cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Management of Perioperative Medications Including Steroids, Growth Factors, and Hormone Receptors

Oncologic treatment has changed dramatically over the last 10 years with major advances in biologics and targeted therapy. Better medical treatment is extending survival for cancer patients allowing for surgical treatment of advanced disease even, and these patients will present with surgical emergencies. In addition, patients with advanced disease are now going to want aggressive treatment since their life expectancy may be prolonged. Surgeons who treat these patients must be aware of the possible effects and complications associated with these new treatments. This chapter addresses perioperative management of patients on medical management of their cancers with either steroids, biologic targeted therapy such as antiangiogenesis inhibitors, or antihormonal modulators used in a variety of cancers. For surgical emergencies surgeons must try to minimize possible complications by a thorough knowledge of the side effects of these medications. Even in the case of steroids the literature has changed allowing for lower dose and possibly less complications. This chapter addresses these issues in cases of elective and emergency operations.
Marital Status and Outcome in Patients with Coronary Heart Disease

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of marital status to health outcomes in 818 post-MI, coronary artery bypass surgery, and angioplasty patients (651 males, 157 females) from seven Northern California hospitals who completed 12 months of a nurse-managed, home-based multifactorial risk reduction program. Compared to married patients, nonmarried patients were significantly less likely to complete the program than married patients, more likely to smoke at baseline, and drank significantly less alcohol at baseline. At 12 months there were no significant differences between married and nonmarried groups on smoking cessation rates, HDL, LDL, triglycerides, or exercise treadmill test results. When patients were categorized as married, divorced, separated, widowed, or single, similar results were found for the analyses using two groups (married versus nonmarried), with the following exceptions. Separated patients were significantly less likely to quit smoking. In addition, separated patients showed significantly higher rates of starting (and continuing) to smoke during the time following their MI. Mortality was not significantly different between married and unmarried patients. Implications for intervention with separated patients and the importance of assessing both marital status and marital quality are discussed.
Effects of Enhancing School-Based Body Mass Index Screening Reports with Parent Education on Report Utility and Parental Intent To Modify Obesity Risk Factors.

Abstract Background: School-based body mass index screenings (SBMIS) have been controversial. We aimed to determine if parents would indicate improved utility with SBMIS when the report included parent education and whether parental intent to modify obesity risk factors would vary with report type or child weight. Methods: A cluster-controlled trial was conducted with 31 elementary schools randomized to distribute a standard SBMIS report or the standard report plus education (SBMIS+). A random subsample of parents completed a mailed survey (731 SBMIS, 738 SBMIS+). Using a two-stage cluster sampling design, logistic regression models with school-level random effect were used to assess differences between conditions and by weight category. Results: Parents in the SBMIS+ condition vs. the standard condition were more likely to indicate that the report provided useful information (not significant) and an intent to help their child get enough sleep (p < 0.001). Parents of children who were overweight or obese ...
Thinking with Data: How to Turn Information into Insights, by Max Shron

As the emerging field of data science permeates many domains inclusive of information security and privacy, understanding the process of turning information into insights continues to be a major en...
Community Punishments in a Rational Society

Reduction of mass incarceration in the United States will require substantial increases and substantial decreases in use of community punishments. Compared with other developed countries, American jurisdictions overuse community punishments as much as they overuse imprisonment, but mostly for minor and low risk offenders for whom they are often not necessary. That is a waste of money and an unjust intrusion into peoples’ lives. In most developed countries, 5 to 20 percent of convicted offenders are sentenced to confinement and the rest receive community punishments, fines, and suspended prison sentences. Compared with jail or prison terms, community punishments are less expensive, less criminogenic, and more humane. They do less collateral damage to the lives and futures of offenders and their loved ones. They can be scaled to the seriousness of crimes. Well managed, well targeted, and adequately funded programs result in lower reoffending rates. If American sentencing policies and practices were rational and evidence-based, community punishments would be imposed much more often than they now are for mid-level and serious crimes, and imprisonment much less.
MeDEStrand: An improved method to infer genome-wide absolute methylation level from DNA enrichment experiment

Background: DNA methylation of dinucleotide CpG is an essential epigenetic modification that plays a key role in transcription. Bisulfite conversion method is a gold standard for DNA methylation profiling that provides single nucleotide resolution. However, whole-genome bisulfite conversion is very expensive. Alternatively, DNA enrichment-based methods offer high coverage of methylated CpG dinucleotides with the lowest cost per CpG covered genome-wide and have been used widely. They measure the DNA enrichment of methyl-CpG binding, therefore do not directly provide absolute methylation levels. Further, the enrichment is influenced by confounding factors besides the methylation status, e.g., CpG density. Computational models that can accurately derive the absolute methylation levels from the enrichment data are necessary. Results: We present MeDEStrand, a method uses sigmoid function to estimate and correct the CpG bias from the numbers of reads that fell within bins that divide the genome. In addition, unlike the previous methods, which estimate CpG bias based on reads mapped at the same genomic loci, MeDEStrand processes the reads for the positive and negative DNA strands separately. We compare the performance of MeDEStrand with three other state-of-the-art methods MEDIPS, BayMeth and QSEA on four independent datasets generated using immortalized cell lines (GM12878 and K562) and human patient primary cells (foreskin fibroblast and mammary epithelial). Based on the comparison between the inferred absolute methylation levels from MeDIP-seq and the corresponding RRBS data, MeDEStrand shows the best performance at high resolution of 25, 50 and 100 base pairs. Conclusions: MeDEStrand benefits from the estimation of CpG bias with a sigmoid function and the procedure to process reads mapped to the positive and negative DNA strands separately. MeDEStrand is a tool to infer whole-genome absolute DNA methylation level at the cost of enrichment-based methods with adequate accuracy and resolution. R package MeDEStrand and its tutorial is freely available for download at https://github.com/jxu1234/MeDEStrand.git.
The Hard and the Soft: Moments in the Reception of Martin Buber as a Political Thinker

Politics has never been considered Martin Buber’s forte. This paper considers the range of Buber’s reception as a political thinker by considering it in the form of three “moments,” each from a different point in his career, and each through the eyes of a different figure who either read or worked with Buber politically: Theodor Herzl, Gustav Landauer, and Hans Kohn. The three moments are structured around a discussion of the classic criticism that Buber’s politics are naive or utopian; the paper seeks to respond, as Buber did, in a way that raises questions about the borders of politics itself.
Proposed Demand Driven Supply Chain Model

Based on the three demand driven components (e.g., demand management, supply and operations management and product lifecycle management) and the categories within each component, identified in the previous chapter, five level maturity model was developed to be used as the basis to perform assessment of an organization current and desired future states.
Predictors of change in mothers' and fathers' parent-child aggression risk

Parents' cognitive schemas about parenting, personal vulnerabilities, and personal resources may affect their risk of engaging in parent-child aggression (PCA). This longitudinal study examined predictors of change in mothers' and fathers' PCA risk across the transition to parenthood, comparing trajectories of parents evidencing high versus low sociodemographic risk. Potential predictors involved parenting-relevant schemas (consistent with Social Information Processing theory, including approval of PCA, negative attributions of child behavior, and knowledge of nonphysical discipline options), personal vulnerabilities (psychopathology, intimate partner violence, substance use issues), and resources (problem-focused coping, emotion regulation, social support, and partner satisfaction). Results indicated that increases in PCA approval, negative child behavior attributions, and symptoms of psychopathology, as well as decreases in problem-focused coping skills, emotion regulation ability, and partner satisfaction, all significantly predicted changes in mothers' and fathers' PCA risk over time-regardless of risk group status. Notably, increases in intimate partner violence victimization and decreases in social support satisfaction predicted mothers' but not fathers' PCA risk change; moreover, increases in knowledge of nonphysical discipline alternatives or in substance use issues did not predict change in PCA risk for either mothers or fathers. Risk groups differed in PCA risk across all predictors with minimal evidence of differential trajectories. Overall, these findings have important implications for child abuse prevention programs involving both universal and secondary abuse prevention efforts.
Nonclassical Applications of closo-Carborane Anions: From Main Group Chemistry and Catalysis to Energy Storage

Classically closo-carborane anions, particularly [HCB11H11]− and [HCB9H9]−, and their derivatives have primarily been used as weakly coordinating anions to isolate reactive intermediates, platforms for stoichiometric and catalytic functionalization, counteranions for simple Lewis acid catalysis, and components of materials like liquid crystals. The aim of this article is to educate the reader on the contemporary nonclassical applications of these anions. Specifically, this review will cover new directions in main group catalysis utilized to achieve some of the most challenging catalytic reactions such as C–F, C–H, and C–C functionalizations that are difficult or impossible to realize with transition metals. In addition, the review will cover the utilization of the clusters as dianionic C σ-bound ligands for coordination chemistry, ligand substituents for coordination chemistry and advanced catalyst design, and covalently bound spectator substituents to stabilize radicals. Furthermore, their applications a...
Addition of price transparency to an education and feedback intervention reduces utilization of inpatient echocardiography by resident physicians.

Previous studies have demonstrated the impact of appropriate use criteria (AUC) education and feedback interventions in reducing unnecessary ordering of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) by trainees. To our knowledge, no study has evaluated the impact of the addition of price transparency to this education and feedback model on TTE utilization by resident physicians. We performed an education and feedback quality improvement initiative combining charge transparency data with information on AUC. We hypothesized that the initiative would reduce the number of complete TTE ordered and increase the number of limited TTE ordered, anticipating there would be substitution of limited for complete studies. Residents rotating on inpatient teaching cardiology ward teams received education on AUC for TTE, indications for limited TTE, and hospital charges for TTE. Feedback was provided on the quantity and charges for complete and limited TTE ordered by each team. We analyzed the effects of the intervention using a linear mixed effects regression model to adjust for potential confounders. The post-intervention weeks showed a reduction of 4.6 complete TTE orders per 100 patients from previous weekly baseline of 31.3 complete TTE orders per 100 patients (p value = 0.012). Charges for complete TTE decreased $122 from baseline of $980 per patient (p value = 0.040) on a per-week basis. Secondarily, there was no statistically significant change in limited TTE ordering during the intervention period. This initiative shows the feasibility of a house staff-driven charge transparency and education/feedback initiative that decreased medical residents’ ordering of inpatient TTE.
Weather Signal Processing

In this chapter proven methods of weather signal processing are presented, with emphasis on obtaining the first three spectral moments. A section on methods to obtain simultaneously spectral moments and polarimetric measurements is also included. Weather signals are sampled at a large number of range time locations (e.g., approximately 1000), and hence the optimum estimation algorithms, which require much processing, may be impractical. Simpler methods, with fewer calculations and smaller memory storage, are used.
Making sense of adjuvant chemotherapy in colorectal cancer

Surgical resection is the only curative treatment for locoregional colon cancer. The goal of adjuvant chemotherapy is to eradicate micro-metastatic disease and improve survival. This has been most clearly demonstrated in stage III (node-positive) disease, whereas benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy in stage II disease remains controversial. In stage III colon cancer, 6 months of adjuvant chemotherapy with oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy have been accepted as the standard for the last 15 years. The recent IDEA collaboration has challenged this in 2018; while overall was a negative non-inferiority study, pre-planned subset analyses do support that for patients with low-risk stage III disease, 3 months of XELOX (capecitabine and oxaliplatin combination) is non-inferior to 6 months. In stage II colon cancer, where the potential benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy is small, the emergence of biomarkers has helped in decision-making. Tumors with deficient mismatch repair protein (dMMR) do not benefit from 5-fluorouracil-based chemotherapy. For patients with high clinicopathological risk stage II disease with proficient mismatch repair proteins and good performance status, six months of adjuvant chemotherapy is still recommended. In the management of rectal cancers, where the risk of local recurrence is higher, chemoradiation (CRT) is often included as neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy in the management of stage II and III rectal cancer. The benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy in rectal cancer has been extrapolated from adjuvant colon cancer studies with updated results from adjuvant rectal cancer studies demonstrating similar benefits. This review summarizes the current landscape of adjuvant therapy for patients with resected stage II and III colorectal cancer.
Incidence and significance of injuries on secondary CT imaging after initial selective imaging in blunt trauma patients.

Abstract Objective It is unclear if additional computerized tomography (CT) imaging is warranted after injuries are identified on CT in blunt trauma patients. The objective of this study was to determine the incidence and significance of injuries identified on secondary CT imaging after identification of injuries on initial CTs in blunt trauma patients. Methods This was a retrospective cohort study at an academic Level 1 trauma center with a two-tiered trauma system. Inclusion criteria: age ≥ 18, level 2 trauma activation, injury identified on initial CT, and secondary CTs ordered. Secondary injuries were categorized as resulting in: no changes, minor changes, or major changes in management. Results 537 patients underwent 1179 initial CT scans which identified 744 injuries. There were 1094 secondary CTs which identified 143 additional injuries in 94 (18%) patients. 9 (1.7%) patients had at least one major management change and 64 (12%) had at least one minor management change. Rib fracture(s) was the most common injury on secondary scans [45/143 (32%)]. The major management changes were: tube thoracostomy for pneumothorax (4 patients), blood transfusion for hemoperitoneum (1 patient), surgery for acetabular fracture (1 patient), thoracolumbar brace for spine fracture (2 patients) and angiography for splenic injury (1 patient). Conclusion While a significant proportion of patients (18%) had injuries on secondary CT, only 1.7% of patients had a resultant major management change. Future research is warranted to determine the need for additional CT imaging after an initial selective imaging strategy in blunt trauma patients.
Acute 4,4′-Methylene Diphenyl Diisocyanate Exposure-Mediated Downregulation of miR-206-3p and miR-381-3p Activates Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase Transcription by Targeting Calcineurin/NFAT Signaling in Macrophages

Exposure to 4,4'-methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) in the occupational setting may lead to development of occupational asthma (OA), and the underlying molecular mechanisms of MDI-induced disease pathogenesis remain an active area of research. Using a nose-only mouse inhalation model, we find that circulating microRNA (miR)-206-3p and miR-381-3p are downregulated after MDI exposure; however, cellular miR-206-3p and miR-381-3p responses after MDI aerosol exposure and their pathophysiological roles in MDI-OA are unknown. We hypothesize that miR-206-3p and miR-381-3p-regulated mechanisms cause increased expression of the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) after MDI aerosol exposure. We examined cellular miR-206-3p and miR-381-3p, calcineurins, nuclear factors of activated T cells (NFATs), and iNOS levels from both nose-only exposed murine bronchoalveolar lavage cells (BALCs) and differentiated THP-1 macrophages treated with MDI-glutathione (GSH) conjugates. Both in vivo murine MDI aerosol exposure and in vitro MDI-GSH exposures in THP-1 macrophages result in downregulation of endogenous miR-206-3p and miR-381-3p and upregulation of PPP3CA and iNOS expression. Transfection of THP-1 macrophages with miR-inhibitor-206-3p and miR-inhibitor-381-3p resulted in the upregulation of PPP3CA and iNOS. Using RNA-induced silencing complex immunoprecipitation and translational reporter assays, we verified that PPP3CA, but not iNOS, is directly targeted by both miR-206-3p and miR-381-3p. Downregulation of miR-206-3p and miR-381-3p following by MDI exposure induces calcineurin/NFAT signaling-mediated iNOS transcription in macrophages and BALCs.
Automated volumetric breast density measures: Differential change between breasts in women with and without breast cancer

Given that breast cancer and normal dense fibroglandular tissue have similar radiographic attenuation, we examine whether automated volumetric density measures identify a differential change between breasts in women with cancer and compare to healthy controls. Eligible cases (n = 1160) had unilateral invasive breast cancer and bilateral full-field digital mammograms (FFDMs) at two time points: within 2 months and 1–5 years before diagnosis. Controls (n = 2360) were matched to cases on age and date of FFDMs. Dense volume (DV) and volumetric percent density (VPD) for each breast were assessed using Volpara™. Differences in DV and VPD between mammograms (median 3 years apart) were calculated per breast separately for cases and controls and their difference evaluated by using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. To simulate clinical practice where cancer laterality is unknown, we examined whether the absolute difference between breasts can discriminate cases from controls using area under the ROC curve (AUC) analysis, adjusting for age, BMI, and time. Among cases, the VPD and DV between mammograms of the cancerous breast decreased to a lesser degree (− 0.26% and − 2.10 cm3) than the normal breast (− 0.39% and − 2.74 cm3) for a difference of 0.13% (p value < 0.001) and 0.63 cm3 (p = 0.002), respectively. Among controls, the differences between breasts were nearly identical for VPD (− 0.02 [p = 0.92]) and DV (0.05 [p = 0.77]). The AUC for discriminating cases from controls using absolute difference between breasts was 0.54 (95% CI 0.52, 0.56) for VPD and 0.56 (95% CI, 0.54, 0.58) for DV. There is a small relative increase in volumetric density measures over time in the breast with cancer which is not found in the normal breast. However, the magnitude of this difference is small, and this measure alone does not appear to be a good discriminator between women with and without breast cancer.
Dynamic task allocation: how and why do social insect workers take on new tasks?

Complex living systems often exist in noisy environments and must have a way to respond to change. In social insects, the colony itself is a complex system composed of dozens to millions of essentially autonomous workers. Studying the behaviour of these workers in response to experimental disturbance provides insight into the mechanisms by which colonies, and complex systems in general, can achieve flexibility. Here, we explore dynamic task allocation within colonies of Temnothorax rugatulus ants by separately increasing the demand for three different types of work: nest maintenance, brood care and foraging. We investigate (1) whether colonies respond to dynamic task demand and the timeline of their responses, (2) whether the colony achieves this flexibility by recruiting new workers to these tasks or modulating individual worker effort and (3) the rules by which individual workers switch tasks. We found that T. rugatulus ants are responsive to colony perturbation, yet the means by which they achieve this flexibility are task dependent, as is the time it takes them to respond. Flexibility is achieved both by the increased effort of already active workers and the recruitment of new workers to the focal task. We suggest that newly recruited workers may come from task-specific reserve pools of unemployed workers: roaming ‘walkers’ appear to be a generalized reserve force for most tasks except for brood care, while previously inactive workers might act as a specialized reserve pool for brood care and be prompted to engage in this task when they locally encounter brood.
Insurance Coverage Criteria for Bariatric Surgery: A Survey of Policies

Bariatric surgery remains underutilized at a national scale, and insurance company reimbursement is an important determinant of access to these procedures. We examined the current state of coverage criteria for bariatric surgery set by private insurance companies. We surveyed medical policies of the 64 highest market share health insurance providers in the USA. ASMBS guidelines and the CMS criteria for pre-bariatric evaluation were used to collect private insurer coverage criteria, which included procedures covered, age, BMI, co-morbidities, medical weight management program (MWM), psychosocial evaluation, and a center of excellence designation. We derive a comprehensive checklist for pre-bariatric patient evaluation. Sixty-one companies (95%) had defined pre-authorization policies. All policies covered the RYGB, and 57 (93%) covered the LAGB or the SG. Procedures had coverage limited to center of excellence in 43% of policies (n = 26). A total of 92% required a BMI of 40 or above or of 35 or above with a co-morbidity; however, 43% (n = 23) of policies covering adolescents (n = 36) had a higher BMI requirement of 40 or above with a co-morbidity. Additional evaluation was required in the majority of policies (MWM 87%, psychosocial evaluation 75%). Revision procedures were covered in 79% (n = 48) of policies. Reimbursement of a second bariatric procedure for failure of weight loss was less frequently found (n = 41, 67%). A majority of private insurers still require a supervised medical weight management program prior to approval, and most will not cover adolescent bariatric surgery unless certain criteria, which are not supported by current evidence, are met.
Accruals, Balance Sheet Bloat, and Aggregate Stock Returns

At the firm level, both operating accruals and a measure of balance sheet bloat (net operating assets, or NOA), negatively predict stock returns. This paper examines whether these anomalies extend to the aggregate stock market. In contrast with cross-sectional findings, there is some indication that aggregate operating accruals positively predict stock market returns. The absence of any negative return predictability is consistent with behavioral explanation for the accruals anomaly, since, in contrast with firm level findings, aggregate accruals are not negative forecasters of earnings after controlling for current-period earnings. Aggregate NOA strongly negatively predicts market returns, but this effect becomes fragile when years 2000-2001 are excluded.
The relationship between college students' campus sexual health resource utilization and self-reported STI testing: Findings from an undergraduate probability survey.

Objective: To examine the prevalence of student utilization of campus sexual health resources and their association with sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing. Participants: Undergraduate st...
Role of the Hypoxia-Inducible Factor Pathway in Normal and Osteoarthritic Meniscus and in Mice after Destabilization of the Medial Meniscus.

ObjectiveMeniscus injury and the hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) pathway are independently linked to osteoarthritis pathogenesis, but the role of the meniscus HIF pathway remains unclear. We sought ...
Competencies, Culture, and Change: A Model for Digital Transformation in K-12 Educational Contexts

On the surface, adopting technology presents itself as a technical issue. Yet, the real challenge of digital transformation in educational contexts necessitates a second-order change to disrupt and realign interconnected systems. A significant component of digital transformation in K-12 schools is an understanding of the unique affordances of digital tools and technologies and how these can be leveraged to align with learning goals and targets to impact teaching and learning in new ways. While there are several models for innovation diffusion and technology adoption in K-12 contexts, they fall short, particularly in describing the nature and interactions of these interconnected systems. These aspects of technology implementation remain a mystery. As a result, efforts to enact change in K-12 organizations often fall short due to a lack of understanding of context, inadequate goal-setting, insufficient professional development and personalized supports to build capacity, and a failure to evaluate progress. In K-12 educational settings, the people, the competencies, and the culture, alongside the strong leadership, resources, and organizational context, are all essential to effect sustainable change. We propose a model for digital transformation that considers all of these factors and interconnected systems.
Survival trends of older adult patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: A National Cancer Database analysis.

7542Background: 60-70% of patients with newly diagnosed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) can be cured with R-CHOP or R-CHOP-like immunochemotherapy. However, patients ≥80 years of age were eit...
How Inequality Undermines Institutions

This paper, a comment on an essay by Satz and White that appeared in the IFS Deaton Review (Sept. 2021), argues that redistribution of wealth for the purpose of advancing equality (rather than improving the worst off) can be provided an institutional defense against the "leveling down" charge that a commitment to equality implies that it is appropriate to reduce the wealth of the rich even when it cannot be transferred to the poor. The argument is that major institutions of society--the market and agency regulation--assume a degree of economic equality, and tend to be undermined when extreme inequality prevails.
Effect of VEGF on retinal microvascular endothelial hydraulic conductivity: the role of NO.

PURPOSE: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) increases microvascular permeability in vivo and has been hypothesized to play a role in plasma leakage in diabetic retinopathy. Few controlled studies have been conducted to determine the mechanism underlying the effect of VEGF on transport properties (e.g., hydraulic conductivity [Lp]). This study was conducted to determine the effect of VEGF on bovine retinal microvascular endothelial LP and the role of nitric oxide (NO) and the guanylate cyclase/guanosine 3', 5'-cyclic monophosphate/protein kinase G (GC/cGMP/PKG) pathway downstream of NO in mediating the VEGF response. METHODS: Bovine retinal microvascular endothelial cells (BRECs) were grown on porous polycarbonate filters, and water flux across BREC monolayers in response to a pressure differential was measured to determine endothelial LP RESULTS: VEGF (100 ng/ml) increased endothelial LP: within 30 minutes of addition and by 13.8-fold at the end of 3 hours of exposure. VEGF stimulated endothelial monolayers to release NO and incubation of the BRECs with the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor N(G)-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA; 100 microM) significantly attenuated the VEGF-induced LP increase. It was observed that incubation of the monolayers with the GC inhibitor LY-83583 (10 microM) did not alter the VEGF-mediated LP: response. Addition of the cGMP analogue 8-br-cGMP (1 mM) did not change the baseline LP over 4 hours. Also, the PKG inhibitor KT5823 (1 microM) did not inhibit the response of BREC LP to VEGF. CONCLUSIONS: These experiments indicate that VEGF elevates hydraulic conductivity in BRECs through a signaling mechanism that involves NO but not the GC/cGMP/PKG pathway.
Polylysine specifically activates the insulin-dependent insulin receptor protein kinase.

Abstract We have extended these observations to examine the role of polylysine on the divalent metal ion requirement for ligand-stimulated protein kinase activity and the transmembrane signaling mechanism of both the human placenta insulin and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) receptors. Polylysine (0.2-1 microM) was found to activate maximally the alpha 2 beta 2 heterotetrameric insulin receptor autophosphorylation and exogenous substrate protein kinase activity 25-50-fold in the presence of insulin without significantly affecting the basal protein kinase activity in the absence of insulin. The polylysine-dependent insulin stimulation of protein kinase activity required the presence of both magnesium and manganese but at relatively low divalent metal ion concentrations (0.1 mM) compared to the typical 2-10 mM Mg/Mn used in the standard in vitro kinase assays. The stimulation of the insulin receptor kinase by insulin in the presence of polylysine occurred primarily due to an increase in Vmax with no significant effect on the Km for ATP. In addition, autophosphorylated insulin receptors which are protein kinase-active and insulin-independent at high metal ion concentrations still displayed the polylysine-dependent insulin stimulation of protein kinase activity to the same extent as nonphosphorylated insulin receptors at low Mg/Mn (0.1 mM) concentrations. Surprisingly, polylysine was completely unable to stimulate the IGF-1-dependent protein kinase activity of the homologous human placenta IGF-1 receptor. These data suggest that the insulin receptor tyrosine-specific protein kinase activity may be regulated by unique endogenous basic proteins that are distinct from those which modify the IGF-1 receptor.
Customer management and control of broadband VPN services

We present an architecture for customer management and control of a broadband VPN service. The architecture is aimed at giving the VPN customer a high level of control over the traffic on the VPN, such that end-to-end requirements for the customer’s enterprise network can be met. We describe how different control and management objectives can be achieved with this architecture. Its design includes a generic resource controller, which can be specialized in order to realize a large class of control schemes, following a customer’s specific requirements. We have implemented a prototype of this architecture on a high-performance emulation platform. The prototype allows us to validate the management and control functionality of the customer control system and to demonstrate the performance characteristics of different realizations of the architecture.
Band Offsets Between Amorphous LaAlO3 And In0.53Ga0.47As

The band offsets between an amorphous LaAlO3 dielectric prepared by molecular-beam deposition and a n-type In0.53Ga0.47As (001) layer have been measured using synchrotron radiation photoemission spectroscopy. The valence and conduction band offsets at the postdeposition annealed LaAlO3∕InGaAs interface are 3.1±0.1 and 2.35±0.2eV, respectively. The band gap of LaAlO3, as determined by Al 2p and O 1s core level energy loss spectra, is 6.2±0.1eV. Within the resolution of the medium energy ion scattering technique, no interfacial oxide layer is seen between the InGaAs and the 3.6nm thick amorphous LaAlO3.
Unresolved Issues in Supply Chain Network Design

Designing a supply chain network provides the basic structure for supply chain operations, where the network is a major element in a firm's competitiveness and a significant area of capital investment. With the boundary-spanning scope encouraged by supply chain management, the question is whether existing analyses used for network design are adequate. The general answer is yes, because the number of echelons that the analysis must span is self-limiting to a relative few. However, there remain unresolved issues in network design analysis and in the models used to support the analysis that can enhance its accuracy, appropriateness, and acceptability to practitioners. Issues discussed relate to the development of better models, the treatment of the data needed by them, and the need for comparing the various models for network design.
A Dictionary of Archaeology.

. Dictionary of Archaeology. Ian Shaw and Robert Jameson. eds. Maiden, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 1999. 624 pp.
A Single Maturation Cleavage Site in Adenovirus Impacts Cell Entry and Capsid Assembly

Proteolytic maturation drives the conversion of stable, immature virus particles to a mature, metastable state primed for cell infection. In the case of human adenovirus, this proteolytic cleavage is mediated by the virally encoded protease AVP. Protein VI, an internal capsid cement protein and substrate for AVP, is cleaved at two sites, one of which is near the N terminus of the protein. In mature capsids, the 33 residues at the N terminus of protein VI (pVIn) are sequestered inside the cavity formed by peripentonal hexon trimers at the 5-fold vertex. Here, we describe a glycine-to-alanine mutation in the N-terminal cleavage site of protein VI that profoundly impacts proteolytic processing, the generation of infectious particles, and cell entry. The phenotypic effects associated with this mutant provide a mechanistic framework for understanding the multifunctional nature of protein VI. Based on our findings, we propose that the primary function of the pVIn peptide is to mediate interactions between protein VI and hexon during virus replication, driving hexon nuclear accumulation and particle assembly. Once particles are assembled, AVP-mediated cleavage facilitates the release of the membrane lytic region at the amino terminus of mature VI, allowing it to lyse the endosome during cell infection. These findings highlight the importance of a single maturation cleavage site for both infectious particle production and cell entry and emphasize the exquisite spatiotemporal regulation governing adenovirus assembly and disassembly. IMPORTANCE Postassembly virus maturation is a cornerstone principle in virology. However, a mechanistic understanding of how icosahedral viruses utilize this process to transform immature capsids into infection-competent particles is largely lacking. Adenovirus maturation involves proteolytic processing of seven precursor proteins. There is currently no information for the role of each independent cleavage event in the generation of infectious virions. To address this, we investigated the proteolytic maturation of one adenovirus precursor molecule, protein VI. Structurally, protein VI cements the outer capsid shell and links it to the viral core. Functionally, protein VI is involved in endosome disruption, subcellular trafficking, transcription activation, and virus assembly. Our studies demonstrate that the multifunctional nature of protein VI is largely linked to its maturation. Through mutational analysis, we show that disrupting the N-terminal cleavage of preprotein VI has major deleterious effects on the assembly of infectious virions and their subsequent ability to infect host cells.
The GOLD domain, a novel protein module involved in Golgi function and secretion

Background Members of the p24 (p24/gp25L/emp24/Erp) family of proteins have been shown to be critical components of the coated vesicles that are involved in the transportation of cargo molecules from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi complex. The p24 proteins form hetero-oligomeric complexes and are believed to function as receptors for specific secretory cargo.
The Kohn-Sham Equation for Deformed Crystals

The solution to the Kohn-Sham equation in the density functional theory of the quantum many-body problem is studied in the context of the electronic structure of smoothly deformed macroscopic crystals. An analog of the classical Cauchy-Born rule for crystal lattices is established for the electronic structure of the deformed crystal under the following physical conditions: (1) the band structure of the undeformed crystal has a gap, i.e. the crystal is an insulator, (2) the charge density waves are stable, and (3) the macroscopic dielectric tensor is positive definite. The effective equation governing the piezoelectric effect of a material is rigorously derived. Along the way, the authors also establish a number of fundamental properties of the Kohn-Sham map.
A generalized von Karman interpolation formula

Abstract A parametrized family of three-dimensional angle-averaged spectral functions is proposed that well approximates existing formulas for the energy-containing portion of the spectrum (low- k ) in free shear turbulence. The family includes the von Karman interpolation formula as a special case, and is based on it. Varying the parameter allows the height and width of the spectral peak to be varied smoothly, while maintaining the smooth interpolation between origin and inertial subrange behavior. The properties of this family of spectra are presented in a convenient non-dimensionalized form. As an example of the usefulness of the family of spectra, it is applied to the centerline turbulent energy of an axisymmetric jet in the far field to illustrate the effect of low- k spectral shape on the shift of the peak with Reynolds number (Re) when the energy is constant with Re.
Noninformative priors for one-parameter item response models

Abstract We present a unified Bayesian approach for the analysis of one-parameter item response models. A necessary and sufficient condition is given for the propriety of posteriors under improper priors with nonidentifiable likelihoods. Posterior distributions for item and subject parameters may be improper when the sum of the binary responses for an item or subject takes its minimum or maximum possible value. When the item parameters have a flat prior but the item totals do not fall at a boundary value, we prove the propriety of the Bayesian joint posterior under some sufficient conditions on the joint (proper) distribution of the subject parameters. The methods are implemented using Markov chain Monte Carlo and illustrated with an example from a cross-over study comparing three medical treatments.
WHAT DOES EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY TELL US ABOUT PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION

. Considerations from evolutionary biology lead Michael Ruse, among others, to a naturalistic turn in philosophy. I assess some of the pragmatic and skeptical conclusions concerning ethics, religion, and epistemology that Ruse draws from his evolutionary naturalism. Finally, I argue that there is an essential tension between science and religion which forecloses the possibility of an ultimate reconciliation between the two as they are now understood.
How to identify and clarify educational tasks in the Caribbean: An example with implications for developing countries

Abstract The study had five objectives: first, to determine what Virgin Islanders believe the tasks of their public schools are; second, to determine what Virgin Islanders believe the tasks of their public schools should be; third, to determine if the existing task of public education theory, as it is used in several countries, applies in whole or in part to a Caribbean society; fourth, to identify educational goals or tasks which may have relevance for the entire Caribbean region; and fifth, to demonstrate a research procedure for identifying and clarifying educational goals, objectives and tasks in West Indian countries. The significance of the study lies in the information it provides for (1) specifying educational goals, objectives, and tasks; (2) synchronizing perceptions and beliefs of educational tasks; (3) planning and formulating educational policy; and (4) evaluating education programs. The design of the study was developed around the task of public education theory developed by Downey. four research questions, and two hypotheses which interrelated the beliefs of the Virgin Islands Legislature, the Virgin Islands Board of Education, Department of Education, principals, teachers, students, and administrators and professors of the College of the Virgin Islands. Among other findings, the study revealed that (1) Virgin Islanders' beliefs about educational tasks were not that different from beliefs other people hold about educational tasks; (2) the task of education is interpreted and applied in the Virgin Islands as it is in other countries; and (3) schools in the Virgin Islands do have a set of viable education goals and tasks which can focus curriculum development, instruction practices, and learning outcomes.
Managerial ownership, dividend and debt policy in the US banking industry

Reviews previous research on the relationship between ownership structure, debt structure and dividend policy within the context of agency theory, which has usually excluded regulated firms from the samples. Explores the links between insider holdings, dividends and debt using 1994‐1997 data from a sample of 136 US bank holding companies and a simultaneous equations regression framework. Finds the level of insider holdings, as expected, is not related to debt ratio but, contrary to expectations that it is strongly related to the level of dividends. Considers possible explanations for this and promises further research.
Predicting people's bidding behavior in negotiation

This paper presents a statistical learning approach to predicting people's bidding behavior in negotiation. Our study consists multiple 2-player negotiation scenarios where bids of multi-valued goods can be accepted or rejected. The bidding task is formalized as a selection process in which a proposer player chooses a single bid to offer to a responder player from a set of candidate proposals. Each candidate is associated with features that affect whether not it is the chosen bid. These features represent social factors that affect people's play. We present and compare several algorithms for predicting the chosen bid and for learning a model from data. Data collection and evaluation of these algorithms is performed on both human and synthetic data sets. Results on both data sets show that an algorithm that reasons about dependencies between the features of candidate proposals is significantly more successful than an algorithm which assumes that candidates are independent. In the synthetic data set, this algorithm achieved near optimal performance. We also study the problem of inferring the features of a proposal given the fact that it was the chosen bid. A baseline importance sampling algorithm is first presented, and then compared with several approximations that attain much better performance.
Residents' training goals in respiratory knowledge and skills: perspective of three parties.

Summary Medical residents, full-time respiratory teaching staff, and community-based doctors rated the importance of fifty-five respiratory training goals involving knowledge and skills necessary for the future practices of all medical residents. Residents also rated their perceived preparedness in these training areas. Intra-and inter-group analyses indicated that residents agreed more often, and consistently assigned more importance (94% of goals) to the training goals than did the teachers and doctors. Although the residents considered themselves prepared for 69% of the training goals, they also had moderate intra-group disagreement. These results may reflect variable training experiences and/or institutional practices, but areas of less than adequate preparation were identified and can be corrected. The other two groups were in general agreement except regarding some clinical skills. This study offers possible explanations for the group responses and indicates the potential benefit for groups to discuss, identify, and survey training goals.
Squeezing Flows of Vaginal Gel Formulations Relevant to Microbicide Drug Delivery

Efficacy of topical microbicidal drug delivery formulations against HIV depends in part on their ability to coat, distribute, and be retained on epithelium. Once applied to the vagina, a formulation is distributed by physical forces including: gravity, surface tension, shearing, and normal forces from surrounding tissues, i.e., squeezing forces. The present study focused on vaginal microbicide distribution due to squeezing forces. Mathematical simulations of squeezing flows were compared with squeezing experiments, using model vaginal gel formulations. Our objectives were: (1) to determine if mathematical simulations can accurately describe squeezing flows of vaginal gel formulations; (2) to find the best model and optimized parameter sets to describe these gels; and (3) to examine vaginal coating due to squeezing using the best models and summary parameters for each gel. Squeezing flow experiments revealed large differences in spreadability between formulations, suggesting different coating distributions in vivo. We determined the best squeezing flow models and summary parameters for six test gels of two compositions, cellulose and polyacrylic acid (PAA). We found that for some gels it was preferable to deduce model input parameters directly from squeezing flow experiments. For the cellulose gels, slip conditions in squeezing flow experiments needed to be evaluated. For PAA gels, we found that in the absence of squeezing experiments, rotational viscometry measurements (to determine Herschel-Bulkley parameters) led to reasonably accurate predictions of squeezing flows. Results indicated that yield stresses may be a strong determinant of squeezing flow mechanics. This study serves as a template for further investigations of other gels and determination of which sources of rheological data best characterize potential microbicidal formulations. These mathematical simulations can serve as useful tools for exploring drug delivery parameters, and optimizing formulations, prior to costly clinical trials.