cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mediators of physical activity behavior change: a multivariate approach.

Using a multivariate extension of the Baron and Kenny (1986) mediation framework, we examined the simultaneous effect of psychosocial variables hypothesized to mediate the relationship between a motivationally-tailored physical activity intervention, and 6-month physical activity behavior in 239 healthy, under-active adults (mean age=47.5; 82% women). Participants were randomly assigned to 1) Print-based feedback; 2) Telephone-based feedback; or 3) Contact Control. All mediation criteria were satisfied for both intervention arms. In terms of effect size, a moderate indirect effect of Print (0.39, 95% CI=0.21, 0.57) was due to increases in behavioral processes (0.54, 95% CI= 0.29, 0.80) being attenuated by decreases due to cognitive processes (-0.17, 95%CI= -0.31,-.03). A moderate indirect effect was observed for Telephone (0.47, 95% CI=0.28, 0.66), with increases due to behavioral processes (0.61, 95% CI=0.34, 0.87) attenuated by decreases due to cognitive processes (0.15, 95% CI=-0.27, -0.02); self-efficacy and decisional balance mediational paths did not attain statistical significance. These findings highlight the importance of studies that deconstruct the theoretical components of interventions to determine which combination produces the greatest behavior changes at the lowest cost.
How to obtain and interpret periodontal radiographs in dogs

Oral radiography plays an important role in the diagnosis of periodontal disease. The diagnostic yield of radiographs is high, and they should be obtained in all cases presenting for periodontal treatment and to assess the long-term success of therapy. Diagnostic-quality radiographs for evaluating the periodontium are best obtained with a dental x-ray unit and with the patient under general anesthesia. The standard full-mouth radiographic survey contains a minimum of 6 views, and with practice, can be obtained with minimal effort and time. Interpretation of dental radiographs, however, requires a keen understanding of the normal radiographic anatomy of a tooth and its supporting structures. The radiographic diagnosis of periodontal disease is characterized by rounding of the alveolar crest with loss in continuity of the lamina dura, widening of the periodontal ligament space, and loss of alveolar crest height.
The 2006 Mega Marchas in Greater Los Angeles: Counter-Hegemonic Moment and the Future of El Migrante Struggle

This article discusses the Mega Marchas in Greater Los Angeles, a series of massive protests and actions that emerged in the spring of 2006 to oppose a draconian immigration bill passed in December 2005, by a Republican majority in the US House of Representatives. Using a neo-Gramscian framework, I describe the origins of the Mega Marchas, their dynamics and the decline of the movement that made them possible. Grounded in my analysis of 12 interviews with leading activists from diverse sectors, and hundreds of hours of participation and observation of political activities around the 2006 Mega Marchas, including meetings, conferences, press conferences, lobbying and strategy sessions, I argue that the 2006 Mega Marchas constitute a counter-hegemonic moment in the history of Latino social movements. Moreover, the article challenges the view that the Mega Marchas were organized spontaneously or by radio personalities. I end with a brief discussion on the current economic crisis and the Obama administration and their implications for the future of the Migrante Struggle.
Notch 1 Overexpression Inhibits Osteoblastogenesis by Suppressing Wnt/β-Catenin but Not Bone Morphogenetic Protein Signaling

Notch proteins are transmembrane receptors that control cell-fate decisions. Upon ligand binding, Notch receptors undergo proteolytic cleavage leading to the release of their intracellular domain (NICD). Overexpression of NICD impairs osteoblastogenesis, but the mechanisms are not understood. We examined consequences of the constitutive activation of Notch 1 in ST-2 cells. Notch opposed the effects of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)-2 and Wnt 3a on alkaline phosphatase activity (APA). BMP-2 induced the phosphorylation of Smad 1/5/8 and the transactivation of a BMP/Smad-responsive construct (12×SBE-Oc-pGL3), but the effect was not modified by Notch. BMP-2 had minimal effects on the phosphorylation of the mitogen-activated protein kinases ERK, p38, and JNK, in the absence or presence of NICD. Notch overexpression decreased the transactivating effect of Wnt 3a, cytoplasmic β-catenin levels, and Wnt-dependent gene expression. Transfection of a mutant β-catenin expression construct, or the use of a glycogen synthase kinase 3β inhibitor to stabilize β-catenin, partially blocked the inhibitory effect of NICD on Wnt signaling and on APA. HES-1 or Groucho1/TLE1 RNA interference enhanced basal and induced Wnt/β-catenin signaling opposing NICD effects, but only HES-1 silencing enhanced Wnt 3a effects on APA. In conclusion, NICD overexpression prevents BMP-2 and Wnt biological effects by suppressing Wnt but not BMP signaling. HES-1 appears to mediate effects of Notch on osteoblastogenesis.
A sparse reconstruction method for the estimation of multi-resolution emission fields via atmospheric inversion

Abstract. Atmospheric inversions are frequently used to estimate fluxes of atmospheric greenhouse gases (e.g., biospheric CO2 flux fields) at Earth's surface. These inversions typically assume that flux departures from a prior model are spatially smoothly varying, which are then modeled using a multi-variate Gaussian. When the field being estimated is spatially rough, multi-variate Gaussian models are difficult to construct and a wavelet-based field model may be more suitable. Unfortunately, such models are very high dimensional and are most conveniently used when the estimation method can simultaneously perform data-driven model simplification (removal of model parameters that cannot be reliably estimated) and fitting. Such sparse reconstruction methods are typically not used in atmospheric inversions. In this work, we devise a sparse reconstruction method, and illustrate it in an idealized atmospheric inversion problem for the estimation of fossil fuel CO2 (ffCO2) emissions in the lower 48 states of the USA. Our new method is based on stagewise orthogonal matching pursuit (StOMP), a method used to reconstruct compressively sensed images. Our adaptations bestow three properties to the sparse reconstruction procedure which are useful in atmospheric inversions. We have modified StOMP to incorporate prior information on the emission field being estimated and to enforce non-negativity on the estimated field. Finally, though based on wavelets, our method allows for the estimation of fields in non-rectangular geometries, e.g., emission fields inside geographical and political boundaries. Our idealized inversions use a recently developed multi-resolution (i.e., wavelet-based) random field model developed for ffCO2 emissions and synthetic observations of ffCO2 concentrations from a limited set of measurement sites. We find that our method for limiting the estimated field within an irregularly shaped region is about a factor of 10 faster than conventional approaches. It also reduces the overall computational cost by a factor of 2. Further, the sparse reconstruction scheme imposes non-negativity without introducing strong nonlinearities, such as those introduced by employing log-transformed fields, and thus reaps the benefits of simplicity and computational speed that are characteristic of linear inverse problems.
Genetic alterations of the p14ARF -hdm2-p53 regulatory pathway in breast carcinoma.

TP53 is the most commonly mutated tumor suppressor gene in human cancers. The amplification and overexpression of HDM2 plays a role in tumorigenesis via inactivation of p53-dependent cell cycle arrest. p14ARF, an alternate transcript of the INK4A tumor suppressor locus, prevents hdm2-induced transcriptional silencing of p53 by binding hdm2. The role of this p14ARF-hdm2-p53 regulatory pathway in breast carcinoma is unknown. We hypothesized that p14ARF mutations and HDM2 gene amplification may be alternative mechanisms of p53 inactivation in breast cancer. Mutational analysis of TP53 (exons 5–9) and exon 1β of p14ARF was performed by PCR-SSCP and putative mutations were confirmed by sequencing. p14ARF mRNA expression was evaluated by RT-PCR and the presence of HDM2 gene amplification by differential PCR. Among the cell lines, 7/14 (50%) harbored TP53 mutations and 2/14 (14%) had a deletion of p14ARF exon 1β with no detectable p14ARF mRNA. None demonstrated HDM2 gene amplification. TP53 mutations were identified in 7/36 (19%) breast tumors and HDM2 amplification in 2/30 (7%) tumors. All the tumors contained an intact p14ARF exon 1β with corresponding expression of the mRNA. Alterations in the various components of this regulatory pathway were identified in nine (64%) cell lines and 25% of the 36 breast cancers with TP53 mutation being the predominant aberration. Although p14ARF mutations and HDM2 gene amplification appear to be uncommon events in breast carcinoma, deregulation of this pathway may occur via alternative mechanisms in breast carcinogenesis.
Classification of commercial and personal profiles on MySpace

Online social networks such as MySpace and Facebook have become popular platforms for people to make connections, share information, and interact with each other online. In an online social network, user publishing activities such as sending messages and posting photos, represent online interactions between friends. As more and more businesses use social networks as a means to propagate their “brand name” and distribute information about their product, a good understanding of user publishing characteristics is important for marketing analysis and aids in the ability to provide security measures for online social networks. In this work, we look at the implications of social networks with respect to commercial use. We are particularly interested in classifying commercial and personal profiles to protect the privacy and anonymity of individual users. We present an algorithm that uses online social network publishing relationships, such as publisher age distribution and usage patterns to construct a decision tree based classifier. The result is a C4.5 pruned decision tree which is applied to a Privacy-Preserving Data Publishing (PPDP) service to provide anonymity for online social network users.
A Fault-Tolerant Workflow Mapping Algorithm under End-to-End Delay Constraint

In recent years, distributed scientific workflows structured as directed acyclic graph (DAG) are widely applied to various research areas to enable science discovery. In a heterogeneous distributed computing environment, computing nodes and communication link failures are inevitable and could have an negative impact on the applications. Efficient mapping and scheduling algorithms to achieve both the low end-to-end delay and the high reliability have been attracting active research interests. However, it is not possible to optimize both objectives due to conflicting requirements. We proposed a mapping and scheduling algorithm, namely Fault-tolerant Workflow Mapping Algorithm under End-to-end Delay Constraint (FMEDC), which considers both the execution delay and reliability in a two-step procedure. In the first step, a hybrid mapping algorithm combining recursive critical path searching and layer-based priority techniques (HCPT) is developed to achieve the minimum end-to-end delay(MED) along the critical path. The computation and communication failure rates are factored into equation to compute the reliability-enhanced execution time. In the second step, the modules on the non-critical paths are rescheduled onto nodes in a way such that system reliability can be improved under the MED constraint calculated in the first step. Experimental results show that our algorithm achieves the lowest MED but highest reliability under the same time constraints compared with some representative algorithms.
Kinetics of the ring‐opening metathesis polymerization of a 7‐oxanorbornene derivative by Grubbs' catalyst

The kinetics of the initiation and propagation of the ring-opening metathesis polymerization of exo,exo-5,6-bis(methoxycarbonyl)-7-oxabicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene catalyzed by Grubbs' catalyst (Cl2(PCy3)2RuCHPh) were measured by ultraviolet–visible and 1H NMR spectroscopy, respectively. Activation parameters for these processes were also determined. Although the ratio of the rate constant of initiation to the rate constant of propagation was determined to be less than 1 for this system, this polymerization showed many of the characteristics of a living system, including low polydispersities. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 2125–2131, 2003
The Signal Extraction Approach to Nonlinear Regression and Spline Smoothing

Abstract This article shows how to fit a smooth curve (polynomial spline) to pairs of data values (yi, xi ). Prior specification of a parametric functional form for the curve is not required. The resulting curve can be used to describe the pattern of the data, and to predict unknown values of y given x. Both point and interval estimates are produced. The method is easy to use, and the computational requirements are modest, even for large sample sizes. Our method is based on maximum likelihood estimation of a signal-in-noise model of the data. We use the Kalman filter to evaluate the likelihood function and achieve significant computational advantages over previous approaches to this problem.
Frequency-Dependent Regulation of Follicle-Stimulating Hormone β by Pulsatile Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Is Mediated by Functional Antagonism of bZIP Transcription Factors

Oscillatory synthesis and secretion of the gonadotropins, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH), under the control of pulsatile hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), is essential for normal reproductive development and fertility. The molecular mechanisms by which various patterns of pulsatile GnRH regulate gonadotrope responsiveness remain poorly understood. In contrast to the alpha and LH beta subunit genes, FSH beta subunit transcription is preferentially stimulated at low rather than high frequencies of pulsatile GnRH. In this study, mutation of a cyclic AMP response element (CRE) within the FSH beta promoter resulted in the loss of preferential GnRH stimulation at low pulse frequencies. We hypothesized that high GnRH pulse frequencies might stimulate a transcriptional repressor(s) to attenuate the action of CRE binding protein (CREB) and show that inducible cAMP early repressor (ICER) fulfills such a role. ICER was not detected under basal conditions, but pulsatile GnRH stimulated ICER to a greater extent at high than at low pulse frequencies. ICER binds to the FSH beta CRE site to reduce CREB occupation and abrogates both maximal GnRH stimulation and GnRH pulse frequency-dependent effects on FSH beta transcription. These data suggest that ICER production antagonizes the stimulatory action of CREB to attenuate FSH beta transcription at high GnRH pulse frequencies, thereby playing a critical role in regulating cyclic reproductive function.
Automatic recognition of 3-D objects via geographic encoding

An approach to computer recognition of 3-D objects is presented. The vision system acquires the useful knowledge about the objects by taking their pictures at several stable positions and with various viewing angles. The acquired knowledge is represented by four levels of geographic codes. At each stable position, the object is characterized by a set of geographic code clusters. During the training phase, a knowledge base for geographic encoding representation is created. In the recognition phase, the vision system extracts the geographic codes of unknown objects and performs pattern cluster matching for the identification of the objects. >
Separating fact from artifact in changes in nutrient intake over time

Abstract Objective To determine whether the differences between the procedures and nutrient databases used in the 1977–1978 Nationwide Food Consumption Survey (1977–1978 NFCS) and those used in the 1987–1988 NFCS could notably affect the estimated mean nutrient intakes. Design This was a split-sample field experiment. Seventy-two area segments were randomly selected; 10 housing units were selected in each segment and randomly assigned to one of two experimental groups. Setting The study took place in the Philadelphia, Pa, metropolitan area. Subjects The subjects were 697 women aged 20 to 49 years. Treatment Group A was interviewed using 1987–1988 NFCS 24-hour recall procedures and their nutrient intakes were calculated using the 1987–1988 NFCS food codes, weight conversion factors, and nutrient database. Group B was interviewed using 1977–1978 NFCS 24-hour recall procedures and nutrient intakes were calculated four ways using various combinations of 1987–1988 and 1977–1978 NFCS food codes, weight conversions, and nutrient database. Main outcome measure Mean intakes of food energy and 14 nutrients were calculated. Statistical analysis We used two-sample, multivariate t tests; univariate t tests; univariate repeated measures analysis of variance; and univariate paired t tests. Results Changes in the nutrient database caused by improved analytic techniques and increased number of foods sampled were great enough to warrant revising the 1977–1978 NFCS estimated intakes for iron, magnesium, and vitamins B-6 and B-12. Changes in intake of fat, vitamin A, and thiamin, however, were caused by real changes in foods so no revisions were necessary for these nutrients. Other nutrients were unaffected. Conclusion When considering changes in nutrient intake over time, it is important to correct the earlier food composition estimates so that they accurately reflect the composition of foods at the time they were consumed. This requires preserving the real differences in the composition of foods while correcting for artifactual differences attributable to improvements in the quality of nutrient data. J Am Diet Assoc. 1994; 94:270–275.
Business and Political Dimensions in Disaster Management

A considerable and growing body of crisis management literature seeks to help business managers address disasters. Notwithstanding, the business literature on crisis management fails fully to understand the policy and political aspects of business disasters, and concentrates on prescriptive, managerial issues that show disregard and sometimes disdain for plural democracy. We illustrate our argument with a review of the existing crisis management literature, and three case studies: the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the Jack in the Box E. Coli outbreak, and the crash of Valujet flight 592. We find that the primary gap in the crisis management literature is its failure to understand the motivations of countervailing interest groups and the facts that mobilize them to take action. We argue that the lessons derived from these cases are equally applicable to North American, European and Asian business crises.
Resveratrol Potentiates Genistein's Antiadipogenic and Proapoptotic Effects in 3T3-L1 Adipocytes

Genistein (G) and resveratrol (R) individually inhibit adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and induce apoptosis in cancer cells. We investigated whether the combination of G and R resulted in enhanced effects on adipogenesis, lipolysis, and apoptosis in 3T3-L1 cells.Preadipocytes andmatureadipocytes were treated with G andR individually at 50 and100 mmol/L (G100; R100) and in combination. Both in preadipocytes and mature adipocytes, G and R individually decreased cell viability dose-dependently, but G100 1 R100 further decreased viability by 59 6 0.97% (P , 0.001) and 69.7 6 1.2% (P , 0.001) after 48 h compared with G100 and R100, respectively. G100 1 R100 induced apoptosis 242 6 8.7% (P , 0.001) more than the control after 48 h, whereas G100 and R100 individually increased apoptosis only 46 6 9.2 and 46 6 7.9%, respectively. G and R did not modulate mitogen-activated protein kinase expression by themselves, but G100 1 R100 increased Jun-N-terminal kinase phosphorylation by 38.8 6 4.4% (P , 0.001) and decreased extracellular signal-regulating kinase phosphorylation by 48 6 3.4% (P , 0.001). Individually, G and R at 25 mmol/L (G25; R25) decreased lipid accumulation by 30 6 1.7% and 20.07 6 4.27%, respectively (P , 0.001). However, G25 1 R25 decreased lipid accumulation by 77.9 6 3.4% (P , 0.001). Lipolysis assay revealed that neither G25 nor R25 induced lipolysis, whereas G25 1 R25 significantly increased lipolysis by 25.5 6 4.6%. The adipocyte-specific proteins PPARg and CCAAT/enhancer binding protein-alpha were downregulated after treatment with G 1 R, but no effect was observed with individual compounds. These results indicate that G and R in combination produce enhanced effects on inhibiting adipogenesis, inducing apoptosis, and promoting lipolysis in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Thus, the combination of G and R is more potent in exerting antiobesity effects than the individual compounds. J. Nutr. 137: 2668‐2673, 2007.
Clinical Challenges in Parental Expression of Hope and Miracles

The concepts of hope and the medical miracle are ubiquitous in modern medical practice and can often become central aspects of a critically ill patient’s or his family’s hospital experience.1–3 Cases where these beliefs are especially strong even make their way into mainstream media, as in the 2013 case of the California teen who became brain dead after a complication from a tonsillectomy. In this case, her family fought a widely publicized court battle to be able to keep her on mechanical support and move her out of state to another facility. They believed that, despite what was explained to them regarding the diagnosis of brain death, their daughter would one day recover.4 A high prevalence of spirituality within the American population serves as a foundation for expectations in miracles5 and pediatricians may frequently encounter similar ideas in conversations with families. Despite all of the limitations in contemporary practice, physicians are acutely aware of the popular confidence in medical technology and the tendency for families to hope for outcomes that are medically unattainable. The unprecedented explosion of rapid medical advancement through the 20th century has helped to perpetuate the belief that technology has the ability to repair any affliction. With the advent of the mechanical ventilator and proliferation in its use from the 1960s to 1970s, it was suddenly possible to even prevent death. The new technology mandated the medical community to outline technical definitions of cardiac death and brain death, which is a debate that continues … Address correspondence to Bonnie H. Arzuaga, MD, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, 330 Brookline Ave, Rose-3, Boston, MA 02215. E-mail: barzuaga{at}bidmc.harvard.edu
Mechanical amplification by hair cells in the semicircular canals

Sensory hair cells are the essential mechanotransducers of the inner ear, responsible not only for the transduction of sound and motion stimuli but also, remarkably, for nanomechanical amplification of sensory stimuli. Here we show that semicircular canal hair cells generate a mechanical nonlinearity in vivo that increases sensitivity to angular motion by amplification at low stimulus strengths. Sensitivity at high stimulus strengths is linear and shows no evidence of amplification. Results suggest that the mechanical work done by hair cells contributes ∼97 zJ/cell of amplification per stimulus cycle, improving sensitivity to angular velocity stimuli below ∼5°/s (0.3-Hz sinusoidal motion). We further show that mechanical amplification can be inhibited by the brain via activation of efferent synaptic contacts on hair cells. The experimental model was the oyster toadfish, Opsanus tau. Physiological manifestation of mechanical amplification and efferent control in a teleost vestibular organ suggests the active motor process in sensory hair cells is ancestral. The biophysical basis of the motor(s) remains hypothetical, but a key discriminating question may involve how changes in somatic electrical impedance evoked by efferent synaptic action alter function of the motor(s).
Sensitivity and S/N-ratio of superconducting high-resolution X-ray spectrometers

Superconducting tunnel junction (STJ) X-ray spectrometers have been developed for synchrotron-based high-resolution soft X-ray spectroscopy. We are quantifying the improvements in sensitivity and signal-to-noise ratio that STJ spectrometers can offer for the analysis of dilute specimens over conventional semiconductor and grating spectrometers. We present analytical equations to quantify the improvements in terms of spectrometer resolution, detection efficiency and count rate capabilities as a function of line separation and spectral background. We discuss the implications of this analysis for L-edge spectroscopy of first-row transition metals.
A Skeptical Education.

In a turn on the familiar notion that learning is inquiry, Dennis Senchuk suggests in this essay that an otherwise exemplary educational curriculum could benefit from the inclusion of some distinctively skeptical modes of inquiry. Senchuk construes two pertinent varieties of skepticism as inquiries into inquiry — one involving an inquiry into the methodology of inquiry, and the other focused argumentatively on specific outcomes of inquiry. The author stops short of interpreting these skeptical modes as the core of critical thinking, but sees them as affording opportunities for valuable linkages between philosophy and education.
Enantioselective Gold-Catalyzed Synthesis of Heterocyclic Compounds

Asymmetric gold-catalyzed syntheses of a diverse range of heterocycles are described herein. This chapter outlines efforts toward the construction of these molecules via intermolecular, intramolecular, and tandem cyclization strategies. Additionally, asymmetric hydrogenation and epoxidation approaches are detailed. These methodologies generally utilize substrates containing soft, unsaturated carbon-carbon bonds, which can easily interact with the carbophilic gold atom(s). Mostly through the use of bis- or monophosphine ligands, modest to excellent yields and enantioselectivities are obtained for a variety of partially and fully saturated heterocycles. Although steric variation of the phosphine catalyst is the most commonly used strategy for enantioinduction, the use of chiral counteranions has proven useful for more challenging transformations. This chapter includes only examples of syntheses where a chiral gold catalyst is used in the direct formation of the heterocycle; examples of pendant functionalization of an existing heterocycle or chirality transfer from enantioenriched substrate to product are not included.
Project SOAR Supporting Disadvantaged Students Technology Needs

Project SOAR was developed to support the technology needs of financially or physically disadvantaged students or minority students who are actively engaged in a teacher certification program.
Hume’s Naturalism – ‘Proof’ and Practice

Hume's "naturalism" is often seen as only an extended pragmatic mitigation of scepticism. Whereas the Pyrrhonist concedes that we have to act on particular beliefs although they are not rationally justifiable, Hume extends the necessity to cover the holding of particular beliefs which are not rationally justifiable. On this view, Hume offers to the sceptic only a claim about the unavoidability of particular beliefs, a counter-description which uncritically accepts the sceptic's thesis about lack of rational justification. I want to challenge this reading of Hume by reconsidering his category of "proof", arguing that it can shed light on how his naturalist response to scepticism might consistently show more than simply the irresistibility of particular beliefs.
Numerical investigation of the electrical current effect on the fibrous tissue growth around biomaterials

The objective of this study is to assess numerically the effect of applying electrical current on the fibrous tissue growth around polyethylene disk-shaped implants while subcutaneously placed inside 60 day old male Han-Wistar rats. This problem can be formulated as a design problem where the goal is to determine the parameters of a partial differential operator to achieve a desired effect. These electrical current parameters are computed using a regularized iterative method. The obtained results reveal that employing an appropriate electrical current profile can reduce the fibrous tissue concentration around the considered implant by up to 80%. This preliminary study tends to demonstrate the effectiveness of this novel and non-invasive approach to shield the implant from intolerable levels of fibrous tissue growth, which consequently expands the lifespan and functionality of implanted devices, as well as avoids costly and traumatic surgical procedures.
DOES GALLBLADDER REMOVAL PROTECT AGAINST SUBSEQUENT MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION

It has been suggested that gallbladder removal may protect against subsequent development of myocardial infarction because of increased gastrointestinal cholesterol excretion resulting from increased enterohepatic cycling. To test this hypothesis, the authors used data from two large case-control studies of myocardial infarction--one conducted in 1976-1979 in 155 US hospitals and one conducted in 1980-1983 in 78 US hospitals. First, 550 female myocardial infarction cases were compared to 1,658 controls. Simultaneously adjusting for possible confounding variables using logistic regression, the odds ratio for development of a myocardial infarction subsequent to cholecystectomy was 0.8 (95% confidence interval, 0.5-1.1). Second, 1,511 male myocardial infarction cases were compared to 3,837 controls. With similar adjustments, the odds ratio was 0.8 (95% confidence interval, 0.5-1.2). The risk did not decline as the interval following cholecystectomy increased. The present data are compatible with a protective effect of cholecystectomy on the risk of subsequent myocardial infarction, but they are not conclusive.
Dual antiplatelet therapy for prevention of recurrent ischemic events

The advantages of dual antiplatelet therapy over monotherapy in preventing recurrent ischemic events are examined. Atherosclerosis is an insidious systemic process involving multiple vascular beds, including the cerebral, coronary, and peripheral arteries. Atherosclerotic plaque rupture is one of the inciting events in the progression of platelet activation, aggregation, and thrombus formation. Patients with any clinical manifestation of atherosclerosis are vulnerable to others in different vascular beds since the disease develops throughout the vasculature, and different vascular events have common predisposing risk factors. Ischemic coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular disease are two of the three most frequent causes of death in the United States. The efficacy of aspirin in the secondary prevention of myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke has been demonstrated in numerous trials. While dipyridamole has not been linked with a greater odds reduction than aspirin in the development of MI, stroke, and vascular death, ticlopidine and clopidogrel have been associated with a greater reduction in the development of acute MI, stroke, and vascular death than aspirin. Clinical trials evaluating the efficacy and safety of combination antiplatelet therapy in the prevention of recurrent ischemic events are ongoing. The rationale for using a combination of two mechanistically different antiplatelet agents is supported by ex vivo and clinical studies. Inhibition of platelet aggregation and thrombus formation is enhanced with dual antiplatelet therapy. Combination antiplatelet regimens with different mechanisms of action to inhibit multiple sites in the thrombotic pathway may further improve long-term clinical outcomes. Dual antiplatelet therapy may have advantages over monotherapy in the prevention of recurrent ischemic events.
Identification of Arabidopsis Transcriptional Regulators by Yeast One-Hybrid Screens Using a Transcription Factor ORFeome

Genetic and molecular approaches revealed that the circadian clock network structure is comprised of several interlocked positive and negative transcriptional feedback loops. The network evolved to sense and integrate inputs from environmental cues to adjust daily rhythms in physiological processes. Compiling evidence indicates that part of this regulation happens at the transcriptional level through subtle adjustments in the expression of core clock genes. Thus, to better understand the network and identify the molecular mechanisms of clock input pathways, it is imperative to determine how core clock genes are regulated. For this purpose we developed reagents for an unbiased approach to identify transcription factors (TFs) interacting with the promoters of core clock genes. At the center of this approach lies the yeast one-hybrid (Y1H) assay in which a pool of proteins fused to the GAL4 transcriptional activation domain are tested for their ability to interact with a selected promoter fragment in yeast cells. Taking advantage of the fact that Arabidopsis TF genes are well annotated, we generated a comprehensive TF clone collection (TF ORFeome) and used it to replace the standard cDNA pool strategy traditionally used in Y1H screens. The use of this TF clone collection substantially accelerates the comprehensive discovery of promoter-specific DNA binding activities among all Arabidopsis TFs. Considering that this strategy can be extended to the study of the promoter interactome of any Arabidopsis gene, we developed a low throughput protocol that can be universally implemented to screen the ~2000 TF clone library.
Sertoli Cell Secreted Regulatory Factors

The secretion of regulatory factors by Sertoli cells is critical for normal testis development and function. Abnormalities in the expression or action of these factors often result in infertility or endocrine defects. Regulatory factors can act as autocrine agents to influence Sertoli cells or paracrine factors to influence neighboring cells such as spermatogenic cells, Leydig cells, or peritubular myoid cells. These regulatory factors are essential for the careful control of testis development, spermatogenesis and male fertility, and male reproductive endocrinology. Two major subcategories of regulatory factors are growth factors and hormones. The secretion of growth factors by Sertoli cells will have a role in the precise cell growth regulation required in the developing and adult testis. Another subcategory of Sertoli cell secreted regulatory factors is hormones. The local actions of hormone like factors are often required to directly influence cellular function and differentiation. In contrast to growth factors, hormones generally do not directly influence cell proliferation. These hormones are also needed to act as an endocrine agent at distant tissue and organs to regulate the reproductive endocrinology of the male.
A Demographic Deficit? Local Population Aging and Access to Services in Rural America, 1990–2010

Population aging is being experienced by many rural communities in the United States, as evidenced by increases in the median age and the high incidence of natural population decrease. The implications of these changes in population structure for the daily lives of the residents in such communities have received little attention. We address this issue in this study by examining the relationship between population aging and the availability of service-providing establishments in the rural United States between 1990 and 2010. Using data mainly from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, we estimate a series of fixed-effects regression models to identify the relationship between median age and establishment counts net of changes in overall population and other factors. We find a significant but nonlinear relationship between county median age and the total number of service-providing establishments, and counts of most specific types of services. We find a positive effect of total population size across all of our models. This total population effect is consistent with that found in other research, but the independent effect of age structure that we observe represents a novel finding and suggests that age structure is a salient factor in local rural development and community well-being.
Child cortisol moderates the association between family routines and emotion regulation in low-income children.

Biological and social influences both shape emotion regulation. In 380 low-income children, we tested whether biological stress profile (cortisol) moderated the association among positive and negative home environment factors (routines; chaos) and emotion regulation (negative lability; positive regulation). Children (M age = 50.6, SD = 6.4 months) provided saliva samples to assess diurnal cortisol parameters across 3 days. Parents reported on home environment and child emotion regulation. Structural equation modeling was used to test whether cortisol parameters moderated associations between home environment and child emotion regulation. Results showed that home chaos was negatively associated with emotion regulation outcomes; cortisol did not moderate the association. Child cortisol level moderated the routines-emotion regulation association such that lack of routine was most strongly associated with poor emotion regulation among children with lower cortisol output. Findings suggest that underlying child stress biology may shape response to environmental influences.
Biological risk factors for suicidal behaviors: a meta-analysis

Prior studies have proposed a wide range of potential biological risk factors for future suicidal behaviors. Although strong evidence exists for biological correlates of suicidal behaviors, it remains unclear if these correlates are also risk factors for suicidal behaviors. We performed a meta-analysis to integrate the existing literature on biological risk factors for suicidal behaviors and to determine their statistical significance. We conducted a systematic search of PubMed, PsycInfo and Google Scholar for studies that used a biological factor to predict either suicide attempt or death by suicide. Inclusion criteria included studies with at least one longitudinal analysis using a biological factor to predict either of these outcomes in any population through 2015. From an initial screen of 2541 studies we identified 94 cases. Random effects models were used for both meta-analyses and meta-regression. The combined effect of biological factors produced statistically significant but relatively weak prediction of suicide attempts (weighted mean odds ratio (wOR)=1.41; CI: 1.09–1.81) and suicide death (wOR=1.28; CI: 1.13–1.45). After accounting for publication bias, prediction was nonsignificant for both suicide attempts and suicide death. Only two factors remained significant after accounting for publication bias—cytokines (wOR=2.87; CI: 1.40–5.93) and low levels of fish oil nutrients (wOR=1.09; CI: 1.01–1.19). Our meta-analysis revealed that currently known biological factors are weak predictors of future suicidal behaviors. This conclusion should be interpreted within the context of the limitations of the existing literature, including long follow-up intervals and a lack of tests of interactions with other risk factors. Future studies addressing these limitations may more effectively test for potential biological risk factors.
Autism spectrum disorder reporting in lower socioeconomic neighborhoods.

Utilizing surveillance data from five sites participating in the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, we investigated contributions of surveillance subject and census tract population sociodemographic characteristics on variation in autism spectrum disorder ascertainment and prevalence estimates from 2000 to 2008 using ordinal hierarchical models for 2489 tracts. Multivariable analyses showed a significant increase in ascertainment of autism spectrum disorder cases through both school and health sources, the optimal ascertainment scenario, for cases with college-educated mothers (adjusted odds ratio = 1.06, 95% confidence interval = 1.02–1.09). Results from our examination of sociodemographic factors of tract populations from which cases were drawn also showed that after controlling for other covariates, statistical significance remained for associations between optimal ascertainment and percentage of Hispanic residents (adjusted odds ratio = 0.93, 95% confidence interval = 0.88–0.99)...
An Overview of Footwear and Orthotics

Foot and ankle pathology is commonly encountered by healthcare professionals. A basic understanding of footwear and orthotics proves helpful in the overall treatment of these patients. The following is an overview of footwear and orthosis basics for aimed toward medical professionals.
Prevalence and correlates of fentanyl-contaminated heroin exposure among young adults who use prescription opioids non-medically

Abstract Background The rate of overdose deaths caused by fentanyl-contaminated heroin (FCH) use is increasing rapidly in the United States. We examined risk factors for exposure to FCH and experiences with FCH use among young adult non-medical prescription opioids (NMPO) users. Methods We analyzed data from the Rhode Island Young Adult Prescription Drug Study (RAPiDS), which enrolled young adults aged 18 to 29 reporting prior 30 day NMPO use between January 2015 and February 2016. Participants completed questionnaires ascertaining drug use patterns and risk behaviors, including FCH exposure. Logistic regression was used to assess factors associated with known or suspected FCH exposure. Results Of 199 participants, the median age was 25 (IQR: 22, 27), 130 (65.3%) were male, and 122 (61.3%) were of White, non-Hispanic race/ethnicity. In total, 22 (11%) reported known or suspected FCH exposure in the prior six months. Several drug use patterns and risk behaviors were associated with FCH exposure, including: regular heroin and cocaine use; diverted pharmaceutical fentanyl use in the prior six months; NMPO use to avoid withdrawal symptoms; longer duration of NMPO use; regular injection drug use; and prior overdose (all p Conclusions Exposure to fentanyl-contaminated heroin is an emerging trend among young adult NMPO users in Rhode Island. Overdose prevention programs addressing FCH use are urgently needed.
Evidence-Based and Values-Based Practices for People with Severe Disabilities.

This article discusses the relationship between evidence-based practices (EBPs) and values in research and practice pertaining to people with severe disabilities. The importance of basing education...
Immanuel Kant and the Greater Glory of Geometry

One of the objections most often raised against Kant’s treatment of the nature and foundations of geometry is that it cannot accommodate the rise of non-euclidean geometry, much less its success in providing a more accurate description of the physical world. Russell, however, argued that it was really the discovery by Hilbert and others of a complete axiomatization of euclidean geometry more than anything else that revealed the irrelevance of Kantian intuition for its foundations. The scholar G. Martin, on the other hand, has claimed that Kant was really the first and true champion of the axiomatic method, and indeed in such a way that by Kant’s lights non-euclidean geometry was not only an inevitable logical possibility, but also not constructible in intuition. To evaluate all these claims it is imperative to determine the level of axiomatic consciousness of geometry actually obtained by Kant, for as Hilbert (1922) himself has well remarked, to proceed axiomatically ... is simply to think with consciousness of what one is doing. In earlier times, when they did not use the axiomatic method, men believed in various connections with naive dogmatism. Axiomatics removes the naivete, but still leaves us with all the advantages of belief, (p. 161)
Protein pathway activation mapping guided biomarker development to identify optimal combinations of MEK inhibitor with PI3K/mTOR pathway inhibitors for the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer.

2612 Background: Activated MAPK and PI3K pathway signaling are associated with poor prognosis in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). Although some TNBC cell models are sensitive to MEK inhibition...
Adding Problem-Solving Capabilities to Existing Real-Time Systems

Abstract This paper examines the fundamental difference between AI tasks and conventional real-time tasks, and discusses the problems posed by the integration of the two kinds of tasks on the same computing platform. We then develop an architecture to address the temporal isolation and responsiveness issues raised by this integration. We demonstrate the performance of this architecture and the directions for future research.
Trapping the walnut twig beetle to determine flight patterns in Colorado

Abstract. The walnut twig beetle, Pityophthorus juglandis Blackman, and its fungal associate Geosmithia morbida Kolařik et al., produce thousand cankers disease, which has devastated black walnut (Juglans nigra L.) in several states of the western U.S.A. To better understand beetle flight dynamics and life history, flight times were documented in the urban corridor along the Colorado Front Range during 2 years -- in 2008 with yellow sticky card traps and in 2012 with baited multiple funnel traps. Walnut twig beetles were determined to be active throughout the trapping season from March through November, exhibited overlapping generations, and potentially a bivoltine life cycle. Most beetles were collected from traps between July and September, and the greatest trap density frequently occurred in August. The total number of beetles collected throughout the trapping season differed at each location. In 2008 the number of beetles collected ranged from 12 to 145, and from 60 to 12,909 in 2012. More beetles wer...
Distal Ureteral Diameter Ratio is Predictive of Breakthrough Febrile Urinary Tract Infection.

Purpose: Distal ureteral diameter ratio is an objective measure that is prognostic of spontaneous resolution of vesicoureteral reflux. Along with likelihood of resolution, improved identification of children at risk for recurrent febrile urinary tract infections may impact management decisions. We evaluated the usefulness of ureteral diameter ratio as a predictive factor for breakthrough febrile urinary tract infections.Materials and Methods: Children with primary vesicoureteral reflux and detailed voiding cystourethrogram were identified. Ureteral diameter ratio was computed by measuring largest ureteral diameter within the pelvis and dividing by the distance between L1 and L3 vertebral bodies. Demographics, vesicoureteral reflux grade, laterality, presence/absence of bladder-bowel dysfunction, and ureteral diameter ratio were tested in univariate and multivariable analyses. Primary outcome was breakthrough febrile urinary tract infections.Results: We analyzed 112 girls and 28 boys with a mean ± SD age o...
Person-Organization Fit during Recruitment: An Affective Events Perspective

Candidate’s person-organization (PO) fit perceptions are invaluable to organizations because they lead to positive organizational attraction and job acceptance decisions. Yet, the recruitment liter...