cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Towards Intelligence-Based Systems Engineering and System of Systems Engineering

This introductory chapter defines intelligence-based systems with focus on semantic systems, simulation systems, and intelligent agents. Semantic systems define the foundation to communicate systems engineering challenges using logic, simulation systems introduce the dynamic component, and intelligent agents can introduce alternatives roles. It then gives an overview of traditional systems engineering as well as system of systems engineering showing the need to emphasize the system of systems perspective in modern engineering approaches. Finally, both views are aligned, providing a scope for intelligence-based systems engineering and the contributions of the following book chapters are summarized in relationship to this scope.
Gender disparities in educational attainment in the 2010 Ghana Census

Education is an important indicator of national development and remains an ongoing concern in Sub Saharan Africa. This study investigated religion and marital status as potential sources of gender disparities in educational attainment in Ghana. Using a 10% probability sample from the 2010 Ghana Population Census, multilevel linear and nonlinear models were fitted to data comprising individuals and regions. Marital status and religion were found to be key variables that account for persistent gender differentials in education. We demonstrate individual and structural factors help explain the gender gap in educational attainment and enrolment. Analyses suggest that to close it, attention ought to be paid to individual factors as well as enhancing social, civic, and economic opportunities for females.
A Novel Three-Dimensional Long-Term Bone Marrow Bioreactor Culture System

Hemopoiesis occurs in the extravascular space between bone marrow sinuses where a high cell density facilitates cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions. The bone marrow stromal cells and the extracellular matrices produced by the stromal cells form a three-dimensional scaffolding upon which the hemopoietic cells are lodged. To simulate this marrow microenvironment, we have developed a long-term bone marrow culture bioreactor in which an artificial three-dimensional porous matrix is provided for the lodging and growth of the marrow cells. Unlike the two-dimensional growth configuration of the traditional flask culture, the marrow cells grow in the bioreactor in three-dimensional clusters or colonies, thus simulating the in vivo growth configuration. More importantly, although the flask long-term bone marrow cultures give rise only to neutrophils and monocyte-macrophages, multilineal hemopoiesis is observed in the bioreactor. The cell output includes all stages/subtypes of granulocytes, erythrocytes, monocyte-macrophages and megakaryocytes. In addition, lymphoid cells are produced. Therefore, the bioreactor, which provides a microenvironment different than that of the flask culture, can be used as a hemopoiesis model for delineating the bone marrow microenvironment and optimized for treating various blood-related diseases.
Sampling and Sampling Frames in Big Data Epidemiology.

Purpose of Review The ‘big data’ revolution affords the opportunity to reuse administrative datasets for public health research. While such datasets offer dramatically increased statistical power compared with conventional primary data collection, typically at much lower cost, their use also raises substantial inferential challenges. In particular, it can be difficult to make population inferences because the sampling frames for many administrative datasets are undefined. We reviewed options for accounting for sampling in big data epidemiology.
Situated Vulnerabilities, Sexual Risk, and Sexually Transmitted Infections' Diagnoses in a Sample of Transgender Youth in the United States.

Abstract In the United States, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) confer significant morbidity in adolescents and young adults. STIs are not well characterized in transgender and other gender m...
Development of models for nearbaby young stellar moving groups: creation, revision, and finalization of the models

Lee & Song (2018, Paper 1) developed a tool for calculating Bayesian membership probability for nearby young stellar moving groups (BAMG: Bayesian Analysis of Moving Groups). The study presented the importance of careful construction of models in moving group membership assessment, using $\beta$ Pictoris moving group as a test case. In this study, we build models for all major nearby young stellar moving groups (NYMGs hereafter) through 4 stages. A set of prototype models is created using members listed in the discovery paper of each group. For each group, suggested members after the discovery of the group are used for revising these prototype models. As these additional members being incorporated, group properties of a NYMG changes, thus membership probabilities change as well. A subset of stars show consistently large membership probabilities regardless of the details of a chosen method for ingesting additional members. Utilising these members, the NYMG models are finalised. The finalised models are applied for evaluating memberships of all claimed candidate members, resulting in a list of bona fide members. The mass function of bona fide members for the entire set of NYMG members indicates that more late-M type members should be identified. In addition, some objects showing a large difference in membership probability between BAMG and BANYAN $\Sigma$ (Gagne et al. 2018b) are presented and discussed. Memberships of some planet host stars are changed, and it can have a significant influence on the estimated planetary masses.
Efficient Contraction of Large Tensor Networks for Weighted Model Counting through Graph Decompositions.

Constrained counting is a fundamental problem in artificial intelligence. A promising new algebraic approach to constrained counting makes use of tensor networks, following a reduction from constrained counting to the problem of tensor-network contraction. Contracting a tensor network efficiently requires determining an efficient order to contract the tensors inside the network, which is itself a difficult problem. In this work, we apply graph decompositions to find contraction orders for tensor networks. We prove that finding an efficient contraction order for a tensor network is equivalent to the well-known problem of finding an optimal carving decomposition. Thus memory-optimal contraction orders for planar tensor networks can be found in cubic time. We show that tree decompositions can be used both to find carving decompositions and to factor tensor networks with high-rank, structured tensors. We implement these algorithms on top of state-of-the-art solvers for tree decompositions and show empirically that the resulting weighted model counter is quite effective and useful as part of a portfolio of counters.
Quantifying Greenhouse Gas Emissions and the Marginal Cost of Carbon Abatement for Residential Buildings under California’s 2019 Title 24 Energy Codes

California’s building energy codes (Title 24, Part 6), updated triennially since 1978, are the most stringent in the nation. The aim of California contemporary energy policy in general, and the state’s building codes and standards in particular, is the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The state has identified residential designs that “bring value to the grid” as a key constituent of this effort. This research quantifies the marginal costs that code requirements add to new residential construction, the quantity of carbon emissions and abatement expected at a statewide level, and the marginal abatement cost of homes built under the new 2019 standards relative to those built under the prior code. We model hourly energy consumption and emissions (2020–2050) for seven residential building types representative of California production housing for each of California’s 16 climate zones. Costs and benefits of each housing type are analyzed under a 30-year timeframe. Our results indicate that the 2019 code al...
Impact of perception of safety on outcomes in the context of trauma

Abstract Youth safety is an essential component of trauma-informed services (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2020). Youth perception of safety should be indicative of a healthy care environment and contribute to successful outcomes. It has been shown that trauma impacts an individual’s perception of and response to perceived threat. This study examines the relationship between youth perception of safety, history of trauma, level of aggression, and outcomes in a residential care setting. Data came from the organization’s administrative database and from the care provider certification measures collected during the period of January 2016 through December 2018. Trauma exposure and symptoms, the perceived safety and aggression were used in a mediational path model analysis in predicting goal attainment, program completion, and post-discharge placement. Higher levels of youth trauma were not directly associated with poorer outcomes, and higher percentages of goals met when program supervisor perception of safety was higher. Additionally, trauma symptoms were related to lower rates of program completion when youth perception of safety was higher. Results provide insight into how trauma, perception of safety, and aggression within a residential placement intersect to impact the youth’s treatment progress.
The Heme-Lys Cross-Link in Cytochrome P460 Promotes Catalysis by Enforcing Secondary Coordination Sphere Architecture.

Cytochrome (cyt) P460 is a c-type monoheme enzyme found in ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and methanotrophs; additionally, genes encoding it have been found in some pathogenic bacteria. Cyt P460 is defined by a unique post-translational modification to the heme macrocycle, where a lysine (Lys) residue covalently attaches to the 13' meso carbon of the porphyrin, modifying this heme macrocycle into the enzyme's eponymous P460 cofactor, similar to the cofactor found in the enzyme hydroxylamine oxidoreductase. This cross-link imbues the protein with unique spectroscopic properties, the most obvious of which is the enzyme's green color in solution. Cyt P460 from the AOB Nitrosomonas europaea is a homodimeric redox enzyme that produces nitrous oxide (N2O) from 2 equiv of hydroxylamine. Mutation of the Lys cross-link results in spectroscopic features that are more similar to those of standard cyt c' proteins and renders the enzyme catalytically incompetent for NH2OH oxidation. Recently, the necessity of a second-sphere glutamate (Glu) residue for redox catalysis was established; it plausibly serves as proton relay during the first oxidative half of the catalytic cycle. Herein, we report the first crystal structure of a cross-link deficient cyt P460. This structure shows that the positioning of the catalytically essential Glu changes by approximately 0.8 A when compared to a cross-linked, catalytically competent cyt P460. It appears that the heme-Lys cross-link affects the relative position of the P460 cofactor with respect to the second-sphere Glu residue, therefore dictating the catalytic competency of the enzyme.
Identifying Multisite Chronic Pain with Electronic Health Records Data

Background Multisite chronic pain (MSCP) is associated with increased chronic pain impact, but methods for identifying MSCP for epidemiological research have not been evaluated. Objective We assessed the validity of identifying MSCP using electronic health care data compared with survey questionnaires. Methods Stratified random samples of adults served by Kaiser Permanente Northwest and Washington (N = 2,059) were drawn for a survey, oversampling persons with frequent use of health care for pain. MSCP and single-site chronic pain were identified by two methods, with electronic health care data and with self-report of common chronic pain conditions by survey questionnaire. Analyses were weighted to adjust for stratified sampling. Results MSCP was somewhat less common when ascertained by electronic health records (14.7% weighted prevalence) than by survey questionnaire (25.9% weighted prevalence). Agreement of the two MSCP classifications was low (kappa agreement statistic of 0.21). Ascertainment of MSCP with electronic health records was 30.9% sensitive, 91.0% specific, and had a positive predictive value of 54.5% relative to MSCP identified by self-report as the standard. After adjusting for age and gender, patients with MSCP identified by either electronic health records or self-report showed higher levels of pain-related disability, pain severity, depressive symptoms, and long-term opioid use than persons with single-site chronic pain identified by the same method. Conclusions Identification of MSCP with electronic health care data was insufficiently accurate to be used as a surrogate or screener for MSCP identified by self-report, but both methods identified persons with heightened chronic pain impact.
A semi-direct approach to structure from motion

The problem of structure from motion is often decomposed into two steps: feature correspondence and three-dimensional reconstruction. This separation often causes gross errors when establishing correspondence fails. Therefore, we advocate the necessity to integrate visual information not only in time (i.e. across different views), but also in space, by matching regions --- rather than points --- using explicit photometric deformation models. We present an algorithm that integrates image-feature tracking and three-dimensional motion estimation into a closed loop, while detecting and rejecting outlier regions that do not fit the model. Due to occlusions and the causal nature of our algorithm, a drift in the estimates accumulates over time. We describe a method to perform global registration of local estimates of motion and structure by matching the appearance of feature regions stored over long time periods. We use image intensities to construct a score function that takes into account changes in brightness and contrast. Our algorithm is recursive and suitable for real-time implementation.
“The missing ‘I’ in drug research and the epistemic justice of disclosure”

Abstract The multiple disciplines and epistemic communities of the drug research broad landscape outline the context of what we collectively and officially “know” about drug use. While there is a growing body of ethnography with people who use drugs (PWUD), researchers who are themselves out as drug users—and their unofficial expertise—are largely absent. Miranda Fricker's “epistemic injustice” framework (2007) illuminates this knowledge deficit, describing an inability to conceptualize a person's experience due to historic marginalization from the very knowledge-making that defines that experience. The disclosure of lived experience in self-reflexive critique offers an authentic way to explore the complex, intersectional politics of drug use, something that is representationally and critically missing in drug studies. Locating the missing “I” in drug research may help drug studies recognize and interrogate the hegemonies of academic discourses that influence the varieties of lived experience important to drug scholarship.
Impacts of COVID-19 on Health and Safety of Workforce in Construction Industry

The coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) has drastically impacted workers and workplaces across the globe. It has totally changed the workplace environment and increased workers' concerns about economic insecurity, mental health and physical well-being, isolation, challenges of working remotely, and returning to the workplace safely. COVID-19 has also had an impact on job-related factors that affect the diversity and dynamic nature of the workplace. This study aims to identify the challenges and recommended strategies that management can implement to positively impact the health and safety of workers who construct and maintain transportation infrastructure. A through literature search that was performed to identify the challenges revealed that in addition to the factors like wages, hours of work, and access to paid leave, field workers are also facing increased risk of exposure to the virus, heavier workloads, etc. While most office workers are working remotely, factors like isolation, working patterns, technology, home situations, and concerns about job stability often contribute to anxiety, depression, and even suicide. The outcomes of this study will help the project managers and authorities in the transportation industry adopt effective strategies that will improve the health and safety of field and office employees during the pandemic.
Parenting amidst COVID-19: Pandemic-related stressors, inequities, and treatment utilization and perceptions

Many parents of children under age 18 are faced with additional COVID-19 parenting-related stressors and may be experiencing increases in psychological difficulties;however, we have yet to investigate parent's levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and adjustment disorder. Further, COVID-19 has served as a sobering reminder of the significant public health disparities in our society and it is critical to identify risk factors for poorer clinical outcomes. The primary objectives of the present study were to: (a) determine whether parents are reporting higher levels of pandemic-related stress, PTSS, and adjustment disorder than controls, (b) identify specific individual-level factors (e.g., age, gender, race, number of children, age of children) that may be related to higher levels of stress and symptoms among parents, and (c) report parents' utilization of, and perceived efficacy of, psychological interventions during COVID-19. A U.S. nationally representative sample (N = 2,019) from Qualtrics Data panels was recruited in July-August 2020. Parents endorsed higher levels of stress, PTSS, and adjustment disorder, particularly younger parents. Further, 38.3% of parents reported PTSS above clinical cutoff. Younger participants and persons of color reported higher levels of pandemic-related stress. One-third of parents (33.1%) reported using online mental health services. Taken together, parents may be at greater risk for pandemic stress, PTSS, and adjustment disorder symptoms. Individual-level risk factors, such as age and minority status, are important to consider when understanding COVID-19 stress. Clinical intervention efforts should prioritize trauma-focused treatments for parents, especially those who are younger and identify as a person of color. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)
SEE-Hardened-by-Design Area-Efficient SRAMs

With the advent of error detection and correction (EDAC) schemes for SRAMs, the reliability of SRAMs in radiation environments has improved. However, there are several problems that still need to be addressed. In particular, single-event-transient (SET) hardening of peripheral circuitry, including row and column decoders, sense amplifiers, as well as the EDAC circuitry itself, has not been adequately addressed. We have designed a self-scrubbing, multi-bank SRAM with EDAC that corrects single-bit errors without redundancy in the memory cells, with no downtime. Access times are only a single gate delay more than an unhardened SRAM. Furthermore, the peripheral circuitry is hardened with respect to single-event transients. The area overhead for this SET hardening is a constant, independent of the number of bits in the SRAM. We have designed SRAMs based on three different types of memory cells: 1) the six-transistor (6T) SRAM cell, 2) a one-transistor, one-capacitor (1T1C) DRAM cell, and 3) a single (edgeless) transistor (1T) DRAM cell. We have demonstrated that the soft-error rate for our memories is well under 10-10 errors per bit per day, for all three types of memory cells. The area per memory cell is about 3times smaller for the 1T1C compared to the 6T, while the area per memory cell is about 2times smaller for the 1T versus the 6T. All three designs employ minimum area memory cells
NEUTRON DIFFRACTION STUDY OF THE MAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF MnBr$sub 2$

The antiferromagnetic structure of MnBr/sub 2/ (T/sub N/ = 2.16 deg K) has been determined by single-crystal neutron diffraction measurements nt temperatures down to 1.35 deg K and with magnetic fields (0-- 13 kilo-oersteds) applied to the sample. The antiferromsgnetic structure appeared to have hexagonal symmetry in the absence of a magnetic field but this was found to be associated with a structure domain-growth property. The true magnetic structure was found to be associated with one or another of three hexsgonal axes, the particular growth direction being determined by the direction of an applied magnetic field. Information relating to indirect magnetic exchange via the bromine ions in this crystal was obtained from a study of the domain growth properties. The antiferromagnetic ordering transition in this compound was found to be nearly first order rather than of the usual second order type. A small lowering (~2%) of T/sub N/ was observed for an applied field of 13.1 kolooersteds. Short-range order data were obtained from powder patterns. (auth)
Processing of porous TiB2-ZrO2 composites by combustion synthesis

Porous titanium diboride (TiB2) - zirconia (ZrO2) composites were produced by the combustion-synthesis process. The starting materials contained various ratios of Ti, B, and partially stabilized ZrO2 (Y2O3) powders. Compacted pellets could be ignited and the exothermic reactions were self-sustaining. With the increase in ZrO2 content, the reaction was more controlled. The as-processed materials were characterized by X-ray and scanning electron microscopy. ZrO2 remained as the tetragonal phase in the microstructure. These preliminary results indicate that it is possible to produce transformation-toughened TiB2-matrix composites by the combustion-synthesis process. 14 refs.
The Case for Antitrust Civil Penalties

Federal antitrust law currently lacks one potentially useful remedy - civil penalties. Civil penalties are not novel, of course. They are used in other areas of federal economic regulation, in antitrust enforcement in other countries (particularly in Europe), and in a number of state antitrust systems. They have occasionally been proposed for U.S. antitrust law, although the Antitrust Modernization Commission and current federal enforcers have dismissed the idea. In this paper I review what constitutes a civil penalty; describe the use of civil penalties by the European Commission, the states, and the FTC; and discuss the three potential remedial functions of civil penalties. I then argue for adding civil penalties to federal antitrust law, but my proposal is a limited one. I would add civil fines (but not other civil penalties), only for Section 2 cases (but not for Section 1 cases, despite some instances where they might be useful), and only for two types of monopolization - cases of systemic conduct, like Microsoft, and cases where there is no economic justification for the defendant's monopolizing conduct, for example, fraud on the Patent Office. I also propose that civil fining authority be given both to the Justice Department and the FTC, and that the civil fines not be paid to the Treasury, but be recycled to the agencies to support their enforcement budgets.
Assessment of Indoor Route-finding Technology for People Who Are Visually Impaired

This study investigated navigation with route instructions generated by digital-map software and synthetic speech. Participants, either visually impaired or sighted wearing blind folds, successfully located rooms in an unfamiliar building. Users with visual impairment demonstrated better route-finding performance when the technology provided distance information in number of steps rather than walking time or number of feet.
The Importance of Definitions

This chapter quotes the dialog of Socrates on definition as a way of showing how definitions are created. The need for definition, according to many modern logicians, arises because of the possible effects of what is meant by the two words that are most often mentioned: “vagueness” and “ambiguity.” The need for definitions in experimental research emanates from the fact that experimental researchers in a given domain of nature are spread out over space and time. A nominal definition is most often a common understanding of what a certain word or group of words should mean for the users. In this sense, the dictionary meanings of words in any language have this characteristic. What distinguishes a nominal definition is that it is neither true nor false and hence it cannot be a proposition. In contrast, a real definition can serve as a proposition that means it is either true or false, not by itself, but as decided by individual people. A good example is Newton's definition wherein the passage “the force of the same loadstone is greater at less distance” is used to substantiate “the accelerative quantity of a centripetal force” that he defines.
Aquinas on the Dangers of Natural Virtue and the Control of Natural Vice

I investigate Aquinas’s position that natural virtue can pose dangers to living a moral life, dangers that include natural virtue’s inflexibility to circumstance, the opposing vices it may breed if blindly followed, and its aptitude for deceiving people into thinking they are genuinely virtuous. I also consider whether Aquinas regards these problems as remediable given that he sees natural virtue and natural vice as instances of nature being determined to one. He maintains that we can overcome the moral pitfalls that natural virtue and natural vice pose, though perfect mastery is not possible without divine intervention, insofar as our bodily disposition is not directly subject to reason.
Stimulation of cell migration by overexpression of focal adhesion kinase and its association with Src and Fyn

Cellular interactions with the extracellular matrix proteins play important roles in a variety of biological processes. Recent studies suggest that integrin-mediated cell-matrix interaction can transduce biochemical signals across the plasma membrane to regulate cellular functions such as proliferation, differentiation and migration. These studies have implicated a critical role of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) in integrin-mediated signal transduction pathways. We report here that overexpression of FAK in CHO cells increased their migration on fibronectin. A mutation of the major autophosphorylation site Y397 in FAK abolished its ability to stimulate cell migration, while phosphorylation of Y397 in a kinase-defective FAK by endogenous FAK led to increased migration. We also find that the wild-type and the kinase-defective FAK were associated with Src and Fyn in CHO cells whereas the F397 mutant was not. These results directly demonstrate a functional role for FAK in integrin signaling leading to cell migration. They also provide evidence for the functional significance of FAK/Src complex formation in vivo.
Structural features and functional domains of amassin-1, a cell-binding olfactomedin protein

Amassin-1 mediates a rapid cell adhesion that tightly adheres sea urchin coelomocytes (body cavity immunocytes) together. Three major structural regions exist in amassin-1: a short β region, 3 coil...
Transgenic mice: beyond the knockout

Transgenic mice have had a tremendous impact on biomedical research. Most researchers are familiar with transgenic mice that carry Cre recombinase (Cre) and how they are used to create conditional knockouts. However, some researchers are less familiar with many of the other types of transgenic mice and their applications. For example, transgenic mice can be used to study biochemical and molecular pathways in primary cultures and cell suspensions derived from transgenic mice, cell-cell interactions using multiple fluorescent proteins in the same mouse, and the cell cycle in real time and in the whole animal, and they can be used to perform deep tissue imaging in the whole animal, follow cell lineage during development and disease, and isolate large quantities of a pure cell type directly from organs. These novel transgenic mice and their applications provide the means for studying of molecular and biochemical events in the whole animal that was previously limited to cell cultures. In conclusion, transgenic mice are not just for generating knockouts.
On the prevariety of perfect lattices

We call a complete lattice perfect if it is a sublattice of a lattice of the form Sp(A), where A is an algebraic lattice and Sp(A) stands for the lattice of algebraic subsets of A.
Exciting news from Clinical Proteomics.

As the Editor-in-Chief of Clinical Proteomics, I have exciting news to share with you. Clinical Proteomics is entering a new and exciting era of open access publishing. The journal has now been transferred to BioMed Central, an online only open access publisher, which is part of Springer Science and Business Media. Becoming open access and online will result in immediate and free access to all articles, and faster review and publication times. High visibility will result from all content being made accessible via web search engines, as well as indexing with PubMed and PubMed Central. As you know, personalized medicine is expected to revolutionize health care delivery in the next decade. I believe that targeted proteomic diagnostics and therapeutics will be the basis of personalized molecular medicine. Recent advances in proteomic and bioinformatic technologies, such as mass spectrometry and protein microarrays, have been used successfully to detect disease-associated biomarkers in complex biological specimens such as tissues, cell lysates, serum, plasma, and other body fluids. Extensive validation will be needed to translate these biomarkers into targeted clinical use. Clinical Proteomics is in the position to take advantage of these opportunities by providing a scholarly forum for novel scientific research in the field of translational proteomics, with special emphasis on the application of proteomic technology to all aspects of clinical investigations including academic, clinical laboratory, pharmaceutical and diagnostic industries. We have assembled a strong editorial team of leading scientists in the field of clinical proteomics including Associate Editors Mark Baker, PhD (Sydney, Australia), Robert J. Cotter, PhD (Baltimore, MD, USA), Dennis Hochstrasser, MD (Geneva, Switzerland), Gil Omenn, MD, Ph.D (Ann Arbor, MI, USA) and Hui Zhang, PhD (Baltimore, MD, USA) as well as Editorial Board Members who are outstanding scientists and clinicians in the field of clinical proteomics. I fully expect that Clinical Proteomics will be a truly international journal providing an authoritative forum for this field. I hope that you would consider submitting your work to this exciting journal in its new format - Clinical Proteomics.
A detailed comparison of two transaction processing workloads

Commercial applications such as databases and Web servers constitute the most important market segment for high-performance servers. Among these applications, online transaction processing (OLTP) workloads provide a challenging set of requirements for system designs since they often exhibit inefficient executions dominated by a large memory stall component. A number of recent studies have characterized the behavior of transaction processing workloads and proposed architectural features to improve their performance. These studies have typically used a workload based on either the TPC-B or the TPC-C benchmark, with many of them opting for the simpler TPC-B benchmark. Given that the TPC-B and TPC-C workloads exhibit dramatically different characteristics on certain architectural metrics (such as cycles-per-instruction), it becomes important to find out whether the results or conclusions of these previous studies are heavily biased due to their choice of workload. This paper presents a detailed comparison of the debit-credit (modeled after TPC-B) and order-entry (modeled after TPC-C) transaction processing workloads in the context of various architectural choices. Our experiments use the Oracle commercial database engine for running the workloads, with results generated using both full system simulations and actual runs on Alpha multiprocessors. Our results confirm that certain characteristics of these workloads, such as cycles-per-instruction (CPI) and dirty miss frequency, are indeed quite different. Nonetheless, it turns out that the overall impact of most architectural choices (e.g., out-of-order execution, on-chip integration of system modules, chip multiprocessing) are surprisingly similar for the two workloads. Furthermore, the above similarity between the two workloads is sometimes due to non-intuitive effects that would be difficult to predict without conducting the experiment with both workloads. The findings in this paper make it easier to compare results from studies that use one or the other workload. Overall, we observe that for a wide range of architectural decisions that we considered, using the simpler TPC-B workload leads to virtually the same conclusions as using the more complex TPC-C workload. Finally, we show that these same conclusions hold across two generations of the Oracle database engine.
The Practical Effects of Errors in Reference Lists in Nursing Research Journals

Background: Previous studies have noted the prevalence of errors in journal reference lists, including nursing journals, but an in-depth study of nursing research journals has not been reported. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the number and types of errors in nursing research journal reference lists. Method: A stratified random sample of 262 references from three nursing research journals was obtained. References were compared with the actual articles, books, and chapters cited, or with photocopies obtained via interlibrary loan. Error rates were calculated. Results: The overall error rate was 45.8%; 38.3% of all references contained at least one major error, and 13.8% of all references contained at least one minor error. Conclusions: The overall rate of reference errors falls within the range exhibited by recent studies of the medical and dental literature but exceeds the rates found in studies of nursing journals and veterinary medicine journals. Researchers need to consider the number and types of errors involved when using reference lists in their research.
Design of analogs of purine nucleosides with specifically altered activities as substrates for nucleoside- metabolizing enzymes.

Abstract Attempts are described to design nucleoside analogs with enhanced antitumor activity as a result of modified activities as substrates for the enzymes acting on nucleosides and nucleoside analogs: nucleoside kinases, adenosine deaminase, and purine nucleoside phosphorylase. Since most nucleoside analogs are active only after their conversion to phosphates, activity as a substrate for a kinase is essential for activity, whereas in general the action of adenosine deaminase or nucleoside phosphorylase is to convert the analog to a less active form. Hence analogs with improved chemotherapeutic properties should be produced by structural alterations that enhance, or do not decrease, susceptibility to phosphorylation, and diminish susceptibility to attack by the other two enzymes. Knowledge of structure-activity relationships among nucleosides as substrates for these enzymes was applied in attempts to improve the chemotherapeutic activity of two nucleosides with antitumor activity: 6-MPR and β-araA. The effectiveness of 6-MPR is limited by its rapid phosphorolysis and the low activity of the kinase (inosine kinase) in mammalian cells. The carbocyclic analog of 6-MPR was resistant to phosphorolysis but showed no biological activity, probably because it was not phosphorylated. 8-Aza-6-MPR was synthesized as an agent predicted to be resistant to phosphorolysis and to be a substrate for adenosine kinase. Although 8-aza-6-MPR was metabolized as predicted, it was inferior to 6-MPR, for reasons not as yet understood, as an antileukemic agent. The efficacy of β-araA as an antitumor agent is limited by its rapid deamination. In a search for analogs of β-araA that would not be deaminated the α-anomers of araA and ara-8-azaadenine were prepared. Although these compounds were cytotoxic, were resistant to deamination, and were phosphorylated to the triphosphate level (demonstrated for α-ara-8-azaadenine) they had no antileukemic activity and differed in sites of action from β-araA. A more effective compound was 2-fluoro-β-araA, synthesized on the basis of evidence that the presence of a fluorine atom on C-2 prevents the deamination of adenosine. 2-Fluoro-β-araA (a) was not deaminated; (b) was converted to the triphosphate; (c) selectively inhibited DNA synthesis; and (d) was active against L1210 leukemia in mice.
Enhanced Fenton degradation of hydrophobic organics by simultaneous iron and pollutant complexation with cyclodextrins.

Abstract The effectiveness and selectivity of Fenton degradation of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) can be improved by simultaneous complexation of Fe 2+ and the organic compound with a cyclodextrin or derivatized cyclodextrin. Such selective complexation of a target substrate and a catalytic metal is a crude mimic of enzyme systems. Both β-cyclodextrin and carboxymethyl-β-cyclodextrin (CMCD) were able to simultaneously complex Fe 2+ and an aromatic hydrocarbon, such as phenol, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Degradation of compounds included in cyclodextrins was unaffected by hydroxyl radical scavengers, indicating that the radical was formed at the ternary complex (HOC–cyclodextrin–iron) and in close proximity to the included molecule. Without cyclodextrins, humic acid (HA) decreased degradation efficiency. However, in the presence of CMCD, HA did not inhibit degradation of the target compound. CMCD is capable of removing HOCs from HA binding sites while at the same time complexing Fe 2+ . PCBs sorbed to glass were resistant to Fenton degradation, but were significantly degraded using a cyclodextrin modified Fenton system. In all of these systems, the ternary HOC–cyclodextrin–iron complexes effectively direct hydroxyl radical reaction toward the HOC, increasing the efficiency of Fenton degradation. One potential application of such targeted degradation systems is the in situ remediation of hydrophobic organic pollutants in contaminated soil and groundwater or in industrial waste streams.
Children's self-concept and attitude toward school in open and traditional classrooms

Abstract Children from a traditional school and two open schools were compared, using the Pictorial Self-Concept scale and the Attitude Toward School scale. To control for the self-selection of open school students, the traditional school subjects were divided into those whose parents favored and those whose parents did not favor open education. Three of the 12 analyses were significant, but not in the predicted, or in any orderly, direction. These results were attributed to chance. Attitude toward school was higher for females than males and decreased for kindergarden to grade 2. Self-concept increased form kindergarten to grade 2, with no significant sex differences.
Contrast-enhanced CMR is equally effective as TEE in the evaluation of left atrial appendage thrombus in patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing pulmonary vein isolation procedure

Background Patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) routinely undergo transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) for the evaluation of the left atrial appendage (LAA) to rule out thrombus prior to undergoing pulmonary vein isolation (PVI). Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) is now increasingly used for the evaluation of patients with AF to define pulmonary vein (PV) anatomy prior to PVI. Objective To hypothesize that a retrospective comparison of 2-dimensional/3-dimensional (2D/3D) contrast-enhanced CMR sequences with TEE for the evaluation of LAA thrombus in patients with AF selected for PVI will demonstrate equivalence. Methods Ninety-seven (N = 97) consecutive patients with AF underwent near-simultaneous TEE and noncontrast and contrast CMR prior to undergoing an initial PVI procedure. The CMR images were analyzed in 2 categories: (1) the 2D noncontrast cine images and early gadolinium enhancement images showing LAA and (2) 3D contrast source images acquired during PV magnetic resonance angiography. CMR variables evaluated were the presence or absence of LAA thrombus and the quality of images, and they were compared with the results of TEE in a blinded fashion. Results All subjects were analyzed for the presence or absence of LAA thrombus. Thrombus was absent in 98% of the patients on both TEE and CMR and present in 2% on both studies (100% correlation). In 6 subjects, 2D cine CMR images were indeterminate whereas all 2D early gadolinium enhancement images and 3D contrast images were successful in excluding LAA thrombus. There was 100% concordance between CMR and TEE for the final diagnosis of LAA thrombus. Conclusions In one single examination, CMR offers a comparable alternative to TEE for the complete noninvasive evaluation of LAA thrombus and PV anatomy in patients with AF referred for PVI without obligate need for TEE.
Serial Angiographic Evidence of Rapid Resolution of Coronary Artery Stenosis

An example of rapid, spontaneous resolution of an eccentric coronary luminal narrowing from 95 percent to 80 percent and subsequently to 50 percent stenosis over a six-week time period is presented. Spontaneous thrombolysis is proposed as the explanation for these changes and is discussed with reference to existing experimental and clinical observations.
A novel dynamin III isoform is up-regulated in the central nervous system in hypothyroidism

Hypothyroidism in early postnatal development leads to abnormal CNS development that may be controlled in part at the level of gene transcription. Comparing the expression of euthyroid (EuT) and hypothyroid (HypoT) rat brain mRNAs by differential display PCR (ddPCR), we identified a novel dynamin III mRNA that was up-regulated in the hypothyroid state. Northern analysis of brain mRNA using a probe from the dynamin III open reading frame (ORF) revealed two transcripts of 3.0 and 7.2kb size. The 3.0 kb transcript was observed in testis and brain, but not liver or lung RNA. In the brain the 3.0 kb transcript increased from 25 to 57% of adult (Ad) levels from postnatal day (p) p2-p15, but was not significantly regulated by thyroid hormone status. In contrast, the more abundant 7.2 kb transcript increased from 16.8 to 48.0% of adult levels from p2 to p15 in euthyroid rat pups but from 54.0% of adult levels at p2 to 97.9% of adult levels by p15 in hypothyroid pups. Overlapping cDNA clones from a rat brain cDNA library defined the 7.2kb mRNA, which consisted of the complete ORF, containing a four amino acid insert at the end of the pleckstrin homology domain (PHD), and two unique 3'-flanking regions, that are likely derived from alternative processing. Thus, the 7.2 kb dynamin III transcript is brain-specific and selectively regulated by thyroid hormone status. The data suggest that the regulation of dynamin III by altered thyroid hormone status may affect synaptogenesis in the CNS through dynamin's essential roles in synaptic vesicle and receptor recycling, neurotransmitter reuptake, and growth factor receptor signaling.
Abstract B72: CX3CR1, a fractalkine receptor, can regulate peritoneal dissemination of epithelial ovarian cancer cells

Epithelial ovarian carcinoma (EOC) is a leading cause of death from gynecologic malignancies mainly due to metastasis. EOC metastases spread by shedding the malignant cells off from the ovarian surface and seeding to organs and tissues in the peritoneal cavity. The current standard of care, a combination of chemotherapy and surgery, fails to keep patients in remission. Thus, mechanistic understanding of the biology of EOC metastasis and identification of novel targetable molecules are crucial for the development of improved therapeutic approaches. Fractalkine receptor (CX3CR1) belongs to a chemokine family of G-protein coupled receptors. CX3CR1 is expressed by EOC cells and promotes cell migration and proliferation. CX3CR1-positive EOC cells have been shown to adhere to the CX3CL1-positive peritoneal mesothelial cells in vitro. Thus, we hypothesized that CX3CL1/CX3CR1 axis could be important for peritoneal dissemination of metastatic EOC. In order to test this hypothesis, we performed short-term ex vivo and in vivo adhesion assays, as well as long-term metastasis formation assay. We found that EOC cells prefer omentum to other peritoneal tissues during the short-term in vivo and ex vivo adhesion. Importantly, reduction of CX3CR1 expression in EOC cells resulted in significantly reduced peritoneal adhesion. Furthermore, reduced adhesion correlated with the ability of EOC cells to form overt metastasis. Microenvironmental milieu has been histologically evaluated for stromal cells in the omentum expressing CX3CL1. Taken together, our data indicate that fractalkine signaling is one of the central regulators of EOC metastasis. Citation Format: Jia Xie, Hilal Gurler, Joanna Burdette, Maria Barbolina. CX3CR1, a fractalkine receptor, can regulate peritoneal dissemination of epithelial ovarian cancer cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Tumor Invasion and Metastasis; Jan 20-23, 2013; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(3 Suppl):Abstract nr B72.
Physicochemical aspect of static headspace gas chromatography

The expressions have been derived for equilibrating multiple phase systems, and applied to the published data of the multiple headspace extraction to estimate the component distribution coefficient between phases. The addition of modifier to the sample system is appreciated to work for the depression of the component headspace concentration at any events as far as the linear equilibrium distribution is assumed
Effects of culture duration on hydrogen peroxide-induced hepatocyte toxicity.

The effects of culture duration on primary cultured mouse hepatocyte antioxidant levels (superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, vitamin E, and glutathione) and susceptibility to glucose oxidase (GO)- and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced cell killing and lipid peroxidation were examined. Membrane fatty acid composition was also evaluated. Adult male B6C3F1/CrlBR mouse hepatocytes were isolated by collagenase perfusion of the liver and cultured on 60-mm plastic dishes in Leibovitz's L-15 medium supplemented with glucose (1 mg/ml), dexamethasone (1 μm), fetal bovine serum (10%, v/v), and gentamicin sulfate (50 μg/ml) for 0 hr (freshly isolated cells) to 96 hr. Hepatocyte toxicity (determined by lactate dehydrogenase release and lipid peroxidation) after a 2-hr exposure to GO (0.8–80 μg/ml) or H2O2 (1–5 mm) decreased with increased time in culture. This decreased hepatocyte sensitivity to GO and H2O2 toxicity was not related to antioxidant enzyme activity since superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase declined during the 96-hr culture period. In contrast, glutathione and vitamin E levels in the cultured hepatocytes rose to 274.9 ± 8.3% and 220.6 ± 18.6% of the levels in freshly isolated cells (129.6 ± 11.5 nmol and 0.10 ± 0.01 nmol per 106 hepatocytes, respectively). The percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids in hepatocyte phospholipids and triglycerides decreased with culture duration while the percentage of oleic acid increased in esterified and free fatty acid pools after 2 hr in culture. Total fatty acids were not affected by time in culture. These results suggest that the decreased hepatocyte susceptibility to the toxic effects of hydrogen peroxide may have been due to elevations in cellular GSH and vitamin E levels and decreases in membrane polyunsaturated fatty acids. The data also indicate that hepatocytes in primary culture undergo changes in antioxidant levels and fatty acid composition that may affect free radical toxicity at different times in culture.