol/L, for 3 hours induced both cellular inflammation (activation of IKKβ–nuclear factor-κB) and impaired insulin signaling via the insulin receptor substrate–phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase pathway. Sensitivity to palmitate-induced endothelial inflammation and insulin resistance was increased when NO signaling was reduced using an endothelial NO synthase inhibitor, whereas endothelial responses to palmitate were blocked by pretreatment with either an NO donor or a cGMP analogue. To investigate whether endogenous NO-cGMP signaling protects against vascular responses to nutrient excess in vivo, adult male mice lacking endothelial NO synthase were studied. As predicted, both vascular inflammation (phosphorylated IκBα and intercellular adhesion molecule levels) and insulin resistance (phosphorylated Akt [pAkt] and phosphorylated eNOS [peNOS] levels) were increased in endothelial NO synthase−/− (eNOS−/−) mice, reminiscent of the effect of DIO in wild-type controls. Next, we asked whether the vascular response to DIO in wild-type mice can be reversed by a pharmacological increase of cGMP signaling. C57BL6 mice were either fed a high-fat diet or remained on a low-fat diet for 8 weeks. During the final 2 weeks of the study, mice on each diet received either placebo or the phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor sildenafil, 10 mg/kg per day orally. In high-fat diet–fed mice, vascular inflammation and insulin resistance were completely prevented by sildenafil administration at a dose that had no effect in mice fed the low-fat diet. Conclusion— Reduced signaling via the NO-cGMP pathway is a mediator of vascular inflammation and insulin resistance during overnutrition induced by high-fat feeding. Therefore, phosphodiesterase-5, soluble guanylyl cyclase, and other molecules in the NO-cGMP pathway (eg, protein kinase G) constitute potential targets for the treatment of vascular dysfunction in the setting of obesity.
The role of information technology in translating educational interventions into practice: an analysis using the PRECEDE/PROCEED model

Objective The evidence base for information technology (IT) has been criticized, especially with the current emphasis on translational science. The purpose of this paper is to present an analysis of the role of IT in the implementation of a geriatric education and quality improvement (QI) intervention. Design A mixed-method three-group comparative design was used. The PRECEDE/PROCEED implementation model was used to qualitatively identify key factors in the implementation process. These results were further explored in a quantitative analysis. Method Thirty-three primary care clinics at three institutions (Intermountain Healthcare, VA Salt Lake City Health Care System, and University of Utah) participated. The program consisted of an onsite, didactic session, QI planning and 6 months of intense implementation support. Results Completion rate was 82% with an average improvement rate of 21%. Important predisposing factors for success included an established electronic record and a culture of quality. The reinforcing and enabling factors included free continuing medical education credits, feedback, IT access, and flexible support. The relationship between IT and QI emerged as a central factor. Quantitative analysis found significant differences between institutions for pre–post changes even after the number and category of implementation strategies had been controlled for. Conclusions The analysis illustrates the complex dependence between IT interventions, institutional characteristics, and implementation practices. Access to IT tools and data by individual clinicians may be a key factor for the success of QI projects. Institutions vary widely in the degree of access to IT tools and support. This article suggests that more attention be paid to the QI and IT department relationship.
Statistical methods to determine dominant degradation modes of fielded PV modules

The purpose of this analysis is to identify the most influential degradation modes in the fielded photovoltaic (PV) modules in two different climatic conditions using statistical techniques. This study is based on the measured I–V data and visual inspection data on sampled modules in five different power plants located in Arizona (hot-dry climate) and in New York (cold-dry climate). Statistical tests such as Pearson correlation and hypothesis testing were carried out on degradation rates to identify the parameter(s) that are affected the most. The parameters were also correlated to the visual defects observed in the field to identify the most dominant defect affecting power degradation. Analysis indicates that power is affected the most in hot-dry climate due to solder bond issues leading to high series resistance increase, while encapsulant delamination defect is being predominant in cold-dry climate leading to higher Isc drop and noticeable Voc loss due to triggering of bypass diodes.
Symposium 3 - Science Education “Leopoldo de Meis”: The Critical Importance of Science Education for Society

Symposium 3 - Science Education “Leopoldo de Meis” Chair: Wagner Seixas da Silva, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro Abstract: Three ambitious goals for science education: 1. Enable all children to acquire the problem-solving, thinking, and communication skills of scientists – so that they can be productive and competitive in the new world economy. 2. Generate a “scientific temper” for each nation, with scientifically trained people in many professions, ensuring the rationality and the tolerance essential for a democratic society. 3. Help each nation generate new scientific knowledge and technology by casting the widest possible net for talent. My preferred strategy for the United States: 1. Science education should have a much larger role in all school systems, but only if this science education is of a different kind than is experienced in most schools today. 2. Making such a change will require a redefinition of what we mean by the term “science education”. 3. To create continually improving education systems, we will need much more collaborative, effective, and use-inspired education research - research that is focused on real school needs and that integrates the best school teachers into the work. 4. Our best teachers need to have a much larger voice in helping to steer our national and state policies, as well as in our local school systems!
Risk of the Metabolic Syndrome in Sexual Minority Women: Results from the ESTHER Study.

Abstract Objective: Compared to heterosexuals, sexual minority women (SMW) have higher rates of the metabolic syndrome risk factors (e.g., obesity, smoking, heavy drinking, and depression). Yet, no published research has examined whether SMW have higher rates of the metabolic syndrome. The aim of this study is to describe the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and its individual factors in a sample of heterosexuals and SMW, and identify whether SMW are at greater risk of having the metabolic syndrome. Materials and Methods: Data are from the Epidemiologic STudy of HEalth Risk in Women (ESTHER), a cross-sectional convenience sample of 479 SMW and 400 heterosexual women from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Participants provided self-report questionnaire data, clinical data, and blood work. Results: Compared to heterosexuals, SMW had higher mean waist circumference, fasting glucose, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Nearly one-quarter (24.3%) of SMW had the metabolic syndrome compared to 15.6% of hetero...
Antimicrobial Bowel Preparation for Elective Colon Surgery

Abstract Background: Mechanical bowel preparation continues to be a controversial subject for the pre-operative management of patients undergoing elective colon resection. Methods: The English literature on bowel preparation was searched to identify pertinent publications. Results: The published literature over the past 80 y confirms that mechanical bowel preparation alone does not reduce surgical site infections. However, the use of appropriate oral antibiotics following mechanical bowel preparation with pre-operative systemic antibiotics reduces rates of surgical site infections and anastomotic leaks when compared with systemic antibiotics alone. Conclusions: Mechanical bowel preparation with pre-operative oral antibiotics and pre-operative systemic antibiotics are the standard of care for elective colon surgery. Refinement in methods of bowel preparation needs additional clinical investigations to further enhance outcomes.
Subcellular distribution of xanthine oxidase during cardiac ischemia and reperfusion: an immunocytochemical study.

Abstract Oxygen-derived free radicals are known to take part in cardiac injury during post-ischemic reperfusion (I/R). Xanthine oxidase (XO) is closely associated with the generation of superoxide radicals. We have determined the distribution of XO in rat myocardium after ischemia (I) and I/R by immunocytochemical method using murine monoclonal antibody against XO (bovine milk) and by enzyme histochemistry (EHC) in situ. Frozen sections of periodate-lysine-paraformaldehyde (PLP) fixed myocardium after 15, 60 and 90 min ischemia and 15 min ischemia and 30 min reperfusion were processed for immunocytochemistry and EHC. In other experiments, rats were treated with allopurinol, an inhibitor of XO, and hearts were processed for immunocytochemistry. By immunoperoxidase and immunofluorescence methods, a deep staining of interstitial cells, capillary and small blood vessels was observed, but the staining intensity of these cells was increased after reperfusion, in comparison to the normal and ischemic heart tissue. In the electron microscope, an immunoperoxidase reaction product was seen in the cytoplasm of interstitial, endothelial and smooth muscle cells. Similarly, EHC studies by nitroblue tetrazolium staining showed an increase in enzymatic activity in the tissue after reperfusion. The allopurinol-treated I/R tissue exhibited reduced staining. The data suggest that XO activity increases during ischemia but intensifies after reperfusion. The enzyme is localized in interstitial cells, coronary vessel endothelium and smooth muscle cells. XO is constantly present in the interstitial cells of the myocardium and it is a new finding not previously reported. It is further suggested that myocardial interstitium may be one of the major sites where oxygen derived radicals are generated during ischemia.
Effects of estrogen and-or progesterone on serum and pituitary gonadotropin levels in ovariectomized rats.

SummaryPituitary concentration and total content of LH, FSH and prolactin as well as serum levels of the hormones were measured in rats ovariectomized for 4–6 weeks and either untreated or primed with estrogen, progesterone, or both, 72 hr prior to decapitation. Estrogen stimulated synthesis and release of prolactin whereas progesterone did not alter these processes. Estrogen alone or in combination with progesterone caused increased pituitary stores of LH, perhaps by reducing endogenous LH-RH. Either steroid, administered alone or in combination with the other, increased the pituitary content of FSH, and FSH release was only partially inhibited by estrogen or estrogen and progesterone.We thank Dr. Gordon D. Niswender for his H-15 antibody and Dr. Leo Reichert, Jr. for his LER-1056-C2 LH for iodination used in the LH assays; Dr. Albert F. Parlow and NIH for the RIA kits used to measure rat FSH and prolactin along with the NIAMD standard used in the LH assays; Mrs. Frances Smith and Virginia Hoover for tec...
Long-Term Persistence of Song Dialects in the Mountain White-Crowned Sparrow

This study examined the persistence of local song dialects of Mountain White-crowned Sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys oriantha) at several locations in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. At two of these locations, where sparrows were numerous and occupied large contiguous habitat patches, song structure remained highly consistent over a 26-year period (1970-1996). Small but significant alterations in some aspects of the component syllables appeared to result from accumulation of slight copying errors. The frequency and duration of the introductory whistle changed little while the trill and complex syllables changed significantly. Dialects at these two locations were unaffected by extinction of syllables or invasion by foreign syllables. In contrast, songs recorded from two other areas (fragmented habitat and small populations) exhibited dramatic qualitative changes in overall structure and component syllables. These changes resulted both from loss of syllables and appearance of new syllables evidently introduced from nearby areas. These findings suggest that evolution of this culturally transmitted trait (song) proceeds more rapidly in smaller populations occupying structurally fragmented habitats than in larger populations occupying large contiguous habitat patches.
Effects of Time of Day and Weather on Spider Catches with a Sweep Net

The effects of time of day, season, trampling by the collector, cattle grazing, wetness of vegetation, and air temperature are analyzed for the size of sample catches of four species of oxyopid spiders living in a long—leafed pine community of northern Florida. All of these factors modify the sizes of sample catches although there are only slight changes, if any, in the population size. Therefore, changes due to these variables can cause erroneous population size estimates and judgments on the effects of ecological factors. Night collecting, warm winter weather, periods of heavy dew, and lack of cattle grazing contribute to greater catches of Oxyopes. Sweeping as a population sampling device may be inaccurate due to the inconsistency of these factors. Sampling must be supplemented with observation of spider activities (and the same probably applies to other inhabitants of the vegetation) to evaluate properly the results of sweepings and the causes of variation in catch sizes.
Types of Exercise: Flexibility, Strength, Endurance, Balance

Different exercise components—flexibility, strength, endurance, and balance—provide different benefits to older adults. Prior to starting exercise, an assessment of current function and fitness is helpful. “Start low and go slow” is the mantra for older adults beginning exercise programs. Although a multicomponent exercise program is optimal, it may overwhelm some beginning exercisers, who can start with one component and add others over time.
Efficient approximate value iteration for continuous Gaussian POMDPs

We introduce a highly efficient method for solving continuous partially-observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs) in which beliefs can be modeled using Gaussian distributions over the state space. Our method enables fast solutions to sequential decision making under uncertainty for a variety of problems involving noisy or incomplete observations and stochastic actions. We present an efficient approach to compute locally-valid approximations to the value function over continuous spaces in time polynomial (O[n4]) in the dimension n of the state space. To directly tackle the intractability of solving general POMDPs, we leverage the assumption that beliefs are Gaussian distributions over the state space, approximate the belief update using an extended Kalman filter (EKF), and represent the value function by a function that is quadratic in the mean and linear in the variance of the belief. Our approach iterates towards a linear control policy over the state space that is locally-optimal with respect to a user defined cost function, and is approximately valid in the vicinity of a nominal trajectory through belief space. We demonstrate the scalability and potential of our approach on problems inspired by robot navigation under uncertainty for state spaces of up to 128 dimensions.
The Nature of Work — Gallipoli

On 25 April 1915, the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force led by General Sir Ian Hamilton invaded the Ottoman Empire with a series of landings along the Gallipoli Peninsula.1 The plan was to take the peninsula swiftly and then march on through to Constantinople. With the Ottoman capital captured, the empire would be crippled and the allied trade route could be re-opened to Russia through the Bosphorus Strait and the Black Sea. The Australian part in this invasion, as part of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps within the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, was to land north of Gaba Tepe, press inland and secure the heights around Mal Tepe.2 In doing so the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps would threaten and potentially cut the line of supply and retreat of Ottoman forces facing a second invasion point in the south around Cape Helles, while also preventing the Ottoman forces from sending through reinforcements from the north.3 On paper this simply meant the movement of forces over a contoured map, in reality it led to a futile campaign that cost thousands of lives.