cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The effect of toxic agents commonly ingested by children on antibacterial defenses in the lung

Kerosene ingestion, a common cause of accidental poisoning in children, is often followed by serious bacterial pulmonary infection. The effect of kerosine ingestion (10 ml/kg) on pulmonary antibacterial defense mechanisms was studied acutely (4 hr) and subacutely (24 hr) in pretreated mice exposed to an aerosol inoculum of radiotracer-tagged (32P) Staphylococcus aureus. Intrapulmonary bacterial inactivation was determined by quantitating the change in bacterial viability and isotope clearance in the lungs of each animal. Controls inactivated 86.6 ± 1.0% of the inoculum. Kerosene ingestion resulted acutely in a depression of host defenses, with only 59.1 ± 4.5% of the inhaled bacteria cleared. In animals challenged with aerosolized bacteria 24 hours after kerosene ingestion, intraplumonary bacterial replication exceeded inactivation and bacterial clearance did not return to normal until 96 hours after ingestion. Pulmonary histology, correlated with bacterial clearance, revealed a chemical pneumonitis, with alveolar hemorrhage, bronchial necrosis and pulmonary edema. Aspiration of the ingested kerosene increased the severity of the anatomical and functional alterations. Similar structural and functional responses were demonstrated following ingestion of other toxic agents commonly ingested by children, with acute and subacute inactivation values of 70.5 ± 3.9% and 32.2 ± 11.7% for linseed oil, 46.3 ± 5.6% and 70.4 ± 4.8% for gasoline, 73.4 ± 2.9% and 70.6 ± 5.7% for lighter fluid and 54.3 ± 6.5% and 71.3 ± 3.2% for turpentine.
Acclimation of leaf carotenoid composition and ascorbate levels to gradients in the light environment within an Australian rainforest

The influence of the growth photon flux density (PFD) on the size and composition of the carotenoid pool and the size of the reduced ascorbate pool was determined across a light gradient from the forest floor to the canopy and the forest edge of a sub-tropical rainforest in New South Wales, Australia. Nineteen plant species (most collected from multiple sites) representing a broad taxonomic range consistently possessed larger total carotenoid pools when found growing in more exposed sites. There was a significant positive correlation between β-carotene content and growth PFD and a significant negative correlation between α-carotene content and growth PFD. Neoxanthin content exhibited no significant trend while the trend in lutein content varied with mode of expression. The pigments of the xanthophyll cycle (violaxanthin, antheraxanthin and zeaxanthin) exhibited the most pronounced response to growth PFD; they comprised a much greater portion of the total carotenoid pool in high light-acclimated plants. The pool of reduced ascorbate was also several-fold greater in high light-acclimated plants. These acclimatory changes in carotenoid and ascorbate content are consistent with a need for a greater capacity to dissipate excessive absorbed light energy in high light-acclimated plants.
Intraoperative assessment of aneurysm clip placement by intravenous fluorescein angiography.

ABSTRACTCLIP OCCLUSION OF intracranial aneurysms can be difficult, and intraoperative misadventures are still fairly frequent. Many complications are caused by improper clip placement. Intraoperative conventional arteriography is time consuming and requires expensive image-intensifying equipment. As
Accelerometer Derived Activity Counts and Oxygen Consumption between Young and Older Individuals

The purpose of this investigation was to compare accelerometer activity counts and oxygen consumption between young and elderly individuals. Sixteen young ( yrs) and sixteen elderly ( yrs) participants completed 30 minutes of resting oxygen consumption to determine resting metabolic rate and four 6 min walking intensities ranging from 27 to 94 mmin−1. Resting oxygen uptake was significantly lower for the older participants. Exercise oxygen consumption was significantly higher for the elderly group. There were no significant differences in activity counts between groups at each of the exercise intensities. When using measured resting metabolic rate, activity counts of 824 and 2207 countsmin−1 were associated with moderate (3 METs) physical activity intensity for the older and young participants, respectively. However, using standard resting metabolic rate (3.5 mLkg−1min−1), activity counts of 784 and 2009 countsmin−1 were associated with moderate physical activity intensity for the elderly and young participants, respectively. These findings indicate that activity counts are similar across age groups even though the oxygen consumption of exercise is greater among elderly individuals.
Graduated profiling: enumerating and generating perceptual colormaps for uncalibrated computer displays

The importance of using perceptual colormaps for visualizing numerical data is well established in the fields of scientific visualization, computer graphics and color science and related areas of research. In practice however, the use of perceptual colormaps tends to be the exception rather than the rule. In general it is difficult for end-users to find suitable colormaps. In addition, even when such colormaps are available, the inherent variability in color reproduction among computer displays makes it very difficult for the users to verify that these colormaps do indeed preserve their perceptual characteristics when used on different displays. Generally, verification requires display profiling (evaluating the display's color reproduction characteristics), using a colorimeter or a similar type of measuring device. With the growth of the Internet, and the resulting proliferation of remote, client-based displays, the profiling problem has become even more difficult, and in many cases, impossible. We present a method for enumerating and generating perceptual colormaps in such a way that ensures that the perceptual characteristics of the colormaps are maintained for over a wide range of different displays. This method constructs colormaps that are guaranteed to be 'perceptually correct' for a given display by using whatever partial profile information of the display is available. We use the term 'graduated profiling' to describe this method of partial profiling.
A COMPARATIVE SURVEY IN DETERMINING THE IMAGINARY CHARACTERISTIC ROOTS OF LTI TIME DELAYED SYSTEMS

Abstract The aim of this study is to offer a comparison of the numerical procedures for an important problem, the determination of purely imaginary characteristic roots of LTI-Time Delayed Systems (LTI-TDS). This problem, in fact, has a crucial role in assessing the stability of the general class of vector LTI-TDS ˙ = Ax + Bx(t-τ). There are many procedures discussed in the literature for this purpose. Those, which are exact, first determine the complete set of imaginary characteristic roots of the dynamics, as they constitute the only points where stability switching can take place. These approaches are, in fact, some variations of the five main methods, which may demand numerical procedures of different complexity and they may result in different precisions in finding the roots. There is, however, no comparative case study known to the authors to demonstrate the strengths and weaknesses of these methods. This document is prepared primarily for this purpose. We first present an overview of each of the five methods and then compare their numerical performances over an example case study.
A Path for Exploring the Agile Organizing Framework in Technology Education

When the Agile Organizing Framework (AOF) is examined through the lens of the social constructivist pedagogy, principles and practices that define an agile learning environment emerge. This paper presents a translation of the AOF to fit the context of instruction in higher education based on the social constructivist perspective, and is not limited to software engineering education. Additional research is needed to observe, test and validate each of the agile enablers and inhibitors in the classroom, and to determine which principles and practices best contribute to the achievement of learning objectives. Furthermore, we hypothesize that integrating elements of the agile learning environment into agile software development methodologies could enhance a team's ability to successfully synchronize exploitation (the continuous improvement of existing products and practices) with exploration (the identification and implementation of breakthrough innovations).
Comments on the molecular geometry of ferrocene: The dangers of using quantum chemistry programs as black boxes

The dangers of using standard quantum chemistry programs as black boxes is illustrated by analyzing some results in a recent paper published in this journal (Zhang et al., J Comput Chem 2007, 28, 2260). The main danger is that nonlinear optimizations of both the wavefunction and the molecular geometry may converge to higher local minima or to saddle points, producing misleading results. For instance, some of the calculated molecular geometries of ferrocene in the aforementioned paper correspond to an SCF solution that converged to an excited state. This is the cause of the apparent large variation in the calculated iron-ring distance with the basis set. Another problem we noticed is that the source of the diffuse functions used in the earlier work in connection with the 6-31G and 6-311G basis sets for transition metals is not specified in the literature or the program manual. They are also a poor match for the 6-31G basis set. We re-emphasize that the 6-31G basis set used in this paper lacks the necessary diffuse d-type functions for the late first-row transition metals, and ought to be replaced by the m6-31G basis that offers a more balanced description of the atomic valence states.
CS50 sandbox: secure execution of untrusted code

We introduce CS50 Sandbox, an environment for secure execution of untrusted code. Implemented as an asynchronous HTTP server, CS50 Sandbox offers clients the ability to execute programs (both interactive and non-interactive) written in any compiled or interpreted language in a tightly controlled, resource-constrained environment. CS50 Sandbox's HTTP-based API takes files, command lines, and standard input as inputs and returns standard output and error plus exit codes as outputs. Atop CS50 Sandbox, we have built CS50 Run, a web-based code editor that enables students to write code in a browser in any language, whether compiled or interpreted, that's executed server-side within a sandboxed environment. And we have built CS50 Check, an autograding framework that supports black- and white-box testing of students' code, leveraging CS50 Sandbox to run series of checks against students' programs, no matter the language of implementation.We present in this work the pedagogical motivations for each of these tools, along with the underlying designs thereof. Each is available as open source.
Net radiation within a canopy of sweet corn during drought

Campbell, R.B., Reicosky, D.C. and Doty, C.W., 1981. Net radiation within a canopy of sweet corn during drought. Agric. Meteorol., 23: 143--150. Net radiation above and within a canopy of sweet corn (Zea rnays L., vat. Silver Queen) was monitored during early and late stages of growth in separate plots of the same field. The radiation sensors were mounted on automated reversing carriages which were mounted either at 25 or at 300 cm above ground level. The mounted sensors traversed a 3.3 m span to achieve spatial averaging. Output voltages of each radiation sensor was continuously integrated and recorded at hourly intervals. Early and late plant water stresses were induced by inadequate rainfall and the use of automatic rainfall shelters, respectively. Plant height and leaf area were measured in a plant population of 67 750 plant ha -1 . Early drought delayed canopy development while in the late drought treatment the canopy was nearly developed before late drought was imposed. When nonstressed plants were fully developed, net radiation 25 cm above the soil surface was 32% of the above-canopy net radiation. As leaves wilted during early drought, net radiation, at 25 cm above the soil surface, increased from 32 to 46% of that measured above the canopy and increased to 51% due to late drought. The observed net radiation differences were induced by imposed plant water stresses which also had the effect of reducing fresh ear yield by 25 to 45% of the irrigated yield for early and late-stressed treatments, respectively.
Considerations for Combined Immune Checkpoint Modulation and Radiation Treatment

Recent advances indicate that new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of malignancies will be realized from combined radiation treatment and immune checkpoint modulation. Numerous biophysical properties must be considered for effective biologic development, including affinity, selectivity, oligomeric state and valency. High-resolution structural characterization contributes to our understanding of these properties and can lead to the realization of proteins with unique in vitro activities and novel in vivo therapeutic functions. In this article we focus on the importance of these factors for new potential biologics and consider these in the context of combination therapies with physical modalities, including radiation therapy. In particular, we examine the consequences of altered avidities and subset-specific ligand density on the rational modification of biological function in the immunoglobulin and tumor necrosis factor superfamilies and for new optimized combination therapies.
Ovine uterine space restriction alters placental transferrin receptor and fetal iron status during late pregnancy

Ovine uterine space restriction alters placental transferrin receptor and fetal iron status during late pregnancy
On Their Own Ground: Strategies of Resistance for Sunni Muslim Women

Drawing from work in feminist moral philosophy, Tobin argues that the most common methodology used in practical ethics is a questionable methodology for addressing practical problems across diverse cultural contexts because the kind of impartiality it requires is neither feasible nor desirable. She then defends an alternative methodology for practical ethics in a global context and uses her proposed methodology to evaluate a problem that confronts many Sunni Muslim women around the world.
Internet banking: a customer-centric perspective

Many financial institutions are actively developing new electronic banking products for their retail customers. These efforts are can succeed only if their managers focus the promotion of the new services toward those customers who are most likely to find them attractive. The analysis of a 6-branch financial institution presented in this study suggests that institutions are vulnerable to loss of customers to rivals with extensive online services. The likelihood of current customers being tempted to do business online with another institution was shown to increase with the level of customer transaction use on the Internet. Current customer account relationships are found to be predictive of electronic services use in general. And, interest in the use of specific online services is related to differing customer relationships in addition to ordinary demographic and balance information. These findings can be useful in identifying potential users from a customer relationship management perspective.
Effects of Adenosine Compounds on Renal Function and Renin Secretion in Dogs

In anesthetized salt-depleted dogs, infusion of adenosine (20 to 500 µg/min) directly into a renal artery induced an initial decrease of renal blood flow for 1 to 2 minutes but did not change or slightly increased this flow during the steady state. Statistically significant decreases occurred in glomerular filtration rate, filtration fraction, sodium excretion, and renal venous renin activity. Calculated afferent arteriolar resistance increased and efferent resistance decreased. 5'-AMP (50 to 200 µg/min) induced changes which were smaller but qualitatively similar to those of adenosine. ATP (50 to 500 µg/min) induced no initial reduction in blood flow, and, during the steady state, caused a significant increase in blood flow and decreases in glomerular filtration rate, filtration fraction, sodium excretion, and renal venous renin. Efferent resistance decreased but afferent resistance did not change. Cyclic AMP (1 to 5 mg/min) caused a very small initial transient reduction in blood flow but induced change...
Careful Selection and Close Monitoring of Low-Risk Prostate Cancer Patients on Active Surveillance Minimizes the Need for Treatment

Abstract Background With the advent of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening and the increase in the number of transrectal ultrasound–guided biopsy cores, there has been a dramatic rise in the incidence of low-risk prostate cancer (LRPC). Because >97% of men with LRPC are likely to die of something other than prostate cancer, it is critical that patients give thought to whether early curative treatment is the only option at diagnosis. Objective To identify a group of men with LRPC who may not require initial treatment and monitor them on our active surveillance (AS) protocol, to determine the percentage treated and the outcome and to analyze the quality-of-life data. Design, setting, and participants We defined patients eligible for AS as Gleason ≤6, PSA ≤10, and two or fewer biopsy cores with ≤20% tumor in each core. Measurements Kaplan Meier analysis was used to predict the 5-year treatment free survival. Logistic regression determined the predictors of treatment. Data on sexual function, continence, and outcome were obtained and analyzed. Results and limitations The AS cohort consisted of 230 patients with a mean age of 63.4 yr; 86% remained on AS for a mean follow-up of 44 mo. Thirty-two of the 230 patients (14%) were treated for a mean follow-up of 33 mo. Twelve had a total prostatectomy (TP). The pathologic stage of these patients was similar to initially treated TP patients with LRPC. Fourteen underwent radiation therapy, and six underwent androgen-deprivation therapy. Fifty percent of patients had no tumor on the first rebiopsy, and only 5% of these patients were subsequently treated. PSA doubling time and clinical stage were not predictors of treatment. No patient progressed after treatment. Among the AS patients, 30% had incontinence, yet Conclusions If guidelines for AS are narrowly defined to include only patients with Gleason 6, tumor volume ≤20% in one or two biopsy cores, and PSA levels ≤10, few patients are likely to require treatment. Progression-free survival of those treated is likely to be equivalent to patients with similar clinical findings treated at diagnosis.
Fibronectin and avidin–biotin as a heterogeneous ligand system for enhanced endothelial cell adhesion

A preadsorbed layer of “heterogeneous” integrin-dependent and -independent protein was used to enhance initial integrin-mediated endothelial cell attachment and spreading. Glass substrates were treated with fibronectin (Fn) and avidin coupled through adsorbed biotinylated bovine serum albumin (b-BSA). The slides then were seeded with biotinylated BAEC. Control “homogeneous” surfaces were slides adsorbed with either Fn or avidin coupled to b-BSA. The cells were incubated for 0.5 h in serum-containing media and exposed to a range of shear stresses in a laminar flow variable-height flow chamber. The critical shear stress to detach 50% of the seeded cells on the heterogeneous ligand surface was significantly greater than for either of the control homogeneous ligand systems (p < 0.001). Cellular spreading during the initial period of 0–2 h also was higher (p < 0.05) on the heterogeneous ligand-treated surface than on the surface of either of the homogeneous controls. The close contact area of the cell membrane with the substrate 1 h after seeding in serum-containing media was measured using TIRFM. Cells attached onto the heterogeneous ligand-treated surfaces had a significantly (p < 0.01) higher area of close contact with the substrate, which is consistent with a greater degree of attachment and spreading. The results indicate that the combination of integrin-dependent and -independent adhesion systems using heterogeneous ligands further enhances initial endothelial cell attachment and spreading. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res, 41, 377–385, 1998.
Proteins in the degenerative retina of C3H mice: deficiency of a cyclic-nucleotide phosphodiesterase and opsin.

— The protein patterns from retinae of mice with inherited blindness (C3H/HeJ) were compared with those from normal (DBA/1J) retinae during postnatal maturation. The number of protein bands, as determined by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulphate, increased in the normal retina with development and, by adulthood, 30 bands of protein were observed, with molecular weights ranging from 13,500 to 105,000 daltons. Four bands of retinal protein were suggested to be histones, and one was identified as tubulin. The patterns of protein bands from the immature C3H retinae were similar to those from the DBA retinae but, by adulthood, the pattern from the C3H retina was deficient in three bands of protein, two of which were identified as opsin and a cyclic-nucleotide phosphodiesterase.
Noncardiac entrapment of a pulmonary artery catheter during heart transplantation: inadvertent cannulation and perforation of the internal thoracic vein ☆ ☆☆

Placement of a central venous catheter into an internal thoracic vein occurs in approximately 2% of all catheterizations. A case in which a pulmonary artery catheter was trapped within the internal thoracic vein during orthotopic heart transplantation is presented.
Ribosomal protein limitations in Escherichia coli under conditions of high translational activity.

Details of the mechanism for ribosome synthesis have been incorporated in the single-cell Escherichia coli model, which enable us to predict the amount of protein synthesizing machinery under different environmental conditions. The predictions agree quite well with available experimental data. The model predicts that ribosomal protein limitations are important when the translational apparatus is in high demand. Ribosomal RNA synthesis is induced by an increase in translational activity, which, in turn, stimulates ribosomal protein synthesis. However, as the demand increases still more, the ribosomal protein mRNA must compete with the plasmid mRNA for ribosomes, and the efficiency of translation of ribosomal proteins is reduced. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Genetic variation in the pleiotropic association between physical activity and body weight in mice

Background A sedentary lifestyle is often assumed to lead to increases in body weight and potentially obesity and related diseases but in fact little is known about the genetic association between physical activity and body weight. We tested for such an association between body weight and the distance, duration, and speed voluntarily run by 310 mice from the F2 generation produced from an intercross of two inbred lines that differed dramatically in their physical activity levels.
A screening procedure for assessing the transport and degradation of solid waste constituents in subsurface and surface waters

An evaluation procedure was developed to rapidly screen chemicals for their potential to contaminate both subsurface and surface waters after disposal and subsequent release from landfills and lagoons. The procedure estimates movement and degradation of chemicals based on the physical and chemical properties of the compound and a defined range of environmental conditions that the compound potentially experiences in groundwater and in rivers, ponds, and reservoirs. After high and low estimates are established, qualitative descriptors are assigned to describe the transport and persistence of the compound in subsurface and surface waters. This procedure has been used to evaluate 193 compounds that were projected to be constituents of solid wastes from 75 manufacturing operations. The results of a sensitivity analysis indicate that where individual environmental process descriptions are defined, changes in rates of degradation of an order of magnitude are required to cause a significant number of changes in qualitative descriptors that define the transport and persistence of the compounds assessed. The results of this application indicate that the procedure provides a means of qualitatively screening organic chemicals when specified process rate data are available. The evaluation of the small number of metals included in this assessment are speculative. Further research is required to adequately screen metals.
Adrenomedullin 2 (ADM2) Regulates Mucin 1 at the Maternal-Fetal Interface in Human Pregnancy

Association of an altered expression of placental mucin 1 (MUC1) with first-trimester spontaneous abortion and its regulation in placenta by an invasion-promoting peptide, adrenomedullin 2 (ADM2), is not known. The objective of this study was to assess 1) the association of MUC1 mRNA expression in the placental villi and decidua with first-trimester spontaneous abortion, 2) the effects of ADM2 on the expression of MUC1 in trophoblast cells in the presence or absence of hypoxia, 3) the effects of ADM2 on expression of MUC1 in decidual stromal cells (DSCs), and 4) if ADM2 regulates the expression of MUC1 and MMP2 protein in trophoblastic spheroids. Data demonstrate that 1) expression of MUC1 mRNA in villous tissue is higher in spontaneous abortion compared to age-matched electively terminated pregnancies (P > 0.05), 2) ADM2 decreases the expression of MUC1 mRNA and protein in trophoblast cells and spheroids with concomitant increases in MMP2 immunoreactivity in the spheroids, 3) ADM2 decreases hypoxia-induced increases in MUC1 immunoreactivity in trophoblast cells, 4) decidual MUC1 mRNA expression is lower in spontaneous compared to elective abortions (P < 0.05), and 5) DSCs express MUC1 mRNA and protein and ADM2 decreases the expression of MUC1 mRNA and protein in DSCs. Taken together, this study demonstrates that first-trimester spontaneous abortion is associated with increases in MUC1 expression in villi and decreases in the decidual tissues, and suggests that ADM2 may contribute to the physiology of embryo implantation and placental growth via increasing MMP2 and decreasing MUC1 expression to facilitate trophoblast invasion.
An information theoretic metric for identifying optimum solution for normalized cross correlation based similarity measures

Similarity measures such as normalized cross correlation (NCC) are widely employed for applications such as pattern recognition and/or template matching which are commonly used in image registration. This approach, however, is not immune to noise variations present in the images especially in case where multiple bands of interest are dominated by both system and external noise present in the sensor's field of view. Thus noise can influence the calculation of correlation coefficients and produce erroneous results during template matching. This work proposes a metric which identifies the best NCC coefficient value or values in case of a spectral data cube, for optimized application of similarity measures for template matching.
Synthesis and structural studies of nickel(0) Tetracarbene complexes with the introduction of a new four-coordinate geometric index, τδ.

The synthesis and characterization of two homoleptic chelating nickel(0) tetracarbene complexes are reported. These are the first group 10 M(0) (M = Ni, Pd, Pt) tetracarbene complexes. These species have geometries intermediate between C2v sawhorse and tetrahedral and show high UV–vis absorption in the 350–600 nm range, with extinction coefficients (ϵ) between 5600 and 9400 M–1 cm–1. Density functional theory analysis indicates that this high absorptivity is due to metal-to-ligand charge transfer. In order to better describe the unusual geometries encountered in these complexes, an adjustment to the popular τ4 index for four-coordinate geometries is introduced in order to better delineate between sawhorse and distorted tetrahedral geometries.
Photocatalysis: Plasmonic solar desalination

The sustainability of many existing desalination technologies is questionable. Plasmon-mediated solar desalination has now been demonstrated for the first time, using an aluminium structure that absorbs photons spanning the 200 nm to 2,500 nm wavelength range, and is both cheap and 'clean'.
Maltoma Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

Maltomas are low-grade B-cell lymphomas, occurring in mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT), usually of the gastrointestinal tract. They are presumed to result from infectious agents such as Helicobacter pylori and Campylobacter jejuni , the spirochete Borrelia burgdorfia , and possibly the hepatitis C virus. Incidence of this lymphoma is roughly similar among men and women, and does not vary markedly between Los Angeles County and other regions of the country. The rate begins to rise in young adulthood, and Asian-Americans and older Latinos are at higher risk. Risk does not vary by social class and only a few geographically disparate census tracts fulfil the high-risk criteria, and none do so for both men and women. The reason for the racial/ethnic disparity is unknown, although H. pylori is more common in developing societies. No systematic pattern of geographical occurrence is yet apparent, and therefore no local source of causation is proposed.
Serum anti-mullerian hormone and all-cause mortality in men

Several studies have examined an association of anti-mullerian hormone to various risk factors for mortality, however, to the best of our knowledge, no study has reported a direct relationship between anti-mullerian hormone and all-cause mortality. Therefore, we examined the relationship between baseline anti-mullerian hormone levels and subsequent all-cause mortality in men during median follow-up of 9.4 (range = 0−13) years. We used the continuous National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys from 1999–2004 combined with National Death Index for vital status information through December 2011. Cox proportional hazard models were fit to estimate hazard ratios for all-cause mortality. Models were adjusted for age, ethnic background, body mass index, hypertension, diabetes, smoking status, c-reactive protein, total cholesterol, estimated glomerular filtration rate, serum estradiol, testosterone, sex hormone binding globulin, and androstenedione. Of the 989 men, 30 % were older than 65 years, 51 % were Caucasians, 33 % had hypertension, 27 % were active smokers, and 11 % had diabetes. Mean serum anti-mullerian hormone level of the population was 7.2 (6.3) ng/mL. During the 8943 person-years of follow-up, 164 (17 %) men died. In unadjusted analysis, each unit increase in serum anti-mullerian hormone level was associated with a 13 % lower risk of death (HR = 0.87; 95 %CI = 0.83–0.92). In multivariable models, the inverse association between serum anti-mullerian hormone levels and mortality remained significant (HR = 0.94; 95 %CI = 0.90–0.98) and was independent of confounding variables. Similarly, individuals in the highest quartile had significantly lower risk of death as compared to individuals in the lowest quartile (unadjusted HR = 0.13, 95 %CI = 0.07–0.25; adjusted HR = 0.36, 95 %CI = 0.16–0.81). We found an independent and inverse association between serum anti-mullerian hormone levels and all-cause mortality in men. The mechanism underlying this association is unknown. Further studies are needed to validate our findings in men and to examine this association in women.
Time-Course Gene Expression Profiling Reveals a Novel Role of Non-Canonical WNT Signaling During Neural Induction.

The process of neuroepithelial differentiation from human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) resembles in vivo neuroectoderm induction in the temporal course, morphogenesis, and biochemical changes. This in vitro model is therefore well-suited to reveal previously unknown molecular mechanisms underlying neural induction in humans. By transcriptome analysis of cells along PSC differentiation to early neuroepithelia at day 6 and definitive neuroepithelia at day 10, we found downregulation of genes that are associated with TGF-β and canonical WNT/β-CATENIN signaling, confirming the roles of classical signaling in human neural induction. Interestingly, WNT/Ca2+ signaling was upregulated. Pharmacological inhibition of the downstream effector of WNT/Ca2+ pathway, Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII), led to an inhibition of the neural marker PAX6 and upregulation of epidermal marker K18, suggesting that Ca2+/CaMKII signaling promotes neural induction by preventing the alternative epidermal fate. In addition, our analyses revealed known and novel expression patterns of genes that are involved in DNA methylation, histone modification, as well as epithelial-mesenchymal transition, highlighting potential roles of those genes and signaling pathways during neural differentiation.
Influence of suspended particulates on phosphorus loading exported from farm drainage during a storm event in the Everglades Agricultural Area

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of suspended particulates on P loading captured during a single storm event. The Everglades Agricultural Area of Florida comprises 280,000 ha of organic soil farmland artificially drained by ditches, canals, and pumps. Phosphorus (P)-enriched suspended particulates in canals are susceptible to transport and can contribute significantly to the overall P loads in drainage water. A settling tank experiment was conducted to capture suspended particulates during tropical storm Isaac in 2012 from three farms approximately 2.4 to 3.6 km2 in size. Farm canal discharge water was collected in a series of two 200-L settling tanks over a 7-day drainage period, during tropical storm Isaac. Water from the settling tanks was siphoned through Imhoff settling cones, where the suspended particulates were allowed to settle and collected for P fractionation analyses, and compared to intact sediment cores collected from the canals. The discharged suspended particulates contained higher organic matter content, total P, and labile P fractions compared to the drainage canal sediments. Based on the equilibrium P concentrations, drainage canal sediments behave as a source of P to the water column. A 7-day continuous drainage event exported 4.7 to 11.1 t of suspended solids per farm, corresponding to 32 to 63 kg of particulate P being lost to downstream ecosystems. Drainage associated to this single 7-day storm event exported up to 61 % of the total annual farm P load. It is evident from this study that short-term, high-intensity storm events can skew annual P loads due to the export of significantly higher suspended particulate matter from farm canals. Exported particulates rich in P, if captured and replenished back on farmlands, would be a sustainable farming practice that can provide a supplemental source of nutrients.
A New Method to Estimate Failure Temperatures of Semiconductor Devices Under Electrostatic Discharge Stresses

Thermal runaway is one of the main causes of semiconductor device failure under electrostatic discharge (ESD) stresses. An experimental method to investigate the failure temperature under such electrical stresses is proposed. By extrapolating the power-to-failure under different stress time versus ambient temperature curves to the temperature axis, an effective failure temperature is extracted which represents the real failure temperature. This temperature is observed to be higher than the temperature at which the semiconductor becomes intrinsic. The latter is conventionally regarded as the critical temperature for thermal failure. These findings suggest that a different thermal-related mechanism is responsible for the ESD-induced damage in semiconductor devices.
Entrepreneurial Logic and Creating the Future

Recent work on entrepreneurial opportunities has suggested a type of opportunity that arises endogenously from an entrepreneurial actor, as opposed to exogenously from the environment. The "creatio...
Retrograde Tibiopedal Access as a Bail-Out Procedure for Endovascular Intervention Complications

Introduction. Retrograde pedal access has been well described in the literature as a secondary approach for limb salvage in critical limb ischemia (CLI) patients. In this manuscript we are presenting a case where retrograde tibiopedal access has been used as a bail-out procedure for the management of superficial femoral artery (SFA) intervention complications. Procedure/Technique. After development of a perforation while trying to cross the totally occluded mid SFA using the conventional CFA access, we were able to cross the mid SFA lesion after accessing the posterior tibial artery in a retrograde fashion and delivered a self-expanding stent which created a flap that sealed the perforation without the need for covered stent. Conclusion. Retrograde tibiopedal access is a safe and effective approach for delivery of stents from the distal approach and so can be used as a bail-out technique for SFA perforation.
Timing recovery of PAM signals using baud rate interpolation

The timing recovery function of a digital communications receiver has to set the sampling instants of the analog-to digital (A/D) converter. The natural implementation is by modifying the clock signal that controls the A/D (e.g. by using a voltage controlled oscillator). However, this is an expensive solution, and it is usually preferred that the A/D will sample with a free-running clock, and timing modifications will be done by digital interpolation of the A/D output samples. Such interpolation is practical only if the sampling rate is high enough such that a data sample can be reconstructed from several neighboring samples. However, fast digital data communications standards (such as Gigabit Ethernet) usually use baud rate sampling (one sample per symbol), which is below the Nyquist rate of the signal, and certainly cannot be used with standard interpolation techniques. This paper suggests to exploit the structure of pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) communications signals in order to perform interpolation at baud-rate sampling. With such interpolation, only a simple and cheap control of the A/D clock is required.
Asthma heterogeneity and severity.

Asthma is a common, chronic inflammatory airways disease characterized by a clinical syndrome of bronchial hyperresponsiveness, inflammation, and reversible airflow obstruction. Individuals with asthma can vary widely in clinical presentation, severity, and pathobiology. The incident factors, pathogenesis, prognosis, and treatment of asthma remain incompletely understood. Utilizing measurable characteristics of asthmatic patients, including demographic, physiologic, and biologic markers, can however identify meaningful phenotypic categories in asthma. Identification of these phenotypes may help improve precision therapeutics targeted toward an individual’s’ disease, and may identify strategies for preventing progression of disease severity.
The chronic kidney disease - Mineral bone disorder (CKD-MBD): Advances in pathophysiology

The causes of excess cardiovascular mortality associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have been attributed in part to the CKD-mineral bone disorder syndrome (CKD-MBD), wherein, novel cardiovascular risk factors have been identified. New advances in the causes of the CKD-MBD are discussed in this review. They demonstrate that repair and disease processes in the kidneys release factors to the circulation that cause the systemic complications of CKD. The discovery of WNT inhibitors, especially Dickkopf 1 (Dkk1), produced during renal repair as participating in the pathogenesis of the vascular and skeletal components of the CKD-MBD implied that additional pathogenic factors are critical. This lead to the discovery that activin A is a second renal repair factor circulating in increased levels during CKD. Activin A derives from peritubular myofibroblasts of diseased kidneys, wherein it stimulates fibrosis, and decreases tubular klotho expression. Activin A binds to the type 2 activin A receptor, ActRIIA, which is variably affected by CKD in the vasculature. In diabetic/atherosclerotic aortas, specifically in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC), ActRIIA signaling is inhibited and contributes to CKD induced VSMC dedifferentiation, osteogenic transition and neointimal atherosclerotic calcification. In nondiabetic/nonatherosclerotic aortas, CKD increases VSMC ActRIIA signaling, and vascular fibroblast signaling causing the latter to undergo osteogenic transition and stimulate vascular calcification. In both vascular situations, a ligand trap for ActRIIA prevented vascular calcification. In the skeleton, activin A is responsible for CKD stimulation of osteoclastogenesis and bone remodeling increasing bone turnover. These studies demonstrate that circulating renal repair and injury factors are causal of the CKD-MBD and CKD associated cardiovascular disease.
Energy retrofits in historic and traditional buildings: A review of problems and methods

Energy retrofits have the potential to reduce building energy consumption and carbon emissions, but face particular challenges when implemented in historic and traditionally constructed buildings. Retrofitting these buildings is a complex balancing act, in which many criteria are balanced against one another in order to achieve continued, long-term use of the building. This article reviews the criteria, analysis methods, and decision-making processes used to assess energy retrofits in historic and traditional buildings. First, the criteria are discussed. While energy consumption and conservation are the dominant criteria, a number of others are also important, including the needs of the building fabric, occupants, and collections, as well as economics, embodied energy, and climate change. Second, several analysis methods for estimating or measuring retrofit performance have emerged as particularly useful for historic and traditional buildings, and these are examined. Third, recent efforts to develop consistent guidance and decision-making processes for selecting retrofits are reviewed. Overall, energy retrofits in these buildings are seen not only as a way to reduce energy consumption, but as a means of preserving them for future generations.
Re-conceptualizing the Role of the Military for International Disaster Relief in East Asia

While participation in international disaster relief by the militaries of South Korea, China, Taiwan, and Japan is a relatively new phenomenon, these operations are now a regular and growing aspect of each militaries’ non-traditional security roles. This chapter explores various potential systemic and domestic level factors that shaped initial decisions to commit military forces in this role and continue to condition the scale and scope of such military contributions.
Bacterial Cytochrome P-450 Enzymes and Reactions on Immobilized Electrodes. I. Preliminary Studies

Cytochrome P-450 is a hydroxylase enzyme system that can catalyze several commercially important regio- and stereospecific hydroxylation and epoxidation reactions. These typical monooxygenase enzymes require the transfer of two electrons to the heme active center per molecule of substrate converted. Biochemically, electron transfer to or from the enzyme is often linked to the electron flow in the physiological cycle of a cell or microorganism through expensive co-factors like NAD+ and NADP+.
Waste Treatment in Recirculating Shrimp Culture Systems

Disposal of effluent from conventional shrimp farms containing high concentration of organic matter and nutrients into different environmental systems can have detrimental impacts on their adjacent ecosystems (e.g. coastal ecosystem ). To minimize the environmental impacts of shrimp farming effluents, recirculating raceway system has recently been introduced, producing high density shrimp yields . Although it is a zero water exchange system, a certain portion of water from the recirculating system needs to be treated or disposed of on regular basis due to an increase in the concentration of nitrate and nitrites owing to the protein enriched diet of shrimps. Hence, an effective approach for the treatment of nitrogen enriched wastewater produced by the recirculating raceway system is needed. Biological wastewater treatment capable of nitrification and denitrification is simple and environmentally friendly approach. In this regard, removal of ammonia and nitrates was assessed in aerobic sequencing batch reactor (SBR), providing almost complete removal of organic impurities (above 99%) as well as of ammonia. On the other hand, anaerobic SBR achieved efficient denitrification and also provided above 99% total nitrogen removal. Notably, the addition of Bacillus consortium in SBR can be helpful to control the growth of shrimp pathogen , Vibrio harveyi in the wastewater. This chapter discusses global shrimp production, biosecurity , recirculating raceway system, and the use of SBR in treating shrimp wastewater.
Left Hilbert Algebras

This chapter is devoted to the foundation of non-commutative integration theory. In the first volume of this book, we have seen the strong similarity between the theory of operator algebras and the integration theory. To explore this similarity further, it is necessary to work on the theory of left Hilbert algebras. It is the non-commutative counter part of the algebra of all bounded square integrable functions on a measure space.
Low-latency partition tolerant distributed ledger

In this work, we present a low-latency partition tolerant distributed ledger using a novel directed acyclic graph (DAG) structure. By forcing information to be published at specific deterministic locations, we avoid complex consensus algorithms and eliminate confirmation periods. We implement our DAG over a fully decentralized overlay network, leveraging BitTorrent concepts for peer-to-peer (P2P) rendezvous and block propagation. We compute overall expected latency using Erd¨os-R´enyi random graph models and present initial proof-of-concept software. The resulting work will allow anyone to create fully decentralized services (records, databases, etc.) resistant to attack, manipulation, and censorship.
Experimental constraints on the sound velocities of cementite Fe3C to core pressures

Abstract Sound velocities of cementite Fe3C have been measured up to 1.5 Mbar and at 300 K in a diamond anvil cell using the nuclear resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (NRIXS) technique. From the partial phonon density of states (pDOS) and equation of state (EOS) of Fe3C, we derived its elastic parameters including shear modulus, compressional ( V P ) and shear-wave ( V S ) velocities to core pressures. A pressure-induced spin-pairing transition in the powdered Fe3C sample was found to occur gradually between 10 and 50 GPa by the X-ray Emission Spectroscopy (XES) measurements. Following the completion of the spin-pairing transition, the V P and V S of low-spin Fe3C increased with pressure at a markedly lower rate than its high-spin counterpart. Our results suggest that the incorporation of carbon in solid iron to form iron carbide phases, Fe3C and Fe7C3, could effectively lower the V S but respectively raise the Poisson's ratio by 0.05 and 0.07 to approach the seismically observed values for the Earth's inner core. The comparison with the preliminary reference Earth model (PREM) implies that an inner core composition containing iron and its carbon-rich alloys can satisfactorily explain the observed seismic properties of the inner core.