cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Capturing the power of academic medicine to enhance health and health care of the elderly in the USA

As in Japan, the US population is aging progressively, a trend that will challenge the health-care system to provide for the chronic, multiple and complex needs of its elderly citizens. and as in Japan, the US academic health enterprise has only belatedly mounted a response to that challenge. Herein is reviewed a quarter of a century of the author's personal experience in developing new programs in gerontology and geriatric medicine from a base in the Department of Internal Medicine at three US academic health centers (AHC): The University of Washington (as Division Head), Johns Hopkins University (as Vice-Chair), and Wake Forest University (as Chair). Rather than to build a program from a new department of geriatrics, this strategy was chosen to capture the power and resources of the department of internal medicine, the largest university department, to ‘gerontologize’ the institution, beginning with general internal medicine and all of the medical subspecialties (the approach also chosen to date at all but a handful of US AHC). The keystone of success at each institution has been careful faculty development through fellowship training in clinical geriatrics, education and research. Over the same interval major national progress has occurred, including expanded research and training at the National Institute on Aging and the Department of Veterans Affairs, and accreditation of more than 100 fellowship programs for training and certification of geriatricians. However, less than 1% of US medical graduates elect to pursue such training. Hence such geriatricians will remain concentrated at AHC, and most future geriatric care in the USA will be provided by a broad array of specialists, who will be educated and trained in geriatrics by these academic geriatricians.
Roosevelt's first inaugural: A study of technique

This study examines three rhetorical techniques that Franklin D. Roosevelt used in his “First Inaugural Address” to announce and implement his New Deal. The various speech drafts examined reveal that FDR himself purposefully used military metaphor, the scapegoat, and the carrot‐and‐stick approach to accomplish certain persuasive goals.
Techniques and Outcomes of Nipple Sparing Mastectomy in the Surgical Management of Breast Cancer

Tailored therapy for breast cancer with conservation of uninvolved tissue is becoming increasingly important, especially as the benefits of breast reconstruction are recognized. Preservation of the nipple areolar complex during mastectomy is emerging as a viable option in selected patients. Technical considerations for prevention of adverse outcomes such as nipple necrosis are reviewed, along with implications for reconstructive method and outcomes. Finally, the oncologic efficacy of nipple-sparing mastectomy is discussed in the context of occult nipple disease and local recurrence. Standardization of technique, optimization of aesthetic outcome, and examination of long-term prognosis represent future areas of development.
Successive pregnancies with delivery of two healthy infants in a couple who was discordant for human immunodeficiency virus infection

Abstract Objective: To describe two successive pregnancies resulting in two healthy infants in an HIV-discordant couple who underwent IVF-ICSI. Design: Case report. Setting: University-based infertility clinic. Patient(s): A couple seeking fertility treatment in which the male partner was seropositive for HIV-1. Intervention(s): Controlled ovarian hyperstimulation and IVF-ET with ICSI. Main Outcome Measure(s): Pregnancy outcome and HIV-1 seroconversion. Result(s): The couple delivered two healthy infants on successive pregnancies with use of IVF-ET with ICSI. Conclusion(s): For HIV-discordant couples in which the male partner is seropositive for HIV-1, IVF with ICSI is a viable option.
Monitoring land use change in the Densu River basin, Ghana: using GIS and remote sensing methods

Abstract Population growth and increasing development pressures are rapidly transforming the river basins across Sub-Saharan Africa. Planning decisions to monitor these landscapes and develop sound environmental management practices will require access to geo-technologies that permit the compilation of multi-date data for land use inventories and detection of change across space and time. This study demonstrates the functionality of these tools using multi-temporal satellite images, 1990 and 2000, acquired for the Densu River basin in Ghana. Change detection methods, based on image differencing and image regression, were used to evaluate the rates of change and identify the areas of significant change over the ten year period. The results show that residential land uses grew substantially during the study period, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the observed changes that occurred in the river basin. The expansion, involving farmland conversion, occurred mainly around Accra and its peri-urban areas. The...
On Dilatations and Substantial Boundary Points of Homeomorphisms of Jordan Curves

We study the relation between the dilatations Kh and Kh* of a homeomorphism h of Jordan curves. We show that if Kh= Kh*, then either h is induced by an affine map or there is a substantial boundary point for h. In particular, we prove that if h is symmetric (in the sense of Gardiner and Sullivan), then Kh* > Kh. This is quite contrary to a previously conjectured relation between Kh and Kh*.
DEPENDENCE OF AMINO ACID TRANSPORT AND ACCUMULATION ON OSMOTIC FACTORS IN VITAMIN B6-DEFICIENT LACTOBACILLUS ARABINOSUS.

Abstract A vitamin B6 deficiency markedly reduces the total amount of extracellular l -glutamic acid which can be taken up and accumulated intracellularly by Lactobacillus arabinosus. Sucrose at 0.6–0.9 M restores the glutamate accumulation capacity to normal levels. Glucose, galactose, lysine, KCl, KBr, KNO3 and NH4Cl at high concentrations also greatly improve the accumulation capacity of B6-deficient cells. Sucrose and KCl at iso-osmotic concentrations have exactly equal effects on accumulation. Sucrose is confined largely to the extracellular space in nutritionally normal and vitamin B6-deficient cells whereas glycerol, which does not stimulate accumulation, penetrates most of the intracellular water. In contrast to findings with nutritionally normal cells, large pools accumulated by deficient cells in the presence of sucrose are lost instantaneously by washing with dilute buffers. Alanine and proline accumulation also are depressed by the deficiency and restored to normal by high concentrations of sucrose. Interaction between alanine and glutamate during accumulation by B6-deficient cells is more pronounced than in normal cells suggesting that the amino acids may contribute to the intracellular osmotic load. These findings demonstrate that the accumulation process in vitamin B6-deficient cells can function at its maximum level so long as the extracellular water activity is reduced. Therefore, in this bacterium vitamin B6 does not play a catalytic role directly in the accumulation process. It is proposed that the primary effect of this deficiency is a reduction in cell-wall rigidity. In the absence of sucrose or other protecting substances this leads to an excessive influx of water with a consequent impairment of accumulation which becomes prominent only as the intracellular pool fills. Some of the data suggest that the pool is osmotically active, and, therefore, that accumulation involves active transport.
in the diffuse interstellar medium

Three forms of solely hydrogen-bearing molecules—H 2 , HD and —are observed in diffuse or optically transparent interstellar clouds. Although no comprehensive theory exists for the diffuse interstellar medium or its chemistry, the abundances of these species can generally be accommodated locally within the existing static equilibrium frameworks for heating/cooling, H 2 -formation on large grains, etc. with one modification demanded equally by observations of HD and , i.e. a pervasive low-level source of H and H 2 ionization ca 10 times faster than the usual cosmic ray ionization rate ζ H ≈10 −17 s −1 per free H-atom. We discuss this situation with reference to observation and time-dependent modelling of H 2 and formation. While not wishing to appear ungrateful for the success of what are very simplistic notions of the interstellar medium, we point out several reasons not to feel smug. The equilibrium conditions which foster high H 2 and abundances are very slow to appear and these same simple ideas of static equilibrium cannot explain any, but a few, of the simplest of the trace species, which are ubiquitously embedded in H 2 -bearing diffuse gases.
Increased spectrin proteolysis in the brindled mouse brain

Proteolytically generated fragments of the microfilament anchoring protein brain spectrin were found to accumulate in brindled mouse brain. Proteolysis was most extensive in brain regions possessing high concentrations of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors (e.g. cortex, striatum, hippocampus). The brindle mutation affects copper homeostasis and thus a variety of copper-dependent enzymes needed in intermediary metabolism. The altered mitochondria of these mice are suggested to less efficiently buffer NMDA receptor-gated calcium fluxes, thus promoting activation of calcium-activated proteases and subsequent degradation of the spectrin meshwork.
Tandem electric field gradient focusing system for isolation and concentration of target proteins.

Abstract Two electric field gradient focusing (EFGF) systems, one based on a hollow dialysis fiber and the other based on a shaped ionically conductive polymer were serially integrated to trap and concentrate selected proteins while simultaneously desalting and removing other unwanted proteins from the sample. A series of experiments were performed to test the EFGF systems individually and after integration. Online concentration of amyloglucosidase indicated a concentration limit of detection of approximatedly 20 ng mL −1 (200 pM) from a sample volume of 100 μL. Concentration of human α 1 -acid glycoprotein with simultaneous removal of human serum albumin was also demonstrated. Elimination of small buffer components while concentrating trypsin inhibitor, and selective concentration and separation of myoglobin from a mixture were performed using the integrated EFGF system.
Activation energy for surface diffusion of Si on Si(001): A scanning-tunneling-microscopy study.

The migration of Si on Si(001) has been investigated by analyzing the number density of islands formed during deposition using scanning tunneling microscopy. The activation energy and prefactor for diffusion in the fast direction, which is along the surface dimer rows, are found to be 0.67\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.08 eV and \ensuremath{\sim}${10}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}3}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$/sec, respectively.
The role of mRNA stability and transcription in 06-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) expression in Mer+ human tumor cells

We have recently reported that following depletion of O6-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) activity by acute streptozotocin (STZ) treatment to sensitize innately chloroethylnitrosourea (CENU)-resistant HT-29 cells, the eventual repletion of activity occurs with no concommitant alterations in steady-state MGMT mRNA levels. This suggestion of a potentially stable transcript prompted studies to define the relative contributions of MGMT mRNA stability and transcription to cellular MGMT expression. Northern analysis of MGMT mRNA in actinomycin D-treated HT-29, MR-1 and A2182 cells, ranging in relative MGMT expression from high to low respectively, demonstrates relatively long MGMT mRNA half-lives of > 10-12 h. Cell lines with low and moderate levels of MGMT mRNA appear to have longer mRNA half-lives than those with high levels. Run-on transcription in nuclei isolated from cells with low to moderate MGMT mRNA levels demonstrates undetectable basal MGMT transcription rates. Collectively these data suggest that a very low transcription rate, coupled with a stable mRNA molecule, might result in the translation of pre-existing mRNA molecules. This translation may be responsible for the gradual recovery of MGMT and CENU resistance over 24 h following MGMT depletion.
‘As prostitutes, we control our bodies’: perceptions of health and body in the lives of establishment-based female sex workers in Tijuana, Mexico

Many studies of female sex work focus on HIV and other sexually transmitted infections because sex workers are considered bridges between high-risk and low-risk populations. The voices of female sex workers as they pertain to health issues are often lacking in the literature. This paper offers a feminist constructivist grounded theory study with establishment-based female sex workers in Tijuana, Mexico. Analyses of interviews with 20 women reveal that they are aware of the impact of their work on their bodies, but conceptualise their health holistically and not just in terms of HIV. They emphasise that working in the sex industry has implications for sexual health, non-sexual physical health and mental health. The paper concludes that in order for public health interventions to have more sustainable impact on the lives of female sex workers, they should take into account the voices of the women, including how they define their health. The findings suggest that public health professionals need to be more a...
Effects of substitution of triphenylmethyl groups into cellulose on the fine structure and thermal properties of the products

Mercerized cellulose in the form of 7/2 yarn was reactivated with 17.5% sodium hydroxide and then heated at 100°C. with 5 moles of trityl chloride, in pyridine, per anhydroglucose unit. The time of reaction was varied, giving ether derivatives of the cellulose containing 0.31–0.79 triphenylmethyl groups (DS) per anhydroglucose unit. Controls consisted of (1) the untreated cellulose yarn and (2) a portion subjected to all the reaction conditions except the reactant. The density of the product decreased hyperbolically with increasing substitution. The mixed x-ray pattern of the untreated control cellulose (35% cellulose I, 43% cellulose II) was largely converted by the activation treatment (10% cellulose I, 53% cellulose II). As reaction proceeded the crystal structure largely disappeared. The assumption is that substitution was confined almost exclusively to the primary hydroxyl position. The behavior of tensile stiffness, elastic recovery, and work recovery was explored at temperatures from about 25 to 225°C. Considerable improvement, which generally increased with increasing substitution, was observed in both elastic and work recovery at all temperatures studied.
On the Synthesis of Information from Psychological Tests

This paper evaluated research concerning the synthesis or integration of information from Wechsler intelligence, Rorschach, and Thematic Apperception tests, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, and Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory in the process of personality assessment. Five methodological issues were considered in evaluating the extent to which the results contributed to the statistical prediction of clinical status: the method of measuring the clinical criteria, the status of participants or the groups tested, whether results were estimated for specific diagnostic groups, whether there were estimates of incremental validity for different psychological tests, and if diagnostic group status was predicted on the basis of test scores as opposed to the report of differences on tests between diagnostic groups. Few studies met as many as four of these methodological criteria; several provided information relevant to the process of statistical prediction.
Schizoid Incoherence, Microstrategic Options, and the Strategic Management of New Organizational Forms

Most musings on the strategic management of new organizational forms—e.g., loosely coupled systems, information-technology-enabled networks, and virtual organizations—exhibit two fundamental research weaknesses. First, the “new organizational formists” are insufficiently grounded in research on old organizational strategies and old organizational forms. Second, the “new organizational formists” are insufficiently grounded in data from the new organizational forms they purport to explain. This leads to a situation in which chroniclers of an important change in organizations are too-often ignored because they are atheoretical and aempirical. This is a study of John Brown Engineers & Constructors (John Brown). John Brown has a proud heritage dating back to the 1830s. They were acquired in 1986 by Trafalgar House Group, which acquired Davy International in 1991 and combined the firms to create an engineering and Most musings on the strategic management of new organizational forms—e.g., loosely coupled systems, information-technology-enabled networks, and virtual organizations— exhibit two fundamental research weaknesses. First, the “new organizational formists” are insufficiently grounded in research on old organizational forms and old organizational strategies. Second, most studies of new organizational forms are insufficiently grounded in data from the new organizational forms they purport to explain. This leads to a situation in which chroniclers of an important change in organizations are too-often ignored because they are atheoretical and aempirical. This study of John Brown Engineering & Construction’s adoption of an explicit information technology strategy provides a specific research context in which to consider three related phenomena. The first phenomenon is the continual movement in organizational forms, from firms, to bureaucracies, to institutions, and—most recently—to loosely coupled systems, information-technology-enabled networks, and virtual organizations. The second phenomenon is the continued accumulation of strategic options: cost leadership, differentiation, strategic alliances, vertical integration, diversification, globalization, and merger and acquisition strategies. The third phenomenon is the notion of “schizoid incoherence,” a condition common to sensemakers, decision-makers, and strategy makers in which there are numerous possible directions to take.
Extraction of 3-dimensional coordinates from a stereo picture

Abstract Stereoscopic pictures illustrating journal articles are relatively common in x-ray crystallographic or molecular mechanics studies. We describe a computer program that translates a stereo picture of a 3D model back into the XYZ coordinates of the model so that the model can be rotated, its energy calculated and detailed information not available from the original paper can be determined. The source code of the program is included on disk as 3D.FOR.
Changes in the Cytokinins of Radish Roots during Maturation

The cytokinins of developing radish roots were extracted, partially purified, and separated by thin-layer chromatography into three distinct bands of activity. One band was identified chromatographically as zeatin ribonucleotide and another was indistinguishable from a mixture of zeatin and zeatin ribonucleoside. The third band was not identified, but it was not a derivative of zeatin or of isopentenyladenine. The unidentified cytokinin had physiological properties quite different from those of the zeatin derivatives. The zeatin-based cytokinins increased in radish roots with the onset of cambial activity, and reapplication of these cytokinins to cultured primary roots stimulated cambial activity. The unidentified cytokinin became abundant only after extensive secondary thickening had occurred, and it was localized almost entirely in the xylem. It did not stimulate cambial activity in cultured roots. The evidence indicates that zeatin and its derivatives regulate cambial activity in radish, and that the unidentified cytokinin may be synthesized in the roots and transported to the shoot.
Noncentralities Induced in Regression Diagnostics

Anomalies persist in the use of deletion diagnostics in regression. Tests for outliers under subset deletions utilize the R–Fisher statistics, each having a noncentral F-distribution with noncentrality parameter as a function of shifts only at deleted rows in the index set I. Numerous studies examine empirical outcomes of these diagnostics in random experiments. In contrast, studies here are probabilistic, examining distributions behind those empirical outcomes and tracking the effects of shifts at nondeleted rows. By allowing shifts at nondeleted rows in a set J, in addition to traditional shifts at deleted rows in I, is shown to have a doubly noncentral F-distribution. By removing the unnecessary restriction that shifts occur only at deleted rows, these findings support constructs akin to power curves in tracking probabilities of masking or swamping as shifts evolve. In addition, “regression effects” among outliers may have unforeseen consequences. A dichotomy of shifts is discovered as projections into...
Sex differences in cerebral energy metabolism in Parkinson's disease: a phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging study.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that there are sex differences in cerebral energy metabolism in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Methods: Phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( 31 P MRS) was used to determine high-energy phosphate (phosphocreatine and ATP) and low-energy phosphate (free phosphate) levels in the striatum and temporoparietal cortical gray matter (GM) in 10 men and 10 women with PD, matched for age at onset, disease duration, and UPDRS scores. Results: In the hemisphere more affected by PD, both ATP and high energy phosphate (HEP: phosphocreatine þ ATP) content in striatum was 15% lower in men versus women with PD (p ¼ .050 and p ¼ .048, respectively). Similar decreases by 16% in ATP (p ¼ .023) and 12% in HEP (p ¼ .046) were observed in GM in men versus women with PD. In contrast, there were no detectable sex differences in ATP or HEP in healthy age-matched controls. Conclusions: Men with PD have lower levels of ATP and high energy phosphate than women in brain regions affected by PD. These findings suggest that there may be a greater burden of mitochondrial dysfunction in PD in men versus women with PD.
Impaired verbal communication during short-term oral intubation.

PURPOSE.To describe the experience of impaired verbal communication during short-term oral intubation in surgical critical care patients. METHODS.Semi-structured interviews(N=10) FINDINGS.Patients identified feelings related to discomfort, fear, and frustration. Patients desired to communicate messages regarding pain and discomfort, difficulty breathing, length of intubation, use of restraints, family, physical status, and suctioning. CONCLUSION.Findings can be used to educate patients and families and develop patient-driven communication tools.
Ultrasound-adjusted risk and spectrum of fetal chromosomal abnormality in women with elevated maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein.

Objective To determine the incidence of chromosomal abnormality in sonographically normal fetuses after amniocentesis for elevated maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (MSAFP), and to compare the spectrum of abnormality with that seen in women undergoing amniocentesis for advanced maternal age. Methods Cytogenetic and sonographic findings from women undergoing amniocentesis for elevated MSAFP (at least 2.0 multiples of median) between 1988–1992 were reviewed retrospectively. The literature was reviewed and data compiled regarding the risk of chromosomal abnormality for women with elevated MSAFP levels. Results The incidence of abnormal karyotype among all women with elevated MSAFP was 1.23% (nine of 733). The risk of an abnormal karyotype with a normal ultrasound examination was 1.01% (seven of 696). This included three fetuses with sex chromosome abnormalities, three with de novo, apparently balanced rearrangements, and one with an unbalanced structural rearrangement. Conclusions The risk of chromosomal abnormality in nonselected patients, predominantly younger than 35 years of age, with elevated MSAFP and a sonographically normal fetus is 0.6%, based on a compilation of our data and reports published previously. The spectrum of abnormality in women with elevated MSAFP differs from that in women of advanced maternal age. Patients should be specifically counseled regarding this difference.
Fast accurate evaluation of protein solvent exposure

Protein solvation energies are often taken to be proportional to solvent-accessible surface areas. Computation of these areas is numerically demanding and may become a bottleneck for folding and design applications. Fast graph-based methods, such as dead-end elimination (DEE), become possible if all energies, including solvation energies, are expressed as single-residue and pair-residue terms. To this end, Street and Mayo originated a pair-residue approximation for solvent-accessible surface areas (Street AG, Mayo SL. Pairwise calculation of protein solvent accessible surface areas. Fold Des 1998;3:253–258). The dominant source of error in this method is the overlapping burial of side-chain surfaces in the protein core. Here we report a new pair-residue approximation, which greatly reduces this overlap error by the use of optimized generic side-chains. We have tested the generic-side-chain method for the ten proteins studied by Street and Mayo and for 377 single-domain proteins from the CATH database (Orengo CA, Michie AD, Jones S, Jones DT, Swindells MB, Thornton JM. CATH-A hierarchic classification of protein domain structures. Structure 1997;5:1093–1108). With little additional cost in computation, the new method consistently reduces error for total areas and residue-by-residue areas by more than a factor of two. For example, the residue-by-residue error (for buried area) is reduced from 7.42 A2 to 3.70 A2. This difference translates into a solvation energy difference of ∼0.2 kcal/mol per residue, amounting to a reduction in root-mean-square energy error of 2 kcal/mol for a 100 residue chain, a potentially critical difference for both protein folding and design applications. Proteins 2004. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
A Further Report on the Cases Admitted to the Pondville Hospital (Massachusetts State Cancer Hospital) During its First Two Years

The Pondville Hospital is a hospital for cancer patients opened in 1927 and conducted by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. In 1930 an analysis of all cases admitted to the hospital or clinic during the first two years was made and published in this Journal.1 There were 1444 cases in the series and all but thirty (97.9 per cent had been followed for at least one year after entrance and the results studied. That was not a report of the final results of treatment, but rather a comprehensive analysis of the material seen and the types of treatment that could be offered. The present report deals chiefly with the cases of malignancy studied previously but now followed for a minimum of three years and in some instances as long as four or five years. Thanks to a very efficient Social Service Department, we can now report on the results of all but four of 856 cases of malignant tumors, a three-year follow-up of 99.5 per cent. Non-malignant cases have been followed only long enough to be sure that the patients actually consulted other physicians. Benign tumor cases have been followed for one year and patients with precancerous lesions until the lesions were no longer precancerous. A few non-malignant groups, such as keratoses and leiomyomata have been followed longer and are mentioned in this study. We realize that, in those cases where we have been able to attempt a cure, the final story cannot be told by three-year results and this study is once more presented as a report on progress rather than on results. This report will be of more value to the reader if he has the initial publication at hand, for we have tried to present these results without too much repetition.
Casuistry: A Complement to Principle Ethics and a Foundation for Ethical Decisions

Ethical dilemmas within any system are created when moral/ethical principles, rules, or guidelines can be cited for opposing actions with neither side presenting the obvious, right course to follow. This condition exposes the intricate interrelationship between abstract moral/ethical principles and the description and evaluation of real-life situations. What is called for in addressing ethical dilemmas is a process that acknowledges this interrelationship and weaves these factors into a prudent solution. This article describes such a process known as casuistry.
Evaluation of atomic scattering integrals by numerical techniques

Abstract Integrals needed in calculations of electron scattering off atoms are solved. The basis functions consist of Slater-type functions to describe the bound-like character of the wavefunction, and spherical Bessel functions of the first and second kind for the free particle portion. A damping factor is used with the latter Bessel function to insure proper behavior at the origin. With integral representations of the Bessel functions, numerical techniques are developed to obtain all one- and two-electron integrals.
Spatial uncertainty and sampling efficiency in amblyopic position acuity.

Abstract Spatial uncertainty and undersampling are two of the major hypotheses for the losses of amblyopic spatial vision. To test these two hypotheses, equivalent spatial uncertainty and spatial integration efficiency in spatial position judgments were quantified with a spatial perturbation paradigm. Specifically, three-line bisection thresholds were measured for the amblyopic eyes of two strabismic and two anisometropic amblyopes, and for normal controls. The horizontal stimulus lines comprised discrete dark dots distributed randomly around the mean line position according to a gaussian function. Line separation, the number of dots on each line ( N ), stimulus contrast ( C ), and the vertical standard deviation ( σ e ) of the dot distribution were varied. An ideal observer analysis quantified the magnitude of equivalent spatial uncertainty ( σ s ), the effective number of dots used ( k ), and spatial integration efficiency ( k N ). At the optimal separation, equivalent spatial uncertainty ( σ s ) is approximately ten-fold higher in both types of amblyopic visual systems than in control observers, even when stimulus visibility is accounted for. This apparent increase in σ s is largely due to a shift in spatial scale of analysis in the amblyopic eye. Integration efficiency ( k N ) increases in proportion to stimulus contrast or visibility (in units of detection threshold). Unlike σ s , k N is different between the two types of amblyopia. For the anisometropic observers, k N is quantitatively similar to that of control observers. For the strabismic observers, on the other hand, k N is reduced even after taking stimulus visibility into account. The decreased spatial integration efficiency in the strabismic visual system suggests that spatial undersampling may occur at a secondary stage of visual processing, beyond the detection stage.
EFFECT OF APIGENINIDIN ON THE GROWTH OF SELECTED BACTERIA

Apigeninidin, a 3-deoxyanthocyanidin present in sorghum, was chemically synthesized and effectively purified by extracting impurities from aqueous 2 N HC1 into ethyl acetate. Apigeninidin (50μmol) applied to filter paper disks inhibited the growth on agar plates of selected gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, andStreptococcus faecalis) and to a lesser extent gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Serratia marcens, andShigella flexneri). Apigeninidin was not mutagenic based on the Ames assay. The ability of apigeninidin to precipitate proteins from plant extracts could be physiologically important if it can be shown to bind to specific plant proteins.
Upper limb entheseal change with the transition to agriculture in the Southeastern United States: a view from Moundville and the central Tombigbee River valley.

Abstract We analyzed entheseal change in 159 skeletons from Moundville and surrounding settlements using primary fibrocartilaginous attachments of the upper limbs. Risk of entheseal change did not differ bilaterally, suggesting a wide variety of activities were used to exploit a diverse ecosystem. Consistent with predictions, Mississippian (1000–1500 CE) agriculturalists experienced greater risk of entheseal change than did Late Woodland (500–900 CE) hunter-gatherers. Attachments used in arm flexion were most affected, while rotator cuff entheses remained consistent over time. A temporal increase in muscular changes in males in concert with faunal evidence for resurgence of larger game (e.g., deer) is consistent with continued reliance on hunting alongside domestication of maize. Among Mississippians, younger males appear to have been carrying out the most strenuous tasks, contrary to earlier studies that suggested a decline in male activities with domestication. Mound centers consistently experienced the greatest upper body changes, in spite of faunal and botanical data supporting provisioning of elites by outlying sites. Center males, respectively, experienced more than 26 and 12 times greater changes at elbow extensors and brachialis than those from outlying settlements, with a significant decline from young to middle age among adults. Center females experienced increased risk at biceps insertions and common extensors of the humeri – trends that disappeared with age. Overall findings suggest increased upper body demands and shifting sex and age-dependent divisions of labor with maize intensification, but trends across settlements point to significant status-related body size selection in center males, with fewer differences among females.
Piezoelectric active sensing using chaotic excitations and state space reconstruction

Recent research has shown that chaotic structural excitation and state space reconstruction may be used beneficially in structural health monitoring (SHM). The focus of this study is to apply a chaotic waveform to a piezoelectric (PZT) patch that is bonded to a test structure. The use of high frequency chaotic excitation (~80 kHz) combined with PZT active sensing allows the location of incipient damage in the structure to be easily identified. The generation of high frequency chaos from a low frequency process necessitates bandwidth up-conversion that has been shown to be dimension preserving. We investigate the use of this method in conjunction with a novel prediction error algorithm to determine the damage state of a frame structure.
Influence of age-related versus non-age-related renal dysfunction on survival in patients with left ventricular dysfunction.

Normal aging results in a predictable decrease in glomerular filtration rate (GFR), and low GFR is associated with worsened survival. If this survival disadvantage is directly caused by the low GFR, as opposed to the disease causing the low GFR, the risk should be similar regardless of the underlying mechanism. Our objective was to determine if age-related decreases in estimated GFR (eGFR) carry the same prognostic importance as disease-attributable losses in patients with ventricular dysfunction. We analyzed the Studies Of Left Ventricular Dysfunction limited data set (n = 6,337). The primary analysis focused on determining if the eGFR-mortality relation differed by the extent to which the eGFR was consistent with normal aging. Mean eGFR was 65.7 ml/min/1.73 m 2 (SD = 19.0). Across the range of age in the population (27 to 80 years), baseline eGFR decreased by 0.67 ml/min/1.73 m 2 /year (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.63 to 0.71). The risk of death associated with eGFR was strongly modified by the degree to which the low eGFR could be explained by aging (p for interaction 2 , 95% CI 0.97 to 1.1, p = 0.53), whereas a disease-attributable decrease in eGFR above the median carried significant risk (adjusted hazard ratio 2.8, 95% CI 1.6 to 4.7, p
Radiography to Facilitate Bagworm Egg Counts

A reliable estimate of the number of eggs per case housed in the cocoon of Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis (Haworth) can be obtained without destroying the sample. A predictive regression was developed by employing the relationship between the two-dimensional images on a radiograph of the bagworm cocoons and the actual egg counts. A dot grid count of the surface area of a bag-worm egg case (X) yields an estimate of the actual egg count (Y) when related to the predictive regression (Y = 349.78 + 31.29X).
Pattern formation from thermal-blooming phase-compensation instability

We introduce a new, quantitative experimental signature–formation of a characteristic chain-link pattern in laser irradiance profiles–of thermal-blooming phase-compensation instability with uniform wind. We exhibit such chain links observed in computer simulation and in the laboratory, and we derive the main features of the observed chain link from first principles. This derivation represents what is to our knowledge the first practical application of linearized instability analysis to real systems with spontaneously generated unseeded phase-compensation instability.
Musings on genome medicine: Crohn's disease

The inflammatory bowel diseases, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, pose a fascinating challenge to specialists in gastroenterology, infectious diseases, immunology and genetics and an often crushing burden to patients and their families.
An Iterative Constrained Optimization Approach to Classifier Design

In this paper, we propose an iterative constrained optimization (ICO) approach to classifier design. When a set of conflicting objectives needs to be simultaneously satisfied, it is often not easy to combine all the utilities in a single overall objective function for optimization. We instead formulate the problem with conflicting objectives as a single-objective optimization scenario while embedding other competing objectives in constraints so that the original problem can be solved by adopting conventional constrained nonlinear optimization techniques. The bounds needed to constrain each objective are determined based on the objective function values obtained in the previous iterate. The so-formed individual constrained optimization problems are solved until a stable solution is obtained. We illustrate the utility of our framework in the context of designing classifiers for text categorization and automatic language identification. The results of our experiments demonstrate that our approach achieves a significant improvement in one objective with only slight degradation of the other conflicting objective.
THE DETAIL SCHEDULING OF A PART-TIME WORK FORCE: A CASE STUDY OF TELLER STAFFING

This paper presents a comparison of two heuristic methods for assigning a part-time work force to meet varying daily work loads. The authors use actual operating data from Purdue National Bank, Lafayette, Indiana, to make teller staffing decisions. The performance criteria for comparison of the two heuristics is the minimum number of workers employed, minimum number of interbranch transfers, and computer time necessary to attain a solution.
A climatology of planetary wave-driven mesospheric inversion layers in the extratropical winter

Mesospheric inversion layers (MILs) are a useful diagnostic to simultaneously investigate middle atmosphere radiation, chemistry, and dynamics in high-top general circulation models. Climatologies of long-lived extratropical winter MILs observed by the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) and the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) satellite instruments are compared to MILs in the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM). In general, MIL location, amplitude, and thickness statistics in WACCM are in good agreement with the observations, though WACCM middle- and high-latitude winter MILs occur 30%–50% more often than in MLS and SABER. This work suggests that planetary wave-driven MILs may form as high as 90 km. In the winter, MILs display a wave-1 pattern in both hemispheres, forming most often over the region where the climatological winter stratospheric anticyclones occur. These MILs are driven by the decay of vertically propagating planetary waves in the mesospheric surf zone in both observations and in the model. At the base of polar inversions there is climatological local ascent and cooling situated atop the stratospheric anticyclones, which enhances the cold base of the MILs near 60 km and 120°E longitude.
Cortical organization after treatment of a peripheral nerve with ricin: an evaluation of the relationship between sensory neuron death and cortical adjustments after nerve injury.

The present study was designed to assess whether cortical changes after peripheral nerve damage are related to the degree of death of primary sensory neurons in the damaged nerve. The cytotoxin ricin was injected into the sciatic nerves of adult rats to kill primary sensory neurons with axons through the injection site. Following periods of 6–101 days, the S-I hindpaw map was evaluated with neurophysiological techniques and compared with the hindpaw maps of previously studied normal adult rats and adult rats that had undergone adult or neonatal sciatic section at a comparable level of the nerve. These comparisons allowed evaluation of cortical functional organization following different degrees of sensory neuron loss after sciatic nerve injury. There were three main results. 1) The comparison of ricin-treated and normal adult rats indicated that ricin treatment interrupted inputs from the sciatic skin territory on the hindpaw and caused a limited increase in the size of the cortical area that was activated by stimulation of hindpaw skin innervated by the remaining saphenous nerve. 2) The cortical maps of rats that had undergone adult ricin treatment (relatively large primary neuron loss) or section during adulthood (small to moderate primary neuron loss) were similar. In both groups, only the saphenous hindpaw skin was represented in cortex, and the cortical area that was activated by stimulation of the saphenous hindpaw skin had undergone a comparable limited enlargement. 3) The comparison of ricin-treated adult rats (relatively large primary neuron loss) and adult rats that had undergone neonatal section (relatively large primary neuron loss) indicated that cortical organization differed after these treatments. In particular, after ricin treatment the cortical area that was activated by stimulation of the saphenous hindpaw skin was larger than the comparable area in neonatal denervates, and the topographical progressions between the hindpaw and adjacent body representations were not as variable as after neonatal section. These findings indicate that cortical maps are altered after injection of ricin into a nerve. The similarity in cortical organization after ricin treatment (relatively large sensory neuron loss) and nerve section in adults (relatively small sensory neuron loss) and the differences in cortical organization after ricin treatment and nerve section in neonates (both relatively large sensory neuron loss) indicate cortical changes do not covary as a simple function of the degree of peripheral neuron death.
Gender differences in caregiving stress among caregivers of cancer survivors.

Despite a growing body of research on male caregivers, limited information is available on male caregivers of cancer survivors. Furthermore, few studies have examined the unique contribution of caregiver esteem as well as care-recipient's functional status as potential mediators of the link between gender and caregiving stress. Thus, the present study examines how the caregiver's perception of providing care to a spouse with cancer differs by gender. The proposed mediators, caregiver's esteem and care-recipient's psychosocial and physical functioning, were tested simultaneously, utilizing structural equation modeling. Results revealed that both caregiver's esteem and care-recipient's psychosocial functioning were significant mediators, but in different directions. Specifically, husband caregivers reported higher caregiver's esteem, which resulted in reporting less stress from providing care to their wife with cancer. On the other hand, when husband caregivers provided care to their wife with poorer psychosocial functioning, they reported greater stress from caregiving. Husband caregivers will benefit from programs designed to educate them to effectively assist their wife's psychosocial adjustment to cancer by reducing their stress from providing care. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
An experimental evaluation of the REE SIFT environment for spaceborne applications

Presents an experimental evaluation of a software-implemented fault tolerance (SIFT) environment built around a set of self-checking processes called ARMORs running on different machines that provide error detection and recovery services to themselves and to spaceborne scientific applications. The experiments are split into three groups of error injections, with each group successively stressing the SIFT error detection and recovery more than the previous group. The results show that the SIFT environment adds negligible overhead to the application during failure-free runs. Only 11 cases were observed in which either the application failed to start or the SIFT environment failed to recognize that the application had completed. Further investigations showed that assertions within the SIFT processes-coupled with object-based incremental checkpointing-were effective in preventing system failures by protecting dynamic data within the SIFT processes.
Theme-Oriented Group Therapy.

Although there has been a rapid and recent increase in the use of "theme" groups, minimal empirical or conceptual evidence exists that articulates a model for developing and implementing theme group treatment. This article describes the three major influences on theme-oriented groups (theme-centered international, structured, and behavioral groups) and provides a comparison of the composition and structure of theme groups during the current decade. General principles underlying the development of theme-oriented groups are proffered.
G-protein coupled receptor kinase 5 regulates prostate tumor growth

Purpose: The limited success of cancer therapeutics is largely attributable to the ability of cancer to become resistant to conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy. Thus, further identification of signaling molecules and pathways that influence tumorigenesis is needed to increase the overall therapeutic options. GRKs, originally recognized for their conserved role in GPCR signal control, have now emerged as regulators of additional biological molecules and functions.Materials and Methods: We used Western blot analysis to determine GRK expression in prostate cancer and RNA interference to establish the role of GRK5 in prostate cancer growth and progression through the cell cycle.Results: GRK5 was expressed highly in the aggressive prostate cancer PC3 cell line and its silencing by RNA interference attenuated in vitro cell proliferation. PC3 cells that stably expressed lentiviral small hairpin RNA and targeted GRK5 evidence reduced xenograft tumor growth in mice. This was reversed by rescuing expression with wi...
A Markov-Decision-Chain Approach to a Stochastic Assignment Problem

This paper discusses a problem where jobs of random quality, or importance, arrive at random times and must be done by one of a fixed set of men on hand. The men can all complete any job in an exponential amount of time, with mean l/u, but the men are of different known qualities. Once a man finishes a job he again becomes available to do future jobs. If a man of quality p is assigned to do a job whose value is observed to be x, a reward rp,x is received. Also a cost of cp is incurred per unit time that a man of quality p is kept idle. The decision maker must observe the values of the incoming jobs and assign them to available men so as to maximize expected reward per unit time. The problem is set into the framework of a G/M/n queue with a possibly limited waiting room, and the optimization is done by techniques of Markov decision analysis.