cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Recruit symbiosis establishment and Symbiodiniceae composition influenced by adult corals and reef sediment

For most reef-building corals, the establishment of symbiosis occurs via horizontal transmission, where juvenile coral recruits acquire their algal symbionts (family Symbiodiniaceae) from their surrounding environment post-settlement. This transmission strategy allows corals to interact with a diverse array of symbionts, potentially facilitating adaptation to the newly settled environment. We exposed aposymbiotic Pseudodiploria strigosa recruits from the Flower Garden Banks to natal reef sediment (C-S+), symbiotic adult coral fragments (C+S-), sediment and coral fragments (C+S+), or seawater controls (C-S-) and quantified rates of symbiont uptake and Symbiodiniaceae community composition within each recruit using metabarcoding of the ITS2 locus. The most rapid uptake was observed in C+S+ treatments and this combination also led to the highest symbiont alpha diversity in recruits. While C-S+ treatments exhibited the next highest uptake rate, only one individual recruit successfully established symbiosis in the C+S- treatment, suggesting that sediment both serves as a direct symbiont source for coral recruits and promotes (or, potentially, mediates) transmission from adult coral colonies. In turn, presence of adult corals facilitated uptake from the sediment, perhaps via chemical signaling. Taken together, our results reinforce the key role of sediment in algal symbiont uptake by P. strigosa recruits and suggest that sediment plays a necessary, but perhaps not sufficient, role in the life cycle of the algal Symbiodinaceae symbionts.
Approaches to Reduce Sports Drink Consumption Among Adolescents

Sports drinks originally developed to improve performance and prevent or treat dehydration, heat stroke, and muscle cramps in elite athletes are consumed regularly by nearly 60% of the adolescent population. Sports drinks are often perceived as healthy, and marketing campaigns fail to delineate the types and amount of activity that warrant appropriate use. Current trends in adolescent consumption of sports drinks will be reviewed and approaches to reduce consumption, including counseling on the appropriate use of sports drinks, will be discussed.
Comparison of Apolipoprotein B and Low Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol As Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Risk Factors

Many large-scale studies have reported that current American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology guidelines overestimate Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (ASCVD) risk by 75% - 150%. People, who achieve low density lipoprotein (LDL) target with active statin therapy, still remain at a residual risk for cardiovascular disease and have high levels of apolipoprotein B (ApoB). The goal of this retrospective case-control study was to compare LDL and ApoB as predictors of ASCVD. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention9s National Health and Examination Survey (NHANES) data from the 2013-2014 was the data source for this study. Around 5,768 subjects participated in the study and 1522 participants met the study criteria. Of these, 162 (Male = 93, Female = 69 ) were cases (subjects with ASCVD) and 1,360 (Male = 629, Female = 731) were controls (subjects without ASCVD). Chi-square test, correlation coefficient, and logistic regression were used to analyze data. P-value of 0.05). Logistic regression results indicated that cases were 3 times more likely to have an increased LDL value but not likely to have an increased ApoB when compared to controls. The study concluded that LDL is an independent predictor of ASCVD and is a better marker than ApoB.
Bone-inspired microarchitectures achieve enhanced fatigue life.

Microarchitectured materials achieve superior mechanical properties through geometry rather than composition. Although ultralightweight microarchitectured materials can have high stiffness and strength, application to durable devices will require sufficient service life under cyclic loading. Naturally occurring materials provide useful models for high-performance materials. Here, we show that in cancellous bone, a naturally occurring lightweight microarchitectured material, resistance to fatigue failure is sensitive to a microarchitectural trait that has negligible effects on stiffness and strength—the proportion of material oriented transverse to applied loads. Using models generated with additive manufacturing, we show that small increases in the thickness of elements oriented transverse to loading can increase fatigue life by 10 to 100 times, far exceeding what is expected from the associated change in density. Transversely oriented struts enhance resistance to fatigue by acting as sacrificial elements. We show that this mechanism is also present in synthetic microlattice structures, where fatigue life can be altered by 5 to 9 times with only negligible changes in density and stiffness. The effects of microstructure on fatigue life in cancellous bone and lattice structures are described empirically by normalizing stress in traditional stress vs. life (S-N) curves by √ψ, where ψ is the proportion of material oriented transverse to load. The mechanical performance of cancellous bone and microarchitectured materials is enhanced by aligning structural elements with expected loading; our findings demonstrate that this strategy comes at the cost of reduced fatigue life, with consequences to the use of microarchitectured materials in durable devices and to human health in the context of osteoporosis.
Nonclinical Safety Profile of Revusiran, a 1st-Generation GalNAc-siRNA Conjugate for Treatment of Hereditary Transthyretin-Mediated Amyloidosis.

Revusiran is a 1st-generation short interfering RNA targeting transthyretin conjugated to an N-acetylgalactosamine ligand to facilitate delivery to hepatocytes via uptake by the asialoglycoprotein ...
Facile manufacturing of bimodal grained copper with nanoparticles

Abstract Bimodal grain structure has been demonstrated effective to overcome the strength-ductility tradeoff in nanostructured materials. Here we report a new and scalable method to fabricate bimodal grained metals, i.e., casting followed by regular hot rolling, when the metals are loaded with nanoparticles. The as-solidified copper (Cu) containing tungsten carbide (WC) nanoparticles displayed ultrafine grains. After hot rolling, as nanoparticles imposed restriction on Cu grain growth, the nanoparticle-rich zones retained ultrafine grains, while grains in the nanoparticle-sparse zones grew to microscale. The average grain size of the ultrafine and microscale grain regions is 230.6 ± 125.8 nm and 6.3 ± 3.5 μm, respectively. This new pathway has great potential to advance the scalable manufacturing of bimodal grained metals for various applications.
Sensitivity analysis of BISON model for characterization of impact of experimental parameters on hydrogen migration and redistribution in zirconium-based alloys

Abstract The formation of hydrides, a result from excess hydrogen uptake by the cladding during nuclear reactor operation, can significantly impact cladding integrity. We present a sensitivity and uncertainty analysis of a hydrogen predictive model in the BISON fuel performance code to characterize the key input parameters involved in the model. This includes identifying the key parameters necessary to simulate hydrogen behavior in the fuel cladding, revealing the impact of environmental conditions on hydrogen distribution, and informing the envelope of conditions for ongoing experimental work conducted by the University of Michigan. The Sobol sensitivity analysis reveals the quantitative impacts of environmental conditions on the predicted total hydrogen concentration, as well as the respective impact on their sensitivity with respect to the physical parameters. Overall, the precipitation of hydrogen that occurred at the cold end of the sample is the most important phenomenon in the prediction of hydrogen concentration. The optimization study using the results from sensitivity analysis indicates that the BISON simulations produce accurate hydrogen predictions when the sets of parametric ranges are shifted to enable more precipitation to occur at the cold end. Lastly, the sensitivity and uncertainty (S/U) analysis for the ongoing benchmarking experiments supports the focus of experiments that lies on the measurement of Soret effect of hydrogen driven by linear temperature gradients. The outputs are expected to better characterize the various parameters involved in the hydrogen transport model in the BISON code, and improve the understanding of the hydrogen transport behaviors in zirconium-based fuel cladding in a range of expected environmental conditions.
Goal-Directed Massive Transfusion Management

Trauma is the leading cause of death under age 40 worldwide and the leading cause of life-years lost under the age of 65 in the United States [1, 2]. Uncontrolled hemorrhage is the leading cause of preventable death following trauma and the overall most common early cause of death, making it the obvious target to reduce mortality [3, 4]. Furthermore, the median time to death from bleeding is <3 hours [5] emphasizing the necessity for prompt intervention for trauma-induced coagulopathy (TIC). On the other hand, blood components have potential adverse physiologic consequences and are expensive; therefore, components should be administered only when needed.
Eating Disorders in Pregnancy and Lactation

This chapter aims to go through seminal literature which includes several large longitudinal population-based studies, review articles, and some qualitative studies showing women’s experiences with eating disorders prior to pregnancy, during pregnancy, and in the postpartum period. In general, eating disorders can negatively affect a pregnancy and health of the mother and fetus. These mothers are often at risk for postpartum depression, and their children may be at greater risk for disordered eating. Women with eating disorders often initiate breastfeeding as often as controls, and yet they stop breastfeeding earlier than controls.
Preferences for mHealth Technology and Text Messaging Communication in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: Qualitative Interview Study

Background: Individuals with diabetes need regular support to help them manage their diabetes on their own, ideally delivered via mechanisms that they already use, such as their mobile phones. One reason for the modest effectiveness of prior technology-based interventions may be that the patient perspective has been insufficiently incorporated. Objective: This study aims to understand patients’ preferences for mobile health (mHealth) technology and how that technology can be integrated into patients’ routines, especially with regard to medication use. Methods: We conducted semistructured qualitative individual interviews with patients with type 2 diabetes from an urban health care system to elicit and explore their perspectives on diabetes medication–taking behaviors, daily patterns of using mobile technology, use of mHealth technology for diabetes care, acceptability of text messages to support medication adherence, and preferred framing of information within text messages to support diabetes care. The interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed. The data were analyzed using codes developed by the study team to generate themes, with representative quotations selected as illustrations. Results: We conducted interviews with 20 participants, of whom 12 (60%) were female and 9 (45%) were White; in addition, the participants’ mean glycated hemoglobin A1c control was 7.8 (SD 1.1). Overall, 5 key themes were identified: patients try to incorporate cues into their routines to help them with consistent medication taking; many patients leverage some form of technology as a cue to support adherence to medication taking and diabetes self-management behaviors; patients value simplicity and integration of technology solutions used for diabetes care, managing medications, and communicating with health care providers; some patients express reluctance to rely on mobile technology for these diabetes care behaviors; and patients believe they prefer positively framed communication, but communication preferences are highly individualized. Conclusions: The participants expressed some hesitation about using mobile technology in supporting diabetes self-management but have largely incorporated it or are open to incorporating it as a cue to make medication taking more automatic and less burdensome. When using technology to support diabetes self-management, participants exhibited individualized preferences, but overall, they preferred simple and positively framed communication. mHealth interventions may be improved by focusing on integrating them easily into daily routines and increasing the customization of content.
Using Feedback to Block Controllability at Remote Nodes in Network Synchronization Processes

The design of local state-feedback control systems to prevent controllability at remote network nodes is studied. An algorithm based on a joint eigenvalue-right eigenvector assignment method is developed, which under broad conditions maintains all the eigenvalues of the open-loop system while blocking controllability from selected remote nodes. Additionally, the graph structure of the network is exploited to enable controllability-blocking based on regional feedback, where only state measurements in a network partition are required. The design based on regional feedback does not preserve eigenvalue locations, however a modification of the design based on timescale separation is presented which guarantees stability. The results are illustrated with a numerical example.
Hepatocyte growth factor pathway expression in breast cancer by race and subtype.

Background African American women have the highest risk of breast cancer mortality compared to other racial groups. Differences in tumor characteristics have been implicated as a possible cause; however, the tumor microenvironment may also contribute to this disparity in mortality. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a stroma-derived marker of the tumor microenvironment that may affect tumor progression differentially by race. Objective To examine whether an HGF gene expression signature is differentially expressed by race and tumor characteristics. Methods Invasive breast tumors from 1957 patients were assessed for a 38-gene RNA-based HGF gene expression signature. Participants were black (n = 1033) and non-black (n = 924) women from the population-based Carolina Breast Cancer Study (1993-2013). Generalized linear models were used to estimate the relative frequency differences (RFD) in HGF status by race, clinical, and demographic factors. Results Thirty-two percent of tumors were positive for the HGF signature. Black women were more likely [42% vs. 21%; RFD = + 19.93% (95% CI 16.00, 23.87)] to have HGF-positive tumors compared to non-black women. Triple-negative patients had a higher frequency of HGF positivity [82% vs. 13% in non-triple-negative; RFD = + 65.85% (95% CI 61.71, 69.98)], and HGF positivity was a defining feature of basal-like subtype [92% vs. 8% in non-basal; RFD = + 81.84% (95% CI 78.84, 84.83)]. HGF positivity was associated with younger age, stage, higher grade, and high genomic risk of recurrence (ROR-PT) score. Conclusion HGF expression is a defining feature of basal-like tumors, and its association with black race and young women suggests it may be a candidate pathway for understanding breast cancer disparities.
ESCALATE: Boosting the Efficiency of Sparse CNN Accelerator with Kernel Decomposition

The ever-growing parameter size and computation cost of Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) models hinder their deployment onto resource-constrained platforms. Network pruning techniques are proposed to remove the redundancy in CNN parameters and produce a sparse model. Sparse-aware accelerators are also proposed to reduce the computation cost and memory bandwidth requirements of inference by leveraging the model sparsity. The irregularity of sparse patterns, however, limits the efficiency of those designs. Researchers proposed to address this issue by creating a regular sparsity pattern through hardware-aware pruning algorithms. However, the pruning rate of these solutions is largely limited by the enforced sparsity patterns. This limitation motivates us to explore other compression methods beyond pruning. With two decoupled computation stages, we found that kernel decomposition could potentially take the processing of the sparse pattern off from the critical path of inference and achieve a high compression ratio without enforcing the sparse patterns. To exploit these advantages, we propose ESCALATE, an algorithm-hardware co-design approach based on kernel decomposition. At algorithm level, ESCALATE reorganizes the two computation stages of the decomposed convolution to enable a stream processing of the intermediate feature map. We proposed a hybrid quantization to exploit the different reuse frequency of each part of the decomposed weight. At architecture level, ESCALATE proposes a novel ‘Basis-First’ dataflow and its corresponding microarchitecture design to maximize the benefits brought by the decomposed convolution. We evaluate ESCALATE with four representative CNN models on both CIFAR-10 and ImageNet datasets and compare it against previous sparse accelerators and pruning algorithms. Results show that ESCALATE can achieve up to 325 × and 11 × compression ratio for models on CIFAR-10 and ImageNet, respectively. Comparing with previous dense and sparse accelerators, ESCALATE accelerator averagely boosts the energy efficiency by 8.3 × and 3.77 ×, and reduces the latency by 17.9 × and 2.16 ×, respectively.
A Markov random field model for network-based differential expression analysis of single-cell RNA-seq data

Background Recent development of single cell sequencing technologies has made it possible to identify genes with different expression (DE) levels at the cell type level between different groups of samples. In this article, we propose to borrow information through known biological networks to increase statistical power to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Results We develop MRFscRNAseq, which is based on a Markov random field (MRF) model to appropriately accommodate gene network information as well as dependencies among cell types to identify cell-type specific DEGs. We implement an Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm with mean field-like approximation to estimate model parameters and a Gibbs sampler to infer DE status. Simulation study shows that our method has better power to detect cell-type specific DEGs than conventional methods while appropriately controlling type I error rate. The usefulness of our method is demonstrated through its application to study the pathogenesis and biological processes of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) using a single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) data set, which contains 18,150 protein-coding genes across 38 cell types on lung tissues from 32 IPF patients and 28 normal controls. Conclusions The proposed MRF model is implemented in the R package MRFscRNAseq available on GitHub. By utilizing gene-gene and cell-cell networks, our method increases statistical power to detect differentially expressed genes from scRNA-seq data.
Joint Detection of Motion Boundaries and Occlusions

We propose MONet, a convolutional neural network that jointly detects motion boundaries (MBs) and occlusion regions (Occs) in video both forward and backward in time. Detection is difficult because optical flow is discontinuous along MBs and undefined in Occs, while many flow estimators assume smoothness and a flow defined everywhere. To reason in the two time directions simultaneously, we direct-warp the estimated maps between the two frames. Since appearance mismatches between frames often signal vicinity to MBs or Occs, we construct a cost block that for each feature in one frame records the lowest discrepancy with matching features in a search range. This cost block is two-dimensional, and much less expensive than the four-dimensional cost volumes used in flow analysis. Cost-block features are computed by an encoder, and MB and Occ estimates are computed by a decoder. We found that arranging decoder layers fine-to-coarse, rather than coarse-to-fine, improves performance. MONet outperforms the prior state of the art for both tasks on the Sintel and FlyingChairsOcc benchmarks without any fine-tuning on them.
The chemical ecology of copepod distribution in the lakes of East and Central Africa1

The copepods in plankton samples from 48 lakes in East and Central Africa were identified and the conductivity (km) of the epilimnion of each lake was determined, A range, mean, and standard deviation were calculated for the conductivity of the waters in which each copepod species was found. There appears to be a definite range of conductivities in which each species can maintain a viable population. Studying the chemical ecology of copepod distribution is particularly feasible in the lakes of East and Central Africa because ionic proportions are relatively constant in these primarily sodium bicarbonatc-carbonate lakes over a wide range of salinities. Temperatures in the lakes studied ranged from 18 to 3O”C, but the annual variation in any given lake was probably less than 5”. Ionic predictability and rather constant temperature regimes reduce the effects of these potentially important parameters in any one lake, allowing isolation of the effects of total ionic concentration per se on the species composition of the copepods. Our purpose was to examinc the effects of ionic concentration as an abiotic environmental factor determining the copepod spetics composition in some African lakes. We arc indebted to D. A. Livingstone for advice and assistance. R. E. Hccky supplied samples from Big and Small Momela lakes. The manuscript was read by R. E. Hecky, J. Mathias, J. M. Melack, P. Becker, D. A. Livingstone, and S. S. Kilham. In Africa we were aided by the Mineral Resources Division of the Tanzanian Ministry of Commerce and Industry; J. Okedi and the East African Freshwater Fisheries Research Organization, the National Parks (Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania), and the Nuffield Unit of Tropical Animal Ecology in Uganda; and various individuals and organizations in Rwanda. R. E. IIecky, P.
Life-Cycle Housing and Portfolio Choice with Bond Markets ∗

I study optimal life-cycle housing and portfolio choice under stochastic inflation and real interest rates. Investors can choose between an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) and a fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) to finance the purchase of a house. Together the mortgage choice and bond portfolio choice determine an investor’s strategy for the management of interest rate risk. Consistent with empirical evidence, I find that (i) many investors hold both long and short positions in fixed-income securities, and (ii) young investors more often take an ARM. Suboptimal mortgage choice leads to a large utility loss.
Heat-stable inhibitors of cAMP-dependent protein kinase carry a nuclear export signal.

The heat-stable inhibitor of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKI) was shown previously to export the kinase catalytic subunit (C) from the nucleus (Fantozzi, D. A., Harootunian, A. T., Wen, W., Taylor, S. S., Feramisco, J.R., Tsien, R. Y., and Meinkoth, J. L. (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269, 2676-2686), in addition to its ability to inhibit kinase activity. In this study, the mechanism of PKI export is investigated. The injection of a C-PKI complex containing both labeled PKI and C-subunit revealed that both proteins exit the nucleus in unison. A fusion protein of C-subunit with glutathione S-transferase (GST) (140 kDa) cannot transverse the nuclear membrane in either direction, but can be exported from the nucleus when complexed with PKI, supporting the presence of a nuclear export signal (NES) in the C-PKI complex. Fusions of PKI alpha with GST (70 kDa) or PKI beta 1 with maltose-binding protein (MBP) (50 kDa) remain effective at exporting complexes with C-subunit. The export of C-PKI is also sensitive to temperature and energy depletion. Taken together, these results demonstrate that export is both energy- and temperature-dependent, but size-independent, consistent with an active signal-mediated export process. GST-PKI exits from the nucleus even in the absence of C-subunit, indicating that the NES resides entirely on PKI, but suggesting that fusion of PKI to GST leads to a conformational change that mimics the exposure of the NES caused by the binding of C. Since both PKI alpha and PKI beta 1 can export C-subunit, the predicted export signal is likely to reside on the residues conserved between PKI alpha and PKI beta 1.
Pakistan’s Higher Education System—What went Wrong and How to Fix it.

None of Pakistan’s 50+ public universities comes even close to being a university in the real sense of the word. Compared to universities in India and Iran, the quality of both teaching and research is far poorer. Most university “teaching” amounts to a mere dictation of notes which the teacher had copied down when he was a student in the same department, examinations are tests of memory, student indiscipline is rampant, and a large number of teachers commit academic fraud without ever getting punished. In some universities the actual number of teaching days in a year adds up to less than half the officially required number. Some campuses are run by gangs of hoodlums and harbour known criminals, while others have had Rangers with machine guns on continuous patrol for years on end. Common wisdom has always been that increased funding can solve all, or at least most, of the systemic problems that bedevil higher education in Pakistan. But Pakistan offers an instructive counterexample: a many-fold increase in university funding from 2002-2008 resulted in, at best, only marginal improvements in a few parts of the higher education sector. This violation of “commonsense” points to the need for some fresh thinking. The analysis of Pakistan’s higher education system divides naturally into three parts: consideration of the necessary background; understanding the meaning of university quality in the Pakistani context; and exploring the space of solutions.
Mentoring Undergraduate Researchers: Faculty Mentors Perceptions Of The Challenges And Benefits Of The Research Relationship

In the past decade, college and university officials have tried to formalize avenues that provide undergraduate students with opportunities to conduct research, either in direct collaboration with a faculty member or as independent research under the supervision of a faculty member. Administrators and faculty have worked to institutionalize these programs because they recognize the intrinsic benefits of these faculty student collaborations. Since most faculty balance a wide range of demands, we wanted to understand how faculty members view these partnerships in the larger context of their work. In 2008, as the Undergraduate Research Conference at our midsize public New England University entered its ninth year, the evaluation committee administered a survey to examine faculty members’ attitudes toward undergraduate research endeavors. Our results show that faculty felt overwhelmingly positive about their role as mentors. Full professors indicate more satisfaction in this role than associate and assistant professors.
Transient Behavior of a Stably Stratified Homogeneous Turbulent Flow

The direct interaction approximation (KRAICHNAN [1]) is used to study the problem of scalar transport by a uniform mean scalar gradient in a decaying homogeneous turbulent flow. Cases that are studied include a passive scalar, such as temperature, and an active scalar, such as density, in a stably stratified flow. The direct interaction approximation is shown, from these preliminary results, to correctly predict the qualitative dynamics associated with these two problems.
A Social Insurance Perspective on Security and Privacy

Computer security and information privacy has traditionally been viewed as a matter of private right to be protected either through contract, property, or technological measures. We argue in this paper that computer security and information privacy can be more effectively understood as a matter of social insurance, similar to the regulation of hazardous activities, workplace accidents, and defective products. Professor Edward Lazowska, of the University of Washington Department of Computer Science, has analogized computer security to auto safety, "where a set of government regulations has caused automobiles to become far more safe over the course of 35 years." We do not use the term "social insurance" in the sense of "social welfare programs." Instead, we use it in the sense of "social capital," a term that acknowledges the role of non-market and non-governmental institutions as a means to regulate conduct through the creation of norms. "Social insurance" is preferable to "social capital" for our purposes because of our concerns with the hazards posed by information security breaches. Instead of framing security and privacy as matters of private harms and private law, our approach highlights the role of regulation in establishing the social foundation of trust necessary for cyberspace transactions. In part, our thesis shifts the focus of regulation from contract and property to tort. But our thesis extends beyond a simple tort liability based approach. The social insurance perspective integrates contract, property, tort, and technological approaches to information management. The patchwork of regulation, ranging from privacy default rules in contract to criminalization of attacks on data storage devices, can best be understood as mechanisms for allocating and distributing the risk and uncertainty associated with breaches to critical information systems. The social insurance perspective provides a template to understand regulatory measures and reform them. Furthermore, the social insurance perspective provides the means to assess the use of products liability theories to address computer security and information privacy issues. While the existing legal and economic literature has hinted at the use of products liability theory, there has not been systematic study of the use of the products liability model as a means to regulating security and privacy.
CIVIL LITIGATION IN ILLINOIS TRIAL COURTS

This article analyzes civil litigation in Illinois trial courts for the years 1965, 1970, and 1975 using county-level data. Of particular interest is the relationship between civil litigation on one hand and socioeconomic and political culture indicators on the other. Borrowing from the idea of a social development perspective, the analysis emphasizes rural-urban differences. It shows that higher rates of litigation tend to be characteristic of more urbanized, somewhat more culturally modern, and slightly more industrialized counties; and that lower rules tend to be characteristic of more rural, agricultural, and somewhat more traditional counties. Although the data are limited, the analysis also finds some broad rural-urban differences in trial court business. Overall, socioeconomic indicators appear to be more important, with political culture playing only a secondary or tertiary role.
Caregiver Perceptions of Their Influence on Cancer Treatment Decision Making Intersections of Language, Identity, and Illness

Serious illness of a loved one can disrupt a caregiver’s sense of self and relationships. We examined the language caregivers use to describe the cancer treatment decision making of a loved one to understand how caregivers frame their own identity relative to a patient’s illness. We analyzed transcripts from in-depth interviews conducted with caregivers (N = 58) of cancer patients to examine the intersection among language, identity, and illness. Caregivers with a patient-level personal identity frame used phrases such as their body, their decision. Caregivers with a relational identity frame used plural pronouns such as we or our when describing the treatment decision. Importantly, some caregivers perceived an illness identity gap in that the patients’ perceptions of their illness identity differed from their own. Illness identity gaps are theorized to be associated with treatment decision making more closely aligned with intergroup, rather than interpersonal, processes.
Opposing roles of two isoforms of the Prx1 homeobox gene in chondrogenesis.

The Prx1 homeobox gene is critical for cartilage and bone development as suggested by previous expression studies and demonstrated by gene targeting. However, neither approach assessed the individual roles of the two isoforms Prx1a and Prx1b. In this study, Western blot analysis demonstrates that, in the early stages of chondrogenesis, during mesenchymal condensation, only Prx1a is expressed. Higher level Prx1b expression is concomitant with the formation of a defined perichondrium. Prx1a overexpression in limb micro mass cultures results in an increase in the number of prechondrogenic condensations and cartilage nodules, whereas overexpression of Prx1b results in a decrease. Prx1a increases the percentage of proliferating cells in micro mass cultures and decreases apoptosis. The Prx1b isoform does not alter proliferation, but it does increase apoptosis, which is opposite of Prx1a. These results suggest that the Prx1a:Prx1b ratio and the alternative splicing mechanism that generates these two isoforms are critical in controlling chondrogenesis. Developmental Dynamics 233:811–821, 2005. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Observation of thermal noise in a dynamically biased fiber-optic gyro

The effect of phase noise caused by thermal fluctuations in optical fiber is observed experimentally in a dynamically biased open-loop fiber-optic gyro. When source noise subtraction is used, thermal noise effects are readily observable. Total noise levels are in good agreement with theory. Contributions from shot, thermal, and electronic noise to the random walk coefficient are calculated, and the total is compared with experiment.
Mechanical-tactile stimulation (MTS) during neonatal stress prevents hyperinsulinemia despite stress-induced adiposity in weanling rat pups.

Stress in early life negatively influences growth quality through perturbations in body composition including increased fat mass. At term (40 weeks) preterm infants have greater fat mass and abdominal visceral adipose tissue than term-born infants. Mechanical-tactile stimulation (MTS) attenuates the stress response in preterm infants and rodents. We tested the hypothesis that MTS, administered during an established model of neonatal stress, would decrease stress-driven adiposity and prevent associated metabolic imbalances in rat pups. Pups received one of three treatments from postnatal days 5 to P9: Neonatal Stress (Stress; n = 20) = painful stimulus and hypoxic/hyperoxic challenge during 60 min of maternal separation; MTS (n = 20) = neonatal stress + 10 min of MTS; or Control (n = 20). Body weight, DXA whole body fat mass (g), MRI subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue, and fasting adiponectin, leptin, glucose, insulin, and corticosterone were measured at weaning (P21). Stress and MTS weight gain (g/d) were accelerated following neonatal stress with greater fat mass, abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue, serum adiponectin, leptin, and fasting glucose at weaning (P21). Male Stress and MTS pups had greater visceral adipose tissue depot. Male and female Stress pups were hyperinsulinemic. In summary, neonatal stress compromised body composition by increasing fat mass and abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue depot, and in males, visceral adipose tissue depot. Importantly, MTS prevented hyperinsulinemia despite of stress-induced adiposity. We conclude that MTS during neonatal stress has the potential to minimize metabolic consequences associated with stress-driven perturbations in fat mass and abdominal adipose depots.
Motion of the Earth and the detection of weakly interacting massive particles

If the galactic halo is composed of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMP's), then cryogenic experiments may be capable of detecting the recoil of nuclei struck by the WIMP's. Earth's motion relative to the galactic halo produces a seasonal modulation in the expected event rate. The direction of nuclear recoil has a strong angular dependence that also can be used to confirm the detection of WIMP's. I calculate the angular dependence and the amplitude of the seasonal modulation for an isothermal halo model.
Isomers of weak π-π-complexes predicted by CT energy calculations. TCNE complexes with stilbene and analogs

Abstract The CT interaction energy is responsible for stabilized arrangements of the complexes with planar donators. Three isomers are found for the investigated cases and discussed with respect to experimental results. The calculations are performed in π-approximation using the perturbation formalism of Murrell, Randic and Williams. Reliable results are only obtained if more than one CT electron configuration is considered. The empirically determined repulsion and dispersion energy varies little with the arrangement. Finally non-planar donators are briefly discussed.
A system for clinical data management

The application of computers to the delivery of patient care is more a problem of "data management" than of "data processing." Although calculations and interpretation of data are often required, of much greater concern are the problems involved in the collection, communication, coordination, and presentation of information. As the process of delivery of medical care becomes increasingly complex, and involves increasing numbers of professional and nonprofessional personnel, responsibility for achieving the continuity and comprehensiveness that is essential to medical care seems to rest heavily on the development of appropriate computer-based data management systems. Such systems may further provide the primary feasible means by which quality control, auditing of the medical care process, and research into the diagnosis and treatment of disease can be achieved.
Transcription on Tangled DNA

Bending and torsional deformations of DNA often occur in vivo and are important for various biological functions in the cell. In particular, DNA supercoiling (a combination of bending and torsional stresses within DNA) plays a central role in regulating gene expression. Recent experimental studies of short circular DNA fragments suggest that combined DNA torsional and bending stresses strongly impact transcription by RNA polymerase (RNAP). However, despite phenomenological observations establishing a relationship between DNA supercoiling and transcription kinetics, many details of the structure-function relationship between RNAP and DNA template mechanics remain unclear. We aim to understand how supercoiled DNA affects the structure of DNA-bound RNA polymerase, with the goal of specifically identifying protein domains that are sensitive to mechanically stressed DNA templates. Massively parallel molecular dynamics simulations are performed to describe the interaction of bacteriophage T7-RNAP with three DNA minicircles possessing qualitatively distinct states of torsional stress: underwound, overwound, and relaxed. The simulations reveal the topologies of the minicircles in complex with T7-RNAP and the structural details of bent and twisted protein-bound DNA. We observe remarkable differences between the conformations of T7-RNAP in complex with undertwisted, overtwisted and relaxed minicircle templates. In particular, on overtwisted DNA, T7-RNAP is capable of transitioning from the classical elongation complex structure into a stable intermediate that resembles the structure immediately preceding elongation. This finding suggests a structural mechanism by which transcription elongation may be hindered on bent and overtwisted DNA templates.
Immediate and delayed (after cooling) effects of centrifugation on equine sperm

The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of centrifugation on equine sperm total and progressive motility, viability, and acrosomal integrity. We hypothesized that although high centrifugation forces would be detrimental to equine Equus caballus sperm, recovery rates would increase. Ejaculates from six stallions were collected, extended to a concentration of 25 × 106 cells/mL, and subjected for 10 min to (1) no centrifugation (NC) or (2) centrifugation at 400 × g, (3) 900 × g, or (4) 4500 × g. Before and after centrifugation (Day 0), and after 24 h of cooling (Day 1), sperm motility was assessed by computer-assisted semen analysis, and samples were stained with SYBR-14/propidium iodide (PI) for viability and with PI/fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)–Peanut aglutinin (PNA) (Arachis hypogaea) for acrosomal integrity. The effect of treatment and day on motility, viability, and acrosomal integrity was determined using a mixed linear model. Compared with the other treatments, centrifugation at 4500 × g reduced all end points measured (P < 0.05). Both 400 × g and 900 × g yielded lower recovery rates than that of 4500 × g (NC = 100.0 ± 0.0%; 400 × g = 54.4 ± 8.6%; 900 × g = 75.0 ± 7.1%; 4500 × g = 97.9 ± 2.8%; P < 0.05). Centrifugation at 400 × g or 900 × g did not damage equine sperm. Based on these findings, further studies of centrifugal forces between 900 × g and 4500 × g are warranted to determine the optimal force that maximizes recovery rate, minimizes sperm damage, and does not affect fertility.
Developing evidence-based symptom management guidelines in HIV care: what have we learned?

Joachim G. Voss, RN, PhD, ACRN, is an Associate Professor, University of Washington, School of Nursing, Seattle, Washington, USA. Today’s clinical environments are changing rapidly, and the leaders and consumers of the current health care market demand evidence-based, safe, effective, and patient-oriented care organizations (FineoutOverholt, Melnyk, & Schultz, 2005). Accountable care organizations use evidence-based practice to deliver high-quality treatments and care, avoid costly errors, and reduce cost, while focusing on high customer satisfaction (Keren & Littlejohns, 2012). In a competitive care market, to achieve the highest standard of health care has been recognized as a benchmark for optimal patient care performance by federal and local government authorities, health care insurers, and the leaders of large and small health care facilities (Geiger, 2012; Hester, 2012; Siegwarth & Koyanagi, 2012; Steinbrook, 2012). Therefore, the assessment and implementation of evidence-based practice guidelines utilizes the accumulated research-evidence in a certain practice area, which leads to better patient outcomes, improved cost containment, and more comparable care delivery across institutions of services delivered. In order to arrive at evidence-based practice guidelines in HIV symptom management we contacted and reviewed a number of guidelines developed by professional nursing organizations (e.g., Oncology Nursing Society [http://www.ons.org/Research/PEP], Neurological Nursing Society [http://www.aann.org/pubs/ content/guidelines.html]) that have established and disseminated evidence-based practice guidelines to their memberships in print and online formats. Each
Bridging from acute to chronic devices.

Abstract Mechanical circulatory support used as a bridge to chronic transplantation is now a firmly established treatment modality. Trials evaluating circulatory assist for permanent circulatory assist device implications are underway. A population of patients is beginning to emerge who are resuscitated using readily available "acute" devices and need long-term supporting "chronic" device to bridge either cardiac transplantation or permanent device implantation. Careful management of this new acute-to-chronic bridge group will maximize the chances of a successful long-term outcome. The best strategies for management may only unfold by later analysis of larger populations. This article summarizes the current utilization of acute and chronic devices, as well as the small but growing population of acute-to-chronic bridge patients, and suggests what seem today to be sound management principles for them.
Rapid thermal annealing effects on atomic layer epitaxially grown Zns:Mn thin films

ZnS:Mn thin films were coated on transparent conducting layer indium tin oxide (ITO) 2×2 in. glass substrates by an atomic layer epitaxy process. Grazing-angle X-ray diffraction on thin films shows a phase-pure ZnS with a wurtzite structure oriented along the 002 direction. Photoluminescence and CL measurements were carried out on the films. The emission from ZnS:Mn thin films consists of two strong bands at 515 and 452 nm with an excitation band at 329 nm. For improved brightness, the samples were annealed in a rapid thermal annealing furnace under different gas atmospheres (N2, O2 and forming gas) so that the green emission was increased. The green emission is due to donar-acceptor combination. Promising results were obtained when the thin films were annealed in forming gas at 600°C for one minute. Scanning electron microscope micrographs showed that the particles are well crystallized, with a grain size of 0.3–0.5 µm. This paper reports the particle size and morphology on the luminescent characteristics of a Mn2+ center in ZnS thin films.
2-Phosphoglycolate and glycolate-electrophore detection, including detection of 87 zeptomoles of the latter by gas chromatography-electron-capture mass spectrometry

Abstract As a first stage towards a goal of studying some aspects of oxidative damage to DNA and its subsequent repair, we set up three techniques for the detection of 2-phosphoglycolate (PG). This compound is released as a metabolite from the DNA in certain cases of this process. We explored three techniques because we wanted to learn which one(s) would be most sensitive, given the anticipated availability of small biological samples for analysis. By employing indirect detection with fluorescein as the fluorophore in capillary electrophoresis, we detected 5 · 10−6 M PG (corresponding to 5 pmol/μl, projecting that a final sample volume of 1 μl could be handled). The specificity of this technique can be enhanced by converting the PG to glycolate enzymatically. Flow injection analysis (FIA; 1.0-μl injection volume) negative-ion electrospray mass spectrometry was similarly sensitive (1.1 · 10−6 M). Based on our prior experience, substituting capillary HPLC for the FIA in this technique is anticipated to lower the detection limit by 20- to 150-fold. Gas chromatography-electron-capture mass spectrometry (1.0-μl injection volume) was able to detect, as a standard, 87 zmol of O2-pivalyl-3′,5′-bis(trifluoromethyl)benzylglycolate, a product that can be obtained from PG via hydrolysis followed by derivatization. We plan to continue working with all three techniques since each is very sensitive, and has certain advantages.