cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Creatine kinase isoenzymes in the diagnosis of intestinal infarction.

Total creatine kinase and its isoenzymes CK-MB and CK-BB were measured in the serum of patients admitted with acute abdominal pain or signs suggestive of an intraabdominal catastrophe. Total creatine kinase was measured by automated spectrophotometry, CK-MB by chemiluminescent assay, and CK-BB by radioimmunoassay. Patients were grouped according to their final diagnosis: intestinal infarction (N=8); all other diagnoses (N=22); controls (N=20). CK-BB in the infarction group (22.3±5.3 ng/ml, mean±se) was significantly greater (P 20 ng/ml was the best predictor of intestinal infarction. Results of this study indicate that CK-BB isoenzyme measurement may be useful in the diagnosis of intestinal infarction in man.
The effect of different types of physical exercise on glucose and citrulline synthesis in isolated rat liver parenchymal cells.

Abstract Rates of gluconeogenesis from lactate or pyruvate in hepatocytes from untrained rats were not increased by an acute (1 h) bout of exercise (running at 20 m min ). Hepatocytes from rats that had been exercise-trained for 1 month had lower rates of gluconeogenesis from lactate than cells from unexercised controls; the rates with pyruvate were identical. Hepatocytes from livers of trained animals immediately after 1 h of exercise synthesized glucose more rapidly and accumulated more citrulline than cells from resting rats.
Ag diffusion in cubic silicon carbide

Abstract The diffusion of Ag impurities in bulk 3C–SiC is studied using ab initio methods based on density functional theory. This work is motivated by the desire to reduce transport of radioactive Ag isotopes through the SiC boundary layer in the Tristructural-Isotropic (TRISO) fuel pellet, which is a significant concern for the Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) nuclear reactor concept. The structure and stability of charged Ag and Ag-vacancy clusters in SiC are calculated. Relevant intrinsic SiC defect energies are also determined. The most stable state for the Ag impurity in SiC is found to be a Ag atom substituting on the Si sub-lattice and bound to a C vacancy. Bulk diffusion coefficients are estimated for different impurity states and values are all found to have very high activation energy. The impurity state with the lowest activation energy for diffusion is found to be the Ag interstitial, with an activation energy of approximately 7.9 eV. The high activation energies for Ag diffusion in bulk 3C–SiC cause Ag transport to be very slow in the bulk and suggests that observed Ag transport in this material is due to an alternative mechanism (e.g., grain boundary diffusion).
Originality in the Postcolony: Choreographing the Neoethnic Body of Philippine Ballet

Igorot, the ballet, begins with the sounds of traditional Philippine highland bamboo wind instruments (a medley of songs borrowed from the recordings of the internationally renowned Bayanihan Dance Company). As the curtain rises, a spotlight locates a lone dancer curled up on the floor, her head lowered over her knees, center stage left. She is a "priestess," dressed in a blanket made of a textile distinctive of the Gran Cordilleran Central mountains of Luzon Island, worn in a fashion traditional to the Ibaloy peoples of Bokod, among others. The blanket is draped from the ballerina's shoulders to her calves, in front and in back, with a slit cut through for her head. Bathed in a pool of light, the dancer rises to a kneeling pose, her hands leading the ascent with tiny flicking gestures that erupt rhythmically in startling bursts (another precise reference to hand gestures of Tingian, Ifugao, Kalinga, and Ibaloy ritual dances, among others). At this point the music changes to a male vocalist's chanting, in a style resembling that of the Ifugao. As the ballerina's arms reach their highest point directly overhead, her hands abruptly change direction, arcing down and far away from each other. They open out sideways, hands flexed sharply back and pointing upwards. When they have reached a horizontal axis, the dancer stretches her rib cage laterally, side to side, and looks back and up to each side, pressing against the open air with one palm and then another (see Figure 1). Smoothly, she brings her hands back to the front of her rib cage, and bows low once again, before rising suddenly back up to a kneeling pose, this time with one toe shoe exposed out to her side, herfoot pressing up to full pointe. The footflexes and extends against thefloor a couple of times, resembling in its dynamic of abruptly rising accents the earlier gestures of the hands. The ballerina then reinitiates the hand flicks, as she presses her full weight up onto her pointed toe until she arrives standing on both of her pointes. She bourrees liquidly, rapidly, remaining exactly in place for a few moments. Then, in another abrupt shift of intent, this time earthward, the ballerina descends swiftly to a wide low stance full feet on the ground-"second position
Dermal fibroblasts actively metabolize retinoic acid but not retinol.

The accessibility of plasma retinol and retinoic acid to the epidermis may be influenced by the number and metabolic capacity of fibroblasts in papillary dermis. The metabolism of retinol-binding protein-bound all- trans -retinol, and albumin-bound all- trans -retinoic acid, by fibroblasts cultured on plastic dishes or in type I collagen gels, was examined. There were no significant differences in the metabolism of either retinoid by fibroblasts as a function of culture condition. There were large differences between retinoids, however. Retinoic acid was rapidly taken up and metabolized to unidentified polar metabolites that were released to the medium. Metabolic capacity was not saturated up to a medium retinoic acid concentration of 1 μM, and was induced further by prior exposure to retinoic acid. In contrast, retinol, although readily taken up, was not metabolized, i.e., neither retinoic acid nor retinyl ester was formed. By immunohistochemistry, the average number of fibroblasts in a 100 μm thickness of papillary dermis was estimated to be 1 × 10 6 cells per cm 2 . Utilizing this value, the capacity of dermal fibroblasts to metabolize retinoic acid based on fibroblast abundance in the dermis was calculated. The results suggest that fibroblasts could limit delivery of plasma retinoic acid but not retinol to the epidermis on the basis of their metabolic capacity and abundance in the dermis.
Effect of Dispersion Conditions on the Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Carbon Nanofiber–Polyester Nanocomposites

In this study, sonication dispersion technique was employed to infuse 0.1–0.4 wt.% carbon nanofibers (CNFs) into polyester matrix to enhance thermomechanical properties of resulting nanocomposites. The effect of dispersion conditions has been investigated with regard to the CNF content and the sonication time. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs revealed excellent dispersion of 0.2 wt.% CNF infused in polyester, resulting in enhanced mechanical responses. Polyester with 0.2 wt.% CNF samples resulted in 88% and 16% increase in flexural strength and modulus, respectively, over the neat one. Quasi-static compression tests showed similar increasing trend with addition of CNF. Fracture morphology study of tested samples revealed relatively rougher surface in CNF-loaded polyester compared to the neat due to better interaction between the fiber and the matrix. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) study exhibited about 35% increase in the storage modulus and about 5 C increase in the glass transition temperature (Tg). A better thermal stability in the CNF-loaded polyester was observed from the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) studies. Best results were obtained for the 0.2 wt.% CNF loading with 90 mins of sonication and 50% sonication amplitude. It is recommended that this level of sonication facilitates suitable dispersion of the CNF into polyester matrices without destroying the CNF’s structure. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4030196]
The bridge-region of the Ku superfamily is an atypical zinc ribbon domain

Members of the Ku superfamily are DNA-end-binding proteins involved in non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) DNA repair. The published crystal structure of human Ku-DNA complex reveals a heterodimer that forms a ring around dsDNA by means of the Ku core modules. These modules contain a highly conserved seven-stranded β-barrel, which in turn contains an insertion, termed the bridge-region, between its second and third β-strands. The bridge-region adopts an unusual β-strand-rich structure critical for dsDNA-binding and Ku function, but its provenance remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate that the bridge-region of Ku is a novel member of the diverse Zn-ribbon fold group. Sequence analysis reveals that Ku from several Gram-positive bacteria and bacteriophages retain metal-chelating motifs, whereas they have been lost in the versions from most other organisms. Structural comparisons suggest that the Zn-ribbon from Ku-bridge-region is the first example of a circularly permuted, segment-swapped Zn-ribbon. This finding helps explain how Ku is likely to bind DNA as an obligate dimer. Further, we hypothesize that retention of the unusual conformation of the turns of the Zn-ribbons, despite loss of the Zn-binding sites, provides clues regarding the mechanism by which the Ku-bridge-regions sense the DNA state.
Spending Stabilization Rules: A Solution to Recurring State Budget Crises?

Recurring state fiscal crises raise a fundamental question: Is it possible to stabilize budgets over the business cycle? This paper examines spending stabilization rules, an alternative to the inaccurate process of budget forecasting. Under two spending rules, we assess how state budget situations would compare with actual experience. Our analysis reconstructs recent aggregate state budget patterns assuming states had adopted a rule and then takes a closer look at California and South Carolina. With surpluses partially invested in a rainy-day fund, a spending rule resulted in stable growth of state budgets throughout the recession and sluggish recovery of the early 2000s.
Food palatability, rheology, and meal patterning.

Background: Overweight and obesity are largely of dietary origin and reflect food choice. Food palatability, eating patterns, and food form are important determinants of choice and energy balance. Methods: A review of the literature provides a characterization of the roles of these determinants of feeding. Results: Food palatability is the strongest predictor of intake where availability is not limiting. Whether the rewarding properties of palatable items lead to nonhomeostatic feeding and weight gain warrants further study. Positive energy balance is attributed to greater energy intake within eating events but also to a greater extent, increased eating frequency. Although the size and frequency of eating events may compensate for each other, interventions aimed at limiting the latter may be especially productive. One of the most marked dietary trends is an increase of energy derived from beverages. The weak dietary compensation that energy-yielding beverages elicit leads to positive energy balance. This,...
Comparison of simulation and experiment for a Josephson fluxonic diode

With a slight modification to the control line and its bias configuration, a long Josephson junction vortex flow transistor structure can become a so-called fluxonic diode containing fluxon and antifluxon "doped" regions in analogy to a pn junction. Such structures have been made with Nb-Pb tunnel junctions allowing testing of the same device with a number of different doping configurations. This paper compares experimental results with a one dimensional numerical simulation. Different configurations for the diode have been modeled with Stewart-McCumber loss parameters ranging between 50 and 1400. The simulation clarifies the origin of a number of experimental observations, including a peculiar dependence of resonance induced step behavior on loss parameter, and a limit to the value of the gradient of doping in the transition region below which an asymmetric I-V curve representing forward and reverse biases is obtained. In forward bias, the I-V curve above a threshold current is roughly linear and devoid of resonance structure, provided injection of carriers occurs from one region to the other. Injection is a function of loss and the asymmetry of doping. >
Effects of general processing capacity and sustained selective attention on temporal processing performance of children with specific language impairment

This study investigated the potential influences of general processing capacity and sustained selective attention on the temporal processing of a group of children with specific language impairment (SLI) and a group of age-matched (CA) controls. Children completed a sustained selective auditory attention task and two speech processing tasks, the Speech Identification Task, representing a cognitively more complex task, and a standard speech discrimination task, representing a cognitively less complex task. The speech stimuli included two-formant, 40-ms transition [ba] and [da] consonant–vowel (CV) syllables and the nonstop CV syllable [sa]. We hypothesized, in accordance with Tallal's temporal processing deficit view, that if SLI children have a fundamental deficit in temporal processing, they should demonstrate poor performance on both speech processing tasks relative to CA children. By contrast, if the temporal processing problem of SLI children relates to a limitation in general processing capacity, the SLI children should show better performance on the discrimination task compared to the identification task. Alternatively, if poor sustained selective attention mediates SLI children's poor temporal processing, the SLI children should show poor performance on an independent measure of auditory attention, which in turn should account for a portion of the variance in any observed group differences in temporal processing. Results showed no group difference in sustained selective auditory attention. On the identification task, group, stimulus-type, and interaction effects emerged. SLI children performed more poorly than CA children, and stop CV syllables were identified less frequently than the nonstop CV syllable. On the discrimination task, there were no main effects or interactions for accuracy (A score). For the reaction time analysis, only a stimulus-type effect was found, with children responding faster to the /sa/ syllable. Results were interpreted to suggest that these SLI children did not evidence a basic temporal processing deficit. Rather, the SLI children's poor identification task performance was interpreted to reflect an interaction between these children's more limited general processing capacity and the nature of the task.
Statistical data pre-processing for fuzzy modeling of semiconductor manufacturing process

A systematic algorithm is proposed to design a fuzzy inference system through statistical data pre-processing. This approach is appropriate in modeling the qualitative aspects of a semiconductor manufacturing process, when extensive training data are often limited or difficult to collect due to the high cost of conducting experiments. With the limited number of data sets from a designed experiment, our system employs a proper statistical analysis to extract simple fuzzy inference rules of input-output relationships and initialize the corresponding membership functions. The output process variable can be continuous or categorical, and the fuzzy system can be further tuned to accommodate newly acquired experimental data. >
Frequency normalization of constant power contours for MESFETs

The constant power contours have been measured on MESFETs with different doping profiles over the frequency range 8-16 GHz for a fixed input power level at different bias points. At each frequency, the contours are normalized with respect to the load for maximum power output; within experimental accuracy, the normalization holds fairly well, independent of frequency under certain limits. The concept is an extension of small-signal mismatch circles. In case of large-signal applications, the mismatch contours are no longer circles, because of the way the saturation current and breakdown voltage limits are attained. The contours present some reflection coefficient loci with respect to a given load. >
Randomized Trial of Aldosterone AntagonisM in Diastolic Heart Failure (RAAM-DHF)

Antero-apical dyskinesia mechanically disadvantages the LV and may be associated with disease progression and poor outcomes in ischemic heart failure. The Parachute Implant device (Cardiokinetix Inc.) is a self-attaching partitioning membrane deployed within the ventricle via a percutaneous catheter-based approach. The Parachute isolates the dysfunctional region of the ventricle and decreases chamber volume. Twenty NYHA Class III patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy were enrolled in the USPARACHUTE study. Patients were white, mostly men (16/20), with an average age 53.6 years (range 42-69) and BMI of 31.7 (range 24-56). Comorbidities included dyslipidemia (90%), prior PCI (70%), smoking history (70%), hypertension (65%), diabetes (60%), CABG (25%), and history of stroke (10%). Most patients (80%) had an ICD. The device was deployed in 18 of the 20 patients. Average procedure time was 81.1 min (range 31-147); average fluoroscopy time of 18.8 min (range 10.4e 40). Average hospital stay was 1.9 days (range 0-7 days). 17/20 patients were discharged with the device in place (2 not attempted due to LV anatomy and one unsuccessful implant). The primary safety endpoint was defined as the successful delivery and deployment of the Parachute Implant through 6-month follow-up without the occurrence of Major Adverse Cardiac Events (MACE) related to the investigational device. This endpoint was achieved in 61% (11/18) of the patients enrolled. In evaluating all MACE events, 11/ 18 patients (61%) were event-free, and 14/18 (78%) were device/procedure-related MACE event free. There were total of 25 MACE events and 4 device-related MACE events. Efficacy data are presented in Tables.
Do heterotrimeric G proteins redistribute upon G protein-coupled receptor stimulation in platelets?

Previous studies have proposed that stimulation of G protein-coupled receptors can cause a redistribution of G proteins to other receptors. The redistribution would cause a greater functional sensitivity of unsensitized ‘secondary’ receptors toward their agonists. Using platelets as a model system, we utilized a proximal signaling event, intracellular calcium mobilization, to determine if agonist stimulation of particular Gq-coupled receptors would result in increased sensitivity for stimulation of other Gq-coupled receptors. Platelets express three Gq-coupled receptors for thrombin, thromboxane A2, and ADP with different potencies. Varying concentrations of a primary agonist (PAR-1 agonist SFLLRN, or the TXA2 agonist U46619) was followed by a constant submaximal concentration of a secondary agonist (U46619, or the P2Y1 agonist ADP). We observed that initial stimulation by SFLLRN was followed by a decrease in the extent of secondary U46619 or ADP-mediated calcium mobilization in comparison to control resp...
Imaging Breast Cancer Chemotherapy Response with Light

Diffuse optical spectroscopy (DOS), which is used to image tumor metabolic response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC), shows large changes in tumor functional parameters with significant reductions in oxy- and deoxyhemoglobin for responders versus nonresponders. Although investigational, DOS may provide a cost-effective, risk-free method for optimizing NAC drug and dosing strategies for individual patients.
Paclitaxel Decreases the Interstitial Fluid Pressure and Improves Oxygenation in Breast Cancers in Patients Treated With Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy: Clinical Implications

Purpose It has been hypothesized that tumors with high interstitial fluid pressure (IFP) and/or hypoxia respond poorly to chemotherapy (CT) because of poor drug delivery. Preclinical studies have shown that paclitaxel reduces the IFP and improves the oxygenation (pO2) of tumors. Our aim is to evaluate the IFP and pO2 before and after neoadjuvant CT using sequential paclitaxel and doxorubicin in patients with breast cancer tumors of ≥ 3 cm. Patients and Methods Patients were randomly assigned, according to an institutional review board–approved phase II protocol, to receive neoadjuvant sequential CT consisting of either four cycles of dose-dense doxorubicin at 60 mg/m2 every 2 weeks followed by nine cycles of weekly paclitaxel at 80 mg/m2 (group 1) or vice versa, with paclitaxel administered before doxorubicin (group 2). Patients were re-evaluated clinically and radiologically. The IFP (wick-in-needle technique) and pO2 (Eppendorf) were measured in tumors at baseline and after completing the administration...
Electronic structures of [n]-cyclacenes (n = 6–12) and short, hydrogen-capped, carbon nanotubes

Density functional (M06-L and B3LYP) and multiconfigurational second-order perturbation (CASPT2) theories are applied to [n]-cyclacenes having n = 6–12 in order to assess their strain energies and the degree of di- or polyradical character inherent in their electronic structures. In the case of density functional theory, a broken symmetry approach must be employed and the sensitivity of the results to choice of functional and broken-symmetry protocol is explored. Viewing the [n]-cyclacenes as monomeric building blocks which may be joined to grow finite length (n,0) single-walled carbon nanotubes, density functional calculations are further employed to explore changes in electronic structure associated with increasing nanotube length. Spin-state energy gaps are predicted to decrease both with increasing cyclacene size and with increasing nanotube length; [n]-cyclacenes with odd values of n are predicted to develop polyradical character for smaller n than is the case for even values n.
Optimizing beyond the carrier by carrier proportional fair scheduler

The multi-carrier proportional fair scheduling (MC-PFS) problem in a multi-user system has been shown to be NP-hard. Carrier by carrier proportional fair scheduling (CC-PFS) is commonly used instead to allocate resources in real-time. Considering the sub-optimal nature of CC-PFS and its popularity, this paper formulates the optimization beyond CC-PFS as a constrained maximum sum rate problem (with users' data rates scheduled by CC-PFS as the constraint) and tackles the problem in two ways. Firstly, the problem is shown to be equivalent to the well-studied generalized assignment problem (GAP) under the assumption of infinitely backlogged data. By considering traffic arrivals, the problem becomes a nonlinear integer programming problem which can be solved by outer approximation (OA) algorithms. Secondly, the problem is shown to be equivalent to a classical trading problem, and a low complexity heuristic algorithm that can be run in real-time is developed based on trading resource blocks (RBs). Using a system scheduling many video call users, we show that in about half of the time slots, the sum rate can be improved over CC-PFS while each user transmits at least as many bits as scheduled by CC-PFS. The heuristic algorithm captures about 30% of the throughput improvement found by OA. Finally, the reason for the improvements over CC-PFS is found to be traffic arrival.
Robust control of a class of nonlinear uncertain systems. Fault tolerance against sensor failures and subsequent self recovery

The problem of designing a fault-tolerant robust control for a class of nonlinear uncertain systems is investigated. Possible failures of the sensors measuring the state variables are considered, and robust measures are developed to identify the stability-vulnerable failures. Based on an evaluation of the robust measures, a fault-tolerant robust control can switch itself among several robust control strategies designed under normal operation and under specific faulty conditions. It is shown that, under mild conditions, the proposed scheme guarantees not only the desired performance under normal operations but also robust stability and best achievable performance when there is a sensor failure of any kind.
Measuring nitrate fluxes to assess estuarine eutrophication

The availability of nitrate sensors has enabled integration of these instruments into real-time profiling buoys and, when coupled with current meters, allows for calculation of nitrate fluxes in to and out of estuaries. As the United States' estuaries are increasingly experiencing eutrophication [1,2], this technological development is timely. We report on the use of nitrate sensors on our profiling buoy system as part of NANOOS, the Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems, which is the Pacific Northwest regional association of the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS), and in directed studies on causes for hypoxia in Hood Canal, a sub-basin of Puget Sound.
Social and Behavioral Aspects of the Carrying Capacity of Natural Environments

“Yellowstone Campgrounds Full” in big letters on a huge plywood sign at the park entrance was the welcome encountered by many visitors arriving on summer afternoons in recent years at the world’s oldest national park. In view of the apparent stress-mediating value of outdoor recreation in an “age of anxiety” (Driver, 1972, pp. 236–237), and in view of other functions of play behavior not specific to humans (Fagen, 1981), the predicament of these visitors is not unimportant. It typifies many situations that call for new forms of inquiry extending beyond conventional patterns of social-psychological research on effects of density and crowding. These new lines of investigation require clear comprehension of a concept not yet common in the vocabulary of traditional social-psychological research: carrying capacity.
Health insurance and children with disabilities.

Summary Few people would disagree that children with disabilities need adequate health insurance. But what kind of health insurance coverage would be optimal for these children? Peter Szilagyi surveys the current state of insurance coverage for children with special health care needs and examines critical aspects of coverage with an eye to helping policy makers and clinicians improve systems of care for them. He also reviews the extent to which insurance enhances their access to and use of health care, the quality of care received, and their health outcomes. Szilagyi begins by noting that nearly 9 percent of children with disabilities are uninsured for all or part of a year and that coverage even for many such children with insurance is inadequate— either not meeting their needs or not adequately covering the costs of care. By one estimate, nearly two of every five special needs children are either uninsured or inadequately insured. The author finds strong evidence that health insurance improves access to health care. Children with disabilities who are insured are more likely than those who are uninsured to have a primary care provider, to be able to reach a specialist, and to have access to supporting services. They also have fewer unmet needs for medical and oral health care and receive care more quickly. The bulk of the evidence shows that insurance improves quality of care for children in general and for children with disabilities. Parents of insured children with chronic conditions are more satisfied with their children’s primary care, medications, specialty care, and overall health care than are parents of their uninsured peers. A handful of studies of specific diseases have found insurance to be related to improvements in quality measures, such as more doctor visits and greater continuity of care. In conclusion, Szilagyi stresses the need to provide adequate health insurance to all children with disabilities and to develop a set of best practices in health insurance to cover important services needed by this population. To that end, implementation of the federal health care reform act, including the mandate for insurance coverage, is important. He also urges support for medical home and other quality initiatives and better ways to monitor quality and health outcomes to ensure that children with disabilities receive cost-effective and equitable care.
Thrombospondin-1 Inhibits Nitric Oxide Signaling via CD36 by Inhibiting Myristic Acid Uptake

Although CD36 is generally recognized to be an inhibitory signaling receptor for thrombospondin-1 (TSP1), the molecular mechanism for transduction of this signal remains unclear. Based on evidence that myristic acid and TSP1 each modulate endothelial cell nitric oxide signaling in a CD36-dependent manner, we examined the ability of TSP1 to modulate the fatty acid translocase activity of CD36. TSP1 and a CD36 antibody that mimics the activity of TSP1 inhibited myristate uptake. Recombinant TSP1 type 1 repeats were weakly inhibitory, but an anti-angiogenic peptide derived from this domain potently inhibited myristate uptake. This peptide also inhibited membrane translocation of the myristoylated CD36 signaling target Fyn and activation of Src family kinases. Myristate uptake stimulated cGMP synthesis via endothelial nitric-oxide synthase and soluble guanylyl cyclase. CD36 ligands blocked myristate-stimulated cGMP accumulation in proportion to their ability to inhibit myristate uptake. TSP1 also inhibited myristate-stimulated cGMP synthesis by engaging its receptor CD47. Myristate stimulated endothelial and vascular smooth muscle cell adhesion on type I collagen via the NO/cGMP pathway, and CD36 ligands that inhibit myristate uptake blocked this response. Therefore, the fatty acid translocase activity of CD36 elicits proangiogenic signaling in vascular cells, and TSP1 inhibits this response by simultaneously inhibiting fatty acid uptake via CD36 and downstream cGMP signaling via CD47.
Petrology and Maturation of Dispersed Organic Matter in New Albany Shale Group of Illinois Basin: ABSTRACT

The New Albany Shale group of the Illinois basin is being studied to evaluate its potential for yielding hydrocarbons. As part of this study, coal petrographic techniques have been employed to evaluate the composition and thermal maturity of dispersed organic matter in the shales. Vitrinite reflectance was measured on acid-macerated kerogen separates from 11 cores and 126 cuttings from drill holes through the New Albany Shale in Illinois, Indiana, and western Kentucky. No significant variations in reflectance values were observed within the New Albany at any single location with respect to either depositional facies or depth. An isoreflectance map prepared from the data shows large areas of the Illinois basin where reflectance is uniformly low (> 0.5% Roil) and the organic matter has not yet reached the stage of petroleum generation. Several areas of higher reflectance also are present: (1) near the northern erosional truncation of the New Albany in central Illinois; (2) in east-central Illinois, an area associated with a broad southward-plunging yncline just west of the La Salle anticlinal belt; (3) in Wayne and Hamilton Counties, Illinois, the present area of maximum burial depth; and (4) in extreme southeastern Illinois, where the highest reflectances yet observed (> 1.0% Ro) correspond to a complexly faulted and mineralized area with nearby igneous intrusions. Changes in color and intensity of UV fluorescence of liptinites are generally in good agreement with reflectance data. Occurrence and abundance of amorphous organic matter, alginites (mainly Tasmanites), vitrinites, and exinites are facies-dependent. Solid hydrocarbons that occur as pore fillings in fusinite are present mainly in samples from southeastern Illinois. Their presence suggests that hydrocarbon generation and expulsion have occurred in the New Albany in southeastern Illinois. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1575------------
Single Image Superresolution Based on Support Vector Regression

Support vector machine (SVM) regression is considered for a statistical method of single frame superresolution in both the spatial and Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) domains. As opposed to current classification techniques, regression allows considerably more freedom in the determination of missing high-resolution information. In addition, since SVM regression approaches the superresolution problem as an estimation problem with a criterion of image correctness rather than visual acceptableness, its optimization results have better mean-squared error. With the addition of structure in the DCT coefficients, DCT domain image superresolution is further improved.
Cooperation and Coalition Development Among Neighborhood Organizations: A Case Study

The widespread existence and importance of progressive interorganizational coali tions are well documented in the social science literature and in the popular media. We often hear about the benefits of such coalition formation (e.g., "power in num bers" and "mutual support"). However, questions of how coalitions actually work and what can be done to help coalitions achieve their commonly held goals are often neglected. Through an in depth analysis of one coalition (which in this paper is called United Neighborhood Housing Efforts), many of the complex issues affecting the success of cooperative systems among organizations are identified and discussed. Several recommendations are made about how to fully involve participants in a cohesive coalition development process. It is argued that to attain success in "pull ing fragments together," a coalition does not have to "direct" the lines of communi cation and cooperation. Instead, interactive channels between participating groups must be stimulated. By providi...
Federalism and Freedom

The argument for devolution of power to state and local governments in contemporary Supreme Court cases regularly relies on claims about the virtues of federalism as a means of maintaining individual liberty. This article explores the plausibility of the argument that supplanting federal with state authority is likely systematically to protect individual liberty. The article argues that if there is a viable argument for "federalism as freedom," it must go beyond the sense that two governments are more repressive than one or that the federal government is more inclined to curtail liberty than is a state or local authority. The plausible claims rely on the abilities of autonomous state governments to provide a competing source of norms and to allow escape from oppressive laws. The availability of sanctuaries in other states is a function of rights of interstate travel and territorial limitations on state jurisdiction, which themselves require federalized constraints on state and local autonomy.
Models for interconnect capacitance extraction

Commonly used numerical methods in capacitance extraction both for small and large circuit blocks are reviewed for a VLSI design. Boundary element based field solvers can effectively be used for small structures but can not be used for large structures because of large grid requirement. Field solvers based on random walk method are more appropriate for large structures but still they are quite slow in comparison to analytic capacitance models, which are generally applied for chip level extractions. Accounting for 3D fringing fields has become essential in analytic models for accurate extraction of current VLSI technologies.
Synaptic transmission persists in synaptotagmin mutants of Drosophila

Synaptotagmin is one of the major integral membrane proteins of synaptic vesicles. It has been postulated to dock vesicles to their release sites, to act as the Ca2+ sensor for the release process, and to be a fusion protein during exocytosis. To clarify the function of this protein, we have undertaken a genetic analysis of the synaptotagmin gene in Drosophila. We have identified five lethal alleles of synaptotagmin, at least one of which lacks detectable protein. Surprisingly, however, many embryos homozygous for this null allele hatch and, as larvae, crawl, feed, and respond to stimuli. Electrophysiological recordings in embryonic cultures confirmed that synaptic transmission persists in the null allele. Therefore, synaptotagmin is not absolutely required for the regulated exocytosis of synaptic vesicles. The lethality of synaptotagmin in late first instar larvae is probably due to a perturbation of transmission that leaves the main apparatus for vesicle docking and fusion intact.
ASSOCIATION BETWEEN A SUNFLOWER FUNGAL PATHOGEN, PHOMA MACDONALDII, AND A STEM WEEVIL, APION OCCIDENTALE (COLEOPTERA: CURCULIONIDAE)

The presence of the fungus Phoma macdonaldii Boerema on the exocuticle of the adult stem weevil Apion occidentale Fall, was verified using isolation techniques and scanning electron microscopy. Pycnidiospores matching those of P. macdonaldii in size and shape were observed on the antennae, meso- and metathoracic legs of both field-collected and Phoma-incubated adults. Fungal hyphae were observed on the rostrum of both field-collected and laboratory-inoculated adults. Four percent of the weevils carried P. macdonaldii internally.
A QR Accelerated Volume-to-Surface Boundary Condition for the Finite-Element Solution of Eddy-Current Problems

We are concerned with the solution of time-dependent electromagnetic eddy-current problems using a finite-element formulation on three-dimensional unstructured meshes. We allow for multiple conducting regions, and our goal is to develop an efficient computational method that does not require a computational mesh of the air/vacuum regions. This requires a sophisticated global boundary condition specifying the total fields on the conductor boundaries. To meet this requirement, we propose a volume-to-surface boundary condition based on the Biot-Savart law. We found the Biot-Savart approach to be very accurate. In addition, this approach can be accelerated via a low-rank QR approximation of the discretized Biot-Savart law
Mice and humans: chromosome engineering and its application to functional genomics

Functional modeling of human genes and diseases requires suitable mammalian model organisms. For its genetic malleability, the mouse is likely to continue to play a major role in defining basic genetic traits and complex pathological disorders. Recently, gene targeting techniques have been extended towards developing new engineering strategies for generating extensive lesions and rearrangements in mouse chromosomes. While these advances create new opportunities to address similar aberrations observed in human diseases, they also open new ways of scaling-up mutagenesis projects that try to catalogue and annotate cellular functions of mammalian genes.
Agreement on the clinical diagnosis and management of cutaneous squamous neoplasms.

BACKGROUND Diagnostic accuracy and preferred therapeutic strategies for actinic keratoses (AKs) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) have significant public health implications. OBJECTIVE To evaluate clinical–pathologic agreement on the diagnosis of AKs and early SCCs and to characterize the effect of diagnosis on therapeutic decisions. METHODS & MATERIALS Nine dermatologists and two dermatopathologists reviewed an image-based dataset of AKs and early SCCs. Clinical–pathologic agreement, inter- and intraobserver reliability for clinical diagnosis, and frequencies of therapies according to pathologic diagnosis were assessed. RESULTS Clinical–pathologic (κ=0.10) agreement was poor, whereas interobserver (κ=0.24) and intraobserver (κ=0.28) agreements were fair. Participants were more likely to treat AKs with cryotherapy (64.2%) and to manage SCCs with surgery (72.8%). Therapeutic choice rarely changed after participants were shown histological photomicrographs. Participating clinicians treated most lesions histologically diagnosed as SCC in situ arising within AK using surgery, whereas pathologists selected cryotherapy or curettage and electrodesiccation for these lesions. CONCLUSION We found poor clinical–pathologic agreement and reproducibility for clinically distinguishing between AK and early SCC even between skin cancer specialists from a single academic group practice. Nomenclature used in the pathologic diagnosis of AK and SCC affects clinicians' therapeutic decisions. The authors have indicated no significant interest with commercial supporters.
A new token ring archival system for MRI and CT

The authors briefly evaluate the performance and utility of a network and archival system in a clinical environment. The system utilizes a token ring configuration with optical image storage and network interface by means of a microcomputer to a 1.5-T magnetic resonance imaging system. Transfer rates from the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system to the interface of approximately 130 kb/s are reported. The configuration is expandable and can accommodate equipment from different vendors and different imaging modalities. >
Identification of Macrophage-Specific Infectivity Loci (mil) of Legionella pneumophila That Are Not Required for Infectivity of Protozoa

We have recently shown that many mutants of Legionella pneumophila exhibit similar defective phenotypes within both U937 human-derived macrophages and the protozoan host Acanthamoeba (L.-Y. Gao, O. S. Harb, and Y. Abu Kwaik, Infect. Immun. 65:4738-4746, 1997). These observations have suggested that many of the mechanisms utilized by L. pneumophila to parasitize mammalian and protozoan cells are similar, but our data have not excluded the possibility that there are unique mechanisms utilized by L. pneumophila to survive and replicate within macrophages but not protozoa. To examine this possibility, we screened a bank of 5,280 miniTn10::kan transposon insertion mutants of L. pneumophila for potential mutants that exhibited defective phenotypes of cytopathogenicity and intracellular replication within macrophage-like U937 cells but not within Acanthamoeba polyphaga. We identified 32 mutants with various degrees of defects in cytopathogenicity, intracellular survival, and replication within human macrophages, and most of the mutants exhibited wild-type phenotypes within protozoa. Six of the mutants exhibited mild defects in protozoa. The defective loci were designated mil (for macrophage-specific infectivity loci). Based on their intracellular growth defects within macrophages, the mil mutants were grouped into five phenotypic groups. Groups I to III included the mutants that were severely defective in macrophages, while members of the other two groups exhibited a modestly defective phenotype within macrophages. The growth kinetics of many mutants belonging to groups I to III were also examined, and these were shown to have a similar defective phenotype in peripheral blood monocytes and a wild-type phenotype within another protozoan host, Hartmannella vermiformis. Transmission electron microscopy of A. polyphaga infected by three of the mil mutants belonging to groups I and II showed that they were similar to the parent strain in their capacity to recruit the rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) around the phagosome. In contrast, infection of macrophages showed that the three mutants failed to recruit the RER around the phagosome during early stages of the infection. None of the mil mutants was resistant to NaCl, and the dot or icm NaCl(r) mutants are severely defective within mammalian and protozoan cells. Our data indicated that in addition to differences in mechanisms of uptake of L. pneumophila by macrophages and protozoa, there were also genetic loci required for L. pneumophila to parasitize mammalian but not protozoan cells. We hypothesize that L. pneumophila has evolved as a protozoan parasite in the environment but has acquired loci specific for intracellular replication within macrophages. Alternatively, ecological coevolution with protozoa has allowed L. pneumophila to possess multiple redundant mechanisms to parasitize protozoa and that some of these mechanisms do not function within macrophages.
Identification of lake trout Salvelinus namaycush spawning habitat in northern Lake Huron using high-resolution satellite imagery

The availability and quality of spawning habitat may limit lake trout recovery in the Great Lakes, but comprehensive maps of current spawning habitats are unavailable at the basin scale. Current methods used to identify lake trout spawning locations are time- and labor-intensive and spatially limited. Due to the observation that some lake trout spawning sites are relatively clean of overlaying algae compared to adjacent areas not used for spawning, we hypothesized that spawning sites could be identified using satellite imagery. Satellite imagery collected just before and after the spawning season in 2013 was used to assess whether lake trout spawning habitat could be identified based on its spectral characteristics. Results indicated that Pleiades high-resolution multispectral satellite imagery can be successfully used to estimate the vegetative cover of substrates and temporal changes in vegetative coverage, and that models developed from processed imagery can be used to identify potential shallow water lake trout spawning sites based on comparison of sites where lake trout eggs were and were not observed after spawning. Satellite imagery is a new potential tool for identifying nearshore lake trout spawning habitat across broad areas of the Great Lakes.
Simulating the Impact of Phase Change Material Embedded Building Envelopes on the Inter-Building Effect in Non-tropical Cities

Abstract The built environment contributes significantly to rapidly growing world energy consumption. Along with urbanization, buildings continue to escalate this trend owing to their tighter spatial interrelationships and the influence of their surrounding micro-environment. The concept of the Inter-Building Effect (IBE) was introduced to understand complex mutual impact within spatially-proximal buildings. Disaggregate analysis further quantified shading effects and reflection effects separately from combined IBE interaction in a more nuanced way. Different from tropical cities where mutual reflection always shows a negative impression, recent research revealed more complex scenarios in non-tropical areas as the reflection or shading could become favorable month by month alternately according to climatological contexts. The application of phase change materials (PCMs) has attracted attention due to its important characteristic to store and release heat within a certain temperature range. A variety of research has been conducted for building applications to improve energy conservation and thermal comfort both numerically and empirically. In this paper, we sought to explore and understand if PCM building envelopes could potentially mitigate negative thermal-energy impact within building canyons in a non-tropical area. Building upon previous IBE research and simulation models, we conducted several building network simulations under different climatological contexts of non-tropical cities. The results showed considerable improvements (up to 12%) of annual HVAC energy consumption when PCM-embedded building envelopes were used in the control building. The findings expand and deepen our understanding of the IBE, and may help minimize negative mutual influences among buildings that lead to increases in energy consumption in urban environments.
Disability, Able-Bodiedness, and the Biopolitical Imagination

Following the work of Hannah Arendt, Michel Foucault, and Giorgio Agamben, this article offers a theoretical analysis of the relationship between modern forms of biopolitics and discourses of disability and able-bodiedness in the context of globalization.
Development of a rapid, low-cost protoplast transfection system for switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.)

Key message A switchgrass protoplast system was developed, achieving a cost reduction of ~1000-fold, a threefold increase in transformation efficiency, and a fourfold reduction in required DNA quantity compared to previous methods.