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{
"title": "Atmospheric autoxidation is increasingly important in urban and suburban North America",
"abstract": "Significance Unimolecular hydrogen shift reactions to peroxy radicals have been shown to be important in the atmospheric photooxidation of isoprene and α-pinene. These studies also report the efficient generation of highly oxidized organic molecules known to contribute to particle formation and growth. Here, we quantify the rate of this oxidation pathway for peroxy radicals produced in the oxidation of n-hexane under conditions relevant to the atmosphere. The results suggest that autoxidation pathways are competitive against bimolecular reactions for a broad range of substrates, including many that result from urban emissions. The formation of organic hydroperoxides from atmospheric autoxidation has unknown implications for air quality. Gas-phase autoxidation—regenerative peroxy radical formation following intramolecular hydrogen shifts—is known to be important in the combustion of organic materials. The relevance of this chemistry in the oxidation of organics in the atmosphere has received less attention due, in part, to the lack of kinetic data at relevant temperatures. Here, we combine computational and experimental approaches to investigate the rate of autoxidation for organic peroxy radicals (RO2) produced in the oxidation of a prototypical atmospheric pollutant, n-hexane. We find that the reaction rate depends critically on the molecular configuration of the RO2 radical undergoing hydrogen transfer (H-shift). RO2 H-shift rate coefficients via transition states involving six- and seven-membered rings (1,5 and 1,6 H-shifts, respectively) of α-OH hydrogens (HOC-H) formed in this system are of order 0.1 s−1 at 296 K, while the 1,4 H-shift is calculated to be orders of magnitude slower. Consistent with H-shift reactions over a substantial energetic barrier, we find that the rate coefficients of these reactions increase rapidly with temperature and exhibit a large, primary, kinetic isotope effect. The observed H-shift rate coefficients are sufficiently fast that, as a result of ongoing NOx emission reductions, autoxidation is now competing with bimolecular chemistry even in the most polluted North American cities, particularly during summer afternoons when NO levels are low and temperatures are elevated.",
"corpus_id": 2055738
} | {
"title": "Recent advances in understanding secondary organic aerosol: Implications for global climate forcing",
"abstract": "Anthropogenic emissions and land use changes have modified atmospheric aerosol concentrations and size distributions over time. Understanding preindustrial conditions and changes in organic aerosol due to anthropogenic activities is important because these features (1) influence estimates of aerosol radiative forcing and (2) can confound estimates of the historical response of climate to increases in greenhouse gases. Secondary organic aerosol (SOA), formed in the atmosphere by oxidation of organic gases, represents a major fraction of global submicron‐sized atmospheric organic aerosol. Over the past decade, significant advances in understanding SOA properties and formation mechanisms have occurred through measurements, yet current climate models typically do not comprehensively include all important processes. This review summarizes some of the important developments during the past decade in understanding SOA formation. We highlight the importance of some processes that influence the growth of SOA particles to sizes relevant for clouds and radiative forcing, including formation of extremely low volatility organics in the gas phase, acid‐catalyzed multiphase chemistry of isoprene epoxydiols, particle‐phase oligomerization, and physical properties such as volatility and viscosity. Several SOA processes highlighted in this review are complex and interdependent and have nonlinear effects on the properties, formation, and evolution of SOA. Current global models neglect this complexity and nonlinearity and thus are less likely to accurately predict the climate forcing of SOA and project future climate sensitivity to greenhouse gases. Efforts are also needed to rank the most influential processes and nonlinear process‐related interactions, so that these processes can be accurately represented in atmospheric chemistry‐climate models.",
"corpus_id": 13164725
} | {
"title": "High-capacity methane storage in metal-organic frameworks M2(dhtp): the important role of open metal sites.",
"abstract": "We found that metal-organic framework (MOF) compounds M(2)(dhtp) (open metal M = Mg, Mn, Co, Ni, Zn; dhtp = 2,5-dihydroxyterephthalate) possess exceptionally large densities of open metal sites. By adsorbing one CH(4) molecule per open metal, these sites alone can generate very large methane storage capacities, 160-174 cm(3)(STP)/cm(3), approaching the DOE target of 180 cm(3)(STP)/cm(3) for material-based methane storage at room temperature. Our adsorption isotherm measurements at 298 K and 35 bar for the five M(2)(dhtp) compounds yield excess methane adsorption capacities ranging from 149 to 190 cm(3)(STP)/cm(3) (derived using their crystal densities), indeed roughly equal to the predicted, maximal adsorption capacities of the open metals (within +/-10%) in these MOFs. Among the five isostructural MOFs studied, Ni(2)(dhtp) exhibits the highest methane storage capacity, approximately 200 cm(3)(STP)/cm(3) in terms of absolute adsorption, potentially surpassing the DOE target by approximately 10%. Our neutron diffraction experiments clearly reveal that the primary CH(4) adsorption occurs directly on the open metal sites. Initial first-principles calculations show that the binding energies of CH(4) on the open metal sites are significantly higher than those on typical adsorption sites in classical MOFs, consistent with the measured large heats of methane adsorption for these materials. We attribute the enhancement of the binding strength to the unscreened electrostatic interaction between CH(4) and the coordinatively unsaturated metal ions.",
"corpus_id": 7755888,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "Edelfosine disturbs the sphingomyelin-cholesterol model membrane system in a cholesterol-dependent way - the Langmuir monolayer study.",
"abstract": "Synthetic alkyl-lysophospholipids, represented by edelfosine (ED), reveal strong anticancer activity and therefore are promising drugs used in anticancer therapy. Primary target for edelfosine is cellular membrane, which is in contrast to traditional cytostatics affecting DNA. The mechanism of antitumor activity of edelfosine was hypothesized to be related to its accumulation in membrane rafts. Inspired by these findings, we have performed the Langmuir monolayer studies on the influence of edelfosine on systems composed of sphingomyelin (SM) and cholesterol (Chol), being the principal components of membrane rafts. Sphingomyelin-cholesterol proportion in monolayers was varied to reflect the composition of solely membrane rafts (SM/Chol=2:1) and contain excess of cholesterol (SM/Chol=1:1 and 1:2). Into these systems, edelfosine was added in various concentrations. The analysis of surface pressure-area isotherms, complemented with films visualization with Brewster angle microscopy (BAM) allowed us to compare the effect of edelfosine on condensation and ordering of SM/Chol monolayers. The results evidenced that the influence of ED on the interactions in model membranes and its fluidizing effect is highly cholesterol-dependent. The strongest decrease of monolayer ordering was observed for model raft system, while the excess of cholesterol present in the remaining mixtures was found to weaken the fluidizing effect of the drug.",
"corpus_id": 5330968
} | {
"title": "Cyclosporin A distribution in cholesterol-sphingomyelin artificial membranes modeled as Langmuir monolayers.",
"abstract": "Cyclosporin A (CsA), a hydrophobic peptide, mainly known for its immunosuppressant properties, has shown a broad range of biological activities, including antimalarial action. Since CsA was found to be active on membrane level, it was subjected for investigations involving membrane models. Our former studies on interactions between CsA and different membrane lipids using Langmuir monolayer technique indicated its affinity for sphingomyelin (SM). Inspired by this finding we have extended our experiments on multicomponent systems and performed systematic investigations of CsA behavior towards artificial membranes containing different mutual proportion of sphingomyelin and cholesterol (Chol). Langmuir monolayer results have been complemented with in-situ films structure visualization applying Brewster angle microscopy (BAM) and, after films transfer onto solid support, atomic force microscopy (AFM). Our results show that cyclosporin A introduced to SM:Chol mixed monolayers distributes differently, depending on SM-to-Chol proportion. In raft-mimicking (2:1) stoichiometry, even distribution of the drug within SM:Chol matrix was observed. However, in SM:Chol model membranes of different proportion (3:1; 1:1; 1:2), containing either the excess of unbound sphingomyelin or cholesterol in addition to model lipid raft domains, introduction of CsA induced a phase separation.",
"corpus_id": 5009615
} | {
"title": "Preventing Drug-Induced Liver Injury: How Useful Are Animal Models?",
"abstract": "Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is the most common organ toxicity encountered in regulatory animal toxicology studies required prior to the clinical development of new drug candidates. Very few reports have evaluated the value of these studies for predicting DILI in humans. Indeed, compounds inducing liver toxicity in regulatory toxicology studies are not always correlated with a risk of DILI in humans. Conversely, compounds associated with the occurrence of DILI in phase 3 studies or after market release are often tested negative in regulatory toxicology studies. Idiosyncratic DILI is a rare event that is precipitated in an individual by the simultaneous occurrence of several critical factors. These factors may relate to the host (e.g. human leukocyte antigen polymorphism, inflammation), the drug (e.g. reactive metabolites) or the environment (e.g. diet/microbiota). This type of toxicity therefore cannot be detected in conventional animal toxicology studies. Several animal models have recently been proposed for the identification of drugs with the potential to cause idiosyncratic DILI: rats treated with lipopolysaccharide, Sod2+/- mice, panels of inbred mouse strains or chimeric mice with humanized livers. These models are not suitable for use in the prospective screening of new drug candidates. Humans therefore constitute the best model for predicting and assessing idiopathic DILI.",
"corpus_id": 6549958,
"score": 0
} |
{
"title": "Towards a Digitized Protocol based on Handwriting for the Assessment of Neurodegenerative Disorders",
"abstract": "Kinematic features of the handwriting process are promising for discriminating patients probably affected by neurodegenerative disorders from healthy controls and potentially for identifying the stage of the illness. Many tasks have been proposed and tested, however the scientific community still lacks a complete protocol able to collect different traits useful to the research community and at the same time to be of real use for doctors in their daily activities. This paper collects all the different tasks already applied and proposes a protocol for handwritten traits acquisition to be integrated into standardized cognitive and functional tests already accepted, tested and used by the medical community working on the assessment of neurodegenerative diseases.",
"corpus_id": 669231
} | {
"title": "Computer Aided Evaluation (CAE) of Morphologic Changes in Pigmented Skin Lesions",
"abstract": "Mole pattern changes are important elements in detecting cancerous skin lesions, the early stage detection is a key factor to completely cure the pathology. In this paper, an automatic system for mole-tracking is indicated. The method presented is been realized as a mobile app and can be used to perform periodically a careful self-examination of their pigmented skin lesions. The implemented method receives in input two segmented images of the same pigmented skin lesion corresponding to the actual image and to the image before the last period under test. The method performs image matching and changes evaluation adopting a three stage artificial neural network and provides as output a risk indicator related to the morphology changes of the skin lesion.",
"corpus_id": 8896445
} | {
"title": "Ring-opening polymerization of heterocycles bearing substituted and unsubstituted exo-methylene groups : a review",
"abstract": "Monocyclic monomers bearing exo-methylene groups are likely to undergo ring-opening polymerization under the conditions of radical or cationic initiation. Several structural features will determine the course of reaction after initiation by species that exclusively attack the exo-methylene functionality. Reviewing some of the most common classes of monocyclic heterocycles it becomes obvious that a monomer has to meet certain structural preconditions that makes them suitable for isomerizations. Among the considered heterocycles there are some types of monomers possessing an outstanding ring-opening behavior following polymerization mechanisms free from side-reactions. Thc combination of strain release due to ring-opening isomerization, an energy decrease in the transition state caused by the formation of carbonyl-functionalities and an appropriate stabilization of the growing chain end by steric and electronic effects may lead to clear ring-opening mechanisms. However, this property remains restricted to only some special monomers with simple aromatic substituents being attached to the cycle. Hence a variety of cyclic ketene acetals, enolethers, (meth)acrylates, carbonates, lactones and lactames have been chosen in order to demonstrate both the possibilities and limits of ring-opening.",
"corpus_id": 94802932,
"score": 0
} |
{
"title": "Zipf’s word frequency law in natural language: A critical review and future directions",
"abstract": "The frequency distribution of words has been a key object of study in statistical linguistics for the past 70 years. This distribution approximately follows a simple mathematical form known as Zipf’s law. This article first shows that human language has a highly complex, reliable structure in the frequency distribution over and above this classic law, although prior data visualization methods have obscured this fact. A number of empirical phenomena related to word frequencies are then reviewed. These facts are chosen to be informative about the mechanisms giving rise to Zipf’s law and are then used to evaluate many of the theoretical explanations of Zipf’s law in language. No prior account straightforwardly explains all the basic facts or is supported with independent evaluation of its underlying assumptions. To make progress at understanding why language obeys Zipf’s law, studies must seek evidence beyond the law itself, testing assumptions and evaluating novel predictions with new, independent data.",
"corpus_id": 14264582
} | {
"title": "On the Power Laws of Language: Word Frequency Distributions",
"abstract": "About eight decades ago, Zipf postulated that the word frequency distribution of languages is a power law, i.e., it is a straight line on a log-log plot. Over the years, this phenomenon has been documented and studied extensively. For many corpora, however, the empirical distribution barely resembles a power law: when plotted on a log-log scale, the distribution is concave and appears to be composed of two differently sloped straight lines joined by a smooth curve. A simple generative model is proposed to capture this phenomenon. The word frequency distributions produced by this model are shown to match the observations both analytically and empirically.",
"corpus_id": 10226029
} | {
"title": "Classification of Rare Building Change Using CNN with Multi-Class Focal Loss",
"abstract": "In the remote sensing, supervised deep learning has recently achieved great success of information extraction. However, it requires a large training data in order to effectively learn. In building change classifications, collecting such training data is an extremely expensive and time-consuming process, because of the rarity of positive classes. Learning of a data set including rare classes has two major problems, (1) class imbalance and (2) overfitting. In this study, we verify the effectiveness of focal loss in the building change classification. From our experimental results, not only the class imbalance but also the overfitting is affected the down-weighting effect of the focal loss. The focal loss automatically adjusts learning speed for each class.",
"corpus_id": 53228788,
"score": -1
} |
{
"title": "Cancer esearch or and Stem Cell Biology ncing of Thrombospondin-1 Is Critical for Myc-Induced R astatic Phenotypes in Medulloblastoma",
"abstract": "Downlo hanisms by which c-Myc (Myc) amplification confers aggressive medulloblastoma phenotypes are poorned. Here, we show using orthotopic models that high Myc expression promotes cell migration/invasion duces metastatic tumors, which recapitulate aggressive histologic features of Myc-amplified primary medulloblastoma. Using ChIP-chip analysis, we identified cell migration and adhesion genes, including THBS1, ING4, PVRL3, and PPAP2B, as Myc-bound loci in medulloblastoma cells. Expression of Tsp-1 was consistently and robustly diminished in medulloblastoma cell lines and primary human tumors with yc expression (n = 101, P = 0.032). Strikingly, stable Tsp-1 expression significantly attenuated in vitro ormation and invasive/migratory properties of high Myc-expressing medulloblastoma cells without g cell proliferation, whereas RNA interference–mediated Myc knockdown was consistently accompay increased Tsp-1 levels and reduced cell migration and invasion in medulloblastoma cells. Chromatin noprecipitation (ChIP) assays revealed colocalization of Myc and obligate partner Max and correlated ished RNA polymerase II occupancy (∼3-fold decrease, P < 0.01) with increased Myc binding at a core promoter. Reporter gene and/or gel shift assays confirmed direct repression of Tsp-1 transcription by nd also identified JPO2, a Myc interactor associated with metastatic medulloblastoma, as a cofactor in ediated Tsp-1 repression. These findings indicate the Myc-regulatory network targets Tsp-1 via multiple Myc-m mechanisms in medulloblastoma transformation, and highlight a novel critical role for Tsp-1 in Myc-mediated aggressive medulloblastoma phenotypes. Cancer Res; 70(20); 8199–210. ©2010 AACR.",
"corpus_id": 1187125
} | {
"title": "Methylation-associated silencing of the thrombospondin-1 gene in human neuroblastoma.",
"abstract": "Tumor angiogenesis, a major requirement for tumor outgrowth and metastasis, is regulated by pro- and antiangiogenic factors. Methylation-associated inactivation of the angiogenesis inhibitor thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) has been observed recently in some adult tumors. To investigate the role of TSP-1 in pediatric cancer, we examined its pattern of expression and mechanisms of regulation in neuroblastoma (NB). TSP-1 was silenced in a subset of undifferentiated, advanced-stage tumors and NB cell lines. In contrast, most localized tumors expressed this angiogenesis inhibitor, and a significant correlation between morphological evidence of neuroblast differentiation and TSP-1 expression was observed. Luciferase assays demonstrated the presence of nuclear factors required for TSP-1 transcription in both TSP-1-positive and -negative cell lines, but no correlation between TSP-1 promoter activity and the level of TSP-1 mRNA expression was seen. Our studies indicate that the transcriptional silencing of TSP-1 was caused by methylation. TSP-1 promoter methylation was detected in all of the NB cell lines lacking TSP-1 mRNA and in 37% of the NB clinical tumors analyzed. Furthermore, treatment with the demethylating agent, 5-Aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5-Aza-dC), restored TSP-1 expression in NB cell lines. Disrupting methylation with 5-Aza-dC also led to significant inhibition of NB in vivo and re-expression of TSP-1 in a subset of NB xenografts. These results suggest that 5-Aza-dC inhibits NB growth by augmenting the expression of TSP-1 along with other genes that suppress tumor growth. Demethylating agents may prove to be effective candidates for the treatment of children with NB.",
"corpus_id": 2933015
} | {
"title": "Localization of Rabphilin-3A on the synaptic vesicle.",
"abstract": "Rabphilin-3A is a putative target protein for Rab3A small GTP-binding protein which is implicated in neurotransmitter release. Rabphilin-3A is expressed mainly in brain, but its subcellular localization remains to be clarified. Immunohistochemical analysis has revealed that Rabphilin-3A is most abundant in the synaptic area of the rat cerebellum, retina, and neuromuscular junction. Ultrastructural analysis of the neuromuscular junction using the immunogold method indicates that Rabphilin-3A is localized on the synaptic vesicle. Subcellular fractionation analysis of rat brain has shown that Rabphilin-3A is most highly concentrated in the purified synaptic vesicle fraction. These results indicate that Rabphilin-3A is localized on the synaptic vesicle in the presynapse.",
"corpus_id": 32297404,
"score": 2
} |
{
"title": "Application of non-linear Dynamical Systems to Web Searching and Ranking",
"abstract": "In the recent years there has been a surge of research activity in the area of information retrieval on the World Wide Web, using link analysis of the underlying hypertext graph topology. Most of the algorithms in the literature can be described as a dynamical system, that is, the repetitive application of a function on a set of weights. All algorithms that rely on eigenvector analysis correspond to linear dynamical systems. In this work we examine the application of a non-linear dynamical system for ranking of web pages. We prove that the dynamical system we define converges for any initialization, and we prove that the stationary weights have interesting combinatorial properties. The study of the weights provides a clear and insightful view of the mechanics of the algorithm we propose. We also present extensive experimental results that suggest that our algorithm performs well in practice. Furthermore, we propose our algorithm as a mechanism for finding related pages, and we demonstrate that our algorithm outperforms existing link analysis techniques.",
"corpus_id": 1068355
} | {
"title": "Rank stability and rank similarity of web link-based ranking algorithms",
"abstract": "Web search algorithms that rank Web pages by examining the link structure of the Web are attractive from both theoretical and practical aspects. A link-based search algorithm A is rank-stable if minor changes in the link structure of the input graph, which is usually a subgraph of the Web, do not aaect the ranking it produces; algorithms A; B are rank-similar if they produce similar rankings. These concepts were introduced and studied recently for various existing search algorithms. Rank-stability and rank-similarity are of special interest on the class of authority connected graphs. Such graphs conceptually correspond to thematically related collections, in which most pages pertain to a single, dominant topic of interest. This paper studies the rank-stability and rank-similarity of three link-based ranking algorithms-PageRank, HITS and SALSA-in authority connected graphs. For this class of graphs, we show that neither HITS nor PageRank is rank stable. We then show that HITS and PageRank are not rank similar on this class, nor is any of them rank similar to SALSA.",
"corpus_id": 16496800
} | {
"title": "Economic and environmental gains of China's fossil energy subsidies reform: A rebound effect case study with EIMO model",
"abstract": "Energy consumption and efficiency emerged as the hottest topic in the context of China's sustainable development. Energy subsidies and “rebound effect” were closely related to this topic while few combinative studies on them with a focus on China. This paper employed a co-thinking approach, focusing on how the energy subsidies reform could mitigate the rebound effect in China, and how to achieve an “economic and environmental gains” that reduced pecuniary spending, improved the distorted energy market and reduced energy consumption simultaneously. Firstly, with price-gap approach we calculated the total energy subsidies scale of China in 2007, which amounted to582.0 billion CNY; then we detected and identified rebound effect of China energy consumption with the features. Furthermore, based on China 2007 monetary input–output table and energy flow analysis, we compiled a hybrid physical energy input and monetary output model (EIMO) to simulate the mitigation effect of subsidies reform. Results showed that removing energy subsidies would decrease ultimate demand of different economy sectors and reduce the accumulatively physical consumption of coal, oil, natural gas and electricity by 17.74, 13.47, 3.64 and 15.82 million tce, respectively. Finally we discussed relevant policy issues on China's energy subsidies reform in depth.",
"corpus_id": 155037841,
"score": 0
} |
{
"title": "Bioconversion of flavones during fermentation in milk containing Scutellaria baicalensis extract by Lactobacillus brevis.",
"abstract": "Scutellaria baicalensis (SB), a traditional herb with high pharmacological value, contains more than 10% flavone by weight. To improve the biological activity of flavones in SB, we aimed to enhance the bioconversion of baicalin (BG) to baicalein (B) and wogonoside (WG) to wogonin (W) in SB during fermentation using beta-glucuronidase produced from Lactobacillus brevis RO1. After activation, L. brevis RO1 was cultured in milk containing SB root extract with various carbon or nitrogen sources at 37°C for 72 h. During fermentation, the growth patterns of L. brevis RO1 and changes in the flavone content were assessed using thin-layer chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography. After 72 h of fermentation, the concentrations of B and W in the control group increased by only 0.15 and 0.12 mM, respectively, whereas they increased by 0.57 and 0.24 mM in the fish peptone group. The production of B and W was enhanced by the addition of 0.4% fish peptone, which not only improved the growth of L. brevis RO1 (p < 0.001) but also enhanced the bioconversion of flavones. In conclusion, the bioconversion of flavones in SB may provide a potential application for the enhancement of the functional components in SB.",
"corpus_id": 1408320
} | {
"title": "Cloning and Expression of β-Glucuronidase from Lactobacillus brevis in E. coli and Application in Bioconversion of Baicalin and Wogonoside",
"abstract": "The beta-glucuronidase (GUS) gene from Lactobacillus brevis RO1 was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli GMS407. The GUS gene was composed of 1812 bp, encoding a 603-amino-acid protein belonging to the glycosyl hydrolase family 2 with three conserved domains. The amino acid similarity was higher than 70% with the beta-glucuronidases of various microorganisms, yet less than 58% with the beta-glucuronidase of L. gasseri ADH. Overexpression and purification of the GUS was performed in beta-glucuronidase-deficient E. coli GMS407. The purified GUS protein was 71 kDa and showed 1284 U/mg of specific activity at optimum condition of pH 5.0 and 37 degrees C. At 37 degrees C, the GUS remained stable for 80 min at pH values ranging from 5.0 to 8.0. The purified enzyme exhibited a half-life of 1 h at 60 degrees C and more than 2 h at 50 degrees C. When the purified GUS was applied to transform baicalin and wogonoside into their corresponding aglycones, 150 microM of baicalin and 125 microM of wogonoside were completely transformed into baicalein and wogonin, respectively, within 3 h.",
"corpus_id": 43923686
} | {
"title": "The Effect of Comedy Films on Postoperative Pain and Anxiety in Surgical Oncology Patients",
"abstract": "Objectives: To determine the effect of watching Turkish comedy films on postoperative pain and anxiety in oncology surgical patients. Design: This study was conducted using a pre- and post-test randomized controlled trial model. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in a general surgery clinic of a hospital in eastern Turkey between January 2016 and January 2017. The sample of the study consisted of 88 patients (44 test, 44 control) selected by using the randomized sampling method. In the experimental group, funny videos from Turkish old comedy movies were watched for 10 min before surgery. Anxiety, measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and vital signs were measured before and after the experimental protocol. In the analysis of the data, descriptive statistics, χ2 and t test were used. Results: The state-trait anxiety pre- and post-test mean score of the experimental group was found to be 39.59 ± 3.66 and 37.54 ± 3.52 before and after watching the video, respectively, indicating a statistically significant difference between these two values (p ≤ 0.05). No statistically significant difference was found between the pre- and post-test state-trait anxiety scores of the patients in the control group. The decrease from the pre- to post-test mean pain score was determined as 0.65 ± 1.05 in the experimental group and 0.11 ± 0.96 in the control group. A statistically significant difference was found between the groups’ post-test mean pain scores (p ≤ 0.05). Conclusion: The study results suggest that watching Turkish comedy movie videos has a positive effect on postoperative pain and anxiety in surgical oncology patients.",
"corpus_id": 85565612,
"score": 0
} |
{
"title": "A folded loop antenna with four resonant modes",
"abstract": "A multimode loop antenna with compact volume for mobile applications is presented in this paper. The loop antenna consists of a loop strip with a length of about 0.5λ. The loop strip is meandered to save space and bent to generate three traditional resonant modes, the 0.5-λ, 1-λ and 1.5-λ modes, and an additional higher mode, the 2-λ mode. The additional 2-λ mode is generated by adjusting the distance between the feed point and shorting point of the loop strip. The 1-λ, 1.5-λ and 2-λ modes together form an upper band with a wide bandwidth of 1.71–2.69 GHz to cover the DCS1800, PCS1900, UMTS2100, LTE2300 and LTE2500 systems. By using a matching network at the loop input, the lower band generated by the 0.5-λ mode has a bandwidth of 0.76–1.09 GHz to cover the GSM850 and GSM900 systems.",
"corpus_id": 41622774
} | {
"title": "On-Board Printed Coupled-Fed Loop Antenna in Close Proximity to the Surrounding Ground Plane for Penta-Band WWAN Mobile Phone",
"abstract": "A small-size coupled-fed loop antenna suitable to be printed on the system circuit board of the mobile phone for penta-band WWAN operation (824-960/1710-2170 MHz) is presented. The loop antenna requires only a small footprint of 15 x 25 mm2 on the circuit board, and it can also be in close proximity to the surrounding ground plane printed on the circuit board. That is, very small or no isolation distance is required between the antenna's radiating portion and the nearby ground plane. This can lead to compact integration of the internal on-board printed antenna on the circuit board of the mobile phone, especially the slim mobile phone. The loop antenna also shows a simple structure; it is formed by a loop strip of about 87 mm with its end terminal short-circuited to the ground plane and its front section capacitively coupled to a feeding strip which is also an efficient radiator to contribute a resonant mode for the antenna's upper band to cover the GSM1800/1900/UMTS bands (1710-2170 MHz). Through the coupling excitation, the antenna can also generate a 0.25-wavelength loop resonant mode to form the antenna's lower band to cover the GSM850/900 bands (824-960 MHz). Details of the proposed antenna are presented. The SAR results for the antenna with the presence of the head and hand phantoms are also studied.",
"corpus_id": 42970506
} | {
"title": "The Pervasive Effects of an Antibiotic on the Human Gut Microbiota, as Revealed by Deep 16S rRNA Sequencing",
"abstract": "The human intestinal microbiota is essential to the health of the host and plays a role in nutrition, development, metabolism, pathogen resistance, and regulation of immune responses. Antibiotics may disrupt these coevolved interactions, leading to acute or chronic disease in some individuals. Our understanding of antibiotic-associated disturbance of the microbiota has been limited by the poor sensitivity, inadequate resolution, and significant cost of current research methods. The use of pyrosequencing technology to generate large numbers of 16S rDNA sequence tags circumvents these limitations and has been shown to reveal previously unexplored aspects of the “rare biosphere.” We investigated the distal gut bacterial communities of three healthy humans before and after treatment with ciprofloxacin, obtaining more than 7,000 full-length rRNA sequences and over 900,000 pyrosequencing reads from two hypervariable regions of the rRNA gene. A companion paper in PLoS Genetics (see Huse et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1000255) shows that the taxonomic information obtained with these methods is concordant. Pyrosequencing of the V6 and V3 variable regions identified 3,300–5,700 taxa that collectively accounted for over 99% of the variable region sequence tags that could be obtained from these samples. Ciprofloxacin treatment influenced the abundance of about a third of the bacterial taxa in the gut, decreasing the taxonomic richness, diversity, and evenness of the community. However, the magnitude of this effect varied among individuals, and some taxa showed interindividual variation in the response to ciprofloxacin. While differences of community composition between individuals were the largest source of variability between samples, we found that two unrelated individuals shared a surprising degree of community similarity. In all three individuals, the taxonomic composition of the community closely resembled its pretreatment state by 4 weeks after the end of treatment, but several taxa failed to recover within 6 months. These pervasive effects of ciprofloxacin on community composition contrast with the reports by participants of normal intestinal function and with prior assumptions of only modest effects of ciprofloxacin on the intestinal microbiota. These observations support the hypothesis of functional redundancy in the human gut microbiota. The rapid return to the pretreatment community composition is indicative of factors promoting community resilience, the nature of which deserves future investigation.",
"corpus_id": 634741,
"score": -1
} |
{
"title": "Ionic currents in carotid body type I cells isolated from normoxic and chronically hypoxic adult rats",
"abstract": "Whole-cell recordings were used to investigate the effects of a 3-week period of hypoxia (10% O2) on the properties of K+ and Ca2+ currents in type I cells isolated from adult rat carotid bodies. Chronic hypoxia significantly increased whole-cell membrane capacitance. K+ current amplitudes were not affected by this period of hypoxia, but K+ current density was significantly reduced in cells from chronically hypoxic rats as compared with normoxically maintained, age-matched controls. K+ current density was separated into Ca2+-dependent and Ca2+-independent components by bath application of 200 microM Cd2+, which blocked Ca2+ currents and therefore, indirectly, Ca2+-dependent K+ currents. Ca2+-dependent K+ current density was not significantly different in control and chronically hypoxic type I cells. Cd2+-resistant (Ca2+-insensitive) K+ current densities were significantly reduced in type I cells from chronically hypoxic rats. Acute hypoxia (Po2 15-22 mmHg) caused reversible, selective inhibition of Ca2+-dependent K+ currents in both groups of cells and Ca2+-insensitive K+ currents were unaffected by acute hypoxia. Ca2+ channel current density was not significantly affected by chronic hypoxia, nor was the degree of Ca2+ channel current inhibition caused by nifedipine (5 microM). Acute hypoxia did not affect Ca2+ channel currents in either group. Our results indicate that adult rat type I cells undergo a selective suppression of Ca2+-insensitive, voltage-gated K+ currents in response to chronic hypoxia in vivo. These findings are discussed in relation to the known adaptations of the intact carotid body to chronic hypoxia.",
"corpus_id": 2651805
} | {
"title": "Oxygen-sensing by arterial chemoreceptors: Mechanisms and medical translation.",
"abstract": "Acute O2 sensing is necessary for the activation of cardiorespiratory reflexes (hyperventilation and sympathetic activation), which permit the survival of individuals under hypoxic environments (e.g. high altitude) or medical conditions presenting with reduced capacity for gas exchange between the lung alveoli and the blood. Changes in blood O2 tension are detected by the arterial chemoreceptors, in particular the carotid body (CB), which act in concert with the adrenal medulla (AM) to facilitate rapid adaptations to hypoxia. The field of arterial chemoreception has undergone a considerable expansion in recent years, with many of the fundamental observations made at the molecular and cellular levels serving to improve our understanding of the pathogenesis of numerous medical disorders, and even to propose advances in the treatment strategies. In this review, after a short historical preface, we describe the current model of chemosensory transduction based on the modulation of membrane K(+) channels by O2 in specialized chemoreceptor cells. Recent progress in elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying the modulation of ion channels by O2 tension, which involves mitochondrial complex I, is also discussed. The discovery in the last few years of a specific population of neural crest-derived stem cells in the CB explains the reversible growth of this organ, an intriguing and unusual property of this type of neuronal tissue that contributes to acclimatization under chronic hypoxia. The essential homeostatic role of the CB-AM axis is clearly evident in newly generated mouse models that reach adulthood, albeit with CB and AM atrophy. These animals exhibit a marked intolerance to even mild hypoxia. CB inhibition or over-activation can have important medical consequences. Respiratory depression by general anesthetics or by opioid use is a common clinical condition that frequently causes death in susceptible individuals. An exaggerated sympathetic outflow due to over-activation of the CB-AM axis may contribute to the pathogenesis of several highly prevalent medical conditions, such as chronic heart failure, obstructive sleep apnea, obesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes. A detailed understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying acute O2 sensing may help in the design of more efficient therapeutic approaches to combat these disorders.",
"corpus_id": 10302851
} | {
"title": "Characterization of a volume‐sensitive chloride current in rat osteoblast‐like (ROS 17/2.8) cells.",
"abstract": "1. During osmotic swelling, cultured osteoblastic cells (ROS 17/2.8) exhibited activation of large amplitude Cl‐ currents in the whole‐cell configuration of the patch‐clamp technique. Effects of hypotonic shock on cell volume and membrane conductance were rapidly reversed on return to isotonic conditions. 2. Voltage command pulses in the range ‐80 to +50 mV produce instantaneous activation of Cl‐ currents. At potentials more positive than +50 mV the current exhibited time‐dependent inactivation. The instantaneous current‐voltage relationship was outwardly rectifying. 3. The anion permeability sequence of the induced current was SCN‐ (2.2) > i‐ (1.9) > Br‐ (1.5) > Cl‐ (1.0) > F‐ (0.8) > gluconate‐ (0.2). This corresponds to Eisenman's sequence I. 4. The volume‐sensitive Cl‐ current was effectively inhibited by the Cl‐ channel blockers 4,4'‐ diisothiocyanatostilbene‐2,2‐disulphonic acid (DIDS) and 5‐nitro‐2‐(3‐phenylpropylamino) benzoic acid (NPPB). Outward currents were more effectively suppressed by DIDS than inward currents. The concentrations for 50% inhibition (IC50) of outward and inward currents were 81 and 298 microM, respectively. NPPB was equally effective at inhibiting outward and inward currents (IC50 of 64 microM). The current was relatively insensitive to diphenylamine‐2‐carboxylate (DPC), 500 microM producing only 22.5 +/‐ 4.0% inhibition. 5. Inhibitors of protein kinase A (H‐89, 1 microM) and tyrosine kinase (tyrphostin A25, 200 microM) were without effect upon activation of Cl‐ currents in response to hypotonic shock. Under isotonic conditions, elevation of intracellular Ca2+ by ionomycin (1 microM) or activation of protein kinase C by 12‐O‐tetradecanoylphorbol 13‐acetate (TPA, 0.1 microM) failed to evoke increases in basal Cl‐ conductance levels. 6. It is concluded that an outwardly rectifying Cl‐ conductance is activated upon osmotic swelling and may be involved in cell volume regulation of ROS 17/2.8 cells.",
"corpus_id": 23020792,
"score": 2
} |
{
"title": "Fostering Science Literacy, Environmental Stewardship, and Collaboration: Assessing a Garden-Based Approach to Teaching Life Science.",
"abstract": "ii",
"corpus_id": 155312616
} | {
"title": "Using a pen pal program to assess student learning through culture and school gardens",
"abstract": "Youth at two schools (St. John, USVI and West Liberty, IA) participated in the I Grow Culture Pen Pal Program. The purpose of the 9-week program was to evaluate middle school student’s increase in knowledge and confidence related to communicating local gardening, cultural understanding and sustainability. The collaborating schools were specifically chosen because they each meet the criteria of having a garden for middle school students to integrate English and science into their agriculture curriculum. The objectives of this program were to increase awareness of garden sustainability, understand place-based gardening and environmental sciences, while establishing a garden-based distance cultural relationship and practice communication technologies. The overarching goal was to increase confidence in knowledge of gardens and sustainability. The program was intended to support metacognitive communication skills, understanding of traditional cross-culture connections, and improved knowledge of garden diversity and practices. Preand posttests with multiple choice and open-ended responses were administered to evaluate knowledge gain and confidence. A suitcase of artifacts, brochures and videos were developed to evaluate perspectives on culture, agriculture and sustainability. The program resulted in a significant increase on posttest, leading us to conclude this program was effective.",
"corpus_id": 113682578
} | {
"title": "The Effects of Written Feedback on Motivation and Changes in Written Performance.",
"abstract": "A study examined the impact of written feedback on goals and self-efficacy, and the impact of goals and self-efficacy on changes in writing performance. Subjects were 137 students in a second-semester freshman-level college English composition class and 5 second-semester graduate assistant teachers. Consistent with social learning theory, results indicated that, among motivational variables, the best predictor of change in writing performance was changes in self-efficacy for writing skills. Among types of written feedback the students received, the best predictor of changes in writing skill self-efficacy was the grades that the students received. Results also indicated that the students entered the semester with limited knowledge about the writing process or their ability, but by the end of the semester, they began to understand the writing skills targeted in an earlier study, and, consequently, their understanding of the writing process, their understanding of their own ability, and their self-efficacy increased. Among the types of written feedback, the best predictor of changes in writing performance was the number of task-specific comments that the students received. In addition, the teachers who gave the most task-specific comments also saw their students' writing scores improve the most. Findings support A. Bandura's (1986) contention that self-efficacy is malleable and positively related to improvements in performance. Findings concerning student goals are more ambiguous. (Contains 63 references, and 21 tables and 14 figures of data. Appendixes present a writing prompt, a scoring rubric, data analysis, directions for coding, and 9 tables of data.) (Author/RS) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** Runping Head: WRITTEN FEEDBACK AND WRITING PERFORMANCE The Effects Of Written Feedback On Motivation And Changes In Written Performance James R. Lackey Southwestern Oklahoma State University Raymond B. Miller and Michael C. Flanigan University of Oklahoma The first author can be reached at the following address: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. 0 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. James R. Lackey BOX 1 Lindsay, OK 73052 PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY J. TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association Chicago, IL, March 1997 BEST COPY AVAILABLE, 2",
"corpus_id": 148586007,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "Molecular outflows in protostellar evolution",
"abstract": "MOLECULAR outflow is an energetic mass-ejection phenomenon associated with very early stage of stellar evolution1,2. The large kinetic energy involved in the phenomenon indicates that outflow may play an essential role in the process of star formation, particularly by extracting angular momentum3. Most of the previous searches have been strongly biased toward optical or near-infrared signposts of star formation1. They are not able, therefore, to provide the complete database necessary for a statistical study of the evolutionary status of molecular outflow. To overcome this difficulty, it is of vital importance to make an unbiased search of single molecular clouds for molecular outflows; here we report the final result of such a survey of the Lynds 1641 dark cloud. We show that molecular outflows are characterized by a total luminosity significantly greater than that of T Tauri stars. This indicates that molecular outflow corresponds to the main accretion phase of protostellar evolution, in which the luminosity excess is due to the gravitational energy released by dynamical mass accretion onto the protostellar core4.",
"corpus_id": 4336375
} | {
"title": "First light from a young star?",
"abstract": "The early phases of stellar evolution are frequently characterized by vigorous interaction between the nascent star and its environment, resulting in the formation of molecular outflows, highly collimated jets, Herbig-Haro objects and small emission or reflection nebulae. A deep survey of such small nebulae around young stars in the Orion molecular clouds has recently been completed1. We report here the sudden appearance of a highly variable, conical nebula (Object 50) 1.5 arc min south of a 250L\\cirċ infrared source in the southern part of the L1641 cloud in Orion. The nebula coincides with the edge of the approaching lobe of a 105-yr-old bipolar molecular outflow. Variability of the infrared source generates light pulses observed to propagate through the surrounding ambient cloud, producing a fluctuating illumination pattern. This emission may represent the first optical radiation to have emerged from this newborn star.",
"corpus_id": 4321111
} | {
"title": "A simple approach to constructing antibacterial and anti-biofouling nanofibrous membranes",
"abstract": "In this work, antibacterial and anti-adhesive polymeric thin films were constructed on polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibrous membranes in order to extend their applications. Polyhexamethylene guanidine hydrochloride (PHGH) as an antibacterial agent and heparin (HP) as an anti-adhesive agent have been successfully coated onto the membranes via a layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly technique confirmed by attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The antibacterial properties of LBL-functionalized PAN nanofibrous membranes were evaluated using the Gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus and the Gram-negative Escherichia coli. Furthermore, the dependence of the antibacterial activity and anti-biofouling performance on the number of layers in the LBL films was investigated quantitatively. It was found that these LBL-modified nanofibrous membranes possessed high antibacterial activities, easy-cleaning properties and stability under physiological conditions, thus qualifying them as candidates for anti-biofouling coatings.",
"corpus_id": 19501290,
"score": 0
} |
{
"title": "Oil spill detection by satellite remote sensing",
"abstract": "This paper presents the state of the art for oil spill detection in the world oceans. We discuss different satellite sensors and oil spill detectability under varying conditions. In particular, we concentrate on the use of manual and automatic approaches to discriminate between oil slicks and look-alikes based on pattern recognition. We conclude with a discussion of suggestions for further research with respect to oil spill detection systems.",
"corpus_id": 16363654
} | {
"title": "Comparison of Compact Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar Modes",
"abstract": "Compact polarimetry is a technique that allows construction of pseudo quad-pol information from dual-polarization synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems. Compact polarimetry showed promise of being able to reduce the complexity, cost, mass, and data rate of a SAR system while attempting to maintain many capabilities of a fully polarimetric system. In this paper, we study different transmit/receive configurations to determine which polarimetric configurations allow for superior reconstruction of the fully polarimetric data. We discuss modifications of the original reconstruction algorithm proposed by Souyris , which show potential to better reconstruct fully polarimetric data.",
"corpus_id": 34004934
} | {
"title": "Automatic clustering using an improved artificial bee colony optimization for customer segmentation",
"abstract": "In cluster analysis, determining number of clusters is an important issue because information about the most appropriate number of clusters do not exist in the real-world problems. Automatic clustering is a clustering approach which is able to automatically find the most suitable number of clusters as well as divide the instances into the corresponding clusters. This study proposes a novel automatic clustering algorithm using a hybrid of improved artificial bee colony optimization algorithm and K-means algorithm (iABC). The proposed iABC algorithm improves the onlooker bee exploration scheme by directing their movements to a better location. Instead of using a random neighborhood location, the improved onlooker bee considers the data centroid to find a better initial centroid for the K-means algorithm. To increase efficiency of the improvement, the updating process is only applied on the worst cluster centroid. The proposed iABC algorithm is verified using some benchmark datasets. The computational result indicates that the proposed iABC algorithm outperforms the original ABC algorithm for automatic clustering problem. Furthermore, the proposed iABC algorithm is utilized to solve the customer segmentation problem. The result reveals that the iABC algorithm has better and more stable result than original ABC algorithm.",
"corpus_id": 46791826,
"score": -1
} |
{
"title": "Detecting unknown malicious code by applying classification techniques on OpCode patterns",
"abstract": "In previous studies classification algorithms were employed successfully for the detection of unknown malicious code. Most of these studies extracted features based on byte n-gram patterns in order to represent the inspected files. In this study we represent the inspected files using OpCode n-gram patterns which are extracted from the files after disassembly. The OpCode n-gram patterns are used as features for the classification process. The classification process main goal is to detect unknown malware within a set of suspected files which will later be included in antivirus software as signatures. A rigorous evaluation was performed using a test collection comprising of more than 30,000 files, in which various settings of OpCode n-gram patterns of various size representations and eight types of classifiers were evaluated. A typical problem of this domain is the imbalance problem in which the distribution of the classes in real life varies. We investigated the imbalance problem, referring to several real-life scenarios in which malicious files are expected to be about 10% of the total inspected files. Lastly, we present a chronological evaluation in which the frequent need for updating the training set was evaluated. Evaluation results indicate that the evaluated methodology achieves a level of accuracy higher than 96% (with TPR above 0.95 and FPR approximately 0.1), which slightly improves the results in previous studies that use byte n-gram representation. The chronological evaluation showed a clear trend in which the performance improves as the training set is more updated.",
"corpus_id": 14160673
} | {
"title": "An intelligent PE-malware detection system based on association mining",
"abstract": "The proliferation of malware has presented a serious threat to the security of computer systems. Traditional signature-based anti-virus systems fail to detect polymorphic/metamorphic and new, previously unseen malicious executables. Data mining methods such as Naive Bayes and Decision Tree have been studied on small collections of executables. In this paper, resting on the analysis of Windows APIs called by PE files, we develop the Intelligent Malware Detection System (IMDS) using Objective-Oriented Association (OOA) mining based classification. IMDS is an integrated system consisting of three major modules: PE parser, OOA rule generator, and rule based classifier. An OOA_Fast_FP-Growth algorithm is adapted to efficiently generate OOA rules for classification. A comprehensive experimental study on a large collection of PE files obtained from the anti-virus laboratory of KingSoft Corporation is performed to compare various malware detection approaches. Promising experimental results demonstrate that the accuracy and efficiency of our IMDS system outperform popular anti-virus software such as Norton AntiVirus and McAfee VirusScan, as well as previous data mining based detection systems which employed Naive Bayes, Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Decision Tree techniques. Our system has already been incorporated into the scanning tool of KingSoft’s Anti-Virus software.",
"corpus_id": 207288887
} | {
"title": "BogusBiter: A transparent protection against phishing attacks",
"abstract": "Many anti-phishing mechanisms currently focus on helping users verify whether a Web site is genuine. However, usability studies have demonstrated that prevention-based approaches alone fail to effectively suppress phishing attacks and protect Internet users from revealing their credentials to phishing sites. In this paper, instead of preventing human users from “biting the bait,” we propose a new approach to protect against phishing attacks with “bogus bites.” We develop BogusBiter, a unique client-side anti-phishing tool, which transparently feeds a relatively large number of bogus credentials into a suspected phishing site. BogusBiter conceals a victim's real credential among bogus credentials, and moreover, it enables a legitimate Web site to identify stolen credentials in a timely manner. Leveraging the power of client-side automatic phishing detection techniques, BogusBiter is complementary to existing preventive anti-phishing approaches. We implemented BogusBiter as an extension to the Firefox 2 Web browser, and evaluated its efficacy through real experiments on both phishing and legitimate Web sites. Our experimental results indicate that it is promising to use BogusBiter to transparently protect against phishing attacks.",
"corpus_id": 5371925,
"score": -1
} |
{
"title": "Human population structure detection via multilocus genotype clustering",
"abstract": "BackgroundWe describe a hierarchical clustering algorithm for using Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) genetic data to assign individuals to populations. The method does not assume Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and linkage equilibrium among loci in sample population individuals.ResultsWe show that the algorithm can assign sample individuals highly accurately to their corresponding ethnic groups in our tests using HapMap SNP data and it is also robust to admixed populations when tested with Perlegen SNP data. Moreover, it can detect fine-scale population structure as subtle as that between Chinese and Japanese by using genome-wide high-diversity SNP loci.ConclusionThe algorithm provides an alternative approach to the popular STRUCTURE program, especially for fine-scale population structure detection in genome-wide association studies. This is the first successful separation of Chinese and Japanese samples using random SNP loci with high statistical support.",
"corpus_id": 1970455
} | {
"title": "SHIPS: Spectral Hierarchical Clustering for the Inference of Population Structure in Genetic Studies",
"abstract": "Inferring the structure of populations has many applications for genetic research. In addition to providing information for evolutionary studies, it can be used to account for the bias induced by population stratification in association studies. To this end, many algorithms have been proposed to cluster individuals into genetically homogeneous sub-populations. The parametric algorithms, such as Structure, are very popular but their underlying complexity and their high computational cost led to the development of faster parametric alternatives such as Admixture. Alternatives to these methods are the non-parametric approaches. Among this category, AWclust has proven efficient but fails to properly identify population structure for complex datasets. We present in this article a new clustering algorithm called Spectral Hierarchical clustering for the Inference of Population Structure (SHIPS), based on a divisive hierarchical clustering strategy, allowing a progressive investigation of population structure. This method takes genetic data as input to cluster individuals into homogeneous sub-populations and with the use of the gap statistic estimates the optimal number of such sub-populations. SHIPS was applied to a set of simulated discrete and admixed datasets and to real SNP datasets, that are data from the HapMap and Pan-Asian SNP consortium. The programs Structure, Admixture, AWclust and PCAclust were also investigated in a comparison study. SHIPS and the parametric approach Structure were the most accurate when applied to simulated datasets both in terms of individual assignments and estimation of the correct number of clusters. The analysis of the results on the real datasets highlighted that the clusterings of SHIPS were the more consistent with the population labels or those produced by the Admixture program. The performances of SHIPS when applied to SNP data, along with its relatively low computational cost and its ease of use make this method a promising solution to infer fine-scale genetic patterns.",
"corpus_id": 3850546
} | {
"title": "Social Interactions in Multicultural Settings",
"abstract": "This book is an opportunity to read narratives about social interactions in multicultural settings, and to discuss the role they play in the construction of school and social achievement. It is not only a book on multiculturality. It is also a multicultural book, including an introduction and 13 chapters from authors representing 11 countries, and many more cultures. It is a journey that brings you through different settings, situations and scenarios, describing them vividly, so that the reader can have an authentic taste of them.",
"corpus_id": 145761734,
"score": 0
} |
{
"title": "Peptides and proteins with antimicrobial activity",
"abstract": "The increase of microbial resistance to antibiotics has led to a continuing search for newer and more effective drugs. Antimicrobial peptides are generally found in animals, plants, and microorganisms and are of great interest to medicine, pharmacology, and the food industry. These peptides are capable of inhibiting pathogenic microorganisms. They can attack parasites, while causing little or no harm to the host cells. The defensins are peptides found in granules in the polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) and are responsible for the defense of the organism. Several animal defensins, like dermaseptin, antileukoprotease, protegrin, and others, have had their activities and efficacy tested and been shown to be effective against bacteria, fungi, and protists; there are also specific defensins from invertebrates, e.g., drosomycin and heliomicin; from plants, e.g., the types A and B; and the bacteriocins, e.g., acrocin, marcescin, etc. The aim of the present work was to compile a comprehensive bibliographic review of the diverse potentially antimicrobial peptides in an effort to systematize the current knowledge on these substances as a contribution for further researches. The currently available bibliography does not give a holistic approach on this subject. The present work intends to show that the mechanism of defense represented by defensins is promising from the perspective of its application in the treatment of infectious diseases in human, animals and plants.",
"corpus_id": 3718643
} | {
"title": "Edible and medicinal termites: a global overview",
"abstract": "Termites are mainly known for damage caused to human beings, both in urban and rural areas. However, these insects play an important role in the decomposition of organic matter in tropical regions and are important natural resources, which are widely used in traditional medicine and are also consumed by human populations in several parts of the world. This study aimed to catalogue termite species used worldwide through a literature review, characterizing them by its human populations’ use. The results showed that at least 45 species of termites, belonging to four families, are used in the world, with 43 species used in human diet and/or in livestock feeding. Nine termite species are used as a therapeutic resource. There is an overlapping use of seven species. The use of termites was registered in 29 countries over three continents. Africa is the continent with the highest number of records, followed by America and Asia. The results suggest that, in addition to their ecological importance, termites are a source of medicinal and food resources to various human populations in various locations of the world, showing their potential for being used as an alternative protein source in human or livestock diets, as well as a source for new medicines.",
"corpus_id": 8587580
} | {
"title": "Human seminal plasma prolactin-inducible protein is an immunoglobulin G-binding protein.",
"abstract": "Antisperm antibodies (ASA) are present in 20% of couples seeking treatment for infertility. Antibody-binding proteins in seminal plasma may protect sperm from ASA-induced damage. We have previously isolated several IgG-binding proteins from human seminal plasma using IgG affinity chromatography. Here, we report another such protein which we have identified by amino acid sequencing and confirmed by western blotting to be prolactin-inducible protein (PIP). PIP binds via the Fc fragment of IgG. We have determined the level of PIP in normal seminal plasma to be 3.4 mg/ml (interquartile range 2.0-4.4 mg/ml). We have found there is no difference in the mean level of PIP in seminal plasma from fertile or infertile men regardless of ASA status. PIP was shown to exist in several isoforms in seminal plasma by Western blot. There is a complex pattern of PIP isoform variability in seminal plasma from fertile and infertile men but one multimeric form of PIP was absent from the seminal plasma of men with ASA who were fertile. This may reflect consumption of PIP in these men. The physiological function of PIP remains unknown, but the ability of PIP to bind IgG-Fc suggests PIP may have an immunomodulatory role.",
"corpus_id": 27231014,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "Lactate dehydrogenase A negatively regulated by miRNAs promotes aerobic glycolysis and is increased in colorectal cancer",
"abstract": "Reprogramming metabolism of tumor cells is a hallmark of cancer. Lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA) is frequently overexpressed in tumor cells. Previous studies has shown higher levels of LDHA is related with colorectal cancer (CRC), but its role in tumor maintenance and underlying molecular mechanisms has not been established. Here, we investigated miRNAs-induced changes in LDHA expression. We reported that colorectal cancer express higher levels of LDHA compared with adjacent normal tissue. Knockdown of LDHA resulted in decreased lactate and ATP production, and glucose uptake. Colorectal cancer cells with knockdown of LDHA had much slower growth rate than control cells. Furthermore, we found that miR-34a, miR-34c, miR-369-3p, miR-374a, and miR-4524a/b target LDHA and regulate glycolysis in cancer cells. There is a negative correlation between these miRNAs and LDHA expression in colorectal cancer tissues. More importantly, we identified a genetic loci newly associated with increased colorectal cancer progression, rs18407893 at 11p15.4 (in 3′-UTR of LDHA), which maps to the seed sequence recognized by miR-374a. Cancer cells overexpressed miR-374a has decreased levels of LDHA compared with miR-374a-MUT (rs18407893 at 11p15.4). Taken together, these novel findings provide more therapeutic approaches to the Warburg effect and therapeutic targets of cancer energy metabolism.",
"corpus_id": 1833824
} | {
"title": "Lactate Dehydrogenase A is a potential prognostic marker in clear cell renal cell carcinoma",
"abstract": "BackgroundOver 90% of cancer-related deaths in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC) are caused by tumor relapse and metastasis. Thus, there is an urgent need for new molecular markers that can potentiate the efficacy of the current clinical-based models of prognosis assessment. The objective of this study is to evaluate the potential significance of lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA), assessed by immunohistochemical staining, as a prognostic marker in clear cell renal cell carcinoma in relation to clinicopathological features and clinical outcome.MethodsWe assessed the expression of LDHA at the protein level, by immunohistochemistry, and correlated its expression with multiple clinicopathological features including tumor size, clinical stage, histological grade, disease-free and overall survival in 385 patients with primary clear cell renal cell carcinoma. We also correlated the LDHA expression with overall survival, at mRNA level, in an independent data set of 170 clear cell renal cell carcinoma cases from The Cancer Genome Atlas databases. Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for the potential clinicopathological factors were used to test for associations between the LDHA expression and both disease-free survival and overall survival.ResultsThere is statistically significant positive correlation between LDHA level of expression and tumor size, clinical stage and histological grade. Moreover, LDHA expression shows significantly inverse correlation with both disease-free survival and overall survival in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Our results are validated by examining LDHA expression, at the mRNA level, in the independent data set of clear cell renal cell carcinoma cases from The Cancer Genome Atlas databases which also shows that higher lactate dehydrogenase A expression is associated with significantly shorter overall survival.ConclusionOur results indicate that LDHA up-regulation can be a predictor of poor prognosis in clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Thus, it represents a potential prognostic biomarker that can boost the accuracy of other prognostic models in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma.",
"corpus_id": 13047414
} | {
"title": "The Brazilian Association of Regulatory Agencies: Integrating levels, consolidating identities in the regulatory state in the south",
"abstract": "This article discusses a unique organization in the regulatory world, the Brazilian Association of Regulatory Agencies (ABAR), which brings together federal, state, and municipal regulatory agencies across different policy sectors. The paper argues that as a regulatory policy network, ABAR has been crucial to the professional socialization, capacity building, and institutionalization of regulators in Brazil. Moreover, it has promoted their identity as professionals and differentiated them from politicians, regulatees, and societal actors. Thus, while ABAR raises the shield of expertise to secure independence from political and social interference, it has itself become a relevant actor in the country's regulatory political dynamics, contributing as such to the strengthening of the Brazilian regulatory state.",
"corpus_id": 152800272,
"score": 0
} |
{
"title": "A malaria membrane skeletal protein is essential for normal morphogenesis, motility, and infectivity of sporozoites",
"abstract": "Membrane skeletons are structural elements that provide mechanical support to the plasma membrane and define cell shape. Here, we identify and characterize a putative protein component of the membrane skeleton of the malaria parasite. The protein, named PbIMC1a, is the structural orthologue of the Toxoplasma gondii inner membrane complex protein 1 (TgIMC1), a component of the membrane skeleton in tachyzoites. Using targeted gene disruption in the rodent malaria species Plasmodium berghei, we show that PbIMC1a is involved in sporozoite development, is necessary for providing normal sporozoite cell shape and mechanical stability, and is essential for sporozoite infectivity in insect and vertebrate hosts. Knockout of PbIMC1a protein expression reduces, but does not abolish, sporozoite gliding locomotion. We identify a family of proteins related to PbIMC1a in Plasmodium and other apicomplexan parasites. These results provide new functional insight in the role of membrane skeletons in apicomplexan parasite biology.",
"corpus_id": 3373004
} | {
"title": "Alveolins, a new family of cortical proteins that define the protist infrakingdom Alveolata.",
"abstract": "Alveolates are a recently recognized group of unicellular eukaryotes that unites disparate protists including apicomplexan parasites (which cause malaria and toxoplasmosis), dinoflagellate algae (which cause red tides and are symbionts in many corals), and ciliates (which are microscopic predators and common rumen symbionts). Gene sequence trees provide robust support for the alveolate alliance, but beyond the common presence of membranous sacs (alveoli) subtending the plasma membrane, the group has no unifying morphological feature. We describe a family of proteins, alveolins, associated with these membranous sacs in apicomplexa, dinoflagellates, and ciliates. Alveolins contain numerous simple peptide repeats and are encoded by multigene families. We generated antibodies against a peptide motif common to all alveolins and identified a range of apparently abundant proteins in apicomplexa, dinoflagellates, and ciliates. Immunolocalization reveals that alveolins are associated exclusively with the cortical regions of apicomplexa, dinoflagellates, and ciliates where the alveolar sacs occur. Alveolins are the first molecular nexus between the unifying structures that defines this eukaryotic group. They provide an excellent opportunity to explore the exceptional compartment that was apparently the key to a remarkable diversification of unique protists that occupy a wide array of lifestyle niches.",
"corpus_id": 985156
} | {
"title": "Studies on the effects of anticonvulsant drugs on the activity of vitamin D in rats and dogs.",
"abstract": "An accelerated metabolism and consequent decreased activity of vitamin D3 has been considered to be responsible for the osteomalacia associated with the use of anticonvulsant drugs. To investigate the effects of sodium phenobarbital and sodium diphenylhydantoin on the activity of vitamin D, rachitic rats were dosed daily for 9–10 days with the maximal tolerated doses of the drugs and twice during that time with graded doses of vitamin D3. The healing of rickets in these rats was comparable to that in rats receiving only the vitamin. Adult Beagle dogs were given sodium phenobarbital, mixed in a normal diet, at a dose of 35 mg/kg/day for 20 months. Although liver microsomal enzyme induction developed, osteomalacia did not. The results show that the biologic activity of vitamin D was not affected by phenobarbital or diphenylhydantoin under the conditions of these studies.",
"corpus_id": 20728369,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "Flexoelectric rotation of polarization in ferroelectric thin films.",
"abstract": "Strain engineering enables modification of the properties of thin films using the stress from the substrates on which they are grown. Strain may be relaxed, however, and this can also modify the properties thanks to the coupling between strain gradient and polarization known as flexoelectricity. Here we have studied the strain distribution inside epitaxial films of the archetypal ferroelectric PbTiO(3), where the mismatch with the substrate is relaxed through the formation of domains (twins). Synchrotron X-ray diffraction and high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy reveal an intricate strain distribution, with gradients in both the vertical and, unexpectedly, the horizontal direction. These gradients generate a horizontal flexoelectricity that forces the spontaneous polarization to rotate away from the normal. Polar rotations are a characteristic of compositionally engineered morphotropic phase boundary ferroelectrics with high piezoelectricity; flexoelectricity provides an alternative route for generating such rotations in standard ferroelectrics using purely physical means.",
"corpus_id": 15127632
} | {
"title": "Enhanced flexoelectric-like response in oxide semiconductors",
"abstract": "Flexoelectricity is a property of all dielectric materials whereby they polarize in response to deformation gradients such as those produced by bending. Although it is generally thought of as a property of dielectric insulators, insulation is not a formal requirement: in principle, semiconductors can also redistribute their free charge in response to strain gradients. Here we show that bending a semiconductor not only generates a flexoelectric-like response, but that this response can in fact be much larger than in insulators. By doping single crystals of wide-bandgap oxides to increase their conductivity, their effective flexoelectric coefficient was increased by orders of magnitude. This large response can be explained by a barrier-layer mechanism that remains important even at the macroscale, where conventional (insulator) flexoelectricity otherwise tends to be small. Our results open up the possibility of using semiconductors as active ingredients in electromechanical transducer applications.",
"corpus_id": 4408838
} | {
"title": "Competition between Networks: A Study of the Market for Yellow Pages",
"abstract": "This paper estimates the importance of network effects in the market for Yellow Pages. I estimate three simultaneous equations: consumer demand for usage of a directory, advertiser demand for advertising and a publisher's first-order condition (derived from profit-maximizing behaviour). Estimation shows that advertisers value consumer usage and that consumers value advertising, implying a network effect. I find that internalizing network effects would significantly increase surplus. As an application, I consider whether the market benefits from monopoly (which takes advantage of network effects) or oligopoly (which reduces market power). I find that a more competitive market is preferable. Copyright 2004, Wiley-Blackwell.",
"corpus_id": 14502856,
"score": 0
} |
{
"title": "Assessing conflicts in the use of rural resources: an analytical framework",
"abstract": "Abstract Managing the use of rural resources typically requires the consideration of a diverse set of concerns and often also the resolution of conflicts. The identification and implementation of appropriate methods of analysis could assist in defining suitable development alternatives. However, the need to consider multiple goals, which may often be expressed in disparate metrics, poses particularly difficult problems in the development of analytical methods. A discussion of fundamental questions associated with assessing resource developments in the rural context is presented in this paper. This is followed by a description of multiobjective goal programming, an analytical procedure that could be employed to generate information that may assist with resource development decisions. A description of the application of a goal programming system to assess options in resource use relative to forest energy developments in Ontario, Canada illustrates the analytical procedures and provides examples of the types of information that can be generated.",
"corpus_id": 153973698
} | {
"title": "Methodological Problems in Evaluating Sustainability",
"abstract": "To embody the concept of sustainability in environmental management and development planning has latterly become recognized internationally as a priority for the future. Governments in many countries have consequently dedicated substantial funds to the task of defining planning and management strategies that are sustainable. Somewhat surprisingly, however, there has been very little attention given so far to establishing appropriate frameworks within which to evaluate the implications of planning and policy alternatives for sustainability. One of the most important questions to be addressed in evaluation exercises relates to the conflicts among different systems – economic, social, and biophysical – that may be realized in pursuing development options that may be sustainable. It is also important to establish whether the pursuit of sustainability may compromise the capability to fulfil other important societal goals and objectives. If the potential for these various conflicts can be discerned, then it may also be possible to identify development strategies that minimize conflict, while simultaneously achieving sustainability.",
"corpus_id": 85160468
} | {
"title": "Recent Changes and Future Prospects of Land Use in England and Wales",
"abstract": "In terms of land area, urbanization has undoubtedly been the main generator of changes in land use over the greater part of the present century. Even so, our urban-orientated society, with some 80 per cent of the population living in adminis? trative urban areas, may tend to over-emphasize the scale of this change because of constant contact with, and therefore awareness of, the processes of urbanization in action. Visually, urban growth, even more than afforestation, is a fundamental and distinctive alteration in the landscape which it is unlikely that the eye can overlook; and consequently any superficial assessment of the extent of new urban develop? ment is profoundly conditioned by qualitative rather than quantitative judgments. Such appraisals, which are often additionally charged with emotional attitudes, can, and frequently do, lead to an almost complete obscuring of the actual facts of the situation as far as the extent and rate of change are involved. It is, therefore, essen? tial for any objective evaluation of shifts between the major uses of land to have reasonably accurate statistical information of what is in fact happening in the country as a whole, and in various parts of it, over an extended period of time. ' Changes of occupancy' data.?The only source of comprehensive information on shifts in the use of land is provided by the ' changes of occupancy' data derived from the agricultural returns submitted by farmers to the statistical branch of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on June 4 each year. When a holding is found to have altered in acreage significantly compared with the previous year, and when the discrepancy does not represent the interchange of land with another occupier for agricultural purposes, the loss of land is investigated by local officers of the Ministry and a record is made of the new use to which the farmland is being transferred. Gains of farmland from other uses are also recorded. These figures are then aggregated and national totals for net transfers of agricultural land are issued periodically (Best, 1959, chap. 7). Although such figures are available for as far back as 1927/28, it is probable that the earlier statistics are less accurate than those of more recent date. In particular, in the pre-war years only gross changes were calculated and, therefore, an estimate of net losses had to be made. Since the end of the war, however, these statistics have been established on a firmer basis and, in spite of reservations by the Ministry of Agriculture to the effect that the figures are approximate only and should be treated with some caution, it would seem from data collected by local planning authorities and from other sources (Best, 1959, p. 84; Agricultural Land Service, 1958) that they provide a reasonably correct statement of",
"corpus_id": 131663912,
"score": 2
} |
{
"title": "Card manipulation using a high-speed robot system with high-speed visual feedback",
"abstract": "In this research, we successfully demonstrated dexterous manipulation of sheet-like elastic objects, namely, playing cards, using a high-speed robot system. In particular, our goal was to achieve card flicking by vibrating a fingertip of a robot hand at high speed and card catching by using high-speed visual feedback based on a high-speed vision system. We discuss card grasping in the initial state based on the geometry conditions of the card and the kinematics of the robot hand, and we propose a strategy for card flicking. We also suggest a card catching method based on information obtained by the high-speed vision system. In addition, we obtain the card flicking conditions by analyzing the slip between the card and the fingertip of the robot hand. Finally, we show experimental results of card flicking and card catching.",
"corpus_id": 18994683
} | {
"title": "Mechanics of Jumping via Body Deformation",
"abstract": "As jumping is an effective method of moving over rough terrain, there is much interest in building robots that can jump, and deformation of a soft robot's body is an effective method to induce jumping. Our aim was to investigate the effect of the initial deformed shape of deformation of a circular shell made of spring metal. The dish shape jumped the highest in the initial shapes of deformation, with the dish jumping twice as high as the cap. A simulation of a model was in good agreement with the observations. We showed that the jumping height is determined by impulse, time and the center of gravity until taking off from the ground.",
"corpus_id": 55362697
} | {
"title": "Image-based manipulation planning for nonrigid objects",
"abstract": "Most current techniques for the robotic manipulation of nonrigid objects require the acquisition of detailed physical models prior to manipulation. In an effort to avoid the problems caused by such modeling, a three-phase paradigm based on human coordination studies has recently been reported. However, the vision-based model used to predict object motion depends on the the object's current shape, making manipulation planning difficult. In this paper, an alternative motion model for use in the three-phase framework is presented. Based on the novel concept of the cardinal spatial Jacobian, this new model is shape-independent while still requiring the use of no a priori physical object models.",
"corpus_id": 32028538,
"score": 2
} |
{
"title": "Stereospecific functionalization of iodoaziridines via unstabilized aziridinyllithiums generated by iodine-lithium exchange.",
"abstract": "Lithium-iodine exchange on alkyl- or aryl-substituted N-tosyliodoaziridines afforded unstabilized aziridinyllithiums, which were subsequently trapped at low temperatures with a range of carbon and heteroatom electrophiles affording cis-substituted aziridines exclusively. When using isocyanates as electrophiles, access to aziridine carboxamides or 1,3,5-trisubstituted hydantoins can be selected by control of reaction temperature.",
"corpus_id": 2127776
} | {
"title": "Telescoped, Divergent, Chemoselective C1 and C1‐C1 Homologation of Imine Surrogates: Access to Quaternary Chloro‐ and Halomethyl‐Trifluoromethyl Aziridines",
"abstract": "Abstract A conceptually novel, high‐yielding, mono‐ or bis‐homologation was realized with lithium halocarbenoids and enables the one‐step, fully chemocontrolled assembly of a new class of quaternary trifluoromethyl aziridines. Trifluoroacetimidoyl chlorides (TFAICs) act as convenient electrophilic platforms, enabling the addition of either one or two homologating elements by simply controlling the stoichiometry of the process. Mechanistic studies highlighted that the homologation event, carried out with two different carbenoids (LiCH2Cl and LiCH2F), leads to fluoromethyl analogues in which the first nucleophile is employed for constructing the cycle and the second for decorating the resulting molecular architecture.",
"corpus_id": 56487564
} | {
"title": "Enantiomeric characterization of herbicide lactofen: Enantioseparation, absolute configuration assignment and enantioselective activity and toxicity.",
"abstract": "Chiral herbicides consist of two or more enantiomers, which usually differ in their biological properties and behave enantioselectively in biochemical process. Scant studies have been published in the past decades to characterize the enantiomers of herbicide lactofen. In this study, a laboratory method was developed to prepare the lactofen enantiomers using normal phase high performance liquid chromatography with an AD-H column, and μg level production yield was achieved in a single run. The two separated enantiomers had purity of ≫99%, with their absolute configurations assigned by experimental and calculated electronic and vibrational circular dichroism. Spectral analyses including semi-empirical rules as well as comparisons with the results of quantum chemical calculations confirmed the molecular configurations of R-lactofen and S-lactofen, in this elution order. The enantioselective bioactivity toward weed (Echinochloa crusgalli) and toxicity toward aquatic algae (Microcystis aeruginosa) was assessed by measuring their growth rates after the treatments with lactofen enantiomers and racemate. The results showed that R-lactofen affected E. crusgalli more severely, while S-lactofen was more toxic to algae. Using active enantiomer instead of racemate may be more efficient and safe. Therefore, a more comprehensive understanding of the behaviors of chiral enantiomers is a need to improve activity and risk assessment and regulations of chiral compounds. Our work will be helpful to easily prepare single enantiomers from racemic mixtures and to establish effective absolute configurations of the enantiomers.",
"corpus_id": 3292283,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "Effect of structure and lithological heterogeneity on the correlation coefficient between the electric–hydraulic parameters of the aquifer, Eastern Desert, Egypt",
"abstract": "AbstractDiscovering, studying and determining the hydrogeoelectrical properties of the aquifer at the new area by using resistivity sounding parameters are difficult and need high accuracy in measurements and interpretation. The hydrogeological settings of the area of northwest Al Hurghada town are not studied on large scale by using the surface geophysical measurements before this study. So, for this aim, 24 vertical electrical soundings (VESs) were measured and interpreted. Discovering of groundwater aquifer along the main wadi called Wadi Om Dehas especially to the Far East, adds to determine the main lithology, shaly sandstone, sandstone and sandstone to limestone, of the aquifer and the complicated structural setting at form of inferred faults by using VESs curves, were the main tenets at this study for studying their effects on the correlation coefficient (R2) between the electric and hydraulic parameters of the aquifer. Accordingly, the two suggested locations were chosen for drilling and their results were as expected from VESs interpretation. The interpretation results using the true resistivity values assisted in delineating the complicated facies, heterogeneity of aquifer rock units and in expecting the flow direction of groundwater along the area. The relationship between the resistivity with transverse resistance and longitudinal conductance was carried out and assisted strongly in separating aquifer rock units. The heterogeneity and water salinity at different directions affected the strong relationship between the resistivity and transverse resistance where in case of shaly sandstone and sandstone it was weak but strong in case of sandstone to limestone. The hydraulic conductivity of aquifer was calculated using the transverse resistance. The transverse resistance was used in calculating the transmissivity and concluded that there is complicating and changing in its values from depth to others and from location to other due to the effect of structure and heterogeneity. This confirmed that the geological and hydrogeological settings of the area are more complicated. So, according to the relationship between the hydraulic conductivity (Kh) and resistivity (ρt), it can be said that it is strongly controlled by the nature of the aquifer rock units either heterogeneous or homogeneous. Accordingly, it can only use the last creating empirical equation in calculating the expected transmissivity values of the recorded water-bearing sandstone to limestone rocks at this area with taking into account the calculated value of R2 between both depending on the statistical analysis.\n",
"corpus_id": 165082543
} | {
"title": "Hard-rock hydrotectonics using geographic information systems in the central highlands of Eritrea : Implications for groundwater exploration",
"abstract": "Summary In the central highlands of Eritrea, the fractures derived as lineaments from digitally enhanced Landsat TM images are grouped based on their tectonic origins and relative ages into three major sets of geological structures, Set 1, Set 2 and Set 3. Set 1 comprises the oldest NNE–SSW and NW–SE trending tensile lineaments, Set 2 is N–S and WNW–ESE and Set 3 is NE–SW and ENE–WSW. Both Set 2 and Set 3 are conjugate shear fractures. Frequency of groundwater occurrence (producing wells close to fracture lineaments), well yield and distance or locations of well data from the fractures are the main parameters considered in the analysis using geographic information systems (GIS). In the Set 2 and Set 3 shear fractures, well yields at distances of 0-60 m to lineaments are low while well yields at a distance of about 90–120 m away from the major lineaments are high. In the NNE–SSW fractures of Set 1, well yields at distances of 0-60 m from the major fractures are high but much lower than the highest well yields in the shear fractures at about 90-120 m. The relationship between well yield and distance to fracture lineaments in the three sets of fractures indicates that both of the shear fractures are hydrotectonically more significant than the tensile fractures. Of the shear fractures the N–S trending Set 2 lineaments are relatively the most important in terms of groundwater potential. The data summarized in a conceptual hydrotectonic model can be used as a working reference in selecting potential sites for future groundwater exploration in the region. Although drilling sites can be designed within the optimum distances, for example, 90 m distance, along the N–S trending fractures, supplementary detailed geophysical investigations should be carried out prior to drilling. The lineament analysis using GIS thus provides a means for scaling down target areas and design cost-effective and successful groundwater exploration programmes.",
"corpus_id": 128421074
} | {
"title": "Overview on the Evolution of Near Magnetic Field Coupling Prediction Using Equivalent Multipole Spherical Harmonic Sources",
"abstract": "In the electromagnetic compatibility behavior of power electronic converters, parasitic magnetic couplings between components are one of the main causes of dysfunctions or poor filtering. These couplings may be either conducted or near-field interferences. To handle interaction problems, full knowledge of these magnetic couplings is essential. This paper is an overview of the work on near magnetic field interference undertaken in the last 15 years by the International Maxwell Laboratory. This paper details a predictive method that accurately and efficiently calculates near magnetic field coupling between two sources. The method uses near-field multipolar expansion in spherical harmonics of electromagnetic sources to determine close magnetic coupling between two sources from their equivalent models. This paper also shows how theoretical developments of large loop antennas have evolved from the van Veen antenna, a model with only two degrees of freedom, to a more complex model in terms of degrees, order, and types of harmonics. In parallel, it describes developments in the measurement method that provides input to the theoretical model. To illustrate how the research has evolved, we discuss coupling between two complex sources to assess the accuracy of this predictive method.",
"corpus_id": 26002462,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "Security Analysis of a Pairing-free Identity-based Authenticated Group Key Agreement Protocol for Imbalanced Mobile Networks",
"abstract": "Recently, Isalam and Biswas proposed a new group key agreement (GKA) protocol for imbalanced mobile networks. In this letter, we will show that Isalam et al.’s GKA protocol is not secure.",
"corpus_id": 343248
} | {
"title": "A weakness in the Bresson-Chevassut-Essiari-Pointcheval's Group Key Agreement scheme for low-power mobile devices",
"abstract": "In this letter, we show that Bresson-Chevassut-Essiari-Pointcheval's Group Key Agreement scheme does not meet the main security properties: implicit key authentication, forward secrecy and known key security. Also, we propose an improved version, which fixes the security flaws, found in the scheme.",
"corpus_id": 37040757
} | {
"title": "WorkPartner - centaur like service robot",
"abstract": "WorkPartner is the prototype of a lightweight mobile service robot designed to work interactively with humans in outdoor environment. The mobility is based on a hybrid system, which combine benefits of both legged and wheeled locomotion to provide at the same time good terrain negotiating capability and large velocity range. The working tool is a two-hand human like manipulator which can be used for manipulation or handling of tools. The robot is called WorkPartner, because the goal is to make an adaptive and learning robot, which can carry different tools and work interactively with a human. The user or operator can be physically present on the same site as the robot and communicate with it by using speech and gestures, or he can use telepresence from a distance place and communicate via Internet. In each case communication takes place via a new type of user interface based on multimedia and cognition.",
"corpus_id": 16747805,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "Automatic Web Service Composition Based on Uncertainty Execution Effects",
"abstract": "By arranging multiple existing web services into workflows to create value-added services, automatic web service composition has received much attention in service-oriented computing. A large number of methods have been proposed for it although most of them are merely based on the matching of input-output parameters of services. Besides these parameters, some other elements can affect the execution of services and their composition, such as the preconditions and service execution results. In particular, the execution effects of some services are often uncertain because of the complex and dynamically changing application environments in the real world, and this can cause the emergence of nondeterministic choices in the workflows of composite services. However, the previous methods for automatic service composition mainly rely on sequential structures, which make them difficult to take into account uncertain effects during service composition. In this paper, Graphplan is employed and extended to tackle this problem. In order to model services with uncertain effects, we first extend the original form of Graphplan. Then, we propose a novel approach that can introduce branch structures into composite solutions to cope with such uncertainty in the service composition process. Extensive experiments are performed to evaluate and analyze the proposed methodology.",
"corpus_id": 15059232
} | {
"title": "Semantic Web Services",
"abstract": "The authors propose the markup of Web services in the DAML family of Semantic Web markup languages. This markup enables a wide variety of agent technologies for automated Web service discovery, execution, composition and interoperation. The authors present one such technology for automated Web service composition.",
"corpus_id": 15356708
} | {
"title": "Measuring Docker Performance: What a Mess!!!",
"abstract": "Today, a new technology is going to change the way platforms for the internet of services are designed and managed. This technology is called container (e.g. Docker and LXC). The internet of service industry is adopting the container technology both for internal usage and as commercial offering. The use of container as base technology for large-scale systems opens many challenges in the area of resource management at run-time, for example: autoscaling, optimal deployment and monitoring. Specifically, monitoring of container based systems is at the ground of any resource management solution, and it is the focus of this work. This paper explores the tools available to measure the performance of Docker from the perspective of the host operating system and of the virtualization environment, and it provides a characterization of the CPU and disk I/O overhead introduced by containers.",
"corpus_id": 5201526,
"score": -1
} |
{
"title": "Bembidion (?Nipponobembidion) ruruy sp. n., a new brachypterous ground beetle (Coleoptera, Carabidae) from Kunashir Island, Kuriles, Russia",
"abstract": "Abstract A new species, Bembidion (?Nipponobembidion) ruruy sp. n., is described from the foot of Ruruy Volcano, Kunashir Island, Kuril Archipelago, Russia. It is only the second consubgener, being characterized by the reduced wings, the rounded elytral shoulders, and the backward position of the posterior supra-orbital pore. In this connection, the subgenus Nipponobembidion Habu & Baba, 1968 is rediagnosed and both of its species are keyed. It might have originated from Plataphodes Ganglbauer, 1891, possibly in relation to volcanic activities in the region.",
"corpus_id": 1330482
} | {
"title": "Bembidion ( Plataphodes ) kmecoi sp. nov. from China, Sichuan (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Bembidiina)",
"abstract": "Bembidion kmecoi sp. nov. herewith described, sister species of Bembidion farkaci Toledano & Sciaky, 1998, is the third species of the subgenus Plataphodes Ganglbauer, 1891 known from China. A key for the identification of these species is provided. Another species, B. elatum Andrewes, 1930, formerly known as Plataphodes, is transferred to Blepharoplataphus Netolitzky, 1920. Nomenclatorial acts proposed in this paper: Description of Bembidion (Plataphodes) kmecoi sp. nov. (China); Species transferred from Bembidion subg. Plataphodes Ganglbauer, 1891 to Bembidion subg. Blepharoplataphus Netolitzky, 1920: B. elatum Andrewes, 1930.",
"corpus_id": 85895051
} | {
"title": "A review of RKIP promotion of tumor progression, metastasis and poor outcome in multiple solid tumor types",
"abstract": "Abstract The only known physiological inhibitor of the Ras-Raf-MEK-ERK pathway, Raf-1 kinase inhibitor protein (RKIP), has been shown to regulate several intracellular signaling pathways in multiple cancers. It is a member of the PEMB family of proteins and is expressed in different mammalian species such as monkey, chicken, rat and human. RKIP is also able to interfere with NK-κB and G-protein signaling by interacting with its upstream kinases, thereby, preventing STAT3 phosphorylation. It was first identified in prostate cancer through gene array analysis but downregulation of RKIP expression has now been shown to be associated with poor prognosis and lymph node metastasis in multiple tumor types. It is classed as a metastasis suppressor due to its low expression in metastatic tissue compared to non-metastatic counterparts in multiple cancer types. Loss of RKIP is also associated with resistance to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. This review focusses on the clinical implications of RKIP expression in multiple cancer types particularly on disease progression, metastasis and patient survival. Although the role of RKIP in regulating tumor metastasis or in conferring therapeutic resistance is not fully understood, the dysregulation of RKIP could be used as a therapeutic intervention by understanding its interactions with its cellular targets. Its loss, as the disease progresses, makes it a potential prognostic biomarker in multiple cancer types.",
"corpus_id": 214103206,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "Flow chamber‐based assays to measure thrombus formation in vitro: requirements for standardization",
"abstract": "M. ROEST ,* A . RE IN INGER , J . J . Z W A GI NG A , M. R . K ING ,§ J . W. M. H EEMSKERK– and THE B IORHEOLOGY SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE SSC OF THE ISTH *Department of Clinical Chemistry and Haematology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands; Department of Transfusion Medicine and Hemostaseology, University Clinic Munich, Munich, Germany; Department of Immunohematology and Bloodtransfusion, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands; §Department of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA; and –Department of Biochemistry, Maastricht University, Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht, Maastricht, the Netherlands",
"corpus_id": 2235932
} | {
"title": "High-throughput measurement of human platelet aggregation under flow: application in hemostasis and beyond",
"abstract": "Abstract In recent years, considerable progress has been made in understanding the mechanisms involved in platelet activation during hemostasis and thrombosis. Parallel-plate flow chambers and other microfluidic devices have markedly contributed to this insight. Conversely, such flow devices are now increasingly used to monitor the combined processes of platelet aggregation, thrombus formation, and coagulation in human blood. Currently, by combining microspotting and multi-color fluorescence microscopy, this technology offers the capability of high-throughput measurement of platelet activation processes, even in small blood samples. Here we review the potential of flow chamber devices for complex (multiparameter) platelet and coagulation phenotyping, focusing on patients with (genetic) platelet- or coagulation-based bleeding disorders as well as monitoring of antithrombotic medication. Animal studies are not discussed.",
"corpus_id": 3912031
} | {
"title": "Tissue factor activation: is disulfide bond switching a regulatory mechanism?",
"abstract": "A majority of tissue factor (TF) on cell surfaces exists in a cryptic form (ie, coagulation function inactive) but retains its functionality in cell signaling. Recent studies have suggested that cryptic TF contains unpaired cysteine thiols and that activation involves the formation of the disulfide bond Cys186-Cys 209 and that protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) regulates TF coagulant and signaling activities by targeting this disulfide bond. This study was carried out to investigate the validity of this novel concept. Although treatment of MDA 231 tumor cells, fibroblasts, and stimulated endothelial cells with the oxidizing agent HgCl(2) markedly increased the cell-surface TF coagulant activity, the increase is associated with increased anionic phospholipids at the cell surface. Annexin V, which binds to anionic phospholipids, attenuated the increased TF coagulant activity. It is noteworthy that treatment of cells with reducing agents also increased the cell surface TF activity. No evidence was found for either detectable expression of PDI at the cell surface or association of TF with PDI. Furthermore, reduction of PDI with the gene silencing had no effect on either TF coagulant or cell signaling functions. Overall, the present data undermine the recently proposed hypothesis that PDI-mediated disulfide exchange plays a role in regulating TF procoagulant and cell signaling functions.",
"corpus_id": 20012085,
"score": 2
} |
{
"title": "Ideas and action: A cognitive model of the Senate Agriculture Committee",
"abstract": "But while the research is being done, what provisions should be incorporated in the Clean Air Act of 1977 (or the Acts of 1978 through 2000, for that matter)? For research won't give us clear answers then either. What constitutes procedural rationality in such circumstances?“Reasonable men” reach “reasonable” conclusions in circumstances where they have no prospect of applying classical models of substantive rationality. We know only imperfectly how they do it. We know even less whether the procedures they use in place of the inapplicable models have any merit—although most of us would choose them in preference to drawing lots. The study of procedural rationality in circumstances where attention is scarce, where problems are immensely complex, and where crucial information is absent presents a host of challenging and fundamental research problems to anyone who is interested in the rational allocation of scarce resources.",
"corpus_id": 153389619
} | {
"title": "Legislative Representation as Parallel-processing and Problem-Solving",
"abstract": "Research on representation as congruence has reached a point of diminishing learning. Three criticisms of congruence or mandatory politics are reviewed. Representation as parallel-processing in problem-solving is introduced, defined, and illustrated by the work of the Senate Agriculture Committee. In addition to a review of the interaction between Senators and witnesses in two committee hearings, the paper examines one decision in detail. The weaknesses of the congruence conception of representation are strong points of representation as parallel-processing in representation.",
"corpus_id": 153502053
} | {
"title": "The giant jigsaw puzzle",
"abstract": "Typical Presentation, Storyline or Metaphor Begin by asking for one or two participants to remain sighted, but speechless, and act as observers during this activity. You can provide them with optional pen and paper to take notes. For a serious corporate initiative, consider using a video camera to view the event, from the ceiling downward, and then replaying portions of the activity during the debriefing stage of the activity.",
"corpus_id": 150651148,
"score": 2
} |
{
"title": "A New Image Encryption Approach using Combinational Permutation Techniques",
"abstract": "This paper proposes a new approach for image encryption using a combination of different permutation techniques. The main idea behind the present work is that an image can be viewed as an arrangement of bits, pixels and blocks. The intelligible information present in an image is due to the correlations among the bits, pixels and blocks in a given arrangement. This perceivable information can be reduced by decreasing the correlation among the bits, pixels and blocks using certain permutation techniques. This paper presents an approach for a random combination of the aforementioned permutations for image encryption. From the results, it is observed that the permutation of bits is effective in significantly reducing the correlation thereby decreasing the perceptual information, whereas the permutation of pixels and blocks are good at producing higher level security compared to bit permutation. A random combination method employing all the three techniques thus is observed to be useful for tactical security applications, where protection is needed only against a casual observer. Keywords— Encryption, Permutation, Good key, Combinational permutation, Pseudo random index generator.",
"corpus_id": 223443
} | {
"title": "Encryption Approach for Images using Bits Rotation Reversal and Extended Hill Cipher Techniques",
"abstract": "A new method for image encryption with two stages has been described in the present study. In first stage, each pixel of image is converted to its equivalent eight bit binary number and in that eight bit number, number of bits equal to the length of password are rotated and then reversed. In second stage, extended hill cipher technique is applied by using involutory matrix generated by same password given in second stage to make encryption more secured. Performance of the proposed technique is evaluated by Statistical Analysis, Differential Analysis and also quantifying Mean Square Error (MSE) & Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR). The proposed approach is implemented for different images using MATLAB. Decryption involves the reverse process of encryption.",
"corpus_id": 2030159
} | {
"title": "An analysis of the structure and complexity of nonlinear binary sequence generators",
"abstract": "A method of analysis is presented for the class of binary sequence generators employing linear feedback shift registers with nonlinear feed-forward operations. This class is of special interest because the generators are capable of producing very long \"unpredictable\" sequences. The period of the sequence is determined by the linear feedback connections, and the portion of the total period needed to predict the remainder is determined by the nonlinear feed-forward operations. The linear feedback shift registers are represented in terms of the roots of their characteristic equations in a finite field, and it is shown that nonlinear operations inject additional roots into the representation. The number of roots required to represent a generator is a measure of its complexity, and is equal to the length (number of stages) of the shortest linear feedback shift register that produces the same sequence. The analysis procedure can be applied to any arbitrary combination of binary shift register generators, and is also applicable to the synthesis of complex generators having desired properties. Although the discussion in this paper is limited to binary sequences, the analysis is easily extended to similar devices that generate sequences with members in any finite field.",
"corpus_id": 8976228,
"score": 2
} |
{
"title": "Postmortem microscopic evaluation and clinical correlation of a pseudophakic eye with pseudoexfoliation and loss of zonular support.",
"abstract": "We describe a pseudophakic patient with pseudoexfoliation who developed late intraocular lens (IOL) instability manifested by pseudophakodonesis, a change in refraction, and loss of glaucoma control. The patient subsequently required glaucoma surgery that was complicated by vitreous loss. Preoperative ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) failed to provide useful information regarding the zonular status. The patient died as a result of a malignancy, and the eye was donated for research. Anatomical evaluation confirmed the clinical impression of IOL placement in the bag and zonular laxity. Postmortem UBM helped explain some of the technical difficulties in examining zonules in the pseudophakic state.",
"corpus_id": 1158836
} | {
"title": "Spontaneous late dislocation of intraocular lens within the capsular bag in pseudoexfoliation patients.",
"abstract": "PURPOSE\nTo identify a delayed complication of cataract surgery in patients with zonular weakness caused by pseudoexfoliation syndrome.\n\n\nDESIGN\nRetrospective observational case series.\n\n\nPARTICIPANTS\nEight eyes in seven patients with clinically diagnosed pseudoexfoliation syndrome who had undergone previous uncomplicated cataract extraction and placement of a posterior chamber intraocular lens.\n\n\nMETHODS\nThis study evaluated eight cases of late spontaneous dislocation of posterior chamber intraocular lenses within the capsular bag in patients with pseudoexfoliation syndrome. Data were gathered retrospectively from patients' operative reports, medical records, and pathology reports.\n\n\nMAIN OUTCOME MEASURES\n(1) Interval between original surgery and dislocation; (2) final best-corrected visual acuity and ocular outcome.\n\n\nRESULTS\nAll patients had a diagnosis of pseudoexfoliation syndrome and had previously undergone uncomplicated cataract surgery. No patient had any other predisposing factors that would lead to zonular dehiscence or weakness. Delayed dislocation of the entire capsular bag containing the intraocular lens (IOL) occurred spontaneously in all cases. Mean time from IOL implantation to dislocation was approximately 85 months (7 years and 1 month; range, 57-115 months) after surgery. Seven eyes were treated successfully with IOL exchange: six with placement of an anterior chamber IOL and one with scleral fixation of a posterior chamber IOL. The remaining case was treated by scleral fixation of the dislocated IOL. Gross pathology analysis of seven cases confirmed the presence of the IOL within the intact capsular bag. Six eyes have achieved final best-corrected visual acuity of 20/40 or better.\n\n\nCONCLUSION\nPatients with pseudoexfoliation syndrome may be at risk for delayed spontaneous dislocation of IOL within the capsular bag after uncomplicated cataract surgery. Awareness of this newly recognized long-term complication may justify a reevaluation of surgical considerations for cataract removal in these patients.",
"corpus_id": 20833485
} | {
"title": "Photovoltaic cells from a soluble pentacene derivative",
"abstract": "Abstract Multilayer heterojunction photovoltaic cells were fabricated using a solution processable pentacene derivative as the donor layer. Upon annealing of these devices, the open circuit voltage was found to gradually increase with temperature up to 265 °C. Further improvement in the photovoltaic performance was achieved with the incorporation of mobile ions into the donor material for concentrations of lithium triflate up to 1.4 mg/ml. Finally, after introducing an exciton blocking layer, an optimized white-light (100 mW/cm 2 ) power conversion efficiency of 0.52% was achieved.",
"corpus_id": 93654265,
"score": 0
} |
{
"title": "A reliable single stage single phase hybrid solar inverter with anti-islanding protection",
"abstract": "Reliable and protected solar inverter is necessary for effective smart grid implementation. Grid fed hybrid singlestage single-phase solar inverter with incremental conductance MPPT (INC+regulator), closed loop current and voltage controller is implemented here. In normal condition inverter current T.H.D is under the limit as per IEEE-519. In this paper, Anti-islanding protection is achieved by using high speed AC circuit breaker, as per the guideline of German VDE0126-1-1 Standard. Also reliability is improved by using proposed hybrid solar inverter system. Comparative results are obtained by simulation in MATLAB R2013a software. The whole system can be used as a strong chain in local distribution system as an application in future effectively.",
"corpus_id": 10247765
} | {
"title": "Single Stage Inverter for a Direct AC Connection of a Photovoltaic Cell Module",
"abstract": "There are several possibilities to transfer the energy taken from a photovoltaic cell to the grid. In the past, several cell modules used the same centralized inverter to transfer the energy to the grid. Nowadays, decentralized modules are preferred because of their versatility to harvest a larger amount of power, even when some of the modules of the total surface are covered and do not receive the same solar irradiation. This paper presents an inverter topology that can be used to connect a photovoltaic cell module directly to the grid. The inverter is based on a single stage Flyback topology and it is quite simple. Furthermore, a maximum power point tracking algorithm is proposed. The system can be implemented in a very simple microcontroller and the output current, although it is not sinusoidal, its harmonic content is lower than the limit imposed by IEC 61000-3-2 regulations. A prototype of the topology has been built and tested.",
"corpus_id": 109465857
} | {
"title": "Risk: Traditional Finance versus Behavioral Finance",
"abstract": "The notion of risk encompasses a wide range of meanings across different disciplines, notably the social sciences and business administration fields. Within academic finance, the focal point of traditional (or standard) finance researchers involves the objective nature of risk. This traditional finance viewpoint encompasses a quantitative measure of risk (e.g., beta, standard deviation) which is based on a macro-level assessment of risk incorporating all the participants in the financial markets. A fundamental assumption in traditional finance is the linear (positive) relationship between risk and return. In contrast, behavioral finance academics provide an extensive examination in which risk is based on a combination of both subjective and objective factors. The behavioral finance perspective incorporates a qualitative aspect of risk (e.g., the influence of cognitive issues and emotional factors) that is highly significant if on a micro level it is acknowledged that the decision maker is an essential aspect of defining and understanding risk. An emerging topic of interest and exploration by researchers in the behavioral finance camp has been the assessment of an inverse (negative) relationship between perceived risk and expected return (perceived gain). Ultimately, financial and investment risk is a situational, multidimensional judgment process that is dependent on the specific characteristics of the investment product or financial service.",
"corpus_id": 152886931,
"score": 0
} |
{
"title": "Changing the work environment in ICUs to achieve patient-focused care: the time has come.",
"abstract": "The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) Standards for Establishing and Sustaining Healthy Work Environments and the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) Patient-Focused Care Project are complementary initiatives that provide a road map for creating practice environments where interdisciplinary, patient-focused care can thrive. Healthy work environments are so influential that failure to address the issue would result in deleterious effects for every aspect of acute care and critical care practice. Skilled communication and true collaboration are crucial for transforming work environments. The ACCP project on patient-focused care was born out of a realization that medicine as currently practiced is too fragmented, too focused on turf battles that hinder communication, and too divorced from a real understanding of what patients expect and need from their health-care providers. Communication as well as continuity and concordance with the patients' wishes are the foundational premises of care that is patient-focused and safe. Some individuals may achieve some level of genuine patient-focused care even when they practice in a toxic work environment because they are gifted communicators who embrace true collaboration. At best, those efforts will most likely be hit-or-miss, and such heroism will be impossible to sustain if the environment is not transformed into a model that reflects the standards and initiatives set out by the AACN and the ACCP. Other innovative models of care delivery remain unreported. The successes and failures of these models should be shared with the professional community.",
"corpus_id": 1197085
} | {
"title": "Dialogue and discourse: are we having the right conversations?",
"abstract": "No doubt by now, you have heard about the American Association for Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) Standards for Establishing and Sustaining Healthy Work Environments.1 In the June 2005 editorial section of Critical Care Nurse, Grif Alspach2 offers us a lifeline to achieve and sustain healthy work environments and calls on us to get out of our environmental quicksand and take action to implement the standards. Dr Alspach’s article paints for us an all-too-frequent scenario in a day in the life of a critical care nurse. The scene includes the critical care nurse becoming disappointed, frustrated, angry, stressed, disrespected, and isolated while trying to provide safe care. I think it is something we can all relate to. The question is, Are we ready to do something about it?",
"corpus_id": 41519152
} | {
"title": "Guidelines for the Prevention of Intravascular Catheter–Related Infections",
"abstract": "Background: Although many catheter-related blood-stream infections (CRBSIs) are preventable, measures to reduce these infections are not uniformly implemented. Objective: To update an existing evidenced-based guideline that promotes strategies to prevent CRBSIs. Data Sources: The MEDLINE database, conference proceedings, and bibliographies of review articles and book chapters were searched for relevant articles. Studies Included: Laboratory-based studies, controlled clinical trials, prospective interventional trials, and epidemiologic investigations. Outcome Measures: Reduction in CRBSI, catheter colonization, or catheter-related infection. Synthesis: The recommended preventive strategies with the strongest supportive evidence are education and training of healthcare providers who insert and maintain catheters; maximal sterile barrier precautions during central venous catheter insertion; use of a 2% chlorhexidine preparation for skin antisepsis; no routine replacement of central venous catheters for prevention of infection; and use of antiseptic/antibiotic-impregnated short-term central venous catheters if the rate of infection is high despite adherence to other strategies (ie, education and training, maximal sterile barrier precautions, and 2% chlorhexidine for skin antisepsis). Conclusion: Successful implementation of these evidence-based interventions can reduce the risk for serious catheter-related infection.",
"corpus_id": 37402493,
"score": 2
} |
{
"title": "Articulatory and acoustic bases of locus equations",
"abstract": "Articulatory factors underlying locus equations (LE:s) are investigated by means of an updated version of the APEX articulatory model. The modeling is focused on the determinants of LE linearity, slopes and intercepts. Linearity: For [b] and [d], linearity derives in part from acoustic mapping. In part tight linear clustering is enhanced by coarticulatory overlap. For [g], place of closure varies with vowel context along a front-back dimension. Acoustically, this translates into a relation between F2(onset) and F2(vowel) that is non-linear and is best described by two LE:s. Slopes/intercepts: In [b] and [d] variations in tongue body shape have a significant effect on F2 onsets. Thus, degree of coarticulation is a major determinant of LE slopes and intercepts. In contrast, in [gV], degree of coarticulation would be expected to affect LE parameters to a lesser degree.",
"corpus_id": 2743098
} | {
"title": "Articulatory copy synthesis : Acoustic performance of an MRI and X-ray based framework",
"abstract": "Within the framework of refining an articulatory model, articulatory data were collected using MRI, video and X-ray. A set of two-to-three dimensional rules were derived from the axial and coronal MRI images and applied to midsagittal X-ray images. The acoustic performance of the rules was evaluated by synthesizing observed and predicted area functions.",
"corpus_id": 15964716
} | {
"title": "Hydrofoil Roughness Effects on von Kármán Vortex Shedding",
"abstract": "The shedding process of the von Karman vortices is shown to be highly related to the state of the boundary layer over the entire hydrofoil: The selected hydrofoil has a laminar-turbulent boundary layer transition at mid-chord for an incidence angle of 0° and tested Reynolds number range. With the help of a distributed roughness, the transition to turbulence is triggered at leading edge. The vortex shedding frequency and the vortex-induced vibration are compared For the two roughness configurations. Cavitation is used as a mean of visualization of the wake flow: Since vortex-induced vibration and high speed visualization are synchronized, the hydrofoil vibration level is considered versus the vortex span-wise organization. The occurrence of the 3D structures of shed vortices and the modulation of the vortex-induced vibration signals are investigated.",
"corpus_id": 26506308,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "How does the brain process upright and inverted faces ?",
"abstract": "The face inversion effect (FIE) is defined as the larger decrease in recognition performance for faces than for other mono-oriented objects when they are presented upside down. Behavioral studies suggest the FIE takes place at the perceptual encoding stage and is mainly due to the decrease in ability to extract relational information when discriminating individual faces. Recently, functional magnetic resonance imaging and scalp event-related potentials studies found that turning faces upside down slightly but significantly decreases the response of face-selective brain regions, including the so-called fusiform face area (FFA), and increases activity of other areas selective for nonface objects. Face inversion leads to a significantly delayed (sometimes larger) N170 component, an occipito-temporal scalp potential associated with the perceptual encoding of faces and objects. These modulations are in agreement with the perceptual locus of the FIE and reinforce the view that the FFA and N170 are sensitive to individual face discrimination.",
"corpus_id": 15532638
} | {
"title": "Holistic Processing Predicts Face Recognition",
"abstract": "The concept of holistic processing is a cornerstone of face-recognition research. In the study reported here, we demonstrated that holistic processing predicts face-recognition abilities on the Cambridge Face Memory Test and on a perceptual face-identification task. Our findings validate a large body of work that relies on the assumption that holistic processing is related to face recognition. These findings also reconcile the study of face recognition with the perceptual-expertise work it inspired; such work links holistic processing of objects with people's ability to individuate them. Our results differ from those of a recent study showing no link between holistic processing and face recognition. This discrepancy can be attributed to the use in prior research of a popular but flawed measure of holistic processing. Our findings salvage the central role of holistic processing in face recognition and cast doubt on a subset of the face-perception literature that relies on a problematic measure of holistic processing.",
"corpus_id": 15527980
} | {
"title": "Fast and Fully Automatic Ear Detection Using Cascaded AdaBoost",
"abstract": "Ear detection from a profile face image is an important step in many applications including biometric recognition. But accurate and rapid detection of the ear for real-time applications is a challenging task, particularly in the presence of occlusions. In this work, a cascaded AdaBoost based ear detection approach is proposed. In an experiment with a test set of 203 profile face images, all the ears were accurately detected by the proposed detector with a very low (5 x 10-6) false positive rate. It is also very fast and relatively robust to the presence of occlusions and degradation of the ear images (e.g. motion blur). The detection process is fully automatic and does not require any manual intervention.",
"corpus_id": 18007827,
"score": -1
} |
{
"title": "Strategic effectiveness and success: the learning challenge",
"abstract": "Reinforces the argument that strategic and competitive success demands competence at three levels: content, change and learning. Notes that to achieve this, organizations must draw on a range of generic competences and develop an appropriate mix and measure, and that if they can achieve this they can become both competent and conscious of why they are competent and successful. Points out that this demands effective information management at a number of distinct levels, and the ability of the organization to manage both continuous and discontinuous change. Comments that the latter requires double‐loop learning and involves all members of the organization together with its external stakeholders, and that strategy, structure and style may need to be changed simultaneously. Concludes that the process of competence management must be underpinned by robust measurement, and that while organizations actively measure resource efficiencies, the extent to which they seek to measure all their strategic competences remains an issue.",
"corpus_id": 154332394
} | {
"title": "A strategic perspective of entrepreneurship 279 A strategic perspective of entrepreneurship",
"abstract": "Contends that the E-V-R (environment-values-resources) congruence model provides an ideal framework for examining what entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial managers must achieve strategically in order to create and sustain organisational effectiveness and success. E-V-R shows how the environment is a source of opportunities and threats – external key success factors; and that resources constitute strengths and weaknesses, strategic competencies which either match, or fail to match, environmental needs. Sustaining and changing this strategic fit is dependent on leadership, culture and values. Goes on to show that entrepreneurship is a process which is essential for establishing winning strategic positions and, as such, is relevant and vital for all types and size of organisation. Concludes with a summary model which relates the characteristics of successful strategic leadership with the key issues of risk and crisis management. Introduction The fundamental thinking behind this paper is the premise that if we examine what entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial managers achieve strategically, we can help foster enterprise in a wider range of organisations. It is widely acknowledged that entrepreneurship is not confined to any one type of business; moreover there are several types of entrepreneur. Some build businesses from nothing, invariably with determination and effort. These can be profit-seeking businesses; equally they can be community-based initiatives by “social entrepreneurs”. One key challenge for all entrepreneurs is dealing with the strategic and structural changes required with growth. Some entrepreneurs cannot manage this transition effectively and their business loses direction and momentum, whilst others are able to change their style appropriately. Consequently, in this paper we are focusing on businesses and initiatives with some growth potential, albeit limited perhaps. We are less concerned with the so-called lifestyle businesses, for which growth is not a major objective, but nonetheless the messages are still relevant here. In a quite different way, but requiring many of the same qualities, company doctors who succeed in turning around companies which are in difficulty are entrepreneurial as they restore growth potential. Success for any business is dependent upon the ability to find a valuable strategic position, whereby the company’s resources, competencies and capabilities are deployed and managed to meet and satisfy the demands and expectations of key stakeholders. This invariably involves trade-offs and International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, Vol. 5 No. 6, 1999, pp. 279-296. © MCB University Press, 1355-2554 The author is grateful for the assistance of Duncan Macdonald (at the Ardgowan Hospice) and Steven Whitaker in developing some of the case material included in this paper.",
"corpus_id": 21991468
} | {
"title": "Price discounts in exchange for reduced customer demand variability and applications to advance demand information acquisition",
"abstract": "We consider a supplier and a customer operating under a service agreement that requires the supplier to cover the random customer demand with high probability. To fulfill the service agreement, the supplier carries a certain amount of safety stock. The customer has some bearing on its demand variability, possibly through activities such as acquiring advance demand information, employing more sophisticated forecasting techniques or smoothing its product consumption, but these activities bring an extra cost to the customer. Since a reduction in the customer demand variability helps the supplier reduce its safety stock, the supplier is willing to offer a price discount in exchange for reduced demand variability. We examine a pricing scheme where the supplier assesses its potential cost savings from a reduction in the customer demand variability and returns a fraction of these cost savings back to the customer through a price discount. We show that both parties realize cost savings under such a pricing scheme, examine the efficiency issues and consider the case where the customer does not reveal certain cost components accurately.",
"corpus_id": 5642719,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "Characterization and modeling of multiphase flow in structured microreactors: a post microreactor case study.",
"abstract": "We study microreactors with internal fields of posts as typical examples of structured microreactors to elucidate flow fields and their implications for mass transfer. Laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) visualization combined with image analysis is used to systematically quantify key features such as interfacial area, phase holdup and the characteristics of the post-wetting layer. The subsequent mass transport analysis yields insight into how the posts contribute to the overall enhanced mass transfer performance compared to open channels, and provides predictions of mass transfer performance under varying operating conditions. Computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations of multiphase flow using the volume-of-fluid (VOF) method are in good agreement with experimentally observed multiphase flows.",
"corpus_id": 19068774
} | {
"title": "Dispersion and Holdup in Multiphase Packed Bed Microreactors",
"abstract": "Liquid holdup and dispersion are reported for a column of 2 mm internal diameter, filled with 0.1 mm spherical particles, for multiphase flows with hydrocarbon liquid flow rates of 10–100 μL/min and nitrogen gas flow rates of 50–1000 μL/min using different tracers with varying diffusion coefficients and vapor pressures. It was found that the liquid holdup (liquid volume/external void volume) was between 0.65 and 0.85, with variations between different experiments and limited impact of flow rate on the holdup. The dispersion characteristics were very similar to single-phase dispersion. The particle Peclet number for dispersion was close to 0.2. This value was of the same order of magnitude – just a factor of two to three lower – as the value that was obtained without gas flow. Tracer volatility did cause the tracer to elude earlier, but did not cause significant additional dispersion. The results suggest that the fluid mechanical interaction between the gas and the liquid was very limited.",
"corpus_id": 93118778
} | {
"title": "Multimodal chemo-/magneto-/phototaxis of 3G CNT-bots to power fuel cells",
"abstract": "We report the development of a 3G microswimmer, namely, CNT-bot, capable of undergoing acid-, alkali-, magneto- and phototaxis inside acidic or alkaline baths of peroxide fuel and/or water. The use of carboxyl-functionalised multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) facilitated the propulsion of CNT-bots in an alkaline-water solution by ejecting carbon-dioxide bubbles. Furthermore, doping of magnetite nanoparticles (FeONPs), ferrous ions (Fe 2+ ) and titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiONPs) induces magnetic, chemical and photonic modes of propulsion. While FeONPs stimulated magnetotaxis at a rate of up to ~10 body lengths per second under the influence of a bar magnet, chemotaxis of a similar speed in a peroxide fuel was achieved by bubble-propulsion of oxygen gas originating from the Fenton reaction. In addition, the light-stimulated photo-Fenton reaction led to phototaxis of CNT-bots. A thin coating of magnesium imparted a half-faced Janus appearance to the CNT-bots, which facilitated motion in normal or acidic water media through the ejection of hydrogen gas bubbles. This chemotaxis could be transformed into pH-stimulated directional motion by establishing an acid or alkali concentration gradient across the peroxide and/or water baths. The capacity of CNT-bots to produce oxygen (hydrogen) bubbles in peroxide (acidic water) fuel was exploited to power a PEM fuel cell to generate electricity. The pure oxygen and hydrogen gases generated by CNT-bots in separate chambers were fed directly into the fuel cell in which the incessant motions of the particle facilitated the creation and release of the pure gases to achieve on-demand electricity generation. The motor could also induce dye degradation through advanced oxidation owing to the production of intermediate hydroxyl radicals during the Fenton reaction. Self-propelling objects have been increasingly used for a wide range of applications. Thus far, the first- (1G) and second-generation (2G) motors have served the purpose of achieving diverse motions under a directional trigger. A team headed by Shirsendu Mitra and Dipankar Bandyopadhyay at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India, has developed a third-generation (3G) artificial microswimmer composed of chemically modified multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MW CNTs)—namely the CNT-bots. Such microbots can move in response to acidic, alkaline, magnetic, and light stimuli. The team used the capacity of the CNT-bots to produce pure oxygen and hydrogen, allowing a proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell to generate an electric field. The authors believe that their study highlights the potential of a 3G CNT-bot for energy harvesting.",
"corpus_id": 216351316,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "Asymmetric Space Vector Modulation for PMSM Sensorless Drives Based on Square-Wave Voltage-Injection Method",
"abstract": "Square-wave voltage injection is an effective sensorless control method for permanent magnet synchronous motor drives to achieve zero- or low-speed operation. However, it faces great challenge in the case of rail transit application where the switching frequency is less than or equal to 500 Hz, which results in rich low-order harmonics. In order to improve the performance of high-frequency square-wave voltage-injection method over low switching frequency application, an asymmetric space vector modulation (ASVM) method is proposed, and it makes comparisons between carrier and modulation wave in the 1/4 and 3/4 point of each switching cycle. Compared with space vector modulation, ASVM can significantly reduce the low-order sideband and baseband harmonics in the bandpass filter bandwidth. As a result, the position estimation, which is calculated by the filtered current signal, is improved. Moreover, the inverter dead-time effect has been compensated as well. With these improvements, the rotor position can be estimated without using low-pass filters and its dynamic performance can be enhanced. The experimental results proved the effectiveness of the analysis.",
"corpus_id": 3973751
} | {
"title": "A Time-Delay Compensation Method for IPMSM Hybrid Sensorless Drives in Rail Transit Applications",
"abstract": "This paper proposes a hybrid sensorless control strategy for rail transit application employing interior permanent magnet synchronous machine (IPMSM), which works under low switching frequency. Due to a long system time delay, the convergence rate of estimated position in the sensorless dynamic region is reduced. As the speed increases, the <inline-formula><tex-math notation=\"LaTeX\">$dq$</tex-math></inline-formula> axes currents coupling is more severe, and deteriorates the control performance. In order to solve these problems, the analysis of time-delay effect on the IPMSM sensorless drives is first derived. Then, using <inline-formula><tex-math notation=\"LaTeX\">$q$</tex-math></inline-formula>-axis current error, a global time-delay compensation method is designed to eliminate the lag angle of estimated position. Furthermore, the effect of this compensation on audible noise reduction is also analyzed. Through a phase-locked loop, the hybrid estimated position is obtained from a normalized position error. Finally, a 3.7-kW IPMSM is tested to verify the feasibility of the proposed sensorless method.",
"corpus_id": 116379287
} | {
"title": "Advantages of Inset PM Machines for Zero-Speed Sensorless Position Detection",
"abstract": "The aim of this paper is to analyze the behavior of a sensorless control system based on a high-frequency signal injection combined with an inset permanent-magnet (PM) motor. The rotor position of a synchronous PM motor with anisotropic rotor can be detected by the control system which superimposes a high-frequency signal to the fundamental stator voltage. The corresponding high-frequency current is modulated by the rotor anisotropy and used to determine the rotor position. These techniques are effective at zero and at low motor speed. Both saturation and cross-coupling have a heavy influence on the correct rotor position detection. In order to highlight the effectiveness of the sensorless technique, the tests are carried out at various operating conditions.",
"corpus_id": 17264795,
"score": 2
} |
{
"title": "A Yeast Sir2 Mutant Temperature Sensitive for Silencing",
"abstract": "A screen for Saccharomyces cerevisiae temperature-sensitive silencing mutants identified a strain with a point mutation in the SIR2 gene. The mutation changed Ser276 to Cys. This amino acid is in the highly conserved NAD+ binding pocket of the Sir2 family of proteins. Haploid strains of either mating type carrying the mutation were severely defective at mating at 37° but normal at 25°. Measurements of RNA from the HMR locus demonstrated that silencing was lost rapidly upon shifting the mutant from the low to the high temperature, but it took >8 hours to reestablish silencing after a shift back to 25°. Silencing at the rDNA locus was also temperature sensitive. On the other hand, telomeric silencing was totally defective at both temperatures. Enzymatic activity of the recombinant wild-type and mutant Sir2 protein was compared by three different assays. The mutant exhibited less deacetylase activity than the wild-type protein at both 37° and 25°. Interestingly, the mutant had much more NAD+–nicotinamide exchange activity than wild type, as did a mutation in the same region of the protein in the Sir2 homolog, Hst2. Thus, mutations in this region of the NAD+ binding pocket of the protein are able to carry out cleavage of NAD+ to nicotinamide but are defective at the subsequent deacetylation step of the reaction.",
"corpus_id": 2229748
} | {
"title": "Molecular cloning, modeling and differential expression of a gene encoding a silent information regulator-like protein from Sporothrix schenckii",
"abstract": "Sporothrix schenckii (S. schenckii) is a dimorphic fungus that produces lymphocutaneous lesions. The signature characteristic of S. schenckii is a temperature-induced phase transition. Silent information regulator (Sir) has been proven to be involved in phenotypic switching in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae) and Candida albicans (C. albicans) by organizing chromatin structure. In this study, we isolated and characterized a Sir homologue gene, designated as SsSir2, from the yeast form of S. schenckii. The full-length SsSir2 cDNA sequence is 1753 bp in size and contains an open reading frame of 1329 bp encoding 442 amino acids. The predicted molecular mass of SsSir2 is 48.1 kDa with an estimated theoretical isoelectric point of 4.6. The SsSir2 kinase domain shows a 78% identity with that of Hst2, a Sir2 Ib gene from S. cerevisiae. Three exons and two introns were identified within the 1472-bp SsSir2 genomic DNA sequence of S. schenckii. A three-dimensional model of SsSir2 was constructed using a homology modeling method, and its reliability was evaluated. The active site of SsSir2 was identified by docking simulation, which indicated that several important residues, such as Asn127 and Asp129, play an important role in the histone deacetylase activity of Sir2 family proteins. The differential expression of the SsSir2 in two stages was demonstrated by real-time RT-PCR. The expression of SsSir2 was higher in the yeast stage compared with that in the mycelial one, which indicated that SsSir2 may be involved in the phenotypic switching and morphogenesis of the yeast phase in S. schenckii.",
"corpus_id": 8971501
} | {
"title": "Erratum: Telomere dysfunction induces metabolic and mitochondrial compromise (Nature (2011) 470 (359-365))",
"abstract": "Nature 470, 359–365 (2011) In this Article, references 1,2,3 reporting an association between telomere dysfunction and mitochondrial impairment or TERT deficiency and mitochondrial impairment were inadvertently omitted.",
"corpus_id": 196628861,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "Association between DHEAS and Bone Loss in Postmenopausal Women: A 15-Year Longitudinal Population-Based Study",
"abstract": "Our aim was to examine the association between serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) at baseline and BMD change at the femoral neck (FN) and lumbar spine (LS) in postmenopausal women during a 15-year follow-up. All participants were from the Chingford Study. BMD at the FN and LS were measured eight times during the 15-year follow-up by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. DHEAS at baseline was measured using radioimmunoassay. Data on height, weight, and hormone-replacement therapy (HRT) status were obtained at each visit. Multilevel linear regression modeling was used to examine the association between longitudinal BMD change at the FN and LS and DHEAS at baseline. Postmenopausal women (n = 1,003) aged 45–68 years (mean 54.7) at baseline were included in the study. After adjustment for baseline age, estradiol, HRT, and BMI, BMD at the FN decreased on average 0.49% (95% CI 0.31–0.71%) per year; and the decline was slowed down by 0.028% per squared year. Increase of DHEAS (each micromole per liter) was associated with 0.49% less bone loss at the FN (95% CI 0.21–0.71%, P = 0.001). However, this strong association became slightly weaker over time. Similar but weaker results were obtained for LS BMD. Our data suggest that high serum DHEAS at baseline is associated with less bone loss at both FN and LS and this association diminishes over time. The nature of the association is unclear, but such an association implies that, in managing BMD loss, women might benefit from maintaining a high level of DHEAS.",
"corpus_id": 1478291
} | {
"title": "Low Levels of Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate in Younger Burnout Patients",
"abstract": "Objective Dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEA-s) is an anabolic protective hormone of importance for maintenance of health. DHEA-s levels peak in young adults and decline thereafter with age. DHEA-s has previously been shown to be lower in individuals reporting prolonged stress. This study investigates DHEA-s levels in patients with clinical burnout, a disorder caused by long-term psychosocial stress. Methods 122 patients (51% men) and 47 controls (51% men) in the age 25–54 years were included in the study. DHEA-s levels were compared between patients and controls in the whole sample and within each of the three 10-year-interval age groups. Results In the youngest age group (25–34 years), DHEA-s levels were on average 25% lower in the patients (p = 0.006). The differences in DHEA-s levels between patients and controls were more pronounced among female than male participants (on average 32% and 13% lower, respectively). There were no differences in DHEA-s levels between patients and controls in the age group 35–44 years (p = 0.927) or 45–54 years (p = 0.897) or when analyzing all age groups together (p = 0.187). Conclusion The study indicates that levels of the health promoting “youth” hormone DHEA-s are low in younger burnout patients. The fact that younger adults have much higher DHEA-s levels and more pronounced inter-subject variability in DHEA-s levels than older individuals might explain why burnout status differentiates patients from controls only among the youngest patients included in this study.",
"corpus_id": 11680391
} | {
"title": "Androgenic activity of dehydroepiandrosterone and androstenedione in the rat ventral prostate.",
"abstract": "In order to assess the androgenic potency of physiological plasma concentrations of the adrenal steroids dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and androstenedione (delta 4-dione) in the rat prostate, these two steroids were released from Silastic tubings of appropriate length and size in castrated male rats. Implants of DHEA led to plasma levels of DHEA and 5-androsten-3 beta,17 beta-diol covering the range of concentrations found in adult men while no significant change was observed in plasma levels of delta 4-dione, testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT). delta 4-Dione implants, on the other hand, led to a parallel increase in plasma delta 4-dione and testosterone levels at all doses used while plasma DHT only increased at supraphysiological doses of delta 4-dione. At plasma concentrations comparable to those found in adult men; delta 4-dione (0.8 ng/ml) and DHEA (3.4 ng/ml) stimulated prostate weight 3.7- and 2.1-fold, respectively. In the same groups, prostatic DHT levels were elevated at 4.48 +/- 0.05 and 2.70 +/- 0.73 ng/g tissue, respectively. A close parallelism was observed between prostatic DHT levels and prostatic weight in all groups. The present data show that in the rat, a species having no significant secretion of adrenal androgens, plasma concentrations of DHEA and delta 4-dione maintained within the range of those found in adult men are efficiently converted into DHT and act as potent androgenic stimuli in prostatic tissue. The castrated rat bearing Silastic implants releasing constant and predetermined amounts of adrenal steroids offers a good model to study the recently identified role of adrenal steroids in peripheral tissues.",
"corpus_id": 26786376,
"score": 2
} |
{
"title": "Practical considerations and nuances in anesthesia for patients undergoing deep brain stimulation implantation surgery",
"abstract": "The field of functional neurosurgery has expanded in last decade to include newer indications, new devices, and new methods. This advancement has challenged anesthesia providers to adapt to these new requirements. This review aims to discuss the nuances and practical issues that are faced while administering anesthesia for deep brain stimulation surgery.",
"corpus_id": 3073114
} | {
"title": "The effects of frequency in pallidal\ndeep brain stimulation for primary dystonia",
"abstract": "Abstract.The effect of stimulation frequency for pallidal deep\nbrain stimulation in five patients with either generalized or\nsegmental dystonia was evaluated three to twelve months\npostoperatively via a randomized, double-blind paradigm. The\nquality of life and the severity of dystonic symptoms improved\nby approximately 60% and 43% respectively using a frequency of\n130 Hz. Compared with 130 Hz a significant further clinical\nimprovement was observed at frequencies of 180 and 250 Hz, which\ncontrasted with a significant deterioration at lower frequencies\n(5, 50 Hz) compared to 130 Hz.",
"corpus_id": 8014735
} | {
"title": "Deep brain stimulation of the corpus luysi (subthalamic nucleus) and other targets in Parkinson's disease. Extension to new indications such as dystonia and epilepsy",
"abstract": "Abstract Chronic high frequency (130 Hz) stimulation (HFS) of the thalamic target Vim, first used in our group in 1987 as a treatment of tremor of various origins, has been used over the last ten years in 137 patients. Since 1993, this method has been extended to two other targets (subthalamic nucleus (STN): 137 patients and the medial pallidum (GPi): 12 patients), based on recent experimental data in rats and monkeys. STN appears to be a target of major interest, able to control the three cardinal symptoms and to allow the decrease or suppression of levodopa treatment, which then also suppresses levodopa induced dyskinesias. The stereotactic technique is based on the determination of the target using ventriculography, MRI and electrophysiology, with both microrecording of single neuron activity and microstimulation inducing therapeutic symptom suppression and side effects. Chronic electrodes are then placed bilaterally at the best physiologically defined location and then connected to implantable stimulators (either 2 Itrel II or the new double channel Kinetra), operated at 130–185 Hz, 60 ms pulse width, 2.5 to 3.5 volts. There was no operative mortality and permanent morbidity was observed in 3 patients. The mechanisms of action of HFS are not fully understood, but are definitely related to high frequency and are probably different depending on the target. Inhibition of cellular activity or of neural network functions could be induced, by jamming of a retroactive loop for tremor, or by shutdown of neurotransmitter release in STN. Mechanisms within an individual target are also probably different for tremor or for other symptom alleviation. All cardinal symptoms are alleviated from tremor to akinesia and rigidity. This strong improvement allows the decrease of the drug dosage to approximately 30 % of the preoperative level, which suppresses the levodopa-induced dyskinesias. The off period dystonias are also suppressed as well as freezings and falls. The effects remain stable over more than 5 years and in the same period, the off stimulation-off medication UPDRS remains stable and does not increase at the usual rate The low rate of permanent complications, the minor side effects and their immediate reversibility, the possibility of bilateral implantation in one session and the long-term persistence of symptom relief are strong arguments which support chronic HFS of STN as the method of choice when a surgical procedure is indicated for the treatment of Parkinson's disease and even more when a bilateral procedure is necessary. Recent data show that STN stimulation could be useful in the treatment of dystonia as well as some forms of epilepsy. It is therefore possible that DBS in STN as well as in other targets could become a potent therapeutic tool in the near future for neurological disorders.",
"corpus_id": 46554748,
"score": 2
} |
{
"title": "Cross-tenant trust models in cloud computing",
"abstract": "Most cloud services are built with multi-tenancy which enables data and configuration segregation upon shared infrastructures. Each tenant essentially operates in an individual silo without interacting with other tenants. As cloud computing evolves we anticipate there will be increased need for tenants to collaborate across tenant boundaries. This will require cross-tenant trust models supported and enforced by the cloud service provider. Considering the on-demand self-service feature intrinsic to cloud computing, we propose a formal cross-tenant trust model (CTTM) and its role-based extension (RB-CTTM) integrating various types of trust relations into cross-tenant access control models which can be enforced by the multi-tenant authorization as a service (MTAaaS) platform in the cloud.",
"corpus_id": 488195
} | {
"title": "A Logical Language for Expressing Authorizations",
"abstract": "A major drawback of existing access control systems is that they have all been developed with a specific access control policy in mind. This means that all protection requirements (i.e. accesses to be allowed or denied) must be specified in terms of the policy enforced by the system. While this may be trivial for some requirements, specification of other requirements may become quite complex or even impossible. The reason for this is that a single policy simply cannot capture the different protection requirements that users may need to enforce on different data. In this paper, we take a first step towards a model that is able to support different access control policies. We propose a logical language for the specification of authorizations on which such a model can be based. The Authorization Specification Language (ASL) allows users to specify, together with the authorizations, the policy according to which access control decisions are to be made. Policies are expressed by means of rules which enforce the derivation of authorizations, conflict resolution, access control and integrity constraint checking. We illustrate the power of our language by showing how different constraints that are sometimes required, but very seldom supported by existing access control systems, can be represented in our language.",
"corpus_id": 16074832
} | {
"title": "Patterns of Data-Infused Business Model Innovation",
"abstract": "Business models have been a concept widely discussed over the last 20 years. The increasing availability of data and the growing capability to exploit them with analytics has sparked a new set of discussions, though: it is claimed that data and analytics bring to bear entirely new \"data-based\" or \"data-driven\" business models. However, there is neither a common understanding of these business models nor of the ways existing business models are transformed into those. This paper aims to create a coherent framework and common understanding of the infusion of business models by data and analytics. Contrasting popular views, our conceptual analysis reveals that there are no data-driven business models per se, instead, the utilization of data and analytics opens a \"continuum\" of transformation options for business models. We identify five distinct patterns in which the use of data may alter the business model, illustrate them with representative case studies and evaluate the patterns analyzing a sample of 115 industry business models. This paper will contribute to the fundamental understanding of how the use of data and the application of analytics may trigger business model innovation. The identified patterns will provide guidance to practitioners on how to utilize (big) data and analytics, in particular to draw attention to those that still seem underutilized for innovation. The developed pattern concept will also open up a broad agenda for future research.",
"corpus_id": 18811712,
"score": -1
} |
{
"title": "Intracellular calcium changes associated with cholinergic nicotinic receptor activation in cultured myenteric plexus neurones",
"abstract": "Intracellular free calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) was measured in cultured explants of myenteric plexus neurones by using the fluorescent calcium indicator Indol in combination with patch-clamp techniques. The basal [Ca2+]i was 94 nM and spontaneous oscillations in the internal free calcium concentration were recorded. These oscillations were associated with bursts of action potentials triggered by spontaneous nicotinic excitatory synaptic potentials. Under voltage clamp conditions, application of the selective nicotinic agonist m-hydroxyphenylpropyl-trimethylammonium iodide (10 microM) induced an inward current and increased the intracellular free calcium concentration. We conclude that cholinergic synaptic excitatory activity provide a regular calcium entry in myenteric neurone and suggest that the nicotinic channel might be significantly permeable to calcium.",
"corpus_id": 1156090
} | {
"title": "Multiple mechanisms of fast excitatory synaptic transmission in the enteric nervous system.",
"abstract": "The enteric nervous system (ENS) can control gastrointestinal function independent of direct connections with the central nervous system. Enteric nerves perform this important function using multiple mechanisms of excitatory neurotransmission in enteric ganglia. Fast excitatory synaptic transmission in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) is largely mediated by acetylcholine (ACh) acting at nicotinic cholinergic receptors but in the ENS there are noncholinergic fast excitatory neurotransmitters. There are two broad types of neurons in the ENS: S neurons and AH neurons. S neurons are interneurons and motoneurons while AH neurons are sensory neurons. Three subsets of S neurons in the myenteric plexus can be distinguished on the basis of the neurotransmitters producing fast excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSPs) in each subset. In one subset, fEPSPs are mediated solely by ACh acting at nicotinic cholinergic receptors. In a second subset of S neurons, ATP acting at P2X purine receptors and ACh contribute to the fEPSP while in a third subset, fEPSPs are mediated by 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) acting at 5-HT(3) receptors and ACh. Some AH neurons also receive fast excitatory synaptic input. The fEPSPs recorded from AH neurons are mediated ACh and also by glutamate acting at alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionate (AMPA) receptors. Multiple mechanisms of fast excitatory synaptic transmission in the ENS are likely to contribute to its capacity to regulate complex gastrointestinal functions.",
"corpus_id": 10396317
} | {
"title": "Optimal network implementable controllers for networked systems",
"abstract": "In this thesis, we study the problem of network implementable controllers for network distributed systems. Network distributed control problem gains importance by the increase in networked system applications in many areas which require network distributed control and estimation. By network implementable controller, we mean controller can be implemented over the given network with the predefined/given delay and sparsity constraints. We define all stabilizing controllers by re-interpreting plant and controller. We define a congruent stable plant of the original plant which is not necessarily stable, such that the controller of the congruent plant is linearly function of the original plant’s controller. When we put structural constraints on all stabilizing controllers of the stable congruent plant, these controllers embody controllers of the main plant. Therefore, all stabilizing controllers of the original plant are defined as all stabilizing controllers of the congruent plant with structural constraints. In the view of this problem, we obtain all stabilizing controller parametrization of the original plant wherein equality constraints are introduced on the Youla parameter. Moreover, we define a necessary and sufficient problem to attain a controller in the form of norm minimization problem benefiting formulated all stabilizing controller parametrization and provide a solution method for it. Moreover, we introduce a doubly-coprime factorization of blkdiag(Inx ,K) which allows us to have a network implementable state-space realization of a structured controller, K, which inherits sparsity and delay constraints introduced by the given network in z-domain, of a network distributed system with order nx. By network implementable state-space realization, we mean state-space realization can be expressed as a strictly causal interaction of some sub-systems over the given network. We call such structured controllers as network realizable controller, i.e. controllers whose network implementable state-space realization",
"corpus_id": 201143119,
"score": 0
} |
{
"title": "Neurofibromatosis with mandibular deformities.",
"abstract": "Abstract The occurrence of atypical mandibular deformities in a 17-year-old girl and her 50-year-old mother is described. Physical examination revealed multiple neurofibromatosis in both patients. Since there were no signs of neurofibromatous tumor growth in the surrounding tissues, the mandibular deformities must have been of congenital origin. Underdevelopment of the maxilla and zygoma on the involved side point to the influence of the growing mandible on the growth of the middle third of the face.",
"corpus_id": 1159305
} | {
"title": "Neurofibroma in the articular disc of the temporomandibular joint: a case report.",
"abstract": "In classical Von Recklinghausen neurofibromatosis (Type I), skeletal defects occur as a result of abnormalities of derivatives of the neuroectoderm and mesoderm. Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders caused by neurofibroma in the joint capsule or disc have not been reported previously in the English language literature. A case of neurofibroma in the TMJ articular disc in a 29-year-old woman with neurofibromatosis Type I is presented.",
"corpus_id": 1033526
} | {
"title": "Primary Cutaneous Carcinosarcomas: A Morphological Histogenetic Concept Revisited",
"abstract": "Abstract:To present and define diagnostic criteria for primary cutaneous carcinosarcomas (CSs). Neoplasms of 6 patients with primary cutaneous CSs were retrospectively analyzed. A panel of histopathologic parameters and immunophenotypic expression of distinct markers of differentiation were investigated. All cases had medium-to-poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma representing the epithelial component intermingled with a variable amount of malignant sarcomatous tissue proliferation. The authors identified 3 distinct morphological criteria for the diagnosis of primary cutaneous CSs with features of (1) a clearly defined dual neoplasm with explicit morphological characterization using histology and immunohistochemistry with distinct marker panels while, (2) metastases from distant sites and true collision neoplasms must be excluded, and (3) recognition of the neoplasm as a solid coherent proliferation with careful exclusion of sarcomatous stromal changes in the surrounding neoplasm stroma has to be assured. The low incidence of this entity and a plethora of different synonymous terms in the dermatopathologic literature often cause diagnostic problems and hamper the accurate comparative analysis of cases published previously. Herein, the authors propose defining criteria and a clearly defined morphological approach to contribute to more accurate dermatopathologic diagnoses and provide an unprecedented summary on this neoplastic entity.",
"corpus_id": 2862197,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "An enhanced approach on handling missing values using bagging k-NN imputation",
"abstract": "Researchers in the database community have aroused great interest in handling high dimensional data sets for the past decades. Today's business captures inundate sets of data which includes digital documents, web pages-customer databases, hyper-spectral imagery, social networks, gene arrays, proteomics data, neurobiological signals, high dimensional dynamical systems, sensor networks, financial transactions and traffic statistics thereby generating massive high dimensional datasets. DNA microarray paves methods in identifying different expression levels of thousands of genes during biological process. The problem with microarrays is to measure gene expression from thousands of genes (features) from only tens of hundreds of samples. Microarray data often contain several missing values that may affect subsequent analysis. In this paper, a novel approach on imputation using k-NN with bagging method is proposed to handle missing value. The experimental result shows that the proposed method outperforms other methods in terms of distance and density of clusters. The proposed approach has enhanced the performance of traditional k-NN impute using bagging method.",
"corpus_id": 836341
} | {
"title": "Missing Value Imputation and Normalization Techniques in Myocardial Infarction",
"abstract": "Missing Data imputation is an important research topic in data mining. In general, real data contains missing values. The presence of the missing value in the data set has a major problem for precise prediction. The objective of this paper is to highlight possible improvement of existing algorithm for medical data. KNBP imputation method based on KNN and BPCA is proposed and evaluate MSE and RMSE estimates. Normalization is done by comparing three algorithms namely min-max normalization, Z-score and decimal scaling. The experiment is done with standard bench mark data and real time collected data. KNBP imputation method and Decimal Scaling Algorithm for Normalization got lower error rate.",
"corpus_id": 65061884
} | {
"title": "Crystal structure determination of anandite-2M mica",
"abstract": "Abstract Anandite, a trioctahedral mica, has an ideal chemical formula of Ba(FeMg)3(SiFe3+)O10(OH)S and a microprobe-derived formula of (Ba0.96K0.03Na0.01)Σ=1.00(Fe2+2.01Mg0.46Fe3+0.28Al0.10Mn3+0.04Mn2+0.04 Ti0.01)Σ=2.93(Si2.60Fe3+1.40)Σ=4.00O10[(OH)0.96S0.84Cl0.16F0.04]Σ=2.00, where S2- primarily substitutes for (OH)-. A single-crystal, X-ray structure determination of anandite-2M was refined to R1 = 0.0443 and wR2 = 0.1232 on F2 in space group Am. Cell parameters are: a = 5.4431(3), b = 9.4719(6), c = 20.042(1) Å, and β = 95.046(1)°. Layer stacking is analogous to a 1M stacking pattern (parallel unidirectional a/3 shifts within layers and octahedral set I only occupied), however cation order and (S,OH) positional disorder produce a two-layer repeat with β equaling ~95°. Subgroup symmetry of Am results from tetrahedral sheets within layers that are non-centrosymmetric with unequal compositions (Si0.61Fe3+0.39 vs. Si0.79Fe3+0.21) and thicknesses (difference of 0.209 Å), and there is positional and site-occupancy disorder (four sites with S of 0, 30, 52, and 58%) of (S,OH). Characteristics of anandite-2M, which are similar to those of anandite-2O, include (1) alternation of smaller tetrahedral rings containing four Si-rich tetrahedra (T1a: 1.643 Å, T2b: 1.657 Å) and two Fe3+-rich tetrahedra (T2a: 1.733 Å, T1b: 1.760 Å) and larger rings containing four Fe3+-rich tetrahedra and two Si-rich tetrahedra within each layer; (2) nearly in-phase wave forms of basal O atoms across the interlayer (Δz = -0.110 and 0.011 Å and across the interlayer Δz = -0.121 and 0.007 Å); and (3) attraction that results in Ba being shifted toward S (0.070 Å) and S being shifted toward Ba (0.117 Å average) along the c axis, relative to the ideal. Bond-valence calculations show that Ba is shifted toward the undersaturated, bridging-basal O atoms of the Fe3+-rich tetrahedra and toward S-rich sites to achieve charge balance. Comparison of anandite-2M and anandite-2O shows that they possess unit cells (2M setting) that have nearly equal a axes, unequal b and c axes, and β (anandite-2M is smaller by 0.0371 Å, larger by 0.08 Å, and smaller by 0.089°, respectively). Moreover, anandite-2O exhibits larger Fe3+-rich tetrahedral rings than anandite-2M, which allow for a greater shift in Ba (difference of 0.03 Å). The ordering and consequent absence of a twofold axis in anandite-2M allows the in-phase wave structure of basal O atoms, which was previously thought only possible in the orthorhombic P cell.",
"corpus_id": 95205453,
"score": 0
} |
{
"title": "Effect of Age on Diurnal Changes of 24-Hour QT Interval Variability",
"abstract": "QT interval on the surface electrocardiogram (ECG) reflects the time for repolarization of myocardium and prolongation of QTc is strongly associated with sudden cardiac death. Studies using novel techniques on beat-to-beat QT interval variability (QTV) have shown that it is influenced by the autonomic nervous system and is a predictor of sudden cardiac death. In this study, we examined the awake and sleep changes in QTV in 39 normal adults (mean age, 35 years) and 10 children (mean age, 11 years) using 24-hour ECG records. We obtained eight 5-minute segments of ECG sampled at 1000 Hz from the 24-hour records. Our results show that there is a diurnal variation of QTvm, detrended QT interval variance corrected for mean QT, and QTvi, an index of QTvm divided by heart rate variability corrected for mean heart rate. There was a significant increase in mean QT during sleep, whereas there was a significant decrease in QTvm and QTvi. QTvi significantly increased during the early morning hours. There were significant but modest correlations between the average 24-hour and awake QTvi and age (p < 0.01). There were also decreased low-frequency and high-frequency powers of QT during sleep. Coherence between heart rate and QT interval fluctuations in the range of 0–0.5 Hz, and especially in the high-frequency range (0.15–0.5 Hz), was significantly lower in adults than in children (p < 0.0002). These findings demonstrate diurnal fluctuations in ventricular repolarization lability. We speculate that these effects may relate to changes in cardiac autonomic function and may contribute to the well-known diurnal variation in the incidence of ventricular arrhythmias.",
"corpus_id": 3178508
} | {
"title": "Temporal repolarization lability in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy caused by beta-myosin heavy-chain gene mutations.",
"abstract": "BACKGROUND\nCertain genetic mutations associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) carry an increased risk of sudden death. QT variability identifies patients at a high risk for sudden death from ventricular arrhythmias. We tested whether patients with HCM caused by beta-myosin heavy-chain (beta-MHC) gene mutations exhibit labile ventricular repolarization using beat-to-beat QT variability analysis.\n\n\nMETHODS AND RESULTS\nWe measured the QT variability index and heart rate-QT interval coherence from Holter monitor recordings in 36 patients with HCM caused by known beta-MHC gene mutations and in 26 age- and sex-matched controls. There were 7 distinct beta-MHC gene mutations in these 36 patients; 9 patients had HCM caused by the malignant Arg(403)Gln mutation and 8 patients had HCM caused by the more benign Leu(908)Val mutation. The QT variability index was higher in HCM patients than in controls (-1.24+/-0.17 versus -1. 58+/-0.38, P<0.01), and the greatest abnormality was detected in patients with the Arg(403)Gln mutation (-0.99+/-0.49 versus -1. 46+/-0.43 in controls, P<0.05). In keeping with this finding, coherence was lower for the entire HCM group than for controls (P<0. 001). Coherence was also significantly lower in patients with the Arg(403)Gln mutation compared with controls (P<0.05).\n\n\nCONCLUSIONS\nThese findings suggest that (1) patients with HCM caused by beta-MHC gene mutations exhibit labile repolarization quantified by QT variability analysis and, hence, may be more at risk for sudden death from ventricular arrhythmias, and (2) indices of QT variability may be particularly abnormal in patients with beta-MHC gene mutations that are associated with a poor prognosis.",
"corpus_id": 21542830
} | {
"title": "Prevalence of cervical cancer and associated mortality in Grenada, 2000-2010.",
"abstract": "Objective To assess cervical cancer prevalence and associated mortality in Grenada, West Indies during 2000-2010. Methods Records of visits to hospital and clinical facilities were obtained from the histopathology laboratory of the Grenada General Hospital. Records were de-identified and electronically compiled. Cervical cancer prevalence was assessed via cross-sectional analysis of this secondary data. Of a total 12 012 records, 2 527 were selected for analysis using sampling without replacement. Cases were matched to corresponding patient data from death registries, where possible, and used to calculate associated mortality rates. Results The observed prevalence of cervical cancer was 52.4 per 100 000 women (ages 15 and above). The highest rates of cervical cancer occurred in the 35-44 age group, with the second highest among 45-64-year-olds. A total of 65 deaths were attributable to cervical cancer during 2000-2010, more than 50% of which were among women > 65 years old. The observed mortality rate was 16.7 per 100 000, almost twice the rate estimated by WHO for the region. Conclusions This study demonstrates the need for a comprehensive cervical cancer-screening program in Grenada. Results should contribute to informing future studies on how to appropriately generate and execute public health policy for education, screening, prevention, and control of cervical cancer in Grenada.",
"corpus_id": 3891723,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "Minimal Binary Abelian Codes of length $p^m q^n$",
"abstract": "We consider binary abelian codes of length $p^m q^n$, where $p$ and $q$ are prime rational integers under some restrictive hypotheses. In this case, we determine the idempotents generating minimal codes and either the respective weights or bounds of these weights. We give examples showing that these bounds are attained in some cases.",
"corpus_id": 175139
} | {
"title": "Group algebras and coding theory",
"abstract": "Group algebras have been used in the context of Coding Theory since the beginning of the latter, but not in its full power. The article of Ferraz and Polcino Milies entitled Idempotents in group algebras and minimal abelian codes (Finite Fields Appl 13(2):382–393, 2007) gave origin to many thesis and papers linking these two subjects. In these works, the techniques of group algebras are mainly brought into play for the computing of the idempotents that generate the minimal codes and the minimum weight of such codes. In this paper I present a survey on the main results proceeding from applications of that seminal work.",
"corpus_id": 117643372
} | {
"title": "The History of Mathematics",
"abstract": "In the figure above, AA′ is a side of a 2-gon circumscribed about the circle. CC ′ is a side of a 2-gon, BC and B′C ′ are half of such sides. Consider the segment ABM. You want to prove that segment(BCM) < 1 2 segment(ABM). To this end, compare the triangles ABC and BCM ; note that they have the same height above AM . If you can prove that AC > CM , you have won (why?) But AC > CM follows from the fact that BC = CM and the right angle at B.",
"corpus_id": 4095971,
"score": 2
} |
{
"title": "Pulmonary hypertension in systemic Lupus Erythematosus complicated by exposure to Dexfenfluramine",
"abstract": "Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a well recognized, albeit uncommon, complication of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and is characterized histologically by the presence of onionskin thickening of small arterioles. We described a 24 year-old female with SLE, complicated by pulmonary hypertension after a six-week exposure to dexfenfluramine, who died of acute myocardial infarction complicated with pneumococcal sepsis. Autopsy demonstrated pulmonary arteriolar thickening with severe sclerosis as well as the more advanced plexiform and angiomatoid lesions. Based on these findings, we hypothesize that in this case the use of dexfenfluramine, albeit for a relatively short period, exerted a synergistic effect on the predisposition to PAH already inherent in this patient with SLE.",
"corpus_id": 2730747
} | {
"title": "Ultrastructure of early plexogenic pulmonary arteriopathy",
"abstract": "A lung biopsy specimen from a young woman with the clinical features of primary pulmonary hypertension showed grade 2 plexogenic pulmonary arteriopathy. Electron microscopy revealed ‘dark’, electron‐dense smooth muscle cells in the inner part of the media of muscular pulmonary arteries. Many of these transformed myocytes had migrated into the lumens of pulmonary arteries and arterioles which they occluded. This migration of smooth muscle cells was associated with a substantial increase in the number of pulmonary endocrine cells in the bronchioles containing bombesin and calcitonin.",
"corpus_id": 23222015
} | {
"title": "A strict anaerobic extreme thermophilic hydrogen‐producing culture enriched from digested household waste",
"abstract": "Aims: The aim of this study was to enrich, characterize and identify strict anaerobic extreme thermophilic hydrogen (H2) producers from digested household solid wastes.",
"corpus_id": 539219,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "Equilateral hyperbolic zone plates: their use in the alignment of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer.",
"abstract": "An equilateral hyperbolic zone plate has been recorded by coherent superimposition of two cylindrical waves with coplanar foci. This zone plate has been used to align quickly and easily a Mach-Zehnder interferometer.",
"corpus_id": 8188667
} | {
"title": "Diffraction characteristics of phase shifted orthogonal zone plate: 3D focusing properties",
"abstract": "We are about to introduce a phase shifted orthogonal zone plate that is a special kind of orthogonal zone plate in which its phase profile is transversely and equally shifted along horizontal and vertical directions. It is demonstrated that the phase shift causes the focal spot to be split into four completely identical spots. It is also illustrated that the quadruplet spots are formed at the vertices of a square in which their separations are a function of a so called shifting parameter which manages the interval easily and accurately. As well as, we show that the spots are joined together at a given distance from the focus and generate a long depth focal spot. Theory and numerical simulations of focusing properties of the phase shifted orthogonal zone plate are presented, along with 3D representation. Simulation results are also verified by experiments.",
"corpus_id": 124184702
} | {
"title": "Decay of Wood and Wood-Based Products Above Ground in Buildings",
"abstract": "This paper is an overview of what we know about occurrence of wood decay above ground within buildings. It presents information concerning under what conditions decay may become established. In laboratory tests involving optimum moisture and temperature conditions for decay fungi, and direct contact with large quantities of specific well-developed decay fungi, substantial decay in small specimens of untreated wood of nondurable species can occur in a few weeks. The simultaneous occurrence of optimum conditions for decay and high degree of inoculation with mature decay fungi is probably very rare in buildings. However, spore germination also proceeds rapidly at optimum moisture and temperature conditions. For most decay fungi, optimum moisture conditions mean moisture contents above fiber saturation (usually around 25 to 30% mc,) but well below the waterlogged condition. Optimal temperatures for most decay fungi are in the range of 2 1 to 32°C, Untreated wood and wood-based products will not decay if intermittently wetted for short periods to moisture contents above fiber saturation or if wetted to such levels for periods of a few months when temperature is low. However, little is known in quantitative terms about decay development under fluctuating conditions. Moisture and temperature conditions are not expected to fluctuate appreciably behind external insulation and finish system (EIFS) claddings. Given this, we can find nothing in the research literature that would contradict the 20% wood moisture content rule for this application.",
"corpus_id": 52371903,
"score": 0
} |
{
"title": "Structural Health Monitoring of a Tall Building during Construction with Fiber Bragg Grating Sensors",
"abstract": "Fiber Bragg grating sensors demonstrate a great potential as a structural health monitoring tool for civil structures to ensure structural integrity, durability, and reliability. The advantages of applying fiber optic sensors to a tall building include their immunity to electromagnetic interference and their multiplexing ability to transfer optical signals over a long distance. In the work, fiber Bragg grating sensors, consisting of strain and temperature sensors, are applied to structural monitoring of an 18-floor tall building since the date of its construction. The strain transferring rate from host material to the fiber core is discussed and the calibration of packaged fiber Bragg grating sensor is presented. The main purposes of the investigation are monitoring temperature evolution history within concrete during the pouring and curing process, measuring variation of the main column strains on the underground floor while upper 18 floors were subsequently added on, and monitoring relative displacement between two foundation blocks. Fiber Bragg grating sensors have been installed and integrated continuously for more than five months. Monitoring results of temperature and strain are presented in the paper. Furthermore, temperature lag behavior between concrete and its surrounding air is investigated.",
"corpus_id": 11541089
} | {
"title": "Application of Tube-Packaged FBG Strain Sensor in Vibration Experiment of Submarine Pipeline Model",
"abstract": "Optical fiber sensors have received increasing attention in the fields of aeronautic and civil engineering for their superior ability to stand explosion, immunity to electromagnetic interference and high accuracy, especially fit for measurement applications in harsh environment. In this study, a nove1 FBC (filter Bragg grating) strain sensor, which is packaged in a 1.2 mm stainless steel tube with epoxy resin, is ties developed. Experiments are conducted on the universal material testing machine to calibrate its strain transferring characteristics. The sensor has the advantages of small size, high precision and flexible use, and exhibits promising potentials. Vise tubepackaged strain FBG sensors hare been applied to the vibration experiment of a submarine pipeline model. The strain measured with the FBG sensor agrees well with that measured with the electric resistance strain sensor.",
"corpus_id": 112857883
} | {
"title": "The statistics of polarization-dependent loss in a recirculating loop",
"abstract": "In this paper, we study the statistical distribution of the accumulated polarization-dependent loss (PDL) in a recirculating loop. The distribution is studied both via numerical simulations and with analytical theory and very good agreement is found between the two. In addition, we have experimentally obtained the probability density distribution for the PDL and, even in this case, we find good agreement with the predicted one. The mean accumulated PDL is found to grow linearly with the number of circulations N in contraposition to a straight-line system. Moreover, the statistical distribution tends to become uniformly distributed as N is increasing. Finally, the statistics of the PDL for a recirculating loop, when considering small values of PDL, is found to be equal to the statistics of the differential group delay for recirculating loops.",
"corpus_id": 28037587,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "Gravity from a Modified Commutator",
"abstract": "We show that a suitably chosen position-momentum commutator can elegantly describe many features of gravity, including the IR/UV correspondence and dimensional reduction (\"holography\"). Using the most simplistic example based on dimensional analysis of black holes, we construct a commutator which qualitatively exhibits these novel properties of gravity. Dimensional reduction occurs because the quanta size grow quickly with momenta, and thus cannot be \"packed together\" as densely as naively expected. We conjecture that a more precise form of this commutator should be able to quantitatively reproduce all of these features.",
"corpus_id": 6930144
} | {
"title": "Minimal length discretization and properties of modified metric tensor and geodesics",
"abstract": "We argue that the minimal length discretization generalizing the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, in which the gravitational impacts on the non–commutation relations are thoughtfully taken into account, radically modifies the spacetime geometry. The resulting metric tensor and geodesic equation combine the general relativity terms with additional terms depending on higher–order derivatives. Suggesting solutions for the modified geodesics, for instance, isn’t a trivial task. We discuss on the properties of the resulting metric tensor, line element, and geodesic equation.",
"corpus_id": 243860880
} | {
"title": "Technology strategy, governance structure and interdivisional coordination",
"abstract": "Abstract This paper studies how various organizational forms compare in their capacities to solve coordination problems created by technological interdependence between firms' divisions. I contrast the organizational mechanisms used by two firms, IBM and General Motors, to address these problems. While it is widely recognized that centralization distorts incentives facing division managers, this paper highlights its benefits when there are large potential gains from agreement on technological standards. The examples show how a centralized governance structure supported by lower-powered incentives facilitates interdivisional coordination. This suggests a refinement of the theory of organizational form based on how firms resolve the tensions between strategic planning and the measurement of organizational units' performances.",
"corpus_id": 154833353,
"score": 0
} |
{
"title": "Heat resistance of Listeria monocytogenes in vacuum packaged pasteurized fish fillets.",
"abstract": "The heat resistance of two strains of Listeria monocytogenes in sous-vide cooked fillets of cod and salmon was investigated. Fish sticks of 5 g were inoculated, vacuum-packed and heated at different combinations of time and temperature (58-80 degrees C). Time-temperature combinations allowing survival and time-temperature combinations at which the bacteria were destroyed, were used to determine D- and z-values. D-values were in the range of what has been published for other food products. D60-values were between 1.95 and 4.48 min depending on the strain and the fish. Both strains were one-four-times more heat resistant in salmon than in cod, showing the importance of the heating menstruum. This difference may be due to the higher fat content in salmon as compared to cod. Z-values were calculated to be 5.65 and 6.4 degrees C, respectively, for the two strains. The suitability of methods for heat resistance experiments and the survival of L. monocytogenes in sous-vide cooked fish fillets are discussed.",
"corpus_id": 4170186
} | {
"title": "Rates of Thermal Inactivation of Listeria monocytogenes in Beef and Fermented Beaker Sausage.",
"abstract": "Rates of thermal inactivation of a five-strain mixture of Listeria monocytogenes were determined in ground beef roast and fermented beaker sausage. Studies were also done on ground beef contaminated with L. monocytogenes Scott A from an experimentally infected cow. D-values for the five-strain mixture at 54.4, 57.2, 60.0, and 62.8°C were 22.4, 15.7, 4.47, and 2.56 min, respectively, for ground beef roast. D-values for fermented beaker sausage at 48.9, 51.7, 54.4, and 60.0°C were 98.6, 44.4, 20.1, 11.2, and 9.13 min, respectively. D-values for the single strain of L. monocytogenes mixture in ground beef from the infected cow were about two to four times less at equivalent temperatures than those of the five-strain L. monocytogenes mixture in ground beef roast. Results from the five-strain mixture indicate that L. monocytogenes is about four times more heat resistant that Salmonella in ground beef roast.",
"corpus_id": 102364055
} | {
"title": "Study of the chemical composition and antimicrobial activities of ethanolic extracts from roots of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi.",
"abstract": "Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (SBG), commonly named Huangqin, showed strong in vitro antimicrobial effects. However, limited research is available to systematically evaluate the effects of extraction methods on the phytochemical composition of SBG and its associated antimicrobial effects. In addition, limited studies have tested SBG as a natural antimicrobial agent on fresh produce such as tomatoes. In the current study, powered roots of SBG were extracted with 60, 80, and 100% ethanol, and their antiviral and antibacterial activities were evaluated. SBG ethanol extracts (SBGEEs) at 6.25 mg/mL showed limited antiviral activities against coliphage MS2 and hepatitis A virus. The SBG 80% ethanol extract (SBG80%EE) exhibited the lowest minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBC) against six foodborne pathogens. SBG80%EE had the highest contents of flavonoids and phenolic acids determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Among these bioactive compounds, ferulic acid had the lowest MIC and MBC values, 0.4 and 1.0 mg/mL, respectively, followed by baicalein and baicalin. Washing with SBG80%EE (12.5 mg/mL) resulted in >1 log reduction of Salmonella enterica serovars Typhimurium, Kentucky, Senftenberg, and Enteritidis on surface-inoculated grape tomatoes. None of SBGEE solutions changed the total phenolic content, color, or pH values of grape tomatoes. The quantification of these antimicrobial flavonoids and phenolic acids is important to maintain the quality and antimicrobial efficacy of SBG extracts. In addition, the application of SBG on tomatoes has provided valuable insights on the potential usage of this antimicrobial extract.",
"corpus_id": 19618062,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "Laparoscopic Appendectomy: Risk Factors for Postoperative Intraabdominal Abscess",
"abstract": "BackgroundLaparoscopic appendectomy (LA) has obtained wide acceptance over the last two decades. However, some studies suggest that there is an increased rate of intraabdominal abscess (IAA) when is compared with open appendectomy. Since postoperative IAA is associated with high morbidity, identifying predictive factors of this complication may help to prevent it. The aim of this study was to identify preoperative and intraoperative risk factors for IAA after LA.MethodsFrom January 2005 to June 2015, all charts of consecutive patients underwent to LA were revised. Demographics, clinical and intraoperative variables were analyzed. Independent risk factors for postoperative IAA were determined by logistic regression analysis.ResultsA total of 1300 LA were performed. The mean age was 34.7 (14–94) years. Two hundred and twenty-five patients (17.3%) had complicated appendicitis with perforation and peritonitis. The conversion rate was 2.3% (30 cases). The average hospital stay was 1.6 (0–27) days. There were 30 (2.3%) postoperative IAA. In the multivariate analysis, body mass index (BMI) >30 (p 0.01), leukocytosis >20,000/mm3 (p 0.02), perforated appendicitis (p < 0.001) and operative time >90 min (p 0.04) were associated with the development of postoperative IAA. There was no mortality in the series.ConclusionPatients with obesity, leukocytosis >20,000/mm3, perforated appendicitis and surgical time longer than 90 min have a higher chance of having a postoperative IAA. A close postoperative follow-up would be necessary in these situations in order to prevent and identify IAA after LA.",
"corpus_id": 791635
} | {
"title": "Intra and Postoperative Advantages of Laparoscopy in the Treatment of Complicated Appendicitis",
"abstract": "Abstract Aim: To determine and define the advantages of the laparoscopic appendectomy in the treatment of complicated appendicitis by comparing it with the open appendectomy. Material and Methods: In this prospective interventional clinical study we compared the intraoperative data and the postoperative outcome of 77 patients presented with complicated appendicitis, operated with open and laparoscopic appendectomy within a period of 20 months. One surgeon performed all of the laparoscopic procedures and two other senior surgeons performed the open procedures. Results: Operative time was shorter in the laparoscopic group (p = 0.033). Conversion rate was 2.3%. Overall postoperative morbidity was 25.97%. There was one operative revision due to postoperative small bowel obstruction in the laparoscopic group. Appendicular stump leakage occurred in one patient in the open group. One intra-abdominal abscess occurred in the laparoscopic group (p = 0.38). Wound infection occurred only in the open group (p = 0.018). Length of stay was shorter in the laparoscopic group (p = 0.0052). One patient from the laparoscopic group was readmitted. Conclusions: Laparoscopy is a reliable method in the treatment of complicated appendicitis. It offers a shorter operative time, low conversion rate, an acceptable rate of major postoperative complications and a shorter length of stay.",
"corpus_id": 250540238
} | {
"title": "An Evaluation of a Full-Access Underbody Forced-Air Warming System During Near-Normothermic, On-pump Cardiac Surgery",
"abstract": "BACKGROUND: A new underbody forced-air warming system is available for use during cardiac surgery. We tested the hypothesis combining underbody forced-air warming with standard thermal management would maintain intraoperative core temperature and reduce core temperature after-drop (largest decrease in core temperature in the 60 min after bypass) in patients undergoing near-normothermic cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). METHODS: Patients undergoing routine, nonemergent cardiac surgery were randomly assigned to routine thermal management (fluid warming and passive insulation, n = 30) or routine management supplemented by an active underbody forced-air system (n = 30; Arizant Healthcare Model 635, Eden Prairie, MN). Core body temperature was measured by bladder catheter at 15-min intervals during the perioperative period. Comparisons were made between groups for temperature before, during, and after CPB. RESULTS: Data from four patients were excluded for cause, leaving 29 patients in the routine management group and 27 patients in the forced-air group. Initial temperatures were similar, but temperatures in the forced-air group were higher than in the routine group at the start of CPB (36.3°C ± 0.6°C vs 35.7°C ± 0.7°C, P = 0.002). There were no differences between groups in the lowest temperatures during CPB (forced air, 35.5°C ± 1.5°C vs routine, 35.3°C ± 1.3°C, P = 0.67); the end of CPB (36.7°C ± 0.4°C vs 36.6°C ± 0.4°C, P > 0.99); or the temperature at departure from the operating room (36.5°C ± 0.4°C vs 36.2°C ± 0.5°C, P = 0.36). After-drop was 0.03°C ± 0.54°C in patients randomized to underbody forced-air warming and 0.21°C ± 0.51°C in those assigned to routine management (P = 0.20). CONCLUSIONS: Adding an underbody forced-air warming system to the near-normothermic thermal management protocol significantly increased pre-bypass temperature; however, it had no further clinically important effect on core temperature.",
"corpus_id": 345172,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "Optimization and comparison of continuous and discontinuous Current Source Drivers for MHz boost PFC converters",
"abstract": "Comprehensive comparison of continuous and discontinuous Current Source Drivers (CSDs) are presented in terms of switching loss reduction and optimal design for MHz boost PFC converters. The advantages and disadvantages of the continuous and discontinuous CSDs are summarized based on the analysis and experimental results. Both of two drivers are able to achieve the functionality of the PFC boost converters. Overall, the discontinuous CSD achieve high efficiency over the continuous CSD owing to higher gate drive current. A 380V/200W output and 1-MHz boost PFC converter was built to verify the difference between these two types of the CSDs.",
"corpus_id": 15821757
} | {
"title": "Modeling and control of primary parallel isolated boost converter",
"abstract": "In this paper state space modeling and closed loop controlled operation have been presented for primary parallel isolated boost converter (PPIBC) topology as a battery charging unit. Parasitic resistances have been included to have an accurate dynamic model. The accuracy of the model has been tested by comparing the calculated and measured loop gains. The designed controller has been implemented in a DSP based control circuit and stable operation of the converter has been achieved.",
"corpus_id": 30346916
} | {
"title": "Neural Decoding of Visual Imagery During Sleep",
"abstract": "Visual imagery during sleep has long been a topic of persistent speculation, but its private nature has hampered objective analysis. Here we present a neural decoding approach in which machine-learning models predict the contents of visual imagery during the sleep-onset period, given measured brain activity, by discovering links between human functional magnetic resonance imaging patterns and verbal reports with the assistance of lexical and image databases. Decoding models trained on stimulus-induced brain activity in visual cortical areas showed accurate classification, detection, and identification of contents. Our findings demonstrate that specific visual experience during sleep is represented by brain activity patterns shared by stimulus perception, providing a means to uncover subjective contents of dreaming using objective neural measurement.",
"corpus_id": 848298,
"score": -1
} |
{
"title": "Formation of RuO(OH)(2) on RuO2-Based Electrodes for Hydrogen Production",
"abstract": "The catalytic and durable electrode coating of ruthenium dioxide (RuO2), applied on nickel (Ni) substrates, is today utilized as electrocatalytic cathodes for hydrogen production, e.g., in the chlor-alkali process and alkaline water electrolysis. The drawback is, however, the sensitivity to reverse currents obtained during power shutdowns, e.g., at maintenance, where the RuO2-based electrodes can be severely damaged unless polarization rectifiers are employed. Through the material characterization techniques X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, we can now reveal that RuO2 coatings, when exposed to hydrogen evolution at industrially relevant conditions, transforms into ruthenium oxyhydroxide (RuO(OH)(2)). The study further shows that as the hydrogen evolution proceeds the formed RuO(OH)(2) reduces to metallic ruthenium (Ru).",
"corpus_id": 8261231
} | {
"title": "Activation of Ruthenium Oxide, Iridium Oxide, and Mixed RuxIr1 − x Oxide Electrodes during Cathodic Polarization and Hydrogen Evolution",
"abstract": "Ruthenium, iridium, and mixed ruthenium/iridium oxide layers on titanium substrates have been obtained by thermal decomposition of chloride solutions. The decomposition temperature of RuO 2 and IrO 2 was varied from 300 to 500°C and from 400 to 500°C, respectively. That on the mixed Ru x Ir 1-x 0 2 layer was kept constant at 400°C. For the mixed oxide electrode, the Ru content was varied over the whole compositional range. Current-potential curves and cyclic voltammetry measurements were performed in 1 M H 2 SO 4 . It is shown that such oxide layers can be activated through cathodic polarization, leading to an increase of the electrocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution. The ratio between the current density at a given electrode potential before and after completion of the activation process or the ratio between the exchange current density before and after the completion of the activation process was used to quantify this activation phenomenon. Values as high as 100 have been observed in some cases, but typical values are around ten. Through a series of specific measurements and comparison with data taken from the literature, it is shown that this activation phenomenon is not related to an increase of the electrochemically active surface area as determined through cyclic voltammetry measurements. An explanation is proposed whereby H-chemisorption within the oxide layer is ultimately responsible for the increase of the electrocatalytic activity of the oxide layer.",
"corpus_id": 96273209
} | {
"title": "Some important properties of strandboard manufactured from bamboo",
"abstract": "Bamboo has received increasing attention as an alternative raw material for use in the manufacture of composite boards. Random strandboards were made using a moso bamboo (Pyllostachys pubescent Mezel) strand to evaluate the effects of manufacturing parameters. Bamboo random strandboards were fabricated using phenol-formaldehyde resin with four dosage levels ranging from 4 to 10 percent, and five density levels ranging from 0.49 g/cm 3 to 0.81 g/cm . The mechanical properties and dimensional stability of bamboo strandboard were evaluated, and the results were summarized as follows. The bending properties and internal bond (IB) strength of the board increased with increasing density, showing a bilinear relation with an elbow at a density of 0.57 g/cm 3 , where the compaction ratio was approximately unity. Similar results were obtained in wet conditions. IB strength retention after the boil treatment remained almost constant, regardless of board density. The bending properties were slightly affected by resin content (RC). Although the IB strength increased with RC, IB strength seemed insufficient in comparison with that required for practical performance, which suggests that the glue blending technology needs to be improved. Thickness swelling (TS) decreased with increasing RC at each step of the wet-dry cyclic treatment. The TS of a board with 8 percent RC was approximately 7 percent after the treatment. Linear expansion per unit moisture content change (LE/MC) increased with increasing density from 0.016 %/% at 0.49 g/cm 3 to 0.023 %/% at 0.81 g/cm 3 , while the effect of RC on LE/MC was not remarkable in this range of RC.",
"corpus_id": 138630419,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "Preparation and characterization of chitosan-polyvinyl alcohol blend hydrogels for the controlled release of nano-insulin.",
"abstract": "Chitosan (CS)-polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) blend hydrogels were prepared using glutaraldehyde as the cross-linking agent. The obtained hydrogels, which have the advantages of both PVA and CS, can be used as a material for the transdermal drug delivery (TDD) of insulin. The nano-insulin-loaded hydrogels were prepared under the following conditions: 1.2g of polyethylene glycol, 1.5 g of CS, 1.2 g of PVA, 1.2 mL of 1% glutaraldehyde solution, 16 mL of water, and 40 mg of nano-insulin with 12 min of mixing time and 3 min of cross-linking time. The nano-insulin-loaded hydrogels were characterized using scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectrometry, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, and its mechanical properties were analyzed. The results show that all molecules in the hydrogel have good compatibility and they formed a honeycomb-like structure. The hydrogel also showed good mechanical and thermal properties. The in vitro drug release of the hydrogel showed that the nano-insulin accorded with Fick's first law of diffusion and it has a high permeation rate (4.421 μg/(cm(2)h)). These results suggest that the nano-insulin-loaded hydrogels are a promising non-invasive TDD system for diabetes chemotherapy.",
"corpus_id": 2128618
} | {
"title": "A case for introducing insulin early in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus",
"abstract": "Abstract Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) is characterized by insulin resistance and insulin deficiency. The majority of patients with type 2 DM will eventually require insulin therapy. The traditional paradigm for starting insulin has been to use it after therapy with oral antidiabetic agents has failed. However, changing this paradigm and introducing insulin therapy early in the course of treatment may have advantages beyond improving glycemic control. Objective: The goal of this article was to describe the rationale and potential benefits of using insulin therapy early in the course of type 2 DM. Methods: Materials used for this article were identified through a search of MEDLINE from 1966 to 2006. English-language articles were chosen using the search terms diabetes mellitus type 2, insulin resistance , and islets of Lanagerhans . Results: The pathogenesis of type 2 DM is characterized by 2 major processes: insulin resistance (which results in increased glucose Production by the liver and decreased glucose disposal by peripheral tissues) and a progressive irnpairment of β-cell function (which leads to a corresponding decline in insulin secretion with time). Studies in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 DM have shown that short-term intensive therapy with insulin that achieves near-normal glycemic control may lead to prolonged periods of good glycemic control, without the need for pharmacologic therapy. Early, aggressive use of insulin therapy may improve β-cell function, wrhich in turn could delay, halt, or even possibly reverse the natural progression of type 2 DM. Conclusions: With a more aggressive approach to starting and intensifying insulin therapy, patients may be more likely to achieve and maintain glycemic goals, thereby reducing the development of DM complications. Over time, this intervention may Icad to healthier and longer lives for patients with type 2 DM.",
"corpus_id": 72437437
} | {
"title": "How to include cooling in the EU Renewable Energy Directive? Strategies and policy implications",
"abstract": "Abstract The EU Renewable Energy Directive (RES-Directive) establishes a policy framework for the promotion of renewable energy in the EU. Under the framework of the RES-Directive, EU Member States have adopted national renewable energy action plans including sectorial targets for electricity, heating and cooling, and transport. While the RES-Directive outlines the methodology for calculating the renewable energy shares for electricity, heating and transport, it does not offer any indications on how to account for renewable cooling. Due to the lacking methodological guidelines, Member States can currently not report renewable cooling and cooling does therefore not play a role for target achievement. At the same time, the energy demand for cooling is growing rapidly and the inclusion of renewable cooling can potentially have a large impact on the renewable energy shares that Member States report. Based on an overview of available cooling technologies, this article explores various strategies for including cooling in the RES-Directive and investigates the impact on target achievement. We find that the potential impact of including cooling is considerable and conclude that ambitious minimum efficiency requirements are needed in order to maintain the ambition of the RES-Directive and to stimulate the development of policies to support low-carbon cooling technologies.",
"corpus_id": 159417187,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "High-efficient production of biobutanol by a novel Clostridium sp. strain WST with uncontrolled pH strategy.",
"abstract": "A novel Clostridium sp. strain WST isolated from mangrove sediments demonstrated its unique characteristics of producing high titer of biobutanol from low concentration of substrates via anaerobic fermentation. The strain is able to convert glucose and galactose to high amount of biobutanol up to 16.62 and 12.11 g/L, respectively, and the yields of 0.54 and 0.55 g/g were determined to be much higher than those from the previous reports on Clostridial batch fermentation. Moreover, the inherent strong regulatory system of strain WST also prompts itself to perform the fermentation process without any requirement of pH control. In addition to tolerance of high butanol concentration and negligible production of by-products (e.g., ethanol or acids), this strain has immense potential for the sustainable industry-scale production of biobutanol.",
"corpus_id": 4036166
} | {
"title": "Simultaneous Fermentation of Glucose and Xylose to Butanol by Clostridium sp. Strain BOH3",
"abstract": "ABSTRACT Cellulose and hemicellulose constitute the major components in sustainable feedstocks which could be used as substrates for biofuel generation. However, following hydrolysis to monomer sugars, the solventogenic Clostridium will preferentially consume glucose due to transcriptional repression of xylose utilization genes. This is one of the major barriers in optimizing lignocellulosic hydrolysates that produce butanol. Unlike studies on existing bacteria, this study demonstrates that newly reported Clostridium sp. strain BOH3 is capable of fermenting 60 g/liter of xylose to 14.9 g/liter butanol, which is similar to the 14.5 g/liter butanol produced from 60 g/liter of glucose. More importantly, strain BOH3 consumes glucose and xylose simultaneously, which is shown by its capability for generating 11.7 g/liter butanol from a horticultural waste cellulosic hydrolysate containing 39.8 g/liter glucose and 20.5 g/liter xylose, as well as producing 11.9 g/liter butanol from another horticultural waste hemicellulosic hydrolysate containing 58.3 g/liter xylose and 5.9 g/liter glucose. The high-xylose-utilization capability of strain BOH3 is attributed to its high xylose-isomerase (0.97 U/mg protein) and xylulokinase (1.16 U/mg protein) activities compared to the low-xylose-utilizing solventogenic strains, such as Clostridium sp. strain G117. Interestingly, strain BOH3 was also found to produce riboflavin at 110.5 mg/liter from xylose and 76.8 mg/liter from glucose during the fermentation process. In summary, Clostridium sp. strain BOH3 is an attractive candidate for application in efficiently converting lignocellulosic hydrolysates to biofuels and other value-added products, such as riboflavin.",
"corpus_id": 1756906
} | {
"title": "Anomie in the Ghetto: A Study of Neighborhood Type, Race, and Anomie",
"abstract": "Three inner-city neighborhoods in varying stages of racial change were surveyed. Contrary to previous studies, it was found that the Negro ghetto exhibited lower anomie that two other areas which were undergoing racial transition. It is suggested that the pattern of social organization of the ghetto may foster a normative system which leads to feelings of relative well-being, reflected in low anomie scores.",
"corpus_id": 7557126,
"score": 0
} |
{
"title": "Isolation, purification, and characterization of AgUCGalT1, a galactosyltransferase involved in anthocyanin galactosylation in purple celery (Apium graveolens L.)",
"abstract": "Main conclusionThis study showed that a galactosyltransferase, AgUCGalT1, is involved in anthocyanin galactosylation in purple celery.Celery is a well-known vegetable because of its rich nutrients, low calories, and medicinal values. Its petioles and leaf blades are the main organs acting as nutrient sources. UDP-galactose: cyanidin 3-O-galactosyltransferase can transfer the galactosyl moiety from UDP-galactose to the 3-O-position of cyanidin through glycosylation. This process enhances the stability and water solubility of anthocyanins. In the present study, LC–MS data indicated that abundant cyanidin-based anthocyanins accumulated in the petioles of purple celery (‘Nanxuan liuhe purple celery’). A gene encoding UDP-galactose: cyanidin 3-O-galactosyltransferase, namely AgUCGalT1, was isolated from purple celery and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). Sequence alignments revealed that the AgUCGalT1 protein contained a highly conserved putative secondary plant glycosyltransferase (PSPG) motif. The glycosylation product catalyzed by AgUCGalT1 was detected using UPLC equipment. The recombinant AgUCGalT1 had an optimal enzyme activity at 35 °C and pH 8.0, and showed highest enzyme activity toward cyanidin among the enzyme activities involving other substances, namely, peonidin, quercetin, and kaempferol. The expression levels of AgUCGalT1 were positively correlated with the total anthocyanin contents in purple and non-purple celery varieties. Crude enzymes extracted from purple celery exhibited glycosylation ability, whereas crude enzymes obtained from non-purple celery did not have this ability. This work provided evidence as a basis for investigations on the function of AgUCGalT1 in anthocyanin glycosylation in purple celery.",
"corpus_id": 3804400
} | {
"title": "Changing Carrot Color: Insertions in DcMYB7 Alter the Regulation of Anthocyanin Biosynthesis and Modification1",
"abstract": "Insertion of a nonfunctional DcMYB7 duplication or transposons into the promoter region of DcMYB7 in nonpurple carrots blocks anthocyanin biosynthesis and modification. The original domesticated carrots (Daucus carota) are thought to have been purple, accumulating large quantities of anthocyanins in their roots. A quantitative trait locus associated with anthocyanin pigmentation in purple carrot roots has been identified on chromosome 3 and includes two candidate genes, DcMYB6 and DcMYB7. Here, we characterized the functions of DcMYB6 and DcMYB7 in carrots. Overexpression of DcMYB7, but not DcMYB6, in the orange carrot ‘Kurodagosun’ led to anthocyanin accumulation in roots. Knockout of DcMYB7 in the solid purple (purple periderm, phloem, and xylem) carrot ‘Deep Purple’ using the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 system resulted in carrots with yellow roots. DcMYB7 could activate the expression of its DcbHLH3 partner, a homolog of the anthocyanin-related apple (Malus × domestica) bHLH3, and structural genes in the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway. We determined that the promoter sequence of DcMYB7 in nonpurple carrots was interrupted either by DcMYB8, a nonfunctional tandem duplication of DcMYB7, or by two transposons, leading to the transcriptional inactivation of DcMYB7 in nonpurple carrot roots. As a result, nonpurple carrots fail to accumulate anthocyanins in their roots. Our study supports the hypothesis that another genetic factor suppresses DcMYB7 expression in the phloem and xylem of purple peridermal carrot root tissues. DcMYB7 also regulated the glycosylation and acylation of anthocyanins by directly activating DcUCGXT1 and DcSAT1. We reveal the genetic factors conditioning anthocyanin pigmentation in purple versus nonpurple carrot roots. Our results also provide insights into the mechanisms underlying anthocyanin glycosylation and acylation.",
"corpus_id": 195067039
} | {
"title": "Exploration for native parasitoids of Drosophila suzukii in China reveals a diversity of parasitoid species and narrow host range of the dominant parasitoid",
"abstract": "Drosophila suzukii is native to East Asia and an invasive pest of fruit crops widely established in the Americas and Europe. The lack of effective indigenous parasitoids of D. suzukii in the invaded regions prompted surveys for co-evolved parasitoids in Yunnan Province, China, from 2013 to 2016. From banana-baited traps (2013–2015), 458 parasitoids of drosophilids were reared, comprised of Braconidae (49.56%), Figitidae (37.55%), Diapriidae (7.42%), and Pteromalidae (5.46%). Larval parasitoids included seven braconid species, all Asobara and primarily Asobara mesocauda, and five figitid species, primarily Leptopilina japonica japonica. Pupal parasitoids were the diapriid Trichopria drosophilae and the pteromalid Pachycrepoideus vindemiae. Collections from wild fruits (2016) provided more interesting results. From the puparia of drosophilids collected, comprised of D. suzukii and Drosophila pulchrella, emerged 1354 parasitoids. The larval parasitoids Ganaspis brasiliensis and L. j. japonica were the prevalent species, reaching a fairly high percentage parasitism of fly puparia collected from berries of Rubus foliosus (22.35%), R. niveus (18.81%), Fragaria moupinensis (19.75%), and Sambucus adnata (63.46%). Ganaspis brasiliensis was the dominant species and was collected only from D. suzukii and D. pulchrella-infested fruits and never from banana-baited traps. Molecular analysis showed two G. brasiliensis lineages, which are discussed with respect to previous Japanese collections. Quarantine tests showed that G. brasiliensis developed from D. suzukii and two closely related hosts (Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans) but did not develop from seven non-target drosophilid species. Our results suggest that G. brasiliensis is a promising classical biocontrol agent for release in invaded regions.",
"corpus_id": 54476223,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "Evaluation of driving attentiveness through usage of fuzzy inference",
"abstract": "This paper presents an evaluation of driving attentiveness by using Fuzzy Inference based on the driver's gaze when driving. Two cameras are used respectively to capture images in front of the driving car and to capture images of the driver's face in order to calculate the coordinates of the objects in front of the car and the driver's eye sight angle by using image processing. There are many kinds of inattentive driving such as loss of concentration on the objects in front of the vehicle, looking aside or idly thinking of some other things while driving, where we are able to detect the inattentive driving by evaluating the movement of the driver's gaze. Driving data with and without task were taken through offline mode experiment by using driving simulator. The tasks are to influence the concentration of the driver when driving. As a result, with the Fuzzy Inference that we proposed, inattentive driving can be detected due to the significant difference evaluation result between attentive driving and inattentive driving.",
"corpus_id": 390584
} | {
"title": "Combined electrocardiogram and photoplethysmogram measurements as an indicator of objective sleepiness",
"abstract": "There is considerable interest in unobtrusive and portable methods of monitoring sleepiness outside the laboratory setting. This study evaluates the usefulness of combined electrocardiogram (ECG) and photoplethysmogram (PPG) measurements for estimating psychomotor vigilance. The psychomotor vigilance test (PVT) was performed at various points over the course of a day, and one channel each of ECG and PPG was recorded simultaneously. Features derived from ECG and PPG were entered into multiple linear regression models to estimate PVT values. A double-loop, subject-independent validation scheme was used to develop and validate the models. We show that features obtained from the RR interval were reasonably useful for estimating absolute PVT levels, but were somewhat inadequate for estimating within-subject PVT changes. Combined ECG and PPG measurements appear to be useful for predicting PVT values, and deserve further investigation for portable sleepiness monitoring.",
"corpus_id": 33075110
} | {
"title": "Adaptive load consumption modelling on the user side. Contributions to load forecasting modelling based on supervised mixture of experts and genetic programming",
"abstract": "This research work proposes three main contributions on the load forecasting field: the enhancement of the forecasting accuracy, the enhancement of the model adaptiveness, and the automatization on the execution of the load forecasting strategies implemented. On behalf the accuracy contribution, learning algorithms have been implemented on the basis of machine learning, computational intelligence, evolvable networks, expert systems, and regression approaches. \nThe options for increase the forecasting quality, through the minimization of the forecasting error and the exploitation of hidden insights and miscellaneous properties of the training data, are equally explored in the form of feature based specialized base learners inside of a modelling ensemble structure. Preprocessing and the knowledge discovery algorithms are also implemented in order to boost the accuracy trough cleaning of variables, and to enhance the autonomy of the modelling algorithm via non-supervised intelligent algorithms respectively. \nThe Adaptability feature has been enhanced by the implementation of three components inside of an ensemble learning strategy. The first one corresponds to resampling techniques, it ensures the replication of the global probability distribution on multiple independent training sub-sets and consequently the training of base learners on representatives spaces of occurrences. \nThe second one corresponds to multi-resolution and cyclical analysis techniques; through the decomposition of endogenous variables on their time-frequency components, major insights are acquired and applied on the definition of the ensemble structure layout. The third one corresponds to Self-organized modelling algorithms, which provides of fully customized base learner's. \nThe Autonomy feature is reached by the combination of automatic procedures in order to minimize the interaction of an expert user on the forecasting procedure. Experimental results obtained, from the application of the load forecasting strategies proposed, have demonstrated the suitability of the techniques and methodologies implemented, especially on the case of the novel ensemble learning strategy.",
"corpus_id": 65144887,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "Effect of Zinc Supplementation on Early Outcome of Neonatal Sepsis - A Randomized Controlled Trial",
"abstract": "ObjectiveTo find the effect of zinc supplementation on the outcome of neonatal sepsis at one month of age.MethodsThis randomized controlled trial was conducted in a tertiary care neonatal unit, enrolling neonates with clinical features of sepsis and positive blood culture or positive sepsis screening tests. The treatment group received 3 mg/kg/twice a day of zinc sulfate monohydrate orally for 10 d along with standard antibiotic therapy. The control group received standard antibiotic treatment without zinc. Samples were collected from both the groups before and after the treatment. Babies were monitored till discharge and followed up as out-patients till one month of age.ResultsDemographic characteristics were similar between the cases and controls. After 10 d of treatment, the mean serum zinc level between the two groups was 737.09 ± 219.97 vs. 801.26 ± 405.56, (p = 0.20). Outcome measures like days of hospital stay (15 vs. 15; p = 0.69) and mortality rate (4.5 % vs. 13.6 %; p = 0.27) were not found to be significantly different between the groups. At one month of age, more number of control neonates had abnormal neurological findings as compared to the zinc supplemented group [(P = 0.02); RR (95%CI) = 0.28 (0.11–0.73)].ConclusionsZinc supplementation in neonates with sepsis improves the neurological status at one month of age although the mortality reduction was not statistically significant.",
"corpus_id": 897225
} | {
"title": "You’d Better Zinc—Trace Element Homeostasis in Infection and Inflammation",
"abstract": "During recent years, we have witnessed a growing appreciation of several micronutrients in the immune response, including vitamins and minerals [...].",
"corpus_id": 201837422
} | {
"title": "Pilot scale treatment of textile wastewater by combined process (fluidized biofilm process-chemical coagulation-electrochemical oxidation).",
"abstract": "The performance of pilot scale combined process of fluidized biofilm process, chemical coagulation and electrochemical oxidation for textile wastewater treatment was studied. In order to enhance biological treatment efficiency, two species of microbes, which can degrade textile wastewater pollutants efficiently, were isolated and applied to the system with supporting media. FeCl3 x 6H2O, pH 6 and 3.25 x 10(-3) mol/l were determined as optimal chemical coagulation condition and 25 mM NaCl of electrolyte concentration, 2.1 mA/cm2 of current density and 0.71/min of flow rate were chosen for the most efficient electrochemical oxidation at pilot scale treatment. The fluidized biofilm process showed 68.8% of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and 54.5% of color removal efficiency, even though using relatively low MLSS concentration and short sludge retention time. COD and color removals of 95.4% and 98.5% were achieved by overall combined process. The contribution of fluidized biofilm process to the overall combined process was increased over 25.7% of COD reduction and 20.5% of color reduction by adopting support media in biological treatment. It can be thought that the fluidized biofilm process was effective, and pollutant loading on post-treatment was pretty much decreased by this system. This combined process was highly competitive in comparison to the other similar combined systems. It was concluded that this combined process was successfully employed and much effectively decreased pollutant loading on post-treatment for textile wastewater treatment at pilot scale.",
"corpus_id": 25712035,
"score": 0
} |
{
"title": "Chemiluminescence in the Decomposition of the Propyl Nitrates",
"abstract": "THE decomposition of the alkyl nitrates is chemically complex, and studies of the spontaneous ignition of methyl and ethyl nitrates have shown that this complexity is associated with a variety of visually distinct modes of inflammation. Thus methyl nitrate1–3 may undergo three different modes of decomposition : (1) slow decomposition unaccompanied by light; (2) chemiluminescent decomposition; and (3) explosive ignition. Sharp limits of pressure and temperature separate these different modes. Similar behaviour has been found for ethyl nitrate1,2.",
"corpus_id": 4254666
} | {
"title": "The alkyl nitrites: chemiluminescence in decomposition and related processes",
"abstract": "Chemiluminescence has been observed in the decomposition of methyl and ethyl nitrites. Their decomposition has been investigated in the temperature range 290 to 400° C and the critical pressure limit measured above which the luminescence accompanies decomposition. The properties of this luminescent mode have been established. It is affected by the nature of the surface; it is facilitated by increasing the temperature, by adding inert gases and by decreasing the surface/volume ratio of the reaction vessel. In the presence of oxygen or nitrogen dioxide luminescence occurs readily and explosive ignition is possible as well. Critical pressure limits for the two processes have been measured in mixtures with oxygen and with nitrogen dioxide. Nitrogen dioxide is more effective than oxygen in bringing about both luminescence and explosion. The existence of the luminescence has been used to elucidate the decomposition of the alkyl nitrates and nitrites. Experiments on stoicheiometrically similar mixtures—of methyl nitrite with nitrogen dioxide and methyl nitrate with nitric oxide—have confirmed the correctness of the initial steps RO—NO → RO + NO, RO—NO2 → RO + NO2, R = CH3, C2H5, etc., in the thermal decomposition of both nitrites and nitrates, and the luminescent mode shown by both families has been ascribed to the presence of the alkoxy radical RO. Values for the heats of formation ∆H°f of the radicals CH3O and C2H5O have been obtained. They are —0·5 and —9·0 kcalmole-1 respectively. These values are used to derive previously unknown bond dissociation energies (kcalmole-1) in compounds containing the alkoxy group. These include the oxygen-carbon bond in the alkoxy radical itself, D(R— O) = 92, the oxygen-carbon bond in the ethers, D(R—OR) = 77, and the oxygen-hydrogen bond in the alcohols, D(RO—H) = 99·5.",
"corpus_id": 96904043
} | {
"title": "A study of the structure of abraded metal surfaces",
"abstract": "Kramer and other workers have found that freshly abraded metal surfaces produced counts when placed beneath open Geiger-Müller tubes. It has also been shown that such surfaces give photo-electrons at wavelengths longer than the photo-electric threshold of the metal. The latter effect was investigated in the present work. The emission at different ranges of wavelength was studied for a number of freshly abraded metals. All the metals investigated give emission in the range 3000 to 3700 Å, while aluminium, magnesium and zinc gave emission also in the visible range. A strong emission peak was found at 4700 Å (2.64 eV) and a smaller peak at about 5200 Å. A broad band at 6000 to 7000 Å was also found to be present. The emission current increased as the square of the negative potential applied to the specimen, so that the ‘activity’ of a specimen, α, could be defined as counts min-1 V-2. The emission current also increased with the intensity of illumination. The decay of the emission peak at 4700 Å from abraded aluminium was studied in detail. When the specimen was kept in an inert atmosphere (argon), and in darkness, the decay followed the equation for a first-order reaction with a rate constant k1 = 1.5 x 10-5 s-1. Continuous illumination and flow of emission current increased the rate of decay. Unfiltered high-intensity illumination caused temporary fatigue of the emissive properties. When specimens were kept in atmospheres containing oxygen, decay was more rapid. The decay in the presence of oxygen was found to follow the equation αt = α0/(l + k2t)2, where αt denotes the activity, α0 the initial activity, t the time and k2 a rate constant which increased proportionally with the concentration of oxygen in the gas. The distribution of the activity in depth was investigated, and it was found that when an outermost ‘dead’ layer had been removed by etching, a layer of high activity was encountered, which extended to 5 to 10µ below the surface. The suggestion by other workers that the emissive properties derived from the metal and depended on exothermal processes was found untenable. Emission in the visible range, observed with metals which give ‘excess-metal’ oxides, is due to lattice imperfections in the oxide. The peak at 4700 Å is thought to be due to excited F'-centres (oxygen ion vacancies occupied by two electrons) which, when returning to the ground state, cause emission from shallow centres near the surface. The nature of the structures responsible for the other peaks and bands is yet uncertain.",
"corpus_id": 96759378,
"score": 2
} |
{
"title": "Addressing Common Student Technical Errors in Field Data Collection: An Analysis of a Citizen-Science Monitoring Project",
"abstract": "The scientific value of citizen-science programs is limited when the data gathered are inconsistent, erroneous, or otherwise unusable. Long-term monitoring studies, such as Our Project In Hawai’i’s Intertidal (OPIHI), have clear and consistent procedures and are thus a good model for evaluating the quality of participant data. The purpose of this study was to examine the kinds of errors made by student researchers during OPIHI data collection and factors that increase or decrease the likelihood of these errors. Twenty-four different types of errors were grouped into four broad error categories: missing data, sloppiness, methodological errors, and misidentification errors. “Sloppiness” was the most prevalent error type. Error rates decreased with field trip experience and student age. We suggest strategies to reduce data collection errors applicable to many types of citizen-science projects including emphasizing neat data collection, explicitly addressing and discussing the problems of falsifying data, emphasizing the importance of using standard scientific vocabulary, and giving participants multiple opportunities to practice to build their data collection techniques and skills.",
"corpus_id": 2915816
} | {
"title": "Opportunistic citizen science data of animal species produce reliable estimates of distribution trends if analysed with occupancy models",
"abstract": "Many publications documenting large-scale trends in the distribution of species make use of opportunistic citizen data, that is, observations of species collected without standardized field protocol and without explicit sampling design. It is a challenge to achieve reliable estimates of distribution trends from them, because opportunistic citizen science data may suffer from changes in field efforts over time (observation bias), from incomplete and selective recording by observers (reporting bias) and from geographical bias. These, in addition to detection bias, may lead to spurious trends. We investigated whether occupancy models can correct for the observation, reporting and detection biases in opportunistic data. Occupancy models use detection/nondetection data and yield estimates of the percentage of occupied sites (occupancy) per year. These models take the imperfect detection of species into account. By correcting for detection bias, they may simultaneously correct for observation and reporting bias as well. We compared trends in occupancy (or distribution) of butterfly and dragonfly species derived from opportunistic data with those derived from standardized monitoring data. All data came from the same grid squares and years, in order to avoid any geographical bias in this comparison. Distribution trends in opportunistic and monitoring data were well-matched. Strong trends observed in monitoring data were rarely missed in opportunistic data. Synthesis and applications. Opportunistic data can be used for monitoring purposes if occupancy models are used for analysis. Occupancy models are able to control for the common biases encountered with opportunistic data, enabling species trends to be monitored for species groups and regions where it is not feasible to collect standardized data on a large scale. Opportunistic data may thus become an important source of information to track distribution trends in many groups of species.",
"corpus_id": 83830261
} | {
"title": "Treatment of petroleum hydrocarbon polluted environment through bioremediation: a review.",
"abstract": "Bioremediation play key role in the treatment of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated environment. Exposure of petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment occurs either due to human activities or accidentally and cause environmental pollution. Petroleum hydrocarbon cause many toxic compounds which are potent immunotoxicants and carcinogenic to human being. Remedial methods for the treatment of petroleum contaminated environment include various physiochemical and biological methods. Due to the negative consequences caused by the physiochemical methods, the bioremediation technology is widely adapted and considered as one of the best technology for the treatment of petroleum contaminated environment. Bioremediation utilizes the natural ability of microorganism to degrade the hazardous compound into simpler and non hazardous form. This paper provides a review on the role of bioremediation in the treatment of petroleum contaminated environment, discuss various hazardous effects of petroleum hydrocarbon, various factors influencing biodegradation, role of various enzymes in biodegradation and genetic engineering in bioremediation.",
"corpus_id": 23854219,
"score": 0
} |
{
"title": "A Quaternion-Based Method for SINS/SAR Integrated Navigation System",
"abstract": "A new quaternion-based method for the SINS/SAR (strap-down inertial navigation system/synthetic aperture radar) integrated navigation system is presented. This method overcomes the shortcomings due to the linear SINS error model used in the currently existing SINS/SAR integrated navigation systems. A quaternion-based matrix is derived for describing the attitude of SINS. Quaternion-based nonlinear error and observation models are established for the SINS/SAR integrated navigation system. An adaptive unscented particle filtering (UPF) algorithm is developed based on the quaternion-based nonlinear models for optimal data fusion in the SINS/SAR integrated navigation system. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed quaternion based method can effectively reduce the navigation error and improve the navigational positioning precision.",
"corpus_id": 2219591
} | {
"title": "Realization of an autonomous integrated suite of strapdown astro-inertial navigation systems using unscented particle filtering",
"abstract": "Multisensor navigation data synthesis (MNDS) is the process of fusing outputs from inertial sensors with information from other sensors and information processing blocks into one representational form. This technique is anticipated to accomplish enhanced accuracy and more specific inferences than could be achieved by the use of a single sensor alone. Therefore, this research work expounds innovative filtering methodology for the multisensor navigation data synthesis for a ballistic missile application that augments navigation system performance. The premise and characteristics of strapdown inertial navigation system (SINS) integrated with the astronavigation system (ANS) based on the unscented particle filter (UPF) are investigated in this paper. Configuration of the integrated navigation system is presented with its canonical model, and system dynamic and stochastic models required for the filtering algorithm are presented. To exemplify integrated navigation filter mechanization is the foremost aspiration of this research. To validate and corroborate the designed MNDS technique, simulations are carried out that demonstrate the validity of this method on enhancing the navigation system's accuracy with estimation and compensation for the gyro's drift. This integrated system results in a significant reduction in impact-point dispersion of a re-entry vehicle.",
"corpus_id": 6982102
} | {
"title": "A Review of the Application of CNTs in PEM Fuel Cells",
"abstract": "Fuel cells are an important source of renewable energy technology and currently the subject of much research. Hydrogen gas, which is the main fuel source in fuel cells, is relatively easily available, and the exhaust does not consist of greenhouse gases, unlike fossil fuel-based power sources. Some of the challenges persisting in fuel cell technology are the cost of the fuel cell due to factors such as platinum catalyst loading and water management. This study reviews the use of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in fuel cell applications. CNTs have a large number of superior properties, including electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, mechanical strength, and ability to support catalysts by providing an increased surface area. Carbon nanotubes offer great promise for overcoming the problems of existing fuel cells. However, they still pose challenges of functionalization on components of the polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), namely the membrane electrode assembly (MEA), the gas diffusion layer (GDL), and the bipolar plates. This paper discusses various experimental techniques that have achieved success in this functionalization process. Application of CNTs in fuel cells is expected to improve fuel cell performance and efficiency and bring down the cost by reducing platinum (Pt) catalyst loading",
"corpus_id": 94080214,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "Oxymercuration-demercuration of car-3-ene",
"abstract": "The composition of the products of the oxymercuration-demercuration reaction of car-3-ene according to the degree of its transformation has been studied. It has been established that this reaction forms trans-caran-3-ol, α-terpineol, m-menth-6-en-8-ol, 3,4-epoxy-trans-carane, p- and m-1, 8-cineoles, p- and m-1,8-terpins, and terpene esters. It has been shown that the double bond of car-3-ene possesses a higher reactivity than the cyclopropane ring, and the opening of the latter takes place equally at both external bonds.",
"corpus_id": 4813237
} | {
"title": "Zur photosensibilisierten O2‐Übertragung auf (+)‐Caren‐(3)",
"abstract": "Die photosensibilisierte O2-Ubertragung auf (+)-Caren-(3) (1) fuhrt, nach Reduktion der dabei gebildeten Hydroperoxyde, zu drei optisch aktiven Allylalkoholen: ()-Caren-(2)-trans-ol-(4) (2), (+)-Caren-(4)-trans-ol-(3) (3) und ()-Caren-[4(10)]-trans-ol-(3) (4) im Verhaltnis von etwa 2:1:1. – Ebenso wie beim α-Pinen erfolgt auch beim Caren-(3) der Eintritt des Sauerstoffs ausschlieslich auf derjenigen Seite des Molekuls, die von der raumerfullenden Isopropylidengruppe abgewandt ist. Wahrend α-Pinen nur das trans-Pinocarveol liefert, werden bei Caren-(3) samtliche trans-Alkohole im angegebenen Verhaltnis gefunden, die nach dem fur die photosensibilisierte O2-Ubertragung auf Olefine geltenden Prinzip der „indirekt substituierenden Addition in der Allylstellung” zu erwarten sind. Das Ausbleiben der entsprechenden cis-Allylhydroperoxyde bzw. cis-Allylalkohole wird mit der sterischen Abschirmung durch die Isopropylidengruppe erklart.",
"corpus_id": 97315050
} | {
"title": "Molecular mechanism for osmolyte protection of creatine kinase against guanidine denaturation.",
"abstract": "The effects of osmolytes, including dimethysulfoxide, sucrose, glycine and proline, on the unfolding and inactivation of guanidine-denatured creatine kinase were studied by observing the fluorescence emission spectra, the CD spectra and the inactivation of enzymatic activity. The results showed that low concentrations of dimethysulfoxide (< 40%), glycine (< 1.5 m), proline (< 2.5 m) and sucrose (< 1.2 m) reduced the inactivation and unfolding rate constants of creatine kinase, increased the change in transition free energy of inactivation and unfolding (Delta Delta G(u)) and stabilized its active conformation relative to the partially unfolded state with no osmolytes. In the presence of various osmolytes, the inactivation and unfolding dynamics of creatine kinase were related to the protein concentrations. These osmolytes protected creatine kinase against guanidine denaturation in a concentration-dependent manner. The ability of the osmolytes to protect creatine kinase against guanidine denaturation decreased in order from sucrose to glycine to proline. Dimethysulfoxide was considered separately. This study also suggests that osmolytes are not only energy substrates for metabolism and organic components in vivo, but also have an important physiological function for maintaining adequate rates of enzymatic catalysis and for stabilizing the protein secondary and tertiary conformations.",
"corpus_id": 36259456,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF OIL AND GAS PRODUCTION AND MANAGEMENT ON THE GHANAIAN ECONOMY",
"abstract": "This paper offers a systematic analysis of the likely economic effectsof oil and gas production and management on the Ghanaian economy. Thepaper has been motivated by the fact that some empirical literature reportthat natural resource endowment has not necessarily led to economicdevelopment in many countries. It is with this apprehension of a possiblenatural resource curse in Ghana, having discovered oil in commercialquantities that the economic effects of oil and gas production andmanagement on the Ghanaian economy are worth considering. The paperprovides basic descriptive analysis of the issues under consideration. Itconcludes that oil and gas production in Ghana does not provide a magicwand to transforming the economy of Ghana overnight, but the efficientmanagement and application of the revenues from the sale of the resourceswill provide keys to economic development of Ghana. Again, to ensureefficient use of the revenues from the resources, the revenues must be spenton specific projects of urgent national importance that could generate morerevenue in the long run and stand the test of time so as to help posterity tohave a better judgment of the use of the resources find.",
"corpus_id": 152907922
} | {
"title": "Oil & gas value chain and local content role in aiding job creation and adding human resource value to the Omani economy",
"abstract": "Abundance of oil in the GCC has provided countries within the region with large amount of wealth. This has enabled countries in the GCC to achieve economic progress, especially in the 21st century. As one of the oil rich countries in the GCC, Oman has been economically dependent on oil and gas as a major source of its revenues for a long time. The Omani government has recognized how dependent the economy has been on the oil sector and is implementing a number of programs to help diversify development. The implementation of the In-Country Value (ICV), together with the country’s Local Workforce Development Programme has defined a curriculum that sets the required skills and standards not only within the oil and gas industry but also within other sectors. Thus, within the local content framework, the research finds it necessary to evaluate how the oil & gas value chain and local content play a vital role in job creation for the future. Through the descriptive and exploratory research carried out in gathering primary data and compiling the secondary sources to gain support of the analysis the study has presented the following findings: Gained a comprehensive understanding of job creation and added value within the context of Oman’s economy and determine how human resource development can impact the oil and gas sector. Brought forth the gaps that are present in the development of human resources and how government initiatives can bridge the gap to the advantage of the aggregate economy. And, Evaluated the extent to which the local content policies of the government have been achieved. This includes an evaluation of the incorporation of such policies and programs within the value chains within the various spheres of the Omani economy in terms of creating and adding human resource values in different economic domains. Based on the findings the study has furthermore recommended certain necessary factors which aims to bridge the gaps identified in implementing the policies and in practicing the Human Resource Development within organizations. Human resource development should be structured by private and public sector organizations in such a way which will produce welltrained professionals who will have the knowledge to strengthen cost-effectiveness in production. The government as well as the public enterprises should develop means to thrive innovation and creativity within its workforce, besides providing financial and security benefits. The private enterprises need to provide job security to the nationals which will encourage them to prefer the sector just as they are interested in working for the government. In order to utilize the potential of its nationals to the fullest thereby adding value to the economic domain, it is important for the government to formulate policies for diversification of workforces providing women and people with disabilities equal opportunities to project their potential and skills. Keywords: In-Country Value (ICV), Local Content, Omanization, Oil and Gas Industry, Government Initiatives, Oman",
"corpus_id": 157325668
} | {
"title": "Comparative analysis on the ecological compensation mechanisms in developed and developing countries",
"abstract": "Ecological compensation mechanism is an important way for dealing with the conflict between environmental protection and economic development,and ensuring the social justice in the environmental sector. According to comparative analysis,it points out that ecological compensation mechanisms in developed countries are based on efficient public finance systems and directly oriented to reduce the economic intensity in protected areas,while those in developing countries mostly tend to compensate the economic loss of protected areas through sustainable use of natural resources. Both mechanisms have their own limits in application. It's argued that China's ecological compensation mechanism should be combined with the rapid urbanization process,and directly oriented to reduce the economic intensity of protected areas.",
"corpus_id": 156865095,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "Physiotherapy as a Way to Maintain Vaginal Health during Menopause",
"abstract": "The majority of women will experience some or most of the menopause symptoms in their life. Thais time in women’s life is associated with a reduction in estrogen levels which leads to physiological changes that affect different organ systems. In the urogenital tract, these changes usually cause vulvar and vaginal atrophy, affecting a vaginal health of women and decreasing their quality of life. Also, there is a reduction in vaginal moisture and loss of tissue elasticity. Besides, other organ systems are involved and they can also negatively impact normal vaginal physiology. These evolutional changes frequently lead to bothersome symptoms that can negatively impact a woman’s vaginal health and the quality of life. The role of pelvic floor physiotherapy is to improve the tone and strength of the muscle fibres in order to achieve the increase of motor units, improve muscle elasticity and to increase the muscle mass which will help to alleviate menopause symptoms.",
"corpus_id": 3331634
} | {
"title": "Position of the Spanish Menopause Society regarding vaginal health care in postmenopausal women.",
"abstract": "Vaginal health, defined as the vaginal state in which the physiological condition remains stable, being protected from the onset of symptoms and facilitating a satisfying sex life, is one of the most common and less valued concerns in postmenopausal women. Many of the conditions that affect the vagina are related to its trophism and susceptibility to infection by unusual germs, which are phenomena strongly influenced by estrogen impregnation and the microbiota composition, ultimately affecting sexuality and the quality of life. An expert panel of the Spanish Menopause Society met to establish criteria for diagnosing and treating the processes that affect overall vaginal health and to decide the optimal timing and methods based on the best evidence available.",
"corpus_id": 28187669
} | {
"title": "A novel ring-based triple-push 0.2-to-34 GHz VCO in 0.13μm CMOS technology",
"abstract": "A novel ring-based triple-push voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) with a continuous range from 0.2 to 34 GHz is proposed and realized using a commercial 0.13-μm 1P8M CMOS process. The output power of the VCO is −18 dBm with only ±2 dB variation in the full band. The fundamental rejection is more than 15 dB, and the second harmonic rejection is more than 25 dB. This VCO achieves the widest continuous tuning range reported to date.",
"corpus_id": 111183482,
"score": 0
} |
{
"title": "How Affective Is a \"Like\"?: The Effect of Paralinguistic Digital Affordances on Perceived Social Support",
"abstract": "Abstract A national survey asked 323 U.S. adults about paralinguistic digital affordances (PDAs) and how these forms of lightweight feedback within social media were associated with their perceived social support. People perceived PDAs (e.g., Likes, Favorites, and Upvotes) as socially supportive both quantitatively and qualitatively, even without implicit meaning associated with them. People who are highly sensitive about what others think of them and have high self-esteem are more likely to perceive higher social support from PDAs.",
"corpus_id": 22724224
} | {
"title": "Loneliness, Self-Disclosure, and ICQ (\"I Seek You\") Use",
"abstract": "This study investigated the relationships between self-disclosure in ICQ (\"I seek you\") chat, level of loneliness, and ICQ usage. The Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale and the Revised Self-Disclosure Scale (RSDS) were administered to a multistaged stratified random sample of 576 college students. The results indicate that loneliness is not related to level of ICQ use, but inversely related to valence, accuracy, and the amount dimensions of self-disclosure in ICQ chat, and that ICQ usage is significantly related to control of depth and intent of disclosure. Specifically, it was found that the lonelier the student, the more dishonest, more negative, and the less revealing was the quality of the self-disclosure in their ICQ interaction. Conversely, appropriate, honest, positive, and accurate self-disclosure might lead to decreased loneliness when one feels understood, accepted, and cared about on ICQ. More important, as intimate relationships are based on high degrees of depth and intent of self-disclosure, heav...",
"corpus_id": 936285
} | {
"title": "Nonparametric Part Transfer for Fine-Grained Recognition",
"abstract": "In the following paper, we present an approach for fine-grained recognition based on a new part detection method. In particular, we propose a nonparametric label transfer technique which transfers part constellations from objects with similar global shapes. The possibility for transferring part annotations to unseen images allows for coping with a high degree of pose and view variations in scenarios where traditional detection models (such as deformable part models) fail. Our approach is especially valuable for fine-grained recognition scenarios where intraclass variations are extremely high, and precisely localized features need to be extracted. Furthermore, we show the importance of carefully designed visual extraction strategies, such as combination of complementary feature types and iterative image segmentation, and the resulting impact on the recognition performance. In experiments, our simple yet powerful approach achieves 35.9% and 57.8% accuracy on the CUB-2010 and 2011 bird datasets, which is the current best performance for these benchmarks.",
"corpus_id": 5791916,
"score": -1
} |
{
"title": "Emissions from forest fires near Mexico City",
"abstract": "The emissions of NO_x (defined as NO (nitric oxide) + NO_2 (nitrogen dioxide)) and hydrogen cyanide (HCN), per unit amount of fuel burned, from fires in the pine forests that dominate the mountains surrounding Mexico City (MC) are about 2 times higher than normally observed for forest burning. The ammonia (NH_3) emissions are about average for forest burning. The upper limit for the mass ratio of NO_x to volatile organic compounds (VOC) for these MC-area mountain fires was ~0.38, which is similar to the NO_x/VOC ratio in the MC urban area emissions inventory of 0.34, but much larger than the NO_x/VOC ratio for tropical forest fires in Brazil (~0.068). The nitrogen enrichment in the fire emissions may be due to deposition of nitrogen-containing pollutants in the outflow from the MC urban area. This effect may occur worldwide wherever biomass burning coexists with large urban areas (e.g. the tropics, southeastern US, Los Angeles Basin). The molar emission ratio of HCN to carbon monoxide (CO) for the mountain fires was 0.012±0.007, which is 2–9 times higher than widely used literature values for biomass burning. The ambient molar ratio HCN/CO in the MC-area outflow is about 0.003±0.0003. Thus, if only mountain fires emit significant amounts of HCN, these fires may be contributing about 25% of the CO production in the MC-area (~98–100 W and 19–20 N). Comparing the PM_(10)/CO and PM_(2.5)/CO mass ratios in the MC Metropolitan Area emission inventory (0.0115 and 0.0037) to the PM1/CO mass ratio for the mountain fires (0.133) then suggests that these fires could produce as much as ~79–92% of the primary fine particle mass generated in the MC-area. Considering both the uncertainty in the HCN/CO ratios and secondary aerosol formation in the urban and fire emissions implies that about 50±30% of the \"aged\" fine particle mass in the March 2006 MC-area outflow could be from these fires.",
"corpus_id": 481201
} | {
"title": "Evolution of anthropogenic pollution at the top of the regional mixed layer in the central Mexico plateau",
"abstract": "Evolution of anthropogenic pollution at the top of the regional mixed layer in the central Mexico plateau D. Baumgardner, M. Grutter, J. Allan, C. Ochoa, B. Rappenglueck, L. M. Russell, and P. Arnott Centro de Ciencias de la Atmósfera, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico School of Earth, Atmospheric & Environmental Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Dept., University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA Dept. of Physics, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA",
"corpus_id": 6425022
} | {
"title": "CLOSED FORMS: WHAT THEY ARE AND WHY WE CARE",
"abstract": "The term \\closed form\" is one of those mathematical notions that is commonplace, yet virtually devoid of rigor. And, there is disagreement even on the intuitive side; for example, most everyone would say that + log 2 is a closed form, but some of us would think that the Euler constant is not closed. Like others before us, we shall try to supply some missing rigor to the notion of closed forms and also to give examples from modern research where the question of closure looms both important and elusive. 1. Closed Forms: What They Are Mathematics abounds in terms which are in frequent use yet which are rarely made precise. Two such are rigorous proof and closed form (absent the technical use within dierential algebra). If a rigorous proof is \\that which 'convinces' the appropriate audience\" then a closed form is \\that which looks 'fundamental' to the requisite consumer.\" In both cases, this is a community-varying and epoch-dependent notion. What was a compelling proof in 1810 may well not be now; what is a",
"corpus_id": 2361405,
"score": 0
} |
{
"title": "Screening for zinc efficiency among wheat relatives and their utilisation for alien gene transfer",
"abstract": "Genetic diversity for micronutrient efficiency among the most highly adapted and advanced hexaploid and tetraploid wheat cultivars in the world is limited compared with alien species of wheat or rye. Therefore, screening for zinc efficiency was conducted in greenhouse experiments under controlled conditions, and in field trials. Different varieties of hexaploid wheat, hexaploid oats and diploid rye, together with hexaploid and octoploid triticales, wheat-Agropyron, wheat-Aegilops and several wheat-alien chromosome addition series were studied. Considerable differences in zinc efficiency were found between wheat and its relatives. Individual chromosomes of Secale, Agropyron and Haynaldia were found to carry major genes for this character. The transfer of alien chromosome segments was effective, demonstrated using several wheat-rye translocation lines. Alien genetic information was clearly expressed in the wheat genetic background. Further experimental introgressions by chromosome manipulation and marker-aided selection may efficiently contribute to wheat improvement in marginal soils.",
"corpus_id": 1214808
} | {
"title": "Strategies for transferring resistance into wheat: from wide crosses to GM cassettes",
"abstract": "The domestication of wheat in the Fertile Crescent 10,000 years ago led to a genetic bottleneck. Modern agriculture has further narrowed the genetic base by introducing extreme levels of uniformity on a vast spatial and temporal scale. This reduction in genetic complexity renders the crop vulnerable to new and emerging pests and pathogens. The wild relatives of wheat represent an important source of genetic variation for disease resistance. For nearly a century farmers, breeders, and cytogeneticists have sought to access this variation for crop improvement. Several barriers restricting interspecies hybridization and introgression have been overcome, providing the opportunity to tap an extensive reservoir of genetic diversity. Resistance has been introgressed into wheat from at least 52 species from 13 genera, demonstrating the remarkable plasticity of the wheat genome and the importance of such natural variation in wheat breeding. Two main problems hinder the effective deployment of introgressed resistance genes for crop improvement: (1) the simultaneous introduction of genetically linked deleterious traits and (2) the rapid breakdown of resistance when deployed individually. In this review, we discuss how recent advances in molecular genomics are providing new opportunities to overcome these problems.",
"corpus_id": 15896057
} | {
"title": "Zinc Concentrations and Forms in Plants for Humans and Animals",
"abstract": "Foods derived form plants are poorer sources of Zn for humans and monogastric animals when compared to those from animals because they can contain substances which interfere with the absorption and/or utilization (i.e., bioavailability) of Zn. Examples of these substances include phytic acid and certain types of fibre, especially fibre from whole cereal grains. However, these substances are also known to play important roles in either the life cycle of higher plants or possibly, in the prevention of several human diseases including heart disease and certain forms of cancer. Therefore, it is not wise to reduce the content of these substances in food crops or in diets without a more thorough understanding of their role(s) in plant growth or human health. Indeed, current recommended dietary goals for people in the United States advise that citizens double their daily consumption of foods high in fibre by eating twice as much whole cereal grain and legume seed products. Low molecular weight, soluble, anionic, Zn complexes comprise the majority of the naturally occurring forms of Zn in edible portions of food crops. Animal products contain higher concentrations of some substances which promote Zn bioavailability than do plant food products. Thus, it may be more desirable to increase the concentration of promoters of Zn bioavailability in plant foods than to reduce the level of antinutritive substances which interfere with the bioavialability of Zn. The nutritional quality of food crops, with respect to the Zn concentration in edible portions, can be increased significantly by applying available forms of Zn fertilizer to soils at levels in excess of those required for optimum plant growth.",
"corpus_id": 82049364,
"score": 2
} |
{
"title": "Three cases of facial erythema with dryness and pruritus in psoriasis patients during treatment with IL‐17 inhibitors",
"abstract": "Editor The development of psoriasis, a common, chronic inflammatory skin disease, significantly depends on interleukin (IL)-17. Anti-IL-17 inhibitors, such as ixekizumab (anti-IL-17A antibody), secukinumab (anti-IL-17A antibody) and brodalumab (anti-IL-17 receptor A (IL-17RA) antibody), exert excellent therapeutic effects on psoriasis. On the other hand, as IL-17 is an important cytokine for preventing fungal infections, skin sideeffects such as cutaneous candidiasis are occasionally seen during the administration of IL-17 inhibitors. Little is known, however, about the other skin side-effects of IL-17 inhibitors. Here, we report three cases of facial erythema with dryness and pruritus in patients with psoriasis during treatment with IL-17 inhibitors. Case 1. A 70-year-old man with psoriatic arthritis over 20 years ago was started on ixekizumab. After the start of ixekizumab, psoriatic lesions such as erythema and desquamation of the soles significantly improved. Six weeks after the ixekizumab was started, however, pruritic erythema with dryness appeared on his face (Fig. 1a). The facial lesions improved with a heparinoid ointment. Case 2. A 58-year-old woman who had been diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis seven years ago was started on brodalumab. Two months after the brodalumab treatment, her psoriatic lesions had drastically improved, but facial erythema with dryness and pruritus appeared eight weeks after the brodalumab was started (Fig. 1b). The facial lesions were treated with petrolatum and hydrocortisone butyrate and have been well controlled. Case 3. A 49-year-old man who had been diagnosed with psoriasis vulgaris four years ago was started on secukinumab. After the secukinumab treatment, the psoriatic lesions gradually improved; however, three weeks after the start of secukinumab, facial erythema with dryness and pruritus appeared (Fig. 1c). The facial lesions improved with petrolatum. We have experienced three cases of facial erythema with dryness and pruritus during psoriasis treatment with IL-17 inhibitors. As different kinds of IL-17 inhibitors provoked similar symptoms, it is likely that regulation of IL-17 signalling itself is involved in the development of the facial erythema. Although the means by which inhibition of IL-17 signalling caused such symptoms remains unknown, IL-17 may have protective roles in skin barrier functions as reported in a recent study using a mouse model of atopic dermatitis, and its inhibition may therefore cause dysfunction of skin barriers, leading to the development of facial erythema with dryness and pruritus. Inhibition of IL-17 may also shift the systemic immune response to T-helper (Th)2 type immune responses, which may cause skin barrier dysfunction and pruritus. Indeed, elevated expressions of Th2-cell-associated proteins such as IgE and eotaxin in the skin have been reported in a clinical study of patients with psoriasis treated with secukinumab. Although our observations are only from limited cases, these cases may shed new lights on the roles of IL-17 in the maintenance of skin homeostasis. In addition, clinicians should be aware of the possible occurrence of facial erythema with dryness and pruritus during the treatment with IL-17 inhibitors.",
"corpus_id": 791501
} | {
"title": "Alteration of serum thymus and activation‐regulated chemokine level during biologic therapy for psoriasis: Possibility as a marker reflecting favorable response to anti‐interleukin‐17A agents",
"abstract": "Biologics show great efficacy in treating psoriasis, a chronic inflammatory skin disease. The high cost and side‐effects of biologics, dose‐reduction, elongation of administration interval and suspension are possible options. However, there has been no reliable biomarker we can use when we consider these moderations in therapy. This study was conducted to test the possibility of using serum thymus and activation‐regulated chemokine (TARC) level as an indicator for step down of biologic therapy. Serum TARC level was measured in 70 psoriatic patients at Asahikawa Medical University, and a correlation of TARC and severity of skin lesions was analyzed. Referring to serum TARC level, psoriatic patients can be divided into two groups. One is a population in which serum TARC level is positively correlated with severity of skin lesions, and the other is a population with low psoriatic severity and high TARC level. Serum TARC level was higher in the group that achieved PASI‐clear with biologics than in the group which did not achieve PASI‐clear. Among biologics, the group treated with secukinumab, an anti‐interleukin (IL)‐17A agent, showed significantly higher TARC level compared with the group treated with anti‐tumor necrosis factor agents. In certain populations achieving PASI‐clear, serum TARC level may be a potent marker reflecting better response to IL‐17A inhibitors, and in this case step down of treatment for psoriasis is possible.",
"corpus_id": 4899255
} | {
"title": "Progressive activation of T(H)2/T(H)22 cytokines and selective epidermal proteins characterizes acute and chronic atopic dermatitis.",
"abstract": "BACKGROUND\nAtopic dermatitis (AD) is a common disease with an increasing prevalence. The primary pathogenesis of the disease is still elusive, resulting in the lack of specific treatments. AD is currently considered a biphasic disease, with T(H)2 predominating in acute disease and a switch to T(H)1 characterizing chronic disease. Elucidation of the molecular factors that participate in the onset of new lesions and maintenance of chronic disease is critical for the development of targeted therapeutics.\n\n\nOBJECTIVES\nWe sought to characterize the mechanisms underlying the onset and maintenance of AD.\n\n\nMETHODS\nWe investigated intrapersonal sets of transcriptomes from nonlesional skin and acute and chronic lesions of 10 patients with AD through genomic, molecular, and cellular profiling.\n\n\nRESULTS\nOur study associated the onset of acute lesions with a striking increase in a subset of terminal differentiation proteins, specifically the cytokine-modulated S100A7, S100A8, and S100A9. Acute disease was also associated with significant increases in gene expression levels of major T(H)22 and T(H)2 cytokines and smaller increases in IL-17 levels. A lesser induction of T(H)1-associated genes was detected in acute disease, although some were significantly upregulated in chronic disease. Further significant intensification of major T(H)22 and T(H)2 cytokines was observed between acute and chronic lesions.\n\n\nCONCLUSIONS\nOur data identified increased S100A7, S100A8, and S100A9 gene expression with AD initiation and concomitant activation of T(H)2 and T(H)22 cytokines. Our findings support a model of progressive activation of T(H)2 and T(H)22 immune axes from the acute to chronic phases, expanding the prevailing view of pathogenesis with important therapeutic implications.",
"corpus_id": 3950814,
"score": 2
} |
{
"title": "DJ-1 promotes the proteasomal degradation of Fis1: implications of DJ-1 in neuronal protection.",
"abstract": "Mutations in DJ-1/PARK7 (Parkinson protein 7) have been identified as a cause of autosomal-recessive PD (Parkinson's disease) and the antioxidant property of DJ-1 has been shown to be involved in the regulation of mitochondrial function and neuronal cell survival. In the present study, we first found that the DJ-1 transgene mitigated MPTP (1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine)-induced DA (dopamine) neuron cell death and cell loss. We then observed that the protein levels of DJ-1 were significantly decreased, whereas levels of Fis1 [fission 1 (mitochondrial outer membrane) homologue] were noticeably increased in the striatum of MPTP-treated mice. In addition to our identification of RNF5 (RING-finger protein-5) as an E3-ligase for Fis1 ubiquitination, we demonstrated the involvement of the DJ-1/Akt/RNF5 signalling pathway in the regulation of Fis1 proteasomal degradation. In other experiments, we found that Akt1 enhances the mitochondrial translocation and E3-ligase activity of RNF5, leading to Fis1 degradation. Together, the identification of Fis1 degradation by DJ-1 signalling in the regulation of oxidative stress-induced neuronal cell death supplies a novel mechanism of DJ-1 in neuronal protection with the implication of DJ-1 in a potential therapeutic avenue for PD.",
"corpus_id": 593229
} | {
"title": "Formation of a Stabilized Cysteine Sulfinic Acid Is Critical for the Mitochondrial Function of the Parkinsonism Protein DJ-1*",
"abstract": "The formation of cysteine-sulfinic acid has recently become appreciated as a modification that links protein function to cellular oxidative status. Human DJ-1, a protein associated with inherited parkinsonism, readily forms cysteine-sulfinic acid at a conserved cysteine residue (Cys106 in human DJ-1). Mutation of Cys106 causes the protein to lose its normal protective function in cell culture and model organisms. However, it is unknown whether the loss of DJ-1 protective function in these mutants is due to the absence of Cys106 oxidation or the absence of the cysteine residue itself. To address this question, we designed a series of substitutions at a proximal glutamic acid residue (Glu18) in human DJ-1 that alter the oxidative propensity of Cys106 through changes in hydrogen bonding. We show that two mutations, E18N and E18Q, allow Cys106 to be oxidized to Cys106-sulfinic acid under mild conditions. In contrast, the E18D mutation stabilizes a cysteine-sulfenic acid that is readily reduced to the thiol in solution and in vivo. We show that E18N and E18Q can both partially substitute for wild-type DJ-1 using mitochondrial fission and cell viability assays. In contrast, the oxidatively impaired E18D mutant behaves as an inactive C106A mutant and fails to protect cells. We therefore conclude that formation of Cys106-sulfinic acid is a key modification that regulates the protective function of DJ-1.",
"corpus_id": 205376050
} | {
"title": "Suppression of ethylnitrosourea-induced schwannoma development involves elimination of neu/erbB-2 mutant premalignant cells in the resistant BDIV rat strain.",
"abstract": "Contrary to the response of rats of the highly sensitive inbred strain BDIX, BDIV rats are resistant to the induction of malignant schwannomas by exposure to the alkylating N-nitroso carcinogen N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (EtNU). In BDIX rats, a point mutation at nucleotide 2012 in the transmembrane region of the neu/erbB-2 gene has proved to be a very early marker of initiated Schwann precursor cells with an elevated risk of malignant transformation, and is diagnostic of the resulting schwannomas. To gain insight into the cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for the resistance of the BDIV strain, comparative quantitative neu mutation analyses combined with histomorphological studies were performed on the trigeminal nerves of EtNU-treated BDIV and BDIX rats as well as on their (BDIX x BDIV) F1 progeny. It was found that neu-mutant Schwann cells are initially present at comparable frequency in the trigeminal nerves of both resistant and sensitive animals. Contrasting with the progressive multiplication of mutant Schwann cells in BDIX trigeminal nerves, however, the numbers of mutant cells began to decrease during the intermediary phase of the carcinogenic process in BDIV animals, and premalignant neu-mutant cells were no longer detectable by the time BDIX rats developed full-blown trigeminal schwannomas. The resistance of BDIV rats thus involves the elimination of initiated neu-mutant Schwann cells during the postinitiation period of EtNU-induced schwannomagenesis via mechanisms that remain to be clarified.",
"corpus_id": 6894668,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "A non‐radioactive protein truncation test for the sensitive detection of all stop and frameshift mutations",
"abstract": "A new method for mutation detection is described, which is a technical advancement of the protein truncation test. The new technique is non‐radioactive and highly sensitive for detection of virtually all sequence mutations, which lead to a stop signal or to the shift of the translation frame. The method includes four steps: 1) capture of the interesting sequence copies out of the sample by binding to an immobilized complementary sequence, 2) PCR amplification of the gene fragment to be analyzed with primers coding both for amino‐ and carboxy‐terminal tags, 3) in vitro transcription and translation, and 4) analysis of the translation products by Western blot. As an evaluation of the new method, we detected mutated gene copies at a dilution of 1 to 40 compared to the non‐mutated gene. Using the method, we were able to detect a mutation in the adenomatous polyposis coli tumor suppressor gene (APC) in a stool sample of a colorectal cancer patient. This mutation could not be detected by direct sequencing of the amplified APC gene fragment. Hum Mutat 19:165–172, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.",
"corpus_id": 1229935
} | {
"title": "Introduction of a myc reporter tag to improve the quality of mutation detection using the protein truncation test",
"abstract": "The protein truncation test is a useful method for identifying frameshift and nonsense mutations. The interpretation of real results is often made difficult by the presence of internally translated protein products and other nonspecific bands. To overcome these problems, the technique has been modified to include a myc reporter tag in the 5′ primer used to amplify the genomic region of interest. The myc tag is recognised by a monoclonal antibody, which can be used to manipulate the products of the protein truncation test using immunoprecipitation techniques. The presence of the myc tag also introduces a mechanism whereby the use of radioisotopes can be avoided, relying instead on the identification of newly synthesised proteins using Western blot technology. The myc‐tag modification can be integrated into all protein truncation tests, regardless of the gene being examined, with only one monoclonal antibody required for the immunoprecipitation purification and Western blotting. Hum Mutat 9:172–176, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.",
"corpus_id": 196604475
} | {
"title": "Critical Role of Groundwater Inflow in Sustaining Lake Water Balance on the Western Tibetan Plateau",
"abstract": "It is difficult to quantify the amount of groundwater inflow on the Tibetan Plateau (TP), yet it can be critically important for sustaining lake water balance. Here we show that most endorheic lakes on the western TP exhibited considerable water level increase during the ice‐covered period, which contrasts with lakes in other regions of the TP. An analysis of lake water balance attributes this water surplus to significant groundwater inflow, which is estimated to be about 59%–66% of total inflow into lakes. The groundwater inflow occurred after the 2000s, which is consistent with the rapid lake expansion and significant increase in precipitation. We suggest that the groundwater inflow is mainly related to large‐scale active faults in the limestone bedrock and sufficient meltwater from high elevations. Our results imply that groundwater may be deeply involved in the water cycle and modify the seasonal and inter‐annual lake variations on the western TP.",
"corpus_id": 252726741,
"score": 0
} |
{
"title": "On a Class of Support Vector Kernels Based on Frames in Function Hilbert Spaces",
"abstract": "There has been an increasing interest in kernel-based techniques, such as support vector techniques, regularization networks, and gaussian processes. There are inner relationships among those techniques, with the kernel function playing a central role. This article discusses a new class of kernel functions derived from the so-called frames in a function Hilbert space.",
"corpus_id": 5001662
} | {
"title": "Evaluating Local Contributions to Global Performance in Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks",
"abstract": "Wireless sensor networks are often studied with the goal of removing information from the network as efficiently as possible. However, when the application also includes an actuator network, it is advantageous to determine actions in-network. In such settings, optimizing the sensor node behavior with respect to sensor information fidelity does not necessarily translate into optimum behavior in terms of action fidelity. Inspired by neural systems, we present a model of a sensor and actuator network based on the vector space tools of frame theory that applies to applications analogous to reflex behaviors in biological systems. Our analysis yields bounds on both absolute and average actuation error that point directly to strategies for limiting sensor communication based not only on local measurements but also on a measure of how important each sensor-actuator link is to the fidelity of the total actuation output.",
"corpus_id": 11602530
} | {
"title": "Linear Model With Exact Inputs and Interval-Valued Fuzzy Outputs",
"abstract": "This paper considers the classical semiparametric partially linear model with exact inputs and interval-valued fuzzy outputs. For this purpose, the most commonly used classical two-phase procedure is extended to estimate an interval-valued fuzzy smooth function using nonparametric kernel methods at phase 1 and a least absolute deviation method at phase 2 to estimate the interval-valued fuzzy coefficients. A potential application of the proposed method is presented by a simulated data in hydrology study and an applied example. The proposed interval-valued semiparametric partially linear model is also examined to compare with the interval-valued fuzzy linear regression model via some extended goodness-of-fit criteria into the space of interval-valued fuzzy numbers.",
"corpus_id": 4562116,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "How Social Media Will Change Public Health",
"abstract": "Recent work in machine learning and natural language processing has studied the health content of tweets and demonstrated the potential for extracting useful public health information from their aggregation. This article examines the types of health topics discussed on Twitter, and how tweets can both augment existing public health capabilities and enable new ones. The author also discusses key challenges that researchers must address to deliver high-quality tools to the public health community.",
"corpus_id": 9541287
} | {
"title": "Social Media Analytics for Healthcare",
"abstract": null,
"corpus_id": 15853402
} | {
"title": "Transferring sentiment knowledge between words and tweets",
"abstract": null,
"corpus_id": 44052515,
"score": -1
} |
{
"title": "A Correlation Ratio for Possibility Distributions",
"abstract": "Generalizing the probabilistic correlation ratio we will introduce a correlation ratio for marginal possibility distributions of joint possibility distributions.",
"corpus_id": 1089973
} | {
"title": "On Possibilistic Dependencies: A Short Survey of Recent Developments",
"abstract": "Carlsson and Fuller introduced the notions of possibilistic mean value and variance of fuzzy numbers. Fuller and Majlender introduced a measure of possibilistic covariance between marginal distributions of a joint possibility distribution as the average value of the interactivity relation between the level sets of its marginal distributions. Fuller et al. introduced the possibilistic correlation ratio, the possibilistic correlation coefficient and the possibilistic informational coefficient of correlation. In this paper we give a short survey of some later works which extend and develop these notions.",
"corpus_id": 125210841
} | {
"title": "A subjective approach for ranking fuzzy numbers",
"abstract": "Abstract Starting from a subjective assignation of weights related to the relative importance of the different level sets, we define a new method of comparison of fuzzy numbers. This procedure is an extension of some well-known indices (Adamo, Tsumura et al., Yager). Some properties of our index are studied in this paper, as well as its behaviour on several particular cases.",
"corpus_id": 120368115,
"score": 2
} |
{
"title": "A rural development model with potential international applications",
"abstract": "Abstract A major project in rural planning and development was initiated in the eastern counties of Washington (State) beginning in 1976. The purpose was to merge several previous ‘model’ within a new conceptual framework incorporating collaboration among diverse organizations as a means of integrating development activity. Institutions of higher education, state and federal agencies, regional secondary education organizations, a regional educational laboratory, counties, and local communities, among other units, were drawn together initially as members of the partnership. A process was designed and implemented, based on contemporary findings of social science research, to systematically support ongoing interaction and collaboration in solving specific rural problems or bringing to realization new opportunities. The major thrust of this paper is to report results from the project, suggesting the broad applications of the findings to other rural regions in both developed and less developed nations.",
"corpus_id": 153324727
} | {
"title": "Rural Development and the Contribution of Psychology: A Review of the State of the Art",
"abstract": "Seventy per cent of the world poor population lives in rural areas. Despite efforts to eradicate poverty, results are limited. Rural development is a process to transform production and change institutions; but psychosocial obstacles exist. Our aim was to explore and describe the synergy of rural development and Psychology as presented in 111 papers published between 1985 and 2012. Selected papers on rural issues used psychological concepts such as perception, beliefs, decision, attitudes, and empowerment. Psychology may make useful contributions to territorial rural development.",
"corpus_id": 146448313
} | {
"title": "Rural poverty and ecological problems: Results of a new type of baseline study",
"abstract": "This baseline study used data from a informant survey of 76 rural communities in Central Tunisia to construct, first, measures of rural poverty and ecological deterioration and, second, indices of the major institutional complexes in the region. Using factor analysis, the study identified five institutional dimensions: services, religious institutions, mechanized agriculture, irrigated agriculture and sedentary herding. These dimensions were then used as independent variables in a regression analysis of the two social indicators with the results that sedentary herding and religious institutions (negative) predict ecological problems, and the same two dimensions, with the addition of services (negative) predict poor housing. Compared to household survey baselines, this one is less expensive, simpler to analyze and provides an analytic picture of the institutional structure, in relation to key indicators, of a region.",
"corpus_id": 143658612,
"score": 2
} |
{
"title": "On the Best Bandstructure for Thermoelectric Performance",
"abstract": "The conventional understanding that a bandstructure that produces a Dirac delta function transport distribution (or transmission in the Landauer framework) maximizes the thermoelectric figure of merit, ZT, is revisited. Thermoelectric (TE) performance is evaluated using a simple tight binding (TB) model for electron dispersion and three different scattering models: 1) a constant scattering time, 2) a constant mean-free-path, and 3) a scattering rate proportional to the density-of-states. We found that a Dirac delta-function transmission never produces the maximum ZT. The best bandstructure for maximizing ZT depends on the scattering physics. These results demonstrate that the selection of bandstructure to maximize TE performance is more complex than previously thought and that a high density-of-states near the band edge does not necessarily improve TE performance.",
"corpus_id": 7250095
} | {
"title": "Heat Transfer in Thermoelectric Materials and Devices",
"abstract": "Solid-state thermoelectric devices are currently used in applications ranging from thermocouple sensors to power generators in space missions, to portable air-conditioners and refrigerators. With the ever-rising demand throughout the world for energy consumption and CO2 reduction, thermoelectric energy conversion has been receiving intensified attention as a potential candidate for waste-heat harvesting as well as for power generation from renewable sources. Efficient thermoelectric energy conversion critically depends on the performance of thermoelectric materials and devices. In this review, we discuss heat transfer in thermoelectric materials and devices, especially phonon engineering to reduce the lattice thermal conductivity of thermoelectric materials, which requires a fundamental understanding of nanoscale heat conduction physics.",
"corpus_id": 14817204
} | {
"title": "Thermoelectric properties of bismuth telluride quantum wires",
"abstract": "Abstract Electrical and thermal properties of rectangular quantum wires of polycrystalline bismuth telluride have been investigated in the framework of the relaxation time approximation. Electrical conductivity, electronic thermal conductivity and thermopower have been obtained in the temperature range 200–600 K for two cross-sectional sizes (10 and 20 nm), and for different carrier densities at and around optimal doping levels. Finally the thermoelectric figure of merit has been estimated in the entire temperature range.",
"corpus_id": 98015736,
"score": 2
} |
{
"title": "Synthesis of a 2,4,6,8,10-dodecapentanoic acid thioester as a substrate for biosynthesis of Heat Stable Antifungal Factor (HSAF).",
"abstract": "The N-acetylcystamine (SNAC) thioester of dodecapentaenoic acid, an analog of a putative intermediate in the biosynthesis of Heat Stable Antifungal Factor (HSAF), is synthesized. Key steps include sequential Horner-Emmons homologations with the Weinreb amide of diethylphosponoacetic acid, and thioesterification of an aldol-derived 3-hydroxyalkanoate, which serves as a stable precursor of the sensitive polyenoate. The thioester was investigated as a biosynthetic substrate using a purified nonribosomal peptide synthetase and was not incorporated in the observed products.",
"corpus_id": 799809
} | {
"title": "Unusual acylation of chloramphenicol in Lysobacter enzymogenes, a biocontrol agent with intrinsic resistance to multiple antibiotics",
"abstract": "BackgroundThe environmental gliding bacteria Lysobacter are emerging as a new group of biocontrol agents due to their prolific production of lytic enzymes and potent antibiotic natural products. These bacteria are intrinsically resistant to many antibiotics, but the mechanisms behind the antibiotic resistance have not been investigated.ResultsPreviously, we have used chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene (cat) as a selection marker in genetic manipulation of natural product biosynthetic genes in Lysobacter, because chloramphenicol is one of the two common antibiotics that Lysobacter are susceptible to. Here, we found L. enzymogenes, the most studied species of this genus, could still grow in the presence of a low concentration of chloramphenicol. Three chloramphenicol derivatives (1–3) with an unusual acylation pattern were identified in a cat-containing mutant of L. enzymogenes and in the wild type. The compounds included chloramphenicol 3'-isobutyrate (1), a new compound chloramphenicol 1'-isobutyrate (2), and a rare chloramphenicol 3'-isovalerate (3). Furthermore, a mutation of a global regulator gene (clp) or a Gcn5-related N-acetyltransferase (GNAT) gene in L. enzymogenes led to nearly no growth in media containing chloramphenicol, whereas a complementation of clp restored the chloramphenicol acylation as well as antibiotic HSAF production in the clp mutant.ConclusionsThe results indicated that L. enzymogenes contains a pool of unusual acyl donors for enzymatic modification of chloramphenicol that confers the resistance, which may involve the Clp-GNAT regulatory system. Because Lysobacter are ubiquitous inhabitants of soil and water, the finding may have important implications in understanding microbial competitions and bioactive natural product regulation.",
"corpus_id": 35931042
} | {
"title": "Rb+ uptake by isolated pea mesophyll protoplasts in light and darkness",
"abstract": "Rb+ uptake into protoplasts isolated from the mesophyll of Pisum sativum L. cv. Dan has been followed at intervals of a few minutes in the light and in the dark. The progress curve for uptake in the dark decreased in slope after about 7 min; in the light, by contrast, the slope increased. This effect was more pronounced at pH 7 than at pH 5.5. The pH profile for uptake in the dark rose with increasing pH: in the light the profile flattened, or even fell somewhat, between pH 5.5 and pH 6.5, then rose again. In the dark the proton uncoupler carbonyl cyanide m-chlorphenylhydrazone (CCCP) had little or no effect, either at pH 5.5 or at pH 7.4; in the light CCCP was strongly inhibitory, particularly at pH 7.4. Increasing concentrations of CCCP produced progressively more and more severe inhibition in the light, but in the dark produced a slight rise in uptake. The ATPase inhibitors quercetin, rutin and diethyl-stilbestrol, as well as arsenate, all depressed uptake in the light, particularly at higher pH Dark uptake was sensitive only at pH 5.5, not at pH 7.4. In marked contrast to the case of methyl-3 glucose, where protoplasts which were switched from light to dark took up sugar at the accelerated light rate for the first 7 min in the dark, a switch to darkness produced a Rb+ uptake rate below that for protoplasts held continuously in the dark. It is inferred that the mechanism of Rb+ uptake does not involve proton cotransport. \n \n \n \nInformation regarding the membrane potential was obtained by following the distribution of tetraphenyl phosphonium (TPP+) between protoplasts and medium. The potential was more negative in the light than in the dark. It was also more negative at pH 7 than at pH 5 both in the light and in the dark. Treatment with CCCP produced no appreciable depolarization within the first 20 min, indicating thet the CCCP inhibition of Rb+ uptake in the light cannot be ascribed to a reduction in potential. An ATP-fueled K+ porter, or K+-H+ antiporter, seems the most likely explanation. The maintenance of the rising pH profile in the dark, despite the presence of a CCCP concentration which drastically inhibits light uptake, suggests that the profile does not depend on the operation of the proton pump.",
"corpus_id": 85657889,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "Behavioural measurement and drug response characteristics of unipolar and bipolar depression",
"abstract": "Synopsis This research is part of the NIMH-CRB Collaborative Study on the psychobiology of depression. The main objective of the research programme is to test hypotheses concerning the interaction of neurobiological mechanisms and behaviour in the depressive disorders. Part I of the report describes the rationale and the overall approach to measuring behavioural state and outcome in the research programme. Part II reports on the results of applying the behavioural methods to a comparison of the clinical phenomenology of unipolar and bipolar depression. The behavioural patterns expressed during the episode by the two groups are different. Further, the two types are shown to react differently to treatment with tricyclic drugs, reinforcing the thesis that they are qualitatively distinct forms of the depressive disorders.",
"corpus_id": 2573331
} | {
"title": "REPLICATION OF FACTORS OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY IN INTERVIEW, WARD BEHAVIOR AND SELF‐REPORT RATINGS OF HOSPITALIZED DEPRESSIVES",
"abstract": "In a prior study, we identified factors of psychopathology in the interview, ward behavior and self-report ratings of 124 depressed patients from 9 hospitals. The present study attempts to replicate these findings in a sample of 648 depressed patients from 10 hospitals. The criteria for patient selection and the factor analytic methods employed were identical in both studies. The major factors of psychopathology identified in the first study were replicated in the second study. Further, the loadings of the key items on these factors were highly similar in both studies. However, the factors in the second study encompassed a narrower range of psychopathology than those in the first. As a consequence, more factors were extracted for the same evaluation instruments in the second study. The 12 major categories of psychopathology discernible from these analyses were: 1) depressive mood, 2) feelings of guilt and worthlessness, 3) hostility, 4) anxiety-tension, 5) cognitive loss and subjective uncertainty, 6) interest and involvement in activities, 7) somatic complaints, 8) sleep disturbance, 9) retardation in speech and behavior, 10) bizarre thoughts and behavior, 11) excitement and 12) denial of illness. The break-up of some of the larger, global factors from the first study into smaller and more narrowly defined factors in the second study was a distinct asset in later efforts to discern the differential effects of various antidepressant drugs. The results from both studies also highlighted the advantages of using different rating instruments and sources of information about the patient. First, within a particular category of psycho-pathology, such as hostility, nuances of behavior across rating instruments would have been missed had we sampled only one aspect of patient behavior. Second, some categories of psychopathology, such as depressed mood, emerged as strong factors on certain rating instruments and were either poorly represented or absent on others.",
"corpus_id": 39730272
} | {
"title": "Rooting in Km selective media as efficient in vitro selection method for sunflower genetic transformation",
"abstract": "Despite of numerous publications in sunflower genetic transformation, there is no efficient or reproducible protocol with low number of escapes. The latter would indicate that the selection method is not effective. In this work we used Km as selective agent, Agrobacterium tumefaciens EHA105 strain and a vector with the nptII gene under the nos promoter and uidA gene under 35S promoter. The response of agroinfected ( A) and control ( C) explants during the in vitro culture was studied and in both cases in presence or absence of Km in order to assign a differential morphologic response between transformed and non-transformed plants. The characteristics analyzed were: height, colour/aspect of the plantlets, in vitro rooting and in vitro bud-flower development. Selection was applied from the third regeneration media. Among the A plantlets two were capable of rooting, being positive by PCR, whereas the C were unable to root in presence of Km. One of them gave 6 seeds and in these plants, it was determined the presence of the transgene by PCR and GUS staining. This work shows that in Km selection, colour/aspect of shoots is not useful as selection criteria whereas rooting is an effective selection method in which no escapes were obtained.",
"corpus_id": 18456960,
"score": 0
} |
{
"title": "Explicit Relationships in Object Oriented Development",
"abstract": "Traditional object oriented analysis methodolo-gies are based not only upon objects, but also upon relationships between objects. Object oriented programming languages do not provide support for relationships, and so analysis relationships must be expressed indirectly within a program's design, and then incorporated into implementations of other objects in a program's code. By using explicit relationships in design and implementation, analysis relationships can be expressed directly within a program's code. Programs which use explicit relationships are often smaller and easier to comprehend than traditional OO programs, and are generally quicker to write and easier to maintain.",
"corpus_id": 1050101
} | {
"title": "First-Class Relationships in an Object-Oriented Language",
"abstract": "In this paper we investigate the addition of first-class relationships to a prototypical object-oriented programming language (a “middleweight” fragment of Java). We provide language-level constructs to declare relationships between classes and to manipulate relationship instances. We allow relationships to have attributes and provide a novel notion of relationship inheritance. We formalize our language giving both the type system and operational semantics and prove certain key safety properties.",
"corpus_id": 951784
} | {
"title": "The skyblue constraint solver",
"abstract": "A constraint describes a relationship that should be maintained, for example that the equality A + B = C holds between three variables, that a set of displayed objects are aligned, or that the elements in a data structure are consistent with a graphic display of this structure. Constraint solvers have been successfully applied to problems in computer graphics including geometric design and user interface construction. This paper presents the SkyBlue constraint solver, an e cient incremental algorithm that uses local propagation to maintain sets of required and preferential constraints. SkyBlue is a successor to the DeltaBlue algorithm, which was used as the constraint solver in the ThingLab II user interface development environment. DeltaBlue has two limitations: cycles of constraints are prohibited, and the procedures used to satisfy a constraint can only have a single output. SkyBlue relaxes these restrictions, allowing cycles of constraints to be constructed (although SkyBlue may not be able to satisfy all of the constraints in a cycle) and supporting multioutput methods. The SkyBlue algorithm has been incorporated into Multi-Garnet, an extended version of the Garnet user interface development system that supports multi-way constraints. MultiGarnet has been used to build several user interfaces exploiting the features of SkyBlue that would have been di cult to build within Garnet. This paper describes the basic SkyBlue algorithm and outlines several techniques that signi cantly improve its performance for large constraint graphs. Performance measurements are presented demonstrating that SkyBlue is e cient enough to use in interactive user interfaces.",
"corpus_id": 61137985,
"score": 2
} |
{
"title": "Prognostic factors in extraovarian primary peritoneal carcinoma.",
"abstract": "OBJECTIVE\nTo determine the pathological, clinical, and therapeutic factors which had prognostic significance in women with extraovarian primary peritoneal carcinoma (EOPPC).\n\n\nMETHODS\nA retrospective, clinicopathologic study was conducted of 75 women diagnosed with EOPPC. Diagnosis and assessment of prognostic pathological factors were based on the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) criteria. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to assess the following factors for their effect on overall survival: age, parity, presenting symptoms and signs, ascites, CA 125 level, history of oophorectomy, maximum ovarian dimension, histologic type, architectural and nuclear grades, number of mitosis and psammoma bodies, depth of ovarian invasion, estrogen and progesterone receptors (positive, negative), p53 overexpression (present, absent), performance status (GOG criteria), stage (FIGO criteria for ovarian cancer), debulking surgery (optimal versus suboptimal), first-line chemotherapy (platin-based without paclitaxel versus platin/paclitaxel), secondary cytoreduction, and second-line chemotherapy (paclitaxel-based versus no paclitaxel).\n\n\nRESULTS\nThe median overall survival of all patients was 23.5 months (95% CI 18.6, 39.8 months). The 5-year survival was 26.5% (SE 6.7%). p53 overexpression and estrogen and progesterone receptor positivity were demonstrated in 42.4, 50.0, and 6.3%, respectively. In univariate analysis, performance status, primary debulking surgery, stage, and age were significant on overall survival (P < 0.001, <0. 001, 0.004, and 0.012, respectively). In multivariate analysis, only performance status (P < 0.001) and primary debulking surgery (P = 0. 03) were independent prognostic factors. Conclusions. Overall survival in women with EOPPC is affected significantly by performance status and primary debulking surgery as independent variables. To improve survival, efforts should be made to achieve optimal tumor cytoreduction at primary surgery.",
"corpus_id": 1738884
} | {
"title": "Extraovarian primary peritoneal carcinoma: staging with 18F-FDG PET/CT",
"abstract": "A 69-year-old woman who presented with left lower quadrant abdominal pain and elevated serum cancer antigen 125 (CA-125) levels was referred for an MRI and an 18F-FDG PET/CT to evaluate a suspicious abdominal mass seen on ultrasound. PET/CT showed extensive, intensely FDG-avid, omental and pelvic peritoneal thickening with no suspicious ovarian or colon masses. Based on the PET/CT results, the patient had extensive debulking surgery and histopathological evaluation revealed an extraovarian primary peritoneal carcinoma (EOPPC). 18F-FDG PET/CT may be useful in differentiating EOPPC from other types of peritoneal carcinomatosis, and in determining the extent of the disease to better guide surgical management and improve long term outcomes.",
"corpus_id": 572143
} | {
"title": "Papillary serous carcinoma of the retroperitoneum.",
"abstract": "We describe a retroperitoneal neoplasm in an 11-year-old girl which had a light microscopic appearance identical to that of papillary serous carcinoma of the ovary. There was no evidence of ovarian involvement. Immunohistochemical staining for amylase was positive within the cytoplasm of tumor cells. Since amylase is a marker for serous ovarian tumors, this finding supports the belief that \"ovarian-type\" neoplasms that occur at ectopic locations are essentially identical to their ovarian counterparts. We believe they originate from metaplasia of mesothelium. Our findings support the concept that these tumors should exhibit a biologic behavior and therapeutic response which are similar to those of an ovarian tumor of the same grade and comparable stage. The demonstration of intracytoplasmic amylase also may prove useful in differentiating peritoneal serous tumors from non-metaplastic mesothelial proliferations. We are unaware of a prior report of an extra-ovarian serous carcinoma in a child.",
"corpus_id": 10709411,
"score": 2
} |
{
"title": "False-negative HIV-1 polymerase chain reaction in a 15-month-old boy with HIV-1 subtype C infection.",
"abstract": "Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing is the gold standard for determining the HIV status in children <18 months of age. However, when clinical manifestations are not consistent with laboratory results, additional investigation is required. We report a 15-month-old HIV-exposed boy referred to our hospital after he had been admitted several times for infectious diseases. A rapid antibody test on the child was positive, while routine diagnostic HIV PCRs using the Roche COBAS Ampliprep/COBAS TaqMan HIV Qual Test were negative at 6 weeks, 6 months, 7 months and 15 months. In addition, the same PCR test performed on the HIV-infected mother was also negative. Alternative PCR and viral load assays using different primer sets detected HIV RNA or proviral DNA in both child and mother. Gag sequences from the child and his mother classified both infections as HIV-1 subtype C, with very rare mutations that may have resulted in PCR assay primer/probe mismatch. Consequently, the child was commenced on antiretroviral therapy and made a remarkable recovery. These findings indicate that more reliable PCR assays capable of detecting a wide range of HIV subtypes are desirable to circumvent the clinical problems created by false-negative PCR results.",
"corpus_id": 559682
} | {
"title": "HIV Capsid Protein Genetic Diversity Across HIV-1 Variants and Impact on New Capsid-Inhibitor Lenacapavir",
"abstract": "The HIV p24 capsid protein has an essential, structural, and functional role in the viral replication cycle, being an interesting target for vaccine design, diagnostic tests, and new antiretroviral drugs (ARVs). The HIV-1 variability poses a challenge for the accuracy and efficiency of diagnostic and treatment tools. This study analyzes p24 diversity among HIV-1 variants and within its secondary structure in HIV-1 M, O, P, and N groups. All available HIV-1 p24 nucleotide sequences were downloaded from the Los Alamos HIV Sequence Database, selecting 23,671 sequences belonging to groups O, N, P, and M (9 subtypes, 7 sub-sub types, and 109 circulating recombinant forms or CRFs). Using a bioinformatics tool developed in our laboratory (EpiMolBio program), we analyzed the amino acid conservation compared to the HXB2 subtype B reference sequence and the V-markers, or amino acid changes that were specific for each variant with at least 10 available sequences. We inferred the p24 consensus sequence for HIV-1 and for each group to analyze the overall conservation in p24 main structural regions, reporting the percentage of substitutions per variant affecting the capsid assembly and molecule-binding, including those associated with resistance to the new capsid-inhibitor lenacapavir, and the key residues involved in lenacapavir-p24 interaction, according to the bibliography. Although the overall structure of p24 was highly conserved, the conservation in the secondary structure varied between HIV-1 variants and the type of secondary structure. All HIV-1 variants presented >80% amino acid conservation vs. HXB2 reference sequence, except for group M sub-subtype F1 (69.27%). Mutants affecting the capsid assembly or lenacapavir capsid-binding were found in <1% of the p24 consensus sequence. Our study reports the HIV-1 variants carrying 14 unique single V-markers in 9/38 group M variants and the level of p24 conservation in each secondary structure region among the 4 HIV-1 groups and group M variants, revealing no natural resistance to lenacapavir in any HIV-1 variant. We present a thorough analysis of p24 variability among all HIV-1 variants circulating to date. Since p24 genetic variability can impact the viral replication cycle and the efficacy of new p24-based diagnostic, therapeutic, and vaccine strategies, conservation studies must consider all HIV-1 variants circulating worldwide.",
"corpus_id": 248088014
} | {
"title": "Differences in PCR reactivity between HIV proviruses from individuals in Ethiopia and Sweden.",
"abstract": "The polymerase chain reaction (PCR), using primer pairs in the gag, pol, and env regions, was used in a comparative study of HIV-1 DNA in peripheral mononuclear blood cells from HIV-1-seropositive individuals in Ethiopia and Sweden. Although all Swedish samples were positive by PCR, the reactivity was more pronounced in samples from late stages than in those from early stages of infection. Six of nine Ethiopian samples from HIV-1-seropositive patients were positive by PCR, but the reactions were much weaker than those observed for Swedish samples, and in most cases seen with one primer pair only. These results suggest that the burden of HIV-1 DNA in peripheral mononuclear blood cells increases with advancing disease. PCR using primer pairs designed to detect HIV-1 infection in Europe and North America is not always suitable for the detection of HIV-1 infection in Ethiopia. The differences in PCR reactivity could possibly be a consequence of differences regarding host responses to the virus in the two countries, but more likely due to genomic differences between HIV-1 strains prevalent in Ethiopia and Sweden.",
"corpus_id": 42762983,
"score": 2
} |
{
"title": "A Study of Individual‐Level Social Capital and Health Outcomes: Testing for Variance between Rural and Urban Respondents",
"abstract": "This study examines associations between social capital and health outcomes with data from the 2010 Brazos Valley Health Survey (Texas) (N = 3,176). Multivariate adjusted logistic regression analysis demonstrated that poor and fair health status was inversely predicted by both high trust (adjusted OR = .67 [CI = .50–.92]) and high informal social ties (adjusted OR = .68 [CI = .49–.94]), as well as being predicted by the interaction of urban-rural and community participation (adjusted OR = 1.20 [CI = 1.02–1.40]). Mental distress was inversely predicted by high trust (adjusted OR = .51 [CI = .29–.89]) and the interaction of urban/rural and informal social ties (adjusted OR = .77 [CI = .61–.97]). Thus, whereas social capital poses general benefits in regard to improving health status and mental distress, the former benefits are greater for rural respondents, while the latter benefits are greater for urban respondents.",
"corpus_id": 154366819
} | {
"title": "Social participation, trust and self-rated health: a study among ageing people in urban, semi-urban and rural settings.",
"abstract": "This study examined associations between self-rated health and combinations of social participation and trust among ageing people in three living areas of Finland (N=2815, 66% response rate). Social participation and trust combinations were: low social capital (low participation/low trust), traditionalism (low/high), \"the miniaturisation of community\" (high/low) and high social capital (high/high). The highest rate of good self-rated health was found among the high social capital group, but after adjusting for background variables, statistical significance remained only in the urban area. High social capital measured at an individual level may thus promote health among ageing people.",
"corpus_id": 34907722
} | {
"title": "[Ultrasonic studies in reptiles].",
"abstract": "Ultrasonography in reptiles is a safe, noninvasive repeatable diagnostic imagine method. Size, volume and inner structure of organs can easily be determined. Based on 460 ultrasonographic examinations in 8 species of terrapins, 12 species of snakes and 22 species of lizard normal appearance of heart, gonads, fat bodies, kidneys, bladder and gastrointestinal tract are described. Pathological findings are explained in details using examples.",
"corpus_id": 45609830,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "Homogeneous Liquid-Liquid Extraction of Metal Ions with a Functionalized Ionic Liquid.",
"abstract": "Binary mixtures of the ionic liquid betainium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide and water show an upper critical solution temperature. This solvent system has been used to extract metal ions by phase-transition extraction, using zwitterionic betaine as extractant. The system is efficient for the extraction of trivalent rare-earth, indium and gallium ions. This new type of metal extraction system avoids problems associated with the use of viscous ionic liquids, namely, the difficulty of intense mixing of the aqueous and ionic liquid phases by stirring.",
"corpus_id": 5628695
} | {
"title": "Tetraalkylammonium oleate and linoleate based ionic liquids: promising extractants for metal salts",
"abstract": "In this paper new extractants, that have the potential to be sustainably regenerated, are proposed for metal removal from aqueous phases. These extractants are a novel class of ionic liquids (ILs) with unsaturated fatty acids as anions (oleate and linoleate). The advantages of using these ILs are their simple synthesis, their sustainability (fatty acids anions are renewable), their biocompatibility and their non-toxicity. This makes these ILs “simpler and greener” compared to other solvents used for metal extraction. The newly synthesized ILs were evaluated for extraction of Li, Na, K, Mn(II), Fe(II), and Zn(II) chlorides from aqueous solutions. No or negligible extraction efficiencies were observed for the alkali metal salts, but excellent extraction (>99%) efficiencies were obtained for the period IV transition metal salts.",
"corpus_id": 98598691
} | {
"title": "Specific extraction of chromium(VI) using supercritical fluid extraction.",
"abstract": "In some situations, it is no longer sufficient to give a total concentration of a metal. Instead, what is required to understand the potential toxicity of a sample is the concentration of metal species or oxidation state. When developing species specific methods, the major concern is that the integrity of the species ratio is not changed. In other words, the sample preparation or the analytical method will not convert metal ions from one oxidation state to another. Normal extraction techniques and chromatography methods have shown some tendencies to change species ratios. An ideal extraction method would extract the metal efficiently while retaining the metal's oxidation state. The properties of supercritical fluids should approach the ideal of retention of oxidation states. For example, the need for speciation of chromium is obvious since Cr(III) is considered an essential element while Cr(VI) is thought to be toxic and carcinogenic. This paper presents the results of a species specific extraction of Cr(VI) using two different carbamate derivatives as the chelator. Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) coupled with a fluorinated dithiocarbamate and a methanol modifier allows extraction of 1 ppm Cr(VI) from a solid matrix with a recovery level of 88.4+/-2.57% using the NIST standard sample. The optimized conditions using the HP 7680 supercritical fluid extractor were: 0.1 ml of methanol, 0.05 ml of pure water, and 0.01 g of chelate via a saturation chamber.",
"corpus_id": 31388839,
"score": 2
} |
{
"title": "Vision Assisted SCARA Manipulator Design and Control Using Arduino and LabVIEW",
"abstract": "Using vision systems with SCARA robotic manipulators is beneficial in many industrial applications specially in automated object picking and placing tasks. In this paper, the equations of forward and inverse kinematics of a SCARA manipulator are derived using D-H parameters convention. The mechanical structure, as well as the electrical, electronic and pneumatic components of the manipulator were designed and developed. The manipulator's control software, animation and simulation were developed using LabVIEW and Arduino. In addition to that, a vision system was developed and integrated with the manipulator system where a mobile phone camera was used to acquire images, then transmit them wirelessly to LabVIEW's Vision Assistant codes for processing and calibration. The developed vision system allowed detection and calculation of object positions within the manipulator's workspace. Finally, the manipulator's positioning errors were determined and discussed based on a number of repeatability experiments.",
"corpus_id": 44236188
} | {
"title": "The inverse kinematics solutions of a 7 DOF robotic arm using Fuzzy Logic",
"abstract": "This paper focuses on modeling resolving and simulations of the inverse kinematics of an anthropomorphic redundant robotic structure with seven degrees of freedom and a workspace similar to human arm. Also the kinematical model and the kinematics equations of the robotic arm are presented. A method of resolving the redundancy of seven degrees of freedom robotic arm is presented using Fuzzy Logic toolbox from MATLAB®.",
"corpus_id": 16203565
} | {
"title": "Drawing and Labeling High-Quality Metro Maps by Mixed-Integer Programming",
"abstract": "Metro maps are schematic diagrams of public transport networks that serve as visual aids for route planning and navigation tasks. It is a challenging problem in network visualization to automatically draw appealing metro maps. There are two aspects to this problem that depend on each other: the layout problem of finding station and link coordinates and the labeling problem of placing nonoverlapping station labels. In this paper, we present a new integral approach that solves the combined layout and labeling problem (each of which, independently, is known to be NP-hard) using mixed-integer programming (MIP). We identify seven design rules used in most real-world metro maps. We split these rules into hard and soft constraints and translate them into an MIP model. Our MIP formulation finds a metro map that satisfies all hard constraints (if such a drawing exists) and minimizes a weighted sum of costs that correspond to the soft constraints. We have implemented the MIP model and present a case study and the results of an expert assessment to evaluate the performance of our approach in comparison to both manually designed official maps and results of previous layout methods.",
"corpus_id": 15183951,
"score": -1
} |
{
"title": "Density regulation in Northeast Atlantic fish populations: Density dependence is stronger in recruitment than in somatic growth.",
"abstract": "Population regulation is a central concept in ecology, yet in many cases its presence and the underlying mechanisms are difficult to demonstrate. The current paradigm maintains that marine fish populations are predominantly regulated by density-dependent recruitment. While it is known that density-dependent somatic growth can be present too, its general importance remains unknown and most practical applications neglect it. This study aimed to close this gap by for the first time quantifying and comparing density dependence in growth and recruitment over a large set of fish populations. We fitted density-dependent models to time-series data on population size, recruitment and age-specific weight from commercially exploited fish populations in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean and the Baltic Sea. Data were standardized to enable a direct comparison within and among populations, and estimated parameters were used to quantify the impact of density regulation on population biomass. Statistically significant density dependence in recruitment was detected in a large proportion of populations (70%), whereas for density dependence in somatic growth the prevalence of density dependence depended heavily on the method (26% and 69%). Despite age-dependent variability, the density dependence in recruitment was consistently stronger among age groups and between alternative approaches that use weight-at-age or weight increments to assess growth. Estimates of density-dependent reduction in biomass underlined these results: 97% of populations with statistically significant parameters for growth and recruitment showed a larger impact of density-dependent recruitment on population biomass. The results reaffirm the importance of density-dependent recruitment in marine fishes, yet they also show that density dependence in somatic growth is not uncommon. Furthermore, the results are important from an applied perspective because density dependence in somatic growth affects productivity and catch composition, and therefore the benefits of maintaining fish populations at specific densities.",
"corpus_id": 4781613
} | {
"title": "Challenges to fisheries advice and management due to stock recovery",
"abstract": "\n During the 20th century, many large-bodied fish stocks suffered from unsustainable fishing pressure. Now, signs of recovery are appearing among previously overfished large-bodied fish stocks. This new situation raises the question of whether current fisheries advice and management procedures, which were devised and optimized for depleted stocks, are well-suited for the management of recovered stocks. We highlight two challenges for fisheries advice and management: First, recovered stocks are more likely to show density-dependent growth. We show how the appearance of density-dependent growth will make reference points calculated with current procedures inaccurate. Optimal exploitation of recovered large-bodied fish stocks will therefore require accounting for density-dependent growth. Second, we show how a biomass increase of large-bodied piscivorous fish will lead to a reverse trophic cascade, where their increased predation mortality on forage fish reduces forage fish productivity and abundance. The resulting decrease in maximum sustainable yield of forage fish stocks could lead to conflicts between forage and large-piscivore fisheries. Avoiding such conflicts requires that choices are made between the exploitation of interacting fish stocks. Failure to account for the changed ecological state of recovered stocks risks creating new obstacles to sustainable fisheries management.",
"corpus_id": 53701152
} | {
"title": "Lake Vättern: Effects of Exploitation, Eutrophication, and Introductions on the Salmonid Community",
"abstract": "Vattern, the second largest lake of Sweden, contains 28 species of fish, of which Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) and whitefish (Coregonus spp.) are the most important economically. There is both a commercial fishery and a sport fishery. The former has decreased steadily, while the latter is increasing. A modest eutrophication is occurring, due amongst other factors to an increasing input of phosphorus and resulting, for instance, in a decrease in transparency.The lake is, however, still to be characterized as typically oligotrophic. The input of polluting matters is alarming, especially as regards toxic substances. Exploitation of fish populations has on the whole increased, although the number of commercial fishermen decreases. The fishery on the char population and military activity may in the long run result in over-exploitation. An inverse correlation between the catches of char and whitefish has been explained as a result of interaction between the two species. An obvious increase in catches of the...",
"corpus_id": 84446564,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "Application of I DDQ test in failure analysis of microcontroller devices",
"abstract": "This paper presents a real case study on the testing of 8-bit mixed-signal CMOS micro-controller devices by applying the IDDQ testing methodology. The aim of the study is to evaluate the feasibility of using the IDDQ test to enhance the overall fault coverage. Failure analysis operated on the failed sample indicated a good correlation between the fault coverage and the parts that failed the IDDQ test.q 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.",
"corpus_id": 837301
} | {
"title": "So what is an optimal test mix? A discussion of the SEMATECH methods experiment",
"abstract": "The SEMATECH \"Test Methods Evaluation\" study, Project Number S-121, is an experiment to determine the relative merits of several test methodologies often used by SEMATECH member companies and other IC manufacturers. Conclusions drawn from the experiment thus far have indicated that each test methodology uniquely detects defects. This experimentation and analysis would not have been possible outside a consortium setting such as SEMATECH. Its conclusions may affect other major segments of the industry, including ATE manufacturers, CAD vendors, and academia. This paper gives a brief overview of the experiment and summarizes its findings.",
"corpus_id": 37791379
} | {
"title": "Hybrid Ion Exchange Desalination (HIX-Desal) of Impaired Brackish Water Using Pressurized Carbon Dioxide (CO2) as the Source of Energy and Regenerant",
"abstract": "Reverse osmosis and electrodialysis are truly the only water desalination processes currently in practice for the entire range of total dissolved solids (TDS) from 400–40,000 mg/L. For high recovery of 80% or more, membrane processes are energy intensive even for a feedwater with a TDS of 1000 mg/L and demand significant pretreatment to avoid precipitation and consequent membrane fouling. In this study, we present for the first time a hybrid ion exchange desalination (HAIX-Desal) process that does not require any semipermeable membrane and can desalinate lean brackish water (TDS ≤ 1500 mg/L) using CO2 as the sole source of energy and chemical regenerant. A hybrid anion exchanger with dispersed ZrO2 nanoparticles (HAIX-NanoZr) and a shell–core weak-acid cation exchange (SC-WAC) resin form the heart of the process. Carbon dioxide or CO2 at 10 atm pressure is the only chemical needed to sustain the process. In contrast to a conventional deionization plant, the anion exchanger, i.e., HAIX-NanoZr, precedes the...",
"corpus_id": 105197620,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "Prediction of product distribution in fine biomass pyrolysis in fluidized beds based on proximate analysis.",
"abstract": "A predictive model was satisfactorily developed to describe the general trends of product distribution in fluidized beds of lignocellulosic biomass pyrolysis. The model was made of mass balance based on proximate analysis and an empirical relationship with operating parameters including fluidization hydrodynamics. The empirical relationships between product yields and fluidization conditions in fluidized bed pyrolyzers were derived from the data of this study and literature. The gas and char yields showed strong functions of temperature and vapor residence time in the pyrolyzer. The yields showed a good correlation with fluidization variables related with hydrodynamics and bed mixing. The predicted product yields based on the model well accorded well with the experimental data.",
"corpus_id": 395485
} | {
"title": "Green gasoline by catalytic fast pyrolysis of solid biomass derived compounds.",
"abstract": "Owing to its low cost and large availability, lignocellulosic biomass is being studied worldwide as a feedstock for renewable liquid biofuels. Lignocellulosic biomass is not currently used as a liquid fuel because economical processes for its conversion have not yet been developed. Currently, there are several routes being studied to convert solid biomass into a liquid fuel which involve multiple steps thus greatly increasing the cost of biomass conversion. For example, ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass involves multiple steps including pretreatment, enzymatic or acid hydrolysis, fermentation, and distillation. Dumesic and co-workers have demonstrated that diesel-range alkanes can be produced by aqueous-phase processing (APP) of aqueous carbohydrate solutions at low temperatures (100-300 8C). APP first requires that solid lignocellulosic biomass be converted into aqueous carbohydrates, which would require pretreatment and hydrolysis steps. At high temperatures (~800 8C), Dauenhauer et al. have shown that solid biomass can be reformed to produce synthesis gas through partial oxidation in an autothermal packed bed reactor over Rh catalysts. The ideal process for solid biomass conversion involves the production of liquid fuels from solid biomass in a single step at short residence times. Herein, we report that gasoline-range aromatics can be produced from solid biomass feedstocks in a single reactor at short residence times (less than 2 min) and intermediate temperatures (400–600 8C) by a method we call catalytic fast pyrolysis. Fast pyrolysis involves rapidly heating biomass (500 8Cs ) to intermediate temperatures (400–600 8C) followed by rapid cooling (vapor residence times 1–2 s). Fast pyrolysis produces a thermally unstable liquid product called bio-oil, which is an acidic combustible liquid containing more than 300 compounds. Bio-oils are not compatible with existing liquid transportation fuels including gasoline and diesel. To use bio-oil as a conventional liquid transportation fuel, it must be catalytically upgraded. As we show here, introduction of zeolite catalysts into the pyrolysis process can convert oxygenated compounds generated by pyrolysis of the biomass into gasolinerange aromatics. Catalytic fast pyrolysis first involves pyrolysis of solid biomass (e.g. cellulose) into volatile organics, gases, and solid coke. The organics then enter the zeolite catalyst where they are converted into aromatics, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, water, and coke. Inside the zeolite catalyst, the biomassderived species undergo a series of dehydration, decarbonylation, decarboxylation, isomerization, oligomerization, and dehydrogenation reactions that lead to aromatics, CO, CO2, and water. The challenge with selectively producing aromatics is to minimize the undesired formation of coke, which can be from homogeneous gas-phase thermal decomposition reactions or from heterogeneous reactions on the catalyst. The overall stoichiometry for the conversion of xylitol and glucose into toluene, CO, and H2O is shown in Equation (1) (76 and 24% carbon yields) and Equation (2) (63 and 36% carbon yields), respectively. Oxygen must be removed from the biomass-derived species as a combination of CO (or CO2) and H2O when aromatics are produced. The maximum theoretical yield of toluene from xylitol and glucose is 76 and 63%, respectively, when CO and H2O are produced as by-products.",
"corpus_id": 12814775
} | {
"title": "Integrated design of diesel hydrotreating processes",
"abstract": "This work presents an integrated approach for the design of diesel hydrotreating processes employing a simulated annealing optimisation algorithm. The modelling of reactor, separation and heat recovery system for diesel hydrotreating processes is discussed, and a novel optimisation framework is developed for the design of complex refinery processes. A comparison with conventional approach to process design, i.e. sequential evolution of design, is given to illustrate the ability of proposed approach to obtain overall hydrotreating process designs with minimum total annualised costs. The proposed integrated approach takes into account the trade-offs between capital and operating costs, as well as interactions between the hydrotreater, distillation column, and the associated heat exchanger network.",
"corpus_id": 110583965,
"score": 2
} |
{
"title": "Dynamic modeling and control of doubly fed induction generators driven by wind turbines",
"abstract": "Two different models are presented and developed in PSCAD/EMTDC to represent a variable-speed wind turbine equipped with a doubly fed induction generator (DFIG). One is the most detailed switching-level (SL) model. The other is a simplified fundamental-frequency (FF) model. The effect of different shaft system representations on the dynamic behavior of the wind turbine generator (WTG) system and the issue of damping low-frequency torsional oscillations are investigated. Dynamic and transient simulation studies are carried out to compare two models with different shaft system representations. Results show that the FF model is sufficient while the lumped-mass shaft model is insufficient to represent the dynamic behavior of the WTG. The FF model with the two-mass shaft representation is therefore recommended to represent the DFIG wind turbines for power system dynamic and transient studies. Doubly fed induction generator",
"corpus_id": 8217372
} | {
"title": "A Review of the State of the Art of Power Electronics for Wind Turbines",
"abstract": "This paper reviews the power electronic applications for wind energy systems. Various wind turbine systems with different generators and power electronic converters are described, and different technical features are compared. The electrical topologies of wind farms with different wind turbines are summarized and the possible uses of power electronic converters with wind farms are shown. Finally, the possible methods of using the power electronic technology for improving wind turbine performance in power systems to meet the main grid connection requirements are discussed.",
"corpus_id": 21059358
} | {
"title": "Using bidirectional lstm recurrent neural networks to learn high-level abstractions of sequential features for automated scoring of non-native spontaneous speech",
"abstract": "We introduce a new method to grade non-native spoken language tests automatically. Traditional automated response grading approaches use manually engineered time-aggregated features (such as mean length of pauses). We propose to incorporate general time-sequence features (such as pitch) which preserve more information than time-aggregated features and do not require human effort to design. We use a type of recurrent neural network to jointly optimize the learning of high level abstractions from time-sequence features with the time-aggregated features. We first automatically learn high level abstractions from time-sequence features with a Bidirectional Long Short Term Memory (BLSTM) and then combine the high level abstractions with time-aggregated features in a Multilayer Perceptron (MLP)/Linear Regression (LR). We optimize the BLSTM and the MLP/LR jointly. We find such models reach the best performance in terms of correlation with human raters. We also find that when there are limited time-aggregated features available, our model that incorporates time-sequence features improves performance drastically.",
"corpus_id": 239407,
"score": -1
} |
{
"title": "Chemopreventive anti-inflammatory activities of curcumin and other phytochemicals mediated by MAP kinase phosphatase-5 in prostate cells.",
"abstract": "As inflammation emerges as a risk factor for prostate cancer (PCa), there is potential for chemoprevention by anti-inflammatory agents. Dietary phytochemicals have been shown to have chemopreventive properties which may include anti-inflammatory activities. In this study, we demonstrate a role for mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase-5 (MKP5) in mediating anti-inflammatory activities of the phytochemicals curcumin, resveratrol and [6]-gingerol. We utilized the cytokines tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) and interleukin (IL)-1beta to increase p38-dependent nuclear factor kappa-B (NFkappaB) activation and expression of pro-inflammatory genes cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), IL-6 and IL-8 in normal prostatic epithelial cells. MKP5 over-expression decreased cytokine-induced NFkappaB activation, COX-2, IL-6 and IL-8 in normal prostatic epithelial cells, suggesting potent anti-inflammatory activity of MKP5. Pretreatment of cells with a p38 inhibitor mimicked the results observed with MKP5 over-expression, further implicating p38 inhibition as the main activity of MKP5. Curcumin, the phytochemical found in turmeric, up-regulated MKP5, subsequently decreasing cytokine-induced p38-dependent pro-inflammatory changes in normal prostatic epithelial cells. Resveratrol and [6]-gingerol, phytochemicals present in red wine and ginger, respectively, also up-regulated MKP5 in normal prostate epithelial cells. Moreover, we found that PCa cell lines DU 145, PC-3, LNCaP and LAPC-4 retained the ability to up-regulate MKP5 following curcumin, resveratrol and [6]-gingerol exposure, suggesting utility of these phytochemicals in PCa treatment. In summary, our findings show direct anti-inflammatory activity of MKP5 in prostate cells and suggest that up-regulation of MKP5 by phytochemicals may contribute to their chemopreventive actions by decreasing prostatic inflammation.",
"corpus_id": 2059450
} | {
"title": "Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs and Risk of Prostate Cancer in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging",
"abstract": "Background: Laboratory and epidemiologic studies suggest that aspirin and nonaspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) reduce the risk of cancer, possibly via inhibition of the cyclooxygenase enzymes. We evaluated the association of aspirin and nonaspirin NSAIDs with subsequent prostate cancer in a prospective study. We also assessed whether use of these drugs influences serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) concentration. Methods: Participants were 1,244 male members of the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. Use of prescription and over-the-counter drugs was collected by questionnaire and interview at multiple study visits. One hundred forty-one prostate cancer cases diagnosed between 1980 and May 2004 were confirmed by medical record review. We used Cox proportional hazards regression to estimate the rate ratio (RR) of prostate cancer updating drug use over time and taking into account age and year. We used generalized estimating equations to calculate age-adjusted geometric mean PSA concentration by aspirin or nonaspirin NSAIDs use among 933 of the men without prostate cancer, for whom 3,749 PSA measurements in archived sera had been done previously. Results: On 46.0% and 21.5% of the visits, current use of aspirin or nonaspirin NSAIDs (mostly ibuprofen) was reported, respectively. The RRs of prostate cancer comparing ever to never use were 0.76 [95% confidence interval (95% CI), 0.54-1.07] for aspirin, 0.79 (95% CI, 0.54-1.16) for nonaspirin NSAIDs, and 0.71 (95% CI, 0.49-1.02) for either medication. The association for ever use of either aspirin or nonaspirin NSAIDs was suggestively more pronounced in men <70 years (RR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.27-1.03) than in men ≥70 years (RR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.50-1.22; Pinteraction = 0.73). The RR for current use of either drug was attenuated relative to ever use. Mean PSA concentration did not differ between users and nonusers of either aspirin or nonaspirin NSAIDs (1.01 versus 0.98 ng/mL, P = 0.56). Conclusion: In this prospective study, men, in particular younger men, who had ever used aspirin or nonaspirin NSAIDs had a modest nonstatistically significant lower risk of prostate cancer. The modest inverse association was unlikely due to detection bias that might have resulted if anti-inflammatory drugs had influenced serum PSA concentration.",
"corpus_id": 9682012
} | {
"title": "The Search for Accountability: United States v. McDonnell and the Fundamental Right to Honest Government",
"abstract": "The U.S. Supreme Court in McDonnell v. United States (2016) vacated the conviction of a former Virginia governor for accepting bribes. The court found that arranging a meeting, calling or contacting another official, or hosting an event does not, by itself, rise to the level of an official act under the Hobbs Act and the mail and wire fraud statutes. This article argues that the Supreme Court’s decision in McDonnell v. United States will make it much more difficult for federal prosecutors to prosecute state and local governments for helping private individuals gain preferential access to government decision-makers at the state or local level. The article also argues that the decision will put pressure on state legislatures to significantly tighten state ethics laws to stop this type of conduct that reduces public trust in government.",
"corpus_id": 152146541,
"score": 0
} |
{
"title": "Identification of Novel Inhibitors of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Replication by In Silico Screening Targeting Cyclin T1/Tat Interaction",
"abstract": "ABSTRACT Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) transcription is essential for viral replication and the only step for viral genome amplification. Cyclin T1 (CycT1) interacts with HIV-1 Tat and transactivation-responsive (TAR) RNA, leading to the activation of viral transcription through the hyperphosphorylation of RNA polymerase II (RNAPII). Thus, the CycT1/Tat/TAR RNA interaction represents a novel target for inhibition of HIV-1 replication. In this study, we conducted in silico screening of compounds targeting the CycT1/Tat/TAR RNA complex and found that two structurally related compounds (C1 and C2) had high docking scores for a model of the complex. These compounds proved inhibitory to HIV-1 replication in tumor necrosis factor alpha-stimulated chronically infected cells. In addition, C3, a derivative of C1 and C2, was found to be a more potent inhibitor of HIV-1 replication in chronically infected cells. C3 also inhibited HIV-1 replication in acutely infected cells. The compound could suppress Tat-mediated HIV-1 long terminal repeat-driven gene expression and phosphorylation of RNAPII through inhibition of Tat binding to CycT1. Furthermore, the docking pose of C3 was defined by analyses for its in silico docking energy and in vitro antiviral activity, which indicates that C3 interacts with Tat-binding amino acids of CycT1. Thus, a series of compounds described herein are novel inhibitors of HIV-1 transcription through inhibition of CycT1/Tat interaction.",
"corpus_id": 2025657
} | {
"title": "The regulation of HIV‐1 transcription: Molecular targets for chemotherapeutic intervention",
"abstract": "The regulation of transcription of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a complex event that requires the cooperative action of both viral and cellular components. In latently infected resting CD4+ T cells HIV‐1 transcription seems to be repressed by deacetylation events mediated by histone deacetylases (HDACs). Upon reactivation of HIV‐1 from latency, HDACs are displaced in response to the recruitment of histone acetyltransferases (HATs) by NF‐κB or the viral transcriptional activator Tat and result in multiple acetylation events. Following chromatin remodeling of the viral promoter region, transcription is initiated and leads to the formation of the TAR element. The complex of Tat with p‐TEFb then binds the loop structures of TAR RNA thereby positioning CDK9 to phosphorylate the cellular RNA polymerase II. The Tat‐TAR‐dependent phosphorylation of RNA polymerase II plays an important role in transcriptional elongation as well as in other post‐transcriptional events. As such, targeting of Tat protein (and/or cellular cofactors) provide an interesting perspective for therapeutic intervention in the HIV replicative cycle and may afford lifetime control of the HIV infection. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Med Res Rev, 26, No. 5, 595–625, 2006",
"corpus_id": 7126645
} | {
"title": "A human splicing factor, SKIP, associates with P-TEFb and enhances transcription elongation by HIV-1 Tat.",
"abstract": "HIV-1 Tat binds human CyclinT1 and recruits the CDK9/P-TEFb complex to the viral TAR RNA in a step that links RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) C-terminal domain (CTD) Ser 2 phosphorylation with transcription elongation. Previous studies have suggested a connection between Tat and pre-mRNA splicing factors. Here we show that the splicing-associated c-Ski-interacting protein, SKIP, is required for Tat transactivation in vivo and stimulates HIV-1 transcription elongation, but not initiation, in vitro. SKIP associates with CycT1:CDK9/P-TEFb and Tat:P-TEFb complexes in nuclear extracts and interacts with recombinant Tat:P-TEFb:TAR RNA complexes in vitro, indicating that it may act through nascent RNA to overcome pausing by RNAPII. SKIP also associates with U5snRNP proteins and tri-snRNP110K in nuclear extracts, and facilitates recognition of an alternative Tat-specific splice site in vivo. The effects of SKIP on transcription elongation, binding to P-TEFb, and splicing are mediated through the SNW domain. HIV-1 Tat transactivation is accompanied by the recruitment of P-TEFb, SKIP, and tri-snRNP110K to the integrated HIV-1 promoter in vivo, whereas the U5snRNPs associate only with the transcribed coding region. These findings suggest that SKIP plays independent roles in transcription elongation and pre-mRNA splicing.",
"corpus_id": 13495545,
"score": 2
} |
{
"title": "Candidate genes for production traits in Nelore beef cattle.",
"abstract": "Meat quality is an important trait for the beef industry. Backfat thickness, ribeye area, and shear force are traits measured late in life, and the investigation of molecular markers associated with these traits can help breeding programs. In cattle, some polymorphisms have been related to production traits. Thus, the purpose of this study was to assess the presence of polymorphisms in the candidate genes insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1), fatty acid-binding protein 4 (FABP4), and peroxisome proliferative active receptor gamma coactivator 1 A (PPARGC1A) and associate them with production traits in reference families of Nelore cattle. We used 270 steers descendent from 20 sires that were chosen to represent variability in this breed. The investigation of marker effects on the traits was performed using a mixed model under the restricted maximum likelihood method. A significant allele substitution effect was found for IGF1 and yearling weight (P ≤ 0.017). The mean allele substitution effect was 6.9 kg, with the 229 allele associated with reduced yearling weight in this Nelore population.",
"corpus_id": 1066800
} | {
"title": "Confirmation of Existing Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 Gene Associated with Growth and Milk-Production Traits and Genetic Diversity in Buffalo",
"abstract": "Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) gene plays an important role in the endocrine system of animals by regulating nutrient metabolism, growth, and milk production. There have been extensive molecular genetics research studies on cattle but less studies have focused on buffalo (Bubalus bubalis). This study aimed to confirm the association of IGF-1 gene in swamp or river buffalo (B. bubalis spp.) with growth and milk production traits. DNA samples were obtained from 12 buffalos (eight swamp buffalo and four river buffalo). One Bali cattle (Bos javanicus) was included as an outgroup (control). The eight swamp buffalo originated from East Nusa Tenggara (n = 1), Baluran, East Java (n = 4), and Banyuwangi, East Java (n = 3) , while the four river buffalo originated from Sei Putih, Medan of North Sumatera. All DNA samples were amplified using an IGF-1 primer for 30 cycles, and amplicons were visualized on 1% agarose gel. Five of the 13 samples were sequenced to determine nucleotide sequence variation between the swamp and river buffalo. The results revealed that the size (225–231 bp) of all the fragments was in in accordance with that of IGF-1. There was not found genetic variation among the buffalo samples. The results indicate that buffalo samples bear growth and milk production traits.",
"corpus_id": 89834090
} | {
"title": "Specific binding of a cellular DNA replication protein to the origin of replication of adenovirus DNA.",
"abstract": "Nuclear factor I, a 47-kilodalton protein, purified from nuclear extracts of uninfected HeLa cells, is involved in the initiation and possibly the elongation of replicating adenovirus (Ad) DNA in vitro. The binding of nuclear factor I to DNA has been monitored by a filter binding assay of nuclear factor I to DNA has been monitored by a filter binding assay using plasmid pLA1 DNA, which contains a 3,290 base-pair fragment derived from the left-hand terminus (coordinates, 0-9.4 map units) of Ad serotype 5 DNA. Nuclear factor I binds selectively to a double-stranded fragment spanning nucleotides 0-451 to the Ad genome. The retention of the 451-base-pair DNA fragment-nuclear factor I complex on nitrocellulose filters does not require Mg2+ or ATP and is resistant to high ionic strength. DNase I protection experiments revealed that nuclear factor I binds to a nucleotide sequence located at position 17-48, close to the terminus of Ad DNA. This 32-nucleotide sequence contains four \"consensus\" sequences present in various serotypes of Ad DNA and is capable of forming higher ordered structures. The role of nuclear factor I and this DNA sequence in the generation of Ad preterminal protein-dCMP initiation complex is discussed.",
"corpus_id": 7604936,
"score": 2
} |
{
"title": "Comparative analysis of the ability of Clostridium clariflavum strains and Clostridium thermocellum to utilize hemicellulose and unpretreated plant material",
"abstract": "BackgroundAmong themophilic consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) candidate organisms, environmental isolates of Clostridium clariflavum have demonstrated the ability to grow on xylan, and the genome of C. clariflavum DSM 19732 has revealed a number of mechanisms that foster solubilization of hemicellulose that are distinctive relative to the model cellulolytic thermophile Clostridium thermocellum.ResultsGrowth experiments on xylan, xylooligosaccharides, and xylose reveal that C. clariflavum strains are able to completely break down xylan to xylose and that the environmental strain C. clariflavum sp. 4-2a is able to grow on monomeric xylose. C. clariflavum strains were able to utilize a larger proportion of unpretreated switchgrass, and solubilize a higher proportion of glucan, xylan, and arabinan, with strain 4-2a reaching the highest extent of solubilization of these components (64.7 to 69.4%) compared to C. thermocellum (29.5 to 42.5%). In addition, glycome immunoanalyses of residual plant biomass reveal differences in the extent of degradation of easily accessible xylans, with C. clariflavum strains having increased solubilization of this fraction of xylans relative to C. thermocellum.ConclusionsC. clariflavum strains exhibit higher activity than C. thermocellum in the breakdown of hemicellulose and are capable of degrading xylan to xylooligomers and xylose. This capability seems to also play a role in the higher levels of utilization of unpretreated plant material.",
"corpus_id": 2624147
} | {
"title": "Clostridia: a flexible microbial platform for the production of alcohols.",
"abstract": "Solventogenic clostridia are native producers of ethanol and many higher alcohols employing a broad range of cheap renewable substrates, such as lignocellulosic materials and C1 gases (CO and CO2). These characteristics enable solventogenic clostridia to act as flexible microbial platforms for the production of liquid biofuels. With the rapid development of genetic tools in recent years, the intrinsic intractability of clostridia has been largely overcome, thus, engineering clostridia for production of chemicals and fuels has attracted increasing interests. Here, we provide an overview of recent progress in the production of alcohols based on solventogenic clostridia. Saccharolytic, cellulolytic and gas-fermenting clostridia are discussed, with a special focus on strategies for metabolic engineering to enable and to improve clostridia for the production of higher alcohols.",
"corpus_id": 7782200
} | {
"title": "Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic Modeling of Total Lymphocytes and Selected Subtypes After Oral Budesonide",
"abstract": "In the present pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) evaluation, cortisol, total lymphocytes, and lymphocyte subpopulations were monitored following single oral doses of two oral formulations of 3 mg budesonide (BUD) (Dosage Forms A and B) in order to assess the differential effects that BUD may have on cortisol suppression and the modulation of blood lymphocyte subtypes. On a single occasion, five subjects received one 3 mg capsule of Dosage Form A, four received three capsules of Dosage Form A (single dose of 9 mg), and five received three capsules of Dosage Form B (single dose of 9 mg). Placebo capsules were administered to six subjects in the study. Cortisol concentrations, total lymphocyte counts, and lymphocyte subpopulation counts for the CD3, CD4, CD8, CD19, and CD56/16 were fitted to an in direct PK/PD response model that described the effects of BUD on serum cortisol concentrations as well as the combined effects of BUD and cortisol on total lymphocytes and the CD3, CD4, CD8, CD19, and CD56/16 subtypes. Data were also analyzed using noncompartmental methods. The PK/PD model fitted the data with the exception of data for CD56/16. The IC50 value for unbound BUD acting on total lymphocytes was 0.276 ng/ml while the IC50 values for unbound BUD acting on lymphocyte subtypes ranged from 0.150 ng/ml for CD4 to 0.364 ng/ml for CD8. The IC50 values for the effects of BUD on serum cortisol were lower (0.079 ng/ml). The results of PK/PD modeling and noncompartmental analysis indicate that BUD has a smaller effect on the CD8 subtype and larger effects on the CD4 and CD19 subtypes, relative to the effect on total lymphocytes, and that cortisol suppression, although not a direct immunological biomarker, may be a more sensitive marker for the systemic effect of corticosteroids.",
"corpus_id": 2921069,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "The Sway of Geopolitics, Economic Interdependence and Cultural Identity: why are some Asians more favorable toward China's rise than others?",
"abstract": "This article identifies the explanatory sources of Asians' perceptions about China's rise. The authors try to decipher the relative importance of individual-level explanatory variables such as socio-economic satisfaction, cognitive schema, and ideology and political values vis-à-vis that of the country-level structural variables such as geopolitical tension, economic interdependence and cultural identity. The empirical findings suggest that the growing perception that China has the most influence in Asia is more related to individual-level demographic variables which are associated with greater interest in political affairs, despite the fact that there is also some evidence that contextual factors related to economic interdependence also matter. A favorable perception of China's influence, on the other hand, is more associated with a less negative orientation on geopolitical and cultural factors, which both involve long-term historical memory and political feelings. Economic interdependence might engender adversarial feelings against China if the level of interdependence is high enough to cause economic vulnerability.",
"corpus_id": 153394981
} | {
"title": "Foreign Policy Implications of Chinese Nationalism Revisited: the strident turn",
"abstract": "This paper revisits the debate about foreign policy implications of Chinese nationalism in the context of China's increasingly confrontational and assertive behavior in recent years. It argues that while the Chinese government made effective efforts to control popular nationalism and Chinese foreign policy was therefore not dictated by emotional nationalistic rhetoric before 2008, it has become more willing to follow the popular nationalist calls to take a confrontational position against the Western powers and to adopt tougher measures in maritime territorial disputes with its neighbors. This strident turn is partially because the government is increasingly responsive to public opinion, but more importantly because of the convergence of Chinese state nationalism and popular nationalism calling for a more muscular Chinese foreign policy. Enjoying an inflated sense of empowerment supported by its new quotient of wealth and military capacities, and terrified of an uncertain future due to increasing social, economic and political tensions at home, the communist state has become more willing to play to the popular nationalist gallery in pursuing the so-called core national interests. These developments have complicated China's diplomacy, creating a heated political environment to harden China's foreign policy.",
"corpus_id": 154176544
} | {
"title": "Alliances That Never Balance: The Territorial Settlement Treaty",
"abstract": "An extensive body of evidence has been accumulated showing that alliances are more often followed by war than by peace (Singer and Small, 1966b; Levy, 1981). It has also been convincingly demonstrated that alliances are associated with the expansion of war (Siverson and King, 1979; 1980; Siverson and Starr, 1990), and alliance polarization and the buildup of alliances in the system are associated with world wars (Kegley, 1994; Wayman, 1984; Midlarsky, 1983; 1986). Nevertheless, a significant number of alliances are not followed by war. Levy (1981) reports that 44 percent of neutrality and defense pacts in the 17th century, 33 percent in the 18th century, 72 percent in the 19th century, and 13 percent in the 20th century are not followed by a war involving an ally within five years. The variation across centuries, especially the large percentage of peaceful 19th century alliances, suggests that not all alliances are created equal. This article identifies a large portion of the peaceful alliances as territorial settlement treaties. By resolving territorial disputes between alliance members, these treaties remove one of the most contentious issues from the agenda of states and pacify some of the most traditionally belligerent states in the system. It is argued that the identification of these alliances is an important step toward re-conceptualizing the alliance variable since the territorial settlement treaties behave very differently from what realist theories would predict. Instead of trying to balance power in a region or in the system, these alliances exhibit the robust and multifaceted nature of diplomacy, demonstrating that a common practice having the same form (forming an alliance) can have very different motivations behind it. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that researchers remove these alliances from their data analyses (or, at the very least, control for them) if they are investigating the paths or correlates to war. The presence of these irenic alliances would tend to mute most findings.",
"corpus_id": 154336108,
"score": 2
} |
{
"title": "Dictyostelium discoideum: a model host to measure bacterial virulence",
"abstract": "Dictyostelium amoebae have been used as a host model to measure virulence of a wide range of bacterial pathogens. The simple protocol described here takes advantage of the ability of Dictyostelium to grow and form plaques on a lawn of nonpathogenic bacteria but not on virulent bacteria. This assay can be modulated to measure the virulence of different bacterial pathogens. By adjusting various parameters such as cell numbers or media, a more quantitative measure of bacterial virulence can also be obtained. The entire procedure takes about 5 h to compete, and up to 2 further weeks may be required for plaques to form on the bacterial lawn.",
"corpus_id": 245003
} | {
"title": "A Novel Glycolipid Biosurfactant Confers Grazing Resistance upon Pantoea ananatis BRT175 against the Social Amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum",
"abstract": "The genetic factors used for host interaction by the opportunistic human pathogen Pantoea ananatis are largely unknown. We identified two genes that are important for the production of a biosurfactant that confers grazing resistance against the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum. We show that the biosurfactant, which exhibits cytotoxicity toward the amoebae, is a glycolipid that incorporates a hexose rather than rhamnose. The production of this biosurfactant may confer a competitive advantage in the environment and could potentially contribute to the establishment of opportunistic infections. ABSTRACT Pantoea is a versatile genus of bacteria with both plant- and animal-pathogenic strains, some of which have been suggested to cause human infections. There is, however, limited knowledge on the potential determinants used for host association and pathogenesis in animal systems. In this study, we used the model host Dictyostelium discoideum to show that isolates of Pantoea ananatis exhibit differential grazing susceptibility, with some being resistant to grazing by the amoebae. We carried out a high-throughput genetic screen of one grazing-resistant isolate, P. ananatis BRT175, using the D. discoideum pathosystem to identify genes responsible for the resistance phenotype. Among the 26 candidate genes involved in grazing resistance, we identified rhlA and rhlB, which we show are involved in the biosynthesis of a biosurfactant that enables swarming motility in P. ananatis BRT175. Using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), the biosurfactant was shown to be a glycolipid with monohexose-C10-C10 as the primary congener. We show that this novel glycolipid biosurfactant is cytotoxic to the amoebae and is capable of compromising cellular integrity, leading to cell lysis. The production of this biosurfactant may be important for bacterial survival in the environment and could contribute to the establishment of opportunistic infections. IMPORTANCE The genetic factors used for host interaction by the opportunistic human pathogen Pantoea ananatis are largely unknown. We identified two genes that are important for the production of a biosurfactant that confers grazing resistance against the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum. We show that the biosurfactant, which exhibits cytotoxicity toward the amoebae, is a glycolipid that incorporates a hexose rather than rhamnose. The production of this biosurfactant may confer a competitive advantage in the environment and could potentially contribute to the establishment of opportunistic infections.",
"corpus_id": 2615248
} | {
"title": "Shared themes of antigenic variation and virulence in bacterial, protozoal, and fungal infections.",
"abstract": "Pathogenic microbes have evolved highly sophisticated mechanisms for colonizing host tissues and evading or deflecting assault by the immune response. The ability of these microbes to avoid clearance prolongs infection, thereby promoting their long-term survival within individual hosts and, through transmission, between hosts. Many pathogens are capable of extensive antigenic changes in the face of the multiple constitutive and dynamic components of host immune defenses. As a result, highly diverse populations that have widely different virulence properties can arise from a single infecting organism (clone). In this review, we consider the molecular and genetic features of antigenic variation and corresponding host-parasite interactions of different pathogenic bacterial, fungal, and protozoan microorganisms. The host and microbial molecules involved in these interactions often determine the adhesive, invasive, and antigenic properties of the infecting organisms and can dramatically affect the virulence and pathobiology of individual infections. Pathogens capable of such antigenic variation exhibit mechanisms of rapid mutability in confined chromosomal regions containing specialized genes designated contingency genes. The mechanisms of hypermutability of contingency genes are common to a variety of bacterial and eukaryotic pathogens and include promoter alterations, reading-frame shifts, gene conversion events, genomic rearrangements, and point mutations.",
"corpus_id": 10537277,
"score": 2
} |
{
"title": "LocED: Location-aware Energy Disaggregation Framework",
"abstract": "Providing detailed appliance level energy consumption information may lead consumers to understand their usage behavior and encourage them to optimize the energy usage. Non-intrusive load monitoring (NILM) or energy disaggregation aims to estimate appliance level energy consumption from the aggregate consumption data of households. NILM algorithms, proposed hitherto, are either centralized or do require high performance systems to derive appliance level data, owing to the computational complexity associated. This approach raises several issues related to scalability and privacy of consumer's data. In this paper, we present the Location-aware Energy Disaggregation Framework (LocED) that utilizes occupancy of users to derive accurate appliance level usage information. LocED framework limits the appliances considered for disaggregation based on the current location of occupants. Thus, LocED can provide real-time feedback on appliance level energy consumption and run on an embedded system locally at the household. We propose several accuracy metrics to study the performance of LocED. To test the robustness of LocED, we empirically evaluated it across multiple publicly available datasets. LocED has significantly high energy disaggregation accuracy while exponentially reducing the computational complexity. We also release our comprehensive dataset DRED (Dutch Residential Energy Dataset) for public use, which measures electricity, occupancy and ambient parameters of the household.",
"corpus_id": 5764236
} | {
"title": "Ensemble based real-time indoor localization using stray WiFi signal",
"abstract": "Accurate indoor localization using minimalist hardware has a huge potential for energy savings and smart homes. Current indoor localization techniques involve deployment of complex arrays of sensors such as Bluetooth beacons, PIR sensors, etc. However, these sensors are commonly intrusive and the techniques require extra hardware, which might not be available in most homes, especially in underdeveloped countries. In this paper, we present an ensemble based learning technique to localize a user in an apartment (located in a residential complex) at room-level granularity. The method involves training an ensemble of classifiers on a weighted averages of RSSI of WiFi signals within a time window. The method uses only the existing WiFi infrastructure in the complex. The analysis was done on the data collected by us in a residential setup using an android application. The setup included 4 locations (2 Bedrooms, Living Room and a Kitchen). The total prediction accuracy achieved was 85.7%. The localization method was reaffirmed on the Dutch Residential Energy dataset (DRED), the accuracy achieved was 86.7%. The method is also tested on bluetooth beacon data of the DRED (accuracy of 96.8 % was achieved) to see the performance of the method when, much more stable and uniformly spread signal sources are available. The method can be utilized to impart better intelligence to smart home devices by imparting knowledge about the user(s) location.",
"corpus_id": 4560968
} | {
"title": "A Low Complexity Compressed Sensing-Based Codec for Consumer Depth Video Sensors",
"abstract": "In 3-D applications, a high-quality depth video codec with low complexity is in great demand for consumer devices, which generally have limited computational resources and energy. Based on the compressed sensing theory, we propose a low complexity depth video codec to compress depth videos effectively. The proposed codec decomposes depth blocks via an adaptive wavelet decomposition algorithm by following the principle of local entropy minimization. The decomposition can reduce the amount of local data, and separate depth blocks by frequency precisely. In order to reduce temporal redundancy, a block average value-based fast motion estimation scheme is also designed. Further, a joint optimization method is proposed to select the best combination of quantization parameter and measurement rate for each block. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed codec, compared with H.265 and H.264, achieves BD-PSNR improvement up to 1.34 dB and 4.28 dB at most respectively in “AllIntra” mode. In “IPPP” mode, the proposed codec also achieves BD-PSNR improvement up to 0.62 dB and 1.79 dB on average respectively. Moreover, compared with other methods, the complexity and energy consumption of the proposed codec is much lower, which is adapted to consumer devices well.",
"corpus_id": 199589003,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "Efficacy in standard clinical practice of colonoscopic polypectomy in reducing colorectal cancer incidence",
"abstract": "BACKGROUND Colorectal cancer is one of the leading causes of death from cancer in Western countries. Removal of adenomas is based on the assumption that it could lead to a reduction in the incidence of colorectal cancer, as demonstrated by the National Polyp Study in the USA. A critical issue is whether the benefit observed in clinical trials can also be observed in standard clinical practice. To address the issue, a multicentre Italian collaborative study was organised. METHODS The study cohort comprised 1693 subjects of both sexes, aged 40–69 years, enrolled between 1980 and 1987 following a total colon examination (TCE) (that is, total colonoscopy or colonoscopy and double contrast barium enema), with removal of at least one adenoma larger than 5 mm in diameter. Exclusion criteria were genetic syndromes, previous adenomas or colorectal cancer, previous colonic resection, inflammatory bowel disease, or sessile adenomas more than 3 cm in diameter. Follow up ended in December 1996 by TCE or telephone interview, and review of the medical records, clinical files, or death certificates. Incidence ratios for colorectal cancer were compared with expected age and sex specific incidences in the Italian general population. RESULTS Follow up data were obtained for 97.3% of cases for a total of 14 211 person/years. Mean follow up was 10.5 years. Six colorectal cancer cases (four in males, two in females) at various stages were ascertained (one at 29 months, two at five years, one at seven years, one at eight years, and one at 10 years from the index examination). The number of cancers expected in the reference population was 17.7 for an incidence ratio of 0.34 (confidence interval 0.23–0.63; p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS Colonoscopic polypectomy substantially reduced the incidence of colorectal cancer in the cohort compared with that expected in the general population. These results are of particular relevance considering that those with adenomas are at increased risk of colorectal cancer and that this retrospective study was performed on data obtained in standard clinical practice. This observation strengthens the concept of effective population screening in view of the fact that adenomatous polyps are the most frequent neoplastic outcome of screening and their removal is associated with a decrease in the incidence of colorectal cancer.",
"corpus_id": 3156699
} | {
"title": "Corrigendum: American College of Gastroenterology Guidelines for Colorectal Cancer Screening 2008",
"abstract": "This document is the first update of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) colorectal cancer (CRC) screening recommendations since 2000. The CRC screening tests are now grouped into cancer prevention tests and cancer detection tests. Colonoscopy every 10 years, beginning at age 50, remains the preferred CRC screening strategy. It is recognized that colonoscopy is not available in every clinical setting because of economic limitations. It is also realized that not all eligible persons are willing to undergo colonoscopy for screening purposes. In these cases, patients should be offered an alternative CRC prevention test (flexible sigmoidoscopy every 5-10 years, or a computed tomography (CT) colonography every 5 years) or a cancer detection test (fecal immunochemical test for blood, FIT).",
"corpus_id": 295873
} | {
"title": "Potential for More Rational Use of Antibiotics in Hospitalized Children in a Country With Low Resistance: Data From eight Point Prevalence Surveys.",
"abstract": "BACKGROUND\nAntimicrobial resistance is low in Norway, but to prevent an increase, the Norwegian Government has launched a National Strategy including a 30% reduction of broad-spectrum antibiotics (BSA) in hospitals within 2020. BSA are defined as second- and third-generation cephalosporins, carbapenems, piperacillin/tazobactam and quinolones. There are no recent studies of antibiotic use in Norwegian hospitalized children. The aim of this study was to describe the use of antibiotics with emphasis on BSA in Norwegian hospitalized children and neonates to detect possibilities for optimization.\n\n\nMETHODS\nData were extracted from 8 national point prevalence surveys of systemic antibiotic prescriptions in Norwegian hospitals between 2015 and 2017. The choices of antibiotics were compared with the empirical recommendations given in available Norwegian guidelines. In total, 1323 prescriptions were issued for 937 patients.\n\n\nRESULTS\nTwenty-four percent of pediatric inpatients were given antibiotics. Adherence to guidelines was 48%, and 30% (95% confidence interval: 27%-33%) of all patients on antibiotics received BSA. We identified only small variations in use of BSA between hospitals. One-third of the patients on antibiotic therapy received prophylaxis whereof 13% were given BSA. In 30% of prescriptions with BSA, no microbiologic sample was obtained before treatment.\n\n\nCONCLUSIONS\nThis study reveals an excess of prescriptions with BSA in relation to the low resistance rate in Norway. Our findings reveal areas for improvement that can be useful in the forthcoming antibiotic stewardship programs in Norwegian pediatric departments.",
"corpus_id": 81987898,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "Autism multiplex family with 16p11.2p12.2 microduplication syndrome in monozygotic twins and distal 16p11.2 deletion in their brother",
"abstract": "The pericentromeric region of chromosome 16p is rich in segmental duplications that predispose to rearrangements through non-allelic homologous recombination. Several recurrent copy number variations have been described recently in chromosome 16p. 16p11.2 rearrangements (29.5–30.1 Mb) are associated with autism, intellectual disability (ID) and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Another recognizable but less common microdeletion syndrome in 16p11.2p12.2 (21.4 to 28.5–30.1 Mb) has been described in six individuals with ID, whereas apparently reciprocal duplications, studied by standard cytogenetic and fluorescence in situ hybridization techniques, have been reported in three patients with autism spectrum disorders. Here, we report a multiplex family with three boys affected with autism, including two monozygotic twins carrying a de novo 16p11.2p12.2 duplication of 8.95 Mb (21.28–30.23 Mb) characterized by single-nucleotide polymorphism array, encompassing both the 16p11.2 and 16p11.2p12.2 regions. The twins exhibited autism, severe ID, and dysmorphic features, including a triangular face, deep-set eyes, large and prominent nasal bridge, and tall, slender build. The eldest brother presented with autism, mild ID, early-onset obesity and normal craniofacial features, and carried a smaller, overlapping 16p11.2 microdeletion of 847 kb (28.40–29.25 Mb), inherited from his apparently healthy father. Recurrent deletions in this region encompassing the SH2B1 gene were recently reported in early-onset obesity and in individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders associated with phenotypic variability. We discuss the clinical and genetic implications of two different 16p chromosomal rearrangements in this family, and suggest that the 16p11.2 deletion in the father predisposed to the formation of the duplication in his twin children.",
"corpus_id": 1261538
} | {
"title": "Genetic and functional analyses demonstrate a role for abnormal glycinergic signaling in autism",
"abstract": "Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a common neurodevelopmental condition characterized by marked genetic heterogeneity. Recent studies of rare structural and sequence variants have identified hundreds of loci involved in ASD, but our knowledge of the overall genetic architecture and the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms remains incomplete. Glycine receptors (GlyRs) are ligand-gated chloride channels that mediate inhibitory neurotransmission in the adult nervous system but exert an excitatory action in immature neurons. GlyRs containing the α2 subunit are highly expressed in the embryonic brain, where they promote cortical interneuron migration and the generation of excitatory projection neurons. We previously identified a rare microdeletion of the X-linked gene GLRA2, encoding the GlyR α2 subunit, in a boy with autism. The microdeletion removes the terminal exons of the gene (GLRA2Δex8–9). Here, we sequenced 400 males with ASD and identified one de novo missense mutation, p.R153Q, absent from controls. In vitro functional analysis demonstrated that the GLRA2Δex8–9 protein failed to localize to the cell membrane, while the R153Q mutation impaired surface expression and markedly reduced sensitivity to glycine. Very recently, an additional de novo missense mutation (p.N136S) was reported in a boy with ASD, and we show that this mutation also reduced cell-surface expression and glycine sensitivity. Targeted glra2 knockdown in zebrafish induced severe axon-branching defects, rescued by injection of wild type but not GLRA2Δex8–9 or R153Q transcripts, providing further evidence for their loss-of-function effect. Glra2 knockout mice exhibited deficits in object recognition memory and impaired long-term potentiation in the prefrontal cortex. Taken together, these results implicate GLRA2 in non-syndromic ASD, unveil a novel role for GLRA2 in synaptic plasticity and learning and memory, and link altered glycinergic signaling to social and cognitive impairments.",
"corpus_id": 329989
} | {
"title": "Susceptibility of Chara myosin to SH reagents.",
"abstract": "Cellular and intracellular motile events in plants are susceptible to SH reagents such as N-ethylmaleimide (NEM). It has long been believed that the target of the reagent is myosin. We compared the effect of NEM on the motile and ATPase activities of skeletal muscle myosin with that on plant myosin using characean algal myosin. It was found that the motile activity of myosin prepared from NEM-treated C. corallina decreased to a level accountable for the decrease in the velocity of cytoplasmic streaming but it was also found that Chara myosin was far less susceptible to NEM than skeletal muscle myosin.",
"corpus_id": 1853316,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "Mass flows and fate of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in the wastewater treatment plant of a fluorochemical manufacturing facility.",
"abstract": "Although industrial sites producing perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) may introduce these chemicals into the aquatic environment, they are rarely investigated. This study entailed measuring concentrations, mass flows and the fate of 51 PFASs in an industrial wastewater treatment plant receiving raw effluents from a fluorochemical manufacturing facility. Grab and 24-h composite samples were collected at various stages of wastewater treatment over four sampling campaigns. One perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acid (PFCA) and nine fluorotelomers (FTs) were systematically detected in the facility's raw effluent. The overall PFCA mass flow ranged from 0.6 to 8.6g/day and was negligible compared to the overall mass flow of FTs (from 647 to 2,892g/day). PFCA mass flows increased drastically after secondary treatment (degradation of precursors) and decreased notably after the floatation tank (adsorption onto floatation sludge), but remained at relatively high levels in the final effluent (from 21 to 247g/day). Similar patterns in mass flow were observed for the FTs, with mass loadings discharged into the river ranging from 1,623 to 6,963g/day. Despite analyzing dozens of PFASs, adsorbable organic fluorine determination and oxidative conversion of PFCA precursors showed that a significant part of PFASs remained unidentified. Nevertheless, two overwhelmingly predominant PFASs-6:2 Fluorotelomer sulfonamide alkylbetaine (6:2 FTAB) and 6:2 Fluorotelomer sulfonamide propyl N,N dimethylamine (M4)-were detected and quantified for the first time in water samples, accounting for >75% of the total PFAS mass flow in the final effluent. This study also provided evidence of soil contamination by the aerosol produced over the aeration basin and inadvertent spillage of pieces of sludge cake.",
"corpus_id": 3959466
} | {
"title": "The impact of two fluoropolymer manufacturing facilities on downstream contamination of a river and drinking water resources with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances",
"abstract": "Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are emerging contaminants that have been detected in the environment, biota, and humans. Drinking water is a route of exposure for populations consuming water contaminated by PFAS discharges. This research study reports environmental measurement concentrations, mass flows, and the fate of dozens of PFASs in a river receiving effluents from two fluoropolymer manufacturing facilities. In addition to quantified levels of PFASs using LC- and GC-MS analytical methods, the total amount of unidentified PFASs and precursors was assessed using two complementary analytical methods, absorbable organic fluorine (AOF) determination and oxidative conversion of perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acid (PFCA) precursors. Several dozen samples were collected in the river (water and sediment) during four sampling campaigns. In addition, samples were collected in two well fields and from the outlet of the drinking water treatment plants after chlorination. We estimated that 4295 kg PFHxA, 1487 kg 6:2FTSA, 965 kg PFNA, 307 kg PFUnDA, and 14 kg PFOA were discharged in the river by the two facilities in 2013. High concentrations (up to 176 ng/g dw) of odd long-chain PFASs (PFUnDA and PFTrDA) were found in sediment samples. PFASs were detected in all 15 wells, with concentrations varying based on the location of the well in the field. Additionally, the presence of previously discharged PFASs was still measurable. Significant discrepancies between PFAS concentration profiles in the wells and in the river suggest an accumulation and transformation of PFCA precursors in the aquifer. Chlorination had no removal efficiency and no unidentified PFASs were detected in the treated water with either complementary analytical method. Although the total PFAS concentrations were high in the treated water, ranging from 86 to 169 ng/L, they did not exceed the currently available guideline values.",
"corpus_id": 8247198
} | {
"title": "The Oxidation of Reduced Diphosphopyridine Nucleotide by an Ascorbate System from Cucumber.",
"abstract": "9. SCHOU, L., BENSON, A. A., BASSHAM, J. A., and CALVIN, M. The path of carbon in photosynthesis. XI. The role of glycolic acid. Physiol. Plantarum 3: 487-495. 1950. 10. THIMANN, K. V. and BONNER, W. D., JR. Organic acid metabolism. Ann. Rev. Plant Physiol. 1: 75-108. 1950. 11. TOLBERT, N. E. and BURRIS, R. H. Light activation of the plant enzyme which oxidizes glycolic acid. Jour. Biol. Chem. 186: 791-804. 1950. 12. TOLBERT, N. E., CLAGTmr, C. O., and BURRIS, R. H. Products of the oxidation of glycolic acid and Llactic acid by enzymes from tobacco leaves. Jour. Biol. Chem. 181: 905-914. 1949. 13. TOLBERT, N. E. and COHAN, M. S. Formation of glycine and serine in plants from glycolic acid. Fed. Proc. 11: 299. 1952. 14. TOLBERT, N. E., COHAN, M. S., and HENDRICKS, S. B. Activation of glycolic acid dehydrogenase of plants. Paper reported Annual Meeting, Amer. Soc. Plant Physiol. Minneapolis, Minnesota. September 1951. 15. UMBREIT, W. W. and BOND, V. S. Analysis of plant tissue. Application of a semi-micro-Kjeldahl method. Ind. Eng. Chem. Anal. Ed. 8: 276-278. 1936. 16. UMBREIT, W. W., BURRIS, R. H., and STAUFFER, J. F. Manometric Techniques and Tissue Metabolism. 2nd Ed. Burgess Publishing Co., Minneapolis, Minnesota. 1949. 17. VON BRAUN, J. Double dissociation of quarternary ammonium compounds and a convenient synthesis of iodoacetonitrile. Ber. deut. chem. Ges. 41: 2130-2144. 1908. 18. WHITMORE, F. C. and WOODWARD, G. E. p-Chloromercuribenzoic acid. In: Organic Synthesis. Collective Vol. I. H. Gilman, Editor. Pp. 153-154. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York. 1932. 19. ZELITCH, I. and OCHOA, S. Oxidation and reduction of glycolic and glyoxylic acids in plants. I. Glycolic acid oxidase. Jour. Biol. Chem. 201: 707718. 1953. 20. ZELITCH, I. Oxidation and reduction of glycolic and glyoxylic acids in plants. II. Glyoxylic acid reductase. Jour. Biol. Chem. 201: 719-726. 1953.",
"corpus_id": 6862060,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "Racial disparity in survival from estrogen and progesterone receptor-positive breast cancer: implications for reducing breast cancer mortality disparities",
"abstract": "IntroductionNon-Latina black breast cancer patients experience a shorter survival from breast cancer than their non-Latina white counterparts. We compared breast cancer-specific survival for the subset of black and white patients with estrogen and/or progesterone receptor-positive tumors that are generally targeted with endocrine therapy.MethodsUsing data collected from a population-based cohort of breast cancer patients from Chicago, IL, Kaplan–Meier survival curves and hazard functions were generated and proportional hazards models were estimated to determine the black/white disparity in time to death from breast cancer while adjusting for age at diagnosis, patient characteristics, treatment-related variables, and tumor grade and stage.ResultsIn regression models, hazard of breast cancer death among ER/PR-positive patients was at least 4 times higher for black than for white patients in all models tested. Notably, even after adjusting for stage at diagnosis, tumor grade, and treatment variables (including initiation of systemic adjuvant therapies), the hazard ratio for death from ER/PR-positive breast cancer between black and white women was 4.39 (95% CI 1.76, 10.9, p = 0.001).ConclusionsWe observed a racial disparity in breast cancer survival for patients diagnosed with ER/PR-positive tumors that did not appear to be due to differences in tumor stage, grade, or therapy initiation in black patients, suggesting that there may be racial differences in the molecular characteristics of hormone receptor-positive tumors, such that ER/PR-positive tumors in black patients may be less responsive to standard treatments.",
"corpus_id": 3439186
} | {
"title": "Racial disparity in breast cancer: can it be mattered for prognosis and therapy",
"abstract": "Breast cancer (BC) has emerged as a deadly disease that affects the lives of millions of women worldwide. It is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. Advancements in BC screening, preventive measures and treatment have resulted in significant decline in BC related deaths. However, unacceptable levels of racial disparity have been consistently reported, especially in African-American (AA) women compared to European American (EA). AA women go through worse prognosis, shorter survival time and higher mortality rates, despite higher cancer incidence reported in EA. These disparities are independent of socioeconomic status, access to healthcare or age, or even the stage of BC. Recent race-specific genetic and epigenetic studies have reported biological causes, which form the crux of this review. However, the developments are just the tip of the iceberg. Prioritizing primary research towards studying race-specific tumor microenvironment and biological composition of the host system in delineating the cause of these disparities is utmost necessary to ameliorate the disparity and design appropriate diagnosis/treatment regimen for AA women suffering from BC. In this review article, we discuss emerging trends and exciting discoveries that reveal how genetic/epigenetic circuitry contributed to racial disparity and discussed the strategies that may help in future therapeutic development.",
"corpus_id": 3729976
} | {
"title": "Differential expression of breast cancer-associated genes between stage- and age-matched tumor specimens from African- and Caucasian-American Women diagnosed with breast cancer",
"abstract": "BackgroundRecent studies suggest that the poorer breast cancer outcome observed in African-American women (AAW) may, in part, result from underlying molecular factors. The purpose of this study was to investigate gene expression differences between Caucasian-American women (CAW) and AAW that may contribute to this poorer prognosis.MethodsThe expression of 84 genes involved in breast carcinoma prognosis, response to therapy, estrogen signaling, and tumor aggressiveness was assessed in age- and stage-matched CAW and AAW paraffin-embedded breast cancer specimens. The Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney Test was used to identify genes with a significant difference in expression between CAW and AAW. To determine if the differentially expressed genes could segregate between the CAW and AAW, we performed semi-supervised principal component analysis (SSPCA).ResultsTwenty genes were differentially expressed between AAW and CAW. SSPCA incorporating these 20 genes segregated AAW and CAW into two distinct groups. AAW were significantly (p < 0.05) more likely to display aberrations in G1/S cell-cycle regulatory genes, decreased expression of cell-adhesion genes, and low to no expression of ESR1, PGR, ERBB2 and estrogen pathway targets.ConclusionsThe gene expression differences identified between AAW and CAW may contribute to more aggressive disease, resistance to therapy, enhanced metastatic potential and poor clinical outcome. These findings support the hypothesis that breast cancer specimens collected from AAW display distinct gene expression differences compared to similar tissues obtained from CAW. Additional population-based studies are necessary to determine if these gene expression variations contribute to the highly aggressive and treatment-resistant breast cancer phenotype frequently observed in AAW.",
"corpus_id": 377937,
"score": 2
} |
{
"title": "Cross-category adaptation: exposure to faces produces gender aftereffects in body perception",
"abstract": "Prolonged exposure to a stimulus results in a subsequent perceptual bias. This perceptual adaptation aftereffect occurs not only for simple stimulus features but also for high-level stimulus properties (e.g., faces’ gender, identity and emotional expressions). Recent studies on aftereffects demonstrate that adaptation to human bodies can modulate face perception because these stimuli share common properties. Those findings suggest that the aftereffect is not related to the physical property of the stimulus but to the great number of semantic attributes shared by the adapter and the test. Here, we report a novel cross-category adaptation paradigm with both silhouette face profiles (Experiment 1.1) and frontal view faces (Experiment 2) as adapters, testing the aftereffects when viewing an androgynous test body. The results indicate that adaptation to both silhouette face profiles and frontal view faces produces gender aftereffects (e.g., after visual exposure to a female face, the androgynous body appears as more male and vice versa). These findings confirm that high-level perceptual aftereffects can occur between cross-categorical stimuli that share common properties.",
"corpus_id": 664580
} | {
"title": "The effects of body exposure on self-body image and esthetic appreciation in anorexia nervosa",
"abstract": "Repeated exposures to thin-idealized body shapes may alter women’s perceptions of what normal (e.g., accepted) and ideal (e.g., desired) bodies in a cultural environment look like. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether exposure to thin and round body shapes may change the subsequent esthetic appreciation of others’ bodies and the perceptual and cognitive–affective dimensions of self-body image in patients suffering from anorexia nervosa (AN). Thirteen AN patients and 13 matched healthy controls were exposed to pictures of either thin or round unfamiliar body models and, before and after exposure, they were required to either express liking judgments about round and slim figures of unfamiliar bodies (esthetic task) or to adjust distorted pictures of their own body to their perceptual (How do you see yourself?), affective (How do you feel yourself?), metacognitive (How do others see you?) and ideal (How would you like to look like?) body image (self-body adjustment task). Brief exposures to round models increased liking judgments of round figures in both groups. However, only in AN patients, exposure to round models induced an increase in thin figures liking, which positively correlated with their preoccupation with dieting. Furthermore, exposure to round bodies in AN patients, but not in controls, increased the distortion for the perceptual body image and decreased the size of the ideal one. No differences between the two groups were obtained after adaptation to thin models. Our results suggest that AN patients’ perception of their own and others’ body is more easily malleable by exposure to round figures as compared to controls. Crucially, this mechanism may strongly contribute to the development and maintenance of self-body image disturbances.",
"corpus_id": 9735756
} | {
"title": "Dopamine D2High receptors moderately elevated by bifeprunox and aripiprazole",
"abstract": "Because long‐term antipsychotics elicit behavioral dopamine supersensitivity, the present study examined whether 7–9 days administration of partial dopamine D2 agonists with antipsychotic activity, bifeprunox and aripiprazole, could induce biochemical changes that suggest dopamine supersensitivity. In rats, behavioral dopamine supersensitivity is associated with increased dopamine D2High receptors in homogenized striata. In control rat striata, bifeprunox and aripiprazole had similar Ki values at D2 receptors. In human cloned D2Long receptors, however, aripiprazole had a Ki of 9.6 nM and recognized 41% of the D2 receptors to be in the D2High state, while the values for bifeprunox were 1.3 nM and 69%, indicating that bifeprunox had higher potency and efficacy at D2. Nine days of subcutaneously injected bifeprunox (0.25 mg/kg/day) and 7 days of aripiprazole (1.5 mg/kg) increased D2High receptors by 102–129% and 108–188%, respectively, although the total population of D2 receptors revealed no significant changes. The increase in D2high receptors induced by dopamine D2 partial agonists appear to be of smaller magnitude than those seen previously with D2 antagonist antipsychotics. Future research needs to test directly whether long‐term treatment with dopamine partial agonists leads to any behavioral dopamine supersensitivity. Synapse 62:902–908, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.",
"corpus_id": 36252818,
"score": 1
} |
{
"title": "A wolf in sheep's clothing? Patients’ and healthcare professionals’ perceptions of oxygen therapy: An interpretative phenomenological analysis",
"abstract": "Despite emerging evidence and guidelines, poor prescribing and administration of oxygen therapy persists. This study aimed to explore healthcare professionals’ (HCPs) and patients’ perceptions of oxygen.",
"corpus_id": 3295082
} | {
"title": "Stigma and the in(visible) perspectives and expectations of home oxygen therapy among people with chronic breathlessness syndrome: A qualitative study",
"abstract": "Background: Chronic breathlessness syndrome in the context of advancing disease is distressing for all concerned. Oxygen is commonly prescribed in this setting; however, little is known about the perspectives of breathless people who either are on oxygen or are yet to have it prescribed. Aim: To understand and describe the perspectives and experiences of breathless people towards oxygen use at home. Design: This qualitative study utilised an interpretive description approach using semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis. Setting/participants: A total of 19 people with chronic breathlessness syndrome living in South Australia participated in semi-structured interviews. Participants were divided into sub-groups according to whether they were chronically breathless and (1) not using home oxygen (n = 6), (2) using funded home oxygen for severe hypoxaemia (n = 7) and (3) using home oxygen for palliation outside of funding guidelines (n = 6). Results: Three main themes were identified: (1) managing distress and living with chronic breathlessness syndrome, with or without oxygen, requires a range of self-management strategies; (2) expectations of oxygen use: ‘Not as good as I thought it would be’; and (3) the stigma of using oxygen: the visible and invisible. Conclusion: People living with chronic breathlessness struggle daily with both the progression of the underlying disease and the distressing nature of the syndrome. While oxygen does provide benefit for some people, its use and the perceptions of its use are often associated with both the visible and invisible manifestations of stigma. Clinicians need to promote self-management strategies and give careful thought to the prescribing of home oxygen, especially outside the current funding guidelines.",
"corpus_id": 52939673
} | {
"title": "A randomised trial of high vs low intensity training in breathing techniques for breathless patients with malignant lung disease: a feasibility study.",
"abstract": "BACKGROUND\nBreathlessness remains a refractory symptom in malignant lung disease. Breathing training is an effective, non-pharmacological intervention but it is unclear how this should be delivered. This feasibility study aimed to assess recruitment and retention, best end point and variability of breathlessness scores in order to calculate sample size for a future study.\n\n\nMETHOD\nThis was a single centre, randomised controlled non-blinded parallel group feasibility study. Eligible participants (breathless patients with intrathoracic malignancy) received three breathlessness management training sessions or a single session only. Follow-up was for eight weeks and endpoints were: numerical rating scales (NRS) of breathlessness severity; breathlessness distress; HADS questionnaire; coping (BriefCOPE and our NRS coping question); EQ-5D and EQ-VAS.\n\n\nRESULTS\n22 patients were randomised over 12 months; 55% of expected recruitment from pilot data. Screening logs indicated this resulted, in part, from excluding patients who were receiving or who had recently received chemotherapy or radiotherapy. There was 40% drop-out by week four. The most useful NRS scores for breathlessness severity were for \"worst\" and \"average\" over past 24h. From the variability data for \"worst breathlessness\", a sample size of 270 should allow detection of a 30% improvement in area under the curve in the three-session group compared with single-session, (90% power; p=0.05, two-tailed; 2:1 randomisation single:three sessions) allowing 50% drop out at four weeks.\n\n\nCONCLUSIONS\nThe follow-on study will test the hypothesis that three sessions of training improve breathlessness better than a single session. It will include patients undergoing palliative anti-cancer therapy. Stratification by centre will allow for differences in rates of chemotherapy or radiotherapy and variations in breathlessness service configuration.",
"corpus_id": 45540332,
"score": 2
} |