cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Nuclear and cytoplasmic binding components for vitamin D metabolites

Abstract Specific binding of 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 to macromolecular components of small intestinal nuclei and cytosol is demonstrated. The nuclear 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 complex can be extracted from chromatin by 0.3 M KCl and sediments at 3.7S in sucrose density gradients. The cytoplasmic 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3-binding components also sediment at 3.7S, identically to the nuclear complex under the ultracentrifugation procedures employed. Macromolecular binding components with a high affinity for 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (Kd = 4.5 × 10−9 M) were also identified in intestinal cytosol which differ from the 1α,25-hydroxyvitamin D3 receptor in that: 1) they sediment at 5–6S in sucrose gradients, 2) they are observed in organs other than the intestine, and 3) while they do bind 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 at higher concentrations than 25-hydroxyvitamin D3, they are not observed to transfer either 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 or 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 to the nucleus, in vitro .
The natural history of efforts to stop smoking: a prospective cohort study.

Abstract Background In a prior study, we found changing tobacco use was more complex than previously thought, with users often transitioning between intending to quit and not intending to quit, and among typical use, abstinence, and reduction, on multiple occasions. The current study attempted to replicate those results. Methods A convenience sample of 40 tobacco smokers who intended to quit within the next 3 months called in nightly for 28 days to an interactive voice response system to report cigs/day and daily intentions to smoke or not for the next day. We provided no treatment. Results Within the month of the study, 32% of smokers had multiple episodes of intentions to not smoke, and 64% transitioned among smoking as usual, abstinence, and reduction status on multiple occasions. When participants reported that they intended not to smoke the next day, 56% of the time they did not make a quit attempt the next day. Just under half (44%) of quit attempts occurred on days with no intentions to quit the night before. Most quit attempts (69%) lasted less than a day. Reduction in cigs/day was as common as abstinence. Conclusions Our prospective results replicated retrospective findings that most attempts to stop smoking result in a complex pattern of changes in smoking. These results suggest treatments should accommodate (a) multiple quit attempts over a short period, (b) reduction episodes, (c) unplanned quit attempts, and (d) immediate relapse.
Human-swarm interaction: sources of uncertainty

Human-swarm interaction seeks to significantly increase the number of robots, which also increases uncertainty. Most prior research ignores uncertainty. Sources of uncertainty based on biological swarms are presented.
Growth and Nutritional Responses of Juvenile Jeffrey Pine to Post-Planting Fertilization

Abstract Broadcast fertilization of a three-year-old Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi Grev. & Balf.) plantation growing on an eroded Sierra Nevada site was examined for its capacity to enhance seedling growth. The amendments chosen for the study included controlled release and conventional soluble formulations that contained a variety of N forms, but all featured high N content along with other nutrients. Four application rates were used, and all amendments were distributed around the base of the seedlings as top dressing. Four seasons after treatment application, fertilized seedlings were 129% larger in height, 93% larger in diameter, and 865% greater in shoot volume than unfertilized seedlings overall. Seedling sizes generally increased with application rate, and by a small margin, the controlled release fertilizer outperformed the other formulations. Relative growth analysis suggested that stimulation by the amendments would continue beyond four seasons. Foliar analysis conducted early and again late durin...
House fly brain γ-aminobutyric acid-gated chloride channel: target for multiple classes of insecticides

Abstract The γ-aminobutyric acid receptor/chloride ionophore is the proposed target in insects for a wide range of commercial and candidate insecticides, a hypothesis that can be tested directly by developing a toxicologically relevant radioligand binding assay. This was achieved with house fly brain and 1-(4-ethynylphenyl)-4-[2,3- 3 H 2 ]propyl-2,6,7-trioxabicyclo[2.2.2]octane ([ 3 H]EBOB) for which the binding site was demonstrated to be identical to or overlapping with that of seven classes of structurally diverse insecticides, i.e., trioxabicyclooctanes, dithianes, silatranes, lindane, toxaphene, chlorinated cyclodienes, and picrotoxinin. The affinity of the binding site for this radioligand is reduced fourfold in a cyclodiene-resistant strain. There is no cross resistance to avermectin B 1a and moxidectin which are potent noncompetitive inhibitors of [ 3 H]EBOB binding.
A multiquadric-biharmonic representation and approximation of disturbing potential

Properties of the potential are considered for applications in gravity, geomagnetic, and thermal field studies. It is found that classical theory is somewhat limited because of the common difficulty in evaluating potential within a material body containing the sources. The theory of a new type of representation of disturbing potential, a biharmonic form, is given which eliminates this difficulty. It is shown that multiquadric equations provide us with a physically valid numerical approximation of the formal integral representation. Error bounds are derived. The results of tests with real gravity anomalies are given, which compare classical methods with the new biharmonic form. In summary, the new approach eliminates the classical singularities associated with collocation of points of measurement (or prediction) and the sources of disturbing potential. It also improves computational efficiency.
A Causal Model of Intentionality Judgment

We propose a causal model theory to explain asymmetries in judgments of the intentionality of a foreseen side-effect that is either negative or positive (Knobe, 2003). The theory is implemented as a Bayesian network relating types of mental states, actions, and consequences that integrates previous hypotheses. It appeals to two inferential routes to judgment about the intentionality of someone else's action: bottom-up from action to desire and top-down from character and disposition. Support for the theory comes from three experiments that test the prediction that bottom-up inference should occur only when the actor's primary objective is known. The model fits intentionality judgments reasonably well with no free parameters.
Resistance to alcohol impairment of visual-motor performance: does it help to pay attention?

In a 2 x 2 factorial design, moderately intoxicated (BAC = .05) college students (n = 40) were exposed to a cognitive set (to concentrate) and/or an auditory feedback signal while performing a modified pursuit-rotor task across five postbeverage trials. Self-reported "highness" was also assessed. A control group received placebo drinks and performed without aids. Hypothesized main effects for both set and signal revealed that intoxicated aided subjects outperformed their unaided counterparts. Moreover, subjects who received both aids outperformed all other intoxicated subjects and performed equivalently with unaided placebo subjects. Separate analyses of the first postbeverage trial and use of covariance analyses provided confidence that the obtained effects were not attributable to acute or chronic tolerance. Highness correlated negatively with performance; but set and signal effects on highness failed to reach significance. Although alcohol-induced motor impairment is not recognized in the research lite...
ATOMIC STRUCTURE AND COMPOSITION OF CLEAN AND ADSORBATE MODIFIED SURFACES OF ORDERED AND RANDOM ALLOYS

As a consequence of bulk truncation, the atomic structure and composition within the surface region of an ordered or random alloy may differ significantly from that of the bulk. Specifically, the response to the rearrangement resulting from the reduction of surface energy may cause elemental redistribution within the outermost layers and two- or three-dimensional atomic reordering. Furthermore, the presence of adsorbates may have a pronounced effect on these properties and cause significant changes. These properties for some surfaces of transition-metal aluminides, transition-metal carbides, and random alloys will be presented.
Psychiatric illness delays diagnosis of esophageal cancer.

SUMMARY. Evidence suggests that patients with psychiatric illnesses may be more likely to experience a delay in diagnosis of coexisting cancer. The association between psychiatric illness and timely diagnosis and survival in patients with esophageal cancer has not been studied. The specific aim of this retrospective cohort study was to determine the impact of coexisting psychiatric illness on time to diagnosis, disease stage and survival in patients with esophageal cancer. All patients with a diagnosis of esophageal cancer between 1989 and 2003 at the Portland Veteran’s Administration hospital were identified by ICD-9 code. One hundred and sixty patients were identified: 52 patients had one or more DSM-IV diagnoses, and 108 patients had no DSMIV diagnosis. Electronic charts were reviewed beginning from the first recorded encounter for all patients and clinical and demographic data were collected. The association between psychiatric illness and time to diagnosis of esophageal cancer and survival was studied using Cox proportional hazard models. Groups were similar in age, ethnicity, body mass index, and history of tobacco and alcohol use. Psychiatric illness was associated with delayed diagnosis (median time from alarm symptoms to diagnosis 90 days vs. 35 days in patients with and without psychiatric illness, respectively, P < 0.001) and the presence of advanced disease at the time of diagnosis (37% vs. 18% of patients with and without psychiatric illness, respectively, P = 0.009). In multivariate analysis, psychiatric illness and depression were independent predictors for delayed diagnosis (hazard ratios 0.605 and 0.622, respectively, hazard ratio < < < 1 indicating longer time to diagnosis). Dementia was an independent risk factor for worse survival (hazard ratio 2.984). Finally, psychiatric illness was associated with a decreased likelihood of receiving surgical therapy. Psychiatric illness is a risk factor for delayed diagnosis, a diagnosis of advanced cancer, and a lower likelihood of receiving surgical therapy in patients with esophageal cancer. Dementia is associated with worse survival in these patients. These findings emphasize the importance of prompt evaluation of foregut symptoms in patients with psychiatric illness.
Park Z-epicanthoplasty.

Numerous procedures to eliminate medial epicanthal folds have been described. Despite an abundance of available procedures, most surgeons are reluctant to perform medial epicanthoplasty for Asian eyelid cosmetic surgery because of frequent development of unsightly scars. The Park Z-epicanthoplasty differs from the previously described procedures by placement of the incision within, as opposed to adjacent to, the eyelid skin. The Park Z-epicanthoplasty is most beneficial in type III epicanthal folds and is also widely used for type II epicanthal folds. It is most useful for individuals seeking higher double folds and outer-parallel–type double eyelid folds.
Midterm Results of Surgical Treatment for Adult Osteochondritis Dissecans of the Knee

Results: Statistically significant improvement (P\.05) was noted in all outcome scales, including Noyes, Tegner, Lysholm, IKDC, KOOS (subdivided into 5 categories including Pain, Symptoms, Activities of Daily Living, Sport, and Quality of Life), Short Form-12 Physical, and Short Form-12 Mental. Seven knees (14%) had clinical failure of the initial treatment and underwent a revision procedure at a mean follow-up of 14 months. Patients treated with arthroscopic reduction and internal fixation and loose-body removal demonstrated a statistically higher postoperative percentage score increase for the KOOS Sport (P 5 .008) and KOOS Quality of Life (P 5 .03) categories than those treated with an osteochondral allograft. Conclusion: Patients with adult osteochondritis dissecans of the knee, treated with surgical cartilage procedures, show durable function and symptomatic improvement at a mean 4.0 years of follow-up. Patients treated with arthroscopic reduction and internal fixation and loose-body removal demonstrated a greater improvement in outcome scores than those treated with osteochondral allograft.
Goal Programming Applications

Goal programming (GP) is a very applied methodology. In the over 980 journal citations listed in Appendix B,666 or over 68 percent are applications, case studies or applied models. Indeed, the diversity of application in GP is now so great that just their listing will absorb this entire chapter.
Using views for customizing reusable components in component-based frameworks

Increasingly, scalable distributed applications are being constructed by integrating reusable components spanning multiple administrative domains. Dynamic composition and deployment of such applications enables flexible QoS-aware adaptation to changing client and network characteristics. However, dynamic deployment across multiple administrative domains needs to perform cross-domain authentication and authorization, and satisfy various network and application-level constraints that may only be expressed in terms meaningful within a particular domain. Our solution to these problems, developed as part of the partitionable services framework, integrates a decentralized trust management and access control system (dRBAC) with a programming and run-time abstraction (object views). dRBAC encodes statements within and across domains using cryptographically signed credentials, providing a unifying and powerful mechanism for cross-domain authorization and expression of network and application constraints. Views define multiple implementations of a reusable component, thus enriching the set of components available for dynamic deployment and enabling fine-grained, customizable access control. We describe the runtime support for views, which consists of a view generator (VIG) and a host-level communication resource (Switchboard) for creating secure channels between pairs of components. We present a simple mail application to illustrate how dRBAC, views, and Switchboard can be used to customize reusable components and securely deploy them in heterogeneous environments.
Biodiversity in Native America

Biodiversity in Native America. Paul E. Minnis and Wayne J. Elisens. eds. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2000.
Product, Money, and Foreign Exchange Market Disequilibria and Inflation in Uzbekistan During the Period 1994-2000

In this study a macroeconomic framework is developed and applied ascertaining the influence of domestic disequilibria and external shocks on inflation dynamics in Uzbekistan. Using quarterly data for the period 1994:Q1 to 2000:Q3, several long-run relationships are estimated for goods, money, and foreign exchange markets of Uzbekistan, which are characterised by multiple exchange rates, import restrictions, and other domestic administrative controls. The empirical estimates, which use error-correction mechanisms for different markets, show that domestic monetary and output developments, and changes in the official exchange rate vis-a-vis the parallel market rate have had a significant influence on the short-run behaviour of the foreign exchange market in Uzbekistan. Furthermore, disequilibria in the product and money markets are the major forces driving short-run inflation dynamics. It should be noted that the study has been constrained by both the quantity and the quality of quarterly data available on t...
Polysilicon-filled carbon nanotube grass structural material for micromechanical resonators

Folded-beam capacitive-comb-driven micromechanical resonators constructed of polysilicon-filled carbon nanotube (CNT) grass structural material have been characterized via electrical measurement to extract numbers for mechanical properties. The process used here is based on that first demonstrated in [1], but improved by introduction of a guiding oxide mold and post-fabrication in situ localized annealing. Specifically, the measured frequency response for a 28.658-kHz in situ localized annealed version yields a Q of 3,230 twice as high as that of an un-annealed one; and an acoustic velocity of 9,042m/s slightly higher than the 8,024m/s of polysilicon, and inching towards the ∼12,000m/s typical of SiC. This material not only facilitates fabrication of high aspect-ratio microstructures, but also shows potential (via its silicon-carbon makeup) for approximating SiC, for which theory predicts frequency and Q advantages over silicon for resonant devices.
Painful ophthalmologic disorders and eye pain for the neurologist

Neurologists should be aware of the following causes of eye pain: (1)ocular and orbital disorders with or without visible pathology of the eye (eg,redness, corneal opacity, or proptosis); (2) ophthalmologic syndromes associated with headache; and (3) headache syndromes associated with ophthalmologic findings.
Early onset sebaceous carcinoma

Ocular sebaceous carcinoma can masquerade as benign lesions resulting in delay of diagnosis. Early recognition is even more difficult in young patients where the disease rarely occurs. Here, we provide a clinicopathological correlation of ocular sebaceous carcinoma in a young individual lacking history of hereditary cancer or immunosuppression. A detailed histopathological study including p53 DNA sequencing was performed on an aggressive sebaceous carcinoma presenting in a healthy 32 year-old Caucasian woman. She had no history of retinoblastoma, evidence for a hereditary cancer syndrome, or radiation therapy. However, she potentially was at risk for excessive UV light exposure. A detailed review of the literature is also provided. A moderately well differentiated sebaceous carcinoma was established histopathologically arising from the meibomian gland of the upper eyelid. In most areas, the cytoplasm contained small but distinct Oil-red-O positive vacuoles. Direct sequencing of p53 identified a G:C→A:T mutation at a dipyrimidine site. The mutation results in substitution of arginine for the highly conserved glycine at residue 199 located at the p53 dimer-dimer interface. Energy minimization structural modeling predicts that G199R will neutralize negative charges contributed by nearby inter- and intramonomeric glutamate residues. This study points to the importance of recognizing that sebaceous carcinoma can occur in young patients with no evidence for hereditary cancer risk or radiation therapy. The G199R substitution is anticipated to alter the stability of the p53 tetrameric complex. The role of UV light in the etiology of sebaceous carcinoma deserves further study. Our findings, taken together with those of others, suggest that different environmental factors could lead to the development of sebaceous carcinoma in different patients. The virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/1227870450349458 .
Practical guidelines for developing new palliative care services: resource management

The data are relatively clear cut that palliative care improves quality of life and symptom control, improves quality of care by reducing aggressive but unsuccessful end of life care, and reduces costs. That should be an easy message to deliver to the public, health care administrators, payers, and governments. In fact, the arguments to develop palliative care services must be clear and concise, and make the clinical and financial case for the services that the palliative care team wants to deliver. Here, we discuss some of the types of models including consult services, outpatient programs, and inpatient units; the important components; some easy to use screening tools; components of the consultation team; a model medical record that increases "prompts" to do best palliative care; and data to report to supervisors.
Termination of pacemaker endless loop tachycardia by an atrial extrasystole.

BAROLD, S.S., et al.: Termination of Pacemaker Endless Loop Tachycardia by an Atrial Extrasystole. This article documents the termination of a pacemaker endless loop tachycardia by a critically timed atrial extrasystole. Although predictable electrophysiologically, this mode of termination has not been previously reported. The observation is conceptually important because it provides the final link in establishing the similarity of endless loop tachycardia and spontaneous reentrant AV nodal or junctional tachycardias in terms of initiation and termination by single atrial or ventricular extrasystoles.
Believing the blogs of war? How blog users compare on credibility and characteristics in 2003 and 2007:

This study surveyed those who used blogs for information about the war in Iraq to investigate the degree to which judgements of credibility, reliance, demographics, and political characteristics of war blog users have changed between 2003 and 2007. In both 2003 and 2007, blog users judged blogs as more credible sources for war news than traditional media and their online counterparts. This study also found that different types of blogs were rated differently in terms of credibility in 2007 with military and war blogs rated the most credible and media blogs being judged the lowest in credibility. Additionally, parallels are drawn between the findings and possible roles for blogs in the escalating war in Afghanistan. Results are also discussed in terms of the changing roles of the military in Iraq as well as the changing role of blogs in the Iraq War.
Calibration of submerged radial gates

Calibration equations for free-flowing radial gates typically provide sufficient accuracy for irrigation district operations. However, many water purveyors have difficulty in determining accurate discharges when the downstream water level begins to submerge the gate. Based on experimental laboratory studies, we have developed a new calibration method for free-flowing and submerged radial gates that allows for multiple gates and widely varying upstream and downstream channel conditions. The method uses the energy equation on the upstream side of the structure and the momentum equation on the downstream side, and thus is called the Energy-Momentum Method. An iterative solution is required to solve these two equations, but this allows calibration from free flow to submerged flow continuously through the transition. Adjustments to the energy equation for free flow are described, along with an additional energy adjustment for the transition to submerged flow. An application is used to describe the new procedure and how it overcomes the limitations of current energy-based methods.
Contraception Across Cultures: Technologies, Choices, Constraints

Contraception Across Cultures: Technologies, Choices, Constraints. Andrew Russell. Elisa J. Sobo. and Mary S. Thompson. eds. Oxford: Berg, 2000. + 252 pp., figures, tables, photographs, maps, index.
Pioglitazone to Reduce Restenosis After Bare-Metal Stent Placement?

In this issue of JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions , Takagi et al. ([1][1]) report the results of a small, multicenter, randomized trial suggesting that pioglitazone might reduce the risk of restenosis in diabetic patients who receive a bare-metal stent. The study design was simple and elegant. The
Improving Health-Related Behaviors: Opportunities and Challenges.

Health behaviors are a major, if not the single greatest, determinant of health. The County Health Rankings attribute 30% of health improvement to those behaviors, and along with the social and physical environmental effects on health behaviors, the amount they contribute to overall health is greater still, hence the importance of understanding how we can improve them. This American Journal of Preventive Medicine supplement highlights the work of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) and many collaborators who fund and conduct the research and translate the findings into practice. The primary task of the USPSTF is to review the scientific evidence for the effectiveness of preventive interventions by primary care clinicians and to make recommendations for preventive care practice based on evidence for the net benefit of the intervention. The rigor of the USPSTF’s methods has made its recommendations the gold standard for evidence-based practice. Yet, that very rigor, which is so well suited to the examination of discrete technologies such as screening tests (e.g., screening for prostate-specific antigen or dyslipidemia) and chemoprevention (e.g., hormone replacement therapy or aspirin prophylaxis), makes assessing intrinsically more complex interventions, such as behavioral counseling, a major challenge. This supplement identifies many of the key evidentiary issues: there are major differences in how counseling is actually administered in clinical practice; in many cases, there are long delays between the time counseling is provided and health outcomes can be anticipated and observed; there is a paucity of rigorous studies that meet the USPSTF’s inclusion criteria for relevance to primary care or provide sufficient information on health outcomes rather than behavior change; and the relationship between behavior change and health outcomes is, for some behaviors, less certain than one might expect.
An Invariance Principle for Updating Probabilities

This paper considers the search for an inductive inference method based on the observed data of an uncertain quantity, using the same rationale as used in axiomatic derivations of fundamental probability rules. The basic inference case deals with the assignment of probabilities to a future observation of the random quantity given only a set of observed data and the order of these data in a reference set. A principle of invariance under different equivalent ways of updating is stated as a particular case of the strong invariance principle. A major consequence of the new updating principle is the derivation of the data based inference procedure from only this principle. It is concluded that there is one solution defining completely the mathematical form of the inference procedure, that it corresponds to a linear transformation of probabilities of the reference distribution on each elementary interval bounded on the observed data, and that it is identical to the solution obtained by the relative entropy version using fractile constraints.
Ethics of medical care for body packers (drug smugglers): untangling a web of fears and conflicts of interest

Body packing by drug smugglers--the transport of illicit drugs in packets swallowed or inserted into body cavities--is a global phenomenon and is becoming more prevalent. The medical care of these patients raises difficult medical and ethical problems. While the medical aspects of treating body packers have been systematically analysed, the ethical issues have received little attention in the literature. The patient may be under police custody or being sought by their criminal patron which may result in imposed interrogations and risky medical procedures. Obtaining informed valid consent for procedures from the patient-detainee may thus be compromised. In addition, physicians may be intimidated by the patient's criminal contacts. This article analyses the conflicts of interest that doctors may face when treating body packers, and proposes some principles to promote institutional guidelines for the treatment of these patients. Language: en
Environment, History, and Culture as Influences on Perceptions of Glacier Dynamics

Mt. Shasta offers an interesting case for considering the factors that shape human perceptions of glacial processes. The mountain is unusual in many ways. It is distinctive as a natural feature. A tall, free-standing volcano in the far northern part of California, it contains the largest glaciers in the state. These glaciers, moreover, have demonstrated dynamics different from those in many other parts of the world, most notably a pattern of advance rather than retreat in the second half of the twentieth century. The mountain is also distinctive for the resources it affords and the risks that it presents to the human populations that live near it. It contains abundant forests and contributes significantly to surface streams and to groundwater. It also is the site of avalanches, mudslides, debris flows, floods, and volcanic eruptions. In addition, its location close to the largest north-south valley in the mountainous western United States favored its early integration into regional transportation networks. These resources, risks, and location have shaped its involvement in resource extraction economies; its forests, snows, and rugged formations have also favored recreation-oriented tourism and settlement.Moreover, the mountain is distinctive for the ways in which it is perceived by human populations. The economic activities associated with its physical nature influence perceptions but do not wholly determine them. The people in the region give the mountain cultural meanings, often of an aesthetic, religious, and spiritual nature, that also affect their perceptions of it and their views of the different forms of human activity it supports. Glaciers contribute to the mountain’s resources and risks, and human perceptions of the mountain involve glaciers, though they include other elements as well. Indeed, the difficulty of disentangling the specific contribution of glaciers to the resources, risks, and perceptions is the final and perhaps the most striking of the ways in which Mt. Shasta is distinctive.
Fluctuations in Commitment Over Time and Relationship Outcomes

Fluctuations in self-reported commitment (dedication) to a romantic relationship were examined among adults in well-established, but mostly unmarried, opposite sex relationships (N ! 616) over a period of 3 years, and the associations between individuals’ own dedication fluctuations and relationship outcomes at a later time point were analyzed. Greater fluctuations in dedication were correlated with poorer relationship adjustment and more dissolution consideration; however, after controlling for individuals’ initial levels and linear changes in dedication, fluctuations in dedication were associated with only dissolution consideration. Detrimental effects of fluctuations in dedication were strongest for individuals who reported higher levels of initial dedication. Individual-level fluctuations in dedication did not predict the likelihood of breaking up within the next year. These results demonstrate that fluctuations in commitment may be relevant for some relationship outcomes, while being less salient than its overall level and general trajectory over time for other outcomes. The current study differs from prior work by focusing on individuals in established relationships, and highlights the importance of longitudinal studies of commitment in relationships at all stages.
The Correlation Between ABO Blood Group and Neonatal Disease Severity

It is known that AB blood type is associated with an increased risk for adult cardiovascular disease, maternal preeclampsia, and severe neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis. There is limited data demonstrating the relationship between AB blood type and severity of neonatal and pregnancy-related diseases. The purpose of our study was to investigate whether maternal and neonatal AB blood type is significantly correlated with increased severity of neonatal and pregnancy-related diseases. We retrospectively collected data on 1,525 mothers and neonates admitted to the NICU at Loyola University Medical Center from the …
Formation of a Morphogen Gradient: Acceleration by Degradation

Concentration profiles of signaling molecules, known as morphogen gradients, determine polarity and spatial patterning in the development of all multicellular organisms. A widely used approach to explain the establishment of morphogen concentration gradients assumes that signaling molecules are produced locally, then spread via a free diffusion along the line of developing cells and degraded uniformly. However, recent experiments have produced controversial observations concerning the feasibility of this theoretical description. Some experimentally measured dispersions for morphogens cannot support fast formation of stationary concentration profiles. In addition, the latest theoretical analyses of times to establish the morphogen gradient yield a surprising linear scaling as a function of length from the source that is not expected for the unbiased diffusion process. We propose here a theoretical approach that provides a possible physical–chemical mechanism to explain these observations. It is argued that...
Rosaceae products: Anthocyanin quality and comparisons between dietary supplements and foods

Abstract Rosaceae (strawberry, cherry, blackberry, red raspberry, and black raspberry) dietary supplements and food products (total n = 74) were purchased and analyzed to determine their anthocyanin concentrations and profiles. Eight of the 33 dietary supplements had no detectable anthocyanins (five samples) or were adulterated with anthocyanins from unlabeled sources (three samples). Five of 41 food products contained no detectable anthocyanins. In mg per serving, the dietary supplements tested contained 0.02–86.27 (average 10.00), and food products contained 0.48–39.66 (average 7.76). Anthocyanin levels between the dietary supplements and food products were not significantly different in mg per serving. Individual anthocyanin profiles can be used to evaluate quality of Rosaceae food products and dietary supplements. These findings show that increasing anthocyanin content and reducing adulteration could improve the quality of Rosaceae products available in the marketplace.
Correlation and Path Analysis on the Agronomic Traits of Ultra-high Yield Potential Rice

With high yield potential of rice varieties in Yunnan in 2011 as experimental materials,using a variety of means of statistical analysis,the relationship between the main agronomic traits and the relationship between yield and these agronomic traits in the super high-yielding conditions were studied. The results showed that: rice in super high-yielding conditions should appropriately control the growth period,improve effective panicles and grains per spike,in order to achieve a higher yield.
A Comprehensive Evaluation and Analysis on the Quality of the Internet-based Reporting System of Infectious Diseases in Year 2005 in Baiyun District of Guangzhou

Objective To identify problems on infectious disease notification and to formulate corresponding so- lutions.Methods Data from the Internet-based Reporting System of Notifiable Infectious Disease in Year 2005 in Baiyun District were analyzed in terms of composition of reporting units,whether the notification cards were filled out in a timely manner,completeness and accuracy of data,whether data were verified in a timely man- ner,duplication of reports,revision at the end of the year and so on.Results The median of the time interval from diagnosis to filling in notification card,from filling in notification card to online data entry,from diagno- sis to online data entry,and from online data entry to verification was 0.00d,0.64d,0.65d and 0.04d,re- spectively.Annual rate of in-time verification was higher than that of in-time data notification (96.14% vs 85.86%);for hospitals,the rate of in-time online data entry was higher than that of filling in notification card (92.97% vs 92.09%).The percentage of complete data,accurate data,unspecified data,confirmation of suspected cases,explanation for deletion of notification card was 67.69%,99.36%,22.49%,98.15% and 21.50%,respectively.There was no duplication of report at the end of 2005.Hospitals at the provincial level had the lowest percentage of complete data and accurate data and the highest percentage of unspecified data. Conclusions The rate of intime data verification of Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is signif- icantly higher than that of hospitals.CDCs pay more attention to the management of infectious diseases than medical institutions.Infectious diseases in hos- pitals are often not timely reported during holidays. Hospitals should establish responsibility system for notification after office hours or on public holidays and in- troduce incentive mechanism,so as to minimize reports delay.Health administrative departments should strengthen the management of medical institutions.Health Inspection Institutes should enhance the enforce- ment of laws on infectious diseases.Inspection and training of infectious disease notification should be carried out on a regular basis.
Modeling the Dynamics of Nonverbal Behavior on Interpersonal Trust for Human-Robot Interactions

We describe research towards creating a computational model for recognizing interpersonal trust in social interactions. We found that four negative gestural cues— leaning-backward, face-touching, hand-touching, and crossing-arms—are together predictive of lower levels of trust. Three positive gestural cues—leaning- forward, having arms-in-lap, and open-arms—are predictive of higher levels of trust. We train a probabilistic graphical model using natural social interaction data, a “Trust Hidden Markov Model” that incorporates the occurrence of these seven important gestures throughout the social interaction. This Trust HMM predicts with 69.44% accuracy whether an individual is willing to behave cooperatively or uncooperatively with their novel partner; in comparison, a gesture-ignorant model achieves 63.89% accuracy. We attempt to automate this recognition process by detecting those trust-related behaviors through 3D motion capture technology and gesture recognition algorithms. We aim to eventually create a hierarchical system—with low-level gesture recognition for high-level trust recognition—that is capable of predicting whether an individual finds another to be a trustworthy or untrustworthy partner through their non- verbal expressions.
The Emerging Histories of AIDS: Three Successive Paradigms

Thinking of AIDS as an 'emerging disease' inevitably raises questions of comparison. In the United States, we see three main phases in understanding AIDS, with each having very different implications for health and social policy. In the first, AIDS was conceived of as an epidemic disease, a 'gay plague', by analogy to the sudden, devastating epidemics of the past. In the second, it was normalized as a chronic disease, similar in many ways to diseases such as cancer. In the third, we outline a new understanding of AIDS a slow-moving, long-lasting pandemic, a chronic infectious ailment manifested through myriad specific HIV-related diseases. This new paradigm emphasizes, like the plague model, the etiology, transmission, and prevention of disease; like the chronic disease model, it is concerned with the clinical management of protracted illness. We do criticize, however, both the infectious and chronic disease models for their individualistic conceptions of disease and their narrow strategies for disease prevention. We further suggest that the traditional distinction between, and approaches to, infectious and chronic diseases are problematic and need to be rethought for AIDS and other diseases.
Experience improves staging accuracy of endorectal magnetic resonance imaging in prostate cancer: what is the learning curve?

INTRODUCTION Accurate clinical staging is critical in guiding treatment for patients with prostate adenocarcinoma. Endorectal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been advocated to improve staging accuracy. In order to assess the learning curve for endorectal MRI interpretation, we compared two cohorts of patients with high-risk prostate who underwent endorectal MRI at a center with limited prior exposure to this imaging modality. MATERIALS AND METHODS Data for all patients who received a preoperative endorectal MRI followed by radical prostatectomy were prospectively collected. MRI was performed in patients with a high level of suspicion for extracapsular disease based on biopsy Gleason score, prostate specific antigen level, and digital rectal examination or if the Memorial Sloan-Kettering nomogram predicted a greater than 30% likelihood of extracapsular disease. The MRI results of our first 40 patients (group 1) and our second 40 patients (group 2) were compared to assess for improvement. RESULTS Between October 2003 and September 2005, 80 patients underwent an endorectal MRI followed by radical prostatectomy. Mean age and median PSA were 58.4 (range 43 - 74) and 6.4 (range 0.048 -115.0), respectively. MRI findings were compared to the pathological findings from the radical prostatectomy specimen. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value for detection of extracapsular disease were 31.3% versus 64.7%, 70.8% versus 78.3%, 41.7% versus 68.8%, and 60.7% versus 75.0%, respectively in group 1 versus group 2. The accuracy of MRI for detecting extracapsular extension was 52.5% in group 1 compared to 72.5% in group 2. CONCLUSIONS In our series, endorectal MRI initially did not accurately predict tumor stage in patients with prostatic adenocarcinoma. With further experience, the accuracy of MRI substantially improved and approached the results from centers with significant experience in the interpretation of endorectal prostate MRI.
The use of metoclopramide in ileus: A look at duration of therapy

PurposeThe authors conducted a retrospective chart review to determine if metoclopramide was being used properly for ileus and if it caused any adverse effects.MethodsAll adult patients admitted to...
Cysteine-Cystine Photoregeneration for Oxygenic Photosynthesis of Acetic Acid from CO2 by a Tandem Inorganic-Biological Hybrid System

Tandem "Z-scheme" approaches to solar-to-chemical production afford the ability to independently develop and optimize reductive photocatalysts for CO2 reduction to multicarbon compounds and oxidative photocatalysts for O2 evolution. To connect the two redox processes, molecular redox shuttles, reminiscent of biological electron transfer, offer an additional level of facile chemical tunability that eliminates the need for solid-state semiconductor junction engineering. In this work, we report a tandem inorganic-biological hybrid system capable of oxygenic photosynthesis of acetic acid from CO2. The photoreductive catalyst consists of the bacterium Moorella thermoacetica self-photosensitized with CdS nanoparticles at the expense of the thiol amino acid cysteine (Cys) oxidation to the disulfide form cystine (CySS). To regenerate the CySS/Cys redox shuttle, the photooxidative catalyst, TiO2 loaded with cocatalyst Mn(II) phthalocyanine (MnPc), couples water oxidation to CySS reduction. The combined system M. thermoacetica-CdS + TiO2-MnPc demonstrates a potential biomimetic approach to complete oxygenic solar-to-chemical production.
Some Considerations in the use of Very-Long-Baseline-Interferometry to Establish Reference Coordinate Systems for Geodynamics

Present knowledge of the number, distribution, proper motion and structures of extragalactic radio sources indicates that there should be no problem in defining a celestial reference frame with stabilities of a few milliseconds of arc over time spans of the order of a decade. One of the limiting factors appears to be the structure of the sources. By measuring and monitoring these structures, the stability could probably be improved by as much as one or two orders of magnitude. Even without this improvement, a network of properly distributed fixed observatories making regular interferometric observations of these radio sources could be used to define a terrestrial coordinate system that could be maintained at the few centimeter level over indefinitely long time periods. Such a stable terrestrial reference system would be useful for a host of modern geodetic and geodynamic applications, including, in particular, studies of the time varying deformations and relative motions of lithospheric plates. The National Geodetic Survey has already begun work on a three station base network of permanent observatories under project POLARIS as a first step toward implementing the new celestial and terrestrial reference frames. It is hoped that others will join in the effort and make the new reference frames a reality by the middle of this decade.
Environmental Impacts from Photovoltaic Solar Cells Made with Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes.

An ex-ante life cycle inventory was developed for single walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) PV cells, including a laboratory-made 1% efficient device and an aspirational 28% efficient four-cell tandem device. The environmental impact of unit energy generation from the mono-Si PV technology was used as a reference point. Compared to monocrystalline Si (mono-Si), the environmental impacts from 1% SWCNT was ∼18 times higher due mainly to the short lifetime of three years. However, even with the same short lifetime, the 28% cell had lower environmental impacts than mono-Si. The effects of lifetime and efficiency on the environmental impacts were further examined. This analysis showed that if the SWCNT device efficiency had the same value as the best efficiency of the material under comparison, to match the total normalized impacts of the mono- and poly-Si, CIGS, CdTe, and a-Si devices, the SWCNT devices would need a lifetime of 2.8, 3.5, 5.3, 5.1, and 10.8 years, respectively. It was also found that if the SWCNT ...
Integration of prior CT into CBCT reconstruction for improved image quality via reconstruction of difference: first patient studies

Purpose: There are many clinical situations where diagnostic CT is used for an initial diagnosis or treatment planning, followed by one or more CBCT scans that are part of an image-guided intervention. Because the high-quality diagnostic CT scan is a rich source of patient-specific anatomical knowledge, this provides an opportunity to incorporate the prior CT image into subsequent CBCT reconstruction for improved image quality. We propose a penalized-likelihood method called reconstruction of difference (RoD), to directly reconstruct differences between the CBCT scan and the CT prior. In this work, we demonstrate the efficacy of RoD with clinical patient datasets. Methods: We introduce a data processing workflow using the RoD framework to reconstruct anatomical changes between the prior CT and current CBCT. This workflow includes processing steps to account for non-anatomical differences between the two scans including 1) scatter correction for CBCT datasets due to increased scatter fractions in CBCT data; 2) histogram matching for attenuation variations between CT and CBCT; and 3) registration for different patient positioning. CBCT projection data and CT planning volumes for two radiotherapy patients – one abdominal study and one head-and-neck study – were investigated. Results: In comparisons between the proposed RoD framework and more traditional FDK and penalized-likelihood reconstructions, we find a significant improvement in image quality when prior CT information is incorporated into the reconstruction. RoD is able to provide additional low-contrast details while correctly incorporating actual physical changes in patient anatomy. Conclusions: The proposed framework provides an opportunity to either improve image quality or relax data fidelity constraints for CBCT imaging when prior CT studies of the same patient are available. Possible clinical targets include CBCT image-guided radiotherapy and CBCT image-guided surgeries.