cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Magnetic manipulation of axonal endosome transport in live neurons

Abstract Noninvasive control of axonal cargos in live neurons is a challenging prospect that can enable novel research on the mechanisms of axonal cargo transport, cargo-mediated signaling and axonal traffic jams in neurons. However, conventional techniques for force manipulation such as optical traps are limited to a few micron-sized cargos and are not applicable to the small axonal cargos in live neurons. Here, we present a new methodology that permits the external control of axonal endosome transport via tailored magnetic forces. By culturing neurons in a microfluidic device made up of microfabricated magnetic arrays, we can exert 3 – 48 pN forces on retrograde axonal endosomes carrying fluorescent magnetic nanoparticles, 100 – 260 nm in size. The magnetic force counters the forces exerted by molecular motors driving the endosomes and results in a wide range of perturbations on endosome transport in axons. These perturbations, captured by oblique illumination fluorescence imaging, reveal new insights on the collective function of dyneins and the nature of paused and stationary states during retrograde endosome transport in axons. Most notably, we demonstrate controllable capture and release of retrograde endosomes in axons by toggling the external magnetic field. This technical advance has great potential to elucidate the spatiotemporal origins of long-distance endosome signaling pathways as well as the ramifications of axonal traffic jams in neurons.
Political theology of the earth: our planetary emergency and the struggle for a new republic

“Once upon a time we had … time” (1). The opening line of Catherine Keller’s Political Theology of the Earth captures its central dilemma: how do we work through the intractable political and the...
Differential benefits of olanzapine on executive function in schizophrenia patients: Preliminary findings.

OBJECTIVE Schizophrenia patients show executive function (EF) impairments in voluntary orienting as measured by eye-movements. We tested 14 inpatients to investigate the effects of the antipsychotic olanzapine on EF, as measured by antisaccade eye-movement performance. METHODS Patients were tested at baseline (before olanzapine), 3-5 days post-medication, and 12-14 days post-medication. Patients were also assessed on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) to measure the severity of schizophrenia-related symptoms, and administered the Stroop task, a test of EF. Nine matched controls were also tested on the antisaccade and Stroop. RESULTS Both groups showed improvement on Stroop and antisaccade; however, the schizophrenia group improved significantly more on antisaccade, indicating an additional benefit of olanzapine on EF performance. Patients with poorer baseline antisaccade performance (High-Deficit) showed significantly greater improvement on the antisaccade task than patients with better baseline performance (Low-Deficit), suggesting that baseline EF impairment predicts the magnitude of cognitive improvement with olanzapine. These subgroups showed significant and equivalent improvement on PANSS scores, indicating that improvement on the antisaccade task with olanzapine was not a result of differences in magnitude of clinical improvement. CONCLUSIONS This preliminary study provides evidence that olanzapine may be most advantageous for patients with greater baseline EF deficits.
Reciprocal On-Site Access: Sharing Information by Sharing Library Spaces

AbstractOn-site reciprocal access to libraries is a valuable benefit of consortial membership. This article details its advantages, offers a sample of some ways in which consortia facilitate such a...
Management of Urgent Medical Conditions at the End of Life

Medical emergencies at the end of life require recognition of patients at risk, so that a comprehensive assessment and plan of care can be put in place. Frequently, the interventions depend on the patient's underlying prognosis, location of care, and goals of care. The mere presence of a medical emergency often rapidly changes an estimated prognosis. Education of the patient and family may help empower them to adequately handle many situations when clinicians are not available.
Sex and Terror: Is the Subordination of Women Associated with the Use of Terror?

The overwhelming percentage of the perpetrators of terrorism are male: is this noteworthy, or not? We believe that it is. More specifically, we believe there is a complex mix of sex-linked grieva...
The Guitar’s Apostle: Imaginaries and Narratives Surrounding Andrés Segovia’s Religious Redemption of the Classical Guitar

Media and scholarly publications often depict Spanish guitarist Andres Segovia as an apostle who redeemed the classical guitar from its relegation to the periphery of art music. Such ideas should b...
Photoluminescence in SrTi O 3

At 77 K photoluminescence from nominally pure, 0.05% Sm-doped and 0.005% Cr-doped SrTi${\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ gives identical spectra in the infrared (I.R.) with an intensity ratio of 1:20:400, respectively. In undoped and Sm-doped specimens, the intensity of emission is vanishingly weak at 4 K, in contrast to Cr-doped SrTi${\mathrm{O}}_{3}$, in which it is practically unchanged relative to that at 77 K. At 77 K, the spectrum consists of a narrow line at 1.5625 eV of half-width 0.5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{3}$ eV, which we identify as the zero-phonon line, and 31 satellite lines, which are shown to be vibronics due to lattice phonons from the center and edge of the Brillouin zone. At 4 K the zero-phonon line is a doublet. Comparison with the reported lattice phonon spectrum is satisfactory. In addition, the data suggest the energies of several zone boundary phonons which have not been reported. In spite of identical emission spectra, undoped, Sm-doped, and Cr-doped specimens have different excitation spectra. This suggests energy transfer from Sm or Cr to a tightly bound center, isolated from the electronic energy bands, such as typically arise from rare-earth ions in ionic crystals. It is suggested that the center is an intrinsic defect or an exciton. In undoped SrTi${\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ an emission band in the visible---2.175 eV (77 K), 2.475 eV (4 K)---and its excitation spectrum are reported. The temperature dependence of both are anomalous. In contrast to the infrared emission, it is broad (half-width 0.63 eV) and structureless. Application of a dc electric field \ensuremath{\sim}100 V/cm, at 4 K, induces oscillations in time of the visible emission, a property not shared by the I.R. emission.
Using an Agent-based Model to Examine Deimplementation of Breast Cancer Screening

Objective The objective of this study was to examine the potential impact of provider social networks and experiences with patients on deimplementation of breast cancer screening. Research design We constructed the Breast Cancer-Social network Agent-based Model (BC-SAM), which depicts breast cancer screening decisions, incidence, and progression among 10,000 women ages 40 and over and the screening recommendations of their providers over a 30-year period. The model has patient and provider modules that each incorporate social network influences. Patients and providers were connected in a network, which represented patient-patient peer connections, provider-provider peer connections, connections between providers and patients they treat, and friend/family relationships between patients and providers. We calibrated provider decisions in the model using data from the CanSNET national survey of primary care physicians in the United States, which we fielded in 2016. Results First, assuming that providers' screening recommendations for women ages 50-74 remain unchanged but their recommendations for screening among younger (below 50 y old) and older (75+ y old) women decrease, we observed a decline in predicted screening rates for women ages 50-74 due to spillover effects. Second, screening rates for younger and older women were slow to respond to changes in provider recommendations; a 78% decline in provider recommendations to older women over 30 years resulted in an estimated 23% decline in patient screening in that group. Third, providers' experiences with unscreened patients, friends, and family members modestly increased screening recommendations over time (7 percentage points). Finally, we found that provider peer effects can have a substantial impact on population screening rates and can entrench existing practices. Conclusion Modeling cancer screening as a complex social system demonstrates a range of potential effects and may help target future interventions designed to reduce overscreening.
Disruption as Control in International Relations Classroom

Most college professors are control freaks. The desire for control urges us toward the predictable, and in most ways, the “easy” method of classroom instruction. The thought of losing control of your classroom is a fear-inducing sensation that should be avoided at all costs. In addition, it is highly likely that the modal reaction from an instructor when grappling with a class session gone bad is to revert to a more predictable, even more controlled, form of instruction. And for many, that will mean lecturing even more. But pedagogical reactions that urge us toward imposing more rigid classroom control have serious (and in my view, negative) implications for the types of learning that can take place in the contemporary international relations classroom. By contrast, I argue that we should react to bad classroom experiences by deceptively losing even more overt control in the classroom and covertly asserting control by upending the ways students interact with the material under study. In other words, we need to disrupt the order that students usually expect (and seem to crave) for something that is at times much less comfortable for student and teacher. Disruption will produce better learning outcomes for your students, even if those outcomes may not be easily measurable in a traditional, fact-focused assessment way.
SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine-Induced Immune Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) stimulated the development of highly effective vaccines that were produced wi...
The Position of Instruction: Faculty Perspectives on Forms of Address

In this paper, we examine higher education instructor preferences for forms of address from students. We share qualitative and quantitative analysis of data from a large survey of higher education ...
A melting temperature database and a neural network model for melting temperature prediction

I build a melting temperature database that contains approximately 10,000 materials. Based on the database, I build a machine learning model that predicts melting temperature in seconds. The model features graph neural network and residual neural network architecture. The root-mean-square errors of melting temperature are 90 and 160K for training and testing, respectively. The model is deployed online and is publicly available.
The Tendentious Tendency in Radiology Clinical Research

For many, tendentious is a fancy, unfamiliar word used by academics in an attempt to impress you with their erudition and confuse you about their purposes. But it should be employed more in common speech and writing because it is apt as a label for which no other word is as good. According to Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, it is defined as having or showing a definite tendency or bias. In clinical investigations, we should recognize it, because tendentiousness is imbued to some degree in a host of articles in radiology which without reading the abstract, one can guess at the conclusions presented in the introduction. After perusing the imaging literature, an innocent may think he is clairvoyant by predicting outcome just from the title of the article. In such reports, there will almost always be one statistically significant lesson to be presented and confirmed, (I did not say learned), and the results will almost always be in line with the authors’ preconceptions even if the upshot of the premise is revisionism of a previous widely held view.
The Concept of Node Status Indicator (NSI) and Performance Analysis

Traditionally, incorporating security into a system has been an afterthought, and the techniques employed have generally been ad hoc. As a result, performance degradation is frequently observed to accompany secure systems. In the network security literature, Runge [88], Hale [89], and Stacey [90] observe that while the current solutions provide security in specific areas, they give rise to performance degradation, fail to allocate resources optimally, and are expensive. A more serious difficulty has been the lack of detailed reports in the network security literature describing the validation of the proposed security mechanisms prior to developing an actual prototype and their performance analysis, especially for large-scale representative systems. Stevenson, Hillery, and Byrd [76] propose the use of cryptography to achieve data privacy and digital signatures to authenticate end users during the setup procedure. Their claim that a secure call setup must complete within 4 seconds of initiating the request is neither accompanied by any scientific validation nor related to any published scientific standard. In principle, the 4-second mandate, as stated, is difficult to generalize, since the call setup time is a function of the relative locations of the source and destination nodes, i.e., whether they are intra-group, inter-group, etc.
Spherical representations: From EGI to SAI

One of the fundamental problems in representing a curved surface is how to define an intrinsic, i.e., viewer independent, coordinate system over the surface. More precisely, in order to establish point matching between model and observed feature distributions over curved surfaces, we need to set up a coordinate system that maps a point on a curved surface to a point on a standard coordinate system. This mapping should be independent of the viewing direction. Since the boundary of a 3-D object forms a closed surface, a coordinate system defined on the sphere is preferred. We have been exploring several intrinsic mappings from an object surface to a spherical surface. We have investigated several representations including: the EGI (Extended Gaussian Image), the DEGI (Distributed Extended Gaussian Image), the CEGI (Complex Extended Gaussian Image), and the SAI (Spherical Attribute Image). This paper describes each representation and the lessons that we have learned by using those representations in recognition systems.
The present status of thymectomy in myasthenia gravis: A review of three cases

Abstract A short review of the current literature has been made. The three cases presented of myasthenia gravis treated by thymectomy tend to support the conclusions drawn by larger groups with a statistically significant series of cases. The preoperative, operative and postoperative care has been outlined.
Conformation and thermodynamics of DNA "necks". Models for three-arm branch formation in a duplex.

Abstract The properties of three-arm DNA junctions differ from those of four-arm junctions in several respects. Most apparently, bases flanking the branch are reactive to single strand specific agents in three-arm junctions but not four-arm junctions. To determine the basis for this, we have designed and synthesized a series of complexes in which a short duplex, a neck, progressively extends from a parent 16-mer DNA duplex. These structures allow us to investigate how a three-arm branch forms, and how its properties change as the neck extends. Comparison of the properties of a nicked duplex with those of the neck structures using native gel electrophoresis with reporter arms attached reveals progressively greater geometrical perturbation of the complexes as the number of base-pairs in the neck increases. Footprinting by single-strand specific indicates that the reactivity to single-strand reagents near the branch occurs when only a single pair is possible. The branch in each neck interacts tightly with ethidium, as does a nick in the same duplex. The thermodynamics of neck formation have been evaluated by calorimetry and from the concentration dependence of absorbance temperature profiles. Each neck complex is destabilized with respect to duplex DNA or a nicked duplex, and has a lower enthalpy of formation despite the increased number of base-pairs present. A model is proposed to account for these properties in which the bases in the pair adjacent to the duplex interact directly with the duplex, via transient insertion.
Observations and analysis of B-type earthquakes, explosions, and volcanic tremor at Pavlof Volcano, Alaska

An eight-station network of short-period seismometers has been operated near Pavlof Volcano (55°25′N, 161°54′W) Alaska Peninsula since 1976. High-quality analog-to-digital and direct digital data were recorded during eruptions in 1980 through 1983. Data are analyzed from explosions with distinct air phases, B-type volcanic earthquakes (shallow, low-frequency events lacking clear S phases), and volcanic tremor to determine source and propagation effects. Between zero and several hundred B-type events and explosions per day are recorded, with higher numbers during eruptions. Magnitudes range between −0.5 and 1.3, and b -values range between 1.9 ± 0.1 and 2.6 ± 0.1 with no systematic relation to eruptive activity. Six results are most important: (1) data from a recently installed three-component station reveal that the highest-amplitude waves of the B-type events show retrograde elliptical particle motion and normal dispersion, and are hence probably Rayleigh waves; (2) stacking of the events enhances the P wave, which has a velocity of 3.1 ± 0.1 km sec−1; (3) the explosions and B-type events have similar hypocenters, as evidenced by signal characteristics and wave arrival times; (4) the B-type events contain virtually no high-frequency energy, even when allowing for attenuation effects. In particular, we estimate the anelastic attenuation coefficient Q to have a value of 45 ± 20 for Rayleigh waves in the shallow part of the volcano; (5) volcanic tremor spectra exhibit evenly spaced narrow peaks, which we model as eigenvalues of organ-pipe resonance in the magma conduit; we estimate the length of the conduit to be a maximum of 1.6 km; (6) the volcano shows evidence of extreme lateral variation of velocity and attenuation in its shallow structure.
Managing HIV/AIDS: Yunnan's Government‐driven, Multi‐sector Partnership Model

This article seeks to unravel the management model used by China's Yunnan Province in its fight against HIV/AIDS. This government-driven, multi-sector partnership model has led to some capacity building and stabilization of HIV transmission among certain at-risk populations. The organizational strategies employed in this model might be useful for resource-poor countries in containing the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Mutant KRAS in the initiation of pancreatic cancer.

Abstract Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is the most common pancreatic neoplasm. There are approximately 33,000 new cases of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma annually in the United States with approximately the same number of deaths. Surgery represents the only opportunity for cure, but this is restricted to early stage pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma evolves from a progressive cascade of cellular, morphological and architectural changes from normal ductal epithelium through preneoplastic lesions termed pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN). These PanIN lesions are in turn associated with somatic alterations in canonical oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. Most notably, early PanIN lesions and almost all pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas involve mutations in the K-ras oncogene. Thus, it is believed that activating K-ras mutations are critical for initiation of pancreatic ductal carcinogenesis. This has been proven through elegant genetically engineered mouse models in which a Cre-activated K-RasG12D allele is knocked into the endogenous K-Ras locus and crossed with mice expressing Cre recombinase in pancreatic tissue. As a result, mechanistic insights are now possible into how K-Ras contributes to pancreatic ductal carcinogenesis, what cooperating events are required, and armed with this knowledge, new therapeutic approaches can be pursued and tested.
Transfer of staff training from workshops to group homes: a failure to generalize across settings.

Abstract Two experiments were conducted to assess acquisition and generalization of skills acquired in a workshop by trainees who were primary caregivers on the staffs of group homes for developmentally disabled clients. In study 1, 31 staff trainees received an intensive, 1-week workshop in behavioral theory and treatment techniques. When assessed at the workshop site, these staff trainees showed increased treatment skills, relative to 18 staff trainees who did not participate in the workshop. In Study 2, pre- and postworkshop observations were taken on 53 developmentally disabled clients in group homes where the staff trainees worked. These observations provided no evidence that the workshop had any effect on group home client functioning. Future training programs for caregivers may be more successful if they occur in the group home, involve clients in the home, and enlist the support of supervisory staff, rather than focusing only on primary caregivers.
Hospital reimbursement patterns among patients with surgical wound infections following open heart surgery.

Of the more than 200,000 patients who undergo open heart surgery annually in the United States, 2% to 10% will develop a post-operative infection related to their surgery. The economic impact of such infections on hospitals under the prospective payment system is unclear. To study the effect of such infections on hospital costs and reimbursement patterns, we compared case patients with controls of similar age, sex, urgency of surgery and type of surgery. The postoperative stay for cases was significantly longer than for matched controls (26.8 days and 8.3 days, respectively; p = .0002). The mean hospital cost for case admissions ($25,957) was twice as high as for control admissions ($12,795) (p = .0002). Cases resulted in an average net loss to the hospital of $2,344 per patient, while controls yielded an average net gain of $3,196 per patient (p = .02). We conclude that hospitals have substantial financial incentives to minimize the incidence of postoperative wound infections associated with open heart surgery.
A neural network simulator for supercomputers

Connectionist modeling is computationally intensive. Until parallel computers become more widely available, supercomputing resources can be exploited. This paper describes a neural network simulator (NNS) written in FORTRAN for supercomputers. The present simulation engine consists of code for the backpropagation method of changing weights in connectionist models. A file interface reports simulation results in a variety of formats. The file interface also contains an interpreter for an input file through which the network structure is defined, the problem is represented, and various parameters are set. The input-file syntax is described in detail. NNS has been used both as an instructional aid and as a research tool. A simulation of “recovery of unrehearsed associations” is used to illustrate the use of the input file and to demonstrate the performance of NNS. Versions of NNS have been written for the Cray X-MP/48 and for the IBM 3090.
Insight into psoriasis management: Commercial perspectives for the U.S. psoriasis market

Psoriasis is a chronic skin condition that has a significant impact on quality of life, self-esteem and comorbidities. Management of this condition is complicated and heavily influenced by psychosocial and economic realities. Addressing psychosocial and treatment education issues can be facilitated by use of the National Psoriasis Foundation. Localized disease is generally treated with topical treatment for which good generic medications are available. Somewhat higher priced branded vehicles are helpful for enhancing patients' treatment adherence, and may help avoid the need for far more toxic and expensive systemic treatment. Patients with extensive disease are best managed with phototherapy as a first-line option, and there is room for improvement in how insurers promote the use of this approach. Biologic treatments continue to offer new, safer options for patients with severe disease, albeit at higher cost. This review addresses practical issues in psoriasis management that would be of interest to organizations that are involved in the delivery of care for patients with psoriasis, such as managed care pharmacists and pharmaceutical companies that develop products for psoriasis.
In vitro evaluation of the effect of the opioid antagonist N-methylnaltrexone on motility of the equine jejunum and pelvic flexure

Summary Reasons for performing study: Although potent analgesics, opioids decrease intestinal activity, leading to ileus in many species. N-methylnaltrexone (MNTX), an opioid antagonist which does not cross the blood-brain barrier and antagonises the morphine effect on the intestine, directly stimulates motility and restores function without affecting analgesic properties. While its use has been reported in human subjects, there is no information with regard to its usage in the horse. Objectives: To determine whether MNTX has an effect on contractile activity of the equine jejunum and pelvic flexure. Methods: Using circular smooth muscle strips obtained from 8 mature horses, increasing concentrations of MNTX were added to tissue baths in the range of 1 times 10−9 to 1 times 10−5 mol/l, and contractile responses were recorded for 3 mins. Data were analysed using a repeated measures ANOVA to determine whether there was a significant drug effect compared to baseline activity. Data were analysed between the jejunum and pelvic flexure using a Mann-Whitney U test. Statistical significance was established as P<0.05. Results: The administration of MNTX significantly increased the contractile frequency and amplitude at all concentrations relative to baseline (P<0.0001) for the jejunum. The response was greatest at 1 times 10−7 mol/l (P = 0.0005), with a mean difference from baseline of 115.12 g/cm2. The highest concentration evaluated (1 times 10−5 mol/l) had a mean contractile strength of 69.76 g/cm2, which was significantly greater than baseline activity (P = 0.04). A significant increase in contractile activity for the colon was detected at 3 times 10−7 mol/l and all subsequent concentrations (P<0.04). Unlike the jejunum, the contractile activity of the pelvic flexure increased progressively with the addition of each subsequent concentration. Conclusions: N-methylnaltrexone has a direct effect on circular smooth muscle of the equine jejunum and pelvic flexure resulting in an increase in contractile activity. Potential relevance: N-methylnaltrexone could potentially be used in conjunction with morphine to provide potent and effective analgesia without compromising intestinal function. Further in vivo investigations are required to determine whether this agent antagonises morphine's effect on motility.
Pancreatic cancer and medical history in a population-based case-control study in the San Francisco Bay Area, California.

To determine the association between pancreatic cancer and medical conditions. A large population-based case–control study identified pancreatic cancer cases in the San Francisco Bay Area between 1995 and 1999. A total of 1,701 controls were randomly selected from the same population and were frequency-matched to 532 cases by sex and age. In-person interviews were conducted with no proxy interviews. Prior history of gallbladder disease was associated with increased risk of pancreatic cancer (OR = 1.6, 95% CI = 1.2–2.2), with the highest risk occurring for gallbladder disease not caused by cholelithiasis (OR = 2.1, 95% CI = 1.1–3.7). Risk was associated with cholelithiasis only for participants diagnosed within the year before their pancreatic cancer (OR = 15, 95% CI = 6.2–34), and for those with cholelithiasis and cholecystectomy within the same time frame (OR = 28, 95% CI = 8.2–96). Gastric and/or duodenal ulcers were associated with increased risk of pancreatic cancer for individuals with ulcers of ≤two years duration (OR = 2.3, 95% CI = 1.1–4.6). Hyperthyroidism (OR = 2.1, 95% CI = 1.0–4.2) and “other” thyroid conditions (OR = 2.2, 95% CI = 1.1–4.2) were associated with increased risk. Participants with at least one first-degree relative with pancreatic cancer had an increased risk (OR = 1.6, 95% CI = 1.1–2.5). History of recent gallbladder conditions, gastric and/or duodenal ulcers may represent an early manifestation of pancreatic cancer rather than an independent risk factor. These results warrant further investigation in pooled analyses.
Study of WLS state estimation convergence characteristics under topology errors

Power system state estimation determines the optimal system states based on the network model and the gathered measurements from the system. Weighted least square (WLS) state estimation is the most commonly used method in power industry, and it may suffer divergence under stressed system conditions. This paper investigates the impacts of variations of line power flow increment and topology errors on convergence property of the WLS state estimator. A simple 3-bus system and the IEEE 118-bus system are used as the test cases and simulation results are reported. Furthermore, this paper also studies the effect of adding phasor measurement unit (PMU) voltage phasor measurements to convergence property of WLS state estimation. Simulation results show that adding PMU measurements could generally improve the robustness of state estimation, but there exists a few special cases violating the rule and needs to be taken care when applying PMU measurements in state estimation.
Factor structure and validity of the Medication Adherence Questionnaire (MAQ) with cigarette smokers trying to quit.

The Medication Adherence Questionnaire (MAQ) is a scale used to evaluate adherence to medications. The present study assessed the factor structure and validity of the MAQ with cigarette smokers. A principal components analysis was conducted on MAQ scores from a sample of smokers presenting for treatment in a clinical trial of naltrexone and nicotine patch for smoking cessation (N=385). Indices of convergent and predictive validity were tested using electronic medication caps for naltrexone, nicotine patch counts, plasma drug levels of naltrexone, and treatment outcomes. The principal components analysis revealed two factors. Factor 1, labeled “unintentional nonadherence,” measured the extent to which individuals were nonadherent because they were careless or forgot to take their medications. Factor 2, labeled “purposeful nonadherence,” assessed nonadherence related to purposefully stopping medication use after feeling better or worse. Only the second factor was shown to have good convergent and predictive validity. Specifically, this factor was related to pill-taking behavior measured with electronic medication caps and drug plasma levels and nicotine patch use based on nicotine patch count data, and it was associated with smoking cessation outcome. Thus the purposeful nonadherence factor of the MAQ may be used as a brief screening tool for medication adherence with cigarette smokers seeking treatment. Information obtained with this questionnaire could be used to counsel patients regarding the importance of medication adherence.
High pressure X-ray diffraction study of β-Si3N4

Abstract X-ray diffraction data collected at quasi-hydrostatic pressures of 5–34 GPa yield an average zero-pressure bulk modulus and pressure derivative of K 0 = 270(±5) GPa and K 0 ′ = 4.0(±1.8) for β-Si 3 N 4 at room temperature. Similar linear incompressibilities along the a and c crystallographic directions document that compression is nearly isotropic.
SYNTACTIC PRIMING AND ESL QUESTION DEVELOPMENT

Interaction research that has investigated the relationship between language production and second language (L2) development has largely focused on learners' immediate responses to interactional feedback. However, other speech production processes might help account for the beneficial relationship between interaction and L2 development. The current study examines whether syntactic priming—the tendency to produce a syntactic structure encountered in the recent discourse—is associated with English as a second language (ESL) question development. The participants were intermediate-level Thai learners of English (N = 46) at a large public university in northern Thailand. In two 20-min sessions, the participants carried out communicative activities with a more advanced L2 English interlocutor who had been scripted with developmentally advanced question forms. They also completed an oral pretest and two posttests that consisted of activities similar to those carried out during the treatment sessions. The results indicated that participants who evidenced high levels of syntactic priming were likely to advance to a higher stage in the developmental sequence of ESL question formation.
Validation of vector data using oblique images

Oblique images are aerial photographs taken at oblique angles to the earth's surface. Projections of vector and other geospatial data in these images depend on camera parameters, positions of the entities, surface terrain, and visibility. This paper presents a robust and scalable algorithm to detect inconsistencies in vector data using oblique images. The algorithm uses image descriptors to encode the local appearance of a geospatial entity in images. These image descriptors combine color, pixel-intensity gradients, texture, and steerable filter responses. A Support Vector Machine classifier is trained to detect image descriptors that are not consistent with underlying vector data, digital elevation maps, building models, and camera parameters. In this paper, we train the classifier on visible road segments and non-road data. Thereafter, the trained classifier detects inconsistencies in vectors, which include both occluded and misaligned road segments. The consistent road segments validate our vector, DEM, and 3-D model data for those areas while inconsistent segments point out errors. We further show that a search for descriptors that are consistent with visible road segments in the neighborhood of a misaligned road yields the desired road alignment that is consistent with pixels in the image.
Stable association of presenilin derivatives and absence of presenilin interactions with APP.

Abstract Mutations in two related genes, presenilin 1 and presenilin 2 ( PS1 and PS2 ), cosegregate with Alzheimer's disease. PS1 and PS2 are highly homologous polytopic membrane proteins that are subject to endoproteolytic cleavage in vivo. The resulting N- and C-terminal derivatives are the preponderant PS-related species that accumulate in cultured cells and tissue. In earlier studies, we demonstrated that PS1 N- and C-terminal derivatives accumulate to 1:1 stoichiometry and that the absolute levels of fragments are established by a tightly regulated and saturable mechanism. These findings led to the suggestion that the levels of PS1 derivatives might be determined by their association with limiting cellular components. In this study, we use in situ chemical cross-linking and coimmunoprecipitation analyses to document that the N- and C-terminal derivatives of either PS1 or PS2 can be coisolated. Moreover, and in contrast to published reports which documented that PS1 and PS2 form stable heteromeric assemblies with the β-amyloid precursor protein (APP), we have failed to provide evidence for physiological complexes between PS1 and PS2 holoproteins or their derivatives with APP.
Noninvasive diagnostic techniques in peripheral vascular disease.

Abstract This paper has attempted to provide an overview of the current techniques and operation of the noninvasive peripheral vascular laboratory. The past decade has witnessed an increasing interest in noninvasive diagnostic techniques in general and peripheral vascular evaluation in particular. There are many instruments which have been developed, some of which are inexpensive, simple, and accurate for screening for peripheral arterial, venous, and cerebrovascular disease. The physician must recognize the importance of appropriate selection and interpretation of these diagnostic studies. Specifically, the clinician must place the role of the noninvasive vascular laboratory into proper perspective with that of the conventional diagnostic techniques of history, physical examination, and arteriography or phlebography. It is anticipated that noninvasive diagnostic techniques will be applied with increasing frequency in the years to come. Only by understanding the principles, applications, attributes, and limitations of the various diagnostic modalities will the clinician be able to intelligently use them in the evaluation and management of patients with vascular disease.
Confucian ethics and economic development: A study of the adaptation of Confucian values to modern Japanese economic ideology and institutions

Abstract This paper analyzes the relationship between Confucian values and odern Japanese economic development, especially in terms of the adaptation of selected Confucian values by pre- and post- World War II Japanese industrialists and government officials toward the formation of a modern Japanese ideology of capitalist economic development. The use of such Confucian values is examined in terms of their appearance in three different areas of Japanese social life: education, the workplace (including both labor-management relations and industrial organization), and the role and attitudes of the government bureaucracy. While such values were consciously used by elites to further economic development, they also reflected in many cases these elites' own personal ethical values. Moreover, although it is difficult to measure precisely how much such values impacted the course of modern Jap development, it is clear that they did have an effect, both positive and negative. Such values and their expression in institutions have also been subtly transformed over time to meet the changing needs of Japan's developing economic and social environment, with the result that in many ways they are now better termed “post-Confucian” Yet, at the same time there is a continuing emphasis on the central values of “respect for learning,” “social harmony” “loyalty” and “familism.”
Major Economic Tendencies in the Bituminous Coal Industry

The problem of overcapacity, 106.— Trends in production and consumption, 112.— Mechanization, 117.— Labor problems, 122.— Wages, 127.— Summary, 128.
Single-neuron labeling and chronic cochlear pathology. III. Stereocilia damage and alterations of threshold tuning curves

Tuning curves were obtained from 100 to 150 auditory-nerve fibers spanning the range of characteristic frequencies (CFs) in each of eight cases of permanent noise-induced and three cases of permanent kanamycin-induced threshold shift. In each ear, from one to six neurons were intracellularly labeled with horseradish peroxidase. Locating the labeled terminals in plastic-embedded surface preparations of the cochlea enabled us to accurately correlate particular tuning-curve abnormalities with the condition of the sensory cells generating them. The correlations between structural and functional changes suggest that a normal tuning-curve tip requires that the stereocilia on both the IHCs and OHCs (especially those from the first row) be normal. Selective damage to the OHCs is associated with elevation of the tips and hypersensitivity of the tuning-curve tails. This tuning-curve pattern also originates from cochlear regions at the basal border of hair cell lesions where the local hair cells (and their stereocilia) appear completely normal at the light-microscopic level. Total destruction of the OHCs in a region in which the IHCs appear normal (as can happen in cases of kanamycin poisoning) is associated with bowl-shaped tuning curves which appear to lack a tip. Combined damage to the IHCs and OHCs (as typically happens in cases of acoustic trauma) is invariably associated with elevation of both tips and tails on the tuning curve. A framework for the interpretation of the results is suggested in which the activity of the OHCs is transmitted via the tectorial membrane to the tall row of stereocilia on the IHCs.
Non‐invasive imaging of freshly excised parathyroid glands using confocal reflectance microscopy

Background Successful surgical management of primary hyperparathyroidism requires an understanding of the underlying pathological diagnosis. Various methods have been employed to distinguish normal from hyperfunctional diseased glands. Confocal reflectance microscopy (CRM) is a novel optical method of imaging tissue non-invasively without the need for fixation, sectioning and staining as in standard histopathology. Gray-scale images are displayed in real time on a monitor, and represent horizontal (en face) optical sections through the tissue. Using CRM, the goal of this study was to delineate histological features characteristic of the parathyroid gland, and to determine if confocal imaging could distinguish normal from adenomatous parathyroid tissue. Methods In this pilot observational cohort study, a total of 18 parathyroid glands was imaged using CRM immediately after excision in eight patients undergoing surgery for primary hyperparathyroidism. Confocal images were compared with corresponding permanent, haematoxylin and eosin-stained sections obtained from the same gland. For each patient, the percentage area occupied by fat cells was calculated in ten independent images (593 μm × 509 μm) of both normal and diseased glands. Results Characteristic histological features of the parathyroid gland were readily discernible by CRM and correlated well with permanent, haematoxylin and eosin-stained sections. The fat content of both normal and diseased glands could be determined easily. The percentage area occupied by fat cells was distinctly different in normal (mean(s.d.) 21·8(5·3) per cent) and diseased (0·9(2·4) per cent) parathyroid glands. Conclusion CRM rapidly revealed histological features of the parathyroid gland without histological processing. This new, simple, rapid and non-invasive technique has the potential for use as an adjunct to frozen-section analysis in intraoperative consultation during parathyroidectomy. This may provide a technique for in situ histological diagnosis of endocrine or other tissues without an excisional biopsy. Work is currently under way to develop an intraoperative probe for in vivo use. © 2000 British Journal of Surgery Society Ltd
Determination of Levoglucosan in Particulate Matter Reference Materials

Source identification is critical for the effective management of air pollution. The ratio of levoglucosan (1,6-anhydro- β -D-glucose) to organic carbon has been used to identify and quantify the contribution of biomass combustion to the organic carbon content in aerosols. Therefore, accurate levoglucosan measurements in particulate matter are important. This study determined levoglucosan concentrations in urban dust Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) 1649a and 1648 available from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as well as two particulate matter samples with particle sizes nominally 2.5 μ m and smaller collected in Baltimore, MD. Levoglucosan was extracted using both pressurized fluid and Soxhlet techniques. Quantification was performed with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) using a deuterated levoglucosan internal standard and two different GC columns. Levoglucosan concentrations were 81.1 μ g g−1 with a standard deviation of 9.4 μ g g−1 (n = 9) for SRM 1649a, 107 μ ...
Isomenzation of13C labeled butane over Fe,Mn promoted sulfated ZrO2 catalyst

Abstract Conversion at low temperature of double labeled butane, 13 CH 3 CH 2 CH 13 2 CH 3 , over sulfated zirconium dioxide modified with iron and manganese ions, leads to isobutanes containing zero, one, two, three and four 13 C atoms in abundances corresponding to a binomial distribution. Isomerization over this catalyst apparently involves oligomerization and β-fission of a chemisorbed C 8 -carbenium ion to iso-C 4 fragments.
Univaiuate anu multivariate categorical data analysis for block designs

Analysis for univariate and multivariate categorical data in block designs is given and illustrated through examples. The univariate analysis compares the treatments on the basis of their pooled frequency distributions (pooled over blocks). The test statistic used is called Q after Cochran (1950). The large sample null distribution of Q is a chi-square. Analysis of p-variate categorical data (kth variable having ck classes, K=1,...,p) can be done by treating it as a univariate categorical problem with [d] classes. Very often [d] is large in relation to the size of the experiment. This makes the expected frequencies for some of the cells very small, making the univariate method inapplicable. In these circumstances it may be reasonable to compare the treatments on the basis of marginal distributions up to the mth dimension, 1[d] , which is given in this paper. This method is also illustrated for missing observations
Speed-resolution properties of columns packed with new 4.6 μm Kinetex-C18 core–shell particles

The achievable separation speed and resolution of columns packed with the new 4.6 μm Kinetex particles were characterized by their permeability and their plate heights, measured meticulously. Their specific permeabilities range between 1.81 and 1.95 × 10(-10)cm(2) and their external porosities between 0.394 and 0.405. The efficiencies of the eluted peaks measured by numerical integration of the whole band concentration provided minimum reduced plate heights for uracil (non-retained) and naphthalene (retained) between 1.3 and 1.5 (H=6.0-6.9 μm) for two 4.6 mm × 150 mm replicate columns of Kinetex and between 1.6 and 2.0 (H=7.4-9.2 μm) for two narrow-bore 2.1 mm × 150 mm replicate columns. The most efficient 4.6 mm × 150 mm Kinetex column shows a deviation of one reduced plate height h unit with respect to the infinite diameter column (no wall, no inlet, no outlet endfitting) at high speed. Eventually, the separation speed and the resolution of columns packed with 4.6 μm core-shell Kinetex particles are better or equivalent to those of columns packed with 2.5 μm fully porous particles for hold-up times larger than only 10s. These core-shell materials are virtually equivalent to the second generation of silica monolithic columns with the advantage of operating well at pressure drops larger than 200 bar.
CRL4s: the CUL4-RING E3 ubiquitin ligases.

The evolutionarily conserved cullin family proteins can assemble as many as 400 distinct E3 ubiquitin ligase complexes that regulate diverse cellular pathways. CUL4, one of three founding cullins conserved from yeast to humans, uses a large β-propeller protein, DDB1, as a linker to interact with a subset of WD40 proteins that serve as substrate receptors, forming as many as 90 E3 complexes in mammals. Many CRL4 complexes are involved in chromatin regulation and are frequently hijacked by different viruses.
Inhibition of drug transport by genistein in multidrug-resistant cells expressing P-glycoprotein

It has been claimed that the flavonoid genistein could be used to distinguish multidrug-resistant tumors expressing the multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP) from those expressing P-glycoprotein (Pgp). Genistein would block drug transport by MRP without affecting Pgp-mediated drug transport. However, we found that exposure to 200 μM genistein elicited an elevation in intracellular accumulation of rhodamine 123 (R123) and daunorubicin (DNR) in Pgp-expressing cell lines. Genistein inhibited R123 efflux in a rapidly reversible manner (ca. 2 min). The flavonoid also decreased photoaffinity labeling of Pgp by [3H]azidopine, a Pgp substrate. The present results show that genistein interacts with Pgp and inhibits Pgp-mediated drug transport. Hence, genistein cannot be used in simple assays to distinguish MRP- and Pgp-expressing cells.