cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Blood transfusion practices in upper gastrointestinal bleeding: response to a landmark study.

Objective Lack of clear evidence in red blood cell (RBC) transfusion during gastrointestinal bleeding has led to varied recommendations over the years. However, studies in broad areas of medicine have provided evidence about appropriate RBC transfusion thresholds, and a ‘landmark’ study published in 2013 provided evidence in patients with upper gastrointestinal (UGI) bleeding. We hypothesized that the response to the evidence would lead to improved RBC transfusion practice. Our aim was to determine the response in RBC transfusion practices at our institution. Design We examined RBC transfusion practices in patients with UGI bleeding who presented to the Medical University of South Carolina from January 2010 through December 2013. We abstracted extensive clinical data including demographic, medical history (comorbidities), medications, physical examination findings, laboratory data, endoscopic data, and RBC transfusion practices. We considered appropriate RBC transfusion to have occurred when performed for a hemoglobin level of Results 270 patients hospitalized with UGI bleeding had 606 RBC transfusions; 355 transfusions in 107 patients were appropriate, and 251 transfusions in 163 were inappropriate. In 2010, 2011, and 2012, the rates of appropriate RBC transfusions were 61/124 (49%), 92/172 (53%), and 84/142 (59%), respectively. There was a statistically significant difference in appropriate transfusions in 2013 (118/168 (70%)) compared with 2012 (84/142 (59%), p=0.003), as well as during 2010–2012 (237/438 (54%), p≤0.003). Conclusions The data suggest that there was an improvement in RBC transfusion practices after a landmark study. However, the data also highlight that RBC transfusion practices in UGI bleeding remain imperfect.
Predicting hospital readmission in patients with mental or substance use disorders: A machine learning approach.

Abstract Objective Mental or substance use disorders (M/SUD) are major contributors of disease burden with high risk for hospital readmissions. We sought to develop and evaluate a readmission model using a machine learning (ML) approach. Methods We analyzed patients with continuous enrollment for three years and at least one episode of M/SUD as the primary reason for hospital admission. The outcome was readmission within 30-days from discharge. Model performance was evaluated using the Area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (AUROC). We compared the AUROCs of an extreme gradient boosted tree (XGBoost) model to generalized linear model with elastic net regularization (GLMNet). Results We analyzed 65,426 unique patients and 97,688 admissions. Patients with mental disorders accounted for 66 % (13.2 % readmission rate) and substance use disorders, 34 % (22.3 % readmission rate). Among all those who had readmissions, 70.7 %, 17.0 %, and 12.4 % had 1, 2, or 3+ readmissions, respectively. Previous hospitalizations, hospital utilization, discharge disposition, diagnosis category, and comorbidity were among the highest important features in the XGBoost model. The XGBoost model AUROC was 0.737 (95 % CI: 0.732 to 0.742) versus the GLMNet 0.697 (95 % CI: 0.690 to 0.703). The AUROC of the final XGBoost model on the testing set was 0.738 (95 % CI: 0.730 to 0.748), higher than published readmission models for mental health patients. Conclusions The XGBoost model has a better performance than GLMNet and previously published models in predicting readmissions in mental health patients. Our model may be further tested to aid targeted demographic initiatives to reduce M/SUDs readmissions and benchmarking.
A case study of innovations that address constraints on the effectiveness of early-grade reading achievement

The United States Agency for International Development, World Vision, and the Australian government established All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development (ACR GCD) to address problems that prevent children from gaining foundational reading skills. ACR GCD mobilizes the private sector, academia, and nongovernmental organizations in problem-solving dialogues that support the development, testing, and promotion of new solutions to these problems. It also advances EdTech innovation and research to improve reading outcomes for marginalized children in low-resource contexts to effectively build bridges over system constraints in ways that lower the risk of pilot-testing and eventual large-scale replication. This case study describes some of ACR GCD’s funded innovations and its nontraditional approach to employing grant competitions (in which innovators propose solutions to broadly described problems) and prizes (in which innovators develop solutions to specifically identified problems). For innovations that have been evaluated, this article summarizes the findings on their impact on learning.
Evaluating Equivalence and Confirming the Null in the Organizational Sciences

Testing and rejecting the null hypothesis is a routine part of quantitative research, but relatively few organizational researchers prepare for confirming the null or, similarly, testing a hypothes...
Climate Change and Work: Politics and Power

Climate warming is the fundamental challenge of our time, not only because it will radically transform our natural environment but also because it will redefine jobs and livelihoods. This article b...
Structural basis for distinct operational modes and protease activation in AAA+ protease Lon

Substrate-bound structures of AAA+ protein translocases reveal a conserved asymmetric spiral staircase architecture wherein a sequential ATP hydrolysis cycle drives hand-over-hand substrate translocation. However, this configuration is unlikely to represent the full conformational landscape of these enzymes, as biochemical studies suggest distinct conformational states depending on the presence or absence of substrate. Here, we used cryo-electron microscopy to determine structures of the Yersinia pestis Lon AAA+ protease in the absence and presence of substrate, uncovering the mechanistic basis for two distinct operational modes. In the absence of substrate, Lon adopts a left-handed, "open" spiral organization with autoinhibited proteolytic active sites. Upon the addition of substrate, Lon undergoes a reorganization to assemble an enzymatically active, right-handed "closed" conformer with active protease sites. These findings define the mechanistic principles underlying the operational plasticity required for processing diverse protein substrates.
A Validation of Patient Health Questionnaire-9 for Cervical Spine Surgery.

Study design Retrospective. Objective The purpose of this study is to evaluate depressive symptoms as measured by the PHQ-9 survey and correlated them with scores from the SF-12 and VR-12 Mental Component Summary (MCS). Summary of background data With the rising incidence of depression and the need to identify modifiable risk factors before surgery, it is increasingly important to screen for preoperative depressive symptoms in spine surgery. Although the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) has favorable characteristics as a depressive symptom screening instrument, it has not been evaluated within cervical spine surgery. Methods A prospectively maintained surgical registry was reviewed for patients undergoing single or multilevel anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) or cervical disc replacement (CDR) from March 2016 until May 2019. Included patients underwent a procedure for degenerative spinal pathology. We collected demographic, baseline, and perioperative variables. The mean scores for postoperative PHQ-9, Short Form-12 (SF-12), and Veterans RAND-12 (VR-12) surveys were calculated, and an average change between preoperative and postoperative scores. Scatterplots depicted the association of SF-12 MCS and VR-12 MCS with PHQ-9. We evaluated the relationship of PHQ-9 with SF-12 MCS and VR-12 MCS scores by calculating a Pearson correlation coefficient and time-independent partial correlation coefficient. Results One hundred fifty-two patients underwent single or multilevel level cervical spine surgery (ACDF: 73% and CDR: 27%). The average age was 42.4 and 39% were female. Compared to preoperative scores, significant increases were observed among postoperative PHQ-9, SF-12, and VR-12 MCS surveys (P ≤ 0.001). We observed strong correlations between SF-12 and VR-12 MCS with PHQ-9 scores for both assessed correlations. Conclusion Patients undergoing ACDF or CDR demonstrated significant improvement with PHQ-9, SF-12 MCS, and VR-12 MCS instruments. PHQ-9 scores strongly correlated with SF-12 MCS and VR-12 MCS. Our findings indicate PHQ-9 is a valid tool to evaluate pre and postsurgical depressive symptoms. Level of evidence 4.
Proposed Algorithm for Treatment of Pulmonary Embolism in COVID-19 Patients

There is mounting evidence that COVID-19 patients may possess a hypercoagulable profile that increases their risk for thromboembolic complications, including pulmonary embolism (PE). PE has been associated with an increase in morbidity, mortality, prolonged ventilation, and extended ICU admissions. Intervention is warranted in some patients who develop acute massive and submassive PEs. However, the development of PE in COVID-19 patients is often complicated by such factors as delay of diagnosis, confounding medical conditions, and strict isolation precautions. In addition, depleted cardiopulmonary reserve and prone positioning can make management of PE in these patients especially challenging for the physician. In this article, we review current understanding of PE in COVID-19 patients, summarize consensus data regarding the treatment of PE, and propose an algorithm to guide the management of COVID-19 patients with PE.
Top-100 Most-Cited Sports-Related Concussion Articles Focus on Symptomatology, Epidemiology, and Demographics

Purpose To analyze the top-100 cited articles on sports-related concussions together with a bibliometric analysis to determine citations by year, level of evidence, study design, and several other factors related to the top referenced articles in sports concussions. Methods The Clarivate Analytics Web of Knowledge database was used to gather data using Boolean queries to capture all possible iterations of sports-related concussion research. Articles were organized in descending order based on the number of citations and included or excluded based on relevance to concussion. Collected information included author name, publication year, country of origin, journal name, article type, study focus, and the level of evidence. Results The top-100 articles were cited 31,197 times with an average of 312.0 citations per publication. More than one half were published in 2006 or later (52). Cohort studies and descriptive articles were the most prevalent study types (22 each). Studies with Level V evidence were the most common (33). The most common areas of study were symptomatology (short term, long term) with 17 articles, followed by epidemiology/demographics with 16 articles. The least common area of study was concussion prevention (2 articles), followed by management/treatment, diagnostics (labs, imaging) with 4 articles each. Conclusions We identified the most influential studies in sports-related concussion based on number of citations and citation density. A majority of these articles were published in the United States after 2006 and are most commonly cohort studies (Level IV evidence) and descriptive articles (Level V evidence). Current research focuses most heavily on the symptomatology and epidemiology/demographics of sports concussion. Clinical Relevance This study serves to identify the most influential articles in sports-related concussion and identify research topics with general deficiencies within the field of sports-related concussion research.
Classification of Numerical Problems

Engineers use math and science to solve practical problems. In many cases, this requires the following steps: (1) setting up equations, (2) defining variables, (3) making assumptions, (4) defining constants, (5) finding a solution, and (6) interpreting the solution. This may sound relatively simple. However, there are many types of problems that may be considered. The solution methodology may depend on the specific problem class. This chapter is divided into two main sections: general classification of problem types and discussion of specific engineering problem types. In the later chapters, methodologies will be presented for solution of the specific types of problems. The selected methods are amenable to implementation or use with computational systems. These classifications of problems are presented early on to create a general structure to later fill in with technical details. Connections, similarities, and relationships between methods and problem types are also easier to develop when there is some concept of the bigger picture.
Mobile health technologies in the diagnosis and management of atrial fibrillation.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Atrial fibrillation is the most common sustained rhythm abnormality and is associated with stroke, heart failure, cognitive decline, and premature death. Digital health technologies using consumer-grade mobile technologies (i.e. mHealth) capable of recording heart rate and rhythm can now reliably detect atrial fibrillation using single lead or multilead ECG or photoplethysmography (PPG). This review will discuss how these developments are being used to detect and manage atrial fibrillation. RECENT FINDINGS: Studies have established the accuracy of mHealth devices for atrial fibrillation detection. The feasibility of using mHealth technology to screen for atrial fibrillation has also been established, though the utility of screening is controversial. In addition to screening, key aspects of atrial fibrillation management can also be performed remotely and effectively using mHealth, though with some important limitations. SUMMARY: mHealth technologies have proven disruptive in the diagnosis and management of atrial fibrillation. Healthcare providers can leverage these advances to better care for their atrial fibrillation patients whenever necessary.
Dietary replacement of fishmeal with commercial protein blends designed for aquafeeds in hybrid striped bass (Morone chrysops ♂× Morone saxatilis ♀): Digestibility, growth, body composition, and nutrient retention

Abstract Four commercial protein blends—Elite 60™, Elite 65™, Elite 70™, and Pro-Cision™ (HJ Baker & Bros., Inc., Tuscola, Texas, USA)—were evaluated in hybrid striped bass (HSB) for nutrient digestibility and fishmeal (FM) replacement value. A control diet was formulated like a commercial HSB feed containing 17% FM that met or exceeded the nutritional requirements of HSB. Commercial blends replaced FM in the control diets on an ideal protein basis by supplementing the first-three limiting amino acids (methionine, lysine, threonine). Diets were formulated on a digestible protein basis (38% digestible protein), isolipidic (16%), and contained 10% lipid from marine fish sources. Fish fed the control diet generally exhibited better growth and nutrient utilization responses than the other diets. Responses to the Elite™ products were intermediate, while Pro-Cision™ lagged in both digestibility and growth responses. Digestibility of gross nutrients in each of the test products did not differ significantly from those of FM, but protein was significantly more digestible in Elite 70™ compared to that of FM and Pro-Cision™. Availabilities of leucine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, and valine in Pro-Cision™ were significantly less (92.2%, 91.3%, 91.0%, and 91.5%, respectively) than those in FM (96.1%, 96.8%, 94.6%, and 94.5%, respectively). Fish fed the Pro-Cision™ diet exhibited significantly lower cumulative feed intake, average weight, and muscle ratio compared to fish fed all other diets. Elite 60™, Elite 65™, and Elite 70™ fish did not differ in intraperitoneal fat or muscle ratio compared to fish fed the control diet. Fish fed all three Elite™ diets had significantly lower average weight (52.5–57.9 g) compared to fish fed the control diet (73.2 g). There were no differences in arginine and histidine whole-body nutrient retention among dietary treatments, while other nutrient retention efficiencies did differ across treatments. Nutrient retention of the averaged essential amino acids was not significantly different in fish fed Elite 70™ compared to fish fed the control diet. There were no significant differences in lysozyme activity and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration among treatments. It appears that Pro-Cision™ is not an attractive alternative to FM in HSB diets considering total feed intake, growth, and nutrient and energy retentions. However, Elite 65™ and Elite 70™ may be potential FM alternatives in HSB diets despite differences in growth performance after 13-weeks.
A longitudinal study of anxiety, depression and distress as predictors of sexual and urinary quality of life in men with prostate cancer

Author(s): Punnen, Sanoj; Cowan, Janet E; Dunn, Laura B; Shumay, Dianne M; Carroll, Peter R; Cooperberg, Matthew R | Abstract: ObjectiveTo evaluate the prevalence of depression, anxiety and distress among active surveillance (AS) and radical prostatectomy (RP) patients. To evaluate the impact of these symptoms at baseline on urinary and sexual quality of life at follow-up.Patients and methodsPatients managed with AS or RP who completed validated questionnaires assessing levels of depression, anxiety, distress and urinary (UF) and sexual function (SF) and bother comprised the final analytic cohort. These measures were completed at baseline, within 1 year, and between 1 and 3 years from baseline. Mixed model repeated measures analysis was used to examine associations between mental health at baseline and sexual and urinary outcomes in a subset of RP patients with complete follow-up.ResultsAmong 679 men who comprised the study cohort, baseline prevalence of moderate or higher levels of depression or anxiety were low (l5%), while levels of mild depression or anxiety ranged from 3-16% over time. Baseline levels of elevated distress ranged from 8-20%. Among men who provided data at baseline and follow-up, there were no significant differences between AS and RP patients in the proportion of men with elevated levels of depression, anxiety, or distress. Among 177 men who underwent RP and had complete follow-up moderate or higher levels of depression or anxiety appeared to be associated with post-treatment SF and bother, while elevated levels of distress were associated with post-treatment UF.ConclusionModerate or higher levels of depression or anxiety were low in men with localised prostate cancer but were associated with sexual outcomes, while elevated distress was associated with urinary outcomes. Greater attention should be paid to mental health symptoms among men with prostate cancer, as these symptoms may be associated with quality of life outcomes.
Modifiers and Quantifiers in Natural Language

This paper has two parts. In part I, I review two older accounts of the logical forms of modifiers (adjectives, adverbs and prepositional phrases), and suggest that they may be combined with each other so as to yield a theory that is better than either of its parts taken singly. Part of this theory involves the idea that certain sentences refer to events, states, or processes; Part II of this paper shows how to use this idea to account for tenses and temporal adverbials, and offers a new account of ordinary language quantification.
T Cells That Promote B-Cell Maturation in Systemic Autoimmunity

Follicular helper T (Tfh) cells play an essential role in helping B cells generate antibodies upon pathogen encounters. Such T-cell help classically occurs in germinal centers (GCs) located in B-cell follicles of secondary lymphoid organs, a site of immunoglobulin affinity maturation and isotype switching. B-cell maturation also occurs extrafollicularly, in the red pulp of the spleen and medullary cords in lymph nodes, with plasma cell formation and antibody production. Development of extrafollicular foci (EF) in T-cell-dependent (TD) immune responses is reliant upon CD4+ T cells with characteristics of Tfh cells. Pathogenic autoantibodies, arising from self-reactive B cells having undergone somatic hypermutation with affinity selection and class switching within GCs and EF, are major contributors to the end-organ injury in systemic autoimmunity. B cells maturing to produce autoantibodies in systemic autoimmune diseases, like those in normal immune responses, largely require T-helper cells. This review highlights Tfh cell development as an introduction to a more in-depth discussion of human Tfh cells and blood borne cells with similar features and the role of these cells in promotion of systemic autoimmunity.
A TIME-RESOLVED GLIMPSE OF THE TERAHERTZ GLORY

If you stand above a cloud, you will see bright coloured rings around your shadow. These ‘glory’ rings are most commonly seen around the shadow of an aeroplane. What causes this strong backscattering of light by droplets of water? It has been hard to isolate the glory rays from other scattered components — but this has now been done using ultra-short laser pulses and timing the arrival of components that take different paths thought the drop. This experiment confirms the idea that glory is caused by interference between surface waves on the water droplets.
Distributed control and communication fault tolerance for the CKBot

In this paper we present a method for distributed fault tolerance in a modular robotic system. We describe an implementation of this method on the CKBot system. In particular, we broadcast infrared (IR) signals to modules which collaboratively vote on a majority course of action. Various gait selections for a 7 module caterpillar and a 16 module quadruped with a faulty subset of IR receivers have been verified to demonstrate the algorithm's robustness. We conclude the paper with a discussion of modes of fault tolerances and this method's applicability to other modular robotic systems.
Scaling structures and dynamics in biological signals and systems analysis

The first part consists of an introduction to scaling concepts followed by a primer on fractal notions. The second part provides an overview of studies in dynamics of 'fractal systems.' The third part is a compilation of project abstracts selected from ongoing research in which scaling theories are key to the solution of an engineering problem. The element common to the theoretical and applied results presented is the reliance on conventional methods of systems engineering enhanced by incorporating scaling concepts and insights from dispersion/relaxation theories from physics. >
Evaluation of the Intraosseous and Extraosseous Blood Supply to the Distal Femoral Condyles

Osteonecrosis of the distal femur occurs more often in the medial femoral condyle than in the lateral femoral condyle, but the vascular supply to these regions has not previously been described. Twelve fresh adult cadaver legs were injected with india ink or latex via the femoral artery and then meticulously dissected to evaluate the extraosseous blood supply. After all soft tissue was removed, the intraosseous blood supply was evaluated using a modified Spateholtz technique. The vascular structures at risk during posterior cruciate ligament reconstruction were also identified. The analysis of the extraosseous arterial supply demonstrated that the superior and inferior lateral genicular arteries combine to supply the lateral femoral condyle. The medial femoral condyle is supplied primarily by the superior medial genicular artery and other lesser branches of the popliteal artery. The intraosseous supply to the lateral condyle was shown to consist of an arcade of vessels providing multiple branches to the subchondral bone with no obvious "watershed" region of limited vascularity. The intraosseous supply to the medial condyle appeared to consist of a single nutrient vessel supplying the subchondral bone with an apparent watershed area of limited supply. A potentially significant difference exists between the intraosseous and extraosseous blood supply to the medial and lateral femoral condyles that may explain the higher frequency of ischemic events occurring in the medial femoral condyle. The close proximity of the extraosseous vessels to the medial femoral condyle and the standard femoral tunnel used during posterior cruciate ligament reconstruction may explain the occurrence of avascular necrosis after this procedure.
Incorporating oliguria into the diagnostic criteria for acute kidney injury after on-pump cardiac surgery: impact on incidence and outcomes.

Objectives Consensus definitions represent an important step toward defining the epidemiology of acute kidney injury (AKI). However, the oliguric component of these definitions remains of uncertain impact and utility after cardiac surgery. The authors sought to define the specific impact of oliguric criteria, both alone and in combination with serum creatinine criteria, on the observed incidence of AKI and associated adverse outcomes following adult cardiac surgery. Design Retrospective observational study over a 1-year period. Setting Academic medical institution. Participants A total of 311 adult patients undergoing elective valve and/or coronary artery bypass graft surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass. Interventions No interventions were performed as part of the study. Measurements and Main Results Hourly urine output and daily serum creatinine were recorded in the 2 days following surgery. AKI was defined by Acute Kidney Injury Network oliguric and serum creatinine criteria. Defined by serum creatinine criteria alone, the incidence of AKI was 17.7% and was associated strongly with in-hospital mortality (odds ratio 6.6, 95% confidence interval 1.4-30.5, p = 0.02) and renal replacement therapy (odds ratio 12.7, 95% confidence interval 2.4-67.3, p = 0.003) as well as time to discharge from the intensive care unit and hospital. Defined by oliguric criteria alone through 48 hours following surgery, the incidence of AKI dramatically increased to 55.6% but was not associated with mortality, renal replacement therapy, or time to discharge. Conclusions Acute Kidney Injury Network oliguric criteria applied over 48 hours after surgery dramatically increased the measured incidence of AKI after cardiac surgery, but was not associated with adverse outcomes.
Effects of climate change on forests of the eastern United States

Abstract A multi‐phased approach was used to estimate potential impacts of climate change on forests of the eastern United States. Phase I was at community‐level and Phase II examined selected species, both using three 2 x CO2 climate scenarios. Geographic information systems (GIS) and statistical modeling techniques were used to manipulate and analyze climate and vegetation data, and model vegetation responses to climate change. The first two stages of the study indicated possible large‐scale alteration of forest communities by future climate change. Although results varied among climate models, several trends were apparent. In northern states of the study area, ranges of several conifers declined significantly and ranges of oaks and hickories moved northward. In central states, ranges of sugar maple and tulip poplar became much smaller, with concomitant increases in ranges of southern oaks and loblolly pine. In . southern states, American beech declined and ranges of southern oaks increased northward. T...
Variability in parameters of allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis in patients with cystic fibrosis.

Abstract Seventy-nine patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) were evaluated and were followed in a longitudinal, prospective fashion during a 6-year period for the development of immune parameters indicating Aspergillus fumigatus (Af) sensitization and allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA). Although four patients developed frank ABPA, there was considerable variability in immune parameters in non-ABPA. Twenty-four patients became skin test positive to Af with none losing skin reactivity. Twenty-five patients developed serum precipitins to Af , whereas 12 patients lost their precipitins. Of 15 patients with an elevated total serum IgE of ≥2 SD, five demonstrated a marked decline of at least 40%. Three of 16 patients with IgE- Af became negative, whereas eight of 27 patients lost their IgG- Af . None of these patients had received corticosteroid therapy that could have accounted for the findings. Thus, patients with CF frequently lose evidence of Af sensitivity spontaneously without corticosteroid intervention. The diagnosis of ABPA in CF should not be based solely on serology and skin test results, since at any point in time, patients with CF may demonstrate variable responses to Af .
Statistical basis for predicting the need for bacterially induced beach closures: Emergence of a paradigm?

Data collected from four beaches along southern Lake Michigan (USA) during the summer of 2004 were subjected to correlation and time-series regression analyses aimed at identifying an optimal suite of variables that could be used to predict log Escherichia coli concentrations in real time. Although other variables entered into the regression equations, waves, outfalls of bacteria from an adjacent stream, sunshine, temperature, and time of day (morning versus afternoon) turned out to be the most useful and consistent predictive variables. A post-hoc analysis showed that regression models are much more successful than previous day's bacterial concentration at predicting whether or not the beach water quality is above or below the threshold criteria for full body contact established by the USEPA. Additional analyses, using 99% confidence intervals on predicted log E. coli concentrations, indicated that in extreme cases of high or low health threat, model predictions are likely to be accurate about 90% of the time. The findings of this study are consistent with previous work in the region and seem to indicate that real-time monitoring of hydrometeorological variables can provide the basis of an early warning system for protecting the public from the health risk posed by harmful pathogens in beach water.
EFFECT OF TRAINING TO CLARIFY VALUES AND MANAGE TIME ON FEELINGS OF TIME COMPETENCY

Summary.-26 students were trained to clarify their values and manage time. Trained more than untrained students reported significantly more feelings of time competency after the training. Further research should emphasize objective as well as affective outcomes. Although Doob (2) discusses planning use of time, the problem of management has not caught the interest of the psychological researcher. Lakein (3) suggests, with regard to managing personal time, that a time-competent person spends most time in activities he values most. If a person is to become more time competent he needs clear values. The present study was designed to assess the effect of training to clarify values and manage time on feelings of time competency. Since the study included real and simulated training, it was hypothesized that subjects in the real training would experience a greater sense of internal control. Half of 26 college student volunteers were administered the Personal Orientation Inventory (4), the ~klon'e-~rowne Social Desirability Scale (I), and the McDonald-Tseng I-E Scale2, prior to the training and again at the termination of the experiment. Within these constraints students were randomly assigned to real or simulated conditions and training or no training. In the simulated conditions half the students were told at the posttest administration to complete the scales as if they had been in the training for clarifying values and managing time while the other half of the students were told nothing. All students kept a time diary for 1 wk. prior to the pretest and during the week of training. Trained students met for 30 min. each day for four days. The time diaries were used as a basis for values in small groups, led by a facilitator. No-training students met for the same time, but they worked on unrelated puzzles or problems. Those students who participated in the training program had significantly higher mean scores on Personal Orientation Inventory, Time Competency (M = 18.4, SD = 2.12) than students not in the training (M = 15.9, SD = 2.23; = 7.81, p < .01) . The mean of students in the real conditions was significantly lower (M = 61.1, SD = 7.49) on the McDonald-Tseng I-E Scale than that of students in the simulated conditions
A Lagrangean-based heuristic for a two-stage facility location problem with handling costs

This paper considers a multi-product and two-stage facility location problem with three layers of nodes: plants with limited production capacities, capacitated DCs to be located, and customers with known demands per product. The goal is to minimize a global cost including DC opening costs, transportation costs, and handling costs. The latter are not simply proportional to the amounts of products traversing DCs. They are modeled in a realistic way by associating each cross-docking task occurred at DCs with a limited set of handling modules. Each module for some task is a combination of manpower and equipment with a handling capacity and a handling cost, for instance a set of forklifts with their drivers to accomplish unloading task. The handling cost of a module is incurred as soon as the module is used, even for a fraction of its handling capacity. In order to obtain good lower and upper bounds, an heuristic based on Lagrangean relaxation is designed. The computational results show that our approach provides high quality solutions and outperforms CPLEX.
Characterization of endonucleolytic activity of HIV-1 integrase using a fluorogenic substrate.

Abstract Retroviruses require viral DNA to be synthesized by reverse transcription in the cytoplasm followed by integration of the resulting viral DNA into the host chromosome in the nucleus. Reverse transcription and integration, essential steps in the life cycle of retroviruses, are possible targets in the development of antiviral reagents. One attractive target is the integrase protein, a product of the retroviral pol gene which is solely responsible for the retroviral integration process through cutting and joining reactions. When screening for massive numbers of antiviral agents, a rapid and precise assay is ideal. We report the application of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) with fluorescein and eosin as the energy transfer pair to characterize HIV-IN-mediated DNA cleavage reactions. Past concerns with applications of FRET to DNA were due to interactions of the fluorophore with the DNA, resulting in quenched fluorescence. However, in this study these concerns have been resolved with the use of a nucleotide analog with a 12-carbon linker arm, 5-amino (12)-2′-deoxyuridine β-cyanoethyl phosphoramidite. Steady-state fluorescence studies show that cleavage of the fluorogenic substrate by integrase results in enhancement of quenched donor fluorescence intensity. The fluorescence assay was confirmed by autoradiographic analysis of the cleavage reaction with radiolabeled fluorogenic substrate. This fluorescence assay will facilitate both detailed kinetic studies and the rapid screening of novel integrase inhibitors.
A Pilot Study of a Primary Prevention Curriculum to Address Preschool Behavior Problems

Behavior problems among preschool children are common. They are important targets for intervention because early externalizing problems and self-regulation issues tend to persist without appropriate attention, and can affect later mental health and school achievement outcomes. However, few preschool curricula addressing social and emotional development exist, and evidence for effects are mixed. In this study, the Second Step Pre/Kindergarten Social and Emotional Learning curriculum was adapted and tested in a small cluster randomized pilot study of community preschool classrooms to determine if it could improve outcomes in: (1) individual children’s teacher-rated behavior problems and prosocial skills; (2) classroom climate (classroom interactions and two measures of disruptive behavior); and (3) teacher interaction skills. Year 1 outcomes were modest and were accounted for by baseline differences. In Year 2, classroom climate, measured by independent observers, differed significantly in intervention classrooms, largely because of declines in control classrooms, and there was some evidence for better teacher interaction skills in intervention classrooms. The pattern of effects suggests important impacts on classroom quality worth investigating in a larger study. Both fidelity and implementation rates, as well as positive teacher responses to the curriculum, indicate potential for widespread adoption.
Commercial, Synthetic Nonnutritive Sweeteners

Aspartame (1), saccharin (2), and acesulfam-K (3) are sweeteners that are in everyday use. The market for these nonnutritive sweeteners is therefore large. The properties and large-scale syntheses of these commercial products and others that are in advanced stages of development are reviewed.
Genome organization in prokaryotes

Most of the well-characterized prokaryotic genomes consist of double-stranded DNA organized as a single circular chromosome 0.6-10 Mb in length and one or more circular plasmid species of 2 kb-1.7 Mb. The past few years, however, have revealed some major variations in genome organization. In addition, a recent accumulation of data has shown that the location and orientation of the genes and repeated sequences (including prophages and transposons) on and among these elements is not always random. Some of the non-randomness is probably the result of unique historical events; in other cases it reflects selection for the optimization of function.
The reliability of peer assessments of quality of care.

Objective. —To critically examine the literature regarding the interreviewer reliability of the standard practice of peer assessment of quality of care. Data Sources. —Computerized searches of the English-language literature from 1966 through 1990 using MEDLINE, HEALTHLINE, and SCISEARCH databases were performed to identify studies reporting data on interreviewer agreement of implicit evaluations of patient care episodes. Study Selection. —Seventeen studies were identified. Five studies were excluded from this review because of deficiencies in the methods or lack of data on chance-corrected indexes of agreement. Data Extraction Synthesis. —The degree of agreement beyond chance was compared with accepted standards in the 12 remaining studies. Most of these studies found agreement corrected for chance to be in the range regarded as poor, indicating that physician agreement regarding quality of care is only slightly better than the level expected by chance. Conclusions. —Given the magnitude of the resources devoted to quality assurance and the centrality of peer assessment to these efforts, there is a need for a global reexamination of the peer review process. A number of proposals appear to have potential for improving the peer review process including more objective assessment procedures, multiple reviewers, higher standards for reviewers, elimination of systematic reviewer bias, use of outcome judgments, and adoption of practice guidelines. ( JAMA . 1992;267:958-960)
Tissue Cutting And Drilling With The Hydrogen Fluoride Laser

Tissue cutting and drilling with the hydrogen fluoride laserGeza J. Jako and Howard K. HermanDepartment of Otolaryngology, Boston University School of Medicine169 East Emerson Street, Melrose, Massachusetts 02176AbstractThe effectiveness of the continuous wave hydrogen fluoride laser for cutting animalskin; skeletal and heart muscle; and liver tissue was tested. Histological studies demon-strated that it is comparable to the CO laser in tissue cutting action. Importantly, thehydrogen fluoride laser can be delivered through mid- infrared fiber optics, making it
Target detection in cluttered FLIR imagery using probabilistic neural networks

In this paper, we investigate the detection and classification of targets in forward-looking infrared (FLIR) imagery under various challenging scenarios. At first, morphological preprocessing is applied for the preliminary selection of all possible candidate target regions. Morphological operations decompose the given input image into a filtered image. Clutter rejection, i.e. the classification between desired target and background, is done by means of Probabilistic neural network (PNN). For most cases, only the samples of the desired target images are used for the training purposes, which are not adequate for cases, where the target is almost blended with the background. For instance, target like objects may be present in the region of interest (ROI) and there is very low contrast difference between target and background. Horizontal and vertical convolution with wavelet low pass filter coefficients serves to extract features for training the PNN. In this paper, an improved clutter rejecter is presented to overcome the inferior classification performance of alternate techniques for poorly centered targets by moving the marked candidate target window in suitable directions with respect to the center of the potential target patch to extract ROIs from each detected target region. Results are shown for introductory detection-classification, and on improved performance of the clutter rejecter, by considering several shifted ROIs to accurately classify the true target from the clutter. Test results confirm the excellent performance of the detector and the clutter rejecter when both target and background features are used for training, and several shifted ROIs are considered for precise classification of each ROI marked by the detector.
A primer of valence shell photoelectron angular distributions in atoms

Abstract The basics of the theory of photoelectron angular distributions from atoms is presented along with a number of illustrative examples. Physical interpretation of results is emphasized and the separation of (angular momentum) geometry and dynamics of highlighted.
Taxation, investment and asset pricing

Abstract This paper studies the impact of dividend and corporate income taxes on investment and asset returns in a stochastic general equilibrium model. Under the “new” view of dividend taxation (e.g. Poterba and Summers, 1985 ), proportional dividend taxes do not distort investment decisions, and thus have no impact on asset returns. By contrast, we find that corporate income taxes introduce additional tax-related risk factors into the economy by distorting investment decisions. We uncover a mechanism through which corporate taxes amplify the responses of consumption and investment to technology shocks, and consequently lead to a lower risk-free interest rate and a higher equity premium. This amplification mechanism is the strongest when there exists a strong preference for consumption smoothing and high costs of adjusting the capital stock.
Asymptotic stability of a mechanical robotics model with damping and delay

In this paper we study the asymptotic stability of a mechanical robotics model with damping and delay. This model yields a certain linear third order delay differential equation. In proving our results we make use of Pontryagin's theory for quasi-polynomials.
Abstract 3648: Proteomic profiling of vorinostat in breast cancer

Proceedings: AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010‐‐ Apr 17‐21, 2010; Washington, DC The lysine deacetylase (KDAC) inhibitor, vorinostat or suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA), is currently being used for treatment of cutaneous T cell lymphoma, however, its anti-breast cancer effects are under evaluation. SAHA's pluripotent effect on histone and non-histone lysine acetylation across cancer types raises the theoretical concern that it could both re-express epigenetically silenced tumor suppressors and activate oncogenic pathways as well. In order to investigate the potential role of SAHA in tumor suppressor, cell death and signaling pathways, we used quantitative mass spectrometric analysis of MCF10A normal mammary epithelial cells and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells treated with SAHA for 12 and 24 hours. We observed downregulation of EGFR, Ephrin type A receptors and cell cycle proteins including CDC2 and CDC42 protein kinase, which is consistent with anti-tumor activity. We found that SAHA treatment also promoted activation of proteins including Ephrin type B receptors, STAT3 and p120 Catenin. Such molecular effects must be characterized in greater detail in order to determine the potential efficacy of this drug in breast cancer. Our findings show that SAHA-mediated inhibition of KDACs results in a wide range of downstream consequences in mammary epithelial and breast cancer cells. Candidate molecules identified in this study can be used as biomarkers to assay the breast cancer response to SAHA. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3648.
Notes on the synthesis of meso‐substituted porphyrins from pyrryl carbinols and the mechanism of the rothemund reaction

Aryl pyrryl carbinols have been found to readily cyclize to meso-substituted tetraarylporphyrins in yields which are consistent with the intermediacy of the pyrryl carbinols in the Rothemund reaction. Acidic solutions of the pyrryl carbinols show absorption bands characteristic of pyrrolylmethenes. It is suggested that pyrrolylmethenes are likely intermediates in the Rothemund reaction.
Open pollinated and hybrid sunflower seed structures that may affect processing for oil

Oil and wax contents of confectionery (non-oil) and oilseed, open-pollinated and hybrid sunflower seed and their hulls, testae, and kernels were determined. Wax content inversely correlated with hull content, and the degree to which the seeds were compressed corre-lated with hull thickness. Light and electron microscopy showed increased connective tissue in the hybrid seed. This combination of higher wax content in the dehulled hybrids and increased connective tissue between hull and kernel could explain the reports of high wax content of the oil from newly developed hybrid seed.
Diagnostic accuracy of the Millon test computer reports for bipolar affective disorder

The diagnostic accuracy of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) computer reports was assessed for the sample of 48 patients reliably identified as having bipolar affective disorder. Only 13 of the 48 reports were accurate in classifying the patients as having bipolar affective disorder, and this was significantly (p < .01) less than 50% of the cases. The diagnostic accuracy clearly left much to be desired. Additional research is needed to assess the validity of MCMI diagnostic suggestions for other patient groups.
Scaling of subunit structures in book lungs of spiders (Araneae).

The relationships between dimensions of book lung subunits were measured and analyzed as a function of body size in diverse spiders over a body mass range of 3.4 to 3,190 mg. Book lungs are the characteristic respiratory gas exchange organs in these arachnids. Actual gas exchange occurs across numerous air-filled cuticular plates, which invaginate hemolymph sinuses within the abdomens of these animals. Characteristic linear dimensions of these air-filled compartments reflecting diffusion paths scaled to the 0.2 power of body mass and showed only a fourfold increase over the size range in the sample. This deviation from isometric scaling in the direction obtained and its numerical similarity to scaling of alveolar dimensions to body size in vertebrates was interpreted as an adaptation to reduce diffusion distances between these compartments and vascular fluids. Conversely, lengths and widths of these plates scaled to the one-third power of body mass, isometric scaling, and increased between six-and eightfold over the size range. This result is consistent with the hypothesis that respiratory gas distribution within spider lungs is achieved by convective mixing as has been recently hypothesized.