cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Lexical co-occurrence and ambiguity resolution

This study investigates the possible influence of lexical co-occurrence on lexical ambiguity resolution in sentence contexts. Lexical co-occurrence refers to similarity between the co-occurrence vectors of words, such that if two words have similar profiles of occurrence with other words, they are said to have a strong co-occurrence relationship. The present study examines whether lexical ambiguity resolution can be biased by the prior presentation of a word that shares a strong co-occurrence relationship with an ambiguous word under one of its meanings, despite the absence of plausibility support. Two “maze” word-by-word reading experiments examined highly implausible/anomalous sentences with balanced homographs. In sentences in which the ambiguous word (e.g., bat) was preceded by a biasing word with which it shares a strong co-occurrence relationship (e.g., umpire), (1) response times (RTs) to the ambiguous word were facilitated, and (2) garden-path effects were found when subsequent (disambiguating) in...
The choline binding site of phospholipase C (Bacillus cereus): insights into substrate specificity.

The phosphatidylcholine-preferring phospholipase C from Bacillus cereus (PLCBc) is a 28.5 kDa enzyme with three zinc ions in its active site. The roles that a number of amino acid residues play as zinc ligands and in binding and catalysis have been elucidated. Recent mechanistic studies indicate that the rate of the reaction is limited by a proton-transfer step during chemical hydrolysis and not substrate binding or product release. An X-ray structure of PLCBc complexed with a phosphonate inhibitor related to phosphatidylcholine revealed that the three amino acid residues Glu4, Tyr56, and Phe66 comprise the choline binding pocket. However, because the contributions that these three residues make to substrate recognition and specificity were unknown, a series of site-specific mutants for Glu4, Tyr56, and Phe66 were constructed by PCR mutagenesis. On the basis of a comparison of their respective CD spectra and melting temperatures, it appears that the mutants adopt folded structures in solution that are vir...
The Major Histocompatibility Complex-restricted Antigen Receptor on T Cells in Mouse and Man : Identification of Constant and Variable Peptides

The variability of the MHC restricted receptor on murine T cells was examined by comparing tryptic peptide fingerprints of the receptor isolated fom three T cell hybridomas and a T cell tumor. Both variable and constant peptides were seen. Constant peptides were most apparent when comparing receptors from the same mouse strain. Peptide fingerprints of receptors from two independent T cell hybridomas with the same idiotype and specificity were identical. We also describe a molecule detected on the surface of a human T cell leukemia whose properties were identical to those reported for the MHC receptor on normal human T cells. The molecule was a dimer of 85,000-90,000 MW containing a 46,000 MW acidic alpha-chain and an unrelated 40,000 MW neutral beta-chain.
Production of acetate by mutant strains of Clostridium thermoaceticum

Mutant strains were derived from Clostridium thermoaceticum ATCC 39 289 by treatment with chemical mutagenic agents and selective enrichment procedures. Some mutant strains exhibited growth when cultured in media containing 20 mabetm (1.75 g l−1) pyruvate of high-magnesium lime (dolime) above pH 6.0. One strain (G-20) grew and produced acetate when 80 mabetm (7 gl−1) pyruvate or 50 mabetm (2.3 g l−1) formate at pH 5.6 was the sole energy source. In a fed-batch process controlled at pH 6.2, this mutant produced 52.5 g l−1 acetate (equivalent to 72.5 g l−1 Na acetate) and 67 g l−1 calcium-magnesium acetate (CMA) in 140 h when dolime was the neutralizing agent, with 93% substrate utilization. This mutant strain holds promise for CMA production due to its better tolerance of dolime and its ability to synthesize high levels of acetic acid.
Barriers to effective corporate governance by institutional investors: Implications for theory and practice

Abstract With their increasing equity ownership, institutional investors have been hailed as a possible solution to governance problems with the ability to reduce the power of managers. However, there are some barriers that decrease their effectiveness in providing such governance. These include barriers arising from: a) business relationships of investors with firms in which they invest, in which they invest, b) extensive government regulations that constrain the activities of these investors, and c) limitations on their ability to process the information required to monitor firms. This paper examines these barriers to corporate governance faced by institutional investors, and presents some implications for research and practice.
Inversion of magnetic anomaly on rugged observation surface in the presence of strong remanent magnetization

ABSTRACTWe study the inversion of magnetic data acquired over a rugged observation surface and where the buried source bodies have strong remanent magnetization that leads to unknown total magnetization directions. These factors pose significant challenges for processing and inversion of such data. To tackle the challenges from both a rugged observation surface and an unknown magnetization direction, we propose a strategy through the joint use of the equivalent source technique and 3D amplitude inversion to obtain 3D magnetization strength. We use equivalent source processing to calculate the amplitude data in the space domain because the use of the wavenumber-domain method is invalid due to large variations in the data elevation. We then carried out an amplitude inversion to generate a 3D subsurface distribution of the magnitude of the total magnetization vector. The results from a synthetic example and aeromagnetic data in Daye Mine in China showed that this approach is effective and images the magnetic...
The Zionist Occupation of Western Galilee, 1948

The Zionist occupation of most of Palestine during the first Arab-Israeli war and the dispersal of the majority of its Arab inhabitants from their lands have been a matter for considerable debate. The reasons behind the flight of so many Arabs from Palestine, the role of the Arab Liberation Army and the ability of the Arab villages to defend themselves are all subjects of controversy, but some light may be thrown on the events of 1948 by concentrating one's attention on a few specific cases of occupation. For the purposes of this article, I have chosen to describe the experiences of the inhabitants of six villages in Western Galilee: al-Sumeiriya, al-Bassa and al-Zib, which were occupied on May 14, 1948; al-Ghabisiya and Kabri, which were taken on May 21; and al-Birwa, which after having fallen to the Jews and being retaken, was finally occupied on June 24. From these villages I have interviewed twenty families who are now living in Lebanon -in 'Ain al-Hilweh, Bourj al-Barajneh and Shatila refugee camps. The large majority of the heads of these families were farmers, although they also included a former policeman, a carpenter and a construction worker. I tried to select those villagers who participated in the defence of their villages individually or through a locally trained "militia." Arab response to the adoption of the UN Partition Plan for Palestine on November 29, 1947 was hostile.' In Palestine itself, Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Mufti of Jerusalem and head of the Arab Higher Committee, denounced the resolution, while in the wider Arab world, the prime ministers of the Arab
The complexity of maximal cofinitary groups

A cofinitary group is a subgroup of the infinite symmetric group in which each element of the subgroup has at most finitely many fixed points. A maximal cofinitary group is a cofinitary group that is maximal with respect to inclusion. We investigate the possible complexities of maximal cofinitary groups, in particular we show that (1) under the axiom of constructibility there exists a coanalytic maximal cofinitary group, and (2) there does not exist an eventually bounded maximal cofinitary group. We also suggest some further directions for investigation.
Growth and properties of GdTiO3 films prepared by hybrid molecular beam epitaxy

Abstract The paper reports on the thin film growth of a protoptype Mott insulator, ferrimagnetic GdTiO 3 , using shuttered molecular beam epitaxy. Substrates were (001) (LaAlO 3 ) 0.3 (Sr 2 AlTaO 6 ) 0.7 (LSAT), with and without epitaxial SrTiO 3 buffer layers, respectively. It was found that on bare LSAT, the starting monolayer was crucial for stabilizing the GdTiO 3 perovskite phase. The quality of the films was evaluated using structural, electric, optical and magnetic characterization. Structural characterization showed that the GdTiO 3 layers were free of pyrochlore impurity phases and that the lattice parameter was close to what was expected for coherently strained, stoichiometric GdTiO 3 . The room temperature film resistivity was 7 Ωcm and increased with decreasing temperature, consistent with Mott insulating characteristics. The Curie temperature was 30 K and a small coercivity was observed at 2 K, in good agreement with bulk GdTiO 3 properties reported in the literature.
Signal Exclusive Adaptive Average Filter for Impulse Noise Suppression

This paper introduces a novel signal exclusive adaptive average (SEAA) filter that offers good image denoising performance in applications characterized by impulsive or impulse-like noise. The proposed algorithm works well in suppressing impulse noise with noise ratios from 3% up to 60%. We begin by introducing a digital differentiation preprocessing step to quantify the increments in each local neighborhood of the noisy image. A homogeneity level map is then derived by adaptive thresholding and used to designate pixels as noise candidates. The initial selection is refined using a novel connected components labeling algorithm. Finally, the noise is attenuated by estimating the values of the noisy pixels with a linear filter applied exclusively to those neighborhood pixels not labeled as noise candidates. This approach bears similarity to several nonlinear techniques including alpha-trimmed means, selective averaging, and WMMR filters. Simulation results indicate that SEAA is better able to preserve 2-D edge structures from the original image and delivers better performance with less computational overhead as compared to competing nonlinear denoising algorithms
Structure, property, and design of nonbinary regular cycle codes

In this paper, we study nonbinary regular LDPC cycle codes whose parity check matrix H has fixed column weight j = 2 and fixed row weight d. Through graph analysis, we show that the parity check matrix H of a regular cycle code can be put into an equivalent structure in the form of concatenation of row-permuted block-diagonal matrices if d is even, or, if d is odd and the code's associated graph contains at least one spanning subgraph that consists of disjoint edges. This equivalent structure of H enables: i) parallel processing in lineartime encoding; ii) considerable resource reduction on the code storage for encoding and decoding; and iii) parallel processing in sequential belief-propagation decoding, which increases the throughput without compromising performance or complexity. On the code's structure design, we propose a novel design methodology based on the equivalent structure of H. Finally, we present various numerical results on the code performance and the decoding complexity.
Toll-Like Receptor 2 Mediates Fatal Immunopathology in Mice During Treatment of Secondary Pneumococcal Pneumonia Following Influenza

Host inflammatory responses contribute to the significant immunopathology that occurs during treatment of secondary bacterial pneumonia following influenza. We undertook the present study to determine the mechanisms underlying disparate outcomes in a mouse model with β-lactam and macrolide antibiotics. Lysis of superinfecting bacteria by ampicillin caused an extensive influx of neutrophils into the lungs resulting in a consolidative pneumonia, necrotic lung damage, and significant mortality. This was mediated through Toll-like receptor (TLR) 2 and was independent of TLR4 and the Streptococcus pneumoniae cytotoxin pneumolysin. Treatment with azithromycin prevented neutrophil accumulation and rescued mice from subsequent mortality. This effect was independent of the antibacterial activity of this macrolide since dual therapy with ampicillin and azithromycin against an azithromycin-resistant strain also was able to cure secondary pneumonia. These data suggest that strategies for eliminating bacteria without lysis coupled with immunomodulation of inflammation should be pursued clinically.
Assessing the validity of a computational model of emotional coping

In this paper we describe the results of a rigorous empirical study evaluating the coping responses of a computational model of emotion. We discuss three key kinds of coping, Wishful Thinking, Resignation and Distancing that impact an agent's beliefs, intentions and desires, and compare these coping responses to related work in the attitude change literature. We discuss the EMA computational model of emotion and identify several hypotheses it makes concerning these coping processes. We assess these hypotheses against the behavior of human subjects playing a competitive board game, using monetary gains and losses to induce emotion and coping. Subject's appraisals, emotional state and coping responses were indexed at key points throughout a game, revealing a pattern of subject's al-tering their beliefs, desires and intentions as the game unfolds. The results clearly support several of the hypotheses on coping responses but also identify (a) extensions to how EMA models Wishful Thinking as well as (b) individual differences in subject's coping responses.
Multiscale mechanobiology: mechanics at the molecular, cellular, and tissue levels

Mechanical force is present in all aspects of living systems. It affects the conformation of molecules, the shape of cells, and the morphology of tissues. All of these are crucial in architecture-dependent biological functions. Nanoscience of advanced materials has provided knowledge and techniques that can be used to understand how mechanical force is involved in biological systems, as well as to open new avenues to tailor-made bio-mimetic materials with desirable properties. In this article, we describe models and show examples of how force is involved in molecular functioning, cell shape patterning, and tissue morphology.
Self-interested automated mechanism design and implications for optimal combinatorial auctions

Often, an outcome must be chosen on the basis of the preferences reported by a group of agents. The key difficulty is that the agents may report their preferences insincerely to make the chosen outcome more favorable to themselves. Mechanism design is the art of designing the rules of the game so that the agents are motivated to report their preferences truthfully, and a desirable outcome is chosen. In a recently proposed approach---called automated mechanism design ---a mechanism is computed for the preference aggregation setting at hand. This has several advantages, but the downside is that the mechanism design optimization problem needs to be solved anew each time. Unlike the earlier work on automated mechanism design that studied a benevolent designer, in this paper we study automated mechanism design problems where the designer is self-interested. In this case, the center cares only about which outcome is chosen and what payments are made to it. The reason that the agents' preferences are relevant is that the center is constrained to making each agent at least as well off as the agent would have been had it not participated in the mechanism. In this setting, we show that designing optimal deterministic mechanisms is NP-complete in two important special cases: when the center is interested only in the payments made to it, and when payments are not possible and the center is interested only in the outcome chosen. We then show how allowing for randomization in the mechanism makes problems in this setting computationally easy. Finally, we show that the payment-maximizing AMD problem is closely related to an interesting variant of the optimal (revenue-maximizing) combinatorial auction design problem, where the bidders have "best-only" preferences. We show that here, too, designing an optimal deterministic auction is NP-complete, but designing an optimal randomized auction is easy.
Effect of chronic octreotide treatment on intestinal absorption in patients with acromegaly

The adverse gastrointestinal effects of octreotide, a synthetic analog of somatostatin, have not been fully elucidated. Low-dose octreotide frequently causes adverse gastrointestinal symptoms in normal individuals. We investigated the adverse gastrointestinal effects of high-dose octreotide, which is required for the normalization of growth hormone hypersecretion in some patients with acromegaly. Patients with acromegaly (N = 8) were treated with octreotide, 450 micrograms/day, then 1500 micrograms/day for two months at each dosage. Carbohydrate absorption was assessed using the D-xylose test, and fat absorption using fecal fat excretion and serum carotene concentrations, at baseline, at each dosage of octreotide, and after one month of washout. Ultrasonography was used to monitor for cholelithiasis. Growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor-I concentrations were significantly suppressed at both dosages. Adverse gastrointestinal symptoms were mild and transient. D-Xylose absorption remained normal at each dosage and after one month of washout. Fecal fat excretion increased from 7 +/- 2 to 12 +/- 2 g/24 hr (P < 0.05) after the higher dosage and resumed baseline levels after the washout. Mean fasting serum carotene levels remained normal, and carotene loading test (15,000 units three times a day for three days) was unreliable in identifying patients with high fecal fat. No new cholelithiasis was detected by ultrasonography. One of two patients with preexisting cholelithiasis developed biliary colic several days after the treatment period. Although steatorrhea was common, small intestinal absorptive capacity was otherwise unchanged by four months of high-dose octreotide treatment, which significantly suppressed growth hormone secretion in acromegalic patients.
Recursive two-dimensional median filtering algorithms for fast image root extraction

The authors develop and evaluate two new two-dimensional fast recursive median filtering algorithms, for image root extraction. The first recursive algorithm, which is called the fast binary root algorithm, converges to a root of a binary image in one pass including a number of local rescans. The second is referred to as the fast multilevel root algorithm. It converges to a root of a multilevel image in two passes, the second of which includes a number of local rescans. The number of ordering positions required by the author's algorithms is shown to be significantly less than those required by the standard and regular recursive median filters. >
Literature mining of host–pathogen interactions

Motivation: In an infectious disease, the pathogen's strategy to enter the host organism and breach its immune defenses often involves interactions between the host and pathogen proteins. Currently, the experimental data on host–pathogen interactions (HPIs) are scattered across multiple databases, which are often specialized to target a specific disease or host organism. An accurate and efficient method for the automated extraction of HPIs from biomedical literature is crucial for creating a unified repository of HPI data. Results: Here, we introduce and compare two new approaches to automatically detect whether the title or abstract of a PubMed publication contains HPI data, and extract the information about organisms and proteins involved in the interaction. The first approach is a feature-based supervised learning method using support vector machines (SVMs). The SVM models are trained on the features derived from the individual sentences. These features include names of the host/pathogen organisms and corresponding proteins or genes, keywords describing HPI-specific information, more general protein–protein interaction information, experimental methods and other statistical information. The language-based method employed a link grammar parser combined with semantic patterns derived from the training examples. The approaches have been trained and tested on manually curated HPI data. When compared to a naive approach based on the existing protein–protein interaction literature mining method, our approaches demonstrated higher accuracy and recall in the classification task. The most accurate, feature-based, approach achieved 66–73% accuracy, depending on the test protocol. Availability: Both approaches are available through PHILM web-server: http://korkinlab.org/philm.html Contact: korkin@korkinlab.org Supplementary information:Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
A Large-Scale Meta-Analysis Relating the Hare Measures of Psychopathy to Antisocial Conduct

The present meta-analysis integrated effect sizes from 95 non-overlapping studies (N=15,826) to summarize the relation between Hare Psychopathy Checklists and antisocial conduct. Whereas prior meta-analyses focused on specific subdomains of the literature, we used broad inclusion criteria, incorporating a diversity of samples, settings, methodologies, and outcomes in our analysis. Our broad perspective allowed us to identify general trends consistent across the entire literature and improved the power of our analyses. Results indicated that higher PCL Total, Factor 1 (F(1)), and Factor 2 (F(2)) scores were moderately associated with increased antisocial conduct. Study effect sizes were significantly moderated by the country in which the study was conducted, racial composition, gender composition, institutional setting, the type of information used to score psychopathy, and the independence of psychopathy and transgression assessments. However, multiple regression analyses indicated that the information used to assess psychopathy did not have a unique influence on effect sizes after accounting for the influence of other moderator variables. Furthermore, racial composition of the sample was related to the country in which the study was conducted, making it unclear whether one or both of these moderators influenced effect sizes. We provide potential explanations for the significant findings and discuss implications of the results for future research.
Design and testing of a high-speed spin test for evaluating pulse alternator windage loss effects

Advanced pulse alternator designs require rotor surface speeds in excess of 1000 m/s. High tip speeds and an operating environment consisting of partial vacuum result in frictional windage losses and subsequent heating of the rotor and stator surfaces. Analytical models for cylindrical rotor windage loss exist. However, solving the combined fluid dynamics and thermal conduction problem for this specific operating regime requires significant code development. A series of spin tests with incremental levels of complexity have been designed and tested and are presented in this paper. The tests are intended to validate windage loss and heating codes used in the pulse alternator rotor design.
A tiered approach to deterministic models for indoor air exposures.

There are a number of deterministic mathematical approaches available for modeling indoor air pollution concentrations. These models range in complexity from simple saturation vapor pressure models to models using computational fluid dynamics, with many in between these extremes. This range reflects the variety of ways pollutant generation, transport, and mixing are treated in the different models. In selecting which model to use, a tiered approach is useful. The tiered approach considers the goal of the modeling, the availability of model inputs, and the degree of uncertainty that is acceptable. The simpler models are easy to use and the inputs are often readily available. However, they usually have an inherently high degree of uncertainty which requires conservative assumptions that may result in overestimates of concentrations. The more complex models are more difficult to use and require more precise inputs. However, they have the potential to allow the modeler to reduce or quantify uncertainty. This ...
The visual development of documents

Information processing theory is applied to documents to analyze the visual processing of the page. Research on readers' perceptions of graphic characteristics and spatial organization is examined. A method is presented that increases the efficiency of developing and using a document by applying information processing principles and research on perception. It is concluded that, by applying principles of information theory, the semiology of graphic characteristics, and reader's spatial perception of the page, the desktop publisher can develop visually efficient documents, improving not only the reader's comprehension of the document but also the document development process. >
Graft fixation is highest with anatomic tunnel positioning in acromioclavicular reconstruction.

Purpose The purposes were to determine the bone density at specific bone tunnel locations in the clavicle and to determine ultimate load to failure of a graft fixed with an interference screw at specific areas. Methods Bone mass densitometry was tested at 5-mm intervals from the lateral to the medial end of 11 clavicles (mean age, 70.0 ± 17.7 years). Tunnels were drilled in 10-mm increments from the lateral edge, and tenodesis screws were used to fix semitendinosus grafts in the tunnel. Grafts were cyclically loaded, followed by load to failure. Results The bone mineral density (BMD) of the cadaveric clavicles increased from lateral (0.304 ± 0.078 g/cm 2 at 10 mm) to medial (0.760 ± 0.103 g/cm 2 at 50 mm). Load to failure increased from lateral to medial, and most specimens failed by tendon pullout. The load was 125.3 ± 42.5 N at the most lateral tunnel and 349.3 ± 120.3 N at the most medial tunnel. The Pearson correlation coefficient was 0.653 between tunnel position and load to failure, 0.659 between bone density and load to failure, and 0.803 between tunnel position and bone density. These all showed strong correlation. Conclusions BMD shows that optimal bone density is found in the anatomic insertion area of the coracoclavicular ligaments between 20 mm and 50 mm from the lateral end of the clavicle. Low BMD correlated with decreased load to failure. Clinical Relevance Failure at the lateral bone tunnel in coracoclavicular ligament reconstruction may be a result of poor bone quality. When one is drilling bone tunnels for this surgery, consideration should be given to both anatomic position and bone quality.
Graph partitioning using annealed neural networks

A new algorithm, mean field annealing (MFA), is applied to the graph-partitioning problem. The MFA algorithm combines characteristics of the simulated-annealing algorithm and the Hopfield neural network. MFA exhibits the rapid convergence of the neural network while preserving the solution quality afforded by simulated annealing (SA). The rate of convergence of MFA on graph bipartitioning problems is 10-100 times that of SA, with nearly equal quality of solutions. A new modification to mean-field annealing is also presented which supports partitioning graphs into three or more bins, a problem which has previously shown resistance to solution by neural networks. The temperature-behavior of MFA during graph partitioning is analyzed approximately and shown to possess a critical temperature at which most of the optimization occurs. This temperature is analogous to the gain of the neurons in a neural network and can be used to tune such networks for better performance. The value of the repulsion penalty needed to force MFA (or a neural network) to divide a graph into equal-sized pieces is also estimated. >
Multiplication of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Within Normal and "Immune" Mouse Macrophages Cultivated With and Without Streptomycin.

Acquired cellular immunity to infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis is believed to reside in the capacity of mononuclear phagocytes of immunized animals to inhibit intracellular multiplication of the parasite. However, in macrophage tissue culture systems, it has been customary to employ streptomycin in the medium for the purpose of restricting extracellular, but not intracellular, growth of M. tuberculosis. In contrast, our data show that small amounts of streptomycin markedly inhibit intracellular as well as extracellular growth of M. tuberculosis in normal mouse peritoneal macrophages, and that the degree of this inhibition is directly proportional to the concentration of streptomycin used. In the absence of streptomycin, virulent tubercle bacilli grew as rapidly in “immune” macrophages as in normal macrophages. “Immune” macrophages, however, were slightly more resistant to destruction by the intracellularly multiplying mycobacteria. In the presence of streptomycin, however, intracellular mycobacterial growth was inhibited more in “immune” macrophages than in normal macrophages, and this effect also was directly proportional to the concentration of streptomycin used. Virulent mycobacteria grew somewhat more slowly within mouse peritoneal macrophages obtained after induction of a peritoneal exudate with glycogen than in noninduced cells. The rate of multiplication, though, was the same within normal and “immune” induced peritoneal cells except in the presence of streptomycin. As with noninduced macrophages, this drug inhibited the intracellular multiplication of virulent tubercle bacilli more effectively within “immune” induced than within normal induced cells. It would appear, therefore, that the greater inhibition of intracellular multiplication of virulent tubercle bacilli in “immune” macrophages in tissue culture noted by a number of investigators in the past may have been an artifact created by the use of streptomycin in the tissue culture medium.
Rawls, Race, and Education: A Challenge to the Ideal/Nonideal Divide

In this essay, Winston C. Thompson questions the rigidity of the boundary between ideal and nonideal theory, suggesting a porosity that allows elements of both to be brought to bear upon educational issues in singularly incisive ways. In the service of this goal, Thompson challenges and extends John Rawls's theory of justice as fairness, bringing it to bear upon education in our imperfect world. By showing that this representative work of ideal theory can be meaningfully supplemented and applied to the nonideal fact of race, this essay suggests that recognition of nonideal circumstances and theorizing need not void ideal theory's value to philosophy of education. Instead, the field can engage both ideal and nonideal theory on previously unavailable questions and dimensions of educational justice toward productive ends.
The Three Phase Test: Intramolecular Nucleophilic Catalysis

An unambiguous method for the detection of reaction in intramolecular nucleophilic catalysis intermediates is described. The three phase test involves generation of the intermediate from an insoluble, polymer-bound precursor and its trapping by a second solid phase suspended in the same solution. The hydrolysis of monoesters of phthalic acid and of certain substituted phenyl esters is discussed.
Translational Activation of Oskar mRNA: Reevaluation of the Role and Importance of a 5' Regulatory Element

Local translation of oskar (osk) mRNA at the posterior pole of the Drosophila oocyte is essential for axial patterning of the embryo, and is achieved by a program of translational repression, mRNA localization, and translational activation. Multiple forms of repression are used to prevent Oskar protein from accumulating at sites other than the oocyte posterior. Activation is mediated by several types of cis-acting elements, which presumably control different forms of activation. We characterize a 5' element, positioned in the coding region for the Long Osk isoform and in the extended 5' UTR for translation of the Short Osk isoform. This element was previously thought to be essential for osk mRNA translation, with a role in posterior-specific release from repression. From our work, which includes assays which separate the effects of mutations on RNA regulatory elements and protein coding capacity, we find that the element is not essential, and conclude that there is no evidence supporting a role for the element only at the posterior of the oocyte. The 5' element has a redundant role, and is only required when Long Osk is not translated from the same mRNA. Mutations in the element do disrupt the anchoring function of Long Osk protein through their effects on the amino acid sequence, a confounding influence on interpretation of previous experiments.
Some benefits of multicomponent land seismic streamer data on a road surface for surface and body wave analysis

Summary We examine 2-c seismic land streamer data obtained on city streets for both shear wave velocity measurements and body wave reflection information. We find that ray bending from the high velocity asphalt layer requires the use of vertical and radial components to optimally extract high frequency reflection information. While the longer wavelength surface waves may be less sensitive to a thin high velocity near surface layer, we utilize the radial and vertical component measurements to optimize Rayleigh wave dispersion information for shear wave velocity inversion. Because the road material provides a constant high velocity surface medium, the relatively predictable (frequency-dependent) emergent ray angle allows us to more confidently separate surface and body wave signals.
Regiochemical Effects of Furan Substitution on the Electronic Properties and Solid-State Structure of Partial Fused-Ring Oligothiophenes

Oligomers containing the new fused-ring heterocyclic conjugated building block thieno[3,2-b]furan were synthesized, and the effects associated with furan ring substitution into fused-ring oligothiophenes on the electronic properties and solid-state structure were assessed. A series of four-ring oligomers which vary in the degree of furan ring substitution and the regiochemistry of placement were synthesized via Stille cross-coupling and oxidative homocoupling strategies. The electronic properties of these oligomers were studied by UV–vis absorption and fluorescence spectroscopies. Substitution of furan rings at the terminal positions yields oligomers with a narrower HOMO–LUMO gap relative to the all-thiophene analogue 2,2′-bithieno[3,2-b]thiophene, and incorporation of furan rings at the interior positions results in oligomers with an increase in rigidity and a higher fluorescence quantum yield. Packing motifs of the oligomers were determined using single crystal X-ray diffraction. In contrast to the herr...
Molecular determinants of ion conduction and inactivation in K+ channels

K+ channel-forming proteins can be grouped into three families that differ by the number of potential membrane-spanning segments. The largest of these families is composed of tetrameric channels with subunits containing six putative membrane-spanning segments (S1-S6). Inward rectifiers comprise a second family of K+ channels with subunits having two transmembrane domains (M1, M2). Monomers in the third family are proteins containing only one membrane-spanning segment, and they give origin to minK+ channels. Joining together segments S5 and S6 in the case of voltage-gated K+ channels and M1 and M2 in inward rectifiers, there is a highly conserved region with a hairpin shape called the H5 or P region. The P region, the loop connecting the S4 and S5 domains and the S6 transmembrane segment in Shaker-type K+ channels and the COOH-terminal in inward rectifiers, appears to play crucial roles in ion conduction. In Shaker K+ channels the NH2-terminal has been identified as responsible for fast inactivation (N-type inactivation). If the fast-inactivation gate is removed, a slower inactivation process persists, and its rate can be altered by mutations of amino acid residues forming part of the region in the neighborhood of the COOH-terminal (C-type inactivation). In this review we discuss the strategies followed to identify the different structures of K+ channels involved in ion conduction and inactivation processes and how they interplay.
Segmentation of Ischemic Stroke Lesions in Multi-spectral MR Images Using Weighting Suppressed FCM and Three Phase Level Set

Accurate segmentation of ischemic lesions is still a challenging task. In this paper, we propose a framework to extract ischemic lesions from multi-spectral MR images. In the proposed framework, MR images of each modality are first segmented into brain tissues and ischemic lesions by weighting suppressed fuzzy c-means. Preliminary lesion segmentation results are then fused among all the imaging modalities by majority voting. The fused segmentation results are finally refined by a three phase level set method. The level set formulation is defined on multi-spectral images with the capability of dealing with intensity inhomogeneities. The proposed framework has been applied to the MICCAI 2015 ISLES challenge. According to the ranking rules of the challenge, the proposed framework took the second place and the fourth place in sub-acute lesion segmentation and acute stroke estimation, respectively.
The darklight rises: visible light communication in the dark: demo

Visible Light Communication (VLC) emerges as a new wireless communication technology with appealing benefits not present in radio communication. However, current VLC designs commonly require LED lights to emit shining light beams, which greatly limits the applicable scenarios of VLC (e.g., in a sunny day when indoor lighting is not needed). It also entails high energy overhead and unpleasant visual experiences for mobile devices to transmit data using VLC. We design and develop DarkLight, a new VLC primitive that allows light-based communication to be sustained even when LEDs emit extremely-low luminance. The key idea is to encode data into ultra-short, imperceptible light pulses. We tackle challenges in circuit designs, data encoding/decoding schemes, and DarkLight networking, to efficiently generate and reliably detect ultra-short light pulses using off-the-shelf, low-cost LEDs and photodiodes. Our DarkLight prototype supports 1.3-m distance with 1.6-Kbps data rate. By loosening up VLC's reliance on visible light beams, DarkLight presents an unconventional direction of VLC design and fundamentally broadens VLC's application scenarios.
The effects of repetitive arousal from sleep on cardiovascular autonomic control

A previous study found that the sympathoexcitatory cardiovascular effects of arousal are relatively long lasting. In this study, we examine (1) whether the cumulative effects of arousal can lead to significant changes in autonomic control and (2) how the frequency of arousals affect the magnitude of these effects. Ten healthy subjects were aroused from sleep every 30 seconds, 1 minute and 2 minutes of sleep for an hour. EEG, ABP, ECG and respiration were recorded, and the impulse responses of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (h/sub RSA/) and arterial baroreflex (h/sub ABR/) before and after 50 minutes of repetitive arousal were quantified by using a minimal closed loop cardiovascular model. We found that the low frequency baroreflex gain decreased after exposure to repetitive arousals of 2 minutes periodicity but remained unchanged in the control and other arousal conditions.
Current Prescribing Practices for Skin and Soft Tissue Infections in Nursing Homes

Abstract Objectives Antibiotic stewardship has been called for across all sites of health care, including nursing homes (NHs). Skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) are the third most common indication for antibiotics in the NH, and so should be a focus of stewardship. This study audited medical records to identify signs and symptoms of SSTIs treated with antibiotics in relation to the McGeer criteria for surveillance, the Loeb minimum criteria for antibiotic initiation, and prescribing recommendations of the Infectious Disease Society of America. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Thirty-one NHs in Southeastern United States. Measurements Chart data from a random sample of 161 antibiotic prescriptions for SSTIs were abstracted. To meet the McGeer criteria, pus was present at a suspected SSTI site, or at least four of the following findings were documented as present at the site: new or worsening warmth, redness, swelling, tenderness, serous drainage, or a constitutional finding. The Loeb minimum criteria for initiating antibiotics included findings of new or increasing purulent drainage at a suspected SSTI site or at least two of the following findings: fever or new or worsening redness, tenderness, warmth, or swelling at the suspected site. Audits also collected the name, route, and duration of the associated antibiotic. Analyses calculated the types of diagnoses and evaluated associations between published criteria and prescribing. Results Cellulitis, skin/soft tissue injury with infection, and abscess were diagnosed in 37% (N = 59), 18% (N = 29), and 16% (N = 26) of cases, respectively; 27% (N = 43) had less specific diagnoses. The McGeer criteria were met in 25% (N = 40), and the Loeb minimum criteria were met in 48% (N = 77) of cases. Doxycycline was the most frequently prescribed antibiotic. The mean treatment length was 9.6 days (standard deviation, 5.6), and the median length of treatment was 8.5 days (range, 3-45). Conclusion SSTIs are not routinely diagnosed or treated according to recommended standards of care, and prescriptions for systemic antibiotics appear to be frequently initiated without regard to recommended definitions of infection or therapies for the associated diagnoses. These findings indicate that SSTIs present various opportunities to improve antibiotic stewardship.
Why Veblen Matters: The Role of Status Seeking in Contemporary Leisure

Over 100 years ago, Thorstein Veblen (1934) published The Theory of the Leisure Class (TLC). A scathing attack on the avaricious leisure class of his day, TLC described how people used wealth to elevate their social position in society. Importantly, the book illuminated how people across all social strata use wealth and goods to bolster their social position relative to their neighbors and peers. TLC remains a classic and is used by sociologists, economists, and other scholars to explain patterns of fashion, female subordination, economic inequality, and environmental degradation. My goal in this chapter is to explain some of Veblen’s key ideas and then illustrate how they might shed light into present-day leisure and consumption.
Prospective Study of Postoperative Glycemic Control with a Standardized Insulin Infusion Protocol after Infrainguinal Bypass and Open Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair

Background The aim of this study is to examine the effect of moderate postoperative glycemic control in diabetic and nondiabetic patients undergoing infrainguinal bypass (INFRA) or open abdominal aortic aneurysm (OAAA) repair. Methods In a single center prospective study, we investigated postoperative glycemic control using a standardized insulin infusion protocol after elective INFRA bypass ( n = 53, 62%) and OAAA repair ( n = 33, 38%) between January 2013 and March 2015. The primary end point was optimal glycemic control, defined as having ≥85% of blood glucose values within the 80–150 mg/dL target range. Suboptimal glycemic control was defined as Results Optimal glycemic control was achieved more commonly after OAAA repair than INFRA bypass (85% vs. 64%, P = 0.04). Moderate hypoglycemia ( n = 15, 29%) than OAAA repair ( n = 2, 6%) ( P = 0.01). In-hospital (6% vs. 6%, P = 1.0) and 30-day (24% vs. 22%, P = 1.0) SSI rates were similar for optimal versus suboptimal glycemic control patients after INFRA bypass. In-hospital (4% vs. 0%, P = 1.0) and 30-day (4% vs. 0%, P = 1.0) SSI rates were similar for optimal versus suboptimal glycemic control patients after OAAA repair. The percentage of blood glucose > 250 mg/dL was similar for patients with and without SSI (3% vs. 2%, P = 0.36). Adverse cardiac and pulmonary events after INFRA bypass were similar between groups (9% vs. 21%, P = 0.23; 0% vs. 5%, P = 0.36, respectively). Adverse cardiac and pulmonary events after OAAA repair were similar between groups (2% vs. 0%, P = 1.0; 4% vs. 0%, P = 1.0, respectively). Mean LOS was significantly lower in patients with optimal glycemic control after INFRA bypass (4.2 vs. 7.3 days, P = 0.02). Mean LOS was similar after OAAA repair for patients with optimal and suboptimal control (5.8 vs. 6.4 days, P = 0.46). Inpatient hospital costs after INFRA bypass were lower for the group with optimal (median $25,012, interquartile range [IQ] range $21,726–28,331) versus suboptimal glycemic control (median $28,944, IQ range 24,773–41,270, P = 0.02). Conclusions Postoperative hyperglycemia is common after INFRA bypass and OAAA repair and can be effectively ameliorated with an insulin infusion protocol. The protocol was low risk with reduced LOS and cost after INFRA bypass. Complications including SSI were not reduced in patients with optimal perioperative glycemic control.
P3.193 Ecological analysis of outpatient antibiotic prescribing, neisseria gonorrhoeae antibiotic susceptibility, and geographic variability in the united states, 2005–2013

Introduction To what degree population-level antibiotic use contributes to Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) resistance in the US is unclear. We investigated whether outpatient prescribing is associated with NG antibiotic susceptibility. Methods Using data from the Gonococcal Isolate Surveillance Project (GISP; a US surveillance system that samples male urethral isolates) during 2005–2013, we calculated annual geometric mean minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of azithromycin, cefixime, and ceftriaxone by site. We used QuintilesIMS data (captures>70% of US outpatient prescriptions and projects to 100% coverage) to calculate annual cephalosporin and macrolide rates prescribing per 1000 men by each county corresponding to a GISP site. For descriptive analyses, we calculated site-specific medians of these measures. We constructed multivariable linear mixed models for each agent with annual prescribing rates as the exposure and one-year lagged geometric mean MIC as the outcome. Results Annual geometric mean cefixime MICs increased from 0.009 µg/ml (2005) to 0.021 (2013), ceftriaxone from 0.005 (2006) to 0.01 (2007–2013), and azithromycin from 0.171 (2011) to 0.242 (2008). Western sites had the highest median cefixime MICs (0.018–0.03 by site); Southern sites had the lowest (0.016–0.019). Northeastern (0.298), Midwestern (0.258–0.314), and Western (0.136–0.295) sites had the highest median azithromycin MICs; Southern site had the lowest (0.1–0.234). Ceftriaxone MICs demonstrated little geographic variation. Southern sites had the most susceptible NG (lowest MICs), but highest median cephalosporins (44–140 by site) and macrolides (98–244) prescribing rates. Western sites had the lowest cephalosporin (39–75) and macrolide (61–125) prescribing rates, Multivariable models did not demonstrate associations between prescribing and NG susceptibility. Conclusion Using these data, we found no association between US antibiotic prescribing rates and NG susceptibility. Elucidation of factors contributing to resistance, including further investigation of antibiotic use, is warranted. Support: The Melon Institute and Metabolism Corp are funded by the University of Oxbridge, UK