cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Dual Role of Isocitrate Lyase 1 in the Glyoxylate and Methylcitrate Cycles in Mycobacterium Tuberculosis

The role of isocitrate lyase (ICL) in the glyoxylate cycle and its necessity for persistence and virulence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis has been well described. Recent reports have alluded to an additional role for this enzyme in M. tuberculosis metabolism, specifically for growth on propionate. A product of beta-oxidation of odd-chain fatty acids is propionyl-CoA. Clearance of propionyl-CoA and the by-products of its metabolism via the methylcitrate cycle is vital due to their potentially toxic effects. Although the genome of M. tuberculosis encodes orthologues of two of the three enzymes of the methylcitrate cycle, methylcitrate synthase and methylcitrate dehydratase, it does not appear to contain a distinct 2-methylisocitrate lyase (MCL). Detailed structural analysis of the MCL from Escherichia coli suggested that the differences in substrate specificity between MCLs and ICLs could be attributed to three conserved amino acid substitutions in the active site, suggesting an MCL signature. However, here we provide enzymatic evidence that shows that despite the absence of the MCL signature, ICL1 from M. tuberculosis can clearly function as a MCL. Furthermore, the crystal structure of ICL1 with pyruvate and succinate bound demonstrates that the active site can accommodate the additional methyl group without significant changes to the structure.
Transparent and reproducible reports of economic evaluations of clinical pharmacy services: a goal for the future?

The recent AJHP article by De Rijdt et al.[1][1] on the economic effects of clinical pharmacy interventions was of particular interest to us.[1][1] Knowing “what works” and what is most effective in health care is crucial for deciding which interventions are the most rational and efficient,[2][2
Structure of Ge(113): Origin and Stability of Surface Self-Interstitials

Using atomic-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy and first-principles calculations we show that Ge and Si(113) are structurally similar, contrary to previous reports. Both surfaces have ( $3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}2$) and ( $3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}1$) reconstructions stabilized by surface self-interstitials, with the ( $3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}2$) lower in energy on Si but degenerate with the ( $3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}1$) on Ge. Statistical analysis of fluctuations observed between the two structures on Ge, combined with calculations for bulk interstitials, indicate that the surface (not the bulk) is the likely source and sink of the surface self-interstitials for both materials.
Delayed splenic hematoma rupture

The diagnosis of splenic hematoma can be clinically challenging. A case of delayed rupture of an atraumatic splenic hematoma is described, illustrating how unusual the presentation of this entity can be.
An Examination of the Use of Adaptive Filtering in Forecasting

Adaptive filtering is a technique for preparing short- to medium-term forecasts based on the weighting of historical observations, in a similar way to moving average and exponential smoothing. However, adaptive filtering, as it has been developed in electrical engineering, attempts to distinguish a signal pattern from random noise, rather than simply smoothing the noise of past data. This paper reviews the technique of adaptive filtering and investigates its applications and limitations for the forecasting practitioner. This is done by looking at the performance of adaptive filtering in forecasting a number of time series and by comparing it with other forecasting techniques.
Analytical methods for measuring water in nominally anhydrous minerals

Decades of work have shown that trace- to minor-amounts of hydrous components commonly occur in minerals whose chemical formula would be normally written without any hydrogen, namely, the nominally anhydrous minerals (NAMs). When the concentrations of the hydrous components are several tenths of a percent by weight or higher, a variety of analytical methods such as weight loss on heating, X-ray cell parameters, X-ray structure refinement, Karl-Fischer titrations, or even careful electron microprobe analyses can be used to establish their concentrations (e.g., Aines and Rossman 1991). However, for most NAMs, accurate determinations with these common analytical methods prove difficult if not impossible. For this reason, infrared (IR) spectroscopy has become, and remains, the most widely used method to detect and analyze hydrous components (OH or H_2O) in minerals and glasses because it is both highly sensitive and can be done rapidly with a commonly available, modestly priced instrument and at dimensions of just a few tens of micrometers. A change in the electric dipole occurs when the OH bond in either water and hydroxyl ions vibrate. This motion has a resonance coupling with electromagnetic radiation generally in the 3500 cm^(-1) region of the infrared spectrum. In addition, bending motions of the water molecule, and overtones and combination of these motions produce absorption in the infrared.
Short-term effects of fish oil on human plasma lipid levels

Fish oils rich in eicosopentaenoic acid (EPA) are potent hypotriglyceridemic agents in both normal subjects and in hypertriglyceridemic patients. However, the rapidity with which fish oil exerts this effect has not been studied systematically, nor has the temporal relationship between decreasing triglyceride levels and increasing EPA and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels been defined. To examine these interactions, we recruited 9 normal subjects who were given a single dose of fish oil (0.25 g/kg) and 5 other subjects who were given a single dose of a safflower oil placebo. Fasting plasma triglyceride levels were measured at baseline and at 24, 48, and 72 hr post-dosing. In a second study, a group of 5 hypertriglyceridemic patients were given 12 capsules of fish oil/day for 14 days. Plasma triglyceride and LDL-C levels were measured at baseline and every 2–3 days thereafter, including a 10-day washout period. In the single dose study, triglyceride levels decreased by 15% at 24 hr and 16% at 48hr (P < 0.001 both), and began to normalize at 72 hr. Triglyceride levels in the placebo group did not change significantly. Plasma EPA levels increased 4-fold at 24 hr, and then began to return towards baseline. In the multiple dose study, fish oil began lowering triglyceride levels by day 1, and continued doing so through day 14 (7.97 ± 3.06 to 4.57 ± 1.58, P < 0.01). LDL-C levels began rising immediately from 2.51 ± 0.87 mM/L at baseline to a plateau of 3.65 ± 0.59 (P < 0.01) after only 4 days. Both triglyceride and LDL-C levels returned toward normal in the washout period. We conclude that fish oil treatment altered plasma EPA levels very quickly, and produced measurable decreases in triglyceride levels which were preceded by increases in LDL-C levels.
Extracting an arbitrary relative phase from a multiqubit two-component entangled state

We show that an arbitrary relative phase can be extracted from a multiqubit two-component (MTC) entangled state by local Hadamard transformations and measurements along a single basis only. In addition, how to distinguish a MTC entangled state with an arbitrary entanglement degree and relative phase from a class of multiqubit mixed states is discussed.
Ordered Arrays of Native Chromatin Molecules for High-Resolution Imaging and Analysis

Individual chromatin molecules contain valuable genetic and epigenetic information. To date, there have not been reliable techniques available for the controlled stretching and manipulation of individual chromatin fragments for high-resolution imaging and analysis of these molecules. We report the controlled stretching of single chromatin fragments extracted from two different cancerous cell types (M091 and HeLa) characterized through fluorescence microscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Our method combines soft lithography with molecular stretching to form ordered arrays of more than 250 000 individual chromatin fragments immobilized into a beads-on-a-string structure on a solid transparent support. Using fluorescence microscopy and AFM, we verified the presence of histone proteins after the stretching and transfer process.
Liver and tumor segmentation and analysis from CT of diseased patients via a generic affine invariant shape parameterization and graph cuts

The paper presents the automated segmentation of livers from abdominal CT images of diseased populations from images with inconsistent enhancement. A novel three-dimensional (3D) affine invariant shape parameterization is employed to compare local shape across organs. By generating a regular sampling of the organ's surface, this parameterization can be effectively used to compare features of a set of closed 3D surfaces point-to-point while avoiding common problems with the parameterization of concave surfaces. From an initial segmentation, the areas of atypical local shape are determined using training sets. A geodesic active contour corrects locally the segmentations of organs in abnormal images and optimized graph cuts segment the vasculature and hepatic tumors using shape and enhancement constraints. Liver segmentation errors are reduced significantly, all tumors are detected and the tumor burden is estimated with 0.9% error. Results from test data demonstrate the method's robustness to analyze livers from difficult clinical cases to allow temporal monitoring of patients with hepatic cancer.
8,9-Epoxyarachinodic acid: a cytochrome P-450 metabolite

Abstract The title compound was prepared from methyl 5,6-epoxyarachidonate and confirmed as a cytochrome P-450 metabolite of arachidonic acid.
Identification of Contaminanted Data in Hydraulic Fracturing Databases: Application to the Codell Formation in the DJ Basin

With the advance of computer technologies, digitized data is becoming increasingly available. Currently, many companies are in possession of oil or gas-field databases that contain large amounts of information related to hydraulic fracturing, reservoir characterization, production, drilling, etc. However, not all the records are completely accurate or reflect reality. Errors in stored data can be subjective or objective and can be the result of improper or incomplete data collection, errors in data entry, lack of proper interpretation and others. These errors can later lead to poor, erroneous, or even impossible interpretation of the data. This leads to the question: how much of the data is reliable and how can the contaminated data be identified?
Adventure into Space

The exploration of the universe has captured mankind's interest since the earliest attempts to understand the sun, moon, planets, comets, and stars. The last few decades have seen explosive advances of knowledge, sparked by technological advances and by our entry into the space age. Achievements in solar system exploration, discoveries both in the Milky Way and in the farther universe, and challenges for the future are discussed. Of major concern worldwide is the need for people of goodwill in all nations to concentrate on the peaceful uses of outer space and on international collaboration.
Underwater ordnance classification using Time-Frequency signatures of backscattering signals

This paper introduces a novel underwater target classification scheme which recognizes underwater ordnances based on their backscattered Time-Frequency (TF) signatures. The objective is to automatically identify the shape and interior content of sea-disposed underwater munitions and ordnance found in the Hawaiian coastlines. This effort helps in the removal of the above sea-disposals from the ocean floor. A dolphin Sonar is used to generate backscattering signals from the targets. Characteristics of different targets are studied using the Wigner-Ville Distribution (WVD), and are discriminated using a cluster-based classification scheme. This method was tested on the backscattered signals from dummy ordnance measured in a water tank.
Diacritic Annotation in the Arabic Treebank and Its Impact on Parser Evaluation

The Arabic Treebank (ATB), released by the Linguistic Data Consortium, contains multiple annotation files for each source file, due in part to the role of diacritic inclusion in the annotation process. The data is made available in both ”vocalized” and ”unvocalized” forms, with and without the diacritic marks, respectively. Much parsing work with the ATB has used the unvocalized form, on the basis that it more closely represents the ”real-world” situation. We point out some problems with this usage of the unvocalized data and explain why the unvocalized form does not in fact represent ”real-world” data. This is due to some aspects of the treebank annotation that to our knowledge have never before been published.
Improving DC coding models of JPEG arithmetic coder

While conducting experiments with JPEG binary arithmetic coding, we noticed that if a natural photographic image is rotated by 90/spl deg/ and then coded, the DC code size is reduced in general. This led us to investigate the discrete cosine transform and statistical models of JPEG arithmetic coder, and formulate two modifications to DC coefficient coding. We propose that the DC of a block should be predicted from the block just above. This modification reduces the DC code size further by about 9% on average. This change is more important for arithmetic coding than Huffman DC coding. We also propose a change in the binary decision coding order specified by the DC statistical model; it produces only a minor reduction in the code size.
Demand Forecasting Behavior: System Neglect and Change Detection

We analyze how individuals make forecasts based on time-series data. Using a controlled laboratory experiment, we find that forecasting behavior systematically deviates from normative predictions: Forecasters overreact to forecast errors in relatively stable environments, but underreact to errors in relatively unstable environments. The performance loss that is due to such systematic judgment biases is larger in stable than in unstable environments. This paper was accepted by Martin Lariviere, operations management.
Strategies to preserve the data fidelity at far offset

Summary Wide azimuth, long-offset seismic surveys are becoming increasing common in unconventional exploration plays where one of the key routine processes is preserving the data fidelity at far offset. There are two main issues associated with preserving the date fidelity contained in the far offsets: 1) mitigating the “hockey sticks” using nonhyperbolic velocity analysis and 2) minimizing the stretch at the far offset. In this paper we propose an automated algorithm to simultaneously estimate the nonhyperbolic parameters. Instead of directly seeking an effective stacking model, the algorithm finds an interval model that gives the most powerful stack. The searching procedure for the best interval model is conducted using a direct, global optimization algorithm called differential evolutionary (DE).Nonhyperbolic velocity analysis can mitigate “hockey sticks” at large offset but not the stretch. Muting is usually the only choice to avoid the effect of severe stretch associated with far offset. To use the information contained in the far offset, we apply an anti-stretch workflow after obtained the optimal effective model. The automated velocity analysis and anti-stretch workflow are together tested on the data volume acquired over the Fort Worth Basin, USA. The results show noticeable improvement both on the pre-stack gathers and on the stacked data volume.
The complement C3D-binding receptor (CR2) of Candida albicans: Cloning and sequence analysis of a gene fragment homologous with a human CR2 cDNA clone

We have previously purified and characterized a complement receptor-like protein (CR2) from Candida albicans, which recognizes the C3 complement conversion product C3d. The Candida CR2 is a 60 kD mannoprotein while the native protein is approximately 240 kD. The CR2 is found on the cell surface of germinating blastoconidia, hyphae and pseudohyphae but is not observed on the surface of blastoconidia. CR2 is expressed during infection in mice with the organism as determined by immunoelectron microscopy and lymphocyte responses to the purified CR2. Recently, we have expanded our studies to include the molecular characterization of the CR2 gene. Southern blot analysis of EcoR1-digested and Hind III-digested C. albicans genomic DNA was pursued using a cDNA clone of the human B-cell CR2 gene as a probe. Homology to four Eco R1-generated fragments of 11, 8, 3.2, and 1.3 kb and two Hind III-generated fragments of 9.5 and 0.7 kb was demonstrated. The hybridization patterns also suggested that the C. albicans CR2 gene was most likely a single copy gene. The 3.2 kb Eco R1 fragment has been isolated by plaque hybridization from a partial genomic library-constructed in λgt11 using the same human CR2 to detect recombinants. Cross-hybridization analysis of the fragment localized homology to a 900 kb region. Sequence analysis of the 900 kb fragment has been completed.
The effect of mitomycin on extracellular matrix proteins in a rat wound model.

Objective To evaluate the effect of topical and injected mitomycin on the expression of extracellular matrix proteins by fibroblasts in an early surgical wound model. Study Design A prospective, controlled study in a rat wound model. Methods Six linear incisions were placed on the backs of each of three Sprague-Dawley rats, and polyvinyl alcohol sponges were implanted. Two control wounds were implanted with saline-soaked sponges. The two topical test group wounds were treated with 0.5 mg/mL topical mitomycin for 2 minutes, followed by sponge implantation. The two injection test group wounds were injected with 0.3 mL mitomycin (0.5 mg/mL) before incision and sponge implantation. Each incision was closed uniformly with 3-0 nylon suture. The sponges were harvested on the tenth postoperative day. Fibroblasts that had grown into the sponges were separated, and polymerase chain reaction analysis was used to quantify the expression of messenger RNA for several extracellular matrix proteins. Results The expression of mRNA for some extracellular matrix proteins (elastase, hyaluronidase, and procollagen) was downregulated in the mitomycin test groups. The effect was more pronounced in the topical mitomycin test group compared with the injection test group. The wounds in the topical group were prone to dehiscence, and the wounds in the injection group demonstrated poor healing when compared with controls. Conclusions Mitomycin may inhibit wound healing by downregulating the gene expression for extracellular matrix proteins. This effect may be selective and may be more pronounced on inducible genes. Such findings prompt further studies regarding possible “best time” windows and selective gene suppression. The use of mitomycin may be limited in situations where wound integrity is necessary.
Exploring the Spectrum of Dynamic Scheduling Algorithms for Scalable Distributed-MemoryRay Tracing

This paper extends and evaluates a family of dynamic ray scheduling algorithms that can be performed in-situ on large distributed memory parallel computers. The key idea is to consider both ray state and data accesses when scheduling ray computations. We compare three instances of this family of algorithms against two traditional statically scheduled schemes. We show that our dynamic scheduling approach can render data sets that are larger than aggregate system memory and that cannot be rendered by existing statically scheduled ray tracers. For smaller problems that fit in aggregate memory but are larger than typical shared memory, our dynamic approach is competitive with the best static scheduling algorithm.
Hypersonic Ground Testing Combustion Air Heater Ignition Optimization via Design of Experiments

This paper describes the ignition optimization of the Aerodynamic and Propulsion Test Unit’s (APTU) combustion air heater (CAH) with a fixed-area ratio (AR) nozzle installed. During a recent facility upgrade to a new Basic Process Control System (BPCS), the facility incorporated an improved capability to set parameters for ignition at various levels. However, CAH ignition reliability with a fixed-AR nozzle used during checkout was significantly lower than that demonstrated with the previous control system. A project was established to study, improve, and demonstrate reliability with the new control system. As a part of the study, key factors were identified for the ignition process. The CAH owner’s manual described high and low settings for two parameters, delta pressure (DP) across the fuel injectors and CAH chamber pressure (psia). With the new BPCS the facility could easily and repeatably set these parameters at various levels within the high and low ranges for ignition. The historical data from the previous control system ignition process were reviewed, analyses were completed for the process with the new control system, and control measures for noise that may affect ignition were identified and implemented. From the results of the study, a design of experiment (DOE) checkout matrix was created and executed. During execution the results were analyzed and the matrix was modified to narrow in on the high probability for ignition region. Post-DOE testing, the results were analyzed and optimized, and parameter settings were selected. Ignition reliability of the CAH with the fixed-AR nozzle was verified to be greater than 90% with 80% confidence through the execution of consecutive successful ignition sequences at those settings.
IMMUNOCHEMICAL STUDIES ON THE SPECIFICITY OF CELLULAR HYPERSENSITIVITY THE IN VITRO INHIBITION OF PERITONEAL EXUDATE CELL MIGRATION BY CHEMICALLY DEFINED ANTIGENS

Studies by Schlossman et al. using haptens conjugated to lysine oligopeptides have demonstrated that the length of the lysine chain is critical for the haptenoligopeptide conjugate to function as an immunogen, i.e., induces antibody formation and delayed hypersensitivity in the injected animal (1). Precisely the same chemical characteristics of the antigen are necessary to elicit or desensitize to the delayed skin reaction (2, 3) or to provoke the anamnestic response. 1 DNP (dinitrophenyl) oligolysines (with chain lengths of less than seven lysines), which are themselves unable to act as immunogens, are still capable of eliciting immediate reactions in vivo and of reacting with antibody in vitro (4). These smaller DNP lysines cannot, however, elicit delayed hypersensitivity reactions in vivo, nor can they provoke the anamnestic response. It was of interest to determine how these antigens would behave in an in vitro system, the inhibition of peritoneal exudate cell migration by antigen, which had previously been shown to correlate with delayed or cellular hypersensitivity (5, 6). This system has an advantage over certain in vivo assays in that cells from guinea pigs exhibiting delayed hypersensitivity will be inhibited by specific antigen whether or not the animal is also producing antibody, and concomitant antibody production in the animal does not interfere with interpretation of the cellular reaction.
Calorie Restriction and Aging in Nonhuman Primates

In the 75 years since the seminal observation of Clive McCay that restriction of calorie intake extends the lifespan of rats, a great deal has been learned about the effects of calorie restriction (CR; reduced intake of a nutritious diet) on aging in various short-lived animal models. Studies have demonstrated many beneficial effects of CR on health, the rate of aging, and longevity. Two prospective investigations of the effects of CR on long-lived nonhuman primate (NHP) species began nearly 25 years ago and are still under way. This review presents the design, methods, and main findings of these and other important contributing studies, which have generally revealed beneficial effects of CR on physiological function and the retardation of disease consistent with studies in other species. Specifically, prolonged CR appears to extend the lifespan of rhesus monkeys, which exhibited lower body fat; slower rate of muscle loss with age; lower incidence of neoplasia, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and endometriosis; improved insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance; and no apparent adverse effect on bone health, as well as a reduction in total energy expenditure. In addition, there are no reports of deleterious effects of CR on reproductive endpoints, and brain morphology is preserved by CR. Adrenal and thyroid hormone profiles are inconsistently affected. More research is needed to delineate the mechanisms of the desirable outcomes of CR and to develop interventions that can produce similar beneficial outcomes for humans. This research offers tremendous potential for producing novel insights into aging and risk of disease.
A New Method of Eigenvalue Sensitivity Calculation Using Continuation of Invariant Subspaces

This letter proposes a new method to calculate eigenvalue sensitivities using continuation of invariant subspaces (CIS). Mathematical proof is demonstrated for the successive eigenvalue sensitivities extracted from CIS. The numerical results on New England 39-bus system are also described.
Comparing Offers and Take‐ups of Employee Health Insurance across Race, Gender, and Decade*

How often do U.S. employees receive health insurance offers from employers? When offered, how often do they take up their employer-based health insurance? This article uses the 1992 and 2002 waves of the National Study of the Changing Workforce (NSCW) to investigate changes in access to (offers) and employees electing to accept, take, or purchase their employers’ health insurance plans (take-ups) among wage and salaried workers. Although much research has studied employee health benefits, little has examined the intersection of gender and race regarding both offers and take-ups of such benefits. Logistic regression results indicate that offers and take-ups of personal health benefits declined from 1992 to 2002, net of salient controls. Further analyses demonstrate that these declines did not affect all workers identically. Offers declined somewhat for both women and men among whites and African Americans, but declined more among Hispanic women and men. Among other ethnoracial groups, offers declined the most among men, but increased among comparable women. Take-ups declined among white men and Hispanic workers. However, white and African American women’s take-ups did not change and among African American men take-ups increased. We discuss the need to examine gender and race simultaneously and urge researchers to more closely examine changes in health benefit offers and take-ups.
The Effects of d‐Tubocurarine Chloride and Respiratory Settings on Heart Rate and Blood Gas Composition in the Albino Rat

Twenty albino rats were subjected to four conditions of cururization and respiratory settings. Heart rate, Pco2, Po2, pH, and bicarbonate levels of arterial blood were sampled and analyzed at 30 and 70 min post curare injection. Results indicated that the respiratory settings used and dosage levels of curare produce severe disturbances in biochemical and cardiovascular regulation with severely abnormal states created under some of the most frequently used curare dosages and respiratory settings.
Abundance of smectite and the location of a plate-boundary fault, Barbados accretionary prism

Isolating the respective roles of factors responsible for the initiation and localization of fault zones remains one of the more important goals of research in neotectonics. The frontal decollement zone of the northern Barbados accretionary prism provides several important clues as to how the interwoven variables of clay mineralogy, fluid flow, chemical interactions, and sediment physical properties affect strain localization. This plate-boundary fault is centered at a lithologic contact between Miocene claystone and fine-grained Oligocene turbidites. The fault zone is nearly 40 m thick (at Ocean Drilling Program Site 948), and its upper part passes through smectite-rich deposits. A sharp minimum in percent smectite and a maximum in percent illite mark the base of the decollement. There is a consistent increase in percent smectite with distance above the base of the decollement, but the top of the decollement is poorly defined by clay mineralogy. The intrinsic mechanical weakness of strata with abundant smectite-group clays probably influences where the fault tip propagates into the undeformed stratigraphy of the Atlantic abyssal plain. A second inherited parameter is the local abundance of radiolarians, which contribute to higher than normal porosities. Sediment shear strength also decreases because pore pressure within the fault zone is significantly greater than hydrostatic. The principal cause of excess pore pressure seems to be updip fluid advection; in theory, however, decreases in pore-fluid salinity and porosity collapse should increase the amount of physicochemical stress generated by expandable clay minerals. The imported fluid is unusually low in salinity because it has migrated from zones of deeper seated dehydration reactions. If fresher pore water migrates to the propagating tip of the decollement, its arrival should increase smectite swelling and reduce the shear strength of the mudstone even more. The location and evolution of the decollement, therefore, are controlled by a complicated interplay of static factors inherited from the abyssal Atlantic stratigraphy and dynamic factors associated with episodic fluid flow and changing fluid chemistry.
An Estimation of Shark-Attack Risk for the North and South Carolina Coastline

ABSTRACT Amin, R.; Ritter, E., and Wetzel, A., 2015. An estimation of shark-attack risk for the North and South Carolina coastline. A spatiotemporal cluster analysis of shark-attack rates is applied to identify coastal areas with shark-attack rates that are very high or very low along the North and South Carolina coast. Using a cluster analysis makes it possible to not just pinpoint these areas with more accuracy but also identify where incidents are unlikely to happen. In the past, shark attacks have been studied from a viewpoint of encounter number per region and so limited to the areas in which the attacks occurred. A first look is also taken of the potential influences of some anthropogenic, environmental, and meteorological factors for North and South Carolina in comparison with the better-known attack-prone areas along Florida's coast, to quantify potential causes leading to elevated shark-attack rates, or the lack of them.
Multipath spread-Doppler clutter mitigation for over-the-horizon radar

This paper discusses two adaptive spatial processing approaches that have been recently proposed for mitigating spread-Doppler clutter in skywave over-the-horizon (OTH) radar. The first is slow-time MIMO (SLO-MO) STAP which uses conventional waveforms that are phase-coded so as to be orthogonal after Doppler processing at the receiver, i.e. in ldquoslow-time.rdquo SLO-MO STAP is proposed as a means of mitigating transmit array sidelobes without costly redesign of legacy transmit or receive OTH radar hardware. The second approach is wavefront adaptive sensing (WAS) which uses a horizontally stratified ionospheric model to motivate a new application of blind source separation (BSS) methods for discriminating targets of interest from spatially distributed Doppler spread clutter. Comparison of these two approaches suggests they each may offer significant performance gains under different ionospheric propagation conditions.
Intracellular lumen formation in Drosophila proceeds via a novel subcellular compartment

Cellular tubes have diverse morphologies, including multicellular, unicellular and subcellular architectures. Subcellular tubes are found prominently within the vertebrate vasculature, the insect breathing system and the nematode excretory apparatus, but how such tubes form is poorly understood. To characterize the cellular mechanisms of subcellular tube formation, we have refined methods of high pressure freezing/freeze substitution to prepare Drosophila larvae for transmission electron microscopic (TEM) analysis. Using our methods, we have found that subcellular tube formation may proceed through a previously undescribed multimembrane intermediate composed of vesicles bound within a novel subcellular compartment. We have also developed correlative light/TEM procedures to identify labeled cells in TEM-fixed larval samples. Using this technique, we have found that Vacuolar ATPase (V-ATPase) and the V-ATPase regulator Rabconnectin-3 are required for subcellular tube formation, probably in a step resolving the intermediate compartment into a mature lumen. In general, our ultrastructural analysis methods could be useful for a wide range of cellular investigations in Drosophila larvae.
Summary Of New Developments In Tdr For Soils

Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) is a method to determine the electromagnetic properties of soils and recent research indicates that TDR is an increasingly powerful tool to assess the engineering properties of soils. There were symposia and workshops on this topic held in 1994 and 2001 at Northwestern University and one in September 2006 at Purdue University. The authors were among the organizers of TDR 2006: 3rd International Symposium and Workshop on Time Domain Reflectometry for Innovative Soils Applications (TDR 2006) at Purdue University on September 17-20, 2006. There were five keynote presentations and thirty-five paper presentations with much discussion among the more than 70 researchers and practitioners from agricultural engineering, agronomy, electrical engineering, geotechnical engineering, soil science, and soil physics. The five themes were: 1) TDR Calibration in Challenging Media, 2) Geotechnical Applications of TDR, 3) Innovations, Challenges, and Future Opportunities, 4) TDR Probe Design and Selection, and 5) Hydrologic Applications of TDR. Papers to TDR 2006 are available free of charge on line at https://engineering.purdue.edu/TDR. This paper presents highlights of some interesting papers to TDR 2006. Items to be discussed include: effects of geometrical and interfacial factors on effective permittivity, improved methods for volumetric water contents for pavement bases and subgrades, cone penetrometers to measure permittivity and conductivity, a new TDR source signal that is non dispersive, and soil texture characterization from TDR waveforms. Unfortunately only a few of the many excellent papers could be highlighted. The paper concludes with a quotation from the presentation of G. Clarke Topp, the acknowledged father of modern TDR for soil moisture measurement.
Comparison of Pregnancy Urine Injection and Coitus as Stimuli for Ovulation in the Rabbit.

SummaryThe response to pregnancy urine of the rabbit anterior pituitary is one of increased oxygen consumption in the 7-12-hour interval after injection. The inference may be drawn that the effect of pregnancy urine is to activate the anterior pituitary leading to the output of an effective dose of rabbit hormone after an interval of 12-24 hours.
Brewing Bokashi: Strengthening Student Skills in Dilution Theory through Fermentation Analysis.

One of the basic microbiological techniques that students should master is that of using dilution theory to calculate the levels of bacteria in a fluid. This tip reports on using a rice water-milk fermentation mixture termed Bokashi as an easily implemented exercise in the basic microbiological lab to give students multiple opportunities to use dilution theory. Due to the shifts in bacterial community composition over time, a variety of microbes can be cultured using selective and nonselective media. Microscopic observation and the use of GEN III microplates to determine the collective phenotypic pattern of the mixture both give additional opportunities for students to hone their skills in bacterial analysis. Due to the decrease in the pH of the mixture over time, the notion of acid tolerance in bacteria can be explored and assessed using the microplate. By performing multiple rounds of serial dilutions and spread plating, students can practice their skill at using dilution theory several times over the course of the exercise.
Injury to the immature carpus.

SUMMARY Traumatic injury to the immature carpus is infrequent because of the sequence of carpal ossification, the resiliency of surrounding ligaments, and the vulnerability of the radius to fracture. Diagnosis requires careful palpation and suspicion, particularly in younger children. Treatment should consider the healing, growth, and modeling potential of the carpus.
Noninvasive monitoring of cardiorespiratory parameters.

SUMMARY Noninvasive methods for monitoring pH, pCO2 and pO2 have not achieved the original aim of providing a noninvasive, continuous assessment of arterial blood gases under all clinical conditions. Fingertip and ear oximeters provide measurement of oxygen saturation in arterial blood under most conditions, but accuracy is lost when intense peripheral vasoconstriction is present. Transcutaneous and conjunctival O2 and CO2 sensors also function as accurate trend monitors of PaO2 and PaCO2 in the hemodynamically stable patient. Measurement of pH by placement of a sensor into the subcutaneous tissue provides a continuous assessment of arterial pH in neonates with normal CO, but the use of these sensors in adult patients remains largely unproven. Noninvasive assessment of the adequacy of peripheral perfusion, cardiac function, and intravascular volume status can be performed using transcutaneous or conjunctival O2 and CO2 sensors. Early detection and correction of hypovolemia and diminished CO can be accomplished by monitoring tissue pO2 and pCO2. In the emergency department setting, in which the evaluation and initial treatment of critically ill patients often is performed by measurement of a limited set of physiologic parameters, the ability to evaluate tissue perfusion on a continuous basis is an important clinical advance.
Glossary of key terms.

Acquired susceptibility mutation--A mutation in a gene that occurs after birth from a carcinogenic insult. Allele--One of several mutational forms of a specific gene.
NIR-to-NIR and NIR-to-blue light upconversion in stoichiometric NaYb(MO4)2 (M = Mo, W)

Polycrystalline NaYb(MoO4)2 and NaYb(WO4)2 exhibited NIR-to-NIR and NIR-to-blue light upconversion under 973 nm excitation. The emission spectra were dominated by a strong NIR (∼795 nm) band. Blue (∼475 nm), green (∼525 and 545 nm), and red (∼650 nm) bands were also observed. The origin of these bands was investigated using a combination of steady-state and time-dependent spectrofluorometry, elemental analysis, and Rietveld analysis of synchrotron X-ray diffraction data. The strong NIR emission at ∼795 nm was assigned to two-photon upconversion from Yb3+-sensitized Tm3+, which was found to be present at trace levels (∼1 ppm) in both NaYb(MoO4)2 and NaYb(WO4)2. Due to the high efficiency of the energy-transfer from Yb3+ to Tm3+, the intensity of the NIR emission exhibited a linear dependence on the excitation power. Green and red bands were assigned to two-photon upconversion from Yb3+-sensitized Er3+, which was also found to be present at trace levels in both hosts (∼1 ppm). In the case of the blue emission, power-dependence and time-dependent spectrofluorometric studies favored cooperative luminescence of Yb3+–Yb3+ dimers, rather than three-photon upconversion from Yb3+-sensitized Tm3+. Local clustering of Yb3+ ions yielding Yb3+–Yb3+ dimers that interact cooperatively under NIR excitation was feasible considering (i) the intrinsic disorder of Na+ and Yb3+ over the same crystallographic site, and (ii) the shortest distance between two adjacent Yb3+ ions (∼3.81 A). The significance of probing energy-transfer processes relevant to light absorption and emission in fully concentrated metalate hosts is highlighted.
Chronic Daily Headache: Ten Steps for Primary Care Providers to Regain Control.

Background Chronic daily headache (CDH) affects 2% to 4% of the North American and European population. Various pathways lead to this condition, although chronification of migraine and the occurrence of central sensitization in tension headache are the 2 most common. Medication overuse headaches complicate a substantial portion of other primary headaches that have become chronic and often make their treatment more complex and less successful. Methods/Results A 10-step process to help primary care providers evaluate and treat CDH patients begins with excluding secondary headache disorders, then moves on to classification of the primary underlying headache disorder. Next, the exacerbating factors, as well as relevant comorbid conditions, are identified. The patient's current acute therapy is examined, and attempts are made to identify and resolve medication overuse if present. Past preventive therapies are reviewed, allowing for thoughtful design of a headache action plan with preventive, acute, and lifestyle components. Patients are asked to keep a headache diary, used to initiate a cycle of continuous improvement in a patient's response to acute and preventive therapeutic approaches. Conclusions A systematic approach and partnership with patients often make it possible to convert CDH to episodic headache that is responsive to both acute and preventive therapies.
A Multi-Actuator Displacement-Controlled System with Pump Switching–: A Study of the Architecture and Actuator-Level Control

Displacement-controlled (DC) actuation has been under investigation by the authors’ group since its conception in 1998 as a highly efficient alternative to its valve controlled counterpart. The major advantages of DC actuation include the complete elimination of losses due to resistive control and the recuperation of energy due to overriding loads. One obstacle for the introduction of DC actuation to the market is the increased machine production costs due to the one-pump-peractuator requirement. To overcome this impediment, the authors’ research group propose the idea of pump switching. The idea consists on utilizing a distributing manifold comprising a set of on/off valves utilized to direct flow either from/to a hydraulic unit to/from a particular actuator. Then, the concept allows for the reduction of machine installed pump power for multi-actuator machines, thereby minimizing parasitic losses and production costs. In this paper, the challenges and implications, as well as the control strategies developed to realize this technology are outlined for a multi-actuator system. Furthermore, an extension of work previously proposed by the author’s research group is made by presenting a validation of the proposed control strategies on an excavator prototype. Measurement results show that the pump switching concept is attainable while maintaining the same basic DC concept and relatively simple actuator-level control algorithms.
Biochemical Methods to Monitor Autophagic Responses in Plants

The study of autophagy in plants is rapidly increasing, due to its pivotal and fundamental roles in responding to stressful stimuli, recycling nutrients during senescence, and maintaining growth under normal conditions. Assays for detecting autophagy in plants have generally been based on microscopic observations, providing qualitative information on autophagy activity. Here, we discuss biochemical assays for detecting autophagy, which have the potential for providing more quantitative information, with a focus on immunoblotting with antibodies against ATG8, NBR1, or epitope tags fused to ATG proteins.
Wrist Injuries in Youth Athletes

To identify new evidence-based medicine regarding wrist injuries in youth athletes. Worthy studies identified include reports on changing wrist injury epidemiology, increasing recognition of stress fractures, evolving pathology in scaphoid fractures, risk factors for youth overuse injuries, comparison of immobilization techniques following distal radial fractures, and benefits and risks of MRI imaging, among others. Changes in epidemiology are seen in American football, basketball, and soccer. These changes, and the potential rise of scaphoid waist fractures, are reported with theorized factors being the increasing body mass index (BMI) of today’s youth, use of synthetic turf, and changing popularity of various sports. A new study identifying overuse injury risk associated with sport specialization is discussed. Finally, MRI imaging is discussed, specifically, its reported 100% negative predictive value for scaphoid fractures, but also the potential to lead to overdiagnosis of wrist pathology.
The Evolution of Personalized Behavioral Intervention Technology: Will It Change How We Measure or Deliver Rehabilitation?

Telehealth access, mobile communication, instrumented devices, and wearable sensing technologies can be configured by internet connectivity to hover like an invisible personal drone, curating continuous data about physical activity, mental state, and physiology, even body and environmental chemistry, during everyday life.1,2 The figurative drone can gather ground truth via direct observation of disabled persons after a stroke during their daily activities or rehabilitation practice, then transmit measurements of interest to clinicians and researchers with high accuracy in real time. The technology can be configured to ask about and record in-the-moment self-reports about mood, pain, social interaction, activity, and other personal events. After stroke, it can enable patients to receive rehabilitation in their homes and communities when little or no therapy would otherwise be available. Telerehabilitation includes tools for standard telemedicine in which personalized health care is delivered at a distance by, for example, videoconferencing. Mobile health (mHealth) supports these remote interactions between patients and clinicians with smartphone-based text messaging, video streaming, e-mail, health-related apps, and other wireless technologies, such as wearable motion and heart rate sensors. Instrumented exercise and practice devices with radio connectivity to the internet can also stream a record of training and progress. The conceptual bases for such applications to outpatient rehabilitation and clinical trials are subsumed under the motor learning theory that dominates stroke rehabilitation practices. That is, an adequate dose of repetitive practice at relevant tasks that are increasingly challenging and optimized by behavioral reinforcement, along with exercise for strengthening and conditioning, will best support training-induced neuroplasticity and potentially improve outcomes.3 Usual outpatient rehabilitation tends not to offer feedback and relies on informal or ordinal measures of progress. Feedback from multidimensional mHealth monitoring technologies may better motivate and guide compliance, training intensity, and progression when therapists incorporate sensor-derived ground truth about …
The Liver Frailty Index Improves Mortality Prediction of the Subjective Clinician Assessment in Patients With Cirrhosis.

The Liver Frailty Index Improves Mortality Prediction of the Subjective Clinician Assessment in Patients With Cirrhosis