cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Systolic dysfunction in cardiac-specific ligand-inducible MerCreMer transgenic mice

The Cre-loxP system is a useful tool to study the physiological effects of gene knockout in the heart. One limitation with using this system in the heart is the toxic effect of chronic expression of the Cre recombinase. To circumvent this limitation, a widely used inducible cardiac-specific model, Myh6-MerCreMer (Cre), using tamoxifen (TAM) to activate Cre has been developed. The current study examined cardiac function in Cre-positive C57B/J6 mice exposed to one, three, or five daily doses of a 40 mg/kg TAM to induce Cre activity specifically in the heart. Echocardiography demonstrated no statistically significant differences in systolic function (SF) at baseline as assessed by fractional shortening. In mice exposed to five injections, a significant fall in all determinants of SF was observed 6 days after TAM was initiated. However, SF returned to baseline levels 10 days after TAM initiation although the hearts exhibited significant hypertrophy. Heart weight-to-tibia length ratios were 73 ± 3, 78.5 ± 6, and 87.6 ± 9 mg/cm for one, three, and five TAM injections, respectively. TAM had no effect on cardiac function or hypertrophy in Cre-negative mice. Cre-positive mice receiving five TAM injections had significant reductions in cardiac mitochondrial ATP and significant reductions in the expression of proteins important for the regulation of cardiac oxidative phosphorylation including peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α and pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase-4. Thus inducible cardiac-specific activation of Cre recombinase caused a transient decline in SF that was dependent on the number of TAM doses and associated with significant hypertrophy and alterations in mitochondrial ATP and important proteins involved in the regulation of cardiac oxidative phosphorylation.
Beginning of foreland subsidence in the Columbian-Sevier belts, southern Canada and northwest Montana

Subsidence analysis and geometry of Jurassic-Cretaceous foreland strata in northwestern Montana and southern Alberta and British Columbia suggest that loading by the fold-thrust belt in Canada began as much as 40 m.y. earlier than in Montana. In Canada, early foreland basin deposits are Late Jurassic age, thicken rapidly westward, and are restricted to a narrow belt within 30 km of the thrust belt. In western Montana, contemporaneous deposits are widespread and do not increase markedly in thickness toward the thrust belt. The unconformity overlying these deposits also changes from Canada, where it is angular, to a disconformity in western Montana near Great Falls. Between these two areas, foreland geometry is transitional over a distance of <250 km. Beyond the transition zone, early foreland basin geometries are broadly consistent, showing Late Jurassic foreland subsidence in southern Canada and Early Cretaceous initial subsidence in the United States.
Rationality and The Fear of Death

“To philosophize,” writes Montaigne, “is to learn to die,”1 This remark forms part of a long-standing tradition in philosophy which teaches that a truly wise or rational man will not fear death; and this tradition has found its way into our ordinary language — e.g. it is common to describe a person who accepts a terminal illness with patience as “philosophical” about his death. And most people would, I think, so describe the attitude expressed in the quoted remark given to Caesar — a remark particularly interesting because, in addition to telling us a great deal about the kind of person Shakespeare conceived Caesar to be, it appears to contain what has often been offered as an argument that one is irrational in fearing death. The argument is that death is necessary or inevitable in the natural order of things and that, once one sees this, one will also see that fearing death is irrational.2 Such an idea is found in the Stoics and the Epicureans among others and is, in many respects, interestingly different from the way of thinking about death that Christianity introduced into our civilization.
POS Definition and Transition Risk Modeling Guidance

Under the auspices of the Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs), the nuclear industry is currently in the process of developing standards for Probabilistic Risk Assessments (PRAs) to support risk-informed applications of nuclear power plants, including PRA standards for Low Power and Shutdown (LP/SD) operations. A particularly challenging part of building a LP/SD PRA model is the definition of quasi-steady Plant Operating States (POSs). This document provides guidance for developing the POSs needed for the creation and use of a LP/SD risk model based on a standard set of 15 generally applicable POSs. NUREG/CR-6144, prepared by the Brookhaven National Laboratory for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) (for the Surry plant), was used as a foundation to build the set of standard set of 15 POSs presented here. Within these standard POSs, there is room for modification for plant- and application-specific purposes such as the specific LP/SD risk application of transition risk analysis. Specifically, modifications are accomplished by subdividing POSs. Another particularly challenging part of building a LP/SD PRA model is defining and modeling periods of transition which for the suggested guidance, are defined as risk-significant activities between quasi-steady POSs which involve significant configuration changes. This guidance provides support for developing the models needed for the evaluation of the risk associated with plant transitions occurring in the process of the plant shutdown and startup. Specifically, guidance is provided to lead a PRA modeler through the identification and characterization of the transitions and the selection and generation of appropriate transition PRA modeling elements and data. The transition modeling guidelines are applicable for procedure-based transitions (as opposed to physical-phenomenon-type transitions such as the drop in decay heat level) occurring during LP/SD operations. The guidance presented is intended to be applicable for all Light-Water Reactors (LWRs). The detailed guidance processes described are currently focused on Pressurized-Water Reactors (PWRs).Copyright © 2007 by ASME
CT clinical perspective: Challenges and the impact of future technology developments

Computed tomography is not the most frequent radiologic imaging procedure, but is arguably the most important in terms of clinical impact. CT is used extensively for emergencies, cardiovascular, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, endocrine, neurological, orthopedic and other applications -often as the first and only imaging procedure needed for diagnosis. The chances are very high that a patient will have a CT scan in the emergency department, as an outpatient or as an inpatient for a multitude of indications - pain, trauma, suspected infection or malignancy, and frequently to investigate symptoms such as pain, or to answer a question raised by another abnormal test, such as an EKG abnormality or ultrasound finding. Despite the universality of CT in hospitals and clinics as well as free-standing imaging centers, the technology continues to evolve with greater coverage, faster acquisition and multienergy sources or detectors. The most demanding imaging applications are cardiovascular, where complex motion and small morphologic features coexist, so imaging methods that are very satisfactory elsewhere in the body may not be successful. Clinical CT scanning consists of administering toxic materials, e.g., contrast media, often monitoring the EKG and illuminating the body with high brightness x-rays. Larger area detectors and higher acquisition rates are welcome improvements, but don't solve all of the problems encountered with scan variability due to respiratory, random body, and cardiac motion, especially in a spectrum of patients from infant to massively obese adult sizes (< 1 kg to 250 kg or more). The challenges and pitfalls in CT will be delineated and evaluated relative to current and future technology.
Open Sources: Words, Circuits and the Notation-Realization Relation in the Music of David Tudor

As a pianist, David Tudor played a pivotal role in the development of the postwar musical avant-garde that has only recently received the scholarly response it warrants. The author traces the development of Tudor's approach to live electronic music from his work as a pianist and assesses the extent to which the indeterminate notations he so often realized entered into the development of his approach to electronic systems.
Effects of Acute and Long-Term Exercise on Self-Efficacy Responses in Sedentary, Middle-Aged Males and Females

We examined the effects of acute and long-term exercise on perceptions of personal efficacy in sedentary, middle-aged males and females. Both males and females demonstrated significant increases in efficacy following acute exercise. Females, who had demonstrated initially lower self-perceptions than males, made dramatic increases in efficacy during the exercise program, equaling or surpassing those of males. Exploratory analyses revealed significant relationships between self-efficacy and subsequent physiological responses to exercise.
Nonoperative Management: Who, When, and What?

Disorders of the rotator cuff are among the most common shoulder pathologies encountered by orthopedic surgeons. Although both acute and chronic tears of the rotator cuff are recognized and traditionally classified based on tear size, the increasing appreciation of asymptomatic tears in population studies challenges our current treatment algorithms. Conventionally, nonoperative treatment has been reserved for patients who do not have significant pain, including those with massive tears. Recent studies demonstrating successful treatment of various cuff tear morphologies using nonoperative modalities have increased interest in conservative management. Presently, nonoperative options include exercise/physical therapy, corticosteroid injections, oral anti-inflammatory medications, and autologous biological administration. However, it is unclear at this time which patient populations benefit most among the nonoperative treatment options, as the literature to date represents heterogeneous cohorts of tear types, symptom duration, as well as varied treatment modalities. Any further comparison between operative and nonoperative outcomes necessitates prospective studies with rigorous inclusion/exclusion criteria and standardized interventions.
Withindows: A Framework for Transitional Desktop and Immersive User Interfaces

The uniqueness of 3D interaction is often used to justify levels of user fatigue that are significantly higher than those of desktop systems. Object manipulation and symbolic manipulation techniques based strictly on first person perspective are also generally less efficient than their desktop counterparts. Instead of considering the two environments as distinct, we have focused on the idea that desktop applications will likely need to transition smoothly into full immersion through intermediate states. The Withindows framework uses image-plane selection and through- the-lens techniques in an attempt to smooth the movement of both traditional and immersive applications across transitional states such as desktop stereo and multi-display setups. We propose using a virtual cursor in the dominant eye and a reinforcing cursor in the non-dominant eye to avoid ambiguity problems that have discouraged the use of image-plane selection in stereo. We show how image-plane selection resolves non-linear control-display relationships inherent in some approaches to desktop stereo. When combined with through-the-lens techniques, image-plane selection allows immersive viewpoint management and 2 1/2D object manipulation techniques analogous to those on the desktop. This approach resolves global search and scaling problems inherent in prior through-the-lens implementations. We describe extensions for 6 DOF input devices that do not supersede the default interaction method. We developed a single-authored virtual world builder as a proof of concept application of our framework. Our evaluations found alternate perspectives useful but our implementation of viewing windows proved fatiguing to some users.
Anthropology, knowledge-flows and global health

Abstract Global health programmes are damaged by blockages in the upward flow of information from localities and regional centres about realities of professional practice and about patients' lives and conditions of treatment. Power differentials between local actors and national or international decision-makers present further obstacles to effective action. Anthropological research and action, in its most effective current forms, make important contributions to these issues. This research often continues over the long term, intensively. It can be multi-sited, studying actors at local, national and international levels simultaneously. It studies the relative knowledge and power of impoverished patients and global decision-makers, all within a single frame. By doing so, anthropological research is capable of providing new and important insights on the diverse meanings of patient decision-making, informed consent, non-compliance, public health reporting, the building of political coalitions for health and ma...
The economic impact of reprocessing external fixation components.

Background: The trend toward temporizing external fixation of complex fractures has resulted in increased expenditures for these devices. Increasing pressure to reduce health-care expenditures has led to exploration of reuse of equipment intended for single use. Devices must be tested and recertified prior to redeployment in hospital stock. We report the rate of manufacturer recertification and institutional cost savings associated with a reuse program approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration. Methods: All Hoffmann-II external fixation components that had been removed at our institution during the study period were submitted to the manufacturer for visual inspection and mechanical testing. Pass rates for original components and previously recycled components were determined. With use of a conservative pass rate and the assumption of a maximum of three recertifications of each component, the total potential hospital savings on external fixation were calculated. Results: The first pass rate was 76%. The second pass rate (i.e., the rate for components that had already been recertified once and had been sent for a second recertification) was 83%, but that rate was derived from a limited sample. On the basis of a conservative pass-rate estimate of 75%, the predicted average number of uses of a recyclable component was 2.7. The recertified components were sold back to our hospital at 50% of the original price. Because carbon-fiber bars and half-pins are not recycled, 85% of the charges expended on a new external fixation component are spent on portions of the system that are recyclable. The potential total savings on reusable components was found to be 32%, with a total savings of 27% for the whole external fixation system. No recertified components failed in clinical use over the course of the study. Conclusions: With the expansion of cost-control efforts, the recycling of medical devices appears inevitable. Previous data have demonstrated the safety of reuse of external fixation devices, and this study confirms that finding. Our paper demonstrates the real cost savings associated with a manufacturer-based testing and recertification program. Issues of voluntary participation in reuse programs, component ownership, and the impact of savings on patient charges are yet to be worked out by individual institutions. Level of Evidence: Economic and decision analysis, Level II. See Instructions to Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Regulatory Role of the MisR/S Two-Component System in Hemoglobin Utilization in Neisseria meningitidis

Outer membrane iron receptors are some of the major surface entities that are critical for meningococcal pathogenesis. The gene encoding the meningococcal hemoglobin receptor, HmbR, is both independently transcribed and transcriptionally linked to the upstream gene hemO, which encodes a heme oxygenase. The MisR/S two-component system was previously determined to regulate hmbR transcription, and its hemO and hmbR regulatory mechanisms were characterized further here. The expression of hemO and hmbR was downregulated in misR/S mutants under both iron-replete and iron-restricted conditions, and the downregulation could be reversed by complementation. No significant changes in expression of other iron receptors were detected, suggesting that the MisR/S system specifically regulates hmbR. When hemoglobin was the sole iron source, growth defects were detected in the mutants. Primer extension analysis identified a promoter upstream of the hemO-associated Correia element (CE) and another promoter at the proximal end of CE, and processed transcripts previously identified for other cotranscribed CEs were also detected, suggesting that there may be posttranscriptional regulation. MisR directly interacts with sequences upstream of the CE and upstream of the hmbR Fur binding site and thus independently regulates hemO and hmbR. Analysis of transcriptional reporters of hemO and hmbR further demonstrated the positive role of the MisR/S system and showed that the transcription of hmbR initiated from hemO was significantly reduced. A comparison of the effects of the misS mutation under iron-replete and iron-depleted conditions suggested that activation by the MisR/S system and iron-mediated repression by Fur act independently. Thus, the expression of hemO and hmbR is coordinately controlled by multiple independent regulatory mechanisms, including the MisR/S two-component system.
Complement Factor 9 Deficiency in Serum of Human Neonates

The serum concentration of complement factor C9 (C9) was 260 +/- 47 micrograms/ml (+/- SE) in 14 mothers and less than 42 micrograms/ml in each of their 14 neonates. During incubation for 60 min, 11 of 14 maternal sera and 3 of 14 neonatal sera reduced the survival of Escherichia coli O7w:K1:NM to less than 20% of the original inoculum (P less than .03). Eleven neonatal sera did not kill the bacteria. Supplemental C9 (60 micrograms/ml) enhanced the bactericidal capacity of 10 neonatal sera. 125I-labeled C9 was deposited onto E. coli by neonatal sera, but less efficiently than by pooled adult sera. Supplemental IgG enhanced 125I-labeled C9 deposition and potentiated the bactericidal activity of exogenous C9. Therefore, neonatal sera contained diminished concentrations of C9 and killed E. coli inefficiently. In neonatal sera, supplemental C9 was deposited onto E. coli and enhanced bactericidal activity. These effects of C9 were potentiated by supplemental IgG.
An approach for fault tolerant and secure data storage in collaborative work environments

We describe a novel approach for building a secure and fault tolerant data storage service in collaborative work environments, which uses perfect secret sharing schemes to store data. Perfect secret sharing schemes have found little use in managing generic data because of the high computation overheads incurred by such schemes. Our proposed approach uses a novel combination of XOR secret sharing and replication mechanisms, which drastically reduce the computation overheads and achieve speeds comparable to standard encryption schemes. The combination of secret sharing and replication manifests itself as an architectural framework, which has the attractive property that its dimension can be varied to exploit tradeoffs amongst different performance metrics. We evaluate the properties and performance of the proposed framework and show that the combination of perfect secret sharing and replication can be used to build efficient fault-tolerant and secure distributed data storage systems.
Predicting differential responses to structured treatment interruptions during HAART.

Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has been used clinically in various administration schemes for several years. However, due to the development of drug resistance, evolution of viral strains, serious side effects, and poor patient compliance, the combination of drugs used in HAART fails to effectively contain virus long term in a high proportion of patients. Our group and others have suggested a change to the usual regimen of continuous HAART through structured treatment interruptions (STIs). STIs may provide similar clinical benefits as continuous treatment such as reduced viral loads and reestablishment of CD4+ T cells while allowing patients drug holidays. We explore the use of STIs using a previously published model that accurately represents CD4+ T-cell counts and viral loads during both untreated HIV-1 infection and HAART therapy. We simulate the effects of different STI regimens including weekly and monthly interruptions together with variations in treatment initiation time. We predict that differential responses to STIs as observed in conflicting clinical trial data are impacted by the duration of the interruption, stage of infection at initiation of treatment, strength of the immune system in suppressing virus, or pre-therapy CD4+ T-cell count or virus load. Our results indicate that dynamics occurring below the limit of detection (LOD) are influenced by these factors, and contribute to reemergence or suppression of virus during interruptions. Simulations predict that short-term viral suppression with varying interruptions strategies does not guarantee long-term clinical benefit.
Spin waves in the spin-flop phase of an antiferromagnet, and metastability of the spin-flop transition

The spin-flop transition in a uniaxial antiferromagnet defines three critical fields; that of the true thermodynamic transition and those limiting the local stability of antiferromagnetic and spin-flop phases. The latter two are calculated by a spin-wave analysis. The results are in qualitative agreement with the hysteresis observed by Schelleng and Friedberg in the spin-flop transition in MnBr2 · 4H2O. The spin-wave spectrum of the spin-flop phase is given, and the magnetization in the spin-flop phase is found to increase more rapidly than linearly with field because of quantum corrections absent in molecular field theory.
Electrode-based causes of delaminations in multilayer ceramic capacitors

Delaminations are a principal quality problem in the manufacture of multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLC's). They are defined as a separation of the electrode and dielectric layers and can result in electrical shorts and/or life failures. Delaminations originate from many sources in MLC manufacture, but we have identified four which are caused by the electrode. High levels of organic resin in the electrode paste lead to high resin content in dried electrode prints, requiring removal of large amounts of organic residues during burnout, causing delaminations. Catalysis of these organics by the precious metals also causes delaminations from rapid evolution of gas and heat release during burnout. Poor adhesion of the dielectric tape layers to dried electrode prints during MLC buildup can cause “green-state” delaminations which remain through firing. Sintering shrinkage mismatch between the electrode and dielectric layers leads to internal stresses in MLC's, resulting in delaminations. We discuss these electrode-based mechanisms of delamination and the design of electrode pastes which solve these problems.
Supramolecular main-chain liquid crystalline polymers and networks with competitive hydrogen bonding: a study of flexible bis-acids and a mixture of rigid and flexible polypyridyls

A series of novel liquid crystalline supramolecular networks formed through hydrogen bonds have been synthesised. These networks are based on flexible bi-benzoic acid and two types of pyridyl species – a small rigid bipyridyl capable of forming liquid crystalline phases and polyfunctional non-mesogenic pyridyl species that can compete for available hydrogen bond donor molecules. It was found that the networks display monotropic nematic character at high concentrations of disrupting net points – up to 50% for tetrapyridyls, 40% for tripyridyls and 35% for bipyridyls. Weak smectic phases were observed in all systems in loadings up to 10% of each disrupting unit. It is believed that the reversibility of the hydrogen bond allows for the formation of the ordered mesophases in the presence of the non-liquid crystalline groups.
Properties of Aircraft Clusters in the National Airspace System

Future air traffic management concepts generally include automated separation assurance as a key feature. It is of interest to identify dynamic regions of local airspace where the separation assurance problem is especially challenging due to the presence of aircraft clusters (groups of proximate aircraft). This paper presents a methodology for automated identification of cluster patterns that maximize a performance index incorporating measures of density, separation, and stability. The clustering methodology was applied to 24-hour traffic scenarios, derived from recorded field data, across the National Airspace System. Results are presented for a future triple-volume traffic scenario at a single flight level. It was found that the clustering methodology generally produced dense, well-separated, and stable cluster patterns. An analysis of cluster distributions over space and time showed that the frequency of cluster occurrences at locations across the United States was not uniform, and there were many locations where clusters did not occur. On the other hand, there were some locations, especially in the Mid-west, that had a relatively high frequency of cluster occurrence. It was also found that clusters did not persist for long at any location, indicating that they are dynamic in nature.
Indiscrimination of Manduca sexta larvae to overexpressed and underexpressed levels of phenylalanine ammonia‐lyase in tobacco leaves

Manduca sexta (L.) larvae were unable to discriminate between transgenic tobacco leaves expressing high or low levels of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) in dual choice arenas. Tobacco leaves overexpressing PAL had up to ten times more chlorogenic acid and up to twice as much rutin in their leaves than leaves containing the same sense-suppressed gene. Caterpillars reared previously on artificial diet or tobacco leaves had no preference for either leaves over- or underexpressing PAL. Application of exogenous chlorogenic acid to PAL-suppressed leaves at levels similar to the overexpressed leaves did not affect M. sexta's choice. When applied at higher rates, treated leaves were preferred by caterpillars reared on tobacco leaves but not by diet-reared larvae. Our results with leaves confirm earlier studies with M. sexta using simpler substrates and mixtures of test compounds and provides further evidence that leaf phenolics, such as chlorogenic acid, do not act as feeding deterrents for larval M. sexta.
Timing-driven system design

We examine the emerging area of timing-driven system design. This area builds upon advances in semiconductor integrated circuits (IC) design and real-time computing to drive the design process particularly for single-chip microelectronic systems. Computer-aided design tools and methodologies are needed to ensure the correctness of the design and efficiency of the design process. We present an overview of a timing-driven design methodology and identify the needed technologies for efficient and error-free system designs.
Time and frequency acquisition of frequency-hopped signals with random data

A unified approach based on maximum likelihood estimation for time and frequency acquisition of frequency-hopped M-ary FSK signals with random data is presented. Algorithms for individual or joint estimation of time and frequency are derived for the cases in which: (1) the data sequence is treated as a set of nuisance parameters; (2) the data sequence is estimated along with time and frequency. These results are then extended to the case in which the channel introduces Rayleigh fading in addition to additive white Gaussian noise. >
Spermicidal effects of amphotericin B and nystatin on bull and rabbit sperm and contraceptive effects in rabbits.

Vaginal contraceptives have potential for controlling reproduction as well as sexually transmitted diseases. Two extensively used fungicides, amphotericin B and nystatin, were found to be highly spermicidal to bull and rabbit sperm even in the presence of organic material found in milk and egg yolk, both excellent components of media designed to preserve sperm. In repeated tests with many samples of bull and rabbit sperm, as little as 0.5 μg/mL of amphotericin B completely immobilized sperm after prolonged exposure, and 1000 μg/mL immobiled sperm in less than 1 min. Treatment of rabbit sperm with 1000 μg of solubilized amphotericin B in 0.4 ml of a glucose-semen mixture before insemination resulted in a total of 2 young born from 9 inseminated Dutch does, compared with 55 young from 9 control does. As this inhibition was achieved without the use of enhancing foams or gels, these results provide promising leads for contraceptive research.
A Nursing Theory of Personal System Empathy: Interpreting a Conceptualization of Empathy in King’s Interacting Systems

This article presents a theory of empathy discovered through rational hermeneutic interpretation within King's personal system. Personal system concepts from King's general systems framework include perception, self, growth and development, body image, space, time, and learning. Propositions for each concept in the personal system were explicated and a theory of nursing empathy was developed. This nursing theory proposes that empathy organizes perceptions; facilitates awareness of self and others; increases sensitivity; promotes shared respect, mutual goals, and social awareness; cultivates understanding of individuals within a historical and social context; and affects learning.
Both synaptic and intrinsic mechanisms underlie the different properties of population bursts in the hippocampal CA3 area of immature versus adult rats.

Pharmacological blockade of GABAA receptors on CA3 pyramidal cells in hippocampal slices from immature rats (i.e. second to third postnatal weeks), compared to CA3 slices from adult rats, is known to cause prolonged burst discharges (i.e. several seconds vs. tens of milliseconds). Synaptic and intrinsic mechanisms responsible for this developmental difference in burst duration were analysed in isolated minislices of the CA3 area. The frequency and amplitude of spontaneous EPSCs in CA3 pyramidal cells were greater in slices from immature than mature rats. In the presence of GABAA- and GABAB-receptor antagonists, the burst discharges of immature CA3 pyramidal cells were still prolonged in thinner slices (350 μm, vs. 450 μm in adults, to compensate for developmental differences in neuronal density) and in NMDA- and mGlu1-receptor antagonists. The AMPA receptor antagonist DNQX blocked the remaining burst discharges, suggesting that differences in recurrent excitatory circuits contributed to the prolonged bursts of immature CA3 pyramidal cells. In slices from immature versus adult rats, the CA3 recurrent synaptic responses showed potentiation to repetitive stimulation, suggestive of a lower transmitter release probability. The intrinsic firing ability was greater in CA3 pyramidal neurons from immature than adult rats, and the medium-duration afterhyperpolarization was smaller. These data suggest that, compared to adults, the CA3 area of immature rats contains a more robust recurrent excitatory synaptic network, greater intrinsic membrane excitability, and an increased capacity for sustained transmitter release, which together may account for the more prolonged network bursts in immature versus adult CA3.
Structure-function analysis of rods and cones in juvenile, adult, and aged C57BL/6 and Balb/c mice

To determine whether the photoreceptors change structurally and functionally during aging, and to analyze whether pigmentation in the retinal pigment epithelium might be a contributing factor. Young, adult, and aged C57BL/6 and Balb/c mice (1, 4, and 17 months of age) were housed under a 12-h light/12-h dark cycle, with an ambient light intensity at the eye level of the mice of 85 +/- 18 lux. Scotopic single-flash and photopic-flicker electroretinograms (ERGs) after complete dark adaptation were used to assess rod and cone function, respectively. Numbers of rod photoreceptors were counted in plastic sections, and rhodopsin levels were measured using absorption difference spectrophotometry. Numbers and types of cones were determined using lectin staining in retinal flatmounts and cone-specific antibodies in radial frozen sections. Young pigmented C57BL/6 and nonpigmented Balb/c mice had similar numbers of rods. In both mouse strains, there was an overall decline in rod photoreceptor number during aging, which was more pronounced in albino mice. Rod cell numbers correlated with a drop in the overall amount of rhodopsin and a reduction in the maximum a-wave of the rod ERG. The number of short-wavelength cones was unaffected by age and pigmentation, whereas an age-related decline was observed in mid-wavelength (MWL) cones in albino, but not in pigmented mice. In contrast, MWL cone function was reduced during aging in both strains. Flicker-fusion frequency was determined to be approximately 10 Hz lower in albino animals, which is due to prolonged b-waves in these ERGs. Age-related changes were found in both photoreceptor systems, rods and cones, and in both pigmented and nonpigmented mice. However, rod photoreceptors appear to be more susceptible to both aging and the lack of pigmentation, when compared to cones. These results may help as we begin to understand certain age-related retinal diseases.
The Public Interest in Planning: From Legitimation to Substantive Plan Evaluation

The evolution of the public interest concept is traced from its classic origins to its practical implications today. Variations include aggregative, unitary, deontic and dialogic approaches, with appli- cations ranging from utilitarian evaluation methods to deliberative and dialogic approaches in political, administrative and judicial arenas. The ontological debate on the public interest concludes that the problem defeating any substantive public interest application is complexity, leaving a dialogic public interest as a default legitimator of public planning. To meet the need for normative application of a substantive public interest concept in planning practice, a threshold criterion is proposed for use in appropriate cases of plan evaluation.
The synthesis of highly fluorinated phthalonitrile resins and cure studies

Abstract The reactions of the potassium salts of 1,3- and 1,4-bis(2-hydroxy-hexafluoro-2-propyl) benzene 1 and 2 with tetrafluorophthalonitrile 3 afforded three isomeric products in each case with reaction at the 4-position of 3 predominating. When each mixture was submitted to the usual thermal conditions for phthalocyanine formation [1–5], the expected characteristic color change (blue or green) did not develop. Evidence was procured from our study which indicated that fluorine substituted on the phthalonitrile moieties hindered phthalocyanine formation. Instead, as an alternative reaction, some nucleophilic displacement of fluorine from the aromatic rings by the cyano substituents appeared to have occurred.
Increased classification accuracy and speedup through pair-wise feature selection for support vector machines

Support vector machines are binary classifiers that can implement multi-class classifiers by creating a classifier for each possible combination of classes or for each class using a one class versus all strategy. Feature selection algorithms often search for a single set of features to be used by each of the binary classifiers. This ignores the fact that features that may be good discriminators for two particular classes might not do well for other class combinations. As a result, the feature selection process may not include these features in the common set to be used by all support vector machines. It is shown that by selecting features for each binary class combination, overall classification accuracy can be improved (as much as 2.1%), feature selection time can be significantly reduced (speed up of 3.2 times), and time required for training a multi-class support vector machine is reduced. Another benefit of this approach is that considerably less time is required for feature selection when additional classes are added to the training data. This is because the features selected for the existing class combinations are still valid, so that feature selection only needs to be run for the new class combinations created.
On Study of ‘Clinical Epidemiology’

In today’s medical academia, leaders of the clinical disciplines commonly refrain from voicing their views about the role of the established ‘basic’ sciences in the practice of medicine. Instead, they now commonly recommend that their junior colleagues study ‘clinical epidemiology’ as a new ‘basic science’ of clinical medicine. Yet, most of these leaders themselves have not studied its precepts on any level, let alone critically in the context of genuine expertise on clinical research. Only very critical study of these precepts actually is justifiable, and this even in terms that are very different between future practitioners and future academics.
Compromising the Uncompromisable: A Private Property Rights Approach to Resolving the Abortion Controversy

In this article we advocate a liberty and private property rights approach to the issue of abortion.
Setting the social cost of carbon

The ‘social cost of carbon’ is an economic concept that represents – in monetary net present value terms – the damages caused by the emission of a ton of carbon dioxide. Estimates of the social cost of carbon are currently used by governments to evaluate policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Economic analysis of the damages caused by climate change raises a number of important conceptual and technical challenges, and there have been sustained efforts in environmental economics to respond to these challenges. As the issue of climate change continues to dominate environmental policy making, the social cost of carbon is likely to play an increasingly important role in the field of environmental law.
A qualitative analysis of patients' experience with hospitalist service handovers

BACKGROUND Inpatient service handoffs occur when physicians who care for hospitalized patients end a period of clinical service and handover a panel of patients to an oncoming physician. Despite the large amount of research on handoffs, none has described the patient perspective when cared for by a hospitalist physician during a service handoff. OBJECTIVE To describe hospitalized patients' experiences regarding inpatient service changes, and develop a conceptual framework to inform future efforts to improve service-level handoffs. METHODS Interview-based qualitative analysis using in-depth, semistructured interviews of hospitalized patients on a nonteaching hospitalist service. Patients were interviewed between October 2014 and December 2014 at an academic medical center whose inpatient stay spanned a weekly service change. We utilized an inductive approach with no a priori hypotheses and used a constant comparative method to generate emerging themes to develop a conceptual model that captured the patient experience during the transition. RESULTS Of patients who agreed to participate (40/43), most (85%) were unaware that a transition had occurred between their hospitalists. Six major themes emerged related to patients' experiences with hospitalist service handoffs: (1) importance of physician-patient communication, (2) desire for transparency in transitions, (3) an indifference toward transitions, (4) importance of hospitalist-specialist communication, (5) formation of new opportunities from a transition, and (6) effects of bedside manner. CONCLUSIONS Hospitalized patients desire improved communication and a more formalized transition process between hospitalists during service handoffs. Hospitalists should recognize that this transition may represent an opportunity to improve the hospitalized patient's experience and satisfaction. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2016;11:675–681. © 2016 Society of Hospital Medicine
The Safety of Allergen Immunotherapy: A Literature Review:

Allergen immunotherapy is a safe form of therapy with a very low incidence of systemic allergic reactions and fatalities. Over the past few years, as a result of several investigations, risk factors have been identified, although some disagreement remains. Asthmatics, patients on beta-blockers and highly sensitive patients are groups at increased risk for systemic reactions. Reactions are more common among individuals receiving extracts of pollens, particularly grass and ragweed. Most authors have also reported that reactions are more common in season. Chest tightness or wheezing, urticaria, pruritus and throat congestion were frequent symptoms of severe systemic reactions. The recommendations of Greenburg et al (Table 1) and Davis et al (Table 2) serve as valuable guidelines. Otolaryngologic allergists have found that home maintenance immunotherapy is a safe treatment option (in low-risk patients). In any case, immunotherapy should be supervised by a physician well trained in its use and indications, and should be administered by personnel trained in the treatment of medical emergencies, specifically those related to allergy. This training should include cardiac resuscitation. In addition, consideration should be given to premedicating patients with antihistamines or corticosteroids and to measuring peak flows prior to injection. Because asthmatics are a very high-risk group, it is recommended that these patients not undergo immunotherapy at home. In patients who have had multiple reactions or in those with severe asthma, consideration should be given to discontinuing injections. Finally, optimal or moderate allergen dosing may provide the needed balance between therapeutic efficacy and safety.
Stressor diversity: Introduction and empirical integration into the daily stress model

The present study examined whether and how stressor diversity, the extent to which stressor events are spread across multiple types of stressors, contributes to daily affective well-being through the adult life span. Stressor diversity was examined as a unique predictor of daily affect and as a moderator of stressor exposure and stressor reactivity effects. Analyses span 2 independent studies of daily stress: the National Study of Daily Experiences with N = 2,022 adults, aged 33 to 85 years, assessed over T = 8 days, and the Intraindividual Study of Affect, Health, and Interpersonal Behavior with N = 150 adults, aged 18 to 89 years, assessed over T = 63 days. Across both studies, older age was associated with less stressor diversity. Additionally, multivariate multilevel models indicated higher stressor diversity was linked with better affective well-being. Age, however, was not a consistent moderator of such associations. The combination of low stressor diversity and high stressor exposure is discussed as an operationalization of chronic stressors, and this combination was associated with particularly high negative affect and low positive affect. We believe further work will benefit from including both the frequency and diversity of stressor experiences in analyses in order to better characterize individuals' stressor experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record
Simple systems for treating pumped, turbid water with flocculants and a geotextile dewatering bag.

Abstract Pumping sediment-laden water from excavations is often necessary on construction sites. This water is often treated by pumping it through geotextile dewatering bags. The bags are not designed to filter the fine sediments that create high turbidity, but dosing with a flocculant prior to the bag could result in greater turbidity control. This study compared two systems for introducing flocculant: passive dosing of commercial solid biopolymer (chitosan) and injection of dissolved polyacrylamide (PAM) in a length of corrugated pipe connected to the bag. The biopolymer system consisted of sequential porous socks containing a “charging agent” followed by chitosan in the corrugated pipe with two levels of dosing. The dissolved PAM was injected into turbid water at a flow-weighted concentration at 1 mg L −1 . For each treatment, sediment-laden turbid water in the range of 2000 to 3500 nephelometric turbidity units (NTU) was pumped into the upstream of corrugated pipe and samples were taken from pipe entrance, pipe exit, and dewatering bag exit. Without flocculant treatment, the dewatering bag reduced turbidity by 70% but the addition of flocculant increased the turbidity reduction up to 97% relative to influent. At the pipe exit, the low-dose biopolymer was less effective in reducing turbidity (37%) but it was equally effective as the high-dose biopolymer or PAM injection after the bag. Our results suggest that a relatively simple treatment with flocculants, either passively or actively, can be very effective in reducing turbidity for pumped water on construction sites.
Calorimetric Detection of 5.5 MeV α-Particles in Superfluid 4He

Many groups are currently developing low temperature techniques for the detection of low energy particles. The primary goal is to detect small amounts of deposited energy (~10−13–10−16J) in a large target volume. Our work focuses on the properties of 4He at low temperatures which allow the interaction energy of a low energy particle to be extracted from the target material into a low mass calorimeter with a reasonably high efficiency. In this case the sensitivity of the detector depends only weakly on the volume and in principle very large detectors can be built. We have constructed a prototype of this device using two liters of superfluid 4He as the target material, and a thin silicon or sapphire wafer as the calorimeter.
Fast rates to bayes for kernel methods

We establish learning rates to the Bayes risk for support vector machines (SVMs) with hinge loss. In particular, for SVMs with Gaussian RBF kernels we propose a geometric condition for distributions which can be used to determine approximation properties of these kernels. Finally, we compare our methods with a recent paper of G. Blanchard et al..
Optical Characterization of Tissue Phantoms Using a Silicon Integrated fdNIRS System on Chip

An interface circuit with signal processing and digitizing circuits for a high frequency, large area avalanche photodiode (APD) has been integrated in a 130 nm BiCMOS chip. The system enables the absolute oximetry of tissue using frequency domain Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fdNIRS). The system measures the light absorbed and scattered by the tissue by measuring the reduction in the amplitude of signal and phase shift introduced between the light source and detector which are placed a finite distance away from each other. The received 80 MHz RF signal is downconverted to a low frequency and amplified using a heterodyning scheme. The front-end transimpedance amplifier has a 3-level programmable gain that increases the dynamic range to 60 dB. The phase difference between an identical reference channel and the optical channel is measured with a 0.5° accuracy. The detectable current range is $20\ \text{nA}_{\mathrm{pp}} - 20\ \mu\text{A}_{\mathrm{pp}}$ and with a 40 A/W reponsivity using the APD, power levels as low as 500 pW can be detected. Measurements of the absorption and reduced scattering coefficients of solid tissue phantoms using this system are compared with those using a commercial instrument with differences within 30%. Measurement of a milk based liquid tissue phantom show an increase in absorption coefficient with addition of black ink. The miniaturized circuit serves as an efficiently scalable system for multi-site detection for applications in neonatal cerebral oximetry and optical mammography.