cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Managerial perceptions of an ethnic theme park: Yunnan Ethnic Folk Villages, China

Ethnic theme parks, as a relatively new tourism product, play a vital part in promoting ethnic culture and tourism development. This research explores the roles and perceptions of the managers of a nationally well-known ethnic theme park in Kunming, China: Yunnan Ethnic Folk Villages (YEFV). It discuss, in a broader context, issues and considerations that are pertinent to the development and management of ethnic theme parks. It is shown that the park is both recreational and political. The managers face many problems including financial difficulties, bureaucracy, cultural issues, labour disputes and human resource shortages. It is a challenge to satisfy the expectations of tourists and to meet the goals of the government and the owners and, thus, to fulfil the three-part purpose for which YEFV was created. It is argued that adapting to market changes, further enterprise reforms and effective ethnic involvement in management are essential for the sustainability of ethnic theme parks.
Lower extremity vascular stenting for a post-traumatic pseudoaneurysm in a young trauma patient

Endovascular treatment of post-traumatic pseudoaneurysms has become a viable, less invasive option when compared to open repair. Due to the relative youth of this technology, studies have yet to be concluded on the long-term patency of stent grafts in this population. For this reason, concern exists with endovascular stent placement in the young trauma patient. In this study, we present a case and review the literature on a post-traumatic pseudoaneurysm of the posterior tibial artery in a 19-year-old man treated with an endovascular stent.
An experimental evaluation of exhaust nozzle airframe interference

Test results are presented to evaluate a range of nozzle types and installations for a twin-engine supersonic fighter. At subsonic, transonic, and supersonic Mach numbers, 0.6—1.3 and 2.2, simulated forebodies were mated to five aft-fuselage shapes installed with five interchangeable variable-throat nozzle types: Iris, C-D Iris, Variable Flap Ejector, Plug, and Blow-In-Door Ejector. A dual force balance system, recording static thrust, aft-fuselage drag, and over-all afterbody thrust minus drag, was used to assess the effects of engine spacing, peripheral blockage, nozzle/fuselage combination, jet area, nozzle pressure ratio, and tunnel Mach number on interference drag. The results reveal that marked reductions in high subsonic interference drag are possible with widely spaced designs and Iris type nozzles.
Using Heterogeneous Propellant Burning Simulations as Subgrid Components of Rocket Simulations

We discuss the manner in which one-dimensional unsteady descriptions can be constructed from multidimensional unsteady simulations of heterogeneous propellant combustion. Spatial averaging of the heat equation within the propellant is used to generate a one-dimensional equation with a number of source terms defined by the multidimensional thermal field and surface corrugations. Each of these terms is evaluated numerically, and those that can be neglected are identified; models are defined and tested for those that cannot. Closure of the one-dimensional description is achieved by relating the mean surface regression rate and the heat flux from the combustion field at the surface to the pressure and the average surface temperature. These relations are in the form of a look-up table generated from the “exact” (multidimensional) simulations. The accuracy of the one-dimensional system is tested by comparing the predictions with those of the exact model. This is done for steady burning rates at various pressures and for the unsteady burning response to pressure ramps and pressure pulses.
Post‐glacial expansion into the Paleozoic Plateau: evidence of an Ozarkian refugium for the Ozark minnow Notropis nubilus (Teleostei: Cypriniformes)

Genetic variation was examined within the Ozark minnow Notropis nubilus using complete mtDNA cytochrome b gene sequences from 160 individuals representing 30 localities to test hypotheses on the origin of the distribution. Phylogenetic analyses revealed three strongly supported clades of haplotypes consistent with geographic distributions: a clade from the Western Ozarks, a clade from the Southern Ozarks and a clade from the Northern Ozarks and upper Mississippi River basin. The estimated mean ages of these clades indicated that they diverged during pre-Illinoian glacial cycles extending from the late Pliocene into the early Pleistocene. Results of demographic analyses based on coalescent approaches supported the hypothesis that the Paleozoic Plateau was not a refugium for N. nubilus during periodic glacial advances. There is evidence of a genetic signature of northern expansion into the Paleozoic Plateau from a Southern Ozarkian refugium. Populations expanded out of drainages in the Northern Ozarks into the Paleozoic Plateau during the late Pleistocene. Subsequently, the two regions were isolated due to the recent extirpation of intervening populations caused by the loss of suitable habitat.
Linear Groups over General Classes of Rings

One of the important theorems of Chapter 2 asserts that if R is a division ring, then every proper normal subgroup of the elementary group E n (R) is central (aside from two exceptions when n = 2), and consequently that the quotient of the elementary group E n (R) by its center is a simple group. This result no longer holds for a general ring R, since any proper ideal of R gives rise to elementary congruence subgroups which are non-central, proper normal subgroups of E n (R). Therefore the ideal structure of the ring R has direct impact on the normal subgroup structure of the group E n (R) . In the case of the stable linear group we saw in Theorem 1.3.7 that the ideal structure of the ring classifies the normal subgroup structure of the group. In this chapter we will establish the analogue of this classification for the linear groups of finite rank. We will do so under the assumption that n is larger than both 2 and the stable rank of R. The stable rank of R is the smallest positive integer k such that for every m ≥ k, every unimodular vector of the module R m+1 can be reduced (in a way that will be made precise in §4.1A) to one in R m .
Forked Tongues Revisited: Molecular Apomorphies Support Morphological Hypotheses of Squamate Evolution

Incongruence between morphological and molecular-based phylogenetic hypotheses has been reported across a wide range of taxa. Specifically, morphological and molecular hypotheses of squamate phylogeny have been consistently incongruent and have been notoriously difficult to reconcile. With the ever-rising popular view of the superiority of molecular data over morphological data, studies have been biased toward seeking explanations for homoplasy in the morphological data. We propose considering approaches that do not make a priori assumptions about the superiority of one type of data over another. We present two case studies using the proto-oncogene c-mos, as well as a large multi-locus dataset, to examine apomorphy distributions across hypotheses. This approach reveals novel insights into data incongruence currently plaguing squamate phylogeny, with direct implications for other scenarios of phylogenetic incongruence.
Selection and multiple-comparison procedures for regenerative systems

We propose two-stage methods for selection and multiple comparisons with the best (MCB) of steady-state performance measures of regenerative systems. We assume the systems being compared are simulated independently, and the methods presented are asymptotically valid as the confidence-interval width parameter shrinks and the first-stage run length grows at a rate that is at most the inverse of the square of the confidence-interval width parameter. When the first-stage run length is asymptotically negligible compared to the total run length, our procedures are asymptotically efficient. We provide an asymptotic comparison of our regenerative MCB procedures with those based on standardized time series (STS) methods in terms of mean and variance of total run length. We conclude that regenerative MCB methods are strictly better than STS MCB methods for any fixed number of batches, but the two become equivalent as the number of batches grows large.
Lossless asynchronous broadcast-with-feedback on the MetaNet architecture

Broadcast and broadcast-with-feedback are presented for MetaNet, a novel network architecture which can be viewed as a LAN with an arbitrary topology. The broadcast and broadcast-with-feedback algorithms presented are functionally equivalent to the broadcast on current LANs, e.g. token-ring or Ethernet. The broadcast algorithms are completely loss free under the asynchronous access method. The broadcast is integrated into the routing mechanism such that it can coexist with any traffic pattern. The time complexity of broadcast on the MetaNet (measured in light-load) is O(log n), while on a ring-based LAN the complexity is n. The algorithms can be modified to serve as a multicast procedure. >
Accelerated decline in the Arctic sea ice cover

[1] Satellite data reveal unusually low Arctic sea ice coverage during the summer of 2007, caused in part by anomalously high temperatures and southerly winds. The extent and area of the ice cover reached minima on 14 September 2007 at 4.1 × 106 km2 and 3.6 × 106 km2, respectively. These are 24% and 27% lower than the previous record lows, both reached on 21 September 2005, and 37% and 38% less than the climatological averages. Acceleration in the decline is evident as the extent and area trends of the entire ice cover (seasonal and perennial ice) have shifted from about −2.2 and −3.0% per decade in 1979–1996 to about −10.1 and −10.7% per decade in the last 10 years. The latter trends are now comparable to the high negative trends of −10.2 and −11.4% per decade for the perennial ice extent and area, 1979–2007.
Sex Differences in Anxiety Disorders: Gonadal Hormone Interactions with Pathophysiology, Neurobiology, and Treatment

Studies have documented sex differences in psychiatric illness from diagnosis to treatment. In particular, there is a profound disparity in the prevalence of stress- and fear-based disorders, such as anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder, in which women are more vulnerable. Fear processes have been extensively studied, and their relevance to anxiety and stress-related disorders is being increasingly examined. The mechanisms for fear learning and its subsequent extinction may provide a framework for understanding how gonadal hormones might contribute to the disproportionate incidence of these psychopathologies. Here, we discuss the influence of gonadal hormones in fear regulation processes and their contributions to the sex differences observed in the pathophysiology, neurobiology, and treatment of anxiety disorders. A better understanding of these interactions may contribute to the development of more effective, personalized treatments that take hormonal status into account.
Does diet influence consumer nutrient cycling? Macroinvertebrate and fish excretion in streams

Consumer nutrient cycling supplies limiting elements to autotrophic and heterotrophic organisms in aquatic systems. However, the role of consumers in supplying nutrients may change depending on their diet and their own stoichiometry. We evaluated the stoichiometry, N and P excretion, and diets of the dominant macroinvertebrates and fish at 6 stream sites to determine if the nutritional composition of food alters nutrient excretion. We used Sterner's (1990) nutrient homeostasis model as a reference to gauge whether consumer nutrient excretion is influenced by diet. Body stoichiometry explained 61% of the variation in N:P excretion by macroinvertebrates but only 11% of the variation for fish. In both cases, the relationship was driven by 2 P-rich end-members, crayfish and mottled sculpin. Results of Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) analysis showed that family alone explained 71% of the variation in N:P excretion in macroinvertebrates and 31% of the variation in fish. Diet explained only 8% of the variation in both cases. Most consumers (9 of 11) had N:P excretion values that were well below predictions of Sterner's model. Two taxa, crayfish and sculpin, had N:P excretion that overlapped the model's predictions. Our results suggest that crayfish and sculpin may display strict homeostasis with respect to N and P and that their growth might be P-limited. Other consumers may be more flexible in their stoichiometry and not P-limited. We speculate that the extremely low excretion N:P measured for many consumers might have been the result of semiflexible homeostasis, inaccuracies in our assessment of dietary nutrients, growth-limiting nutrients other than N or P, or lack of egestion data. Our results suggest that crayfish and sculpin may alter N and P dynamics in streams by excreting low amounts of P relative to N compared to what is generally available in the water column.
Driving force for hydraulic and pervaporative transport in homogeneous membranes

Experiments were designed to demonstrate that the chemical potential gradient required for liquid transport through swollen network polymer membranes manifests itself as a concentration gradient and that the rate of transport is independent of how this gradient is established. The fluxes of various liquids through a crosslinked rubber membrane were measured in hydraulic and pervaporation modes of permeation. The pressure applied downstream in the latter act simply to fix the activity of the liquid in the downstream membrane surface. The experiments show the flux is a unique function of this activity, and it does not matter how it is established. Sorption data were used to convert these results into a plot of flux versus concentration differential across the membrane which was analyzed by Fick's law using a model for the concentration dependence of the diffusion coefficient. Measured ceiling fluxes for pervaporation for a number of liquids were found to be the same as those estimated from hydraulic permeation data. A simple mathematical representation for an ideal system is used as a pedagogical device to demonstrate the conclusions.
Collaborative interaction behaviors in an information technology problem-solving context: cognitive movements of the helper and the helped:

This paper explores patterns of cognitive movements in the context of information technology problem solving. The movements, based on Dervin's Sense-Making theory, are characterized as cognitive and affective perceptions of the individual as s/he experiences a situation through time– space. This study focuses on the interaction between the helper and the helped. A time-line interview is conducted to collect descriptions of respondents' perceptions of the meaningful behavioral sequence as a series of steps. The sample consists of 22 customer service representatives and 36 information technology service users. The findings offer a way of understanding the embedded nature of the perceptions of helper and helped in a problem-solving context. They support a model of collaborative problem-solving behaviors and suggest implications for the design and management of help systems or services.
The Impacts of Physical Layer Parameters on the Connectivity of Ad-Hoc Networks

We study the effects of physical layer parameters on the connectivity of fading ad-hoc networks. Relying on a symbol error rate connectivity metric for such networks, we assume a pair of nodes are connected if their bi-directional measure of connectivity satisfies a given threshold. We investigate the effects of three parameters on the connectivity phenomenon. First and assuming the nodes are distributed over a fixed finite area, we study the effects of the changes in nodes' density. Next, we measure the connectivity effects of the interference coefficients, i.e., the portion of power an interfering node contributes to other links. Finally, we experiment with the threshold of link quality for connectedness. For each parameter, we also provide an intuitive explanation of the phenomena observed in our experiments. Our simulation results show that (1) depending on the value of interference coefficient, an increase in node density may increase or decrease, and (2) increasing the interference coefficients and thresholds of link quality will decrease the connectivity of fading ad-hoc networks.
Resonant Tunneling in the Quantum Hydrodynamic Model

The phenomenon of resonant tunneling is simulated and analyzed in the quantum hydrodynamic (QHD) model for semiconductor devices. Simulations of a parabolic well resonant tunneling diode at 77 K are presented which show multiple regions of negative differential resistance (NDR) in the current-voltage curve. These are the first simulations of the QHD equations to show multiple regions of NDR.
Structural analysis of phosphatidylcholines by post-source decay matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry

The utility of post-source decay (PSD) matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) was investigated for the structural analysis of phosphatidylcholine (PC). PC did not produce detectable negative molecular ion from MALDI, but positive ions were observed as both [PC+H]+ and [PC+Na]+. The PSD spectra of the protonated PC species contained only one fragment corresponding to the head group (m/z 184), while the sodiated precursors produced many fragment ions, including those derived from the loss of fatty acids. The loss of fatty acid from the C-1 position (sn-1) of the glycerol backbone was favored over the loss of fatty acid from the C-2 position (sn-2). Ions emanating from the fragmentation of the head group (phosphocholine) included [PC+Na-59]+, [PC+Na-183]+ and [PC+Na-205]+, which corresponded to the loss of trimethylamine (TMA), non-sodiated choline phosphate and sodiated choline phosphate, respectively. Other fragments reflecting the structure of the head group were observed at m/z 183, 146 and 86. The difference in the fragmentation patterns for the PSD of [PC+Na]+ compared to [PC+H]+ is attributed to difference in the binding of Na+ and H+. While the proton binds to a negatively charged oxygen of the phosphate group, the sodium ion can be associated with several regions of the PC molecule. Hence, in the sodiated PC, intermolecular interaction of the negatively charged oxygen of the phosphate group, along with sodium association at multiple sites, can lead to a complex and characteristic ion fragmentation pattern. The preferential loss of sn-1 fatty acid group could be explained by the formation of an energetically favorable six-member ring intermediate, as apposed to the five-member ring intermediate formed prior to the loss of sn-2 fatty acid group.
But Affirmative Action hurts Us! Race-related beliefs shape perceptions of White disadvantage and policy unfairness

Drawing on social identity theory, we examine how Whites’ race-related beliefs drive their reactions to race-based Affirmative Action Policies (AAPs). Across laboratory and field settings, we find that Whites with relatively high modern racism (MR) or collective relative deprivation (CRD) beliefs perceive greater White disadvantage in organizations that have race-based AAPs, than in organizations that do not. Alternatively, race-based AAPs do not lead to perceptions of White disadvantage among Whites with relatively low MR and CRD beliefs. We also find that White disadvantage mediates the relationship between the combined effects of race-based AAPs, MR beliefs, and CRD beliefs and the perceived fairness of the organization’s selection and promotion policies. Our findings suggest that race-based AAPs do not necessarily lead to perceptions of White disadvantage, but are contingent upon the interpretive lens of Whites’ MR and CRD beliefs, and also offer practical insights for preventing negative reactions to race-based AAPs.
Noncoherent Integrations for GNSS Detection: Analysis and Comparisons

A new approach is presented for assessing the effectiveness of noncoherent integrations in Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signal acquisition. In the light of the renewed interest in weak signal detection and considering the limitations of coherent integration, it is critical to possess a tool in order to predict and evaluate the impact of noncoherent integrations on signal detection performance. The challenge is the statistic of the noise component, preventing the computation of exact signal-to-noise (SNR) ratios when combinations of coherent and noncoherent integrations are utilized. An original approach is presented to enable this comparison through an equivalent area criterion based on the popular receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. The equivalent area approach is compared with past techniques, and the performance of each method is analyzed for highlighting the effectiveness of the proposed criterion.
Bronchiolitis obliterans in lung transplantation: the good, the bad, and the future

Lung transplantation remains the hope for many incurable pulmonary diseases, such as cystic fibrosis, pulmonary fibrosis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Remarkable progress has been made in improving outcomes, although the incidence of acute rejection remains more than 50% in the 1st year, and the 5-year graft survival is still less than 50% primarily because of the development of chronic rejection and graft dysfunction. Chronic rejection is characterized by the development of obliterative bronchiolitis in allografts and manifests as bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome in humans with no effective treatment. Previous studies support a role for alloreactive T cells in the development of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome, but the specific mechanisms are unknown. One major stumbling block to research in the field of lung transplantation has been the lack of physiologic models to study the disease in the laboratory. We will review the current understanding of the immunology of the pathogenesis of obliterative bronchiolitis and will discuss exciting new advances from the laboratory as well as the implications for future research in lung transplantation.
Severe, Disabling, and/or Chronic Penile Pain Associated With Peyronie Disease: Management With Subcutaneous Steroid Injection

Penile pain is one of the most distressing, limiting, and difficult to treat manifestations of Peyronie disease. The use of steroid injections for penile deformities associated with Peyronie disease has been ineffective. However, use of steroid injections in managing penile pain has been poorly investigated. The aim of this study was to examine the efficacy and safety of subcutaneous, nonintralesional steroid injections in patients with severe, disabling, and/or chronic penile pain associated with Peyronie disease. This was a single-institution retrospective study of 16 patients with severe, disabling, and/or chronic penile pain associated with Peyronie disease who underwent subcutaneous, nonintralesional injection of triamcinolone (50 mg) between 2004 and 2006. Preinjection and postinjection analog pain scales were used to assess treatment efficacy. All 16 patients (mean age, 47.6 ± 11.1 years) had penile pain associated with erections for an average of 13.9 months (range, 3-36 months) prior to injections. Mean preinjection and postinjection penile pain scores were 6.6 ± 2.1 and 0.5 ± 0.5, respectively. On average, patients were pain free at follow-up visits within 10.6 ± 7.6 weeks. The mean pain-free duration was 23.8 months (range, 3-52 months). The mean cumulative dose of triamcinolone was 75.0 mg (range, 50-200 mg), with a mean of 1.5 injections (range, 1-4 injections). All 16 patients had overall improvement in pain scores. There were no adverse events or geometric penile changes after injections. Subcutaneous, nonintralesional injections of triamcinolone is an effective, safe, and durable means of managing severe, disabling, and/or chronic penile pain in patients with Peyronie disease. Future studies are needed to validate these findings.
Modeling bacterial metal toxicity using a surface complexation approach

Abstract In this study, a detailed understanding of the metal binding reactions on bacterial cell envelopes was used to create an advanced biotic ligand model based on mechanistic adsorption reactions. A surface complexation model (SCM) was used to relate metal toxicity to the speciation and concentration of the metal adsorbed to the bacterial surface. Batch Bacillus subtilis growth measurements were used as a measure of Cd toxicity and to validate and calibrate this approach. Bacterial growth was measured by optical density (O.D.) in the presence of a constant concentration of Cd at either 1 or 2 ppm. EDTA was added to control the bacterial adsorption of Cd, using EDTA:Cd molar ratios of 0, 0.25, 0.5, 1 and 2. The toxic effect of Cd was quantified by measuring growth inhibition in terms of a parameter defined as the growth factor which is the experimental O.D. at a specific sampling time divided by the O.D. of the corresponding Cd-free control at the same sampling time. In all cases, a minimal growth medium was used to limit system components, allowing the precise calculation of aqueous and surface speciation of Cd for each experimental condition. These calculations used previously determined site-specific binding constants, acidity constants and site concentrations for the B. subtilis cell envelope functional groups. Cd toxicity increased with decreasing EDTA concentrations. A strong correlation between the total concentration of adsorbed Cd and the calculated growth factor was observed, with a dramatic increase in the growth factor when adsorption was below 0.31 μmol/g. The results suggest that biotic ligand models that incorporate surface complexation modeling yield flexible and accurate bioavailability models that can dramatically improve our understanding and ability to predict toxicity and other reactions linked to metal bioavailability in complex geologic systems.
Greedy partitioning strategy for banyan-hypercube networks

The authors have developed a partitioning strategy (FP) for banyan-hypercubes (BHs) networks, similar to the best fit strategy of memory allocation. They design and study a greedy partitioning (GP) strategy for BHs which to some extent resembles the first fit strategy of memory allocation. They simulated both FP and GP strategies. The simulation results show that the two strategies yield the same system performance. However, the FP strategy runs faster than the GP strategy and is preferable for practical considerations. >
Audit Firm Tenure and Fraudulent Financial Reporting

The Sarbanes‐Oxley Act (2002) required the U.S. Comptroller General to study the potential effects of requiring mandatory audit firm rotation. The General Accounting Office (GAO) concludes in its recently released study of mandatory audit firm rotation that “mandatory audit firm rotation may not be the most efficient way to strengthen auditor independence” (GAO 2003, Highlights). However, the GAO also suggests that mandatory audit firm rotation could be necessary if the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act's requirements do not lead to improved audit quality (GAO 2003, 5). We examine the relation between audit firm tenure and fraudulent financial reporting. Comparing firms cited for fraudulent reporting from 1990 through 2001 with both a matched set of non‐fraud firms and with the available population of non‐fraud firms, we find that fraudulent financial reporting is more likely to occur in the first three years of the auditor‐client relationship. We fail to find any evidence that fraudulent financial reporting is more lik...
Research Coordination Networks: a phylogeny for kingdom Fungi (Deep Hypha).

Research in fungal phylogenetics and systematics progressed rapidly in the past decade due to advances in DNA sequencing technologies and analytical methods. A newfound wealth of sequence data acquired through community-wide initiatives has advanced the process of acquiring a stable phyloge- netic classification of many fungal taxa. Financial support from the National Science Foundation Re- search Coordination Networks: a phylogeny for kingdom Fungi (Deep Hypha) for 5 y enabled more than 100 fungal systematists to assess the taxon sampling, molecular markers and analytical methods necessary to facilitate such a project. Later a second NSF program provided financial support for the Assembling the Fungal Tree of Life (AFTOL) project to accomplish much of the research. Deep Hypha may be viewed as an involved parent of AFTOL with a continuing role as coordinator of likeminded workers. Many questions posed at the beginning of the Deep Hypha project have been addressed, at least in part, although some details remain to be clarified. Many of the main branches of the fungal tree are stable and well supported, often as a result of multigene analyses that involved collaboration of many laboratories. More work is necessary, however, to resolve certain branching events near the base of the tree, as well as to reconstruct relationships in some terminal groups. The phylogenetic classification in this issue of Mycologia is a product of the AFTOL project and many other independent research in- itiatives, and it is an initial synthesis of a working classification designed to be used for all major
Dyadic Classification Trees via Structural Risk Minimization

Classification trees are one of the most popular types of classifiers, with ease of implementation and interpretation being among their attractive features. Despite the widespread use of classification trees, theoretical analysis of their performance is scarce. In this paper, we show that a new family of classification trees, called dyadic classification trees (DCTs), are near optimal (in a minimax sense) for a very broad range of classification problems. This demonstrates that other schemes (e.g., neural networks, support vector machines) cannot perform significantly better than DCTs in many cases. We also show that this near optimal performance is attained with linear (in the number of training data) complexity growing and pruning algorithms. Moreover, the performance of DCTs on benchmark datasets compares favorably to that of standard CART, which is generally more computationally intensive and which does not possess similar near optimality properties. Our analysis stems from theoretical results on structural risk minimization, on which the pruning rule for DCTs is based.
Missed visits and mortality among patients establishing initial outpatient HIV treatment.

BACKGROUND Dramatic increases in the number of patients requiring linkage to treatment for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection are anticipated in response to updated Centers for Disease Control and Prevention HIV testing recommendations that advocate routine, opt-out HIV testing. METHODS A retrospective analysis nested within a prospective HIV clinical cohort study evaluated patients who established initial outpatient treatment for HIV infection at the University of Alabama at Birmingham 1917 HIV/AIDS Clinic from 1 January 2000 through 31 December 2005. Survival methods were used to evaluate the impact of missed visits during the first year of care on subsequent mortality in the context of other baseline sociodemographic, psychosocial, and clinical factors. Mortality was ascertained by query of the Social Security Death Index as of 1 August 2007. RESULTS Among 543 study participants initiating outpatient care for HIV infection, 60% missed a visit within the first year. The mortality rate was 2.3 deaths per 100 person-years for patients who missed visits, compared with 1.0 deaths per 100 person-years for those who attended all scheduled appointments during the first year after establishing outpatient treatment (P = .02). In Cox proportional hazards analysis, higher hazards of death were independently associated with missed visits (hazard ratio, 2.90; 95% confidence interval, 1.28-6.56), older age (hazard ratio, 1.58 per 10 years of age; 95% confidence interval, 1.12-2.22), and baseline CD4+ cell count < 200 cells/mm(3) (hazard ratio, 2.70; 95% confidence interval, 1.00-7.30). CONCLUSIONS Patients who missed visits within the first year after initiating outpatient treatment for HIV infection had more than twice the rate of long-term mortality, compared with those patients who attended all scheduled appointments. We posit that early missed visits are not causally responsible for the higher observed mortality but, rather, identify those patients who are more likely to exhibit health behaviors that portend increased subsequent mortality.
North American Weather Consultants - Inside Front Cover

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Skin dose differences between intensity-modulated radiation therapy and volumetric-modulated arc therapy and between boost and integrated treatment regimens for treating head and neck and other cancer sites in patients

The purpose of this study was (1) to evaluate dose to skin between volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) and intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) treatment techniques for target sites in the head and neck, pelvis, and brain and (2) to determine if the treatment dose and fractionation regimen affect the skin dose between traditional sequential boost and integrated boost regimens for patients with head and neck cancer. A total of 19 patients and 48 plans were evaluated. The Eclipse (v11) treatment planning system was used to plan therapy in 9 patients with head and neck cancer, 5 patients with prostate cancer, and 5 patients with brain cancer with VMAT and static-field IMRT. The mean skin dose and the maximum dose to a contiguous volume of 2cm(3) for head and neck plans and brain plans and a contiguous volume of 5cm(3) for pelvis plans were compared for each treatment technique. Of the 9 patients with head and neck cancer, 3 underwent an integrated boost regimen. One integrated boost plan was replanned with IMRT and VMAT using a traditional boost regimen. For target sites located in the head and neck, VMAT reduced the mean dose and contiguous hot spot most noticeably in the shoulder region by 5.6% and 5.4%, respectively. When using an integrated boost regimen, the contiguous hot spot skin dose in the shoulder was larger on average than a traditional boost pattern by 26.5% and the mean skin dose was larger by 1.7%. VMAT techniques largely decrease the contiguous hot spot in the skin in the pelvis by an average of 36% compared with IMRT. For the same target coverage, VMAT can reduce the skin dose in all the regions of the body, but more noticeably in the shoulders in patients with head and neck and pelvis cancer. We also found that using integrated boost regimens in patients with head and neck cancer leads to higher shoulder skin doses compared with traditional boost regimens.
Increased diphacinone and chlorophacinone metabolism in previously exposed wild caught voles, Microtus californicus

Rodents have been noteworthy pests in agricultural areas for decades. Because rodents impact diverse ecosystems, anticoagulant rodenticides have been heavily used throughout the world to control rodent populations. This continued use has led to the development of resistance to anticoagulant rodenticides in some populations of targeted rodents. Although many studies have investigated the genetic and molecular basis of anticoagulant resistance, few have focused on potential changes in metabolic function of resistant animals. In this study, vole (Microtus californicus, Peale) liver microsome preparations were made from unexposed animals living in areas that had never used anticoagulant rodenticides for either crop protection or for the control of commensal rodents and exposed voles living in artichoke fields that have used anticoagulant rodenticides since the mid-1990s. Using these microsome preparations, the metabolism of diphacinone and chlorophacinone was tested. Microsomes from both male and female voles from exposed areas metabolized significantly more anticoagulant than unexposed animals. Also, both exposed and unexposed animals metabolized more diphacinone than chlorophacinone. These findings suggest that alterations in metabolic function may play a role in anticoagulant resistance. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Endovascular treatment of ophthalmic artery aneurysms: ophthalmic artery patency following flow diversion versus coil embolization.

Background and purpose The Pipeline Embolization Device (PED) has been shown to effectively treat complex internal carotid artery aneurysms while maintaining patency of covered side branches. The purpose of this retrospective matched cohort study is to evaluate the effect of flow diversion on the patency of the ophthalmic artery when treating ophthalmic artery aneurysms. Methods A retrospective review of our prospectively collected institutional database identified 19 ophthalmic artery aneurysms treated with a PED. These were matched according to aneurysm diameter in a 1:2 fashion to ophthalmic artery aneurysms treated via coil embolization, although it is important to note that there was a statistically significance difference in the neck diameter between the two groups (p=0.045). Clinical and angiographic outcomes were recorded and analyzed. Results On follow-up angiography, decreased flow through the ophthalmic artery was observed in 26% of the PED cohort and 0% of the coil embolization cohort (p=0.003). No ophthalmologic complications were noted in either cohort. Complete occlusion at 12 months was more common following PED treatment than coil embolization (74% vs 47%; p=0.089), although lower than reported in previous trials. This may be due to inflow into the ophthalmic artery keeping the aneurysm patent. Retreatments were more common following coil embolization than PED (24% vs 11%), but this was not significant (p=0.304). Permanent morbidity rates were not significantly different between the PED (11%) and coil embolization (3%) cohorts (p=0.255). Conclusions Our results suggest that ophthalmic artery aneurysms may be adequately and safely treated with either the PED or coil embolization. However, treatment with the PED carries a higher risk of impeding flow to the ophthalmic artery, although this did not result in clinical sequelae in the current study.
Batch Material Processing and Glassmaking Technology of 9th Century B.C. Artifacts Excavated from the Site of Hasanlu, Northwest Iran

The site of Hasanlu is located southwest of Lake Urmia (Lake Rezaiyeh) in the province of Western Azerbaijan, northwest Iran. Excavations carried out by Dr. R. H. Dyson, Jr. of the University of Pennsylvania from 1957 to 1977 of the Iron Age levels at Hasanlu yielded a large number of glass beads, as well as glass vessels, and glass furniture inlays or wall fittings. Sampling of many of these pieces was limited to weathered areas, requiring the use of a micro-analytical technique to characterize the glass. Electron microprobe and wavelength dispersive analysis were used to characterize the chemical compositions of the glasses of Hasanlu. The glasses are soda-lime-silica in composition, containing about 17-21 wt% soda and 2-8 wt% lime. of 51 glasses analyzed to date, 47 contain about 1-6 wt% of magnesia and 1-4 wt% potash, indicative of a plant ash source of alkali. Four glasses contain less than 1 wt% each of magnesia and potash, suggesting that these may have been made with a mineral alkali source like natron. At least 35 glasses contain inclusions of partly reacted batch materials. In blue transparent to translucent, black translucent, and yellow opaque glasses, large, 0.2 mm diameter, droplets of alkali sulfates exhibit features that indicate they were an immiscible liquid coexisting with a surrounding silicate liquid. These sulfate droplets, which appear to be relatively common in the glasses found at Hasanlu, are probably the scum or “gall” that can form during melting of poorly prepared plant ash. Remnants of original raw colorants occur in a few glasses. Many of the black glasses contain polymetallic sulfides of different combinations of lead, copper, antimony, and iron. These inclusions and the glass chemistry are used to interpret the origin and processing of the batch materials, and the conditions under which the materials were melted.
Improvement in Rapid Reading as Related to Visual Acuity and Initial Reading Speed

College freshmen enrolled in a rapid reading course were assigned to one of two groups on the basis of visual acuity. These groups were further divided on the basis of their pretest reading speed. Reading speed and compre hension measures were taken before, after, and periodically throughout the course. Results indicated that the in crease in reading speed of the myopic group was significantly greater than that of the emmetropic group and that the group reading initially faster improved at a more rapid rate than did the slower group. Comprehension de creased during the course with the fast readers maintaining better comprehension. By the final measure, reading speed was more related to visual acuity than to the individual's initial reading speed. The results were interpreted as supporting the contention that myopes are more visually oriented.
Monoclonal antibodies to the cellular and scrapie prion proteins

Scrapie is a degenerative neurological disease of sheep and goats that has been experimentally transmitted to rodents. The generation of polyclonal antibodies to the scrapie prion protein PrP 27-30 [1-3] represented a major advance in scrapie research. Induction of these specific antisera required relatively high concentrations of purified immunogen. Such concentrations suggest some level of innate immune suppression or tolerance to prion proteins, an occurrence that is more readily apparent in experimental rodents [4]. Identification of the prion protein cellular isoform PrP 33-35C [5-7] may explain the apparent immune tolerance in these animals. With the discovery of the cellular and scrapie prion protein isoforms, the development of immunologic probes of increased monospecificity has become increasingly important. We report here the production of murine monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) to the prion protein. These MAbs react with PrP 27-30, as well as with the isoforms PrP 3335c and PrP 33-35Sc , on western immunoblots. The significance of this achievement is twofold. Our results demonstrate that a scrapie-susceptible host, the mouse, can generate antibodies to hamster prion proteins if sufficiently large amounts of immunogen are used. More important, the availability of MAbs to PrP provides an extremely valuable reagent for identifying, characterizing, and purifying the prion proteins.
Proteomics under pressure: development of essential sample preparation techniques in proteomics using ultrahigh hydrostatic pressure.

The minimization of preanalytical variables in sample preparation is imperative for successful discovery-driven and translational research involving large-scale biomolecular profiling. Here, we demonstrate a novel technique using high hydrostatic pressure in addition to several chaotropes and solvents to maximize efficiency of both cell lysis and enzymatic digestion while minimizing the time, manual involvement in sample processing, and preanalytical variability introduced prior to mass spectrometry-based proteomic analysis. The digestion techniques were evaluated and optimized for in-solution, in-gel, and on-membrane applications using protein standards and cell lysates. The lysis techniques were evaluated using human HepG2 cells. Our results demonstrate that the use of elevated pressure and organic solvents can achieve superior protein recovery of organelle-, complex-, and especially membrane-associated proteins, meanwhile obtaining more than a 20-fold increase in throughput with improved reproducibilit...
Life experiences and the acquired capability for suicide in incarcerated men

Suicide is a leading cause of death in U.S. prisons. Prisoners may be at risk for suicide due to their greater likelihood of experiencing events that promote the acquired capability for suicide. The current study examined the associations of 10 domains of life experiences with the acquired capability for suicide in 399 male prisoners. All life experience domains were associated with acquired capability with certain domains evidencing relatively stronger relations. Results support that aggression, thrill seeking, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and accidental injury may be particularly important to the development of the acquired capability for suicide in prisoners.
Deconstructing the genealogy of family-centredness in early childhood intervention using a poststructuralist lens / Deconstrucción de la genealogía del enfoque centrado en la familia en las intervenciones de atención temprana, desde un punto de vista post-estructuralista

AbstractThis paper aims to examine the genealogy of family-centredness in early childhood intervention. In particular, it deconstructs the procedural requirements, such as the completion of the Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP), which has operated to serve the notion of family-centredness. Employing a poststructuralist lens, the paper contends that the current knowledge/belief is constructed and institutionalized by the dominant groups, such as policymakers and professionals, and their discourse. Families are normalized with discursive practices to believe that their participation perfects the rules set by powered social institutions with knowledge and power; hence, they are at the centre in the practice of services and provisions. Blinded by the normalized discipline, the historically absented position of families in the construction of social structures has perpetuated through the existing practices. Thus, this paper offers a critical reflection on the understanding of multiple discourses. In pa...
THE AMERICAN JOINT COMMITTEE ON CANCER STAGING AND END RESULTS REPORTING.

Dr. Copeland describes the development of The American Joint Committee on Cancer Staging and End Results Reporting, its objectives, and the steps in the preparation of the clinical classifications. Emphasis is on simplicity, practicability and credibility. The TNM (tumor, nodes, metastasis) system is utilized where possible.
28 AFRICAN-AMERICAN PEDIGREES MULTIPLEX FOR SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS WITH HEMOLYTIC ANEMIA CONFIRM, LOCALIZE, AND DEMONSTRATE GENETIC ASSOCIATION OF SLEH1 AT 11Q14

The SLE susceptibility locus, SLEH1, was first identified on 11q14 (D11S2002; LOD = 4.7) in 16 African-American (AA) multiplex pedigrees that contained at least one individual affected with both SLE and hemolytic anemia (PNAS 2002;99:11766-11771). In an effort to confirm this finding, we identified an additional 13 African-American pedigrees multiplex for SLE with hemolytic anemia in one or more SLE affected. The additional 13 pedigrees confirmed linkage to SLEH1 (LOD = 2.0 at D11S2002). To evaluate the region for possible genetic association, we typed 33 SNPs spanning 74.3-85 Mb on chromosome 11q14-21 (average intermarker distance = 109 kb; range: 248 bp-1.3 Mb) in 40 AA pedigrees linked to D11S2002. One SNP showed a weak association using TDT (p = .004), PDT (p = .04) and FBAT (p = .003). Fine mapping of an additional 19 SNPs around this SNP produced 5 additional SNPs that showed family based association (at the p = .05 level). In addition, two SNPs showed significantly different allele frequencies between 40 cases and 46 controls (χ2 = 4.66, p = .03). More SNPs are currently being typed in the neighborhood to define the LD and to help determine whether the possible association signal detected is robust. These results provide further evidence demonstrating that SLEH1 is a strong and reproducible SLE susceptibility locus. The chromosomal locus originally spanning 10 cM is now confirmed and has been further localized to a 2-3 Mb region on chromosome 11q14-21.