cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Parabrachial area as mediator of bradycardia in rabbits

Abstract This study examined the role of the parabrachial nucleus (PBN) in the mediation of bradycardia and in the reception of barosensory information. The 82 rabbits in the investigation were anesthetized with ethyl carbamate. Train stimulation of medial or lateral PBN produced primary bradycardia (mean peak change: −74 beats/min) associated with a pressor response (average peak mean change: +10 mm Hg) of longer latency. Section of the cervical vagus nerves indicated that the bradycardia was mediated primarily by the parasympathetic nervous system. Heart rate and blood pressure responses to train stimulation did not vary systematically as a function of respiratory pattern; paralyzing animals with decamethonium hydrochloride and artificially ventilating them also did not influence the cardiovascular responses to stimulation. Single-pulse stimulation of PBN in conjunction with extracellular single neuron recording established that neurons originating in or projecting through PBN project to the commissural region of nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) where synapse is made with neurons receiving barosensory input. In addition to establishing the existence of descending functional projections passing from PBN to NTS, injections of HRP into PBN revealed direct descending anatomical projections to PBN from regions of the forebrain previously implicated in the mediation of bradycardia. These included central nucleus of amygdala, lateral preoptic region, medial forebrain bundle, bed nucleus of stria terminals, anterior and lateral hypothalamus. and zona incerta. The present investigation also indicated that PBN receives barosensory information. Single-pulse electrical stimulation of the aortic nerve (AN) activated neurons in NTS at an average latency of 7.5 ms and in PBN at a mean latency of 12.1 ms. Mean latency of 9 neurons in NTS activated antidromically by PBN stimulation was 3.4 ms. Conduction velocity of the monosynaptic fibers projecting from NTS to PBN was approximately 3.5. m/s, which would be characteristic of finely myelinated fibers. Injection of HRP into PBN confirmed the existence of direct ascending projections to PBN from regions of NTS (e.g. lateral commissural area) previously shown to receive primary barosensory input. However, the finding that only 1 of 9 NTS neurons antidromically activated by PBN stimulation also received barosensory stimulation, indicates that additional study is needed of the mono- and oligosynaptic functional projections from NTS to PBN. The present study did provide evidence that PBN both receives barosensory information at short latency over a direct route, and serves as a relay for descending projections mediating bradycardia.
Ligand Induced Conformational Changes in GPCRs: Insight Into the Activation of Rhodopsin and β-adrenergic Receptors

Signal transduction in GPCRs is initiated by ligand binding at the extracellular domain of the receptor. Recent experimental evidences indicate that structurally different ligands with varied efficacies stabilize distinct receptor conformations. Understanding the relationship between ligand structure and the stabilized receptor conformation is critical in designing GPCR drugs with functional selectivity for a particular signaling pathway. We recently developed a computational method (LITiCon) to study the ligand induced transmembrane conformational changes in GPCRs. Using this method, we have predicted the active conformation of bovine rhodopsin stabilized by the full agonist all-trans retinal. The major conformational changes upon activation are the straightening of the TM6 kink and tilting of the intracellular end of TM5 towards TM6. These predictions are in agreement with the recently published crystal structure of ligand-free opsin, which is believed to be in a partially active conformation. We then study the conformational changes in human β-adrenergic receptors induced by full and partial agonists as well as inverse agonists. In the predicted conformation of the β2-adrenergic receptor stabilized by the full agonist norepinephrine, the three serines on TM5 come inside the binding pocket and the extracellular end of TM6 tilts towards TM3. These changes lead to shrinking of the norepinephrine binding pocket thus tightening the protein-ligand contacts. A new HB between N293 on TM6 and the β-OH of norepinephrine is formed in the norepinephrine stabilized conformation, which was not possible in the inactive conformation. Virtual ligand screening of the inactive receptor conformation shows higher selectivity for antagonists compared to agonists, whereas that of the norepinephrine stabilized conformation shows higher selectivity for agonists compared to antagonists. These results along with new insights into the ligand specificities between β1 and β2 receptor subtypes will be presented.
On scheduling parallel machines with two setup classes

We examine I he problem of scheduling jobs at a bank of parallel identical machines where each job requires either a major or a minor setup depending on the job that was processed immediately before it. Several heuristic procedures are proposed and tested with respect to makespan, average flowtime and time spent on setups.
The social phobia and anxiety inventory: Concurrent and external validity

The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI) is a newly developed instrument to measure social phobia and social anxiety. In this report, the concurrent and external validity of the scale were examined. The results indicate that the SPAI successfully discriminates social phobics from non-social phobics, accurately predicts social distress, and has some ability to predict the occurrence of specific behaviors in social situations. In addition, the results suggest that the ratings made by a significant other closely matched the individual's own ratings of social distress, indicating a degree of external validity.
Soft-Input Soft-Output Multiple Symbol Differential Detection for UWB Communications

Multiple-symbol differential detection (MSDD) is a promising technique to enhance the performance of ultra-wideband (UWB) communications without estimating the channel explicitly. In this context, the generalized log-likelihood ratio test (GLRT) for MSDD was developed, and the hard-output multiple-symbol detector was proposed, which exhibits considerable bit-error-rate (BER) performance improvement over transmitted reference transmissions. In this paper, we further improve the system performance by incorporating error correction code (ECC) and iterative processing at the receiver. The soft-input soft-output (SISO) MSDD is developed to deliver a posteriori information to the outer ECC decoder and enables iterative detection and decoding. Simulations show that the iterative processing achieves significant gains over the existing MSDD in UWB communications.
The epidemiology of atherosclerosis and its risk factors among Native Americans

In the past, the rates of risk factors for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease (CVD) as well as the manifestations of coronary heart disease, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease in Native Americans have been relatively low compared to the general United States population. However, over the past several decades the rates of these CVD-associated risk factors have markedly increased with the concomitant development of a significant and alarming rise in the manifestations of atherosclerosis.
FINDSITE(X): a structure-based, small molecule virtual screening approach with application to all identified human GPCRs.

We have developed FINDSITEX, an extension of FINDSITE, a protein threading based algorithm for the inference of protein binding sites, biochemical function and virtual ligand screening, that removes the limitation that holo protein structures (those containing bound ligands) of a sufficiently large set of distant evolutionarily related proteins to the target be solved; rather, predicted protein structures and experimental ligand binding information are employed. To provide the predicted protein structures, a fast and accurate version of our recently developed TASSERVMT, TASSERVMT-lite, for template-based protein structural modeling applicable up to 1000 residues is developed and tested, with comparable performance to the top CASP9 servers. Then, a hybrid approach that combines structure alignments with an evolutionary similarity score for identifying functional relationships between target and proteins with binding data has been developed. By way of illustration, FINDSITEX is applied to 998 identified hum...
Translating Principles of Speech Science to Clinical Practice: Current and Future Trends in Craniofacial Disorders

Abstract The purpose of this opinion article is to review the impact of the principles and technology of speech science on clinical practice in the area of craniofacial disorders. Current practice ...
The effect of emergency department crowding on paramedic ambulance availability.

Abstract Study objective We determine the effect of emergency department (ED) crowding on paramedic ambulance availability. Methods This was a prospective longitudinal study from April 2001 through March 2002 in Los Angeles, CA. All incidents in which a Los Angeles Fire Department ambulance was out of service for more than 15 minutes while waiting to transfer a patient because of the lack of open ED beds were captured and analyzed. Data included the total time each ambulance was out of service and the hospital where paramedics were waiting for an open gurney. Analysis was performed to determine weekly and seasonal variations and preponderance at various hospitals. Results There were a total of 21,240 incidents in which ambulances were out of service while waiting to transfer their patients to an open ED gurney, which accounted for 1 of every 8 transports. Of these, 8.4% were in excess of 1 hour. The median waiting time per incident was 27 minutes, with an interquartile range of 20 to 40. There was a statistically significant difference in the monthly number of out-of-service incidents during the study ( P Conclusion ED crowding has resulted in delays for paramedics waiting to transfer patients. This decrease in ambulance availability may have a significant effect on emergency medical services systems' abilities to provide timely response.
Western U.S. Infrasonic Catalog: Illuminating infrasonic hot spots with the USArray

[1] In this study reverse time migration is applied to signals recorded by the 2007–08 USArray, presumably due to acoustic-to-seismic coupling, to detect and locate in two-dimensional space and time 901 sources of atmospheric infrasound, defining the Western United States Infrasonic Catalog (WUSIC). The detections are visually inspected and ranked. Uncertainties are estimated using a bootstrap technique. The method correctly locates most rocket motor detonations in Utah and a bolide explosion in Oregon with an average spatial accuracy of 50 km and 25 km, respectively. The origin time statistics for 2007 and 2008 events are nearly identical and suggest a predominant human origin. The event locations illuminate repeating sources of infrasound, or “infrasonic hot spots,” in Nevada, Utah, and Idaho that are spatially associated with active military areas. The infrasonic arrivals comprise several branches that are observed to a range between 200 and 1500 km to the east and west of the epicenter in the winter and summer, respectively. The optimum group velocities are Gaussian distributed and centered at 295 m/s. A seasonal variation in optimum group velocities exhibits good correlation with atmospheric temperature. The results show that relatively dense seismic networks fill in the gaps between sparsely located infrasound arrays and provide valuable information for regional infrasonic source location and propagation studies. Specifically, the catalogs presented here can be used to statistically validate and improve propagation models, especially above the middle stratosphere where winds are not directly measured by ground-based weather stations or meteorological satellites.
Torque-position transformer for task control of position controlled robots

Joint position control is a dominant paradigm in industrial robots. While it has been successful in various industrial tasks, joint position control is severely limited in performing advanced robotic tasks, especially in unstructured dynamic environments. This paper presents the concept of torque-to-position transformer designed to allow the implementation of joint torque control techniques on joint position-controlled robots. Robot torque control is essentially accomplished by converting desired joint torques into instantaneous increments of joint position inputs. For each joint, the transformer is based on the knowledge of the joint position servo controller and the closed-loop frequency response of that joint. This transformer can be implemented as a software unit and applied to any conventional position-controlled robot so that torque command to the robot becomes available. This approach has been experimentally implemented on the Honda ASIMO robot arm. The paper presents the results of this implementation which demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach.
The timing, duration, and management of symptoms of children with an incurable brain tumor: a retrospective study of the palliative phase

Background A brain tumor is diagnosed in 25% of pediatric oncology patients and carries a 30% mortality rate. To increase proactive support of children with a progressive brain tumor, we obtained information on timing, duration, and management of symptoms in the palliative trajectory. Methods A retrospective review of medical charts of patients treated at a children's university hospital, who were dying from a brain tumor between May 2007 and September 2012. Results Thirty-four children were included. After 0-2480 days (median, 168 days) from initial diagnosis, incurable disease was evident, with death occurring after 1-603 days (median, 80 days). Palliative cancer-directed therapy was given to 23 (68%) patients. Early presenting symptoms were altered mobility, speech disorders, and loss of sight or hearing. The symptoms with the shortest duration were somnolence, dysphagia, and dyspnea. The most frequent symptoms were pain (91%), poor mobility (74%), and somnolence (71%). Pain necessitated a short period of intravenous treatment with morphine in 38% of patients, for a median 4 days, and sedation in 15%, for a median 2.5 days. Do-not-resuscitate agreements were discussed with all parents at 0-576 days before death (median, 50 days) and were agreed upon by 33 (97%) parents. Twenty-seven (79%) patients died at home, and one died in a hospice. Six (18%) patients were admitted for intravenous anticonvulsants, pain medication, and sedation until death. Conclusions This study reports specific information on the timing of occurrence and duration of symptoms. This information will provide support for pediatric oncologists in preparing parents and primary health care professionals and anticipating symptom management and timely end-of-life decision-making in the palliative care phase for children with a brain tumor.
The Impact of WTO Accession on China's Legal System: Trade, Investment and Beyond

This paper assesses the impact of China's accession to the World Trade Organization on its foreign trade and investment regime. While the government had begun liberalizing the Chinese economy long before joining the WTO, the accession induced regulatory, institutional and normative changes that have transformed the landscape of trade and investment in China. The profound impact of the WTO stems directly from the extensive commercial and rule commitments China undertook in its accession. Focusing on the most significant of these commitments, the paper examines their implications for Chinese constitutional law and their effect on the regulation of foreign trade, foreign investment, intellectual property rights, and domestic governance. In addition, it looks at enforcement of China's commitments through the WTO review and dispute settlement mechanisms. The paper concludes that China's WTO accession has made its foreign trade and investment regime far more liberalized and less opaque than a decade ago. More importantly, the accession has institutionalized the process of China's domestic reform externally through the force of WTO obligations. Although much uncertainty remains concerning the future direction of government policies, WTO membership ensures that the course of China's economic development will be charted within the disciplines of the WTO system.
Drawing in high pressure CO2—a new route to high performance fibers in memory of late Roger Porter

In this paper, we introduce a new draw technique for polymer orientation and apply it to different polymer fibers: poly(ethylene terephthalate) or PET, nylon 6,6. and ultra-high molecular polyethylene (UHMWPE). In this technique, a polymer is drawn uniaxially in supercritical CO 2 using a custom high-pressure apparatus. This technique can be used in replacement of a traditional drawing process or as a post-treatment process. With PET, the technique is not effective at temperatures at or below 130°C. In contrast, the process is highly effective for nylon 6,6 where CO 2 drawn fibers show significantly higher crystallinity and orientation along with improved mechanical properties. While the fibers are plasticized, the drawability of the fibers is only slightly dependent on temperature. High pressure CO 2 drawing of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fibers is equally effective. Commercial high performance fibers can be drawn up to a ratio of 1.9 in a second stage, resulting in large increases in tensile modulus and small improvements in tensile strength.
Accelerated Adoption of Smoke-Free Laws After Ratification of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Objectives. We sought to evaluate the effect of ratifying the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) on countries enacting smoke-free laws covering indoor workplaces, restaurants, and bars.Methods. We compared adoption of smoke-free indoor workplace, restaurant, and bar laws in countries that did versus did not ratify the FCTC, accounting for years since the ratification of the FCTC and for countries’ World Bank income group.Results. Ratification of the FCTC significantly (P < .001) increased the probability of smoke-free laws. This effect faded with time, with a half-life of 3.1 years for indoor workplaces and 3.8 years for restaurants and bars. Compared with high-income countries, upper-middle–income countries had a significantly higher probability of smoke-free indoor workplace laws.Conclusions. The FCTC accelerated the adoption of smoke-free indoor workplace, restaurant, and bar laws, with the greatest effect in the years immediately following ratification. The policy...
A Small Unstructured Region in Vibrio cholerae ToxT Mediates the Response to Positive and Negative Effectors and ToxT Proteolysis

Vibrio cholerae is the causative agent of the severe diarrheal disease cholera. The production of the virulence factors that are required for human disease is controlled by a complex network of transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulators. ToxT is the transcription regulator that directly controls the production of the two major virulence factors, toxin-coregulated pilus (TCP) and cholera toxin (CT). The solved crystal structure of ToxT revealed an unstructured region in the N-terminal domain between residues 100 and 110. This region and the surrounding amino acids have been previously implicated in ToxT proteolysis, resistance to inhibition by negative effectors, and ToxT dimerization. To better characterize this region, site-directed mutagenesis was performed to assess the effects on ToxT proteolysis and bile sensitivity. This analysis identified specific mutations within this unstructured region that prevent ToxT proteolysis and other mutations that reduce inhibition by bile and unsaturated fatty acids. In addition, we found that mutations that affect the sensitivity of ToxT to bile also affect the sensitivity of ToxT to its positive effector, bicarbonate. These results suggest that a small unstructured region in the ToxT N-terminal domain is involved in multiple aspects of virulence gene regulation and response to human host signals.
Mathematical and computational science issues in high precision Hylleraas–configuration interaction variational calculations: II. Kinetic energy and electron–nucleus interaction integrals

Three-electron kinetic energy and electron?nucleus interaction integrals arising in Hylleraas?configuration interaction (Hy?CI) calculations are discussed. We show that the electron?nucleus interaction operators introduce no new integral complications and that the kinetic energy operators lead to integrals which have much in common with electron interaction integrals treated in the first paper of this series. We discuss the efficient evaluation of the kinetic energy integrals and give selected values of the integrals to 30 digit accuracy. The one new W auxiliary function which arises in treating the kinetic energy operator is discussed in appendix B. We also give a few details on accurate evaluations of the Condon and Shortley cks which arise in Hy?CI calculations in appendix A.
Evidence for the adaptive significance of an LTR retrotransposon sequence in a Drosophila heterochromatic gene

The potential adaptive significance of transposable elements (TEs) to the host genomes in which they reside is a topic that has been hotly debated by molecular evolutionists for more than two decades. Recent genomic analyses have demonstrated that TE fragments are associated with functional genes in plants and animals. These findings suggest that TEs may contribute significantly to gene evolution. We have analyzed two transposable elements associated with genes in the sequenced Drosophila melanogaster y; cn bw sp strain. A fragment of the Antonia long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposon is present in the intron of Chitinase 3 (Cht3), a gene located within the constitutive heterochromatin of chromosome 2L. Within the euchromatin of chromosome 2R a full-length Burdock LTR retrotransposon is located immediately 3' to cathD, a gene encoding cathepsin D. We tested for the presence of these two TE/gene associations in strains representing 12 geographically diverse populations of D. melanogaster. While the cathD insertion variant was detected only in the sequenced y; cn bw sp strain, the insertion variant present in the heterochromatic Cht3 gene was found to be fixed throughout twelve D. melanogaster populations and in a D. mauritiana strain suggesting that it maybe of adaptive significance. To further test this hypothesis, we sequenced a 685bp region spanning the LTR fragment in the intron of Cht3 in strains representative of the two sibling species D. melanogaster and D. mauritiana (~2.7 million years divergent). The level of sequence divergence between the two species within this region was significantly lower than expected from the neutral substitution rate and lower than the divergence observed between a randomly selected intron of the Drosophila Alcohol dehydrogenase gene (Adh). Our results suggest that a 359 bp fragment of an Antonia retrotransposon (complete LTR is 659 bp) located within the intron of the Drosophila melanogaster Cht3 gene is of adaptive evolutionary significance. Our results are consistent with previous suggestions that the presence of TEs in constitutive heterochromatin may be of significance to the expression of heterochromatic genes.
Response to labeled precursor amino acids, varying cell density, and graded amino acid complement for protein synthesis in mammary cell culture.

Abstract Effect of labeled precursor amino acids, varying cell densities, graded quantities of amino acid complement, and incubation environment on milk protein synthesis were studied with cultures of mammary cells isolated from Sprague Dawley rats. The essential amino acid complement of Eagle's minimal essential medium was used as base. Protein synthesis, measured by incorporation of labeled lysine, leucine, and phenylalanine, was affected by source of label for the " β -lactoglobulin fraction" and β -casein but not α -lactalbumin. Cell numbers between 6×10 6 and 6×10 7 per 5ml of culture medium did not significantly alter rates of synthesis. Increasing amounts of amino acid concentration from one to three-fold increased synthesis of " β -lactoglobulin fraction" and α -lactalbumin regardless of cell population. Response to addition of essential amino acid for " β -lactoglobulin fraction" synthesis was linear over one to five-fold with 30.9 μ g/flask per fold addition (linear regression coefficient; squared correlation=.91). Results were similar for β -casein synthesis; 25.9 μ g/flask and squared correlation=.91. No culturing effects between carbon dioxide and conventional incubators were significant.
Engineering Staff Utilization

The staff members of an engineering school, perhaps more than those in any other group, are subject to continually changing technical responsibilities. The rate of change in the decades preceding 1950 was relatively slow, and new material was easily assimilated by competent individuals. In recent years, the increasing flow of new knowledge has presented a situation in which the effective instructor must be at the same time an ardent student. The danger of becoming obsolete is ever present. This paper attempts to analyze some of the problems which are presented to the senior staff members, to the middle-aged staff members, to the young men, and to the administrators. Some possible solutions to these problems are also presented.
An Empirical Study on Ad Hoc Performance of DSRC and Wi-Fi Vehicular Communications

The primary motivation for developing vehicular safety applications is to provide information and assistance required to avoid collisions. Such applications depend on performance of vehicular communications which have critical requirements for various operating scenarios. However, there is still a lack of practical performance measurement data in the open literature that can be used to design robust and reliable applications for vehicle safety. This paper provides an overview of the current standards for vehicular communications and requirements for vehicular applications and analyzes ad hoc performance of commercial off-the-shelf DSRC and Wi-Fi radios in real vehicular environments. Also, it identifies important effects of messages size, message frequency, weather condition, and vehicle mobility on vehicular communications. For example, rainy weather significantly diminishes the communication range and vehicle mobility causes temporal variations in communication throughput. With a better comprehensive understanding of these effects on performance and reliability, quality of vehicular applications can be significantly improved.
Enhancing Allosteric Response in Thermus Thermophilus Phosphofructokinase

Phosphofructokinase (PFK) from an extreme thermophile, Thermus thermophilus (TtPFK), exhibits 17-fold stronger binding to its inhibitor, PEP, and 34-fold weaker coupling between the binding of PEP and substrate, Fructose-6-phosphate (F6P), when compared at 250C to the PFK from another thermophile, Bacillus stearothermophilus (BsPFK). BsPFK is 57% identical in sequence. Since no 3-dimensional structural information is available for TtPFK, we turned to the crystal structures of BsPFK in search for the possible explanation. There is a network of residues, D59, T158, and H215, that leads from the allosteric site to the nearest active site, and that undergoes a significant rearrangement when PEP binds to free enzyme. In the apo form of BsPFK, H215 forms a hydrogen bond with T158. In the inhibitor-bound form, T158 is further removed from the allosteric binding site, and D59 forms a hydrogen bond with H215. In TtPFK these interactions are not possible due to nature of residues at these positions: N59, A158, and S215. We hypothesized that recreating this network of residues would strengthen the coupling between the PEP and F6P binding in TtPFK. Single amino acid substitutions at each of these positions resulted in some increase in binding free energy. The three combinations of double mutations produced a more significant increase in coupling free energy, which appeared in each case to be roughly the sum of the changes in coupling free energy produced by the individual mutants. Interestingly, the level of coupling attained by introducing all three mutations is similar to that seen in BsPFK, and the binding affinity of PEP was weakened to the level exhibited by BsPFK (ΔGay = 3.98±0.03 kcal/mol, ΔGy = −5.61±0.01 kcal/mol). Supported by NIH grant GM33216 and Welch Foundation grant A1548.
Zidovudine-Resistant Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Genomes Detected in Plasma Distinct from Viral Genomes in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells

The emergence of zidovudine (3'-azido-2',3'-deoxythymidine)-resistant strains of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) from AIDS patients treated with zidovudine has been linked to six amino acid substitutions localized within the viral polymerase gene. Here, in 2 patients, three resistance mutations were detected by polymerase chain reaction amplification of HIV-1 polymerase (reverse transcriptase) sequences from cultures of patient plasma only and not from the same patients' uncultured leukocytes. The differences in distribution of the mutant genotypes from the two sources were highly significant. Both plasma- and peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC)-derived virus (and/or RNA genomes) should be studied in additional subjects to confirm the hypothesis raised by these data that zidovudine-resistant virus may be more frequent in plasma than in uncultured PBMC.
Genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection in pregnant adolescents in east Tennessee: a 7-year case-control study.

Abstract Study Objective To examine the prevalence, symptomatology, risk factors, and other infections associated with urogenital chlamydial infection in pregnant teenagers. Design Retrospective case-control study by medical record review. Setting Prenatal care clinic for adolescents at University of Tennessee Medical Center, Knoxville, Tennessee. Participants Pregnant adolescents younger than 19 years of age who were diagnosed with chlamydial infection on the first prenatal visit from 1988 to 1994 were studied. Pregnant adolescents of similar age and socioeconomic background who came in the same day for the first prenatal visit, but were not infected, made up the control group. Intervention Routine prenatal questionnaires regarding personal and medical histories, and routine prenatal screening, including pelvic examination with Papanicolaou (PAP) smear and laboratory investigations for common genital infections and sexual transmitted disease (STDs), were obtained. Main Outcome Measures Analyzed the prevalence of chlamydial infection and compared the infected group to the control group with regard to race, behavioral factors, symptoms, prenatal screening results, other concurrent genital infections, and histories of STDs. Results Of a total population of 596 pregnant teenagers, 67 (11.24%) were infected with Chlamydia trachomatis. In multivariate analysis, black race (odds ratio [OR] 4.01; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.74–9.23; p = 0.001) and greater gestational age at first prenatal visit (OR 1.11; 95% CI 1.04–1.18; p = 0.001) were independently associated with chlamydial infection. Age, marital status, number of pregnancies, smoking, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, age at first intercourse, and multiple sex partners were not associated with the infection. Likewise, the symptom of vaginal discharge (a complaint of >70% in each group), other genital co-infections (found >50% in each group, mainly candidiasis and bacterial vaginosis), abnormal PAP smears (found >60% in each group) and histories of STDs or previous chlamydial infection were not significantly different between case and control groups. Human papillomavirus infection, trichomonal infection, and dysplasia or atypia were found more often in patients infected with chlamydia but were not statistically significant. Conclusion Pregnant adolescents in east Tennessee were at risk for chlamydial infection as well as for other genital infections and abnormal PAP smears. Routine prenatal chlamydial screening is warranted because of a lack of specific symptoms.
Desisting from Prescription Drug Abuse: An Application of Growth Models to Rx Opioid Users

Modern desistance research has examined many facets of desistance, in terms of theoretical predictors of desistance and recidivism, and in terms of differing types of offending. Though predicting desistance from illegal drug use is among these topics, no research to date has examined the predictors of desisting from prescription opioid abuse. This study uses longitudinal data from 318 prescription opioid users to analyze the effects of various predictors of desistance on declining nonmedical prescription opioid use, with an emphasis on gender differences among participants. Results indicate that theoretical and demographic characteristics correspond with differing rates of decline and further vary by gender.
Treatment of Older and Elderly Inmates Within Prisons

An increase in the number of older and elderly inmates in the prison system has sparked controversy regarding current procedures and programs as well as possible solutions. Preservation of human and constitutional rights while maintaining appropriate punishment under the same Constitution and increased fiscal expenditures has called into question whether the correctional system is the correct setting for older and elderly inmates. The changing population in prisons has led to an increase in medical care expenses, causing some states to implement early release programs or to build separate facilities for the geriatric population. Statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Prisons in conjunction with empirical studies create a foundation that allows for a comprehensive survey of the problems, current protocols, and prospective practices.
Large-scale vibration energy harvesting

Nowadays, harvesting energy from vibration is one of the most promising technologies. However, the majority of current researches obtain 10 µW to 100 mW power, which has only limited applications in self-powered wireless sensors and low-power electronics. In fact, the vibrations in some situations can be very large, for example, the vibrations of tall buildings, long bridges, vehicle systems, railroads, ocean waves, and even human motions. With the global concern on energy and environmental issues, energy harvesting from large-scale vibrations is more attractive and becomes a research frontier. This article is to provide a timely and comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art on the large-scale vibration energy harvesting, ranging from 1 W to 100 kW or more. Subtopics include energy assessment from large vibrations, piezoelectric materials and electromagnetic transducers, motion transmission and magnification mechanisms, power electronics, and vibration control. The relevant applications discussed in th...
Effects of a Neutral Intermediate Boson in Semileptonic Processes

The observable effects of a neutral intermediate vector boson in semileptonic processes are considered in the context of a proposed renormalizable theory of the weak and electromagnetic interactions. With strange particles neglected, this theory allows the calculation of neutral-current form factors in terms of charged-current form factors and electromagnetic form factors. The results are neither confirmed nor refuted by present data. One possible method of incorporating the strange particles is briefly discussed.
Evaluating the efficacy of wavelet configurations on turbulent-flow data

I/O is increasingly becoming a significant constraint for simulation codes and visualization tools on modern supercomputers. Data compression is an attractive workaround, and, in particular, wavelets provide a promising solution. However, wavelets can be applied in multiple configurations, and the variations in configuration impact accuracy, storage cost, and execution time. While the variation in these factors over wavelet configurations have been explored in image processing, they are not well understood for visualization and analysis of scientific data. To illuminate this issue, we evaluate multiple wavelet configurations on turbulent-flow data. Our approach is to repeat established analysis routines on uncompressed and lossy-compressed versions of a data set, and then quantitatively compare their outcomes. Our findings show that accuracy varies greatly based on wavelet configuration, while storage cost and execution time vary less. Overall, our study provides new insights for simulation analysts and visualization experts, who need to make tradeoffs between accuracy, storage cost, and execution time.
Learnersourcing Subgoal Labels for How-to Videos

Websites like YouTube host millions of how-to videos, but their interfaces are not optimized for learning. Previous research suggests that people learn more from how-to videos when the videos are accompanied by outlines showing individual steps and labels for groups of steps (subgoals). We envision an alternative video player where the steps and subgoals are displayed alongside the video. To generate this information for existing videos, we introduce learnersourcing, an approach in which intrinsically motivated learners contribute to a human computation workflow as they naturally go about learning from the videos. To demonstrate this method, we deployed a live website with a workflow for constructing subgoal labels implemented on a set of introductory web programming videos. For the four videos with the highest participation, we found that a majority of learner-generated subgoals were comparable in quality to expert-generated ones. Learners commented that the system helped them grasp the material, suggesting that our workflow did not detract from the learning experience.
Lysosomal Mechanisms in Blastocyst Implantation and Early Decidualization

The lysosome with its diverse content of hydrolytic enzymes has the capacity to degrade virtually every macromolecule of biological origin. Precise control of this self-destructive potential provides eukaryotic cells with the means for intracellular digestion and the means for adaptation to changes in nutritional and hormonal variables. Intracellular digestion of exogenous material taken into cells by pinocytosis or phagocytosis provides substrate for the synthesis of new cellular organelles and enzymes. Endogenous macromolecules and pieces of cytoplasmic material sequestered and digested by lysosomes during autophagia enable redirected physiological function as cellular components are degraded and resynthe sized. These lysosomal mechanisms appear to be involved in the pinocytosis of the uterine lumenal epithelium during the preimplantation period of pregnancy, the penetration of the lumenal epithelium by the blastocyst, and the extensive remodeling of the endometrial stroma during decidualization.
Real-Time Bioluminescent Tracking of Cellular Population Dynamics

Cellular population dynamics are routinely monitored across many diverse fields for a variety of purposes. In general, these dynamics are assayed either through the direct counting of cellular aliquots followed by extrapolation to the total population size, or through the monitoring of signal intensity from any number of externally stimulated reporter proteins. While both viable methods, here we describe a novel technique that allows for the automated, non-destructive tracking of cellular population dynamics in real-time. This method, which relies on the detection of a continuous bioluminescent signal produced through expression of the bacterial luciferase gene cassette, provides a low cost, low time-intensive means for generating additional data compared to alternative methods.
Static and Dynamic Balance After Ankle Plantarflexor Fatigue in Older Adults

ABSTRACTAims: The purpose of this study was to evaluate how fatigue of the ankle plantarflexors would affect both static and dynamic standing balance in a healthy older population. Understanding how conditions of muscle fatigue may effect balance control of older adults may lend insight to rehabilitation strategies useful for the screening and prevention of fall risks. Methods: 18 healthy older adults (mean age = 74.67 years) were randomly divided into either a fatigue group or a control group. Baseline measurements were collected using the NeuroCom Smart® Balance Master's limits of stability (LOS) test and the sensory organization test (SOT). Participants in the control group rested for 5 min after the baseline testing and then repeated the tests, while participants in the fatigue group repeated the tests after performing heel raises until they became fatigued. Results: LOS parameters decreased after muscle fatigue but were significant only for the interaction of directional control (DCL). The findings f...
Content and De novo synthesis of cocaine in embryos and endosperms from fruit of Erythroxylum coca Lam.

There is controversy as to whether the mature fruit of Erythroxylum coca var. coca Lam. contains the cocaine alkaloid (benzoylmethylecgonine). In the present study, cocaine was monitored to determine if it was present in embryos and endosperms of mature fruit of E. coca var. coca Lam., and if present, the time required for de novo synthesis in imbibing seed. Seeds from mature fruit of E. coca were dissected to separate the embryos from the endosperms. The separated embryos and endosperms were analysed for cocaine. Subsequently, endosperms and embryos from seed imbibed under a light and dark treatment were separated on days 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15 and analysed for cocaine/Cocaine was present in embryos (0.005% of d. wt) and endosperms (0.001% of d. wt) of mature fruit of E. coca. De novo synthesis of cocaine occurred only in embryos of seed imbibed under light after day 9 of imbibition.
Wound Healing in Papain Treated Rats.

Summary and conclusionsIntraperitoneal injections of 20 mg/kg body weight of activated crude papain to rats resulted in a decrease in the concentration of acid polysac-charides in the normal skin. There was an initial delay in the various stages of wound healing in the skin. Retardation in differentiation of fibroblasts and maturation of reticular fibers into collagen bundles was observed. The depletion of acid polysaccha-rides from the connective tissue ground substance in wounds of papain treated animals was associated with a delay in the maturation of collagen.
The Importance of the Brand in Brand Extension

Recent research has identified two factors that influence consumer perceptions of a brand extension: brand affect and the similarity between the original and extension product categories. However, ...
Ductile Tearing of Thin Aluminum Plates Under Blast Loading. Predictions with Fully Coupled Models and Biaxial Material Response Characterization

The work presented in this report concerns the response and failure of thin 2024- T3 aluminum alloy circular plates to a blast load produced by the detonation of a nearby spherical charge. The plates were fully clamped around the circumference and the explosive charge was located centrally with respect to the plate. The principal objective was to conduct a numerical model validation study by comparing the results of predictions to experimental measurements of plate deformation and failure for charges with masses in the vicinity of the threshold between no tearing and tearing of the plates. Stereo digital image correlation data was acquired for all tests to measure the deflection and strains in the plates. The size of the virtual strain gage in the measurements, however, was relatively large, so the strain measurements have to be interpreted accordingly as lower bounds of the actual strains in the plate and of the severity of the strain gradients. A fully coupled interaction model between the blast and the deflection of the structure was considered. The results of the validation exercise indicated that the model predicted the deflection of the plates reasonably accurately as well as the distribution of strain on the plate. Themore » estimation of the threshold charge based on a critical value of equivalent plastic strain measured in a bulge test, however, was not accurate. This in spite of efforts to determine the failure strain of the aluminum sheet under biaxial stress conditions. Further work is needed to be able to predict plate tearing with some degree of confidence. Given the current technology, at least one test under the actual blast conditions where the plate tears is needed to calibrate the value of equivalent plastic strain when failure occurs in the numerical model. Once that has been determined, the question of the explosive mass value at the threshold could be addressed with more confidence.« less
Building Communities: College Preparation Education for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

ABSTRACTNationwide about 4.2 million households have grandparents and grandchildren co-residing. Of those homes, 67% showed the grandparent(s) as the householder(s) (Current Population Survey, 2012). In Oklahoma, 100,213 children under age 18 live in a home headed by grandparents or other relatives (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). Nearly 80,000 children live with grandparents as heads of the household (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). Typically, children raised by grandparents do not attend college. Two college preparatory trainings for grandparents and adolescent children were held on university campuses. Grandparents and grandchildren were given student-led tours of the campus, financial aid information, information about careers and how to work with school counselors, and information about the state’s free tuition incentive program. Pre- and posttests were used to assess changes in awareness of both grandparents and grandchildren of college opportunities and information. Follow-up focus groups were conducted with...
Safety and activity of pembrolizumab in melanoma patients with untreated brain metastases.

9009 Background: Brain metastases (BrMs) develop in 40% of metastatic melanoma (MM) patients (pts). Untreated BrMs exclude from most clinical trials. In prior trials, treatment of MM with pembroliz...
Vaccination of national expanded program of immunization among children in Dalian city

Objective To examine the vaccination status of national expanded program of immunization(EPI) among children in Dalian city and to provide basis for making vaccinaion strategy.Methods Totally 210 children born between January 1,2006 to December 31,2007 were selected with probability proportional to size sampling and surveyed for vaccination status.Results The percentages of the children with vaccination record card and certificate were 99.05% and 97.14%.The ratio of the children with the full course of 5 vaccines vaccination(Bacillus Calmette Guerin,oral poliomylitis live atteuated vaccine,diphtheria,tetanus,pertussis combined vaccine,mealses live attenuated vaccine,and hepatitis B vaccine) was form 94.29% to 98.57%.Over 90 percent of the children were immunized with first hepatitis B vaccine in time.Conclusion The results indicate that the vaccination status of the children in Dalian city is good.
Retroperitoneoscopy: foreign body retrieval.

AbstractRetroperitoneoscopy is a rarely indicated procedure for the urological surgeon. However, it can be a useful means to approach some types of ureteral pathology and foreign bodies. We describe a case in which a severed surgical drain was removed from deep within the retroperitoneum by using a percutaneous retroperitoneal approach.