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Terms modified by San Francisco Selected AbstractsCOSMOPOLITANISM, REMEDIATION, AND THE GHOST WORLD OF BOLLYWOODCULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 1 2010DAVID NOVAK ABSTRACT This essay considers the process of remediation in two North American reproductions of the song-and-dance sequence Jaan Pehechaan Ho from the 1965 "Bollywood" film Gumnaam. The song was used in the opening sequence of the 2001 U.S. independent film Ghost World as a familiar-but-strange object of ironic bewilderment and fantasy for its alienated teenage protagonist Enid. But a decade before Ghost World's release, Jaan Pehechaan Ho had already become the lynchpin of a complex debate about cultural appropriation and multicultural identity for an "alternative" audience in the United States. I illustrate this through an ethnographic analysis of a 1994 videotape of the Heavenly Ten Stems, an experimental rock band in San Francisco, whose performance of the song was disrupted by a group of activists who perceived their reproduction as a mockery. How is Bollywood film song, often itself a kitschy send-up of American popular culture, remediated differently for different projects of reception? How do these cycles of appropriation create overlapping conditions for new identities,whether national, diasporic, or "alternative",within the context of transcultural media consumption? In drawing out the "ghost world" of Bollywood's juxtapositions, I argue that the process of remediation produces more than just new forms and meanings of media, but is constitutive of the cosmopolitan subjects formed in its global circulations. [source] Treatment of patch-stage mycosis fungoides with topical corticosteroidsDERMATOLOGIC THERAPY, Issue 4 2003Herschel S. Zackheim ABSTRACT:, Experience at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), in the management of patch-stage mycosis fungoides (MF) with topical, predominantly high-potency, corticosteroids is reviewed. The technique of applications is discussed in detail. Approximately 200 patients have been treated. The results are very favorable. The response rate is over 90%. Side-effects are minor. Topical clobetasol is the first-line treatment for early stage MF at UCSF. [source] Seismic evaluation of 1940s asymmetric wood-frame building using conventional measurements and high-definition laser scanningEARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING AND STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS, Issue 10 2009Khalid M. Mosalam Abstract This study presents results from shake table experiments of a wood-frame building conducted at the University of California, Berkeley. A 13.5-ft × 19.5-ft two-story wood-frame building representing San Francisco 1940s design of a residential building with a garage space on the first story (house-over-garage) was tested. The test building was subjected to scaled ground motion based on Los Gatos record from Loma Prieta 1989 earthquake. The strong motion time history was scaled to match design spectra of a site in Richmond district of San Francisco. The test results demonstrated the seismic vulnerability of the test building due to soft story mechanism and significant twisting when shaken in two horizontal directions. In addition to conventional instrumentation for measuring acceleration and position of selected points of the test building, high-definition laser scanning technology was employed to assess global and local anomalies of the building after the shake table tests. The analysis conducted in this study showed very good correlation between conventional data recorded from position transducers and the laser scans. These laser scans expanded limits of conventional data at discrete points and allowed analyzing the whole building after shaking. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Hepatitis C virus risk behaviors within the partnerships of young injecting drug usersADDICTION, Issue 7 2010Judith A. Hahn ABSTRACT Aims Young injection drug users (IDU) are at high risk for hepatitis C virus (HCV). We sought to determine whether perceiving one's injecting partner to be HCV positive was associated with decreased odds of engaging in receptive needle/syringe sharing (RNS) or ancillary equipment sharing (AES) with that partner. Design Cross sectional study. Setting 2003 to 2007 in San Francisco. Participants 212 young (under age 30) IDU who were HCV antibody negative reported on 492 injecting partnerships. Measurements Self-reported RNS and AES within injecting partnerships. Findings RNS and AES (in the absence of RNS) occurred in 23% and 64% of injecting partnerships in the prior month. The odds of engaging in RNS were significantly lower for relationships in which the participant reported that his/her partner was HCV positive (odds ratio [OR] 0.49; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.25,0.95). This association was attenuated when adjusted for reusing one's own needle/syringe (adjusted OR 0.57; 95% CI 0.28,1.15). The odds of engaging in AES were lower for participants who did not know the HCV status of their partner, only among non-sexual partnerships (OR 0.47; 95% CI 0.29,0.76). Conclusions Because perceiving one's partner to be HCV positive was associated with decreased RNS, increased HCV testing and partner disclosure may be warranted. AES was common and was decreased only among non-sexual partnerships in which the HCV status of the partner was not known. This suggests that interventions to reduce AES in young IDU must be widespread. [source] Evaluating the validities of different DSM-IV-based conceptual constructs of tobacco dependence,ADDICTION, Issue 7 2008Peter S. Hendricks ABSTRACT Aim To compare the concurrent and predictive validities of two subsets of DSM-IV criteria for nicotine dependence (tolerance and withdrawal; withdrawal; difficulty controlling use; and use despite harm) to the concurrent and predictive validity of the full DSM-IV criteria. Design Analysis of baseline and outcome data from three randomized clinical trials of cigarette smoking treatment. Setting San Francisco, California. Participants Two samples of cigarette smokers (n = 810 and 322), differing with regard to baseline characteristics and treatment received, derived from three randomized clinical trials. Measurements DSM-IV nicotine dependence criteria were measured at baseline with a computerized version of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for DSM-IV (DIS-IV). Additional baseline measures included the Fagerström Test of Nicotine Dependence (FTND), number of cigarettes smoked per day, breath carbon monoxide (CO) level, the Minnesota Nicotine Withdrawal Scale (MNWS), the Michigan Nicotine Reinforcement Questionnaire (M-NRQ) and the Profile of Mood States (POMS). Seven-day point-prevalence abstinence was assessed at week 12. Findings Full DSM-IV criteria displayed greater concurrent validity than either of the two subsets of criteria. However, DSM-IV symptoms accounted for only a nominal amount of the variance in baseline smoking-related characteristics and were unrelated to smoking abstinence at week 12. Cigarettes smoked per day was the only significant predictor of abstinence at week 12. Conclusions Although the findings do not provide a compelling alternative to the full set of DSM-IV nicotine dependence criteria, its poor psychometric properties and low predictive power limit its clinical and research utility. [source] Comment on "the long-term fate of polychlorinated biphenyls in San Francisco bay, (USA)"ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY & CHEMISTRY, Issue 10 2005John P. Connolly No abstract is available for this article. [source] Recolonisation of natural landslides in tropical mountain forests of Southern EcuadorFEDDES REPERTORIUM, Issue 3-4 2004(corresp. author) C. Ohl Dr. The regeneration of the vegetation of natural landslides was studied at Estación Científica San Francisco (ECSF) in a tropical mountain forest area of Southern Ecuador, north of Podocarpus National Park. The study focused on the process of regeneration on natural landslides and the vegetation change along an altitudinal gradient using space-for-time substitution. The most important plant families present on the landslides during the first stages of succession are Gleicheniaceae (Pteridophyta), Melastomataceae, Ericaceae and Orchidaceae. Species of the genus Sticherus (Gleicheniaceae) are dominant, and species composition varies with altitude and soil conditions. Colonisation of landslides is not homogeneous. Zones with bare ground, sparsely vegetated patches and densely covered areas may be present within the same slide. This small scale spatial heterogeneity is often created by local ongoing sliding processes and different distances towards undisturbed areas. Therefore, the duration of the successional process is highly variable. The initial stage of the succession is a community of non vascular plants interspersed with scattered individuals of vascular plants. By means of runner-shoots they form vegetation patches which start growing into each other. The second stage is dominated by Gleicheniaceae (species composition varying in altitude and soil chemistry). In the third stage, bushes and trees colonise, sheltered by the ferns, and a secondary forest develops with pioneer species that are not found in the primary forest vegetation. The common phenomenon of the natural landslides leads to an increase in structural and species diversity on a regional scale. (© 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) Rekolonisation auf natürlichen Hangrutschungen in tropischen Bergwäldern Südecuadors Im tropischen Bergwald Südecuadors (nördlich des Podocarpus Nationalparks im Gebiet der Estación Científica San Francisco, ECSF) wurden Artenzusammensetzung und Rekolonisationsprozesse früher Sukzessionsstadien entlang eines Höhengradienten auf natürlichen Hangrutschungen untersucht. Besonders Gleicheniaceae, Melastomataceae, Ericaceae und Orchidaceae sind von Bedeutung. Arten der Gattung Sticherus (Gleicheniaceae) sind sehr zahlreich vertreten. Die Artenzusammensetzung wechselt entlang des Höhengradienten und in Abhängigkeit von den Bodenbedingungen. Die mosaikartige Verteilung der Vegetation auf den Rutschungen (gänzlich unbedeckte bis stark überwucherte Zonen) ist auf häufige lokale Nachrutschungen sowie auf unterschiedliche Geschwindigkeiten der Wiederbesiedlung entsprechend der Distanz zu ungestörter Vegetation zurückzuführen. Die Dauer der Sukzession ist daher sehr variabel. Das Initialstadium wird von Moosen und Flechten gebildet. Im weiteren Verlauf führt die überwiegend vegetative Ausbreitung einzelner Gefäßpflanzen zum zweiten Sukzessionsstadium. Dieses ist durch die Dominanz von Gleicheniaceae gekennzeichnet, während im dritten Stadium im Schutze der Farne erste Büsche und Bäume heranwachsen und den Pionierwald bilden. Da diese Arten nicht im Primärwald vertreten sind, kommt es regional zu einer beträchtlichen Erhöhung der Artenzahl und der strukturellen Diversität. [source] EPHAR Council Meeting, San Francisco, 9 July 2002FUNDAMENTAL & CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY, Issue 3 2002M.P. Abbracchio No abstract is available for this article. [source] Capital Intentions: Female Proprietors in San Francisco, 1850,1920 by Edith SparksGENDER & HISTORY, Issue 2 2010MARIA RAQUEL CASAS No abstract is available for this article. [source] CREATIVE PRESERVATION IN CALIFORNIA'S DAIRY INDUSTRY,GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW, Issue 2 2003GREIG TOR GUTHEY ABSTRACT. Farmers in Marin and Sonoma Counties, located north of San Francisco, are experimenting with numerous alternatives to California's widely known industrial dairy style. Many analysts suggest that consumer politics, food scares, and globalization explain such shifts to organic and other types of "quality" food production. While acknowledging the importance of these factors, we argue that the alternatives in this region are best understood as an outcome of broad-based land-conservation efforts developed through historical and ongoing struggles over urban growth, rising concerns about environmental values, and deep regional interests in dairy preservation. Over time, preservation of this agricultural landscape has contributed to the emergence of a quality food industry historically rooted in the region's politics of place. [source] Teaching and Learning Guide for: The Geopolitics of Climate ChangeGEOGRAPHY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 5 2008Jon Barnett Author's Introduction Climate change is a security problem in as much as the kinds of environmental changes that may result pose risks to peace and development. However, responsibilities for the causes of climate change, vulnerability to its effects, and capacity to solve the problem, are not equally distributed between countries, classes and cultures. There is no uniformity in the geopolitics of climate change, and this impedes solutions. Author Recommends 1.,Adger, W. N., et al. (eds) (2006). Fairness in adaptation to climate change. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. A comprehensive collection of articles on the justice dimensions of adaptation to climate change. Chapters discuss potential points at which climate change becomes ,dangerous', the issue of adaptation under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the unequal outcomes of adaptation within a society, the effects of violent conflict on adaptation, the costs of adaptation, and examples from Bangladesh, Tanzania, Botswana, and Hungary. 2.,Leichenko, R., and O'Brien, K. (2008). Environmental change and globalization: double exposures. New York: Oxford University Press. This book uses examples from around the world to show the way global economic and political processes interact with environmental changes to create unequal outcomes within and across societies. A very clear demonstration of the way vulnerability to environmental change is as much driven by social processes as environmental ones, and how solutions lie within the realm of decisions about ,development' and ,environment'. 3.,Nordås, R., and Gleditsch, N. (2007). Climate conflict: common sense or nonsense? Political Geography 26 (6), pp. 627,638. doi:10.1016/j.polgeo.2007.06.003 An up-to-date, systematic and balanced review of research on the links between climate change and violent conflict. See also the other papers in this special issue of Political Geography. 4.,Parry, M., et al. (eds) (2007). Climate change 2007: impacts adaptation and vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. The definitive review of all the peer-reviewed research on the way climate change may impact on places and sectors across the world. Includes chapters on ecosystems, health, human settlements, primary industries, water resources, and the major regions of the world. All chapters are available online at http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/ar4-wg2.htm 5.,Salehyan, I. (2008). From climate change to conflict? No consensus yet. Journal of Peace Research 45 (3), pp. 315,326. doi:10.1177/0022343308088812 A balanced review of research on the links between climate change and conflict, with attention to existing evidence. 6.,Schwartz, P., and Randall, D. (2003). An abrupt climate change scenario and its implications for United States national security. San Francisco, CA: Global Business Network. Gives insight into how the US security policy community is framing the problem of climate change. This needs to be read critically. Available at http://www.gbn.com/ArticleDisplayServlet.srv?aid=26231 7.,German Advisory Council on Global Change. (2007). World in transition: climate change as a security risk. Berlin, Germany: WBGU. A major report from the German Advisory Council on Global Change on the risks climate changes poses to peace and stability. Needs to be read with caution. Summary and background studies are available online at http://www.wbgu.de/wbgu_jg2007_engl.html 8.,Yamin, F., and Depedge, J. (2004). The International climate change regime: a guide to rules, institutions and procedures. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. A clear and very detailed explanation of the UNFCCC's objectives, actors, history, and challenges. A must read for anyone seeking to understand the UNFCCC process, written by two scholars with practical experience in negotiations. Online Materials 1.,Environmental Change and Security Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars http://www.wilsoncenter.org/ecsp The major website for information about environmental security. From here, you can download many reports and studies, including the Environmental Change and Security Project Report. 2.,Global Environmental Change and Human Security Project http://www.gechs.org This website is a clearing house for work and events on environmental change and human security. 3.,Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) http://www.ipcc.ch/ From this website, you can download all the chapters of all the IPCC's reports, including its comprehensive and highly influential assessment reports, the most recent of which was published in 2007. The IPCC were awarded of the Nobel Peace Prize ,for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made (sic) climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change'. 4.,Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research http://www.tyndall.ac.uk The website of a major centre for research on climate change, and probably the world's leading centre for social science based analysis of climate change. From this site, you can download many publications about mitigation of and adaptation to climate change, and about various issues in the UNFCCC. 5.,United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change http://unfccc.int/ The website contains every major document relation to the UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol, including the text of the agreements, national communications, country submissions, negotiated outcomes, and background documents about most key issues. Sample Syllabus: The Geopolitics of Climate Change topics for lecture and discussion Week I: Introduction Barnett, J. (2007). The geopolitics of climate change. Geography Compass 1 (6), pp. 1361,1375. United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, address to the 12th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Nairobi, 15 November 2006. Available online at http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=495&ArticleID=5424&l=en Week II: The History and Geography of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Topic: The drivers of climate change in space and time Reading Baer, P. (2006). Adaptation: who pays whom? In: Adger, N., et al. (eds) Fairness in adaptation to climate change. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 131,154. Boyden, S., and Dovers, S. (1992). Natural-resource consumption and its environmental impacts in the Western World: impacts of increasing per capita consumption. Ambio 21 (1), pp. 63,69. Week III: The Environmental Consequences of climate change Topic: The risks climate change poses to environmental systems Reading Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (2007). Climate change 2007: climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability: summary for policymakers. Geneva, Switzerland: IPCC Secretariat. Watch: Al Gore. The Inconvenient Truth. Weeks IV and V: The Social Consequences of Climate Change Topic: The risks climate change poses to social systems Reading Adger, W. N. (1999). Social vulnerability to climate change and extremes in coastal Vietnam. World Development 27, pp. 249,269. Comrie, A. (2007). Climate change and human health. Geography Compass 1 (3), pp. 325,339. Leary, N., et al. (2006). For whom the bell tolls: vulnerability in a changing climate. A Synthesis from the AIACC project, AIACC Working Paper No. 21, International START Secretariat, Florida. Stern, N. (2007). Economics of climate change: the Stern review. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press (Chapters 3,5). Week VI: Mitigation of Climate Change: The UNFCCC Topic: The UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol Reading Najam, A., Huq, S., and Sokona, Y. (2003). Climate negotiations beyond Kyoto: developing countries concerns and interests. Climate Policy 3 (3), pp. 221,231. UNFCCC Secretariat. (2005). Caring for climate: a guide to the climate change convention and the Kyoto Protocol. Bonn, Germany: UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat. Weeks VII and VIII: Adaptation to Climate Change Topic: What can be done to allow societies to adapt to avoid climate impacts? Reading Adger, N., et al. (2007). Assessment of adaptation practices, options, constraints and capacity. In: Parry, M., et al. (eds) Climate change 2007: impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pp. 717,744. Burton, I., et al. (2002). From impacts assessment to adaptation priorities: the shaping of adaptation policy. Climate Policy 2 (2,3), pp. 145,159. Eakin, H., and Lemos, M. C. (2006). Adaptation and the state: Latin America and the challenge of capacity-building under globalization. Global Environmental Change: Human and Policy Dimensions 16 (1), pp. 7,18. Ziervogel, G., Bharwani, S., and Downing, T. (2006). Adapting to climate variability: pumpkins, people and policy. Natural Resources Forum 30, pp. 294,305. Weeks IX and X: Climate Change and Migration Topic: Will climate change force migration? Readings Gaim, K. (1997). Environmental causes and impact of refugee movements: a critique of the current debate. Disasters 21 (1), pp. 20,38. McLeman, R., and Smit, B. (2006). Migration as adaptation to climate change. Climatic Change 76 (1), pp. 31,53. Myers, N. (2002). Environmental refugees: a growing phenomenon of the 21st century. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 357 (1420), pp. 609,613. Perch-Nielsen, S., Bättig, M., and Imboden, D. (2008). Exploring the link between climate change and migration. Climatic Change (online first, forthcoming); doi:10.1007/s10584-008-9416-y Weeks XI and XII: Climate Change and Violent Conflict Topic: Will Climate change cause violent conflict? Readings Barnett, J., and Adger, N. (2007). Climate change, human security and violent conflict. Political Geography 26 (6), pp. 639,655. Centre for Strategic and International Studies. (2007). The age of consequences: the foreign policy and national security implications of global climate change. Washington, DC: CSIS. Nordås, R., and Gleditsch, N. (2007). Climate conflict: common sense or nonsense? Political Geography 26 (6), pp. 627,638. Schwartz, P., and Randall, D. (2003). An abrupt climate change scenario and its implications for United States national security. San Francisco, CA: Global Business Network. [online]. Retrieved on 8 April 2007 from http://www.gbn.com/ArticleDisplayServlet.srv?aid=26231 Focus Questions 1Who is most responsible for climate change? 2Who is most vulnerable to climate change? 3Does everyone have equal power in the UNFCCC process? 4Will climate change force people to migrate? Who? 5What is the relationship between adaptation to climate change and violent conflict? [source] Design approach for the hybrid underground station at Union Suare/Market Street in San Francisco.GEOMECHANICS AND TUNNELLING, Issue 4 2009Entwurfskonzept für eine hybride U-Bahnstation Union Square/Market Street in San Francisco Abstract The new Central Subway extension through downtown San Francisco consists of three underground stations and 2.7 km TBMdriven twin tunnel. This paper provides a description of the preliminary analyses and design of the ground support and final lining for the Union Square\Market Street Station (UMS) along Stockton Street. This station will serve the Union Square Shopping District and connect to the BART Powell Street Station. Due to shortage of space above ground and to minimize surface disruption, the UMS station design requires a complex hybrid method consisting of a 20 m deep braced cut-and-cover box with a mined enlargement bulb below it with a height of 9.3 m and a width of 17.8 m. The majority of the UMS station will be excavated in saturated alluvial deposits. Undifferentiated old bay deposits will be encountered in the invert, underlain by dense marine sands. The groundwater varies from 5 to 10 m below ground level, so uplift of the combined bulb/box structure has to be taken into account. The Finite Element (FE) analysis of the UMS station cavern reflects the separate construction phases of the station platform box and the bulb to account for soil-structure interaction and load-sharing effects. FE analyses are used to estimate support requirements including ground improvement and to predict surface settlements. Die Erweiterung der Central Subway durch die Innenstadt von San Francisco beinhaltet drei Stationsbauwerke und 2,7 km maschinell vorgetriebene Doppelröhrentunnel. In diesem Artikel erfolgt eine Beschreibung der Voruntersuchungen und Vorbemessung der Stützmaßnahmen sowie der Innenschale der Union Square\Market Street Station (UMS) im Verlauf der Stockton Street. Diese Station soll dem Union Square Shopping Distrikt dienen und zur BART Powell Street Station verbinden. Aufgrund der beengten Platzverhältnisse und zur Minimierung der Beeinträchtigung der Oberfläche ist ein "hybrides" Konzept der UMS-Station erforderlich. Dieses besteht aus einer 20 m tiefen ausgesteiften Baugrube (Box) und einer darunterliegenden bergmännisch hergestellten Kaverne (Bulb) mit 9,3 m Höhe und 17,8 m Breite. Der Großteil der UMS-Station befindet sich in gesättigten alluvialen Ablagerungen. Undifferenziert werden alte Bucht-Ablagerungen und dichte marine Sande in der Sohle vorgefunden. Der Grundwasserspiegel variiert in einer Teufe zwischen 5 bis 10 m unter der Oberfläche, aus diesem Grund ist der Auftrieb des kombinierten Bauwerks bestehend aus Bulb und Box zu berücksichtigen. In Finite Element (FE) Berechnungen der UMS-Station werden die einzelnen Bauphasen des Stationsbauwerks, sowohl von Box als auch Bulb, modelliert, um die Wechselwirkungen von Baugrund-Bauwerk und die jeweiligen Lastumlagerungen zu berücksichtigen. Mittels FE-Berechnungen werden schließlich die notwendigen Stützmaßnahmen , diese beinhalten auch Bodenverbesserungsmaßnahmen , und die Oberflächensetzungen festgelegt. [source] Maximum entropy inference for mixed continuous-discrete variablesINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS, Issue 4 2010Hermann Singer We represent knowledge by probability distributions of mixed continuous and discrete variables. From the joint distribution of all items, one can compute arbitrary conditional distributions, which may be used for prediction. However, in many cases only some marginal distributions, inverse probabilities, or moments are known. Under these conditions, a principle is needed to determine the full joint distribution of all variables. The principle of maximum entropy (Jaynes, Phys Rev 1957;106:620,630 and 1957;108:171,190; Jaynes, Probability Theory,The Logic of Science, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003; Haken, Synergetics, Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1977; Guiasu and Shenitzer, Math Intell 1985;117:83,106) ensures an unbiased estimation of the full multivariate relationships by using only known facts. For the case of discrete variables, the expert shell SPIRIT implements this approach (cf. Rödder, Artif Intell 2000;117:83,106; Rödder and Meyer, in Proceedings of the 12th Conference on Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence, San Francisco, CA, 2006; Rödder et al., Logical J IGPL 2006;14(3):483,500). In this paper, the approach is generalized to continuous and mixed continuous-discrete distributions and applied to the problem of credit scoring. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Risk of Hip Fracture in Disabled Community-Living Older AdultsJOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 1 2003Louise C. Walter MD OBJECTIVES: To determine the rate of hip fracture and risk factors associated with hip fractures in disabled older persons who enroll in the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), a program providing comprehensive care to community-living nursing-home-eligible persons. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study between January 1990 and December 1997. SETTING: The twelve PACE demonstration sites: San Francisco, California; Columbia, South Carolina; Detroit, Michigan; Denver, Colorado; East Boston, Massachusetts; El Paso, Texas; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Oakland, California; Portland, Oregon; Rochester, New York; Sacramento, California; and the Bronx, New York. PARTICIPANTS: Five thousand one hundred eighty-seven individuals in PACE; mean age 79, 71% female, 49% white, 47% with dementia. MEASUREMENTS: Functional status, cognitive status, demographics, and comorbid conditions were recorded on all the participants, who were tracked for occurrence of a hip fracture. The goals were to determine the rate of hip fracture and identify risk factors. RESULTS: Two hundred thirty-eight hip fractures (4.6%) occurred during follow-up. The rate of hip fracture was 2.2% per person-year. Four independent predictors of hip fracture were identified using Cox proportional hazard analysis: age of 75 and older (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) = 2.0, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.4,2.8); white ethnicity (HR = 2.1, 95% CI = 1.6,2.8); ability to transfer independently to and from bed, chair, and toilet (HR = 3.0, 95% CI = 1.2,7.2); and five or more Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire errors (HR = 1.6, 95% CI = 1.3,2.1). The incidence of hip fracture ranged from 0.5% per person-year in persons with zero to one independent risk factors to 4.7% per person-year in those with all four independent risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: The rate of hip fracture in this cohort of disabled community-living older adults was similar to that reported in nursing home cohorts. Older age, white race, ability to transfer independently, and cognitive impairment were independent predictors of hip fracture. Persons with these risk factors should be targeted for preventive interventions, which should include strategies for making transferring safer. [source] Multiple classifier integration for the prediction of protein structural classesJOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY, Issue 14 2009Lei Chen Abstract Supervised classifiers, such as artificial neural network, partition trees, and support vector machines, are often used for the prediction and analysis of biological data. However, choosing an appropriate classifier is not straightforward because each classifier has its own strengths and weaknesses, and each biological dataset has its own characteristics. By integrating many classifiers together, people can avoid the dilemma of choosing an individual classifier out of many to achieve an optimized classification results (Rahman et al., Multiple Classifier Combination for Character Recognition: Revisiting the Majority Voting System and Its Variation, Springer, Berlin, 2002, 167,178). The classification algorithms come from Weka (Witten and Frank, Data Mining: Practical Machine Learning Tools and Techniques, Morgan Kaufmann, San Francisco, 2005) (a collection of software tools for machine learning algorithms). By integrating many predictors (classifiers) together through simple voting, the correct prediction (classification) rates are 65.21% and 65.63% for a basic training dataset and an independent test set, respectively. These results are better than any single machine learning algorithm collected in Weka when exactly the same data are used. Furthermore, we introduce an integration strategy which takes care of both classifier weightings and classifier redundancy. A feature selection strategy, called minimum redundancy maximum relevance (mRMR), is transferred into algorithm selection to deal with classifier redundancy in this research, and the weightings are based on the performance of each classifier. The best classification results are obtained when 11 algorithms are selected by mRMR method, and integrated together through majority votes with weightings. As a result, the prediction correct rates are 68.56% and 69.29% for the basic training dataset and the independent test dataset, respectively. The web-server is available at http://chemdata.shu.edu.cn/protein_st/. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2009 [source] Sexuality and Safer Sex: The Issues for Lesbians and Bisexual WomenJOURNAL OF OBSTETRIC, GYNECOLOGIC & NEONATAL NURSING, Issue 4 2001FAAN, Patricia E. Stevens RN Nursing interventions to help women reduce their risk of contracting HIV must be designed from an in-depth understanding of the complex sociocultural patterns of sexuality in particular communities and among specific subgroups. Objective: In this data collection phase of a community-based HIV prevention project, the objective was to understand HIV risk-taking and HIV risk-reduction activities of lesbians and bisexual women. Design: Qualitative field study. Setting: Data were collected in women's bars and dance clubs and at selected lesbian/bisexual community events in San Francisco. Participants: Interviews were conducted with 1,189 racially diverse, socially and sexually active lesbians and bisexual women. Results: Inductive content analysis produced two themes: realities of sexual behavior and sexual expressions and their meanings. Realities of sexual behavior included an assumption that women who have sex with other women cannot get HIV, a lack of familiarity with HIV prevention strategies, inconsistent practice of safer sex with men and/or women, and the negative effect of alcohol or drug use on safer sex efforts. Sexual expressions and their meaning included trust in monogamy, a sense that safer sex practices detracted from intimacy and eroticism, the difficulty of negotiating sexual behaviors with men or women, and dealing with partner resistance to safer sex practices. Conclusions: Specific recommendations for practice are the need for nurses to understand the range and diversity of women's sexual behaviors, to develop skills in conducting inclusive sexual histories, and to develop a comprehensive approach to sexual health. [source] Relative frequency of intra-oral minor salivary gland tumors: a study of 380 cases from northern California and comparison to reports from other parts of the worldJOURNAL OF ORAL PATHOLOGY & MEDICINE, Issue 4 2007Amos Buchner Background:, The relative frequency of individual intra-oral minor salivary gland tumors (IMSGT) is not well documented in the literature. The aim of this study was to determine the relative frequency and distribution of IMSGT in an oral pathology biopsy service and to compare the data with similar studies from different parts of the world. Methods:, Files from the Pacific Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology Laboratory of the University of the Pacific, San Francisco, California served as a source of material for this study. Files were systematically searched for all cases of IMSGT during a 20-year period. Tumors were classified according to the 2005 WHO classification of salivary gland tumors. Results:, IMSGT were identified in 380 (0.4%) cases of 92 860 accessed. This is the largest series of IMSGT from one source reported in recent years. Of the 380 tumors, 224 (59%) were benign and 156 (41%) were malignant. Of the benign tumors, pleomorphic adenoma (PA) was the most common (39.2%), followed by cystadenoma (6.3%), canalicular adenoma (6.1%), ductal papillomas (4.4%), basal cell adenoma (1.6%), and myoepithelioma (1.3%). Of the malignant tumors, mucoepidermoid carcinoma was the most common (21.8%), followed by polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma (7.1%), adenoid cystic carcinoma (6.3%), adenocarcinoma, not otherwise specified (NOS; 2.1%), acinic cell carcinoma (1.6%), clear cell carcinoma, NOS (1.0%), and carcinoma ex PA (0.5%). Conclusions:, Studies related to the relative frequency of individual IMSGTs from different parts of the world are difficult to compare because many studies are outdated, the number of cases is small, the list of tumors is limited, and new entities are not included. To determine the true relative frequency, more studies should be conducted, on a large number of cases from one source, by experienced pathologists in the field of salivary gland tumors. [source] Relative frequency of peripheral odontogenic tumors: a study of 45 new cases and comparison with studies from the literatureJOURNAL OF ORAL PATHOLOGY & MEDICINE, Issue 7 2006Amos Buchner Background:, Peripheral (extraosseous) odontogenic tumors are rare, and reports in the literature have mainly been single case reports or a small series of cases. The aim of this study was to determine the relative frequency of peripheral (extraosseous) odontogenic tumors relative to one another and relative to their central (intraosseous) counterparts in an oral pathology biopsy service and to compare these data with information available in the literature. Methods:, The files of the Pacific Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology Laboratory of the University of the Pacific, San Francisco, CA, USA, served as the source of material for this study. Files were systematically searched for all cases of peripheral odontogenic tumors (POTs) during a 20-year-period. Results:, There were 91 178 cases accessed in which central and POTs were identified in 1133 (1.24%), central tumors in 1088 (1.2%), and peripheral tumors in 45 (0.05%). Peripheral tumors accounted for 4% of all 1133 central and POTs. Peripheral odontogenic fibroma (PODF) was the most common of the 45 POTs accounting for 51.1% (23 cases) followed by peripheral ameloblastoma (PA) 28.9% (13 cases) and peripheral calcifying cystic odontogenic tumor (PCCOT) 13.3% (six cases). Peripheral calcifying epithelial odontogenic tumor, peripheral ameloblastic fibroma, and peripheral ameloblastic carcinoma were also identified , each comprised 2.2% (one case each). PODF was more common than its central counterpart by a 1.4:1 ratio. This was the only peripheral tumor that was more common than its central counterpart. PA accounted for 9.3% of all ameloblastomas and PCCOT for 26% of all calcifying cystic odontogenic tumors. Conclusion:, There is only scarce information in the literature on the relative frequency of POTs. Additional studies should be conducted to determine the true relative frequency. To ensure accuracy, pathologists with experience in the field of odontogenic tumors should conduct these studies. Intraosseous tumors that perforate through the bone to the gingival tissue, clinically presenting as ,peripheral tumors' should be excluded. [source] Oral Health Status of San Francisco Public School Kindergarteners 2000,2005JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH DENTISTRY, Issue 4 2006Lisa H. Chung DDS Abstract Objectives:To determine the prevalence of dental caries and oral health disparities in San Francisco kindergarten public school children from 2000,2005. Methods:The San Francisco Department of Public Health in partnership with the San Francisco Dental Society and assistance from the National Dental Association, has been conducting annual dental screenings of kindergarten children enrolled in the San Francisco Unified School District since 2000. Outcomes assessed from this series of cross-sectional screenings included prevalence of caries experience, untreated caries, treatment needs, and caries severity by child's sex, race/ethnicity, residential zip code, and a proxy for socioeconomic status. Results:Of 76 eligible schools, 62,72 participated, and 86,92% of enrolled children (n=3,354-3,527) were screened yearly. Although there was a small, significant decrease over the time period, in 2005, 50.1% of children had caries experience; 28.8% had untreated caries and 7.6% had urgent treatment needs. Each year caries prevalence was greatest for Asian children, those attending schools with > 50% children eligible for the free or reduced-price meal program, and children living in zip codes in and around Chinatown and San Francisco's southern border. Conclusions:Despite signs of improvement, caries remains a public health problem especially in Asian and Hispanic children, and children living in certain sections of San Francisco. [source] The University of California, San Francisco Family Alcoholism Study.ALCOHOLISM, Issue 10 2004Background: The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Family Alcoholism Study is a project designed to identify genetic loci that influence susceptibility to alcohol dependence and related phenotypes. Evidence supports a substantial genetic contribution to alcoholism susceptibility. However, the genetic epidemiology of alcoholism is complex, and its clinical manifestation is heterogeneous, making phenotype definition and demonstration of linkage difficult. Despite these challenges, some progress has been made toward identifying genes. Methods: The UCSF Family Alcoholism Study used a small family design, focusing primarily on sibling pairs and parent-child trios for linkage and association studies. Alcoholism-related phenotypes were assessed through interview and self-report questionnaires, with a focus on unidimensional and subphenotypical traits. Data-driven approaches to determining the most promising phenotypes for genetic analysis are being used. Both genome-wide scan and candidate gene approaches were used. Results: The study enrolled 2154 individuals from 970 families from December 1995 through January 2003. Test-retest and interrater reliability for clinical data are very good, and power estimates suggest that this study will have adequate power by linkage analysis to detect loci with moderate effects. Design, methods, and sample demographics of the UCSF Family Study are presented, along with intrafamilial correlations for primary diagnostic phenotypes. Conclusions: Plans for genetic analysis, novel approaches to phenotype refinement, and the implications of ascertainment bias for heritability estimates are discussed. [source] The Validity of DSM-IV Alcohol Dependence: What Do We Know and What Do We Need to Know?ALCOHOLISM, Issue 2 2003Deborah S. Hasin This article presents the proceedings of a symposium at the 2002 RSA Meeting in San Francisco, California. Deborah S. Hasin organized the symposium and co-chaired it with Marc Schuckit. The purpose of the symposium was to provide an overview of what is known about the validity of DSM-IV and ICD-10 alcohol dependence and abuse, with a focus on work done since 1994. Presentations included: (1) Validity of DSM-III-R alcohol dependence in adolescents, by Christopher S. Martin; (2) Reliability and validity of DSM and ICD formulations of alcohol use disorders: findings from epidemiology, by Bridget F. Grant; (3) Validity and reliability of the alcohol-dependence phenotype in the context of genetic studies, by Kathleen K. Bucholz; and (4) DSM-IV and beyond: uniting the clinical utility of categories with the precision of dimensions, by John E. Helzer. The findings supported the validity of DSM-IV alcohol dependence across numerous study designs and samples, suggested some value in a dimensional dependence measure, and raised questions about the validity of the diagnosis of alcohol abuse as currently defined. Marc Schuckit, as discussant for the symposium, placed the issues in perspective for the upcoming DSM-V. [source] How Important Are Brain Banks for Alcohol Research?ALCOHOLISM, Issue 2 2003Clive Harper This article contains the proceedings of a symposium at the 2002 RSA/ISBRA Meeting in San Francisco, organized and chaired by Clive Harper and co-chaired by Izuru Matsumoto. The presentations were (1) Introduction, by Clive Harper; (2) The quality of tissue,a critical issue, by Therese Garrick; (3) The first systematic brain tissue donor program in Japan, by Izuru Matsumoto; (4) Brain scans after death,really! by Adolf Pfefferbaum, Elfar Adalsteinsson, and Edith Sullivan; (5) Capture that (genial) expression, by Joanne Lewohl and Peter Dodd; and (6) Neurochemical/pharmacological studies: experimental design and limitations, by Roger Butterworth. [source] Neural Stem Cells and AlcoholALCOHOLISM, Issue 2 2003F. T. Crews This article summarizes the proceedings of a symposium held at the 2002 Research Society on Alcoholism Meeting in San Francisco, California. The aim of this symposium was to review research on the effects of ethanol on neural stems cells and neurogenesis. Ethanol is known to alter neurogenesis during development; however, recent studies indicate that the brain forms new neurons from stem cells throughout life. Furthermore, stem cells can be transplanted into the brain, creating exciting new possibilities to study brain function. The symposium covered these research areas. Dr. Michael W. Miller reviewed knowledge on the effects of ethanol on stem cell proliferation and differentiation during development. Dr. Wu Ma described studies in culture indicating that (1) neural stem cells express functional muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAchR), (2) mAchR-mediated proliferation involves Ca2+ signaling and mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphorylation, and (3) phosphoinositol-3 kinase is a downstream effector for mAchR-mediated cell proliferation via activation of Akt. Drs. Kim Nixon and Fulton T. Crews followed with in vivo studies on ethanol's effects on adult neural stem cell proliferation and differentiation. Dr. W. Michael Zawada described studies directed at dopamine neuron cell transplants into mammalian central nervous system. These studies clearly establish that ethanol has significant effects on stem cells. [source] Alcohol Metabolism: Role in Toxicity and CarcinogenesisALCOHOLISM, Issue 2 2003Thomas M. Badger This article contains the proceedings of a symposium at the 2002 RSA Meeting in San Francisco, organized and co-chaired by Thomas M. Badger, Paul Shih-Jiun Yin, and Helmut Seitz. The presentations were (1) First-pass metabolism of ethanol: Basic and clinical aspects, by Charles Lieber; (2) Intracellular CYP2E1 transport, oxidative stress, cytokine release, and ALD, by Magnus Ingelman-Sundberg; (3) Pulsatile ethanol metabolism in intragastric infusion models: Potential role in toxic outcomes, by Thomas M. Badger and Martin J.J. Ronis; (4) Free radicals, adducts, and autoantibodies resulting from ethanol metabolism: Role in ethanol-associated toxicity, by Emanuele Albano; and (5) Gastrointestinal metabolism of ethanol and its possible role in carcinogenesis, by Helmut Seitz. [source] Time To Work: Job Search Strategies and Commute Time for Women on Welfare in San FranciscoJOURNAL OF URBAN AFFAIRS, Issue 2 2001Karen Chapple The major policy approaches to welfare-to-work attempt to facilitate the transition into the workforce by providing job search assistance and transportation subsidies. Although these policies help some women on welfare, they fail to respond to the needs of most, who rely disproportionately on social contacts to find jobs, seek to minimize commutes, and lack the educational attainment that would help them penetrate the regional labor market. This article uses in-depth interviews with 92 women on welfare in San Francisco, as well as a binomial logit model, to examine the relationship between job search strategies and employment characteristics. The findings suggest that low-income women with children are more likely to rely on contacts than women without children, because they seek to work close to home. For most women, building connections to employers, improving human capital, and increasing the density of neighborhood economic and social activity will make jobs more accessible. [source] Abstracts: ALA 2010,San Francisco: Melville and Religious ExperienceLEVIATHAN, Issue 3 2010Brian Yothers Chair No abstract is available for this article. [source] Abstracts: ALA 2010,San Francisco: Melville's Miltonic Notion of Providence: A Case Study of,Moby-Dick, Chapters 82-83LEVIATHAN, Issue 3 2010William E. Engel No abstract is available for this article. [source] Ethnicity and Sociolinguistic Variation in San FranciscoLINGUISTICS & LANGUAGE COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 7 2010Lauren Hall-Lew California's San Francisco Bay Area has long been one of the most ethnically diverse areas of the United States, and ethnicity is an integral aspect of any research on language use in the region. This article gives a brief social history of San Francisco with respect to settlement patterns since the 1850s' gold rush, paying particular attention to Chinese Americans, who are argued to play an especially distinctive role in the city's history and current social landscape. This article also reviews the sociolinguistic research on language and ethnicity in and around San Francisco, with a focus on studies on variation and change in English, noting the relative lack of attention to Asian American ethnicities and calling for increased scholarship on the linguistic construction of Asian identities in the San Francisco area. [source] A prospective study on downstaging of hepatocellular carcinoma prior to liver transplantation,LIVER TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 12 2005Francis Y. Yao In patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) exceeding conventional (T2) criteria for orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), the feasibility and outcome following loco-regional therapy intended for tumor downstaging to meet T2 criteria for OLT are unknown. In this first prospective study on downstaging of HCC prior to OLT, the eligibility criteria for enrollment into a downstaging protocol included 1 lesion >5 cm and ,8 cm, 2 or 3 lesions at least 1 >3 cm but ,5 cm with total tumor diameter of ,8 cm, or 4 or 5 nodules all ,3 cm with total tumor diameter ,8 cm. Patients were eligible for living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT) if tumors were downstaged to within proposed University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) criteria.13 A minimum follow-up period of 3 months after downstaging was required before cadaveric OLT or LDLT, with imaging studies meeting criteria for successful downstaging. Among the 30 patients enrolled, 21 (70%) met criteria for successful downstaging, including 16 (53%) who had subsequently received OLT (2 with LDLT), and 9 patients (30%) were classified as treatment failures. In the explant of 16 patients who underwent OLT, 7 had complete tumor necrosis, 7 met T2 criteria, but 2 exceeded T2 criteria. No HCC recurrence was observed after a median follow-up of 16 months after OLT. The Kaplan-Meier intention-to-treat survival was 89.3 and 81.8% at 1 and 2 yr, respectively. In conclusion, successful tumor downstaging can be achieved in the majority of carefully selected patients, but longer follow-up is needed to further access the risk of HCC recurrence after OLT. (Liver Transpl 2005;11:1505,1514.) [source] The Archaeology of Ethnogenesis: Race and Sexuality in Colonial San Francisco by Barbara VossAMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Issue 4 2009LU ANN DE CUNZO No abstract is available for this article. [source] |