cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of the onset and progression of prostatic bone metastasis with Micro-CT imaging in a mouse model

5124 Prostate cancer will be diagnosed in approximately 220,000 men in the US in 2003 (ACS Cancer Facts and Figures 2003). As many as 60%-90% of advanced cases of prostate cancer will develop bone metastases. In order to evaluate the efficacy of new therapies for prostate cancer bone metastatsis, mouse models of bone metastasis using human prostate cancer cell lines have been developed. In the literature, these bone metastasis models have been characterized by histopathology, planar radiographs, and, more recently, optical imaging. The purpose of this study is to determine if the development and progression of metastatic bone lesions can be followed in mice by Micro-CT imaging. Herein, we report the characterization of a mouse model of prostate cancer bone metastasis using non-invasive Micro-CT imaging correlated with histopathology. SCID mice were inoculated by intracardiac injection with 5x105 androgen-independent human prostate (PC-3) cancer cells. To determine successful intracardiac injection, planar nuclear scintigraphic images of mice were obtained immediately post-injection of PC-3 cells combined with 100 μCi of TcO4- to confirm intracardiac inoculation. The mice were then serially imaged under anesthesia by Micro-CT every week to follow metastatic lesion development. Mice were euthanized at the development of adverse clinical signs or at post-inoculation Day 56, and tissues were collected for histopathologic evaluation. Intracardiac inoculation was successful in 53% of mice by nuclear scintigraphy evaluation. Metastatic bone lesions were detected by Micro-CT imaging in 75% of the successfully injected mice as early as 21 days after cell inoculation. Bone metastasis lesion sites clearly identified by Micro-CT imaging included the tibia, fibula, mandible, humerus, and ulna. Bone lesions as small as 0.75 mm in diameter were clearly visualized. Multiple bone lesions occurred in 66% of the mice. Other metastatic tumor sites identified by histopathology following necropsy included adrenal gland, kidney, lung, and subcutaneous tissue. Soft tissue tumors including lung and subcutaneous tumors were identified following retrospective analysis of Micro-CT images. Tumors and calcifications were also noted in 30% of the mice on histopathology of the heart. Myocardial tumor involvement was located presumably along the injection tract. All metastatic lesions were confirmed by histopathology. These studies have shown that Micro-CT imaging can be used to follow the progression of bone lesions of an androgen independent prostate cancer bone metastasis model. These studies also demonstrate bone metastases of prostate cancer can be detected with lesions less than 1 mm in diameter and studied throughout disease progression using Micro-CT imaging techniques. This work was supported by NIH Grant DHHS-1P50-CA13013-01, NIH Grant T32 RR07004, and American Cancer Society Grant RSG-99-331-04-CDD.
Apoproteins E, A-I, and SAA in Macrophage Pathobiology Related to Atherogenesis

Macrophages are core cellular elements of both early and advanced atherosclerosis. They take up modified lipoproteins and become lipid-loaded foam cells and secrete factors that influence other cell types in the artery wall involved in atherogenesis. Apoproteins E, AI, and SAA are all found on HDL which can enter the artery wall. In addition, apoE is synthesized by macrophages. These three apoproteins can promote cholesterol efflux from lipid-loaded macrophages and have other functions that modulate macrophage biology. Mimetic peptides based on the sequence or structure of these apoproteins replicate some of these properties and are potential therapeutic agents for the treatment of atherosclerosis to reduce cardiovascular diseases.
Differences in Methods of Self-Inflicted Injuries by Sex in Wisconsin, 2002-2014.

Background Despite suicide prevention efforts, there remains a high burden of self-inflicted injuries in Wisconsin. Objective Compare methods of suicide and nonfatal self-inflicted injury by sex in Wisconsin over a 12-year period. Methods Suicide and nonfatal self-inflicted injury rates in Wisconsin between 2002 and 2014 were compared by sex and method using data from the Wisconsin Interactive Statistics on Health. Percentages of total suicides by method of injury for each sex were calculated. Results Firearms and poisoning were the most common methods of suicide and nonfatal selfinflicted injuries, respectively. Rates of both suicide and nonfatal self-inflicted injuries differed significantly by sex and method. Conclusions Suicide prevention strategies in Wisconsin must account for the variability of method of self-inflicted injury between sexes.
Wearable Lab on Body: Combining Sensing of Biochemical and Digital Markers in a Wearable Device

Wearables are being widely researched for monitoring individual’s health and wellbeing. Current generation wearable devices sense an individual’s physiological data such as heart rate, respiration, electrodermal activity, and EEG, but lack in sensing their biological counterparts, which drive the majority of individual’s physiological signals. On the other hand, biosensors for detecting biochemical markers are currently limited to one-time use, are non-continuous and don’t provide flexibility in choosing which biomarker they sense. We present "wearable lab on body", a platform for active continuous monitoring of human biomarkers from the biological fluid. Our platform contains both digital sensors such as IMU for activity recognition, as well as an automated system for continuous sampling of biomarkers from saliva by leveraging already existing paper-based biochemical sensors. The platform could aid with longitudinal studies of biomarkers and early diagnosis of diseases.
Corkscrew Esophagus in Achalasia.

Corkscrew Esophagus in Achalasia An 83-year-old woman presented with dysphagia, regurgitation, and postprandial chest pain. A barium esophagram showed a corkscrew appearance of the esophagus. Findi...
The Square-Root Agreement Rule for Incentivizing Objective Feedback in Online Platforms

A major challenge in obtaining evaluations of products or services on e-commerce platforms is that of eliciting informative feedback in the absence of verifiability. We propose a simple incentive mechanism for obtaining objective feedback on such platforms. In this mechanism, an agent gets a reward only if her answer for an evaluation matches that of her peer, where this reward is inversely proportional to a popularity index of each answer. This index is defined to be the square-root of the empirical frequency at which any two agents performing the same evaluation agree on the particular answer. Rarely agreed-upon answers thus earn a higher reward than answers for which agreements are relatively more common. We call this mechanism the Square-Root Agreement Rule (SRA). A key feature of platforms that SRA leverages is the existence of a large number of similar entities to be evaluated (e.g., restaurants, sellers, services, etc.); in this regime, we show that truthful behavior is a strict Bayes-Nash equilibrium of the game induced by SRA. Further, as the number of evaluation tasks across the platform grows, this equilibrium is asymptotically optimal for the agents across all symmetric equilibria. Moreover, under a mild condition, we show that any symmetric equilibrium that gives a higher expected payoff to the agents than the truthful equilibrium must be close to being fully informative when the number of evaluations is large. SRA can thus be an effective approach for administering reward-based incentive schemes (e.g., rebates, reputation score, etc.) on these platforms.
Functional characterization of 67 endocytic accessory proteins using multiparametric quantitative analysis of CCP dynamics

Clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME) begins with the nucleation of clathrin assembly on the plasma membrane, followed by stabilization and growth/maturation of clathrin-coated pits (CCPs) that eventually pinch off and internalize as clathrin-coated vesicles. This highly regulated process involves a myriad of endocytic accessory proteins (EAPs), many of which are multidomain proteins that encode a wide range of biochemical activities. Although domain-specific activities of EAPs have been extensively studied, their precise stage-specific functions have been identified in only a few cases. Using single-guide RNA (sgRNA)/dCas9 and small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated protein knockdown, combined with an image-based analysis pipeline, we have determined the phenotypic signature of 67 EAPs throughout the maturation process of CCPs. Based on these data, we show that EAPs can be partitioned into phenotypic clusters, which differentially affect CCP maturation and dynamics. Importantly, these clusters do not correlate with functional modules based on biochemical activities. Furthermore, we discover a critical role for SNARE proteins and their adaptors during early stages of CCP nucleation and stabilization and highlight the importance of GAK throughout CCP maturation that is consistent with GAK's multifunctional domain architecture. Together, these findings provide systematic, mechanistic insights into the plasticity and robustness of CME.
A Clinical Approach to Catamenial Epilepsy: A Review.

Importance Catamenial epilepsy (CE) is exacerbated by hormonal fluctuations during the menstrual cycle. Approximately 1.7 million women have epilepsy in the United States. CE affects more than 40% of women with epilepsy. There is a paucity of literature addressing this condition from a clinical standpoint, and the literature that does exist is limited to the neurological community. This article reviews the diagnosis and management of CE for the non-neurologist. Women with CE have early touch points in their care with numerous health care providers before ever consulting with a specialist, including OB/GYNs, pediatricians, emergency department physicians, and family medicine providers. In addition, women affected by CE have seizures that are more recalcitrant to traditional epilepsy treatment regimens. To optimize management in patients affected by CE, menstrual physiology must be understood, individualized hormonal contraception treatment considered, and adjustments and interactions with antiepileptic drugs addressed. Observations CE is a unique subset of seizure disorders affected by menstrual fluctuations of progesterone and estrogen. The diagnosis of CE has been refined and clarified. There is an ever-increasing understanding of the importance and variety of options of hormonal contraception available to help manage CE. Furthermore, antiepileptic drugs and contraception can interact, so attention must be directed to optimizing both regimens to prevent uncontrolled seizures and pregnancy. Conclusion and relevance CE can be diagnosed with charting of menstrual cycles and seizure activity. Hormonal treatments that induce amenorrhea have been shown to reduce CE. Optimizing antiepileptic drug dosing and contraceptive methods also can minimize unplanned pregnancies in women affected by CE.
Trade-offs among transport, support, and storage in xylem from shrubs in a semiarid chaparral environment tested with structural equation modeling.

The xylem in plants is specialized to transport water, mechanically support the plant body, and store water and carbohydrates. Balancing these functions leads to trade-offs that are linked to xylem structure. We proposed a multivariate hypothesis regarding the main xylem functions and tested it using structural equation modeling. We sampled 29 native shrub species from field sites in semiarid Southern California. We quantified xylem water transport (embolism resistance and transport efficiency), mechanical strength, storage of water (capacitance) and starch, minimum hydrostatic pressures (P min), and proportions of fibers, vessels, and parenchyma, which were treated as a latent variable representing "cellular trade-offs." We found that xylem functions (transport, mechanical support, water storage, and starch storage) were independent, a result driven by P min P min was strongly and directly or indirectly associated with all xylem functions as a hub trait. More negative P min was associated with increased embolism resistance and tissue strength and reduced capacitance and starch storage. We found strong support for a trade-off between embolism resistance and transport efficiency. Tissue strength was not directly associated with embolism resistance or transport efficiency, and any associations were indirect involving P min With P min removed from the model, cellular trade-offs were central and related to all other traits. We conclude that xylem traits are broadly governed by functional trade-offs and that the P min experienced by plants in the field exerts a strong influence over these relationships. Angiosperm xylem contains different cell types that contribute to different functions and that underpin trade-offs.
Scalable, process-oriented beam lattices: generation, characterization, and compensation for open cellular structures.

Additively manufactured lattices are emerging as promising candidates for structural, thermal, chemical, and biological applications. However, achieving a satisfactory prototype or final part with this level of complexity requires synthesis of disparate knowledge from the distinctly digital and physical processing stages. This work proposes an integrated framework for processing self-supporting, open lattice structures that do not require supports and facilitate material removal in post-processing steps. We describe a minimal yet comprehensive design strategy for generating uniform lattice structures with conformal open lattice skins for an arbitrary unit cell configuration. Using continuous liquid interface production (CLIP™) on a Carbon M1, printability is evaluated for five unique bending-dominated lattice structures at unit cell length scales from 0.5 - 3.5 mm and strut diameters ranging from 0.11 - 1.05 mm. Using a cubic lattice as a basis, we further examine dimensional fidelity with respect to 2D lattice void dimensions and part position, finding differences between length scales and within parts, due to physical processing artifacts. Finally, we demonstrate a functional grading strategy based on process control methods to compensate for dimensional deviations. Using an iterative approach based on a naive process model, deviation of the planar strut radius in a cubic lattice was decreased by approximately 85% after two iterations. These insights and strategies can be readily applied to other structures, characterization techniques, and additive manufacturing processes, thereby improving the exchange of information between digital and physical processing and lowering the energy barriers to producing high-quality lattice parts.
Zweckmäßigkeit und Effektivität von Drainagen

Drainagen ermoglichen die Entfernung von Pus, Blut, Serum, Lymphe, Galle, Pankreassaft oder Intestinalinhalt aus dem Korper. Sie formen einen abgegrenzten Passageweg von der Ansammlung des Eiters oder anderen Ansammlungen nach ausen. Der Drainageweg mus lange genug und sicher offengehalten werden, damit eine vollstandige Entleerung der Ansammlung gewahrleistet ist.
Neck Injuries: II. Atlantoaxial Dislocation—A Pathologic Study of 14 Traffic Fatalities

C1-C2 vertebral dislocations have not been commonly recognized at autopsy. Among 66 subjects with neck injuries, drawn from a series of 155 traffic fatalities, were 14 with injuries at the level of the atlantoaxial motion segment, ranging in age from 8 months to 93 years. Thirteen had sprains or lacerations of the atlantoaxial facet joints, and one had a healed C1 fracture. Six of the 14 had odontoid fractures. None had transverse ligament lacerations. Injuries of the alar ligaments and the tectorial membrane were frequent. Only 3 subjects had subaxial cervical injury. All 14 had evidence of impact to the head or neck. Four had fractures of the mandible or facial bones, and 5 had skull fractures. Subdural and subarachnoid hemorrhages were found in 7 and 6, respectively. Brainstem lacerations were not uncommon, but only one had a pontomedullary laceration. Spinomedullary cord injuries occurred in 5. Acute neurogenic shock was the major mechanism of death in 9 of the 14, including 5 with major cardiovascular lacerations. Delayed effects of craniocerebral trauma accounted for the majority of the remainder. The biomechanical mechanisms are discussed.
A Course in Number Theory and Cryptography

1: Some Topics in Elementary Number Theory. 2: Finite Fields and Quadratic Residues. 3: Cryptography. 4: Public Key. 5: Primality and Factoring. 6: Elliptic Curves.
Miller: Effective FLP Line Drawing

Miller is a decision on family limited partnerships (FLPs) with effective line drawing. The case is particularly helpful to distinguish the types of investment activities that constitute an acceptable nontax purpose under the Bongard criteria. The opinion further provides some guidelines on the factors of age, health, and FLP payment of estate tax liabilities to determine the applicability of section 2036 and its bona fide sales exception.
Bailouts and Credit Cycles: Fannie, Freddie, and the Farm Credit System

In September 2008, the United States government seized mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Since that time, the government has pumped $111 billion of new capital into these government-sponsored enterprises. Yet the future of these companies post-bailout is far from clear. As policymakers consider the future of Fannie and Freddie, it is useful to remember that this is not the first significant bailout of a government-sponsored enterprise. The government also rescued the Farm Credit System in the 1980s. This Article examines the historical cycles in which Fannie, Freddie, and the Farm Credit System have funded loans: They fund more loans in good economic times but fund fewer loans in poor economic times. In other words, they fund loans pro-cyclically with business and credit cycles. By repeatedly providing bailouts, however, government officials demonstrate that they want these government-sponsored enterprises to fund loans in a countercyclical manner. This Article considers the advantages and disadvantages of three possible ways to induce countercyclical behavior. It concludes that policymakers should impose countercyclical capital requirements and create an insurance system funded with risk-based premiums to insure the companies’ bonds. It further concludes that, even with these measures, occasional government bailouts may be necessary to stimulate lending during severe economic downturns.
A Fuzzy Logic-Based Robot Controller

Conventional robot controllers rely on an exact inverse kinematic model to convert user-specified Cartesian trajectory commands to joint set points. These inverse kinematic equations are robot specific and form a set of highly coupled nonlinear equations that pose a considerable computational bottleneck. It is not uncommon for the host CPU to dedicate as much as 80% of its computational resources to solve the inverse kinematic equations alone. Further, the strictly mathematical nature of the inverse kinematic equations results in kinematic singularities in which the robot is uncontrollable. These drawbacks have resulted in current robot controllers being limited in flexibility with respect to adaptive control, kinematic redundancy, and obstacle avoidance. This observation provided the impetus to investigate the applicability of fuzzy logic to resolve the computational bottleneck of the inverse kinematic module. In the following, an approach is presented based on fuzzy logic, which replaces the computationally intensive inverse kinematic equations and lays the foundation for a robot controller with a simpler architecture. A hardware implementation of a fuzzy logicbased robot controller is described in which simple fuzzy rules replace the complex inverse kinematic equations. The implemented fuzzy robot controller was tested on a planar four-degree-of-freedom lab robot. Hardware test results of the lab robot tracking arbitrary trajectories are discussed.
Capturing real world ESD stress with event detector

This paper presents a study of detecting ESD stresses wirelessly in order to capture real world events. An example of a product field failure and its debug is provided using this technique. Correlation of the waveforms with Charged Device Model (CDM) and Charged Board Event (CBE) tests is also presented.
Integrating Community-Based Interventions to Reverse the Convergent TB/HIV Epidemics in Rural South Africa.

The WHO recommends integrating interventions to address the devastating TB/HIV co-epidemics in South Africa, yet integration has been poorly implemented and TB/HIV control efforts need strengthening. Identifying infected individuals is particularly difficult in rural settings. We used mathematical modeling to predict the impact of community-based, integrated TB/HIV case finding and additional control strategies on South Africa’s TB/HIV epidemics. We developed a model incorporating TB and HIV transmission to evaluate the effectiveness of integrating TB and HIV interventions in rural South Africa over 10 years. We modeled the impact of a novel screening program that integrates case finding for TB and HIV in the community, comparing it to status quo and recommended TB/HIV control strategies, including GeneXpert, MDR-TB treatment decentralization, improved first-line TB treatment cure rate, isoniazid preventive therapy, and expanded ART. Combining recommended interventions averted 27% of expected TB cases (95% CI 18–40%) 18% HIV (95% CI 13–24%), 60% MDR-TB (95% CI 34–83%), 69% XDR-TB (95% CI 34–90%), and 16% TB/HIV deaths (95% CI 12–29). Supplementing these interventions with annual community-based TB/HIV case finding averted a further 17% of TB cases (44% total; 95% CI 31–56%), 5% HIV (23% total; 95% CI 17–29%), 8% MDR-TB (68% total; 95% CI 40–88%), 4% XDR-TB (73% total; 95% CI 38–91%), and 8% TB/HIV deaths (24% total; 95% CI 16–39%). In addition to increasing screening frequency, we found that improving TB symptom questionnaire sensitivity, second-line TB treatment delays, default before initiating TB treatment or ART, and second-line TB drug efficacy were significantly associated with even greater reductions in TB and HIV cases. TB/HIV epidemics in South Africa were most effectively curtailed by simultaneously implementing interventions that integrated community-based TB/HIV control strategies and targeted drug-resistant TB. Strengthening existing TB and HIV treatment programs is needed to further reduce disease incidence.
Formation of the Solar 10830 Å Line

One-dimensional hydrostatic-equilibrium models are shown here for faint, average, and bright components of the quiet Sun, and for a plage region, describing in each case how the atmosphere is stratified through the photosphere, chromosphere, and transition region up to a temperature of 105 K. The observed coronal line radiation is assumed to be the inward incident radiation at the 105 K boundary. This coronal radiation penetrates into the upper chromosphere causing sufficient helium ionization to populate the lower level of the He I 10830 A line, producing optically-thin absorption of the photospheric continuum at 10830A. The amount of absorption, which is proportional to the optical thickness of the upper chromosphere in the 10830 line, depends on 1) the strength of the coronal lines at wavelengths in the He I 504 A ionizing continuum, and 2) the density and geometrical thickness of the upper chromosphere. The computed 10830 A line is shown for the four atmospheric models and for three values of the coronal illumination. The calculated off-limb 10830 intensity distribution shows a minimum in the low chromosphere and a maximum at roughly 2000 km above the photosphere, in general agreement with observations, indicating that this is the predominant height of the transition region over most of the solar surface.
Knowledge spillovers and absorption capacity: a model of technological learning

Using the phenomenon of learning-by-doing (LBD) as a conceptual base, the author develops a model of technological learning. Currently, knowledge generated from LBD is limited to within-product-generation effects. This conceptualization is extended by suggesting that knowledge from LBD spills over across functions, products, and product generations. Technological learning is viewed as a combination of technology-specific and firm-specific phenomena. It is argued that technological learning is the interactional outcome of knowledge spillovers (which are specific to a technology) and absorptive capacity (which is firm-specific). Thus, spillovers in conjunction with absorptive capacities result in differing rates of technological learning and thus differing levels of technological capabilities/knowledge. Implications for business strategy are briefly discussed. >
Moisture Transport in a Metal Building Roof Insulation System

Metal buildings generally are constructed with no ventilation between the metal roof sheet and the roof insulation. This situation may result in moisture accumulation in the insulation, if the insulation does not have a satisfactory vapor barrier. The insulation vapor barrier performance is not only a function of the vapor barrier material, but also a function of the vapor barrier seams and any components which must penetrate the vapor barrier. An experimental investigation of a metal building roof insulation system was conducted. The system consisted of faced insulation boards suspended below the purlins with light density insulation installed between the board and the roof sheet. A large scale moisture test facility was used. A 2.44 by 3.67 m (8 by 12 ft) roof test specimen was constructed using actual metal building construction procedures and materials. The interior side of the test specimen was maintained at 21.1°C (70°F) and 50 percent relative humidity, while the temperature above the roof sheet was held below -23.3°C (-10°F). In order to determine the temperature and humidity conditions within the roof plenum, the test specimen was instrumented with thermocouples and humidity gages. The test duration was 3 weeks, after which the test specimen was disassembled for visual observations of the interior portion of the roof section and to obtain specimen weights of the insulation. No significant moisture accumulated in the insulation or the roof cavity.
Stimulation of witchweed germination by sesquiterpene lactones: a structure-activity study.

Abstract Twenty-four natural and synthetic sesquiterpene lactones were tested as witchweed germination stimulants to determine the essential structural requirements for the stimulation of witchweed germination by dihydroparthenolide. All of the 10 germacranolides tested induced 40–65% germination of witchweed across a broad concentration range, from 10 −5 to 10 −9 M. The highest activity was observed with a mixture of the two eudesmanolides, santamarin and reynosin. These findings indicate that it is the spatial arrangement of the germacrane-eudesmane skeleton in conjunction with the five-membered lactone ring which is important in the promotion of witchweed germination, rather than the presence of any specific functional group on the molecule. The structure of these compounds is similar to portions of the active molecule (+)-strigol.
Sensitivity Analysis of a large-scale system dynamics immigration model

Sensitivity Analysis (SA) is studying the impact of input changes (nature and magnitude) on outputs. Specifically, analysts and decision makers are typically interested in understanding how much output variation is produced, by varying the inputs of a system. The system in this case is a system dynamics computer model and the objective is to perform SA on the Immigration Simulation model that has been developed to support the Secure Border Initiative (SBI). The ultimate objective is to enhance the validity of the Immigration Simulation Model (and possibly other future models) and minimize the risk taken in making decisions based on models' output. In this paper, a framework is provided for the SA process that was used in analyzing the SBI Immigration Simulation model. This framework consists of the following processes: (1) Input Variables Analysis, (2) Output Variables Analysis, (3) Experimental Design, (4) Model(s) Execution, and (5) Statistical Analysis. The main focus of this paper, however, is the experimental design used to carry out the sensitivity analysis.
Regional integration or disintegration? Recent road improvements in Petén, Guatemala: A review of preliminary economic, agricultural, and environmental impacts

Abstract Many studies have examined the impacts of new roads in tropical forest frontiers. In general, these have led to substantial deforestation because they provide access to peasant farmers in need of land for food production and income generation. But few studies have investigated the impacts of improvements made to existing roads in frontier regions, and more specifically, their effects on the rural economy, land use, and land cover. This paper discusses the results of a 2001 study of these impacts, following the recent paving of the main road between Peten, a lowland frontier region in northern Guatemala, and the more densely populated highland regions of the country. This improvement, completed in late 1999, has yielded a major reduction in travel time between Flores, Peten and Guatemala City, the capital, from 12 to 14 h, or more, previously, to 7–8 h currently. The effects of this substantial change were examined through interviews and discussions with farmers, market vendors, and representatives of governmental and non-governmental organizations in the region, and through analyzing the limited available data on imports to Peten from other parts of the country. The results indicate that to date, the farmers in the study area have not altered their land use patterns because the prices they receive from intermediaries have not changed, and no market for new crops has emerged. However, more agricultural products raised in other regions of Guatemala are now being sold in Peten. Therefore, producers in Peten seemingly face greater competition from those elsewhere in the country. This trend has important implications regarding the impacts of regional integration, and for the difficult challenge of improving agricultural and environmental conditions in Peten.
Influenza vaccination coverage and timeliness among children requiring two doses, 2004-2009.

Objective To assess influenza vaccination coverage and timeliness among children requiring two doses in a season. Methods This study examined seasonal influenza vaccination of 17,800 children from five academically-affiliated clinics in New York City using hospital and city immunization registries. Eligible children were 6 months–8 years and needed two influenza vaccine doses in a given season between 2004–05 and 2009–10. Any (≥ 1 dose) and full (2 doses) vaccination coverage by December 15 and March 31 as well as interval between doses were calculated. Vaccination trends over time, determinants, and missed opportunities were assessed. Results Children were primarily Latino and publicly insured. Full coverage by March 31 increased between the 2004–05 and 2009–10 seasons (9% vs. 29%, p < 0.001). Few children received both doses by December 15 (2–13%). The interval between doses was almost twice as long as recommended and increased over time (2004–05: 52 days; 2009–10: 64 days; p < 0.001). Older age and Latino ethnicity were negative predictors of full vaccination by March 31. Missed opportunities for the second dose were common. Conclusion Despite improvements, low-income, minority children requiring two influenza vaccine doses remain at risk of incomplete and delayed vaccination. Barriers to and strategies for timely full vaccination should be explored.
Influence of Chronic Dietary Ethanol on Cytokine Production by Murine Splenocytes and Thymocytes

Prolonged consumption of ethanol (ETOH) results in alterations of host defense via immune modulation, increasing susceptibility to infection. In the present study, effects of chronic dietary ETOH on cytokine production by splenocytes and thymocytes, splenocyte and thymocyte proliferation induced by mitogens, splenic natural killer cell activity, and antibody production (IgA and IgG) were examined. C57BL/6 mice were fed 5% ETOH v/v in the Lieber-DeCarli liquid diet for 11 weeks. Release of interleukin (IL)-2, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, and interferon (IFN)-gamma produced by concanavalin A (Con A) stimulated splenocytes was significantly decreased, whereas secretion of IL-4 was slightly decreased by chronic dietary ETOH compared with controls. Production of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and IL-6 by lipopolysaccharide-stimulated splenocytes was significantly and slightly decreased by ETOH compared with controls, respectively. Splenocyte and thymocyte proliferation induced by Con A was significantly inhibited by ETOH, whereas splenocyte proliferation induced by lipopolysaccharide was not affected. Natural killer cell activity was significantly inhibited by ETOH compared with controls. The production of IgA and IgG by splenocytes were also significantly decreased by ETOH compared with controls. The levels of IL-2, IL-4, and IL-6 produced by Con A-stimulated thymocytes were significantly reduced by dietary ETOH compared with control, whereas production of IFN-gamma by thymocytes was not affected. Our results suggest that chronic dietary ETOH alters the cytokine release, thereby impairing immune response and T-cell maturation, which increase host susceptibility to infection.
Effects of suture tension during unilateral cricoarytenoid lateralization on canine laryngeal resistance in vitro.

Objective— To evaluate the effect of abduction suture tension for unilateral arytenoid lateralization on laryngeal resistance. Study Design— Experimental study. Animals— Canine cadaver larynges (n=16). Methods— Laryngeal resistance was calculated in all specimens with the epiglottis in open and closed positions. Left cricoarytenoid lateralization was performed under low or high suture tension, and laryngeal resistance was re-calculated. The effects of suture tension on laryngeal resistance were evaluated by repeated measures ANOVA. Results— Cricoarytenoid lateralization under low or high suture tension significantly reduced laryngeal resistance with the epiglottis in an open or closed position. There was no difference in laryngeal resistance with an open epiglottis between the low-tension (1.00±0.0001 cm H2O/L/s) and high-tension (1.10±0.35 cm H2O/L/s) groups (P=.33). The low-tension group (22.80±14.20 cm H2O/L/s) had significantly greater laryngeal resistance than the high-tension group (8.45±4.00 cm H2O/L/s) with a closed epiglottis (P=.016). There was no difference in laryngeal resistance with a closed epiglottis for the low-tension group before (34.30±36.50 cm H2O/L/s) and after (22.80±14.20 cm H2O/L/s; P=.42) arytenoid lateralization. Conclusions— Cricoarytenoid lateralization under low suture tension significantly reduced laryngeal resistance with an open epiglottis, but resulted in a significantly greater resistance with a closed epiglottis than cricoarytenoid lateralization under high suture tension. Clinical Relevance— Clinically, use of a low-tension suture for cricoarytenoid lateralization may provide an adequate decrease in open-epiglottis laryngeal resistance to alleviate clinical signs, while maintaining enough closed-epiglottis laryngeal resistance to reduce the risk of postoperative aspiration pneumonia.
Ground shock from the detonation of buried explosives

Abstract New nonlinear empirical relationships are given for predicting peak radial soil particle velocity and maximum radial displacement at various standoff distances from buried chemical and nuclear explosive detonations. Experimental test data in soil and rock, and for yields ranging from 0.03 pounds (0.01 kg) of explosive to blast yields of 19.2 kilotons (17.5 kilotonnes), are used to demonstrate the validity of these results. The scaled energy releases W / πc 2 R 3 range over nine orders of magnitude in this study from approximately 4.4 × 10 −11 to 4.4 × 10 −2 ; whereas, previous efforts generally covered three orders of magnitude. A soil impedence term is added to handle the troublesome problem of nondimensionalized displacements and particle velocities scaling for different soils. The paper ends by presenting a few nondimensionalized test results which can be used to predict ground motions from buried line explosive sources, an area of little previous discussion.
The role of gibberellins in plant cell elongation

The gibberellins are an ubiquitous class of growth regulators in higher plants. They control various aspects of plant development and are known to be involved in all phases of the developmental cycle of angiosperms. These growth regulators were discovered because of the dramatic effect they exert on stem growth via effects on cell elongation. Gibberellins stimulate cell elongation by altering the rheological properties of the cell wall; as a consequence, the water potential of the cell is lowered allowing for water uptake and therefore an increase in cell volume. The precise mechanism for the change in cell wall properties brought about by the gibberellins is not known; however, we do know that the mechanism is not based on the secretion of protons as it is in the case of auxin‐stimulated growth.
Formation and Implications of a Ternary Complex of Profilin, Thymosin β4, and Actin

Data from affinity chromatography, analytical ultracentrifugation, covalent cross-linking, and fluorescence anisotropy show that profilin, thymosin beta(4), and actin form a ternary complex. In contrast, steady-state assays measuring F-actin concentration are insensitive to the formation of such a complex. Experiments using a peptide that corresponds to the N terminus of thymosin beta(4) (residues 6-22) confirm the presence of an extensive binding surface between actin and thymosin beta(4), and explain why thymosin beta(4) and profilin can bind simultaneously to actin. Surprisingly, despite much lower affinity, the N-terminal thymosin beta(4) peptide has a very slow dissociation rate constant relative to the intact protein, consistent with a catalytic effect of the C terminus on conformational change occurring at the N terminus of thymosin beta(4). Intracellular concentrations of thymosin beta(4) and profilin may greatly exceed the equilibrium dissociation constant of the ternary complex, inconsistent with models showing sequential formation of complexes of profilin-actin or thymosin beta(4)-actin during dynamic remodeling of the actin cytoskeleton. The formation of a ternary complex results in a very large amplification mechanism by which profilin and thymosin beta(4) can sequester much more actin than is possible for either protein acting alone, providing an explanation for significant sequestration even if molecular crowding results in a very low critical concentration of actin in vivo.
Role of proestrous progesterone secretion in suppressing basal pulsatile LH secretion during estrus of the estrous cycle

These studies examined the mechanisms responsible for the paucity of basal LH pulses during estrus. We confirmed our earlier observations that constant infusion of naloxone during estrus results in th
The New Protectionism: The Welfare Effects of Simultaneous Quantitative Restrictions On An Exporting Country

This paper develops a theoretical framework based on the Marshallian partialequlibrium approach to measure the welfare effects of quantitative restrictions on exporting countries when their exports are quantitatively restricted by several importing countries simultaneously. The practical methodology developed here is applied to measure the costs of two major protectionist measures imposed by industrial countries on imports of nonrubber footwear. The OMAs are found not to be detrimental to Korea in the aggregate, mainly because of quota rents to Korean producers being derived from higher prices in the restricted markets. Countervailing duties significantly harmed the Brazilian economy. [420]
Transformation of the golgi apparatus in the cell cycle of a green alga, Micrasterias americana.

Transformation of the Golgi apparatus in the stages of the cell cycle ofMicrasterias americana was investigated with an electron microscope. In the resting cell, dictyosomes consisted of eleven cisternae, the distal-most cisterna of which was partially network-shaped. During the developmental stages of the new half cell followed by nuclear division, dictyosomes produced “dark vesicles” and “large vesicles” at the peripheries of the distal cisternae, thus diminishing the diameter of the distal cisternae and their numbers. Finally, dictyosomes with six or seven cisternae of small diameter were found when the new half cell reached to full size as a mother half cell. At this stage, the small dictyosomes produced “flat vesicles”. Thereafter, dictyosomes recovered the size and number of their constituent cisternae, being supplied a membrane and substrate from the primary vesicles. Lysosomes divided the dictyosomes in two, and these divided dictyosomes seemed to regenerate in one case and to disorganize in another. The occurrence of large vesicles was also confirmed using the negative staining method in growing cells.
20-Carboxy-arachidonic acid is a dual activator of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors α and γ

20-carboxy-arachidonic acid (20-COOH-AA) is a metabolite of 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE), an eicosanoid produced from arachidonic acid by cytochrome P450 (CYP) omega-oxidases. Alcohol dehydrogenases convert 20-HETE to 20-COOH-AA, and we now find that a microsomal preparation containing recombinant human CYP4F3B converts arachidonic acid to 20-HETE and 20-COOH-AA. Studies with transfected COS-7 cell expression systems indicate that 20-COOH-AA activates peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor (PPAR) alpha and PPARgamma. 20-COOH-AA was twice as potent as either 20-HETE or ciglitazone in stimulating PPARgamma-mediated luciferase expression. While 20-COOH-AA also was more potent than 20-HETE in increasing PPARalpha-mediated luciferase expression, the increase was only half as much as that produced by Wy-14643. 20-COOH-AA did not increase PPARalpha or PPARgamma expression in the transfected cells. Radiolabeled 20-COOH-AA was detected intracellularly when the COS-7 cells were incubated with either [3H]20-COOH-AA or [3H]20-HETE, and binding studies indicated that [3H]20-COOH-AA bound to the isolated ligand binding domains of PPARalpha (Kd=0.87+/-0.12 microM) and PPARgamma (Kd=1.7+/-0.5 microM). These findings suggest that 20-COOH-AA, a relatively stable metabolite of 20-HETE, might function as an endogenous dual activator of PPARalpha and PPARgamma.
The significance of regulatory orientation, political stability and culture on consumption and price adequacy in insurance markets

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine insurance regulation theories, regulatory agency structures and measures.Design/methodology/approach – This study investigates significance of regulatory agency structure, key regulatory measures, political stability and cultural dimension in insurance markets of 56 developed and developing countries for 2005‐2009.Findings – It was found that insurance consumption is lower in countries with an authority exclusively for insurance regulation but life insurance consumption is higher when the agency is part of government or when another agency is jointly responsible for insurance regulation. Market entry regulation leads to lower consumption whereas market exit regulation has the opposite effect. Solvency regulation and required use of standard forms for insurer financials lead to greater consumption of insurance. A positive impact on the nonlife market is observed for accounting regulation and regulator's intervention power.Practical implications – Price cont...
Constitutively active phosphodiesterase activity regulates urinary bladder smooth muscle function: critical role of KCa1.1 channel

Pharmacological blockade of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase (PDE) can relax human urinary bladder smooth muscle (UBSM); however, the underlying cellular mechanism is unknown. In this study, we ...
Maternal Acceptance and Adolescents’ Emotional Communication: A Longitudinal Study

With substantive evidence suggesting that adolescents’ disclosure is likely a protective factor against problem behaviors, as well as evidence that many adolescents will go to great lengths to avoid sharing information with parents, one may conclude that parents’ face a formidable task. Previous studies have identified parental acceptance as a concurrent correlate of adolescents’ behavioral disclosure, but have neglected to investigate potential ways that parents could encourage their adolescents to feel comfortable disclosing emotional information. The present study extends the literature by using a longitudinal, multi-method, multi-reporter design to examine whether maternal acceptance is predictive of emotional disclosure over time among a racially/socioeconomically diverse sample of 184 adolescents (53% female). Results indicate that adolescents who perceive their mothers as high in acceptance during early adolescence exhibit greater relative increases in both self-reported emotional communication and observed emotional disclosure to their mothers 3 years later. Interestingly, mothers’ perceptions of their own acceptance does not provide any additional predictive value. These findings support the notion that adolescents’ emotional disclosure is an ongoing process that can be fostered in early adolescence, and emphasize the importance of considering adolescents’ perceptions of the relationship to successfully do so.
A planar jet expansion discharge source of molecular afterglow emission

Abstract A pulsed discharge source, operating in a free jet-expanded molecular beam, has been constructed. Variable ballast resistance provides control over two modes of operation characterized by distinct electron temperatures for several different molecular species. The low temperature mode is accompanied by intense afterglow emissions from metastable states and high ion production. Relative yields of atomic and molecular ions in a nitrogen discharge are used to determine the discharge electron energy and density. Afterglow emission from C 3 Π u → B 3 Π g transitions is attributed to radiative cascade from the E 3 Σ g + state. Observed vibrational intensities are used to determine the relative vibrational population of the E 3 Σ g + (v=0,1) levels produced in the discharge.
Effects of Levonantradol on Habituation of Startle in Rats

: Levonantradol, a nonopioid analgetic related to cannabinoids, produced a dose-dependent impairment of the habituation of startle response in rats. Startle was elicited by air-puff stimuli and monitored in stabilimeters by a computer. Habituation was assessed by presenting the same tactile stimulus repeatedly at 15-second intervals. While a dose of 0.1 mg/kg reduced startle on all trials, doses ranging from 0.01 to 0.03 mg/kg had no effect on the initial level of reactivity to the first several stimuli but did impair the habituation of startle. This effect was not attributable to the time course of the drug's action and was also found with acoustic stimuli. The relatively inactive enantiomer of levonantradol was ineffective at 0.1 mg/kg. Thus, startle appears to be a sensitive measure of the effects of levonantradol in animals. Since comparable phenomena can be demonstrated in humans by measuring the blink reflex component of startle, direct comparisons can potentially be made across species.