cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
CONSUMERS’ VIEWS ON RESTRICTING IMPORTED APPAREL

The United States and most developed countries have experienced a dramatic influx of imported apparel, usually from low-wage, developing countries. In the U.S., industry representatives, retailers, economists, and others have been vocal in expressing their views to influence trade negotiations aimed at orderly trade in this commodity area. Consumers are affected by trade agreements but appear never to have been consulted previously regarding the restriction of imported apparel. This paper gives results of a telephone survey of 408 consumers in 10 areas of the eastern U.S. to ascertain their views toward apparel imports. Overall, respondents expressed strong preference for domestically produced apparel. A majority of the consumers perceived a trade deficit in apparel, saw imports as damaging to the domestic industry, felt that stronger laws should be passed to further restrict imported apparel, and said their clothing purchases were influenced by their views toward limiting imports. Chi-square tests determined relationships among the variables. A noteworthy contradiction was present in the findings. If further restrictions on imports were to become a reality, as the consumers said they would prefer, this means that respondents expressed loyalty to the domestic industry at the expense of being able to make choices which might be most advantageous to them as consumers.
The Stability of Histone Acetyltransferase General Control Non-derepressible (Gcn) 5 Is Regulated by Cullin4-RING E3 Ubiquitin Ligase

Histone acetyltransferases play important roles in the regulation of chromatin structure and gene transcription. As one of the most important histone acetyltransferases, general control non-derepressible (Gcn) 5 has been linked to diverse cellular processes and tumorigenesis as well. We have recently identified a functional link between Gcn5 and acidic nucleoplasmic DNA-binding protein 1 (And-1) that is elevated in multiple cancer cells and is essential for Gcn5 protein stability. However, the mechanism by which And-1 regulates Gcn5 protein stability remains unknown. Here we show that the ablation of Cullin4-RING E3 ubiquitin ligase (CRL4) leads to the stabilization of Gcn5 in cells with depleted And-1, and Cdc10-dependent transcript 2 (Cdt2) serves as a substrate receptor protein of CRL4. Overexpression of Cdt2 reduces the Gcn5 protein levels, and CRLCdt2 is sufficient to ubiquitinate Gcn5 both in vivo and in vitro. And-1 stabilizes Gcn5 by impairing the interaction between Gcn5 and CRLCdt2 and thereby preventing Gcn5 ubiquitination and degradation. The degradation of Gcn5 is not dependent on proliferating cell nuclear antigen, an important player involved in CRLCdt2-mediated protein degradation. Thus, CRLCdt2 and And-1 play an essential role in the regulation of Gcn5 protein stability. This study provides us with the mechanistic basis to develop alternative approaches to inhibit Gcn5 activity for cancer therapy.
The Effect of an Animal-Assisted Intervention on Anxiety and Pain in Hospitalized Children

ABSTRACTForty children between the ages of 8 and 18 years, who were admitted to a hospital pediatric unit, were randomly assigned to an animal-assisted intervention (AAI) or an active control condition (working on an age-appropriate jigsaw puzzle). Ratings of pain and anxiety were taken both pre- and post-condition. The attachment Questionnaire and Family Life Space Diagram (FLSD) also were administered, and information on medications taken was recorded. A significant post-condition difference was found between groups for anxiety, with the aaI group having lower anxiety scores. However, no significant within- or between-group pre-post changes in either pain or anxiety were detected. Nearly two-thirds of the children (64%) reporting pain at baseline were receiving some type of analgesic, which may have influenced outcomes. Findings demonstrate some support that attachment may be a moderating variable: children with a secure attachment style reported lower pain and anxiety at baseline, with large effect siz...
The Forgotten Contribution: Murray Rothbard on Socialism in Theory and Practice

This paper documents and articulates Murray N. Rothbard’s contribution to our understanding of the theory and practice of socialism. We summarize his theoretical contributions and then turn to his explanation of the operation of socialism in the Soviet Union. Moreover, we make and support the conjecture that Rothbard, writing in the 1950s and 60s, anticipated allthe major subsequent developments in the economic analysis regarding the problems of the Soviet economy and allthe major works in comparative political economy for real-existing socialism in the Soviet Union.
Lawyers as lawmakers, privilege, and agency

Abstract Class action lawyers do not merely represent clients, they also make law, an observation explored by Kobayashi and Ribstein in “Class Action Lawyers as Lawmakers.” Kobayashi and Ribstein observe that a class action lawyer's inability to internalize all the benefits of her innovation may lead to underinvestment in lawmaking, which they describe as a public good. But privileged groups may produce public goods, and where production of the good also enhances the probability that a supplier of the good will be compensated for her production, as may be the case in the selection of counsel in class action suits, there can even be overproduction. Under some circumstances, such overproduction is possible even where production is facilitated by freeriding. Moreover, if there is underinvestment in class action lawmaking, a more general, and potentially greater, cause is inherent in the lawyer–client relationship, namely that the lawyer bears the full cost of litigation but must share the benefits, if any, with the client.
Lipid-depleted white adipose cells: An electron microscope study†

This report presents an electron microscope study of white adipose cells depleted of their lipid inclusion by prolonged low food intake. The tissue was fixed in phosphate-buffered 1% osmium tetroxide, embedded in Vestopal W, and sections were stained with lead hydroxide. Such cells differ in shape and size from signet-ring cells. They are ovoid, diminished in size, and the cell surface has become indented in all planes of the cell. The intercellular space is expanded with concentrations of collagen fibers in close association with the cell surface. These changes are presumed to be mechanical events associated with loss of lipid from the cell. Subcellular changes include the appearance of an extremely large number of pinocytotic vesicles and cytoplasmic vesicles similar in appearance, membrane-bound dense bodies, five-layered membranous structures, vesiculated bodies, and areas of flocculent material. Mitochondria and nuclei appear to be similar to their counterparts in signet-ring cells. Observations are discussed with relation to ultrastructural changes reported in other studies in which adipose cells were depleted of fat by acute starvation or experimental deprivation of insulin. It is suggested that intracellular structural changes are probably associated with adaptive alterations in the metabolism of the cell.
To the heart of myofibril assembly.

One of the most fascinating examples of cytoskeletal assembly is the myofibril, the contractile structure of striated (i.e. skeletal and cardiac) muscle. Myofibrils are composed of repeating contractile units known as sarcomeres, perhaps the most highly ordered macromolecular structures in eukaryotic cells. When skeletal and cardiac muscle cells differentiate, thousands of structural and regulatory molecules assemble into the semicrystalline sarcomeric contractile units. As a consequence of this precise assembly, many different classes of proteins function together to convert the molecular interactions of actin and myosin efficiently into the macroscopic movements of contractile activity.
A high-flux accelerator-based neutron source for fusion technology and materials testing

Advances in high-current linear-accelerator technology since the design of the Fusion Materials Irradiation Test (FMIT) Facility have increased the attractiveness of a deuteriumlithium neutron source for fusion materials and technology testing. This paper discusses the conceptual design of such a source that is aimed at meeting the near-term requirements of a high-flux high-energy International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility (IFMIF). The concept employs multiple accelerator modules providing deuteron beams to two liquid-lithium jet targets oriented at right angles. This beam/target geometry provides much larger test volumes than can be attained with a single beam and target and produces significant regions of low neutron-flux gradient. A preliminary beam-dynamics design has been obtained for a 250-mA reference accelerator module. Neutron-flux levels and irradiation volumes were calculated for a neutron source incorporating two such modules, and interaction of the beam with the lithium jet was studied using a thermal-hydraulic computer simulation. Approximate cost estimates are provided for a range of beam currents and a possible facility staging sequence is suggested.
Use of mind-body therapies in psychiatry and family medicine faculty and residents: attitudes, barriers, and gender differences.

Background Mind-body medicine (MBM) approaches to many health problems have been well documented in the literature, including through multiple meta-analyses. Efficacy has been well demonstrated in conditions such as headache, irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety, fibromyalgia, hypertension, low back pain, depression, cancer symptoms, and postmyocardial infarction. However, an apparent disconnect (ie, translational block) prevents more widespread adoption of such therapies into practice. Biofeedback, relaxation therapy, hypnosis, guided imagery, cognitive behavioral therapy, and psychoeducational approaches are the domain of MBM we examined in assessing physician attitudes, beliefs, and practices. Methods Using a Web-based survey, we obtained responses from 74 faculty and resident physicians in the Department of Family Medicine and the Department of Psychiatry. Our response rate was 69%. We conducted descriptive statistics, bivariate analysis, and multivariate analysis using a logistic regression model. Various statistics were chosen depending on the nature of analyzed variables. Synoptic tables are presented. Results Comparing these cohorts, we found little difference between physicians in the two specialties, but substantial reports that barriers to the use of MBM were largely based on lack of training, inadequate expertise, and insufficient clinic time. Lack of expertise and insufficient clinic time were higher among family physicians than among psychiatrists. There was a high interest in both groups in learning relaxation techniques and meditation and lower interest in biofeedback and hypnosis. Female physicians were significantly more likely to use MBM, both with patients and for their own self-care, and were less likely to be concerned that recommending these therapies would make patients feel that their symptoms were being discounted. Female physicians also had significantly higher beliefs about the benefits of MBM on health disorders in several of the conditions examined, with a consistent though nonsignificant trend in others.
Application of software health management techniques

The growing complexity of software used in large-scale, safety critical cyber-physical systems makes it increasingly difficult to expose and hence correct all potential defects. There is a need to augment the existing fault tolerance methodologies with new approaches that address latent software defects exposed at runtime. This paper describes an approach that borrows and adapts traditional 'System Health Management' techniques to improve software dependability through simple formal specification of runtime monitoring, diagnosis, and mitigation strategies. The two-level approach to health management at the component and system level is demonstrated on a simulated case study of an Air Data Inertial Reference Unit (ADIRU). An ADIRU was categorized as the primary failure source for the in-flight upset caused in the Malaysian Air flight 124 over Perth, Australia in 2005.
Frame Fountain: Coding and decoding MAC frames

To address the large latency and degraded network throughput due to the retransmission triggered by frame loss in high speed wireless networks, this paper proposes a solution called Frame Fountain that encodes and decodes data frames in the MAC layer. This solution intelligently encodes a number of redundant frames from original frames upon link loss rate so that a receiver can effectively recover lost original frames without significant retransmissions. Meanwhile, various probability distributions are investigated to find an optimal one as the degree distribution adopted by this coding solution. Extensive experiments show that, working with a degree distribution improved upon the robust Soliton distribution, Frame Fountain can recover most of the original frames with large probability.
External beam radiotherapy in the treatment of extensive vascular malformation of the lower extremity refractory to surgery and interventional embolisation therapy

This patient case-study represents the introduction of radiotherapy in the management of extra-cranial vascular malformations, a topic with virtually no supported literature before our case study. In those patients refractory to established therapies and facing the inevitability of mutilating amputation, radiotherapy may be a viable option to preserve the limb.
The effect of multiple sub-concussive blows on brain structural and functional integrity: combined virtual reality and neuroimaging study

Objective To determine the differential sensitivity of subjects, with and without prior history of concussion, towards multiple sub-concussive impacts. We hypothesised that previous concussions may increase the athletes9 vulnerability to repetitive blows leading to brain metabolic, structural and/or functional compromised integrity. Design A set of Virtual Reality (VR) tests and MRI scans (fMRI, DTI, MRS) before and within 3 h after a competition was implemented. The number and type of sub-concussive blows was documented via observational charts incorporated with reconstruction of impacts captured on video. Setting Subjects were recruited from Penn State collegiate football and rugby teams. Subjects 12 football and rugby players (with n=6 and without n=6 history of concussion) often experiencing multiple blows during practices and games were recruited for this study. Outcome Measures Spatial working memory, balance, and speed of information processing were assessed by VR testing using Head Mounted Display. Brain metabolic profile (MRS NAA/Cho; NAA/CR of the corpus callosum), functional connectivity (DMN during rs-fMRI) and white matter tracks integrity (DTI, FA) were the primary neuroimaging measures. Results We observed decreased interhemispheric functional connectivity (rs-fMRI, left-right hippocampus; r=0.82/0.55), reduced FA (DTI in Genu, 0.7/0.4), and reduced NAA/Cho ratio (MRS measures) at frontal (2.21/1.72) ROI after the competition only in subjects with prior history of concussion. These subjects also experienced deficient balance and spatial memory problems assessed by VR. Conclusions This study provides a solid foundation to begin improving the current understanding of the neural substrate(s) differential response(s) to sub-concussive blows occurring in athletics. Competing interests None.
Widely-Tunable Cavity-less 40 GHz Picosecond Pulse Source

We demonstrate a wavelength tunable 40 GHz optical pulse source using a cavity-less architecture. High-quality 2.2 ps picosecond pulses with SNR exceeding 30 dB are obtained over a wide - 95 nm tunable range.
Dependence of the dielectrophoretic upper crossover frequency on the lipid content of microalgal cells

Abstract High frequency dielectrophoresis (> 20 MHz) was used to demonstrate that the upper crossover frequency of microalgal cells is reduced as lipids accumulate within the cytoplasm. Currently, the majority of AC dielectrophoresis applications differentiate cells by exploiting differences in the lower crossover frequency, typically between 10 and 500 kHz. However, the single shell model also predicts another crossover in the 20–200 MHz range that is dependent upon the dielectric properties of the cytoplasm. We demonstrate this effect with microalgal cells due to the relative ease in which the properties of the cytoplasm can be altered. Chlamydomonas reinhardtii cells were cultured in regular media and were observed to have an upper crossover frequency of ~ 75 MHz. The same cells, when cultured under nitrogen-free conditions, began to accumulate neutral lipids. The lipid content was verified via fluorescence microscopy and the upper crossover frequency was measured to be ~ 40 MHz. To measure the upper crossover frequency, two needle shaped electrodes were patterned onto a glass slide and the motion of the cells was observed as an AC signal was swept from 10–110 MHz at ~ 30 voltage peak-to-peak (Vpp). We conclude that the increase in lipid content reduces the effective conductivity of the cytoplasm thus reducing the upper crossover frequency. High frequency dielectrophoresis may be a label free technique to sort algae cells on the basis of lipid content.
Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 Induction of the Osteocalcin Gene Requires MAPK Activity and Phosphorylation of the Osteoblast Transcription Factor, Cbfa1/Runx2

Fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF-2) is an important regulator of bone formation and osteoblast activity. However, its mechanism of action on bone cells is largely unknown. A major route for FGF signaling is through the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. We showed recently that this pathway is important for activation and phosphorylation of Cbfa1/Runx2, an osteoblast-related transcription factor (Xiao, G., Jiang, D., Thomas, P., Benson, M. D., Guan, K., Karsenty, G., and Franceschi, R. T. (2000) J. Biol. Chem. 275, 4453-4459). The present study examined the mechanism of FGF-2 regulation of the mouse osteocalcin gene in MC3T3-E1 preosteoblastic cells. FGF-2 stimulated osteocalcin mRNA and promoter activity in a dose- and time-dependent manner in MC3T3-E1 preosteoblastic cells. Similar results were obtained in mouse bone marrow stromal cells. This stimulation required Runx2 and its DNA binding site in the osteocalcin promoter. FGF-2 also dramatically increased phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1 and 2 (ERK1/2) followed by phosphorylation of Runx2. Furthermore, a specific ERK1/2 phosphorylation inhibitor, U0126, completely blocked both FGF-2-stimulated Runx2 phosphorylation and osteocalcin promoter activity, indicating that this regulation requires the MAPK pathway. Deletion studies showed that the C-terminal PST domain of Runx2 is required for the FGF-2 response. This study is the first demonstration that Runx2 is phosphorylated and activated by FGF-2 via the MAPK pathway and suggests that FGF-2 plays an important role in regulation of Runx2 function and bone formation.
A games approach to system interface design

Computer adventure games and operating systems have something in common: each presents to its players or users alien worlds that they can explore. The major difference between games and operating systems is in the way they communicate with people; operating systems tend to communicate poorly, while adventure games communicate so well that players need minimal introductory or reference documentation. What is it about adventure games that fosters ease of use? How might those techniques be applied to the design of operating system interfaces? The author offers answers for both questions.
The origins of allometry: size and shape polymorphism in the common waterstrider, Gerris remigis Say (Heteroptera, Gerridae)

Changes in size, whether ontogenetic or phylogenetic, tend to be associated with changes in shape. This allometry can arise through two different evolutionary mechanisms: (1) selection acting primarily on overall size may be associated with changes in shape because of physiological and mechanical constraints or differential responses of different body components; or (2) selection acting primarily on shape (on the size of specific body components) may be associated with changes in overall size because of genetic correlations, and thus correlated responses, of other body components. To assess the relative importance of these two mechanisms, shape polymorphism is examined along two axes of size dimorphism (sex and wing morphology) in the common waterstrider, Gerris remigis Say. Eight measurements were made of body and appendage components of 234 adults, from three independent populations. Univariate and multivariate analyses reveal that both sexes and wing morphs differ significantly in size and shape. Shape differentiation along the two axes of size dimorphism is found to be dissimilar, partially independent of size, and strongly correlated with the ecological specialization of the various morphs. These observations suggest that selection is acting directly on shape, and thus that allometry in this species primarily reflects shape-mediated changes in size (mechanism 2), rather than size-mediated changes in shape. The role of developmental processes in facilitating this shape differentiation is discussed.
Type 1 diabetes mellitus: a window to the present and a view of the future.

A dietetic intern recently shared with me her experience of living with type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM). She was diagnosed with DM when she was 2. She recalls her physician telling her parents that he expected a cure for DM in the next 10 years. Two decades later, there is still no cure for DM. In fact, the incidence of DM continues to escalate. Newspaper and magazine headlines announce that the incidence of DM is reaching epidemic proportions. According to the National Diabetes Clearinghouse, 13 million people in the United States today have been diagnosed with DM and another 5.2 million people have undiagnosed DM. DM was the sixth leading cause of death in the United States in 2000. The cost of DM in the United States yearly is $132 billion: $92 billion for direct medical costs and $40 billion for indirect costs (disability, work loss, premature mortality, etc). The growing incidence of obesity is in large part the cause of the rising incidence of type 2 DM. Comprehensive prevention programs to combat obesity and DM are costly, but “the cost of doing nothing is far greater.” Although one could devote pages to evaluating the cause and prevention of type 2 DM, I want to focus on what the next decade holds for treatment of type 1 DM.
Full-Coverage Film Cooling With Short Normal Injection Holes

An experimental and computational investigation was conducted on the film cooling adiabatic effectiveness of a flat plate with full coverage film cooling. The full coverage film cooling array was comprised of ten rows of coolant holes, arranged in a staggered pattern, with short, L/D = 1, normal coolant holes. A single row of coolant holes was also examined to determine the accuracy of a superposition prediction of the full coverage adiabatic effectiveness performance. Large density coolant jets and high mainstream turbulence conditions were utilized to simulate realistic engine conditions. High-resolution adiabatic effectiveness measurements were obtained using infrared imaging techniques and a large-scale flat plate model. Optimum adiabatic effectiveness was found to occur for a blowing ratio of M = 0.65. At this blowing ratio separation of the coolant jet immediately downstream of the hole was observed. For M = 0.65, the high mainstream turbulence decreased the spatially averaged effectiveness level by 12 percent. The high mainstream turbulence produced a larger effect for lower blowing ratios. The superposition model based on single row effectiveness results over-predicted the full coverage effectiveness levels.Copyright © 2001 by ASME
Characterization of Interdependency Between Intracranial Pressure and Heart Variability Signals: A Causal Spectral Measure and a Generalized Synchronization Measure

Causal coherence and generalized synchronization (GS) index were extracted from beat-to-beat mean intracranial pressure (ICP) and intervals between consecutive normal sinus heart beats (RR interval) that were recorded from 12 patients undergoing normal pressure hydrocephalus diagnosis. Data were organized into two groups including an ICP B-Wave group and a baseline control group. Maximal classic coherence (CC) between ICP and RR interval within [0.04, 0.15] Hz was found to be significantly greater than zero for both B-Wave and control groups with B-Wave CC greater than that of the baseline group. Causal coherence analysis further revealed that feedforward coherence due to RR interval's effect on ICP always exists for both B-Wave and baseline ICP state and no significant difference exists between two groups. On the other hand, feedback coherence from ICP to RR interval was enhanced during the occurrence of B-Wave. This finding regarding the enhanced directional, from ICP to RR interval, coupling between ICP and RR interval was also confirmed by a modified GS measure.
The Paradox of Middle and High School Students' Attitudes Towards Science Versus Their Attitudes About Science as a Career

pre-service science teachers surveyed 2,535 middle and high school students in 27 rural, suburban and urban school districts in Northern Illinois on their attitudes about science. The survey consisted of ten questions on a ten-point Likert scale covering interest in science, attitudes about scientists and student confidence in, and desire to do science. These students no longer hold most stereotypes cited in the literature. For example, all students feel that girls are capable of science, that science is interesting and that their parents would be proud of them if they were to become scientists. However, very few students felt they might want to become scientists. Previous attempts to increase the numbers of students participating in science by targeting these stereotypes have been effective in changing student attitudes about science but have failed to increase the desire among students to become scientists. These students feel they can do science; they simply do not want to do science. This paradox is a different kind of problem than has been previously identified in the geoscience community and will require a retooling of approaches and programs wishing to increase student participation.
Collisional and Radiative Effects in Three-Level Systems

Recently there has been considerable theoretical and experimental interest in the collisional redistribution of near-resonant scattered light [1–5]. When a vapor of three-level atoms is irradiated by a low-intensity laser of frequency ωL near the resonance frequency ω21, emission occurs near ω23 as well as near ω21 (see Fig.1). In the absence of collisions, emission (near ω23) occurs only at ωS, the Stokes frequency, and is known as Raman scattering.
Pre-migration Trauma and Post-migration Stressors for Asian and Latino American Immigrants: Transnational Stress Proliferation

Drawing on the stress proliferation theory, this study examined whether pre-migration trauma exposure is associated with post-migration acculturative stressors among Asian and Latino immigrants in the US. Based on the nationally representative data from the National Latino and Asian American Study, logistic regression models were estimated to assess how the pre-migration trauma exposure predicts multiple forms of the acculturative stress: guilt of leaving family/friends behind, social isolation, communication difficulty, employment difficulty, legal status stress, race- and language-based discrimination. Findings suggested that pre-migration trauma exposure is positively associated with social isolation, communication difficulty, legal status stress, and race-based discrimination for both the Asian and Latino immigrants. Pre-migration trauma exposure predicts higher risks of feeling guilty, employment difficulty, and language-based discrimination only for Asian immigrants. The study informs the public health intervention by highlighting distal risk factors in the pre-migration context as well as its proliferated stressors in the post-migration context. It also provides a basis for understanding the complexities of addressing the global burden of trauma.
Toward an automated analysis system for nuclear magnetic resonance imaging. II. Initial segmentation algorithm.

Image segmentation algorithms based on hierarchical clustering have been developed for analysis of T 1 and T 2nuclear magnetic resonanceimages. Application of these algorithms to simultaneous T 1–T 2images of healthy volunteers extracted fundamental tissue types in the brain. These algorithms also were used both to identify the extent of the region of involvement of a subject with a history of a grade 3 astrocytoma of the right frontal lobe of the brain, and to characterize the tissue within the region of involvement. These results suggest that a simple segmentation algorithm can produce reasonable clustering of tissue types within the brain.
Contribution of cerebrovascular disease in autopsy confirmed neurodegenerative disease cases in the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Centre

Cerebrovascular disease and vascular risk factors are associated with Alzheimer’s disease, but the evidence for their association with other neurodegenerative disorders is limited. Therefore, we compared the prevalence of cerebrovascular disease, vascular pathology and vascular risk factors in a wide range of neurodegenerative diseases and correlate them with dementia severity. Presence of cerebrovascular disease, vascular pathology and vascular risk factors was studied in 5715 cases of the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Centre database with a single neurodegenerative disease diagnosis (Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal lobar degeneration due to tau, and TAR DNA-binding protein 43 immunoreactive deposits, α-synucleinopathies, hippocampal sclerosis and prion disease) based on a neuropathological examination with or without cerebrovascular disease, defined neuropathologically. In addition, 210 ‘unremarkable brain’ cases without cognitive impairment, and 280 cases with pure cerebrovascular disease were included for comparison. Cases with cerebrovascular disease were older than those without cerebrovascular disease in all the groups except for those with hippocampal sclerosis. After controlling for age and gender as fixed effects and centre as a random effect, we observed that α-synucleinopathies, frontotemporal lobar degeneration due to tau and TAR DNA-binding protein 43, and prion disease showed a lower prevalence of coincident cerebrovascular disease than patients with Alzheimer’s disease, and this was more significant in younger subjects. When cerebrovascular disease was also present, patients with Alzheimer’s disease and patients with α-synucleinopathy showed relatively lower burdens of their respective lesions than those without cerebrovascular disease in the context of comparable severity of dementia at time of death. Concurrent cerebrovascular disease is a common neuropathological finding in aged subjects with dementia, is more common in Alzheimer’s disease than in other neurodegenerative disorders, especially in younger subjects, and lowers the threshold for dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease and α-synucleinopathies, which suggests that these disorders should be targeted by treatments for cerebrovascular disease.
Rates of biochemical remission remain higher in black men compared to white men after radical prostatectomy despite similar trends in prostate specific antigen induced stage migration.

Purpose: We evaluated biochemical relapse-free survival after surgery for localized prostate cancer, comparing rates between black and white men in the early and late prostate specific antigen eras. Our hypothesis was that the gap in biochemical relapse-free survival between these groups would lessen in the later prostate specific antigen era due to catch-up awareness/availability of screening and treatment in the black population.Materials and Methods: Data on 2,910 men treated with prostatectomy from 1987 to 2004 were evaluated. The primary end points were 1) rates of organ confined disease and 2) biochemical relapse-free survival after prostatectomy in the early (1987 to 1997) and late (1998 to 2004) prostate specific antigen eras. Rates of organ confined disease were compared using the chi-square test. Biochemical failure was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier estimates and Cox proportional hazards regression.Results: Median followup for the early and late prostate specific antigen periods was 9.8 (range 1.2...
A Web-based game-oriented college selection system employing fuzzy rule trees

Our Web-based interactive game-playing-oriented college selection system acts as a smart advisor/mentor and helps students, parents, and teachers use an effective graphical user interface to efficiently search college information and to make good decisions at each stage of students' academic development. It is an expert agent with hierarchical fuzzy knowledge base using fuzzy logic. Users are expected to be able to use this agent as a trusted, involved and smart counselor, who remembers their profile and their past history and advises them through their high school years. It gives them increasingly better and specific nuggets of advice as they make progress through their schools, and guides them toward a selected set of colleges to apply that optimizes their potential. At the heart of this system is an assessment tree, which uses bottom-up fuzzy calculations to generate possibility of admission in various sets of colleges. The primary output is a short list of colleges to apply containing five kinds of colleges (highly-selective down to non-selective) with possibilities of acceptance in each college according to fuzzy rules provided. It is also a smart tool to play self-guided "what if games to explore what specific action one should be taking to have maximum impact on the selection of colleges one can get in and on his/her chances of admission. It employs a natural interactive interview process for a user (i.e., a user can play a game with the agent to gradually find out rational solutions), and produces advisories at different stages.
Towards a framework for automated performance tuning

As part of the DARPA sponsored High Productivity Computing Systems (HPCS) program, IBM is building petaflop supercomputers that will be fast, power-efficient, and easy to program. In addition to high performance, high productivity to the end user is another prominent goal. The challenge is to develop technologies that bridge the productivity gap - the gap between the hardware complexity and the software limitations. In addition to language, compiler, and runtime research, powerful and user-friendly performance tools are critical in debugging performance problems and tuning for maximum performance. Traditional tools have either focused on specific performance aspects (e.g., communication problems) or provided limited diagnostic capabilities, and using them alone usually do not pinpoint accurately performance problems. Even fewer tools attempt to provide solutions for problems detected. In our study, we develop an open framework that unifies tools, compiler analysis, and expert knowledge to automatically analyze and tune the performance of an application. Preliminary results demonstrated the efficiency of our approach.
Locomotor Training After Human Spinal Cord Injury: A Series of Case Studies

Many individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) do not regain their ability to walk, even though it is a primary goal of rehabilitation. Mammals with thoracic spinal cord transection can relearn to step with their hind limbs on a treadmill when trained with sensory input associated with stepping. If humans have similar neural mechanisms for locomotion, then providing comparable training may promote locomotor recovery after SCI. We used locomotor training designed to provide sensory information associated with locomotion to improve stepping and walking in adults after SCI. Four adults with SCIs, with a mean postinjury time of 6 months, received locomotor training. Based on the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale and neurological classification standards, subject 1 had a T5 injury classified as ASIA A, subject 2 had a T5 injury classified as ASIA C, subject 3 had a C6 injury classified as ASIA D, and subject 4 had a T9 injury classified as ASIA D. All subjects improved their stepping on a treadmill. One subject achieved overground walking, and 2 subjects improved their overground walking. Locomotor training using the response of the human spinal cord to sensory information related to locomotion may improve the potential recovery of walking after SCI.
Evaluating home environments of persons with dementia: interrater reliability and validity of the Home Environmental Assessment Protocol (HEAP).

Purpose : This article reports on an interrater reliability and preliminary validity study of an investigator-developed tool, the Home Environmental Assessment Protocol (HEAP) for use in homes of persons with dementia. Method : The HEAP consists of 192 items that are summed into separate indices representing the number of hazards, adaptations, and level of clutter and comfort in eight areas of the home. Interrater reliability was examined among four raters, two environmental experts and two non-experts, who observed 22 dementia households. Results : The Kappa statistic was used to evaluate agreement level for each measured item and found that agreement ranged from slight to almost perfect. Intraclass correlations (ICCs), were used to evaluate agreement level for indices. The hazard index in each room ranged from fair (0.36) to moderate (0.66) for all raters. For the adaptation, clutter and comfort indices in each room, ICCs ranged from 0.51 to 0.90 for all raters. Agreement level between expert and non-ex...
Internet Confessions of Postpartum Depression

Women with postpartum depression may suffer in silence due to the stigma of depression and failed motherhood. It is important to consider how mothers are able to talk about postpartum depression and what strategies they use. Foucault's idea that confession is a widespread technique for producing truth in Western societies was tested through discourse analysis of posts on an Internet forum for women with postpartum depression. The Internet forum showed women's use of confessionary language and self-judgments as well as their sense of disconnected mothering, shame, and disembodiment. Discourses of depression included the good mother, biomedical illness, and social dysfunction. Findings have implications for creating safe spaces for helping mothers with postpartum depression.
Inexact GMRES for singular linear systems

Inexact Krylov subspace methods have been shown to be practical alternatives for the solution of certain linear systems of equations. In this paper, the solution of singular systems with inexact matrix-vector products is explored. Criteria are developed to prescribe how inexact the matrix-vector products can be, so that the computed residual remains close to the true residual, thus making the inexact method of practical applicability. Cases are identified for which the methods work well, and this is the case in particular for systems representing certain Markov chains. Numerical experiments illustrate the effectiveness of the inexact approach.
Laminar Boundary-Layer Separation from an Upstream-Moving Wall Demos

The laminar boundary layer and separation for a steady outer inviscid flow over an upstream-moving wall are studied numerically for the first time. This is achieved by numerically integrating the unsteady boundary-layer equations for an impulsively started upstream-moving wall. An upwind differencing scheme permits the integration through the layer of reversed flow that covers the entire wall immediately after the impulsive start. The numerical integration is allowed'to continue for large times until a steady-state solution is achieved. It is found that the point of separation, as defined by Sears and Telionis, starts moving upstream and arrives asymptotically at a station where all the properties of separation according to the model of Moore, Rott, and Sears are present.
SHP2 Mediates the Protective Effect of Interleukin-6 against Dexamethasone-induced Apoptosis in Multiple Myeloma Cells *

Our previous studies have shown that activation of a related adhesion focal tyrosine kinase (RAFTK) (also known as Pyk2) is required for dexamethasone (Dex)-induced apoptosis in multiple myeloma (MM) cells and that human interleukin-6 (IL-6), a known growth and survival factor for MM cells, blocks both RAFTK activation and apoptosis induced by Dex. However, the mechanism whereby IL-6 inhibits Dex-induced apoptosis is undefined. In this study, we demonstrate that protein-tyrosine phosphatase SHP2 mediates this protective effect. We show that IL-6 triggers selective activation of SHP2 and its association with RAFTK in Dex-treated MM cells. SHP2 interacts with RAFTK through a region other than its Src homology 2 domains. We demonstrate that RAFTK is a direct substrate of SHP2 both in vitro and in vivo, and that Tyr906in the C-terminal domain of RAFTK mediates its interaction with SHP2. Moreover, overexpression of dominant negative SHP2 blocked the protective effect of IL-6 against Dex-induced apoptosis. These findings demonstrate that SHP2 mediates the anti-apoptotic effect of IL-6 and suggest SHP2 as a novel therapeutic target in MM.
Adaptation of Hearts to Chronic Hypoxia Increases Tolerance to Subsequent Ischemia by Increased Nitric Oxide Production

Each year, in excess of 25,000 children undergo corrective surgery for cardiac birth defects. Advances in surgical techniques have made possible the correction of nearly all congenital cardiac defects. Timing of surgery is critically important, with early surgery desirable to promote more normal development. For example, repair of tetralogy of Fallot is now generally recommended in the first 6 to 12 months of life, and routine repair is now being advocated in the first month of life.1–7 Many children undergoing cardiac surgery in the first year of life exhibit varying degrees of cyanotic heart disease where the myocardium is chronically perfused with hypoxic blood. Understanding the mechanisms by which cyanotic congenital heart disease modifies the myocardium and how that modification impacts on protective mechanics during ischemia may provide insight into developing treatments for limiting myocardial damage during surgery.
Mobility Orientation and the Implementation of Program Change

A number of organizational studies suggest that the mobility patterns and attitudes toward mobility of executive directors are closely related to their receptivity to organizational change (Carlson 1961, 1962; Seeman, 1958) In view of these findings one of the studies in the series reported in this volume was designed to investigate the relationship between the mobility orientation of agency executive directors and the implementation of program change in community welfare agencies. The working hypothesis stated that mobility orientation would be positively associated with the amount of program change experienced by the agencies.
Optimal graph search with iterated graph cuts

Informed search algorithms such as A* use heuristics to focus exploration on states with low total path cost. To the extent that heuristics underestimate forward costs, a wider cost radius of suboptimal states will be explored. For many weighted graphs, however, a small distance in terms of cost may encompass a large fraction of the unweighted graph. We present a new informed search algorithm, Iterative Monotonically Bounded A* (IMBA*), which first proves that no optimal paths exist in a bounded cut of the graph before considering larger cuts. We prove that IMBA* has the same optimality and completeness guarantees as A* and, in a non-uniform pathfinding application, we empirically demonstrate substantial speed improvements over classic A*.
Indirect membership function assignment based on ordinal regression

In many fuzzy sets applications, fuzzy membership functions are commonly developed based on empirical or expert knowledge. The equation of a membership function is usually determined somewhat arbitrarily. This paper explores a novel membership function design method based on ordinal regression analysis. The estimated thresholds between ordinal measurement categories are applied to calculate the intersection points between fuzzy sets. These intersection points are further applied to determine the equations of the membership functions. Information distortion due to empirical guess can thus be reduced and more latent information in the fuzzy responses can therefore be captured. A case study investigating the relationship between foster mothers’ satisfaction and the foster time and information provided has been conducted in this research. The applicability and effectiveness of the proposed membership function assignment approach have been demonstrated through several case studies.
Impact of acute gain on clinical outcomes of patients treated with sirolimus-eluting stent: A sub-analysis study from the STLLR trial

Background: Geographical miss (GM), representing suboptimal drug-eluting stent deployment, is associated with an increased risk of target lesion revascularization (TLR) and myocardial infarction. The impact of suboptimal stenting techniques on clinical outcomes in diabetics remains unknown. Methods and Results: Stent deployment Techniques on cLinicaL outcomes of patients treated with the cypheRTM stent (STLLR) is the first multicenter, large trial to prospectively evaluate outcomes associated with sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) deployment techniques. Axial GM and longitudinal GM (LGM), defined as a balloon injured segment or a diseased segment not covered by a SES, were assessed by an independent core laboratory. One-year outcomes between diabetics and non-diabetics and their relationship with GM were assessed. This substudy included 1,336 patients, 28.8% with diabetes. In non-LGM patients, TLR was similarly low in both diabetics and non-diabetics (2.0% vs. 2.0%, P=NS). However, TLR increased 4.1 times in diabetics (8.0%) and 1.9 times in non-diabetics (3.8%) in the presence of LGM (P=0.03). Axial GM had no impact on outcomes. By univariate analysis, stent length, acute gain, and LGM were the predictors of TLR in the total cohort. However, by multivariate analysis, acute gain was the only predictor of TLR (P=0.03), independently of LGM or diabetes. Conclusions: Acute gain is the exclusive predictor of TLR after SES implantation. Particularly in diabetics, the negative impact of LGM on TLR seems to be amplified. Diligent SES deployment for larger acute gain is critical to improve clinical outcomes. (Circ J 2011; 75: 2113-2119)
Remarks on Fibers of the Sum-of-Divisors Function

Let \(\mbox{$\sigma$}\) denote the usual sum-of-divisors function. We show that every positive real number can be approximated arbitrarily closely by a fraction m∕n with \(\sigma (m) =\sigma (n)\). This answers in the affirmative a question of Erdős. We also show that for almost all of the elements v of \(\sigma (\mathbf{N})\), the members of the fiber \(\sigma ^{-1}(v)\) all share the same largest prime factor. We describe an application of the second result to the theory of L.E. Dickson’s amicable tuples, which are a generalization of the ancient notion of an amicable pair.