cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Carrier recombination mechanism in CsPbB r 3 revealed by time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy

We systematically investigate the recombination mechanism of photogenerated charge carriers in bulk $\mathrm{CsPbB}{\mathrm{r}}_{3}$ by means of time-resolved photoluminescence (TR-PL) spectroscopy at low temperature and various laser excitation powers. A dynamic recombination model is proposed to describe the TR-PL that predicts the time-dependent exciton and free-charge populations. It provides a clear representation of competing mono- and bimolecular recombination processes. A decrease in carrier lifetime with increasing laser intensity was observed that was attributed to exciton-exciton scattering. A bimolecular recombination coefficient of $\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}7}\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{c}{\mathrm{m}}^{3}/\mathrm{s}$ was obtained for exciton recombination. As the concentration of photoexcited carriers increases, stronger exciton-exciton annihilation occurs. The exciton-exciton annihilation rate for $\mathrm{CsPbB}{\mathrm{r}}_{3}$ is $3.63\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}7}\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{c}{\mathrm{m}}^{3}\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{s}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ at 10-mW laser power. Notably, the exciton-exciton annihilation rate in bulk material is comparable to that obtained for photoexcited $\mathrm{CsPbB}{\mathrm{r}}_{3}$ nanoscale quantum dots.
Convolutional neural network-based decision support system for bladder cancer staging in CT urography: decision threshold estimation and validation

Stage T2 is the clinical threshold to administer neoadjuvant chemotherapy for bladder cancer. In this study a deep learning convolutional neural network (DL-CNN) was trained to aid clinicians in staging of bladder cancer in CT Urography (CTU). The DL-CNN utilized two datasets for training and testing. The primary training dataset included 84 bladder cancers from CTU scans of 76 clinically staged patients, 43 cancers were below stage T2, and 41 were stage T2 or above. The second dataset served as an independent test set containing 90 bladder cancers from CTU scans of 86 clinically staged patients, all bladder cancers were staged as T2 or above. Regions of interest (ROIs) were extracted from the lesions as input to the DL-CNN. The model structure and hyper-parameters were determined and asserted using the training dataset of 84 lesions split into two balanced partitions. Based on the lesion-based T2 likelihood score obtained by averaging the scores of all ROIs extracted from a given lesion, the decision threshold providing the highest classification accuracy was determined from the leave-one-out validation. The DL-CNN with the fixed decision threshold was then applied to the test ROIs. The classification accuracy for the independent test set of 90 cancers was 0.91. This performance is slightly higher than our previous radiomics approach based on SVM and BPNN models, which achieved 0.88 and 0.90 accuracy on the same test set, respectively, but the difference was not statistically significant. The results show the promise of using a DL-CNN in bladder cancer stage assessment.
Choices in the History of Emotions

El texto se centra en senalar algunos de los principales retos que afronta la historia de las emociones en la actualidad a la luz de los aportes que el campo de estudio ha producido desde su creacion. Metodologia: En la medida en que el campo de la historia de las emociones sigue expandiendose, es importante tener presente que los aportes seran distintos si las personas que trabajan desde esta optica se enfocan, por ejemplo, en el individuo o en el marco social; en los acontecimientos o en los procesos; en emociones especificas o en su articulacion con procesos historicos; en audiencias puntuales o en publicos mas amplios; en contextos geograficos singulares o en reflexiones comparativas sobre distintos ambitos. Originalidad: El escrito presenta un balance sobre los principales retos metodologicos, tematicos y teoricos que enfrentan los academicos que trabajan desde la perspectiva de la historia de las emociones, en un momento en el que este campo ha alcanzado un alto nivel de sofisticacion, y plantea de forma sintetica una serie de rutas de trabajo que apuntan a fortalecer los aportes que se hacen desde este campo de estudio. Conclusiones: Esta reflexion concluye que la historia de las emociones puede avanzar en distintas direcciones y que las variadas alternativas analiticas a disposicion de los historiadores dedicados a este campo tienen el potencial de incidir en distintos tipos de audiencias, dentro y fuera del ambito particular de las emociones, y de afianzar el aporte que desde el campo se hace al conocimiento en general. Una de las principales cuestiones en las que se hace enfasis es la apremiante necesidad de estudiar emociones en areas geograficas por fuera de Estados Unidos, Europa y Australia, entre las que America Latina se destaca como una de las mas importantes
Teaching to Impact Sexual Violence? The Evaluation of a Curricular Intervention for First-Year College Students.

Purpose:To evaluate whether a semester-long course for first-year undergraduates influenced knowledge, attitudes, and behavioral intentions about gender, sexuality, and sexual violence.Design:Quasi...
LeakyTrack: non-coherent single-antenna nodal and environmental mobility tracking with a leaky-wave antenna

Radio frequency signals have the potential to convey rich information about a node's motion and surroundings. Unfortunately, extracting such information is challenging, previously requiring accurate phase measurement, large antenna array structures, or extensive training. In this paper, we present LeakyTrack, a novel system that enables non-coherent and training-free motion sensing with a single antenna. The key idea is to create unique spectrally coded signals at different spatial directions so that geometric properties of the receiving node, as well as any potential objects in the environment, leave spectral footprints on the collected signal. To do so, we exploit a THz leaky-wave antenna and realize a color-coded scan in which signals with distinct spectral characteristics simultaneously emit across the angular domain. LeakyTrack infers nodal and environmental motion by analyzing the received spectral profile. We evaluate the performance of LeakyTrack via extensive over-the-air experiments.
Development of sterically hindered siloxide-functionalized polyoxotungstates for the complexation of 5d-metals

In this study, we extend the family of organosilyl-functionalized trivacant Keggin polyoxotungstates, [PW9O34(RSiOH)3]3− (R = nPr, iPr, tBu), through the introduction of bulky aryl and aliphatic silanol substituents, namely phenyl, cyclohexyl and biphenyl. This work was performed in order to study the impact of these large functional groups on the accessibility of the well-defined tridentate coordination site. Coordination of hafnium to these type II hybrid polyoxotungstates was conducted in order to study the ability of the bulkier ligand pockets to support larger cations in comparison to those previously reported (e.g. Ti4+, V3+, V5+, Ge4+). Increased steric hindrance around the coordination site from the biphenyl groups resulted in much longer reaction times for the complexation reaction compared to the other functional groups used, but the impact of our design toward stabilizing reactive species proved limited, as all complexes easily undergo hydrolysis of the Hf-OtBu bond in the presence of water. Electrochemical investigations of the ligands and hafnium complexes reveal that the redox events centered on the polyoxotungstate core can be tuned by varying the substituents on the silyl fragment, and exhibit a cathodic shift after coordination of the redox inactive tetravalent cation.
Augustine and the Flexibility of True Justice

Augustine’s attitude toward changing times was marked by a great deal of flexibility. This attitude was the result, however, of studied reflection on the purpose of temporal change within history. Augustine was led to this reflection especially through his interactions with the Manichees and their criticism of the Old Testament. Whereas the Manichees attacked the Old Testament because of its alleged incompatibility with inflexible standards of moral behavior, Augustine countered that the Old Testament and the New corresponded to different ages or times, and that the Manichees had overlooked the need to, as it were, “change with the times.” Ultimately, Augustine advocates for very few immutable rules, preferring a morality that is quite flexible. Such flexibility is a mark of realism, however.
Professional Sports and Crime: Do Professional Hockey Games Increase City-Level Crime Rates?:

Previous research has found that sports games increase certain crimes including theft and vandalism, but the relationship between sports and other offenses such as motor vehicle theft, robbery, and...
The risk of diabetes after giving birth to a macrosomic infant: data from the NHANES cohort

Gestational diabetes (GDM) increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and thus warrants earlier and more frequent screening. Women who give birth to a macrosomic infant, as defined as a birthweight greater than 9 lbs. (or approximately 4000 g), are encouraged to also get early type 2 diabetes screening, as macrosomia may be a surrogate marker for GDM. This study investigates whether a macrosomic infant, as defined as 9lbs, apart from GDM, increases the risk for diabetes later in life. Data on parous women from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007–2016 were utilized. Rates of diabetes were compared in those with and without macrosomic infants in Rao-Scott’s chi-square test. Multiple logistic regression was used to test the independent effect of macrosomia on type 2 diabetes controlling for the confounding covariates and adjusting for the complex sampling design. To investigate how onset time affects diabetes, we implemented Cox proportional hazard regressions on time to have diabetes. Among 10,089 parous women, macrosomia significantly increased the risk of maternal diabetes later in life in the chi-square test and logistic regression. Independent of GDM, women who deliver a macrosomic infant have a 20% higher chance of developing diabetes compared to women who did not. The expected hazards of having type 2 diabetes is 1.66 times higher in a woman with macrosomic infant compared to counterparts. Women who gave birth to a macrosomic infant in the absence of GDM should be offered earlier and more frequent screening for type 2 diabetes.
A National Pediatric Telepsychiatry Curriculum for Graduate Medical Education and Continuing Medical Education.

Objectives: Our goal was to develop an open access nationally disseminated online curriculum for use in graduate and continuing medical education on the topic of pediatric telepsychiatry to enhance the uptake of telepsychiatry among child psychiatry training programs and improve access to mental health care for youth and families. Methods: Following Kern's 6-stage model of curriculum development, we identified a core problem, conducted a needs assessment, developed broad goals and measurable objectives in a competency-based model, and developed educational content and methods. The curriculum was reviewed by experts and feedback incorporated. Given the urgent need for such a curriculum due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the curriculum was immediately posted on the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training websites. Further evaluation will be conducted over the next year. Results: The curriculum covers the six areas of core competence adapted for pediatric telepsychiatry and includes teaching content and resources, evaluation tools, and information about other resources. Conclusion: This online curriculum is available online and provides an important resource and set of standards for pediatric telepsychiatry training. Its online format allows for ongoing revision as the telepsychiatry landscape changes.
LocalNewton: Reducing Communication Bottleneck for Distributed Learning

To address the communication bottleneck problem in distributed optimization within a master-worker framework, we propose LocalNewton, a distributed second-order algorithm with \emph{local averaging}. In LocalNewton, the worker machines update their model in every iteration by finding a suitable second-order descent direction using only the data and model stored in their own local memory. We let the workers run multiple such iterations locally and communicate the models to the master node only once every few (say $L$) iterations. LocalNewton is highly practical since it requires only one hyperparameter, the number $L$ of local iterations. We use novel matrix concentration based techniques to obtain theoretical guarantees for LocalNewton, and we validate them with detailed empirical evaluation. To enhance practicability, we devise an adaptive scheme to choose $L$, and we show that this reduces the number of local iterations in worker machines between two model synchronizations as the training proceeds, successively refining the model quality at the master. Via extensive experiments using several real-world datasets on AWS Lambda (a high-latency serverless computing platform), we show that LocalNewton requires fewer than $60\%$ of the communication rounds (between master and workers) and less than $40\%$ of the end-to-end running time, compared to state-of-the-art algorithms, to reach the same training~loss.
Using Machine Learning to Capture Quality Metrics from Natural Language: A Case Study of Diabetic Eye Exams.

Background and Objective The prevalence of value-based payment models has led to an increased use of the electronic health record to capture quality measures, necessitating additional documentation requirements for providers. Methods This case study uses text mining and natural language processing techniques to identify the timely completion of diabetic eye exams (DEEs) from 26,203 unique clinician notes for reporting as an electronic clinical quality measure (eCQM). Logistic regression and support vector machine (SVM) using unbalanced and balanced datasets, using the synthetic minority over-sampling technique (SMOTE) algorithm, were evaluated on precision, recall, sensitivity, and f1-score for classifying records positive for DEE. We then integrate a high precision DEE model to evaluate free-text clinical narratives from our clinical EHR system. Results Logistic regression and SVM models had comparable f1-score and specificity metrics with models trained and validated with no oversampling favoring precision over recall. SVM with and without oversampling resulted in the best precision, 0.96, and recall, 0.85, respectively. These two SVM models were applied to the unannotated 31,585 text segments representing 24,823 unique records and 13,714 unique patients. The number of records classified as positive for DEE using the SVM models ranged from 667 to 8,935 (2.7–36% out of 24,823, respectively). Unique patients classified as positive for DEE ranged from 3.5 to 41.8% highlighting the potential utility of these models. Discussion We believe the impact of oversampling on SVM model performance to be caused by the potential of overfitting of the SVM SMOTE model on the synthesized data and the data synthesis process. However, the specificities of SVM with and without SMOTE were comparable, suggesting both models were confident in their negative predictions. By prioritizing to implement the SVM model with higher precision over sensitivity or recall in the categorization of DEEs, we can provide a highly reliable pool of results that can be documented through automation, reducing the burden of secondary review. Although the focus of this work was on completed DEEs, this method could be applied to completing other necessary documentation by extracting information from natural language in clinician notes. Conclusion By enabling the capture of data for eCQMs from documentation generated by usual clinical practice, this work represents a case study in how such techniques can be leveraged to drive quality without increasing clinician work.
Autism-associated mutations in K V 7 channels induce gating pore current

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) adversely impacts >1% of children in the United States, causing social interaction deficits, repetitive behaviors, and communication disorders. Genetic analysis of ASD has advanced dramatically through genome sequencing, which has identified >500 genes with mutations in ASD. Mutations that alter arginine gating charges in the voltage sensor of the voltage-gated potassium (KV) channel KV7 (KCNQ) are among those frequently associated with ASD. We hypothesized that these gating charge mutations would induce gating pore current (also termed ω-current) by causing an ionic leak through the mutant voltage sensor. Unexpectedly, we found that wild-type KV7 conducts outward gating pore current through its native voltage sensor at positive membrane potentials, owing to a glutamine in the third gating charge position. In bacterial and human KV7 channels, gating charge mutations at the R1 and R2 positions cause inward gating pore current through the resting voltage sensor at negative membrane potentials, whereas mutation at R4 causes outward gating pore current through the activated voltage sensor at positive potentials. Remarkably, expression of the KV7.3/R2C ASD-associated mutation in vivo in midbrain dopamine neurons of mice disrupts action potential generation and repetitive firing. Overall, our results reveal native and mutant gating pore current in KV7 channels and implicate altered control of action potential generation by gating pore current through mutant KV7 channels as a potential pathogenic mechanism in autism.
Self-renewal of acute lymphocytic leukemia cells is limited by the Hedgehog pathway inhibitors cyclopamine and IPI-926

AACR Annual Meeting-- Apr 12-16, 2008; San Diego, CA 4999 During embryonic development, conserved signaling pathways such as Hedgehog (Hh), Wingless and Notch precisely regulate critical cellular processes such as self-renewal and differentiation. These pathways are normally silenced in most adult tissues, but may be reactivated in a wide range of human malignancies, such as Notch in T-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL). The cellular processes regulating self-renewal in B-cell ALL are poorly understood, but we hypothesized that these conserved signaling pathways may play a role. We studied expression of the Hh signaling components PATCHED-1 (PTCH), SMOOTHENED (SMO) and Gli-1 in human B-precursor ALL cell lines (HB1119, Nalm-6, REH, RS4;11, SEM-K2 and TOM-1) and 41 primary B-precursor ALL specimens. The Hh signaling pathway was common in B-precursor ALL as expression of PTCH, SMO and Gli-1 was detected in all 6 cell lines and 39/41 clinical specimens. Furthermore, functional pathway activity was detected in REH and RS4;11 cells using a Gli-responsive luciferase reporter that could be augmented by Sonic Hedgehog (SHh) ligand or inhibited by the SMO antagonist cyclopamine or the novel semi-synthetic cyclopamine derivative IPI-926. To examine the functional role of Hh in ALL self-renewal, we examined clonogenic growth in methylcellulose and found that colony-formation was significantly inhibited by cyclopamine and IPI-926. Cancer stem cells can be identified by relatively high activity of the intracellular enzyme retinaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) similar to normal hematopoietic and neural stem cells. We found that high ALDH activity could also identify rare cell populations in the REH and RS4;11 cell lines and treatment with cyclopamine or IPI-926 significantly reduced the relative proportion of ALDHhigh cells. These results suggest that the inhibition of Hh signaling impairs ALL self-renewal by targeting a rare cell population which may be responsible for disease propagation. Therefore, novel inhibitors of the Hh signaling pathway such as IPI-926 may offer promising approaches for development of therapies in this disease.
Building an electronic community system

AbstarctAn electronic community system encodes and manipulates the range of knowledge and values necessary to function effectively in a community or organization. The knowledge includes both formal data and literature and informal results and news. The manipulation includes both browsing through the available knowledge, and recording and sharing interrelationships between the items. A large-scale experiment is underway to build an electronic community system for the community of scientists studying the nematode worm C. elegans, a model organism in molecular biology. This paper discusses a model for community systems and previous such systems in science, the biology experiment and a previous system, the enabling technology for handling the knowledge, the enabling mechanisms for handling the values, the state of the prototype, and speculations on future applications in supporting organizational memory.
Material selection of a ferrimagnetic loaded coaxial delay line for phasing gyromagnetic nonlinear transmission lines

Implementing nonlinear transmission line (NLTL) technology in the design of a high power microwave source has the benefits of producing a comparatively small and lightweight solid-state system where the emission frequency is easily tuned. Usually, smaller in physical size, single NLTLs may produce significantly less power than its vacuum based counterparts. However, combining individual NLTL outputs electrically or in free-space is an attractive solution to achieve greater output power. This paper discusses a method for aligning a four element NLTL antenna array with coaxial geometry using easily adjustable temporal delay lines. These delay lines, sometimes referred to as pulse shock lines or pulse sharpening lines, are placed serially in front of the main NLTL line. The propagation velocity in each delay line is set by the voltage amplitude of an incident pulse as well as the magnetic field bias. Each is adjustable although for the system described in this paper, the voltage is held constant while the bias is changed through applying an external DC magnetic field of varying magnitude. Three different ferrimagnetic materials are placed in the temporal delay line to evaluate which yields the greatest range of electrical delay with the least amount of variability from consecutive shots.
Abductive Workflow Mining Using Binary Resolution on Task Successor Rules

The notion of abductive workflow mining is introduced, which refers to the process of discovering important workflows from event logs that are believed to cause or explain certain behaviour. The approach is based on the notion of abductive reasoning, where hypotheses are found that, if added to a rule base, would necessarily cause an observation to be true. We focus on the instance of workflow mining where there are critical tasks in the underlying process that, if observed, must be scrutinized more diligently to ensure that they are sufficiently motivated and executed under acceptable circumstances. Abductive workflow mining is then the process of determining activity that would necessarily imply that the critical activity should take place. Whenever critical activity is observed, one can then inspect the abductive workflow to ascertain whether there was sufficient reason for the critical activity to occur. To determine such workflows, we mine recorded log activity for task successor rules, which indicate which tasks succeed other tasks in the underlying process. Binary resolution is then applied to find the abductive explanations for a given activity. Preliminary experiments show that relatively small and concise abductive workflow models can be constructed, in comparison with constructing a complete model for the entire log.
On the Robust Control of Uncertain Nonlinear Systems

In this paper we study the problem of controlling uncertain nonlinear systems. The uncertainty is considered to be dynamic and additive, and the nominal system is assumed to be feedback-linearizable. It is shown that the state of the uncertain nonlinear system may be stabilized using a controller designed for the nominal system. It is also shown that the conditions for stability depend on the size of the uncertain terms.
Rates of False Flagging Due to Statistical Artifact in CMS Evaluations of Transplant Programs: Results of a Stochastic Simulation

The recent CMS conditions of participation are based on risk-adjusted models produced by the Scientific Registry for Transplant Recipients (SRTR). The accuracy of these models in identifying poor-performing centers is unknown. In this stochastic simulation study, 1-year mortality outcomes were simulated in virtual transplant centers, and used to flag centers according to the methods used by CMS, evaluating nine overlapping 2.5-year periods of simulated data. In a simulation where all centers had the same underlying risk, 10.2% were falsely flagged at least once during the 4.5 years of simulated evaluations. The probability of false-positive flagging was lowest in low-volume centers (2.5%) and highest in high-volume centers (16.2%). In another simulation where 5% of centers were assigned twofold risk (“poor-performing centers”), only 32% of poor-performing centers were correctly flagged. In a final simulation where each center was assigned a unique mortality risk, 94% of flagged centers had greater-than-median risk, but only 32% of flagged centers were among the 5% with highest risk. Even after disregarding known covariate limitations to the risk adjustment models, statistical noise alone leads to spurious flagging of many adequately-performing transplant centers, yet the methods used by CMS fail to flag most centers with true elevated risk.
A turbulent convection model with an observational context for a deep-sea hydrothermal plume in a time-variable cross flow

[1] A turbulent convection model for a hydrothermal fluid discharging into a tidally modulated, stratified cross flow is used to investigate time-variable conditions in plumes, such as the one rising from Dante, a sulfide mound at ∼2175 m depth on the Endeavour segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. That plume is the consequence of the coalescence of 10 or more small, individual plumes from chimneys discharging hot, salt-diminished fluid into the near-bottom ocean. At Dante, the discharge encounters ambient horizontal currents with speeds oscillating from near zero to a maximum of ∼7 cm s−1, speeds which can bend a plume more than 45° from the vertical. Model results are compatible with field measurements of the plume footprint size and vertical velocity both 20 m above the source when earlier estimates for Dante's heat flux of ∼50 MW drive the convection. The small-scale short period variability of velocities and properties distributions observed in the field is mimicked in model results. Plumes pool above a source during periods of weak cross flows but stream away from the source, with more diluted concentrations and lower rise heights, at other times. Plume distributions, at identical cross-flow speeds, differ whether the flow is accelerating or decelerating. Small changes in background hydrographic profiles create differences in rise heights comparable to those caused by large changes in source buoyancy flux. If put into an entrainment context, results suggest an entrainment coefficient (αEFF) that varies from ∼0.11 to ∼0.025 with increasing height (2–76 m) above the source.
Solution processed chalcogenide photonic crystals

We demonstrate the formation of an amorphous chalcogenide photonic crystal light emitter by using a microtrench filling method and solution processing.
Transport systems for L-methionine in Escherichia coli.

The transport of l-methionine into cells of Escherichia coli is described. The transported methionine undergoes a fairly rapid conversion to other cellular metabolites, primarily polyamines, but within 2 min, at least 65% of the intracellular label remains as methionine. The uptake process, which is temperature dependent, allows the accumulation of methionine against a concentration gradient. The dependence of the initial rate of uptake on the extracellular substrate concentration indicates the presence of multiple transport systems, whose kinetic behavior can be approximated by two systems, one with KT = 7.5 × 10−8 M and VT = 200 pmol per μliter of cell water per min, and the other with KT = 40 × 10−6 M and VT = 1,550 pmol per μliter per min. Both systems are highly specific for l-methionine. Methionine derivatives substituted on the amino or carboxyl group were somewhat effective as inhibitors of l-methionine uptake, whereas d-methionine, ethionine, or other amino acids were poorly inhibitory, if at all. The uptake process is dependent on metabolic energy, but apparently this energy can be derived either from glycolysis or from oxidative phosphorylation. Efflux of methionine was demonstrable, and both the influx and efflux process were susceptible to inhibition by N-ethylmaleimide. The intracellular pool of l-methionine was estimated to be 0.1 to 0.3 mM. The transport in two mutant strains defective in methionine uptake (metD and metP) showed that the high-affinity transport system was lost, whereas the low-affinity system remained more or less intact.
Class II antigen-specific murine cytolytic T lymphocytes (CTL). I. Analysis of bulk populations and establishment of Lyt-2+L3T4- and Lyt-2-L3T4+ bulk CTL lines.

Abstract Murine allogeneic cytolytic T lymphocytes (CTLs), including long-term bulk CTL lines, were induced in I-region-incompatible combinations of strains in vitro in order to study the phenotypes of class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigen-specific CTLs, as well as the possible functional involvement of accessory cell interaction molecules such as Lyt-2 and L3T4. This report shows (1) that class II-specific allogeneic CTL populations consist of two types of T cells, Lyt-2 + L3T4 − (2 + 4 − ) and Lyt-2 − L3T4 + (2 − 4 + ), in variable proportions depending on the strain combination, (2) that in vitro bulk CTL lines with each of these phenotypes can be established, (3) that the killing function of 2 − 4 + CTL is sensitive to the blocking effect of anti-L3T4 antibodies, suggesting functional involvement of this molecule in the CTL-target interaction, (4) that anti-Lyt-2 antibodies fail to block killing by 2 + 4 − cells, suggesting that such CTLs do not utilize this molecule in their killing function, and (5) that while I-A-specific CTLs of both phenotypes are detectable, 2 − 4 + cells could not be detected among I-E-specific CTL populations.
An Investigation Into the Syngas Production From Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Gasification Under Various Pressures and CO2 Concentration Atmospheres

The Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) gasification process is a promising candidate for both MSW disposal and syngas production. The MSW gasification process has been characterized thermo-gravimetrically under various experimental atmospheres in order to understand syngas production and char burnout. This preliminary data shows that with any concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere the residual char is reduced about 20% of the original mass (in an inert atmosphere) to about 5%, corresponding to a significant amount of carbon monoxide production (0.7% of CO was produced from a 20mg sample with 100ml/min of purge gas at 825°C). Two main steps of thermal degradation have been observed. The first thermal degradation step occurs at temperatures between 280∼350°C and consists mainly of the decomposition of the biomass component into light C1–3 -hydrocarbons. The second thermal degradation step occurs between 380∼450°C and is mainly attributed to polymer components, such as plastics and rubber, in MSW. The polymer component in MSW gave off significant amount of benzene derivatives such as styrene. In order to identify the optimal operating regime for MSW gasification, a series of tests covering a range of temperatures (280∼700°C), pressures (30∼45 Bar), and atmospheres (100% N2, 0∼20%CO2 +Bal. N2 with/without steam) have been done and the results are presented here.Copyright © 2009 by ASME
Carotenoid-Biofortified Maize Maintains Adequate Vitamin A Status in Mongolian Gerbils

Efforts to biofortify maize with provitamin A carotenoids have been successful, but the impact on vitamin A (VA) status has not been determined. We conducted two studies that investigated the bioefficacy of provitamin A carotenoids from maize and compared maize percentage and carotenoid concentrations on VA status in VA-depleted Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus). Gerbils (n = 40/study) were fed a white maize diet 4 wk prior to treatment. In study 1, treatments (n = 10/group) included oil control, 60% high-beta-carotene maize, and beta-carotene or VA supplements (matched to high-beta-carotene maize). In study 2, gerbils were fed 30 or 60% orange or yellow maize diets. Gerbils were killed after 4 wk. In study 1, liver VA concentrations, compared with the high-beta-carotene maize group (0.25 +/- 0.15 micromol/g), were higher in the VA group (0.56 +/- 0.15 micromol/g, P < 0.05), lower in the control (0.10 +/- 0.04 micromol/g, P < 0.05), and did not differ in the beta-carotene group (0.25 +/- 0.08 micromol/g). Bioconversion was approximately 3 microg beta-carotene to 1 mug retinol (1.5 mol beta-carotene to 1 mol retinol). The liver beta-carotene content was greater in the high-beta-carotene maize group (26.4 +/- 6.0 nmol) than in the beta-carotene supplement group (14.1 +/- 6.0 nmol; P < 0.05). In study 2, the gerbils' VA status improved with increasing dietary beta-carotene. Liver VA in gerbils fed orange maize was greater than in those fed yellow maize, regardless of maize percentage (P < 0.05). Biofortified maize adequately maintained VA status in Mongolian gerbils and was as efficacious as beta-carotene supplementation. In populations consuming maize as a staple food, using orange instead of white maize could dramatically affect VA status.
Common control channel assignment in cognitive radio networks using potential game theory

In a cognitive radio network, it is indispensable to assign common control channels for group operations of the secondary users of the spectrum. The assignment requires that multiple secondary users establish the least amount of frequency channels among them while each chooses a channel that has minimum interference to its nearby primary users. We model this problem as a strategic game and design its utility function such that the game is a potential game. A set of pure Nash equilibria are found by locating the local optima of the potential function. We develop sequential and asynchronous updates of game players' strategies using the best response dynamic. In order for the search to escape the local optimum and reach the global optimum of the potential function, we adopt simulated annealing in the sequential and asynchronous updates of the strategies. The optimal assignment of the common control channel is obtained accordingly and the convergence property is analyzed for these updating schemes.
Designing diagnostic workstations for neuroradiology

Despite over a decade of development, diagnostic radiology workstations have not gained popular acceptance by radiologists. Among the requirements for a clinically acceptable workstation are good image quality, a well designed user-interface, and access to ancillary diagnostic information. The user-interface should reflect radiologists' film reading habits and encourage new reading methods that take advantage of the electronic environment. We documented neuroradiologists' reading habits and used software engineering tools to design interfaces that could provide rapid access to common diagnostic tasks in neuroradiology. We used an embedded configuration tool to prototype layouts for specific clinical cases on a commercial workstation, and database integration and user-interface design tools to develop interfaces for browsing medical records. We then designed an image presentation model using the concept of a `virtual view box' for the rapid browsing and pairwise comparison of images. We used the interface design tools to prototype the `virtual view box' on commercially available hardware and tested it with experienced neuroradiologists.
DIET AND TISSUE GROWTH : V. THE EFFECT OF DIETARY PROTEIN ON THE REMAINING KIDNEY OF ADULT WHITE RATS FOLLOWING A UNILATERAL NEPHRECTOMY.

The effects of the ingestion of diets containing different concentrations of protein on the remaining kidney in adult white rats after a unilateral nephrectomy has been studied. In the animals on the high protein diet (85 per cent casein), actual glomerular and tubular lesions were observed in the kidneys of animals maintained for 90, 120 and 150 days after nephrectomy. In the animals on the standard ration, 18 per cent casein, no significant renal lesions were observed within the experimental period. Spontaneous focal lesions in the kidneys of rats maintained on Sherman's diets "A" and "B" were inconspicuous at the age of 350 days but became progressively more frequent and were commonly observed after 500 days. The animals on the high protein and standard rations were all under 350 days old at the completion of the experiment. It is suggested that the age factor is of importance in that young animals may have greater powers of adaptation in withstanding the injurious effect of high protein rations. The animals on the high protein ration excreted definitely larger quantities of protein in the urine, and showed a higher incidence of casts in periods roughly corresponding to those in which anatomic lesions were observed than did the rats on the standard diet.
Overexpression and Biophysical Characterization of Human Interleukin-1 Alpha

Interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1) regulates a wide range of important cellular processes. Structure- function data has been limited for IL-1α because of the difficulty in its overexpression in mammalian cells. In this study we propose the cloning, expression, biophysical and biological characterization of the human IL-1. Human IL-1 has been expressed and purified from Escherichia coli in high yields (∼ 4 mg per liter of the bacterial culture). IL-1 was purified to homogeneity (∼ 98% purity) using affinity chromatography and size exclusion chromatography. Results of the steady state fluorescence and differential scanning calorimetry experiments show that the recombinant IL-1 is in a folded conformation. Far-UV circular dichroism (CD) data suggest that IL-1 is an all -sheet protein with a -barrel architecture. IL-1 is a unique protein that affects nearly every cell type and for the many proteins that lack the N-terminal signal sequence, IL-1 is believed to be a model for understanding their endoplasmic reticulum- Golgi independent secretion. By characterizing and establishing the non-classical secretion route of IL-1, a more complete understanding can be accomplished for this special class of proteins. With the expected completion of the research outlined in this proposal, greater knowledge of other molecules with non-classical releases can be attained.
Acute impact of an organophosphorus insecticide on microbes and small invertebrates of a mangrove estuary.

The effects of 24 to 72-hr exposure to fenthion (101–103 ppb) were determined for a fungal community, nitrogen-fixing microbes, and representative meiofaunal and zooplankton invertebrates of a mangrove ecosystem. Also tested were the abilities of a benthic diatom and of fungi to grow in the presence of fenthion. Acute lethal, growth-inhibiting, or processdisrupting effects were not detected for exposures to less than 500 ppb fenthion. Results are compared with the findings of several other investigations of the impact of fenthion and other organophosphorus insecticides on non-target organisms.
Menstrual phase-dependent gene expression differences in periurethral vaginal tissue from women with stress incontinence

Abstract Objective: The mechanical stability of the genitourinary tract is dependent on intact collagen fibers that support the bladder neck, urethra, and pelvic organs. We hypothesize that genetic differences in collagen metabolism may contribute to stress urinary incontinence. Because sex hormones have substantial influence on the female lower urinary tract throughout adult life, we investigated the gene expression of vaginal tissue of women with stress incontinence compared with women with no stress incontinence in the proliferative phase of the menstrual cycle. Study Design: Quantitative competitive polymerase chain reaction was used to verify that the gene expressions were similar between periurethral vaginal tissue and pelvic ligamentous tissue. Labeled complementary RNA was obtained from periurethral vaginal tissue in five pairs of age- and menstrual phase-matched, premenopausal women with and without stress urinary incontinence. The vaginal tissues were then hybridized on HuGeneFL arrays that contained probes representing 6800 full-length human genes. The Student t test and Mann-Whitney ranking were used independently to select candidates with probability values Results: Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 and estrogen receptor-α messenger RNA expressions were found to be similar between uterosacral ligament and periurethral vaginal tissue in six participants. Of the 90 candidate genes that were identified, 62 genes were up-regulated and 28 were down-regulated in the stress urinary incontinence group. Genes that were involved in extracellular matrix activity in the up-regulated group include transforming growth factor-β3, laminin, and collagen type VI. Down-regulated genes that may participate in collagen metabolism include laminin-related protein, collagen XVII, serine/threonine protein kinase, type II interleukin-1 receptor, and platelet-derived growth factor-associated protein. Conclusion: In this preliminary study, we identified differential gene expressions that may contribute to extracellular matrix remodeling in pelvic tissue from women with stress urinary incontinence in the proliferative phase versus continent control subjects. The alteration in expression of these candidate genes suggests that they should be targets for further investigation. (Am J Obstet Gynecol 2003;189:89-97.)
Classification and methodologies for orientation and stacking of parts based on internal features

Abstract Methods for orientation and stacking of parts have been mostly based on the parts' external features. There are a number of parts that need to be oriented and stacked based on internal features, either because internal features are of primary importance or because of a lack of appropriate external features. Issues concerning the orientation and stacking of parts based on their internal features are investigated, and two-dimensional (flat) parts are classified into groups based on both internal and external features. Fundamental methodologies are developed for orienting and stacking of parts based on internal features, and experimental verification is performed for many cases. Results indicate that parts can be oriented efficiently and at high speeds. The key variables that play an important role in the process are identified and investigated further. In addition, it can be concluded from these experiments that in many cases, the widely accepted rule that orientational position of parts should be preserved does not necessarily hold.
Starch Gel Electrophoresis of Various Fractions of Casein

Summary Preparations of α-, β -, γ-, λ-, and κ-caseins were compared by electrophoresis in starch gel and in free solution. Acid casein separated into at least 17 zones. All fractions of casein contained numerous proteins, but the preparatory procedures brought about considerable enrichment of certain zones while weakening or eliminating others, and a tentative identification of specific zones with each casein fraction was, therefore, possible. α s -Casein appeared to be contaminated with traces of β -, κ-, and γ-casein, but the main contaminants were unidentified fractions travelling between α s - and β -casein. β -Casein was contaminated with traces of γ- and κ-casein, and with the unidentified fractions observed in α s -casein. Our preparations of γ-casein were heavily contaminated with κ- and β -casein, and contained lesser amounts of α s -casein and of unidentified fractions. Identification of the κ-casein zone was confirmed by zone electrophoresis from urea solution into urea-free gel, whereupon the κ-casein formed a characteristic precipitation zone, and by electrophoresis in gels containing calcium. Comparison of three κ-casein preparations indicated differences among them, both in stabilizing power and in electrophoretic properties. The preparation of κ-casein with the least contamination from other casein components appeared to be partially denatured.
Extensive inguinal lymphadenectomy improves overall 5-year survival in penile cancer patients: results from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program

BACKGROUND: European Urological Association guidelines recommend potentially curative inguinal lymphadenectomy for certain cases of penile cancer such as grade 3 and pT2-4 lesions, among others. Anecdotally, the authors have noticed that few patients undergo inguinal lymphadenectomy. Therefore, they assessed the frequency of inguinal lymphadenectomy and the impact of dissection extent on survival using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. METHODS: The authors queried 17 SEER registries from 1988 through 2005 for grade 3 and pT2-4 penile cancer patients without distant metastases. Univariate and multivariate analyses examined predictors of inguinal lymphadenectomy. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses assessed overall 5-year survival across patient- and disease-related characteristics for patients receiving inguinal lymphadenectomy involving <8 or ≥8 lymph nodes, the latter a surrogate for extent of dissection based on other malignancies. RESULTS: Of 593 patients enrolled, only 26.5% received inguinal lymphadenectomy. In addition to grade 3 (P = .031) and pT2-4 disease (P = .004), age <65 years (P < .001) and marital status (P = .002) were significantly associated with receiving lymph node dissection. Increased overall 5-year survival (hazard ratio, 0.54; 95% confidence interval, 0.36-0.79) was observed in patients of all ages who received lymphadenectomy involving ≥8 lymph nodes. CONCLUSIONS: A significant number of penile cancer patients at risk for metastases have not received potentially curative inguinal lymphadenectomy. Patients receiving inguinal lymphadenectomy involving ≥8 lymph nodes experienced improved overall 5-year survival. Guidelines should not only be given more emphasis, but possibly be updated to reflect the benefit of extensive lymph node dissection in high-risk penile cancer patients. Cancer 2010. © 2010 American Cancer Society.
The resolution of bimodal peaks in the analytical ultracentrifuge in the presence anf absence of ligands

The patterns for peak resolution in the analytical ultracentrifuge characteristic of systems associating by different mechanisms are analyzed. These are (i) that in which reequilibration is infinitely slow; (ii) that in which reequilibration is rapid, i.e., a Gilbert-type system; and (iii) that in which reequilibration is rapid, but the self-association is mediated by a ligand. Criteria for distinguishing the three are described and illustrated by results on tubulin self-association under various conditions.
Rat liver acid phosphatase: differences in lysosomal and cytoplasmic forms.

SummaryTwo acid phosphatases, a lyso-somal and supernatant form, have been demonstrated in rat liver by differences in their heat stabilities at 50dGC, pH activity curves and sensitivities to tartrate and fluoride inhibition.