cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Transcatheter Closure of a Sinus Venosus Atrial Septal Defect Via Transhepatic Access.

A 43-year-old functional female patient with end-stage renal disease, history of failed kidney transplant and arteriovenous fistulas, and factor V Leiden deficiency on chronic anticoagulation experienced recurrent ischemic strokes in multiple vascular territories. She is maintained on hemodialysis
Explaining the Paradox of Hedonism

The paradox of hedonism is the idea that making pleasure the only thing that we desire for its own sake can be self-defeating. Why would this be true? In this paper, I survey two prominent explanations, then develop a third possible explanation, inspired by Joseph Butler's classic discussion of the paradox. The existing accounts claim that the paradox arises because we are systematically incompetent at predicting what will make us happy, or because the greatest pleasures for human beings are found in certain special goods which hedonists cannot enjoy. On the account that I develop, the paradox is a consequence of a theory about the nature of pleasure, together with a view about the requirements of rational belief. Which of these explanations is correct, I argue, bears on central questions about how to understand the nature and extent of the paradox.
Expression and Functional Consequences of Cytokine- or Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Adhesion Molecule Expression on Human Lung Microvascular Endothelial Cells

Sepsis and its complications such as lung injury are the most common cause of death in hospital intensive care units (Bone, 1994). It is now generally agreed that Gram-negative sepsis is precipitated when lipopolysaccharide (LPS), released from bacterial cell walls, triggers a cascade of inflammatory mediators including cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin (IL)-1. It is thought that cytokine- or LPS-induced adhesion molecule expression on lung microvascular endothelium may play a key role in neutrophil-mediated lung injury associated with sepsis. Although expression of cell adhesion molecules (CAM) on human umbilical vein endothelial cells has been well characterized (Pober et al., 1986; Burke-Gaffney & Hellewell, 1996) little is known about cytokine/LPS-induced CAM expression on human lung microvascular endothelial cells.
Quantitative and multiplex microRNA assays from unprocessed cells in isolated nanoliter well arrays

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have recently emerged as promising biomarkers for the profiling of diseases. Translation of miRNA biomarkers to clinical practice, however, remains a challenge due to the lack of analysis platforms for sensitive, quantitative, and multiplex miRNA assays that have simple and robust workflows suitable for translation. The platform we present here utilizes functionalized hydrogel posts contained within isolated nanoliter well reactors for quantitative and multiplex assays directly from unprocessed cell samples without the need of prior nucleic acid extraction. Simultaneous reactor isolation and delivery of miRNA extraction reagents is achieved by sealing an array of wells containing the functionalized hydrogel posts and cells against another array of wells containing lysis and extraction reagents. The nanoliter well array platform features >100× better sensitivity compared to previous technology utilizing hydrogel particles without relying on signal amplification and enables >100 parallel assays in a single device. These advances provided by this platform lay the groundwork for translatable and robust analysis technologies for miRNA expression profiling in samples with small populations of cells and in precious, material-limited samples.
The Role of Clopidogrel in Early and Sustained Arterial Patency After Fibrinolysis for ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction: The ECG CLARITY–TIMI 28 Study

The Role of Clopidogrel in Early and Sustained Arterial Patency After Fibrinolysis for ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction: The ECG CLARITY–TIMI-28 StudyBenjamin M. Scirica, Marc S. Sabatine...
Development and validation of plasma miRNA biomarker signature panel for the detection of early HIV-1 infection

Abstract Background Accurate laboratory diagnosis of HIV is essential to reduce the risk of HIV-positive individuals transmitting HIV-1 infection. The goal of this study was to identify and assess a panel of host derived plasma miRNAs that could to serve as a prognostic and predictive biomarker to detect early/acute HIV-1 infection. Methods A total of 372 microRNAs were analyzed in nine plasma samples from HIV-1 infected individuals in the early phase of infection and three healthy controls using the miRNA PCR-array. Seventeen microRNAs were selected and validated in 80 plasma samples from HIV-1 infected individuals in the early phase of infection (20 each of eclipse stage, RNA+ stage, Ag + stage, and Ag + Ab+ stage of HIV-1 patients) and 25 healthy controls. Using the validation study results a plasma miRNA panel was developed and evaluated to detect early/acute HIV-1 infection in 49 blinded samples. Finding We identified an miRNA panel (PeHIV-1) containing four differentially expressed miRNAs (miR-16-5p, miR-20b-5p, miR-195-5p, and miR-223-3p) that could distinguish early HIV-1 infection from healthy controls with high AUC (1·000[1·00–1·00]), sensitivity (100%), and specificity (100%).We also found that miR-223-3p demonstrates 100% sensitivity and specificity (AUC 1·00[1·00–1·00]) and could distinguish eclipse stage of HIV-1 infection from healthy controls. To detect eclipse stage of HIV-1 infection we also developed a four-miRNA based (miR-16-5p, miR-206, let-7 g-3p, and miR-181c-3p) panel (PE) with AUC 0·999 (0·995–1·000), 100% sensitivity and 95·8% specificity. Interpretation The miRNA panel, PeHIV-1 is a potential biomarker for detecting early/acute stage of HIV-1infection and could help initiate early antiretroviral treatment, thus preventing the spread of HIV-1 infection.
An initial look at sibling reports on children's behavior: comparisons with children's self-reports and relations with siblings' self-reports and sibling relationships.

The authors examined siblings' reports of children's depression, anxiety, and aggression, and their reports of the sibling relationship, and compared them with children's self-reports. In two samples, including 169 sibling pairs (age M = 9.98 years, SD = 1.51), no significant differences emerged in the levels of depression and anxiety found in siblings' reports of children's behavior and children's self-reports, although siblings reported children to have significantly higher levels of aggression than the children self-reported. Age, the difference in ages between siblings, sex, and sibling sex were not related to siblings' reports of children's behavior. The relations between children's and siblings' reports of children's behavior were significant, yet moderate (average r = .22). Both siblings' self-reports of internalizing behavior and their perceptions of aspects of the sibling relationship (affection, rivalry, hostility, and satisfaction with the sibling relationship) explained significant, and unique, variance in siblings' reports of children's internalizing behavior. The findings for aggressive behavior were similar, although siblings' perceptions of affection in the sibling relationship were not significantly related to their reports of children's aggression. The potential uses and benefits of sibling reports of children's behavior, and sibling and family relationships, are discussed.
The Stability of the Complex and the Basicity of the Anion Impact the Selectivity and Affinity of Tripodal Gadolinium Complexes for Anions

The affinities and selectivities of lanthanide complexes with open coordination sites for anions vary considerably with the chelate. In order to determine the effect of the stability of a lanthanid...
Chapter 58 – Coloration

Publisher Summary This chapter provides an overview of the physics of color production, particularly with respect to structural colors in insects. It reviews the complexity associated with insect colors extends, for pigments, to the sophisticated biochemistry with which insects make (and often recycle) the compounds that characterize their chemical colors and, for structural colors, to the production and control, often by single cells, of the precise cuticular architecture. Insects are master chemists whose virtuosity is particularly evident in the design of the cuticle, the nonliving material that makes up the exoskeleton and serves as the boundary between the living animal and the outside world. Insects can make pigments by which they absorb light of various wavelengths. The general classes of pigments differ in the color ranges insects generate and in the precursors used to produce them. For example, melanins are black, brown, tan, or reddish brown pigments whose production and deployment involve a complex system of gene products and biochemical pathways. In insects, there are many mechanisms by which structural colors can be produced. All depend directly or indirectly on the fact that a particular piece of material scatters or refracts different wavelengths of light to different degrees.
Partnership or predation? How rising states contend with declining great powers

International relations scholarship overwhelmingly expects that relatively rising states will threaten and challenge declining great powers. In practice, however, rising states can also cooperate w...
Seasonal offshore/inshore migration of round gobies

Abstract Since the invasion of round gobies (Neogobius melanostomus) to Lake Michigan, they have become integrated into both nearshore and offshore food webs. Round gobies can be found in relatively shallow water ( Sampling showed that round gobies migrated away from the shallowest (10 m) site in early October, with larger gobies moving offshore first, and were almost exclusively found deeper than 20 m by November. Round gobies remained offshore (>30 m) until mid-May, when they began the return to nearshore habitat. The cues to start offshore and return migrations were not the focus of this project, but fall offshore migrations coincided with decreasing temperatures nearshore in fall, and in spring, the offshore movement of the thermal bar.
Facility-Level Factors Associated With CNA Turnover and Retention: Lessons for the Long-Term Services Industry.

Background and objectives Certified nursing assistant (CNA) turnover and retention are critical aspects of facilities' ability to provide cost-effective, high-quality person-centered care. Previous studies and industry practice often treat turnover and retention as similar concepts, assuming that low turnover and high retention are synonymous. The study addressed the question of whether turnover and retention rates differ and if so, what those differences mean for nursing home practice, policy, and research. Research design and methods This study examines facility-level factors associated with CNA retention and turnover rates using 2015 data from the Ohio Biennial Survey of Long-Term Care Facilities, Ohio Medicaid Cost Reports, Certification and Survey Provider Enhanced Report, and the Area Health Resource File. Using bivariate tests and regression analysis, we compare rates and the factors associated with retention and turnover. Results The mean facility annual retention rate was 64% and the mean annual turnover rate was 55%. As expected, there was a statistically significant and negative correlation between the rates (r = -0.26). However, some facilities had both high retention and high turnover and some had low rates for both measures. Not all the variables that are associated with turnover are also associated with retention. Discussion and implications CNA retention is not simply the absence of CNA turnover. Given the differences, nursing homes may need to use strategies and policies designed to target a particular stability measure.
Would people living with epilepsy benefit from palliative care

Palliative care (PC) is an approach to the care of persons living with serious illness and their families that focuses on improving quality of life and reducing suffering by addressing complex medical symptoms, psychosocial needs, spiritual well-being, and advance care planning. While PC has traditionally been associated with hospice care for persons with cancer, there is now recognition that PC is relevant to many noncancer diagnoses, including neurologic illness, and at multiple points along the illness journey, not just end of life. Despite the recent growth of the field of neuropalliative care there has been scant attention paid to the relevance of PC principles in epilepsy or the potential for PC approaches to improve outcomes for persons living with epilepsy and their families. We believe this has been a significant oversight and that PC may provide a useful framework for addressing the many sources of suffering facing persons living with epilepsy, for engaging patients and families in challenging conversations, and to focus efforts to improve models of care for this population. In this manuscript we review areas of significant unmet needs where a PC approach may improve patient and family-centered outcomes, including complex symptom management, goals of care, advance care planning, psychosocial support for patient and family and spiritual well-being. When relevant we highlight areas where epilepsy patients may have unique PC needs compared to other patient populations and conclude with suggestions for future research, clinical, and educational efforts.
Single-Fluorophore Single-Chain Nanoparticle Undergoes Fluorophore-Driven Assembly with Fluorescence Features Retained in Physiological Milieu

To address the longstanding problem of solubilization of hydrophobic fluorophores in aqueous solution, a recent design employed a single fluorophore attached to the terminus of a heterotelechelic, ...
Data Set: 187 Weeks of Customer Forecasts and Orders for Microprocessors from Intel Corporation

Problem definition: This data set contains 187 consecutive weeks of Intel microprocessor demand information for all five distribution centers in one of its five sales geographies. For every stock k...
Collective Actions in the Gloaming of the Past: Modern Midwestern Farm Protests and Social Change from the Post-WWII Era Until Now

Despite experiencing more economic crises in the post-World War II era, including an eerily similar foreclosure crisis, Midwestern farm communities did not participate in truly utopian actions; protests were standard in contemporary terms. Why? Looking backward provided rural Americans of the 1930s a frame for their discontent and gave them tools for dealing with economic hardship. Protest was not only an economic tool: it also restored an imagined community. When hard times returned to the countryside after World War II, farmers, now fully conditioned to the business ethic of contemporary life, adopted different forms of protest, rejecting communal action in favor of more businesslike, corporate tactics. The earlier epoch was no longer a bygone to be revived: farmers cemented their modern identity through action.
Platelet Aggregation Is Important for Efficient Clot Retraction

Abstract Introduction Platelet (PLT) transfusion is an important treatment for acutely bleeding patients. PLTs contribute to hemostasis not only by forming a primary hemostatic plug, but also by their unique ability to apply contractile forces on fibrin, thereby reducing the blood flow at the wound site. Clot retraction is a poorly defined phenomenon, and the effect of storage conditions on clot retraction is understudied. We measured clot retraction using an unconfined retraction model employed in a clinical setting, and investigated the effects of PLT storage conditions on clot structure and composition using immunohistochemistry of retracted clots and serum analysis. Methods Apheresis PLT (AP) concentrates were collected from 4 healthy donors and stored for 5 days at RT (22-24°C) with agitation or stationary at 4C (4°C). Cold PLT samples were warmed for 30 mins to RT before performing experiments and PLTs were isolated at 800xg for 10 mins with 1μM Prostaglandin I2 (PGI2). Fresh Frozen Plasma (FFP) was used to eliminate plasma degradation effects during storage. Clotting was initiated with 20mM Ca2+ in 1 mL PRP in glass test tubes and incubated at 37°C. After 2 h, the clots were weighed and preserved by embedding in OCT (Optimum Cutting Temperature compound) at -80C. These clots were further sectioned into 5 um sections and stained for fibrinogen and PLT CD61. The sections were imaged using confocal microscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy to study the structure and PLT-fibrin interaction in retracted clots. The exuded serum after retraction was used to measure PLT concentrations and D-Dimer levels to understand the relative incorporation of PLTs and contribution of fibrinolysis to clot structure. PLTs adhesion assays were used to investigate PLT spreading and adhesion capabilities to support active fibrin interaction. Mechanical properties of these clots were measured using tensile testing, and Atomic Force Microscopy was used to quantify the force generation in these clots. Results Clot retraction studies indicate that 4C-stored PLTs have clot retraction properties similar to fresh PLTs. The retracted clots from 4C-stored PLTs form heavier clots with PLTs forming nucleation centers with a highly organized structure. However, RT-stored PLTs form significantly smaller clots with a disorganized, amorphous structure (Fig 1A). The reduced weight of the clots formed by RT PLTs appears to be related to poor adhesion, spreading and aggregation responses (Fig 1B). Conclusion Our data suggest that PLTs adhesion, spreading and aggregation responses are critical to supporting active interactions with fibrin to form organized clots. We have shown that 4C-stored PLTs form stable clots similar to those formed by fresh PLTs with structural attributes of improved retraction compared to RT PLTs. Download : Download high-res image (374KB) Download : Download full-size image Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
The Correlation Between Cell and Nucleus Size is Explained by an Eukaryotic Cell Growth Model

In eukaryotes, the cell volume is observed to be strongly correlated with the nuclear volume. The slope of this correlation depends on the cell type, growth condition, and the physical environment of the cell. We develop a computational model of cell growth and proteome increase, incorporating the kinetics of amino acid import, protein/ribosome synthesis and degradation, and active transport of proteins between the cytoplasm and the nucleoplasm. We also include a simple model of ribosome biogenesis and assembly. Results show that the cell volume is tightly correlated with the nuclear volume, and the cytoplasm-nucleoplasm transport rates strongly influences the cell growth rate as well as the cytoplasm/nucleoplasm ratio. Ribosome assembly and the ratio of ribosomal proteins to mature ribosomes also influence the cell volume and the cell growth rate. We find that in order to regulate the cell growth rate and the cytoplasm/nucleoplasm ratio, the cell must optimally control groups of kinetic parameters together, which could explain the quantitative roles of canonical growth pathways. Finally, using an extension of our model and single cell RNAseq data, it is possible to construct a detailed proteome distribution, provided that a quantitative cell division mechanism is known. Author summaryWe develop computational model of cell proteome increase and cell growth to compute the cell volume to nuclear volume ratio. The model incorporates essential kinetics of protein and ribosome synthesis/degradation, and their transport across the nuclear envelope. The model also incorporates ribosome biogenesis and assembly. The model identifies the most important parameters in determining the cell growth rate and the nucleoplasm/cytoplasm ratio, and provides a computational starting point to construct the cell proteome based on the RNAseq data.
Isotopic study of mercury sources and transfer between a freshwater lake and adjacent forest food web

Studies of monomethylmercury (MMHg) sources and biogeochemical pathways have been extensive in aquatic ecosystems, but limited in forest ecosystems. Increasing evidence suggests that there is significant mercury (Hg) exchange between aquatic and forest ecosystems. We use Hg stable isotope ratios (δ(202)Hg and Δ(199)Hg) to investigate the relative importance of MMHg sources and assess Hg transfer pathways between Douglas Lake and adjacent forests located at the University of Michigan Biological Station, USA. We characterize Hg isotopic compositions of basal resources and use linear regression of % MMHg versus δ(202)Hg and Δ(199)Hg to estimate Hg isotope values for inorganic mercury (IHg) and MMHg in the aquatic and adjacent forest food webs. In the aquatic ecosystem, we found that lake sediment represents a mixture of IHg pools deposited via watershed runoff and precipitation. The δ(202)Hg and Δ(199)Hg values estimated for IHg are consistent with other studies that measured forest floor in temperate forests. The Δ(199)Hg value estimated for MMHg in the aquatic food web indicates that MMHg is subjected to ~20% photochemical degradation prior to bioaccumulation. In the forest ecosystem, we found a significant negative relationship between total Hg and δ(202)Hg and Δ(199)Hg of soil collected at multiple distances from the lakeshore and lake sediment. This suggests that IHg input from watershed runoff provides an important Hg transfer pathway between the forest and aquatic ecosystems. We measured Δ(199)Hg values for high trophic level insects and compared these insects at multiple distances perpendicular to the lake shoreline. The Δ(199)Hg values correspond to the % canopy cover suggesting that forest MMHg is subjected to varying extents of photochemical degradation and the extent may be controlled by sunlight. Our study demonstrates that the use of Hg isotopes adds important new insight into the relative importance of MMHg sources and complex Hg transfer pathways across ecosystem boundaries.
Chapter 7: neurological conditions in the European Middle Ages.

Publisher Summary Medicine and neurology in the Middle Ages were different from what they are today. Traditionally, medicine in the Middle Ages has been described as intellectually stagnant and practically chaotic. This chapter presents a summary of the development of medicine as it relates to neurological conditions from the fall of the Roman Empire to the Renaissance in Western Europe. In characterizing “medieval” medicine, it is important to note that the changes embraced by the Renaissance came to different parts of Europe at different times. Thus, late-13th-century Italy was experiencing elements decidedly post-medieval, while parts of England and Germany were still “medieval” into the 15th century. The Middle Ages were far from homogeneous. Medieval theories of the causes of neurological disease were highly varied. In the Modern Era, the therapy is linked to diagnosis. In antiquity and the Middle Ages, therapy was more concretely linked to prognostica.
Modeling hinting strategies for geometry theorem proving

This study characterizes hinting strategies used by a human tutor to help students learn geometry theorem proving. Current tutoring systems for theorem proving provide hints that encourage (or force) the student to follow a fixed forward and/or backward chaining strategy. In order to find out if human tutors observed a similar constraint, a study was conducted with students proving geometry theorems individually with a human tutor. When working successfully (without hints), students did not consistently follow the forward and/or backward chaining strategy. Moreover, the human tutor hinted steps that were seldom ones that would be picked by such tutoring systems. Lastly, we discovered a simple categorization of hints that covered 97% of the hints given by the human tutor.
Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy

Scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) involves the measurement of current through an ultramicroelectrode (UME) tip when it is held or moved in a solution in the vicinity of a substrate. The substrate perturbs the electrochemical response of the tip, and this perturbation provides information about the nature and properties of the substrate. SECM has the advantage of very high spatial resolution and versatility for the detection of both electroactive and nonelectroactive species. It combines the virtues of electrochemistry at UMEs with those of an adjustable thin-layer cell and allows one to make steady-state measurements of the type carried out with the rotating ring-disk electrode (RRDE), but with greater ease in fabrication, comparable rates of mass transfer, and without the requirement of forced convection. SECM has been applied to studies involving many different kinds of systems including electrode surfaces, liquid–liquid interfaces, and biological samples with micrometer and nanometer resolution. Commercial SECM systems exist, which facilitate such investigations. Keywords: charge transport; electroanalytical chemistry; interface; nanoelectrode; scanning probe microscopy; scanning electrochemical microscopy; ultramicroelectrode
Structures, Domains and Functions in Cell Death (DD, DED, CARD, PYD)

The death domain (DD), death effector domain (DED), caspase-recruitment domain (CARD) and pyrin domain (PYD) are subfamilies of the DD superfamily. By mediating homotypic interactions, these proteins play important roles in the assembly and activation of apoptotic signalling complexes. They are responsible for caspase recruitment and for formation of oligomeric platforms for signalling. DD superfamily proteins have a common six-helical bundle fold and show different surface features for each of the subfamilies. Most interestingly, the homotypic interactions within each subfamily are mostly mediated by asymmetric contacts, in which different surfaces of the interaction partners are adjacent to each other. The DD superfamily proteins appear to use three common types of asymmetric interactions to assemble into large oligomeric complexes. Key concepts Death domains (DDs), death effector domains (DEDs), caspase-recruitment domains (CARDs) and pyrin domains (PYDs) are protein:protein interaction modules for formation of caspase-activating complexes. DDs, DEDs, CARDs and PYDs share a common six-helical bundle fold. Interactions within these domains are mostly asymmetric and conserved. Keywords: death domain (DD); death effector domain (DED); tandem DED; caspase recruitment domain (CARD); pyrin domain (PYD); structure
Apply N-Best List Re-Ranking to Acoustic Model Combinations of Boosting Training

The object function for Boosting training method in acoustic modeling aims to reduce utterance level error rate. This is different from the most commonly used performance metric in speech recognition, word error rate. This paper proposes that the combination of N-best list re-ranking and ROVER can partly address this problem. In particular, model combination is applied to re-ranked hypotheses rather than to the original top-1 hypotheses and carried on word level. Improvement of system performance is observed in our experiments. In addition, we describe and evaluate a new confidence feature that measures the correctness of frame level decoding result.
Method for detection of microorganisms that produce gaseous nitrogen oxides.

A method was developed to detect NO- or N2O-producing bacteria in solid or liquid medium by their ability to oxidize the redox indicator resazurin from its reduced colorless form to its oxidized pink form. The method was sensitive to as little as 35 nM N2O or 0.5 nM NO. Ninety-one percent of the colonies that oxidized resazurin on plates also produced N2O in slant cultures. Forty-four percent of the colonies that did not oxidize resazurin did produce N2O. This percentage was reduced to 15% when colonies in which the coloration was difficult to discern were picked to slants to determine whether they oxidized the slant. The production of N2O preceded the oxidation of resazurin by liquid cultures of Escherichia coli and a sludge isolate. With the denitrifying sewage isolate, the disappearance of N2O was followed by the return of resazurin to its reduced state. Wolinella succinogenes was found to produce small amounts of N2O from NO3−, which resulted in a transient oxidation of resazurin.
Age-independent effects of pubertal status on behavioral constraint in healthy adolescents.

Studies have examined age-related changes in personality traits from adolescence through young adulthood, finding that aspects of negative emotionality decrease while conscientiousness increases over time. Varied mechanisms may underlie these transitions, including puberty-driven hormonal changes. Here, healthy adolescents completed the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire-Brief Form and self-report measures of pubertal status at baseline and after two years. Independent of age, pubertal status impacted primary trait scales of the MPQ-BF Constraint factor in a sex-specific manner. Females decreased in Constraint, and particularly Control, while males increased in Constraint, and particularly Harm Avoidance, with advancing puberty. Longitudinal analyses validated these findings for Control. Findings are discussed relative to males’ versus females’ achievement of optimal levels of behavioral control in adolescence.
Replacing Lecture with Web-Based Course Materials.

In a series of 5 experiments in 2000 and 2001, several hundred students at two different universities with three different professors and six different teaching assistants took a semester long course on causal and statistical reasoning in either traditional lecture/recitation or online/recitation format. In this article we compare the pre-post test gains of these students, we identify features of the online experience that were helpful and features that were not, and we identify student learning strategies that were effective and those that were not. Students who entirely replaced going to lecture with doing online modules did as well and usually better than those who went to lecture. Simple strategies like incorporating frequent interactive comprehension checks into the online material (something that is difficult to do in lecture) proved effective, but online students attended face-to-face recitations less often than lecture students and suffered because of it. Supporting the idea that small, interactiv...
BAD TEETH AND THEIR EFFECT ON THE LABORING MAN'S EFFICIENCY

Efficiency from a health standpoint is difficult to determine. We know, for instance, that if the water supply of a community is pure, the community is saved economic loss from typhoid; the same can be said of the milk supply and of all the precautions necessary to keep a community in health. This is true from a dental standpoint. If we teach a large body of people mouth hygiene we cannot say how much better their health will be, or how much we have saved them through the prevention of mouth aand systemic diseases. In the past sixteen months I have made 30,000 mouth examinations, for 17,000 Americans and 13,000 foreigners. Of this number, 96 per cent, are in need of dental service; only 4 per cent, have clean, healthy mouths; 9 per cent. are without cavities and could made healthy by a thorough cleaning; the balance have all the
Robust Supply Chain Network Design by Considering Demand-Side Uncertainty and Supply-Side Disruption

In this paper we propose a method that includes stochastic and robust models for designing the network structure of a three-tiered supply chain involving suppliers, manufacturers and retailers under random demands of markets and by considering disruption probabilities in the procurement facilities and connecting links of the chain. Demands of the markets are as assumed to be random variables with normal distribution and the disruption of the chain is formulated by defining different scenarios. Having substitutable facilities and extra production capacities makes it possible to overcome the negative effects of demand fluctuations and disruption of facilities. First we determine the optimal number, location and capacity of facilities in the first and third tiers and the best flow of material and product throughout the chain in a way to maximize the expected profit from the chain. Then to reduce the difference between the performances of the chain in different scenarios, we propose the ISP-Robust technique based on P-Robust technique to make the model robust. We discuss the differences and advantages of this technique in comparison to the P-Robust technique. We illustrate our method using data from the petrochemical industry.Copyright © 2013 by ASME
Analysis of Epiphytic Bacteria and Endotoxin during Cotton Plant Maturation

Weekly samples of cotton leaf, bract, fiber, and soil were taken during the 25-week growing season of 1985 at the Southern Regional Research Center, New Orleans, Louisiana. Total and gram-negative bacterial populations were determined. Identification of gram-negative bacteria and measurement of endotoxin concentrations were performed. Both types of populations remained relatively stable until senescence and, later, frost resulted in higher counts for each. Various Pseudomonas sp. were the predominant types present on the plant parts, with Enterobacter agglomerans the second most common. Senescence affected bacterial populations on the cotton plants, with some bacterial types increasing and others decreasing after senescence. Statistical analysis partitioned by sample type showed strong correlations between certain microbial and environmental variables with endotoxin levels. Gram-negative bacterial count was the most accurate predictor of endotoxin levels. The multiple regression of endotoxin on environmen...
Brachial Artery-To-Brachial Vein Arterio-Venous Fistula in a Pediatric Patient

The National Kidney Foundation's Disease Outcome Quality Initiative (NKF-DOQI) guidelines, produced in 1997, emphasized the superiority of arterio-venous fistulae (AVF) as vascular access in patients on chronic hemodialysis. Challenges in pediatric hemodialysis patients include poor superficial venous vasculature.We describe an approach to brachial artery to brachial vein AVF creation in a pediatric dialysis patient.The fistula is patent for greater than one year after creation. A great deal of passion and enthusiasm is a prerequisite for successful and technically challenging cases such as the one described.
Cycloartane Triterpene Saponins from the Roots of Cimicifuga foetida

The structures of two new cycloartane-type saponin constituents of the roots of Cimicifuga foetida were established by the interpretation of spectroscopic data as 2‘-O-acetylactein (1) and 2‘-O-acetyl-27-deoxyactein (2), respectively. Also isolated were the known compounds actein, 27-deoxyactein, cimicifugoside H-1, and 15α-hydroxycimicidol 3-O-β-d-xyloside.
Purchasing power parity, price indices, and exchange rate forcasts

Abstract This paper addresses the issue of using aggregate price indices for purchasing power parity (PPP) tests and the fitness of PPP as a model for exchange rate forecasting. Compared with consumer price index (CPI) and wholesale price index (WPI), the price index of traded-goods (TPI) appears to be a more appropriate price index for both PPP tests and exchange rate forecasting. It performs better in the tests and provides superior exchange rate forecasts, both within- and out-of-sample. While the half-life of the estimated deviations from PPP is about two years for the CPI and WPI-based real exchange rates, it is only one year for the TPI-based real exchange rates.
Aligning Public Health Workforce Competencies with Population Health Improvement Goals

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) includes goals for improving the health of the entire U.S. population. The skills of the workforce directly involved with the delivery of patient care and population-based programs to improve health must in turn be sufficient to match those goals. However, over many decades, reports continue to document deficits in the competencies of the health workforce and particularly in public health professionals. This should fuel a sense of urgency to strengthen the structures for educating and training the public health workforce if we are to achieve desired ACA population health improvement goals. Since the passage of the ACA in March 2010, several efforts to draw national attention to needed improvements in the education and training of the public health workforce have been conducted. In November 2010, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary of Health released the report “Priority Areas for Improvement of Quality in the Public Health System” (Priorities Report). In part, a major reason for identifying priorities for improvement was to strengthen foundations for quality in public health practice. This was viewed as imperative given the ACA’s emphasis on quality as a catalyst for improving the health of the nation. The Priorities Report specifically included public health workforce and education as one of six areas urgently needing improvement in quality. Criteria used to select public health workforce and education were the impact that such improvements would have on the health system, the improvability of processes and health outcomes that could accrue through improvements in workforce quality, and the wide degree of practice variability where gaps existed between current versus evidence-based practices that, if closed, could strengthen the system to improve health outcomes. The Priorities Report called on institutions, educational as well as employer, to ensure workforce professional competence and noted that many workers were in public health jobs where critical educational content was not available to meet needed competencies. Highlighted
Generalized Model for Vehicle Thermodynamic Loss Management

A general-purpose loss management model to account for the usage of thermodynamic work potential in vehicles of any type is developed. The key to accomplishing this is the creation of a differential representation for vehicle loss as a function of operating condition. This differential model is then integrated through mission time to obtain an analytical estimate for total usage of work potential consumed by each loss mechanism present during vehicle operation. This leads to a better understanding of how the work potential initially present in the mission fuel is partitioned amongst all loss mechanisms present during the vehicle's operation. This result can also be used in conjunction with cost accounting to gain a better understanding of underlying drivers on vehicle manufacturing and operating costs. The method is demonstrated for the analysis of a lightweight fighter aircraft
In vitro fertilization and capacitation-like interaction in the hydroid Campanularia flexuosa.

Fertilization in Campanularia flexuosa is internal. In both freshly collected colonies and laboratory cultured colonies eggs may be removed from the gonangium still attached to the blastostyle as a single packet surrounded by epithelial cells. Packets from mature gonangia of freshly collected colonies contain spermatozoa although the eggs are immature. The spermatozoa remain inside the packet to await egg maturation. Packets from mature gonangia of laboratory cultured colonies do not contain spermatozoa if male and female colonies are cultured separately. Eggs in such packets may be fertilized by the addition of spermatozoa. Removal of the epithelial cells which surround the eggs in the egg packet results in loss of fertilizability. Treatment of the egg packets with 0.75% trypsin also results in a loss of fertilizability. However, fertilizability may be restored by exposure of spermatozoa to non-trypsin treated female epithelial cells. Thus, apparently a definite interaction must occur between female epithelial cells and spermatozoa prior to fertilization. This interaction may be analogous to mammalian capacitation and the necessary conditioning of amphibian sperm prior to fertilization.
On the convergence of jacobi and gauss-seidel iteration for steady-state probabilities of finite-state continuous-time markov chains

We consider two nonsingular versions of the problem described in the title. For one of these versions, we show by example that neither Jacobi nor Gauss-Seidel iteration is guaranteed to converge; for the other version, we outline a proof that both methods are guaranteed to converge.
Comment on V. K. Oppenheimer's "The life-cycle squeeze: the interaction of men's occupational and family life cycles".

Valerie Oppenheimer in the "LifeCycle Squeeze: The Interaction of Men's Occupational and Family Life Cycles" (Demography, vol. 11, May 1974, pp. 227-245) fails to grasp adequately the idea of "life-cycle patterns in occupational earnings" (p. 233). Substitution of cross-section earnings by age (i.e., age differentials at one moment of tim.e) is a misleading substitute for longitudinal measurements. In reality, median earnings for men continue to increa.se to retirement age as is seen by following age cohorts over time (Consider the follo-wing ta.ble [Table 1] for men in the U.S.). A fuller discussion of this point appears in my monograph, The Middle Years, published as a special issue of Industrial Gerontology in September 1971. The figures in Table I a-re a.pproximations if for no other reason than that the Census Bureau made changes in occupational classification between 1960 and 1970, so that the occupational groups are not 100 percent identical. Nevertheless, even if a more detailed occupational classification system were used, as Oppenheimer attempts to do, the lifetime patterns would remain unchanged: earnings increase most rapidly up the middle years (about ages 35 to 50) and then, although they increase more slowly, they nevertheless continue to grow. On the avera.ge each man, as he becomes
Analysis and design of multidimensional nonuniform band filter banks

We present a method for designing multi-dimensional multi-rate nonuniform band FIR filter banks with integer or rational decimation factors. The analysis is based on the periodically time-varying (PTV) impulse responses of the filter bank branches. A constraint is developed, in terms of the analysis and synthesis filters, which ensures perfect reconstruction of the input signal. This forms the basis for the design method which uses constrained optimization techniques. We review impulse response analysis of filter banks and use Smith normal form decomposition to simplify their structure. We show how these impulse response analysis techniques allow us to consider filter banks that previous techniques fail to address.© (1992) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Consciousness, Social Heredity, and Development: The Evolutionary Thought of James Mark Baldwin.

James Mark Baldwin is one of the most important and least known early American scientific psychologists. Drawing inspiration from Charles Darwin and other evolutionists of the period, Baldwin developed a biosocial theory of psychological development that influenced both Jean Piaget and Lev S. Vygotsky; and he proposed a mechanism relating learned adaptations in the individual to phylogenesis (frequently termed the "Baldwin effect") that is of considerable interest to those currently modeling processes of learning and evolution. After a brief introduction to Baldwin's career, this article describes the intellectual context within which his evolutionary thinking developed. Three of his most important contributions are then discussed: his theory of individual adaptation or learning, his concept of "social heredity," and his articulation of the "Baldwin effect." The article concludes with a brief evaluation of the contemporary importance of Baldwin's ideas.
901-28 Lack of Correlation Between Relief of Chest Pain After Sublingual Nitroglycerin and Reversible Radionuclide Perfusion Defects or Presence of Significant Coronary Atherosclerosis on Coronary Angiography

To investigate whether relief of chest pain (CP) ≤ 5 mins after sublingual nitroglycerin (NTG) is of value for judging whether acute cardiac ischemia is likely to be present, we compared the response to sublingual NTG (no relief vs. relief of CP) with results of a rest/stress technetium-99m sestamibi gated SPECT perfusion imaging study performed the next working day (85 patients, 37 M 49 F, age 52 ± 13) or coronary angiography performed within 72 hours (38 patients, 20 M 18 F, age 55 ± 13) in adult patients who presented to the emergency department with non-traumatic chest pain and a nondiagnostic electrocardiogram. The choice of diagnostic modality was made clinically by the emergency department physicians. Results were as follows: Stress Study Coronary Angiography No reversible defect Reversible defect ≥70% stenosis l70% stenosis No relief 47 10 7 14 Relief 25 3 5 12 There was no significant relati nship between the clinical response of chest pain to NTG and 1) the presence of a reversible radionucleide perfusion defect on stress testing (p = 0.31) or 2) the finding of significant (≥70%) coronary atherosclerotic narrowing in at least one major epicardial coronary vessel (p = 0.54) on coronary angiography. We conclude that the response to NTG does not accurately predict the presence of either physiologically or anatomically significant coronary disease in patients who present to the emergency department with chest pain and a nondiagnostic electrocardiogram. Therefore, the presence or absence of a clinical response to NTG should not be considered to be of diagnostic significance in this setting.
Flotillin 2 is distinct from epidermal surface antigen (ESA) and is associated with filopodia formation

ECS-1, a monoclonal antibody (MoAb) raised to cultured human keratinocytes, stains the intercellular glycocalyx with a pemphigus-like pattern and recognizes a 35-kDa epidermal surface antigen (ESA) on Western blotting of keratinocyte extracts. When ECS-1 MoAb was used to screen a keratinocyte expression library, a unique cDNA was identified that predicted a 42-kDa globular protein of unknown function. This putative ESA was conserved between mice and humans and was encoded by a gene on chromosome 17q11–12 in linkage with neurofibromin. Homology between the cDNA sequence has been reported with flotillin 1, a caveolae associated protein, as well as Reggie 1 and 2, neuronal proteins expressed during axonal regeneration present in activated GPI-anchored cell adhesion molecules in non-caveolar-associated micropatches. In order to determine whether the cDNA predicted protein and ECS-1 antigen were identical, we compared ECS-1 with the immunoreactivity of a new antibody raised to the cDNA fusion protein in epidermis and cultured cells. The cDNA fusion protein was expressed in bacteria and in cos cells with his, FLAG, and EGFP reporter tags and by stable transfection as an EGFP fusion protein. The fusion protein and native protein of 42 kDa were detected by the new antibody, but not by the original ECS-1. Thus, the ECS-1 antigen, ESA (35 kDa), is clearly distinct from the protein predicted by the cDNA (renamed flotillin 2). Stable transfection of ESA/flotillin 2 fusion protein in cos cells induced filopodia formation and changed epithelial cells to a neuronal appearance. Thus, the function of flotillin 2 may resemble that of the goldfish optic nerve neuronal regeneration proteins, Reggie 1 and 2. J. Cell. Biochem. 75:147–159, 1999. © 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.