cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Controlled Evaluation of a High School Biomedical Pipeline Program: Design and Methods

Given limited funding for school-based science education, non-school-based programs have been developed at colleges and universities to increase the number of students entering science- and health-related careers and address critical workforce needs. However, few evaluations of such programs have been conducted. We report the design and methods of a controlled trial to evaluate the Stanford Medical Youth Science Program's Summer Residential Program (SRP), a 25-year-old university-based biomedical pipeline program. This 5-year matched cohort study uses an annual survey to assess educational and career outcomes among four cohorts of students who participate in the SRP and a matched comparison group of applicants who were not chosen to participate in the SRP. Matching on sociodemographic and academic background allows control for potential confounding. This design enables the testing of whether the SRP has an independent effect on educational- and career-related outcomes above and beyond the effects of other factors such as gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic background, and pre-intervention academic preparation. The results will help determine which curriculum components contribute most to successful outcomes and which students benefit most. After 4 years of follow-up, the results demonstrate high response rates from SRP participants and the comparison group with completion rates near 90%, similar response rates by gender and ethnicity, and little attrition with each additional year of follow-up. This design and methods can potentially be replicated to evaluate and improve other biomedical pipeline programs, which are increasingly important for equipping more students for science- and health-related careers.
AUTOCRINE MOTILITY FACTOR-RECEPTOR IN HUMAN BLADDER-CARCINOMA - GENE-EXPRESSION, LOSS OF CELL-CONTACT REGULATION AND CHROMOSOMAL MAPPING

Cell lines derived from normal (FHs738BL), papilloma (RT4) and carcinoma (J82) human urinary bladder tissue were characterized for motility and for expression of autocrine motility factor (AMF) receptor, i.e. the 78 kDa cell surface glycoprotein, gp78. Further, the human gene for gp78 was mapped to the long arm of chromosome 16, band q21 just distal to 16q13. Although the papilloma cells were immotile, the normal and carcinoma cells exhibited similar basal migration, while only the carcinoma cells were capable of responding to tumor-derived AMF. No difference in gene structure or copy number was found among the three cell lines and all expressed gp78. Cell surface distribution and level of expression distinguished the three cell populations with a markedly concentrated display of gp78 in focal regions on the surface of the carcinoma cells. Cell contact down-regulated gp78 expression in the normal but not the carcinoma cells. In this model for bladder carcinoma, malignancy is apparently associated in part with the spatial localization of gp78 on the cell surface, coupled with a loss of contact inhibition-mediated gp78 downregulation, the result of which is an AMF-receptive signal transduction motility response.
Effects of Cytokines and Other Inflammatory Mediators on Human Acute Pancreatitis

Most episodes of acute pancreatitis are mild, but severe disease complicated by multiple system organ failure develops in up to 20% of cases. In all patients with pancreatitis, the accumulation of leukocytes in pancreatic and extrapancreatic tissue, and the release of various mediators from them and other sites are important determinants of disease severity. Proinflammatory mediators, whose initial job is to limit the local damage, are released early in the disease. However, these mediators can exacerbate the severity of the pancreatitis when they continue to be elaborated in greater amounts or for longer periods than normal. When their actions are blocked or their release is inhibited, the severity of experimental pancreatitis and its associated mortality rate are less. This suggests the possibility that agents that inhibit the release and/or action of these mediators could be beneficial clinically.
Cascades of two-pole-two-zero asymmetric resonators are good models of peripheral auditory function.

A cascade of two-pole–two-zero filter stages is a good model of the auditory periphery in two distinct ways. First, in the form of the pole–zero filter cascade, it acts as an auditory filter model that provides an excellent fit to data on human detection of tones in masking noise, with fewer fitting parameters than previously reported filter models such as the roex and gammachirp models. Second, when extended to the form of the cascade of asymmetric resonators with fast-acting compression, it serves as an efficient front-end filterbank for machine-hearing applications, including dynamic nonlinear effects such as fast wide-dynamic-range compression. In their underlying linear approximations, these filters are described by their poles and zeros, that is, by rational transfer functions, which makes them simple to implement in analog or digital domains. Other advantages in these models derive from the close connection of the filter-cascade architecture to wave propagation in the cochlea. These models also reflect the automatic-gain-control function of the auditory system and can maintain approximately constant impulse-response zero-crossing times as the level-dependent parameters change.
Optimizing Drug Therapy in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit

This article provides a review of commonly prescribed medications in the surgical ICU, focusing on sedatives, antipsychotics, neuromuscular blocking agents, cardiovascular agents, anticoagulants, and antibiotics. A brief overview of pharmacology is followed by practical considerations to aid prescribers in selecting the best therapy within a given category of drugs to optimize patient outcomes.
Comparison of Pyloric Intervention Strategies at the Time of Esophagectomy: Is More Better?

Background Controversy remains regarding the role of pyloric drainage procedures after esophagectomy with gastric conduit reconstruction. We aimed to compare the effect of pyloric drainage strategies upon subsequent risk of complications suggestive of conduit distention, including aspiration and anastomotic leak. Methods A retrospective study was conducted reviewing patients undergoing esophagectomy between January 2007 and April 2012. Prospectively collected data included baseline comorbidities, operative details, hospital course, and complications. Statistical comparisons were performed using analysis of variance for continuous variables and χ 2 testing for categorical variables. Results There were 361 esophagectomies performed during the study period; 68 were excluded from analysis (for prior esophagogastric surgery or benign disease or both). Among 293 esophagectomies included, emptying procedures were performed as follows: 44 (15%), no drainage procedure; 197 (67%), pyloromyotomy/pyloroplasty; 8 (3%), dilation alone; 44 (15%), dilation plus onabotulinumtoxinA. Aspiration occurred more frequently when no pyloric intervention was performed (5 of 44 [11.4%] versus 6 of 249 [2.4%], p = 0.030). The incidences of anastomotic leak (18 [6.1%]) and gastric outlet obstruction (5 [1.7%]) were statistically similar among groups. Subgroup analysis demonstrated persistence of these findings when limiting the comparison to transthoracic esophagectomies. Major complications directly related to pyloroplasty/pyloromyotomy occurred in 2 patients (0.6%), including 1 death (0.3%). Conclusions These data suggest that omission of pyloric intervention at the index operation results in more frequent aspiration events. The combination of dilation plus onabotulinumtoxinA provided for a similar complication profile compared with surgical drainage. Future prospective comparisons are needed to evaluate these short-term effects of pyloric intervention as well as long-term sequelae such as dumping syndrome and bile reflux.
Irradiation crosslinking of the polytetrapeptide of elastin and compounding to dacron to produce a potential prosthetic material with elasticity and strength.

The poly(tetra peptide), H-(L . Val1-L . Pro2-Gly3-Gly4)n-L . Val-OMe, which is a recurring sequence in tropoelastin the precursor protein of the elastic fiber, has been irradiation crosslinked to produce an elastomeric material with limited strength. When a material such as a Dacron fabric is impregnated by the coacervate phase of the poly(tetrapeptide) prior to irradiation crosslinking at 50 Mrad, the crosslinked product exhibits stress-strain curves with good elastomeric properties and high strength. In addition to the stress-strain curves, the material is characterized by scanning electron microscopy.
Gemcitabine induced hemolytic uremic syndrome.

Summary Background: Gemcitabine is frequently used for the treatment of many cancers. Not infrequently it leads to development of hemolytic uremic syndrome, presenting with hemolytic anemia, acute kidney injury and occasionally peripheral edema, livedo reticularis and digital necrosis. Case Report: A 78 year old man with non-small cell lung cancer developed uremic syndrome following treatment with multiple chemotherapy agents including gemcitabine. He was treated aggressively with hemodialysis and plasmapheresis. Initially he responded but upon attempts at decreasing the frequency of plasmapheresis, lactate dehydrogenase increased and platelet count decreased, indicating continuing hemolysis. Hemolysis responded to splenectomy but he continued to require hemodialysis treatment. Conclusions: Although many cases of gemcitabine induced HUS have been reported, its cause and pathogenesis remain unclear and it should be used with caution. Frequent monitoring of renal function and close observation of the patient are essential.
CCD-based synchrotron x-ray detector for protein crystallograph-performance projected from an experiment

The intense x radiation from a synchrotron source could, with a suitable detector, provide a complete set of diffraction images from a protein crystal before the crystal is damaged by radiation (2-3 min). An area detector consisting of a 40 mm dia. x-ray fluorescing phosphor, coupled with an image intensifier and lens to a CCD image sensor, was developed to determine the effectiveness of such a detector in protein crystallography. The detector was used in an experiment with a rotating anode x-ray generator. Diffraction patterns from a lysozyme crystal obtained with this detector are compared to those obtained with film. The two images appear to be virtually identical. The flux of 10/4 x-ray photons/s was observed on the detector at the rotating anode generator. At the 6-GeV synchrotron being designed at Argonne, the flux on an 80×80 mm2 detector is expected to be ≫ 109 photons/s. The projected design of such a synchrotron detector shows that a diffraction-peak count ≫ 106 could be obtained in ˜0.5 s. With an additional ˜0.5 s readout time of a 512×512 pixel CCD, the data acquisition time per frame would be ˜1 s so that ninety 1o diffraction images could be obtained, with approximately 1% precision, in less than 3 min.
The development of hormonal responses of cultured embryonic chick limb mesenchymal cells.

Abstract Cells obtained from stage 24 chick limb buds were cultured and assayed for their ability to respond to exogenously supplied parathyroid hormone (PTH) as monitored by analysis of cellular cyclic AMP (cAMP). After 3–4 days in culture, these cells developed a striking responsiveness to the hormone; 20 -to 50-fold elevations in cAMP were routinely observed upon exposure to 10−8, M hormone for 2 min. This response was greatest in cells initially plated at low densities (1 × 106 cells/35-mm dish) and was inversely correlated to the amount of cartilage which developed in such cultures. Cells obtained from limbs of stages 23–26 embryos developed a similar responsiveness to PTH after 3–4 days in culture, but cells obtained from limbs of stage 22 embryos showed no such responsiveness even after 6 days in culture. A response to calcitonin also was noted in cultures of stage 24 limb mesenchymal cells after 4–5 days in culture, but this was of much smaller magnitude than the PTH response. Of 12 other hormones tested, only β agonists elicited any cAMP response in the cultered stage 24 limb mesenchymal cells. Although cells initially plated at a high density and grown for 8 days in culture show no response to PTH, the presence of PTH-responsive cells in such cultures could be demonstrated by sequential digestion with collagenase and replating the extracellular matrix-free cells released by this treatment. Such replated cells then exhibited a responsiveness to PTH. Thus, the responsiveness of cultured limb mesenchymal cells depends on the developmental stage of the starting limb mesenchyme, the phenotypes which develop, and physical factors such as accessibility to exogenously supplied hormone.
VARIATIONS IN MANAGERS' STYLES OF HANDLING CONFLICT AS A FUNCTION OF OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTIES '

Szlmmar)l.-This study examined how variations in diversity of work unit a&ct managers' styles of handling conhcr Analysis indicated m3n~gers of technical work units \\*ere more likely than manngcrs of support staffs and m~ddle-line managers to use the nggressive style of confl~ct uwh subordinates. Middle-line managers were more likely tlt~n managers of technical and support staff work units to use the avoidance style, whereas managers of support staffs were more llkely to use the accommodation style. Although antecedent factors have been the major contributor to knowledge of styles of decisions in handling conflict between managers and subordinates (Marin, Sherbloom, & Shipps, 1995), relatively little attention has been given to the larger contextual influence of occupationally diverse work units within which a manager's choices are made. The present study was designed to examine significance of daerences among scores for styles of handling conflict with subordinates as reported by managers of support specialists, middle-level, and technical work units. A large organization imposes on its managers a number of constraints than can affect their styles of handhg conflict (Rahirn, 1985). Perhaps one of the major structural constraints is diversity of work units, which refers to the number of departments or occupational specialties into which organizations and their employees can be categorized at a given hierarchical level. Several studies on managerial control have used the Mmtzberg Structure Indicator (1983) for such categorization. Mintzberg theorized that direct supervision by middle-level managers could be characterized as three cypes oi tlork units or occupational speciahsts: middle-lie, support speciahsts, and technical managers Basic to organizations are middle-line managers (marketing, manufacturing) who have d~rect authority over employees who perform the basic work related directly to the production of products and services. Support-specialist managers (human resource, public relations) supervise employees who provide support-legal, corporate relations, security, and other services to the organization outside its operating work flow. Others supervise more technical work (accounting, computer services), i.e., employees standardize skills and work processes and develop financial control systems in the organization. Mintzberg has suggested considerable power and need For control of their subordinates rests with middle managers of the technical work units by virtue of their role in standardizing everyone's work. Because support speciahsts and middle-line work units offer less prescription for managers' work behavior, we would expect that managers' ratings would indicate more flexibility and problem solving in their styles of handling confltct with subordinates than managers of technical work units. Method.-Participants were 110 middle managers (29 middle, 39 technical, 42 support)
Design of long range MIMO Wireless Data Acquisition System

Low cost multiple input multiple output (MIMO) Wireless Data Acquisition System (WDAS) for long range operation has been developed, simulated and implemented. The reference input and output measurement circuits for various sensors to measure strain, vibration and temperature have been designed, and integrated. Low cost microcontroller is used to process and condition the signals that are acquired from measurement circuits. The sequential logic is used to capture and transmit the measurement signals using single receiver and transmitter pair instead of conventional MIMO antenna systems. This reduced the cost significantly. The wireless communication has been established and data acquired from sensors within 20 mile of distance. The acquired data is then processed at the base station using data acquisition system (DAS). The system that is developed can be used for structural health monitoring, or medical applications in rural areas where access is difficult.
Endpoint detection of isolated utterances based on a modified Teager energy measurement

The authors have developed an energy measure based on Teager's energy algorithm, and have applied it to the problem of endpoint detection. This energy measure is important in that it appears to be more suitable for describing the source energy associated with the production of speech sounds than the acoustic energy typically measured, and explores a new way of viewing and using Teager's energy algorithm. Experiments were conducted on 400 utterances on which endpoint detection was expected to be difficult. Typical examples that show that this new measure is more effective than traditional measures in capturing speech events such as initial and final fricatives and plosives are presented. Whereas traditional endpoint detectors have used both (acoustic) energy and zero crossing rate, the new measure effectively combines this information into a single measure. The experimental results demonstrate that the measure can be used to improve the performance of endpoint detection algorithms and should be effective for the detection of speech in noisy environments. >
Asthma Self-management: Do Patient Education Programs Always Have an Impact?

Background During the past 15 years, programs to improve self-management practices in adults with asthma have reported improvement in functional status and reduction of inappropriate use of health care services. However, these programs usually represent an ideal approach, applying multiple patient education methods. Consequently, when these programs are found to be efficacious, it is important to replicate the programs as well as to evaluate less complex methods that may be more appropriate for nonacademic health care settings. Methods We compared the following 3 standardized self-management treatments in a randomized, controlled trial: (1) a replication of the self-management program developed at a university medical center that was previously shown to be efficacious; (2) a modified version of this program including only the core elements; and (3) a usual-care program. Outcome measures included medication and inhaler regimen adherence, asthma symptoms, respiratory illness, functional status, and use of health care resources. Results All 3 groups improved on measures of respiratory illnesses, use of health care services, and functional status. Patients in both education groups did no better than the usual-care group. Conclusions The results are inconsistent with the results of the first asthma self-management study at this institution and with those of efficacy studies of similar programs. Two factors, selection of the patient population and historical changes in asthma treatment, most likely contributed to the lack of impact of the self-management programs. As a result of the improved standards for usual care due to both factors, the opportunity to effect patient outcomes was substantially reduced.
Diagnostic algorithms and clinical diagnostic thinking

Diagnostic algorithms are evaluated as a model of medical reasoning in the differentiation of the two syndromes or diseases with overlapping clinical manifestations. Linear-discriminant analysis (LDA), nonlinear discriminant analysis (NLDA), and sequential-statistical analysis (SSA) are compared with the decision-making practices of physicians, as they differentiated 175 cases with anterior or posterior aphasia, 789 cases with cerebral infarction or intracerebral hemorrhage, and 200 cases of schizophrenia or schizophreniform organic psychosis. Comparisons showed that the clinical decision-making process used by physicians can be approximated by neural sets or parallel distributed processing. Implications for the implementation of computer diagnostic programs in clinical practice are discussed. >
Michael Miller Topp, Those Without a Country: The Political Culture of Italian American Syndicalists. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2001. 352 pp. $63.95 cloth; $22.95 paper.

Michael Miller Topp's Those Without a Country details the history of a generation of Italian–American syndicalists–leftists who advocated “revolution achieved through increasingly confrontational strikes waged by militant unions” (1) from the turn of the century to the late-1920s trial and execution of Sacco and Vanzetti. Drawing primarily on left-wing Italian-language newspapers, some Italian state archival materials, and a range of secondary sources in Italian and English, Topp focuses on several themes: the transnational nature of Italian-American syndicalists' ideas, institutions, and strategies; the complex interplay between syndicalists' masculinist, working-class, and Italian identities; and the significance this admittedly small number of syndicalists had on immigrant communities in the United States, on foreign policy in Italy, and on the Left in both.
Pulmonary hypertension is associated with increased post-lung transplant mortality risk in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background Pulmonary hypertension associated with lung disease (PHLD) has been shown to be a predictor of disease severity and survival in patients awaiting lung transplantation. Little is known about the relationship of PHLD and survival after lung transplantation or how this may vary by disease. This study evaluated the effect of PHLD on 1-year survival after lung transplantation for patients with the 3 most common indications for transplantation: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and cystic fibrosis (CF). Methods Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network data were obtained for all lung transplant recipients who received an allograft between May 2005 and June 2010. The relationship between PHLD and 1-year survival after lung transplantation for each diagnostic group was examined with Kaplan-Meier estimates and Cox regression. Covariates included in the model were those defined in the current Lung Allocation Score system post-transplant survival model, including age, serum creatinine, percentage predicted forced vital capacity, functional status, and mechanical ventilation use at time of transplant. The estimated relative risk was calculated using Poisson regression with robust error variance and adjustment for covariates. Results Sample sizes for COPD, IPF, and CF patients were 2,025, 2,304, and 866, respectively. The 1-year post-transplant survival for COPD patients with PHLD was 76.9% vs 86.2% for COPD patients without PHLD (p = 0.001). In multivariate Cox regression analysis COPD patients with PHLD had a 1.74 (95% confidence interval, 1.3–2.3) times higher risk of 1-year post-transplant mortality (p = 0.001). Similar analyses for IPF and CF diagnostic groups showed no significant difference in survival between patients with and without PHLD. Conclusions COPD patients with PHLD have increased post-transplant 1-year mortality. No significant difference was seen in patients with IPF or CF. Further studies to evaluate the potential mechanisms for this difference between diagnoses are needed.
Assisted leg holding device for medical procedures

A leg holder is an essential tool for physicians, especially in gynecology. Devices currently used in clinical practice solely support the feet of patients and are thus not equipped to accommodate people with disabilities, such as amputations, Parkinson's disease, or spinal cord injuries. Foot supports alone may also pose a challenge to elderly patients. The assisted leg holding device supports the entire limb and uses a spring-based anti-gravity mechanism, thus allowing effortless and safe adjustment of the leg position according to leg length and weight, while accommodating a patient's disabilities such as amputations and movement disorders. Physically impaired staff can operate the leg holder with ease, ensuring inclusiveness and non-discrimination not only with regard to patients but also staff, thus maximizing usability in clinical settings. Optionally, straps can restrict involuntary movement of patients, such as tremors.
A Vision for Block Scheduling: Where Are We Now? Where Are We Going?.

A different use of time in classrooms can help students pursue topics in depth, learning more while developing the skills of the 21st century. A different use of time in schools offers the flexibility needed to design alternatives that serve student and teacher needs.
Look before you leap: active surveillance for multidrug-resistant organisms.

Hospitals in the United States are under increasing pressure to perform active surveillance cultures for detection of methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) among newly admitted patients. Results of such cultures can then be used to direct contact precautions to prevent transmission of MRSA and VRE in the health care setting. However, using active surveillance cultures to expand contact precautions is a complicated and resource-intensive intervention that has the potential for several unintended adverse consequences. Therefore, careful forethought and preparation should precede the institution of any active surveillance culture program. We review the following important steps that should be performed when planning any such intervention: preparing the laboratory and reducing the turnaround time for screening tests, monitoring and optimizing the intervention of instituting contact precautions, monitoring and ameliorating the known adverse effects of contact precautions, and measuring important outcomes to evaluate the effectiveness of a program of active surveillance cultures and contact precautions.
A nested grid formulation for chemical transport over Asia: Applications to CO

[1] A global three-dimensional chemical transport model (GEOS-CHEM) was modified to permit treatment of a limited spatial regime with resolution higher than that adopted for the global background. Identified as a one-way nested grid formulation, the model was applied to a simulation of CO over Asia during spring 2001. Differences between results obtained using the nested grid (resolution 1° × 1°), the coarse global model (resolution 4° × 5°), and the intermediate global model (resolution 2° × 2.5°) are discussed. The higher-resolution model allows for more efficient, advection-related, ventilation of the lower atmosphere, reflecting the significance of localized regions of intense upward motion not resolved in a coarser-resolution simulation. Budget analysis suggests that upward transfer to higher altitudes through large-scale advection provides the major sink for CO below 4 km. Horizontal advection, mainly through the north boundary, contributes a net source of CO to the window domain despite the polluted nature of the study region. The nested-grid model is shown to provide good agreement with measurements made during the Transport and Chemical Evolution over the Pacific (TRACE-P) campaign in spring 2001, notably better than the low-resolution model in simulating frontal lifting process and differences across the boundary separating the regions of cyclonic and anticyclonic flow. The high-resolution window approach also allows us to differentiate transport mechanisms for individual subregions of China on a much finer scale than was possible previously. Suggestions are made as to how to allow for subgrid vertical advective motions in the low-resolution model through a carefully designed and broadly tested eddy diffusion treatment.
Pretreatment with p-aminohippurate inhibits the renal uptake and accumulation of injected inorganic mercury in the rat

Abstract The effects of intravenous pretreatment with the organic anion p -aminohippurate (PAH) on the disposition of intravenously administered inorganic mercury in the kidneys, liver and blood were evaluated in rats. In dose-response experiments, the renal uptake (and/or accumulation) of mercury, 1 h after the injection of a nontoxic 0.5 μmol/kg dose of mercuric chloride (HgCl 2 ), was significantly reduced in rats when a 1.0, 3.3 or 10 mmol/kg dose of PAH was administered 5 min prior to the injection of HgCl 2 . This reduction was due to reduced uptake of mercury in both the renal cortex and outer stripe of the outer medulla. Near maximal inhibition appeared to be achieved with the 10 mmol/kg dose of PAH. Inhibition of the uptake (and/or accumulation) of mercury in the renal cortex and outer stripe of the outer medulla, 1 h after the injection of the nontoxic dose of HgCl 2 , was also detected in experiments where HgCl 2 was injected 5, 30, 60 or 180 min after pretreatment with a 10 mmol/kg dose of PAH. The renal uptake of mercury was inhibited significantly when the nontoxic dose of inorganic mercury was administered 5, 30 or 60, but not 180 min after pretreatment with the 10 mmol/kg dose of PAH. In another experiment, the renal burden of mercury was significantly reduced for 24 h when pretreatment with a 10 mmol/kg dose of PAH was administered 5 min prior to the injection of HgCl 2 . Pretreatment with PAH did not have an effect on the hepatic disposition of mercury, but it did cause a significant increase in the fraction of mercury present in the plasma of blood. In summary, the findings in the present study indicate that pretreatment with PAH inhibits the renal uptake of injected inorganic mercury in a dose-dependent and time-dependent manner. In addition, the findings tend to indicate that some fraction of the mercury that enters into renal tubular epithelial cells is by a mechanism involving the organic anion transport system.
Response of Douglas-fir leaf area index and litterfall dynamics to Swiss needle cast in north coastal Oregon, USA

Sources of variation in leaf area index (LAI; m 2 of projected leaf area per m 2 of ground area) and its seasonal dynamics are not well known in managed Douglas-fir stands, despite the importance of leaf area in forecasting forest growth, particularly in stands impacted by insects or disease. The influence of Swiss needle cast (SNC) on coastal Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii (Mirb) Franco) LAI and litterfall dynamics was quantified by destructively sampling 122 stems from 36 different permanent plots throughout north coastal Oregon, USA, and by monitoring litterfall for 3 years in 15 of these plots. LAI, total annual litterfall, and the seasonal distribution of foliage and fine woody litterfall were all influenced by stand structural attributes, physiographic features, and SNC severity. Mean LAI in this study was 5.44 ± 2.16. The relatively low LAIs were attributed primarily to the effects of SNC on foliage retention, and secondarily to its direct measurement by hierarchical foliage sampling in contrast to indirect measurement by light interception or tree allometry. For a given stand structure and SNC severity, LAI was 36% greater in the fall after current year foliage was fully developed and older aged classes had not yet senesced. Annual litterfall expressed as a proportion of LAI at the start of the growing season varied from 0.13 to 0.53 and declined with increasing initial LAI. SNC also shifted more of the annual foliage litterfall to earlier in the spring. Fine woody litterfall experienced a different seasonal shift as the peak occurred later in the year on sites with high SNC, but this only occurred on northerly aspects. Defoliation from the endemic SNC pathogen can drastically reduce LAI and change both total and seasonal foliage litterfall patterns.
APPLICATION OF COMPUTER-AIDED TOMOGRAPHY (CT) TO THE STUDY OF ESTUARINE BENTHIC COMMUNITIES

Sediment cores were imaged using a Computer-Aided Tomography (CT) scanner at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Procedures were developed, using the attenuation of X-rays, to differentiate between sediment and the water contained in macrobenthic tubes and tunnels. The effects of sediment type on the ability to discriminate tubes as small as 1.5 mm were examined. Soft sediments with mean X-ray attenuations (SXA) from 450 to 576 CT numbers were successfully scanned in cores of 15.2 cm diameter by 30 cm depth. We demonstrated the accessibility and availability of CT technology to ecological studies by negotiating a reduced research rate ($200 per core) for sediment scanning at a nearby small hospital. Additionally, we were able to transfer these image data from the local hospital environment to a personal computer, by developing specialized computer software. These steps allowed greater opportunity for data exploration, manipulation, and statistical evaluation than would be available in a medical facility. CT analysis was applied to intact sediment cores from five stations along a 31-km pollution gradient in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, United States. The percentage of tube and tunnel area (PTTA) within the top 18 cm of sediment from each station was measured and ranged from 0.07% to 1.13%. PTTA increased along this gradient with distance from the pollution sources (r2 = 0.81, P < 0.01). The mean X-ray attenuation for sediment (excluding animals, their tubes and tunnels, and shells) was determined at each station. It also showed a highly significant relationship along this gradient (r2 = 0.98, P < 0.01) and ranged from 271 to 576 CT numbers. The measurement of PTTA may be an effective management tool to assess and monitor the effects of organic carbon loading on benthic communities in Narragansett Bay and similarly impacted estuaries.
Obedience Among Children in an East African Society

Among the world's culture areas, African societies are rated the highest in socialization for compliance. The Kikuyu, a group with typically high compliance training, were tested experimentally for obedience. Eighteen children between five and nine years of age were given two tasks by their own mothers and the same two tasks by another child's mother. Overall obedience was very high, with ten children obeying fully on all tasks. The strongest contrast with previous findings was that, unlike American children, Kikuyu children did not disobey their own mothers more than another child's mother. The strong compliance emphasis was tentatively argued to be a concomitant of the child's participation in the household's economic activities.
Piezoelectric Measurements on Ceramic Multilayer Capacitors

Piezoelectric measurements are reported for a series of commercial multilayer capacitors which had been previously tested and sold for high-reliability applications. The capacitors conformed to BX specifications and were fabricated from various combinations of barium titanate based dielectric compositions with different electrode materials. Dielectric properties are reported, including distributions in capacitance values and variations in Curie-Weiss behavior. Piezoelectric measurements were made of the d 13 and d 33 coefficients; and data are reported for their distribution in values, and temperature and voltage dependencies. Significant piezoelectric coefficients were detected for capacitors in their as-received conditions. In certain cases the piezoelectric coefficients approached 1000 pC/N. The results are discussed in the context of what effects life-testing conditions may have on dielectric quality. Experiments are also reported for the electric-poling and thermal-depoling of multilayer ceramic capacitors. Concern is expressed for the over-testing of thin layer ceramic devices. Calculations indicate the strain deformation can exceed the elastic limit in certain conditions, resulting in mechanical failure. In addition, the generation of electric charge or potential by mechanical vibration contributes a significant noise to circuit applications. Voltage levels were in the millivoltage range. The study indicates that significant problems may arise in commercial ceramic multilayer capacitors due to a generally unrecognized piezoelectric effect.
Reconstituting protein interaction networks using parameter-dependent domain-domain interactions.

Background: We can describe protein-protein interactions (PPIs) as sets of distinct domain-domain interactions (DDIs) that mediate the physical interactions between proteins. Experimental data confirm that DDIs are more consistent than their corresponding PPIs, lending support to the notion that analyses of DDIs may improve our understanding of PPIs and lead to further insights into cellular function, disease, and evolution. However, currently available experimental DDI data cover only a small fraction of all existing PPIs and, in the absence of structural data, determining which particular DDI mediates any given PPI is a challenge. Results: We present two contributions to the field of domain interaction analysis. First, we introduce a novel computational strategy to merge domain annotation data from multiple databases. We show that when we merged yeast domain annotations from six annotation databases we increased the average number of domains per protein from 1.05 to 2.44, bringing it closer to the estimated average value of 3. Second, we introduce a novel computational method, parameter-dependent DDI selection (PADDS), which, given a set of PPIs, extracts a small set of domain pairs that can reconstruct the original set of protein interactions, while attempting to minimize false positives. Based on a set of PPIs from multiple organisms, our method extracted 27% more experimentally detected DDIs than existing computational approaches. Conclusions: We have provided a method to merge domain annotation data from multiple sources, ensuring large and consistent domain annotation for any given organism. Moreover, we provided a method to extract a small set of DDIs from the underlying set of PPIs and we showed that, in contrast to existing approaches, our method was not biased towards DDIs with low or high occurrence counts. Finally, we used these two methods to highlight the influence of the underlying annotation density on the characteristics of extracted DDIs. Although increased annotations greatly expanded the possible DDIs, the lack of knowledge of the true biological false positive interactions still prevents an unambiguous assignment of domain interactions responsible for all protein network interactions. Executable files and examples are given at: http://www.bhsai.org/downloads/padds/
Different mechanisms of antibody-mediated neutralization of parvoviruses revealed using the Fab fragments of monoclonal antibodies

Antibody binding and neutralization are major host defenses against viruses, yet the mechanisms are often not well understood. Eight monoclonal antibodies and their Fab fragments were tested for neutralization of canine parvovirus and feline panleukopenia virus. All IgGs neutralized >85% of virus infectivity. Two Fabs neutralized when present at 5 nM, while the others gave little or no neutralization even at 20-100 nM. The antibodies bind two antigenic sites on the capsids which overlap the binding site of the host transferrin receptor (TfR). There was no specific correlation between Fab binding affinity and neutralization. All Fabs reduced capsid binding of virus to purified feline TfR in vitro, but the highly neutralizing Fabs were more efficient competitors. All partially prevented binding and uptake of capsids by feline TfR on cells. The virus appears adapted to allow some infectivity in the presence of at least low levels of antibodies.
Why Lever into a Zero‐Profit Industry: Tying, Foreclosure, and Exclusion

This paper considers the incentives of a firm with power in a market for one good to tie in the sale of a complementary good even though the complementary good is produced in a zero profit market. If the zero-profit price of the tied good is greater than the marginal cost (which occurs for example when the technology is characterized by a fixed cost and a constant marginal cost), a firm will fie in order to increase the sales of the complementary good, which at the margin is profitable. We show that such tying will lower the effective prices paid by customers and increase welfare. This incentive exists if the firm with market power is a monopolist or one of several competing oligopolists.
PHD fingers in human diseases: disorders arising from misinterpreting epigenetic marks

Histone covalent modifications regulate many, if not all, DNA-templated processes, including gene expression and DNA damage response. The biological consequences of histone modifications are mediated partially by evolutionarily conserved "reader/effector" modules that bind to histone marks in a modification- and context-specific fashion and subsequently enact chromatin changes or recruit other proteins to do so. Recently, the Plant Homeodomain (PHD) finger has emerged as a class of specialized "reader" modules that, in some instances, recognize the methylation status of histone lysine residues, such as histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4). While mutations in catalytic enzymes that mediate the addition or removal of histone modifications (i.e., "writers" and "erasers") are already known to be involved in various human diseases, mutations in the modification-specific "reader" proteins are only beginning to be recognized as contributing to human diseases. For instance, point mutations, deletions or chromosomal translocations that target PHD fingers encoded by many genes (such as recombination activating gene 2 (RAG2), Inhibitor of Growth (ING), nuclear receptor-binding SET domain-containing 1 (NSD1) and Alpha Thalassaemia and Mental Retardation Syndrome, X-linked (ATRX)) have been associated with a wide range of human pathologies including immunological disorders, cancers, and neurological diseases. In this review, we will discuss the structural features of PHD fingers as well as the diseases for which direct mutation or dysregulation of the PHD finger has been reported. We propose that misinterpretation of the epigenetic marks may serve as a general mechanism for human diseases of this category. Determining the regulatory roles of histone covalent modifications in the context of human disease will allow for a more thorough understanding of normal and pathological development, and may provide innovative therapeutic strategies wherein "chromatin readers" stand as potential drug targets.
Tracing thought through time and space: a selective review of bibliometrics in social work

Bibliometrics is a field of research that examines bodies of knowledge within and across disciplines. Citation analysis, a component of bibliometrics, focuses on the quantitative assessment of citation patterns within a body of literature. Citation analysis has been used in social work to examine the quantity and the impact of the work of individuals and academic institutions. This paper presents a selective review of these uses of bibliometrics within social work.
Automatic Drug Side Effect Discovery from Online Patient-Submitted Reviews: Focus on Statin Drugs

In recent years, consumers have become empowered to share personal experiences regarding prescription drugs via Web page discussion groups. This paper describes our recent research involving automatically identifying adverse reactions from patient-provided drug reviews on health-related web sites. We focus on the statin class of cholesterol-lowering drugs. We extract a complete set of side effect expressions from patient-submitted drug reviews, and construct a hierarchical ontology of side effects. We use log-likely ratio estimation to detect biases in word distributions when comparing reviews of statin drugs with age-matched reviews of a broad spectrum of other drugs. We find a highly significant correlation between statins and a wide range of disorders and conditions, including diabetes, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), rhabdomyolysis, neuropathy, Parkinson's disease, arthritis, memory loss, and heart failure. A review of the research literature on statin side effects corroborates many of our findings.
Botulinum toxin type B: pH change reduces injection pain, retains efficacy.

Background Injection of botulinum toxin Type B (BTX-B) is substantially more painful than injection of botulinum toxin Type A (BTX-A). Objective A method of reducing pain with BTX-B injection without reducing efficacy. This was evaluated in 2 BTX-A-resistant subjects and another BTX-B-naive subject. Methods Clinical evaluation and computer analysis of photographs were used to confirm efficacy to different dilutions of Type B toxin and confirm BTX-A resistance. A pilot study of 3 subjects involves BTX-B (usually pH 5.6) that was diluted with sodium bicarbonate to normalize the pH to 7.5 in the syringe immediately before injection. Pain assessment compared the different pH BTX-B solutions. Results Two patients with acquired resistance to 3 BTX-As in upper facial muscles responded to BTX-B. Injection pain of BTX-B changed to pH 7.5 was significantly reduced and retained efficacy over 10 weeks. Conclusion Botulinum toxin Type A resistance is documented to 3 BTX-A brands in 2 patients. They had received low doses of Type A toxin, they responded to Type B toxin. Injection pain of the acidic solution of BTX-B neurotoxin was reduced and efficacy not compromised by changing pH of BTX-B solution to pH 7.5. This method improved patient tolerance to BTX-B injections.
Differential mortality, fecundity and egg viability of Caribbean fruit fly, Anastrepha suspensa adults fed on three diets

Adults of the Caribbean fruit fly, Anastrepha suspenso (Loew) were fed on three diets in order to identify one that was optimal for adult longevity, fecundity and egg viability. The diets were a dry mixture of Brewer’s (hydrolysed) yeast and sugar (Diet A); Brewer’s yeast, sugar, agar, and water (Diet B); and a dry commercial diet (BioServ) with Brewer’s yeast, sugar and casein (Diet C). There were no significant differences in per cent adult mortality among the three diets. However, the longevity of females in Diet C was significantly reduced in comparison to that of females fed the other two diets. Diet C was also suboptimal for fecundity and egg viability. Diets A and B were optimal for and had similar effects on all parameters evaluated in this study. However, Diet A appeared to be the best if preparation time and ingredient costs are considered along with biological effects.
Effect of Changes of Blood pH on Reaction of Heart to Cocaine.

Changes in the concentration of hydrogen ions of the blood previously reported1 produced well-marked effects in the reaction of the heart to caffeine. Other drugs under these conditions have since been studied, among them cocaine. Observations were made on the heart in situ, after removal of the anterior portion of the chest wall. The experiments were done on cats anesthetized with urethane, under artificial respiration. The contractions were recorded on smoked paper by means of levers attached with fine threads to the right auricle and right ventricle.1The results obtained were in several respects much more striking than in the experiments with caffeine or the other drugs. The resistance of the heart to cocaine was greatly increased by the intravenous injection of alkali, and very much diminished by acid. Small doses of the alkaloid administered after the intravenous injection of weak acid caused pronounced depression of the heart. While alkali did not necessarily nor always prevent the action of cocaine...