cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Memory formation for trace fear conditioning requires ubiquitin-proteasome mediated protein degradation in the prefrontal cortex

The cellular mechanisms supporting plasticity during memory consolidation have been a subject of considerable interest. De novo protein and mRNA synthesis in several brain areas are critical, and more recently protein degradation, mediated by the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS), has been shown to be important. Previous work clearly establishes a relationship between protein synthesis and protein degradation in the amygdala, but it is unclear whether cortical mechanisms of memory consolidation are similar to those in the amygdala. Recent work demonstrating a critical role for prefrontal cortex (PFC) in the acquisition and consolidation of fear memory allows us to address this question. Here we use a PFC-dependent fear conditioning protocol to determine whether UPS mediated protein degradation is necessary for memory consolidation in PFC. Groups of rats were trained with auditory delay or trace fear conditioning and sacrificed 60 min after training. PFC tissue was then analyzed to quantify the amount of polyubiquinated protein. Other animals were trained with similar procedures but were infused with either a proteasome inhibitor (clasto-lactacystin β-lactone) or a translation inhibitor (anisomycin) in the PFC immediately after training. Our results show increased UPS-mediated protein degradation in the PFC following trace but not delay fear conditioning. Additionally, post-training proteasome or translation inhibition significantly impaired trace but not delay fear memory when tested the next day. Our results further support the idea that the PFC is critical for trace but not delay fear conditioning highlight the role of UPS-mediated degradation as critical for synaptic plasticity.
Emergency department utilization in a large pediatric group practice

The effect of a triage and care system, which employs continued patient education, alternatives to emergency department (ED) care for nonemergent problems, and close cooperation between ED staff and the primary care physician on inappropriate ED use, was analyzed for three groups of patients: (a) Medicaid patients, all of whom had unrestricted access to the ED; (b) group A patients who required prior physician approval and copayments for all ED services; and (c) patients enrolled in group B who were responsible for copayments only and did not require prior physician approval for ED use. Two hundred ninety-nine (299) charts were prospectively reviewed for age, payer status, date, time of visit, diagnosis, outcome of visit, and severity of illness. Medicaid patients utilized the ED much more than expected, compared to either group A or B patients (P < 0.001). Expected rates of utilization were based upon that particular group's representation in a medical associate's patient panel, which was based upon patient billing data. Medicaid patients were significantly younger than group A or B patients (P < 0.001) and had lower severity scores (P = 0.04). Our triage and care system failed to alter patterns of ED utilization for Medicaid patients.
Directed Forgetting: Differential Effects on Typical and Distinctive Faces

Directed forgetting (DF) occurs when stimuli presented during the study phase are followed by "forget" and "remember" cues. On a subsequent memory test, poor memory is observed for stimuli followed by the forget cues, compared to stimuli followed by the remember cues. Although DF is most commonly observed with verbal tasks, the present study extended intentional forgetting research for nonverbal stimuli and examined whether faces were susceptible to DF. Results confirmed that the presentation of a forget cue significantly reduced recognition for faces, as compared to faces followed by a remember cue. Additionally, a well-established finding in face recognition is that distinctive faces are better remembered than typical faces, and Experiment 2 assessed whether face appearance influenced the degree of DF. Results indicate that the DF effect observed in Experiment 1 was replicated in Experiment 2 and that the effect was more pronounced for those faces that were typical in appearance.
Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin and dibenzofuran concentration profiles in sediment and fish tissue of the Willamette Basin, Oregon

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/F) are highly hydrophobic compounds that have been implicated as carcinogens and, more recently, as estrogen disrupters. An occurrence and distribution study of these compounds in the Willamette Basin, Oregon, was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program. Bed sediment was collected from 22 sites; fish tissue was collected from eight sites. PCDD/F were found to be ubiquitous in Willamette Basin sediment. A distinct homolog profile, dominated by octachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, was observed in sediment throughout the basin. The PCDD homolog profile was consistent at all sites, regardless of total PCDD/F concentration, presence of point sources, subbasin size, geographic location or land use. Principal components analysis revealed a gradient among the homolog profiles that showed increasing dominance of highly chlorinated congeners where human and industrial activity increased. Tissue and bed sediment...
On the Uncertainty Relation for Real Signals

We investigate the form assumed by the uncertainty relation when the signal involved is real and the uncertainty in frequency is defined as the variance of | F + (ω)| 2 , where F + (ω) is the positive frequency spectrum of the signal. The corresponding uncertainty product is found to obey an inequality involving the value | F + (0)| 2 . If F + (ω) is obtained by suppressing the negative frequencies in a suitable Gaussian function, the uncertainty product as just defined can be made appreciably less than ½, the lower bound of the uncertainty product as conventionally defined. In this paper, uncertainty relations are understood to be inequalities involving certain measures of the time duration and frequency bandwidth of signals, and to have no implications about the simultaneous accuracy of time and frequency measurements other than what can be derived from these inequalities.
Retinoic Acid Reverses Ethanol‐Induced Cardiovascular Abnormalities in Quail Embryos

The effect of ethanol on early avian cardiovascular development was investigated in stage 8 quail embryos grown in culture for 24 hr. When the culture medium contained 1% ethanol, 50% of the embryos developed abnormalities of the cardiovascular system, some of which resembled vitamin A deficiency. Only 15% of the embryos grown in control media developed abnormalities attributed to the manipulation of the embryo. When all-trans-retinoic acid, the active form of vitamin A, was added at 10(-8) M to the ethanol-containing medium, the cardiovascular development was similar to that of untreated controls. Inclusion of 4-methylpyrazole and citral, enzyme inhibitors for the conversion of retinol to retinoic acid, produced cardiovascular abnormalities in embryos similar to those observed in vitamin A deficiency. These abnormalities were partially prevented by the presence of 10(-8) M all-trans-retinoic acid in the medium. Immunohistochemical studies using antibodies specific for the heart muscle myosin heavy chain (MF-20) and quail endothelial cells (QH-1) revealed that looping of the heart of ethanol-treated embryos was prevented, and the embryonal circulation had no or minimal vascular connections to the extraembryonic circulation. Our studies provide indirect evidence that ethanol is producing vitamin A deficiency during embryonic cardiovascular development and that these effects are specifically prevented by the presence of retinoic acid. These findings may explain some of the symptoms of fetal alcohol syndrome.
Newer laboratory parameters for the diagnosis of rheumatic disease

Measurement of serum autoantibodies is a useful adjunct in the diagnosis of connective tissue diseases. Approximately 15 percent of patients with rheumatoid arthritis are seronegative for rheumatoid factor by standard assays. The development of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays for additional isotypic and idiotypic determinants may expand the diagnostic sensitivity of rheumatoid factor measurements. Although extremely sensitive, the finding of antinuclear antibodies is not highly specific for systemic lupus erythematosus and related disorders; the ability to rapidly screen serum against newly characterized specific nuclear antigens has been helpful in the diagnosis of newly described systemic lupus erythematosus subtypes, overlap syndromes, Sjogren's syndrome, and scleroderma variants. Women with unexplained recurrent fetal loss and patients with unexplained thrombotic episodes should be screened for the presence of the anticardiolipin antibody. Glycoproteins (C-reactive protein, alpha-1-glycoprotein, fibronectin) may prove useful as indicators of rheumatic disease activity and the efficacy of therapeutic intervention.
Shelling the coset poset

It is shown that the coset lattice of a finite group has shellable order complex if and only if the group is complemented. Furthermore, the coset lattice is shown to have a Cohen-Macaulay order complex in exactly the same conditions. The group theoretical tools used are relatively elementary, and avoid the classification of finite simple groups and of minimal finite simple groups.
GENDER AND RACE IN A PRO-FEMINIST, PROGRESSIVE, MIXED-GENDER, MIXED-RACE ORGANIZATION

Feminist researchers have urged more study of how feminist practice is actually accomplished in mixed-gender organizations. Social movement scholars have called for more attention to dynamics of gender and race in social movement organizations, especially to the challenges of maintaining internal solidarity. Based on field observations in a pro-feminist, progressive, mixed-gender, mixed-race social movement organization, this article examines organizational decision-making processes and interpersonal and group dynamics. Gendered and racialized patterns of subordination are both very much in evidence and—at the same time—actively challenged in this organization. The author argues that profeminist and progressive organizational practices and efforts to create solidarity across gender and race can exist through competing and contradictory dynamics and ongoing struggles. Complex and inconsistent dynamics around these social barriers are likely to occur in organizations more generally and need to be a subject ...
Contemporary outcomes with the latest 1000 cases of multifetal pregnancy reduction (MPR)

Objective This study was undertaken to report on the outcome of multifetal pregnancy reduction in the most up-to-date largest single center experience with this procedure, and compare the outcome to the first 1000 cases performed at the same institution. Study Design 1000 consecutive cases of multifetal pregnancy reduction performed at the Mount Sinai Medical Center between the years 1999-2006 were identified. Pregnancy outcomes were retrieved from a large database as well as chart review. Differences in means and proportions were evaluated by analysis of variance, chi-square, Cochran-Armitage test for trend or 2-tailed Fisher exact test as appropriate. Results Outcomes were available on 841 cases, for a follow-up rate of 84.1%; 95.2% of patients delivered after 24 weeks, for a complete loss rate of 4.7%. There was a significant trend toward decreasing loss rates with decreasing starting numbers. Mean gestational age at delivery was later, and birthweights greater, for reduction to singletons vs twins. Conclusion Loss rates after multifetal pregnancy reduction have remained stable at 4.7%. The lowest loss rate occurred in the patients reducing from twins to a singleton (2.1%). Reduction to a singleton was also associated with higher birthweights and lower rates of preterm deliveries.
PROFbval: predict flexible and rigid residues in proteins

Summary: The mobility of a residue on the protein surface is closely linked to its function. The identification of extremely rigid or flexible surface residues can therefore contribute information crucial for solving the complex problem of identifying functionally important residues in proteins. Mobility is commonly measured by B-value data from high-resolution three-dimensional X-ray structures. Few methods predict B-values from sequence. Here, we present PROFbval, the first web server to predict normalized B-values from amino acid sequence. The server handles amino acid sequences (or alignments) as input and outputs normalized B-value and two-state (flexible/rigid) predictions. The server also assigns a reliability index for each prediction. For example, PROFbval correctly identifies residues in active sites on the surface of enzymes as particularly rigid. Availability: http://www.rostlab.org/services/profbval Contact: profbval@rostlab.org Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Ethics of Placebo Use in Pediatric Clinical Trials. The Case of Antihypertensive Drug Studies

Industry-sponsored pediatric clinical trials of antihypertensive medications have greatly increased in number since passage of the Food and Drug Modernization Act of 1997. This development should ultimately benefit the treatment of hypertensive children by increasing the amount of scientific knowledge regarding the efficacy and safety of antihypertensive agents in children. However, the designs of many of these trials raise ethical questions related to the inclusion of placebo controls, a practice that has largely been abandoned in trials of antihypertensives in adults because of the well-known adverse consequences of untreated hypertension. This is an especially important issue in pediatric hypertension, as many hypertensive children have either secondary forms of hypertension or hypertension-induced target organ damage, potentially increasing the risk of harm during exposure to placebo. Against this background, and with a strong emphasis on protection of this vulnerable patient population, a strict set of conditions for use of placebos in pediatric antihypertensive trials is proposed.
Worst-case pattern evaluation of baseband channels

This paper presents a new method for evaluating the performance of communication systems that use binary-valued signaling formats. This technique permits selection of the best overall code for a particular channel or, alternatively, provides a method for comparing different channels that use the same transmission code. Encoded waveforms at the channel input are presumed to be generated by a constrained-coding procedure, which ensures, for example, that the resulting binary waveform has a certain minimum number of transitions per unit time, limited digital sum variations (DSV), among other characteristics. With this method, one first determines that particular sequence (within the given code constraints) that produces the maximum amount of intersymbol-interference when transmitted through the given channel. A dynamic-programming procedure is used to compute this sequence. Overall channel performance is evaluated by calculating the probability of error and the minimum eye-pattern opening. Numerical examples illustrating the procedure for a synthetic channel are presented and analyzed.
Evaluation of a computerized aid for creating human behavioral representations of human-computer interaction.

The research reported herein presents the results of an empirical evaluation that focused on the accuracy and reliability of cognitive models created using a computerized tool: the cognitive analysis tool for human-computer interaction (CAT-HCI). A sample of participants, expert in interacting with a newly developed tactical display for the U.S. Army's Bradley Fighting Vehicle, individually modeled their knowledge of 4 specific tasks employing the CAT-HCI tool. Measures of the accuracy and consistency of task models created by these task domain experts using the tool were compared with task models created by a double expert. The findings indicated a high degree of consistency and accuracy between the different “single experts” in the task domain in terms of the resultant models generated using the tool. Actual or potential applications of this research include assessing human-computer interaction complexity, determining the productivity of human-computer interfaces, and analyzing an interface design to de...
Using Cluster Analysis in Program Evaluation

The conventional way to measure program impacts is to compute the average treatment effect; that is, the difference between a treatment group that received some intervention and a control group that did not. Recently, scholars have recognized that looking only at the average treatment effect may obscure impacts that accrue to subgroups. In an effort to inform subgroup analysis research, this article explains the challenge of treatment group heterogeneity. It then proposes using cluster analysis to identify otherwise difficult-to-identify subgroups within evaluation data. The approach maintains the integrity of the experimental evaluation design, thereby producing unbiased estimates of program impacts by subgroup. This method is applied to data from the evaluation of New York State’s Child Assistance Program, a reform that intended to increase work and earnings among welfare recipients. The article interprets the substantive findings and then addresses the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed method.
FIGURINES ARE US? THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF JAINA ISLAND, CAMPECHE, MEXICO

Despite the recognition by many scholars of the high esthetic value of Jaina-style figurines, they present a number of analytic problems. Their functions remain obscure, and their role in Late Classic period Maya society has not been adequately examined. Throughout southeastern Mesoamerica, with few exceptions, all figurines and fragments are found in domestic contexts, mostly trash heaps; on Jaina, most examples come from graves. This article addresses the question of Jaina exceptionalism. It places its unique features in the broader context of Terminal Classic political and economic developments that were sweeping across the northern Maya Lowlands. Here I argue that the use of figurines in domestic rituals determined their appropriateness for placement in a particular grave, rather than the age, sex, or occupation of the deceased.
Wealth Accumulation and Homeownership: Evidence for Low-Income Households

A primary motivation for promoting homeownership is the concept that owner-occupied housing can be an important means of wealth accumulation, particularly for those lower income and minority households that are able to purchase homes. With given data issues, however, it is difficult to assess the importance of housing and nonhousing sources of wealth accumulation. Examining this difficulty serves as the purpose of this article. The results of this analysis support public policies aimed at both increasing homeownership opportunities in general and those policies that focus on homeowner- ship for lower income households. Even though homeownership is not a guarantee of successful wealth accumulation, household wealth generally appears to be positively affected by homeownership, a conclusion reinforced with comparisons to accumulation of nonhousing wealth. One troubling observation is that owners often make the transi- tion back to renting and, particularly among low-income minority households, do not regain owner-occupied housing.
Oscillation Onset in Neural Delayed Feedback

This paper studies dynamical aspects of neural systems with delayed negative feedback modelled by nonlinear delay-differential equations. These systems undergo a Hopf bifurcation from a stable fixed point to a stable limit cycle oscillation as certain parameters are varied. It is shown that their frequency of oscillation is robust to parameter variations and noisy fluctuations, a property that makes these systems good candidates for pacemakers. The onset of oscillation is postponed by both additive and parametric noise in the sense that the state variable spends more time near the fixed point than it would in the absence of noise. This is also the case when noise affects the delayed variable, i.e. when the system has a faulty memory. Finally, it is shown that a distribution of delays (rather than a fixed delay) also stabilizes the fixed point solution.
The final frontier -- crossing the blood-brain barrier.

Despite the encouraging results with enzyme replacement therapy for several lysosomal storage diseases (LSDs), successful delivery of enzyme to brain to correct central nervous system (CNS) storage has been an elusive target (Grubb et al, 2010). In that regard, the paper by Sorrentino et al (2013) in this issue is a major breakthrough. It is likely to generate widespread interest and have a large impact on research in the field. Why is this work so important? Most of the LSDs have some element of CNS involvement. In many of them, like Sanfilippo disease type IIIA, CNS involvement is the dominant feature (Rozaklis et al, 2011). Correction of this aspect of LSDs that profoundly affects brain and leads to progressive neurological deterioration has posed the greatest challenge. Successfully meeting that challenge is a big deal! > Why is this work so important? Most of the LSDs have some element of CNS involvement. In many of them, like Sanfilippo disease type IIIA, CNS involvement is the dominant feature. Correction of this aspect of LSDs that profoundly affects brain and leads to progressive neurological deterioration has posed the greatest challenge. Successfully meeting that challenge is a big deal! Access of corrective enzyme to lysosomes in cells of most tissues relies on receptor‐mediated endocytosis, by the ubiquitously expressed mannose‐6‐phosphate (Man‐6‐P) receptor and mannose receptors on cells of the macrophage lineage. Cells in the CNS have limited access to enzymes targeting these receptors. Indeed, the blood–brain barrier (BBB) effectively blocks access of such proteins except in the perinatal period. In the mouse, access to Man‐6‐P receptors on the brain capillaries is limited to the …
Enhancing ultrasonic imaging with low transient pulse shaping

This work deals with improving the resolution of ultrasonic ranging systems by means of preshaping the transmitter drive signals to achieve low transient acoustic pulses. As ultrasonic transducers are operated at a relatively high nominal frequency and quality factor, feedforward strategy is among the most efficient means to generate the low transient acoustic pulses. In this work, a digital signal processor and a field programmable gate array synthesize the transmitter drive signal to emit low transient pulses which are then applied to the detection of surface features. Both simulation and experiment results confirm an improved spatial detection resolution due to the lower acoustic transient interference. The drive signal synthesis process is also simpler than the conventional modulation method and should result in lower cost of implementation
Scalable parallelization strategies to accelerate NuFFT data translation on multicores

The non-uniform FFT (NuFFT) has been widely used in many applications. In this paper, we propose two new scalable parallelization strategies to accelerate the data translation step of the NuFFT on multicore machines. Both schemes employ geometric tiling and binning to exploit data locality, and use recursive partitioning and scheduling with dynamic task allocation to achieve load balancing. The experimental results collected from a commercial multicore machine show that, with the help of our parallelization strategies, the data translation step is no longer the bottleneck in the NuFFT computation, even for large data set sizes, with any input sample distribution.
A scheme for remote LAN bridging across SMDS MANs

A remote bridging scheme for the interconnection of local area networks (LANs) across cell-based public metropolitan area networks (MANs), such as SMDS (switched megabit data service) networks, is briefly described. The scheme makes use of some characteristics of cell-based networks such as the hierarchical E.164 addressing scheme, which makes routing at the MAC level through the public environment possible. This leads to a less complex and more efficient bridging scheme called open bridging. In contrast with standard media access control (MAC) bridging approaches, open bridging emphasizes the notion of independent domains to reflect the practical aspects of interconnecting unrelated private bridged LANs across a public network. Each domain is allowed to independently manage and operate its internal connectivity. Full support for current bridging standards is provided within each domain. >
Maintenance Therapy for Colorectal Cancer: Which Regimen and Which Patients?

The introduction of therapeutic agents such as irinotecan, oxaliplatin, and more recently biologic agents such as vascular endothelial growth factor and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors has significantly improved survival of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. These novel agents have also contributed to added toxicities. Therefore, several studies have evaluated the role of maintenance therapy with less intensive regimens in patients who experienced stable disease or treatment response following induction therapy as a strategy to reduce toxicity and improve quality of life. The success of such strategies, however, requires assurance that their survival would not be compromised. We therefore reviewed studies that have explored the various strategies of treatment de-escalation with an emphasis on survival and toxicity outcomes. Recent studies evaluated the role of maintenance therapy with chemotherapy only, chemotherapy plus bevcizumab, bevacizumab only, and EGFR inhibitors. Current evidence suggests that maintenance strategies offer significant benefit to patients by providing continuous clinical benefit while minimizing the risks associated with continuous therapy. Strategies to improve selection of patients for maintenance therapy versus identifying subgroups of patients that will benefit from a chemotherapy-free interval need to continue to be studied. Finally, as our understanding of the molecular and genetic drivers of colorectal cancer continues to expand, refining these strategies to include more target-specific agents should become more routine.
Being Well: The Right to Health in Asian American Literature

Human rights scholars have described the “right to health” as a key component of what is known as the “second generation” of human rights. Conceived of as a “positive liberty,” because it requires active intervention on the part of states, the right to health has not been traditionally recognized within the United States as a “natural right.” By examining a short story cycle from Unaccustomed Earth, by Jhumpa Lahiri, this essay examines the way in which Asian American literature formulates a human rights claim to health citizenship that rearticulates the terms of health and well-being in the United States.
Africa Since 1940: Development and disappointment: social and economic change in an unequal world, 1945–2000

No word captures the hopes and ambitions of Africa's leaders, its educated populations, and many of its farmers and workers in the post-war decades better than “development.” Yet it is a protean word, subject to conflicting interpretations. Its simplest meaning conveys a down-to-earth aspiration: to have clean water, decent schools and health facilities; to produce larger harvests and more manufactured goods; to have access to the consumer goods which people elsewhere consider a normal part of life. To colonial elites after the war, bringing European capital and knowledge to Africa reconciled continued rule with calls for universal progress. To nationalists, a development that would serve African interests required African rule. After independence, new rulers could claim a place for themselves as intermediaries between external resources and national aspirations. But African rulers were in turn subject to criticism for sacrificing development for the people to personal greed. The development concept, some have argued, allowed for an internationalization of colonialism, as the one-to-one relationship of metropole to colony was transformed into a generalized economic subordination of South to North, of Africa and Asia to Europe and North America. New actors entered into trade relationships and provided capital and foreign aid: the US, the USSR, and Scandinavian countries, as well as international agencies like the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank.
Gender Stereotypes: Impediments to Women’s Career Progress

This chapter describes how both descriptive and prescriptive gender stereotypes can give rise to gender bias and discrimination in work settings, creating obstacles for upwardly aspiring women. It describes how descriptive gender stereotypes produce negative performance expectations that are a result of perceived lack of fit, and how these expectations lead to faulty information processing and biased evaluations. It also describes how prescriptive gender stereotypes promote gender bias by designating “shoulds” and “should nots” for women—normative standards that prompt disapproval and dislike both when directly violated and when violation is inferred because of a woman’s success. Some methods for deterring the negative effects of gender stereotypes are explored.
Improvement in Phosphorescence Efficiency through Tuning of Coordination Geometry of Tridentate Cyclometalated Platinum(II) Complexes

A series of tridentate cyclometalated platinum(II) complexes (C∧N*N)PtL (L = Cl or acetylide) featuring a fused five-six-membered metallacycle were synthesized. The structure of the complexes was confirmed by X-ray crystallography. In contrast to the C∧N∧N platinum complexes with a fused five-five-membered metallacycle, the platinum coordination in C∧N*N complexes is much closer to a square planar geometry. The photophysical properties of the complexes were studied. The geometrical change from C∧N∧N to C∧N*N led to a substantial improvement in phosphorescence efficiency of the complexes with an acetylide ligand in solution at room temperature. For example, the quantum yield of (C∧N*N)PtCCPh was measured to be 56%, demonstrating a big jump from 4% reported for (C∧N∧N)PtCCPh.
Hypersonic Stability Analysis of a Flared Cone

The JoKHeR computational tool is used to provide linear and nonlinear parabolized stability equation analysis of the Langley 93-10 flared cone. The second-mode instability mechanisms and their response to slight angle of attack changes and temperature variation is explored and compared to experiments in the Mach 6 Quiet Tunnel located at Texas A&M University. The most-amplified second-mode frequency is found to be sensitive to small incidence angles. In an effort to better model broadband initial conditions, the effects on boundary-layer stability are compared for multiple discrete and single discrete primary modes and their harmonics. The inclusion of multiple primary modes results in a noticeable difference in N-factors when compared to the single primary mode case. The multiple mode interactions were found to increase the nonlinear stabilization effect and may be affecting the flow of energy into the primary modes from the mean flow. Mean flow distortion widens and compresses the boundary layer and is tuning lower and higher frequencies respectively.
Structural Modification of TiO2 Surfaces in Bulk Water and Binding Motifs of a Functionalized C60 on TiO2 Anatase and Rutile Surfaces in Vacuo and in Water: Molecular Dynamics Studies

The nature of several TiO2 surfaces in liquid water, as well as the adsorption of a functionalized C60, L*C60 (where L is a carboxylic acid), on TiO2 anatase and rutile low index surfaces in vacuo and in liquid water have been studied at the self-consistent charge density functional tight-binding (SCC-DFTB) level of theory. It is shown that the SCC-DFTB method provides very good agreement with the high-level DFT data. The typical binding motif of L*C60@TiO2 is found to be the formation of a strong HC1C(O2H)O1–Ti5C/O1–Ti4C bond with a distance of 2.0–2.1 A and a weaker HC1CO1O2–H···O2C/O2···H–O2C hydrogen bond. In some cases, a terminal OH of the linking group coordinates with a Ti–O–Ti bridging oxygen and loses the H to the surface. The adsorption energies in vacuum range between 21 and 82 kcal/mol depending on the surface. The density of states of these species reveals the presence of peaks below the surface conduction band upon ligand adsorption, which is due to the low-lying lowest unoccupied molecular...
Toxin Production by Clostridium Botulinum in Canned Foods

This investigation was begun in the summer of 1923, and was primarily intended to test the ability of Clostridium botulinum to grow and produce toxin in canned foods of widely varying composition. It was hoped in this way to indicate those foods that are potentially dangerous, although some of them might never have been reported as the cause of food poisoning. In the fall of the same year the paper by Schoenholz, Esty and Meyer 1 appeared, which treated in detail the problem and gave
What do you know about an alligator when you know the company it keeps

Distributional models describe the meaning of a word in terms of its observed contexts. They have been very successful in computational linguistics. They have also been suggested as a model for how humans acquire (partial) knowledge about word meanings. But that raises the question of what, exactly, distributional models can learn, and the question of how distributional information would interact with everything else that an agent knows. For the first question, I build on recent work that indicates that distributional models can in fact distinguish to some extent between semantic relations, and argue that (the right kind of) distributional similarity indicates property overlap. For the second question, I suggest that if an agent does not know what an alligator is but knows that alligator is similar to crocodile , the agent can probabilistically infer properties of alligators from known properties of crocodiles. Distributional evidence is noisy and partial, so I adopt a probabilistic account of semantic knowledge that can learn from such data. BibTeX info
Comparison of three methods in detection of Staphylococcus aureus in food

Objective:To find a rapid,sensitive and reliable method for detecting Staphylococcus aureus in food.Methods:Three methods including the Baird-Parker agar spread plate method,the PetrifilmTM test paper method and the Baird-Parker agar +RPF were compared by selective identification test,sensitivity test and effects of application in food examination.Results:These three methods had good selectivity for Staphylococcus aureus.The PetrifilmTM test paper method and the Baird-Parker agar +RPF method were slightly more sensitive than the Baird-Parker agar spread plate method.The positive rates of these three methods showed no significant difference in detection of Staphylococcus aureus.Conclusion:Although the costs of the PetrifilmTM test paper method and the Baird-Parker agar +RPF method are higher than that of the Baird-Parker agar spread plate method,the detection time of the former two methods can be shorter than half of that of the latter.In addition,regarding of their superiority of labor saving and convenience in use,the PetrifilmTM test paper method and the Baird-Parker agar +RPF method are worthy of promoting in routine food examination.
Preparation of Alumina Nanoparticles Carrier and Research on Pore Properties

Alumina nanoparticles carrier was prepared by supersolubilizing self-assembly micelles.BET and mercury injection method were used to characterize the carrier and the influence of adhesive amount and template amount on pore character of nanometer alumina was researched.The results indicate that,when the amount of adhesive increased,surface area and bulk density increased,pore volume and pore size decreased.When the amount of template increased,pore volume and pore size increased,bulk density decreased.When template amount is greater 10 than benchmark,the surface area is 411.4 m2/g,surface area achieved maximum,less or more then this value,surface area would decrease.
Study on the infectious status and risk factors of virus diarrhea among children under the age of five in Pudong New Area

Objective To investigate the infectious situation and risk factors of virus diarrhea among children under the age of five in Pudong New Area.Methods 619 stool specimens from two sentinel hospitals were detected for virus nucleic acids by real-time quantitative PCR( RT-qPCR),from February 2012 to January 2013.These virus included norovirus,rotavirus,astrovirus,sapovirus and enteric adenovirus.Then a 1 ∶ 2 matched case-control study was conducted among the 114 children tested positive and 228 healthy children.Results The positive rate of norovirus was the highest( 11.95%),followed by rotavirus( 7.27%),enteric adenovirus( 2.91%),sapovirus( 1.45%) and astrovirus( 0.97%).No significant difference was found in virus detection rate by month( x2= 8.46,P = 0.672).Three factors were demonstrated to be risk factors of virus diarrhea by multiple logistic regression,including water washing fruits and vegetables,chopping boards,and contacting with relatives with gastroenteritis 1 week before onset,while rotavirus vaccination and eating fruit were protective factors against virus diarrhea.Conclusions Norovirus was the advantage virus pathogens among children under the age of five in Pudong New Area.Vaccination,hand hygiene and isolating patients ought to be recommended.
Mechanical forcing of water pressure in a hydraulically isolated reach beneath Western Greenland's ablation zone

A suite of surface and basal measurements during and after borehole drilling is used to perform in situ investigation of the local basal drainage system and pressure forcing in western Greenland. Drill and borehole water temperature were monitored during borehole drilling, which was performed with dyed hot water. After drilling, borehole water pressure and basal dye concentration were measured concurrently with positions in a GPS strain diamond at the surface. Water pressure exhibited diurnal changes in antiphase with velocity. Dye monitoring in the borehole revealed stagnant basal water for nearly 2 weeks. The interpretation of initial connection to an isolated basal cavity is corroborated by the thermal signature of borehole water during hot water drilling. Measurement-based estimates of cavity size are on the order of cubic meters, and analysis indicates that small changes in its volume could induce the observed pressure variations. It is found that longitudinal coupling effects are unable to force necessary volume changes at the site. Sliding-driven basal cavity opening and elastic uplift from load transfer are plausible mechanisms controlling pressure variations. Elastic uplift requires forcing from a hydraulically connected reach, which observations suggest must be relatively small and in close proximity to the isolated cavity.
Enhanced Biogas Production from Nanoscale Zero Valent Iron-Amended Anaerobic Bioreactors.

Abstract Addition of nanoscale zero valent iron (NZVI) to anaerobic batch reactors to enhance methanogenic activity is described. Two NZVI systems were tested: a commercially available NZVI (cNZVI) slurry and a freshly synthesized NZVI (sNZVI) suspension that was prepared immediately before addition to the reactors. In both systems, the addition of NZVI increased pH and decreased oxidation/reduction potential compared with unamended control reactors. Biodegradation of a model brewery wastewater was enhanced as indicated by an increase in chemical oxygen demand removal with both sNZVI and cNZVI amendments at all concentrations tested (1.25–5.0 g Fe/L). Methane production increased for all NZVI-amended bioreactors, with a maximum increase of 28% achieved on the addition of 2.5 and 5.0 g/L cNZVI. Addition of bulk zero-valent iron resulted in only a 5% increase in methane, indicating the advantage of using the nanoscale particles. NZVI amendments further improved produced biogas by decreasing the amount of CO...
10/10 Would Review Again: Variation in the Player Game Review Genre

ABSTRACTUsing a move-strategy genre analysis of 180 video game user reviews posted to six websites, this article describes typical characteristics of the genre as well as significant variations in genre construction. By creating new audiences and purposes for the genre, emerging genre variants have opened critical debates within the user community about genre change. Ultimately, the author argues that tracing genre variations could have implications for how technical communication scholars and practitioners support the needs and goals of user-generated genres.
The ΦDMDIALOG System

ФDmDialog is an experimental speech-to-speech dialog translation system developed at the Center for Machine Translation at Carnegie Mellon University. This is one of the first experimental speech-to-speech translation systems currently up and running. The system employs a parallel marker-passing algorithm as the basic architecture of a model. Speech processing, natural language, and discourse processing are integrated to improve the speech recognition rate by providing top-down predictions on possible next inputs. A parallel incremental generation scheme is employed, and a generation process and the parsing process run almost concurrently. Thus, a part of the utterance may be generated while parsing is in progress. Unlike most machine translation systems, where parsing and generation operate by different principles, our system adopts common computation principles in both parsing and generation, and thus allows integration of these processes. The system has been publicly demonstrated since March 1989.
Associations of common noncommunicable medical conditions and chronic diseases with chronotype in a population-based health examination study.

ABSTRACTChronotype is an emerging predictor of health and longevity, and understanding its influence on chronic diseases is important for constructing conceptual models of long-term pathways to health. We assessed the associations of chronotype with health status in the general Finnish adult population. Our population-based data were derived from the National FINRISK 2012 study and consisted of 4414 participants, aged 25–74 years, living in Finland. As part of their health examination, participants were asked about their circadian preference to the daily activities (morningness–eveningness) and a diagnosis or treatment for a set of common noncommunicable medical conditions and chronic diseases during the past 12 months. We found that there were 1935 (43.8%) morning types (MTs) and 595 (13.5%) evening types (ETs) and that 1884 (42.7%) were intermediates. As compared with the MTs, the ETs had significantly greater odds for depression (OR = 2.44, 95% CI = 1.52–3.90, p < 0.001) and other mental disorders (OR ...
Microfluidic Bandage for Localized Oxygen-Enhanced Wound Healing

An oxygen-enhanced, microfluidic bandage was fabricated out of polydimethlysiloxane (PDMS) and contains a 100 μm thick gas-permeable membrane that allows rapid diffusion of oxygen directly to the wound bed. The microfluidic bandage was characterized by measuring the effect of modulating oxygen concentrations, calculating the degree of localization in oxygen delivery when subjected to a non-planar platform, and determining the extent of oxygen penetration below the tissue surface. The concentration of the diffused oxygen (0.02 ± 0.73 to 99.2 ± 4.46%) was shown to rapidly equilibrate (~30 seconds) to the modulating input oxygen concentration (0 to 100%). The device also maintained localized oxygen delivery to a specified area when a non-planar irregularity was introduced. Finally, the extent of oxygen penetration was found to decrease as the thickness of tissue increased (>7% at 0.8 mm thick). These experiments demonstrate that this microfluidic bandage can be a viable tool for oxygen-enhanced wound healing.
Dots and Acute Accent Shapes in the Dobrejšo Gospel

This paper examines the distribution of three types of sporadic and infrequent diacritics in the Dobrejso Gospel and their functions: a dot or acute-accent shape over a liquid consonant letter in OCS trъt / trьt formations, and, more rarely, over other consonant letters in clusters; a single or multiple acute-accent shape over the letter л or н in certain words; and a titlo over unabbreviated words containing OCS trъt / trьt formations.
Data-Driven Supervisor Design for Cace Package Integration

Abstract Large industrial control problems often require the use of several different control packages, each of which has a different user interface and incompatible data formats. The GE-MEAD Computer Aided Control Engineering (CACE) program attempts to alleviate these problems by providing a shell for integrating different commercial CACE packages together with a graphical front end, a data-base manager, and an expert system. The GE-MEAD package as a whole will be presented, with emphasis on the unifying philosophy behind the MEAD data-driven Supervisor. Main features of this Supervisor include a full command language with procedural/macro capabilities, control units for different core packages, and a data-driven translator from generic MEAD commands to specific commands for these core packages.
Prevalence and Predictors of Prenatal and Postpartum Contraceptive Counseling in Two Texas Cities.

Abstract Objectives We investigated the prevalence of and sociodemographic associations with receiving prenatal and postpartum contraceptive counseling, including counseling on intrauterine devices (IUDs) and implants. Methods We used data from a prospective cohort study of 803 postpartum women in El Paso and Austin, Texas. We examined the prevalence of prenatal and postpartum counseling, provider discouragement of IUDs and implants, and associated sociodemographic characteristics using χ 2 tests and logistic regression. Results One-half of participants had received any prenatal contraceptive counseling, and 13% and 37% received counseling on both IUDs and implants prenatally and postpartum, respectively. Women with more children were more likely to receive any contraceptive counseling prenatally (odds ratio [OR], 1.99; p p p p p p Conclusions Prenatal and postpartum counseling, particularly about IUDs and implants, was infrequent and varied by sociodemographics. Providers should implement evidence-based prenatal and postpartum contraceptive counseling to ensure women can make informed choices and access their preferred method of postpartum contraception.