cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Maintenance therapy for peptic ulcer--who needs it?

Until recently, peptic ulcer disease implied lifelong susceptibility to symptomatic, asymptomatic or complicated ulcer recurrences. Only about 50% of the ulcers seen endoscopically ever become symptomatic. Asymptomatic ulcers appear ciinically unimportant, except in the setting of aspirin (ASA) or NSAID use, where they may lead without warning to fatal complications. Until recently, ulcer disease could not be cured medically: no drug has been shown to prevent ulcer complications occurring in patients taking ASA/ NSAIDs. Low-dose maintenance therapy with H2-antagonists reduces recurrences and complications, but is expensive and requires indefinite use. Other anti-ulcer drugs have not been studied enough to conclude with confidence that they are similarly effective. Over 80% of recurrences are infrequent and can be treated when they occur.n 20% of ulcer patients have 3 recurrences/yr, ulcer complications, or such poor health that recurrence might prove fatal. Ulcers recurring during maintenance therapy rarely complicate and heal with increasing and maintaining dosage. Eradication of H. Pylori (HP) infection, while difficult, abolishes most recurrences without maintenance therapy. Maintenace therapy is therefore indicated principally when HP can not be eradicated. Surgery is rarely required for uncomplicated idsease.
CD47 knockout mice exhibit improved recovery from spinal cord injury.

Recent data have implicated thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) signaling in the acute neuropathological events that occur in microvascular endothelial cells (ECs) following spinal cord injury (SCI) (Benton et al., 2008b). We hypothesized that deletion of TSP-1 or its receptor CD47 would reduce these pathological events following SCI. CD47 is expressed in a variety of tissues, including vascular ECs and neutrophils. CD47 binds to TSP-1 and inhibits angiogenesis. CD47 also binds to the signal regulatory protein (SIRP)α and facilitates neutrophil diapedesis across ECs to sites of injury. After contusive SCI, TSP-1−/− mice did not show functional improvement compared to wildtype (WT) mice. CD47−/− mice, however, exhibited functional locomotor improvements and greater white matter sparing. Whereas targeted deletion of either CD47 or TSP-1 improved acute epicenter vascularity in contused mice, only CD47 deletion reduced neutrophil diapedesis and increased microvascular perfusion. An ex vivo model of the CNS microvasculature revealed that CD47−/−-derived microvessels (MVs) prominently exhibit adherent WT or CD47−/− neutrophils on the endothelial lumen, whereas WT-derived MVs do not. This implicates a defect in diapedesis mediated by the loss of CD47 expression on ECs. In vitro transmigration assays confirmed the role of SIRPα in neutrophil diapedesis through EC monolayers. We conclude that CD47 deletion modestly, but significantly, improves functional recovery from SCI via an increase in vascular patency and a reduction of SIRPα-mediated neutrophil diapedesis, rather than the abrogation of TSP-1-mediated anti-angiogenic signaling.
Encouraging Prospective Teachers to Engage Friends and Family in Exploring Physical Phenomena

Involving people outside of a science course can foster learning for students enrolled in the course. Assignments involving friends and family provided such opportunities in an undergraduate physics course for prospective teachers. These assignments included reflecting upon prior experiences, interviewing friends and family members, engaging them in exploring physical phenomena, and teaching them with relevant websites. The six strands of science learning articulated in Learning Science in Informal Environments (National Research Council in Learning science in informal environments: People, places, and pursuits. National Academies Press, Washington, DC, 2009) provided a framework for analyzing the prospective teachers’ responses. Through such assignments, the instructor created opportunities for the prospective teachers to use and build upon knowledge learned in class as well as to gain confidence and experience in facilitating the learning of others.
Antecedents and consequences of consumers' comparative value assessments across the relationship life cycle

Abstract This study examines the antecedents and consequences of consumers' comparative value assessments across the relationship life cycle. The study positions service quality and the attractiveness of alternatives as value antecedents, and finds that while service quality is more strongly related to value in the exploration, expansion, and commitment life cycle phases, the two variables are of equal importance in the dissolution phase. The study examines the consequential effects of service quality, value, and satisfaction on share-of-customer, and finds that the effects associated with service quality and value are much more pronounced. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.
Is intracellular brain pH a dependent factor in NOS inhibition during focal cerebral ischemia

Abstract The interaction between nitric oxide (NO·) and focal cerebral ischemia is multifaceted. Experiments have shown that inhibition of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) either ameliorates or exacerbates focal cerebral ischemia. Recent in vitro experiments have shown that NOS activity is pH-dependent. Previous work from this laboratory has demonstrated that N G -nitro- l -arginine-methyl-ester ( l -NAME) mitigated cerebral ischemia independent from regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) changes during moderate focal cerebral ischemia. This study examined the effects of l -NAME inhibition on brain pH i , rCBF, and NADH redox state during 3 h of severe focal cerebral ischemia. Fifteen fasted rabbits under 1.5% halothane were equally divided into three groups: ischemic controls and two drug groups receiving either 1.0 or 10 mg/kg l -NAME intravenously 30 min prior to ischemia. In the ischemic controls, brain pH i declined from 6.95±0.04 to 6.60±0.05, rCBF declined from 48±7 to 10±3 ml/100 g/min, and NADH fluorescence increased by 149±15% 3 h after onset of ischemia ( p l -NAME at either dose did not significantly alter these values. Infarct volume was not significantly different between both the l -NAME treated groups and the ischemic control group. This data suggests that during severe focal cerebral ischemia, NO· mechanisms of injury have a less important punitive role. One possible explanation is that the severity of acidosis secondary to anaerobic metabolism during severe focal cerebral ischemia attenuates NOS activity.
COMPARING IMPUTED AND ACTUAL UTILITY FUNCTIONS IN A COMPETITIVE BIDDING SETTING

The main focus of this article is to compare utility functions derived by the Von Neumann-Morgenstern conceptual apparatus with those imputed through actual pricing behavior. The study is cast in a competitive bidding setting in the oil drilling industry. A version of the Friedman bidding model is used to generate separate bidding models for two drilling contractors. From the actual bids submitted by the contractors and those generated by the model, one can construct each contractor's imputed utility function. An examination of a contractor's derived and imputed utility functions over a common range of outcomes then provides a diagnostic check on the veracity of the Von Neumann-Morgenstern theory as a prescriptive model of executive behavior.
Mucous membranes in cutaneous disease

Abstract The mucous membranes are often involved in cutaneous disease. The involvement can be reactive or secondary to bacterial, mycotic, or viral disease, or allergic and/or toxic in nature. It is also seen in some so-called "mucocutaneous syndromes." Some relatively common dermatoses likewise have mucosal involvement. This chapter is devoted to a discussion of the common mucosal manifestations of primary dermatologic diseases. Although a comprehensive discussion of this subject is beyond the scope of this chapter, a wide spectrum of cutaneous diseases will be covered.
Brownian motion on manifolds, with application to thermal magnetization reversal

Abstract We discuss the coordinate transformation properties of the quantities appearing in stochastic differential equations on manifolds, and we suggest a covariant formulation of the notion of generalized mobility or kinetic coefficient. We give a covariant form for the Einstein relation. The formalism is illustrated for a system consisting of a single classical spin (single domain particle) using various useful coordinate systems. We sketch a numerical scheme for solution of the Fokker–Planck equation.
Evaluation of Fixed Precision Sequential Sampling Plans for Larval Chironomidae (Diptera) Using Bootstrap Simulation

Based on spatial distribution patterns of chironomid larvae in Lake Monroe and Lake Jessup in central Florida, fixed precision sequential sampling plans were developed from data sets of Glyptotendipes paripes Edwards in Lake Jessup using a modification of Creen's method, in which precision was expressed in terms of confidence limits of a predetermined half-width. These plans were verified and validated using dependent and independent data sets of G. paripes and Tanypodinae from both lakes using bootstrap simulation. Simulation results revealed that actual precision levels were heavily dependent on the degree of larval aggregation, as depicted by k value of the negative binomial distribution. For the highly aggregated populations of G. paripes in Lake Jessup, actual precision levels were lower than those intended. Conversely, higher precision levels were obtained for Tanypodinae, which were much less aggregated in these lakes. Lake-wide increases in sample sizes would lead to weak improvement of estimation. The present sampling plans (165-180 samples per lake) resulted in an actual precision level of ≍0.50 for G. paripes , demonstrating the need for further modification of the sampling plans. This study revealed that fixed precision sequential sampling plans were liberal for the highly aggregated chironomid larval populations and conservative for the less aggregated populations.
Targeting Pyk2 for therapeutic intervention

Importance of the field: The focal adhesion tyrosine kinases FAK and Pyk2 are uniquely situated to act as critical mediators for the activation of signaling pathways that regulate cell migration, proliferation and survival. By coordinating adhesion and cytoskeletal dynamics with survival and growth signaling, FAK and Pyk2 represent molecular therapeutic targets in cancer as malignant cells often exhibit defects in these processes.Areas covered in this review: This review examines the structure and function of the focal adhesion kinase Pyk2 and intends to provide a rationale for the employment of modulating strategies that include both catalytic and extra-catalytic approaches that have been developed in the last 3 – 5 years.What the reader will gain: Targeting tyrosine kinases in oncology has focused on the ATP binding pocket as means to inhibit catalytic activity and downregulate pathways involved in tumor invasion. This review discusses the available catalytic inhibitors and compares them to the alternat...
Relative Defects in Mucosal Immunity Predict Acute Graft-Versus-Host Disease

Abstract Impairment of gut mucosal immunity by the transplant process could facilitate translocation of commensal bacteria and thereby augment the graft-versus-host response. To begin to assess the influence of gut mucosal immunity on the development of acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), we conducted a prospective study in 24 pediatric allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant recipients, assessing 4 fecal markers of mucosal immunity: calprotectin, soluble CD8 (sCD8), soluble intracellular adhesion molecule 1, and β-defensin-2. Stool samples were collected prospectively on transplant days 0, +5, +10, and +15 and analyzed by ELISA. Lower levels on day +5 (calprotectin and β-defensin-2) and day +10 (calprotectin, β-defensin-2, and sCD8) were associated with subsequent acute GVHD. The most striking difference was with calprotectin on day +10. Patients with levels below 424 mg/kg had an incidence of 77.8%, whereas those with levels above this threshold had a cumulative incidence of 0% (P = .002). Relative defects in gut mucosal immunity may be important in the pathogenesis of acute GVHD.
Omphalocele in half‐siblings

A family is described in which half-siblings, a boy and a girl born to unrelated mothers and a phenotypically normal father, were affected with omphalocele. The suggested mode of transmission remains unclear. Prenatal diagnosis to detect an affected fetus should be offered to relatives of omphalocele-affected individuals.
The effects of consumer perceived value and subjective norm on mobile data service adoption between American and Korean consumers

Abstract The effects of consumer perceived value and subjective norm on using mobile data services between American and Korean consumers were examined to explain the differences and similarities in consumer mobile data service adoption behavior in this study. The antecedent effects of four dimensions of consumer perceived value showed different behavioral intention to use mobile data services between the two countries. Emotional value was found to be the most significant effect on using mobile data services for consumers in the two countries. Subjective norm was a significant antecedent of attitude and behavioral intention to use mobile data services for American consumers, but it was not evident for Korean consumers.
Letter regarding article by Schmidt et al, "Infarct tissue heterogeneity by magnetic resonance imaging identifies enhanced cardiac arrhythmia susceptibility in patients with left ventricular dysfunction".

To the Editor: I read with interest the article by Schmidt et al.1 The authors have made an important observation relating differences in signal intensity on contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging, used as an index of tissue heterogeneity, to inducibility of monomorphic ventricular tachycardia (MVT). The electrophysiological testing, as described by the authors, has important features that should be highlighted because they may affect the interpretability of the results. The authors report that electrophysiological testing was performed in standard fashion (3 extrastimuli at 2 different cycle lengths …
Long-term survivors of childhood cancer. The medical consequences of cure.

Although rare, cancer is the leading cause of death from disease in children less than 15 years of age in the United States. 143 With the consistent use of effective multimodality treatment, including combination chemotherapy, surgery, and radiotherapy, the prognosis for all types of childhood cancer has dramatically improved over the last 20 years, and the current 5-year survival rate is about 60%. 143 This dramatic improvement in outcome has produced an increasing population of survivors. It is estimated that by the year 2000, one in every 1000 young adults between 20 and 29 years of age in the United States will have been treated for childhood cancer. 84 The continuously growing population of survivors has increased awareness of the potential medical and nonmedical consequences that curative therapy can have and has prompted therapeutic adjustments to improve the quality of life for survivors. Unlike the adult, the growing child tolerates the acute side effects of therapy relatively well. However, the use of cancer therapy at an early age can produce complications that may not become apparent until years later as the child matures. Therefore, continued evaluation of childhood cancer survivors for prolonged periods is an essential part of follow-up. 30 This article discusses the late medical consequences that the use of combined modality therapy can have on pediatric patients treated for cancer. It is divided into three parts: the first discusses the unique complications resulting from surgical interventions; the second discusses the therapeutic complications of multimodality treatment on various organ systems, including the musculoskeletal, cardiopulmonary, genitourinary, endocrine, and neurologic; the last discusses the impact that this therapy has had on the development of second malignancies. Each section also discusses the therapeutic modifications made to decrease the number of sequelae.
Response stereotypy without automaticity: Not quite involuntary attention in the pigeon

Abstract Previous research has shown that when pigeons are required to peck each of two keys four times in any order for reinforcement, stereotyped response sequences develop, though they are not required by the task. However, despite this stereotypy, sequences are not automatized. They require sufficient attention that sequence performance is disrupted by a concurrent, delayed matching-to-sample task. In the present experiments, pigeons were required to execute response sequences and delayed matching-to-sample concurrently. Experiment 1 showed that the matching task disrupts sequence performance even when the matching sample stimuli do not have to be processed concurrently with sequence execution. The presence of sample stimuli during sequence execution seems to command attention even if the sample stimuli are also available for processing when sequences are not being executed. Experiment 2 used the directed forgetting technique to show that pigeons do seem able to ignore sample stimuli if they are given information that tells them they will not be required to remember those stimuli later. Together, the experiments suggest attentional mechanisms in the pigeon that are not quite involuntary.
Facilitating progress in health behaviour theory development and modification: the reasoned action approach as a case study

This paper explores the question: what are barriers to health behaviour theory development and modification, and what potential solutions can be proposed? Using the reasoned action approach (RAA) as a case study, four areas of theory development were examined: (1) the theoretical domain of a theory; (2) tension between generalisability and utility, (3) criteria for adding/removing variables in a theory, and (4) organisational tracking of theoretical developments and formal changes to theory. Based on a discussion of these four issues, recommendations for theory development are presented, including: (1) the theoretical domain for theories such as RAA should be clarified; (2) when there is tension between generalisability and utility, utility should be given preference given the applied nature of the health behaviour field; (3) variables should be formally removed/amended/added to a theory based on their performance across multiple studies and (4) organisations and researchers with a stake in particular health areas may be best suited for tracking the literature on behaviour-specific theories and making refinements to theory, based on a consensus approach. Overall, enhancing research in this area can provide important insights for more accurately understanding health behaviours and thus producing work that leads to more effective health behaviour change interventions.
Earth to Manning: A Reply

, Vol. 31, Issue 2, pp. 149–154, ISSN 0195-6086, electronic ISSN 1533-8665. © 2008 by the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction. All rights reserved. Please direct all requests for permission to photocopy or reproduce article content through the University of California Press’s Rights and Permissions website, at http://www.ucpressjournals.com/reprintinfo.asp. DOI: 10.1525/si.2008.31.2.149. Earth to Manning: A Reply
Mandatory Audit Firm Turnover, Financial Reporting Quality, and Client Bargaining Power: The Case of Arthur Andersen

This paper examines the effect of mandatory auditor change on audit quality in the unique environment created by the failure of Arthur Andersen (AA). The failure of AA forced a significant number of companies (ex‐AA clients) to change auditors and also helped increase the overall skepticism exhibited on external audits. The demise of AA does not truly replicate a mandatory rotation regime, but it does provide a rich setting to examine one aspect of such a regime—the effect that a forced auditor change has on the level of audit quality. Furthermore, because ex‐AA clients were forced to change auditors on a one‐time basis and will not necessarily have to change auditors in the future, client bargaining power is likely to influence auditor behavior and is considered in this study's empirical analyses. This study provides evidence that, for smaller companies, the level of audit quality improved for companies forced to switch from AA, and that the negative relation between short auditor tenure and audit qualit...
Cytotoxic and proinflammatory response of RAW 264.7 cells to differentially fractionated fungal fragments

Although significant research has been carried out for studying the impacts of pure mycotoxins on human cell, little information is known about the direct effects of fungal submicron particles. In this report, murine macrophage RAW 264.7 cells were exposed to fungal extracts from Stachybotrys chartarum RTI 5802 and Aspergillus versicolor RTI 3843 as well as mixtures from both fungi with fragment sizes ranging from 0.25 to 1 µm. Cell viability was found to be unaffected by all extracts except fragments in the 0.5–1 µm size range from A. versicolor RTI 3843, which decreased cell viability by approximately 60%. IL-1β expression was generally upregulated following exposure to fungal extracts from either S. chartarum RTI 5802 or A. versicolor RTI 3843. However, when extracts from the mixture of both fungi were introduced, IL-1β expression was downregulated. IL-6 and IL-10 expression were also generally upregulated. In comparison to the findings in the literature about the effects of pure mycotoxins on RAW 264....
ROLE OF PLAQUE SIZE AND DEGREE OF STENOSIS IN ACUTE MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION

Angiographically apparent coronary artery stenoses limit coronary flow, produce symptomatic ischemia, and can be targeted for revascularization. Severe stenoses are more likely to occlude than segments without significant stenoses. Coronary angiography underestimates the extent of coronary atherosclerosis. Arterial segments without severe stenoses are much more common, and their risk of occlusion is not zero. Thus, the majority of myocardial infarctions are due to occlusion of arteries that do not contain obstructive coronary stenoses. Consequently, coronary angiography is not able to accurately predict the site of a coronary artery occlusion that subsequently will produce myocardial infarction.
Corn Stunt Spiroplasma in the Leafhopper Euscelidius variegatus

Corn stunt spiroplasma (CSS) multiplied in all leafhoppers Euscelidius variegatus injected with a culture of CSS, reaching titres of over 1x106 colony forming units (cfu) per insect and 2x104 cfu per salivary gland of each insect. CSS could be isolated from the haemolymph and the salivary glands at any time after injection. The growth of CSS in culture was inhibited by insect extract at concentrations greater than the equivalent of 0.1 insect/ml. Transmission of CSS to sterile feeding solution and to broad beans were compared using 24 h feeding periods. A porportion of 1.7 % of injected leafhoppers began to transmit to sterile feeding solution through membranes by the 4th day after injection, and reached a maximum of 30 % by day 14. Similar insects started transmitting to broad bean plants on day 12 (2 %), reaching a maximum of 7.5 % by day 14. The number of spiroplasmas transmitted by each insect to sterile feeding solution increased from 3, cfu on day 4 to a maximum of 80 cfu by day 14. Helices were seen in the haemolymph at any time after injection. However, partially deformed cells were not present until the 1st week and clumps of 3–4 cells and small aggregates until the 3rd week after injection. The salivary glands of injected insects contained membrane-bound “pockets” or “colonies” packed with pleomorphic, filamentous (helical and non-helical) cells and aggregates. Intracellular colonies were always at the periphery of the acini and were easily detectable by fluorescence microscopy after staining with a DNA-binding fluorescent stain. Pleomorphic and filamentous cells were also seen intercellularly in the salivary glands.
A Longitudinal Posthumous Study of Letter Writing in a Late Elderly Case

This study is a posthumous longitudinal study of consecutive letters written by an elderly woman from age 89 to 93. Findings reveal a consistent linguistic performance during the first 3 years, sup...
Examining the use of weather forecasts in decision scenarios: results from a US survey with implications for uncertainty communication

The hydrometeorological community has limited understanding of how people interpret forecast information and use it in decision making, hampering effective forecast communication. This article addresses these issues in the context of weather prediction, focusing especially on forecast uncertainty. It does so using empirical data from decision scenario questions asked in a nationwide US survey. Respondents were asked their probabilistic threshold for taking action to protect against potential rain or frost. They were then asked to make yes/no protective decisions in a potential reservoir flooding or fruit frost scenario given different forecasts. The results indicate that people have different probabilistic thresholds for taking protective action and that context and presentation influence forecast use. The results also suggest that many people infer uncertainty into deterministic forecasts, and that many respondents were able to interpret probabilistic forecasts of the type presented well enough to use them in the decision questions. Further, the analysis suggests that most respondents did not make decisions according to the simplest form of the cost-loss decision model. The analysis also examines relationships between respondents' information use and other aspects of their perceptions and interpretations of forecast uncertainty, including their interpretations of probability of precipitation. The findings add to fundamental knowledge about people's interpretations and use of weather forecasts, especially forecasts that explicitly convey uncertainty, and provide a starting point for future related work using survey and experimental approaches. Copyright © 2010 Royal Meteorological Society
Awareness and goal setting with the traumatically brain injured

One of the most disabling effects of traumatic brain injury is limited awareness of cognitive, emotional and interpersonal functioning. For this reason it is often difficult for a traumatically brain-injured person to form realistic goals and appreciate the need for rehabilitation. A goal-setting process is outlined in which therapists play a supportive but nondirective role and goals are developed which incorporate information in self-awareness. The aim of this approach is to create goals which are realistic and increase the likelihood of maintenance following treatment. Specific strategies to incorporate patient awareness during goal setting are discussed.
Medical care costs associated with postmenopausal estrogen plus progestogen therapy.

Abstract Objective To investigate the medical management costs of estrogen plus progestogen hormone therapy (HT) among postmenopausal women taking HT primarily as a preventive treatment for osteoporosis. Design Retrospective longitudinal comparative analysis of HT users and demographically matched nonusers using administrative databases on physician services, hospital stays and prescription medications. Setting: Saskatchewan, Canada. Patients: a total of 5762 women aged 55 years or more who took HT sometime between 1990 and 1997 and 5762 demographically matched controls who did not take HT from 1990 to 1997. Main outcome measures: total medical care expenditures and apparent costs of managing adverse events associated with HT. Results Excluding drug acquisition costs for HT and costs of care for osteoporosis, women in their first year of postmenopausal HT had total medical care costs about $400 greater than women who had never used HT (1997 Canadian dollars). This total medical care cost differential falls to about $90 to $120 per annum after the first year of therapy. If osteoporosis-related medical care costs are not excluded, the cost differential is about $390 during the first year of therapy and $80 to $110 per annum after the first year of therapy. These excess costs primarily are the result of excess rates of resource utilization for uterine- and breast-related diagnostic and treatment procedures. Conclusion Medical management costs for HT may be substantial during the first year of therapy, and some medical management costs may persist over several years. These short-term management costs, combined with recent data about the long-term safety of HT as a preventive therapy, reinforce the importance of considering therapeutic alternatives to HT.
Towards closure on closure

Tracking theories of knowledge are widely known to have the consequence that knowledge is not closed. Recent arguments by Vogel and Hawthorne claim both that there are no legitimate examples of knowledge without closure and that the costs of theories that deny closure are too great. This paper considers the tracking theories of Dretske and Nozick and the arguments by Vogel and Hawthorne. We reject the arguments of Vogel and Hawthorne and evaluate the costs of closure denial for tracking theories of knowledge.
Shouldn't All Victims of Sexual Assault Be Offered Emergency Contraception?

Each year 14000 pregnancies result from sexual assault. If it is offered routinely at the time of sexual assault evaluation emergency contraception (EC) has the potential to reduce these unintended pregnancies significantly. The objective of this study was to determine the number of general hospitals in Pennsylvania that provide EC for victims of sexual assault. Of the 248 hospitals in Pennsylvania 165 were eligible to participate. A 15-month telephone survey was administered to the eligible hospitals over the 3-month period of January to March 2000. 125 (76%) hospitals responded to the survey. Only 32% of hospitals routinely offer counseling about EC to victims of sexual assault. Improved protocols should be implemented to ensure that victims of sexual assault are routinely counseled about EC. (authors)
Assimilation of Satellite-Derived Skin Temperature Observations into Land Surface Models

Land surface (or "skin") temperature (LST) lies at the heart of the surface energy balance and is a key variable in weather and climate models. Here we assimilate LST retrievals from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) into the Noah and Catchment (CLSM) land surface models using an ensemble-based, off-line land data assimilation system. LST is described very differently in the two models. A priori scaling and dynamic bias estimation approaches are applied because satellite and model LST typically exhibit different mean values and variability. Performance is measured against 27 months of in situ measurements from the Coordinated Energy and Water Cycle Observations Project at 48 stations. LST estimates from Noah and CLSM without data assimilation ("open loop") are comparable to each other and superior to that of ISCCP retrievals. For LST, RMSE values are 4.9 K (CLSM), 5.6 K (Noah), and 7.6 K (ISCCP), and anomaly correlation coefficients (R) are 0.62 (CLSM), 0.61 (Noah), and 0.52 (ISCCP). Assimilation of ISCCP retrievals provides modest yet statistically significant improvements (over open loop) of up to 0.7 K in RMSE and 0.05 in anomaly R. The skill of surface turbulent flux estimates from the assimilation integrations is essentially identical to the corresponding open loop skill. Noah assimilation estimates of ground heat flux, however, can be significantly worse than open loop estimates. Provided the assimilation system is properly adapted to each land model, the benefits from the assimilation of LST retrievals are comparable for both models.
Cognitive Slips-Failures and Daily Stress: Further Investigations with the Short Stress State Questionnaire - Daily (SSSQ-D)

This article presents a study providing further psychometric and validation evidence of a short multidimensional self-report measure of daily stress state, the Short Stress State Questionnaire - Daily (SSSQ-D; Helton, Fields, & Thoreson, 2005). Forty-three participants filled out the SSSQ-D twice daily for approximately 23 days, once in the morning and once at night. They also reported daily cognitive slips-failures. Chain-P Factor Analyses of the individual items for both pre- and post-assessments were conducted and the relationships between the SSSQ-D factors and daily self-reported cognitive slips-failures were examined both within and between participants. The factor analyses, as previously indicated by Helton, Fields, and Thoreson (2005), differentiated three aspects of subjective stress: Task Engagement, Distress, and Worry. Daily Distress and Worry correlated moderately with cognitive slips, both within and between individuals. The 24-item SSSQ-D appears to be a reliable measure of daily stress sta...
Decisions with indeterminate probabilities

Decision-making under partial ignorance and partial knowledge of risk is discussed. The presented approach is unlike traditional approaches, but is not novel. It retains the MEU rule and advocates further determination of probabilities. However, the further determination does not require personal introspection or additional empirical data.
Exploration of Poverty, Employment, Earnings, Job Search, and Commuting Behavior of Persons with Disabilities and African-Americans in New Jersey

The extant literature that touches on the role of transportation in enhancing job accessibility for persons with disabilities has largely remained separate from the literature on the role of transportation in the job accessibility of African-Americans. Each stream focuses on either race or disability. Although a few studies have examined the combined effect of race and disability on economic outcomes, researchers have rarely examined the role of transportation. With the assertion that transportation issues for minority populations and persons with disabilities are often similar, this study encompassed race, disability, economic well-being, and transportation. Taking New Jersey as the study area, the study examined how disability and race are related to employment, poverty, and earnings and how the commuting and job-search behavior of persons with disabilities is affected by their race. Statistical models clearly show that both disability and race are strongly associated with economic well-being. Analysis ...
The Spectacular City: Violence and Performance in Urban Bolivia

About the Series ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction: Becoming Visible in Neoliberal Bolivia 1 1. Ethnography, Governmentality, and Urban Life 29 2. Urbanism, Modernity, and Migration to Cochabamba 53 3. Villa Sebastian Pagador and the Politics of Community 90 4. Performing National Culture in the Fiesta de San Miguel 134 5. Spectacular Violence and Citizen Security 179 Conclusion: Theaters of Memory and the Violence of Citizenship 215 Notes 225 References 239 Index 265
American Legal History in Retrospect and Prospect: Reflections on the Twenty-fifth Anniversary of Morton Horwitz's Transformation of American Law

Fifteen years ago, a decade after the appearance of his Transformation of American Law, 1780-1860, Morton Horwitz was the keynote speaker at the American Society for Legal History's annual meeting in Toronto. His address was an erudite, if idiosyncratic, excavation of the historiography of Anglo-American legal history. The occasion was particularly memorable, however, for the moment when Horwitz offered his interpretation of the scholarship of John Pocock, who as chance inevitably would have it, was at that moment sitting some 20 rows back in the audience. A tremor of disturbance rippled outward from the twentieth row, where Professor Pocock's body language signified a certain disagreement with what he was hearing. Horwitz paused. "I am aware of the likely effects of offering an intellectual history of someone who is sitting in the audience." But he didn't stop. This short essay attempts no intellectual history of Morton Horwitz. Others have already pursued that task with accomplishment (see, for example, Ernst 1993). Honoring the spirit of Horwitz's Toronto address, however, my comments will range widely across the terrain of American legal history
Comparison of Chloroflexus aurantiacus strain J-10-fl proteomes of cells grown chemoheterotrophically and photoheterotrophically

Chloroflexus aurantiacus J-10-fl is a thermophilic green bacterium, a filamentous anoxygenic phototroph, and the model organism of the phylum Chloroflexi. We applied high-throughput, liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry in a global quantitative proteomics investigation of C. aurantiacus cells grown under oxic (chemoorganoheterotrophically) and anoxic (photoorganoheterotrophically) redox states. Our global analysis identified 13,524 high-confidence peptides that matched to 1,286 annotated proteins, 242 of which were either uniquely identified or significantly increased in abundance under photoheterotrophic culture condition. Fifty-four of the 242 proteins are previously characterized photosynthesis-related proteins, including chlorosome proteins, proteins involved in the bacteriochlorophyll biosynthesis, 3-hydroxypropionate (3-OHP) CO2 fixation pathway, and components of electron transport chains. The remaining 188 proteins have not previously been reported. Of these, five proteins were found to be encoded by genes from a novel operon and observed only in photoheterotrophically grown cells. These proteins candidates may prove useful in further deciphering the phototrophic physiology of C. aurantiacus and other filamentous anoxygenic phototrophs.
Atmospheric antiprotons at low altitudes as probe of cosmic-ray transport model around the Earth

Abstract The atmospheric secondary antiproton flux is studied for detection altitudes extending from sea level up to the satellite altitude, by means of a three-dimensional Monte–Carlo simulation, which was successfully applied previously on other satellite and balloon data. The flux obtained at balloon altitude is in agreement with calculations performed in previous studies. The calculated antiproton flux at mountain altitude is found in a good agreement with the recent BESS measurements. The flux at terrestrial level is found significant for the purpose of testing cosmic-ray transport model in the Earth environment.
Elucidation of the surface influence on irreversible protein adsorption

The rate of irreversible protein adsorption from whole milk onto various surfaces was modeled as a function of contact surface tension, surface temperature, and time. A new kinetic parameter related to the value of contact surface tension which corresponds to a minimal interaction between bulk protein and the solid surface is introduced. This experimentally measurable parameter quantifies the influence of contact surface tension on the apparent activation energy required for irreversible protein adsorption.
The use of the iSTAT portable analyzer in patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass.

Objective. To evaluate the utility of the iSTAT blood analyzer, a bedside device for hematocrit, sodium, potassium, and glucose measurement during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB).Methods. Forty patients scheduled for elective CPB were evaluated prospectively. In addition to using the iSTAT analyzer, blood samples were analyzed at four time points: following induction of anesthetic, 10 min. after initiation of CPB, 60 min. after initiation of CPB, and following heparin neutralization by protamine. Blood glucose concentration was measured by the hospital laboratory using a Kodak Analyzer and by a glucose meter, electrolytes were evaluated by the Kodak Analyzer and BGE (a device which is commonly used for “satellite laboratory” determinations of electrolyte and blood gas results), and hematocrit samples were measured by the hospital laboratory using an NE 8,000 and a centrifuge. The means and standard deviations of the differences between the methods were calculated.Results. The hematocrit values determined by the iSTAT machine, when adjusted for the level of total protein (according to manufacturer's directions), differed from the laboratory values by 0.53 = 1.46 percentage points. An alternative to measuring total protein and making the adjustment is simply adding 1 % to the hematocrit in the pre-CPB period and 3% on-CPB or post-CPB, which we found to yield values that differed from the laboratory by 0.52 ± 1.42 percentage points. For all four tests (hematocrit, sodium, potassium, and glucose) the iSTAT had a similar relationship to the laboratory values as did the other commonly used means (centrifuge, BGE, and glucose meter) of clinical evaluation.Conclusion. In summary, we found that in patients undergoing CPB, the iSTAT values agreed sufficiently well with standard laboratory values and that the iSTAT instrument can be relied upon for bedside measurements.
Increased tissue damage and lesion volumes in African Americans with multiple sclerosis

Background: African American (AA) patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) have more rapid disease progression and poorer responses to disease-modifying therapies than white American (WA) patients with MS. Objectives: To investigate brain MRI characteristics in AA compared to WA in a cohort of consecutive patients with MS. Methods: We studied 567 patients with MS (age: 45.1 ± SD 9.8 years, disease duration: 13.4 ± 8.6 years), comprised of 488 WA and 79 AA. All patients obtained clinical and quantitative MRI evaluation. The majority of patients, 96% of AA and 94% of WA, were on disease-modifying therapies. The MRI measures included T1-, T2-, and gadolinium contrast-enhancing (CE) lesion volumes (LV) and CE number, global and tissue-specific brain atrophy, and magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) in lesions and normal-appearing gray matter (NAGM) and white matter (NAWM). The associations between race and clinical and MRI measurements were assessed in regression analysis. Results: The MTR values in lesions and in NAGM and NAWM were significantly lower in AA compared to WA. The AA group had 31% greater T2-LV and 101% greater T1-LV compared to WA. The MS Severity Score for AA (mean ± SD = 4.3 ± 2.9) was greater than for WA (3.8 ± 2.5), despite a shorter disease duration in AA, indicating more aggressive clinical disease. Conclusions: African American patients showed increased tissue damage, as measured by magnetization transfer ratio, and presented higher lesion volumes compared to white Americans. The greater tissue damage and faster lesion volume accumulation may explain the rapid clinical progression in African American patients.
Diffuse lower hemiskeletal involvement of metastatic transitional cell carcinoma.

Transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder in an 82-yearold man metastasized diffusely to the entire lower half of the skeletal system starting from the L-4 vertebra without any evidence of metastasis elsewhere. The patient had tumor fulguration, bladder infusion chemotherapy, radical cystoprostatectomy, and external beam pelvic radiation therapy (3000 rads) which had ended 5 months earlier. The patient also received an unknown amount of radiation therapy to the spine for arthritis 40 years ago. It is tempting to postulate that radiation-induced fibrosis of the thoracolumbar marrow prevented seeding and growth of the tumor cells, but the true mechanism of the observed phenomenon is unknown
Patterns of information transfer in health education: a bibliometric analysis of the research literature

The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which health education has become a distinctly separate field of inquiry as evidenced by the patterns of information transfer in the health education research literature. Bibliometric analysis is used to determine: (1) if health education has an identifiable core of journals, (2) the extent to which health education research is derivative of research from other disciplines and (3) the extent to which research from other disciplines draws upon research published in health education journals. The results suggest that there is an identifiable core of journals that serve to characterize health education as a distinct field of inquiry. However, health education research is found to be more derivative of research from other fields than are the other comparative fields in the sample. Moreover, researchers in other disciplines use health education research less than half as often as health education uses its own research. Differences in citing patterns in journals dedicated to health education and by researchers publishing on health education topics in research journals of other areas seem to indicate that health education research is not one unified undertaking.
The effects of blinding, pinealectomy and exposure to constant dark conditions on gonadal activity in the female goldfish, Carassius auratus

The effects of pinealectomy, blinding, and exposure to constant darkness were examined in female goldfish during different seasons. Neither blinding nor pinealectomy under short or decreasing photoperiod conditions, nor exposure to constant darkness had an effect on ovarian activity in goldfish during fall and winter. In spring, constant darkness has an inhibitory effect on ovarian activity. Pinealectomy under increasing photoperiod conditions partially inhibits reproductive activity, but not to the extent of constant darkness. Blinding, under the same regime also inhibited to some extent the ovarian response to increasing photoperiod. Our data suggest that retinal pathways and the pineal organ are involved in the photosexual response to increasing day lengths.
A quick and dirty early universe/ cosmology course

This series of lectures is intended to provide an introductory, non-rigorous overview of those aspects of the standard, hot big bang cosmology useful for understanding and appreciating the astroparticle physics-cosmology connection. Following a minimal introduction to the cosmography and dynamics of the Universe, the basic physics underlying the early evolution of the Universe is outlined. The intent of these lectures is pedagogical and no claim of originality is made. If these lectures are succssful, the previously unitiated might be prepared to proceed from here to an understanding of current literature on the particle physics-cosmology connection.
One-Dimensional Small Signal Waves in Electrofluidized Beds

An analysis is presented of one-dimensional small signal wave propagation and reflection in space charge free electrofluidized beds of polarizable particles. For an inviscid bed, the linearized governing partial differential equations are shown to be hyperbolic and are solved using the method of characteristics and a Fourier series method. With an applied electric field, small signal waves propagate at constant speed with and against the flow including reflections from boundaries. A semiinfinite bed is unstable with a small electric field but can be stabilized with a suitably strong electric field. A finite-length bed with zero perturbation voidage or spatial derivative of voidage at the top is always stable, as the steady state is bounded with time. However, with a mixed voidage-spatial derivative of voidage boundary condition at the top, the bed can be unstable. Surprisingly, a viscous bed has ranges of instability even though the inviscid bed is formally stable.
An Empirical Study of Confucianism: Measuring Chinese Academic Leadership

Globalization has led to increased interest in leadership in indigenous cultures. The current study focused on developing a scale of faculty members’ perception of preferred academic leadership in ...