cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A cluster of strong topoisomerase II cleavage sites is located near an integrated human immunodeficiency virus

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) integrates into host cellular DNA as a double strand DNA molecule. Here a previously studied HIV isolate was examined for binding and cleavage by topoisomerase II in vitro within the 5′ LTR region and human flanking DNA. A cluster of strong binding and cleavage sites in the human sequences was located approximately 850 bp upstream from the integration site. This region maps to a locus consisting of a complex repeating element, and alternating purine/pyrimidine sequences. Topoisomerase II binding and cleavage sites were also located within the HIV 5′ LTR, in particular a site overlying the DNA sequence coding for TAR, another inverted repeat element in the DNA.
Mucosal Pemphigus Vulgaris Anti-Dsg3 IgG Is Pathogenic to the Oral Mucosa of Humanized Dsg3 Mice

There are two major clinical subsets of pemphigus vulgaris (PV)—mucosal PV (mPV) and mucocutaneous PV (mcPV). The mPV subset exhibits anti-human desmoglein (Dsg) 3 autoantibodies that fail to recognize murine Dsg3 (mDsg3); thus, passive transfer experiments of mPV IgG into wild-type (WT) mice have been unsuccessful at inducing disease. We therefore generated a fully humanized Dsg3 (hDSG3) murine model utilizing a hDsg3 transgenic animal crossed to the mDsg3 knockout line. Expression of hDsg3 in the mucosa rescues the mDsg3 knockout phenotype. Well-characterized mPV sera bind mucosal epithelia from the hDsg3 mice, but not mucosal tissues from WT mice, as detected by indirect immunofluorescence (IF). The majority of mPV sera preferentially recognize hDsg3 compared with mDsg3 by immunoprecipitation as well. Passive transfer of mPV IgG into adult hDsg3 mice, but not WT mice, induces suprabasilar acantholysis in mucosal tissues, thus confirming the pathogenicity of mPV anti-hDsg3 IgG in vivo. Human anti-hDsg3 antibodies are detected in perilesional mucosa as well as in sera of recipient mice by IF. These findings suggest that the Dsg3 epitopes targeted by pathogenic mPV IgG are human specific. This hDsg3 mouse model will be invaluable in studying the clinical transition from mPV to mcPV.
A Longitudinal Study of Adolescents' Recollections of Family Violence

This investigation focuses on adolescents' recollections of childhood exposure to aversive events and the extent to which such recollections are related to variables from the traditional memory literature. Participants (n=153) were questioned about mother-directed abuse, child-directed abuse and punishment, and nonabusive events documented 6 years earlier. The teens forgot many details of family aggression, particularly when their mothers were the victims. Thirty-four per cent of those exposed to spousal violence failed to remember or report it, and 20% forgot or failed to report child abuse or punishment. Few participants exposed to escalated violence remembered and reported it, although almost all reported less severe aggression. Remembering was positively related to other measures of nontraumatic autobiographical memory, age, negative attitudes about the abuser, and recent exposure to family aggression. The results suggest that recollections of childhood abuse can be explained in part by variables that apply to a wide range of memory tasks. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
High Angular Microwave Resolution From Distorted Arrays

High angular resolution is achievable with a large-aperture instrument even if the aperture is distorted, provided that adaptive signal processing compensates for the distortion. The radio camera is an instrument designed for this purpose. Its algorithm is discussed and experimental results are given of a 3 cm wavelength demonstration system.© (1980) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Tetany and profound diarrhea--a diagnostic combination you cannot miss.

TO THE EDITOR: A 43-yr-old woman was referred to the Mayo Clinic for evaluation of extreme fatigue and muscle cramps associated with severe diarrhea of 8 wk duration. She reported having eight to 10 bowel movements a day. Her stools were greasy, foul-smelling, and of loose consistency, with volume >1 L/day. Her diarrhea was aggravated by eating and was partially improved by fasting. Despite a good appetite, she lost approximately 5 kg. She denied fever, melena, hematochezia, tenesmus, or abdominal pain. She had no known history of inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, or AIDS risk factors. She denied any recent travel, and was of Irish ancestry. She was unable to work because of her symptoms. Previous evaluation by her local gastroenterologist included stool studies for infectious etiologies, antigliadin IgA antibodies for celiac disease, and flexible sigmoidoscopy with biopsies, all of which were negative. She was treated symptomatically with loperamide without significant improvement. On presentation to our institution, she was noted to have spontaneous spasms of her wrists consistent with tetany. Her physical examination was remarkable for carpopedal spasm and for positive Chvostek's and Trousseau's signs. The examination was otherwise normal.
Measurement and simulation of a CMOS current conveyor negative capacitor for metamaterials

Current conveyors can be used as building blocks for implementing non-Foster circuits such as negative capacitors and negative inductors that are useful in extending bandwidth in metamaterials. In the present paper, measured results are presented for a prototype integrated circuit current conveyor negative capacitor. This circuit has been fabricated in a 0.5 micron CMOS process following previous results. Although CMOS is a desirable technology for circuit implementation, it is accompanied by design challenges of associated parasitic resistance. To investigate these issues, a prototype second generation current conveyor (CCII) is designed and tested in a negative capacitance circuit. In addition, full-wave electromagnetic simulation results are also presented showing the effects of observed resistance on overall metamaterial performance.
Joint AXAF high-resolution mirror assembly and AXAF CCD Imaging Spectrometer calibration at the MSFC X-Ray Calibration Facility

The flight AXAF CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS) and the High-Resolution Mirror Assembly (HRMA) telescope were extensively calibrated at NASA MSFC's X-Ray Calibration Facility (XRCF). We present result based on HRMA/ACIS characteristics that were obtained with the following tests: (a) Point-Spread Function (PSF) tests measuring the core and wings of the PSF on-axis and at several off-axis positions, at the point of ideal focus. (b) Effective-Area (EA) test measuring the total effective collecting area over the PSF at many energies. We investigate the dependence of the effective area and energy response of ACIS/HRMA as a function of several ACIS parameters. (c) Count-rate- linearity (pile-up) test measuring the effect of increasing the mean incident rat of photons per pixel on the PSF, and EA, source centroid, and photon detection. The goal of the calibration is to provide accurate estimates of the in-orbit performance of the ACIS/HRMA instrument and to enable translation of in-orbit measurements to absolute values of the incident x-ray flux and physical models of the source emission.
Claudins at the gate : determinants of renal epithelial tight junction paracellular permeability

The epithelial tight junction (TJ) is responsible for the control of paracellular transport between epithelial cells (gate function) and the maintenance of apical/basolateral polarity by preventing the diffusion of membrane lipids and/or proteins from one surface domain to another (fence function). Renal tubule epithelia in the mammalian nephron have TJs that determine paracellular transport characteristics. Paracellular transport across renal tubular epithelial TJs (gate function) varies in different segments of the nephron. A large family of recently identified TJ-associated transmembrane proteins named claudins appear to determine the paracellular permeability properties of the TJ. A combination of inherited human diseases, renal epithelial cell culture models, and nephron expression patterns of claudins is providing important clues about how claudin molecules determine the TJ gate function of renal epithelia in different segments of the nephron.
Proportioned blood cardioplegia delivery systems- are you del iveri ng the [K+] you expect?

This study was conducted to compare the actual potassium concentration [K+] delivered from a standard 4:1 ratio blood cardioplegia solution with the predicted [K+]. We found that the delivered [K+] ranged from 18.15 to 21.2 mEq/I although we predicted 22.0 mEq/I from our mathematical model. The factors that contributed to this difference were investigated. The ratio of blood:crystalloid was determined by: (1) potassium dilution technique; (2) volume output technique; and (3) from the manufacturer's tubing specifications and tolerances. This resulted in blood:crystalloid ratios of 3.86:1 (3.35-4.49:1), 3.74:1, and 4.0:1 (3.47-4.68:1), respectively. Analysis of the crystalloid component revealed an average [K+] of 75.7 mEq/I (70.0-81.5 mEq/I). Patient [K+] during the study ranged from 4.3 to 6.4 mEq/l. When the effect of clinical extremes in ratio, crystalloid [K+], and patient [K+] were considered, a range of cardioplegia [K+] of 16.0-24.3 mEq/I would be predicted. It was concluded that the ability to cont...
Acute oral toxicity of colchicine in rats: effects of gender, vehicle matrix and pre‐exposure to lipopolysaccharide

The oral toxicity of a single administration by gavage (10, 20 or 30 mg kg−1 body weight) of colchicine (COL) was determined in young, mature male and female Sprague-Dawley rats. The effect of COL was evaluated in the presence or absence of additional treatment variables that included vehicle and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) pre-exposure. The vehicle for COL was either Half and Half cream (H & H) or saline, and each group included pretreatment with either saline or a low, minimally toxic dose (83 µg kg−1 body weight) of LPS. Colchicine toxicity in both male and female age-matched rats was characterized by progressively more severe dose-related clinical signs of toxicity. These included mortality, decreased body weight and feed intake during the first several days after dosing, with recovery thereafter in surviving animals. There were differences in the severity of the toxic response to COL between male and female rats. The most notable sex-related difference was in COL lethality. Female rats were two times more susceptible to the lethal effects of COL than male rats. Saline or H & H delivery vehicles did not result in any apparent qualitative or quantitative differences in COL toxicity. LPS pretreatment significantly potentiated COL lethality in both males and females, although the potentiation in males was greater than in females. LPS pretreatment modestly increased the COL induced anorexic effect in surviving males, but not in surviving female animals. LPS did not appear to modulate either the body weights or clinical signs of COL induced toxicity in surviving males or females. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The impact of ice particle roughness on the scattering phase matrix

Abstract The goal of this study is to explore the influence of ice particle habit (or shape) and surface roughness on the scattering phase matrix. As an example, reported here are the results for two wavelengths: 0.67 and 1.61 μm. For this effort, a database of single-scattering properties has been computed for a set of habits including hexagonal plates, hollow and solid columns, hollow and solid 3D bullet rosettes, droxtals, aggregates of solid columns, and aggregates of plates. The database provides properties for each of the habits at 101 wavelengths between 0.45 and 2.24 μm for smooth, moderately roughened, and severely roughened particles. At each wavelength, the scattering properties are provided at 233 discrete particle diameters ranging from 2 to 10,000 μm. A single particle size distribution from a very cold ice cloud sampled during the CRYSTAL-FACE field campaign (Tcld=–76 °C) is used to illustrate the influence of habit and roughness on the phase matrix. In all, four different habit mixtures are evaluated. The nonzero elements of the phase matrix are shown to be quite sensitive to the assumed habit, particularly in the case of −P12/P11 that is associated with the degree of linear polarization of scattered radiation. Surface roughness is shown to smooth out maxima in the scattering phase function and in the other elements of the phase matrix, consistent with other studies. To compare with the theoretical simulations of the phase matrix for smooth and roughened particles, a full year of cloud-aerosol lidar with orthogonal polarization (CALIOP) data from 2008 is analyzed to provide global statistics on the values of P11 and P22/P11 in the backscattering direction. In a comparison of two of the habit mixtures (one used for MODIS Collection 5 and another that incorporates new habits including hollow bullet rosettes and aggregates of plates) with the CALIOP data, the values for P11 are higher regardless of the degree of particle surface roughness, and the values for P22/P11 are lower than those for CALIOP. Further investigation is warranted to better understand this discrepancy.
Non-Double-Couple Earthquakes in the Long Valley Volcanic Region

To better understand the connection between earthquake production and geothermal/magmatic systems, we studied the extent of fluid-influenced faulting in the Long Valley volcanic region. We focused on a 100-km-wide circular area centered at the Long Valley caldera that also encompassed the Mono-Inyo craters to the north and the Sierra Nevada mountain block to the south. We performed a comprehensive search for events greater than M 3.5 since 1993 with significant coseismic volume changes in their source region. Using three-component broadband digital waveforms at regional distances, we solved for four different source models: double couple (dc), deviatoric dc + isotropic, and full moment tensor. Using the F -test as a statistical aid, we determined which of the four models was most appropriate for each event. We then conducted stability tests to determine the robustness of the focal mechanism solutions and isotropic components. Our results show that fluid-influenced earthquakes in the magnitude range studied are quite rare in the Long Valley volcanic region. Of 33 high-quality events, 28 are best characterized by a simple dc source model, 4 by a dc + isotropic source model, and 1 by a full moment tensor model.
Therapeutic and prophylactic transcatheter therapy in patients with massive arterial upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage

SummaryPatients with massive upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage can present difficult problems of diagnosis and management. In some cases the bleeding site may be localized endoscopically but in many other patients the precise localization requires selective angiographic studies. When a lesion responsible for bleeding is identified, modern embolization techniques or treatment with intra-arterial vasopressin often results in effective and rapid control of haemorrhage. In selected patients in whom the source of bleeding is not demonstrated during angiography, prophylactic embolization of the left gastric artery can make a significant contribution to clinical management.
Evaluation of methods to concentrate and purify ocean virus communities through comparative, replicated metagenomics

Viruses have global impact through mortality, nutrient cycling and horizontal gene transfer, yet their study is limited by complex methodologies with little validation. Here, we use triplicate metagenomes to compare common aquatic viral concentration and purification methods across four combinations as follows: (i) tangential flow filtration (TFF) and DNase + CsCl, (ii) FeCl3 precipitation and DNase, (iii) FeCl3 precipitation and DNase + CsCl and (iv) FeCl3 precipitation and DNase + sucrose. Taxonomic data (30% of reads) suggested that purification methods were statistically indistinguishable at any taxonomic level while concentration methods were significantly different at family and genus levels. Specifically, TFF-concentrated viral metagenomes had significantly fewer abundant viral types (Podoviridae and Phycodnaviridae) and more variability among Myoviridae than FeCl3 -precipitated viral metagenomes. More comprehensive analyses using protein clusters (66% of reads) and k-mers (100% of reads) showed 50-53% of these data were common to all four methods, and revealed trace bacterial DNA contamination in TFF-concentrated metagenomes and one of three replicates concentrated using FeCl3 and purified by DNase alone. Shared k-mer analyses also revealed that polymerases used in amplification impact the resulting metagenomes, with TaKaRa enriching for 'rare' reads relative to PfuTurbo. Together these results provide empirical data for making experimental design decisions in culture-independent viral ecology studies.
Subunit Compositions and Catalytic Properties of Proteasomes from Developmental Temperature- Sensitive Mutants of Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract Two dominant temperature-sensitive ( DTS ) Drosophila mutants are missense mutations of proteasome genes encoding beta-type subunits β6/C5 (DTS5) and β2/Z (DTS7). At nonpermissive temperature (29°C), heterozygotes ( DTS5/+ and DTS7/+ ) develop normally until metamorphosis; pupae fail to mature and die before eclosion. Proteasomes were purified from wild-type (WT) and heterozygous adult flies raised at permissive temperature (25°C). Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis separated at least 28 proteins, 13 of which were identified with monospecific antibodies to α6/C2 (five species), α2/C3 (three species), α7/C8 (three species), α5/zeta, and β1/Y subunits. Both quantitative and qualitative differences were observed between WT and DTS/+ proteasomes, with DTS5/+ deviating more from WT than DTS7/+ proteasomes. In DTS5/+ there was a shift to more acidic species of C2 and C3 and a shift to less acidic species of 32-kDa subunits (#3–#7) recognized by an anti-alpha subunit monoclonal antibody (MCP222) and were losses of two 32-kDa subunits (#2 and #3), decreases in Y (25 kDa; 2-fold) and 31-kDa (#9; 2-fold) subunits, and increases in 52-kDa (#1; 1.9-fold) and 24-kDa (#13; 2.3-fold) subunits. In DTS7/+ there was a less pronounced shift to acidic species of C3 and no p I shift in C2 species and subunits #3–#7 and were decreases in #9 (2.5-fold) and #14 (3-fold) and a loss of #2. The three C8 species were similar between WT, DTS5/+, and DTS7/+ proteasomes. Qualitatively, the most dramatic difference was the appearance of a new 24-kDa subunit (#16) in DTS/+ preparations, with about a 14-fold greater amount of #16 in DTS7/+ than in DTS5/+ proteasomes. Catalytically, WT and DTS/+ proteasomes had similar peptidase activities, although the DTS/+ proteasomes were slightly more sensitive to SDS and elevated temperatures in vitro. The incorporation of DTS subunits apparently altered proteasome assembly and/or processing at permissive temperature with little effect on catalytic activities. These data suggest that at nonpermissive temperature, assembly/processing is more severely affected, producing DTS-containing complexes that lack functions essential for cellular proliferation and differentiation at metamorphosis.
Ceramic Materials in Total Joint Arthroplasty

Bearing surfaces made of ceramic materials are an alternative to metal-on-polyethylene (PE) articulations in total hip arthroplasty and total knee arthroplasty. The advantage of ceramic surfaces in total joints is the reduction in wear rates compared with metal-on-PE. Lower wear rates result in a decreased volume of wear particles produced by the articulating surfaces. In theory, this should reduce the risk of periprosthetic osteolysis and premature implant loosening, thereby contributing to the longevity of prosthetic joints. In addition to ceramics, other alternative bearings, such as highly cross-linked PE and metal-on-metal, also offer decreased wear rates when compared with metal-on-PE articulations in total joint arthroplasty. Alumina and zirconia ceramics are familiar to orthopedic surgeons because both materials have a long history of use in total joint bearings. Alumina-on-alumina ceramic total hip articulations are now available in the United States from several implant manufacturers. Composite materials made by combining alumina and zirconia, metal-on-ceramic articulations, and new ceramic materials will offer even more choices as the search for the ideal bearing combination in total joint arthroplasty continues. The purpose of this article is to review the material properties, clinical applications, evolution, and limitations of the ceramic materials used in total joint bearings.
Regulation of the formation of osteoclastic actin rings by proline-rich tyrosine kinase 2 interacting with gelsolin

Osteoclast activation is important for bone remodeling and is altered in multiple bone disorders. This process requires cell adhesion and extensive actin cytoskeletal reorganization. Proline-rich tyrosine kinase 2 (PYK2), a major cell adhesion–activated tyrosine kinase in osteoclasts, plays an important role in regulating this event. The mechanisms by which PYK2 regulates actin cytoskeletal organization and osteoclastic activation remain largely unknown. In this paper, we provide evidence that PYK2 directly interacts with gelsolin, an actin binding, severing, and capping protein essential for osteoclastic actin cytoskeletal organization. The interaction is mediated via the focal adhesion–targeting domain of PYK2 and an LD motif in gelsolin's COOH terminus. PYK2 phosphorylates gelsolin at tyrosine residues and regulates gelsolin bioactivity, including decreasing gelsolin binding to actin monomer and increasing gelsolin binding to phosphatidylinositol lipids. In addition, PYK2 increases actin polymerization at the fibroblastic cell periphery. Finally, PYK2 interacts with gelsolin in osteoclasts, where PYK2 activation is required for the formation of actin rings. Together, our results suggest that PYK2 is a regulator of gelsolin, revealing a novel PYK2–gelsolin pathway in regulating actin cytoskeletal organization in multiple cells, including osteoclasts.
Chromatic discrimination: differential contributions from two adapting fields

To test whether a retinal or cortical mechanism sums contributions from two adapting fields to chromatic discrimination, L/M discrimination was measured with a test annulus surrounded by an inner circular field and an outer rectangular field. A retinal summation mechanism predicted that the discrimination pattern would not change with a change in the fixation location. Therefore, the fixation was set either in the inner or the outer field in two experiments. When one of the adapting fields was “red” and the other was “green,” the adapting field where the observer fixated always had a stronger influence on chromatic discrimination. However, when one adapting field was “white” and the other was red or green, the white field always weighted more heavily than the other adapting field in determining discrimination thresholds, whether the white field or the fixation was in the inner or outer adapting field. These results suggest that a cortical mechanism determines the relative contributions from different adapting fields.
Development of a statistical model for prediction of acute myocardial infarction by biochemical markers

Diagnosis and management of potential acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients presenting to the hospital emergency department (ED) with chest pain are difficult. To aid in clinical decision making, a multivariate logistic regression model was developed using the patient’s presenting history, electrocardiogram (ECG), and biochemical marker (cardiac Troponin T, cTnT) to predict the probability of AMI. Data from 102 AMI and 619 non-AMI patients from a multicenter clinical trial were used for model building. The World Health Organization criteria were used for AMI diagnosis. Univariate analyses were performed to assess the effect of individual factors. Based on the significance of univariate effect and clinical importance, the following variables were included in a risk factor only model: age, sex, chest pain, systolic blood pressure, smoking, and history of myocardial infarction and hypertension with an area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) of 0.66 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.60-0.71) and an R2 of 0.09. The final model, which included the risk factors and results of ECG and cTnT, increased the AUC and R2 values to 0.93 (95% CI: 0.90-0.96) and 0.83, respectively. At the probability level of 0.10 for AMI, the model showed a sensitivity of 78.4% and a specificity of 92.6%. Statistical modeling is a useful tool in predicting risk of chest pain patients in the ED.
Relationship between coronary function by positron emission tomography and temporal changes in morphology by intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) in transplant recipients

Abstract Background: Transplant coronary vasculopathy is one of the major causes of graft failure and death in cardiac transplant recipients. A non-invasive test of coronary function to predict the course of this disease would be desirable. Methods To determine whether the degree of abnormalities in endothelial dependent coronary vasomotion (cold pressor testing) or endothelial independent vasodilatory capacity (intravenous dipyridamole) as determined by positron emission tomography (PET) one to two years after heart transplantation is correlated with the course of transplant vasculopathy. Nineteen patients had baseline PET and intravascular ultrasound studies (IVUS) at 18 ± 6 months after cardiac transplantation and a follow up IVUS study 15 ± 5 months later. Results Myocardial blood flow was higher in patients than in healthy controls ( p p p p p r = 0.55; p = 0.02) and lumen diameter ( r = 0.52; p Conclusion These findings suggest that the degree of abnormalities in endothelial independent myocardial flow as detected by PET one to two years after transplantation is associated with morphological indices of disease progression by IVUS.
Creating Mexican Consumer Culture in the Age of Porfirio Díaz. By Steven B. Bunker. (Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 2012. Pp. v, 333. $50.00.)

Mexican cultural history and our comprehension of Mexico during the regime of Porfirio Diaz deepens with this newly published analysis of the relationship between consumer culture and the making of...
An evaluation of the tone calibrated technique for data transmission over land mobile radio channels

The performance in land mobile radio channels of the Tone Calibrated Technique for data transmission originally proposed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory is experimentally evaluated. A transmitter implementation allowing spectral shaping at baseband is presented. A phase coherent receiver structure is also presented which uses a hard limiter to remove the fading envelope. Data on the performance of this tone calibrated system and of a frequency shift keyed system are compared. A simple method of evaluating a modulation system for fading protection is advanced. By observing the response of the system to a double sideband modulated tone interferer a rough idea of the performance of the system in fading can be obtained.
Interference-Aware Multicast in Wireless Mesh Networks with Directional Antennas

Wireless mesh networks (WMNs) have recently emerged as a promising broadband access infrastructure for next-generation wireless networking. Several approaches that exploit directional antennas have been proposed in the literature to increase the performance of WMNs. In this paper, we study the interference optimization multicast problem in WMNs where nodes are equipped with directional antennas. Interference can make a significant impact on the performance of multi-hop wireless networks. Directional transmissions can greatly reduce radio interference, increase spatial reuse, and enable more efficient MAC designs. We first present the definition of interference with directional transmissions that are suitable for designing multicast algorithms, and formulate minimum interference multicast problems using a linear programming model. We then propose a heuristic algorithm to solve the problem. Our model and algorithm are good for both single multicast session and multiple multicast sessions. Multicast routing found by our interference-aware algorithm tends to have less channel collisions.
Dermal filler injection: a novel approach for limiting infarct expansion.

Background Early infarct expansion after coronary occlusion compromises contractile function in perfused myocardial regions and promotes adverse long-term left ventricular (LV) remodeling. We hypothesized that injection of a tissue-expanding dermal filler material into a myocardial infarction (MI) would attenuate infarct expansion and limit LV remodeling. Methods Fifteen sheep were subjected to an anteroapical MI involving approximately 20% of the LV followed by the injection of 1.3 mL of a calcium hydroxyapatite–based dermal filler into the infarct. Real-time three-dimensional echocardiography was performed at baseline, 30 minutes after MI, and 15 minutes after injection to assess infarct expansion. Sixteen additional sheep were subjected to the same infarction and followed echocardiographically and hemodynamically for 4 weeks after MI to assess chronic remodeling. Eight animals had injection with dermal filler as described above immediately after MI, and 8 animals were injected with an equal amount of saline solution. Results All animals exhibited infarct expansion soon after coronary occlusion. The regional ejection fraction of the apex became negative after infarction, consistent with systolic dyskinesia. Injection of the dermal filler converted the apical wall motion from dyskinetic to akinetic and resulted immediately in significant decreases in global, regional, and segmental LV volumes. Chronically, relative to saline control, dermal filler injection significantly reduced LV end-systolic volume (62.2 ± 3.6 mL versus 44.5 ± 3.9 mL; p p Conclusions Injection of an acellular dermal filler into an MI immediately after coronary occlusion reduces early infarct expansion and limits chronic LV remodeling.
On using game theory to optimize the rate control in video coding

This paper presents a game theory based technique for optimizing the bit rate control in video coding. Game theory, by virtue of its enormous potential for solving constrained optimization problems, has been effectively utilized in several branches of natural and social sciences. But this paper is the first attempt in using game theory for video compression. The objective is to optimize the perceptual quality while guaranteeing "fairness" in bit allocation among macroblocks (MBs). The proposed technique is a dual-level rate control algorithm: At the first level, the algorithm allocates the target bits to frames based on their coding complexity; a method to estimate the coding complexity of the remaining frames is proposed. At the second level, MBs of a frame play cooperative games such that each MB competes for a fair share of resources (bits) to optimize its quantization scale while considering the human visual system (HVS) perceptual property. We formulate the rate control problem by defining players, strategies and objective function. Since the whole frame is an entity perceived by viewers, MBs compete cooperatively under a global objective of achieving the best quality with the given bit constraint. The major advantage of the proposed approach is that the cooperative game leads to an optimal and fair bit allocation strategy based on the Nash bargaining solution. Another advantage is that it allows multi-objective optimization with multiple decision makers (e.g., MBs) in order to achieve accurate bit rate with good perceptual quality while maintaining a stable buffer level. Several extensions of the work are possible.
Statistical Methods for Risk-Outcome Research: Being Sensitive to Longitudinal Structure

The relation between risk and outcome consists of myriad, complex, longitudinal processes. To study these relations requires research designs and statistical methods that are sensitive to the longitudinal structure of the risk, the outcome, and the risk-outcome relation. This review presents four longitudinal characteristics that can complicate psychopathology risk-outcome research. We represent each complication with an example data set. We demonstrate how conventional statistical approaches can yield highly misleading results. Finally, we review alternative statistical approaches that can handle these complications quite well.
Airway management in a 980-lb patient: use of the Aintree intubation catheter.

Abstract We report a 22-year-old, 980-lb (445 kg) man with a body mass index of 163 kg/m 2 , who needed intubation for tracheotomy surgery, as he was profoundly hypercarbic and reliant on a tight-fitting continuous positive airway pressure mask. Attempts at oral and nasal fiberoptic intubation during topical anesthesia were unsuccessful because of poor patient cooperation and epistaxis. Thus, after awake placement of a size 5 Laryngeal Mask Airway ProSeal LMA; (LMA North America, San Diego, CA), we induced anesthesia using sevoflurane. Then we placed an Aintree stylet (Cook Critical Care, Bloomington, IN) over a fiberoptic bronchoscope, and both were introduced through the LMA into the trachea. We then removed the fiberoptic bronchoscope followed by the LMA. A Parker size 7.5 endotracheal tube was then "railroaded" over the Aintree catheter into the trachea.
A mathematical model of similarity and clustering

This paper introduces an abstract model of data similarity and clustering. A similarity on a space /spl Omega/ is formulated explicitly by a reflexive and symmetric binary relation, called a tolerance relation, for which we introduce three types of coverings of /spl Omega/. Given a covering U, a clustering is defined to be minimal sub-covering. To search for an optimal clustering is to minimize the number of clusters, which is intractable in general. This paper proposes a heuristic method to search for sub-optimal clusterings for a given tolerance relation.
Nonreductive individualism: Part I—supervenience and wild disjunction

The author draws on arguments from contemporary philosophy of mind to provide an argument for sociological collectivism. This argument for nonreductive individualism accepts that only individuals exist but rejects methodological individualism. In Part I, the author presents the argument for nonreductive individualism by working through the implications of supervenience, multiple realizability, and wild disjunction in some detail. In Part II, he extends the argument to provide a defense for social causal laws, and this account of social causation does not require any commitment to intentionality or agency on the part of individuals.
Hybrid Strategies: Allocating Involvement in the Digital Age

An important trait of mobile phones is their capacity to superimpose multiple social interactions in time and space. Little research examines how individuals choose between face-to-face and digitally mediated interactions in specific social contexts. Drawing upon focus group interviews with a diverse sample of university students in the United States, we argue that, contrary to a perspective that is popular in theory and journalistic commentary, mobile phone users do not experience the digital and the face-to-face as distinct realms. In deciding where to direct their attention, users enmesh the distant and the present, making moves that are expressive and strategic in their own right that reveal the interest, intimacy and urgency that users place in multiple, coinciding social involvements.
Central Cord Syndrome in a Young Patient with Early Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis and Ossification of the Posterior Longitudinal Ligament after Minor Trauma: A Case Report and Review

This paper is a case report and literature review. The objective of this article is to address a rather unusual case of central cord syndrome in a patient with diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis and focal ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament. We also discuss the mechanism of injury in central cord syndrome, as well as that specific to involvement of diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) and ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL). This case took place at SUNY Upstate Medical University. We report a case of a 39-year-old male with early diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis and focal ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament, presenting with central cord syndrome after minor trauma. The patient presented with tetraparesis, predominating with significant distal upper extremity weakness and hyperpathia. We performed a C3-6 decompressive laminectomy, with C2 pars screws, and C3-7 lateral mass screws. Since surgery, the patient has had a steady progressive improvement in neurological function and is currently ambulating with a good functional use of his upper extremities. An increased risk of spinal cord injury is a known risk in individuals with pre-existing spinal ankylosing. Few reports are present citing the contribution of focal OPLL with DISH in this age group within the cervical spine contributing to the central cord syndrome.
Challenges of Prolonged Follow-up and Temporal Imbalance in Pragmatic Trials: Analysis of the ENCOURAGE Trial.

PURPOSE Peer support intervention trials are typically conducted in community- based settings and provide generalizable results. The logistic challenges of com- munity-based trials often result in unplanned temporal imbalances in recruitment and follow-up. When imbalances are present, as in the ENCOURAGE trial, appro- priate statistical methods must be used to account for these imbalances. We pres- ent the design, conduct, and analysis of the ENCOURAGE trial as a case study of a cluster-randomized, community-based, peer-coaching intervention. METHODS Preliminary data analysis included examination of study data for imbal- ances in participant characteristics at baseline, the presence of both secular and seasonal trends in outcome measures, and imbalances in time from baseline to fol- low-up. Additional examination suggested the presence of nonlinear trends in the intervention effect. The final analyses adjusted for all identified imbalances with accounting for community clustering by supplementing linear mixed effect models with generalized additive mixed models (GAMM) to examine nonlinear trends. RESULTS Largely due to the location of participants across a considerable geo- graphic area, temporal imbalances were discovered in recruitment, baseline, and follow-up data collection, along with evidence for both secular and seasonal trends in study outcome measures. Using the standard analytical approach, ENCOURAGE appeared to be a null trial. After incorporating adjustment for these temporal imbalances, linear regression analyses still showed no intervention effect. Upon further analyses using GAMM to consider nonlinear intervention trends, we observed intervention effects that were both significant ( P <.05) and nonlinear. DISCUSSION In community-based trials, recruitment and follow-up may not occur as planned, and complex temporal imbalance may greatly influence the analysis. Real-world trials should use careful logistic planning and monitoring to avoid temporal imbalance. If imbalance is unavoidable, sophisticated statistical methods may nevertheless extract useful information, although the potential problem of residual confounding due to other unmeasured imbalances must be considered.
Retirement Plan Participation and Features, and the Standard of Living of Americans 55 or Older

This study completes a series using the Retirement and Pension Plan Coverage Topical Module of the 1996 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), which contains recently released data from 1998, by examining the survey's more detailed questions concerning workers' employment-based retirement plans. Specifically, it examines not only the percentage of workers who are participating in a plan but also workers' reasons for not participating in a plan when working in a job where a plan is sponsored; the features of, or decisions made, in salary reduction plans; historical participation in employment-based retirement plans; and a comparison of the standard of living of individuals age 55 or older with the standard they maintained when they were in their early fifties. As of June 1998, 64.3 percent of wage and salary workers age 16 or older worked for an employer or union that sponsored any type of retirement plan for any of its employees or members. Almost 47 percent of these wage and salary workers participated in a plan, with 43.2 percent being entitled to a benefit or eligible to receive a lump-sum distribution from a plan if their job terminated at the time of survey. Nearly 80 percent of those 55 or older reported that their standard of living is about the same or better now than when they were in their early 50s. The incidence of both pension income and health insurance from a former employer had a significant impact on the retirees' likelihood of maintaining their standard of living.
Quality control in the analysis of radioactivity from the oil exploration sector

The presence of 226Ra, 228Ra and 210Pb in the production of oil is now a well-known phenomenon. An effort has been undertaken to establish quality control procedures and to produce an in-house reference material. Scale build-up has a significant amount of iron, barium and strontium and as such self-attenuation of photons, especially the 46.5 keV photon from 210Pb can significantly underestimate the radioactivity concentration. A procedure was developed to prepare an in-house standard using only a 20-g sample of scale obtained from west Texas. An evaluation of the homogeneity, counting procedures and determination of the self-attenuation factors are presented.
Radiation Safety in the Nuclear Medicine Laboratory

Those of us who are actively engaged in handling and manipulation of radioactivity in either solid, liquid, or gaseous forms must strive constantly to maintain the delicate balance between providing maximum efficiency and preventing error. Technologists who work in the nuclear medicine laboratory preparing doses, assaying samples, or doing RIA procedures should not concentrate only on accident prevention but should know also the procedures to be followed in the event of a radiation spill in their laboratory. We review and discuss six aspects directly related to radiation spills and suggest appropriate actions that could be taken should an accident occur.
Origins and Limitations of State-based Advocacy Brazil’s AIDS Treatment Program and Global Power Dynamics

Brazil has occupied a central role in the access to medicines movement, especially with respect to drugs used to treat those with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Contrary to previous literature centered on the role of the domestic pharmaceutical industry, politicians seeking electoral gains, and civil society activists, I argue that the state, especially the National AIDS Program, led the struggle in contesting a corporate-driven international intellectual property regime. After reviewing the origins of Brazil’s treatment policies and patent reforms, I trace the actions and relationships between the state, civil society, transnational corporations (TNCs), and local industry in three instances when Brazilian officials used compulsory licenses to reduce the price of medicines. Coalition-building and “naming and shaming” tactics contributed to Brazil’s success, while changing pharmaceutical capabilities limited more aggressive actions.
Formation of the Japanese Floriculture in Northern California

Japanese immigrant agriculturists on the west coast of the United States in the pre-World War II period enjoyed a highly competitive position with their small but labor intensive operations even under social conditions that often discouraged their activities. One of the biggest factors in their competitive success in agriculture was their organizational effectiveness. Ethnic solidarity was maintained by first generation immigrants of most ethnic backgrounds both in fraternal and economic activities and they tended to cluster geographically and by occupation. But the Japanese agriculturists developed especially tight and efficient organizations to meet special needs and to protect themselves in this new and unaccustomed environment.The present paper describes and analyzes the development of Japanese floriculture in the San Francisco Bay Area from its beginnings in the late nineteenth century to the World War II relocation of the Japanese, with special emphasis on grower organizations as a key factor in their success.The early pioneering efforts and success of the immigrants, who were mostly of rural background, invited the participation of other Japanese in commercial flower production. The mild climatic conditions of the Bay Area, especially the absense of temperature extremes, were favorable for cut flower production, and the rapidly growing population created an increasing demand. Although two other ethnic groups, Italians and Chinese, were already in the business when the Japanese first started to grow flowers commercially, the industry itself was not fully organized. The Japanese thus moved into a niche that was waiting to be filled.In the early period the Japanese flower growers were mainly located in the East Bay region, producing carnations, roses and chrysanthemums in greenhouses. Marketing of flowers was undertaken on an individual basis, peddling them from wicker or bamboo baskets carried on the back or by opening flower stands on busy streets, which was generally inefficient and time consuming. As the number of growers increased and production expanded, intense competition developed among them. Gradually they became aware of a need for their own trade organization and marketing facility.
Modulation of responses and frequency tuning of thalamic and collicular neurons by cortical activation in mustached bats.

In the Jamaican mustached bat, Pteronotus parnellii parnellii, one of the subdivisions of the primary auditory cortex is disproportionately large and over-represents sound at ∼61 kHz. This area, ca...
A factorial experiment to investigate naturalistic factors affecting smartphone gait analysis

Gait analysis involves analyzing data from body-mounted sensors in order to detect various ailments or aging. Prior work has utilized the accelerometers on Smartphones to collect gait data but required subjects to firmly attach the phones to their torsos, hip or other body parts. In real life, subjects prefer to place their phones in various pockets or bags, may wear loose or tight clothes which have been found to affect the quality of the accelerometer data gathered. In this paper, we report on factorial experiments to investigate what naturalistic factors affect accelerometer data gathered from unattached Smartphones. For a female subject, we found that the most impactful factor was wearing hard vs soft shoes. For a male subject, the most impactful factor was whether the phone was carried in an attache case or not. Overall, we also found that none of the factors investigated produced an overwhelming response, which suggests that high-fidelity health assessments of various ailments could possibly be performed using gait data gathered in naturalistic settings (no need to attach smartphone precisely on subjects).
Longitudinal Trends in Tobacco Availability, Tobacco Advertising, and Ownership Changes of Food Stores, Albany, New York, 2003-2015.

Introduction Frequency of visiting convenience and corner grocery stores that sell tobacco is positively associated with the odds of ever smoking and the risk of smoking initiation among youth. We assessed 12-year trends of tobacco availability, tobacco advertising, and ownership changes in various food stores in Albany, New York.