cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Bilirubin:albumin ratio in transient bilirubin encephalopathy as evaluated by BAER in premature infants † 946

Bilirubin:albumin ratio in transient bilirubin encephalopathy as evaluated by BAER in premature infants † 946
WHAT CDF SEES WITH THE SILICON VERTEX TRIGGER

We review the impact of CDF's Silicon Vertex Trigger (SVT) on the physics program of the CDF experiment, after three years of experience operating the device at the Tevatron. By providing impact parameter information to the trigger system, the SVT allows CDF to collect a large number of all-hadronic decays of charm and bottom hadrons previously unseen at the collider, including hadronic decays, two-body charmless B decays, and decays of heavy baryons. Semileptonic decays are now collected with greater efficiency than in previous running. Most of the work reviewed in this note is performed with less than about 200 pb-1 of data, in some cases considerably less. Already the SVT has radically changed the nature of B physics at the collider. Empirical data on event rates and background levels now constrain future projections of CDF's sensitivity to important topics in B physics, such as particle–antiparticle oscillations, and the measurement of CP asymmetries in two-body charmless B decays.
Membrane pathways for water and solutes in the toad bladder: I. Independent activation of water and urea transport.

Vasopressin activates a number of transport systems in the toad bladder, including the systems for water, urea, sodium, and other small solutes. Evidence from experiments with selective inhibitors indicates that these transport systems are to a large extent functionally independent. In the present study, we show that the transport systems can be separately activated. Low concentrations of vasopressin (1 mU/ml) activate urea transport with virtually no effect on water transport. This selective effect is due in part to the relatively greater inhibitory action of endogenous prostaglandins on water transport. Low concentrations of 8-bromoadenosine cyclic AMP, on the other hand, activate water, but not urea transport. In additional experiments, we found that varying the ratio of exogenous cyclic AMP to theophylline activated water or urea transport selectively. These studies support the concept of independently controlled systems for water and solute transport, and provide a basis for the study of individual luminal membrane pathways for water and solutes in the accompanying paper.
Household transmission of pandemic 2009 influenza A (H1N1) virus in Osaka, Japan in May 2009.

Summary Objective To assess household transmission of pandemic influenza A (H1N1) and effectiveness of postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) of antiviral drugs among household contacts of patients during the first pandemic influenza A (H1N1) outbreak in Osaka, Japan in May 2009. Methods Active surveillance of patients and their families was conducted. Public Health Center staff visited each home with an infected patient and advised every household member with regard to precautionary measures, and PEP was provided to household contacts to prevent secondary infection. We analyzed the effectiveness of PEP and characteristics of secondary infection. Results The secondary attack rate (SAR) among household contacts was 3.7%. The SAR among household contacts without PEP was 26.1%. However, the SAR among those with PEP was 0.6%. Only two of 331 household contacts with PEP became infected. One of the two was infected with an oseltamivir-resistant strain. Analysis of SAR by age group showed that those under 20 years of age were at higher risk than those over 20 (relative risk [RR] = 7.9; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.24–27.8). Significant differences with respect to sex, number of household contacts, and use of antiviral medications in the index cases were not observed. Conclusions Our present results indicate that PEP is effective for preventing secondary H1N1 infection among household contacts.
1141 Selective bladder preservation by combined modality therapy for invasive bladder cancer

From 1986–1992 106 patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer treated with induction by combined transurethral resection (TURBT), systemic chemotherapy (2 cycles of methotrexate, cisplatin, vinblastine MCV) followed by 39.6 Gy irradiation with concomitant cisplatin. Tumor response was then evaluated by cystoscopy, rebiopsy and urine cytology. Complete responders were consolidated with radiation to 64.8 Gy and further cisplatin. Patients with any less than a CR were recommended cystectomy. Median follow-up was 4.4 years. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to assess outcome. 74 CR patients (70%) and 7 non-cystectomy candidates with Survival is comparable to the published results for radical cystectomy and the majority of the long-term survivors retain fully functional bladders.
Environmental impacts of recreational home developments

Abstract The growth of recreational home developments in many areas can be directly traced to tourism. Attractive areas with recreational amenities and inexpensive land become prime locations for new home developments. Many times these locations are in environmentally sensitive areas. The literature has assessed seasonal or second homes and the impact they have on the environment, but little investigation has been conducted for other segments associated with home development. In this study, permanent homeowners, seasonal homeowners, and recreational lot owners in Michigan were surveyed. Information on location preferences, reasons for property purchase, frequency of visitation, attitudes and knowledge concerning future development, and land use controls were analyzed. Results indicated the property owner segments had many differences, which helped explain why environmental impacts occured and the potential for future impacts remains high.
Assessing student confidence and understanding with the immunization process through implementation of an immunization protocol at a school of pharmacy

Abstract Objective The objectives of this study were to (1) quantitatively evaluate student knowledge of immunization delivery prior to health fair events, (2) assess student perceptions of confidence with the immunization process and understanding of state immunization laws before and after expanded educational opportunities, and (3) qualitatively collect student reflections on the experience. Methods Student knowledge was assessed through an online health assessment module on immunization delivery with a pre- and post-quiz. Perceptions of understanding and confidence were evaluated utilizing a web-based survey before and after immunization clinics. Students completed post-survey questions to reflect on their overall experience following the immunization events. Results The median ± SD health assessment module pre- and post-quiz scores were 7 ± 2 and 13 ± 1, respectively ( p p = 0.003). Student reflections of the experience were positive. Conclusion Implementation of an immunization protocol allowed us to provide practice opportunities for students and permitted application of knowledge learned through hands-on experience. Participation resulted in students maintaining their confidence with immunization delivery and improving their understanding of state immunization laws.
Adaptive entropy-coded pruned tree-structured predictive vector quantization of images

Simpler versions of a previously introduced adaptive entropy-coded predictive vector quantization (PVQ) scheme where the embedded entropy constrained vector quantizer (ECVQ) is replaced by a pruned tree-structured VQ (PTSVQ) are described. The resulting encoding scheme is shown to result in drastically reduced complexity at only a small cost in performance. Coding results for selected real-world images are given. >
Parentesco reconfigurado no espaço da adoção

In this article, I draw on research carried out in Sweden, India, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, and the United States between 1995-2004 to focus on what Laurel Kendall describes as "the plasticity as well as the power of idiomatic kinship" in the context of transnational adoption. In both Europe and North America, transnational adoptions (which have tended to be cross-racial, in the sense that the majority of adopted children come from non-European regions of the globe) complicate the project of "imitating nature", since in many of these adoptions, the "difference" between adopted child and parent is obvious. The adoptee from Asia, Africa, or Latin America in an Euro-American home represents the ultimate paradox of belonging in a global context where transnationalism both affirms and breaches the borders of the nation-state.
Survival and Toxicity After Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Central Lung Tumors

Purpose/Objective(s): To evaluate and compare chronic gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity in locally advanced carcinoma cervix treated with Conventional versus Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). Materials/Methods: Between March 2010 and January 2012, 44 untreated non-metastatic patients of squamous cell carcinoma cervix with stage IIB-IIIB, age 25-65 years, KPS 70, hemoglobin 10 gm/dl, WBC 3,000/ml, Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) 1500 cells/mm; Platelets 100,000 cells/mm; Creatinine clearance 50 mg/dl were randomized to receive either pelvic conventional or IMRT. Patients in both arms received external beam pelvic radiation therapy of 50.4 Gy in 28 fractions over 5.5 weeks with concurrent Cisplatin 40 mg/m weekly followed by high dose rate (HDR). Intracavitary radiation therapy (ICRT) 7 Gy in 3 fractions or Interstitial brachytherapy (ISBT) 10 Gy in 2 fractions, each one week apart. Patients were assessed for chronic GI toxicities and scored as grade 0 (no symptoms), 1 (mild symptoms, no medications required), 2 (moderate symptoms, medications required), and 3 (severe symptoms, hospitalization, surgery required) every three months after the completion of the treatment. Statistical analysis was done with SPSS (version 16.0). Chi-Square test/Fisher’s Exact test was used for comparison of two arms. p value of 0.05 was taken as significant. Results: Of 44 patients, 22 patients were treated with conventional and 22 with IMRT. Median age and KPS of patients in both the arms were 48 years and 90 respectively. In conventional arm 13 patients belonged to stage IIB and 9 to stage IIIB while in IMRT arm 12 patients were of stage IIB and 10 of stage IIIB. Median follow-up for patients in the IMRT arm was 21.6 months (Range, 7.7-34.4 months) and for the conventional arm was 21.7 months (10.7-37.4 months). Most of the grade 1 toxicities were in the form of increased number of stools, urgency and indigestion to certain kinds of food. Only 2 patients had Grade 3 toxicity, both in the conventional arm. One developed severe proctitis and bleeding requiring admission and blood transfusions while other developed rectovaginal fistula requiring surgery. Overall, patients in the IMRT arm had lesser chronic GI toxicity as compared with conventional arm (13.6% vs 50%, p Z 0.011). In the IMRT arm, the percentage of patients having Grade 1, 2, and 3 chronic GI toxicities were 9%,4.5% and 0% respectively and for the patients in the conventional arm, the corresponding percentages were 27.3%,13.63% and 9.1% respectively. Conclusions: IMRT in locally advanced carcinoma cervix leads to significantly lesser chronic GI toxicities as compared to Conventional radiation therapy. We suggest IMRT should be used in favor of lesser radiation morbidities. Author Disclosure: A.K. Gandhi: None. G.K. Rath: None. D.N. Sharma: None. S. Sharma: None. S. Kumar: None. S. Thulkar: None. P.K. Julka: None.
Angiographic Evaluation for PFO and Pulmonary AVMs

Angiographic evaluation of PFO was routinely performed early in the device closure experience, with fewer operators performing routine angiograms today. With the advent of newer echo techniques (Chap. 5?), angiography is less important to delineate PFO anatomy. Similarly, fluoroscopic balloon sizing of PFO is performed by only 50 % of operators, according to a recent poll at two international meetings (CSI and PICS Meetings, 2010). Despite this trend, balloon sizing offers valuable information regarding PFO anatomy, specifically with the characteristics of the tunnel. Most importantly, angiography plays an essential role in patients with a persistent residual shunt through a previously placed device. Angiography allows the interventionalist to both quantify and delineate the anatomy of the residual defect and is important for choosing the correct type and size of device to use for closure.
Testing evolutionary hypotheses for DNA barcoding failure in willows

The goal of DNA barcoding is to enable the rapid identification of taxa from short diagnostic DNA sequence profiles. But how feasible is this objective when many evolutionary processes, such as hybridization and selective sweeps, cause alleles to be shared among related taxa? In this issue of Molecular Ecology, Percy et al. (2014) test the full suite of seven candidate plant barcoding loci in a broad geographic sample of willow species. They show exceptional plastid haplotype sharing between species across continents, with most taxa not possessing a unique barcode sequence. Using population genetic and molecular dating analyses, they implicate hybridization and selective sweeps, but not incomplete lineage sorting, as the historical processes causing widespread haplotype sharing among willow taxa. This study represents an exceptional case of how poorly barcoding can perform, and highlights methodological issues using universal organellar regions for species identification.
Microbial electrolysis: novel technology for hydrogen production from biomass.

Hydrogen production by microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) provides a completely new avenue for the production of hydrogen from biomass. The key competitive advantage of this technology compared with previous techniques for biohydrogen generation is that the biomass can be utilized fully for H2 conversion. This review provides a brief overview of recent advances in research on electrochemically active bacteria, electrode materials, MEC design and performance and fuel sources of MECs. Enhancing the hydrogen-production rate and lowering the energy input are the main challenges of MEC technology. The review concludes that breakthroughs in the development of efficient cathode material, scalable MEC design and cost-efficient pretreatment processes are needed for future studies.
Mediators' communication in victim offender mediation/dialogue involving crimes of severe violence: An analysis of opening statements

This study investigates, through descriptive examples taken from actual mediation cases, mediators' opening statements in one victim offender mediation/dialogue program involving crimes of severe violence. Three distinctive elements of the mediators' opening statements are illustrated, and implications for the continued study of mediator communication are discussed.
Evaluating high-throughput sequencing as a method for metagenomic analysis of nematode diversity

Nematodes play an important role in ecosystem processes, yet the relevance of nematode species diversity to ecology is unknown. Because nematode identification of all individuals at the species level using standard techniques is difficult and time-consuming, nematode communities are not resolved down to the species level, leaving ecological analysis ambiguous. We assessed the suitability of massively parallel sequencing for analysis of nematode diversity from metagenomic samples. We set up four artificial metagenomic samples involving 41 diverse reference nematodes in known abundances. Two samples came from pooling polymerase chain reaction products amplified from single nematode species. Two additional metagenomic samples consisted of amplified products of DNA extracted from pooled nematode species. Amplified products involved two rapidly evolving ~400-bp sections coding for the small and large subunit of rRNA. The total number of reads ranged from 4159 to 14771 per metagenomic sample. Of these, 82% were > 199 bp in length. Among the reads > 199 bp, 86% matched the referenced species with less than three nucleotide differences from a reference sequence. Although neither rDNA section recovered all nematode species, the use of both loci improved the detection level of nematode species from 90 to 97%. Overall, results support the suitability of massively parallel sequencing for identification of nematodes. In contrast, the frequency of reads representing individual species did not correlate with the number of individuals in the metagenomic samples, suggesting that further methodological work is necessary before it will be justified for inferring the relative abundances of species within a nematode community.
Nanomechanical systems: progress, challenges, and ultimate limits

Microelectronics technology is now pushing deep into the submicron regime, yet, for the most part, work on micromachines still remains back at the few micron scale, or larger. The time is ripe to embark upon a concerted exploration of mechanical systems at the nanoscale. This talk highlights the promise and intrigue of the nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) domain.
Short term sedimentation response in lakes in western United States as measured by automated sampling1

Sediment traps that can greatly amplify the rate of sedimentation and automatically time the depositional process were set out in El Vado Lake and Morgan Lake (New Mexico), Lake Powell (Utah), and Pyramid Lake (Nevada). In El Vado and Morgan lakes, sediment fluctuations on the scale of days were responsive to local weather factors, with the deposition rate in Morgan Lake greater near the bottom of the water column than near the top. Sedimentation in El Vado and Pyramid lakes appeared to have some diurnal control. Sedimentation in Pyramid Lake and Lake Powell, the two lakes fed by large rivers, was strongly influenced by river discharge and showed lag effects proportional to the distance of sediment transport.
Polymorphisms in methionine synthase, methionine synthase reductase and serine hydroxymethyltransferase, folate and alcohol intake, and colon cancer risk.

Background/Aims: We examined associations among folate and alcohol intake, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes involved in one-carbon metabolism, and colon cancer risk.
The use of mobile phones for acute wound care: attitudes and opinions of emergency department patients.

There are a significant number of emergency department (ED) visits for lacerations each year. When individuals experience skin, soft tissue, or laceration symptoms, the decision to go to the ED is not always easy on the basis of the level of severity. For such cases, it may be feasible to use a mobile phone camera to submit images of their wound to a remote medical provider who can review and help guide their care choice decisions. The authors aimed to assess patient attitudes toward the use of mobile phone technology for laceration management. Patients presenting to an urban ED for initial care and follow-up visits for lacerations were prospectively enrolled. A total of 194 patients were enrolled over 8 months. Enrolled patients answered a series of questions about their injury and a survey on attitudes about the acceptability of making management decisions using mobile phone images only. A majority of those surveyed agreed that it was acceptable to send a mobile phone picture to a physician for a recomm...
Robust estimators for expression analysis.

Motivation: We consider the problem of estimating values associated with gene expression from oligonucleotide arrays. Such estimates should linearly track concentration, yield non-negative results, have statistical guarantees of robustness against outliers, and allow estimates of significance and variance. Results: Ah ierarchy of simple models is used to design robust estimators meeting these goals for both stand alone and comparative experiments. This algorithm has been validated against an extensive panel of known spike experiments, and shows comparable performance to existing standards. Availability: Algorithms available commercially as part of the MAS 5.0 software package. Data sets available from the Affymetrix website. Contact: earl hubbell@affymetrix.com Supplemental Information: Additional data at http: //www.affymetrix.com/community/publications/affymetrix/ index.affx.
Important devices in biomedical engineering

The author discusses developments in new instruments that aid in diagnosis and therapy. They include: US imaging, fast CT, PET, MRI, PACS, electrical impedance tomography, foetal ECG, impedance cardiography, electrosurgical unit, hyperthermia, artificial implants, lithotripsy, haemodialysis, rehabilitation aids, computer control of disabled aids. >
Toward a comprehensive information system to assist invasive species management in Hawaii and Pacific Islands

The need for coordinated regional and global electronic databases to assist prevention, early detection, rapid response, and control of biological invasions is well accepted. The Pacific Basin Information Node (PBIN), a node of the National Biological Information Infrastructure, has been increasingly engaged in the invasive species enterprise since its establishment in 2001. Since this time, PBIN has sought to support frontline efforts at combating invasions, through working with stakeholders in conservation, agriculture, forestry, health, and commerce to support joint information needs. Although initial emphasis has been on Hawaii, cooperative work with other Pacific islands and countries of the Pacific Rim is already underway and planned.
Passive acoustic detection and measurement of rainfall at sea

It is well recognized that rainfall measurements are needed over the world’s oceans. One method of providing these measurements is to passively listen for the underwater sound signal that is produced by rainfall striking the ocean surface. Since 1998, over 70 buoy‐months of ambient sound data have been collected using Acoustic Rain Gauges (ARGs) deployed on deep ocean moorings that form part of the Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) array in the Pacific Ocean. These data demonstrate the acoustic measurement of oceanic wind and rain. Other ‘‘noises’’ are present in the ocean and need to be detected and rejected. This is accomplished by recognizing the unique spectral and temporal character of rain‐generated sound. A quantitative relationship between absolute sound levels and rainfall rate is proposed. The probability of acoustic detection of rainfall events under different weather conditions will be discussed. A quantitative comparison of rainfall accumulation using the acoustic technique with co‐located rainfall estimates from on‐board R.M. Young rain gauges and from NASA TRMM satellite overpasses (Rainfall Product 3B42) shows promising agreement, but also points out problems associated with each measurement method. [Work supported by ONR—Ocean Acoustics, NSF—Physical Oceanography, and NOAA Office of Global Programs.]
A Critical Assessment of Treaty-Monitoring Bodies: A Case Study of CEDAW’s Optional Protocol

This section presents the first comprehensive analysis of decisions rendered under the Protocol in the first decade since its inception (2000-2009). It specifically discusses how the Committee has interpreted and applied CEDAW and the implications for using the claims mechanism as an avenue to resolve pressing and emerging women’s health issues.Three key issues are of particular note. First, do CEDAW and its Optional Protocol afford more robust substantive and procedural safeguards to secure women’s health than other international instruments? Second, has the Committee interpreted the treaty and substantive State obligations objectively and consistently? Finally, what challenges exist to address pressing and emerging women’s health issues?I argue that the Committee’s legal analyses were unsound and compromised the integrity of the interpretive process. I propose an enhanced framework for interpretation that is rooted in sound principles of international law and consistent with the unique character of the treaty. Employing a robust methodology will enhance rather than vitiate the deliberative process and secure the health of women worldwide. A five-step process is formulated that draws on customary international law and the existent parameters laden in the treaty, the Protocol, and the Committee’s rules of procedure. This fusion of central tenets ensures that the analyses are consistent, foreseeable, and legally sound.
The importance of high temperature electron-phonon coupling to the thermodynamic properties of Ce0.9Th0.1 and other f-electron bonded metals

Recent results from inelastic neutron scattering studies on Ce0.9Tho.1 are used to demonstrate the importance of electron-phonon coupling to the physical properties of f-electron bonded metals. In the case of Ce0.9Th0.1, the phonon density of states (DOS) of α-phase shows a significant softening when heated but shows no change across the α-γ transition despite the 11% volume change. This is supported by analysis of the magnetic spectra showing that most of the transition entropy can be accounted for with the crystal field and spin fluctuations. The precursor phonon softening, the lack of any phonon change across the transition, the magnetic spectra, and the volume transition itself can all be explained in terms of the atomic displacement sensitivity of the hybridization of the local f-electrons with conduction electrons. The electron-phonon coupling resulting from these displacement-sensitive electronic states appears to be essential to understanding cerium. Some of the behavior characteristic of these states, a large volume changes and precursor phonon softening, occurs in many other f-electron bonded metals suggesting that the phenomena is not unique to cerium.
Deployment Dynamics of Composite Booms with Integral Slotted Hinges

This paper considers a lightweight boom with an integral hinge consisting of a thin-walled tube made of carbon fibre reinforced plastic with two longitudinal slots. The dynamic deployment of this boom is studied both experimentally and by means of detailed finite-element simulations. The deployment of the boom can be divided into three phases: deployment; incomplete latching, buckling of the tape springs and large rotation of the boom; and vibration of the boom in latched configuration. The simulations show that the most critical phase is the second one, as the highest strains in both the fibres and the matrix occur at this stage. Through the simulations it is found that the deployment of the particular boom design studied in this paper is quite sensitive to the details of the gravity offload system.
Experimental and Theoretical Investigation of Controlling Regimes during Lean Oxidation of Methane and Propylene on Pt/Al2O3 Monolithic Reactors

The performance of a catalytic reactor is bounded by the kinetic regime at low temperature (or before light-off) and the mass-transfer-controlled regime at high temperature. Pore diffusion may also be significant at intermediate temperature. We utilize the recently developed criteria (Joshi, S. Y.; Harold, M. P.; Balakotaiah, V. Chem. Eng. Sci.2010, 65, 1729–1747) to characterize the controlling regimes during lean oxidation of CH4 and C3H6 in Pt/Al2O3 monolithic reactors. First, we determine the global kinetics of lean oxidation of CH4 and C3H6 in a Pt/Al2O3 monolithic catalyst. We also present a method for estimation of the effective diffusivity of the limiting reactant and the external mass-transfer coefficient under reacting conditions. Further, we characterize the relative contributions of chemical kinetics, washcoat diffusion, and external mass transfer as a function of the various catalyst design and operating parameters. The analysis reveals that methane oxidation is kinetically controlled over a ...
I. Structural proteins: effects of preparative conditions on the migration of protein in polyacrylamide gels.

Abstract Coronavirus A59 possesses four size classes of structural proteins which have apparent molecular weights measured by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) of 23,000 (GP23), 50,000 (VP50), 90,000 (GP90), and 180,000 (GP180). VP50 is the only structural protein which is completely unaffected by protease treatment of intact virions. This species is the most highly labeled by polar amino acids such as glutamic acid and arginine and it is probably associated with the viral nucleocapsid. GP90, GP180, and GP23 are membrane-associated proteins. However, after protease treatment of virions, only 20% of the GP23 molecule is digested, whereas all of the GP90 and GP180 are removed. GP90 and GP180 appear to comprise most of the prominent layer of characteristic projections on the external surface of the viral envelope. The major portion of GP23 is presumed to lie within the lipid envelope, protected from protease digestion. GP23 and the protease resistant portion, p∗18, exhibit anomalous behavior on SDS-PAGE. After heating to 100° in SDS the electrophoretic mobility of these polypeptides is altered and several new forms of lower mobility are produced. β-Mercaptoethanol and dithiothreitol exaggerate the effects of heating.
Malignant Paraganglioma of the Prostate and Retroperitoneum

A case of malignant paraganglioma of the prostate, metastatic to the retroperitoneal area, is reported. The literature is reviewed and the possible origin of the disease is discussed. We believe that this is the first report of this entity of prostatic origin.
Effect of alpha-ketoacid dehydrogenase phosphorylation on branched-chain amino acid metabolism in muscle

The regulation of leucine and valine metabolism was evaluated in skeletal muscle of perfused rat hindlimb. Control of the branched-chain alpha-ketoacid dehydrogenase (BCKADH) via phosphorylation was removed with 0.4 mM alpha-chloroisocaproate (CIC). CIC activated the BCKADH complex 13- to 26-fold and led to increased rates of leucine and valine uptake into muscle, transamination to the corresponding alpha-ketoacid, and leucine (3- to 4-fold) and valine (6-fold) decarboxylation but led to decreased rates of alpha-ketoacid efflux from muscle. Although the increased rates of branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) decarboxylation were extensive, they were far below the extent of BCKADH activation as measured in vitro, suggesting that factors other than BCKADH activation become dominant in controlling the flux through alpha-ketoacid decarboxylation in skeletal muscle in situ. When the BCKADH capacity of muscle was increased 70–90% by a training-induced increase in mitochondrial content, the same 13- to 26-fold activation of the complex by CIC led to a rate of BCAA decarboxylation, which was only marginally greater (10–20%; P less than 0.05) than that of normal muscle. In addition, increasing the energy demand via muscle contractions led to a significant increase in leucine decarboxylation in the presence of complete activation of BCKADH by dephosphorylation. Thus BCKADH phosphorylation-dephosphorylation plays an important though not exclusive role in modulating the rates of BCAA metabolism in skeletal muscle. Differences in valine and leucine metabolism were apparent as valine catabolism bolstered citric acid cycle contents by increasing malate in red muscle with high mitochondrial content.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Parenting an Early Adolescent: a Pilot Study Examining Neural and Relationship Quality Changes of a Mindfulness Intervention

Relating to adolescent children can be challenging for parents, and yet children’s perceptions of positive parent–child relationships are protective against deleterious outcomes. Therefore, it is valuable to understand and explore strategies that can support positive parent–adolescent relationships during adolescence. The present study investigates the effects of mindfulness training on parents’ neural activity, children’s perceptions of the parent–child relationship, and the relationship between the two. As such, this design allowed us to investigate intervention-induced changes in the parent–child relationship. One parent per family (N = 18) completed a task measuring mindful awareness of breathing during functional magnetic resonance imaging before and after attending an 8-week Mindful Families Stress Reduction (MFSR) course with their early-adolescent children. Across the sample, parent neural activation from pre- to post-intervention increased in areas related to self-awareness and evaluation (precuneus, ventromedial prefrontal cortex), emotional awareness and interoception (mid-insula), and emotion regulation (lateral prefrontal cortex). Changes in parents’ activation in the left anterior insula/inferior frontal gyrus, an area often related to empathy and emotional processing/regulation, were specifically related to changes in children’s reports of the parent–child relationship. The neural regions showing an intervention effect overlapped to a significantly greater degree with emotion regulation-related than attention-related regions. These findings implicate parental empathy and emotion/regulation in children’s perceptions of the family relationship and suggest that parent emotion and/or emotion regulation is a potential mechanism by which mindful parenting interventions affect change.
Attraction of newborn piglets to auditory, visual, olfactory and tactile stimuli.

Newborn piglets were removed from their dam and their responses to a variety of sensory stimuli were tested in four experiments. Test stimuli were presented simultaneously in multiple-choice arenas. Piglets allowed to choose among recordings of sow vocalizations, piglet vocalizations or white noise in a 5-min test spent more time in proximity to vocalizations of sows and piglets than near white noise. This was significant for males (P less than .01) but not for females. Piglets choosing among illumination levels (bright, dim or dark) in a 5-min test showed a strong preference for either dim or dark areas over bright light (P less than .01), with no difference between attractivity of dim and dark areas. Piglets choosing among birth fluids, sow's milk or tap water during a 5-min test spent more time with maternal odors than with water (P less than .05). No difference in attractivity between birth fluids and sow's milk was apparent. Preferences of piglets to move either with or against the direction of hair growth were tested using the mid-back area of the sow as a test surface. Piglets moved with the direction of hair growth twice as often as against the growth of hair (P less than .01). Results of these experiments indicate that piglets can discriminate among auditory, olfactory, visual and tactile stimuli immediately after birth.
Reflections on Participation

One way I invited women’s perspectives on participation in meetings was through open-ended interviews. These conversations lasted from 20 minutes to two hours, and they were rich with information and insights. While Chapters 4 through 6 introduce technical detail on participation patterns in the meetings, the present chapter provides a brief backdrop of reflections from individual women who took part in the videotaped meetings. This is a sampling from these women’s reflections on their styles of interacting and on their experiences participating in institutional settings.
Carbon Nanotube Porins: Biomimetic Membrane Pore Channels for Nanofluidic Studies

Living systems control transport of ions or small molecules across biological membranes using ion channels that form pores in lipid bilayers. Although bottom-up synthesis and top-down fabrication could produce pores of comparable size, an unresolved challenge remains to build a simplified nanopore scaffolds that fully replicate transport properties of membrane channels. Membrane pores formed by ultra-short carbon nanotubes (CNTs) of sub-2 nm diameter assembled in the lipid membranes have transport properties that come remarkably close to that goal. The defining features of these nanostructures are their inner pores that have atomically smooth hydrophobic walls, which can confine water on a molecular level, and, in some cases, down to a single-file configuration. We present experimental results that explore the physical origins of efficient transport in CNT porins, and focus on the role that molecular confinement plays in determining the transport characteristics and selectivity for water, protons, and ions. Overall, CNT porins represent a simplified biomimetic system that is ideal for studying fundamentals of nanofluidic transport and transport in biological channels, and for building complex engineered mesoscale structures.
Phase transition and noise sensitivity of ℓ p -minimization for 0 ≤ p ≤ 1

Recovering a sparse vector x 0 ∈ ℝN from its noisy linear observations, y ∈ ℝn with y = Ax 0 + w, has been the central problem of compressed sensing. One of the classes of recovery algorithms that has attracted attention is the class of l p -regularized least squares (LPLS) that seeks the minimum of 1/2 ∥y − Ax∥ 2 2 + λ∥x∥ p p for p ∈ [0, 1]. In this paper we employ the Replica method1 from statistical physics to analyze the global minima of LPLS. Our paper reveals several surprising asymptotic properties of LPLS: (i) The phase transition curve of LPLS is the same for every 0 ≤ p 0 . (iii) Despite the equality of the phase transition curves, different values of p show different performances once a small amount of measurement noise, w, is added.
Who teaches residents about the prevention and treatment of substance use disorders? A national survey.

Background Studies indicate that physicians are poorly prepared to identify and treat tobacco, alcohol, and drug use disorders. Several faculty development programs have been created to increase the number of residency teaching faculty with expertise in this area. There is limited information, however, on those who currently teach residents about these problems and whether there is a need for additional faculty development programs. Methods We conducted a 2-stage national survey of faculty who teach residents about substance use problems. First, residency directors from 7 specialties (family medicine, psychiatry, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, emergency medicine, and osteopathy) responded to a mailed questionnaire asking them to identify faculty who teach residents about substance use disorders. Second, those identified were contacted and asked to participate in a telephone interview. Results Of 1293 faculty identified by the residency directors, 769 participated in a research interview. Most of these teachers were full-time physician faculty, men, white, and based in departments of family medicine or psychiatry. Teaching was primarily conducted in hospitals, general outpatient clinics, and classrooms rather than alcohol and drug treatment programs. Less than 10% of the faculty performed clinical work in alcohol and drug treatment programs, and only 19% were certified addiction specialists. The respondents reported a definite need for additional development programs for themselves and other residency teaching faculty. Conclusions We suggest a modest increase in the number of faculty who teach residents about substance abuse disorders, and the creation of additional faculty development programs.
Conclusion: Lessons from Warren

The Warren model illustrates the need for combining specific tactics in the face of high shrinkage, new cultural complexity, lack of investment, and failed formal planning. It is a narrative of (1) maintaining status quo while increasing flexibility in policies (to maintain stability in old shrinking neighborhoods amidst foreclosure problems), (2) fostering cultural initiatives (to support the new suburban demographics), (3) promoting economic diversity based on new technology (to address changing labor market restructuring), and (4) strategic collaborations for shared resources and services (to address problems cutting across municipal boundaries). The questions raised and the findings in Warren allow us to better understand the shrinking process, the institutions working to address the problem, and the role of multiple-scale projects in the metropolitan USA.
Best Practices in Establishing and Sustaining Consortia in Pharmacy Education

Objective. To describe best practices, necessary resources, and success or lessons learned from established consortia in pharmacy education. Methods. Using semi-structured interviews and qualitative analysis, interviews with members of established consortia in pharmacy education were conducted until saturation was reached. Themes were analyzed and meaningful descriptions of consortia characteristics were developed using systematic text condensation. Results. Thirteen interviews were conducted. The primary purpose for forming a consortium was identified as threefold: share ideas/best practices; facilitate collaboration; and perform shared problem-solving. For experiential education consortia, two additional purposes were found: share capacity for practice sites, and promote standardization across programs. When investigating best practices for established consortia, three main themes were identified. These included strategies for: (1) relationship building within consortia, (2) successful outcomes of consortia, and (3) sustainability. Successful outcomes included scholarship and, sometimes, program standardization. Sustainability was linked to structure/support and momentum. Respect was considered the foundation for collaborative relationships to flourish in these consortia. Conclusions. Pharmacy education consortia form through a process that involves relationship building to produce outcomes that promote sustainability, which benefits both pharmacy schools and individual faculty members. Consortium formation is a viable, productive, and often necessary institutional goal for pharmacy schools.
A New Perspective on the Effects of Covariates in Mixture Models

In this simulation study, we explored the effect of introducing covariates to a growth mixture model when covariates were also generated by a mixture model. We varied the association between the latent classes underlying the growth trajectories and the covariates, the degree of separation between the latent classes underlying the covariates, the number of covariates included, and amount of missing data in the growth data. We found that adding covariates to the growth mixture model generally hurt class recovery except where the latent classes underlying the growth trajectories and the covariates were the same or very strongly associated, and there was a large degree of separation between the classes underlying the covariates. We found that when covariates were introduced, entropy might no longer be an accurate indicator of the distinctiveness of the growth trajectory classes.
Moderating parenting stress in ethnic minority parents of children with developmental delays

ABSTRACTObjective: We explored the relationship between acculturation and parenting stress among parents of children with developmental delays (DD) and investigated family support as a potential moderator.Methods: Participants included 99 parents of young children with DD. Standardized measures were used to evaluate the variables of interest and a multiple linear regression analysis was employed to test the moderation effect.Results: Our results indicated that the relationship between acculturation and parenting stress depended on the level of family support. More specifically, low levels of acculturation were associated with increased parenting stress at high levels of family support but not low levels of family support.Conclusions: Minority parents of children with DDs may be at risk for especially high levels of parenting stress due to the additive stress of adapting to a new culture and parenting a child with special needs. Implications for intervention and future research are discussed.
Combining Term Structure and Fisher Effects

In the previous chapter we investigated two four variable vector error correction models that include either the rate of inflation or a long-term nominal interest rate in addition to the three variables that appear in the equilibrium specification of the demand for real balances. In each of these cases we found evidence for a second cointegrating vector in the form of a Fisher equation (stationary real interest rate) or a term structure relationship (stationary interest rate spread). The purpose of the analysis in this chapter is to integrate these two separate results into a five variable framework. First we examine recursive estimates of the interest semielasticity of velocity conditional on stationarity of the real rate and the interest rate spread. In section 2 we impose a causal chain structure that follows the King, Plosser, Stock and Watson (1991) “common trends” model and orders the permanent shocks prior to the transitory shocks. We then discuss identifying restrictions that provide economic interpretations for two of the three transitory shocks. These identifying restrictions allow us to make tentative inferences on the values of the short-run elasticities of the demand for real balances. Finally, we examine the implied dynamic response patterns to the identified shocks and analyze the robustness of these patterns to the generalization of the specification of the VECM from the smaller models in Chapter 7.
Tonal Similarity from Audio Using a Template Based Attractor Model.

A model that calculates similarity of tonal evolution among pieces in an audio database is presented. The model employs a template based key finding algorithm. This algorithm is used in a sliding window fashion to obtain a sequence of tonal center estimates that delineate the trajectory of tonal evolution in tonal space. A chroma based representation is used to capture tonality information. Templates are formed from instrument sounds weighted according to pitch distribution profiles. For each window in the input audio, the chroma based representation is interpreted with respect to the precalculated templates that serve as attractor points in tonal space. This leads to a discretization in both time and tonal space making the output representation compact. Local and global variations in tempo are accounted for using dynamic time warping that employs a special type of music theoretical distance measure. Evaluation is given in two stages. The first is evaluation of the key finding model to assess its performance in key finding for raw audio input. The second is based on cross validation testing for pieces that have multiple performances in the database to determine the success of recall by distance.
Thermodynamics of Relaxation Methods

Using the framework of irreversible thermodynamics, the driving force of chemical relaxation and the thermodynamic meaning of the relaxation time τ are investigated.
Invited commentary: Simulation training at a large community hospital

We recommend that those who train tomorrow’s providers increase their modeling of many of the attitudes displayed by the authors of The Initiation of Simulation Training at a Large Community Hospital (Article #9 of this issue of Proc Obstet Gynecol). Challenging low-volume, high-risk clinical situations are identified, experienced senior providers are coached using scientifically-informed educational methods with support and resources from leaders in the organization, and an attempt is made to measure progress.
A Localization Theory: User Experience Research in the U.S. and Canada

This paper presents empirical research on localization preferences for English-speakers in the U.S. and Canada. The research methods incorporated an online survey administered to 76 participants and consisted of a demographic questionnaire, a sample medical brochure from Alberta, Canada and a survey of user perception on quality. Results indicate Canadian preferences to the sample document for layout, organization, language, and amounts of text compared to U.S. participants.