cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Learning Outcomes of the Observer Role in Nursing Simulation: A Scoping Review

Abstract Background Simulation-based learning experiences are utilized more frequently to support nursing education. Some programs use observational, rather than active, role assignments to meet the growing demand for simulation-based learning experiences. Despite support for observer learning, educators disagree about whether observers’ learning outcomes are similar to those who are active participants. Method The scoping review strategy established by the Joanna Briggs Institute was followed to investigate what learning outcomes have been measured in nurses serving in observer roles in simulation. Results Twenty-eight studies matched the search strategy and inclusion criteria. Eight categories of observer learning outcomes were identified: knowledge, clinical skills, clinical judgment, teamwork/collaboration, confidence, critical thinking, insight, and conceptual thinking. Conclusion The literature suggests that the observer role can lead to measurable learning outcomes.
Quantifying Joint Uncertainties for Hybrid System Vibration Testing

Controlled laboratory vibration testing has been the preferred method to experimentally quantify a system’s governing dynamic response. However, dynamic testing of full-scale commercial structures in service environments can be an expensive and challenging endeavor to perform due to structural size and complexities. Hybrid substructuring is a method that involves performing tests on components of interest coupled with a numerical model simulating behavior of the primary system. The physical test and the numerical model are combined to represent the dynamic response of the complete system. Hybrid substructuring could also be implemented in the opposite fashion: the primary system as the physical substructure and a component of interest as the numerical substructure. Such an approach enables predictions of the dynamic response of a critical component when it cannot be directly measured during a system test. Within the numerical model uncertainties in the coupling of substructures can be accounted for through probabilistic model parameters. Using this approach, the effects of uncertainties in the component of interest and its interface to the primary system, such as those due to jointed connections, are captured. This paper aims to quantify a system’s uncertainties by incorporating a suite of experimental data with inverse analysis to determine distributions of uncertain parameters, thus allowing a hybrid substructuring scheme to make statistically bounded predictions. The approach is demonstrated through an analysis of the bolted joints uncertainties in the Box and Removable Component test structure.
Abnormal morphology and subcortical projections to the medial geniculate in an animal model of autism

Auditory dysfunction, including hypersensitivity and tinnitus, is a common symptom of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Prenatal exposure to the antiseizure medication valproic acid (VPA) significantly increases the risk of ASD in humans and similar exposure is utilized as an animal model of ASD in rodents. Animals exposed to VPA in utero have abnormal activity in their auditory cortex in response to sounds, fewer neurons, abnormal neuronal morphology, reduced expression of calcium-binding proteins, and reduced ascending projections to the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus. Unfortunately, these previous studies of central auditory circuits neglect the medial geniculate (MG), which serves as an important auditory relay from the midbrain to the auditory cortex. Here, we examine the structure and connectivity of the medial geniculate (MG) in rats prenatally exposed to VPA. Our results indicate that VPA exposure results in significantly smaller and fewer neurons in the ventral and medial nuclei of the MG. Furthermore, injections of the retrograde tract tracer fluorogold (FG) in the MG result in significantly fewer FG+ neurons in the inferior colliculus, superior olivary complex, and ventral cochlear nucleus. Together, we interpret these findings to indicate that VPA exposure results in hypoplasia throughout the auditory circuits and that VPA has a differential impact on some long-range axonal projections from brainstem centers to the thalamus. Together, our findings support the widespread impact of VPA on neurons and sensory circuits in the developing brain.
Joint inversion of full-waveform ground-penetrating radar and electrical resistivity data: Part 1

ABSTRACTWe have developed an algorithm for joint inversion of full-waveform ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and electrical resistivity (ER) data. The GPR data are sensitive to electrical permittivit...
Introduction to Tucson 2021: Celebrating Apatite-Supergroup Minerals & The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Fluorescent Mineral Society

Time is a variable thing—all mineral and gem collectors know that. Days spent collecting in the field seem abnormally short, surely only an hour or so long despite what our watch says. Years, too, ...
The Yamabe flow on asymptotically flat manifolds

We study the Yamabe flow starting from an asymptotically flat manifold $(M^n,g_0)$. We show that the flow converges to an asymptotically flat, scalar flat metric in a weighted global sense if $Y(M,[g_0])>0$, and show that the flow does not converge otherwise. If the scalar curvature is nonnegative and integrable, then the ADM mass at time infinity drops by the limit of the total scalar curvature along the flow.
Controlling Infrared Plasmon Resonances in Inverse-Spinel Cadmium Stannate Nanocrystals via Site-Selective Cation-Exchange Reactions

Doped metal oxide nanocrystals (NCs) exhibit tunable localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) in the infrared spectral region. Compared to the binary oxides commonly studied, plasmonic NCs deri...
Restless Legs Syndrome

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a sensorimotor disorder that affects sleep in up to 15% of the population. Individuals experience uncomfortable sensations of the extremities, which occur with inactivity and are relieved with activity. Because of the circadian rhythmicity of these symptoms, RLS symptoms can interfere with sleep onset. Symptom descriptors are varied; some commonly used terms are “creepy-crawly,” “uncomfortable,” “pins and needles,” and “internal itch.” Regardless of the descriptor, symptoms of RLS include a compelling urge to move, as they are usually improved with movement, and patients frequently resort to flexing, stretching, and vigorous movement. The end result is typically poor quality of sleep, leading to excessive daytime somnolence and feelings of fatigue. Althugh the disorder affects both genders, it is more common in women (in most populations studied) and is associated with several medical conditions including uremia, anemia, diabetes, pregnancy, and menopause.
Introgression and Species Delimitation in the Longear Sunfish Lepomis megalotis (Teleostei: Percomorpha: Centrarchidae).

Introgression and hybridization are major impediments to genomic-based species delimitation because many implementations of the multispecies coalescent framework assume no gene flow among species. The sunfish genus Lepomis, one of the world's most popular groups of freshwater sport fish, has a complicated taxonomic history. The results of ddRAD phylogenomic analyses do not provide support for the current taxonomy that recognizes two species, L. megalotis and L. peltastes, in the L. megalotis complex. Instead, evidence from phylogenomics and phenotype warrants recognizing six relatively ancient evolutionary lineages in the complex. The introgressed and hybridizing populations in the L. megalotis complex are localized and appear to be the result of secondary contact or rare hybridization events between non-sister species. Segregating admixed populations from our multispecies coalescent analyses identifies six species with moderate to high genealogical divergence, whereas including admixed populations drives all but one lineage below the species threshold of genealogical divergence. Segregation of admixed individuals also helps reveal phenotypic distinctiveness among the six species in morphological traits used by ichthyologists to discover and delimit species over the last two centuries. Our protocols allow for the identification and accommodation of hybridization and introgression in species delimitation. Genomic-based species delimitation validated with multiple lines of evidence provides a path towards the discovery of new biodiversity and resolving long-standing taxonomic problems.
Detecting bound polymer layers in attractive polymer-nanoparticle hybrids.

When polymer–nanoparticle (NP) attractions are sufficiently strong, a bound polymer layer with a distinct dynamic signature spontaneously forms at the NP interface. A similar phenomenon occurs near a fixed attractive substrate for thin polymer films. While our previous simulations fixed the NPs to examine the dilute limit, here, we allow the NP to move. Our goal is to investigate how NP mobility affects the signature of the bound layer. For small NPs that are relatively mobile, the bound layer is slaved to the motion of the NP, and the signature of the bound layer relaxation in the intermediate scattering function essentially disappears. The slow relaxation of the bound layer can be recovered when the scattering function is measured in the NP reference frame, but this process would be challenging to implement in experimental systems with multiple NPs. Instead, we use the counterintuitive result that the NP mass affects its mobility in the nanoscale limit, along with the more expected result that the bound layer increases the effective NP mass, to suggest that the signature of the bound polymer manifests as a change in NP diffusivity. These findings allow us to rationalize and quantitatively understand the results of recent experiments focused on measuring NP diffusivity with either physically adsorbed or chemically end-grafted chains.
Print Knowledge in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Do Child and Family Variables Play a Role?

Purpose This study aimed to examine the print knowledge of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in comparison to children who have developmental language disorder (DLD) and typically develo...
Using marginal structural models to analyze randomized clinical trials with non-adherence and lost to follow up

ABSTRACT Background In the presence of non-adherence and lost to follow up, results of an Intention to Treat (ITT) analysis may be biased as it is measuring the effect of assignment rather than the effect of treatment. Given that Marginal Structural Models (MSMs) adjust for such issues, this study examines the use of MSMs to assess the validity of ITT analyses in the presence of non-adherence and lost to follow up in an existing randomized clinical trial on asthma treatment. Methods Inverse probability weights were obtained from a pooled logistic regression assessing the probability of staying on assigned treatment (adherence) and of remaining uncensored (censored) for subjects at each visit by treatment arm. Weights were then pooled into a MSM analysis using a Poisson generalized estimating equation with an independent correlation matrix. Results Out of 488 participants, 174 (36%) did not adhere to the baseline assignment and 85 (17%) were lost to follow up by the end of the study. The adjusted relative risks (RR), and 95% confidence intervals (CI), obtained from the MSMs (theophylline vs. montelukast; RR=1.24; 95% CI: 0.83,1.84; theophylline vs. placebo: RR=1.01; 95% CI: 0.70,1.48; and montelukast vs. placebo: RR=0.83; 95% CI: 0.57,1.19) were nearly identical to that of the ITT analysis (theophylline vs. montelukast: RR=1.22; 95% CI: 0.82,1.86; theophylline vs. placebo: RR=0.99; 95% CI: 0.67,1.50; and montelukast vs. placebo: RR=0.82; 95% CI: 0.55,1.21). Conclusion Concordance between the results of ITT and MSMs indicate adherence and censoring may not invalidate ITT analysis. However, no adherence or censorship thresholds currently exist to assist researchers in determining when MSMs may be superior to ITT in the analysis of clinical trials with non-adherence or censorship issues, and therefore, MSMs should be conducted as a sensitivity analysis to the ITT approach in clinical trials.
Thromboelastography-Platelet Mapping Allows Safe and Earlier Urgent Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting.

Abstract Background Current STS guidelines recommend delaying CABG for several days or performing platelet function testing in stable patients who received P2Y12 inhibitors. Our program routinely uses thromboelastography-platelet mapping (TEG-PM) to expedite CABG in P2Y12 non-responders (NR). We hypothesize that P2Y12 NR had no difference in LOS to surgery and blood product transfusion compared to patients undergoing urgent inpatient CABG not treated with a P2Y12 inhibitor. Methods A total of 221 patients from 2015-2019 were P2Y12 NR based on TEG-PM result of Results Sixty-seven percent of inpatient CABG patients who were treated pre-operatively with a P2Y12 inhibitor were NR. The mean number of days from cardiac surgical consultation to CABG in the TEG-PM NR group was 1.6 ± 0.1 versus 2.1 ± 0.1 in the control group (p Conclusions Our results demonstrate a very high incidence of P2Y12 non-responders in patients undergoing urgent CABG at our program. These patients underwent surgery at least 3 days earlier than STS recommendations and common practice with no difference in transfusion requirement. Routine use of TEG-PM to identify P2Y12 NR can safely decrease pre-operative hospital LOS and associated cost and improve resource utilization and patient satisfaction.
Association of nonpharmacologic chronic pain management with function in a low-income population: Evidence from a survey of a sample of Latinos from five states.

BACKGROUND Low-income minority populations often confront barriers to professional nonpharmacologic management of chronic pain and, without this care, may have poorer daily function. OBJECTIVE To examine the association of professional nonpharmacologic chronic pain management in the past year categorized as physical interventions or mind-body interventions with current functional status. DESIGN Online, population-based survey. SETTING Community-dwelling Latinos from five southwestern states (California, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico). PARTICIPANTS The survey was offered to all Latino online panel members aged 35 to 75 years in 5 states (N = 1007). With weights, this sample represented 11,016,135 persons. Of 516 respondents (51%), 486 (94%) had valid surveys and, of these, 102 members (21%) had chronic noncancer pain. With weights, they represented 1,140,170 persons with chronic pain. INTERVENTIONS Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Daily impairment in mobility and in activities of daily living (ADLs). RESULTS Of the weighted sample, 37.2% reported daily impairment in mobility and 29.4% in ADLs. Professional physical interventions for chronic pain were received by 41.2% and mind-body interventions received by 33.4% but usually with physical interventions. Adjusted odds ratios (AOR) of daily mobility impairment for respondents who used physical interventions with mind-body interventions or alone were both less than 0.10 (p < .01) versus none. Only professional physical intervention was associated with decreased odds for daily impairment in ADLs (AOR = 0.07; 95% confidence interval = 0.01 to 0.94; p = .045). CONCLUSIONS In a weighted sample of Latinos with chronic pain, professional physical interventions reduced the likelihood of daily impairment in mobility and ADLs.
U.S. research-focused nontraditional doctoral accounting programs: A status update

Abstract This study presents current information about U.S. research-focused nontraditional doctoral accounting programs, including overarching program issues, program specifics, and accomplishments of program graduates. Based on online information regarding 19 programs, a survey of 15 program directors, and data collection regarding a sample of program graduates, the findings suggest (a) rapid growth in this premium-priced, typically three-year program market, with 14 new programs since 2013; (b) a strong academic and/or applied research orientation in these programs; (c) challenges related to program cost, faculty workload, and competing demands for student time (that can increase program length); (d) over 100 students currently enrolled in these programs who are focused on academic accounting careers; (e) two different models of offering accounting content (dissertation-only model versus a more comprehensive model with accounting courses and often an accounting concentration); (f) a mix of internal and external program faculty and frequent use of overload compensation for faculty; and (g) evidence that many graduates (who typically are CPAs with prior teaching experience) are achieving success in securing academic positions at institutions apparently with a balanced focus on teaching and research, being promoted, and publishing in notable academic journals. We hope that this analysis is helpful to prospective students, those managing or teaching in nontraditional doctoral accounting programs, and those hiring or considering hiring graduates of these programs.
Abdominal Pain Following Motor Vehicle Accident

A 35-year-old unrestrained male driver is brought in by paramedics following a motor vehicle collision (MVC). There was extensive passenger space intrusion and significant steering wheel deformity. On arrival to the emergency department, the patient is unconscious and unresponsive. His blood pressure is 80/40 mmHg and heart rate is 110/min. He has obvious facial fractures, with blood coming out of his mouth. His pupils are equal, round, and reactive to light. His breathing is shallow and labored. Breath sounds are clear bilaterally. He is not moving, does not open his eyes, and withdraws to pain. His abdomen is non-distended and non-tender to palpation. He has no obvious external sign of trauma on the abdomen. There are no obvious deformities in his extremities.
Types of Advocacy Activity Using Child Indicators

Six different kinds of activities that fall under the data-based child advocacy conceptual framework are described and several examples are provided for each type. Data is provided to document the growing use of the data-based child advocacy approach around the world over the past few decades. The wide variety of circumstances and contexts where data-based child advocacy is being used is described.
Norepinephrine Transporter Dysfunction

Publisher Summary Norepinephrine (NE) is the major neurotransmitter in postganglionic sympathetic synapses and is also released at synaptic terminals of brainstem neurons that control cardiovascular function. A presynaptically localized NE transporter (NET) retrieves released NE to limit the spread and duration of synaptic excitability and allows repackaging of NE into synaptic vesicles. Organization of the human NET (hNET) gene suggests a susceptibility to the influence of polymorphic sequences. Altered hNET function, measured in cardiovascular disease, may reflect subsequent damage to the system caused by a distinct insult, but in some cases, hNET polymorphisms may be one of the precipitating factors for disease. Cardiovascular symptoms—such as increased heart rate—aid in the identification of hNET dysfunction in diseases considered primarily psychiatric in nature. For example, the role of NE in cognition and attention through actions in the prefrontal cortex suggests an involvement of this neurotransmitter system in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Patients with ADHD with increased standing heart rate might be more likely to harbor hNET single-nucleotide polymorphisms. In this way, hNET dysfunction provides a clue in identifying hNET genetic variation in multiple complex and perhaps disparate disorders.
Zeit, Geschichte und Ästhetik im Wallenstein‐Prolog

Dieser Aufsatz liest den Prolog zu Schillers Wallenstein-Trilogie als eine fundamental neue Reflexion uber die Geschichtlichkeit im historischen Drama. Wallenstein ist das erste historische Drama, das sich der geschichtlichen Bedingtheit der dargestellten Handlung bewusst ist und das die zeitliche Distanz der Gegenwart zur historischen Szene problematisiert. Der so entwickelte Geschichtsbegriff koinzidiert im Prolog mit dem Autonomiebegriff der Weimarer Asthetik. Das Bewusstsein von historischer Distanz und die Berufung auf die asthetische Distanz zwischen dem Kunstwerk und der von ihm dargestellten wirklichen Welt gehen im Prolog Hand in Hand. Angesichts der entscheidenden Stellung von Schillers Stuck in der Geschichte der Weimarer Klassik konnte diese Parallele zwischen Asthetik und Geschichtsbegriff im Wallenstein-Prolog richtungsweisend fur das Verstandnis der Epoche im Allgemeinen sein.
Internal mammary artery graft for ischemic heart disease. Effect of revascularization on clinical status and survival.

Four hundred consecutive patients, 80 percent of whom had multiple vessel obstruction, received a single internal mammary artery graft (121 patients) alone or combined with vein grafts (279 patients) in 1971 and 1972. Four patients died during or within 30 days of the operation. Sixteen patients had intraoperative infarction; three died. Arteriography was performed postoperatively (mean 12 months) in 254 patients, and 248 of 261 internal mammary artery grafts (95 percent) and 195 of 237 vein grafts (82 percent) were patient. Follow-up was complete (mean interval 38 months); all 80 patients with single vessel disease are alive, and the 3 year survival rate for patients with double and triple vessel disease was 98.7 and 94.4 percent, respectively. Comparison of longevity of 741 patients who had received vein grafts in 1967 to 1970 with that of 400 patients with internal mammary artery grafts (1971 to 1972) indicates greater survival for the recent series ( P
Effects of hypoxia on the trophic structure of the polychaete communities in the northern Gulf of Mexico

Annelid polychaetes are the most abundant marine benthic invertebrates; they play significant functional roles in any aquatic system. Among many roles, their feeding mode promotes transfer of energy to the next trophic level. Polychaetes exhibit five different feeding guilds: herbivores, carnivores, filter-feeders, surface deposit feeders, and subsurface deposit feeders. The predominance of a feeding mode depends on abiotic factors such as rates of sedimentation, sediment type, organic carbon content, organic matter availability on and within sediments, redox potential, and biochemical oxygen consumption. This study investigates the polychaete community structure and feeding guild pattern in four different provinces with varying hypoxia frequency and history in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Macrobenthos and sediment samples were collected during September 2009 from the northern Gulf of Mexico between the Atchafalaya and Mississippi Rivers to study the effect of hypoxia on feeding guild pattern, abundance and species diversity. Macrobenthos samples were dominated by polychaetes at all four provinces; more than 28 families of polychaetes are represented. The abundance and diversity data were compared with the sediment properties of grain size, organic matter concentration, and sedimentation rate, to help explain the variability in the biological data among provinces using principal component analysis (PCA). The polychaete data were statistically analyzed for species richness and diversity using the Shannon-Wiener index. Bray-Curtis cluster analysis was performed to determine the similarity of the polychaetes communities.
Cognition and the cancer experience. Clinical implications.

Objectives: The authors demonstrate the application of cognitive therapy in oncology care by presenting a brief review of theory and relevant case studies. Materials and methods: In light of the life and death nature of the fears evoked by cancer, it is important for the oncology clinician to recognize the role that cognition plays in patient responses to the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. After presentation of a theory base that creatively links cognition and the cancer experience, key cognitive concepts are defined and discussed. Case material illustrates the application of these concepts and how oncology clinicians can use select interventions adapted from the brief mental health treatment modality of cognitive therapy to promote adjustment to cancer. Results: Patient and family views about cancer have emotional and behavioral consequences, influence ability to cope with diagnosis and treatment, and serve to focus clinical intervention. Cognitive interventions can help patients and families think about cancer in objective, adaptive ways. Focusing on perceptions and questions of meaning, clinicians can be effective using cognitive lines of questioning that expand patient stories and elicit beliefs about cause, control, and responsibility for their cancer. Conclusions: Cognitive interventions are brief and solution-focused interventions that acknowledge and build on generalist interviewing skills common to each discipline. As such, they are particularly useful in physical health settings where work is fast paced and clinicians are faced with the challenge of dealing in a collaborative manner with patient and family coping responses as they apply to the medical problem and care plan.
Movements and distribution of adult Lake Sturgeon from their spawning site in the St. Clair River, Michigan

Summary Lake Sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens were studied to determine spawning migrations, seasonal movement patterns and habitat use in the St. Clair River and Lake St. Clair. Ultrasonic transmitters were successfully implanted in 15 sexually mature adult fish during spawning periods in 1997–1999. Telemetry data, along with GIS software, were used to determine where Lake Sturgeon resided in Lake St. Clair following implantation. Movement information collected from tagged Lake Sturgeon from May 1997–October 2000 revealed three patterns. Following implantation, 73% of the fish (four females and seven males) moved downstream from the St. Clair River to Lake St. Clair, 13% of the fish (one female and one male) were presumed to have moved upriver to Lake Huron, and 20% of the fish (one female and two males) remained in or returned to the St. Clair River for at least 1 year. The fish that moved into Lake St. Clair were found most often in an area near the St. Clair River Delta, at depths of 4–6 m (>98% of observations). Fish that remained in the St. Clair River were commonly found (>84%) at depths between 9 and 18 m. Four females and three males returned to the spawning site in the St. Clair River in subsequent spawning seasons. Females returned at intervals of 1–3 years and males at 1–2 years. For all invertebrates tested, only Ephemeroptera density was a significant predictor of Lake Sturgeon presence/absence in Lake St. Clair.
Stationary Wave Accumulation and the Generation of Low-Frequency Variability on Zonally Varying Flows

Abstract A potent mechanism for the generation of low-frequency atmospheric variability on vortex basic states consisting of a single potential vorticity jump, or contour, separating two regions of uniform equivalent barotropic potential vorticity is described. Such basic states represent in a simple manner the potential vorticity distribution of the extratropical upper troposphere. It is shown that the group velocity for stationary waves propagating on such states can vanish for realistic zonal variations in the basic-state flow along the vortex edge, leading to local exponential disturbance growth due to the accumulation of wave action. Further, pseudo-energy stability criteria are derived that suggest that exponentially growing global disturbances are possible for sufficiently strong zonal variations in the flow along the vortex edge. These predictions are examined using linear and nonlinear initial value problem calculations. For wavenumber-1 flow variations in the basic-state zonal flow along the vor...
Depression in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: clinical and biochemical correlates.

Abstract Background: We assessed the prevalence of mood disturbance among women with prospectively documented polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Methods: Thirty-two women with PCOS completed the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Rating Scale (CES-D). Clinical and biochemical characteristics were assessed. Results: Sixteen women had CES-D scores indicative of depression. Depression was associated with greater insulin resistance (P=0.02) and higher body mass index (P=0.05). Women receiving oral contraceptives for the treatment of PCOS were less depressed than patients not receiving treatment (P=0.03). Limitations: Possible selection bias, use of a screening tool alone without further diagnostic evaluation of depression, small samples size and lack of direct comparison with an age matched control group, should be considered in interpretation of these results. Conclusion: Findings suggest a high prevalence of depression among women with PCOS, and an association between depression and PCOS markers.
ANTI-INFLAMMATORY EFFECTS OF THEOPHYLLINE: MODULATION OF IMMUNE FUNCTIONS DURING MURINE LEUKEMIA VIRUS INFECTION

LP-BM5 murine leukemia virus induces immune dysfunction leading to B cell leukemia and murine AIDS with cytokine dsyregulation. Theophylline induces apoptosis of leukemia cells in humans. Therefore the effects of theophylline on immune dysfunction in a murine model of leukemia were investigated. C57BL/6 mice consumed drinking water containing 0.3% theophylline beginning 2 weeks after murine retrovirus infection for 4 months. Theophylline largely prevented the retrovirus induced splenomagaly, lymphodenopathy, reduction in B and T cell proliferation, and suppression of Th1 cytokines (IL-2) secretion. It also suppressed Th2 cytokine (IL-4, TNF-alpha, and IL-10) production, which was otherwise stimulated by retrovirus infection. These data suggest that immune dysfunction, induced by murine retrovirus infection, was largely prevented by theophylline treatment.
Assay for adipose differentiation using primary culture of adipocyte precursors

This paper describes a method to establish primary and secondary cultures of adipocyte precursors isolated from inguinal fat pads of 48-hr-old rats in defined medium. The culture medium consists of DME-F12 medium supplemented with fibronectin, insulin, transferrin, and fibroblast growth factor. Data presented indicate that 90% of the cells plated in the 4F medium differentiate in 7 d. These cultures provide appropriate differentiation assay systems to characterize regulators of differentiation acting on normal cells derived from the adipose tissue.
The effect of cultural conditions on the ergosterol ester components of yeast

Abstract The ergosterol ester fraction of Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been analyzed following a variety of incubation conditions. Free fatty acids were obtained after saponification of the sterol ester fraction and were analyzed gas chromatographically. Cells grown under anaerobic conditions showed a maximal rate of synthesis of sterol esters at 48 hours. Under aerobic incubation conditions, maximum sterol esterification was seen at 12 hours. Esters of C16 and C18 fatty acids are the predominant ones, followed by those of C14 acids. The rates of synthesis of free sterol and sterol esters follow similar patterns.
Calculation of task-evoked changes in the cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen consumption from simultaneous ASL-BOLD fMRI and Diffuse Optical Imaging

Here we report how changes in physiological parameters such as relative cerebral blood flow, volume and oxygen metabolic rate can be calculated directly from multi-modality measurements via ASL-BOLD MRI and diffuse-optical imaging.
Psychiatric status of diabetic youth in good and poor control.

Two groups — identified as “good control” and “poor control” — of 40 diabetic youth, between 6 years and 18 years, matched for age, sex and duration of diabetes, were interviewed by a child psychiatrist who was not aware of the status of their diabetic control. After each interview psychiatric diagnoses, interpersonal conflicts and noninterpersonal conflicts were determined. At the same time, mothers completed a children's behavorial-emotional symptom checklist. Six psychiatric diagnoses were made (7 ½ per cent occurrence): four in the poor control group and two in the good control group, not a significant difference. Fifty per cent of the psychiatric diagnoses were found in the prepubertal girls who had the earliest onset of diabetes. A significantly greater number of patients in poor control had interpersonal conflicts compared with patients in the good control group. Mothers of patients in poor control had checked significantly more behaviors as slight and considerable-severe problems compared to mothe...
Membrane-initiated estradiol signaling in immortalized hypothalamic N-38 neurons

Regulation of sexual reproduction by estradiol involves the activation of estrogen receptors (ERs) in the hypothalamus. Of the two classical ERs involved in reproduction, ERα appears to be the critical isoform. The role of ERα in reproduction has been found to involve a nuclear ERα that induces a genomic mechanism of action. More recently, a plasma membrane ERα has been shown to trigger signaling pathways involved in reproduction. Mechanisms underlying membrane-initiated estradiol signaling are emerging, including evidence that activation of plasma membrane ERα involves receptor trafficking. The present study examined the insertion of ERα into the plasma membrane of N-38 neurons, an immortalized murine hypothalamic cell line. We identified, using western blotting and PCR that N-38 neurons express full-length 66kDa ERα and a 52kDa ERα spliced variant missing the fourth exon - ERαΔ4. Using surface biotinylation, we observed that treatment of N-38 neurons with estradiol or with a membrane impermeant estradiol elevated plasma membrane ERα protein levels, indicating that membrane signaling increased receptor insertion into the cell membrane. Insertion of ERα was blocked by the ER antagonist ICI 182,780 or with the protein kinase C (PKC) pathway inhibitor bisindolylmaleimide (BIS). Downstream membrane-initiated signaling was confirmed by estradiol activation of PKC-theta (PKCθ) and the release of intracellular calcium. These results indicate that membrane ERα levels in N-38 neurons are dynamically autoregulated by estradiol.
Temperature-dependent adsorption of Hg on CdTe(211)B studied by spectroscopic ellipsometry

The adsorption of Hg on CdTe(211)B is studied by reflective high-energy electron diffraction and by spectroscopic ellipsometry in the range of 1.8–4.1 eV. We use a Hg molecular beam to create a high equilibrium coverage of Hg on CdTe. We find that at least two types of Hg are present at the surface: A physisorbed form, which displays a Drude-type dielectric function, and a chemisorbed form, which gives rise to a dielectric function similar to that of bulk Hg1−xCdxTe, but with sharper structure characteristic of lower dimensionalities. The dependence of the relative amounts of these two forms of Hg on the temperature and the impinging flux is obtained from the data analysis.
Learning in the Presence of the Other.

My Christian colleagues in Religious Education and practical theology may well wonder why I have seemingly wandered into another academic arena. True, my last four books have concerned Christian–Je...
Metered-Dose Inhaled (MDI) Beclomethasone (BEC) Initiated at Birth Attenuates Bronchoalveolar Lining Fluid (BALF) Oxyradical Stress in Premature Infants at Risk for Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD). ♦ 1631

Metered-Dose Inhaled (MDI) Beclomethasone (BEC) Initiated at Birth Attenuates Bronchoalveolar Lining Fluid (BALF) Oxyradical Stress in Premature Infants at Risk for Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD). ♦ 1631
Agrarian populism in Mexico—the ‘via campesina‘

The paper examines the main components of Mexican agrarian populism, and the attractions of the populist position in the light of the current crisis within the Mexican agricultural sector. It is suggested that the ‘campesinistas’ (agrarian populists) have incorporated various aspects of marxist analysis, but have nevertheless emphasised ways in which their approach pans company with that of most marxists in Latin America. According to writers like Gustavo Esteva, perhaps the leading ‘campesinista’, the peasant economy in the process of developing can co‐exist with capitalism for a protracted period, and considerable doubt exists as to whether the peasant economy is ‘ultimately’ inconsistent with capitalist development. The agrarian populists look to the peasantry in Mexico as a vehicle for rural development, believing that a better understanding of the internal logic of peasant production might facilitate an alternative series of policy measures. The weaknesses of the ‘campesinista’ position are explored,...
The Effects of Substitutional Additions on Creep Behavior of Tetragonal and Hexagonal Nb-Silicides

Nb-silicide based in-situ composites combine a ductile Nb-based solid solution with high-strength silicides, and they show great promise for aircraft engine applications. The Nb-silicide controls the high-temperature creep behavior of the composite. Previous work has shown that the silicide composition has an important effect on the creep rate, with particular attention on the role of Ti and Hf additions. The aim of the present study is to understand the effects of the substitutional elements on the stability of the silicide phase, ordering in the crystal lattice, including the hP16-tI32 transition, and the creep behavior of the monolithic phases. To pursue this goal monolithic alloys with a range of compositions were prepared and the creep rates were measured at temperatures of 1100–1350°C. The stress sensitivities of the creep rates of the monolithic phases were also determined.
Increase in plasma ACTH induced by urethane is not a consequence of hyperosmolality.

Abstract Although anesthetic doses of urethane increase plasma levels of ACTH, the exact mechanism through which this occurs is unclear. We theorized that these increases might be a consequence of an increased systemic osmolality owing to the large doses of urethane usually employed. To evaluate this possibility, we measured plasma osmolality and ACTH in a total of six rats after graded infusions of urethane ( N = 3 rats) or equimolar amounts of mannitol ( N = 3 rats). Rats received infusions at 15 min intervals up to a cumulative dose equivalent to an anesthetic dose for urethane (1.4 g/kg). Blood samples (0.35 ml) were withdrawn at baseline and 10 min after each infusion. Urethane and mannitol produced significant and equivalent increases in plasma osmolality. However, only urethane evoked increases in plasma ACTH which were maximal (252 ± 55 pg/ml from a baseline of 27 ± 7 pg/ml) after a cumulative dose of 1 g/kg. Thus, increases in plasma ACTH seen after anesthetic doses of urethane are unlikely to be a consequence of its effect on plasma osmolality.
Thermal techniques for characterizing magma body geometries

Abstract The surface heat flux distribution resulting from emplaced magma bodies can be used to help characterize the magma source. Closed-form analytical solutions for the conduction heat transfer from various idealized magma geometries (dikes, sills, and spheres) are obtained using either the Schwarz-Christoffel transformation theorem (dikes and sills) or the ‘method of images’ with superposition (spheres). Comparison of these analytically determined heat flux distributions with field data from active geothermal areas at Yellowstone, Avachinsky volcano, Kilauea Iki, and the Coso geothermal area indicates that these fields may be conduction dominant, at least over certain depths. The comparison for Yellowstone implies that a sharp thermal boundary exists at a depth of approximately 1 km; this supports the suggestion by Morgan et al., (1977) that a strong hydrothermal zone exists at about that depth. The comparison for Avachinsky indicates that a spherical magma chamber exists at approximately 4·8 km depth; this is in close agreement with estimates by Fedotov et al., (1976) for a spherical magma chamber at 5 km depth. The comparison for Kilauea Iki indicates that the edge of the buried molten lava lense was 210 – 216 m from the center of the lake in 1975; this result is in good agreement with several independent geophysical measurements.
Water-Soluble, Isolable Gold Clusters Protected by Tiopronin and Coenzyme A Monolayers

Isolable, water-soluble gold clusters protected by monolayers of tiopronin (tiopronin−MPCs) or coenzyme A (CoA−MPCs) were synthesized by a procedure of comparable simplicity to the Brust synthesis for alkanethiolate monolayer-protected gold clusters. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy shows that, like their alkanethiolate−MPC counterparts, the average core diameters of tiopronin−MPCs can be systematically controlled by varying the tiopronin:Au mole ratio employed in the reaction. The UV−vis spectra of tiopronin−MPCs exhibit pH and core size dependency of the surface plasmon band position and intensity, respectively. Thermogravimetric analysis of the tiopronin−MPCs gave average numbers of tiopronin ligands per cluster; for example, tiopronin−MPCs with an average core size of 1.8 nm (∼Au201) are protected with an average of 85 tiopronin ligands. 1H NMR reveals a size-dependent evolution of spectral features interpreted as reflecting differences in attachment sites (terrace, defects) and/or res...
State, Culture, and Religion: Political Action and Representation among South Asians in North America

Diaspora 9:1 2000 ~,~ 'State~'.1 Culture, and Religion: ... e(Jf.· itiofl Action and Representation 'F amJ!Jftg South Asians in North America •iii:~ ~ti~-- ~~ j;~- Karen Leonard 1 University of California, Irvine In what ways, other than through aesthetics, is the politics of diaspora constituted? Pnina Werbner has suggested that, in the formation of diasporas, real politics might consist of transna- tional moral gestures of philanthropy and political lobbying ... grounded in ideas about a shared past and future. 2 Thus she urges us to interrogate the relationship between politics and art, or real politics and aesthetics, in diasporas and/or transnational communi- ties (concepts not the same, but increasingly conflated in the literature: Vertovec 277). This challenging question comes out of Werbner's work with South Asian Muslims in the British context, where one can talk of the moral community of Muslims as a diasporic one. There are Mus- lims in the UK from the Middle East, Cyprus, Malaysia, and else- where, but most are Pakistani and Indian immigrants with a shared past. In North America, however, many other Muslims preceded the South Asians, and in the US, African Americans constitute some 40% of the American Muslim community. Esti- mates of the Muslim population in the US range widely, but in 1992 the American Muslim· Council put it between 5 and 8 million, with indigenous Muslims at 42%, South Asians at 24.4%, and Arabs at 12.4% (Nu'man 13). Canadian Muslims are fewer in number, some 350,000; while many are Canadian-born, these are mostly second-generation rather than converts (Khan 29-30). In the US, not only are indigenous Muslims the single largest group, but immigrant Muslims represent many diasporas, not just one. However, it is the differences between Britain and America, and between Canada and the US, that make the relationship of art and politics an interesting question. Taking Indians and Pakistanis in North America to be a single diasporic community, I will nonethe- less draw religious and generational distinctions among them, con- sidering Muslims and, very briefly, Sikhs and Hindus. These dis- t inctions are then related to an issue much debated in Asian l ... merican studies and identity politics, the tension between the diasporic perspective and claiming America (Wong), to argue that Asian American and Muslim American politics both lead to a rlic:c:nlvinP r~t.hPr t.h~n ~ nPrj)Pt.irntion . of thP rlii:umoric nature of
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers as endocrine disruptors of adipocyte metabolism.

Objective: Obesity is thought to result from poor diet and insufficient exercise. An additional factor may be endocrine-disrupting environmental chemicals that contaminate the air, water, and food supply. We tested the hypothesis that a class of lipid-soluble flame retardant chemicals known to accumulate in adipose tissue, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), disrupts insulin and isoproterenol sensitivity of isolated rat adipocytes. Research Methods and Procedures: Six-week-old Sprague-Dawley rats were gavaged daily with 14 mg/kg body weight (BW) pentabrominated diphenyl ether (penta-BDE) in corn oil (n = 24) or corn oil alone (n = 24). At 2 and 4 weeks of treatment, epididymal fat pad adipocytes were isolated, and isoproterenol-stimulated lipolysis, insulin-stimulated glucose oxidation, and adipocyte size were measured. Results: There was no alteration in adipocyte metabolism after 2 weeks of in vivo penta-BDE treatment, but after 4 weeks of treatment, adipocytes averaged a 30% increase in isoproterenol-stimulated lipolysis and a 59% decrease in insulin-stimulated glucose oxidation, compared with control. There were no differences in average rat BW and adipocyte size between treated and control rats, but plasma total thyroxine level in 2- and 4-week treated rats was 30% of control. Discussion: Daily exposure of rats to 14 mg/kg BW penta-BDE for 4 weeks has no effect on animal or adipocyte size but significantly alters insulin and isoproterenol-stimulated metabolism of isolated adipocytes. These alterations, hallmark features of metabolic obesity, suggest the need for further research on the contribution of lipid-soluble, endocrine-disrupting environmental chemicals to the obesity epidemic.
Early and long-term outcomes in the elderly: comparison between off-pump and on-pump techniques in 1191 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting.

Objective The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting on early and long-term mortality and morbidity in a consecutive series of elderly patients (aged > 65 years) compared with conventional coronary artery bypass grafting. Methods From January of 1999 to December of 2003, data were extracted for 1191 patients aged more than 65 years: a conventional coronary artery bypass grafting group (n = 744) and an off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting group (n = 447). Age-related early outcomes of interest were in-hospital mortality and postoperative morbidities. Long-term outcomes, including total mortality, repeated revascularization, Q-wave myocardial infarction, stroke, readmission, and the combination of death, Q-wave myocardial infarction, stroke, and repeated revascularization, were evaluated with Cox regression analysis. Results Univariate analysis for early outcomes showed significant benefits from off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting. After adjustment for baseline characteristics, there was still a benefit of off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting. Kaplan–Meier survival analyses (propensity matched cases) showed that stroke, major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events, and readmission occurred more frequently in the off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting group ( P P = .193) and higher repeated revascularization rates ( P = .067) in the off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting group. Cox regression for long-term outcomes showed that patients in the off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting group had a higher incidence of stroke (hazard ratio 2.611, 95% confidence interval 2.152–3.070), readmission (hazard ratio 2.000, 95% confidence interval 1.747–2.253), and major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (hazard ratio 1.764, 95% confidence interval 1.456–2.072). Conclusion Our analysis shows that off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting compared with conventional coronary artery bypass grafting was associated with favorable early outcomes in the elderly population. However, the early benefits of off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting were not maintained in the long term, and off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting showed trends toward worse long-term results.