cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Drosophila as a model for unfolded protein response research.

Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) is an organelle where most secretory and membrane proteins are synthesized, folded, and undergo further maturation. As numerous conditions can perturb such ER function, eukaryotic cells are equipped with responsive signaling pathways, widely referred to as the Unfolded Protein Response (UPR). Chronic conditions of ER stress that cannot be fully resolved by UPR, or conditions that impair UPR signaling itself, are associated with many metabolic and degenerative diseases. In recent years, Drosophila has been actively employed to study such connections between UPR and disease. Notably, the UPR pathways are largely conserved between Drosophila and humans, and the mediating genes are essential for development in both organisms, indicating their requirement to resolve inherent stress. By now, many Drosophila mutations are known to impose stress in the ER, and a number of these appear similar to those that underlie human diseases. In addition, studies have employed the strategy of overexpressing human mutations in Drosophila tissues to perform genetic modifier screens. The fact that the basic UPR pathways are conserved, together with the availability of many human disease models in this organism, makes Drosophila a powerful tool for studying human disease mechanisms. [BMB Reports 2015; 48(8): 445-453]
The Eagle effect in the Wolbachia-worm symbiosis.

Onchocerciasis (river blindness) and lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis) are two human neglected tropical diseases that cause major disabilities. Mass administration of drugs targeting the microfilarial stage has reduced transmission and eliminated these diseases in several countries but a macrofilaricidal drug that kills or sterilizes the adult worms is critically needed to eradicate the diseases. The causative agents of onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis are filarial worms that harbor the endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia. Because filarial worms depend on Wolbachia for reproduction and survival, drugs targeting Wolbachia hold great promise as a means to eliminate these diseases. To better understand the relationship between Wolbachia and its worm host, adult Brugia pahangi were exposed to varying concentrations of doxycycline, minocycline, tetracycline and rifampicin in vitro and assessed for Wolbachia numbers and worm motility. Worm motility was monitored using the Worminator system, and Wolbachia titers were assessed by qPCR of the single copy gene wsp from Wolbachia and gst from Brugia to calculate IC50s and in time course experiments. Confocal microscopy was also used to quantify Wolbachia located at the distal tip region of worm ovaries to assess the effects of antibiotic treatment in this region of the worm where Wolbachia are transmitted vertically to the microfilarial stage. Worms treated with higher concentrations of antibiotics had higher Wolbachia titers, i.e. as antibiotic concentrations increased there was a corresponding increase in Wolbachia titers. As the concentration of antibiotic increased, worms stopped moving and never recovered despite maintaining Wolbachia titers comparable to controls. Thus, worms were rendered moribund by the higher concentrations of antibiotics but Wolbachia persisted suggesting that these antibiotics may act directly on the worms at high concentration. Surprisingly, in contrast to these results, antibiotics given at low concentrations reduced Wolbachia titers. Wolbachia in B. pahangi display a counterintuitive dose response known as the “Eagle effect.” This effect in Wolbachia suggests a common underlying mechanism that allows diverse bacterial and fungal species to persist despite exposure to high concentrations of antimicrobial compounds. To our knowledge this is the first report of this phenomenon occurring in an intracellular endosymbiont, Wolbachia, in its filarial host.
Testicular Germ Cell Tumors: Serological and Immunohistochemical Diagnosis

This review deals with serologic and immunohistochemical tumor markers used in clinical laboratories for the diagnosis of testicular germ cell tumors. Time tested serologic markers such as alpha-fetoprotein, human chorionic gonadotropin, and lactate dehydrogenase are routinely used in the work-up of patients with testicular tumors. Professional organizations regulating the practice of medicine in most countries worldwide require that the laboratory values for these serologic reactants be included in the pathology reports on testicular tumors as part of the tumor staging process. Immunohistochemical markers of testicular germ have been identified and widely tested during the first two decades of the XXI century. We have selected the most useful immunohistochemical markers from a few of these markers and discussed them in this review. Conclusion . Published data show that testicular tumor markers are widely used in routine practice. The study of tumor markers has improved the pathologic and clinical diagnosis of testicular germ cell tumors and has thus contributed to their treatment.
Unmasking Western Science: Challenging the Army Corps of Engineer’s Rejection of the Isle de Jean Charles Tribal Environmental Knowledge under APA Arbitrary and Capricious Review

"The law masks as natural what is chosen; it obscures the consequences of social selection as inevitable. The result is that the distortions in social relations are immunized from truly effective intervention, because the existing inequities are obscured and rendered nearly invisible. The existing state of affairs is considered neutral and fair, however unequal and unjust it is in substance. Although the existing state of inequitable distribution is the product of institutionalized white supremacy and economic exploitation, it is seen by whites as part of the natural order of things, something that cannot be legitimately disturbed."- Cheryl Harris, "Whiteness as Property" The principle that law masks as natural what is chosen, is abundantly clear in the 2013 United States Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to build a levee that would not protect southern Louisiana’s Isle de Jean Charles Band of the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Tribe (The Isle de Jean Charles Tribe). This was essentially a decision to flood out Isle de Jean Charles in its entirety in order to mitigate flood damages in the regions protected by the levee. The areas immediately outside of the protected zone will be inundated by the flood waters diverted from the protected area. The Army Corps of Engineers justified this decision by saying there was not a naturally occurring ocean ridge close enough to the Isle de Jean Charles hard enough to support the levee, and without such a structure the project would have been cost-prohibitive. Further analysis reveals that they came to this conclusion without adequately considering the Isle de Jean Charles Tribe’s oceanography expertise. Had the Army Corps of Engineers taken seriously the information provided to it by the Isle de Jean Charles Tribe, they would have found a ridge sufficient for supporting a levee. If the court system does not intervene, the Army Corps of Engineers’ decision will amount to nothing short of a cultural genocide. Given that levee construction has not yet started, the Tribe still has a chance at mitigating and reversing the damage to ancestral lands through legal remedies. This Essay uses the Isle de Jean Charles Tribe as a case study for how existing administrative law jurisprudence can be used to incorporate Traditional Environmental Knowledge (TEK) into environmental policy decisions. A growing body of scholarship theorizes how TEK could be incorporated into administrative environmental decision making. Most notably, Anthony Moffa explains that “there remains an important space in administrative rulemaking for the consideration of ways of understanding that differ from traditional Western norms.” This Essay builds on that scholarship by asserting that the Army Corps of Engineers acted arbitrarily and capriciously in contravention of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) by refusing to incorporate TEK into the cost-benefit analysis it used to justify flooding the Isle de Jean Charles.
Rotation Sensing Using Passive RFID Tags

Rotational movement is important in many applications, yet has been under-explored. In this paper, we explore the feasibility of using a single RFID reader antenna to simultaneously sense rotation and translation movement (i.e., rotation axis, rotation speed, and translation speed). We exploit the polarization in RFID to enable motion sensing. We develop an analytical model to capture the impact of polarization on the received signal and an optimization framework to incorporate the model to estimate the movement. We implement our system, Tag-based Inertial Measurement Unit (TIMU), and demonstrate its effectiveness through an extensive evaluation. To our knowledge, this is the first system that tracks general motion using a single RFID reader antenna.
Salish Sea Survey: Geographic Literacy Enhancing Natural Resource Management

The Salish Sea is a biodiverse, transboundary inland sea and marine ecosystem stretching from British Columbia, Canada into Washington State, United States. Home to nearly eight million people and ...
Verbal Response Inhibition in Adults Who Stutter.

Purpose Adults who stutter (AWS) often attempt, with varying degrees of success, to suppress their stuttered speech. The ability to effectively suppress motoric behavior after initiation relies on ...
Meinungsäußerung und -bildung in sozialen Medien

Neu aufkommende cybersoziale Bewegungen (CSM) haben ofter Schlagzeilen in den Nachrichten gemacht. Trotz ihrer Popularitat fehlt eine systematische Methodenlehre, um diese Bewegungen empirisch in komplexen Onlineumgebungen zu untersuchen. Mit Hilfe der Onlinekampagne von Al-Huwaider als Fallbeispiel versucht dieser Beitrag, eine klare und grundlegende Analyse zu etablieren, um CSM zu erlautern. Wir trugen 150 Blogs aus 17 Landern im Zeitraum zwischen April 2003 und Juli 2010 mit spezieller Ausrichtung auf die Al-Huwaider-Kampagne zusammen, um die multikulturellen Aspekte fur unsere Analyse zu erfassen. Die Analyse stutzt sich auf die drei zentralen Pfeiler individueller, communitybezogener und ubernationaler Sicht und entwickelt neue Algorithmen fur CSM-Modelle unter Benutzung existierender Theorien zu Kollektivaktionen und quantitativer Analysen sozialer Netzwerke. Der Beitrag liefert eine Methodik zur Untersuchung der Verbreitung von Themen in sozialen Netzwerken und pruft die Rolle einflussreicher Mitglieder der Community. Die vorgeschlagene Methodik liefert ein funktionelles Hilfsmittel, um die Komplexitat und die Dynamik von CSM zu verstehen. Eine solche Methodik unterstutzt uns auch in der Beobachtung des Vorubergehens von CSM mit der zukunftigen Moglichkeit, ubernationale Reichweiten darzustellen. Die Studie spricht das Fehlen von grundlegenden Untersuchungen zur Entstehung von CSM an. Der Beitrag hat Bedeutung fur die Wirtschaft, Marketing und weitere Bereiche uber das hier als Darstellung gewahlte Beispiel hinaus.
Lymphoreticular Malignancies in Childhood

Malignancies of the lymphoid system of children are the most frequent form of childhood cancer (Warner, 1974). In the past, this group of diseases was very poorly understood and generally quite rapidly fatal. Recently, major advances have been made toward understanding the etiology, the pathogenesis, the prognostic features, and the immunological aspects of these lymphoid malignancies. An attempt to summarize recent advances in this field forms the basis of this chapter.
Accuracy of Doppler Catheter Measurements: Effect of Inhomogeneous Beam Power Distribution on Mean and Peak Velocity

Abstract Objectives. We sought to determine the effect of inhomogeneous distribution of beam power produced by Doppler catheters on measurements of mean and peak velocity of coronary blood flow. Background. Measurements of mean velocity of coronary blood flow by Doppler catheters have significant systematic errors that have not been completely characterized. We hypothesized that one error is the inhomogeneous distribution of the ultrasonic beam power and that this inhomogeneity makes measurements of mean, but not peak, velocity inaccurate. Methods. We constructed a scaled-up model of a Doppler catheter to allow for accurate measurement of the distribution of beam power by miniature hydrophones. This catheter was placed in a model of coronary blood flow in which the fluid velocity was accurately measured by an external laser Doppler velocimeter. The laser Doppler measurements of mean velocity were compared with the measurements of mean velocity made by the catheter, using fast Fourier transform analysis, both without and with correction for inhomogeneous beam power distribution. Peak velocity measurements were also compared, as predicted from theory, without the need of correction for inhomogeneous beam power distribution. To investigate the clinical relevance of our results, we conducted studies using a clinical Doppler catheter both in a scaled model of coronary flow and in a series of eight patients. In the model and in each patient, we rotated the catheter without changing the axial position to systematically alter the relation of the beam power distribution to the local fluid dynamics. Results. The measurement of beam power distribution revealed significant inhomogeneity. Comparison of the measured mean frequency shifts without correction for inhomogeneities in the distribution yielded a statistically significant difference. After correction for inhomogeneities, there was no statistically significant difference. Also, there was no significant difference for the peak frequency shifts. Rotation of the clinical catheter in the scaled model and in the patients changed the measured mean velocity (average change 18.8% and 20.6%, respectively), but not the measured peak velocity (average change 5.0% and 4.3%, respectively). Conclusions. For signal analysis using a fast Fourier transform, the inhomogeneous distribution of power of the ultrasonic beam produced by Doppler catheters makes measurements of mean, but not peak, velocity inaccurate. Measurements of peak velocity may therefore prove superior to measurements of mean velocity in estimating the response to pharmacologic intervention and in estimating stenosis severity. (J Am Coll Cardiol 1997;29:283–92)
Inequality at birth: The scope for policy intervention

Abstract In this paper, we utilize data on birthweight and gestational age among siblings and maternal behaviors together with latent variable methods to estimate (i) the effects of maternal behaviors, including substance abuse, cigarette smoking, prenatal care, birth spacing and timing, and weight gain on the two birth outcomes, (ii) the variance in the health endowment common to the two measures and to siblings, (iii) the covariance between the maternal behaviors and health endowments, and (iv) the variance in measurement errors for each outcome. We use the estimates to examine the effects of different policies on inequality in birth outcomes.
Effects of flood duration and season on germination of black, cherrybark, northern red, and water oak acorns

Effects of flood duration (0, 10, 20, and 30 days) and season (winter and spring) on acorn germination were tested for two upland oaks [black and northern red oak (Quercus velutina Lam. and Q. rubra L.)] and two bottomland oaks [cherrybark and water oak (Q. pagoda Raf. and Q. nigra L.)]. Acorns were stratified for 30 days before flooding at a depth of 15 cm along the edge of a small pond. After flooding, acorns were sowed in sand-filled plastic cups and germinated for 40 days. Flood duration and season strongly affected radicle and epicotyl emergence of the upland oaks, but effects were generally limited to spring flooding. Embryo axes of the upland oak acorns were severely damaged with as little as 10 days of spring flooding. Almost no epicotyls developed, but radicles developed from the connective tissues between embryo axes and the cotyledons of many acorns. Spring flooding also significantly increased the percentage of decayed acorns for the upland oaks. In contrast, germination of the bottomland oaks was slightly improved by flooding during both seasons. Results demonstrated that the effects of flooding on the distribution of species within bottomlands can begin with seed storage and germination.
Learning exercises for the rest of the brain

In his remarkable book, "The Art of Changing the Brain[1]", James Zull describes how emerging research on brain functions supports the work of Kolb, Piaget, Dewey, and others on experiential learning. Then Zull argues that we can use this knowledge about how the brain works to change the way that we teach - and more importantly affect the way that our students learn. This paper discusses steps that the author has used personally to change the way that he teaches programming in our CS1 course, based on ideas presented in Zull's book. Of particular interest are a set of "Learning Exercises" developed specifically to promote reflective observation and the development and testing of hypotheses by students. Initial observations suggest that the exercises have indeed made a difference in how students have learned.
Excitation spectrum for weakly interacting Bose gas and the liquid structure function of helium

In this paper the excitation spectrum of a Bose gas characterized by a pairwise Fourier-transformable potential λV(r) is calculated to three leading orders in the strength parameter λ, first by the Hugenholtz-Pines prescription,1 then by the method of correlated basis functions (CBF).
So You Really Want to Interview Me?: Navigating “Sensitive” Qualitative Research Interviewing

This article discusses the qualitative interviewing techniques that the authors used to conduct their respective dissertation research in Jamaica and South Carolina. (The research in Jamaica examined the implementation of primary education policies. The research in South Carolina delved into the life history of Benner C. Turner, a controversial college president.) Most of the literature about interviewing focuses on asking the right questions. In contrast, this article discusses the challenges of interviewing. In this article, selected interviews are used from both studies to examine the difficulties these researchers encountered when conducting “sensitive” interviews, the risks female researchers face in unfamiliar places, and the challenges of working in international settings (which requires interpersonal skills and cultural competency). While the task of research interviewing is complex, the authors provide ideas that can be used to navigate such moments.
Buying time for the stuck-at fault model

As ATPG algorithms become more efficient at minimizing the number of patterns required to detect SSA faults, dependence on incidental detections of nontarget static defects will become increasingly less prudent. Even more importantly, tests for delay defects require at-speed clocks and are absolutely not covered by static SSA tests, even incidentally and it is expected that delay defects will become increasingly common in synthesized circuits. Interestingly, the SSA fault model, with only minor extensions, can still serve as the foundation for ATPG and fault simulation tools for these more detailed fault models. Additional constraints can be placed on these tools to force them to meet the extra excitation requirements (like forcing values on the two nodes at a bridging site, or clocking two opposite values at speed through a delay fault site), while still maintaining the relative computational tractability associated with the SSA model. To that extent, future test advances may be a matter of "buying time" for the SSA model.
Adverse Events in Very Young Children Prescribed Psychotropic Medications: Preliminary Findings from an Acute Clinical Sample.

Abstract Objective: The present study used the Pediatric Adverse Events Rating Scale (PAERS) to provide a systematic assessment of adverse events (AEs) related to psychotropic medication use in a clinical sample of young children attending a specialized, early childhood partial hospital program. Study goals were as follows: 1) To describe the frequency and types of specific psychotropic medication-related AEs experienced by very young children (ages 3–7 years) in an acute clinical sample, and 2) to identify the psychotropic medication(s) and/or class(es) associated with the highest frequency of AEs. Methods: Participants were 158 children (118 males; ages 36–95 months, mean=66 months, SD=14.6 months) who presented to a hospital-based day treatment program for young children with severe emotional and behavioral problems, and were prescribed a psychotropic medication at any point during the hospitalization. Data on AEs related to psychotropic medication were collected using the PAERS from 2011 to 2014. Resu...
A Closer Look at the U.S. Housing Market: Modeling Relationships among Regions

This article investigates the dynamic interactions among nine U.S. regional housing markets by estimating the multivariate cointegration model using both autoregressive (AR) and moving average (MA) representations over the period from 1975 to 2010. Long-run results indicate that the extent of convergence among the regional housing markets substantially increased over time and more so after the housing bubble burst in the latter part of 2006. Common stochastic trend analysis reveals that the housing regions of New England, Mid-Atlantic and the Pacific were the primary regional drivers that led the regions toward long-run equilibrium during the 1975 to 2006 subperiod. Further analysis indicates that the relationships among the regions cannot be attributed to trends in two important macroeconomic fundamentals: regional per capita income and regional GDP. Finally, short-run analysis reveals substantial lead lag relationships among all the markets.
The Possible Role of the Kynurenine Pathway in Adolescent Depression with Melancholic Features.

Background: Although adolescent major depressive disorder (MDD) is acknowledged to be a heterogeneous disorder, no studies have reported on biological correlates of its clinical subgroups. This study addresses this issue by examining whether adolescent MDD with and without melancholic features (M‐MDD and NonM‐MDD) have distinct biological features in the kynurenine pathway (KP). The KP is initiated by pro‐inflammatory cytokines via induction of the enzyme indoleamine 2,3‐dioxygenase (IDO), which degrades tryptophan (TRP) into kynurenine (KYN). KYN is further metabolized into neurotoxins linked to neuronal dysfunction in MDD. Hypotheses were that, compared to healthy controls and to NonM‐MDD adolescents, adolescents with M‐MDD would exhibit: (i) increased activation of the KP [i.e., increased KYN and KYN/TRP (reflecting IDO activity)]; (ii) greater neurotoxic loads [i.e., increased 3‐hydroxyanthranilic acid (3‐HAA, neurotoxin) and 3‐HAA/KYN (reflecting production of neurotoxins)]; and (iii) decreased TRP. We also examined relationships between severity of MDD and KP metabolites. Methods: Subjects were 20 adolescents with M‐MDD, 30 adolescents with NonM‐MDD, and 22 healthy adolescents. MDD episode duration had to be ≥ 6 weeks and Children’s Depression Rating Scale‐Revised (CDRS‐R) scores were ≥ 36. Blood samples were collected at AM after an overnight fast and analyzed using high‐performance liquid chromatography. Group contrasts relied on analysis of covariance based on ranks, adjusted for age, gender, and CDRS‐R scores. Analyses were repeated excluding medicated patients. Fisher’s protected least significant difference was used for multiple comparisons. Results: As hypothesized, KYN/TRP ratios were elevated and TRP concentrations were reduced in adolescents with M‐MDD compared to NonM‐MDD adolescents (p = .001 and .006, respectively) and to healthy controls (p = .008 and .022, respectively). These findings remained significant when medicated patients were excluded from the analyses. Significant correlations were obtained exclusively in the M‐MDD group between KYN and 3‐HAA/KYN and CDRS‐R. Conclusions: Findings support the notion that adolescent M‐MDD may represent a biologically distinct clinical syndrome.
Archival Research in Composition Studies: Re-Imagining the Historian's Role

This article argues that historians of composition studies are burdened by adherence to history-as-narrative in archival research, whether supporting or countering master narratives of the field. I propose that historians redefine their work in conversation with the principles of archival ethnography, a concept from the field of library and information science. Reseeing historiography through this lens means privileging the position of the archivist as community interloper, thus creating a shift in responsibility from interpretation of archival material to public transmission thereof. Re-imagining the historian's role as ethnographic also aims to redress the ethical burden of inevitable re-presentation of past agents, practices, and values.
Generalizability Analyses of Work Keys Listening and Writing Tests.

In this article, univariate and multivariate generalizability theory is employed to examine psychometric characteristics of Listening and Writing tests developed by American College Testing (ACT) for its Work Keys program. For both of these tests, the same tape-recorded messages provide the stimuli for written responses that are evaluated by raters. Of particular concern are the numbers of messages and raters needed for adequate measurement precision. The occurrence of relatively large person-message interactions suggested that several (at least six) messages are probably required. Also, the analyses suggest that it is highly desirable to employ at least two raters. For these sample sizes, however, the multivariate results are less encouraging in part because of correlated errors.
Synthesis of Hsp90 dimerization modulators

The synthesis and evaluation of several chemical modulators of heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) dimerization is presented. These agents may represent useful tools to study the importance of N-terminal dimerization and also to determine subunit interface(s) in Hsp90.
Transcriptional Repression of Taurine Transporter Gene (TauT) by p53 in Renal Cells

Taurine, an intracellular osmolyte whose body pool size is adaptively regulated by the kidney, is required for normal renal development. Overexpression of the p53 tumor suppressor gene in p53 transgenic mice results in renal malformation, suggesting that altered expression of certain p53 target gene(s) involved in renal development may be responsible. This study shows that the taurine transporter gene (TauT) is a transcriptional target of p53. Expression of TauT was decreased after activation of p53 by doxorubicin, a DNA-damaging drug, in 293 and NRK-52E renal cells.TauT promoter activity was decreased 5–10-fold by cotransfection of a full-length TauT promoter-reporter construct with p53, which was reversed by cotransfection with a mutant p53 (p53-281). Electrophoretic mobility shift assays using nuclear extracts from p53-expressing (10)1val cells showed a putative p53-binding site in the TauT promoter region, which bound to the p53 in electrophoretic mobility shift assays. Mutation of this p53 consensus sequence abolished binding of p53. These results demonstrate that TauT may represent a downstream target gene of p53 that could link the roles of p53 in renal development and apoptosis.
The Periodic Impact Responses of Human-Body in a Vehicle Traveling on the Rough Terrain

The human-body in a vehicle traveling on the rough terrain is modeled through the lumped mass approach and its periodic impact motions and stability are investigated through a linear model of vehicle and passenger systems. The linear model assumes the motion response of vehicle is very small compared to passenger’s rotational motion since the vehicle chassis has a very large mass and moment of inertia. The period-1 impact motion for two impacts respectively on two walls for a specific number of periods is predicted analytically and numerically. The stability and bifurcation of such a period-1 impact motion are developed analytically. The phase planes of the periodic impact motions are illustrated for a better understanding of the human-body impacting motion in the vehicle.Copyright © 2002 by ASME
The electronic spectra of poly(methyl methacrylate) anions

Abstract : A description is given of the electronic spectra of living poly (methyl methacrylate) initiated by 1, 1diphenyl-n-hexyllithium in toluene and in tetrahydrofuran solutions.
Advanced Sounder Measurement Information Dependence on System Characteristics

Improved observations of Earth system are needed for enhancing weather prediction, climate monitoring capability, and environmental change detection. This study addresses impact of system characteristics on advanced sounder information content.
MicroRNA expression in canine mammary cancer

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are 18-22-nt noncoding RNAs that are involved in post-transcriptional regulation of genes. Oncomirs, a subclass of miRNAs, include genes whose expression, or lack thereof, are associated with cancers. Until the last decade, the domestic dog was an underused model for the study of various human diseases that have genetic components. The dog exhibits marked genetic and physiologic similarity to the human, thereby making it an excellent model for study and treatment of various hereditary diseases. Furthermore, because the dog presents with distinct, spontaneously occurring mammary tumors, it may serve as a model for genetic analysis and treatments of humans with malignant breast tumors. Because miRNAs have been found to act as both tumor suppressors and oncogenes in several different cancers, expression patterns of ten miRNAs (miR-15a, miR-16, miR-17-5p, miR-21, miR-29b, miR-125b, miR-145, miR-155, miR-181b, let-7f) known to be associated with human breast cancers were compared to malignant canine mammary tumors (n = 6) and normal canine mammary tissue (n = 10). Resulting data revealed miR-29b and miR-21 to have a statistically significant (p < 0.05 by MANOVA analysis) upregulation in cancerous samples. The ten canine miRNAs follow the same pattern of expression as in the human, except for miR-145 which does not show a difference in expression between the normal and cancerous canine samples. In addition, when analyzed according to specific cancer phenotypes, miR-15a and miR-16 show a significant downregulation in canine ductal carcinomas while miRsR-181b, -21, -29b, and let-7f show a significant upregulation in canine tubular papillary carcinomas.
3D graph-based automated segmentation of corneal layers in anterior-segment optical coherence tomography images of mice

Anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) is a non-invasive imaging modality that allows for the quantitative assessment of corneal thicknesses. Automated approaches for these measurements are not readily available and therefore measurements are often obtained manually. While graph-based approaches that enable the optimal simultaneous segmentation of multiple 3D surfaces have been proposed and applied to 3D optical coherence tomography volumes of the back of the eye, such approaches have not been applied for the segmentation of the corneal surfaces. In this work we propose adapting this graph-based method for the automated 3D segmentation of three corneal surfaces in AS-OCT images and to measure total corneal thickness. The approach is evaluated based on 34 AS-OCT volumes obtained from both eyes of 17 mice with varying corneal thicknesses. The segmentation accuracy was assessed using unsigned border positioning errors and was found to be 1.82 +/- 0.81 μm. We also assessed an average relative error in total layer thickness measurements which was found to be 2.27%.
Totally monotonic games and flow games

Equivalences between totally balanced games and flow games, and between monotonic games and pseudoflow games are well-known. This paper shows that for every totally monotonic game there exists an equivalent flow game and that for every monotonic game, there exists an equivalent flow-based secondary market game.
Heat Flux Estimates for the Western North Atlantic. Part II: The Upper-Ocean Heat Balance

Abstract The assimilation of temperature and altimetric velocity into a numerical model of the upper-ocean mixed layer in Part I allowed an analysis of the upper ocean heat budget for the western North Atlantic Ocean over the 2.5-year period of the Geosat Exact Repeat Mission (November 1986–April 1989). The balance of terms varied regionally: south of the Gulf Stream advection was relatively unimportant in the heat budget, and the ocean responded passively to changes in surface flux. Within the Gulf Stream and to the north of it, cooling of the upper ocean by advection was as large as 0.15°C/day for periods of several weeks. An analysis of the advection term showed that cooling by Ekman transport was opposed by warming from the geostrophic currents of the Gulf Stream, with cooling typically stronger by a factor of 2 because nonuniform Ekman transport disrupted the normal alignment between isotherms and sea surface height contours. There is a complex ocean-atmosphere coupling in this region: in addition to...
SYSTEMS ENGINEERING'S ROLE IN THE RFP PROCESS

Many companies that develop products in the defense industry rely on the DoD Request For Proposal (RFP) process as the principal means for acquiring new business. While the process steps used by each company may vary in the details, the general RFP requirements demand that certain steps be accomplished by all participants. It is also at this early stage of acquisition where the Systems Engineer plays a significant role. This paper presents an outline of the process of responding to DoD Requests For Proposals (RFP's) and discusses the process steps that most naturally involve Systems Engineers. Finally, it points out the benefits of having a well-documented proposal process.
Uniqueness of solutions for second order differential equations

We present a theorem concerning uniqueness of solutions for second order ordinary differential equations with initial conditions. Despite the fact that the hypotheses are weak and the theorem covers a large number of cases, the proof is not especially complicated.
Percolation in interacting colloids.

The percolation behavior of spherical particles with attractive interactions is studied with use of Monte Carlo simulations. These systems differ from lattice Ising systems, which have been previously analyzed, in the necessity to define a shell parameter \ensuremath{\delta} to specify a connected cluster. For small values of \ensuremath{\delta}, correlations due to the attractive interactions drastically lower the percolation threshold in the vicinity of the gas-liquid critical point. For larger values of \ensuremath{\delta}, these shifts are smaller, but the effects of long-range correlations show up as enhanced finite-size effects. The simulation results are discussed in the light of recent experiments which measure the temperature and concentration dependence of the conductivity in interacting microemulsions.
Pressurized proportional counters for coincidence measurements

Abstract The experimental requirements for absolute measurements by 4π βγ-coincidence counting with efficiency variation are outlined. In this context the use and operating characteristics of a pressurized 4π β-proportional counter are considered. Basically, when the counter is pressurized, energetic β-particles deposit a larger fraction of their energies in the sensitive volume. The added property of proportionally then permits efficiency variation by low energy discrimination. This is especially advantageous for measurements on complex β-γ decay, electron capture and mixed radiations.
Inverted organic solar cells with polymer-modified fluorine-doped tin oxide as the electron-collecting electrode

Abstract We report on inverted solar cells using amine-containing polymer (polyethylenimine ethoxylated, PEIE) modified fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) as the electron-collecting electrode. PEIE lowers the work function of FTO from 4.6 eV to 3.8 eV, measured by Kelvin probe, sufficiently low for collecting electrons in solar cells. With the FTO/PEIE electrode, inverted solar cells based on poly[(4,8-bis-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene)-2,6-diyl-alt-(4-(2-ethylhexanoyl)-thieno[3,4-b]thiophene)-2,6-diyl]:phenyl-C 61 -butyric acid methyl ester exhibited an open-circuit voltage of 0.70 ± 0.01 V, a short-circuit current density of 15.2 ± 0.2 mA/cm 2 , a fill factor of 0.60 ± 0.01 and a power conversion efficiency of 6.3 ± 0.2% averaged over 9 devices under 100 mW/cm 2 AM1.5 illumination, which is comparable to the solar cells fabricated on indium–tin oxide glass substrates. In addition, we found that ultraviolet light-containing illumination can reduce the work function of bare FTO from 4.66 eV to 4.34 eV presumably because of the desorption of oxygen trapped in FTO.
Intraoperative Transesophageal Echocardiography: 5-Year Prospective Review of Impact on Surgical Management

Objective To determine the impact of intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography (IOTEE), an important adjunct in many types of cardiac surgical cases, on the surgical decisions made perioperatively in adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Patients And Methods All adult patients who had cardiac surgery between 1993 and 1997 and who also had IOTEE were studied. New findings before and after cardiopulmonary bypass and alterations in the planned surgical procedure or management were documented prospectively. Results A total of 3245 patients (60% men, 40% women; aged 18-93 years with a mean ± SD age of 62±15 years) were included in the study. The most common operations performed were mitral valve repair (26%) and aortic valve replacement (22%). Over the 5-year period, 41 % of patients had IOTEE. New information was found before bypass in 15% of patients, directly affecting surgery in 14% of the patients. The most common new prebypass information found was patent foramen ovale resulting in closure in the majority of patients. New information was found after bypass in 6% of the patients, resulting in a change in surgery or hemodynamic management in 4% of the total. The most common postbypass finding was valvular dysfunction with repeat bypass in most patients for re-repair or replacement. No major complications occurred. Conclusion In adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery, IOTEE provides important information both before and after bypass that affects surgical and hemodynamic management.
A solid solution model for Si–Al substitution in disordered FAU and LTA zeolites

Abstract Configurational entropies ( S con ) arising from disordering of Si and Al in the frameworks of FAU and LTA zeolites were calculated from published 29 Si MAS NMR spectra using the cluster variation method (CVM). The calculations indicate that S con is a systematic function of aluminum mole fraction ( X Al ) and predict that S con becomes zero at X Al =0 and 0.417. The latter value corresponds to the compositions above which FAU and LTA zeolites exhibit long range order, as observed previously from structure determinations and Monte Carlo modeling. This change in ordering state requires that FAU and LTA zeolites with X Al X Al >0.417. The compositions X Al =0 (siliceous Y or ZK-4) and X Al =0.417 (aluminous Y or ZK-4) represent stoichiometric endmembers for these solid solutions. The negligible excess enthalpy of mixing observed for Si–Al substitution in zeolites permits these solid solutions to be described by an athermal solution model, which is derived explicitly from excess entropies calculated through the CVM. Activity composition relationships consistent with this model may be used to describe the energetic consequences of Si–Al solid solution in highly symmetrical zeolites like FAU and LTA.
Assessing term effectiveness in the interactive information access process

This study addresses the question of whether the way in which sets of query terms are identified has an impact on the effectiveness of users' information seeking efforts. Query terms are text strings used as input to an information access system; they are products of a method or grammar that identifies a set of query terms. We conducted an experiment that compared the effectiveness of sets of query terms identified for a single book by three different methods. One had been previously prepared by a human indexer for a back-of-the-book index. The other two were identified by computer programs that used a combination of linguistic and statistical criteria to extract terms from full text. Effectiveness was measured by (1) whether selected query terms led participants to correct answers and (2) how long it took participants to obtain correct answers. Our results show that two sets of terms - the human terms and the set selected according to the linguistically more sophisticated criteria - were significantly more effective than the third set of terms. This single case demonstrates that query languages do have a measurable impact on the effectiveness of query term languages in the interactive information access process. The procedure described in this paper can be used to assess the effectiveness for information seekers of query terms identified by any query language.
Product Networks, Component Modularity and Sourcing

This paper develops product representations as component networks that evolve from sharing of interfaces with other components in a product and links them to the external world of sourcing. The paper formally defines and develops two measures of component modularity by linking Graph Theory and Product Architecture principles. The first measure, degree modularity, is related to the strength of design dependencies with adjacent components. The second measure, bridge modularity, is related to the criticality of components. These two component modularity measures are calculated and interpreted by studying the actual product architecture of two products - a small machinery product and an automobile subsystem. A sourcing framework is suggested, treating product obsolescence as a moderating variable in the effect of modularity on sourcing. The paper concludes with a discussion of how component modularity measures can help managers to take better decisions in the arena of sourcing – both at an operational level and at the strategic level. Directions for future work are discussed.
2. The Nervous System of Birds: A Review

Abstract Students of the avian nervous system are faced with somewhat of a dilemma because so little information is available on the anatomy and physiology of the avian system when it is compared with the available information for mammalian systems. Two strategies of attack are obvious. In the one strategy one basically “starts from scratch” and tries to obtain a bird’s eye view of the problems or one may start with the knowledge of the mammalian system and one compares the similarities and differences in function between these classes and attempts to generalize from the data obtained. In this review an attempt is made to use the latter strategy. ANATOMY Some of the major anatomical differences between many of the avian brains and many of the mammalian brains are: 1. In birds a cortex defined according to Cobb (1960) as “a peripherally placed coating (pallium) of cells arranged in layers” is…
A paper-based microbial fuel cell array for rapid and high-throughput screening of electricity-producing bacteria

There is a large global effort to improve microbial fuel cell (MFC) techniques and advance their translational potential toward practical, real-world applications. Significant boosts in MFC performance can be achieved with the development of new techniques in synthetic biology that can regulate microbial metabolic pathways or control their gene expression. For these new directions, a high-throughput and rapid screening tool for microbial biopower production is needed. In this work, a 48-well, paper-based sensing platform was developed for the high-throughput and rapid characterization of the electricity-producing capability of microbes. 48 spatially distinct wells of a sensor array were prepared by patterning 48 hydrophilic reservoirs on paper with hydrophobic wax boundaries. This paper-based platform exploited the ability of paper to quickly wick fluid and promoted bacterial attachment to the anode pads, resulting in instant current generation upon loading of the bacterial inoculum. We validated the utility of our MFC array by studying how strategic genetic modifications impacted the electrochemical activity of various Pseudomonas aeruginosa mutant strains. Within just 20 minutes, we successfully determined the electricity generation capacity of eight isogenic mutants of P. aeruginosa. These efforts demonstrate that our MFC array displays highly comparable performance characteristics and identifies genes in P. aeruginosa that can trigger a higher power density.
Abrasion resistance of a resin-impregnated type IV gypsum in comparison to conventional products.

Abstract Statement of Problem. Limited abrasion resistance is one of the disadvantages of gypsum materials. One means to improve these properties may be the addition of various polymers to reinforce surface and subsurface wear resistance. Purpose. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the abrasion resistance of 3 types of gypsum materials with a novel abrasion wear device. Material and Methods. A standard test specimen (50 × 50 × 8 mm) with repeating 1 mm, 45°-angle vertical ridges was used as the test surface. Three types of gypsum materials were evaluated: a type III stone, a conventional type IV stone, and a resin-impregnated type IV stone. Specimens of each material (n = 30) were poured in a vinyl polysiloxane impression of the standard test specimen with the use of an acrylic resin custom tray. Each gypsum product was mixed according to the manufacturer's instructions, poured, and separated 1 hour later. Specimens were trimmed and allowed to bench set for 24 hours (n = 15) or 7 days (n = 15). Abrasion was evaluated with the use of a reciprocal moving stage positioned below a weighted stylus. The stylus was loaded with 3 different weights (15, 50, and 75 g), and the individual gypsum specimens were moved reciprocally for 10 passes. Before and after each set of passes, the specimen was measured on an analytical balance to determine material loss. Three-way ANOVA and Scheffe's multiple comparisons test were used to analyze the data ( P Results. Type III gypsum at 24 hours exhibited significantly greater material loss than type IV stones at both 7 days and 24 hours ( P P Conclusion. Within the limitations of this study, no significant differences in abrasion resistance were found between specimens fabricated with resin-impregnated and conventional type IV stones, although the former exhibited the least material loss. (J Prosthet Dent 2002;87:319-22.)
Current-Voltage Characteristic of Electrospray Processes in Microfluidics

We use a glass-based microfluidic device to study the electric current behavior of an electrospray process in the presence of a coflowing liquid. The current shows strong voltage dependence and weak flow rate dependence, in stark contrast to classical electrospray. By considering that the current is dominated by convection near the apex of the conical meniscus and driven by tangential electric stresses, we quantitatively capture the voltage and flow rate dependence of the current. Our results elucidate the influence of external field strength and open the way to achieve robust electric control of the current and of the drop size in microfluidics.