cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
O-GlcNAc and the cardiovascular system

The cardiovascular system is capable of robust changes in response to physiologic and pathologic stimuli through intricate signaling mechanisms. The area of metabolism has witnessed a veritable renaissance in the cardiovascular system. In particular, the post-translational β-O-linkage of N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) to cellular proteins represents one such signaling pathway that has been implicated in the pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease. This highly dynamic protein modification may induce functional changes in proteins and regulate key cellular processes including translation, transcription, and cell death. In addition, its potential interplay with phosphorylation provides an additional layer of complexity to post-translational regulation. The hexosamine biosynthetic pathway generally requires glucose to form the nucleotide sugar, UDP-GlcNAc. Accordingly, O-GlcNAcylation may be altered in response to nutrient availability and cellular stress. Recent literature supports O-GlcNAcylation as an autoprotective response in models of acute stress (hypoxia, ischemia, oxidative stress). Models of sustained stress, such as pressure overload hypertrophy, and infarct-induced heart failure, may also require protein O-GlcNAcylation as a partial compensatory mechanism. Yet, in models of Type II diabetes, O-GlcNAcylation has been implicated in the subsequent development of vascular, and even cardiac, dysfunction. This review will address this apparent paradox and discuss the potential mechanisms of O-GlcNAc-mediated cardioprotection and cardiovascular dysfunction. This discussion will also address potential targets for pharmacologic interventions and the unique considerations related to such targets.
Modulation of anxiety and neuropeptide Y-Y1 receptors by antisense oligodeoxynucleotides

The function of neuropeptide Y, one of the most abundant peptide transmitters of the mammalian brain, remains unclear because of a lack of specific receptor antagonists. An antisense oligodeoxynucleotide corresponding to the NH2-terminus of the rat Y1 receptor was constructed and added to cultures of rat cortical neurons. This treatment resulted in a reduced density of Y1 (but not Y2) receptors and diminished the decrease in adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cAMP) usually seen after Y1 receptor activation. Repeated injection of the same oligodeoxynucleotide into the lateral cerebral ventricle of rats was followed by a similar reduction of cortical Y1 (but not Y2) receptors. Such antisense-treated animals displayed behavioral signs of anxiety. Thus, specific inhibition of neurotransmitter receptor expression can be accomplished in the living brain and demonstrates that altered central neuropeptide Y transmission produces an anxiety-like state.
Cystic adventitial disease of the popliteal artery

A 40-year-old Special Forces soldier with severe progressive right leg claudication underwent gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) (Cover), which demonstrated segmental occlusion of the popliteal artery. Further examination of the MRA revealed the occlusion to be caused by multiple cystic structures within the outer layers of the popliteal artery consistent with cystic adventitial disease (A). Standard contrast arteriography (B) confirmed the diagnosis. A posterior approach to the popliteal fossa was performed and revealed a 4-cm sausage-shaped segment of popliteal artery with near occlusion of the vessel (C). Resection of the affected arterial segment and placement of a greater saphenous vein interposition graft resulted in restoration of normal leg perfusion. A low-power photomicrograph of the arterial specimen depicted a multiloculated, subadventitial cyst. The patient was released after a brief hospitalization and one year later is symptom-free and maintains a normal pulse exam with normal noninvasive arterial studies. Atkins and Key offered an early description of cystic adventitial disease in 1947 in a case that affected an iliac artery. One decade later Heirtonn, Lindberg, and Rob used the term “cystic adventitial degeneration of the popliteal artery” to depict the same process in a series of patients with popliteal artery involvement. Cystic advenitial disease of the popliteal artery is an unusual but important cause of peripheral vascular insufficiency in young men. Traditionally, the diagnosis of this condition has required contrast arteriography, which demonstrates an eccentric “sword-like” stenosis, described as a Scimitar sign. However, as demonstrated here, and as advocated by others, gadolinium-enhanced MRA is useful and may eliminate the need for invasive testing. Gadolinium-enhanced MRA demonstrates detailed anatomy of the cysts in relation to the arterial lumen and surrounding structures while providing images of the affected arterial segment as well as inflow and outflow vessels. Management of cystic adventitial disease may include removal of the cyst content (enucleation) without resection of the artery or resection of the affected segment with interposition grafting. In advanced cases with arterial occlusion or thrombosis venous interposition, grafting is an optimal strategy for the treatment of this disease.
Corneal Complications Associated with the Use of Crack Cocaine

Background: A case series of patients with corneal complications associated with crack cocaine use is presented. Patients had infectious keratitis or sterile epithelial defects. Methods: Entry criteria into this series included the presence of an infectious corneal ulcer or sterile epithelial defect after the patient used crack cocaine routinely. Patients were prospectively identified from July 1, 1989 to June 30, 1991. Results: Fourteen patients with crack-related corneal problems were identified. In 10 patients with infectious corneal ulcers, both bacterial and fungal organisms were isolated, and patients were treated with appropriate antimicrobial therapy. The group of patients with sterile corneal epithelial defects were seen after they had rubbed their eyes vigorously after crack cocaine use. The epithelial defects were treated and healed without complication. Conclusion: Crack cocaine users appear to represent a unique subset of young patients predisposed to infectious keratitis and corneal epithelial defects. A number of hypotheses are offered to explain this effect. Both ophthalmologists and the general public should be aware of these severe corneal problems associated with the use of crack cocaine.
The sequential decoding metric for detection in sensor networks

Prior work motivated the use of sequential decoding for the problem of large-scale detection in sensor networks. In this paper we develop the metric for sequential decoding from first principles, different from the Fano metric which is conventionally used in sequential decoding. The difference in the metric arises due to the dependence between codewords, which is inherent in sensing problems. We analyze the behavior of this metric and show that it has the requisite properties for use in sequential decoding, i.e., the metric is, 1) expected to increase if decoding proceeds correctly, and 2) expected to decrease if more than a certain number of decoding errors are made. Through simulations, we show that the metric behaves according to theory and results in much higher accuracies than the Fano metric. We also show that due to an empirically-observed computational cutoff rate, we can perform accurate detection in large scale sensor networks, even when the optimal Viterbi decoding is not computationally feasible.
Ion implantation in high-Tc superconductors

Abstract We describe effects that occur when high- T c oxide superconductors are ion implanted or irradiated. Most of the information has come from studies done with MeV ions and thin films of YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 , and many of the changes are due to radiation damage. Small ion doses introduce defects which are mobile, and anneal at room temperature. At high dose the materials are no longer superconductors, and the effects seen with increasing ion fluence are a reduction in the normal-state conductivity, which falls exponentially with dose, and a metal to semiconductor transition. These can be viewed as consequences of increasing localization of the charge carriers. At still higher doses a crystalline-to-amorphous transition occurs. Some progress in ion-implantation processing of superconducting thin films has been made, in particular in patterning the films with high implant doses.
Barbiturate inhibition of growth and of the synthesis of deoxyribonucleic acid, ribonucleic acid and protein in cultured mammalian cells

Abstract Pentobarbital (PB) inhibited growth and the synthesis of nucleic acids and protein in murine, mastocytoma cells (P815Y) grown in culture. The inhibition increased with an increase in the concentration of drug and was also time-dependent with a high level of drug. For example, 0.5 mM PB ( id 50) reduced both the rate of division of the cells and the synthesis of DNA, RNA and protein by about one-half, compared with the control, over a 12-hr period. In contrast, treatment with a 2-fold higher concentration of PB (1 mM; id 100) blocked both cell division and the synthesis of protein promptly. It also reduced the synthesis of DNA and RNA by about one-half, compared with the control, during the first 4 hr of treatment. After this time, however, the synthesis of both DNA and RNA stopped abruptly. It is concluded that the inhibition of DNA synthesis caused by barbiturate in the latter case may have been secondary to the inhibition of protein synthesis. Transfer of the inhibited (1 mM PB; 12 hr) cells to drugfree medium caused the synthesis of protein and RNA to begin without apparent delay. In contrast, the synthesis of DNA proceeded slowly for about 8 hr; then the amount of DNA increased parasynchronously. Cell division, which also proceeded slowly during the first 10 hr, occurred as a parasynchronous wave some 2 hr after DNA synthesis began. The inhibitory effects of PB were also studied in murine, lymphoblastic cells (L5178Y) synchronized by sequential treatment with thymidine (5 hr) and deoxycytidine plus Colcemid (5 hr). When the mitotically inhibited cells were transferred to normal medium containing PB (1.5 mM; id 100), slightly more than one-half of the cells failed to complete mitosis and the synthesis of DNA, RNA and protein was blocked by the drug. The synthesis of DNA, RNA and protein was also blocked by PB addition in the middle of the S-phase. Its addition at the onset of the second wave of mitosis prevented mitosis as before and blocked the initiation of DNA synthesis.
Attenuated total reflectance from a layered silver grating with coupled surface waves

We consider the experimental and calculated reflectance of Nd:YAG laser radiation from a thin silver grating bounded by matched dielectric media. A grating with 1200 lines/mm and a peak-to-valley depth of 270 A is ionetched into a quartz crystal. A silver film is evaporated onto the quartz grating, and a second quartz crystal is optically contacted to the top grating surface to complete the layered structure. The reflectance of the grating layers is calculated by using reduced Rayleigh equations extended to the double-boundary geometry. For a silverfilm thickness of 520 A the splitting of the single-boundary surface-plasmon mode into two coupled modes is observed, and the experimental attenuated total reflection is in good agreement with that calculated. However, for the thinnest film studied, 140 A, the observed resonance is shallower and broader than that predicted because of scattering of the long-range surface-plasmon mode from the grating grooves.
Three levels of accuracy for the simulation of different fault types in digital systems

CC-TEGAS3 is a time domain digital logic simulation and test generation system. Presently there are six primary modes of simulation with other modes in development. Modes one through three are for true value simulation only and are used for logic verification and design verification. Modes four through six correspond to modes one through three, respectively, but are for fault simulation. These later modes allow a user to simulate faults at either the logic verification level, (using assignable nominal element propagation delays), or at the design verification level using assignable minimum-maximum delay times. Mode six represents one of the most accurate fault simulators yet to be implemented.The description, analysis, design considerations, implementation techniques, and data structures used in the fault simulation modes of the CC-TEGAS3 system are the subject of this paper.
ADAPT: The Agent Developmentand Prototyping Testbed

We present ADAPT, a flexible platform for designing and authoring functional, purposeful human characters in a rich virtual environment. Our framework incorporates character animation, navigation, and behavior with modular interchangeable components to produce narrative scenes. The animation system provides locomotion, reaching, gaze tracking, gesturing, sitting, and reactions to external physical forces, and can easily be extended with more functionality due to a decoupled, modular structure. The navigation component allows characters to maneuver through a complex environment with predictive steering for dynamic obstacle avoidance. Finally, our behavior framework allows a user to fully leverage a character’s animation and navigation capabilities when authoring both individual decision-making and complex interactions between actors using a centralized, event-driven model.
Nutritional status in patients on left ventricular assist device support.

T he presence of malnutrition and cachexia in patients with congestive heart failure is well documented. Nutritional status also bears a significant influence on wound healing and immune function in surgical patients in general. Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) have become an acceptable mode of bridge to transplantation for patients with end-stage heart failure. We propose to study the course of nutritional status in patients receiving LVAD support and correlate this with their clinical outcomes.
Critical Analysis of the Impact of Glottal Features in the Classification of Clinical Depression in Speech

The motivation for this work is in an attempt to rectify the current lack of objective tools for clinical analysis of emotional disorders. This study involves the examination of a large breadth of objectively measurable features for use in discriminating depressed speech. Analysis is based on features related to prosodics, the vocal tract, and parameters extracted directly from the glottal waveform. Discrimination of the depressed speech was based on a feature selection strategy utilizing the following combinations of feature domains: prosodic measures alone, prosodic and vocal tract measures, prosodic and glottal measures, and all three domains. The combination of glottal and prosodic features produced better discrimination overall than the combination of prosodic and vocal tract features. Analysis of discriminating feature sets used in the study reflect a clear indication that glottal descriptors are vital components of vocal affect analysis.
Noncognitive Skills and the Gender Disparities in Test Scores and Teacher Assessments: Evidence from Primary School

We extend the analysis of early-emerging gender differences in academic achievement to include both (objective) test scores and (subjective) teacher assessments. Using data from the 1998-99 ECLS-K cohort, we show that the grades awarded by teachers are not aligned with test scores, with the disparities in grading exceeding those in testing outcomes and uniformly favoring girls, and that the misalignment of grades and test scores can be linked to gender differences in non-cognitive development. Girls in every racial category outperform boys on reading tests and the differences are statistically significant in every case except for black fifth-graders. Boys score at least as well on math and science tests as girls, with the strongest evidence of a gender gap appearing among whites. However, boys in all racial categories across all subject areas are not represented in grade distributions where their test scores would predict. Even those boys who perform equally as well as girls on reading, math and science tests are nevertheless graded less favorably by their teachers, but this less favorable treatment essentially vanishes when non-cognitive skills are taken into account. White boys who perform on par with white girls on these subject-area tests and exhibit the same non-cognitive skill level are graded similarly. For some specifications there is evidence of a grade “bonus” for white boys with test scores and behavior like their girl counterparts. While the evidence is a little weaker for blacks and Hispanics, the message is essentially the same.
Detrimental externalities, pollution rights, and the “Coase theorem”

This paper, which builds on Chipman (The economist’s vision. Essays in modern economic perspectives, 131–162, 1998), analyzes a simple model formulated by Hurwicz (Japan World Economics 7:49–74, 1995) of two agents—a polluter and a pollutee—and two commodities: “money” (standing for an exchangeable private good desired by both agents) and “pollution” (a public commodity desired by the polluter but undesired by the pollutee). There is also a government which issues legal rights to the two agents to emit a certain amount of pollution, which can be bought and sold with money. It is assumed that both agents act as price-takers in the market for pollution rights, so that competitive equilibrium is possible. The “Coase theorem” (so-called by Stigler (The theory of price, 1966) asserts that the equilibrium amount of pollution is independent of the allocation of pollution rights. A sufficient condition for this was (in another context) obtained by Edgeworth (Giorn Economics 2:233–245, 1891), namely that preferences of the two agents be “parallel” in the money commodity, whose marginal utility is constant. Hurwicz (Japan World Economics 7:49–74, 1995) argued that this parallelism is also necessary. This paper, which provides an exposition of the problem, raises some questions about this result, and provides an alternative necessary and sufficient condition.
Molecular Origins of the Mechanical Behavior of Hybrid Glasses

Hybrid organic-inorganic glasses exhibit unique electro-optical properties along with excellent thermal stability. Their inherently mechanically fragile nature, however, which derives from the oxide component of the hybrid glass network together with the presence of terminal groups that reduce network connectivity, remains a fundamental challenge for their integration in nanoscience and energy technologies. We report on a combined synthesis and computational strategy to elucidate the effect of molecular structure on mechanical properties of hybrid glass films. We first demonstrate the importance of rigidity percolation to elastic behavior. Secondly, using a novel application of graph theory, we reveal the complex 3-D fracture path at the molecular scale and show that fracture energy in brittle hybrid glasses is fundamentally governed by the bond percolation properties of the network. The computational tools and scaling laws presented provide a robust predictive capability for guiding precursor selection and molecular network design of advanced hybrid organic-inorganic materials.
Mathematic-physical engine: parallel processing for modeling and simulation of physical phenomena

Mathematical modeling of various physical phenomena, ranging from fluid flow to electromagnetic field dynamics, from thermal patterns inside a semiconductor wafer to thermal patterns on a geophysical scale, and from combustion inside an automotive cylinder to ion transport across a biological membrane, is a challenge for the 1990s and beyond. These processes share in common a basic underlying structure in that they are described by systems of partial differential equations. This paper proposes parallel processing concepts for the real time simulation of such physical phenomena. Specifically we present a mathematic-physical engine (MPE) to solve in real time, and to display three-dimensionally, the solution of sets of ordinary or partial differential equations. In fact, different versions of the MPE are discussed ranging from a single commercial parallel machine, to networked supercomputers, to a stacked-wafer dedicated machine to suit the needs of scientists/engineers around the world. High speed networking is proposed for remote usage of an expensive MPE facility. Such a capability can enhance the ability of scientists and engineers to accelerate basic research on the one hand, and product development on the other. >
Soft X-ray spectra by wavelength dispersive spectrometry as a micron scale tool to determine copper valence

Copper in liquids in many cuprate systems occurs in both univalent and divalent states. The determination of Cu valence in experimental charges is necessary for full understanding of phase relations of superconducting cuprates. Ideally, the valence state should be determined essentially simultaneously with determination of elemental contents and crystal structure so that specific phases can be fully characterized. No currently available technique can do that so we have attempted to develop a technique based on the L x-ray spectrum of Cu that can be used by conventional electron microbeam instrumentation. The Cu L spectrum has distinct differences between CuO and Cu/sub 2/O that may be quantified by the ratio of peak heights in the spectra. The standard deviation of this ratio is very small compared with the difference in values. The spectra of divalent Cu in the oxide and in an alkaline earth cuprate are similar but not identical, reflecting the differences in the Cu-O polyhedra in these species. Change in the alkaline earth in the cuprate does not influence the L spectrum. The technique is potentially useful in determining valence state of Cu in more complex cuprate systems but requires use of standards in which the Cu-O polyhedra are similar to those in the unknowns.
Measurement of nuclear and electronic Zeeman effects using optical hole-burning spectroscopy.

The excited-state nuclear Zeeman effect and quadratic-electronic Zeeman effect were studied in Pr3+:LaF3 using laser-induced hole burning. Hole burning in an external magnetic field gave values for the excited-state enhanced nuclear g tensor of gxβ/h = 2.2, gyβ/h = 1.9, and gzβ/h = 3.6 kHz/G. By applying the field after hole burning, quadratic-electronic Zeeman coefficients as small as 0.1 Hz/G2 were measured. The hyperfine coupling constant in the excited lD2 level was found to be AJ = 600 MHz.
Tumor Microenvironment and Pancreatic Cancer

Copyright: © 2012 Wang S, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in both men and women (preceded by lung, prostate/breast and colon-rectum) in the United States, with a 5-year survival rate of less than 5% [1]. Despite the rapid advances in diagnostic and operative techniques, the patient survival has little improvement in the last decade. Chemoresistance [2,3], early metastases, and late clinical presentation [4] are the major reasons for the poor clinical outcomes. This discouraging reality strongly suggests an urgent demand of new research directions and alternative/complementary approaches to improve the clinical outcome of pancreatic cancer.
Distributed multitarget classification in wireless sensor networks

We study distributed strategies for classification of multiple targets in a wireless sensor network. The maximum number of targets is known a priori but the actual number of distinct targets present in any given event is assumed unknown. The target signals are modeled as zero-mean Gaussian processes with distinct temporal power spectral densities, and it is assumed that the noise-corrupted node measurements are spatially independent. The proposed classifiers have a simple distributed architecture: local hard decisions from each node are communicated over noisy links to a manager node which optimally fuses them to make the final decision. A natural strategy for local hard decisions is to use the optimal local classifier. A key problem with the optimal local classifier is that the number of hypotheses increases exponentially with the maximum number of targets. We propose two suboptimal (mixture density and Gaussian) local classifiers that are based on a natural but coarser repartitioning of the hypothesis space, resulting in linear complexity with the number of targets. We show that exponentially decreasing probability of error with the number of nodes can be guaranteed with an arbitrarily small but nonvanishing communication power per node. Numerical results based on real data demonstrate the remarkable practical advantage of decision fusion: an acceptably small probability of error can be attained by fusing a moderate number of unreliable local decisions. Furthermore, the performance of the suboptimal mixture density classifier is comparable to that of the optimal local classifier, making it an attractive choice in practice.
Λ Cold Dark Matter, Stellar Feedback, and the Galactic Halo Abundance Pattern

The hierarchical formation scenario for the stellar halo requires the accretion and disruption of dwarf galaxies, yet low-metallicity halo stars are enriched in � -elements compared to similar, low-metallicity stars in dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies. We address this primary challenge for the hierarchical formation scenario for the stellar halo by combining chemical evolution modeling with cosmologically motivated mass accretion histories for the MilkyWaydarkhaloanditssatellites.Wedemonstratethatstellarhaloanddwarfgalaxyabundancepatternscanbe explained naturally within the CDM framework. Our solution relies fundamentally on the CDM model prediction that the majority of the stars in the stellar halo were formed within a few relatively massive, � 5 ;10 10 M� , dwarf irregular (dIrr) sized dark matter halos, which were accreted and destroyed � 10 Gyr in the past. These systems necessarily have short-lived, rapid star formation histories, are enriched primarily by Type II supernovae, and host stars with enhanced [� /Fe] abundances. In contrast, dwarf dSph galaxies exist within low-mass dark matter hostsof � 10 9 M� , wheresupernovaewindsareimportantin settingtheintermediate[� /Fe]ratios observed. Our model includes enrichment from Type Ia and Type II supernovae, as well as stellar winds, and includes a physicallymotivatedsupernovaefeedbackprescriptioncalibratedtoreproducethelocaldwarfgalaxystellarmass– metallicity relation. We use representative examples of the type of dark matter halos that we expect to host a destroyed ‘‘stellar halo progenitor’’ dwarf, a surviving dIrr, and a surviving dSph galaxy, and show that their derived abundance patterns, stellar masses, and gas masses are consistent with those observed for each type of system. Our model also self-consistently reproduces the observed stellar mass–vcirc relation for local group satellites and produces the correct cumulative mass for the Milky Way stellar halo. We predict that the lowest metallicity stars in intermediate-mass dIrr galaxies such as the SMC and LMC should follow abundance patterns similar to that observed in the stellar halo. Searches for accreted, disrupted, low-mass dwarfs may be enhanced by searching for unbound stars with dSph-like chemical abundance patterns.
Gene Ontology: looking backwards and forwards

The Gene Ontology consortium began six years ago with a group of scientists who decided to connect our data by sharing the same language for describing it. Its most significant achievement lies in uniting many independent biological database efforts into a cooperative force.
A Bayesian approach for estimating calibration curves and unknown concentrations in immunoassays

Motivation: Immunoassays are primary diagnostic and research tools throughout the medical and life sciences. The common approach to the processing of immunoassay data involves estimation of the calibration curve followed by inversion of the calibration function to read off the concentration estimates. This approach, however, does not lend itself easily to acceptable estimation of confidence limits on the estimated concentrations. Such estimates must account for uncertainty in the calibration curve as well as uncertainty in the target measurement. Even point estimates can be problematic: because of the non-linearity of calibration curves and error heteroscedasticity, the neglect of components of measurement error can produce significant bias. Methods: We have developed a Bayesian approach for the estimation of concentrations from immunoassay data that treats the propagation of measurement error appropriately. The method uses Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) to approximate the posterior distribution of the target concentrations and numerically compute the relevant summary statistics. Software implementing the method is freely available for public use. Results: The new method was tested on both simulated and experimental datasets with different measurement error models. The method outperformed the common inverse method on samples with large measurement errors. Even in cases with extreme measurements where the common inverse method failed, our approach always generated reasonable estimates for the target concentrations. Availability: Project name: Baecs; Project home page: www.computationalimmunology.org/utilities/; Operating systems: Linux, MacOS X and Windows; Programming language: C++; License: Free for Academic Use. Contact: feng.feng@duke.edu Supplementary information:Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Long‐term effects of hypothalamic lesions on the pituitary and its target organs in the killifish Fundulus heteroclitus: II. Darkening

Presumed lesions in the area of the nucleus preopticus (NPO) of male Fundulus heteroclitus resulted in chronic darkening in 12 fish. Sections revealed that all dark fish were severely injured in the nucleus opticus hypothalami (NOH) (Reperant et al., '82); in 11 cases there was injury to the optic tracts but in one the tracts were uninjured. Seven dark fish were tested on a white background: four were unable to assume pallor but three gradually paled. A caudal band remained dark in the four fish that did not fade but paled in the three that became slowly paler. It is concluded that the pathway to the thalamic paling center was destroyed but that low levels in melanophore-concentrating hormone (MCH) persisted in the three fish whose denervated caudal bands faded. Darkening was not due to proliferation of new melanocytes or to the synthesis of new melanin, but solely to a chronic state of melanophore dispersion. Pituitary melanocytes appeared mainly normal, and secretion of the melanophore-dispersing hormone was probably not excessive.
Growth analysis and canopy architecture of velvetleaf grown under light conditions representative of irrigated Mediterranean-type agroecosystems

Abstract Velvetleaf growth and canopy architecture were compared under a range of light conditions representative of competitive and noncompetitive environments typical of irrigated Mediterranean-type agroecosystems. Velvetleaf biomass and seed production exceeded those reported in the literature. Plants grown in full light produced 1,370 g dry weight and 44,200 seeds per plant and showed low relative variability. Velvetleaf grown with corn was reduced to 21 g dry weight and 349 seeds per plant, and had high relative variability for biomass and seed numbers. Velvetleaf grown with kidney bean, intraspecific neighbors, or under shadecloth had dry weights and seed numbers that were intermediate to plants grown in full light or with corn. Relative growth rate (RGR), net assimilation rate (NAR), and leaf area ratio (LAR) were assessed utilizing Richards functions, which were fitted to the primary biomass and leaf area data by weighted regression. RGR was highest for all plants early in the season, but declined...
Effect of Loading and Temperature on Dynamic Modulus of Hot Mix Asphalt Tested under MMLS3

In this study, the accelerated loading equipment MMLS3, which applies scaled wheel load on a scaled pavement structure, has been used to investigate the effect of loading and temperature on the dynamic modulus (|E*|) of hot mix asphalt (HMA). Several HMA test slabs have been prepared in the laboratory by compacting mixes using vibratory roller compactor. The test slabs, instrumented with strain gauges and thermocouples, have been subjected to repeated wheel load using MMLS3 under controlled temperature condition. The strain and temperature data have been acquired continuously during loading with data acquisition system. The analysis of data indicated that strain signals are composed of several dominant frequencies. The constitutive equation of linear viscoelasticity in time domain was then transformed to frequency domain using the Fast Fourier Transform technique at steady state condition and the complex |E*| values have been determined continuously during the loading. The test results indicated that |E*| is significantly affected by the combined effect of loading and temperature. A general trend of reduction of |E*| values due to these factors has been observed in the study. A simple model has been proposed which can be used to determine |E*| under moving wheel load and varying temperature condition. A comparison of test result with the mechanistic-empirical pavement design guide (MEPDG) model of dynamic modulus indicates that the MEPDG model represents the condition at the beginning of loading when the damage is minimal.
Physical post-harvest techniques as potential quarantine treatments against Brevipalpus yothersi (Acarina: Tenuipalpidae)

Brevipalpus mites (Acari: Tenuipalpidae) carrying citrus leprosis virus are considered serious quarantine pests. The objective of this research was to clarify the effectiveness of commonly used fruit cleaners, soaps, waxes, and mechanical brushing techniques (alone and in combination) on removal and/or mortality of mites (percentage of density reduction) from infested citrus fruits. Six bioassays were conducted with infested lemons, Citrus limon (L.) Burm.f. (Sapindales: Rutaceae), using non-virulent Brevipalpus yothersi Baker as a model species. In each bioassay, all stages (eggs, nymphs, and adults) of B. yothersi were recorded before and after treatment. Results indicated that none of the treatments provided 100% reduction of all stages of mites, as would be required for quarantine treatments. In general, mite reduction following single treatments (soap rinse, brushing, or waxing alone) was not significantly different from reduction obtained with a water drench control. However, several combination treatments were successful in achieving ~90% reduction of mites, particularly those that included application of a food-grade wax coating. Therefore, a combination of treatments, including a soap wash and mechanical brushing followed by a wax coating, may be the most effective method to achieve significant reduction of all stages of Brevipalpus mites from infested citrus.
Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease: Strategies in Research and Development

The 30th OHOLO Biological Conference concluded with a stimulating and provocative general discussion, on the afternoon of the last day of the meetings. Eleven specific questions were posed to the audience, based on issues and topics which had been raised in the presentations and posters prior to this Discussion. The audience was asked to consider each question in turn, and to debate its pros and cons. Over three hours were dedicated to this General Discussion.
Revenue-Optimized Webpage Recommendation

As a massive industry, display advertising delivers advertisers' marketing messages to attract customers throughbanners shown on webpages. For publishers, i.e. websites, display advertising is the most critical revenue source. Most existing webpage recommender systems suggest webpages based on user interests only. However, the articles of interest to specific users may not be profitable to publishers. Conversely, only recommending the most profitable articles may lose publishers' user base. To address this issue, we will conduct a series of investigations anddesign Revenue-Optimized Recommendation, aims to recommend users webpages that optimize interestingness and ad revenue.
The Formula for Change in Variables in a Multiple Integral

(1954). The Formula for Change in Variables in a Multiple Integral. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 61, No. 2, pp. 81-85.
Origins and Development of the Commission on Influenza

The origins and evolution of the Commission on Influenza of the Armed Forces Epidemiorogical Board are traced by recounting the activities of the commission and of its founder, Thomas Francis, Jr., MD, from 1940 until 1970. Under Francis’ leadership a new mechanism was developed for the conduct of studies on respiratory disease in active collaboration with the military. The first successful inactivated influenza virus vaccine was developed, tested, and proved within three years. The epidemiologic significance of the emergence of the new variants was recognized promptly., Successful countermeasures were taken quickly., A global system of “watch laboratories” was developed under commission auspices. This functioned so successfully that the pattern was subsequently adopted by the World Health Organization, Details of these and many other accomplishments comprise this report.
Insecticide Effect on Three Tephritid Fruit Flies and Associated Braconid Parasitoids in Hawaii

Laboratory bioassays were conducted to determine the effect of insecticides on three species of tephritid fruit flies and associated parasitoids. First, topically applied malathion, carbaryl, and permethrin were tested against the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Weidemann), the oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel), the melon fly, B. cucurbitae (Coquillett), and their corresponding parasitoids, Diachasmimorpha tryoni (Silvestri), D. longicaudata (Ashmead), and Psytallia fletcheri (Silvestri). Second, the effects of toxic baits on the three fruit fly species were tested by mixing insecticides with a protein hydrolysate bait. Insecticides used were malathion, naled, carbaryl, and permethrin. In a third test, we determined the effects of naled and malathion added to Staley’s bait on C. capitata and D. longicaudata. Parasitoids were more susceptible to insecticides than the respective host fruit fly species. For example, D. longicaudata was 663 times more susceptible to permethrin than B. dorsalis , and D. tryoni was 680 times more susceptible to carbaryl than the C. capitata. Parasitoid response to insecticides varied by parasitoid species. The B. cucurbitae parasitoid, P.fletcheri , was less susceptible to these insecticides than the other two species. Topical and feeding tests showed that carbaryl was ineffective against fruit flies. Malathion was the most effective of the three materials tested topically against fruit flies. Naled was the most toxic insecticide in the protein bait tests. Staley’s bait did not attract D. longicaudata, and this parasitoid was not as susceptible to malathion as C. capitata. However, D. longicaudata and C. capitata were equally susceptible to naled. Application of these results to integrated pest management of fruit flies is discussed.
Improving diagnosis and treatment level of childhood chronic cough

The etiology,respiratory reflex and respiratory control of chronic cough in children are different from those in adults. Guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of adults with chronic cough are not suitable for children. Cough las- ting for more than eight weeks is defined as chronic cough. Dividing cough into unproductive(dry)and productive(wet)cough is of some benefits to diagnosis. Dry cough is commonly seen in asthma,cough variant asthma,pertussis,post upper respiratory infection,etc. Chest X-ray findings are usually negative in these diseases. Pulmonary function and bronchictasis test may help the diagnosis. Productive cough is mostly seen in airway infections with abnormal manifestations revealed on chest X-ray films. If necessary,chest CT or flexible bronchascopy may be used as the diagnostic procedure. Disclosure and removal of pathogenic factor may help cure chronic cough.
Messages to Teacher Educators from the Margins

At a recent annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), one of the nation’s most prominent African American scholars conceded to me that trumpeting the battle cry for racial and ethnic diversity in the teaching force is at a near loss. She stated, “In some cases the opposite is true—the teaching force is becoming less diverse year after year. And in some cases, the increase in teacher diversity is only slight.” She concluded, somewhat somberly, that teacher educators should redirect much of their energy to take to scale some of the promising work under way to explicitly and directly better prepare a White national teaching force to teach in diverse classrooms and schools. She stated, “We should be honest that most teacher educators are preparing White teachers for diverse classrooms and schools, and we should be exact in doing so rather than imagining we are creating a diverse teaching force.” When she heard me gasp for air as if I had the wind knocked out of me, she kindly and sympathetically stated, “We do not have to totally abandon the idea because the children in these classrooms depend on us to give them an experience with teachers who look like themselves.” This is a scholar who has dedicated so much of her work to the struggle to diversify the teaching force, yet her deduction seemed somewhat resolute and distressing. Although she stated we should not abandon the work, her words delivered a jolting blow for American education and for what Banks (2006) referred to as the demographic imperative: “The significant changes in the racial, ethnic, and language groups that make up the nation’s population” (p. 155).
Primefree shifted Lucas sequences of the second kind

Abstract We say a sequence S = ( s n ) n ≥ 0 is primefree if | s n | is not prime for all n ≥ 0 and, to rule out trivial situations, we require that no single prime divides all terms of S . Recently, the second author showed that there exist infinitely many integers k such that both of the shifted sequences U ± k are simultaneously primefree, where U is a particular Lucas sequence of the first kind. In this article, we prove an analogous result for the Lucas sequences V a = ( v n ) n ≥ 0 of the second kind, defined by v 0 = 2 , v 1 = a , and v n = a v n − 1 + v n − 2 , for n ≥ 2 , where a is a fixed integer. More precisely, we show that for any integer a, there exist infinitely many integers k such that both of the shifted sequences V a ± k are simultaneously primefree. This result provides additional evidence to support a conjecture of Ismailescu and Shim. Moreover, we show that there are infinitely many values of k such that every term of both of the shifted sequences V a ± k has at least two distinct prime factors.
Modern Rap Music: Mining the Melodies for Mental Health Resources

Modern Rap music is a very popular, powerful, and controversial form of contemporary youth media. Despite clearly counter-productive aspects of certain lyrics, videos, and other cultural elements, Rap music also offers prosocial material that can enhance the appeal and impact of mental health interventions. This article describes the Young Warriors program as an example of a Rap-based program that promotes positive development in urban ethnic minority youth. Future directions and similar scholarly efforts are also highlighted.
Erratum: Self-trapping of g-mode oscillations in relativistic thin discs, revisited

We examine by a perturbation method how the self-trapping of g-mode oscillations in geometrically thin relativistic disks is affected by uniform vertical magnetic fields. Disks which we consider are isothermal in the vertical direction, but are truncated at a certain height by presence of hot coronae. We find that the characteristics of self-trapping of axisymmetric g-mode oscillations in non-magnetized disks is kept unchanged in magnetized disks at least till a strength of the fields, depending on vertical thickness of disks. These magnetic fields become stronger as the disk becomes thinner. This result suggests that trapped g-mode oscillations still remain as one of possible candidates of quasi-periodic oscillations observed in black-hole and neutron-star X-ray binaries in the cases where vertical magnetic fields in disks are weak.
Quantum Bayesianism Assessed

The idea that the quantum probabilities are best construed as the personal/subjective degrees of belief of Bayesian agents is an old one. In recent years the idea has been vigorously pursued by a group of physicists who fly the banner of quantum Bayesianism (QBism). The present paper aims to identify the prospects and problems of implementing QBism, and it critically assesses the claim that QBism provides a resolution (or dissolution) of some of the long standing foundations issues in quantum mechanics, including the measurement problem and puzzles of non-locality.
Hoarding Behaviors and Alcohol Use: The Mediating Role of Emotion Dysregulation

BACKGROUND Despite recent research establishing high rates of comorbidity between hoarding disorder and alcohol use disorders (AUD), no studies have systemically examined the associations between symptoms of hoarding and alcohol use. Moreover, no studies have explored potential mechanisms that may help to explain these relations. OBJECTIVES Thus, the current study was designed to examine the associations between hoarding and AUD symptoms, as well as the mediating role of emotion dysregulation. METHODS Self-report measures of hoarding, depression, anxiety, alcohol use, and emotion regulation were collected in a sample of 574 adults (M age = 35.43, SD = 12.57; 62% female). RESULTS Even when controlling for depression and anxiety, AUD symptoms were associated with overall hoarding severity (β =.23, p <.001) as well as acquiring symptoms (β =.16, p =.03). Further, the relation between hoarding symptoms and AUD symptoms was mediated by difficulties regulating emotions (B =.04, 95% CI [.02,.06]). Conclusions/Importance: Results of the current study suggest that increased alcohol use may be one way in which individuals with hoarding symptoms attempt to regulate their emotions.
Stress perfusion cardiac MRI with regadenoson and gadofoveset trisodium

Background Stress perfusion cardiac MRI (CMR) with a high relaxivity blood-pool contrast agent should allow for improved quantification of myocardial perfusion and myocardium blood volume in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). In the current study, we sought to evaluate the diagnostic performance and image quality of stress perfusion CMR using the intravascular contrast agent gadofoveset trisodium and regadenoson stress agent in patients with suspected CAD. Methods Patients with suspected CAD were identified based on referral for cardiac catheterization and/or stress testing and recruited to undergo CMR at 1.5T (MAGNETOM Avanto, Siemens, Erlangen, Germany). The CMR protocol included stress perfusion imaging using 5 ml intravenous (IV) regadenoson (Lexiscan, Astellas US LLC) as the stress agent, and the effects of regadenoson were reversed with 50 mg IV aminophylline following the completion of stress imaging. Left ventricular (LV) base, mid, and apex short axis cine images were acquired in identical slice positions during first pass using 5 ml IV gadofoveset trisodium contrast (Ablavar, Lantheus) at both stress and rest. Perfusion images were reviewed and sensitivity and specificity for CAD diagnosis were calculated. Overall image quality, image noise, and presence of artifact for each patient scan were graded on a scale of 1 - poor to 5 - excellent.In addition to the perfusion scan, the MRI protocol included pre- and postcontrast 2D Modified Look-Locker (MOLLI) measurement of T1 which were used to calculate the myocardial blood volume (in ml/100g of tissue). Results