cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Can't have one without the other: component separation plus mesh for repairing difficult incisional hernias.

Background Incisional hernia recurrence after repair continues to be a persistent complication. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between patient-specific factors, surgeon-specific factors, and hernia recurrence in patients undergoing repair of an incisional hernia in whom the component separation technique was used. Methods All patients undergoing incisional herniorrhaphy with component separation from October 2006 to May 2013 were reviewed. Data collected included demographics, comorbidities, postoperative complications, and factors related to mesh implantation. Computed tomography images were used to evaluate the size of the hernia and dimensions of the linea alba. Results The 85 patients were followed for a mean of 14.4 months, and 12 (14.1%) recurrent hernias were diagnosed. More than 91% of the herniorrhaphies were performed after a previous repair failed. The recurrence rate decreased to 11.1% when, in addition to the component separation, a mesh was used to reinforce the repair. There were no differences between the group who developed a recurrence and those who did not in terms of sex, age, race, body mass index, preoperative comorbidities, or type of mesh used. Conclusion In this case series of complex abdominal wall herniorrhaphies using component separation, the recurrence rate was 14.1% overall and 11.1% when a mesh was used to reinforce the repair. Recurrent hernia was not associated with patient demographics, comorbidities, thickness or width of the linea alba, presence of a contaminated wound, or postoperative surgical-site occurrences.
Demonstration of Dual A-V Nodal Pathways in Patients with Paroxysmal Supraventricular Tachycardia

Electrophysiological evidence suggestive of dual atrioventricular (A-V) nodal pathways is presented in two patients with normal P-R interval and reentrant paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT). His bundle recordings and atrial stimulation were used to obtain this electrophysiological evidence. Refractory periods were measured with the atrial extra-stimulus technique. Plotting of H1-H2 responses against A1-A2 coupling intervals revealed that as A1-A2 decreased, H1-H2 decreased appropriately. At a critical A1-A2, a sudden marked increase in H1-H2 occurred, suggesting failure of fast pathway, (defining the fast pathway effective refractory period ERP). Further shortening of A1-A2 defined a second H1-H2 curve. The longest A1-A2 with no H2 response was defined as the slow pathway ERP. Echo zones coincided with A1-A2 intervals equal to or less than the fast pathway ERP. These results provide the first electrophysiological demonstration of dual A-V nodal pathways in patients with normal P-R interval and...
The empty bowls project: : creating, leading, and sustaining a social enterprise

Lisa and John never envisioned that a luncheon held 20 years ago at their local high school would grow into The Empty Bowls Project, an international grassroots effort to fight hunger. The premise is simple in that potters, educators, students, and others create handcrafted bowls and serve a simple meal of soup and bread. In exchange for cash donations, attendees take home the bowl to recall all the empty bowls in the world. Monies raised are donated to community-based organizations working toward food security. The founders subsequently formed the nonprofit Imagine Render and now are considering their succession and future direction.
Effects of catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitors and L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine with or without carbidopa on extracellular dopamine in rat striatum.

: The effects of two new catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitors, OR-611 and Ro 40-7592, in combination with L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-dopa) with or without carbidopa on extracellular levels of dopamine (DA), 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), homovanillic acid (HVA), 3-O-methyldopa (3-OMD), and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid in rat striatum were studied. A dose of 10 mg/kg i.p. of Ro 40-7592 alone, in contrast to the same dose of OR-611, decreased the dialysate level of HVA and increased that of DOPAC; this dose was thus used to differentiate between the effects of central and peripheral COMT inhibition. L-Dopa (50 mg/kg i.p.) alone slightly increased extracellular levels of DA, DOPAC, and HVA. The effects of L-dopa were potentiated by carbidopa (50 mg/kg i.p.), and even 3-OMD levels in dialysate samples became detectable. Both OR-611 and Ro 40-7592 significantly further increased the DA and DOPAC efflux from striatum produced by L-dopa. This increase was more pronounced when carbidopa was added to the treatment. OR-611 did not modify the effect of L-dopa or carbidopa/L-dopa on dialysate HVA levels, whereas Ro 40-7592 markedly reduced those levels. Both OR-611 and Ro 40-7592 very clearly suppressed dialysate 3-OMD levels produced by carbidopa/L-dopa. Ro 40-7592 was more effective than OR-611 in potentiating the effects of L-dopa or carbidopa/L-dopa. These in vivo data show that the new COMT inhibitors markedly inhibit the O-methylation of L-dopa and increase its availability to brain, which is reflected as increased DA formation. A significant effect can be achieved even by inhibiting only the peripheral COMT activity. The data suggest that COMT inhibitors may be of clinical importance as adjuncts in the treatment of Parkinson's disease.
Low-Cost, Modular Electrothermal Vaporization System for Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry

In this investigation, commercially available tungsten filaments were employed to electrothermally vaporize liquid samples prior to their introduction into an inductively coupled plasma (ICP). These filaments were extracted from standard 150 W slide projector bulbs. The temperature of the tungsten coil was controlled by supplying a desired current at 120 V ac. A small sample volume, typically 20 μL, was manually pipetted onto the coil and dried at a 2.3 A current. At the conclusion of this dry step, a 7.4 A atomization current was applied, and sample atoms were sputtered off the coil and rapidly introduced into the plasma as a dense plug by a flow of Ar/H2 gas. A charge-coupled device (CCD) array detector allowed for multielement determinations. Simultaneously collected data are presented for Ag, Ba, Be, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, Sr, and Zn. Many of these test elements are of biological importance either as cumulative poisons or as essential nutrients. Each also possesses one or more strong ICP emission lines i...
PITUITARY-DIABETES IN THE CAT; RECOVERY FOLLOWING INSULIN OR DIETARY TREATMENT

FOLLOWING THE ANNOUNCEMENT (1) that permanent diabetes could be produced in dogs by means of anterior pituitary extract, Young (2) reported experiments in other species. He administered crude anterior pituitary extract to mice, rats, guinea pigs, rabbits and cats. Of these animals, the mouse, rat and guinea pig were “almost completely insensitive” to the diabetogenic action of the extract. Rabbits and cats showed slight and transitory glycosuria in 50 per cent or less of the animals tested, whereas all but 1 of 25 dogs developed glycosuria. In the present work the production of pituitary-diabetes in cats was undertaken, a), to learn whether the native resistance to pituitary extract could be overcome by partial pancreatectomy in this species as it had been in the rat (3) and if so, whether permanent diabetes could be produced; and, b), to develop a smaller and more economical animal than the dog for the study of this condition.
Conditional entropy theory in infinite measure and a question of Krengel

We develop a conditional entropy theory for infinite measure preserving actions of countable discrete amenable groups with respect to a σ-finite factor. This includes ‘infinite’ analogues of relative Kolmogorov-Sinai, Rokhlin and Krieger theorems on generating partitions, Pinsker theorem on disjointness, Furstenberg decomposition and disjointness theorems, etc. In case of ℤ-action, our concept of relative entropy matches well the ‘absolute’ entropy hKr introduced by Krengel. Answering in part his question and a question of Silva and Thieullen, we show that for any non-distal transformation S there exists an infinite measure preserving transformation T with hKr(T × S) = ∞ but hKr(T) = 0.
The history and development of advanced practice nursing: lessons for dietetics

t this point in the dietetics profession, entry-level dietetic education and practice are well esablished (1,2). To keep pace with xpanding knowledge and skills necssary to meet complex patient care eeds, advanced dietetic practice is eing considered. It is assumed that any dietitians practice at an adanced level and that many others ant to learn advanced practice techiques (3). However, the dietetics proession lacks a clear definition of dvanced-level practice. Thus, dietiians who practice at an advanced evel are unable to obtain recognition or their skills. Traditional master’s and doctorate rograms are designed to prepare dititians for academic careers. These rograms do not typically contain ourse work in advanced counseling heory, nutrition physical assessent, nutritional pharmacology or athophysiology, nutritional diagno-
Generating user-based cryptographic keys and random numbers

In some applications, it might be useful or necessary to tie a cryptographic key or a random number to a particular individual, either through a 'user Identifier' (userID) or information that may be used to identify the individual such as a person's biometric data. These data can be the user's fingerprints, hand geometry, iris pattern, or any other suitable biometric identification. Here we make the key or random number generation process dependent on user-specific data, such as a userID or biometric data. A userID-based or biometric-based key or random number generated based on our algorithms may be used in asymmetric-key cryptographic systems (such as the RSA) or the symmetric-key cryptographic systems (such as the DES).
The N-formyl-L-tryptophan-chymotrypsin complex in solution.

Abstract A high-resolution proton magnetic resonance study of the reversible complex formed between N-formyl- L -tryptophan and the proteolytic enzyme α-chymotrypsin has been carried out.The data indicate that the signals from the aromatic protons of the inhibitor are shifted upfield considerably in the enzyme-inhibitor complex but that the vinyl, alkyl and formyl resonances are only slightly affected.These results are consistent with the proposition that the complex has essentially the same structure in aqueous solution as determined for the crystalline state by x-ray methods.
Enhanced and inhibited visible spontaneous emission by atoms in a confocal resonator

We report the alteration of visible spontaneous emission by atoms coupled to the degenerate modes of a confocal resonator. The partial emission rate into the resonator modes is enhanced by a factor of 19 when the resonator is tuned to the atomic transition frequency and inhibited by a factor of 42 when it is detuned. This results in a fractional increase of 1.6% and decrease of 0.5%, respectively, in the total spontaneous emission rate, which we verify by monitoring changes in the intensity of light emitted out the sides of the resonator as it is tuned.
In-situ electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy (ECSTM) study of cyanide-induced corrosion of naked and hexadecyl mercaptan-passivated Au(111)

In-situ electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy (ECSTM) was used to study the corrosion of naked and n-alkanethiol-modified Au(111) surfaces in basic CN- solutions. In these studies, the potential of a naked Au electrode is poised at a sufficiently negative value that no electrochemical etching takes place. Small positive potential excursions from the initial potential permit observation of the initial stages of corrosion. The data indicate that initial corrosion of naked Au(111) occurs only at high energy defect sites such as pits and step edges. At slightly higher overpotentials, pitting occurs in the middle of terraces while continuing at step edges. At even higher overpotentials, etching occurs rapidly and uniformly and the surface becomes very rough. Results from this experiment are compared to those obtained after coating the Au surface with a hexadecyl mercaptan self-assembled monolayer (SAM) to determine the extent to which the organomercaptan SAM inhibits Au corrosion. On the SAM-modified A...
Symptomatic outcomes of laparoscopic antireflux surgery in patients eligible for endoluminal therapies.

Background: This study compared clinical outcomes after laparoscopic antireflux surgery (LARS) in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) who would be eligible for endoluminal therapies (ET) with those in patients who would be excluded from ET. Methods: From 1995 to the present, 459 patients who underwent LARS were analyzed prospectively. Of these, 117 patients (25%) without preoperative dysphagia, stricture, esophagitis worse than grade 2 or hiatal hernia larger than 2 cm were considered potential candidates for ET (group 1). By these criteria, 342 patients (75%) were not eligible for ET (group 2). Medication use and GERD symptoms were evaluated and compared between the two groups. Results: Perioperative outcomes including duration of operation, morbidity, length of hospital stay and return to work were similar in the two groups. Although LARS significantly reduced medication use and GERD symptoms in both groups during a mean follow-up period longer than 2 years, there were no outcome differences between groups 1 and 2. The reported improvement in esophageal symptoms and overall satisfaction was 90% or more in both groups. Conclusions: The findings show that LARS is an effective treatment option in patients with GERD whether they are candidates for ET or not. In patients with uncomplicated GERD who currently meet inclusion criteria for ET, LARS provides excellent symptom relief and marked reduction in medication use during a mean follow-up period longer than 2 years.
Lost Ecosystem Goods and Services as a Measure of Marine Oil Pollution Damages

The paper addresses the definition and measurement of liability for marine oil pollution accidents. The economic value of lost or injured ecosystem goods and services is argued to be the most legally, economically, and ecologically defensible measure of damages. This is easier said than done, however. Calculating lost ecological wealth with any precision is an enormous scientific and economic undertaking. The paper proposes practical ways to improve our future ability to calculate such losses.
Longitudinal control of heavy trucks in mixed traffic: environmental and fuel economy considerations

In this paper, longitudinal vehicle-following controllers for heavy trucks with different spacing policies are designed, analyzed, simulated, and experimentally tested, and their performance in mixed traffic with passenger vehicles is evaluated. A new vehicle-following controller for trucks, which has better properties than existing ones with respect to performance and impact on fuel economy and pollution during traffic disturbances, is developed. The response of trucks to disturbances caused by lead passenger vehicles is smooth due to the limited acceleration capabilities of trucks whether they are manual or equipped with adaptive cruise control (ACC) systems. Vehicles following the truck are therefore presented with a smoother speed trajectory to track. This filtering effect of trucks is shown to have beneficial effects on fuel economy and pollution. However, it creates large intervehicle gaps that invite cut-ins from neighboring lanes, creating additional disturbances. These cut-ins, under certain realistic scenarios, may reduce any benefits obtained by the smooth response of trucks as well as increase travel time. The results of this paper indicate possible benefits trucks may have in mixed traffic and also reinforces what is already known-that trucks could be detrimental to traffic flow
BOLD COLORATION AND THE EVOLUTION OF APOSEMATISM IN TERRESTRIAL CARNIVORES

Several species of terrestrial carnivores (Mammalia: Carnivora) have bold contrasting color patterns that, in some species, apparently signal possession of noxious anal gland secretions, or even physical strength and great ferocity; yet the evolutionary drivers of both placement and patterning of these contrasting pelage colors on the body, and the ecological selection pressures underlying them, have yet to be systematically examined. Here we explore these issues and find not only that both boldly colored and dichromatic species do indeed often use anal gland secretions for defense, but also that such species are stockier, and live in more exposed habitats where other forms of antipredator defense are limited. We also show that white dorsa are found in sprayers that are primarily nocturnal; that horizontal stripes are found in species that have an ability to spray anal secretions accurately; and that facial stripes are found in burrowing species that typically leave only their heads exposed to attack. Our phylogenetic reconstructions suggest that aposematic coloration has evolved more than once in terrestrial carnivores. We finish by outlining five evolutionary routes for patterns of pelage coloration in this taxon.
Real-time captioning by non-experts with legion scribe

Real-time captioning provides people who are deaf or hard of hearing access to speech in settings such as classrooms and live events. The most reliable approach to provide these captions is to recruit an expert stenographer who is able to type at natural speaking rates, but they charge more than $100 USD per hour and must be scheduled in advance. We introduce Legion Scribe (Scribe), a system that allows 3-5 ordinary people who can hear and type to jointly caption speech in real-time. Each person is unable to type at natural speaking rates, and so is asked only to type part of what they hear. Scribe automatically stitches all of the partial captions together to form a complete caption stream. We have shown that the accuracy of Scribe captions approaches that of a professional stenographer, while its latency and cost is dramatically lower.
A Fresh Look at the Risks of Artificial Infant Feeding

Declining breastfeeding rates and the aggressive marketing of breastmilk substitutes has blurred the distinction between breastmilk and formula. Claims that infant formula is safe, economical, easy to use, and nutritionally complete are challenged in this article, the intent of which is to raise the awareness of health workers to the non-publicized side of infant formula. Non-proprietary, referenced data is provided to illustrate that formula and breastmilk are not the same thing, and that health outcomes of infants who consume each may be different. Guilt is often cited by health workers as a reason to avoid informing parents about the risks of artificial feeding. Suggestions are offered for addressing this reasoning.
Assessment of Hydrometeor Collection Rates from Exact and Approximate Equations. Part I: A New Approximate Scheme

The collection equation is analyzed for the case of two spherical hydrometeors with collection efficiency unity and exponential size distributions. When the fall velocities are significantly different a more general form of the conventional Wisner approximation can be formulated. The accuracy of the new formula exceeds that of the Wisner approximation for all cases considered, except for the collection of a faster species by a slower species if the amount of the faster species is relatively small compared with that of the slower species. The exact solution of the collection equation is then rederived and cast into the form of a power series involving the ratio of the two characteristic fall velocities. It is shown that the new formulation is a first-order correction to the continuous collection equation for hydrometeors with finite diameters and fall velocities. Based on the analysis, the implications for the behavior of both the exact collection equation and its representation in numerical models are discussed.
THE EVALUATION OF CHILDREN'S PLAY MATERIALS1

Although reliable data concerning toys' safety, durability, and appeal to children would be useful to parents, educators, and toy manufacturers, systematic procedures for evaluating toys and collecting such data have not been readily available. This paper describes a technology for carrying out such evaluations with children in free-play settings. Children entering the toy-evaluation area were each given a large tag, coded to indicate their names, age, and sex, to wear on the back of their shirt. Twenty-five toys were initially displayed on a table. Children were required by an adult to check out, and later return, any toy they selected for play. Every 5 min, an observer wrote down the tag number of any child playing with each of the 25 toys. The area was open for several hours daily, and at the end of each day a supervisor completed a toy-use questionnaire that identified problems associated with toy management, safety, and durability. Each interval in which a child was recorded as playing with a toy was considered five child-minutes of use for that toy. Data were summarized after each 5- to 10-day toy evaluation to indicate the total number of child-minutes of use attributed to each of the toys tested. The toys were then ranked from the most- to least-used. This measure of toys' overall use proved to be a reliable predictor of toys' appeal across many subjects and settings, and correlated well with our other analyses of toys' use. For example, toys used by individual children for long periods of time, and those toys most often chosen from the toy table were frequently the same toys that ranked high in overall child-minutes of use. Reliable differences in toys' appeal to boys and girls of different ages were observed. To test the generality of the toy-evaluation procedures, several experiments were conducted. To find out whether the popularity of certain toys depended on the number of children playing, a series of popular toys was made available first to only a single child at a time, then to any number of children. While certain toys required the presence of two or more children before they would be used, most toys were used by children both alone and in groups. The popularity of most toys, even the least-used toys, could be increased by having an adult play alone with the children. With some toys, an adult could maintain the play of several children at a time; with other toys, only one child at a time would be engaged. Another study showed a prolonged period of enforced sampling with little-used toys almost never increased their subsequent use once the enforced sampling procedures were discontinued. Finally, we found that having multiple copies of the same popular toys did not produce much more use of the toys than having single copies. The data produced by these evaluation procedures could be helpful to parents and educators in selecting desirable toys, and to manufacturers in improving the toys they develop and market. Future research might involve developing procedures that would encourage concerned adults to carry out toy evaluations in their own communities.
Wind power day-ahead uncertainty management through stochastic unit commitment policies

Day-ahead uncertainty management in power systems has traditionally been approached by means of multistage decision making and operating reserve requirements. An alternate approach for managing uncertainty is a stochastic formulation, which allows the explicit modeling of the sources of uncertainty. The large investments in wind power has increased the importance of operations uncertainty management due to the considerable operational uncertainty wind plants have. This paper evaluates the benefits of a combined approach that uses stochastic and reserve methods for the efficient management of uncertainty in the unit commitment problem for systems with significant amount of wind power. Numerical studies on a model of the PSCo system show that the unit commitment solutions obtained for the combined approach are robust and superior with respect to the traditional approach in terms of economic metrics and curtailed wind power.
Latent Multitask Learning for View-Invariant Action Recognition

This paper presents an approach to view-invariant action recognition, where human poses and motions exhibit large variations across different camera viewpoints. When each viewpoint of a given set of action classes is specified as a learning task then multitask learning appears suitable for achieving view invariance in recognition. We extend the standard multitask learning to allow identifying: (1) latent groupings of action views (i.e., tasks), and (2) discriminative action parts, along with joint learning of all tasks. This is because it seems reasonable to expect that certain distinct views are more correlated than some others, and thus identifying correlated views could improve recognition. Also, part-based modeling is expected to improve robustness against self-occlusion when actors are imaged from different views. Results on the benchmark datasets show that we outperform standard multitask learning by 21.9%, and the state-of-the-art alternatives by 4.5-6%.
Writing from Left Field

This past year my book sold about 500 copies. That’s approximately 59,999,500 less than The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. I like to think that if these discerning Dan Brown readers were apprised of the exciting contents of my book they would rush forth to the nearest bookstore and order a copy. I like to imagine my publisher, who shall remain nameless, writhing in publishing house agony because of its miserable marketing of this priceless masterpiece. But deep down in the discomfort zone there’s something I know, and it is this: ‘‘the fault lies not in our stars but in ourselves that we are underlings’’. And so the question remains, what are we going to do about it? Here’s one thing not to do: continue whining at each other. Here’s one thing to do: write more, write better, and write for audiences outside of academia. A couple of years ago the political geographer Ben Forest was able to get an Op-Ed piece on segregation published in the New York Times 29 March 2003. This is the Holy Grail of editorial writing with odds of publication approximately one out of 600. (Compare our ‘‘top’’ journals, with odds closer to one out of two.) This is a huge achievement. Why are there not more achievements of this kind? Where is our voice in the world? One of the many problems besetting the left (and indeed most of academia) is the miserable quality of our writing. With few exceptions we write for each other and we do it with dense, turgid and usually mindnumbingly boring prose. This would be fine if we didn’t hold to the 11th thesis on Feuerbach, where Marx argues that the point of scholarship and indeed any kind of learning is not just to interpret the world but also to change it. If we believe in this thesis then it is imperative that our writing, along with our teaching and speaking, reaches a wider audience. Let me give an example of why this is so important right now. If you live in the US and read a local paper on a daily basis, you might have noticed a growing shift to the right in the general tenor of the letters to the editor. This could be explained as part of a broader change in the political ‘‘mood’’ of the country at large. Indeed, it has been
Taming the memory hogs: using compiler-inserted releases to manage physical memory intelligently

Out-of-core applications consume physical resources at a rapid rate, causing interactive applications sharing the same machine to exhibit poor response times. This behavior is the result of default resource management strategies in the OS that are inappropriate for memory-intensive applications. Using an approach that integrates compiler analysis with simple OS support and a run-time layer that adapts to dynamic conditions, we have shown that the impact of out-of-core applications on interactive ones can be greatly mitigated. A combination of prefetching pages that will soon be needed, and releasing pages no longer in use results in good throughput for the out-of-core task and good response time for the interactive one. Each class of application performs well according to the metric most important to it. In addition, the OS does not need to attempt to identify these application classes, or modify its default resource management policies in any way. We also observe that when an out-of-core application releases pages, it both improves the response time of interactive tasks, and also improves its own performance through better replacement decisions and reduced memory management overhead.
A dynamic knowledge based approach to the problem of deduction on a non-statistical multilevel secure database

Of all research problems associated with the security of data in a multilevel secure database, perhaps the most dlj?icult and least understood is the problem of controlling indirect inference of sensitive data. The phenomenon of inferring sensih”ve data through the combination of non-sensitive data and realworld knowledge has been tenned deduction We do not agree with the prevailing attitude that all such deduction is unpreventable and believe that our dyamic hrrowledge-based approach to this problem provides a high degree of secun”~ with less restrictive infonnationflow than previously achieved. Our d~amic knowledge-based system is instrumental in the prevention of deduction, given sujlicient knowledge of a domain. As a query is presented to the database, our system attempts to use the knowledge in the KB, combined with the data that would be released l~the query were permitted, to deduce sensitive data as a user moderately knowledgeable in the domain might. If such data is found to be so deducible, the system has detected a possible undesirable channel for sensitive data disclosure. /kqywords: security, inference detection, knowledge-based interface]
Explaining Development and Change in Organizations

This article introduces four basic theories that may serve as building blocks for explaining processes of change in organizations: life cycle, teleology, dialectics, and evolution. These four theories represent different sequences of change events that are driven by different conceptual motors and operate at different organizational levels. This article identifies the circumstances when each theory applies and proposes how interplay among the theories produces a wide variety of more complex theories of change and development in organizational life.
Underlying Mechanisms and Trajectory of Comorbid ADHD and Eating Disorders: Proposing an Innovative Systems Framework for Informing Research

ADHD and eating disorders are both significant public health issues. Emerging evidence suggests that ADHD and eating disorders may be comorbid resulting in increased severity of associated health issues. Although several hypotheses have been proposed with respect to the underlying mechanisms of the comorbidity, there is a need for a conceptual model, which presents the simultaneous investigation of the trajectory of onset and multiple hypotheses. The current paper proposes an innovative conceptual model that can be used to simultaneously explore hypothesized underlying mechanisms by triangulating current literature with aspects of the biopsychosocial model, life course approach, Risk Regulator Framework, research domain criteria matrix, and the person-environment transaction theory. Designated within the model are proposed pathways that serve to describe how various psychosocial and psychiatric risk regulators and genetic risk factors combine to influence the comorbidity across the lifespan. The proposed conceptual model can provide the foundation for further research regarding comorbid ADHD and eating disorders in addition to translation for use among other comorbid conditions.
Disrupting normal: Toward the ‘ordinary and familiar’ in fat politics

As a nascent movement, fat activism must look critically at the tactics and strategies it chooses precisely because the movement is helping to produce ‘Fat’ as a mode of subjectification and identi...
IRAK4 and TLR3 Sequence Variants may Alter Breast Cancer Risk among African-American Women

Mounting evidence suggests that imbalances in immune regulation contribute to cell transformation. Women of African descent are an understudied group at high risk for developing aggressive breast cancer (BrCa). Therefore, we examined the role of 16 innate immune single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in relation to BrCa susceptibility among 174 African-American women in Atlanta, GA. SNPs were examined in germ-line DNA collected from 102 BrCa patients and 72 women with benign nodules using SNPstream methodology. Inheritance of the TLR3 rs10025405 GG genotype was associated with an 82% decrease in BrCa risk. In contrast, individuals who possessed at least one IRAK4 rs4251545 T allele had a 1.68-4.99-fold increase in the risk of developing BrCa relative to those with the referent genotype (OR = 4.99; 95% CI = 1.00, 25.00; p = 0.0605). However, the IRAK4 rs4251545 locus was only significant under the additive genetic model (p trend = 0.0406). In silico predictions suggest IRAK4 rs4251545 SNP falls within a transcription enhancer/silencer region of the gene and codes for an Ala428Thr amino acid change. This missense mutation introduces a potential phosphorylation site in the extreme carboxy terminus (XCT) of the IRAK-4 kinase domain. Preliminary molecular modeling predicts that this SNP stabilizes two alpha helices within the XCT on the surface of the IRAK-4 kinase domain and increases the size of the groove between them. Our in silico results, combined with previous reports noting the presence of IRAK-4 and XCT fragments in mouse and human serum, suggest the possibility that the XCT subdomain of IRAK-4 possesses biological function. These findings require further evaluation and validation in larger populations, additional molecular modeling as well as functional studies to explore the role of IRAK-4 and its XCT in cell transformation and innate immunity.
Epidotes. Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry Volume 56.A. Liebscher and G. Franz, Editors. Pp. 628. Mineralogical Society of America, Washington, DC. 2004. ISBN 093995068-5. Price US$40.

Epidote is the last of the major rock-forming minerals to be addressed in Mineralogical Society of America’s definitive series and this long-awaited volume fills a major void. Epidote is virtually ubiquitous in low-grade metamorphic rocks and, of course, is found in many, if not most, hydrothermal
The “ADL ball rebound tester”

The paper presents the “Thermophysical Profiles” of selected plastics and discusses their significance in correlating the mechanical properties with the molecular and crystalline structure of these polymers. The profiles were obtained with a new instrument, by imposing a fixed, forced elastic vibration on the speciments' surface and by recording continuously the energy absorbed by the specimens through a temperature range from −200°F to +500°F The profiles locate the first and second order transition points of the test materials (defining, thus, the temperature limits of their use) and indicate the change in modulus with temperature in the viscoelastic region of the polymers. Profiles of the following materials are discussed, low and high density polyethylene, polypropylene and PVC films and unfilled samples of cast epoxy and polyester resins.
Frequency selectivity, multistability, and oscillations emerge from models of genetic regulatory systems

To examine the capability of genetic regulatory systems for complex dynamic activity, we developed simple kinetic models that incorporate known features of these systems. These include autoregulation and stimulus-dependent phosphorylation of transcription factors (TFs), dimerization of TFs, crosstalk, and feedback. The simplest model manifested multiple stable steady states, and brief perturbations could switch the model between these states. Such transitions might explain, for example, how a brief pulse of hormone or neurotransmitter could elicit a long-lasting cellular response. In slightly more complex models, oscillatory regimes were identified. The addition of competition between activating and repressing TFs provided a plausible explanation for optimal stimulus frequencies that give maximal transcription. Such optimal frequencies are suggested by recent experiments comparing training paradigms for long-term memory formation and examining changes in mRNA levels in repetitively stimulated cultured cells. In general, the computational approach illustrated here, combined with appropriate experiments, provides a conceptual framework for investigating the function of genetic regulatory systems.
Subchronic exposure to ellagic acid impairs cytotoxic T-cell function and suppresses humoral immunity in mice.

AbstractEllagic acid (EA) is present in a variety of foods such as grapes, strawberries, raspberries, and nuts. It is a dietary plant phenol that has been shown to inhibit oxidative stress and chemical carcinogenesis. Although several studies have examined the protective mechanisms of dietary EA including the induction of detoxifying enzymes, regulation of cell cycle, chelation of nickel, and prevention of DNA methylation, none have addressed the role of EA in immunological surveillance. This study investigates the status of immune function in B6C3F1 mice exposed continuously to EA in drinking water at 0.5, 1.0, or 2.0 mg/kg/day for 28 days. Although this range of exposure is above the estimated human daily intake (≈940 µg/day for 70 kg person or 13.4 µg/kg/day), these levels would not be unreasonable if EA were used as a dietary supplement or as a chemotherapeutic agent. Previous reports have demonstrated the anticarcinogenic effects of EA at levels 10‐ to 250‐fold greater than those applied in this stud...
ELECTROMAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS (EMHD): NUMERICAL EXPERIMENTS IN STEADY PLANAR FLOWS

A new second order theoretical model of the combined interaction of externally applied electric and magnetic fields and viscous incompressible fluid flows has been rewritten as a system of first order partial differential equations. The system was solved using least-squares finite element model on an unstructured grid. The numerical algorithm is very stable and accurate. The accuracy was confirmed by comparing the numerical results against simple analytical results for a magnetohydrodynamic flow between two parallel isothermal infinite stationary plates. Effects of Joule heating and reverse pressure gradient are correctly predicted with this algorithm which is applicable to arbitrary planar flow configurations.
Rationale and Architecture for Incorporating Human Oculomotor Plant Features in User Interest Modeling

We present a conceptual framework expanding the use of eye movement as a source of implicit relevance feedback. While gaze time has been the primary feature to be incorporated in interest modeling, this work constructs a model of human oculomotor plant features during user's interaction with multiple everyday applications with the goal of better interpreting user gaze data. The following presents the anatomical reasoning behind incorporating additional gaze features, the integration of the additional features into an existing interest modeling architecture, and a plan for assessing the impact of the addition of the features.
Influence of Pathway of Infection on Pathology of Olfactory Bulbs in Experimental Poliomyelitis

The purpose of this communication is to describe the lesions produced by the virus of poliomyelitis when it invades the olfactory bulbs from the nose and to indicate their absence when the virus reaches the central nervous system of Macacus rhesus monkeys by other pathways. In monkeys succumbing to poliomyelitis after nasal instillation of virus, the olfactory bulbs show changes in the 5 outer layers, i. e., the layer of olfactory nerve fibers, the glomerular, the external granular, the gelatinous, and the mitral cell layers. The lesions in the first 4 layers mentioned appear to be chiefly inflammatory, consisting of perivascular cuffing and diffuse infiltration of polymorphonuclear leucocytes, mononuclears, and lymphocytes. The involved mitral cells undergo necrosis and frequently show neuronophagia by polymorphonuclear and microglial cells.These changes with some individual variation in extent, were observed in the olfactory bulbs of each of 10 monkeys given the virus by way of the nose, and it should b...
Influence of Graded Levels of Progesterone in Ovariectomized Rats upon Placentomata Formation Measured by Total DNA.

SummarySprague-Dawley-Rolfsmeyer rats were ovariectomized in estrus, then administered progesterone (P) at rate of 1.5 mg/day for 5 days (pretrauma period). Endometrium of one uterine horn of each animal was scratched throughout its entire length by sharp needle. During post-trauma period, days 6 to 9, P at levels of 1, 2, 3, and 6 mg was injected daily. On day 10 each uterus was separated into control and traumatized horn, weighed and processed for DNA determination. The traumatized horns showed a graded increase in wet weight, DFFT, and DNA/100 g B.W. over control horns when 1, 2, and 3 mg/day of P were administered during post-trauma period. Six mg/day did not increase reaction further. Considerable variation in reaction occurred in each group requiring a considerable number of animals for use as assay method.
Simulation of Underwater Imaging Systems

We use simulations to show that it is possible to classify coral reef pigments from underwater images captured by consumer RGB cameras. These simulations will help us design experiments in a controlled laboratory environment and to quantify the effect that water temperature has on the spectral signature of coral reef pigments.
Atomistic modeling framework for a cyclobutane-based mechanophore-embedded nanocomposite for damage precursor detection

Abstract An atomistic modeling framework is developed to simulate mechanophore activation and evaluate the sensitivity of cyclobutane-based mechanophores. Mechanophores are force-responsive functional units, which when embedded in an epoxy-based thermoset polymer matrix provide self-sensing capability in polymeric composites. In the presence of damage or damage precursors, covalent bond dissociation of the mechanophore generates fluorescence, which is referred to as the mechanophore activation. A Tris-(Cinnamoyloxymethyl)-Ethane (TCE) monomer is used to synthesize the cyclobutane structure through ultra-violet (UV) dimerization; the synthesized cyclobutanes are incorporated into the thermoset polymer matrix. A hybrid molecular dynamics (MD) simulation framework is developed by integrating two force-fields: a classical force-field, Merck Molecular Force Field (MMFF) and a bond-order based force-field, Reactive Force Field (ReaxFF). The hybrid MD methodology enables construction of the molecular model of the cyclobutane-based mechanophore embedded nanocomposite and simulation of the mechanophore activation. The synthesis of epoxy network and cyclobutane structure is numerically simulated by a covalent bond generation method employing MMFF. Through this numerical synthesis, the physical entanglement between the epoxy network and cyclobutane chain is also captured, which determines the local force distribution within the novel nanocomposite. Covalent bond dissociation due to the applied local force on the mechanophore is simulated using ReaxFF and results from the virtual deformation tests show successful mechanophore activation. A local work analysis method is developed to evaluate the sensitivity of mechanophore. Results from the simulation framework show increment in the number of activated cyclobutanes during the deformation test. Good agreement is observed with experimental results: the intensity of fluorescence was found to be directly proportional to the deformation.
Osteomyelitis in the Adult

The acute form of osteomyelitis in the adult is distinctly uncommon except for that seen in the vertebrae. A significant increase in osteomyelitis due to gram-negative rods has been observed. The proper choice of antibacterial drugs is essential. Surgical treatment is still required for removal of infected and scarred tissue. Inadequate removal will lead to treatment failure. However, the defect produced in soft tissue and bone may tax the surgeon's ingenuity.
Secondary acute promyelocytic leukemia. Characteristics and prognosis of 14 patients from a single institution

The aims of this study were to analyze the characteristics and outcome of patients with secondary acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) and compare them to those with primary APL. One hundred and thirteen patients referred to our service with a diagnosis of APL were reviewed. Fourteen were classified as secondary APL. Nine were induced with chemotherapy, and five with all-trans retinoic acid plus chemotherapy. Pretreatment characteristics, response to therapy and outcome of primary vs secondary APL were compared by standard statistical methods. Secondary APL constituted 12% of all APL cases. Patients with secondary APL were significantly older (median age 56 vs 36 years; P < 0.01) and had a lower incidence of hypofibrinogenemia (P < 0.01) than those with primary APL. The complete response (CR) rates were similar with secondary vs primary APL (CR rates 79 vs 69%), as were CR duration and survival. The CR rates at 5 years were 57 and 45%, respectively(P not significant), and the survival rates 37 and 35%, respectively (P not significant). The incidence of secondary APL within APL disease (12%) was similar to the incidence of secondary acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in karyotypes not known to be therapy-related (diploid, t(8;21), inversion 16: incidences 9 to 12%), but was significantly lower than in karyotypes known to be therapy-related (chromosome 5 or 7 abnormalities, 11q; incidences 30 and 33%). We conclude that secondary APL has general characteristics and outcome similar to primary APL. it is more likely a second primary rather than therapy-related AML, and should be treated in a manner similar to primary APL.
Neurophysins and their physiologic significance.

The ability to assay in plasma the large peptide molecules secreted along with asopressin and oxytocin has provided a new approach for studying the synthesis and functions of the posterior pituitary hormones. Still at an early stage, research with the neurophysins has revealed two alternate routes of hormone secretion in the CNS and a previously unknown action of estrogen on the posterior pituitary.
Nonpharmaceutical Treatment of Anxiety in Institutionalized Older Adults.

Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) or relaxation training, alone or in combination, can be used to treat anxiety in older adults. Music therapy can also be used to reduce anxiety in older adults. Appropriate training of institutional caregivers is also helpful in reducing anxiety in older adults.