cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Prior Depression History and Deterioration of Physical Health in Community-Dwelling Older Adults—A Prospective Cohort Study

Objective Depression worsens outcomes of physical illness. However, it is unknown whether this negative effect persists after depressive symptoms remit in older adults. This study examined whether prior depression history predicts deterioration of physical health in community-dwelling older adults. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Three urban communities in the United States. Participants Three hundred fifty-one adults aged 60 years or older—145 with a history of major or nonmajor depression in full remission and 206 concurrent age- and gender-matched comparison subjects with no history of mental illness. Measurements Participants were assessed at baseline, 6 weeks, 1 year, and 2 years for physical health functioning (the Physical Component Summary of the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey) and chronic medical burden (the Chronic Disease Score). Given the repeated nature of measurements, linear mixed model regression was performed. Results Both physical functioning and chronic medical burden deteriorated more rapidly over time in the group with prior depression history compared with comparison subjects, and these changes were independent of the measures of mental health functioning, depressive symptoms, and sleep quality. Similar results were observed when those who developed depressive episodes during follow-up were excluded. Conclusion A prior history of clinical depression is associated with a faster deterioration of physical health in community-dwelling older adults, which is not explained by current levels of depressive symptoms and mental health functioning or by recurrence of depressive episodes. Careful screening for a history of depression may identify those older adults at greatest risk for physical declines and chronic medical burden.
Approaches to genetic counseling.

Prerequisites for counseling about reproductive odds are an accurate diagnosis and a complete and pertinent family history. Specifically in hemophilia (a deficiency of actors 8 and 9 both linked through the X chromosome) the results of tests of the clotting characteristics of the blood of the mother and female siblings are desirable since probabilities vary directly in accuracy with the extent of this knowledge. Methods of calculating probabilities for various circumstances are given. The more complete the total family history the more useful the calculations. Parents of children with genetically determined diseases are the most frequent applicants for genetic counseling but some do not know of its need or its availability. Counseling is a delicate subject but it should be raised tactfully. The collateral relatives may know nothing of their risk and may not ask for help. Some counselors press the parents of affected children to bring the risk to the attention of others. This is especially important with hemophilia since the sisters of a carrier mother have a high probability of being carriers themselves. The counseling should be done by the patients own doctor or if he should feel inadequate by someone carefully selected by him. Immediately after the discovery of a defect the odds of repetition may not be of 1st concern to the parents. Any time they bring it up is a good time to discuss the matter but they may need time to adjust. Methods of counseling is a serious omission in medical school curricula. Probably the high proportion of patients who do not follow the doctors directions reflects this lack of skill. With genetic counseling there is added difficulty because many people do not have basic medical or biological knowledge they may reject information which reflects adversely upon themselves or projects disaser for the future and it may take many repetitions before the information is absorbed. If the couple goes to a genetic clinic for counseling it is important for the physician to have the results on hand so he can reinforce the findings. The aim is to provide affected parents with information to make rational decisions about having children.
Regulation of the cardiomyocyte transcriptome vs translatome by endothelin-1 and insulin: translational regulation of 5' terminal oligopyrimidine tract (TOP) mRNAs by insulin

Changes in cellular phenotype result from underlying changes in mRNA transcription and translation. Endothelin-1 stimulates cardiomyocyte hypertrophy with associated changes in mRNA/protein expression and an increase in the rate of protein synthesis. Insulin also increases the rate of translation but does not promote overt cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. One mechanism of translational regulation is through 5' terminal oligopyrimidine tracts (TOPs) that, in response to growth stimuli, promote mRNA recruitment to polysomes for increased translation. TOP mRNAs include those encoding ribosomal proteins, but the full panoply remains to be established. Here, we used microarrays to compare the effects of endothelin-1 and insulin on the global transcriptome of neonatal rat cardiomyocytes, and on mRNA recruitment to polysomes (i.e. the translatome). Globally, endothelin-1 and insulin (1 h) promoted >1.5-fold significant (false discovery rate 1.25-fold significant changes in expression in total and/or polysomal RNA induced by endothelin-1 or insulin, respectively, of which ~35% of endothelin-1-responsive and ~56% of insulin-responsive transcripts were translationally regulated. Of mRNAs for established proteins recruited to polysomes in response to insulin, 49 were known TOP mRNAs with a further 15 probable/possible TOP mRNAs, but 49 had no identifiable TOP sequences or other consistent features in the 5' untranslated region. Endothelin-1, rather than insulin, substantially affects global transcript expression to promote cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Effects on RNA recruitment to polysomes are subtle, with differential effects of endothelin-1 and insulin on specific transcripts. Furthermore, although insulin promotes recruitment of TOP mRNAs to cardiomyocyte polysomes, not all recruited mRNAs are TOP mRNAs.
Thermal noise of transmission lines: A generalized solution

The thermal noise of a transmission line is evaluated from its fundamental sources: distributed series resistance R(Ω/m) and shunt conductance G(S/m). A general solution was found that applies to all operating conditions, including the calculation of the cumulative thermal noise at any point of a line subject to nonuniform temperature.
Scanner show-through reduction using reflective optics

Document scanners are used to convert paper documents to digital format for document distribution or archiving. Scanners are also used in copier and fax machine to convert document to electrical signal in analog and digital format. Most document scanners use white backing to avoid black border or black hole in scanned images. One problem with white backing is that show-through from the backside is visible for duplex printed (two sided) documents. This paper describes an optical method to eliminate show-through without reverting back to the black border or black hole. The scanner cover is made into a saw-tooth shaped mirror surface. The surface is oriented so that it reflects the light from the scanner lamp to the scanner lens. When scanning the scanner cover as in the case of a hole in the paper, it reflects light (specular reflection) from the scanner lamp directly to the scanner lens. Because the scanner lamp is much brighter than the reflected light from the document, only a small portion of the reflected light is needed to have the same output as scanning a piece of white paper. Radiometric calculation shows that this new approach can reduce the overall reflection from the scanner cover to 8% when scanning a document, and yet, appear to be white when no document is in between the cover and scan bar. The show-through is greatly reduced due to this reduced overall reflection from the scanner cover.
The effects of experimental uncertainty in parameterizing air-sea gas exchange using tracer experiment data

Abstract. It is not practical to measure air-sea gas fluxes in the open ocean for all conditions and areas of interest. Therefore, in many cases fluxes are estimated from measurements of air-phase and water-phase gas concentrations, a measured environmental forcing function such as wind speed, and a parameterization of the air-sea transfer velocity in terms of the environmental forcing function. One problem with this approach is that when direct measurements of the transfer velocity are plotted versus the most commonly used forcing function, wind speed, there is considerable scatter, leading to a relatively large uncertainty in the flux. Because it is known that multiple processes can affect gas transfer, it is commonly assumed that this scatter is caused by single-forcing function parameterizations being incomplete in a physical sense. However, scatter in the experimental data can also result from experimental uncertainty (i.e., measurement error). Here, results from field and laboratory results are used to estimate how experimental uncertainty contributes to the observed scatter in the measured fluxes and transfer velocities as a function of environmental forcing. The results show that experimental uncertainty could explain half of the observed scatter in field and laboratory measurements of air-sea gas transfer velocity.
Regeneration of periodontal tissues: cementogenesis revisited.

Virtually all types of periodontal disease are caused by periodontal pocket infections, although several other factors, including trauma, aging, systemic diseases, genetics, etc., can contribute to the destruction of the periodontium (1, 18, 31, 52, 60, 107, 128, 127, 194). Repair of the periodontium and the regeneration of periodontal tissues remains a major goal in the treatment of periodontal disease and is an area still in need of major research attention, as recently stated by the American Academy of Periodontology (260). In general, to achieve complete tissue regeneration and repair, it is necessary to recapitulate the process of embryogenesis and morphogenesis involved in the original formation of the tissue. In the case of the periodontium, complete periodontal repair entails de novo cementogenesis, osteogenesis and the formation of periodontal ligament fibers. Current strategies for periodontal repair are based on anti-infectious measures such as scaling and root planing, guided tissue regeneration (with or without bone grafts) or the use of growth factors, none of which fully restore the architecture of the original periodontium. Several different approaches involving tissue engineering are currently being explored to achieve complete, reliable and reproducible regeneration of the periodontium. As tissue engineering is defined as the science that develops techniques (based on principles of cell and developmental biology) for fabricating new tissues to replace or regenerate lost tissues (205), it is important to understand the formation of specific tissues, the physico-chemical characteristics of the tissues and the molecular events leading to the normal function of the tissues.
Protein-induced local DNA bends regulate global topology of recombination products.

Abstract The tyrosine family of recombinases produces two smaller DNA circles when acting on circular DNA harboring two recombination sites in head-to-tail orientation. If the substrate is supercoiled, these circles can be unlinked or form multiply linked catenanes. The topological complexity of the products varies strongly even for similar recombination systems. This dependence has been solved here. Our computer simulation of the synapsis showed that the bend angles, ϕ, created in isolated recombination sites by protein binding before assembly of the full complex, determine the product topology. To verify the validity of this theoretical finding we measured the values of ϕ for Cre/ lox P and Flp/ FRT systems. The measurement was based on cyclization of the protein-bound short DNA fragments in solution. Despite the striking similarity of the synapses for these recombinases, action of Cre on head-to-tail target sites produces mainly unlinked circles, while that of Flp yields multiply linked catenanes. In full agreement with theoretical expectations we found that the values of ϕ for these systems are very different, close to 35° and 80°, respectively. Our findings have general implications in how small protein machines acting locally on large DNA molecules exploit statistical properties of their substrates to bring about directed global changes in topology.
Genetic analysis of a morphological shape difference in the male genitalia of Drosophila simulans and D. mauritiana.

Two closely related species of Drosophila, D. simulans and D. mauritiana, differ markedly in morphology of the posterior lobe of the male genital arch. Both size and shape aspects of lobe variation can be quantified by a morphometric descriptor based on elliptical Fourier and principal components analyses. The genetic architecture of this quantitative trait (PC1) was investigated by hybridizing inbred lines to produce two backcross populations of ~200 individuals each, which were analyzed jointly by a composite interval mapping procedure with the aid of 18 marker loci. The parental lines show a large difference in PC1 (30.4 environmental standard deviations), and the markers account for >80% of the phenotypic variation in backcross populations. Eight of 15 intervals analyzed show convincing evidence of quantitative trait loci (QTL), and the range of estimated QTL effects is 5.7-15.9% of the parental difference (1.7-4.8 environmental standard deviations). These estimates may represent the joint effects of multiple QTL within a single interval (which averaged 23 cM in length). Although there is some evidence of partial dominance of mauritiana alleles and for epistasis, the pattern of inheritance is largely additive.
Combinations of Earth orientation measurements: SPACE94, COMB94, and POLE94

A Kalman filter has been used to combine independent measurements of the Earth's orientation taken by the space-geodetic observing techniques of lunar laser ranging, satellite laser ranging, very long baseline interferometry, and the Global Positioning System. Prior to their combination, the data series were adjusted to have the same bias and rate, the stated uncertainties of the measurements were adjusted, and data points considered to be outliers were deleted. The resulting combination, SPACE94, consists of smoothed, interpolated polar motion and UT1-UTC values spanning October 6, 1976, to January 27, 1995, at 1-day intervals. The Kalman filter was then used to combine the space-geodetic series comprising SPACE94 with two different, independent series of Earth orientation measurements taken by the technique of optical astrometry. Prior to their combination with SPACE94, the bias, rate and annual term of the optical astrometric series were corrected, the stated uncertainties of the measurements were adjusted, and data points considered to be outliers were deleted. The adjusted optical astrometric series were then combined with SPACE94 in two steps: (1) the Bureau International de l'Heure (BIH) optical astrometric series was combined with SPACE94 to form COMB94, a combined series of smoothed, interpolated polar motion and UT1-UTC values spanning January 20, 1962, to January 27, 1995, at 5-day intervals, and (2) the International Latitude Service (ILS) optical astrometric series was combined with COMB94 to form POLE94, a combined series of smoothed, interpolated polar motion values spanning January 20, 1900, to January 21, 1995, at 30.4375-day intervals.
Studies on Uteroglobin Messenger RNA

In our studies on the messenger RNA (mRNA) for uteroglobin, a progesterone-induced protein secreted by the rabbit uterus during early pregnancy, we have addressed some of the questions raised by Professor Karlson in his introduction to this book. Although an important question, the biological activity of uteroglobin remains an enigma and we have concentrated our efforts on the hormonal regulation of the protein. Uteroglobin provides a unique model for studies on the mechanism of action of progesterone on the uterus, for it is a discrete biochemical endpoint of the action of progesterone in this tissue.
The data processing and calibration of the AIRSAR PacRim II mission

In this paper, we present the results of raw echo data analysis with data error recovery, data processing, and the calibration results of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's airborne synthetic aperture radar (AIRSAR) for the Pacific Rim II mission. We also present the key elements of the calibration techniques for both polarimetric SAR (POLSAR) and cross-track interferometric SAR (TOPSAR) processed with the AIRSAR Integrated Processor.
Ready-set-transfer! Technology transfer in the requirements engineering domain

Research projects tend to evolve through multiple phases of incubation and experimentation, before maturing to levels of full industry adoption. Practice has shown that successful research solutions often take over 20 years to achieve full technology transfer. However, many projects never leave the incubation phase either because the new technique fails to perform well, or because researchers lack the knowledge, skills, or time to transition the idea to practice. A healthy research community could be expected to produce a steady stream of innovative solutions that positively impact industrial practice. To achieve these goals, we need ongoing, rigorous, and mutually beneficial conversations between academics and practitioners. Such exchanges are a desirable part of the research process, and will help the requirements engineering community to integrate technology transfer plans into the ongoing research plans. In this interactive panel, teams of researchers, representing different requirements engineering research areas, will present their research solutions to a panel of seasoned industrial practitioners. The practitioners provide insightful feedback that can help with the transition to practice. While Ready-Set-Transfer is presented as an interactive game-show, it has the serious goal of fostering collaboration and conversations between practitioners and researchers in the requirements engineering community.
Pest Management in Food Systems: An Economic Perspective

Population and income growth in the coming half century will lead to a tremendous rise in the demand for food. To meet this projected growth without massive extensification of farmland, agricultural yields must increase significantly. Crop yields depend heavily on the pest pressures farmers face and on the pest control treatments available. Pest control, however, inevitably has a multitude of unintended effects on the environment, public and worker health, and the productivity of neighboring farms. The magnitudes of these effects differ widely across pest control technologies and the situations in which they are used. Optimal pest management balances the quantifiable benefits of yield improvement and risk reduction against these external costs, taking into account nonpecuniary characteristics that impact farmers' decisions and welfare. Such analysis should be the basis of government regulation of pest management.
Pade approximations of probability density functions

The analysis of radar detection systems often requires extensive knowledge of the special functions of applied mathematics, and their computation. Yet, the moments of the detection random variable are often easily obtained. We demonstrate here how to employ a limited number of exactly specified moments to approximate the probability density and distribution functions of various random variables. The approach is to use the technique of Pade approximations (PA) which creates a pole-zero model of the moment generating function (mgf). This mgf is inverted using residues to obtain the densities. >
Data and model uncertainty estimation for linear inversion

SUMMARY Inverse theory concerns the problem of making inferences about physical systems from indirect noisy measurements. Information about the errors in the observations is essential to solve any inverse problem, otherwise it is impossible to say when a feature ‘fits the data’. In practice, however, one seldom has a direct estimate of the data errors. We exploit the trade-off between data prediction and model or data structure to determine both model-independent and modelbased estimates of the noise characteristics from a single realization of the data. Noise estimates are then used to characterize the set of reasonable models that fit the data, for example, by intersecting prior model parameter constraints with the set of data fitting models. This prior information can also be used to set bounds on the bias. We illustrate our methods with synthetic examples of vertical seismic profiling and cross-well tomography.
Experimental Infections of the Reservoir Species Peromyscus leucopus with Diverse Strains of Borrelia burgdorferi, a Lyme Disease Agent

ABSTRACT The rodent Peromyscus leucopus is a major natural reservoir for the Lyme disease agent Borrelia burgdorferi and a host for its vector Ixodes scapularis. At various locations in northeastern United States 10 to 15 B. burgdorferi strains coexist at different prevalences in tick populations. We asked whether representative strains of high or low prevalence differed in their infections of P. leucopus . After 5 weeks of experimental infection of groups with each of 6 isolates, distributions and burdens of bacteria in tissues were measured by quantitative PCR, and antibodies to B. burgdorferi were evaluated by immunoblotting and protein microarray. All groups of animals were infected in their joints, ears, tails, and hearts, but overall spirochete burdens were lower in animals infected with low-prevalence strains. Animals were similar regardless of the infecting isolate in their levels of antibodies to whole cells, FlaB, BmpA, and DbpB proteins, and the conserved N-terminal region of the serotype-defining OspC proteins. But there were strain-specific antibody responses to full-length OspC and to plasmid-encoded VlsE, BBK07, and BBK12 proteins. Sequencing of additional VlsE genes revealed substantial diversity within some pairs of strains but near-identical sequences within other pairs, which otherwise differed in their ospC alleles. The presence or absence of full-length bbk07 and bbk12 genes accounted for the differences in antibody responses. We propose that for B. burgdorferi, there is selection in reservoir species for (i) sequence diversity, as for OspC and VlsE, and (ii) the presence or absence of polymorphisms, as for BBK07 and BBK12. IMPORTANCE Humans are dead-end hosts for Borrelia agents of Lyme disease (LD), and, thus, irrelevant for the pathogens’ maintenance. Many reports of human cases and laboratory mouse infections exist, but less is known about infection and immunity in natural reservoirs, such as the rodent Peromyscus leucopus. We observed that high- and low-prevalence strains of Borrelia burgdorferi were capable of infecting P. leucopus but elicited different patterns of antibody responses. Antibody reactivities to the VlsE protein were as type-specific as previously characterized reactivities to serotype-defining OspC proteins. In addition, the low-prevalence strains lacked full-length genes for two proteins that (i) are encoded by a virulence-associated plasmid in some high-prevalence strains and (ii) LD patients and field-captured rodents commonly have antibodies to. Immune selection against these genes may have led to null phenotype lineages that can infect otherwise immune hosts but at the cost of reduced fitness and lower prevalence.
Analysis of dimethyl hydrogen phosphite and its stability under simulated physiological conditions.

In a study by the National Toxicology Program, dimethyl hydrogen phosphite (DMHP) was shown to cause doserelated neoplastic lesions in the lungs and forestomachs of Fischer 344 rats. This investigation was carried out to study the stability of this carcinogen under conditions similar to those that the chemical may encounter in the physiological environment. To carry out these studies, capillary gas chromatography was utilized to analyze DMHP. The method was linear over a range of 10 to at least 1000 ng. Highperformance liquid chromatography (HPLC) also was used to analyze DMHP and its degradation products. In aqueous solutions, DMHP was stable for a period of time before degradation began. Once the process began, degradation continued until 10-20% of the original concentration was reached and further decomposition was minimal. At 10% concentration in 0.1M phosphate buffer, pH 7.4, DMHP was stable for 3.6 h at 37~ This stability period increased at lower temperature, at lower DMHP concentration, and in slightly more alkaline buffer (pH 8). After the stability period, DMHP disappeared from the solution and this disappearance followed a first order kinetics with a rate dependent upon temperature, concentration of DHMP, and the pH of the solution. The half-time of disappearance of DMHP under the
Quantification of Valvular Aortic Stenosis

Valvular aortic stenosis is common in the elderly with mild valve thickening affecting 25% of adults over age 65 years and stenosis affecting between 1–3% of elderly adults. Accurate diagnosis and quantitation of disease severity are important as valve replacement is needed when severe symptomatic obstruction is present. However, the symptoms of aortic stenosis are non-specific. Most patients present with decreased exercise tolerance or exertional dyspnea, while even the classical symptoms of angina, syncope and heart failure have many other possible causes, particularly in the elderly. This clinical problem is confounded by the high prevalence of systolic murmurs in the elderly. While most of these murmurs are due to aortic sclerosis or a flow murmur, some are due to severe aortic stenosis.
UV-B component of sunlight causes measurable damage in field-grown maize (Zea mays L.): developmental and cellular heterogeneity of damage and repair

Ultraviolet radiation has diverse morphogenetic and damaging effects on plants. The end point of damage is reduced plant growth, but in the short term UV radiation damages specific cellular components. We measured cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers in maize DNA from plants grown in natural solar radiation. Green maize tissues had detectable DNA damage, roots had less damage, and anthers had much more damage than green leaves. This heterogeneity in damage levels may reflect differences in dose received or in damage repair. The architecture of green tissues had no measurable effects on DNA damage levels, as leaf sheath and leaf blade were equivalent. We observed a slight increase in damage levels in plants sampled at the end of the day, but there was no accumulation of damage over the growing season. We measured photoreactivation, and found substantial levels of this lightdependent repair in both the epidermis and inner cell layers of leaves, and in all organelles that contain DNA ‐ the nucleus, chloroplasts and mitochondria. We conclude that maize has efficient mechanisms for photorepair of daily UV-induced DNA damage that prevent accumulation.
Comparison of hospital-wide and age and location - stratified antibiograms of S. aureus, E. coli, and S. pneumoniae: age- and location-stratified antibiograms

Antibiograms created by aggregating hospital-wide susceptibility data from diverse patients can be misleading. To demonstrate the utility of age- and location-stratified antibiograms, we compared stratified antibiograms for three common bacterial pathogens, E. coli, S. aureus, and S. pneumoniae. We created stratified antibiograms based on patient age ( /=65 years), and inpatient or outpatient location using all 2009 E. coli and S. aureus, and all 2008–2009 S. pneumoniae isolates submitted to our clinical microbiology laboratory. We compared susceptibility rates among cumulative and stratified antibiograms using descriptive statistics. For E. coli and S. aureus, the institution-wide antibiogram overestimated resistance in pediatic isolates and underestimated resistance in isolates from the elderly. For E. coli, pediatric isolates were less susceptible to ampicillin and ampicillin-sulbactam and more susceptible to gentamicin and ciprofloxacin compared to adult isolates (p 65 years were least susceptible to ciprofloxacin (71%). For S. aureus, susceptibility to oxacillin, clindamycin, and levofloxacin was highest among children and decreased with increasing age (p < .001 for all). For S. pneumoniae, pediatric isolates were less susceptible than adult isolates to all agents except penicillin (IV breakpoint). Within children there were significant differences in susceptibility of inpatient and outpatient isolates of E. coli but not of S. aureus or S. pneumoniae. Stratified antibiograms reveal age - associated differences in susceptibility of E. coli, S. aureus, and S. pneumoniae that are obscured by hospital-wide antibiograms. Age-stratified antibiograms have potential to influence antibiotic selection.
A Randomized Controlled Trial of Child FIRST: A Comprehensive Home-Based Intervention Translating Research Into Early Childhood Practice

This randomized, controlled trial was designed to document the effectiveness of Child FIRST (Child and Family Interagency, Resource, Support, and Training), a home-based, psychotherapeutic, parent–child intervention embedded in a system of care. Multirisk urban mothers and children, ages 6–36 months (N = 157) participated. At the 12-month follow-up, Child FIRST children had improved language (odds ratio [OR] = 4.4) and externalizing symptoms (OR = 4.7) compared to Usual Care children. Child FIRST mothers had less parenting stress at the 6-month follow-up (OR = 3.0), lower psychopathology symptoms at 12-month follow-up (OR = 4.0), and less protective service involvement at 3 years postbaseline (OR = 2.1) relative to Usual Care mothers. Intervention families accessed 91% of wanted services relative to 33% among Usual Care. Thus, Child FIRST is effective with multirisk families raising young children across multiple child and parent outcomes.
Research on Fine-Grain Cache Assignment Scheduling Algorithm for Multi-Core Processors

Currently, multi-core processors are becoming mainstream due to their superior performance and power characteristics. The problem of shared L2 cache allocation is critical to the effective utilization of multi-core processors. When running under the conventional LRU cache replacement algorithm, the cache is allocated to an application is proportional to the frequency of cache requests. But there is no requirement that the application uses this storage efficiently. Unbalanced cache allocation will happen, and this situation can easily leads to serious problems such as thread starvation and priority inversion, which threatens to processor's utilization ratio and system performance. Aiming at this problem, a cache assignment scheduling algorithm which allocates suitable cache to running threads from fine-grain level is proposed. Experiment results show that the fine-grain cache assignment scheduling algorithm achieves higher performance and fairer cache assignment than that adopting conventional LRU policy. As a result, fine-grain cache assignment scheduling algorithm improves the operating system performance and utilization effectively.
Minimally Invasive Pyloroplasty

A vagotomized, tubularized gastric conduit is the most commonly used conduit for reconstruction of the thoracic esophagus at esophagectomy. However, the gastric conduit is an imperfect esophageal replacement. The conduit has no receptive relaxation and has a reduced capacity compared with the native stomach. There is decreased antral motility, and gravity is the major determinant of conduit drainage. A pyloric drainage procedure, such as a pyloroplasty or pyloromyotomy, facilitates the emptying of the gastric conduit and may improve foregut function and quality of life after esophageal resection.1 Critics of this approach are concerned that a pyloroplasty may lead to excessive bile reflux and too rapid emptying of the stomach. At our institution, we have developed a minimally invasive Ivor Lewis esophagectomy to treat resectable cancer of the esophagus and gastroesophageal junction.2,3 To optimize conduit function and emptying, we construct a narrow, straight gastric conduit, 3-4 cm in diameter, and perform a pyloroplasty. Here, we describe a technique of minimally invasive, Heineke–Mikulicz pyloroplasty, which we routinely perform within the context of a minimally invasive, Ivor Lewis esophagectomy.
A nano-sized PARACEST-fluorescence imaging contrast agent facilitates and validates in vivo CEST MRI detection of glioma

Aim: The authors have investigated the usefulness of in vivo chemical exchange saturation transfer MRI for detecting gliomas using a dual-modality imaging contrast agent. Materials & methods: A paramagnetic chemical exchange saturation transfer MRI contrast agent, Eu-1,4,7,10-tetraazacclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid-Gly4 and a fluorescent agent, DyLight® 680, were conjugated to a generation 5 polyamidoamine dendrimer to create the dual-modality, nano-sized imaging contrast agent. Results: The agent was detected with in vivo chemical exchange saturation transfer MRI in an U87 glioma model. These results were validated using in vivo and ex vivo fluorescence imaging. Conclusion: This study demonstrated the merits of using a nano-sized imaging contrast agent for detecting gliomas and using a dual-modality agent for detecting gliomas at different spatial scales. Original submitted 9 January 2012; Revised submitted 18 April 2012; Published online 14 August 2012
Upper bounds of rates of complex orthogonal space-time block codes

We derive some upper bounds of the rates of (generalized) complex orthogonal space-time block codes. We first present some new properties of complex orthogonal designs and then show that the rates of complex orthogonal space-time block codes for more than two transmit antennas are upper-bounded by 3/4. We show that the rates of generalized complex orthogonal space-time block codes for more than two transmit antennas are upper-bounded by 4/5, where the norms of column vectors may not be necessarily the same. We also present another upper bound under a certain condition. For a (generalized) complex orthogonal design, its variables are not restricted to any alphabet sets but are on the whole complex plane. A (generalized) complex orthogonal design with variables over some alphabet sets on the complex plane is also considered. We obtain a condition on the alphabet sets such that a (generalized) complex orthogonal design with variables over these alphabet sets is also a conventional (generalized) complex orthogonal design and, therefore, the above upper bounds on its rate also hold. We show that commonly used quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) constellations of sizes above 4 satisfy this condition.
Synaptotagmin 1 and SNAREs Form a Complex That Is Structurally Heterogeneous

Synaptotagmin 1 (syt1) functions as a Ca(2+)-sensor for neuronal exocytosis. Here, site-directed spin labeling was used to examine the complex formed between a soluble fragment of syt1, which contains its two C2 domains, and the neuronal core soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor (SNARE) complex. Changes in electron paramagnetic resonance lineshape and accessibility for spin-labeled syt1 mutants indicate that in solution, the assembled core SNARE complex contacts syt1 in several regions. For the C2B domain, contact occurs in the polybasic face and sites opposite the Ca(2+)-binding loops. For the C2A domain, contact is seen with the SNARE complex in a region near loop 2. Double electron-electron resonance was used to estimate distances between the two C2 domains of syt1. These distances have broad distributions in solution, which do not significantly change when syt1 is fully associated with the core SNARE complex. The broad distance distributions indicate that syt1 is structurally heterogeneous when bound to the SNAREs and does not assume a well-defined structure. Simulated annealing using electron paramagnetic resonance-derived distance restraints produces a family of syt1 structures where the Ca(2+)-binding regions of each domain face in roughly opposite directions. The results suggest that when associated with the SNAREs, syt1 is configured to bind opposing bilayers, but that the syt1/SNARE complex samples multiple conformational states.
The relationship of interpregnancy interval to the risk of preterm births to black and white women

BACKGROUND Premature births are of major public health concern. Short interpregnancy intervals may influence the incidence of premature births among black and white women, with blacks conceiving at shorter intervals than whites. DESIGN Women (293 blacks and 468 whites) with complete obstetric records delivering singleton infants between January 1988 and December 1993 were included. We related the outcome of the second of any pair of consecutive pregnancies to the interval between the pair. RESULTS Both black and white women conceiving within 3 months or less of their preceding pregnancy had a high risk of premature birth (37.5%). At all other intervals, the risk among blacks was consistently over twice that for whites. Conception within an interval of 6 months or less was significantly associated with increased risk of premature birth for blacks (35.8% versus 25.8% for longer intervals; P = 0.03), but this difference was not significant after controlling for other confounding variables (odds ratio = 1.52, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.91-2.55). Whites conceiving within 6 months compared to those conceiving after more than 6 months had no significant increased risk (18.4% versus 9.7%). The risk of preterm birth was 1.67 (CI: 0.42-2.91) for women conceiving at < or =6 months, compared to those who conceived after 6 months, after controlling for confounding variables. CONCLUSIONS Preterm birth was not significantly associated with short intervals of 6 months or less for both black and white women. A subset of multiparous black women with short interpregnancy intervals, however, may have an increased risk of premature birth.
Regulation of a system with variable structure

The linearized process dynamics of the boiler in a solar-powered central receiver change abruptly when clouds pass over the heliostats which direct the sun's rays toward it. The steam temperature regulator used to control exit steam conditions must control a system with variable structure and discontinuous state trajectories. This paper investigates the quadratic-optimal control of such a system and gives the design equations for the optimal regulator.
Coding Personal Integrity Rights: Assessing Standards-Based Measures against Human Rights Law and Practice

Clashing theories about the impact of broad social processes on human rights have long demanded indicators that allow for comparison of human rights conditions across countries and over time. Political science and international relations scholars have developed cross-national, time-series data sets to interrogate the relationships between human rights violations and things like civil unrest (do violations cause war?), terrorism (does government repression spur radicalization?), and economic development (do rising GDPs guarantee improved rights?) using sophisticated quantitative methods. In recent years, these debates have broadened beyond the academy. In development circles, there is concern that recent achievements in areas like health and education may have come at the expense of human rights — especially democratic governance and accountability, and conversely that deficits in human rights have led to failures in human development. At the same time as these changes in the development world have taken place, scholars of human rights have reached for metrics to answer some of the most difficult questions facing those who care about rights: does international human rights law — especially as codified in international treaties — actually influence state behavior over time? In other words, do human rights treaties and covenants work? This type of analysis requires rights metrics that can be used for traditional quantitative tests such as correlation and regression analysis, and which are amenable to integration into econometric models alongside indicators gathered from the development and policy analysis worlds. These synergistic discussions have led to a renewed focus in the human rights world on standards-based measures for human rights. This article examines several leading standards-based measures of human rights from the perspective of human rights law and practice. It is part of an emerging discussion in the literature assessing human rights data sets used in quantitative studies. Issues examined in this article include: the fit between the concepts being coded into the data sets and the legal content of the relevant rights; the choice of rights to include and exclude from the coding process; the sources used by each data set; and the methods used by the organizations responsible for authoring those sources that may have unintended impacts on the coding process and potentially the conclusions reached by analysts using standards-based measures. The article concludes that the drive to standardize, the push to quantify, and the desire to compare across time and space have produced data sets that are limited in specific respects, leading to possible distortions in the evidence base of studies relying on time-series data sets for human rights analysis. On the other hand, the measurement projects could provide important additional information for those seeking to integrate rights into development policy and practice, and they could be improved if they were brought closer into line with international human rights law.
The International Monetary Fund, 1946-1950: A Selected Bibliography

THE SELECTED REFERENCES presented in this bibliography, covering books, pamphlets, and periodical articles published since the Fund was organized in 1946, include publications describing the organization and functions of the International Monetary Fund and also comments and analyses of its activities. Since this is not a bibliography of international economics, writings on various aspects of this subject are included only when they contain material on the Fund. Although most of the official publications of the Fund are included, this is not intended to be a complete bibliography of such publications. A number of important articles and basic documents published prior to the organization of the Fund are listed in Bretton Woods agreements; a bibliography, April 1943-December 1945 (with supplement, January-December 1946), published by the Library of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Washington, 1946-47), and in "Classified bibliography of articles on international economics," compiled by Howard S. Ellis and Lloyd A. Metzler and published in Readings in the theory of international trade, American Economic Association (Philadelphia, Blakiston, 1949), pp. 555-625. A few important publications issued before 1946 which were not included in either of these two bibliographies are listed here.
The Road to Certification for Clinical Ethics Consultants: Finding Our Bearings

Fins and colleagues (2016) describe their pilot evaluation of portfolios for quality attestation as “a significant step on the pathway to an eventual certification process for clinical ethics consu...
Comparative long-term mark-recapture studies of guppies (Poecilia reticulata): differences among high and low predation localities in growth and survival

Life history theory predicts that high extrinsic mortality rates will cause the evolu-tion of earlier maturity and increased reproductive effort. Guppies that co-occur with predators support these predictions because they attain maturity at an earlier age and have higher levels of reproductive effort than their counterparts from localities that lack predators. In the past, we used short term (12 day) mark-recapture studies to show that guppy populations that co-occur with predators do in fact have higher mortality rates than those that do not. Here we extend this result to long term mark-recapture studies with a single recapture interval of over 200 days. We show that the recapture probabilities after these longer intervals are very similar to what one would predict based on the short term studies. Because of the multiplicative nature of mortality rate, the differences in recapture rates in guppies from low as opposed to high predation sites are now much more dramatic, on the order of 20 to 30 fold after 200+ days, as opposed to being around 15% higher after 12 days. The earlier short-term studies also revealed that guppies from high predation localities grow faster, in part as an indirect effect of predators because they reduce guppy population densities and increase per capita food availability. The long-term studies reported here yield the same result, but the difference between high and low predation localities is again far more dramatic as a consequence of the longer duration of the recapture interval. These observations, in combination with those of the earlier work, support the hypothesis that the increased mortality that accompanies predation represents a plausible mechanism that causes the evolution of the observed differences in life histories; however, the confounding of mortality rate and growth rate also suggests that more complex life history models that include density regulation and eco-evolutionary interactions may provide a better explanation for life history evolution in guppies.
Metabolism of cortisol by the liver of sodium-deficient rats.

SummaryA decreased capacity of liver homogenate to metabolize cortisol in sodium deficient rats has been demonstrated. The rate of Ring A reduction was diminished by about 25% below that of control animals. The possibility that this effect may result in a decreased adrenal corticosteroid secretion via the negative-feedback mechanism by which plasma corticoid levels are stabilized is discussed.
Harmonic Analysis of Low-Stator-Slot and Rotor-Pole Combination FSPM Machine Topology for High Speed

The high-speed machine design is becoming important due to advantages such as high-power density and small size. Flux-switching permanent magnet (FSPM) machines have a simple rotor design without any windings or PMs, which makes them apt for high-speed operation. A low-pole topology of the FSPM machine is desirable to keep the operational frequency to a minimum. The lowest slot–pole combination for a three-phase FSPM machine is the 6-stator slot 4-rotor-pole topology. This research aims at investigating and analyzing the cause of the unbalance in the flux linkage and the back electromotive force waveforms of such an FSPM machine. The influence of rotor-pole width, stator-tooth width, and the magnet length has been analyzed to find the optimum design variable. Results will be useful in making this low-pole FSPM topology amenable for high-speed operations.
Some Physiological Effects of High Environmental Temperatures on the Laying Hen

Abstract HOMEOTHERMY BIRDS are homeotherms and so are less vulnerable to environmental temperature changes than poikilotherms in respect of both functional efficiency and danger of tissue damage. The price that has to be paid for the benefits conferred by homeothermy is that body temperature cannot be allowed to fluctuate beyond relatively narrow limits without deterioration in normal functional efficiency. Within a limited, if ill defined, environmental temperature range, the laying hen is able to balance thermogenesis and thermolysis so that its body temperature remains at the optimum for normal body functions. Complete uniformity of body temperature is possible only if no heat exchange occurs between the body and its environment. Birds, however, constantly produce heat and lose it to the environment so that there is a thermal gradient from the warm interior (core) to the cooler surface (shell). Sensible heat constantly flows from the deep body centre to the outside in…