cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Palliative Care Involvement in Pediatric VAD Patients - A Single Center Experience

Purpose Outcomes in pediatric patients with ventricular assist devices (VADs) for advanced heart failure (HF) are improving, but the risk of associated morbidity and mortality remains substantial. Few data exist on the involvement of pediatric palliative care (PPC) in this high-risk patient population, while recent literature on critical congenital heart disease and other life-threatening pediatric diseases suggest clear benefit of early PPC involvement. In this study we aimed to characterize the extend of palliative care service's participation in the care of patients requiring VAD placement at our institution. Methods A single-center retrospective chart review analyzing all VAD patients at a large pediatric center over a 4 year period was performed and assessed incidence, timing and extend of palliative care subspecialty involvement. Results Between January 2014 and December 2017, 55 HF patients underwent VAD implantation at our institution. Palliative care utilization in patient care steadily increased over consecutive years (2014 - Conclusion PPC services have been utilized in pediatric VAD patients with increasing frequency at our institution in recent years. Early involvement with advanced heart failure patients, prior to VAD implant, occurred in the majority of patients. While total numbers are small, palliative care support appears to lead to more frequent discussion of goals of care and advanced directives.
Kinetic Transition in Amyloid Assembly as a Screening Assay for Oligomer-Selective Dyes.

Assembly of amyloid fibrils and small globular oligomers is associated with a significant number of human disorders that include Alzheimer’s disease, senile systemic amyloidosis, and type II diabetes. Recent findings implicate small amyloid oligomers as the dominant aggregate species mediating the toxic effects in these disorders. However, validation of this hypothesis has been hampered by the dearth of experimental techniques to detect, quantify, and discriminate oligomeric intermediates from late-stage fibrils, in vitro and in vivo. We have shown that the onset of significant oligomer formation is associated with a transition in thioflavin T kinetics from sigmoidal to biphasic kinetics. Here we showed that this transition can be exploited for screening fluorophores for preferential responses to oligomer over fibril formation. This assay identified crystal violet as a strongly selective oligomer-indicator dye for lysozyme. Simultaneous recordings of amyloid kinetics with thioflavin T and crystal violet enabled us to separate the combined signals into their underlying oligomeric and fibrillar components. We provided further evidence that this screening assay could be extended to amyloid-β peptides under physiological conditions. Identification of oligomer-selective dyes not only holds the promise of biomedical applications but provides new approaches for unraveling the mechanisms underlying oligomer versus fibril formation in amyloid assembly.
NMR Studies of Retinoid-Protein Interactions: The Conformation of [13C]-β-Ionones Bound to β-Lactoglobulin B

Purpose. Vitamin A (retinol) and its metabolites comprise the natural retinoids. While the biological action of these molecules are thought to be primarily mediated by ca. 55 kDa nuclear retinoic acid receptors, a number of structurally similar 15-20 kDa proteins are involved in the transport, and possibly metabolism, of these compounds. The milk protein β-lactoglobulin B (β-LG) is an 18 kDa protein which binds retinol and may be involved in oral delivery of retinol to neonates. β-LG also binds drugs and other natural products and is of potential interest as a protective delivery vehicle.
Bioinspired Simulation of Knotting Hagfish

Hagfish are capable of not only forming knots, but also sliding them along the length of their bodies. This remarkable behavior is used by the animal for a wide variety of purposes, such as feeding and manipulation. Clearly of interest to biologists, this knotting behavior is also relevant to other fields, such as bioinspired soft robotics. However, this knot-sliding behavior has been challenging to model and has not been simulated on a computer. In this paper, we present the first physics-based simulation of the knot-sliding behavior of hagfish. We show that a contact-based inverse dynamics approach, motivated by the biological concept called positive thigmotaxis, works very well for this challenging control problem.
Properties of gamma transitions in the decays of Sm-153 and Gd-153 into Eu-153

The energies and relative intensities of gamma rays produced in the electron-capture decay ${\mathrm{Gd}}^{153}$\ensuremath{\rightarrow}${\mathrm{Eu}}^{153}$ and of the low-energy gamma rays produced in the beta decay ${\mathrm{Sm}}^{153}$\ensuremath{\rightarrow}${\mathrm{Eu}}^{153}$ have been studied with the bent-crystal spectrometer. Two previously unreported gamma rays have been observed at 54.19 and 68.23 keV. These together with a previously reported 151.5-keV gamma transition depopulate a new state at 151.61 keV which we propose as the ${\frac{7}{2}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$, $K=\frac{5}{2}$ level of ${\mathrm{Eu}}^{153}$. The $M1$ gamma-ray interband branching ratio from the known 173-keV ${\frac{5}{2}}^{+}$, $K=\frac{3}{2}$ level and the $E1$ gamma branching ratio from the 151.61-keV level are examined for evidence of band mixing.
Consumer personality and lifestyles at the box office and beyond: How demographics, lifestyles and personalities predict movie consumption

Abstract While movie studios have leveraged data traditionally through demographics, there may be missed opportunities in securing further granular insights through personality and lifestyle scales. Due to the amount of hyper-competition among movies but also across platforms, marketers and advertisers may revisit consideration of how consumer personality and consumer lifestyle may aid them in predicting movie frequency consumption across genres and platforms. This study deployed a survey and collected a national randomized sample (N=301). Implications include cultivating consumer profiles and anticipating how certain personalities and lifestyles may help measure certain movie genre and movie platform consumption.
Imported Infections in Rural Mid-West United States - A Report from a Tertiary Care Center.

Background: There is lack of specific data on imported infections in the mid-west United States (U.S.). Methods: Retrospective data on demographic and geographic data of imported infections seen by the infectious diseases clinics and consultation service from 2001-2018 was collected. Results: Of the 64 infections, tuberculosis(TB) was most common [20(31.3%); pulmonary(11,55%), lymphadenopathy(8,40%), gastrointestinal(4,20%), disseminated(2,10%), and 1(5%) each of genitourinary and vertebral spine infection, 4 Human immune-deficiency virus infection and 1 echinococcosis)] followed by malaria(11,17.2%). Other infections: Cysticercosis [7,10.9%], giardiasis (4,6.3%), 3 each (4.7%) Human T-lymphotrophic Virus infection and schistosomiasis, 2 each (3.1%) leprosy, strongyloidiasis, and typhoid fever, one each (1.6%) of ascariasis, brucellosis, Chagas disease, Chikungunya virus, hepatitis A virus, echinococcosis, Japanese encephalitis virus, loiasis, paratyphoid fever, Q fever, and unspecified parasitosis. Geographic origins: Africa(26,40.6%), Asia(16,25%), Central America(11,17.2%), Europe(2,3.1%), Oceania(2,3.1%), South America(2,3.1%), and Unknown(5). More cases were seen after 2015. Conclusions: With increasing tourism, it is important to educate rural mid-west healthcare professionals on travel medicine. The current COVID-19 pandemic illustrates the importance of this type of education and data accumulation now and in the future.
Analysis of Inflammatory Signaling in Human Middle Ear Cell Culture Models of Pediatric Otitis Media.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS Cell culture models are valuable tools for investigation of the molecular pathogenesis of diseases including otitis media (OM). Previous study indicates that age-, sex-, and race-associated differences in molecular signaling may impact disease pathophysiology. Currently, a singular immortalized middle ear epithelial (MEE) cell line exists, HMEEC-1, derived from an adult without known middle ear disease. In this study, HMEEC-1 and primary MEE cultures from pediatric patients with and without OM were stimulated with inflammatory cytokines or OM-pathogenic bacterial lysates to examine differences in the response of molecules associated with OM pathogenesis. STUDY DESIGN Case-control series. METHODS MEE cultures were established from patients aged <6 years: two with recurrent OM (ROM), two with OM with effusion (OME), and one patient without OM who was undergoing cochlear implant surgery control undergoing cochlear implantation (Peds CI). Primary MEE cultures and HMEEC-1 cells were stimulated with tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, or nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae lysate. TNFA, IL1B, IL6, IL8, IL10, and MUC5B were assayed via quantitative polymerase chain reaction. IL-8 was assayed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS Gene/protein target expressions were frequently higher in pediatric OM lines than in HMEEC-1 and Peds CI. HMEEC-1 cells were frequently less responsive to stimuli than all pediatric lines. OME lines were often more responsive than ROM lines. CONCLUSIONS OM may be associated with specific molecular phenotypes that are retained in primary cell culture. Adult-derived HMEEC-1 cells differ significantly in baseline expression and response of OM-associated molecules relative to pediatric MEE cells. Work is underway to immortalize pediatric OM MEE cultures as improved tools for the OM research community. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 4 Laryngoscope, 131:410-416, 2021.
Legal indeterminacy and authoritarianism: Notes on William Scheuerman’s The End of Law:

Scheuerman’s book is one of the handful of significant attempts to rethink Schmitt’s work systematically over the past four decades. In so doing, he raises three key questions for me. First, is Sch...
On the Method of Pulse-Heated Analysis of Solid Reactions (PHASR) for Polyolefin Pyrolysis.

The continued need for plastics necessitates an effective solution for processing and recycling polymer wastes. While pyrolysis is a promising technology for polyolefin recycling, an experimental apparatus must be designed to measure the intrinsic kinetics and elucidate the chemistry of the plastics pyrolysis process. To resolve this issue, a modified Pulse-Heated Analysis of Solid Reactions (PHASR) system was designed, constructed, and evaluated for the purposes of polyolefin pyrolysis. Experimental results demonstrated that the new PHASR system is capable of measuring the millisecond-resolved evolution of plastic (e.g., low-density polyethylene (LDPE)) pyrolysis products at a constant temperature. The PHASR system was shown to be capable of producing a repeatable, fast heating time (20 ms) and cooling time (130-150 ms), and of maintaining a stable temperature during reaction. A second, visual PHASR system was developed to enable high speed photography and visualization of the real-time pyrolysis of LDPE .
An algorithmic approach to reducing unexplained pain disparities in underserved populations

Underserved populations experience higher levels of pain. These disparities persist even after controlling for the objective severity of diseases like osteoarthritis, as graded by human physicians using medical images, raising the possibility that underserved patients’ pain stems from factors external to the knee, such as stress. Here we use a deep learning approach to measure the severity of osteoarthritis, by using knee X-rays to predict patients’ experienced pain. We show that this approach dramatically reduces unexplained racial disparities in pain. Relative to standard measures of severity graded by radiologists, which accounted for only 9% (95% confidence interval (CI), 3–16%) of racial disparities in pain, algorithmic predictions accounted for 43% of disparities, or 4.7× more (95% CI, 3.2–11.8×), with similar results for lower-income and less-educated patients. This suggests that much of underserved patients’ pain stems from factors within the knee not reflected in standard radiographic measures of severity. We show that the algorithm’s ability to reduce unexplained disparities is rooted in the racial and socioeconomic diversity of the training set. Because algorithmic severity measures better capture underserved patients’ pain, and severity measures influence treatment decisions, algorithmic predictions could potentially redress disparities in access to treatments like arthroplasty. An algorithmic, machine-learning approach to measuring severe pain from osteoarthritis applied to X-ray images of knees suggests that reported disparities in knee pain in underserved populations can be reduced by comparison with use of standard radiographic measures of disease severity.
Aspects of the New Right-Wing Extremism: by Theodor W. Adorno, Translated by Wieland Hoban, Cambridge, UK, Polity Press, 2020, 72 pp., $12.95 (paperback), ISBN 9781509541454

More than a half-century after his death, Theodor Adorno’s insights into right-wing extremism in this volume are surprisingly fresh, worthy of the attention of those concerned about today’s new rig...
1957: the year that launched the American future: by Eric Burns, Lanham, Maryland, Rowman and Littlefield, 2020, 291 pp., $27.00 (hardcover), ISBN: 978-1-5381-3995-0

Seventy-five-year-old Eric Burns thoughtfully melds personal experiences, historical interpretations, and popular culture imagery within the 290 pages of 1957: The Year That Launched the American F...
Surgical management of female genital mutilation-related morbidity: A scoping review.

Summary Background Over 200 million women and girls worldwide have suffered from the partial to total removal of external female genitalia for nonmedical purposes, referred to as female genital mutilation (FGM). Survivors of FGM may develop debilitating physical and psychological long-term sequelae. This is the first study to examine the scope of the extant surgical literature on the management of FGM-related morbidity. Methods A systematic scoping review of five major research citation databases was conducted. Results A total of 190 articles from 29 countries met the inclusion criteria. The majority (76%) were primary source articles and from obstetrics and gynecology literature (71%). Reported interventions for FGM-related morbidity were defibulation, cyst excision, clitoral and vulvar reconstruction, urological reconstruction, peripartum procedures, labial adhesion release, and reinfibulation. Conclusions Surgery for FGM complications spans multiple specialties, which suggests multidisciplinary collaboration benefit. Plastic and reconstructive surgeons have a clear role in the multidisciplinary care team for these patients. This scoping review identified a paucity of high-quality evidence with respect to functional quality of life outcomes and long-term follow-up.
The mutational landscape of the sensitivity of cancer to ionizing radiation.

3129Background: The impact of common or rare gene mutations on the sensitivity of cancers to ionizing radiation remains largely unknown. We conducted a systematic, arrayed (single variant per well)...
Religious or spiritual coping, religious service attendance, and type 2 diabetes: A prospective study of women in the United States.

Abstract Purpose To investigate religion and spirituality (R/S) as psychosocial factors in type 2 diabetes risk. Methods Using the Nurses’ Health Study II, we conducted a 14-year prospective analysis of 46,713 women with self-reported use of religion or spiritual beliefs to cope with stressful situations, and 42,825 women with self-reported religious service attendance, with respect to type 2 diabetes. Cox regression was used to assess the associations. . Results Compared with not using religious or spiritual coping at all, the fully-adjusted hazard ratios (HR) were minimally different across all categories: a little bit (HR=1.01; 95% CI:0.85, 1.19), a medium amount (HR=0.96; 95% CI:0.80, 1.14), a lot (HR=0.93; 95% CI: 0.77, 1.11) (Ptrend=0.24). Similarly, compared with participants who never or almost never attend religious meetings or services, there were minimal differences with participants attending less than once/month (HR=1.06; 95% CI:0.92, 1.22), 1-3 times/month (HR=1.00; 95% CI:0.85, 1.17), once/week (HR=0.98; 95% CI:0.85, 1.14), more than once/week (HR=1.20; 95% CI:1.01, 1.43) (Ptrend=0.29). Perceived stress did not modify these associations. Our hypothesis of mediated effects through lifestyle factors and social integration was not supported. Conclusions R/S was not significantly associated with type 2 diabetes, but its role in other chronic conditions may be important.
Long-term aircraft noise exposure and risk of hypertension in the Nurses' Health Studies.

Abstract Background Aircraft noise can affect populations living near airports. Chronic exposure to aircraft noise has been associated with cardiovascular disease, including hypertension. However, previous studies have been limited in their ability to characterize noise exposures over time and to adequately control for confounders. Objectives The aim of this study was to examine the association between aircraft noise and incident hypertension in two cohorts of female nurses, using aircraft noise exposure estimates with high spatial resolution over a 20-year period. Methods We obtained contour maps of modeled aircraft noise levels over time for 90 U.S. airports and linked them with geocoded addresses of participants in the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) and Nurses' Health Study II (NHS II) to assign noise exposure for 1994–2014 and 1995–2013, respectively. We used time-varying Cox proportional hazards models to estimate hypertension risk associated with time-varying noise exposure (dichotomized at 45 and 55 dB(A)), adjusting for fixed and time-varying confounders. Results from both cohorts were pooled via random effects meta-analysis. Results and Discussion: In meta-analyses of parsimonious and fully-adjusted models with aircraft noise dichotomized at 45 dB(A), hazard ratios (HR) for hypertension incidence were 1.04 (95% CI: 1.00, 1.07) and 1.03 (95% CI: 0.99, 1.07), respectively. When dichotomized at 55 dB(A), HRs were 1.10 (95% CI: 1.01, 1.19) and 1.07 (95% CI: 0.98, 1.15), respectively. After conducting fully-adjusted sensitivity analyses limited to years in which particulate matter (PM) was obtained, we observed similar findings. In NHS, the PM-unadjusted HR was 1.01 (95% CI: 0.90, 1.14) and PM-adjusted HR was 1.01 (95% CI: 0.89, 1.14); in NHS II, the PM-unadjusted HR was 1.08 (95% CI: 0.96, 1.22) and the PM-adjusted HR was 1.08 (95% CI: 0.95, 1.21). Overall, in these cohorts, we found marginally suggestive evidence of a positive association between aircraft noise exposure and hypertension.
High-Pressure Hot-Pressing of Silicon Nitride Powders

Silicon nitride has been a prime candidate material for active components of future high temperature heat engines, particularly gas turbines. Its high temperature properties such as oxidation resistance, strength, creep and stress-rupture are critically dependent upon additives which are necessary for consolidation of Si3N4. powders by hot-pressing into pore free ceramics. Typical additions, MgO, Y2O3, ZrO2 at a few percent level, degrade high temperature properties severely.
Chapter 11 Structure and regulation of voltage-dependent L-type calcium channels

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the L-type or high voltage activated channels that are sensitive to dihydropyridine derivatives. These channels are well characterized from many perspectives and a large amount of information has accumulated concerning their structure and the regulation of L-type Ca 2+ channels. In cardiac muscle cells, L-type Ca 2+ channels play an essential role in the process of excitation–contraction coupling. Ca 2+ must pass through cardiac L-type Ca 2+ channels and cause Ca 2+ -induced Ca 2+ release for excitation–contraction coupling to occur in these cells. In neurons, Ca 2+ channels have been postulated to have several roles, including the provision of Ca 2+ for Ca 2+ -dependent processes, such as neurotransmitter release, the regulation of enzyme activity, the regulation of metabolism, and gene expression. The main role of the L-type Ca 2+ channel protein(s) in skeletal muscle is to act as a voltage sensor—a key element of excitation–contraction coupling. In this tissue, L-type Ca 2+ channels in the transverse tubule membranes communicate with an intracellular ryanodine-sensitive Ca 2+ release channel in the sarcoplasmic reticulum.
Randomized Assessment of Syncope Trial: Conventional Diagnostic Testing Versus a Prolonged Monitoring Strategy

To the Editor: The effort of Krahn et al1 to provide a direct, albeit invasive, monitoring strategy to ascertain the nature of spontaneous syncope follows Sir Thomas Lewis’s worthy tradition of direct observation.2 But terminology complicates their research design. “Vasovagal Syncope” was the name that Lewis cribbed from Gowers in his original description. In 1991, Sra et al renamed this condition Neurocardiogenic Syncope (reviewed in references 3 and 4). Because Krahn et al excluded patients with “presentation typical of neurally mediated syncope,” exactly what case descriptions were left for “randomized assessment” is unknown. Although syncope almost always occurs when the patient is standing, human primates, especially the elderly, assume this position only when awake during …
Adolescent Identity: Rational vs. Experiential Processing, Formal Operations, and Critical Thinking Beliefs.

Numerous studies have attempted to determine social and cognitive predictors of identity status. The present study introduced a new and promising variable into these endeavors: the extent to which adolescents rely on rational vs. experiential information processing. To investigate the utility of this construct, 49 adolescent volunteers were administered multiple measures of formal operations, two critical thinking questionnaires, the Rational Versus Experiential Inventory (S. Epstein, R. Pacini, V. Denes-Raj, and H. Heier [1995] “Individual Differences in Rational and Analytical Information Processing,” unpublished manuscript, University of Massachusetts) and the Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status—II (G. Adams, C. Bennion, and K. Huh [1989] “Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status: A Reference Manual,” Unpublished manuscript, University of Guelph), as a measure of identity status. A measure of rational/experiential processing was found to be correlated significantly with measures of both formal operations and critical thinking beliefs. In a series of hierarchical multiple regression analyses, rational/experiential processing predicted most identity status scores even after the variance in identity status associated with formal operations and critical thinking had been controlled. These findings, although preliminary, suggest that developmental researchers look beyond traditional predictors of identity and toward possibly more fundamental aspect of human information processing.
A Steepest Ascent Trajectory Optimization Method Which Reduces Memory Requirements

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses an iterative process for the steepest-ascent optimization of orbit transfer trajectories. The method is designed to minimize storage requirements at the expense of a small amount of additional computation. The reduced memory requirements eliminate the need for tape operations on the 7090 when the method is used to compute nominal trajectories. The adjoint equations are integrated forward with the equations of motion. Also instead of storing the control schedule as a function of time, the control schedule is generated by the segment-wise integration of certain differential equations. The initial trajectory is determined by a modification procedure to be applied to the minimum fuel rendezvous trajectory computed for impulse thrusts. The metric used to define step size is a Euclidean metric determined by the control increments, which maximize the local Hamiltonian. Step size is modified by comparing the predicted and actual increment in terminal states. In the steepest-ascent method, an iterative modification of trial trajectories are made to allow for near optimum calculations; furthermore, it can be regarded as essentially Bryson's steepest-ascent method with a particular choice of metric.
Studies on hepatic microsomal N- and O-dealkylation of morphine analogues.

N -Dealkylation of ethylmorphine and O -dealkylation of norcodeine were studied in hepatic microsomes from male rats. Both reactions appeared to be equally sensitive to carbon monoxide, and the inhibitions produced by CO were light-reversible. Chronic phenobarbital administration stimulated the N -dealkylation of ethylmorphine but had no effect on the O -dealkylation of norcodeine in hepatic microsomes. Hexobarbital produced a competitive inhibition of ethylmorphine oxidation but effected an inhibition of norcodeine oxidation that was not competitive. Ethylmorphine N -dealkylation was more labile to heat treatment than was norcodeine O -dealkylation. Fasting-adapted rats that received food for 12 hr out of each 48-hr period for 28 days yielded hepatic microsomes which displayed an increased ethylmorphine oxidation with no change in norcodeine oxidation and no change in hepatic cytochrome P-450 content. These studies indicate different rate-controlling events in the oxidation of ethylmorphine and norcodeine, although each reaction depends upon the participation of cytochrome P450. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This research was supported in part by an institutional grant (NSF 89) and in part by United States Public Health Service Research Grant AM-12168.
Impact of d-amphetamine on temporal estimation in pigeons tested with a production procedure

The influence of d-amphetamine on timing in pigeons was examined with a production procedure. Birds were trained with a fixed time schedule in which food reinforcement was contingent on the first response made after a duration signal had appeared for 30 s. Probe tests involved trials in which the duration signal was extended to 90 s and reinforcement was omitted. In Experiment 1, 2.0 mg/kg d-amphetamine shifted peak responding to a duration shorter than that found with saline. In Experiment 2, the dose-response function for this drug effect was examined. A 0.3-mg/kg dose of d-amphetamine had no impact on performance, but a 1.0-mg/kg dose shifted the peak duration significantly relative to saline; a 2.0-mg/kg dose shifted the function even more. These results complement previous findings with rats tested with the peak procedure and pigeons tested with a discrimination procedure.
The effect of ionicity and hybridization on the calculation of spectroscopic coupling parameters and dipole moments

Calculations have been carried out in order to calculate thes-character and ionicity of the carbon-halogen bonds in eight halomethanes from experimental values of (1)13C-H couplings, (2) nuclear quadrupole couplings, and (3) dipole moments. Two sets of results were obtained based on the use, first, of (1) and (2) and, second, on the use of (1) and (3). The two sets of results show a reasonable degree of consistency, under the assumptions and methods involved, and tend to support the need for considering both hybridization and charge transfer in accounting for substituent effects on the properties studied.
Receptor−Antagonist Interactions in the Complexes of Agouti and Agouti-Related Protein with Human Melanocortin 1 and 4 Receptors†,‡

The molecular interactions between human melanocortin receptor-1 and -4 (hMC1R and hMC4R) and their endogenous antagonists, agouti signaling protein (ASIP) and agouti-related protein (AGRP), were assessed by studying the effects of site-directed mutations on the binding affinity of (125)I-ASIP[90-132(L89Y)] and (125)I-AGRP(86-132). Mutations of homologous residues from transmembrane helices (TMHs) 3 and 6 and extracellular loop (EL) 3 (D121A, T124A, F257A, and F277M in hMC1R and D126A, I129A F261A, and M281F in hMC4R) impaired binding of both antagonists to hMC4R and binding of the ASIP fragment to hMC1R. However, the mutations in TMH2 (E94A in hMC1R and E100A in hMC4R), TMH7 (F280A in hMC1R and F284A in hMC4R), and EL2 (Y183S, H184S, and D184H in hMC1R) only significantly affected binding of the ASIP fragment. The dependence of agonist binding on the dithiothreitol concentration followed a monophasic curve for wild-type hMC4R and its C40A, C271A, and C279A mutants and a biphasic curve for hMC1R, suggesting the presence of at least one structurally and functionally essential disulfide bond in both wild-type receptors and the hMC4R mutants. Models of complexes of both receptors with the ASIP fragment and hMC4R with the AGRP fragment were calculated using constraints from the experimental structures of rhodopsin and AGRP fragments, a set of deduced hydrogen bonds, supplemented by two proposed disulfide bridges and receptor-ligand contacts, derived from our mutagenesis data. In the models of the ASIP fragment complexed with both receptors, the core ligand tripeptide, Arg-Phe-Phe, positioned between TMHs 3 and 6, is shifted toward TMHs 2 and 7 relative to its position in the AGRP-hMC4R model, while the N-terminal loop and two central disulfides of the antagonists interact with EL2 of the receptors.
UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF THE MEDIATOR IN CHILD PROTECTION PROCEEDINGS

Mediators in child protection proceedings have a distinctive role. The cases present complex and emotion-laden issues. Mediators must go beyond their established role as a third-party neutral and ensure that the process neither adds to the trauma a child and family have already experienced nor jeopardizes the safety of the child.
Using on-computer exams to ensure beginning students' programming competency

The first programming course at UC Irvine has traditionally used graded programming assignments to assess students' programming competence and readiness to undertake the programming required in the next course. Problems with this approach led to replacing the assignments with on-computer programming exams. Several improvements in the course and its ability to reliably meet its goals have resulted.
Surgical management of infected abdominal aortic grafts: review of a 25-year experience.

Abstract Eighty-four patients with infected abdominal aortic grafts managed from 1961 through February 1985 were reviewed. Thirty-three patients had associated aortoenteric fistula formation. Twenty-eight infection (33%) and 13 aortoenteric fistulas (39%) originated at The Cleveland Clinic, yielding an incidence of aortic graft infection of 0.77% (28 of 3652 grafts) and aortoenteric fistula formation of 0.36% (13 of 3652 grafts) at this center. Staphylococcus organisms alone or in combination with other organisms were isolated from 34% of the series. Management consisted of graft removal and extra-anatomic bypass in 54 patients (64%), graft removal alone in 14 (17%) patients, partial graft removal and extra-anatomic bypass in seven (8%) patients, and miscellaneous operations in nine (11%) patients. Twenty-three patients (27%) required major amputations, nine of which were bilateral. Life-table analysis yielded 30-day and 1-year survival rates of 72% and 42%, respectively. Thirty-day survival of the aortoenteric fistula subset (49%) was less than that (86%) of the nonaortoenteric fistula subset (p = 0.003). One-year survival of patients treated since 1980 (54%) was superior to that of patients treated before 1980 (31%, p=0.035). No difference in operative or 1-year survival was demonstrated between the group treated with extra-anatomic bypass and subsequent graft removal and another in which both procedures were performed simultaneously, although the staged group experienced substantially fewer (p = 0.04) amputations (7%) than the combined group (41%). (J VASC SURG 1986;3:725-31.)
Sphingosine-1-phosphate: characterization of its inhibition of platelet aggregation

In this study, the ability of sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) to modulate platelet aggregation induced by other agents in platelet-rich plasma (PRP) was investigated. S1P alone did not stimulate platelet aggregation in PRP. S1P inhibited the platelet aggregation induced by the TRAP peptide (6.75 w M), noradrenaline (NA; 12.5 w M) and the Ca 2+ ionophore (5.0-9.5 w M). S1P also increased the response time of platelets to arachidonic acid (AA), but decreased the response time to PMA. S1P displayed a dual effect on sodium fluoride (NaF)-induced platelet aggregation and had no effect on the aggregation induced by ADP or lysophosphatidic acid (LPA). Furthermore, S1P blocked the synergistic interaction of oleyol-lysophosphatidic acid (O-LPA) with the TRAP peptide or noradrenaline, while the synergistic interaction of O-LPA with ADP remained largely unaffected.
Thermal impedance to normal and superconducting metals

A simple model is presented of the thermal impedance encountered in the transfer of heat between a dielectric solid and a superconducting metal containing defects, defects which could be introduced by deformation. The model is consistent with new as well as published data, and in particular explains an anomalously large thermal impedance in superconducting aluminum near 0.1 K.
Peanut Cultivar Response to Tomato Spotted Wilt over Five Planting Dates

ABSTRACT Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) is vectored by thrips and causes an economically damaging peanut disease in the southeastern U.S. Peanut planting was traditionally initiated when soil temperatures became favorable in April. Planting in the latter two thirds of May is recommended to avoid thrips feeding and reduce tomato spotted wilt (TSW) incidence. This regime concentrates work load for growers and buying points, increases risk of tropical storm damage during harvest, and may contribute to reduced crop maturity. Improved TSW tolerance in cultivars may allow growers to plant earlier spreading risk and work load. Cultivars Georgia Green, Georgia-03L, AT 3085RO, and Flavor Runner 458 were compared with the advanced breeding line EXP 271516 based on peanut foliar condition, pod yield, and grade in 2008 and 2009 in Dawson, Georgia and Headland, Alabama. Peanuts were planted at five planting dates starting in late April through early June each year. Disease incidence was variable according to year, l...
Comparative sensitivity of human erythrocytes and lymphocytes to sonolysis by 1-MHz ultrasound

Abstract Many studies of ultrasonic hemolysis have used erythrocytes; other blood cells are less well studied. The hypothesis tested was that human lymphocytes, being large and relatively fragile, are more sensitive to sonolysis than are erythrocytes at equivalent cell concentrations. Human lymphocytes (RPMI 1788) grown in vitro and erythrocytes obtained by venipuncture were used at a nominal cell concentration of 2.5 × 10 6 cells/mL. Cells were contained in rotated (200 rpm) exposure vessels and were exposed/sham-exposed to 1-MHz continuous-wave ultrasound for 60 s. Cell lysis was determined by hemacytometer counts of aliquots taken before/after treatment. The hypothesis was supported; the mean levels of lysis in insonated lymphocyte and erythrocyte preparations were 89.8% ± 0.6% and 78.9% ± 3.1%, respectively. This difference was significant at p
Fluoride Varnish Application Prevents Caries in Preschool Children

Article Title and Bibliographic Information Fluoride Varnish Efficacy in Preventing Early Childhood Caries Weintraub JA, Ramos-Gomez F, et al. J Dent Res 2006;85(2):172-6 Level of Evidence 1b Purpose/Question To determine the efficacy of different fluoride varnish application frequencies with parental/caregiver oral health oral health counseling versus counseling alone in preventing early childhood caries in young, initially caries-free children. Source of Funding Government: National Institutes of Health Type of Study/Design Randomized Controlled Trial
Stability of columns on biparametric foundations

Abstract The influence of the elastic foundation stiffness and the shear layer constant on column buckling loads is investigated. The energy method employing series solutions is used to obtain buckling loads of columns supported by biparametric foundations for various end-conditions. The results show that both the elastic foundation stiffness and the shear layer constant have a stabilizing effect on the columns. The effect of including shear deformations is examined and comparisons are carried out with previously published results.
Safety and toxicity profile of aztreonam

Aztreonam is the first monocyclic beta-lactam antibiotic released for clinical use. Extensive toxicity and safety data for aztreonam in animals, healthy volunteers and adult patients have been accumulated previously; recently these studies have been extended to children. Overall the incidence of adverse clinical reactions caused by aztreonam is similar to or lower than that caused by comparison drugs. There is no evidence that aztreonam causes significant ototoxicity or nephrotoxicity; biochemical and hematologic abnormalities are rarely significant. Compared with the broad spectrum cephalosporins, aztreonam causes less disruption of normal gastrointestinal flora and consequently a lower incidence of diarrhea. Aztreonam does not displace bilirubin from albumin and penetrates readily into cerebrospinal fluid. Because of negligible immunologic cross-reactivity with other beta-lactams, aztreonam has been safely administered to patients with IgE-mediated penicillin hypersensitivity. These data suggest that aztreonam should be safe and well-tolerated in infants and children with infections caused by susceptible Gram-negative bacteria.
A Primer-Test Centered Equating Method for Setting Cut-off Scores

This study evaluated the use of a new primary field test method based on test equating to address inconsistent classification among field tests. We analyzed students' information on the Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER), mile run (MR), and VO2max from three data sets (college: n = 94; middle school: n = 39; elementary school: n = 96). Using the college and elementary school data, the equivalent relationship between PACER and MR scores was first established by the Kernel equating method. This yielded MR scores derived from PACER (mile run PACER equated [MR PEQ]), which were used to predict maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) and classify students according to the FITNESSGRAM® Healthy Fitness Zones™. We compared the results to the predictions and classifications based on measured VO2max, MR, and PACER-predicted VO2max and cross-validated the relationships using the middle school data. We found the test conversion to be accurate and that the MR PEQ scores functioned similarly to the origina...
Interaction Behavior and Person Perception An Integrative Approach

This article proposes a conceptualframeworkfor analyzing interdependent behavioral and person perception processes in social interaction. First, the separate theoretical approaches to nonverbal exchange (the behavioral side) and to person perception (the social cognition side) of interaction are briefly reviewed Next, the relationship between the behavioral and person perception processes are outlined in an integrative theoreticalframework. Within this framework, the distribution of cognitive resources, in terms of attention and cognitive effort, determines the effectiveness of interactive behavior and the nature of impressions formed about apartner Finally, an example of a researchparadigmfor studying the behavior-person perception interface is described and preliminary results reported.
Impact of display artifacts on target identification

Display artifacts such as raster and square pixelization associated with flat panel displays can be characterized using sampled imaging systems analysis. When the output raster/pixelization signal is large compared to the image modulation, the overall system performance is degraded. In this research, we investigated display methods for sampled imaging systems, including pixel replication, bilinear interpolation, and a higher-order interpolation. Problems with the performance modeling of these processes are discussed and a perception test is implemented for comparison.
"Dynamic Morphology System": a method for quantitating changes in shape, pseudopod formation, and motion in normal and mutant amoebae of Dictyostelium discoideum.

An automated, video-driven system was used to measure approximately 30 parameters of cell motion and accompanying changes in shape. This "Dynamic Morphology System" is based upon the Expertvision Motion Analysis System and is driven by a SUN computer. With the aid of this system, amoebic movement and shape changes were compared for vegetative wild-type Dictyostelium discoideum amoebae and a motility mutant, Mo-1. The measured parameters included speed, angle change, bearing, length, width, roundness, boundary flow, and curvature; and cell behavior was visualized monitoring amoebic tracks, difference pictures, and a newly developed ring expansion plot. Wild-type cells remained elongated, moved continuously and retained polarity throughout migration. In contrast, Mo-1 did not translocate, was round rather than elongated, formed bulges rather than elongated pseudopods, and exhibited no polarity. In contrast to the anterior f-action distribution in wild-type cells, f-actin in Mo-1 was distributed evenly as a shell just under the entire plasma membrane, a distribution consistent with the lack of polar cytoplasmic expansion.
Fat necrosis with features of erythema nodosum in a patient with metastatic pancreatic carcinoma

A 59-year-old man presented with painful subcutaneous nodules on the anterior surfaces of the legs. He had received oral antibiotics and supportive care for presumed cellulitis and thrombophlebitis, but had minimal improvement. Five months earlier, he had undergone pancreaticoduodenectomy for acinar pancreatic carcinoma; at that time, the serum level of amylase had been normal, but the level of lipase was elevated. The patient denied fever, rigors, arthritis/arthralgia, or pleuritic pain. His medications included aspirin, furosemide, ranitidine, and nortriptyline. He denied any allergies. Physical examination revealed numerous firm, tender, erythematous and violaceous, subcutaneous nodules on the lower extremities, with marked bilateral pitting edema (Fig. 1). Skin biopsy of a representative lesion revealed septal panniculitis, consistent with erythema nodosum (Fig. 2). None of the characteristic changes of pancreatic fat necrosis was present. The patient was treated with aspirin, 650 mg orally, q 6 h, and indomethacin, 50 mg orally, q 12 h, but he continued to develop new nodules; prednisone, 60 mg orally was begun. Although he reported improvement in symptoms, the nodules failed to respond clinically and older nodules ulcerated along the medical aspect of the right leg (Fig. 3). The complete blood count was normal, except for hemoglobin, 10.9 mg per dL. Routine serum biochemical studies were also normal, except for albumin, 3.1 mg per dL, LDH, 312 U per L, and SGOT, 51 U per L. Serum amylase was 14 U per L (normal per 30 to 115 U per L) and serum lipase was 54,160 U per L (normal 0 to 200 U per L). Chest roentgenogram and tuberculin skin test were negative. A CT scan of the abdomen revealed extensive liver metastases. A second biopsy of the skin and subcutis of a necrotic nodule revealed lobular panniculitis with the characteristic picture seen in pancreatic fat necrosis (Fig. 4). The patient was presumed to have metastatic pancreatic carcinoma and pancreatic fat necrosis. Nodules subsequently developed on the thighs, arms, hands, wrists, and fingers. He developed arthritis and arthralgias of the ankles, wrists, and hands, bilaterally, and the right knee. Aspiration of a right knee effusion revealed numerous neutrophils, but no evidence of infection. Treatment was begun with the somatostatin analog, octreotide, in increasing doses. During this therapy, the lesions did not progress and new lesions did not appear. There was no change in the lipase level. Inadvertently, octreotide was omitted at discharge, but reintroduction of octreotide was associated with lack of further progression of the nodules, according to the patient's spouse; however the patient became progressively debilitated and his abdominal pain worsened, requiring continuous sedation. His condition deteriorated and he died several weeks after hospital discharge.
Reduced Overhead Error Compensation for Energy Efficient Machine Learning Kernels

Low overhead error-resiliency techniques such as RAZOR [1] and algorithmic noise-tolerance (ANT) [2] have proven effective in reducing energy consumption. ANT has been shown to be particularly effective for signal processing and machine learning kernels. In ANT, an explicit estimator block compensates for large magnitude errors in a main block. The estimator represents the overhead in ANT and can be as large as 30%. This paper presents a low overhead ANT technique referred to as ALG-ANT. In ALG-ANT, the estimator is embedded inside the main block via algorithmic reformulation and thus completely eliminates the overhead associated with ANT. However, ALG-ANT is algorithm-specific. This paper demonstrates the ALG-ANT concept in the context of a finite impulse response (FIR) filter kernel and a dot product kernel, both of which are commonly employed in signal processing and machine learning applications. The proposed ALG-ANT FIR filter and dot product kernels are applied to the feature extractor (FE) and SVM classification engine (CE) of an EEG seizure classification system. Simulation results in a commercial 45nm CMOS process show that ALG-ANT can compensate for error rates of up to 0.41 (errors in FE only), and up to 0.19 (errors in FE and CE) and maintain the true positive rate ptp > 0.9 and false positive rate pfp ≤ 0.01. This represents a greater than 3-orders-of-magnitude improvement in error tolerance over the conventional architecture. This error tolerance is employed to reduce energy via the use of voltage overscaling (VOS). ALG-ANT is able to achieve 44.3% energy savings when errors are in FE only, and up to 37.1% savings when errors are in both FE and CE.
UV Inactivation of E. coli in Liquid Egg White

Liquid egg white is currently pasteurized using heat; however, this treatment damages the functional properties of the egg. In this study, a nonthermal ultraviolet light (UV) system was developed to pasteurize liquid egg white. The system consisted of low-pressure mercury bulbs surrounded by UV transparent tubing. Egg white was inoculated with Escherichia coli K12 and pumped through the UV system at a flow rate of 330 ml/min. The effects of treatment time (0 to 160 s), temperature (30 to 50 °C), and egg white pH (7 to 9) on the inactivation of E. coli were investigated. The population of E. coli in egg white was reduced by 4.3 log after being exposed to UV at 50 °C for 160 s. Inactivation was linearly dependent on treatment time and was adequately described using first-order kinetics (r 2 of 0.94). The electrical energy of the process was calculated to be 44 J/ml. Inactivation was directly dependent on temperature and inversely dependent on pH. Nonthermal UV processing has the potential to improve the safety and functional properties of liquid egg white.
Multimodal integration in the feeding behaviors of predatory teleost fishes.

The search for useful model systems to study sensory processing in vertebrate nervous systems has resulted in many neuroethological studies investigating the roles played by a single sensory modality