cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Alpha-1-acidglycoprotein levels in infants during cardiopulmonary bypass and deep hypothermic circulatory arrest

Plasma levels of alpha-1-acidglycoprotein (AGP), the plasma protein primarily responsible for binding of a number of highly protein bound drugs (e.g. fentanyl, sufentanil, lidocaine, propranolol) that are frequently used during and/or immediately after cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) with deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA), were investigated in six infants undergoing surgical repair of congenital heart disease. AGP levels dropped to 32% of control values (147mg/I ± 56 versus 458mg/l ± 83; p<0.0001 ) whereas albumin and total protein levels only decreased to 47% and 41 % of prebypass values respectively. This discrepancy could be explained by the addition of albumin containing solutions to the pump prime. Since protein binding of the above mentioned drugs will be significantly decreased, with a subsequent increase in the free pharmacologically active fraction of the drugs, caution is recommended when administering these drugs during or immediately after CPB/DHCA in order to avoid side effects and toxi...
Conditionality covenants: Commitment versus discretion in sovereign credit contracts

This paper investigates the impact of imposing conditionality covenants on the performance of the signatories to a sovereign credit contract. A two period model is developed in which creditors provide a loan to a sovereign conditional upon the implementation of investments. Commitment to these covenants overcome the debt repudiation problem, as it increases the likelihood of repayment, if the implemented conditionalities contribute to an increase in the sovereign's productive capacity. A three period model is also developed to entertain the possibility that the sovereign engage in credit activities in subsequent periods, where in the final period the debtor has obligations towards junior and senior creditors. This allows for dynamic inconsistency, as the sovereign may be tempted to increase its debt in the second period, thus increasing the probability of repudiation in the third period. Imposing conditionality covenants by senior creditors that increase the portion they can appropriate in case of repudiation, relative to junior creditors, reduces the supply of credit by junior creditors in the second period and thus overcomes the debt dilution problem. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A COX2 Molecular Phylogeny of the Peronosporomycetes

The evolutionary history of the mitochondrial COX2 locus has been used to infer the phylogenetic relationships among 15 peronosporomycete and a hyphochytriomycete species. This molecular phylogenet...
Influence of Tensile Stresses on the Superconducting Temperature of Multifilamentary Nb3Sn Composite Conductors

The need for Nb3Sn multifilament conductors in large magnet systems has generated interest in the mechanical and associated electrical properties of these composites. The superconducting compound Nb3Sn in bronze-processed conductors is subjected to a compressive strain originating from the thermal contraction of the outer bronze matrix. Such compressive strains lower the compound’s superconducting temperature, T c , and removal of the compressive strains by etching off the bronze matrix restores the original T c Recent investigations have suggested that tensile loading of these composite superconductors can increase T c [3] This report presents a study of T c and its relationship to both internal prestrains and applied tensile loads at 4.2 K in Nb3Sn composite superconductors.
Trace metal-binding proteins in marine molluscs and crustaceans

Some marine invertebrates, such as the American oyster, Crassostrea virginica, the blue crab, callinectes sapidus and the American lobster, Homarusamericanus, concentrate trace metals in their tissues. The occurrence of metallothionein, a low molecular weight, sulfur-containing metal-binding protein, has been correlated with elevated levels of trace metals in these organisms. It is our hypothesis that, whilst metallothioneins are involved in the sequestration of elevated levels of trace metals, they primarily function in regulating normal metal metabolism. In this paper we describe recent field and laboratory experiments designed to examine how oysters, blue crabs and lobsters manage accumulated cadmium, copper and zinc. The possible roles of metallothionein, as well as the tissue distribution of metals, are emphasized. Metallothioneins were found in all animals we examined; concentrations of metallothioneins and the the amount of bound trace metals are related to time of exposure. We have also demonstrated that the laboratory developed metallothionein models for blue crabs and lobsters may be useful in predicting the partitioning of trace metals in animals living in environments polluted with trace metals.
THE AUTOFLUORESCENT FLAGELLUM: A NEW PHYLOGENETIC ENIGMA1

Epifluorescence microscopy reveals the presence of fluorescence in the living cells of at least three classes of flagellates. In Ochromonas cells, the fluorescence is blue-green in color and is found only in the short flagellum, both in the flagellar swelling and throughout the length of the flagellum. As recognized by the locale and color of the flagellar fluorescence, the same fluorescence is observed in only certain other heterokont algal groups but is also found in one of the two isokont flagella of the prymnesiophyte Prymnesium parvum.
A historical prospective cohort study of carotid artery stenosis after radiotherapy for head and neck malignancies.

Purpose: To determine carotid artery stenosis incidence after radiotherapy for head-and-neck neoplasms. Methods and Materials: This historical prospective cohort study comprised 44 head-and-neck cancer survivors who received unilateral neck radiotherapy between 1974 and 1999. They underwent bilateral carotid duplex ultrasonography to detect carotid artery stenosis. Results: The incidence of significant carotid stenosis (8 of 44 [18%]) in the irradiated neck was higher than that in the contralateral unirradiated neck (3 of 44 [7%]), although this difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.13). The rate of significant carotid stenosis events increased as the time after radiotherapy increased. The risk of ipsilateral carotid artery stenosis was higher in patients who had undergone a neck dissection vs. those who had not. Patients with significant ipsilateral stenosis also tended to be older than those without significant stenosis. No other patient or treatment variables correlated with risk of carotid artery stenosis. Conclusions: For long-term survivors after neck dissection and irradiation, especially those who are symptomatic, ultrasonographic carotid artery screening should be considered.
Bias in Newspaper Photograph Selection

Previous research has shown that visual images of political candidates can influence voter perceptions. This study examines newspaper photographs of candidates to determine whether the favorableness of these pictures is related to the “political atmosphere” of individual newspapers. In particular, we examine 435 candidate photographs from several races covered by seven newspapers during the 1998 and 2002 general election seasons. Based on our analysis, we conclude that candidates endorsed by a particular newspaper—or whose political leanings match the political atmosphere of a given paper—generally have more favorable photographs of them published than their opponents.
O-026 Does Transfer Status Affect Outcomes in Acute Ischaemic Stroke Patients Treated Endovascularly?

Background Access to intra-arterial therapy (IAT) for acute ischaemic stroke (AIS) is limited to comprehensive stroke centres (CSCs) with timely access deemed critical for success. Inter-hospital transfers represent a growing subset of patients in which outcomes have not been well-studied. Design/Methods We retrospectively analysed consecutive anterior circulation AIS patients that underwent IAT at 4 institutions from2006–2011. We excluded patients selected using perfusion imaging. Patient demographics, medical risk factors, presentations, technical, and clinical (NIHSS and mRS scores) outcomes, complications, and mortality were studied. Symptom-onset, groin puncture, and end-of-procedure times were recorded. THRIVE scores were calculated. Successful recanalisation was defined as TIC I≥2b. Good functional outcome was defined as mRS 0–2 at 90 days. Patients were categorised into those who were transferred from outside institutions and those who presented directly to the CSCs. Results 116 patients were studied. 68 (58.6%) were transferred from outside institutions. Transfers and non-transfers were similar in THRIVE scores (p=0.300), median symptom-onset to groin puncture times (306 vs 315 minutes; p=0.572), successful recanalisation (p=0.574), and symptomatic IC H (13.2 vs 10.4, p=0.776), but differed by age (59 vs 69 years; p=0.002), prior stroke (3% vs 22%, p=0.002), cardiac history (17.9 vs 36.6%, p=0.040), baseline NIHSS (20 vs 17, p=0.005), and location of occlusion (45.6% vs 22.9% IC A, p=0.012). Transfer patients had significantly worse outcomes at 90 days (mRS 0–2: 16.2% vs 60.4%, p>0.001). In multivariate analysis, transfer status was an independent predictor of poor functional outcome (adj. OR 0.05, 0.011 0.222), adjusting for relevant covariates. Conclusions Transferred AIS patients have worse functional outcomes at 90 days than non-transfers, independent of baseline risk factors, stroke severity, time to IAT, and procedural success/complications. Further investigation should focus on residual factors that may contribute to our findings such as baseline/final infarct volumes, pre-morbid functional status, and post-stroke care. Disclosures M. Soltanolkotabi: None. A. Shaibani: None. M. Hurley: None. S. Prabhakaran: None. V. Lee: None. J. Conners: None. S. Ansari: None.
Information Sharing in a Channel with Partially Informed Retailers

While retailers have sales data to forecast demand, manufacturers have a broad understanding of the market and the coming trends. It is well known that pooling such demand information within a distribution channel improves supply chain logistics. However, little is known about how information-sharing affects wholesale pricing incentives. In this paper, we investigate a channel structure where a manufacturer and two retailers have private signals of the state of the demand. Our model identifies the presence of a pricing distortion, which we term the inference effect, when a manufacturer sets price to an uninformed retailer. Because of this inference effect, the manufacturer would like to set a low wholesale price to signal to the retailer that the demand is low. On the other hand, the manufacturer would like to set a high wholesale price so that he earns the optimal margin on each unit sold. Vertical information sharing benefits the manufacturer by eliminating the distortion caused by the inference effect, which is more profound in a channel whose retailer has a noisier signal. This result implies that when there is a cost associated with transmitting information, the manufacturer may choose to share information with only the less-informed retailer rather than with both.
Carnet's Cycle and Efficiency of Heat Engines

IN NATURE of August 29, 1925, there was published on p. 326 an extract of a paper read by Dr. Haldane before the Institution of Mining Engineers at Cardiff on June 16, in which he advances a somewhat unusual view as regards the efficiency of the Carnot cycle.
PH regulation of connexin43: molecular analysis of the gating particle.

Gap junction channels allow for the passage of ions and small molecules between neighboring cells. These channels are formed by multimers of an integral membrane protein named connexin. In the heart and other tissues, the most abundant connexin is a 43-kDa, 382-amino acid protein termed connexin43 (Cx43). A characteristic property of connexin channels is that they close upon acidification of the intracellular space. Previous studies have shown that truncation of the carboxyl terminal of Cx43 impairs pH sensitivity. In the present study, we have used a combination of optical, electrophysiological, and molecular biological techniques and the oocyte expression system to further localize the regions of the carboxyl terminal that are involved in pH regulation of Cx43 channels. Our results show that regions 261–300 and 374–382 are essential components of a pH-dependent "gating particle," which is responsible for acidification-induced uncoupling of Cx43-expressing cells. Regions 261–300 and 374–382 seem to be interdependent. The function of region 261–300 may be related to the presence of a poly-proline repeat between amino acids 274 and 285. Furthermore, site-directed mutagenesis studies show that the function of region 374–382 is not directly related to its net balance of charges, although mutation of only one amino acid (aspartate 379) for asparagine impairs pH sensitivity to the same extent as truncation of the carboxyl terminal domain (from amino acid 257). The mutation in which serine 364 is substituted for proline, which has been associated with some cases of cardiac congenital malformations in humans, also disrupts the pH gating of Cx43, although deletion of amino acids 364–373 has no effect on acidification-induced uncoupling. These results provide new insight into the molecular mechanisms responsible for acidification-induced uncoupling of gap junction channels in the heart and in other Cx43-expressing structures.
Steroid treatment improves cochlear function in the MRL.MpJ-Faslpr autoimmune mouse

Abstract Corticosteroid therapy is used to reverse autoimmune sensorineural hearing loss, although little is known of the mechanism by which this occurs. This has been due to the lack of a suitable animal model with spontaneous hearing loss that is steroid responsive. The present study examined the effects of prednisolone treatment on auditory thresholds in the MRL.MpJ- Fas lpr autoimmune mouse to determine its suitability as such a model. Autoimmune mice at 3.5–4.5 months of age were evaluated by pure-tone auditory brainstem response (ABR) to establish threshold elevations due to the disease. The steroid treatment group was then given prednisolone in their drinking water for 2.5 months, while untreated controls were given tap water. Significantly more steroid treated mice survived to the time of post-treatment ABR evaluation. Half of the steroid treated ears demonstrated either improvement or no change in cochlear function compared to only 25% in the untreated controls. Overall, cochlear thresholds in the untreated controls increased by 14.7 dB, whereas no significant threshold increase was seen in the steroid treated group (4.3 dB) over the treatment period. No qualitative anatomical differences were seen in the ears of those mice surviving to the end of the study. These findings establish the autoimmune mouse as a model for studies of steroid responsive mechanisms within the ear. This could apply to autoimmune sensorineural hearing loss, as well as any hearing disorder for which steroid therapy is recommended.
Fiber orientation in the frontal region of a center-gated disk: Experiments and simulation

Abstract Fiber orientation in the frontal region of a center-gated disk was measured for the first time and compared with orientation predictions using standard Folgar–Tucker and the reduced strain closure (RSC) model in coupled flow simulations. Fiber orientation was experimentally measured along three different heights representative of shell, transition and core layers, in order to understand the evolution of orientation along the radial direction in the frontal region. Orientation predictions of the Folgar–Tucker model and its two modified versions, the delayed Folgar–Tucker model and the RSC model were assessed against the measured experimental data. Orientation predictions with all three models showed a drop in orientation near the front, which was in qualitative agreement with the experimental data. Modified versions of the Folgar–Tucker model showed a relatively larger drop in orientation in the shell layer with predictions being relatively closer to experimental values. However, no significant slowdown was observed with the modified versions in the transition and core layers. With coupling of flow and orientation, the frontal flow region was slightly larger and orientation predictions showed only slight improvement. A significant improvement in the frontal region was obtained when a lower value of the interaction coefficient was used.
Asian women are less likely to express interest in infertility research

Objectives To assess the differences among racial and ethnic groups in their willingness to participate in medical infertility research. We further explored these differences within racial and ethnic subcategories to gain a broader understanding of minority patients' willingness to participate in infertility research. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting University fertility center. Patient(s) One thousand forty-nine women presenting for reproductive care. Intervention(s) None. Main Outcome Measure(s) Willingness to be contacted for recruitment to ongoing research. Result(s) Asians were less likely than non-Hispanic Whites to express willingness to be contacted regarding research (odds ratio 0.44, 95% confidence interval 0.33; 0.57), as were Middle Eastern women. Decreased willingness was seen in all Asian subcategories except Vietnamese. Women born outside the United States were less likely to consent to be contacted than those born in the United States. Conclusion(s) Asian and Middle Eastern patients are less likely than non-Hispanic Whites to express interest in research participation in the infertility clinic setting. Strategies to target these women for research recruitment are necessary to achieve parity in both research participation and assisted reproductive technology outcomes.
Dual frequency transducers for intravascular ultrasound super-harmonic imaging and acoustic angiography

Imaging of coronary vasa vasorum may lead to assessment of the vulnerable plaque development in diagnosis of atherosclerosis diseases. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging transducers capable of detecting microvessels via nonlinear contrast imaging could provide valuable diagnostic information, however such transducers are not yet produced commercially. Dual-frequency transducers capable of detection of microbubble super-harmonics have shown promise as a new contrast-enhanced IVUS (CE-IVUS) platform. Contrast-to-tissue ratio (CTR) in CE-IVUS imaging can be closely associated with the low frequency transmitter performance. In this paper, multiple dual frequency IVUS transducers with different transmission frequencies (6.5 and 5 MHz) and different materials (PMN-PT single crystals and 1–3 composite) were developed and evaluated. All transducer structures were constructed with the 30 MHz high frequency reception element in front of the low frequency transmission element. Super-harmonic imaging was carried out using a tissue mimicking phantom. With similar peak negative pressures, the lower transmission frequency transducers generated higher CTR (23 dB for 5 MHz transmission). With similar input excitations, the PMN-PT 1–3 composite produced higher resolution (70 µm for 1-cycle burst excitation) than single crystal ones (> 150 µm). Dual frequency transducers with 5 MHz transmitters made of PMN-PT 1–3 composite are preferable in the CE-IVUS imaging.
An historical preface to engineering ethics

This article attempts to distinguish between science and technology, on the one hand, and engineering, on the other, offering a brief introduction to engineering values and engineering ethics. The method is (roughly) a philosophical examination of history. Engineering turns out to be a relatively recent enterprise, barely three hundred years old, to have distinctive commitments both technical and moral, and to have changed a good deal both technically and morally during that period. What motivates the paper is the belief that a too-easy equation of engineering with technology tends to obscure the special contribution of engineers to technology and to their own professional standards and so, to obscure as well both the origin and content of engineering ethics.
Notes on the producer society

The author criticizes economists for their uncritical acceptance of consumers’ revealed preference and tries to explain the preferences manifest in the United States by tracing them to cultural influences, especially the Puritan Ethic, and to economic factors, such as producers’ domination and economies of scale. Differences between American and European behavior patterns are sought mainly in comparative time budgets and Hawtrey’s distinction between defensive and creative consumption is revived as a framework suitable for such analysis.
Optimization of Slow-Release Tablet Formulations Containing Montmorillonite III. Mechanism of Release

AbstractThe release of sodium sulfathiazole from slow-release tablet dosage forms containing 30% colloidal aluminum silicate and 20% drug, appears to follow first-order kinetics. Analysis of the data however, suggests that several mechanisms including hydration of the clay, diffusion of drug through a hydrated gelatinous barrier and attrition of the gel layer may contribute to the dissolution of sodium sulfathiazole from the tablet matrix. The influence of tablet shape and size on the dissolution properties of drug from the dosage forms was also examined.
Reply to comments on “laser excitation of surface electronic states for a one-dimensional semiconductor” by G.W. Bryant

Abstract A semiconductor modeled by a finite one-dimensional chain is shown to have either a continuous or discrete number of surface states. The exact number is determined by the choice of phase factors. Laser-induced charge transfer of electrons from the bulk to these surface states is also shown to be a maximum at the band edge.
Cross-comparison of the trending accuracy of continuous cardiac output measurement devices in postoperation patients

Arterial pulse analysis estimates of cardiac output (CO) are less invasive than pulmonary artery catheter (PAC)-derived ones. Although PAC bolus thermodilution CO (COtd) values are the reference CO values for most clinical studies, there is no defined gold standard. We therefore compared the covariance of three commercially available arterial pulse analysis devices (FloTrac, LiDCO, PiCCO) and PAC with COtd and continuous CO (CCO).
Health Practices and Educational Aspirations as Indicators of Acculturation and Social Class Among the Eastern Cherokee

Research among the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians would indicate that visible differences among the people in matters of health and education are not only a result of acculturation. Social class behavior seems to figure prominently as a factor in disparate behavior manifested by nonconservative Cherokees.
Response method in audiometry.

Purpose This study compared the speed, false-alarm rate, and participant preference of different response methods (raising a hand, pushing a response button, and giving an oral response) for measur...
Pairing and superfluid properties of dilute fermion gases at unitarity

We study the system of a dilute gas of fermions in three dimensions, with attractive interactions tuned to the unitarity point, using the nonperturbative restricted path-integral Monte Carlo method. The pairing and superfluid properties of this system are calculated at finite temperature. The total energy at very low temperature from our results agrees closely with that of previous ground-state quantum Monte Carlo calculations. We identify the temperature ${T}^{*}\ensuremath{\approx}0.70{ϵ}_{F}$, below which pairing correlations develop, and estimate the critical temperature for the superfluid transition ${T}_{c}\ensuremath{\approx}0.245{ϵ}_{F}$ from a finite size scaling analysis of the superfluid density.
Tea Is the Major Source of Flavan-3-ol and Flavonol in the U.S. Diet

Flavonoid intake is inversely associated with the incidence of chronic diseases, but the sources of flavonoid intake in free-living U.S. adults have not yet been reported. We tested hypotheses that tea is the major dietary source of flavonoids in U.S. adults; tea consumers differ from those of tea nonconsumers in sociodemographics, health-related behaviors, and dietary and beverage sources of flavonoid intake. We matched the flavonoid contents of the USDA Flavonoid Databases with dietary intake data of adults (n = 8809) included in NHANES of 1999-2002. Only 21.3% of U.S. adults reported drinking tea daily. Daily total flavonoid intake of tea consumers was over 20 times that of tea nonconsumers (697.9 vs. 32.6 mg/d); per capita flavonoid intake from tea was 157 mg/d. Tea consumers are more likely to be older, female, white, and to have higher income than tea nonconsumers (P < 0.001); to have lower nonleisure-time physical activity level (P < 0.01); and to take dietary supplements (P < 0.001) than tea nonconsumers. Intake of flavonols and flavan-3-ols, the major tea flavonoids, differed between the 2 groups (P < 0.01). Other dietary flavonoid sources after tea were citrus juice, wine, and citrus fruits for both tea consumer and nonconsumer groups. For tea nonconsumers, flavonoid intake from wine, fruitades, and fruit drinks was higher than that in tea consumers. Flavonoid intake differs among subgroups, mainly because of the percentage of tea consumers and the prevalence of tea consumption within each subgroup.
Homotopy fixed point spectra for closed subgroups of the Morava stabilizer groups

Abstract Let G be a closed subgroup of the semi-direct product of the nth Morava stabilizer group Sn with the Galois group of the field extension F p n / F p . We construct a “homotopy fixed point spectrum” EnhG whose homotopy fixed point spectral sequence involves the continuous cohomology of G. These spectra have the expected functorial properties and agree with the Hopkins-Miller fixed point spectra when G is finite.
Sentence segmentation and punctuation recovery for spoken language translation

Sentence segmentation and punctuation recovery are critical components for effective spoken language translation (SLT). In this paper we describe our recent work on sentence segmentation and punctuation recovery for three different language pairs, namely for English-to-Spanish, Arabic-to-English and Chinese-to-English. We show that the proposed approach works equally well in these very different language pairs. Furthermore, we introduce two features computed from the translation beam-search lattice that indicate if phrasal and target language model context is jeopardized when segmenting at a given word boundary. These features enable us to introduce short intra-sentence segments without degrading translation performance.
Developmentally Appropriate Practice in the Assessment and Intervention of Children's Peer Relations

Recent advances in our understanding of children's peer relations have led to new models of assessment and intervention firmly rooted in developmental principles and practices. In this article, ass...
Suspended sediment source apportionment in Chesapeake Bay watershed using Bayesian chemical mass balance receptor modeling

A Bayesian chemical mass balance approach was used to estimate the contributions of potential sources into the suspended sediments in the Mill Stream, a tributary of Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, US. The Bayesian approach allows us to incorporate the uncertainties as a result of measurement errors in the elemental profiles of sources and suspended sediments in the stream and also the heterogeneities of the elemental profiles among samples into the analysis and provides us with probability densities representing the contribution of each source. Based on the obtained results, river bank erosion is the major source of sediments with a contribution estimated to range from 83% to 99% with a 95% credible interval. Also, a 95% credible interval in a range of 0.06% to 8% for cropland and 0.1% to 14% for forestland was provided. Hence, while the contribution of sediments from cropland or forestland cannot be ruled out, the model does not definitively demonstrate a significant contribution from either source. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The evolution of gully headcut morphology: a case study using terrestrial laser scanning and hydrological monitoring

We present observations and analysis of gully headcut erosion, which differ from previous headcut studies in both spatial and temporal detail. Using ten terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) surveys conducted over a period of 3 years, we mapped headcut erosion with centimeter-scale detail on a sub-annual basis. Erosional change is observed through point cloud differencing, which expands on previous studies of headcut retreat rate by revealing the evolution of the headcut morphology. Headcut retreat observations are combined with hydrological measurements to explore the controlling factors of erosional retreat. We find that (i) mass failure due to wetting, (ii) saturation weakening of shale bedrock in plunge pools, and (iii) direct wash over the headcut face all appear to contribute to headcut retreat; however, mass failure via wetting appears to be the dominant process. Soil moisture was monitored near the study headcut at 0.4 m depth, and time-lapse photos show that soil wetting tends to be concentrated along the headcut apex after rainfall and snowmelt runoff events. We find that moisture concentration at the headcut apex leads to more rapid erosion at that location than along the headcut sidewalls, resulting in a semi-ellipsoidal plan view morphology that is maintained as the headcut migrates up-valley. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Hormone therapy increases risk of ulcerative colitis but not Crohn's disease.

Background & Aims Estrogen has been proposed to modulate gut inflammation through an effect on estrogen receptors found on gastrointestinal epithelial and immune cells. The role of postmenopausal hormone therapy on risk of Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) is unclear. Methods We conducted a prospective cohort study of 108,844 postmenopausal US women (median age, 54 years) enrolled in 1976 in the Nurses' Health Study without a prior history of CD or UC. Every 2 years, we have updated information on menopause status, postmenopausal hormone use, and other risk factors. Self-reported diagnoses of CD and UC were confirmed through medical record review by 2 gastroenterologists who were blinded to exposure information. We used Cox proportional hazards models to calculate adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results Through 2008, with more than 1.8 million person-years of follow-up, we documented 138 incident cases of CD and 138 cases of UC. Compared with women who never used hormones, the multivariate-adjusted HR for UC was 1.71 (95% CI, 1.07–2.74) among women who currently used hormones and 1.65 (95% CI, 1.03–2.66) among past users. The risk of UC appeared to increase with longer duration of hormone use ( P trend = .04) and decreased with time since discontinuation. There was no difference in risk according to the type of hormone therapy used (estrogen vs estrogen plus progestin). In contrast, we did not observe an association between current use of hormones and risk of CD (multivariate-adjusted HR, 1.19; 95% CI, 0.78–1.82). The effect of hormones on risk of UC and CD was not modified by age, body mass index, or smoking. Conclusions In a large prospective cohort of women, postmenopausal hormone therapy was associated with an increased risk of UC but not CD. These findings indicate that pathways related to estrogens might mediate the pathogenesis of UC.
A study to determine the efficacy of a novel handheld light-emitting diode device in the treatment of photoaged skin

The use of visible or near-infrared spectral light alone for the purpose of skin rejuvenation has been previously reported in the literature. These devices use large arrays of diodes to deliver light to the skin. In this study, a novel method of light-emitting diode (LED) photo rejuvenation incorporating a combination of these wavelengths delivered from a small handheld unit is proposed. Twenty-two subjects with facial rhytides received eight light therapy treatments over a course of 4 weeks, using the Omnilux handheld LED system. Assessment of global skin grading was evaluated at weeks 6, 9, and 12 by a dermatologist. Additional outcome measures included assessments of clinical photography and patient satisfaction scores. Seventy-four percent of the subjects reported a visible improvement in fine lines and wrinkles at 8 weeks posttreatment. Combination red and near-infrared LED therapy delivered from a small portable handheld unit represents an effective and acceptable method of photo rejuvenation. Further studies to optimize the parameters of treatment are required.
Maximizing throughput for overlaid cognitive radio networks

We consider a cognitive radio network in which a set of base stations make opportunistic spectrum access to support wireless subscribers within their covering cells. The spectrum of interest is divided into independent channels licensed to the primary users. Channel assignment and power control must be carried out in the cognitive network so that no excessive interference is caused to the primary users in the overlaid network. We are interested in the downlink channel assignment and power control problem for a cognitive radio network, with the objective of maximizing the total throughput of all secondary users. We first develop a mathematical model and present a Mixed Integer Linear Programming formulation, which is generally NP-hard. Subsequently, to obtain a suboptimal control scheme with lower complexity, we develop a distributed optimization algorithm that iteratively increases the overall cognitive radio network throughput. Through simulation results, we compare the performance of the distributed optimization algorithm with the optimal and validate its efficacy.
Social Change and Change in Intentions of Iranian Youth Regarding Education, Marriage, and Careers

Abstract Effects of large-scale socio-political movements and policy changes on individual attitudes and behaviours have been the focus of attention of social scientists and policy-makers in different countries. For example, concerns have been expressed regarding the effects of the so-called “fundamentalist” Islamic movements on attitudes and behaviours in relation to marriage, family structure, and the roles/rights of women. The Islamic Revolution of 1978 in Iran is usually assumed to have affected such beliefs and behaviours. To test the accuracy of such an assumption, three data sets collected in the same geographical location in 1982, 1984, and 1986 were compared within sex and SES groups. The intentions and aspirations of high school seniors regarding education, marriage, and careers were closer to conservative/traditional expectations in the 1982 sample than in the 1984 and 1986 samples. It is concluded that, even if there was an increase in traditionalism shortly after the Revolution, traditional t...
Thirty-Meter Telescope: progress and approaches

I describe the design of the Thirty Meter Telescope, a project to build a ground-based thirty-meter telescope. The partners include the University of California, Caltech, the Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy (ACURA), and NSF. The Project is currently in the design and development phase and will be ready for a 2009 construction start.
Secreted CLCA1 modulates TMEM16A to activate Ca2+-dependent chloride currents in human cells

Many biological processes that are important for our health involve the movement of ions into, and out of, our cells. For example, the flow of chloride ions out of cells controls the production of the sticky mucus that lines our windpipe and other airways. This mucus helps trap pollution and other foreign particles before they reach our lungs, and thus protects the lungs from harm. However in some diseases—such as cystic fibrosis and asthma—excessive amounts of thick mucus are produced; this can lead to breathing difficulties and an increased risk of infection. Proteins belonging to the CLCA protein family were first thought to act as channels that allow chloride ions to flow through cell membranes. Later studies then revealed that these proteins are not channels; instead they trigger the movement of chloride ions across cell membranes by activating other channel proteins. However, the identity of these channel proteins was unknown, and it was unclear how CLCA proteins might activate these channels. Sala-Rabanal, Yurtsever et al. have now shown that a member of the CLCA protein family, called CLCA1, is released from human cells and causes nearby cells to release chloride ions when the channel detects calcium ions. The movement of chloride ions triggered by CLCA1 looked very similar to the way chloride ions flow through a channel protein called TMEM16A, and so Sala-Rabanal, Yurtsever et al. asked whether these two proteins interact. TMEM16A was discovered several years ago, but remains the only calcium-dependent chloride channel known in mammals. Sala-Rabanal, Yurtsever et al. showed that adding CLCA1 to cells caused more TMEM16A channels to appear in the cell surface membrane and thereby increased the flow of chloride ions. The CLCA protein also physically interacted with the chloride channel in the membrane to stabilize it; no other protein has been shown to regulate ion channels in this way before. The findings of Sala-Rabanal, Yurtsever et al. provide a much clearer understanding of how the CLCA protein and the chloride channel work. Both of these proteins are known to contribute to excess mucus production in airway diseases; and both have been linked to cardiovascular diseases and certain cancers. These new findings may therefore also help researchers to target these proteins and develop treatments for these diseases.
Identification of a role for histone H2B ubiquitylation in noncoding RNA 3'-end formation through mutational analysis of Rtf1 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The conserved eukaryotic Paf1 complex regulates RNA synthesis by RNA polymerase II at multiple levels, including transcript elongation, transcript termination, and chromatin modifications. To better understand the contributions of the Paf1 complex to transcriptional regulation, we generated mutations that alter conserved residues within the Rtf1 subunit of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Paf1 complex. Importantly, single amino acid substitutions within a region of Rtf1 that is conserved from yeast to humans, which we termed the histone modification domain, resulted in the loss of histone H2B ubiquitylation and impaired histone H3 methylation. Phenotypic analysis of these mutations revealed additional defects in telomeric silencing, transcription elongation, and prevention of cryptic initiation. We also demonstrated that amino acid substitutions within the Rtf1 histone modification domain disrupt 3′-end formation of snoRNA transcripts and identify a previously uncharacterized regulatory role for the histone H2B K123 ubiquitylation mark in this process. Cumulatively, our results reveal functionally important residues in Rtf1, better define the roles of Rtf1 in transcription and histone modification, and provide strong genetic support for the participation of histone modification marks in the termination of noncoding RNAs.
CAST ASIDE: Boredom, Downward Mobility, and Homelessness in Post‐Communist Bucharest

The homeless, in post-Communist Bucharest, Romania, are bored. They describe themselves as bored all of the time. Drawing upon nearly three years of ethnographic fieldwork that moves between Bucharest’s homeless shelters and squatter camps, day centers and public parks, this article approaches the homeless’s boredom as an everyday affect structured by the politics of consumption in post-communist Bucharest. At the center of this study sits not simply the inability to consume but also the feeling of being cast aside, of being downwardly mobile in a neoliberal era of supposed ascent. In an increasingly consumer-driven society, boredom, I argue, is an affective state that registers within the modality of time the newly homeless’s expulsion to the margins of the city. In this sense, boredom is a persistent form of social suffering made possible by a crisis-generated shift in the global economy, one that has forced tens of millions of people the world over to come to terms with diminished economic capacities.
Water immersion simulation of extravehicular activities by astronauts.

Water-immersion weightlessness simulation to determine astronaut EVA capabilities and man-machine interfaces
Slow convergence of the BEM with constant elements in solving beam bending problems

Constant elements offer many advantages as compared with other higher-order elements in the boundary element method (BEM). With the use of constant elements, integrals in the BEM can be calculated accurately with analytical integrations and no corner problems need to be addressed. These features can make fast solution methods for the BEM (such as the fast multipole, adaptive cross approximation, and pre-corrected fast Fourier transform methods) especially efficient in computation. However, it is well known that the collocation BEM with constant elements is not adequate for solving beam bending problems due to the slow convergence or lack of convergence in the BEM solutions. In this study, we quantify this assertion using simple beam models and applying the fast multipole BEM code so that a large number of elements can be used. It is found that the BEM solutions do converge numerically to analytical solutions. However, the convergence rate is very slow, in the order of h to the power of 0.55–0.63, where h is the element size. Some possible reasons for the slow convergence are discussed in this paper.
Topological electronic rules for polycyclic hydrocarbons—quantum chemical deductions directly from structural formulas

All bicyclo[p.q.0] conjugated hydrocarbons are found to fall into ten homolog classes each characterized by the numbers of nonbonding, bonding, and antibonding molecular-orbitals of its first prototype and by the prototype itself. The energy level patterns are obtained by the new “structural covariance” pictorial rules directly from structural formulas. The HOMO-LUMO types, aromaticity or three types of nonaromatic behavior, and reactivities towards nucleophiles or electrophiles thereby also result.
Investigation of the physical and practical limits of dense-only phase shift lithography for circuit feature definition

The rise of low-k 1 optical lithography in integrated circuit manufacturing has introduced new questions concerning the physical and practical limits of particular subwavelength resolution-enhanced im- aging approaches. For a given application, trade-offs between mask complexity, design cycle time, process latitude and process throughput must be well understood. It has recently been shown that a dense-only phase shifting mask (PSM) approach can be applied to technology nodes approaching the physical limits of strong PSM with no proximity effects. Such an approach offers the benefits of reduced mask complex- ity and design cycle time, at the expense of decreased process through- put and limited design flexibility. In particular, dense-only methods offer k 1,0.3, thus enabling 90 nm node lithography with high-numerical ap- erture 248 nm exposure systems. We present the results of experiments, simulations, and analysis designed to explore the trade-offs inherent in dense-only phase shift lithography. Gate and contact patterns corre- sponding to various fully scaled circuits are presented, and the relation- ship between process complexity and design latitude is discussed. Par- ticular attention is given to approaches for obtaining gate features in both the horizontal and vertical orientation. Since semiconductor investment is dependent on cost amortization, the applicability of these methods is also considered in terms of production volume. © 2002 Society of Photo-
Managing and Communicating Operational Workflow

Background: Healthcare team members in emergency department contexts have used electronic whiteboard solutions to help manage operational workflow for many years. Ambulatory clinic settings have highly complex operational workflow, but are still limited in electronic assistance to communicate and coordinate work activities. Objective: To describe and discuss the design, implementation, use, and ongoing evolution of a coordination and collaboration tool supporting ambulatory clinic operational workflow at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). Methods: The outpatient whiteboard tool was initially designed to support healthcare work related to an electronic chemotherapy order-entry application. After a highly successful initial implementation in an oncology context, a high demand emerged across the organization for the outpatient whiteboard implementation. Over the past 10 years, developers have followed an iterative user-centered design process to evolve the tool. Results: The electronic outpatient whiteboard system supports 194 separate whiteboards and is accessed by over 2800 distinct users on a typical day. Clinics can configure their whiteboards to support unique workflow elements. Since initial release, features such as immunization clinical decision support have been integrated into the system, based on requests from end users. Conclusions: The success of the electronic outpatient whiteboard demonstrates the usefulness of an operational workflow tool within the ambulatory clinic setting. Operational workflow tools can play a significant role in supporting coordination, collaboration, and teamwork in ambulatory healthcare settings.
Computational Characterization of Conformational Transitions in the Voltage-Sensing Domain of Ci-VSP

The canonical voltage-sensing domain (VSD) is a conserved structural module that transduces the electric field across cellular membranes into defined protein motions of its charge-rich helix, the S4 segment. Up on depolarization, the VSD rearranges from the ‘resting’ (or ‘down’) state conformation into the ‘active’ (or ‘up’) state conformation, which in turn regulates the motion of downstream modules of the protein, such as opening of the pore domain of a voltage-gated ion channel or the activity of an enzyme. The voltage-sensing process has long attracted much interest and fruitful results have been reported using a variety of functional, spectroscopic and structural approaches. Recently, we solved crystal structures of the VSD of the Ciona intestinalis voltage-sensing phosphatase Ci-VSP in both it resting (Down) and activated (Up) conformations. Comparison of the two structures reveals an ∼ 5-A three-residue displacement of the S4 segment along, together with an ∼ 60° rotation around, its axis (called the one-click gating motion), while the S1-S3 segments remain fairly stable. Using 2-D self-learning umbrella sampling molecular dynamics simulations, combined with homology modeling and the string method, we have now calculated the free energy landscape governing the conformational changes of Ci-VSD. These calculations have allowed us to explore the energetic viability of further up (one-click up) and further down (two-clicks down) conformations, as potential mechanisms for additional charge translocation. These conformations should advance our understanding of the detailed mechanisms of voltage-gating and allow for the design of new experiments aimed to verify the present model of S4 movements and gating charge translocation.
DIFFERENTIATION OF LARVAL PITYOKTEINES ELEGANS AND SCOLYTUS VENTRALIS (COLEOPTERA: SCOLYTIDAE)

Larvae of Pityokteines elegans Swaine and Scolytus ventralis LeConte are distinguished by differences in coronal suture, frontal suture, antennae, and labium. Anatomical features are illustrated by SEM micrographs.
Fabrication and Electrochemical Performance of Interconnected Silicon Nanowires Synthesized from AlCu Catalyst

Highly interconnected silicon nanowires (SiNW) were prepared by a vapor–liquid–solid process using a multilayered AlCu film as the catalyst. The resulting SiNWs had a branched and interconnected st...