cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The impact of early adverse experiences on brain systems involved in the pathophysiology of anxiety and affective disorders

The relative contribution of genetic and environmental factors to the development of the major psychiatric disorders has long been debated. Recently, considerable attention has been given to the observations that adverse experiences early in life predispose individuals to the development of affective and anxiety disorders in adulthood. Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) is the central coordinator of the endocrinologic, autonomic, immunologic, and behavioral stress responses. When centrally administered, CRF produces many physiologic and behavioral changes reminiscent of both acute stress and depression. Moreover, CRF has also been implicated in the pathogenesis of a variety of anxiety disorders, mainly through CRF neurocircuits connecting the amygdala and the locus ceruleus. Clinical studies have provided convincing evidence for central CRF hypersecretion in depression, and, to a lesser extent, in some anxiety disorders. Evidence mainly from preclinical studies suggests that stress early in life results in persistent central CRF hyperactivity and increased stress reactivity in adulthood. Thus, genetic disposition coupled with early stress in critical phases of development may result in a phenotype that is neurobiologically vulnerable to stress and may lower an individual's threshold for developing depression and anxiety upon further stress exposure. This pathophysiologic model may provide novel approaches to the prevention and treatment of psychopathology associated with stress early in life.
RNA interference. The short answer.

One way of seeing what a gene does is to block its messenger RNA and note the effects. New work should make the approach more broadly applicable.
The discipline of Internet forensics

A well-defined field of study and practice has evolved as a result of network hacker activity.
Diode array spectrophotometry of translucent materials

The light scattered from translucent samples is used to obtain absorption-type spectra and provide quantitation of an absorber within the scattering bodies. Synthetic vesicles with an encapsulated dye, bromo-thymol blue (BTB), are employed as a novel model system to study the properties of translucent samples. Chlorophyll measurement in intact phytoplankton and algae is demonstrated. A least-squares fitting procedure is used to overcome the effect of chlorophyll fluorescence on the scattering data. A straight line relationship between a defined pseudo-absorbance and concentration is shown for both the BTB and chlorophyll data. A limit of detection of about 0.2 mg/L BTB is obtained for the synthetic vesicles. For chlorophyll the limit of detection is in the range of 1 to 5% of that found in the native plankton and algae samples.
Heart transplantation is associated with an increased risk for pancreaticobiliary disease

Objective To determine the risk factors for and the incidence, morbidity, mortality, and outcome of pancreaticobiliary disease in patients who have had orthotopic heart transplantation. Design Retrospective case-control analysis. Setting University hospital-based heart transplantation center. Patients 20 case-patients with pancreaticobiliary disease and 40 controls; all patients received heart transplants between 1985 and 1994. Controls were matched to case-patients by time of transplantation and length of survival. Measurements Charts were reviewed and data were extracted using a structured data abstraction protocol. Risk factors assessed before transplantation were cause of heart disease, history of diabetes, reproductive history, and sex. Risk factors assessed at presentation of pancreaticobiliary disease were weight change after transplantation, alcohol use, use of medications, recent total parenteral nutrition, age at symptom onset, recent rejection episode, cyclosporine level, complete blood count, time between transplantation and onset of symptoms, body mass index, calcium level, liver function test results before and at symptom onset, and lipid profile. Results Pancreaticobiliary disease occurred in 20 of 255 transplant recipients (7.8%). The incidence of disease in these patients within 1 year after transplantation was 3.9% compared with an expected rate of 0.2% per year (P Conclusions Pancreaticobiliary disease occurs 17.4 times (95% CI, 9.2 to 32.7 times) more frequently in patients receiving transplants than in the general population. It is a seldom recognized but apparently common complication of orthotopic heart transplantation that results in substantial morbidity and health care resource use. Further study is needed to ascertain why this condition occurs and how the risk for developing it can be reduced.
Multiscale stochastic approach to object detection

We present a method for object detection based on a novel multiscale stochastic model together with Bayesian estimation techniques. This approach results in a fast, general algorithm which may be easily trained for specific objects. The object model is based on a stochastic tree structure in which each node is an important subassembly of the three dimensional object. Each node or subassembly is modeled using a Gaussian pyramid decomposition. The objective of the algorithm is then to estimate the unknown position of each subassembly, and to determine on the presence of the object. We use a fast multiscale search technique to compute the sequential MAP (SMAP) estimate of the unknown position, scale factor, and 2-D rotation for each subassembly. The search is carried out in a manner similar to a sequential likelihood ratio test, where the process advances in scale rather than time. We use a similar search to estimate the model parameters for a given object from a set of training images.© (1993) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Children and the Perceived Reality of Television

Children's perceptions of reality in television are examined as an intervening variable between exposure to the medium and the effect of TV messages. Findings from previous work and data from schoolchildren in grades 3–6 indicate that: (a) perceptions of the reality of TV increase as the specificity of content increases, (b) interpersonal communication about television is a significant predictor of children's reality perceptions, and (c) TV usage is positively related to perceptions of reality while age and IQ are negative predictors. Questions about children's experiences with real-life counterparts of TV characters were not related to reality perceptions.
Evidence-Based Triple Antihypertensive Therapy Yields Lower Mortality in Older Patients With Diabetes Mellitus

See related article, p 259–264 The use of initial single-pill combination antihypertensive therapy has been present since 1966 with the single-pill combination of reserpine, hydrochlorothiazide, and hydralazine widely available and used.1 Since the 1980s, there have been several antihypertensive combinations using drug classes with complementary pharmacological mechanisms joined in a single pill or given independently to help achieve blood pressure (BP) goals.2 The post hoc analysis of the Action in Diabetes and Vascular Disease: Preterax and Diamicron MR Controlled Evaluation (ADVANCE) trial in the current issue of the journal extends our data on the use of antihypertensive combinations to help achieve BP goals.3 Initial single-pill combination therapy for treatment of hypertension has been strongly supported by guidelines in both the United States and Europe since 2003.2 The data are now overwhelming that the use of single-pill combination antihypertensive agents is associated with improved adherence, fewer adverse effects, and a higher attainment of BP goals.2,4 A randomized multicenter clinical trial to assess achievement of BP goals …
The Dog that Didn't Bark: The Role of Canines in the 2008 Campaign

Using the most extensive dataset available on the 2008 election, I examine the impact of dog ownership on presidential vote preference. Canines were elevated to the status of a campaign issue when, during the 2008 campaign, Barack Obama publicly promised his daughters a dog after the election was over, a campaign promise that has since been fulfilled. However, this announcement appears to have unintentionally highlighted the absence of a key point of potential identification between this candidate and voters, and thus to have significantly undermined the likelihood that dog-owning voters would support Obama. I elaborate upon the implications of this finding for future presidential candidates.
A Hydrodynamic Sensory Antenna Used By Killifish for Nocturnal Hunting

The perception of sensory stimuli by an animal requires several steps, commencing with the capture of stimulus energy by an antenna that, as the interface between the physical world and the nervous system, modifies the stimulus in ways that enhance the animal's perception. The mammalian external ear, for example, collects sound and spectrally alters it to increase sensitivity and improve the detection of directionality. In view of the morphological diversity of the lateral-line system across species and its accessibility to observation and experimental intervention, we sought to investigate the role of antennal structures on the response characteristics of the lateral line. The surface-feeding killifish Aplocheilus lineatus is able to hunt in darkness by detecting surface capillary waves with the lateral-line system atop its head. This cephalic lateral line consists of a stereotyped array of 18 mechanosensitive neuromasts bordered by fleshy ridges. By recording microphonic potentials, we found that each neuromast has a unique receptive field defined by its sensitivity to stimulation of the water's surface. The ridges help determine these receptive fields by altering the flow of water over each neuromast. Modification of the hydrodynamic environment by the addition of a supplemental ridge changes the pattern of water movement, perturbs the receptive fields of adjacent neuromasts and impairs the fish's localization ability. On the basis of electrophysiological, hydrodynamic and behavioral evidence, we propose that the ridges constitute a hydrodynamic antenna for the cephalic lateral line.
Electron attachment to DNA single strands: gas phase and aqueous solution

The 2'-deoxyguanosine-3',5'-diphosphate, 2'-deoxyadenosine-3',5'-diphosphate, 2'-deoxycytidine-3',5'-diphosphate and 2'-deoxythymidine-3',5'-diphosphate systems are the smallest units of a DNA single strand. Exploring these comprehensive subunits with reliable density functional methods enables one to approach reasonable predictions of the properties of DNA single strands. With these models, DNA single strands are found to have a strong tendency to capture low-energy electrons. The vertical attachment energies (VEAs) predicted for 3',5'-dTDP (0.17 eV) and 3',5'-dGDP (0.14 eV) indicate that both the thymine-rich and the guanine-rich DNA single strands have the ability to capture electrons. The adiabatic electron affinities (AEAs) of the nucleotides considered here range from 0.22 to 0.52 eV and follow the order 3',5'-dTDP > 3',5'-dCDP > 3',5'-dGDP > 3',5'-dADP. A substantial increase in the AEA is observed compared to that of the corresponding nucleic acid bases and the corresponding nucleosides. Furthermore, aqueous solution simulations dramatically increase the electron attracting properties of the DNA single strands. The present investigation illustrates that in the gas phase, the excess electron is situated both on the nucleobase and on the phosphate moiety for DNA single strands. However, the distribution of the extra negative charge is uneven. The attached electron favors the base moiety for the pyrimidine, while it prefers the 3'-phosphate subunit for the purine DNA single strands. In contrast, the attached electron is tightly bound to the base fragment for the cytidine, thymidine and adenosine nucleotides, while it almost exclusively resides in the vicinity of the 3'-phosphate group for the guanosine nucleotides due to the solvent effects. The comparatively low vertical detachment energies (VDEs) predicted for 3',5'-dADP(-) (0.26 eV) and 3',5'-dGDP(-) (0.32 eV) indicate that electron detachment might compete with reactions having high activation barriers such as glycosidic bond breakage. However, the radical anions of the pyrimidine nucleotides with high VDE are expected to be electronically stable. Thus the base-centered radical anions of the pyrimidine nucleotides might be the possible intermediates for DNA single-strand breakage.
Patterns of Myocardial Endothelin-1 Expression and Outcome After Cardiac Transplantation

Background— Endothelin-1 (ET-1), a potent vasoconstrictor, is released in response to several inflammatory cytokines after heart transplantation. The present study correlated patterns of myocardial ET-1 expression in heart biopsies with acute rejection, post-transplantation ischemic injury, and subsequent development of coronary vasculopathy. Methods and Results— Patterns of myocardial ET-1 expression were evaluated in 47 heart transplant recipients at 3 months after transplant. Transplant vasculopathy was documented by coronary angiography at 2 years after transplant. Expression of ET-1 was tabulated for both blood vessels and the interstitium. Vascular ET-1 expression was positive in 7/17 (41%) of patients with greater than grade 2 (International Society Heart Lung Transplant) rejection compared with 3/30 (10%) of patients with grade 0 and grade 1A rejection (P=0.02). Compared with patients with negative interstitial ET-1 expression (n=22), patients with positive interstitial ET-1 expression (n=25) had ...
Demodulation of binary PSK signals without explicit carrier synchronization

Demodulation of binary phase-shift-keying (BPSK) signals is modeled as a problem of maximum likelihood parameter estimation from incomplete data. The received signals are corrupted by additive white Gaussian noise with the carrier phase unknown and/or random. The expectation-maximization algorithm is applied in such a way that the demodulation is conducted directly on the received signal without any explicit carrier synchronization being established. Simulation shows that the bit error probability performance of the proposed algorithm is very close to that of the ideal coherent BPSK demodulation. The implementation of the proposed algorithm is simple and open-loop, meaning that no feedback tracking or voltage-controlled oscillator is needed, and hence can be applied to burst mode transmission such as time division multiple access (TDMA) in satellite communications. >
Solitary plasmacytoma of bone and soft tissue

Abstract Between 1962 and 1978, 15 patients presenting with a solitary plasmacytoma were treated with curative intent by radiotherapy alone at the University of Florida. Criteria for admission to this study were: 1) a biopsy-proven, apparently solitary focus of plasmacytoma; 2) bone marrow biopsy showing less than 10% plasma cells; and 3) no evidence of disseminated disease. In 9 patients the primary site was osseous and in 6 patients extramedullary; 5 of the 6 extramedullary lesions were located in the upper respiratory passages. Two of the 6 extramedullary plasmacytomas progressed to multiple myeloma at 2 and 7 months. The remaining 4 patients have been disease free for periods ranging from 2 2 3 years to over 16 years. Of the 9 patients with osseous lesions, 3 developed multiple myeloma in 3–23 months and one developed a solitary second bone lesion at 9 years. One patient with a large sacral lesion developed a local recurrence following an initial radiation dose of 3000 rad. The recurrence was re-treated with radiation, and local control was obtained. No other local failures occurred. This study presents a detailed analysis of the time-dose relationship required for local control, based on a study of our own patients and a review of the literature.
The language curriculum: A social contextual perspective

This article examines curriculum from a social contextual perspective in which enactment – teaching and learning – is the central process, to which planning and evaluation contribute. It looks at the ways two kinds of contexts, target-language embedded and target-language removed, influence language curriculum planning and enactment. It provides a brief history of syllabus design and a rationale for moving beyond syllabus as the primary construct for curriculum planning. It then explores the classroom as the context of enactment and the role of the teacher as catalyst for curriculum change. It reconceptualizes the classroom as a learning community with potential links with real, virtual and imagined communities. It briefly explores integrated approaches to evaluation and assessment and concludes with examples of promising directions and suggestions for further research. Examples of practice that illustrate concepts are provided throughout the article.
Physical Activity and Acculturation Among U.S. Latinas of Childbearing Age

The majority of Latinas of childbearing age is not sufficiently active; a significant health disparity, and is at risk for deleterious health consequences. The study’s objectives were to explore acculturation and associated factors’ effect on engagement in physical activity (PA) among Latinas. Based on data (2008-2011 National Health Interview Survey; N = 7,278), multinomial logistic models predicted odds of adherence to 2008 PA Guidelines for Americans. Among 3,386,680 Latinas, 18 to 47 years, 58.9% (standard error [SE] = 0.0073) met neither aerobic nor muscle-strengthening recommendations, after controlling for poverty, income, marital status, and competing obligations. Less acculturated Latinas (Spanish-preferring) were less likely to engage in PA than English-preferring counterparts (odds ratio [OR] = 0.57, p < .01). Spanish-preferring foreign-born Latinas have substantially smaller odds of meeting PA guidelines than U.S.-born English-preferring Latinas (OR = 0.3, p < .001). Puerto Ricans and Dominica...
Recruitment in a temperate demersal fish : Does larval supply matter ?

The importance of larval supply to spatial patterns of larval settlement and recruitment was determined for a common Gulf of Maine fish (the cunner Tautogolabrus adspersus). The number of presettlement pelagic fish differed among the four sites sampled. Inshore sites had significantly greater densities than offshore sites, and this difference was consistent over time. The average size of presettlement fish also differed; fish at inshore sites averaged ∼2 mm less in standard length than those at offshore sites. Settlement was quantified by using artificial substrata suspended above the benthos, and a nonsignificant trend for greater settlement at offshore vs. inshore sites was revealed. Recruitment surveys after the settlement season showed that densities of recruits were significantly greater offshore than inshore. Correlation analyses showed either significant inverse or nonsignificant relationships between densities of presettlement fish and settlement depending on the size of presettlement fish. The relationship between recruitment and densities of presettlement fish was not significant with each of the size classes of presettlement fish analyzed, but there was a strong positive relationship between settlement and recruitment.
The Politics of Consensus in an Age of Affluence

Marx is surely right when he says that the way men earn their living shapes their relations to each other and to the state; but this is, of course, only the beginning. Aside from all the other non-economic factors which also have these effects, there is the matter of the source of income, the level of income, and, especially, the security of income. Moreover, each of these factors has both an individual effect, a set of influences apparent in the study of individual enrichment or immiseration, and a social effect, the influences which appear when whole societies become richer or more secure economically. So I am led to inquire into what is happening to men's political interests, behavior, and attitudes toward politics and government in an Age of Affluence, a period when men's economic security and income have increased and when, for the first time in history, it appears likely that the business cycle can now be controlled. Like Marx's, my interest is in change over time.
Atriplex species as irrigated forage crops

Abstract Field trials were conducted in the San Joaquin Valley, California, to evaluate accessions of Atriplex during the establishment year for overall plant performance as a forage crop when irrigated with saline drainage water. Productivity, forage quality and agronomic characteristics of both native and exotic species were promising. Of the exotic perennial species tested, total clipping harvest yields and overall nutritive values were highest for Atriplex barclayana (Benth.) Dietr. Productivity and nutritive value of harvested annual and short-lived perennial plants were comparable to clippings of the long-lived perennial plants. If the perennial species are used as a multi-clipped forage crop, irrigation and harvest management practices to provide optimum yields and quality forage would need to be developed. Average levels of ash, crude protein, acid detergent fiber, neutral detergent fiber, lignin and selenium of harvested clippings were 297, 166, 240, 423, 92 g kg −1 and 1 mg kg −1 , respectively. Among the tested accessions, lignin levels were more variable than the other nutritive components.
Civil Science in the Renaissance: Jurisprudence Italian Style

In the history of Renaissance thought and learning jurisprudence seems to be a missing term. Not that the scholarship of civil, canon and customary law is itself lacking, or lagging, but it has not been sufficiently integrated with that of other fields, and even in the modern history of the Renaissance ‘encyclopedia’ it does not hold high priority. In some modern views of the studium, in fact, law seems to stand not only below the trivium and quadrivium but even, since it lacks utility as well as liberality, below the mechanical arts. Petrarch and other humanists would no doubt be pleased at this turnabout; and others may find justice (in a historian's if not a lawyer's sense) at the fall of the profession of law from academic grace. For present purposes, however, we must try to lay aside the prejudice which many of us may feel toward lawyers, modern counterparts of the pedants derided by Petrarch and the ‘mean and mercenary’ pettifoggers denounced by Cicero. It is not the purpose here to plead the cause of Renaissance jurists; but it may be possible, by attending to some of their less celebrated (or lamented) achievements, to do some justice to their place in the history of learning.
Distribution for maximum activity of a composite catalyst

For a catalyst composed of a more active component embedded in a less active (but not inert) and more diffuse matrix, an optimum distribution of the active component in the catalyst pellet may lead to significantly higher reaction rates per unit volume of pellet, compared with reaction rates using pellets with a uniformly distributed active component or with an active component concentrated on the outside or the inside of the pellet. The optimum distribution changes qualitatively with the physical parameters of the pellet and with changes in the rate constants and diffusion coefficients of the catalytic compoenents. This is relevant to the performance of coking zeolite/silica-alumina catalysts in hydrocarbon cracking reactions.
Restoration of images with spatially variant blur by the GMRES method

The GMRES method is a popular iterative method for the solution of linear systems of equations with a large nonsymmetric nonsingular matrix. However, little is known about the performance of the GMRES method when the matrix of the linear system is of ill-determined rank, i.e., when the matrix has many singular values of different orders of magnitude close to the origin. Linear systems with such matrices arise, for instance, in image restoration, when the image to be restored is contaminated by noise and blur. We describe how the GMRES method can be applied to the restoration of such images. The GMRES method is compared to the conjugate gradient method applied to the normal equations associated with the given linear system of equations. The numerical examples show the GMRES method to require less computational work and to give restored images of higher quality than the conjugate gradient method.
Lowering the threshold SNR of singular value decomposition based methods

The author examines the performance of singular value decomposition (SVD) based methods for estimating the frequencies of multiple sinusoids. The concept of angle between subspaces is used to derive a criterion for determining when SVD-based procedures fail. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at which a method breaks down is termed the threshold SNR of the method. It is shown that existing SVD based methods have a higher threshold SNR than predicted by this criterion. A method that utilizes the singular vectors and directly minimizes the angle between subspaces is developed. The method is shown to have better performance at low SNRs. The procedure lowers the threshold SNR thereby extending the range of SNR for which SVD can be used. >
dREAM co-operates with insulator-binding proteins and regulates expression at divergently paired genes

dREAM complexes represent the predominant form of E2F/RBF repressor complexes in Drosophila. dREAM associates with thousands of sites in the fly genome but its mechanism of action is unknown. To understand the genomic context in which dREAM acts we examined the distribution and localization of Drosophila E2F and dREAM proteins. Here we report a striking and unexpected overlap between dE2F2/dREAM sites and binding sites for the insulator-binding proteins CP190 and Beaf-32. Genetic assays show that these components functionally co-operate and chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments on mutant animals demonstrate that dE2F2 is important for association of CP190 with chromatin. dE2F2/dREAM binding sites are enriched at divergently transcribed genes, and the majority of genes upregulated by dE2F2 depletion represent the repressed half of a differentially expressed, divergently transcribed pair of genes. Analysis of mutant animals confirms that dREAM and CP190 are similarly required for transcriptional integrity at these gene pairs and suggest that dREAM functions in concert with CP190 to establish boundaries between repressed/activated genes. Consistent with the idea that dREAM co-operates with insulator-binding proteins, genomic regions bound by dREAM possess enhancer-blocking activity that depends on multiple dREAM components. These findings suggest that dREAM functions in the organization of transcriptional domains.
Niobium Hot Electron Bolometer Development for a Submillimeter Heterodyne Array Camera

We are developing a proof-of-concept for a diffusion cooled hot electron bolometer (HEB) array submillimeter camera. The ultimate objective is to create a working 64 pixel array with the University of Arizona for use on the Heinrich Hertz Telescope. We have fabricated Nb HEBs using a novel angle deposition process. We have characterized these devices using heterodyne mixing at 20 GHz. We also report on optimizations in the fabrication process that improve device performance and a dc screening test for device quality. Using this process, HEBs with a sharp resistive transition (<300 mK) can consistently be produced. These devices have good suppression of superconductivity in the contact pads, with a pad transition ~1 K below the main bridge transition. Furthermore, the bandwidth was investigated above and below the pad transition and found to be ~15% larger for 400 nm long bridges with non- superconducting contact pads.
Radiative Corrections to the Goldberger-Treiman Relation: High-Frequency Contributions

The second-order electromagnetic corrections to the Goldberger-Treiman relation are discussed. It is shown that when this relation is expressed in terms of physical coupling constants and masses, renormalized by electromagnetism, the residual electromagnetic corrections are finite. The derivation assumes, among other things, the existence of operator-product expansions at short distances and Wilson's enumeration of the fields of low dimensionality. Furthermore, the hadronic matrix elements in the corrections of order $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ are treated in the PCAC (partial conservation of axial-vector current) approximation. Some observations are made concerning the applicability of PCAC to the study of radiative corrections. A new physical decay constant, ${f}_{\ensuremath{\pi}}^{\ensuremath{'}}$, renormalized by electromagnetism, is introduced and determined from experiment. Some salient features of the theory of $\ensuremath{\beta}$ decay to first order in $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ are reviewed, with particular emphasis on the role played by the renormalized constants.
Annexin II and Regulation of Cell Surface Fibrinolysis

: The regulated function of the fibrinolytic system is fundamental to the solubilization of fibrin-containing thrombi and to a number of other biologic processes. In recent years, several receptors, which serve to localize proteolytic activity on the cell surface, have been identified on endothelial cells, blood cells, neuronal cells, and tumor cells. One such receptor is annexin II, a calcium- and phospholipid-binding protein that serves as a profibrinolytic coreceptor for tissue plasminogen activator and plasminogen on endothelial cells. Accumulating evidence suggests that impaired cell surface fibrinolytic assembly could lead to progressive atherothrombotic disease. In addition, dysregulation of annexin II expression in acute promyelocytic leukemia is an important mechanism for the bleeding diathesis associated with this malignancy.
A randomized trial testing the efficacy of a novel approach to weight loss among men with overweight and obesity.

Objective To test the efficacy of a weight loss intervention designed to appeal to men. Methods A randomized trial tested the efficacy of the Rethinking Eating and FITness (REFIT) weight loss program compared to a wait-list control. The 6-month intervention was delivered via two face-to-face sessions followed by Internet contacts. REFIT encouraged participants to create calorie deficits by making six 100-calorie changes to their eating daily while increasing physical activity, and the program encouraged customization through selection of specific diet strategies evaluated each week. Results Participants (N = 107, 44.2 years, 31.4 kg/m2, 76.6% white) were randomized into the study, and 90.6% provided data at 6 months. REFIT participants lost −5.0 kg (95% CI: −6.1, −3.9) at 3 months, which was maintained through 6 months (−5.3 kg, 95% CI: −6.5, −4.2); this was greater than the control group (p < 0.001; 6 months: −0.6, 95% CI: −1.8, 0.5). More REFIT participants (49%) achieved a 5% weight loss than control participants (19%; OR 9.4; 95% CI: 3.2, 27.4). An average of 11.2 (±2.7) of 13 of the online intervention contacts were completed. Conclusions The novel REFIT intervention produced clinically significant weight losses. This approach holds promise as an alternative to traditional behavioral therapy for men.
Implementations of the Leap Motion in sound synthesis, effects modulation and assistive performance tools

The Leap Motion opens new possibilities for mapping the various degrees of motion of the human hand with musical expression. The Leap Motion is a computer peripheral released in mid 2013 that uses IR cameras to track hand and finger location with unprecedented accuracy. In this paper, we explore implementations of the device in sound synthesis and effects control. The device is interfaced with Max/MSP to provide motion and finger-based control over multiple parameters in a software synthesizer. Next, we implement a 5-grain granular synthesizer where users trigger individual grains by depressing their fingers in mid-air. While triggering grains, users can simultaneously move their hands to dynamically modulate grain length and scrub the sample. The benefits and limitations are discussed in light of recent compositions and performances. The Leap Motion is also used to spatialize the synthesized sound produced from a 6-channel hemispherical speaker. Applications to music composition and music therapy are discussed.
The Use of Extrinsic Cues to Facilitate Product Adoption

Two field experiments were conducted to explore the effects of varying levels of product warranty, manufacturer reputation, and price on consumers’ risk perceptions and affective responses to new p...
Thrust Measurements of a Helicon Plasma Source

There is interest in using a helicon plasma source in propulsive applications as both an ion source and as a thruster. Developing a helicon thruster requires a performance baseline as a basis for future optimization and expansion. The thrust of a helicon is measured using an null-type inverted pendulum thrust stand at a pressure of 2x10 -5 Torr through the operating range of 215-840 W RF power, 11.9 and 13.56 MHz RF frequency, 150-450 G magnetic field strength, and 1.5-4.5 mg/s propellant flow rate for argon. Maximum thrust is found to be 6.27 mN at 142 s of specific impulse, and maximum specific impulse at 377 s at 5.55 mN. Thrust is primarily increased by increasing RF power, with smaller gains from magnetic field strength and mass flow rate. Maximum efficiency is 1.37% and is limited by a combination of low mass utilization and high beam divergence.
Dielectric characteristics of Poly(chloro-p-Xylene) thin films for high energy density pulsed power capacitors

Poly(chloro-p- Xylene) or Parylene –C thin films are particularly attractive for dielectric as well as biomedical applications. In the current work the dielectric properties of Parylene-C thin films are investigated to form laminar composites with oxide thin films for high energy density pulsed power capacitors. Parylene-C thin films were synthesized by pyrolytic vapor decomposition polymerization of dichloro-di(p-Xylene) monomer. Annealing of films at 225°C has shown to enhance crystallinity of film. Conduction in Parylene-C thin films appears to be bulk-controlled with the hopping charges contributing to leakage current. The barrier height of 0.89eV and hopping distance of 2 - 2.5nm are physically plausible and similar to previously reported values in polymer literature.
Abstract A25: Autophagy inhibition reverses resistance to targeted BRAF therapy in CNS tumors

Autophagy inhibition is a potential therapeutic strategy in cancer. We have previously shown that in autophagy-dependent tumors, such as those with BRAFV600E, there may be broad potential application of autophagy inhibition. Targeted inhibition against the BRAFV600E mutation (BRAFi) has been identified as important in CNS tumors and is being more broadly provided to these patients. Patients treated with BRAFi will develop resistance mechanisms and new approaches to reversing this resistance are needed. Our findings suggest that CNS tumors with BRAFV600E are autophagy-dependent in both parental tumors and those with inherent or acquired BRAFi resistance. Autophagy was evaluated by flow cytometry and Western blot. It was inhibited by clinically available chloroquine (CQ) and BRAFi was provided by vemurafenib. Cell survival was evaluated using a variety of techniques. Ex vivo organotypic slice culture of resistant tumor was used to verify in vitro findings. We found that mutant (but not WT) cells display high rates of induced autophagy, and these levels remain similar in BRAFi resistant cells. Both parental and resistant cells are sensitive to autophagy inhibition, with equal CQ response despite BRAFi resistance. Furthermore, both display synergy when CQ was combined with BRAFi in long-term growth assays. The addition of CQ increased apoptosis compared to BRAFi only cells. We also demonstrate CQ can improve vemurafenib sensitivity in a resistant ex vivo primary culture by decreasing Edu incorporation and increasing cytotoxicity as measured by LDH release. The mechanism underlying these effects is still under investigation. We have shown the mechanism is different than those reported in melanoma studies where BRAFi resistant cells show increased autophagic responses and ER stress responses as a mechanism for reversal of resistance. In CNS BRAFi resistant cells, we show no compensatory increase in autophagy levels and no up-regulation of ER stress response. This highlights the importance of specific studies within CNS tumors. More importantly, we have shown how CQ improved vemurafenib sensitivity in a patient with acquired BRAFi resistance and improved clinical outcomes. These data highlight an exciting possibility for identifying genetic markers, such as BRAFV600E, which sensitize tumors to autophagy inhibition combination therapy. Synergy was identified in both parental and resistant cells suggesting that autophagy-dependence is driven by its underlying mutations. Therefore, in autophagy-dependent BRAFV600E tumors there may be broad potential application of autophagy inhibition in both BRAFi naive and resistant patients. Citation Format: Shadi Zahedi, Andrea M. Griesinger, Todd C. Hankinson, Michael H. Handler, Nicholas K. Foreman, Andrew Thorburn, Jean M. Mulcahy Levy. Autophagy inhibition reverses resistance to targeted BRAF therapy in CNS tumors. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Advances in Brain Cancer Research; May 27-30, 2015; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(23 Suppl):Abstract nr A25.
Blood pressure and renal blood flow responses to dietary calcium and sodium intake in humans.

This study was designed to determine the interaction between salt and calcium intake on blood pressure (BP) and renal blood flow (RBF) in a predominantly white population. We measured BP and RBF (P-aminohippurate [PAH] clearance) in hypertensive patients after 7 days on a low salt/low calcium diet and again after either a high salt/high calcium diet (HS/HC) or a high salt/low calcium (HS/LC) diet for another 7 days. Compared to low salt BP, both high salt diets increased BP, but the increase with high salt/low calcium was significantly greater than with high salt/high calcium (+14.6 +/- 3.9/+8.2 +/- 1.7 mm Hg v +7.5 +/- 1.9/+2.5 +/- 1.4 mm Hg; systolic/diastolic, both P less than or equal to .05). PAH clearance increased 26 +/- 13 mL/min/1.73 m2 on the HS/HC diet but only 10 +/- 17 mL/min/1.73 m2 on HS/LC (P = .05 between groups). These data suggest that a low calcium diet may contribute to the phenomenon of salt sensitivity in a white population. The low calcium intake appears to affect both the systemic and renal vasculature.
Vorhofflattern mit 1:1 Überleitung

Vorhofflattern mit 1:1 Uberleitung kommt wahrscheinlich haufiger vor als es die Kasuistik in der Literatur schliesen last. Bis 1956 sind 46 Falle einschlieslich einer Serie von 6 Patienten von Finkelstein u. Bellet, seither noch weitere sporadische Falle berichtet worden. Die folgenden diagnostischen Kriterien fur Vorhofflattern mit 1:1 Uberleitung sind gultig: 1. Vorhofflattern mit P-Zacken mit einer Frequenz von 220 bis 315/min mit einem sagezahnartigen Bild ohne isoelektrische Pause und mit einer Kammererregung nach jedem Vorhofimpuls. 2. Das Auftreten von Vorhofflattern mit einem AV-Block hoheren Grades entweder vor oder nach der Arrhythmie mit 1:1 Uberleitung. 3. Das Auftreten eines AV-Blocks hoheren Grades nach Digitalisverabreichung.
Sex Differences in the Status Attainment Process

Expectations drive and direct achievement: they influence the willingness of people to marshal their energies, to engage their talents, and to compete against standards of excellence — their own and those of society. Low expectations put a modicum of achievement within the reach of most people and serve to protect the cautious and the timid, the lazy and the dull-witted against frustration and disappointment. But excessively low expectations can cramp the spirit and depress achievement. Not expecting much, the timid and cautious may settle for too little, for less perhaps than they would have been capable of achieving had they raised their sights, taken more risks, and put forth the greater effort that higher expectations would have required. In contrast, high expectations encourage achievement. To be sure, high expectations invite disappointment, for the more difficult and distant the goal the more improbable success becomes; but just as the overly cautious are held back by a fear of failure, so the ambitious and adventuresome are lured on by a vision of success. Expecting much, they give themselves room to grow; risking much, they stand much to gain.
The Pancreatic β-Cell: A Bioenergetic Perspective

The pancreatic β-cell secretes insulin in response to elevated plasma glucose. This review applies an external bioenergetic critique to the central processes of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, including glycolytic and mitochondrial metabolism, the cytosolic adenine nucleotide pool, and its interaction with plasma membrane ion channels. The control mechanisms responsible for the unique responsiveness of the cell to glucose availability are discussed from bioenergetic and metabolic control standpoints. The concept of coupling factor facilitation of secretion is critiqued, and an attempt is made to unravel the bioenergetic basis of the oscillatory mechanisms controlling secretion. The need to consider the physiological constraints operating in the intact cell is emphasized throughout. The aim is to provide a coherent pathway through an extensive, complex, and sometimes bewildering literature, particularly for those unfamiliar with the field.
Incidence and survival of sebaceous carcinoma in the United States.

Background Information on risk factors, epidemiology, and clinical characteristics of sebaceous carcinoma (SC) is limited. Objective We sought to analyze trends in SC in the United States from 2000 through 2012. Methods We used data from the 18 registries of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program from 2000 to 2012 to calculate the cause of death, relative frequencies/incidences, 5-/10-year Kaplan-Meier survival, hazard ratios, and incidence rates for SC. Each parameter was analyzed by age, location of occurrence (ocular/extraocular), race, sex, and SEER registry. Results Overall incidence was 0.32 (male) and 0.16 (female) per 100,000 person-years. Incidence significantly increased, primarily because of an increase among men. Incidence among whites was almost 3 times the rate among non-whites. Male sex ( P P = .01), and extraocular anatomic location ( P Limitations Underregistration of patients in SEER registries, lack of verification of individual diagnoses, and low levels of staging data because of low stage-classification rate are limitations. Conclusions The overall incidence of SC is increasing significantly. Male sex, black race, and extraocular occurrences are associated with significantly greater mortality.
Image-Guided Photodynamic Cancer Therapy

Photodynamic therapy is a therapeutic modality with a long history. It has been historically known in ancient India and China for the treatment of skin disorders. In Western medicine, the first experimental evidence of photodynamic therapy was reported by Raab et al. who observed the lethality of acridine dyes to paramecium in the presence of light [1]. The photodynamic effect was further demonstrated by Tappeiner and colleagues who reported killing of basal cell carcinoma using eosin and light illumination [2]. More recently, Dougherty et al. developed a hematoporphyrin derivative, which was shown to kill cancer cells in vitro and mammary tumors in mouse models in vivo [3]. Photodynamic therapy has evolved as an effective therapeutic modality for cancer treatment. In 1995, the FDA approved photodynamic therapy using Photofrin for the treatment of advanced esophageal cancer. Recent developments in biomedical imaging provide new opportunities for photodynamic therapy. Modern imaging technologies can accurately detect and diagnose malignant tumors at an early stage and can effectively assess tumor response to cancer photodynamic therapy. Combining photodynamic therapy with imaging can provide image guidance for accurate laser irradiation of tumor and timely assessment of therapeutic efficacy of photodynamic therapy. Image-guided photodynamic therapy is a new, minimally invasive cancer treatment modality that can further improve the efficacy of photodynamic therapy.
Single neuron activity and theta modulation in the posterior parietal cortex in a visuospatial attention task

The posterior parietal cortex (PPC) is implicated in directing and maintaining visual attention to locations in space. We hypothesized that the PPC also engages other cognitive processes in the transformation of behaviorally relevant visual inputs into appropriate actions, for example, monitoring of multiple locations, selection of responses to locations in space, and monitoring the outcome of response selections. We recorded single cells and local field potentials in the rat PPC during performance on a novel visuospatial attention (VSA) task that requires visually monitoring locations in space in order to make appropriate stimulus-guided locomotor responses. In each trial, rats attended to four locations on the floor of a maze. A randomly chosen location was briefly illuminated. Approach to the correct target location was followed by food reward. We observed that PPC activity correlated with multiple phases of the VSA task, including monitoring for stimulus onset, detection of a target, spatial location of the target, and target choice. A substantial proportion of cells with behavioral correlates were also modulated by outcome of the trial. Our analyses of local field potentials revealed strong oscillatory rhythms in the theta frequency band, and more than a third of PPC neurons were phase locked to theta oscillations. As in other brain regions, theta power correlated with running speed. Peak theta power was higher in superficial layers than deep layers providing evidence against volume conduction from the hippocampus. In addition, theta power was sensitive to the outcome of a choice. Theta power was significantly higher following incorrect choices compared with correct choices, possibly providing a prediction error signal. Our study provides evidence that the rat PPC has multiple roles in the translation of visual information into appropriate behavioral actions. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Extending the excluded volume for percolation threshold estimates in polydisperse systems: The binary disk system

Abstract For dispersions containing a single type of particle, it has been observed that the onset of percolation coincides with a critical value of volume fraction. When the volume fraction is calculated based on excluded volume, this critical percolation threshold is nearly invariant to particle shape. The critical threshold has been calculated to high precision for simple geometries using Monte Carlo simulations, but this method is slow at best, and infeasible for complex geometries. This paper explores an analytical approach to the prediction of percolation threshold in polydisperse mixtures. Specifically, this paper suggests an extension of the concept of excluded volume, and applies that extension to the 2D binary disk system. The simple analytical expression obtained is compared to Monte Carlo results from the literature. The result may be computed extremely rapidly and matches key parameters closely enough to be useful for composite material design.