cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Neural Substrates Underlying Eyeblink Classical Conditioning in Adults With Alcohol Use Disorders.

Background: Excessive alcohol consumption produces changes in the brain that often lead to cognitive impairments. One fundamental form of learning, eyeblink classical conditioning (EBC) has been widely used to study the neurobiology of learning and memory. Participants with alcohol use disorders (AUD) have consistently shown a behavioral deficit in EBC. The present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study is the first to examine brain function during conditioning in abstinent AUD participants and healthy participants.
Long-term results of frontline dasatinib in chronic myeloid leukemia

Background Dasatinib is a second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor that, when used as frontline therapy, produces more and faster cytogenetic and molecular responses compared with imatinib. The authors report the long-term follow-up from the first study using dasatinib as initial therapy for chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia. Methods Between November 2005 and August 2014, patients were randomly assigned to receive 100 mg daily or 50 mg twice daily. After June 2009, all patients started with 100 mg daily. Results With a median follow-up of 6.5 years, 94 of 149 treated patients (63%) were still receiving dasatinib on study. The median patient age was 48 years (interquartile range, 37-55 years), and 9% of patients had a high risk Sokal risk score. The cumulative complete cytogenetic response rate at 11 years was 92.6%, the major molecular response (MR) rate was 88.2%, and the MR4.5 rate (indicating a ≥4.5-log reduction in BCR-ABL1 transcripts) was 79.5%. The median time to a major MR and MR4.5 was 6 and 23 months, respectively. A sustained MR4.5 (≥2 years) was achieved in 82 patients (55%). The 10-year overall survival, transformation-free survival, event-free survival, and failure-free survival rates were 89%, 95%, 86%, and 65%, respectively. Univariate analysis showed that the achievement of a complete MR was associated with improved overall survival. The most common reasons for treatment discontinuation were toxicity and elective discontinuation. The most common treatment-emergent grade 3 and 4 adverse events were fatigue, thrombocytopenia, and infections. Conclusions After this long-term follow-up, dasatinib continues to show an excellent safety profile and produces rapid cytogenetic responses and MRs, durable deep MRs, and excellent long-term survival outcomes in patients with chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia.
Default Mode Network (Mentalizing) and Limbic Network for Explicit Episodic Memory Syndromes

In addition to clinical testing indicating a significant memory loss, brain scan lesions that implicate memory impairment are depicted in Fig. 8.1. The default mode network (DMN) may also be referred to as a memory network, as its key function is accessing memory and also creating memories. Major hubs of the DMN intrinsic connectivity network (ICN) are the medial parietal area and medial prefrontal area with other important areas including the lateral parietal, lateral temporal cortical areas, and posterior cingulate precuneus. On functional imaging, these regions show greatest a ctivity during the resting mode (Fig. 8.2). The precuneus region on its own consumes more than 35% of glucose, more than any other cortical region – hence the term “hot spots.” Furthermore, the precuneus and contiguous posteromedial cortical regions display marked deactivation in a number of cerebral pathophysiological conditions including the following.
Construction of a Human Platelet Alloantigen-1a Epitope(s) Within Murine Glycoprotein IIIa: Identification of Residues Critical to the Conformation of the Antibody Binding Site(s): Presented in part at the American Society of Hematology meeting, December 5-9, 1997, San Diego, CA.

Abstract The human platelet alloantigen 1 system (HPA-1) is determined by a polymorphism at position 33 in the N-terminus of human glycoprotein IIIa (GPIIIa). This naturally occurring substitution creates a conformation in the HPA-1a allelic form that can be antigenic when presented to an individual expressing the HPA-1b form. Anti–HPA-1a antibodies generated by this immune response can lead to the destruction of platelets, as seen in the clinical disorders, neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (NAIT) and posttransfusion purpura (PTP). To understand better the structural requirements for recognition by these pathogenic antibodies, we investigated the N-terminal 66 amino acids from the HPA-1a form of human GPIIIa and the analogous amino acids from the nonimmunogenic murine homolog. Our objectives were to define further the boundaries of the HPA-1a epitope(s) in the N-terminus of human GPIIIa, to isolate the murine 5' nucleotide sequence and compare the deduced murine N-terminal sequence to that of human, and to mutate the murine sequence systematically to include an HPA-1a epitope(s). Murine amino acids that differed from human were changed by site-directed mutagenesis to the analogous residues in the HPA-1a form of human GPIIIa, starting and radiating from murine position 33 (site of human polymorphism). This systematic approach allowed us to pinpoint amino acids critical to a conformation recognized by anti–HPA-1a antibodies. Our results show that an HPA-1a epitope can be created within the N-terminus of murine GPIIIa and raise the possibility that murine models of HPA-1a sensitization can be developed.
Pregnant women's perceptions of risks and benefits when considering participation in vaccine trials.

Abstract Introduction Despite historical exclusion, there has been recent recognition of the need to address the health of pregnant women in research on vaccines against emerging pathogens. However, pregnant women’s views and decision-making processes about vaccine research participation during infectious disease outbreaks remain underexplored. This study aims to examine women’s decision-making processes around vaccine research participation during infectious disease outbreaks. Methods We conducted qualitative semi-structured in-depth interviews with pregnant and recently pregnant women (n = 13), eliciting their views on four hypothetical Zika Virus vaccine research scenarios and probing their decision-making processes around participation. After recorded interviews were transcribed, thematic analysis was conducted based on a priori and emergent themes. Results Most women interviewed were accepting of vaccine research scenarios. Three broad themes—evidence, risk, and trust—characterized women’s decision-making processes. Women varied in how different types and levels of evidence impacted their considerations, which risks were most salient to their decision-making processes, and from whom they trusted recommendations about vaccine research participation. Exemplary quotes from each theme are presented, and lessons for vaccine development during the current COVID-19 pandemic and future outbreaks are discussed. Conclusion Some pregnant women are accepting of participation in vaccine research during infectious disease outbreaks. Incorporating their priorities into trial design may facilitate their participation and generation of evidence for this important population.
The competing risk of death and selective survival cannot fully explain the inverse cancer-dementia association

Introduction We evaluated whether competing risk of death or selective survival could explain the reported inverse association between cancer history and dementia incidence (incidence rate ratio [IRR] ≈ 0.62-0.85). Methods A multistate simulation model of a cancer- and dementia-free cohort of 65-year-olds was parameterized with real-world data (cancer and dementia incidence, mortality), assuming no effect of cancer on dementia (true IRR = 1.00). To introduce competing risk of death, cancer history increased mortality. To introduce selective survival, we included a factor (prevalence ranging from 10% to 50%) that reduced cancer mortality and dementia incidence (IRRs ranged from 0.30 to 0.90). We calculated IRRs for cancer history on dementia incidence in the simulated cohorts. Results Competing risk of death yielded unbiased cancer-dementia IRRs. With selective survival, bias was small (IRRs = 0.89 to 0.99), even under extreme scenarios. Discussion The bias induced by selective survival in simulations was too small to explain the observed inverse cancer-dementia link, suggesting other mechanisms drive this association.
RTP4 Is a Potent IFN-Inducible Anti-flavivirus Effector Engaged in a Host-Virus Arms Race in Bats and Other Mammals.

Summary Among mammals, bats are particularly rich in zoonotic viruses, including flaviviruses. Certain bat species can be productively yet asymptomatically infected with viruses that cause overt disease in other species. However, little is known about the antiviral effector repertoire in bats relative to other mammals. Here, we report the black flying fox receptor transporter protein 4 (RTP4) as a potent interferon (IFN)-inducible inhibitor of human pathogens in the Flaviviridae family, including Zika, West Nile, and hepatitis C viruses. Mechanistically, RTP4 associates with the flavivirus replicase, binds viral RNA, and suppresses viral genome amplification. Comparative approaches revealed that RTP4 undergoes positive selection, that a flavivirus can mutate to escape RTP4-imposed restriction, and that diverse mammalian RTP4 orthologs exhibit striking patterns of specificity against distinct Flaviviridae members. Our findings reveal an antiviral mechanism that has likely adapted over 100 million years of mammalian evolution to accommodate unique host-virus genetic conflicts.
Tidally excited oscillations in hot white dwarfs

We study the flux variation in helium white dwarfs (WDs) induced by dynamical tides for a variety of WD models with effective temperatures ranging from T=10 kK to T=26 kK. At linear order, we find the dynamical tide can significantly perturb the observed flux in hot WDs. If the temperature T≳14 kK, then the dynamical tide may induce a fractional change in the flux by >1% when the orbital period is P_(orb)≃20−60min. The ratio between the flux modulation due to the dynamical tide and that due to the equilibrium tide (i.e., ellipsoidal variability) increases as the WD's radius decreases, and it could exceed O(10) if the WD has a radius R≲0.03 R_⊙. Unlike the ellipsoidal variability which is in phase with the orbital motion, the pulsation caused by the dynamical tide may have a substantial phase shift. A cold WD with T≲10 kK, on the other hand, is unlikely to show observable pulsations due to the dynamical tide. At shorter orbital periods, the dynamical tide may become highly nonlinear. We approximate this regime by treating the waves as one-way traveling waves and find the flux variation is typically reduced to 0.1%-1% and the excess phase is likely to be 90 degrees (though with large uncertainty). Even in the traveling-wave limit, the flux perturbation due to dynamical tide could still exceed the ellipsoidal variability for compact WDs with R≲0.02R⊙. We further estimate the nonlinear flux perturbations oscillating at four times the orbital frequency dominated by a self-coupled parent g-mode driving low-order daughter p-modes. The nonlinear flux variation could be nearly 50% of the linear variation for very hot WD models with T≳26 kK and 1% linear flux variation. We thus predict both the linear and nonlinear flux variations due to dynamical tides are likely to have significant observational signatures.
Clinicopathologic Correlation of Preretinal Tissues in Myopic Traction Maculopathy.

PURPOSE To evaluate histopathologic features of preretinal tissues removed from eyes with myopic traction maculopathy (MTM). METHODS We retrospectively studied preretinal tissue specimens from eyes with MTM removed during pars plana vitrectomy. A control group of six idiopathic epiretinal membranes was studied for comparison. RESULTS Six MTM specimens were studied histopathologically. Outer retinal schisis-like thickening was present in 100% of preoperative optical coherence tomography images; four of the six eyes had subfoveal neurosensory retinal detachment. Postoperative optical coherence tomography images demonstrated complete resolution of the schisis-like appearance in all eyes; a full-thickness macular hole occurred in two of the six eyes. Histopathologic examination disclosed fibrocellular tissue that was strongly positive for glial fibrillary acidic protein, weak to moderately positive for cytokeratin, and weakly positive for smooth muscle actin and CD68. There were no apparent histopathologic or immunohistochemical differences between preretinal tissues from eyes with MTM and idiopathic epiretinal membranes from control eyes. CONCLUSION The outer retinal schisis-like thickening, commonly associated with subretinal fluid, that characterizes MTM is associated with preretinal tissues that are histopathologically indistinguishable from idiopathic epiretinal membranes. These findings suggest that anteroposterior traction caused by axial elongation rather than a uniquely abnormal cellular process is the etiologic mechanism of MTM.
Growth dynamics and heritability for plant high-throughput phenotyping studies using hierarchical functional data analysis.

In modern high-throughput plant phenotyping, images of plants of different genotypes are repeatedly taken throughout the growing season, and phenotypic traits of plants (e.g., plant height) are extracted through image processing. It is of interest to recover whole trait trajectories and their derivatives at both genotype and plant levels based on observations made at irregular discrete time points. We propose to model trait trajectories using hierarchical functional principal component analysis (HFPCA) and show that the problem of recovering derivatives of the trajectories is reduced to estimating derivatives of eigenfunctions, which is solved by differentiating eigenequations. Based on HFPCA, we also propose a new measure for the broad-sense heritability by allowing it to vary over time during plant growth. Simulation studies show that the proposed procedure performs better than its competitors in terms of recovering both trait trajectories and their derivatives. Interesting characteristics of plant growth and heritability dynamics are revealed in the application to a modern plant phenotyping study.
The Bell Curve: Some Implications for the Discipline of School Psychology and the Practices of School Psychology

The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life provides a provocative examination of the influence of intelligence in life outcomes and offers provocative suggestions for nationa...
Book Review: Meaningful Course Revision: Enhancing Academic Engagement Using Student Learning Data by Catherine Wehlburg (Jossey-Bass, 2007)

Excerpt: In Meaningful Course Revision: Enhancing Academic Engagement Using Student Learning Data, Wehlburg persuasively argues that letting evidence guide change and innovation is perhaps the only way to break the dysfunctional tradition of what may be termed “teaching as telling” and “grading to the bell curve.” Throughout the book, Wehlburg convincingly argues that assessment is not yet another chore that faculty and administrators are obliged to perform, but an integrated set of activities that enhances learning and provides the feedback teachers and institutions need in order to improve learning outcomes and implement innovations in teaching. In Chapter 1, “Data-based Decision-Making,” Wehlburg effectively makes the case for data-driven course redesign. Better yet, in Chapter 2, Wehlburg asserts that many faculty members are already engaged in performing assessments, they are just not aware of how to make use of the data to revise their courses.
Language, Violence, and Queer People

Summary The lives of queer people are too frequently filled with violence—physical attacks, social discrimination, and hate-filled verbal assaults. Language serves multiple purposes in the violence that is directed at queers. While the words themselves become instruments of psychological harm, they, in turn, are used to rationalize or justify acts of physical violence and social discrimination (Pierce, 1990). To analyze the issues regarding queer people, social discourse, and violence, this essay addresses: communication rules about queers and a formula for change in the discourse; the history of changing labels and meaning; enforcers of the dominant discourse and its rules of communication; and the role social workers should play in challenging and shaping the discourse.
Flexible Data Cubes for Online Aggregation

Applications like Online Analytical Processing depend heavily on the ability to quickly summarize large amounts of information. Techniques were proposed recently that speed up aggregate range queries on MOLAP data cubes by storing pre-computed aggregates. These approaches try to handle data cubes of any dimensionality by dealing with all dimensions at the same time and treat the different dimensions uniformly. The algorithms are typically complex, and it is difficult to prove their correctness and to analyze their performance. We present a new technique to generate Iterative Data Cubes (IDC) that addresses these problems. The proposed approach provides a modular framework for combining one-dimensional aggregation techniques to create space-optimal high-dimensional data cubes. A large variety of cost tradeoffs for high-dimensional IDC can be generated, making it easy to find the right configuration based on the application requirements.
Combining Affymetrix microarray results

As the use of microarray technology becomes more prevalent it is not unusual to find several laboratories employing the same microarray technology to identify genes related to the same condition in the same species. Although the experimental specifics are similar, typically a different list of statistically significant genes result from each data analysis. We propose a statistically-based meta-analytic approach to microarray analysis for the purpose of systematically combining results from the different laboratories. This approach provides a more precise view of genes that are significantly related to the condition of interest while simultaneously allowing for differences between laboratories. Of particular interest is the widely used Affymetrix oligonucleotide array, the results of which are naturally suited to a meta-analysis. A simulation model based on the Affymetrix platform is developed to examine the adaptive nature of the meta-analytic approach and to illustrate the usefulness of such an approach in combining microarray results across laboratories. The approach is then applied to real data involving a mouse model for multiple sclerosis. The quantitative estimates from the meta-analysis model tend to be closer to the "true" degree of differential expression than any single lab. Meta-analytic methods can systematically combine Affymetrix results from different laboratories to gain a clearer understanding of genes' relationships to specific conditions of interest.
Two-Level Models of Hypertext

A two-level model of hypertext is one in which a set of texts is augmented with an ancillary structure that captures some aspect of the meaning of those texts. Links between texts are routed through the ancillary structure. This chapter surveys the wide range of two-level hypertext models that have been developed in the past few years. Declarative ancillary structures have included semantic nets, Petri nets, Bayesian nets, and clustering schemes. Procedural ancillary structures have been used to identify new links dynamically, and to create large sets of static links. Advantages of two-level models include greater link expressiveness, increased user control over the appearance and semantics of links, decreased hypertext construction costs, and improved robustness in the face of changing and ill-formed texts.
Knowledge Management and Performance: A Fit Perspective

The impact of knowledge management systems on organizational performance continues to be an under researched area. What complicates the area of knowledge management is the lack of understanding about the concept of knowledge. This paper focuses on knowledge to tease out the differences between information and knowledge as used by information systems. The thrust of the paper is to develop a model for understanding how a knowledge management system impacts performance. The paper presents a research model that argues that performance needs to be examined in terms of the fit between two constructs, knowledge sharing needs and knowledge processing capacity. The antecedents of each of these constructs are developed. Finally, we outline a research study using the model developed. The study focuses on the use a knowledge portal, as an instance of knowledge management system, as an intervention to improve knowledge processing capacity.
Expression of telomerase activity and telomerase RNA in human soft tissue sarcomas.

Abstract Objective.—To investigate whether telomerase is reactivated in soft tissue tumor and whether telomerase activity is regulated at the transcriptional level. Design.—Fresh tissue samples of 24 soft tissue sarcomas were analyzed for telomerase activity by a radioactive polymerase chain reaction–based telomeric repeat amplification protocol assay and for human telomerase RNA (hTR) by an in situ hybridization assay. Setting.—Tertiary care teaching hospital. Patients.—Twenty-four patients with soft tissue tumor were surgically treated. Twelve patients had malignant fibrous histiocytoma, 5 had liposarcoma, 6 had leiomyosarcoma, and 1 had rhabdomyosarcoma. Results.—Telomerase activity was detected in 4 sarcoma samples (17%), all of which were positive for hTR. Expression of hTR was demonstrated in 13 sarcomas (54%), 4 of which were positive for telomerase and 9 of which were negative for telomerase. One (50%) of 2 grade 1 tumors, 9 (50%) of 18 grade 2 tumors, and 3 (75%) of 4 grade 3 tumors showed hTR ex...
Genome-wide association study of triglyceride response to a high-fat meal among participants of the NHLBI Genetics of Lipid Lowering Drugs and Diet Network (GOLDN)

Objective The triglyceride (TG) response to a high-fat meal (postprandial lipemia, PPL) affects cardiovascular disease risk and is influenced by genes and environment. Genes involved in lipid metabolism have dominated genetic studies of PPL TG response. We sought to elucidate common genetic variants through a genome-wide association (GWA) study in the Genetics of Lipid Lowering Drugs and Diet Network (GOLDN).
Suggestive eyewitness identification procedures and the Supreme Court's reliability test in light of eyewitness science: 30 years later.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling concerning suggestive eyewitness identification procedures (Manson v. Braithwaite, 1977, 432 U.S. 98) has not been revisited by the Court in the intervening 30+ years. Meanwhile, scientific studies of eyewitnesses have progressed and DNA exonerations show that mistaken identification is the primary cause of convictions of the innocent. We analyzed the two-inquiry logic in Manson in light of eyewitness science. Several problems are discussed. Ironically, we note that suggestive identification procedures (determined in the first inquiry) boost the eyewitnesses’ standing on three of the five criteria (used in the second inquiry) that are used to decide whether the suggestive procedures were a problem. The net effect undermines safeguards intended by the Court and destroys incentives to avoid suggestive procedures.
When Do Female Role Models Benefit Women? The Importance of Differentiating Recruitment From Retention in STEM

Increasing the participation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) involves two distinct challenges. One is increasing the retention of women who are already in STEM ...
The flexible use of multiple cue relationships in spatial navigation: a comparison of water maze performance following hippocampal, medial septal, prefrontal cortex, or posterior parietal cortex lesions

Rats prepared with lesions of the prefrontal cortex, posterior parietal cortex, hippocampus, or medial septal area were tested for acquisition of a number of variations of the open-field water maze using a version of place learning assessment described by Eichenbaum, Stewart, and Morris (1991). Specifically, the individual role of the aforementioned cortical and subcortical structures in tasks with differing representational demands on navigation were assessed. The results suggest that the sham-operated control, posterior parietal cortex-lesioned rats, and medial septal area-lesioned rats were able to navigate effectively under changing task conditions. Conversely, the navigational performances of the prefrontal cortex- and hippocampal formation-lesioned rats were impaired when task demands changed. The results are discussed in terms of the flexible use of multiple distal cues to guide navigation and the resulting loss of this flexibility after lesions to either the prefrontal cortex or the hippocampus.
Babesia bigemina, Babesia argentina, and Anaplasma marginale: Coinfectious immunity in bovines.

Abstract Forty-eight intact and eight splenectomized cattle were used to evaluate different systems of coinfectious immunization against Babesia bigemina, Babesia argentina, and Anaplasma marginale. Coinfectious immunity was induced by two methods: (1) blood of cattle acutely infected with B. bigemina, B. argentina and A. marginale was used as the source of inoculum and the post vaccination reactions were chemotherapeutically controlled with Imidocarb, Ganaseg, Gloxazone, and Liquamycin, and (2) by artificially inducing babesiosis with the blood of carrier cattle with chronic infections of B. bigemina and B. argentina without chemotherapy. The degree of resistance was determined by bloodborne and tick-borne challenges. Ticks were collected from cattle and identified as Boophilus microplus and Dermacentor nitens. Vaccinated cattle demonstrated a high degree of resistance to babesiosis and anaplasmosis; however, cattle without coinfectious immunity were treated chemotherapeutically to prevent death losses.
Isotherm and X-ray diffraction studies of mixed monolayers

We have studied Langmuir monolayers of saturated fatty acid-alcohol mixtures (same chain length) and acid-acid mixtures (different chain length) using isotherms and X-ray diffraction. The diffraction data confirm that the constituents are miscible, and that at zero pressure the mixed acid-alcohol monolayer areas are less than the areas of the pure components. We have determined the phase diagrams of a number of different mixtures. In any given phase, the intermolecular distances measured perpendicular to the molecules are independent of the pressure and of the constituents of the mixture. However, the location of some phase boundaries is a strong function of the composition of the mixture.
Relation of Age and Passive Properties of an Ankle Dorsiflexion Stretch to the Timed One-Leg Stance Test in Older Women

26 older women (aged 65 to 89 years) participated in this study, which examined the relationship of age and passive properties of a dorsiflexion stretch of the calf muscle-tendon unit with one-leg stance times. Age was negatively correlated with the time stance (r = –.75). The maximal passive dorsiflexion angle, length extensibility, maximal passive dorsiflexion torque, and the area under the passive curve (total passive elastic energy) were all positively correlated with the stance time (range: r = .49–69). A multiple regression analysis indicated age was the best predictor of the times. Age and the maximal passive dorsiflexion angle together accounting for 71% of the variance in the time (R = .84, R2 = .71). The addition of the remaining passive measurements did not improve the variance accounted for in the one-leg stance time. The results indicated that the maximal ankle dorsiflexion range of motion may be important for one-leg standing balance of older women. Accordingly, stretching exercises designed...
Dynamic Assessment: fairness through the prism of mediation

Dynamic Assessment (DA) originated in the writings of L.S. Vygotsky more than 80 years ago, and despite its popularity among a small community of specialists it is not widely pursued by educational...
Neural correlates of fingerspelling, text, and sign processing in deaf American Sign Language–English bilinguals

We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify the neural regions that support comprehension of fingerspelled words, printed words, and American Sign Language (ASL) signs in deaf ASL–English bilinguals. Participants made semantic judgements (concrete–abstract?) to each lexical type, and hearing non-signers served as controls. All three lexical types engaged a left frontotemporal circuit associated with lexical semantic processing. Both printed and fingerspelled words activated the visual word form area for deaf signers only. Fingerspelled words were more left lateralised than signs, paralleling the difference between reading and listening for spoken language. Greater activation in left supramarginal gyrus was observed for signs compared to fingerspelled words, supporting its role in processing sign-specific phonology. Fingerspelling ability was negatively correlated with activation in left occipital cortex, while ASL ability was negatively correlated with activation in right angular gyrus. Over...
Using Energy Systems Theory To Define, Measure, and Interpret Ecological Integrity and Ecosystem Health

ABSTRACT Energy systems theory provides a theoretical basis for defining, measuring, and interpreting the concepts of ecological integrity and ecosystem health. Ecological integrity is defined as an emergent property of ecosystems operating at maximum power that can be quantified using validated Energy Systems models. The cumulative empower production (emergy) calculated using these models is proposed as a measure of ecological integrity. Ecological integrity must be interpreted within the context of an ecosystem's position within the relevant hierarchies of organization and cycles of change that control system behavior. The local integrity and health of an ecosystem are normative concepts because they are evaluated relative to a standard or reference state. The underlying emergy signature responsible for generating ecosystem organization provides an expectation for this reference state. Ecosystems also have global integrity, which is manifested as the flexibility to maximize empower over time in the face of changing external forcing functions. Global integrity has no fixed reference but can be evaluated by comparing alternative system designs. Because the maximum empower principle is a general law that applies to all self-organizing systems on all scales, these definitions for ecological integrity and ecosystem health apply to both natural ecosystems and ecosystems dominated by human activities. Human-dominated ecosystems with the highest integrity will be those in which the sum of the empower produced by the economy and its supporting ecosystems is close to a maximum.
Tropical Tree Richness and Resource-Based Niches

In assessing the role of treefall gaps in maintaining species richness in a tropical forest, S. P. Hubbell et al . ([1][1]) provide a test of the intermediate disturbance hypothesis, which predicts greater species richness in gaps than in mature forest. Hubbell et al . find more tree species per
Failure Detection Framework for Stochastic Discrete Event Systems With Guaranteed Error Bounds

This paper studies the online fault detection for stochastic discrete-event systems (DESs) under partial observability of events. Prior works have only studied the verification of the stochastic diagnosability (S-Diagnosability) property. To the best of our knowledge, this is a first paper that investigates the online detection schemes and also introduces the notions of their missed detections (MDs) and false alarms (FAs). Due to the probabilistic nature of the problem, MDs and FAs are possible even for S-Diagnosable systems, and we establish that S-Diagnosability is a necessary and sufficient condition for achieving any desired levels of MD and FA rates. We also provide a detection scheme, that can achieve the specified MD and FA rates, based on comparing a suitable detection statistic, that we define, with a suitable detection threshold, that we algorithmically compute. We also algorithmically compute the corresponding detection delay bound. The detection scheme also works for non-S-Diagnosable systems, with the difference that in this case there exists a lower bound for achievable MD rate, that increases as the FA rate requirement is made more stringent by decreasing it.
Blood and body fluid exposure risks among health care workers: results from the Duke Health and Safety Surveillance System.

Background Health care workers (HCWs) are at risk of exposures to human blood and body fluids (BBF). Needlestick injuries and splashes place HCWs at risk for numerous blood-borne infections including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B (HBV), and hepatitis C (HCV). Utilizing a new comprehensive occupational health surveillance system, the objective of this research was to better define the BBF exposure risk and risk factors among employees of a large tertiary medical center. Methods A population of 24,425 HCWs employed in jobs with potential BBF exposures was followed for BBF exposure events from 1998 to 2002. BBF exposure rates were calculated for strata defined by age, race, gender, occupation, work location, and duration of employment. Poisson regression was used for detailed analyses of risk factors for BBF exposure. Results The study population reported 2,730 BBF exposures during the study period, resulting in an overall annual rate of 5.5 events/100 FTEs and a rate of 3.9 for percutaneous exposures. Higher rates were observed for males, persons employed less than 4 years, Hispanic employees, and persons less than 45 years of age. Much higher rates were observed for house staff, nurse anesthetists, inpatient nurses, phlebotomists, and surgical/operating room technicians. Poisson regression results strengthened and extended results from stratified analyses. Rates of percutaneous exposures from hollow needles were found to decrease over the study period; however, exposure rates from suture needles appear to be increasing. Conclusion While continued training efforts need to be directed toward new HCWs, our data also suggest that employees who have been in their job 1–4 years continue to be at higher risk of BBF exposures. This research also points to the need for better safety devices/products and work practices to reduce suture-related injuries. Am. J. Ind. Med. 46:637–648, 2004. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Clinical infections of Vibrio vulnificus: a case report and review of the literature.

Vibrio vulnificus is a marine Gram-negative bacillus that is recognized as a cause of fulminant primary septicemia and wound infections. One of the most common bacteria in seawater, V. vulnificus is concentrated in ocean filter feeders (e.g., oysters and clams). Primary septicemia can occur in patients, typically with underlying liver disease, who have acquired the organism through the gastrointestinal tract after recent consumption of raw shellfish. Characterized by fevers, chills, and bullous skin lesions, V. vulnificus septicemia is associated with a mortality greater than 50%. With septic shock, mortality approaches 100%. Wound infections are seen after injury to the skin in a marine environment or from exposure of preexisting wounds to seawater. Because of the high morbidity and mortality associated with V. vulnificus infections, effective treatment includes preventive measures to educate high-risk individuals, early search for and recognition of the disease, aggressive antibiotic therapy, supportive care, and, in the case of wound infections, aggressive debridement. Review of this subject was prompted by a case of V. vulnificus primary septicemia and fulminant septic shock in a patient with the unusual presentation of pain in the lower extremities.
A high-temperature photoelectron spectrometer

Abstract A description is given of a newly-developed photoelectron spectrometer designed specifically for the observation of the vapors of compounds which are volatilized to give pressures around 10 −2 torr in the interaction region at temperatures up to about 1000°C. A unique feature of the instrument is its internally-located vaporization oven, the heating power for which is imported by a laser beam. Experimental data have been obtained which indicate that the apparatus functions as it was designed.
Effective polarizability of polarizable atoms near metal surfaces

Abstract : The density functional formalism of an inhomogeneous electron gas is applied to compute the effective polarizability of polarizable atoms and molecules adsorbed on metal surfaces. The metal is treated in the 'jellium' approximation and the adatom is approximated by a point dipole. The effects of screening of a small uniform external field are also considered. This approach is found to yield effective polarizabilities compatible with experiment and is expected to provide a useful qualitative description of the effective polarizability of atoms and molecules absorbed on metal surfaces.
Role of lattice hydroxyls of kaolinite in phosphate fixation and their replacement by fluoride

Abstract This investigation was made with the purpose of studying the role that lattice hydroxyls play on phosphate fixation, and the effect of fluoride ions on the surface lattice hydroxyls of kaolinite. The results obtained by means of quantitative infrared spectroscopy show that phosphate ions do not replace surface lattice hydroxyls of kaolinite. Accordingly, titration of excess alkalinity produced when kaolinite is placed in contact with fluoride solutions and direct infrared spectroscopic analysis of hydroxyl content show that lattice hydroxyls are replaced by fluoride. In fact, in a case where the fluoride solution was 0.40 N it was found that 22% of the lattice hydroxyls were replaced by fluoride ions. X-ray powder photographs of untreated and fluorinated kaolinite show that the “d” spacings and the intensities have remained the same, indicating that the crystal structure of kaolinite has not been altered.
Application of statistics to dielectrics

THE INSULATION FIELD is well supplied with a very large variety of materials. When these materials are used in large quantities, such as slot insulation in a motor, the uniformity of the material over a long period of time is essential. This uniformity is assured only by the adequacy of the specification and the faithfulness of the manufacture, the inspection, and the test.
Differential effects of amygdalectomy in male and female nonhuman primates.

Lesions in the amygdaloid nuclei have different effects on male and female monkeys. While there is typically a redirection in aggressive behavior, and changes in sexual behavior, there are also instances of heightened aggressivity. This paradoxical effect appears to be restricted to females. Evidence exists linking this sex difference to gonadal hormones and differential aspects of the central nervous system in the male and the female.
Acknowledging the Influence of Geographic Outliers: An Analytical Caution in Examining Chronic Repeat Victimization

Evidence suggests that repeat victimization at specific addresses is higher in areas identified by computer algorithms as being ‘hot spots’. Recently developed explanations for the existence of repeat victimization2 within high-crime areas extend the tenets of crime pattern and routine activities theories. The emerging hypotheses account for the apparent overlap by suggesting that offenders in the area are more prolific (returning to known or ‘quickly replenishing’ opportunity more frequently) or that there is a concentration of nearby offenders whose routine activities expose them to the same victims.3 The current demonstration presents a methodological caution to those engaged in this stream of research. Some of the apparent overlap between chronic repeat victimization at precise addresses and hot spots can be attributed to analytic factors associated with the mapping software used to identify geographic concentrations of crime. This implies the need for careful consideration of the appropriateness of analytic strategies that are significantly influenced by the presence of extreme values or spatial outliers.
Sexual function in young women with spontaneous 46,XX primary ovarian insufficiency.

Objective To assess sexual function in women with spontaneous 46,XX primary ovarian insufficiency after at least 3 months of a standardized hormone replacement regimen. Design Cross-sectional cohort, controlled. Setting National Institutes of Health Clinical Research Center. Patient(s) Women with primary ovarian insufficiency (n = 143) and regularly menstruating controls (n = 70). Intervention(s) Self-administered questionnaires, 100 μg/day E 2 patch, oral medroxyprogesterone acetate 10 mg for 12 days each month for patients. Main Outcome Measure(s) Derogatis Interview for Sexual Function Self-Report (DISF-SR). Result(s) Women with primary ovarian insufficiency had significantly lower DISF-SR composite scores compared with control women. Their serum total testosterone levels were significantly correlated with DISF-SR composite score, although this accounted for only 4% of the variance in this measure. Patients with testosterone levels below normal tended to have lower DISF-SR composite scores. Of patients with primary ovarian insufficiency, 9 of 127 (7%) scored below the second percentile on the composite sexual function score, compared with 1 of 49 control women (2%). Conclusion(s) As assessed by the DISF-SR, sexual function is in the normal range for most young women with 46,XX spontaneous primary ovarian insufficiency who are receiving physiologic E 2 replacement. However, as a group, these young women score significantly lower on this sexual function scale than control women.
Edges in the poset of partitions of an integer

Abstract The edges in the Hasse diagram of the partitions of an integer ordered by reverse refinement are studied. A recursive count of the edges between ranks is developed.
Areal and laminar differentiation in the mouse neocortex using large scale gene expression data

Although cytoarchitectonic organization of the mammalian cortex into different lamina has been well-studied, identifying the architectural differences that distinguish cortical areas from one another is more challenging. Localization of large anatomical structures is possible using magnetic resonance imaging or invasive techniques (such as anterograde or retrograde tracing), but identifying patterns in gene expression architecture is limited as gene products do not necessarily identify an immediate functional consequence of a specialized area. Expression of specific genes in the mouse and human cortex is most often identified across entire lamina, and areal patterning of expression (when it exists) is most easily differentiated on a layer-by-layer basis. Since cortical organization is defined by the expression of large sets of genes, the task of identifying individual (or groups of structures) cannot be done using individual areal markers. In this manuscript we describe a methodology for clustering gene expression correlation profiles in the C57Bl/6J mouse cortex to identify large-scale genetic relationships between layers and areas. By using the Anatomic Gene Expression Atlas (http://mouse.brain-map.org/agea/) derived from in situ hybridization data in the Allen Brain Atlas, we show that a consistent expression based organization of areal patterning in the mouse cortex exists when clustered on a laminar basis. Surface-based mapping and visualization techniques are used as a representation to clarify these relationships.
Quantum-mechanical Maxwell’s demon

A Maxwell's demon is a device that gets information and trades it in for thermodynamic advantage, in apparent (but not actual) contradiction to the second law of thermodynamics. Quantum-mechanical versions of Maxwell's demon exhibit features that classical versions do not: in particular, a device that gets information about a quantum system disturbs it in the process. This paper proposes experimentally realizable models of quantum Maxwell's demons, explicates their thermodynamics, and shows how the information produced by quantum measurement and by decoherence acts as a source of thermodynamic inefficiency.
The Collocates of Women in Liberal Versus Politico-Islamic Discourse

Abstract The status of women in the Middle East has always been a a controversial issue, but there does not seem to have been quantitative studies of how the political and religious attitudes reflect on the presentation of women in the Arabic media. The current study examines the way women are presented in two websites of general circulation with the purpose of unearthing the linguistic connections of “woman” in liberal versus politico-Islamic discourse. The study uses computational and corpus linguistics techniques to investigate a corpus of 40 million words extracted from the political Islamic website http://www.ikhwanonline.com and the liberal website www.almasry-alyoum.com in search for the collocates of the word “woman” in all its possible morphological representations. Due to the morphological richness of Arabic, the words were first stemmed, i.e. all the clitics were removed from the words, before all words within the range of 5 words before and after “woman” were subjected to collocational analysi...
165 Prostaglandin E2 Regulates Normal and Keloid Fibroblast Migration and Collagen Synthesis: Implications for Wound Healing

Background: Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) is an important inflammatory mediator, which has been shown to regulate fibroblast chemotaxis and extracellular matrix production through four G-coupled protein receptors (EP1, EP2, EP3, EP4). Previous studies have linked abnormal PGE2 signaling with the development of improper damage repair and tissue fibrosis in the airway. This study begins to address the role of PGE2 in dermal fibrosis, particularly keloid formation. Such an analysis is consistent with data indicating inflammatory/immune abnormalities associated with keloids. Hypothesis: Keloid fibroblasts respond to PGE2 appropriately, but in a quantitatively diminished manner. Methods: Cultured fibroblasts from normal human skin and keloid lesions were used for these studies. Fibroblast migration was assayed using a well established two dimensional motility assay. Collagen production was analyzed using Western blot and commercial ELISA methodology. Results: Administration of PGE2 decreased keloid fibroblast migration in a dose-dependent manner, via a mechanism which appears to involve the EP2/EP4-cAMP-PKA signal transduction pathway. PGE2 reversed the transforming growth factor β-1-induced increase in collagen type I in both normal and keloid fibroblasts. Discussion: Our hypothesis is partially supported by the results, which show that the response of keloid fibroblasts to PGE2 is qualitatively and quantitatively identical to normal fibroblasts. PGE2 decreases the rates of migration and collagen synthesis of keloid fibroblasts, raising the possibility that exogenous PGE2 may have potential therapeutic applications to reduce keloid formation. Acknowledgments: The authors would like to thank Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh for providing funding for this research.
First structural investigation of a super-hydrated zeolite.

Science Highlights First Structural Investigation of a Super-Hydrated Zeolite Yongjae Lee,1 Thomas Vogt,1 Joseph A. Hriljac,2 John B. Parise,3 and Gilberto Artioli4 1Physics Dept, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 2School of Chemical Sciences, The University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK 3Geosciences Dept, State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY 4University Milan, Dipartimento Sci. Terra, Milan, Italy