cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Obese patients show a depressed cytokine profile following severe blunt injury

We hypothesized that severely injured obese patients would display increased concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines when compared with patients of normal body mass index (BMI) and that this would be associated with multiple organ failure (MOF). This was a retrospective review of prospectively collected data in the "Inflammation and the Host Response to Injury" trauma-related database. Data were collected prospectively from US level I trauma centers. The subjects were severely injured adult blunt trauma patients. Cytokine concentrations obtained within 12 h of injury and on days 1 and 4 were compared between subjects on the basis of BMI (normal, 18.5-24.9 kg/m, and obese, ≥30 kg/m). Demographic measures, injury severity, cytokine concentrations, and outcome measures were compared between groups. Seventy-four adult blunt trauma victims were evaluated. Relative to patients of normal BMI (n = 34), obese patients (n = 40) demonstrated an overall depressed cytokine response to severe injury, with significantly lower concentrations of several cytokines. Obese patients showed greater incidences of nosocomial infection (60 vs. 45%, not statistically significant) and MOF (63% vs. 44%, not statistically significant) and a later onset of maximum MOF score (5 vs. 3 days, P < 0.04) when compared with those of normal BMI. Despite prior reports suggesting a proinflammatory cytokine profile in obese individuals, obese patients sustaining severe injury show a depressed early cytokine response when compared with patients of normal BMI. This may confer increased susceptibility to nosocomial infection and later MOF. Further study of immune dysfunction in the postinjury obese patient should assess the possibility of early immune suppression.
Identification of a differential display product associated with apoptosis in chicken thymocytes

Abstract To further elucidate the cellular mechanisms that mediate programmed cell death in avian immune cells, differential display analysis was employed to identify differentially expressed genes in chicken thymocytes undergoing apoptosis. Primary cultures of thymocytes were treated with dexamethasone to activate apoptosis and RNA was isolated for differential display analysis. A differential display product designated A1 (479 bp) was identified. This display product was subcloned and induced expression of the genes was confirmed by ribonuclease protection analysis. Nucleotide sequence analysis of Al revealed a putative 82 amino acid open reading frame that demonstrated limited homology with Bad, an apoptotic regulatory protein. Thus, A1 may represent the avian homolog of Bad.
Human Nutrition and Health

Human nutrition must be the leading goal for food and agricultural policies, insofar as nutrition relates to the nourishment of man. No one could argue successfully to the contrary. The National Nutrition Consortium proposed that a nutrition policy should "assure an adequate wholesome food supply at reasonable cost to meet the needs of all segments of the population, this supply being available at a level consistent with the affordable lifestyle of the era" (p. 57). The AMA Council on Foods and Nutrition has enunciated some general policies for the improvement of the nutritive quality of foods, a necessary corollary to the above-stated policy:
Increase of Plant Virus Infection by Magnesium in the Presence of Phosphate

THE increase of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) infection induced by 0.1 M solutions of ammonium, potassium or sodium mono-hydrogen orthophosphate salts already has been discussed1,2. This phenomenon was defined as the ‘phosphate effect’ and has been interpreted as an effect on the host3. The action of the ‘phosphate effect’ is here considered to be both an effect on the virus and on the host4.
Macrophyte beds contribute disproportionately to benthic invertebrate abundance and biomass in a sand plains stream

Macrophyte beds have been shown to influence organic matter retention and nutrient processing in streams. Less is known about the extent to which plant beds contribute to abundance, biomass, and diversity of macroinvertebrate assemblages in low-order streams. We measured aquatic invertebrate abundance, biomass, and diversity associated with plant beds and sand/gravel patches in a low-gradient second-order stream in the Central Sand Plains of Wisconsin, USA from March to October. Invertebrate abundance and biomass were higher on average in plant beds (2,552 m−2 and 1,575 mg m−2) than in sand/gravel patches (893 m−2 and 486 mg m−2). Although sand/gravel habitat was over three times more abundant than plant beds in the study reach, plant beds and sand/gravel patches contributed similarly to invertebrate abundance and biomass at the whole-reach scale. The abundance and biomass of invertebrates associated with plant beds decreased from spring to autumn. Non-insect invertebrates in the plant beds increased in relative abundance as the year progressed. Shannon–Weiner diversity and taxa richness of invertebrates were higher in the plant beds than in the sand/gravel habitat. Our results suggest that plant beds can represent hot spots for invertebrate abundance and production in low-gradient streams, and have implications for stream management and restoration in these types of ecosystems.
High-temperature superconducting pickup-loop hysteresis for magnetometer and gradiometer configurations

Magnetic hysteresis of YBa/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub 7-/spl delta// thin-film pickup loops was measured using a single-layer sample design that allowed experiments to characterize both magnetometers and gradiometers. Measurements were performed at 77 K for samples having pickup-loop linewidths ranging from 20 /spl mu/m to 800 /spl mu/m. Magnetometer hysteresis was found to increase with increasing linewidth and increasing amplitude of the applied magnetic field ramp. Gradiometer hysteresis was found to depend primarily on the degree of hysteretic balance between the two individual loops comprising the gradiometer. The dependence of gradiometer hysteresis on applied field amplitude was found to be sample dependent, monotonically increasing in some cases, and exhibiting a local minimum in others.
Amorphous-semiconductor-contact germanium-based detectors for gamma-ray imaging and spectroscopy ☆

Germanium-based detectors are the standard technology used for gamma-ray spectroscopy when high efficiency and excellent energy resolution are desired. By dividing the electrical contacts on these detectors into segments, the locations of the gamma-ray interaction events within the detectors can be determined as well as the deposited energies. This enables simultaneous gamma-ray imaging and spectroscopy and leads to applications in the areas of astronomy, nuclear physics, environmental remediation, nuclear nonproliferation, and homeland security. Producing the fine-pitched electrode segmentation often required for imaging has been problematic in the past. To address this issue, we have developed an amorphous-semiconductor contact technology. Using this technology, fully passivated detectors with closely spaced contacts can be produced using a simple fabrication process. The current state of the amorphous-semiconductor contact technology and the challenges that remain are given in this paper.
Cloning and nucleotide sequencing of the bovine growth hormone gene

Abstract A gene coding for bovine growth hormone was isolated from a bovine genomic library. The nucleotide sequence of the coding regions of the gene was found to be identical with that of a nearly full-length growth hormone cDNA clone. The gene sequence is approximately 1800 bp in length and contains four intervening sequences. The second intervening sequence of 227 nucleotides does not contain a repetitive element similar to that observed in the rat growth hormone gene. A comparison of the 5' and 3' flanking and untranslated regions of the bovine, human and rat growth hormone genes revealed many areas of highly conserved sequence. Especially noteworthy was the observation that all three genes had a 38 nucleotide homologous sequence within their 5' flanking regions located about 100 bp upstream from their transcription initiation sites.
In vivo uptake of estradiol-17β by the uterus of the mature rat

Abstract The kinetics of [2,4,6,7-3H]-estradiol-17β uptake by mature rat uterus were studied in vivo by dry radioautography. Uterine eosinophils showed a rapid uptake of estradiol with a maximum between one and five minutes following injection. Peak levels of estradiol-17β in the nuclei of luminal epithelial, glandular, stromal and muscular cells were reached between five and twenty minutes after injection. Extraction with water removed the labelled estradiol-17β from all these uterine cell types but not from eosinophils. This property provides further evidence for a distinct estrogen binding system in the uterine eosinophils.
LIN28 lets BLIMP1 Take the Right Course

The transcription factor BLIMP1 is a master regulator of primordial germ cell (PGC) specification and is suppressed by the microRNA let-7 . In a recent issue of Nature , West and colleagues use a unique in vitro ES cell differentiation strategy to show that LIN28 is an essential regulator of PGC formation through inhibition of let-7 maturation and consequential induction of BLIMP1.
Comparison of polyunsaturated fatty acid levels in normal and mature cataractous human lenses

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) isolated from lipids of age matched senile normal and totally opaque cataractous human lenses were identified and quantitated by thin-layer and gas chromatography. The PUFAs found in human lenses, as confirmed by mass spectrometry, are 18:2, 20:2, 20:3, 20:4, 20:5, 22:3, and 22:4. The total PUFA content found in human lenses (2% of the total fatty acid population) is low compared to other human tissue. No significant differences were observed in either the PUFA composition or total amount between normal and cataractous lenses, except 20:4 and 20:5 which are decreased in cataracts.
Gadolinium-enhanced fat-suppressed T1-weighted imaging of the head and neck: comparison of gradient and conventional SE sequences.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare contrast-enhanced GRE and conventional SE (CSE) fat-suppressed T1-weighted techniques in the evaluation of head and neck lesions. A hybrid, opposed phase, frequency-selective, fat-suppressed fast multiplanar spoiled GRE (FMPSPGR) sequence was compared with a fat-suppressed CSE sequence. Method: Thirty-two patients with head and neck pathology were evaluated with both fat-suppressed CSE and FMPSPGR sequences. Regions of interest obtained by two viewers in consensus were used to establish contrast-to-noise (CNR) and signal-to-noise ratios for both sequences. Three neuroradiologists also independently reviewed the images for quality of fat suppression. lesion conspicuity. and potential pitfalls. Results: The CNR of the FMPSPGR sequence was superior to that of the fat-suppressed CSE sequence. Subjectively. all three reviewers rated the FMPSPGR sequence as having fat suppression equal to or better than that in the CSE sequence in 94% of cases. Imaging times for the FMPSPGR sequence were 60-75% faster than those for the CSE sequence. Conclusion: Enhanced imaging of the head and neck region using an opposed phase, fat-suppressed GRE sequence results in improved fat suppression compared with the CSE technique, with substantial savings in imaging time.
Vinorelbine and Gemcitabine Combinations in Advanced Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer

Several new chemotherapeutic agents were developed and tested in advanced non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the past decade. Vinorelbine and gemcitabine showed consistent single-agent activity in phase II and III trials and have been shown to be superior to older combinations when combined with cisplatin. However, toxicity associated with these regimens remains substantial, and nonplatinum alternatives are currently being explored. Based on the individual activity of vinorelbine and gemcitabine, their distinct mechanisms of action, and their mild, nonoverlapping toxicities, several trials evaluated their use in combination in patients with advanced NSCLC. Therapy has been administered in a convenient outpatient setting over a period of 1 hour. Different weekly schedules have been tested, but in general, toxicity is mild and the regimen is well tolerated, even in elderly patients or those with a poor performance status. Efficacy seems to be at least comparable to traditional platinum-based regimens, with respect to overall response rate and survival. In summary, vinorelbine/gemcitabine is an active and well-tolerated regimen and represents an option for the treatment of patients with advanced NSCLC. Randomized studies comparing this combination to reference platinum- or taxane-based regimens are needed to further evaluate the role of this combination in advanced NSCLC.
Impact of predatory carabids on below- and above-ground pests and yield in strawberry

The impact of adult carabid beetles on below- and above-ground pests and fruit yield was examined in the laboratory and a two-year strawberry field study. In the laboratory, adults of Carabus nemoralis Muller, Nebria brevicollis (F.), Pterostichus algidus LeConte, Pterostichus melanarius (Illiger), and Scaphinotus marginatus Fischer (Coleoptera: Carabidae) consumed black vine weevil, Otiorhynchus sulcatus (F.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) eggs, larvae and/or pupae placed on the surface. The same five carabid species showed no impact or low removal rates of O. sulcatus larvae that had burrowed into the root of potted strawberry plants. In an assay with only P. melanarius, adults consumed O. sulcatus larvae placed on the soil surface more frequently than larvae buried 1.3 or 5 cm below. In a field study, the density of adult carabids, predominantly P. melanarius, was manipulated with augmented, exclusion, and open control plots (2 × 2 m). Manipulating carabid density had no impact on the removal of sentinel O. sulcatus larvae and pupae that were buried belowground which is consistent with laboratory observations. Increasing carabid density within augmented plots led to greater removal of red clover seeds, Trifolium pratense L., placed on the soil surface in the first year. Decreasing carabid density within exclusion plots resulted in fewer marketable fruits compared to control plots in both years. These results suggest that certain adult carabids may have limited impact belowground, and some beneficial impacts above-ground with pest control and crop protection.
Urologists and the patient centered medical home.

Purpose: Hopes are high that the delivery system reforms embodied in the patient centered medical home will improve the quality of care for patients with chronic diseases. While primary care physicians, given their training, will likely be the locus of care under this model, there are certain conditions for which urologists are well suited to provide the continuous and comprehensive care called for by the patient centered medical home. To assess the feasibility of the urology based patient centered medical home, we analyzed national survey data.Materials and Methods: For our measure of medical home infrastructure, we mapped items from the 2007 and 2008 NAMCS (National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey) to the NCQA (National Committee on Quality Assurance) standards for patient centered medical home recognition. We determined the proportion of urology practices in the United States that would achieve patient centered medical home recognition. Finally, we used NAMCS data to estimate the impact of consolidating...
Latent TGF-β-binding protein 4 modifies muscular dystrophy in mice

Most single-gene diseases, including muscular dystrophy, display a nonuniform phenotype. Phenotypic variability arises, in part, due to the presence of genetic modifiers that enhance or suppress the disease process. We employed an unbiased mapping approach to search for genes that modify muscular dystrophy in mice. In a genome-wide scan, we identified a single strong locus on chromosome 7 that influenced two pathological features of muscular dystrophy, muscle membrane permeability and muscle fibrosis. Within this genomic interval, an insertion/deletion polymorphism of 36 bp in the coding region of the latent TGF-β–binding protein 4 gene (Ltbp4) was found. Ltbp4 encodes a latent TGF-β–binding protein that sequesters TGF-β and regulates its availability for binding to the TGF-β receptor. Insertion of 12 amino acids into the proline-rich region of LTBP4 reduced proteolytic cleavage and was associated with reduced TGF-β signaling, decreased fibrosis, and improved muscle pathology in a mouse model of muscular dystrophy. In contrast, a 12-amino-acid deletion in LTBP4 was associated with increased proteolysis, SMAD signaling, and fibrosis. These data identify Ltbp4 as a target gene to regulate TGF-β signaling and modify outcomes in muscular dystrophy.
Seasonal Cycle Shifts in Hydroclimatology over the Western United States

Abstract Analyses of streamflow, snow mass temperature, and precipitation in snowmelt-dominated river basins in the western United States indicate an advance in the timing of peak spring season flows over the past 50 years. Warm temperature spells in spring have occurred much earlier in recent years, which explains in part the trend in the timing of the spring peak flow. In addition, a decrease in snow water equivalent and a general increase in winter precipitation are evident for many stations in the western United States. It appears that in recent decades more of the precipitation is coming as rain rather than snow. The trends are strongest at lower elevations and in the Pacific Northwest region, where winter temperatures are closer to the melting point; it appears that in this region in particular, modest shifts in temperature are capable of forcing large shifts in basin hydrologic response. It is speculated that these trends could be potentially a manifestation of the general global warming trend in r...
The role of social and intellectual capital in achieving competitive advantage through enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems

Abstract Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software merges a firm's data, information flows and business processes into a single package. Vendors argue that ERP provides an extremely useful strategic resource to enhance competitiveness and make it possible for a firm to leverage its other resources more effectively and efficiently. In addition, they allege that ERP encourages a system-wide perspective that is a basis for collaboration and a systems orientation. However, an examination of ERP systems using criteria established in research on resource-based views of the firm and chaos/complexity theory indicates that these claims are overstated. Observation suggests that even if ERP is necessary to coordinate complicated, multifaceted operations, it is far from sufficient to promote a strong competitive position over the long term. Moreover, ERP systems fit best within mechanistic, clockwork organizations dominated by routine, highly programmed technologies and operations, yet it is the non-routine learning and change processes found in complex, self-organizing systems that enable firms to create distinctive competitive advantages from ERP outputs. ERP makes possible deep changes in relationships, culture, and behaviors that can be crucial sources of advantage in the knowledge economy, but the structures and cultures most able to achieve this level of change are a poor fit with ERP requirements. To reconcile this paradox, we propose a dual-core, loosely coupled organization that views ERP as an enabling technology to build and augment social and intellectual capital, rather than as an information technology (IT) solution for organizational inefficiencies. Propositions for using ERP as a foundation for social and intellectual capital formation are introduced. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
Field studies of the behavioral ecology and agonistic behavior of Cichlasoma meeki (Pisces: Cichlidae)

The behavior and ecology of the firemouth cichlid were investigated in southern Mexico. Observations were conducted primarily at Laguna Bacalar, Quintana Roo. The fish bred throughout the year, nesting in small rocky crevices. Territories were established either by wandering pairs or by lone males which subsequently attracted mates. Stationary territories were maintained for two to three weeks by both pair members until the young were free-swimming, after which the parents defended the young as they foraged. Brood care lasted approximately three months. The distances at which fish were attacked and the behavior performed varied with the age of the defended young and the sex of the parent, as well as the species and size of the intruder. The sexes differed in their reproductive and agonistic activities. Predation on young was rapid if the parents were diverted from their defense. Serious injuries to adults were not observed to result from intraspecific contests. Such interactions were very common, but were ritualized with physical contact between animals rare. Color patterning varied with breeding interval, sex and behavior.
Requirements-based dynamic metrics in object-oriented systems

Because early design decisions can have a major long term impact on the performance of a system, early evaluation of the high-level architecture can be an important risk mitigation technique. This paper proposes a technique for predicting the volume of data that will flow across a network in a distributed system. The prediction is based upon anticipated execution of scenarios and can be applied at an extremely early stage of the design. It is driven by requirements specifications and captures dynamic metrics by defining typical usage patterns in terms of scenarios. Scenarios are then mapped to architectural components, and dataflow across inter-partition links is estimated. The feasibility of the approach is demonstrated through an experiment in which predicted metrics are compared to runtime measurements.
Exotic plants increase and native plants decrease with loss of foundation species in sagebrush steppe

Dominant plant species, or foundation species, are recognized to have a disproportionate control over resources in ecosystems, but few studies have evaluated their relationship to exotic invasions. Loss of foundation species could increase resource availability to the benefit of exotic plants, and could thereby facilitate invasion. The success of exotic plant invasions in sagebrush steppe was hypothesized to benefit from increased available soil water following removal of sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), a foun- dation species. We examined the effects of sagebrush removal, with and without the extra soil water made available by exclusion of sagebrush, on abundance of exotic and native plants in the shrub steppe of southern Idaho, USA. We compared plant responses in three treatments: undisturbed sagebrush steppe; sagebrush removed; and sagebrush removed plus plots covered with ''rainout'' shelters that blocked winter-spring recharge of soil water. The third treatment allowed us to examine effects of sagebrush removal alone, without the associated increase in deep-soil water that is expected to accompany removal of sagebrush. Overall, exotic herbs (the grass Bromus tectorum and four forbs) were 3-4 times more abundant in shrub- removal and 2 times more abundant in shrub- removal ? rainout-shelter treatments than in the control treatment, where sagebrush was undisturbed. Conversely, native forbs were only about half as abundant in shrub removal compared to control plots. These results indicate that removal of sagebrush facilitates invasion of exotic plants, and that increased soil water is one of the causes. Our findings suggest that sagebrush plays an important role in reducing invasions by exotic plants and maintaining native plant communities, in the cold desert we evaluated.
In Vivo Assessment of Gene Delivery to Keratinocytes by Lentiviral Vectors

For skin gene therapy, introduction of a desired gene into keratinocyte progenitor or stem cells could overcome the problem of achieving persistent gene expression in a significant percentage of keratinocytes. Although keratinocyte stem cells have not yet been completely characterized and purified for gene targeting purposes, lentiviral vectors may be superior to retroviral vectors at gene introduction into these stem cells, which are believed to divide and cycle slowly. Our initial in vitro studies demonstrate that lentiviral vectors are able to efficiently transduce nondividing keratinocytes, unlike retroviral vectors, and do not require the lentiviral accessory genes for keratinocyte transduction. When lentiviral vectors expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) were directly injected into the dermis of human skin grafted onto immunocompromised mice, transduction of dividing basal and nondividing suprabasal keratinocytes could be demonstrated, which was not the case when control retroviral vectors were used. However, flow cytometry analysis demonstrated low transduction efficiency, and histological analysis at later time points provided no evidence for progenitor cell targeting. In an alternative in vivo method, human keratinocytes were transduced in tissue culture (ex vivo) with either lentiviral or retroviral vectors and grafted as skin equivalents onto immunocompromised mice. GFP expression was analyzed in these human skin grafts after several cycles of epidermal turnover, and both the lentiviral and retroviral vector-transduced grafts had similar percentages of GFP-expressing keratinocytes. This ex vivo grafting study provides a good in vivo assessment of gene introduction into progenitor cells and suggests that lentiviral vectors are not necessarily superior to retroviral vectors at introducing genes into keratinocyte progenitor cells during in vitro culture.
Address Translation Optimization for Unified Parallel C Multi-dimensional Arrays

Partitioned Global Address Space (PGAS) languages offer significant programmability advantages with its global memory view abstraction, one-sided communication constructs and data locality awareness. These attributes place PGAS languages at the forefront of possible solutions to the exploding programming complexity in the many-core architectures. To enable the shared address space abstraction, PGAS languages use an address translation mechanism while accessing shared memory to convert shared addresses to physical addresses. This mechanism is already expensive in terms of performance in distributed memory environments, but it becomes a major bottleneck in machines with shared memory support where the access latencies are significantly lower. Multi- and many-core processors exhibit even lower latencies for shared data due to on-chip cache space utilization. Thus, efficient handling of address translation becomes even more crucial as this overhead may easily become the dominant factor in the overall data access time for such architectures. To alleviate address translation overhead, this paper introduces a new mechanism targeting multi-dimensional arrays used in most scientific and image processing applications. Relative costs and the implementation details for UPC are evaluated with different workloads (matrix multiplication, Random Access benchmark and Sobel edge detection) on two different platforms: a many-core system, the TILE64 (a 64 core processor) and a dual-socket, quad-core Intel Nehalem system (up to 16 threads). Our optimization provides substantial performance improvements, up to 40x. In addition, the proposed mechanism can easily be integrated into compilers abstracting it from the programmers. Accordingly, this improves UPC productivity as it will reduce manual optimization efforts required to minimize the address translation overhead.
Paraffinic and Naphthenic Oil Fractions in Combination with DDT and a Heliosthis Virus for Corn Earworm Control

Conventional paraffinic base oils were superior to naphthenic and alkylate isoparaffinic oil fractions for control of the corn earworm, Heliothis zea (Boddie), when combined with DDT and a Heliothis polyhedral virus. The greater rates of oil per acre and oils which had molecular weights of 280-360 and viscosities of 50-125 Saybolt increased earworm control. Oils alone did not appear to increase corn earwonn control. It is suggested that oils increase the effectiveness of DDT and a Heliothis polyhedral virus primarily as carriers of these control agents along the silk channel. DDT (1962-63) appears to be less effective than previous data (1950-61) indicate.
Diphenylpropane Derivatives as Agonist of PPAR Nuclear Receptors.

Structure Guided Chemistry, Dart Neuroscience LLC, 7473 Lusk Boulevard, San Diego, California 92121, United States, and Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, College of Medicine, Drexel University, New College Building, 245 North 15th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19102, United States Title: Diphenylpropane Derivatives as Agonist of PPAR Nuclear Receptors Patent/Patent Application Number: WO 2013098374 A1 Publication date: July 04, 2013 Priority Application: EP 2011-306790 Priority date: December 28, 2011 Inventors: Dubernet, M.; Delhomel, J.-F.; Bertrand, K. Assignee Company: Genfit, France Disease Area: Metabolic, inflammatory, neurodegenerative diseases Biological Target: PPAR nuclear receptors
Design considerations for CMOS switched-current filters

The design considerations for IIR (infinite impulse response) and FIR (finite impulse response) filters using switched-current technology are presented. By using current rather than voltages to represent signals, IIR and FIR filters have been implemented using basic switched-current building blocks. Current gain errors and harmonic distortion effects are studied. IIR and FIR filters have been implemented using MOSIS 2- mu m CMOS technology. Excellent results have been obtained for sampling frequencies exceeding 10 MHz. >
Risk factors for nephrotoxicity onset associated with polymyxin B therapy

Objectives Polymyxin B is an active agent against many MDR Gram-negative bacteria, but nephrotoxicity is a major hindrance to its widespread use. To guide its optimal use, we determined the risk factors for nephrotoxicity onset associated with polymyxin B. Methods In a multicentre, retrospective, cohort study, we evaluated adult patients with normal renal function who received ≥72 h of polymyxin B therapy. Pertinent information was retrieved from medical records; patients were followed for up to 30 days after therapy was started. The primary endpoint of this study was the onset of nephrotoxicity. A Cox proportional hazards model was used for analysis. Results A total of 192 patients (52.1% male, 67.7% Caucasian) were evaluated. The mean ± SD age, actual body weight (ABW) and daily dose by ABW were 68.3 ± 17.2 years, 71.5 ± 20.4 kg and 1.5 ± 0.5 mg/kg, respectively. The median duration of therapy was 9.5 days. The overall prevalence rate of nephrotoxicity was 45.8% and the median onset of nephrotoxicity was 9 days. Independent risk factors for the onset of nephrotoxicity included daily dose by ABW (HR = 1.73; P = 0.022), concurrent use of vancomycin (HR = 1.89; P = 0.005) and contrast media (HR = 1.79; P = 0.009). Nephrotoxicity was seen earlier in the high-risk group (P = 0.003). Conclusions Risk factors for nephrotoxicity onset associated with polymyxin B were identified. In conjunction with susceptibility and other pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic data, our results can be used to optimize treatment for MDR Gram-negative infections.
Numerical implementation of matching pursuit for the analysis of complex ultrasonic signals

Matching pursuit has typically been applied to ultrasonic signal analysis for the purpose of identifying or estimating discrete echoes. In this paper, a specific numerical implementation of matching pursuit designed for ultrasonic signal decomposition is proposed, consisting of the selection of a coarse set of basis functions, the search method for finding the best matching basis function, and interpolation of the basis function parameters to achieve high resolution. In addition, the use of matching pursuit is applied to the analysis of complex ultrasonic signals by interpreting the matching basis functions as characteristic wavelets. Changes in parameters of these wavelets are related to changes in the structure. The efficiency of the numerical implementation method is evaluated, and the capability of the feature extraction method for complex ultrasonic signals is demonstrated on experimental data from an aluminum plate in the context of structural health monitoring.
Standards for the Management of Electronic Resources (ER)

SUMMARY The increasingly networked, scholarly information environment requires librarians to use more and different standards in order to manage electronic resources (ER) well. Many key activities associated with the various stages in the life-cycle of ER will benefit from the development and adherence to standards. This chapter will review a number of major standardization initiatives that have emerged to address those needs.
Hybrid EMODL Ling addition

Carry-lookahead adders have traditionally demonstrated that they are among the fastest adders available. By computing carry signals in parallel as much as possible the propagation delay of this type of adder is significantly reduced as opposed to carry propagation adders. Further algorithmic advancements have been proposed by Ling to use pseudo-carries, which are even faster to compute. For CMOS dynamic logic the EMODL adder has demonstrated that a 32-bit adder can be constructed with only 3 stages of logic and an unprecedented small hardware complexity. This paper presents a novel hybrid adder. By introducing Ling's algorithm into the EMODL adder, the critical path can be shortened with only a slight increase in hardware complexity.
Conforming Disconformity: “Mestizaje,” Hybridity, and the Aesthetics of Mexican Nationalism

This article sets up a dialogue between postcolonal theory and Latin American studies. Although some forms of intentional hybridization are contestatory, others, such as the aesthetic statism that developed in postrevolutionary Mexico after the 1920s, are authoritative. Moving from the works of foundational thinkers such as Jose Vasconcelos and Manuel Gamio, to the centrality of art in the policies they engendered, and to subsequent manifestations of aesthetic statism in the exemplary centers of urban space and in anthropology museums, the article traces some of the links in the genealogy of mestizo nationalism in postrevolutionary 20th-century Mexico.
The Problem With Overly Broad Definitions of Bullying: Implications for the Schoolhouse, the Statehouse, and the Ivory Tower

Within the past few decades, scholars, lawmakers, and educators have increased attention to a specific type of aggressive behavior known as bullying. While bullying is like peer aggression and harassment, in that they all pertain to negative aggressive actions, there are important distinctions among these three forms of behavior. The key features of bullying behavior that distinguish it from peer aggression and harassment are repetition and power imbalance. Much scholarly attention has been devoted to carefully delineating these distinctions. However, most existing measurement strategies generally ignore or imprecisely specify these two hallmark features. Moreover, when students’ perceptions of bullying are evaluated, repetition and power imbalance are largely disregarded. Perhaps most concerning, many states’ antibullying statutes obscure differences between bullying, peer aggression, and harassment, resulting in a legal equivalence of these very different types of aggression. Legal, policy, and practice...
Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes ; New York AA Knopf

Summary Good Calories, Bad Calories has much useful information and is well worth reading. Gary Taubes’s tenets related to obesity can be summarized in four statements (i) He believes that you can gain weight and become obese without a positive energy balance; (ii) He also believes that dietary fat is unimportant for the development of obesity; (iii) Carbohydrate, in his view, is what produces obesity and (iv) Insulin secreted by the carbohydrate is the problem in obesity. However, some of the conclusions that the author reaches are not consistent with current concepts about obesity. There are many kinds of obesity, and only some depend on diet composition. Two dietary manipulations produce obesity in susceptible people: eating a high-fat diet and drinking sugar- or high-fructose corn syrupsweetened beverages. Insulin is necessary but not sufficient in the diet-dependent obesities. When diet is important, it may be the combination of fat and fructose (the deadly duo) that is most important. Regardless of diet, it is a positive energy balance over months to years that is the sine qua non for obesity. Obese people clearly eat more than do lean ones, and food-intake records are notoriously unreliable, as documented by use of doubly labelled water. Underreporting of food intake is greater in obese than in normal-weight people and is worse for fat than for other macronutrient groups. Accepting the concept that obesity results from a positive energy balance does not tell us why energy balance is positive. This depends on a variety of environmental factors interacting with the genetic susceptibility of certain individuals. Weight loss is related to adherence to the diet, not to its macronutrient composition.
A Procedure for the Cannulation of a Pituitary Stalk Portal Vessel and Perfusion of the Pars Distalis in the Rat

A procedure is described for cannulating a hypophysial stalk portal vessel and perfusing the pars distalis of the rat. A portal vessel can be cannulated with a microcannula having an outside diameter at the tip of 20–40 μ. It could not be predicted which part of the pars distalis would receive the infusate from the cannulated portal vessel; however, this may be in part a consequence of the particular conditions used here.
Retinal Astrocytes respond to IL-17 differently than Retinal Pigment Epithelial cells.

IL-17+ T cells make up the majority of the infiltrating cells in the inflamed eye during the development of EAU. However, the role of IL-17 in ocular inflammation is poorly defined. Given that the primary target cells for IL-17 are parenchymal cells of the tissue, we investigated the in vitro effect of IL-17 on mouse RACs and RPE cells. Our results showed that although RACs and RPE cells expressed the IL-17R, RACs responded to IL-17 by producing increased amounts of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines, leading to increased migration of granulocytes, whereas RPE cells responded to the same concentration of IL-17 by expressing increased levels of SOCS proteins, resulting in only limited production of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines and an increased amount of suppressive cytokines, such as LIF. The combination of IL-17 and IFN-γ had a synergistic effect on cell migration with RACs but an antagonistic effect with RPE. In addition, specific inhibitors of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway completely blocked inflammatory cell migration induced by chemokines released by IL-17-stimulated RACs. Our results demonstrate that IL-17 can induce a pro- or anti-inflammatory effect in the eye, depending on the parenchymal cells stimulated.
The Anomalous Diffusion-limited Reaction Kinetics of a Phototrapping Reaction

A focused laser beam acts as both a "phototrap", bleaching fluorophore molecules which diffuse into the beam path, and as a confocal probe, detecting the excited, unbleached fluorophore molecules still present in the trap. With this focused laser beam, we observe anomalous asymptotic rate laws similar to those predicted for a diffusion-controlled elementary trapping reaction, A + T → T, in one and two dimensions. One dimensional diffusion-limited trapping kinetics are approached in capillaries with 10 fum diameters while two dimensional diffusion limited trapping kinetics are observed with unstirred samples having a quasi 2-D geometry. In the presence of stirring, the 2-D samples exhibit the classical, constant trapping rate over time.
Apolipoprotein E4 effects in Alzheimer’s disease are mediated by synaptotoxic oligomeric amyloid-β

The apolipoprotein E e4 gene is the most important genetic risk factor for sporadic Alzheimer’s disease, but the link between this gene and neurodegeneration remains unclear. Using array tomography, we analysed >50 000 synapses in brains of 11 patients with Alzheimer’s disease and five non-demented control subjects and found that synapse loss around senile plaques in Alzheimer’s disease correlates with the burden of oligomeric amyloid-β in the neuropil and that this synaptotoxic oligomerized peptide is present at a subset of synapses. Further analysis reveals apolipoprotein E e4 patients with Alzheimer’s disease have significantly higher oligomeric amyloid-β burden and exacerbated synapse loss around plaques compared with apolipoprotein E e3 patients. Apolipoprotein E4 protein colocalizes with oligomeric amyloid-β and enhances synaptic localization of oligomeric amyloid-β by >5-fold. Biochemical characterization shows that the amyloid-β enriched at synapses by apolipoprotein E4 includes sodium dodecyl sulphate-stable dimers and trimers. In mouse primary neuronal culture, lipidated apolipoprotein E4 enhances oligomeric amyloid-β association with synapses via a mechanism involving apolipoprotein E receptors. Together, these data suggest that apolipoprotein E4 is a co-factor that enhances the toxicity of oligomeric amyloid-β both by increasing its levels and directing it to synapses, providing a link between apolipoprotein E e4 genotype and synapse loss, a major correlate of cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease. * Abbreviations : APOE : apolipoprotein E
Actuator sizing of a quadruple pendulum for advanced gravitational wave detectors

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) has begun a major set of upgrades to reach a sensitivity better than 10−19 m=/√Hz in the 10 Hz to 10 kHz frequency band. This advance is expected to bring gravitational wave observations of relativistic astrophysical events such as black hole mergers and supernovae into the realm of regular astronomy. These upgrades require complex vibration isolation systems to better decouple the test masses from ground disturbances. These high performance systems require correspondingly more complex and aggressive active control loops to meet the increased demand in instrument sensitivity. Appropriately sized actuators are essential to achieving the necessary control performance while limiting the cost, noise, and complexity associated with larger actuators. This paper applies the plant's pseudoinverse transfer function to analyze the least squares dynamic range required by the actuators to reject the stochastic disturbances exciting the Advanced LIGO quadruple pendulum isolation systems.
Technical Note: Response of ratio vegetation indices to foot rot-infected citrus trees

Ratio vegetation indices were evaluated for differentiating foot rot-infected (Phytophthora parasitica Dast) from noninfected citrus trees (Citrus spp.). At two sites, field spectral measurements of infected and noninfected trees were obtained with a hand-held spectroradiometer. The following bands were assessed for developing the ratios: blue (B, 450–520 nm), green (G, 520–600 nm), red (R, 630–690 nm), near-infrared (NIR, 760–900 nm) and mid-infrared (MIR1, 1550–1750 nm; MIR2, 2080–2350 nm). For both sites, means of infected and noninfected trees were significantly different (t-test; p<0.05) for NIR/B, NIR/R and NIR/MIR1 ratios. Percentage difference values indicated the NIR/R ratio was most responsive to the disease. A relative index value was established for separating infected from noninfected trees. Findings demonstrated that ratio vegetation indices have high potential for distinguishing foot rot-infected from noninfected citrus trees.
NEW RECORDS OF SOREX PREBLEI AND S. TENELLUS IN CALIFORNIA

Abstract We identified 13 specimens of Preble's shrew (Sorex preblei) and 5 specimens of the Inyo shrew (Sorex tenellus) from Lassen Volcanic National Park (LVNP), California. These records represent the first captures of either species from LVNP and substantially extend the ranges of both. This is the first recorded instance of these 2 species occurring in sympatry.
Evaluating Evidence-Informed Clinical Reasoning Proficiency in Oral Practical Examinations

Clinical reasoning is the specific cognitive process used by health care practitioners to formulate accurate diagnoses for complex patient problems and to set up and carry out effective care. Athle...
Enhancing Student Collaboration in Global Virtual Teams

With the growth in the global economy and the rapid development of communication and information technologies, global virtual teams are quickly becoming the norm in the workplace. Research indicates, however, that many students have little or no experience working in such teams. Students who learn through these experiences benefit from higher task achievement, richer personal reflections, better social skills, increased cultural sensitivity, and greater psychological health. This paper discusses the challenges of integrating and managing global virtual teams (GVT) in the virtual classroom and strategies to help realize the unique opportunities they present in helping teach students the skills necessary for success in contemporary organizations.
Children as Brokers of Their Immigrant Families’ Health-Care Connections

In an era of ever-increasing population diversity, bilingual intermediaries have become critical to health-care provision in the United States and elsewhere. Professional interpreters fulfill these roles in many cases, but family members frequently do as well. This article focuses on children of immigrants as brokers of language, culture, and media content who facilitate their families’ connections to health-care providers and health-related resources. Children broker in order to compensate for the limited (or nonexistent) accommodations available to their immigrant families when they interact with health-care providers and institutions. As such, children’s brokering constitutes an important, often overlooked, linkage between research on immigrant family dynamics and immigrants’ interactions with host country institutions. Children’s brokering also has implications for their own social, moral, and educational trajectories, which are deeply influenced by their responsibilities to their families. Data collected through field observations and interviews with Latino immigrant parents, their child brokers, and local health-care providers revealed how children’s brokering influences these interactions. This article explores providers’ perceptions of and interactions with child brokers and their families, taken in context of the institutions in which they work and of the intrafamily dynamics that can facilitate or constrain children’s efforts.
MICROMECHANICS OF A PLANAR HYBRID FIBROUS NETWORK

A micromechanical approach is proposed in this work to predict the initial tensile response under uniaxial loading of a bonded two-dimensional fibrous network consisting of two kinds of fibers. The...