cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Association of polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) levels with biomarkers of placental development and disease during mid-gestation

Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) exposures have been associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. A hypothesized mechanism is via alterations in placental development and function. However, we lack biomarkers that can be used as early indicators of maternal/fetal response to PBDE exposures and/or perturbations in placental development or function. To evaluate the relationship between PBDE levels and placental biomarkers during mid-gestation of human pregnancy (n = 62), we immunolocalized three molecules that play key roles in cytotrophoblast (CTB) differentiation and interstitial/endovascular uterine invasion—integrin alpha-1 (ITGA1), vascular endothelial-cadherin (CDH5), and metalloproteinase-1 (MMP1)–and assessed three morphological parameters as potential indicators of pathological alterations using H&E-stained tissues–leukocyte infiltration, fibrinoid deposition, and CTB endovascular invasion. We evaluated associations between placental PBDE levels and of biomarkers of placental development and disease using censored Kendall’s tau correlation and linear regression methods. PBDEs were detected in all placental samples. We observed substantial variation in antigen expression and morphological endpoints across placental regions. We observed an association between PBDE concentrations and immunoreactivity of endovascular CTB staining with anti-ITGA1 (inverse) or interstitial CTBs staining with anti-CDH5 (positive). We found several molecular markers that may be sensitive placental indicators of PBDE exposure. Further, this indicates that placental biomarkers of development and disease could be useful barometers of exposure to PBDEs, a paradigm that could be extended to other environmental chemicals and placental stage-specific antigens.
WEST: Water economy simulation tool to predict impacts of economic and environmental shocks

Abstract Regions with vulnerabilities in their food-energy-water nexus may also have economic vulnerabilities. Actions to reduce environmental vulnerabilities may conflict with community concerns about jobs and economic vitality. To account for these potentially competing concerns, this study builds a nexus simulation model that incorporates water, energy, food, and detailed economic data. The model can be used for standalone analysis or incorporated into a multi-disciplinary design optimization framework. The model is called WEST (for Water Economy Simulation Tool) and can show how jobs and economic growth interact with surface and groundwater use, food, and energy. A case study for the U.S. state of Oregon illustrates the insights to be gained from the approach and provides a template for readers to develop their own WEST simulation model.
A comprehensive assessment of bus rollover crashes: integration of multibody dynamic and finite element simulation methods

Rollover crashes have the highest fatality rate and exhibit complex and unpredictable mechanisms in terms of vehicle-ground and vehicle-occupant interactions. The objective of this study is to eval...
Evaluating the utility of high-resolution proximity metrics in predicting the spread of COVID-19

AO_SCPLOWBSTRACTC_SCPLOWHigh resolution mobility datasets have become increasingly available in the past few years and have enabled detailed models for infectious disease spread including those for COVID-19. However, there are open questions on how such a mobility data can be used effectively within epidemic models and for which tasks they are best suited. In this paper, we extract a number of graph-based proximity metrics from high resolution cellphone trace data from X-Mode and use it to study COVID-19 epidemic spread in 50 land grant university counties in the US. We present an approach to estimate the effect of mobility on cases by fitting an ODE based model and performing multivariate linear regression to explain the estimated time varying transmissibility. We find that, while mobility plays a significant role, the contribution is heterogeneous across the counties, as exemplified by a subsequent correlation analysis. We subsequently evaluate the metrics utility for case surge prediction defined as a supervised classification problem, and show that the learnt model can predict surges with 95% accuracy and 87% F1-score.
Implicating Gene and Cell Networks Responsible for Differential COVID-19 Host Responses via an Interactive Single Cell Web Portal

Summary Numerous studies have provided single-cell transcriptome profiles of host responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Critically lacking however is a datamine that allows users to compare and explore cell profiles to gain insights and develop new hypotheses. To accomplish this, we harmonized datasets from COVID-19 and other control condition blood, bronchoalveolar lavage, and tissue samples, and derived a compendium of gene signature modules per cell type, subtype, clinical condition, and compartment. We demonstrate approaches to probe these via a new interactive web portal (http://toppcell.cchmc.org/ COVID-19). As examples, we develop three hypotheses: (1) a multicellular signaling cascade among alternatively differentiated monocyte-derived macrophages whose tasks include T cell recruitment and activation; (2) novel platelet subtypes with drastically modulated expression of genes responsible for adhesion, coagulation and thrombosis; and (3) a multilineage cell activator network able to drive extrafollicular B maturation via an ensemble of genes strongly associated with risk for developing post-viral autoimmunity.
Episodic memory does not add up: Verbatim–gist superposition predicts violations of the additive law of probability

Fuzzy-trace theory's assumptions about memory representation are cognitive examples of the familiar superposition property of physical quantum systems. When those assumptions are implemented in a formal quantum model (QEMc), they predict that episodic memory will violate the additive law of probability: If memory is tested for a partition of an item's possible episodic states, the individual probabilities of remembering the item as belonging to each state must sum to more than 1. We detected this phenomenon using two standard designs, item false memory and source false memory. The quantum implementation of fuzzy-trace theory also predicts that violations of the additive law will vary in strength as a function of reliance on gist memory. That prediction, too, was confirmed via a series of manipulations (e.g., semantic relatedness, testing delay) that are thought to increase gist reliance. Surprisingly, an analysis of the underlying structure of violations of the additive law revealed that as a general rule, increases in remembering correct episodic states do not produce commensurate reductions in remembering incorrect states.
Free Trade and Faithful Globalization: Saving the Market

Through an analysis of Christian communities in the United States, Canada, and Costa Rica, this book analyzes how religious groups talk about the politics surrounding economic life. Amy Reynolds examines how these Christian organizations speak about trade and the economy as moral and value-laden spaces, deserving ethical reflection and requiring political action. She reveals the ways in which religious communities have asked people to engage in new approaches to thinking about the market and how they have worked to create alternative networks and policies governing economic and social life.
Extra-adrenal Actions of Adrenocorticotropin

Publisher Summary Until recently, the concept has been firmly entrenched that the tropic hormones are devoid of action on tissues other than their respective target glands. From time to time in the past, extra-adrenal actions have been attributed to adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), but usually they were either discounted by the demonstration of an active contaminant in the hormone preparation used or were dismissed on the grounds that they were due to a contaminant which had not been detected. While ACTH has been isolated from the adenohypophysis, purified, and characterized as a polypeptide consistsing of 39 amino acids, it, has not been proved that the hormone which is secreted to act on the adrenal cortex has the same structure as the active peptide prepared chemically. Indeed, several investigators have suggested that there is a corticotropin precursor. This problem is not unique for ACTH, as is apparent from the recent claim that the physical properties of both circulating as well as extractable insulin in the pancreas are quite different from those of crystalline or partially purified insulin. Most hormones are now recognized as existing in the blood in forms bound to proteins. These must be dissociated before they become biologically active. In this chapter, the present status of the extra-adrenal actions of ACTH is reviewed. Consideration is given not only to those which seem well established, but also to others which are questionable, either because of uncertainty concerning the purity of the hormone or the techniques used, but which deserve to be reinvestigated by more reliable methods. Implications concerning the relationship of the structure of ACTH and its functions arise from the studies of extra-adrenal actions and are discussed.
Expanding Collateral Sanctions: The Hidden Costs of Aggressive Child Support Enforcement Against Incarcerated Parents

Legal barriers or "collateral consequences" arising from criminal convictions came to the forefront of the legal and policy discourse at the dawn of the twenty-first century, as the population of people with criminal convictions skyrocketed. These barriers act as restrictions to post-incarceration reentry into society, including the resumption of employment, occupational licensing, access to housing and public benefits, driving privileges, educational loans, immigration, voting rights, and other means of economic survival and civic re-engagement. What is barely examined are the ways in which these barriers affect family law, specifically in the area of child support and the debt accrued by incarcerated parents. This article examines the recent convergence of incarceration, collateral sanctions, and child support debt, and argues that the current system of aggressive support enforcement against incarcerated parents serves as a de facto civil sanction in many jurisdictions, creating yet another collateral consequence that serves as a prominent barrier to successful reentry.
Library of Congress Subject Headings Relating to the Social Sciences

After a general review of the recent movement for substantial change in the patterns and use of LC subject headings, several suggestions are presented for improving LC headings in the area of the social sciences.
Control system development for test handler

This paper discuss on how to develop a hard real-time machine control system with Microsoft Windows NT Operating System, where the respond must be within 0.5 milliseconds. The attempt to use a general-purpose operating system (Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Workstation) is because there is abundance of Commercial-Off-the-Shelf Components (COTS), easily available tools (compilers, and 3 party tools) and need not to learn another operating system behavior. The most important factor is there is no single dominant operating system or tools vendor for real-time operating system. Since the no single dominant real-time operating system development under real-time operating system is riskier and more costly. Ideally codes must be portable between different operating system where it is apparent with Windows platforms, Windows 95/98, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP or even Windows CE. Firstly study was done on how Microsoft Windows NT operating system works internally from materials from Microsoft Software Development Network (MSDN). Secondly study was done how to take advantage of the operating system to create a real time application. Microsoft Windows NT is a general purpose operating system that does not support real time application development, but it has all the vital elements that a real time operating system needs. The vital elements are priority-driven, preemptive scheduler, preemptive interrupt handler (for critical interrupts), deferred procedure calls (DPC) for non-critical (DPC executes after ISR), synchronization and deterministic response time. With these vital elements and some modification to application codes to enable it to execute in higher priority level, would result a real time application. This does not mean changing all the codes to higher priority is the solution, as it would cause system to malfunction as other device driver or low-level interface run at high priority too and this would lock up the system. With the combination of priority level, synchronization a complete real time solution can be implemented and this paper covers the concept. This concept also explains what was done to overcome the need of special hardware (as recommended) to accomplish hard real-time application with the response of 0.5 milliseconds.
An Overview of Gas Exchange

The sections in this article are: 1 Gas-Exchange System: A Series of Conductances 2 Physiological Components of Conductance 2.1 Inspired Gas to Alveolar Gas 2.2 Alveolar Gas to Pulmonary Capillary Blood 2.3 Pulmonary Capillary Blood to Tissue Capillary Blood 2.4 Tissue Capillary Blood to Tissue
Molecular cloning, characterization, and expression of the Tipula iridescent virus capsid gene.

Abstract The capsid protein is the major structural component of the icosahedral Tipula iridescent virus (TIV) that replicates in cytoplasmic inclusion bodies of insect cells. TIV capsid protein purified by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was digested with trypsin and fractionated by reverse-phase high-pressure liquid chromatography. A mixed oligonucleotide constructed from the amino acid sequence of a capsid tryptic peptide was used for the identification and cloning of the corresponding gene. The single-copy capsid gene, located on a 2.47-kilobase-pair HindIII TIV genomic fragment, codes for a 464-amino-acid protein (50,831 daltons) with a predicted pI of 6.34. Analysis of total RNA from infected Estigmene acrea cells indicated that the 1.8-kilobase capsid transcript was maximally produced between 14 and 24 h after infection. Transcript mapping by primer extension indicated that the RNA start site was in the A+T-rich TGCTACTAAT sequence, 19 nucleotides upstream from the first ATG codon of the capsid open reading frame. Expression of the TIV capsid protein in infected E. acrea cells was demonstrated by in vivo labeling of total proteins with [35S]methionine, using anti-capsid antiserum as the probe. Capsid protein was also expressed in Escherichia coli cells by using a pUC19 plasmid containing a lacZ-capsid gene fusion.
How many pixels to watermark

Watermark design and detection have been studied as two separate problems so far. However, we show that, if the watermarking algorithm is based on the watermark detection method, then significant gains can be achieved. With a watermark detector based on a sequential hypothesis test rather than a fixed sample size test, the number of watermark pixels can be reduced almost by a factor of two for small detection error probabilities. This is because, the sequential hypothesis test requires less (average) number of pixels to detect the presence/absence of a watermark compared to a fixed sample size detector. The savings in the number of pixels to be watermarked results in an increased immunity to host signal attacks such as cropping. Degradation in the signal quality due to redundant watermarking is also minimized. Further, applications such as DVD require minimal amount of watermarking. The computational efficiency of the proposed watermark detector can also be exploited to efficiently search for watermarks in large image databases.
Measurement of Human and Murine Interleukin 2 and Interleukin 4

This unit describes protocols employing cell lines or bioassays that can be used for the quantitation of murine total T cell growth factor (TCGF) activity, interleukin 2 (IL-2), and interleukin 4 (IL-4), and of human IL-2 and IL-4. The ability to distinguish between different growth factors is crucial to understanding the regulation of the immune response. The Basic Protocol describes the use of the CTLL-2 line to detect murine IL-2 and IL-4 in supernatants. One alternate protocol describes the detection of IL-2 in samples of human serum or supernatants using CTLL-2 cells, while other alternate procedures describe the detection and quantitation of murine IL-4 using a mutagenized subline of CTLL-2, CT.4S, and the detection of human IL-4 using a derivative of the CT.4S mouse cell line, CT.h4S. Support protocols are provided for the quantitation of CTLL-2, CT4.S, or CT.h4S proliferation using a standard [3H]thymidine incorporation method or by using the 3-(4,5-dimenthylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) colorimetric assay (Support Protocol 1). Support protocols also describe the calculation of cytokine units from samples based on DNA synthesis data and procedures for the maintenance of the CTLL-2, CT.4S, and CT.h4S cell lines.
Caught by the tail: Tail risk neutrality and hedge fund returns

We propose a simple and yet robust measure of tail neutrality. By this measure, hedge funds are more sensitive to market risk when the market experiences a substantial decline. This is also true when we consider a number of distinct hedge fund styles. This source of risk is not diversifiable, and for this reason funds-of-funds as portfolios of hedge funds concentrate tail risk exposure rather than mitigate this effect. In today's uncertain market environment, the idea of investing in a fund immune from the day-to-day fluctuations in the market has a certain attraction. Indeed most hedge funds strategies generate returns that are reasonably uncorrelated with standard benchmarks. This leads many investors to believe that they are actually less risky than their active trading strategies would suggest. For many hedge funds this low correlation is illusory. Many active trading strategies that anticipate market movements will enter and leave the market with some frequency generating returns that are uncorrelated with benchmarks over the extended holding period of the average hedge fund investor. But this does not imply that they are low risk strategies, as in the kind of liquidity crisis that could prove fatal to the success of these trading schemes would cause the funds to fail just as the market is collapsing. This is of concern not only to investors but also to regulators as well. The bailout of LTCM in 1998 was occasioned by fears among regulators that liquidity problems at this fund could have a contagion effect spreading across the
Response properties of mitral cells in the olfactory bulb of the neonatal rat

Abstract Activity was recorded from mitral cells in newborn to six-day-old rat pups during odorous stimulation. Twenty-eight neurons were studied in pups with unopened nasal cavities which sampled stimuli during intermittent periods of inhalation. Forty-six neurons were studied in pups with opened nasal cavities which were stimulated by delivering odorants directly to the olfactory epithelia. We show that mitral cells are selectively excited by different odorants on the day pups are born; prior to the maturation of bulb interneurons, the responses of neonatal mitral cells are time-locked to the inhalation cycle; neonatal mitral cells preserve the temporal patterns of activity exhibited by receptor neurons during stimulation with different concentrations of odorants; and the response patterns of mitral cells differ qualitatively between newborn and adult rats. We conclude that receptor-to-mitral cell synapses are functional in newborn rat pups and that the activity of this afferent pathway is modulated by the pups' respiratory behavior. We argue that without interneurons, mitral cells repeat the temporal code exhibited by receptor neurons and do not produce the types of response patterns characteristic of neurons in the adult rat olfactory bulb.
Incidence of insect cell cytolytic activity among Bacillus thuringiensis serotypes

Fourteen serotypes of Bacillus thuringiensis were surveyed for cytolytic activity toward established cell lines of two lepidopteran and one dipteran insect species. Toxic protein extracted from spore-crystal combinations from each serotype was examined by an in vitro cell bioassay for cytotoxicity. In general, a cell line from the tobacco hornworm (Manduca sexta) was more responsive to entomocidal protein than cells from the spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana). Significant cytotoxicity toward either or both lepidopteran cell lines was present among all of the serotypes tested with the single exception of serotype 14 (B. thuringiensis subsp. israelensis). This serotype exhibited the only significant cytotoxicity towards dipteran cells (Anopheles gambiae). The degree of cytotoxicity among the soluble but unactivated preparations varied widely and may have resulted from endogenous protease activity. Activation by α-chymotrypsin digestion improved cytotoxicity by as much as 500-fold in some instances, but failed to significantly improve the activity of those serotypes which contained high initial cytotoxicity.
Psychological factors predict unexpected diagnoses

Background Unexpected diagnoses and treatment recommendations can be awkward for both hand specialist and patient. We tested the hypothesis that psychological factors predict an unexpected hand specialist diagnosis after referral from a primary care provider (PCP) for management of an atraumatic hand condition.
Prevalence of and factors associated with distraction among public transit bus drivers.

Objective: Recent research has suggested that driver distraction is a major cause of driving performance impairment and motor vehicle collisions. Research on the topic has focused on passenger vehicles, with studies suggesting that drivers may be distracted nearly 33 percent of the time spent driving. To date, no study has examined the prevalence of distraction specifically among public transit bus drivers.Methods: Over a 3-month period, trained investigators observed and recorded distraction behaviors of bus drivers. Distraction prevalence was compared by route characteristics (e.g., geographic area, travel speed) using chi-square test. A general estimating equation logistic regression was used to estimate P values for distraction prevalence by driver demographics.Results: Overall, there was a 39 percent prevalence of distraction. The most prevalent distractions were due to interactions with another passenger. Distractions were more prevalent among drivers <30 years of age or ≥50 years of age, on city st...
The Evolution of an Operant Ecologist

George Collier has maintained a research program concerned with the controls of eating for forty-three years. In the first ten years, Collier approached the problem within the operant conditioning framework proposed by Skinner. This consisted of the intrameal analysis of the reflex strength of a food-rewarded operant in short sessions in food-deprived rats. At the end of the first decade, Collier shifted his attack on the problem by studying the ecological control of meal patterns by procurement and consummatory costs in free-feeding rats. This paper analyzes the reasons for this apparently abrupt evolution from operant conditioning to operant ecology and concludes that they accumulated over about ten years and were intellectual and personal, not technical or professional. This paper also summarizes the major achievements of the research program of operant ecology, notes some emerging problems with economic explanations of ecological controls, and argues that Collier's robust and quantitative behavioral results are ripe for physiological analysis.
Using prosody to avoid ambiguity: Effects of speaker awareness and referential context

Abstract In three experiments, a referential communication task was used to determine the conditions under which speakers produce and listeners use prosodic cues to distinguish alternative meanings of a syntactically ambiguous phrase. Analyses of the actions and utterances from Experiments 1 and 2 indicated that Speakers chose to produce effective prosodic cues to disambiguation only when the referential scene provided support for both interpretations of the phrase. In Experiment 3, on-line measures of parsing commitments were obtained by recording the Listener’s eye movements to objects as the Speaker gave the instructions. Results supported the previous experiments but also showed that the Speaker’s prosody affected the Listener’s interpretation prior to the onset of the ambiguous phrase, thus demonstrating that prosodic cues not only influence initial parsing but can also be used to predict material which has yet to be spoken. The findings suggest that informative prosodic cues depend upon speakers’ knowledge of the situation: speakers provide prosodic cues when needed; listeners use these prosodic cues when present.
Synthesis and characterization of isocyanate‐terminated polyurethane prepolymers

Using statistically designed experiments, seven variables were investigated to determine their effect on the physical and mechanical properties of isocyanate-terminated polyurethane prepolymers. The choice of catalyst (dibutyltin diacetate, T-1, or stannous octoate, T-9) along with the ratio of diol to triol were found to most significantly control the prepolymer properties. Other variables such as reaction temperature, reaction time, and order of polyol addition did not affect the system. In comparing the two catalysts, T-9 was found to be concentration sensitive, yielding low-viscosity prepolymers at the lower catalyst level and higher viscosity, unstable materials at the higher catalyst level. No evidence was found to show concentration sensitivity of T-1. A series of prepolymers based on varying ratios of diol to triol were synthesized, and their physical and mechanical properties are reported.
Estimating Solar Irradiance for Crop Modeling Using Daily Air Temperature Data

Crop growth models require solar irradiance as input data, yet there are few places where such data are routinely measured. For locations where measured values are not available, solar irradiance can be estimated using empirical models such as the Bristow-Campbell (B-C) model. This study was conducted to assess the spatial and seasonal accuracy of the B-C model for midcontinental locations in Kansas. A 30-year data set from Manhattan, KS, was used to calibrate and evaluate unmodified and modified forms of the B-C model. The effect of seasonality was investigated by subdividing the yearly data into two subsets, a high noontime solar elevation angle period, ranging from DOY 121 to 273, and a low noontime elevation angle period comprising the remainder of the year. The B-C model was also evaluated without seasonal division of the year. The calibrated models were then tested against measured solar irradiance values for 10 sites distributed across the state of Kansas. Results indicate that, for the calibration site at Manhattan, irradiance was more accurately estimated using a modified form of the B-C model. For the yearly data, root mean square error (RMSE) was 3.9 MJ m -2 d -1 (25% error), compared with 5.2 MJ m -2 d -1 (24% error) for the high solar elevation angle period and 3.6 MJ m -2 d -1 (32% error) for the low solar elevation angle period. The RMSE for the 10 test sites ranged from 2.0 to 6.2 MJ m -2 d -1 ; percentage error ranged from 26 to 47%. Neither latitude nor distance from the calibration site significantly affected the accuracy of irradiance estimates at the evaluation sites. Results suggest that the modified B-C model provides reasonably accurate estimates of irradiance at noninstrumented sites and that the model can successfully be used at sites away from the calibration site. Seasonal subdivision of the data adds little to the accuracy of estimates.
Hepatic encephalopathy: A neurochemical, neuroanatomical, and neuropsychological study

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is normally diagnosed by neuropsychological (NP) tests, which are not very specific and do not reveal the underlying pathology. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and spectroscopy (MRS) of the brain offer alternative and possibly more specific markers for HE. These methods were applied in conjunction with NP testing in order to determine their usefulness in the identification of HE and to understand the pathogenesis of HE more clearly. MR imaging and spectroscopy examinations, in addition to a battery of 15 NP tests, were administered to investigate 31 patients awaiting liver transplantation and 23 healthy controls. MR image intensities from the globus pallidus region were calculated and normalized to those of the thalamus. Absolute concentrations and ratios with respect to creatine (Cr) of several metabolites were computed from MR spectra. The MR data were correlated with the results of NP tests. The patients showed impairment in NP tests of attention and visuospatial and verbal fluency. In T1-weighted MRI, the relative intensity of the globus pallidus with respect to that of the thalamus region was significantly elevated in patients and correlated(negatively) with three NP tests (Hooper, FAS, and Trails B). The absolute concentrations of myo-inositol (mI) and choline (Ch) were significantly reduced in three brain regions. In addition, the absolute concentrations of glutamine (Gln) and combined glutamate and glutamine (Glx) were increased in all three locations, with Gln increase being significant in all areas while that of Glx only in the occipital white matter. In summary, this study partially confirms a hypothesized mechanism of HE pathogenesis, an increased synthesis of glutamine by brain glutamate in astrocytes due to excessive blood ammonia, followed by a compensatory loss of myo-inositol to maintain astrocyte volume homeostasis. It also indicates that the hyperintensity observed in globus pallidus could be used as complementary to the NP test scores in evaluating the mental health of HE patients.
FM-cavity-dumped Nd-doped fiber laser

A CWpumped Nd-doped single-mode double-clad fiber laser coiled around a resonant piezo-electric ceramic ring and coupled to an empty external cavity with strong feedback is described. Intensity laser pulses with duration in the 1-2 range are observed as the pump power or the ring drive voltage is increased yielding peak powers up to 25 times greater than average powers. The effect is attributed to strong phase modulation of the fiber laser by the piezo-electric ring which induces FM laser oscillation the external cavity acts as a frequency dependent reflector thus effectively cavity dumping the fiber laser as the oscillation frequency is swept through the narrow transparent windows of the external cavity.
Balloon Dilatation of Membranous Obstruction of the Inferior Vena Cava

Membranous obstruction of the inferior vena cava is a rare congenital anomaly that results in the primary type of Budd-Chiari syndrome. We describe the case of an 8-year-old boy initially diagnosed with intrahepatic portal hypertension, who underwent percutaneous transluminal balloon dilatation of an inferior vena cava membrane located in the suprahepatic inferior vena cava, which resulted in successful palliation of his symptoms.
Disseminating Policy and Environmental Change Interventions: Insights from Obesity Prevention and Tobacco Control

Public health and other practitioners increasingly are being asked to implement policy and environmental change interventions, yet many practitioners lack the knowledge, skills, and resources to do so. In response to this need, a growing number of organizations are disseminating evidence-based interventions (EBIs) and building practitioners’ capacity to use those interventions in practice. Although advances have been made on approaches to disseminating individual-level EBIs, little is known about the optimal way to disseminate EBIs to promote policy and environmental change. This paper describes the approach that two projects developed to disseminate policy and environmental change interventions. The Center for Training and Research Translation (Center TRT) disseminates EBIs to promote physical activity and healthy eating. Counter Tobacco disseminates EBIs to counter tobacco product sales and marketing in the retail environment. Both Centers (1) identify the best available evidence, (2) disseminate menus of intervention strategies, (3) provide implementation guidance, (4) incorporate stories from the field, (5) build practitioners’ capacity, and (6) integrate dissemination into practitioners’ existing social networks. The Centers’ process evaluations included website analytics and online surveys. Over 26,000 unique visitors accessed the Center TRT website in 2012 and over 17,000 have accessed Counter Tobacco’s site since its launch in August 2011. The majority of respondents to Centers’ surveys agreed that resources were easy to access and use. Both Centers have had success reaching their intended audiences. Research is now needed to assess the extent of practitioners’ use of Center resources and the impact of the resulting interventions.
Neuroimaging of nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome (NBCCS) in children

Nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome (NBCCS, Gorlin syndrome) is an autosomal dominant condition with a wide range of manifestations, including multiple basal cell carcinomas, medulloblastoma, odontogenic keratocysts (OKC) and skeletal abnormalities. Children with NBCCS also have a predisposition for secondary cancers after exposure to ionising radiation. In children undergoing imaging for posterior fossa mass and/or maxillofacial cysts, certain additional findings can raise the possibility of NBCCS. Making the diagnosis can significantly impact patient management, especially for children with medulloblastoma.
Generation of melanoma-specific, cytotoxic CD4(+) T helper 2 cells: requirement of both HLA-DR15 and Fas antigens on melanomas for their lysis by Th2 cells.

Recognition of melanoma antigens by HLA class-II-restricted CD4(+) T lymphocytes has been investigated. Two cytotoxic CD4(+) T cell lines were established by stimulating PBLs from a melanoma patient with either parental or IFN-gamma-transduced autologous tumor cells. These T cells secreted IL-4, but not IL-2, IFN-gamma, or TNF-beta, in response to the autologous melanoma cells, suggesting that they belong to the Th2 subtype. Their cytotoxicity was directed against the IFN-gamma-transduced melanoma cells and was HLA-DR-restricted. The autologous and two allogeneic IFN-gamma-modified melanoma cell lines shared melanoma antigen(s) presented in the context of HLA-DR15. HLA-DR15(+) nonmelanoma cells were resistant targets indicating that the shared antigen(s) is melanoma associated. Parental autologous and HLA-DR-matched allogeneic melanoma cell lines, displaying low levels of HLA-DR antigens, induced Th2 proliferation and cytokine release, but were insensitive to lysis prior to upregulation of HLA-DR and Fas antigens by IFN-gamma. Cytolysis was inhibited by anti-HLA-DR and by anti-Fas antibodies, suggesting that the cytolysis is mediated via the Fas pathway. While small amounts of HLA-DR15 molecules on melanoma cells are sufficient for Th2 proliferation and cytokine release, higher amounts of HLA-DR15 and the expression of Fas are required for CD4(+)-mediated lysis.
Drug-induced Injury of the Gastrointestinal Tract

The effects of drugs on the gastrointestinal tract are diverse and depend on numerous factors. Diagnosis is centered on histologic findings, with mostly nonspecific patterns of injury that must be interpreted in the correct clinical context. Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs are a common cause of drug-induced gastrointestinal injury, with effects primarily in the gastric mucosa but also throughout the gastrointestinal tract. Another common class of drugs causing a variety of pathologic findings in the gut is chemotherapeutic agents. This article discusses the differential diagnosis of the various patterns of injury, including ischemic damage, and the histologic findings specific for certain drugs.
Mentor Alpha 1 inflatable penile prosthesis: patient satisfaction and device reliability.

Abstract Objective . This report describes a study of patient satisfaction and device reliability in 50 organically impotent males who were implanted with a Mentor Alpha 1 inflatable penile prosthesis. Method . Data were obtained from review of medical records, and patient-completed structured questionnaires. Results . The average patient age was fifty-nine years (range: 25 to 90 years). Thirty-one patients (62%) had underlying medical conditions, and all tried at least one other treatment prior to implantation. All patients received perioperative prophylactic antibiotics, and all were drained with a closed suction drain for twenty-four hours. Follow-up ranged from two to forty-one months (av. 15 mos). Complications occurred in 2 patients (4%), including 1 periprosthetic infection and 1 intraoperative cylinder aneurysm. An average of one office visit was required for teaching inflation/deflation. Ninety-eight percent of the patients and 96 percent of their partners were satisfied with the device. Ninety-four percent and 96 percent thought the device was easy to inflate and deflate, respectively. Two patients (4%) reported partial cylinder inflation related to physical activity. All were satisfied with the girth and rigidity, but only 92 percent were satisfied with the length. Ninety-eight percent said they would undergo the procedure again and would recommend this implant to other impotent patients. Conclusions . These data indicate that the Mentor Alpha 1 device has good short-term mechanical reliability, and yields a high level of patient and partner satisfaction.
First‐principles molecular dynamics simulations in a continuum solvent

A new continuum solvation model for density functional theory first-principles simulations is presented in the context of plane wave Car–Parrinello molecular dynamics. The Poisson problem—with dielectric function representing the solvent effects—is solved by a compact finite difference method on a regular grid. The smoothness of the solute–solvent transition, and the density-based solute cavity, provide good numerical properties to the model and allow for total energy calculations, reaction barriers calculations, and energy-conserving molecular dynamics. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2003
Kinetically evolving irradiation-induced point defect clusters in UO 2 by molecular dynamics simulation

The evolution of irradiation-induced point defects in ${\text{UO}}_{2}$ is captured in molecular dynamics simulations. The approach used circumvents their creation during the ballistic phase of a traditional collision-cascade molecular dynamics simulation but rather focuses on their kinetic evolution. The simulations reveal that in the absence of defects on the cation sublattice, the defects initially present on the anion sublattice recombine and annihilate completely during equilibration. However, in the simultaneous presence of defects on both sublattices, Schottky defects are formed, thereby sequestering the oxygen vacancies. The resulting excess oxygen interstitials form cuboctahedral clusters, whose existence has previously been identified experimentally but whose generation mechanism has not been determined. It is concluded that the cation sublattice is primarily responsible for the radiation tolerance or intolerance of the material.
The potential role of integrin receptor subunits in the formation of local recurrence and distant metastasis by mouse breast cancer cells.

Background The mechanisms by which surgical injury fosters tumor growth are examined. Methods TA3Ha mouse breast tumor line and its subline (TA3AD) differing in their metastatic abilities as tested by two models were used. In model a, TA3Ha/TA3AD tumors were grown in the mammary fat pads of mice and then surgically removed with a curative intent. In model b, TA3Ha/TA3AD cells were injected intravenously into mice subjected to liver or spleen wedge resection. Frequency of tumor formation at various sites was assessed. Expression of integrin, immunoglobulin, and proteoglycan cell adhesion receptors on TA3Ha and TA3AD cells was examined by flow cytometry. The roles of these receptors in metastasis were examined by blocking them by selected ligands and/or antibodies. Results Frequencies of local recurrence and axillary metastasis after surgical resection, were 43% (32/74), and 37% (27/74) with TA3Ha tumors and 4% (1/29) at both sites with TA3AD tumors. Tumors at surgically injured spleen and the liver were seen in 75% (141/189) and 45% (107/240) of the mice with TA3Ha cells and in 8% (3/38) and 10% (4/42) of the mice with TA3AD cells. α5 and CD44 receptors were expressed by TA3Ha cells but not by TA3AD cells. Other receptors examined were similarly expressed by both cell lines. Blocking of α5 receptor by fibronectin reduced tumor implantation in a dose-dependent manner. Conclusions The data suggest a correlation among the ability to implant at surgically injured sites, to form local recurrence, and to express the fibronectin receptor subunit. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Parental Occupational Exposures and Autism Spectrum Disorder

Both self-report and industrial hygienist (IH) assessed parental occupational information were used in this pilot study in which 174 families (93 children with ASD and 81 unaffected children) enrolled in the Childhood Autism Risks from Genetics and Environment study participated. IH results indicated exposures to lacquer, varnish, and xylene occurred more often in the parents of children with ASD compared to the parents of unaffected children. Parents of children with ASD were more likely to report exposures to asphalt and solvents compared to parents of unaffected children. This study was limited by the small sample size, but results suggest that workplace exposures to some chemicals may be important in the etiology of ASD and deserve further investigation.
Simultaneous measurement of oxygen diffusion coefficients and solubilities in electrolyte solutions with a polarographic oxygen electrode

Abstract The objective of this paper is to present a reliable yet convenient method of measuring simultaneously oxygen diffusion coefficients and solubilities in aqueous electrolyte solutions with a membrane-covered oxygen electrode. Measurements have been conducted in solutions of sodium chloride, potassium chloride, sodium sulfate, and magnesium sulfate over wide ranges of salt concentrations. The experimental results on oxygen diffusion coefficients and solubilities in test electrolyte solutions show an excellent accord with the literature data.
Research on planning, organizations and decision-making: An essential component of a transportation research program

This article discusses the paper by Wachs, M (see IRRD 287438) and points out the areas where Wachs failed to address several issues about the internal functioning of transportation carriers of both passengers and freight, and industrial logistics activities. Research in this direction is discussed under the topics of: (1) increasing organization effectiveness through planned change and (2) strategy studies. (TRRL)
Cost minimization and workload balancing in printed circuit board assembly

We consider an operation assignment problem arising from a Printed Circuit (PC) board assembly process. The research was inspired by applications at Hewlett-Packard Company where hundreds of types of PC boards require the insertion of thousands of types of components. The components can be inserted manually or by automated insertion machines. The machines can only hold a limited number of different component types. We investigate how to assign the boards and components to the machines and manual process so as to minimize cost while at the same time balancing machine workloads. We first present a Binary Integer Program (BIP) formulation of the problem. We then develop optimality results that allow us to reduce significantly the size of the BIP. Using the improved BIP formulation, and upper bounds generated using a Cost Minimizing Workload Balancing (CMWB) heuristic that we develop, we show how branch-and-bound can be used to find optimal solutions to small and medium-sized problems in reasonable time. We a...
Selective effects of smectite-organic complexes on the activities of immobilized enzymes

Abstract Smectite-organic complexes may adsorb enzymes by hydrophobic bonding mechanisms. The complexes are prepared by saturating the exchange capacity of smectite clay with organic cations; in this study hexa-decyltrimethylammonium + trimethylphenylammonium + , hexadecylpyridinium + and [Fe(bipyridyl) 3 ] 2+ cations were used. The immobilized enzyme may or may not be active depending upon the nature of the organic species comprising the smectite-organic complex and the nature of the enzyme. Loading capacities of the smectite-organic complexes for urease varied greatly (from 1 to 40 mg urease per 100 mg adsorbent). Enzymes immobilized on these surfaces were less thermally stable than when in homogeneous solution. Differences in thermal stability were also found between the matrices. The immobilized enzymes were much more easily acted upon by the hydrolytic enzyme, pronase, unless the pronase itself is inactive on the matrix. It is suggested that similar organo-clay-enzyme complexes may be useful as models for enzymes in natural systems, and for industrial and medical applications.
Relationship between a Common Variant in the Fatty Acid Desaturase (FADS) Cluster and Eicosanoid Generation in Humans

Dramatic shifts in the Western diet have led to a marked increase in the dietary intake of the n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), linoleic acid (LA). Dietary LA can then be converted to arachidonic acid (ARA) utilizing three enzymatic steps. Two of these steps are encoded for by the fatty acid desaturase (FADS) cluster (chromosome 11, 11q12.2-q13) and certain genetic variants within the cluster are highly associated with ARA levels. However, no study to date has examined whether these variants further influence pro-inflammatory, cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase eicosanoid products. This study examined the impact of a highly influential FADS SNP, rs174537 on leukotriene, HETE, prostaglandin, and thromboxane biosynthesis in stimulated whole blood. Thirty subjects were genotyped at rs174537 (GG, n = 11; GT, n = 13; TT, n = 6), a panel of fatty acids from whole serum was analyzed, and precursor-to-product PUFA ratios were calculated as a marker of the capacity of tissues (particularly the liver) to synthesize long chain PUFAs. Eicosanoids produced by stimulated human blood were measured by LC-MS/MS. We observed an association between rs174537 and the ratio of ARA/LA, leukotriene B4, and 5-HETE but no effect on levels of cyclooxygenase products. Our results suggest that variation at rs174537 not only impacts the synthesis of ARA but the overall capacity of whole blood to synthesize 5-lipoxygenase products; these genotype-related changes in eicosanoid levels could have important implications in a variety of inflammatory diseases.
ON THE CHANGE IN ELECTRICAL CONDUCTANCE OF SEAWATER WITH TEMPERATURE 1

A comparison of the measurements of the specific conductance of scawatcr by Thomas, Thompson, and Uttcrback and of sodium chloride solutions by Brcmner, Thompson, and Utterback shows that the temperature dcpcndcnce of the two arc csscntially the same. The data are consistent with those of Gheorghiu and Calinicenco, but their conclusion that the tcmpcrature coefficient of conductance of seawater is measurably greater than that of sodium chloride solutions is in error.