cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Acute and mid-term local vascular effects of compliant balloon inflation (GuardWire system) on saphenous vein bypass grafts: an angiographic analysis.

Abstract Background The GuardWire distal protection device reduces the incidence of periprocedural complications during percutaneous stenting of diseased saphenous vein grafts. Its mechanism of action is based on the occlusion of the vessel distal to the lesion with an inflated compliant balloon before the intervention, and the aspiration of embolized material after stent implantation. Although no safety issues related to the compliant balloon have been reported in vein graft treatment, concerns related to the potential injury of the balloon on the vessel wall have been raised. We thus evaluated the angiographic outcome of the vein graft segment where the compliant balloon of the GuardWire distal protection device was inflated during percutaneous interventions of diseased vein grafts. Methods Forty consecutive patients undergoing vein graft stenting, all with successful delivery of the GuardWire system, were enrolled. All patients underwent 6-months follow-up angiography. Quantitative coronary angiographic analysis of the vein graft segment where the balloon was inflated was performed before and after the procedure, as well as at 6-month follow-up. Results No differences in reference vessel diameter, minimal luminal diameter and diameter stenosis were evident between the three measurements. In particular, the difference between post-procedural and follow-up minimal luminal diameter (namely late loss) was 0.003±0.19 mm (95% confidence interval: −0.06–0.06). Conclusions This prospective study supports for the first time the "angiographic safety" of low pressure inflations of a compliant balloon in saphenous vein grafts, suggesting the absence of acute and mid-term effects on the vein graft vessel wall.
Assessing carbon emission control strategies: The case of China

Scientists are now being asked to recommend measures to reduce the risks of climatic change due to anthropogenic greenhouse gases. Considerably less effort, however, has been allotted to understanding the efficacy of controlling these gases than to their effects. This paper briefly describes and applies an energy-economic model to assess the effectiveness of carbon dioxide control policies that theoretically could be enacted in China, a large, developing nation with an energy inefficient and ‘carbon-intensive’ economy. The paper also assesses the effectiveness of similar international efforts, as well as the effect of each initiative on Chinese income levels. Carbon dioxide control measures are contained in scenarios drawn to the year 2075 and include family planning, fossil fuel taxes, mandatory or technical energy efficiency improvements, and a combination of these.
Initial observations on the role of glutathione peroxidases in Euglena.

Abstract The algae Euglena gracilis possesses two glutathione (GSH) peroxidase: a GSH peroxidase that reduces organic hydroperoxides as well as hydrogen peroxide (GSH peroxidase 1); and a GSH peroxidase associated with GSH transferase that is active only with organic hydroperoxide substrates (GSH peroxidase 2). Preliminary experiments with Euglena were conducted to explore the in vivo role of the GSH peroxidases. The enzymes were not induced in response to the stimulation of cellular processes that generate oxidant species, such as β-oxidation or photosynthesis. The levels of GSH peroxidase 1 were approximately twofold higher in autotrophic cultures containing the herbicide DCMU. GSH peroxidase 1 was most active in stationary phase cells; while the levels of GSH peroxidase 2 were fairly constant throughout growth. Under conditions where lipid peroxidation was induced in Euglena, the addition of either GSH peroxidase plus GSH reduced the lipid peroxide levels more than tenfold.
Strong connectedness of the invertibles in a finite subdiagonal algebra

Suppose H∞ is a finite, subdiagonal subalgebra of a von Neumann algebra. We show that the invertible group of H∞ is strongly connected.
A quantitative mass spectrometry-based approach for identifying protein kinase clients and quantifying kinase activity.

The Homo sapiens and Arabidopsis thaliana genomes are believed to encode more than 500 and 1000 protein kinases, respectively. Despite this abundance, few bona fide kinase–client relationships have been described in detail. Here we describe a quantitative mass spectrometry (MS)-based approach for identifying kinase–client proteins. During method development, we used the dedicated kinase pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase (PDK) for the in vitro assays. As kinase substrate, we used synthetic peptide cocktails and, in the process, demonstrated that the assay is both sensitive and specific. The method is also useful for characterizing protein kinase–substrate kinetics once the peptide substrate is detected. Applying a label-free spectral counting method, the activity of PDK was determined using the peptide substrate YHGH292SMSDPGSTYR derived from the pyruvate dehydrogenase E1α subunit sequence. The utility of spectral counting was further validated by studying the negative effect of Met oxidation on peptide phosphorylation. We also measured the activity of the unrelated calcium-dependent protein kinase 3 (CPK3), demonstrating the utility of the method in protein kinase screening applications.
Tachycardias with alternation of the ventricular complexes.

Abstract Alternating tachycardias with regular or varying cycle lengths may result from stimulus formation in one or two centers. This was established by both experimental and clinical observations. Experimentally rapid impulse formation may evoke an alternating tachycardia from two ventricular centers as in a double parasystole or from a single focus in the A-V node. Clinically alternation could be abolished by carotid sinus pressure with or without slowing; be simulated by interpolated ventricular extrasystoles; be recorded with an increase in A-V nodal rate in patients with bigeminy, and be caused by extrasystoles with different couplings and different forms.
Importance of baseline functional and socioeconomic factors for participation in cardiac rehabilitation

Enrollment in cardiac rehabilitation has been reported to improve exercise capacity, psychological well-being, and survival. However, participation rates are low and the reasons for nonparticipation have not been adequately defined. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the major correlates of nonparticipation and to examine the level of participation of patients who stand to benefit most on the basis of preenrollment functional status and health behaviors. Three hundred ninety-three patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery (1) had baseline functional status and quality-of-life data collected, and (2) were recruited for participation in the Duke Center for Living comprehensive 3-week post-coronary bypass surgery rehabilitation program. Baseline demographic, clinical, catheterization, functional status, psychological status, and health behavior descriptors were analyzed to identify univariate and multivariable correlates of a patient's decision to participate in the program. At baseline, most clinical factors were similar in participants (n = 52) and nonparticipants (n = 341), but the nonparticipants were more often women (26% vs 12%, p = 0.02). Participants were also more likely to be employed (63% vs 45%, p = 0.02) and had a higher education and income distribution than nonparticipants (both p = 0.001). On 2 separate scales, nonparticipants had significantly more baseline functional impairment than participants (both p = 0.001). In multivariable analysis, the independent correlates of higher participation rates were: higher education (college graduates 71% more likely to participate than high school graduates) and better baseline Duke Activity Status Index (patients with mild functional impairment were at least 42% more likely to participate than patients with moderate impairment).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Orchestrating the unfolded protein response in health and disease

A variety of approaches have been employed to identify the UPR signaling components, their function, and their physiological role. Yeast genetics allowed the definition of the basic ER stress–signaling pathway. The identification of homologous and parallel signaling pathways in higher eukaryotes has produced a mechanistic framework the cell uses to sense and compensate for ER over-load and stress. The high-level tissue-specific expression patterns of several ER stress–signaling molecules indicated the pancreas and intestine as organs that require UPR for physiological function. Analysis of UPR-induced gene expression established that protein degradation is required to reduce the stress of unfolded protein accumulation in the ER. Major advances in identifying UPR function and relevance to disease were derived from mutation of UPR signaling components in model organisms and the identification of mutations in humans. Despite tremendous progress, our knowledge of the UPR pathway remains incomplete. Further studies promise to expand our understanding of how ER stress impacts the other cellular signaling pathways. It will be very exciting and informative to understand how the UPR varies when critical components are genetically manipulated by deletion or other types of mutations. In addition, although the accumulation of unfolded protein in the ER is now known to contribute to pathogenesis in a variety of diseases, there are still few therapeutic approaches that target these events. With a greater understanding of protein-folding processes, pharmacological intervention with chemical chaperones to promote proper folding becomes feasible, as observed with sodium phenylbutyrate for Δ508 CFTR (see Gelman and Kopito, this Perspective series, ref. 53). Future intervention should consider activation of different subpathways of the UPR or overexpression of appropriate protein chaperones, as in the case of overexpression of the J domain of cytosolic HSP70, which suppresses polyglutamine toxicity in flies (88). Treatments that activate the ERAD response may also ameliorate pathogenesis in a number of the conformational diseases. Over the past ten years, tremendous progress has been made in understanding the mechanisms and physiological significance of the UPR. The processes of protein folding and secretion, transcriptional and translational activation, and protein degradation are intimately interconnected to maintain homeostasis in the ER. A variety of environmental insults, genetic disease, and underlying genetic modifiers of UPR function contribute to the pathogenesis of different disease states. As we gain a greater understanding of the mechanisms that control UPR activation, it should be possible to discover methods to activate or inhibit the UPR as desired for therapeutic benefit.
Evaluation of Video Camera System to Reduce Side Collisions of Transit Buses

An aftermarket sideview video system has great potential to reduce side crashes of transit buses. This paper presents a research project that investigated the use of a sideview video system as a countermeasure against most problems with mirrors that caused side crashes in transit operations. Measurements showed that the video camera system with a regular-angle lens could reduce about 64% of the blind zone of a flat mirror system. The video system could reduce about 40% of the blind zone of a common system that combined flat and convex mirrors. With a wide-angle lens, the blind zones on both sides of transit buses could be completely eliminated. The controlled driving test, designed to determine whether drivers could use the system to perform everyday maneuvers, showed no statistically significant difference between distances perceived with the mirrors and with the camera system in static and dynamic conditions. During testing, several advantages of using a camera-based system over one with mirrors were ob...
Interactive segmentation in multimodal brain imagery using a Bayesian transductive learning approach

Labeled training data in the medical domain is rare and expensive to obtain. The lack of labeled multimodal medical image data is a major obstacle for devising learning-based interactive segmentation tools. Transductive learning (TL) or semi-supervised learning (SSL) offers a workaround by leveraging unlabeled and labeled data to infer labels for the test set given a small portion of label information. In this paper we propose a novel algorithm for interactive segmentation using transductive learning and inference in conditional mixture naive Bayes models (T-CMNB) with spatial regularization constraints. T-CMNB is an extension of the transductive naive Bayes algorithm (1, 20) to the semi- nonparametric case. The multimodal mixture assumption on each covariate feature dimension and spatial regularization constraints allow us to explain more complex distributions required for spatial classification in multimodal imagery. To simplify the estimation we reduce the parameter space by assuming naive conditional independence between the feature space and the class label. The naive conditional independence assumption allows efficient inference of marginal and conditional distributions for large scale learning and inference (19). We evaluate the proposed algorithm on multimodal MRI brain imagery using ROC statistics and provide preliminary results. The algorithm shows promising segmentation performance with a sensitivity and specificity of 90.37% and 99.74% respectively and compares competitively to alternative interactive segmentation schemes.
Success on the road to adulthood. Issues and hurdles for adolescents with disabilities.

In the past 25 years, throughout the industrialized world, survival for young people with disabilities has dramatically improved such that about 90% of children with disabilities reach their 20th birthday. 3 Rheumatologists caring for pediatric and adult patients are becoming aware of this as they have observed the improved 10-year survival of children with connective tissue diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus. 16 Similarly, in the past 20 years the prevalence of activity limiting chronic illness has doubled from 2% to 4% of the US population from birth to 24 years of age 22 and global data suggest that between 10% and 30% of the entire population between the ages of 10 and 24 are limited functionally or have a chronic illness. 4 These functional limitations often worsen despite modern therapy as the young person grows older. The development of disability in pediatric rheumatic diseases has been best exemplified by 12 functional outcome studies in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (juvenile chronic arthritis in Europe). In a recent study, Gare and Fasth showed that an average of 20% (range 3% to 48%) of children with JRA who had an average follow-up of 16 years (range 3 to 28 years) had limited functional capability to the point of an inability to perform self care. 8 An earlier study of children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis assessed functional capacity at 7 years and then again at more than 16 years and showed that the longer the follow-up the worse the functional state as measured by Steinbroker functional class. 15 Similar observations have been made concerning the psychosocial functioning of young people who have grown up with a rheumatic disease. 6 Thus, the increasing survival of children with disabilities has resulted in a clearer understanding of the morbidity and functional disability as they move from childhood to adulthood. The transition of this growing population to an adult-oriented world is now an issue that is gaining attention from political, social, and medical leaders. 13 Many laws, such as the Americans with Disability Act, the Individuals with Disability Education Act, and the Rehabilitation Act, 1 have been passed in the United States trying to facilitate the incorporation of people with disabilities into society; however, those with disabilities still lag behind their nondisabled counterparts in employment, social integration, and education. 25 Recently in the United States, the high cost of not assisting these young people to make a transition to adulthood and be independent, successful contributing adults in society is being recognized. 28 This article covers a discussion of the general principles and barriers to the transition process, the special problems that young people with disabilities face in attaining their developmental milestones for adulthood, and what health care providers, parents, educators, and members of society can do to facilitate a successful road toward adulthood.
Are hot flashes associated with sleep disturbance during midlife? Results from the STRIDE cohort study.

Objective Sleep disturbance and hot flashes are common during menopause, but their association is not well understood. We sought to understand the associations among sleep disturbance and the frequency, bothersomeness, and interference of hot flashes in mid-life women.
Cardiovascular safety and gastrointestinal tolerability of etoricoxib vs diclofenac in a randomized controlled clinical trial (The MEDAL study)

Objective. To compare cardiovascular (CV) and other safety and efficacy parameters of etoricoxib 60 and 90 mg, and diclofenac 150 mg. Methods. This double-blind study randomized OA patients to etoricoxib 90 mg, then to 60 mg once daily vs diclofenac 75 mg twice daily; RA patients were randomized to etoricoxib 90 mg once daily or diclofenac 75 mg twice daily. The primary endpoint was non-inferiority of etoricoxib vs diclofenac for thrombotic CV events (95% CI upper bound of hazard ratio <1.30). Other safety and efficacy parameters were evaluated in cohorts of patients based on etoricoxib dose and disease. Results. A total of 23 504 patients were randomized with mean treatment duration from 19.4 to 20.8 months. The thrombotic CV risk hazard ratio (HR) (etoricoxib to diclofenac) was 0.96 (95% CI 0.81, 1.15), consistent with non-inferiority of etoricoxib to diclofenac. The cumulative gastrointestinal (GI)/liver adverse events (AEs) discontinuation rate was significantly lower for etoricoxib than diclofenac in each patient cohort; HR (95% CI) of 0.46 (0.39, 0.54), 0.52 (0.42, 0.63) and 0.49 (0.39, 0.62) for the 60 mg OA, 90 mg OA and RA cohorts. The maximum average change in systolic blood pressure (BP) with etoricoxib was 3.4–3.6 mmHg (diastolic BP: 1.0–1.5 mmHg), while diclofenac produced a maximum average change of 0.9–1.9 mmHg (diastolic BP: 0.0–0.5 mmHg). Both agents resulted in similar efficacy regardless of etoricoxib dose. Conclusion. Long-term etoricoxib use is associated with a risk of thrombotic CV events comparable with that of diclofenac. Compared with diclofenac, etoricoxib demonstrated a greater risk of renovascular AEs, but a more favourable GI/liver tolerability profile.
The digital rainbow: Some history and applications of numerical spectrum analysis

Statistical concepts and techniques are basic to scientific investigation. One concept that enjoys both a theoretical and a physical existence is the spectrum. A spectrum may be described as a display of the intensity or variability of a phenomenon versus period or frequency. Spectra are particularly useful in the study of systems subject to resonance, but have many other uses. This paper begins with some of the historical development of the field, describing a sequence of contributions by Michelson, Schuster, Einstein, Fisher, Bartlett, Tukey, and Whittle. The paper next presents collaborative applications to the study of the free oscillations of the earth, to the dispersion of seismic surface waves and to nuclear-magnetic-resonance spectroscopy. Finally, there is mention of open problems and opinions on future directions.
Isolation and nucleotide sequence analysis of the β-type globin pseudogene from human, gorilla and chimpanzee

The beta-globin gene cluster of human, gorilla and chimpanzee contain the same number and organization of beta-type globin genes: 5'-epsilon (embryonic)-G gamma and A gamma (fetal)-psi beta (inactive)-delta and beta (adult)-3'. We have isolated the psi beta-globin gene regions from the three species and determined their nucleotide sequences. These three pseudogenes each share the same substitutions in the initiator codon (ATG----GTA), a substitution in codon 15 which generates a termination signal TGG----TGA, nucleotide deletion in codon 20 and the resulting frame shift which yields many termination signals in exons 2 and 3. The basic structure of these psi beta-globin genes, however, remains consistent with that found for functional beta-globin genes: their coding regions are split by two introns, IVS 1 (which splits codon 30, 121 base-pairs in length) and IVS 2 (which splits codon 104, 840 to 844 base-pairs in length). These introns retain the normal splice junctions found in other eukaryotic split genes. The three hominoid psi beta-globin genes show a high degree of sequence correspondence, with the number of differences found among them being only about one-third of that predicted for DNA sites evolving at the neutral rate (i.e. for sites evolving in the absence of purifying selection). Thus, there appears to be a deceleration in the rate of evolution of the psi beta-globin locus in higher primates.
Concept Recognition, Information Retrieval, and Machine Learning in Genomics Question-Answering

TREC Genomics 2006 presented a genomics question-answering challenge with questions on twenty-seven topics, and a corpus of 162,259 full-text biomedical journal articles from which to derive answers. Questions were formulated from actual information needs of biomedical researchers, and performance was based on human evaluation of the answers. The University of Colorado approach to this task involved three key components: semantic analysis, document zoning, and a promiscuous retrieval approach followed by pruning by classifiers trained to identify near-misses. We began by parsing the document HTML, splitting it into paragraph-length passages and classifying each passage with respect to a model of the sections (zones) of scientific publications. We filtered out certain sections, and built a search index for these passages using the Lemur system. Next, for each query, we semi-automatically created a set of expansions using ontological resources, including MeSH and the Gene Ontology. This expansion included not only synonyms, but terms related to concepts that were both more specific and (in some cases) more general than the query. We searched the passage collection for these expanded queries using the Indri search engine from the Lemur package, with pseudo-relevance feedback. We also tried expanding the retrieved passages by adding passages that had a small cosine distance to the initial retrievals in an LSA-defined vector space. Our final step was to filter this expanded retrieval set with document classifiers whose input features included word stems and recognized concepts. Three separate runs were constructed using varying components of the above set, allowing us to explore the utility of each. The system produced the best result for at least one query in each of the three evaluations (document, passage and aspect diversity).
Hematopoietic stem cell gene transfer for the treatment of hemoglobin disorders

Hematopoietic stem cell (HSC)-targeted gene transfer is an attractive approach for the treatment of a number of hematopoietic disorders caused by single gene defects. Indeed, in a series of gene transfer trials for two different primary immunodeficiencies beginning early in this decade, outstanding success has been achieved. Despite generally low levels of engrafted, genetically modified HSCs, these trials were successful because of the marked selective advantage of gene-corrected lymphoid precursors that allowed reconstitution of the immune system. Unlike the immunodeficiencies, this robust level of in vivo selection is not available to hematopoietic repopulating cells or early progenitor cells following gene transfer of a therapeutic globin gene in the setting of beta-thalassemia and sickle cell disease. Both preclinical and clinical transplant studies involving bone marrow chimeras suggest that 20% or higher levels of engraftment of genetically modified HSCs will be needed for clinical success in the most severe of these disorders. Encouragingly, gene transfer levels in this range have recently been reported in a lentiviral vector gene transfer clinical trial for children with adrenoleukodystrophy. A clinical gene transfer trial for beta-thalassemia has begun in France, and one patient with transfusion-dependent HbE/beta-thalassemia has demonstrated a therapeutic effect after transplantation with autologous CD34(+) cells genetically modified with a beta-globin lentiviral vector. Here, the development and recent progress of gene therapy for the hemoglobin disorders is reviewed.
The effect of hypophysectomy on serum placental lactogen and progesterone in the mouse.

Hypophysectomy of pregnant mice on days 10, 12, and 16 of gestation resulted in a large and rapid (12–24 h postoperatively) increase in serum placental lactogen (mPL) concentrations, as measured by homologous RIA. Serum progesterone (P4) concentrations decreased compared to those in intact and sham-operated controls. Significantly, the increase in serum mPL in mice hypophysectomized on days 10 and 12 preceded any decrease in serum P4 concentrations by at least 24 h, suggesting that two indirectly related mechanisms may be involved in the control of the serum concentrations of these hormones. The weight of the uterus, including the feto-placental units, placental weight, and placental content of mPL did not differ between intact, sham-operated, and hypophysectomized groups. The gestational profiles of serum GH and PRL concentrations were similar in the sham-operated and intact controls. Although serum P4 concentrations decreased after hypophysectomy on days 10 and 12 of gestation, the maintenance of the pr...
FOXO1-Mediated Activation of Akt Plays a Critical Role in Vascular Homeostasis

Rationale:Forkhead box-O transcription factors (FOXOs) transduce a wide range of extracellular signals, resulting in changes in cell survival, cell cycle progression, and several cell type-specific...
Why the frontal cortex in autism might be talking only to itself: local over-connectivity but long-distance disconnection

Although it has long been thought that frontal lobe abnormality must play an important part in generating the severe impairment in higher-order social, emotional and cognitive functions in autism, only recently have studies identified developmentally early frontal lobe defects. At the microscopic level, neuroinflammatory reactions involving glial activation, migration defects and excess cerebral neurogenesis and/or defective apoptosis might generate frontal neural pathology early in development. It is hypothesized that these abnormal processes cause malformation and thus malfunction of frontal minicolumn microcircuitry. It is suggested that connectivity within frontal lobe is excessive, disorganized and inadequately selective, whereas connectivity between frontal cortex and other systems is poorly synchronized, weakly responsive and information impoverished. Increased local but reduced long-distance cortical-cortical reciprocal activity and coupling would impair the fundamental frontal function of integrating information from widespread and diverse systems and providing complex context-rich feedback, guidance and control to lower-level systems.
Drainage basin morphometry: a global snapshot from the shuttle radar topography mission

Abstract. A suite of 42 morphometric parameters for each of 26 272 drainage basins larger than 100 km2 from the Hydrosheds Shuttle Radar Topography digital elevation model shows the global distribution of Strahler order for streams and drainage basins. At the scale of 15 arc s spacing (232 to 464 m) the largest basins are order 9. Many common parameters depend both on the size of the basin, and the scale of the digital elevation model used for the computations. These drainage basins display the typical longitudinal stream profiles, but the major basins tend to be generally more concave than the smaller basins.
Static Creep and Repeated Load as Rutting Performance Tests for Airport HMA Mix Design

A performance test, rather than an empirical test, to evaluate rutting susceptibility is needed to accompany current volumetric property requirements of airport hot mix asphalt (HMA) designed using a superpave gyratory compactor. The new performance test will provide a level of confidence that pavement constructed using a selected HMA mixture will function according to its design. This paper presents results from a laboratory study to identify a performance test for accepting hot asphalt mixtures for constructing airport pavements designed for high tire pressure traffic. Performance tests intended to indicate rutting susceptibility were performed on 34 HMA mixtures. Twenty-nine of these mixtures met all aggregate and volumetric property requirements for airport pavement construction; the remaining five mixtures were designed with excessive percentage of natural sand (30%) as rut-susceptible mixtures. Results from asphalt pavement analyzer (APA), triaxial static creep, and triaxial repeated load tests are presented. Statistical analyses performed on the results indicate that the rate of increase in permanent strain and the flow time value determined from triaxial static creep testing provide the strongest correlation to APA simulated traffic rutting.
Measurement and simulation of beam-beam effects in the weak/strong regime

In an effort to gain insight into the beam-beam interaction and its effect on beam distributions, the authors explored the weak/strong colliding-beam regime both experimentally and via simulation. In machine experiments, the weak beam, because it is just a collection of test particles which do not perturb the strong beam, may be repeatedly sacrificed and replaced during the course of measurements. Diagnostic techniques which exploit this fact were developed. They made it possible to make beam-profile measurements in the core, the skirt, and the remote tails of the distribution. The authors describe these techniques and report on some beam distribution surveys performed on the Cornell Electron-Positron Storage Ring (CESR). Results of a computer simulation designed to duplicate the weak/strong measurements are also presented. Simulation results overlapping with actual machine measurements are available only in the core and near-skirt regions. >
Rendering Adaptation to Address Communication and Computation Constraints in Cloud Mobile Gaming

A new Cloud Mobile Gaming (CMG) approach, where the responsibility of executing the gaming engines, including the most compute intensive tasks of graphic rendering, is put on cloud servers instead of the mobile devices, has the potential for enabling mobile users to play the same rich Internet games available to PC users. However, the mobile gaming user experience may be limited by the communication constraint imposed by available wireless networks and computation constraint imposed by the cost and availability of cloud servers. In this paper, we propose a rendering adaptation technique which can adapt the game rendering parameters to satisfy CMG communication and computation constraints, such that the overall mobile gaming user experience is maximized. Experiments conducted on a commercial UMTS network demonstrate that the proposed rendering adaptation techniques can make the CMG approach feasible: ensuring protection against wireless network conditions, and ensuring server computation scalability, thereby ensuring acceptable mobile gaming user experience.
Net energy from the extraction of oil and gas in the United States

One technique for evaluating the costs of energy systems is net energy analysis, which compares the quantity of energy delivered to society by an energy system to the energy used directly and indirectly in the delivery process, a quantity called the energy return on investment (EROI). Such an investigation involves aggregating different energy flows. A variety of methods have been proposed, but none has received universal acceptance. This paper shows that the method of aggregation has crucial effects on the results of the analysis. It is argued that economic approaches such as the index or marginal product method are superior because they account for differences in quality among fuels. The thermal equivalent and quality-corrected EROI for petroleum extraction in the US show the same general pattern: a rise to a maximum in the early 1970s, a sharp decline throughout the 1970s, a recovery in the 1980s, and then another modest decline in the 1990s. However, the quality-corrected EROI is consistently much lower than the thermal equivalent EROI, and it declines faster and to a greater extent than the thermalequivalent EROI. The results indicate that quality corrections have important effects on the results of energy analyses. The overall decline in the EROI for petroleum extraction in the US suggests that depletion has raised the energy costs of extraction. This is generally consistent with the overall pattern of oil extraction, i.e. both extraction and the EROI for extraction show a decline since the early 1970s. q 2004 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
A comparison of the wellbeing of orphans and abandoned children ages 6-12 in institutional and community-based care settings in 5 less wealthy nations.

Background Leaders are struggling to care for the estimated 143,000,000 orphans and millions more abandoned children worldwide. Global policy makers are advocating that institution-living orphans and abandoned children (OAC) be moved as quickly as possible to a residential family setting and that institutional care be used as a last resort. This analysis tests the hypothesis that institutional care for OAC aged 6–12 is associated with worse health and wellbeing than community residential care using conservative two-tail tests. Methodology The Positive Outcomes for Orphans (POFO) study employed two-stage random sampling survey methodology in 6 sites across 5 countries to identify 1,357 institution-living and 1,480 community-living OAC ages 6–12, 658 of whom were double-orphans or abandoned by both biological parents. Survey analytic techniques were used to compare cognitive functioning, emotion, behavior, physical health, and growth. Linear mixed-effects models were used to estimate the proportion of variability in child outcomes attributable to the study site, care setting, and child levels and institutional versus community care settings. Conservative analyses limited the community living children to double-orphans or abandoned children. Principal Findings Health, emotional and cognitive functioning, and physical growth were no worse for institution-living than community-living OAC, and generally better than for community-living OAC cared for by persons other than a biological parent. Differences between study sites explained 2–23% of the total variability in child outcomes, while differences between care settings within sites explained 8–21%. Differences among children within care settings explained 64–87%. After adjusting for sites, age, and gender, institution vs. community-living explained only 0.3–7% of the variability in child outcomes. Conclusion This study does not support the hypothesis that institutional care is systematically associated with poorer wellbeing than community care for OAC aged 6–12 in those countries facing the greatest OAC burden. Much greater variability among children within care settings was observed than among care settings type. Methodologically rigorous studies must be conducted in those countries facing the new OAC epidemic in order to understand which characteristics of care promote child wellbeing. Such characteristics may transcend the structural definitions of institutions or family homes.
NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN THE USE OF MEASURES OF HONESTY INTEGRITY, CONSCIENTIOUSNESS, DEPENDABILITY TRUSTWORTHINESS, AND RELIABILITY FOR PERSONNEL SELECTION

This paper is the fourth in a series of reviews of the use of measures of honesty, integrity, conscientiousness, dependability, trustworthiness, and reliability for personnel selection (see Sackett & Decker, 1979; Sackett & Harris, 1984; Sackett, Burris, & Callahan, 1989). New developments reviewed include an examination of professional and congressional inquiry into this area of testing, rapid growth of the validity data base, new insight into similarities and differences between different tests, and links to the Big Five personality dimensions. Inquiries into relationships with other constructs, including cognitive ability, moral reasoning, and social desirability are reviewed, as are applicant reactions to these tests. The effects of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 and the Americans with Disabilities Act are considered.
Conservation genetics: beyond the maintenance of marker diversity

One of the major problems faced by conservation biologists is the allocation of scarce resources to an overwhelmingly large number of species in need of preservation efforts. Both demographic and genetic information have been brought to bear on this problem; however, the role of information obtained from genetic markers has largely been limited to the characterization of gene frequencies and patterns of diversity. While the genetic consequences of rarity may be a contributing factor to endangerment, it is widely recognized that demographic factors often may be more important. Because patterns of genetic marker variation are influenced by the same demographic factors of interest to the conservation biologist, it is possible to extract useful demographic information from genetic marker data. Such an approach may be productive for determining plant mating systems, inbreeding depression, effective population size, and metapopulation structure. In many cases, however, data consisting only of marker frequencies are inadequate for these purposes. Development of genealogical based analytical methods coupled with studies of DNA sequence variation within and among populations is likely to yield the most information on demographic processes from genetic marker data. Indeed, in some cases it may be the only means of obtaining information on the long-term demographic properties that may be most useful for determining the future prospects of a species of interest.
Convergence of pathology in dementia with Lewy bodies and Alzheimer's disease: a role for the novel interaction of alpha-synuclein and presenilin 1 in disease.

A growing number of PSEN1 mutations have been associated with dementia with Lewy bodies and familial Alzheimer’s disease with concomitant α-synuclein pathology. The objective of this study was to determine if PSEN1 plays a direct role in the development of α-synuclein pathology in these diseases. Using mass spectrometry, immunoelectron microscopy and fluorescence lifetime image microscopy based on Forster resonance energy transfer (FLIM-FRET) we identified α-synuclein as a novel interactor of PSEN1 in wild-type mouse brain tissue. The interaction of α-synuclein with PSEN1 was detected in post-mortem brain tissue from cognitively normal cases and was significantly increased in tissue from cases with dementia with Lewy bodies and familial Alzheimer’s disease associated with known PSEN1 mutations. We confirmed an increased interaction of PSEN1 and α-synuclein in cell lines expressing well characterized familial Alzheimer’s disease PSEN1 mutations, L166P and delta exon 9, and demonstrated that PSEN1 mutations associate with increased membrane association and accumulation of α-synuclein. Our data provides evidence of a molecular interaction of PSEN1 and α-synuclein that may explain the clinical and pathophysiological overlap seen in synucleinopathies, including Parkinson’s disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, and some forms of Alzheimer’s disease.
Influences of Management Regimes on Breeding Bird Densities and Habitat in Mixed-Grass Prairie: An Example from North Dakota

It is well known that North American grassland bird populations appear to be declining (Igl and Johnson 1997, Sauer et al. 2004). Most of these birds breed and winter in North America, so declines are likely associated with continental processes (Knopf 1994). Scientists have also observed parallel declines among species that have overlapping breeding ranges but disparate wintering distributions (Igl and Johnson 1997). These patterns suggest declines may be linked to problems on the breeding grounds. Across the Great Plains, the breeding grounds for many of these species, one primary land-use is grazing by domestic cattle. Before European settlement, most of this region was grazed by freeranging herbivores, particularly bison (Hartnett et al. 1997). With settlement, bison were mostly extirpated from the region, and cattle grazing systems were established. This species replacement may have transformed the landscape because bison and cattle grazing regimes differ somewhat (Harnett et al. 1997). Bison and cattle possess slightly different foraging preferences and patterns (Hartnett et al. 1997), and cattle herds are spatially constrained whereas historic bison herds roamed freely (Steuter and Hidinger 1999). Moreover, grassland fire is usually suppressed and rarely prescribed in modern cattle-managed systems, yet during the time of the bison, naturally occurring fires burned at varying frequencies in the Great Plains (Steuter and Hidinger 1999). Today, some land managers are trying to reestablish this ecological condition by reintroducing smaller bison herds to various locations in the region, along with prescribed fire (Hartnett et al. 1997, Griebel et al. 1998). Given this recent trend, it is an opportune time to compare how a widespread, modern land-management regime and a re-created historic regime affect breeding grassland birds. Only Zimmerman (1997) and Griebel et al. (1998) have compared effects of bison and cattle grazing regimes on birds, in tallgrass prairie and sandhills prairie, respectively. Moreover, only Griebel et al. (1998) studied the effects of a bison regime that included fire. Thus, our study is the first to compare effects of these regimes in mixed-grass prairie. Of these 3 studies, ours is also unique because we estimate bird densities using distance sampling. We evaluated bird population densities and their habitats under cattle and bison management regimes in mixedgrass prairie. Our objectives were to 1) determine the influence of these different range-management regimes on habitat structure, composition, and heterogeneity; and 2) determine whether bird breeding densities differ between regimes.
The Technocultural Imagination: Life, Art, and Politics in the Age of Total Connectivity

For the past twenty years, the United States has been experiencing a significant cultural, social, and political shift of which we are only now taking account. The very presence of powerful personal computers, loaded with easy-to-use editing and production software, connected to millions of others at high speed at all times of the day has changed the cultural and political environment radically and irreversibly. Distributive information and communication technologies have enabled this shift by amplifying the effects and possibilities of long-established practices. Clearly, Americans have experienced a radical change in expectations when it comes to culture and information. I call this change the rise of technocultural imagination. We are on the cusp of a truly democratic cultural moment. But all is not open and free. Nor should we celebrate this technologically enabled, radical cultural democracy for its own sake. It's messy and troublesome. It's risky and disruptive. But it's also exciting and fascinating.
Baroreflex control of arterial and venous compliances and vascular capacity in hypertensive dogs.

The ability of the carotid sinus baroreflex to elicit reflex changes in vascular capacity was studied in chronically hypertensive (one-kidney, one-clip) and sham-operated normotensive dogs under pe...
A Skin Reaction in Poliomyelitis

The need for a susceptibility test in poliomyelitis has become especially apparent through the results obtained by the precipitin test with cleared extracts of nasopharyngeal swabbings and the poliomyelitis antistreptococcus serums.1 My repeated attempts to obtain a suitable antigen to test susceptibility were unsuccessful until last summer, when it was found that freshly isolated strains of the pleomorphic streptococcus, which produced flaccid paralysis in rabbits, when grown 18 to 24 hours in pancreatic digest heart muscle broth to which one part in ten of ascites fluid was added, and the culture killed with phenol, 0.5%, or tricresol, 0.3 Jo, yielded a useful toxic antigen. Tunnicliff 2 has since reported on the use of a similarly prepared antigen with the diplococcus which she isolated in cases of measles. One-tenth cc. of a 1: 100 dilution of this killed culture in sodium chlorid solution, injected intradermally, resulted in no reaction or only slight redness in persons who had recovered from poliomyelitis, but redness was often marked if persons had not had poliomyelitis. The maximal reaction develops in from 18 to 24 hours, after which it gradually subsides. Slight induration and redness limited to the area injected may last for several days. Absence of redness at the point of injection of the test substance at the end of 18 to 24 hours is considered negative; redness limited to the area injected is recorded as -{; redness extending beyond the blistered area approximately 1 cm. in diameter, as -|4-; redness from 1 to 2 cm. in diameter as -\-f-\, and larger areas usually from 2 to 3 cm. (more rarely 4 cm. in diameter) as -|-f -{-f. The reactions of -f and -\-\are considered as mildly positive and those of -f-j+ and -j?\-f-)as strongly positive. The control injection consists of a dilution of 1: 100 of the corresponding uninoculated broth. This has always been negative, or there has been only a slight redness limited to the area blistered at the time of the injection. The results obtained thus far are summarized in the accompanying tabulation.
Plasma Free Fatty Acids and the Rare-Earth Fatty Liver.∗:

Summary1. Cerium (2 mg/kg) causes an early decrease in serum glucose and a later significant increase in plasma free fatty acids followed by fatty degeneration of the liver. 2. Conditions that prevent the free fatty acid and fatty liver responses are (a) administration of the cerium as a bound complex or particle, and (b) use of hypophysec-tomized, diabetic, or male rats.
Fumigant Action of Acrolein on Stored-Product Insects

Acrolein was investigated as a fumigant for the control of stored-product insects. When exposed in space, confused flour beetle adults, Tribolium confusum Jacqueline duVal, cigarette beetle adults, Lasioderma serricorne (F.), and black carpet beetle larvae, Attagenus unicolor (Brahm), were killed by doses of acrolein that were lower than corresponding doses of methyl bromide. However, experiments done in grain showed that when acrolein was applied in the headspace, high doses were required to kill insects in the geometric canter of the mass. In contrast, when acrolein was applied to the surface and the grain was mixed to distribute the compound, insects exposed in the grain were killed by much lower doses than when the grain was not mixed. Sorption of the acrolein on wheat was also investigated to determine the amount of compound available to insects in the interstitial spaces of the grain during a 24-h treatment. Because of the sorption characteristics of acrolein, it may have only limited use as a fumigant
Reconstructing Richness in the Plant Fossil Record

A comparison of species richness of leaf litter samples derived from a variety of modern forest types provides a means for estimating diversity of source forests in the fossil record. Single samples of temperate forest litter relatively consistently record about three-quarters of the source tree species larger than 10 cm diameter at breast height within the surrounding hectare. Tropical and subtropical samples, in contrast, contain a very small proportion of leaves of the tree species in the surrounding hectare of source forest, and demonstrate that the forest sampled by a single collection is about 0.1 to 0.125 hectare