cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
POLARIZED INTERCELLULAR BRIDGES IN OVARIAN FOLLICLES OF THE CECROPIA MOTH

Fluorescein-labeled rabbit serum globulin was injected into vitellogenic oocytes of the cecropia moth. Though the label spread throughout the ooplasm in less than 30 min, it was unable even after 2 h to cross the complex of intercellular bridges connecting the oocyte to its seven nurse cells. After injection into a single nurse cell, fluorescence was detected in the oocyte adjacent to the bridge complex within 3 min and had spread throughout the ooplasm in 30 min. Here also, the cell bodies of the six uninjected nurse cells remained nonfluorescent. Four of the nurse cells are not bridged directly to the oocyte but only through the apical ends of their siblings. Unidirectional movement must therefore occur in the apical cytoplasm of the nurse cells, as well as in the intercellular bridges. The nurse cells of healthy follicles had an intracellular electrical potential -40 mV relative to blood or dissecting solution, while oocytes measured -30 mV. A mV difference was also detected by direct comparison between a ground electrode in one cell and a recording electrode in the other. Three conditions were found in which the 10 mV difference was reduced or reversed in polarity. In all three cases fluorescent globulin was able in some degree to cross the bridges from the oocyte to the nurse cells.
Carbon Sequestration in the New Jersey Pine Barrens Under Different Scenarios of Fire Management

The New Jersey Pine Barrens (NJPB) is the largest forested area along the northeastern coast of the United States. The NJPB are dominated by pine (Pinus spp.) and oak (Quercus spp.) stands that are fragmented and subject to frequent disturbance and forest management. Over long time periods (>50 years), the balance between oak and pine dominance is determined by fire frequency. As a consequence, the ability of the NJPB to sequester carbon may be contingent upon management activities as well as patterns of historic land use. We simulated 100 years of carbon change using three scenarios: (1) contemporary management as reflected in the recent (1991‐2006) fire records, (2) an increase in the fire ignitions within the wildland urban interface areas of the NJPB reflecting increased prescribed fires, and (3) a longer response time to wildfires, reflecting a more liberal burning policy by the New Jersey Forest Fire Service. We used the LANDIS-II model coupled with CENTURY and the Dynamic Fire and Dynamic Biomass Fuels extensions to estimate forest carbon sequestration based on these three scenarios. Calibration and validation via comparison to monthly flux tower data indicated that the model reasonably captured the timing and magnitude of net ecosystem exchange in the absence of Gypsy moth defoliation (r 2 = 0.89). Under all scenarios, our simulations suggest that forests of the NJPB will continue to accumulate carbon over the next 100 years under current climatic conditions. Although aboveground net primary productivity, live carbon, and detrital carbon were roughly constant or increased only modestly, soil organic carbon continued to increase through time for all forest types except the highly xeric pine plains. Our simulated changes in management reflected only minor alterations to the fire regime and thus management may have only minor effects on total forest carbon budgets in the immediate future particularly when compared to recovery from historic disturbance patterns.
Algal Functional Annotation Tool: a web-based analysis suite to functionally interpret large gene lists using integrated annotation and expression data

Background: Progress in genome sequencing is proceeding at an exponential pace, and several new algal genomes are becoming available every year. One of the challenges facing the community is the association of protein sequences encoded in the genomes with biological function. While most genome assembly projects generate annotations for predicted protein sequences, they are usually limited and integrate functional terms from a limited number of databases. Another challenge is the use of annotations to interpret large lists of ‘interesting’ genes generated by genome-scale datasets. Previously, these gene lists had to be analyzed across several independent biological databases, often on a gene-by-gene basis. In contrast, several annotation databases, such as DAVID, integrate data from multiple functional databases and reveal underlying biological themes of large gene lists. While several such databases have been constructed for animals, none is currently available for the study of algae. Due to renewed interest in algae as potential sources of biofuels and the emergence of multiple algal genome sequences, a significant need has arisen for such a database to process the growing compendiums of algal genomic data. Description: The Algal Functional Annotation Tool is a web-based comprehensive analysis suite integrating annotation data from several pathway, ontology, and protein family databases. The current version provides annotation for the model alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, and in the future will include additional genomes. The site allows users to interpret large gene lists by identifying associated functional terms, and their enrichment. Additionally, expression data for several experimental conditions were compiled and analyzed to provide an expression-based enrichment search. A tool to search for functionally-related genes based on gene expression across these conditions is also provided. Other features include dynamic visualization of genes on KEGG pathway maps and batch gene identifier conversion. Conclusions: The Algal Functional Annotation Tool aims to provide an integrated data-mining environment for algal genomics by combining data from multiple annotation databases into a centralized tool. This site is designed to expedite the process of functional annotation and the interpretation of gene lists, such as those derived from high-throughput RNA-seq experiments. The tool is publicly available at http://pathways.mcdb. ucla.edu.
On inverse multiplicative eigenvalue problems for matrices

Abstract Let A be an n × n complex-valued matrix, all of whose principal minors are distinct from zero. Then there exists a complex diagonal matrix D , such that the spectrum of AD is a given set σ = {λ 1 ,…,λ n } in C . The number of different matrices D is at most n !.
GSTM1 NULL POLYMORPHISM AT THE GLUTATHIONE S-TRANSFERASE M1 LOCUS IN CHILDHOOD LIVER DISEASE. • 253

Glutathlone S-transferases (alpha, mu, theta, and pi) are a family of detoxifying enzymes which catalyze the conjugation of glutathione to electrophilic compounds. About 50% of the human population has the GSTM1 0/0 genotype resulting in the lack of the mu transferase enzyme. This population has approximately 50% less total hepatic glutathione S-transferase activity. It has been suggested that this genotype is associated with an increased risk of toxin-induced disease. For example, adults with alcohol-induced liver disease have an increased frequency of the GSTM1 0/0 genotype, while adults with primary biliary cirrhosis do not. No published data exists on the frequency of the GSTM1 0/0 genotype in childhood liver diseases.Purpose: To establish the frequency of the GSTM1 0/0 genotype in children who receive liver transplantation for biliary atresia/cirrhosis, hepatitis, or α1 antitrypsin deficiency. Methods: DNA was purified from native liver specimens from children undergoing liver transplantation, and from donor splenocytes. Differential PCR amplification was used to evaluate the GSTM1 genotype in 137 donor spleen specimens and 178 recipient liver specimens. Results: The GSTM1 0/0 frequency observed was 48% (66/137) in controls, 54% (54/100) in children with biliary atresia/biliary cirrhosis, 65% (17/26) in children with α1 antitrypsin deficiency, and 44% (22/50) in children with hepatitis. Children with α1 antitrypsin deficiency showed a trend towards an increased frequency of GSTM1 0/0 compared to controls (p=0.10, Chi-Square).Conclusions: The GSTM1 0/0 genotype does not appear to be an important risk factor for the development of liver failure in children with biliary atresia/cirrhosis or hepatitis. Increased patient numbers will be necessary to determine whether an increased GSTM1 0/0 genotype frequency occurs in children with liver failure secondary to α1 antitrypsin deficiency.
Comparison of Mucosal Competitive Exclusion and Competitive Exclusion Treatment to Reduce Salmonella and Campylobacter spp. Colonization in Broiler Chickens

Control of Salmonella spp. during the earliest phases of broiler production may provide the best opportunity to reduce human pathogens on processed broiler carcasses. Application of the "Nurmi concept" has been demonstrated to be an effective means in reducing Salmonella colonization among broiler chicks. In 1989, Aho et al. developed a competitive exclusion (CE) culture for control of Salmonella spp., whereas a mucosal competitive exclusion culture (MCE) developed in the United States was originally created to control Campylobacter colonization (Stern et al., 1995). The major differences in the two patents were the higher level of anaerobic culture required, the degree of epithelial scraping and washing of the ceca, media used for subculturing, and the culture incubation temperatures (35 C vs. 42 C). The CE and MCE were compared for efficacy in reducing Salmonella and Campylobacter colonization in broiler chicks. Nine adult birds (three for each of three replicates) were slaughtered, and each of a bird's paired ceca were used to produce corresponding antagonistic microflora, which were administered to day-of-hatch chicks. The chicks (a total of 210) were challenged 24 h later with Salmonella and Campylobacter and were killed 1 wk later, and levels of the pathogens were determined. Ninety CE-treated birds were significantly more colonized by Salmonella typhimurium than those 90 chicks treated with the MCE microflora (3.97 log 10 cfu/g cecal contents vs. 1.25 log 10 cfu/g cecal contents). Also, Campylobacter spp. colonization of these birds was significantly higher for CE-treated birds when compared with MCE-treated birds (6.96 log 10 cfu/g cecal contents vs. 5.03 log 10 cfu/g cecal contents). These results can be useful in developing intervention strategies to reduce chicken colonization by Salmonella and Campylobacter.
Inmate Experiences and Psychological Well-Being

This study examined how inmate psychological well-being is influenced by participation in institutional programs, frequency of visitation with outsiders, and experiences with victimization during i...
College and university planning in an era of contraction

Drawing from published case studies of U.S. institutions and from case studies conducted in the U.K., the author assesses the causes and characteristics of decline among institutions of higher education and the various types of institutional planning responses. Planning under conditions of instability and decline is held to be significantly different from planning under conditions of growth in that the politics of planning are more intensive and highly defensive. Changes in the standards for organizational consensus in planning under decline are also discussed. The problems and advantages inherent in developing “strategic contingency plans” as opposed to developing strategic planning policies are noted.
Comparison of similarity measures for the task of template matching of masses on serial mammograms

We conducted a study to evaluate the effectiveness of twelve different similarity measures in matching the corresponding masses on temporal pairs of current and prior mammograms. To perform this comparison we implemented each of the twelve similarity measures in the final stage of our multistage registration technique for automated registration of breast lesions in serial mammograms. The multistage technique consists of three stages. In the first stage an initial fan-shape search region was estimated on the prior mammogram based on the geometrical position of the mass on the current mammogram. In the second stage, the location of the fan-shape region was refined by warping, based on an affine transformation and simplex optimization. A new refined search region was defined on the prior mammogram. In the third stage, a search for the best match between the lesion template from the current mammogram and a structure on the prior mammogram was carried out within the search region. Our data set consisted of 318 temporal pairs. We performed three experiments, using a different subset of the 318 temporal pairs for each experiment. In each experiment we further tested how the performance of the similarity measures varied as the size of the search region increased or decreased. We evaluated the twelve similarity measures based on four criteria. The first criterion was the mean Euclidean distance, which was the average distance of the true location of the mass to the location detected by the similarity measure. The second criterion was the percentage of temporal pairs that were aligned so that 50% or more of the lesion area overlapped. The third criterion was the percentage of pairs that were aligned so that 75% or more of the lesion area overlapped. The fourth and final criterion was the robustness of the similarity measure. Our results showed that three of the similarity measures, Pearson's correlation, the cosine coefficient, and Goodman and Kruskal's Gamma coefficient, provide significantly higher accuracy (p < 0.05) in the task of matching the corresponding masses on serial mammograms than the other nine similarity measures.
Abstract B36: Induction of IL-6 by breast cancer chemotherapy mediates loss of fat-free lean body mass in tumor-free mice by decreasing systemic IGF-1

Aims: Cancer patients treated with cytotoxic chemotherapy often experience changes in body composition that occur independent of changes in food intake or physical activity. These changes may impact physical functioning and quality of life. Interleukin-6 (IL-6), an inflammatory cytokine that is up-regulated in cancer patients treated with cytotoxic chemotherapies, plays an important role in the regulation of body composition. The purpose of this study was to determine the role of IL-6 in the regulation of systemic insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-1) levels and treatment induced changes in body composition using a pre-clinical model. Methods: Changes in body composition and systemic IGF-1 levels were assessed in IL-6−/− mice and their wild type counterparts before and after 4 cycles of cytoxan-adriamycin-5-fluorouracil (CAF) a common adjuvant breast cancer chemotherapy regimen. Daily food intake and physical activity were monitored throughout treatment. Results: We found that CAF decreased systemic IGF-1 production in an IL-6-dependent manner. Similar to cancer patients, CAF treatment in WT mice led to a reduction in fat free LBM and bone mass but not fat mass (FM). These changes occurred independently of food intake and level of physical activity. In contrast, IL-6 deficient mice were protected from the treatment induced loss of fat free LBM but not bone mass. Conclusions: These preclinical findings implicate IL-6 mediated reduction in systemic IGF-1 as a possible mechanism underlying the loss of fat free LBM in cancer patients undergoing cytotoxic chemotherapy. Based upon these pre-clinical findings, examination of these relationships in the clinical setting is warranted. Citation Information: Clin Cancer Res 2010;16(7 Suppl):B36
Acquiring Proper Nouns for Familiar and Unfamiliar Animate Objects: Two‐Year‐Olds' Word‐learning Biases

In 2 studies, 2-year-old children learned a novel word modeled as a proper noun (e.g., “This is Zav”) for an animate stuffed toy. Children who learned the word for a familiar object (i.e., one for which they knew a basic-level count noun for the kind) interpreted the word appropriately as a proper noun reliably more often than children who learned the word for an unfamiliar object (i.e., one for which they did not know such a count noun). When the creature was familiar, children typically interpreted the novel word as if it were a proper noun referring uniquely to the labeled individual. When the animal was unfamiliar, children frequently interpreted the word as if it were a count noun referring to a kind of object. Children's spontaneous comments during the tasks provided striking additional evidence that their interpretations of the proper noun varied with the familiarity of the object. The results suggest that young children's sensitivity to the form class of proper nouns is affected by the familiarity of the referent object. The findings are discussed in terms of interpretative biases in word learning.
Improved global marine gravity by retracking altimeter waveforms

We present a new global marine gravity anomaly model with errors nearly a factor of two lower than our previous global models. This improvement is achieved by re-tracking the raw echoes of the ERS-1 radar altimeter. Ocean surface waves are a fundamental limitation to the recovery of gravity anomalies from satellite altimeter profiles. For example, to recover the gravity field at an accuracy of 1 mGal at 20-km full wavelength requires measuring the ocean surface height change over a 10-km horizontal distance to a precision of 1 cm. Standard processing of altimeter data provides a height precision of only about 5 cm at this length scale. These standard products are optimized for recovery of ocean surface height, significant wave height and wind speed and are based on tracking algorithms having at least three unknown parameters. The most precise retracking algorithms are heavily weighted to match the onset time of the leading edge but we show this onset time is nearly perfectly correlated with the wave height parameter. If one assumes the wave height changes only slowly with distance, re-tracking can be performed with a more precise, two-parameter model. Repeat cycles across the South Pacific (area of high sea state) show improvement in along-track slope error from 6.39 microradian to 3.34 microradian and there is a corresponding improvement in resolution from 40 km to 31 km. In addition there are improvements in ocean coverage, especially near coastlines and on the shallow continental margins. The quality of the retracked ERS-1 data are superior to non-retracked Geosat geodetic mission data suggesting the Geosat data can be improved as well.
Robust analysis of variance

The classes of R- and M-estimates contain practical robust alternatives to least squares estimation in linear models. These estimates form the basis for a robust analysis of variance. This inference procedure is described and its versatility demonstrated.
Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumor of the Small Bowel Mesentery: An Unusual Cause of Abdominal Pain and Uveitis

An inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) of the small bowel mesentery with diffuse immunohistochemical staining for the anaplastic lymphoma kinase 1 gene is reported in a patient who presented with abdominal pain and uveitis. To our knowledge, only seven cases of IMT affecting the small bowel mesentery have previously been reported in the English literature. The association of IMT and uveitis is a rare phenomenon, previously reported in patients with IMT affecting the head and neck. Surgical resection of the IMT resulted in rapid resolution of the uveitis. IMT should be considered in the differential diagnosis for a mesenteric mass.
Intrauterine hypertension decreases lung VEGF expression and VEGF inhibition causes pulmonary hypertension in the ovine fetus.

Although vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays a vital role in lung vascular growth in the embryo, its role in maintaining endothelial function and modulating vascular structure during la...
Has the Trauma Surgeon Become House Staff for the Surgical Subspecialist

Abstract Background The role of the trauma surgeon is perceived to be mostly supportive of other procedure-oriented specialties. We designed this study to characterize the surgical and nonsurgical responsibilities of the contemporary trauma surgeon. Methods Trauma patients admitted to an urban academic level I trauma center were studied using trauma registry data for 2004. Results The large majority of patients admitted to trauma service has mild single-system injuries to 1 or 2 anatomic regions. Most (57%) did not have injuries to the neck, chest, or abdomen. Head and extremity injuries were present in 45% and 46% of patients, respectively. Surgeries were performed by orthopedists in 28%, trauma surgeons in 11%, and neurosurgeons in 6% of patients. Conclusions The contemporary trauma surgeon has little surgical opportunity and provides a disproportionate amount of nonsurgical care in support of consultant specialists. This is a major deterrent to general surgeon interest in trauma care and must be addressed as the acute-care surgeon evolves.
A disease-associated PTPN22 variant promotes systemic autoimmunity in murine models

Multiple autoimmune diseases, including type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, Graves disease, and systemic lupus erythematosus, are associated with an allelic variant of protein tyrosine phosphatase nonreceptor 22 (PTPN22), which encodes the protein LYP. To model the human disease-linked variant LYP-R620W, we generated knockin mice expressing the analogous mutation, R619W, in the murine ortholog PEST domain phosphatase (PEP). In contrast with a previous report, we found that this variant exhibits normal protein stability, but significantly alters lymphocyte function. Aged knockin mice exhibited effector T cell expansion and transitional, germinal center, and age-related B cell expansion as well as the development of autoantibodies and systemic autoimmunity. Further, PEP-R619W affected B cell selection and B lineage-restricted variant expression and was sufficient to promote autoimmunity. Consistent with these features, PEP-R619W lymphocytes were hyperresponsive to antigen-receptor engagement with a distinct profile of tyrosine-phosphorylated substrates. Thus, PEP-R619W uniquely modulates T and B cell homeostasis, leading to a loss in tolerance and autoimmunity.
Changing Women: The Narrative Construction of Personal Change through Community Health Work among Women in Mexico

A major premise of health education is that people can and do change their lives. Personal changes and the events that precipitate them are often told in a form of narrative and are accompanied by a new sense of oneself. This research draws on the study of narratives and women's community activism to explore processes of personal change in women's activism as community health workers in Mexico. The research is a case study based on in-depth semistructured interviews. Two major categories of narratives of change emerged: change of the self and little or no change. Within these categories, changes are defined as development of the self, becoming a new and different person, actualization of the self, and little or no change. Although women experience significant changes, their changes are based on normative female identities. Implications for the study of narratives and personal change in health education are discussed.
Providing Long-Term Support for Lifestyle Changes: A Key to Success in Diabetes Prevention

In Brief Increasing evidence demonstrates that type 2 diabetes can be delayed or prevented in people with elevated risk by modest changes in lifestyle. Research by the Indiana Diabetes Translation Research Center shows that the YMCA organization is a good community partner to implement diabetes prevention programs. YMCA staff trained to deliver a structured lifestyle intervention to prevent diabetes can achieve short-term weight-loss results comparable to those achieved during the Diabetes Prevention Program clinical trial. This research demonstrates that primary prevention is feasible in community settings with a structured program targeting high-risk individuals.
Reversal of Flagellar Rotation Is Important in Initial Attachment of Escherichia coli to Glass in a Dynamic System with High- and Low-Ionic-Strength Buffers

The attachment rates of wild-type, smooth-swimming, tumbly, and paralyzed Escherichia coli to glass was measured at fluid velocities of 0.0044 and 0.044 cms−1 (corresponding to shear rates of 0.34 and 3.4 s−1, respectively), in 0.02 and 0.2 M buffer solutions. At the highest ionic strength, we did not observe a significant difference in the attachment rate of wild-type and paralyzed cells at either fluid velocity. However, when the ionic strength was reduced, paralyzed bacteria attached at rates 4 and 10 times lower than that of the wild type under fluid velocities of 0.0044 and 0.044 cms−1, respectively. This suggested that the rotation of the flagella assisted in attachment. We then compared the attachment rates of smooth-swimming (counterclockwise rotation only) and tumbly (clockwise rotation only) cells to the wild type to determine whether the direction of rotation was important to cell attachment. At 0.0044 cms−1, the smooth-swimming cells attached at rates similar to that of the wild type in both buffer solutions but significantly less at the higher fluid velocity. Tumbly cells attached at much lower rates under all conditions. Thus, the combination of clockwise and counterclockwise flagellar rotation and their coupling appeared to be important in cell attachment. We considered a number of hypotheses to interpret these observations, including a residence time analysis and a comparison of traditional Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) theory to soft-particle theory.
The Pull of Participation: Multilogues in Online Literature Discussions

On two Thursday afternoons each semester, a group of between 15 and 20 eighth-grade students at Blacksburg Middle School (BMS) stays after school with teacher Donna Logan. For the first hour or so, they do homework, or read the novel they are supposed to have completed by 4:00 this afternoon, or laugh and talk with each other and with Ms. Logan as she tries to get ready for the evening. They eat pizza she has ordered and drink sugary sodas. They are noisy and often silly, even the ones whose classroom presence was quiet, studious, and, in some cases, barely noticeable. At 3:45 they throw their cups and pizza plates away, grab their novels, and hustle with Ms. Logan to the computer lab on the first floor. There they will each log on to "A Room with a MOO," a virtual room in a virtual house, where they will await the arrival of their Virginia Tech (VT) pals, who at this point are finishing up a day of work or student teaching or attending classes. While the middle schoolers wait, they will investigate the other rooms in the "house"—the kitchen, salon, library, or den, perhaps—and see who else is there or who has managed to pass through before they arrived.
Prenatal diagnosis of umbilical cord pseudocyst.

The association between umbilical cord anomalies and chromosomal abnormalities has received little attention in the literature. In this report, we present two cases of umbilical cord pseudocyst incidentally detected by ultrasound prior to genetic amniocentesis performed for the indication of advanced maternal age. In the first case it was only the initial abnormal finding in a 21-week fetus ultimately found to have a trisomy 18. In the second case, detected at 26 weeks, the karyotype was normal and a healthy normal neonate was delivered at term. The finding of a umbilical cord cystic mass during prenatal sonographic examination should alert the clinician to the increased risk of aneuploidy. Copyright © 1994 International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology
Evaluation of Hot Pressing and Hot Isostastic Pressing Parameters on the Optical Properties of Spinel

The effect of different hot pressing and hot isostatic pressing (HIP) temperatures and pressures on the optical properties of spinel was studied. Extinction coefficients of spinel samples were estimated by comparing the measured transmittance with the theoretical transmittance as calculated via a Sellmeier model. Results showed that the relative size of the scattering sites was large compared with the wavelengths of light (0.35–5.5 μm). Overall, increasing HIP temperature and pressure resulted in decreasing the optical extinction. The lower of two hot pressing temperatures (1620° vs 1650°C) prior to HIPing resulted in lower scatter coefficients after HIPing; this effect was most significant in the infrared.
Using intranets: preliminary results from a socio-technical field study

This paper describes research-in-progress that examines the relative influences of internal and external factors on the development and use of intranets, as a particular case of information and communication technologies (ICTs). This three-phase qualitative study integrates cross-sectional, comparative and traversal methodologies to identify where it could be adjective to combine socio-technical theory (emphasizing individuals and social groups) with institutional approaches (emphasizing interaction through influence and regulation). Preliminary results suggest that a balance of pressures are at work, with external factors motivating the use of intranets and other forms of web information systems within the constraints of local organizational contexts.
Self‐tuning control with decoupling

A new method to design adaptive, self-tuning controllers is presented that incorporates decoupling for multivariable control problems. The algorithm is shown to result from two very different derivations. The first approach employs multiple single-input/single-output self-tuning controllers but with a classical decoupling scheme incorporated; the second approach utilizes a novel selection of design parameters in an existing multivariable self-tuning control method. The decoupling self-tuning controller is capable of handling unknown or time-varying time delays. Simulation studies utilizing two distillation column models show that the controller can provide excellent control even for highly nonlinear and highly interacting processes.
Ambition and Party Loyalty in the U.S. Senate

This article examines the role progressive ambition plays in the U.S. Senate. I analyze the effect ambition has on party loyalty in the upper chamber. The theoretical argument is that senators with ambition for higher office are more loyal to the party than their colleagues who never make a bid for higher office because of their need to appeal to the party base to secure the party's nomination. I posit the following hypothesis to test this theory: A senator who seeks higher office will be more likely to vote with the party on party votes than those senators who never run for the presidency. My findings indicate that ambitious senators are more loyal to the party than their colleagues who never make a bid for higher office. That is, senators who run for higher office recognize the importance of the party when it comes to successfully navigating the primary season.
Why and how do nursing homes implement culture change practices? Insights from qualitative interviews in a mixed methods study.

To understand the process of instituting culture change (CC) practices in nursing homes (NHs). NH Directors of Nursing (DONs) and Administrators (NHAs) at 4,149 United States NHs were surveyed abou...
Restrictive Streptomycin Resistance Mutations Decrease the Formation of Attaching and Effacing Lesions in Escherichia coli O157:H7 Strains

Streptomycin binds to the bacterial ribosome and disrupts protein synthesis by promoting misreading of mRNA. Restrictive mutations on the ribosomal subunit protein S12 confer a streptomycin resistance (Strr) phenotype and concomitantly increase the accuracy of the decoding process and decrease the rate of translation. Spontaneous Strr mutants of Escherichia coli O157:H7 have been generated for in vivo studies to promote colonization and to provide a selective marker for this pathogen. The locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE) of E. coli O157:H7 encodes a type III secretion system (T3SS), which is required for attaching and effacing to the intestinal epithelium. In this study, we observed decreases in both the expression and secretion levels of the T3SS translocated proteins EspA and EspB in E. coli O157:H7 Strr restrictive mutants, which have K42T or K42I mutations in S12. However, mildly restrictive (K87R) and nonrestrictive (K42R) mutants showed slight or indistinguishable changes in EspA and EspB secretion. Adherence and actin staining assays indicated that restrictive mutations compromised the formation of attaching and effacing lesions in E. coli O157:H7. Therefore, we suggest that E. coli O157:H7 strains selected for Strr should be thoroughly characterized before in vivo and in vitro experiments that assay for LEE-directed phenotypes and that strains carrying nonrestrictive mutations such as K42R make better surrogates of wild-type strains than those carrying restrictive mutations.
Using reliability information to annotate RNA secondary structures.

A number of heuristic descriptors have been developed previously in conjunction with the mfold package that describe the propensity of individual bases to participate in base pairs and whether or not a predicted helix is “well-determined.” They were developed for the “energy dot plot” output of mfold. Two descriptors, P-num and H-num, are used to measure the level of promiscuity in the association of any given nucleotide or helix with alternative complementary pairs. The third descriptor, S-num, measures the propensity of bases to be single-stranded. In the current work, we describe a series of programs that were developed in order to annotate individual structures with “well-definedness” information. We use color annotation to present the information. The programs can annotate PostScript files that are created by the mfold package or the PostScript secondary structure plots produced by the Weiser and Noller program XRNA (Weiser B, Noller HF, 1995, XRNA: Auto-interactive program for modeling RNA, The Center for Molecular Biology of RNA, Santa Cruz, California: University of California; Internet: ftp://fangio.ucsc.edu/ pub/XRNA). In addition, these programs can annotate ss files that serve as input to XRNA. The annotation package can also handle structure comparison with a reference structure. This feature can be used to compare predicted structure with a phylogenetically deduced model, to compare two different predicted foldings, and to identify conformational changes that are predicted between wild-type and mutant RNAs. We provide several examples of application. Predicted structures of two RNase P RNAs were colored with P-num information and further annotated with comparative information. The comparative model of a 16S rRNA was annotated with P-num information from mfold and with base pair probabilities obtained from the Vienna RNA folding package. Further annotation adds comparisons with the optimal foldings obtained from mfold and the Vienna package, respectively. The results of all of these analyses are discussed in the context of the reliability of structure prediction.
Pharmacokinetics of Intravenous Bepridil in Patients With Coronary Disease

The pharmacokinetics of intravenous bepridil (1-[2-(N-benzylanilino)-1-(isobutoxymethyl)ethyl]pyrrolidine) were studied in 16 patients undergoing cardiac catheterization for evaluation of coronary disease, all with normal base-line hemodynamic and renal functions. Ten patients received 3 mg/kg and six patients received 4 mg/kg of bepridil infused over a period of 30 min. Plasma bepridil concentrations were measured by HPLC and analyzed by model-dependent and model-independent methods. The mean (± SD) maximum plasma bepridil concentrations at the end of the infusion were 2047 ± 820 ng/mL (3 mg/kg) and 2478 ± 1426 ng/mL (4 mg/kg). Postinfusion bepridil concentrations were best described by a two-compartment open model. The model-dependent harmonic mean distribution and elimination half-lives were 1.7 h (range: 1.1–2.2 h) and 19.7 h (range: 8.0–61.9 h), respectively. The harmonic mean elimination half-life from model-independent analysis was 14.9 h (range: 7.4–64.0 h). The arithmetic means of other model-independent kinetic parameters were systemic clearance, 0.524 ± 0.215 L·kg−1·h−1; Vd, 15.3 ± 10.9 L/kg; and Vdss, 10.1 ± 6.0 L/kg. Model-dependent and model-independent estimates of half-life and clearance agreed reasonably well. Bepridil was well tolerated, effecting little or no change in central hemodynamics or EKG intervals. The extensive distribution and relatively slow clearance of bepridil account for its long elimination half-life. Intravenous bepridil appears to be a safe calcium (II) antagonist that is suitable for once-a-day dosing.
GGAP2/PIKE-A Directly Activates Both the Akt and Nuclear Factor-κB Pathways and Promotes Prostate Cancer Progression

GGAP2/PIKE-A is a GTP-binding protein that can enhance Akt activity. Increased activation of the AKT and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) pathways have been identified as critical steps in cancer initiation and progression in a variety of human cancers. We have found significantly increased expression GGAP2 in the majority of human prostate cancers and GGAP2 expression increases Akt activation in prostate cancer cells. Thus, increased GGAP2 expression is a common mechanism for enhancing the activity of the Akt pathway in prostate cancers. In addition, we have found that activated Akt can bind and phosphorylate GGAP2 at serine 629, which enhances GTP binding by GGAP2. Phosphorylated GGAP2 can bind the p50 subunit of NF-κB and enhances NF-κB transcriptional activity. When expressed in prostate cancer cells, GGAP2 enhances proliferation, foci formation, and tumor progression in vivo . Thus, increased GGAP2 expression, which is present in three quarters of human prostate cancers, can activate two critical pathways that have been linked to prostate cancer initiation and progression. [Cancer Res 2009;69(3):819–27]
The `Revenge of History': Collective Memories and Labor Protests in North-Eastern China

In the Rustbelt of China, state workers have become restive as market reforms have undermined their entrenched way of life. By comparing cases of worker protest in an industrial city in northeaster...
The Ethics of Conducting E-Mail Surveys

The prospect of using e-mail in survey research can be very exciting to academic researchers. However, it raises many ethical concerns. While many people have started to say that obtaining consumer permission is important, there is no clarity on how to obtain and maintain permission. Some academic researchers might argue that, due to the low volume and infrequent nature of their surveys and the general positive perception of academia, their e-mail surveys do not add to the Spam problem. However, this is problematic from an ethical perspective since it changes the definition of what Spam is from any unsolicited e-mail to a subset of these e-mails which have certain predefined characteristics. There are ways to implement permission-based respondent contact if the academic community wants to. The only negative to keep in mind will be the statistical problem of self-selection and the loss of complete randomness to some degree. Regardless, the future legal landscape may force academic researcher to adopt permission as the standard.
Novel dual-rotor single-stator axial flux switching permanent magnet machine with even harmonic elimination topology

This paper proposes a novel 6 slot-4 pole axial flux switching permanent magnet machine using dual-rotor single-stator. The analytical method is used to find offset angle to eliminate even harmonics of flux linkage and back-EMF of a conventional 6 slot-4 pole topology. The analytical method is verified with finite element analysis. Proposed novel topology is also compared with a conventional dual-rotor single-stator 6 slot-4 pole axial flux switching machine. The simulation results prove that the proposed topology effectively eliminates even harmonics in the axial flux switching machine.
The Role of Platform Angle and Core Size in Hard-Hammer Percussion Flaking

ABSTRACTSteel balls were dropped on to massive equilateral and right-angle glass prisms in order to investigate the effects of varying platform angle and prism size on the shape and size of hard-hammer percussion flakes. Ball diamėter, drop height, and impact angle were held Constant. For a given platform angle [measured between striking platform and exterior surface of prism or flake], a decrease in the size of the prism is accompanied by a decrease in terminal flake length, terminal flake width, and terminal platform thickness, and by an increase in the minimum ball diameter required to remove a flake. For prisms of comparable size, a decrease in platform angle is accompanied by a decrease in terminal flake length and in the average values of the length/width, length/platform thickness and width/platform thickness ratios. A decrease in platform angle is also accompanied by a marked increase in the width of the zone along the edge of the prism within which flakes can be produced. Thus, the larger the pla...
Prospective Study on Partial Oxygen-enriched Combustion Retrofitting of Regular CFB Boiler

Exploring new clean coal power generation technology-oxygen-enriched combustion applied to existing regular CFB boiler, this paper take a CFB boiler with FBHE from Botswana one coal fired station as study model. Firstly conceptual solution of partial retrofitting of secondary air oxygen-enriched combustion of model is puts forward,and partial oxygen-enriched system schematic of CFB boiler is constructed,oxygen content of oxygen-enriched secondary air should be between 25% ~ 30%. Secondly combustion adjustment manner after model retrofitting is put forward,original load curves should be adopted for all other air supply parameters except oxygen-enriched secondary air flow,and spiess valves which located after seal pots should be used to control the furnace temperature. Thirdly correction method of oxygen-enriched secondary air flow load curve is proposed.
Communication: Hydrogen bonding interactions in water-alcohol mixtures from X-ray absorption spectroscopy

While methanol and ethanol are macroscopically miscible with water, their mixtures exhibit negative excess entropies of mixing. Despite considerable effort in both experiment and theory, there remains significant disagreement regarding the origin of this effect. Different models for the liquid mixture structure have been proposed to address this behavior, including the enhancement of the water hydrogen bonding network around the alcohol hydrophobic groups and microscopic immiscibility or clustering. We have investigated mixtures of methanol, ethanol, and isopropanol with water by liquid microjet X-ray absorption spectroscopy on the oxygen K-edge, an atom-specific probe providing details of both inter- and intra-molecular structure. The measured spectra evidence a significant enhancement of hydrogen bonding originating from the methanol and ethanol hydroxyl groups upon the addition of water. These additional hydrogen bonding interactions would strengthen the liquid-liquid interactions, resulting in additional ordering in the liquid structures and leading to a reduction in entropy and a negative enthalpy of mixing, consistent with existing thermodynamic data. In contrast, the spectra of the isopropanol-water mixtures exhibit an increase in the number of broken alcohol hydrogen bonds for mixtures containing up to 0.5 water mole fraction, an observation consistent with existing enthalpy of mixing data, suggesting that the measured negative excess entropy is a result of clustering or micro-immiscibility.
A clinician's primer on the circadian clock: its localization, function, and resetting.

Considering how dependent on the daily cycle of light and darkness our biological functions are, intensive investigation of the brain's remarkable clock by which we adapt to the earth's rotation is long overdue. This deficit in clinical research, however, is being rapidly corrected, stimulated perhaps by air and space travel, and more pragmatically by the frequency of sleep disturbances incurred by work around the clock, aging, and bad sleep habits. Dr. William Schwartz admirably updates us on recent advances in the understanding of what the circadian clock is, how it works, and what we can do to manipulate its cycle. G.H. Stollennan
Lamotrigine: an antiepileptic agent for the treatment of partial seizures.

Objective:To review the current literature on lamotrigine and its use as an antiepileptic drug (AED).Data Sources:MEDLINE and bibliographic literature searches pertaining to lamotrigine were performed. Additionally, Burroughs Wellcome provided a comprehensive bibliography, data on file, and investigator's brochure.Data Selection:The selection of reported data for this review includes both controlled and uncontrolled studies as well as case reports and unreported data from both European and US trials.Data Synthesis:Lamotrigine is effective as an adjunctive agent in the treatment of complex and simple partial seizures with or without secondary generalization. Anecdotal reports suggest that the spectrum of activity may include other seizure types, but controlled studies substantiating these reports are needed. Lamotrigine has a favorable pharmacokinetic profile, including a long half-life, low serum protein binding, and lack of mixed-function oxidase enzyme induction. It is likely that the drug induces metab...
Publications by the Author Concerning Transmission Lines

This references contains sections titled: A. Books B. General C. Per-Unit-Length Parameters D. Cable Harnesses E. Ribbon Cables F. Shielded Wires G. Twisted Pairs of Wires H. Effects of Incident Fields I. Printed Circuit Boards J. Power Transmission Lines
Osteochondral Proximal Tibial and Lateral Meniscal Allograft Transplant

Knee pain in young, active patients with meniscus-deficient knees and articular cartilage damage can present a challenge to treatment. Meniscal allograft transplantation (MAT) has shown good clinical results as treatment for meniscus deficiency; however, worse outcomes have been observed in patients with significant chondral damage. The development of chondral restorative techniques such as osteochondral allograft transplantation (OCA) has expanded the population of patients who may benefit from MAT. We present a case of proximal tibial osteochondral and lateral meniscal allograft transplant. This review includes a sample of patient examinations and imaging, followed by a detailed technical description of the case. The technique article concludes with a discussion on the niche combined MAT-OCA procedures occupy in the patient treatment realm.
Asymptomatic pulmonary arteriovenous malformations in children with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia.

Background Children with Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT) may have pulmonary arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), which can lead to symptoms of shortness of breath, exercise intolerance, clubbing, cyanosis and hemoptysis. However, some patients with pulmonary AVMs may be asymptomatic, placing them at risk for complications such as stroke or brain abscess if they are not identified and treated. This study examines the incidence of signs and symptoms associated with pulmonary AVMs in children with HHT known to have pulmonary AVMs. Method Sixty-one children with HHT and documented pulmonary AVMs were questioned for any symptoms possibly associated with their pulmonary AVMs, prior to embolization. Results The results show that the majority of these children were asymptomatic (56%), and their AVMs were discovered by routine screening. Those who did experience symptoms most often complained of shortness of breath and exercise intolerance, although there was a tendency to blame other conditions, such as asthma or deconditioning (being out of shape), for these symptoms. Migraine headaches were common in those with pulmonary AVMs, regardless of whether they were symptomatic or not (17 of 61 children, 28%), although they were more common in those who were symptomatic (10 of 27, 37%) versus those who were asymptomatic (7 of 34, 21%). Conclusion Children with HHT and pulmonary AVMs are often asymptomatic. Routine screening for the presence of AVMs should be performed regardless of symptomatology.