cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
THE RELATIONSHIP OF MEMORY, REASONING, AND SPEED OF PROCESSING ON FALLING AMONG OLDER ADULTS

Older adults are at higher risk of falling and of suffering greater devastating effects from such falls. The objective of this study was to longitudinally examine predictors for risk of falling such as cognitive composites (reasoning, memory, speed of processing) along with traditional predictors. Data on falls, cognition, objective functional tests, visual acuity, and demographics were collected on older adults at baseline (N = 698) and at a two-year annual follow-up (n = 550). By using hierarchical multiple regression, we found that older age, being an older Caucasian woman, poorer performance on Turn 360 at baseline, and having a better memory at baseline predicted higher reports of falling in the past two months at the two-year annual follow-up. These results confirm prior findings except for memory; however, better memory as a predictor of falls may indicate that there is a recall bias dependent on memory function.
Kinetics of activation of a PKC-regulated epithelial calcium channel.

The kinetics of calcium entry through regulated calcium channels in cultured renal proximal tubule cells was studied with Fura-2 fluorescence ratio imaging in single cells. The calcium entry was activated by 1-oleoyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycerol (OAG) and phorbol-12-myristat-13-acetate (PMA), similar to that observed for activation by osmo-mechanical stress. OAG (2.5 microM) or PMA (0.5 microM) activated calcium entry is characterized by a significant latency between agonist application and the response, whereas the effect of osmo-mechanical stress was immediate. This pre-response latency was 260 +/- 70s with OAG stimulation and 79.2 +/- 17.3s with PMA stimulation. Once a cell responds, the intracellular calcium level reaches a peak value within seconds. The cell response to agonist is independent of the response of neighboring cells. The response kinetics resembles those of the calcium sparks in excitable cells, except the response is much slower. In all cases, the response appears to be an all-or-none event, that is characteristics of an elementary binary switch. It is suggested that the binary response and the lack of coordinated response of calcium entry in single cells results from limited availability of the calcium channels and/or PKC that activates the channel. The experimental data could be fit to a single binary response mathematical model assuming each response reflected an elementary event of a single channel opening or a co-ordinated opening of a cluster of several channels.
Freezing of the Lennard-Jones liquid

Abstract Solid-liquid coexistence in the Lennard-Jones system is examined using the density functional theory of freezing. Good agreement is found with the results of computer simulations and real experiments on argon.
Formal Declaration of the Anthropocene Requires Rigorous Examination, Scientists Say

Human influence on Earth's atmosphere, oceans, land, and biology has grown to the extent that some people now think that the planet may have entered a new geological period, known as the Anthropocene.
Silicide/silicon interface bonding☆

Abstract Reaction at the transition-metal/Si interface can lead to considerable variety in the overall structure of the interface, particularly the overlayer microstructure, interface morphology, and lattice structure of the metallic reaction product (silicide). However, the basic chemical bonding between metal and Si atoms at the interface dominates its electronic and local atomic structure and drives the interface reaction processes. The Schottky barrier electrical properties of the contact are determined by these more intrinsic aspects of the interfacial metal-Si atom bonding and reaction, including the local electronic structure and associated charge transfer, typical local atomic environment and structure, and possible consequences of the reaction such as structural or compositional defects with relatively high density at or near the interface.
A Damage Identification Method Using Vibration Modal Parameters Through Finite Element Discretization

Natural frequencies and mode shapes of a structure will change whenever the structure has any kind of damage. This paper introduces a technique to quantify and locate the damage when the natural frequencies and mode shapes of undamaged and damaged structure are known. Aluminum beams (with and without damage) are used for numerical simulation and experimental verification. To establish the theoretical basis of this method, finite element formulation is used. A set of undetermined equations involving damage indices and natural frequencies and mode shapes of undamaged and damaged structures are obtained. The damage indices are computed using non-negative least squares method. Impact modal testing was conducted with three aluminum beams and damage indices based on experimental data are compared with actual damage cases to establish the effectiveness of this method to identify the damage.Copyright © 2003 by ASME
Synthesizing average 3D anatomical shapes using deformable templates

A major task in diagnostic medicine is to determine whether or not an individual has a normal or abnormal anatomy by examining medical images such as MRI, CT, etc. Unfortunately, there are few quantitative measures that a physician can use to discriminate between normal and abnormal besides a couple of length, width, height, and volume measurements. In fact, there is no definition/picture of what normal anatomical structures--such as the brain-- look like let alone normal anatomical variation. The goal of this work is to synthesize average 3D anatomical shapes using deformable templates. We present a method for empirically estimating the average shape and variation of a set of 3D medical image data sets collected from a homogeneous population of topologically similar anatomies. Results are shown for synthesizing the average brain image volume from a set of six normal adults and synthesizing the average skull/head image volume from a set of five 3 - 4 month old infants with sagittal synostosis.
Group B Streptococcal Bacteremia in Men

Twenty-three episodes of bacteremia due to group B Streptococcus (GBS) in men were reviewed for both clinical and microbiologic features. The commonest sources of bacteremia were infections of the respiratory tract (seven cases), skin (five cases), urinary tract (four cases), and intravenous access sites (four cases). Sixteen (70%) of the cases of bacteremia were hospital acquired, and 10 (43%) were polymicrobial (seven with Staphylococcus aureus). GBS bacteremia was generally low-grade and brief as assessed by the percentage and persistence of positive blood cultures. Among patients bacteremic with GBS alone, there were no instances of shock or metastatic suppuration and only one death as a direct result of sepsis. Overall however, nine other patients died of their underlying disease during the same hospitalization. GBS bacteremia in men is, in itself, generally a moderate infection, but it is often found as part of more complex sepsis in hospitalized patients with serious, often fatal, predisposing illnesses.
Particle size-dependent radical generation from wildland fire smoke

Firefighting, along with construction, mining and agriculture, ranks among the most dangerous occupations. In addition, the work environment of firefighters is unlike that of any other occupation, not only because of the obvious physical hazards but also due to the respiratory and systemic health hazards of smoke inhalation resulting from combustion. A significant amount of research has been devoted to studying municipal firefighters; however, these studies may not be useful in wildland firefighter exposures, because the two work environments are so different. Not only are wildland firefighters exposed to different combustion products, but their exposure profiles are different. The combustion products wildland firefighters are exposed to can vary greatly in characteristics due to the type and amount of material being burned, soil conditions, temperature and exposure time. Smoke inhalation is one of the greatest concerns for firefighter health and it has been shown that the smoke consists of a large number of particles. These smoke particles contain intermediates of hydrogen, carbon and oxygen free radicals, which may pose a potential health risk. Our investigation looked into the involvement of free radicals in smoke toxicity and the relationship between particle size and radical generation. Samples were collected in discrete aerodynamic particle sizes from a wildfire in Alaska, preserved and then shipped to our laboratory for analysis. Electron spin resonance was used to measure carbon-centered as well as hydroxyl radicals produced by a Fenton-like reaction with wildfire smoke. Further study of reactive oxygen species was conducted using analysis of cellular H2O2 generation, lipid peroxidation of cellular membranes and DNA damage. Results demonstrate that coarse size-range particles contained more carbon radicals per unit mass than the ultrafine particles; however, the ultrafine particles generated more • OH radicals in the acellular Fenton-like reaction. The ultrafine particles also caused significant increases in H2O2 production by monocytes and lipid peroxidation. All particle sizes showed the ability to cause DNA damage. These results indicate that the radical generation and the damage caused by them is not only a function of surface area but is also influenced by changing chemical and other characteristics due to particle size. © 2007 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
A Modular Design for the Clathrin- and Actin-Mediated Endocytosis Machinery

Endocytosis depends on an extensive network of interacting proteins that execute a series of distinct subprocesses. Previously, we used live-cell imaging of six budding-yeast proteins to define a pathway for association of receptors, adaptors, and actin during endocytic internalization. Here, we analyzed the effects of 61 deletion mutants on the dynamics of this pathway, revealing functions for 15 proteins, and we analyzed the dynamics of 8 of these proteins. Our studies provide evidence for four protein modules that cooperate to drive coat formation, membrane invagination, actin-meshwork assembly, and vesicle scission during clathrin/actin-mediated endocytosis. We found that clathrin facilitates the initiation of endocytic-site assembly but is not needed for membrane invagination or vesicle formation. Finally, we present evidence that the actin-meshwork assembly that drives membrane invagination is nucleated proximally to the plasma membrane, opposite to the orientation observed for previously studied actin-assembly-driven motility processes.
Coniine, a Teratogenic Principle from Conium maculatum Producing Congenital Malformations in Calves

(1974). Coniine, a Teratogenic Principle from Conium maculatum Producing Congenital Malformations in Calves. Clinical Toxicology: Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 195-206.
Can Compactness Constrain the Gerrymander

Gerrymandering – the manipulation of electoral boundaries to maximize constituency wins – is often seen as a pathology of democratic systems. A commonly cited cure is to require that electoral constituencies have a ‘compact’ shape. But how much of a constraint does compactness in fact place on would-be gerrymanderers? The author operationalizes compactness as a convexity constraint and applies a theorem of Kaneko, Kano and Suzuki to the two-party situation to show that for any population distribution a gerrymanderer can always create equal (population)-sized convex constituencies that translate a margin of k voters into a margin of at least k constituency wins. Thus, even with a small margin a majority party can win all constituencies. In addition, it is shown that there always exists some population distribution such that all divisions into equal-sized convex constituencies translate a margin of k voters into a margin of exactly k constituencies. Thus, a convexity constraint can sometimes prevent a gerry...
ENGENDERING SOCIAL MOVEMENTS Cultural Images and Movement Dynamics

The fields of gender and social movements have traditionally consisted of separate literatures. Recently, however, a number of scholars have begun a fruitful exploration of the ways in which gender shapes political protest. This study adds three things to this ongoing discussion. First, the authors offer a systematic typology of the various ways in which movements are gendered and apply that typology to a wide variety of movements, including those that do not center on gender issues in any obvious way. Second, the authors discuss the process by which movements become gendered. In doing so, they go beyond current scholarship by bringing “others” (e.g., opponents and the general public) squarely into the gendered analysis. The article concludes by speculating about the outcomes of these processes and suggests that movements that draw on feminine stereotypes face a double bind that hampers their success. Illustrations come from movements in the United States, Europe, and Latin America.
MODERN STRUCTURAL OPTIMIZATION CONCEPTS APPLIED TO TOPOLOGY OPTIMIZATION

The latest optimization techniques used in size and shape optimization can be applied to topology optimization. This paper describes the use of intermediate design variables, intermediate responses, constraint screening, move limit adjustments and analytical sensitivities to create an approximate topology optimization problem to efficiently solve the real topology optimization problem. Other concepts unique to topology optimization such as checkerboard controls are also discussed.
Combining area patrol, perimeter surveillance, and target tracking using ordered upwind methods

The problems of area patrol, perimeter surveillance, and target tracking are combined into a single reconnaissance framework. This integration is based on application of ordered upwind methods to track the propagation of the target position boundary. The ordered upwind methods provide a computationally efficient method for computing the target track boundary over a discretized nonuniform mesh of the environment. Planning methods based on the target track boundary are discussed. Simulation results demonstrate the use of ordered upwind methods for reconnaissance tasks.
Dependence of the ultrasonic nonlinearity parameter B/A on cellular-level structure

The nonlinearity parameter B/A of biological media is considered useful as a tissue characterization parameter and as an accurate model of finite amplitude wave propagation in such applications as ultrasonic hyperthermia and lithotripsy. The dependence of B/A on cellular-level structure has been investigated by the thermodynamic method using liposomes as a cell model. B/A measurements were made using a pressure jump scheme to create an adiabatic pressure change and employing a cross-correlation method to determine the time delay between a pulse transmitted through a sample and a reference pulse and, thereby, the speed of wave propagation. It was found that B/A increases considerably near the transition temperature of the liposomes, suggesting that the nonlinearity parameter reflects the state of the liposome membrane. >
On optimal embeddings into incomplete hypercubes

The authors show the embeddings of various types of n-node incomplete binary trees into n-node or (n+1)-node composite hypercubes with dilation of at most 2. They also present lower bound proofs showing optimality of the dilation. They characterize the class of incomplete binary trees which are subgraphs of composite hypercubes. They present dilation 1 embedding of a two-dimensional n-node mesh, where one dimension is a power of two, into its optimal n-node composite hypercube. When neither dimension is a power of two, it is shown that a dilation 1 embedding is not possible; thereby characterizing the class of two-dimensional meshes that can be embedded into composite hypercubes with dilation 1. All two-dimensional meshes are shown to be embeddable with dilation 1 if expansion greater than 1 but less than 2 is allowed. The authors also consider two types of incomplete meshes and their embeddings into their optimal composite hypercubes. >
Pharmaceutical follow up of antirretroviral treatment in outpatients

Adherence to antiretroviral therapy is key contributor to decreasing morbidity and mortality from HIV/ AIDS infection. However, it is affected by treatment-related factors including the multiple adverse reactions and interactions arising from chronic polypharmacy. In order to determine drug-related problems, 66 outpatients from Hospital Carlos Van Buren on antiretroviral therapy were monitored. 100 % had medication-related problems and 46.1% of those problems were related to the safety of the therapy. Hypertriglyceridemia associated to the combined use of both nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor and a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor was the most frequent adverse reaction. Results show that pharmacological monitoring of patients on antiretroviral treatment is necessary for the early identification of drug-related problems and for the proposal of alternatives that promote therapeutic safety and efficacy.
Scalable learning for object detection with GPU hardware

We consider the problem of robotic object detection of such objects as mugs, cups, and staplers in indoor environments. While object detection has made significant progress in recent years, many current approaches involve extremely complex algorithms, and are prohibitively slow when applied to large scale robotic settings. In this paper, we describe an object detection system that is designed to scale gracefully to large data sets and leverages upward trends in computational power (as exemplified by Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) technology) and memory. We show that our GPU-based detector is up to 90 times faster than a well-optimized software version and can be easily trained on millions of examples. Using inexpensive off-the-shelf hardware, it can recognize multiple object types reliably in just a few seconds per frame.
Secure network-wide clock synchronization in wireless sensor networks

Clock synchronization is of critical importance for several applications in wireless and mobile sensor networks; for example to determine the order and time of events. Although several protocols to achieve clock synchronization have been developed, they may not be secure. For instance, a link controlled by an attacker could delay packets it forwards in ways which would cause the nodes sharing that link to obtain faulty time estimates. In this paper, we propose a secure network-wide clock synchronization protocol. It also allows nodes to securely discover the network topology by detecting and isolating links that behave inconsistently. This network-wide clock synchronization protocol is built on ideas in [1] where inconsistent attacks are detected using timing information alone under certain conditions. The proposed protocol has been implemented and the results of experimentation on a twenty-five node network are presented.
Less Unique Variance Than Meets the Eye: Overlap Among Traditional Neuropsychological Dimensions in Schizophrenia

The magnitude of the overlap among dimensions of neuropsychological test performance in schizophrenia has been the subject of perennial controversy. This issue has taken on renewed importance with the recent focus on cognition as a treatment target in schizophrenia. A substantial body of factor analytic literature indicates that dimensions are separable in schizophrenia. However, this literature is generally uninformative as to whether the separable dimensions are independent, weakly correlated, or strongly correlated. Factor analyses have often used methods (ie, principal components analysis with orthogonal rotation) that preclude this determination, and correlations among factor-based domain composites and underlying measures have been reported infrequently in these studies. Current meta-analyses of reported "between-dimension" correlations for individual neuropsychological measures and for cognitive domain composite variables indicate that cognition variables in schizophrenia are correlated, on average, at a "medium" level of r = 0.37 for individual measures from different cognitive dimensions and r = 0.45 for domain composites. Because these are mean bivariate correlations, the multiple correlation of an individual measure with all the other measures in a cognitive battery is likely to be higher. Measure reliabilities of 0.80 or less also imply greater commonality among traditional neuropsychological measures. In short, there are underappreciated constraints on the amount of reliable cognitive performance variance in traditional neuropsychological test batteries that is free to vary independently. The ability of such batteries to reveal cognitive domain-specific treatment effects in schizophrenia may be much more limited than is generally assumed.
H7N9 Avian Influenza A Virus and the Perpetual Challenge of Potential Human Pandemicity

ABSTRACT The ongoing H7N9 influenza epizootic in China once again presents us questions about the origin of pandemics and how to recognize them in early stages of development. Over the past ~135 years, H7 influenza viruses have neither caused pandemics nor been recognized as having undergone human adaptation. Yet several unusual properties of these viruses, including their poultry epizootic potential, mammalian adaptation, and atypical clinical syndromes in rarely infected humans, suggest that they may be different from other avian influenza viruses, thus questioning any assurance that the likelihood of human adaptation is low. At the same time, the H7N9 epizootic provides an opportunity to learn more about the mammalian/human adaptational capabilities of avian influenza viruses and challenges us to integrate virologic and public health research and surveillance at the animal-human interface.
Accurate Mass GC/LC-Quadrupole Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Fatty Acids and Triacylglycerols of Spicy Fruits from the Apiaceae Family

The triacylglycerol (TAG) structure and the regio-stereospecific distribution of fatty acids (FA) of seed oils from most of the Apiaceae family are not well documented. The TAG structure ultimately determines the final physical properties of the oils and the position of FAs in the TAG molecule affects the digestion; absorption and metabolism; and physical and technological properties of TAGs. Fixed oils from the fruits of dill (Anethum graveolens), caraway (Carum carvi), cumin (Cuminum cyminum), coriander (Coriandrum sativum), anise (Pimpinella anisum), carrot (Daucus carota), celery (Apium graveolens), fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), and Khella (Ammi visnaga), all from the Apiaceae family, were extracted at room temperature in chloroform/methanol (2:1 v/v) using percolators. Crude lipids were fractionated by solid phase extraction to separate neutral triacylglycerols (TAGs) from other lipids components. Neutral TAGs were subjected to transesterification process to convert them to their corresponding fatty acids methyl esters (FAMES) using 1% boron trifluoride (BF₃) in methanol. FAMES were analyzed by gas chromatography-quadrupole time of flight (GC-QTOF) mass spectrometry. Triglycerides were analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time of flight (LC-QTOF) mass spectrometry. Petroselinic acid was the major fatty acid in all samples ranging from 57% of the total fatty acids in caraway up to 82% in fennel. All samples contained palmitic (16:0), palmitoleic (C16:1n-9), stearic (C18:0), petroselinic (C18:1n-12), linoleic (C18:2n-6), linolinic (18:3n-3), and arachidic (C20:0) acids. TAG were analyzed using LC-QTOF for accurate mass identification and mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (MS/MS) techniques for regiospesific elucidation of the identified TAGs. Five major TAGs were detected in all samples but with different relative concentrations in all of the tested samples. Several other TAGs were detected as minor components and were present in some samples and absence in the others. Regiospecific analysis showed a non-random fatty acids distribution. Petroselinic acid was predominantly located at the sn-1 and sn-3 positions.
Random and Systematic Foraging, Experimental Studies of Depletion, and Schedules of Reinforcement

To say that an organism moves about randomly in space is to say that it fails to discriminate one location from any other. If it moves about systematically, then it does discriminate one location from another. In general, if an organism behaves randomly with respect to some dimension of the environment, it fails to discriminate among situations that differ only in that dimension, and to the extent that it does discriminate, it behaves systematically. Discrimination usually saves time and energy, because discrimination usually means that effort is allocated predominantly to situations in which it is most likely to produce favorable results. To be systematic, therefore, is to be efficient.
Genetic differences in cholesterol absorption in 129/Sv and C57BL/6 mice: effect on cholesterol responsiveness

This study compared the cholesterolemic response of two strains of mice with genetically determined differences in cholesterol absorption. When fed a basal low-cholesterol diet, 129/Sv mice absorbe...
Nuances in Localization and Surgical Treatment of Syringomyelia Associated with Fenestrated and Webbed Intradural Spinal Arachnoid Cyst: A Retrospective Analysis.

Introduction Intradural spinal arachnoid cysts (SACs) are among many etiologies for syringomyelia. Consequentially, neurologic symptoms arise such as pain, gait disturbance, and bladder dysfunction. Identification of SAC on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be challenging, as SACs can be fenestrated or in the form of fine webs. Methods Imaging and clinical data for 7 patients who underwent surgical treatment for SAC associated with syringomyelia were reviewed. All previous publications of this pathology were reviewed via MEDLINE search. Results Seven patients with a mean age 59 years were found to have a SAC causing syringomyelia. Intraoperative exploration confirmed SAC appearances of fine webs or a fluid-filled loculation impinging on the spinal cord. Common presentations were back pain, gait disturbance, and bladder incontinence. Diagnosis was made by MRI, although in 3 cases, the SAC was not identified on the initial review. Computed tomography myelogram was performed in one case due to the enlarged syringomyelia and lack of obvious spinal cord compression. Thoracic laminectomy/laminoplasty was performed for all patients, centered at the level of a subtle indentation of the cord; the syringomyelia proper was not directly addressed. Postoperatively, all patients had complete resolution of their symptoms with MRI demonstrating resolution of the syringomyelia. Conclusions Careful evaluation of the MRI can demonstrate subtle indentation of the cord at the caudal or cephalad end of the syringomyelia and may obviate the need for additional imaging. Meticulous arachnoid dissection and establishment of good CSF flow is sufficient for resolution of the syringomyelia, averting the need for more aggressive procedures.
The retinoblastoma protein-binding region of simian virus 40 large T antigen alters cell cycle regulation in lenses of transgenic mice

Regulation of the cell cycle is a critical aspect of cellular proliferation, differentiation, and transformation. In many cell types, the differentiation process is accompanied by a loss of proliferative capability, so that terminally differentiated cells become postmitotic and no longer progress through the cell cycle. In the experiments described here, the ocular lens has been used as a system to examine the role of the retinoblastoma protein (pRb) family in regulation of the cell cycle during differentiation. The ocular lens is an ideal system for such studies, since it is composed of just two cell types: epithelial cells, which are capable of proliferation, and fiber cells, which are postmitotic. In order to inactivate pRb in viable mice, genes encoding either a truncated version of simian virus 40 large T antigen or the E7 protein of human papillomavirus were expressed in a lens-specific fashion in transgenic mice. Lens fiber cells in the transgenic mice were found to incorporate bromodeoxyuridine, implying inappropriate entry into the cell cycle. Surprisingly, the lens fiber cells did not proliferate as tumor cells but instead underwent programmed cell death, resulting in lens ablation and microphthalmia. Analogous lens alterations did not occur in mice expressing a modified version of the truncated T antigen that was mutated in the binding domain for the pRb family. These experimental results indicate that the retinoblastoma protein family plays a crucial role in blocking cell cycle progression and maintaining terminal differentiation in lens fiber cells. Apoptotic cell death ensues when fiber cells are induced to remain in or reenter the cell cycle.
Do Birds of a Feather Flock Together? Speculator Herding in Derivatives Markets

Much of the responsibility for upheaval in international financial markets has been placed on speculators, particularly hedge funds. Speculative capital has been characterized as "hot money," with capital flows driven by "herding," "flocking," and "contagion" among players in foreign-exchange, stock, bond, and commodity markets. This paper looks at speculative behavior in one of the largest, and most volatile, international financial markets, petroleum. It utilizes a large, detailed database on individual trader positions in crude-oil and heating-oil futures markets. The paper is exploratory, with focus on measuring and assessing the tendency of speculators to herd (trade in the same direction as a group) and flock (trade in the same direction by subgroups of speculators). Two theories behind rational herding behavior are examined - the asymmetric information view (poorly-informed traders make decisions based on observing well-informed traders, rather than market fundamentals) and the monitoring/incentive view (institutional investors make decisions knowing that their incentives are based on performance relative to a benchmark such as mean returns for a group). The evidence is supportive of the monitoring/incentive theory, but not the asymmetric-information theory.
Elevated Serum Bilirubin Level Correlates With the Development of Cholangiocarcinoma, Subsequent Liver Transplantation, and Death in Patients With Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis

Introduction Predicting the clinical course of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is difficult. There are currently a paucity of studies evaluating serum chemistries as predictors of conventional clinical endpoints. The purpose of this study was to prognosticate key clinical endpoints in patients with PSC who had elevated serum liver chemistries at the time of their initial presentation. Methods We performed a retrospective cohort study of PSC patients at our institution. The aim of our study was to determine the association between elevated liver chemistries at initial presentation-bilirubin, alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, or alkaline phosphatase-with a primary outcome of either cholangiocarcinoma, liver transplantation, death, or composite of the 3. The secondary endpoints examined were development of severe biliary ductal disease and need for biliary stent placement. Results Eighty-one PSC patients (61 males and 20 females) were included in this study. By univariate analysis, there was a significant association between initial bilirubin elevation >2x the upper limit of normal (ULN) and death (P 2xULN (P 2xULN showed an association with severity of biliary ductal disease (P 2xULN serum bilirubin levels predicted the ductal disease severity (P Conclusions An initial elevation of serum total bilirubin >2xULN in PSC patients correlates positively with the development of cholangiocarcinoma, subsequent liver transplantation, and death. Elevated bilirubin also correlates positively with the severity of cholangiographic findings.
Retailing and Consumer Movements

IT IS THE object of this paper (I) to review the attitudes of retailers toward the consumer movement and (2) to analyze the activities of retailers with respect to the consumer movement. Most problems of the retailer-consumer movement are as old as trade itself. But the actions and attitudes of consumers themselves now give rise to special problems which are a part of the consumer movement.
Clearing out the underbrush in constitutional challenges to health insurance reform.

Federal district Judge Roger Vinson of Florida struck down as unconstitutional the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate to obtain health insurance. The progress of such litigation has sharpened the focus on the only really viable challenge to the reform law.
Production in rabbits of immune tolerance to a mixture of antigens.

ConclusionIn neonatal rabbits, a substantial degree of immunologic tolerance has been produced to all the antigens in normal human serum.
Protocols for the treatment of essential hypertension and type II diabetes mellitus by pharmacists in ambulatory care clinics.

During the last several years, the pharmacist has acted as a primary-care provider for patients with selected chronic illnesses at an urban county health department. The pharmacist's responsibilities include examining patients, ordering laboratory tests and X-rays, and adjusting or prescribing medication.In order to comply with health department regulations requiring the use of protocols by non-physician practitioners, and to better define the pharmacist's role, pharmacy protocols for the treatment of essential hypertension and type II diabetes mellitus have been developed. The protocols provide specific guidelines for the pharmacist involved in primary patient care. In addition, they describe a procedure for the selection and referral of patients.These protocols can serve as a sound foundation by which other pharmacists involved with primary patient care treat essential hypertension and type II diabetes mellitus. They can easily be modified to suit a pharmacist's particular needs and situation.
The Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase Enzyme Tankyrase Antagonizes Activity of the β-Catenin Destruction Complex through ADP-ribosylation of Axin and APC2

Most colon cancer cases are initiated by truncating mutations in the tumor suppressor, adenomatous polyposis coli (APC). APC is a critical negative regulator of the Wnt signaling pathway that participates in a multi-protein "destruction complex" to target the key effector protein β-catenin for ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis. Prior work has established that the poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) enzyme Tankyrase (TNKS) antagonizes destruction complex activity by promoting degradation of the scaffold protein Axin, and recent work suggests that TNKS inhibition is a promising cancer therapy. We performed a yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) screen and uncovered TNKS as a putative binding partner of Drosophila APC2, suggesting that TNKS may play multiple roles in destruction complex regulation. We find that TNKS binds a C-terminal RPQPSG motif in Drosophila APC2, and that this motif is conserved in human APC2, but not human APC1. In addition, we find that APC2 can recruit TNKS into the β-catenin destruction complex, placing the APC2/TNKS interaction at the correct intracellular location to regulate β-catenin proteolysis. We further show that TNKS directly PARylates both Drosophila Axin and APC2, but that PARylation does not globally regulate APC2 protein levels as it does for Axin. Moreover, TNKS inhibition in colon cancer cells decreases β-catenin signaling, which we find cannot be explained solely through Axin stabilization. Instead, our findings suggest that TNKS regulates destruction complex activity at the level of both Axin and APC2, providing further mechanistic insight into TNKS inhibition as a potential Wnt pathway cancer therapy.
Bacterial clinical infectious diseases ontology (BCIDO) dataset.

This article describes the Bacterial Infectious Diseases Ontology (BCIDO) dataset related to research published in http:dx.doi.org/ 10.1016/j.jbi.2015.07.014 [1], and contains the Protege OWL files required to run BCIDO in the Protege environment. BCIDO contains 1719 classes and 39 object properties.
Effects of Classroom Lighting on the Behavior of Exceptional Children

A review of the effects of classroom lighting methods on activity level, achievement, visual acuity/fatigue, and health of nonhandicapped and handicapped students is presented. Effects of different...
Clonotypic Bone Marrow-Derived Endothelial Progenitor Cells in Multiple Myeloma.

Abstract In multiple myeloma (MM), bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) contribute to tumor neoangiogenesis and their levels covary with tumor mass and prognosis. Recent X-chromosome inactivation studies in female patients showed that, similar to tumor cells, EPCs are clonally restricted in MM. Genomic profiling of MM using high-resolution array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) has been previously utilized to mine the genome and find clinical correlates in MM patients. In this study, clonotypic aspects of bone marrow-derived EPCs and MM cells were investigated using aCGH and expression profiling analysis. Confluent EPCs were outgrown from bone marrow aspirates by adherence to laminin. EPCs were >98% vWF/CD133/KDR+ and 50% CD38+. For aCGH and for gene expression profiling, genomic DNA and total RNA from EPCs and MM cells were hybridized to human oligonucleotide arrays (Agilent Technologies) and human cDNA microarrays (Affymetrix), respectively. High resolution aCGH with segmentation analysis showed that EPCs and MM cells in one of ten cases share identical patterns of chromosomal gains and losses, while another 5 cases shared multiple focal copy number alterations (CNAs) including gains and losses. The genomes of EPCs and MM cells additionally displayed exclusive CNAs, but these were far fewer in EPCs than in MM cells. In 3 patients, EPCs harbored a common 0.6Mb deletion at 1q21 not shared by MM cells. Pertinent genes in this region that could affect proliferation and tumor suppression include N2N, NBPF10, and TXNIP. Validation studies of aCGH findings by other methods are ongoing. Gene expression profiling showed decreased expression of 1q21 region genes (e.g., calgranulin C and lamin A/C). A genome-wide comparison of patients' MM cells and EPCs, which is focused on their shared genetic characteristics, will be presented.
Soft Decision Decoding Metrics for DS/DPSK Receivers

Several soft decision decoding techniques are presented for DS/DPSK signaling over pulse jammed channels. The performance of the maximum likelihood soft decision metric and a number of suboptimal soft decision metrics is considered. Soft decision metrics require channel side information for satisfactory performance. Several effective techniques are investigated for generating channel side information to mitigate the effects of pulse jamming.
Sustained tobramycin release from polyphosphate double network hydrogels.

Abstract Sustained local delivery of antibiotics from a drug reservoir to treat or prevent bacterial infections can avoid many of the drawbacks of systemic administration of antibiotics. Prolonged local release of high concentrations of antibiotics may also be more effective at treating bacteria in established biofilm populations that are resistant to systemic antibiotics. A double network hydrogel comprising an organic polyphosphate pre-polymer network polymerized within a polyacrylamide network de-swelled to about 50% of its initial volume when the polyphosphate network was crosslinked with polycationic tobramycin, an aminoglycoside antibiotic. The antibiotic-loaded hydrogels contained approximately 200 mg/ml of tobramycin. The hydrogels continuously released daily amounts of tobramycin above the Pseudomonas aeruginosa minimal bactericidal concentration for greater than 50 days, over the pH range 6.0–8.0, and completely eradicated established P. aeruginosa biofilms within 72 h in a flow cell bioreactor. The presence of physiological concentrations of Mg2+ and Ca2+ ions doubled the cumulative release over 60 days. The polyphosphate hydrogels show promise as materials for sustained localized tobramycin delivery to prevent post-operative P. aeruginosa infections including infections established in biofilms. Statement of Significance Polyphosphate hydrogels were loaded with high concentrations of tobramycin. The hydrogels provided sustained release of bactericidal concentrations of tobramycin for 50 days, and were capable of completely eradicating P. aeruginosa in established biofilms. The hydrogels have potential for localized prevention or treatment of P. aeruginosa infections.
Abstract B090: Collagen organization implicated in tumor dormancy

It is known that tumor cells can reside in a dormant state for decades. Data from numerous studies strongly suggest that extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins can impart a dormant phenotype, however little is known regarding how ECM regulates tumor cell dormancy. Given the technical difficulties in studying tumor cell dormancy in the context of secondary lesions (i.e., the searching for a needle in a haystack problem), here we use tumor suppression at the primary site as a model to investigate the role of ECM in breast cancer dormancy. Specifically, we hypothesize that insight into tumor dormancy can be obtained by studying the response of the mammary ECM to tamoxifen treatment and parity, two conditions that protect the mammary epithelium from tumorigenesis. Utilizing breast cancer cell lines capable of transitioning from indolent to proliferative/invasive states, we demonstrate that ECM isolated from tamoxifen treated or parous rat mammary glands decreases tumor growth and impedes invasive phenotypes compared to nulliparous mammary matrix, using both in vitro and in vivo models. Collagen stained tissues and proteomic analysis identified increased abundance of collagen I in tamoxifen treated and parous mammary stroma, an observation extended to breast tissue of parous women. These results are unexpected given the known pro-tumorigenic attributes of fibrillar collagen. Second harmonic generation imaging and atomic force microscopy reveals that the abundant collagen observed in the mammary glands of parous rats is less linearized and has decreased stromal stiffness compared to nulliparous mammary glands. These data implicate collagen organization rather than density in tumor suppression. Using 3D cell culture models, we demonstrate that linearized fibrillar collagen I induces an invasive phenotype in mammary tumor cells through a mechanism dependent on β1 integrin endocytic recycling. Conversely, high density, non-fibrillar collagen I decreases β1 endocytic integrin recycling, increases junctional E-cadherin staining, upregulates adherens and tight junction genes, and downregulates EMT transcription factors and metalloproteinase genes, all attributes consistent with tumor suppression. These data show that collagen organization, rather than collagen density, is a key contributor to the tumor cell invasive phenotype. In conclusion, we demonstrate that collagen | organization is dominant over density in driving tumor cell invasion, an observation that may have implications in understanding how mammographic breast density determines breast cancer risk, as well as how collagen organization contributes to tumor cell dormancy at distant sites. Citation Format: Ori Maller, Kirk C. Hansen, Valerie Weaver, Rytis Prekeris, Pepper Schedin. Collagen organization implicated in tumor dormancy. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Advances in Breast Cancer Research: Genetics, Biology, and Clinical Applications; Oct 3-6, 2013; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Res 2013;11(10 Suppl):Abstract nr B090.
147 LANGERHANS' CELL HISTIOCYTOSIS: A CASE OF LETTERER-SIWE DISEASE.

An 8-month-old male infant of African-American inheritance was referred to our hospital for evaluation of a progressively worsening rash, first noticed at the age of 6 weeks. Additionally, he had complaints of fever, poor feeding, and a distended abdomen. On admission, he was found to have an extensive erythematous rash with fissuring, scaling, and crusting. Abdominal examination revealed gross hepatosplenomegaly confirmed by ultrasonography. Lab studies were significant for anemia, thrombocytopenia, and an elevated CRP. Other laboratory tests and imaging studies were essentially negative. The patient was started on intravenous antibiotics, and in consultation with several subspecialties, a working diagnosis of Langerhans9 cell histiocytosis (LCH) was reached. This diagnosis was subsequently confirmed by a skin biopsy, which showed infiltration of Langerhans9 cells (LCs) in the papillary dermis. Immunohistochemical staining of these cells was positive for CD1a and S-100. The patient was started on chemotherapy with vinblastine and prednisone. After the first round of treatment, there was an apparent improvement in the patient9s clinical status as assessed by a healing of his rash, return to normal feeding, and a decrease in hepatosplenomegaly. Here we present a case of systemic LCH, historically classified under the syndrome Letterer-Siwe disease. The term LCH encompasses a group of disorders of uncertain etiology, which are characterized by proliferation of the dendritic mononuclear Langerhans9 cells. The classic presentation of Letterer-Siwe disease is of a child less than 2 years of age who presents with the clinical description detailed above. Thrombocytopenia is of grave prognostic significance. Since the incidence of the syndrome is rare (0.5/million/yr cases in the United States), there is frequently a delayed or misdiagnosis. The clinician may be alerted to a more serious etiology when a child younger than 2 years presents with an eczematous rash that has failed to respond to corticosteroid therapy or has severe, unexplained multiorgan disease. The mainstay of diagnosis is a skin biopsy, which shows the histologic picture and staining characteristics as described above. Once the diagnosis is made, the extent of the disease is determined by appropriate imaging and laboratory studies. The prognosis of Letterer-Siwe disease is poor, with a > 50% mortality rate. Treatment for the syndrome includes the chemotherapeutic agents vinblastine, etoposide, mercaptopurine, and methotrexate combined with steroids such as prednisolone. When possible, patients are best referred to treatment centers specializing in histiocytosis management.
An Intervention to Increase 24-Hour Urine Collection Compliance

AbstractIntroduction:Compliance with 24-hour urine collections for assessing kidney stone risk is important in assigning preventive therapy. We determined factors associated with compliance and the...