cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Low-magnesium, trans-cleavage activity by type III, tertiary stabilized hammerhead ribozymes with stem 1 discontinuities

Low concentrations of free magnesium in the intracellular environment can present critical limitations for hammerhead ribozymes, especially for those that are designed for intermolecular (trans) cleavage of a host or pathogen RNA. Tertiary stabilizing motifs (TSM's) from natural and artificial ribozymes with a "type I" topology have been exploited to stabilize trans-cleaving hammerheads. Ribozymes with "type II" or "type III" topologies might seem incompatible with conversion to trans-cleavage designs, because opening the loop at the end of stem 1 or stem 2 to accommodate substrate binding is expected to disrupt the TSM and eliminate tertiary stabilization. Stem 1, together with single-stranded segments capping or internal to this stem, contains both the substrate-binding and tertiary stabilization functions. This stem was made discontinuous within the sTRSV hammerhead ribozyme, thereby separating the two functions into discrete structural segments. The resulting ribozyme, designated "RzC," cleaved its 13 nucleotide target substrate at MgCl2 concentrations as low as 0.2 mM at 25°C and 0.5 mM at 37°C. Under multiple-turnover conditions, nearly thirty turnovers were observed at the highest substrate:RzC ribozyme ratios. Similar stabilization was observed for several derivatives of RzC. Catalytic activity was diminished or eliminated at sub-millimolar MgCl2 concentrations for ribozymes with weakened or deleted tertiary interactions. Eadie-Hofstee analysis revealed that the stabilized and non-stabilized ribozymes bind their substrates with equivalent affinities, suggesting that differences in observed activity are not the result of diminished binding. Some of the stabilized and non-stabilized ribozymes appear to fold into a heterogeneous collection of conformers, only a subset of which are catalytically active. Hammerhead ribozymes with the "type III" topology can be converted to a tertiary, trans-cleavage design. Separating the stabilization and substrate recognition functions of stem 1 increases cleavage activity at physiological concentrations of divalent magnesium while retaining recognition of exogenous targets. Trans-cleaving ribozymes that exploit the tertiary stabilizing motifs of all natural hammerhead topologies can therefore be used in intracellular applications.
Differential expression of Kv4 pore-forming and KChIP auxiliary subunits in rat uterus during pregnancy.

Regulation of voltage-gated K+ (Kv) channel expression may be involved in controlling contractility of uterine smooth muscle cells during pregnancy. Functional expression of these channels is not o...
On Line Stabilization of the large HV-AC-DC Power System BY Using Observation Decoupled Reference as a System-Wide Target

The concept of the Observation Decoupled Reference vector was introduced earlier [1] by the Washington University research group. It was demonstrated [2] [3] that effective system stabilization can be accomplished based on this new concept using purely local information and local action at the generating stations provided control means such as damping resistors or load skipping are available at each generating station. In this paper the Observation Decoupled Reference vector is considered as a systemwide target to be tracked and approached using a limited number of contr-l devices such as the converter terminals of an overlying HV-DC system. The tradeoff is that fast reliable communication between the generating stations and the Control Center are needed. Computations of moderate size are carried out both at the local units and at the Control Center. Very effective system stabilization is demonstrated by large scale simulation. It is believed that this represents the first real solution for using the (multiterminal) HV-DC system to stabilize an associated AC system.
Role of directionality of pulsatile strain on cell shape and JNK activation

Aortic endothelial cells lining the inner surface of the aorta are exposed to pulsatile strain due to pulsatile changes in blood pressure. We studied the effects of directionality of pulsatile strain on c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) activation and cell shape. Uniaxial pulsatile strain (10%, 1 Hz) results in cell elongation and alignment perpendicular to the direction of strain. Equibiaxial pulsatile strain (10%, 1 Hz), which has no preferential direction, does not result in significant changes in cell shape or orientation. JNK activation is transient following uniaxial pulsatile strain, but sustained following equibiaxial pulsatile strain. After the JNK activation in response to uniaxial pulsatile strain has subsided, changing the direction of uniaxial strain by 90 results in a reactivation of JNK. These results suggest that the perpendicular alignment to the direction of uniaxial strain is an adaptive response of the cell, which is accompanied by a subsidence of JNK activation. In contrast, cells exposed to equibiaxial pulsatile strain do not undergo directional alignment, and there is a sustained JNK activation.
Work in progress - student-driven extended mini-cases for EE service courses

Modern electrical engineering services courses for the other engineering majors have expanded beyond simply providing coverage of basic electrical topics to prepare students for the FE exam. These junior and senior students soon afterwards will also be applying electrical concepts for instrumentation and measurement within their other engineering courses. In Fall 07, 65 civil and architectural students in an EE service course identified the need for mini-cases in the areas of resistance strain gauges, transducers involving capacitors, power systems, and amplifiers. In Spring 08, 125 mechanical and aerospace engineering students in another EE service course focused on force measurements using Wheatstone bridges, digital position encoders, EPROM-based lookup tables, and electronic controllers. A block of material on electrical circuits is common between the two courses. Student-driven mini-cases are being prepared during the summer for class testing during Fall 08, and others will be developed in the fall for Spring 09. Results including student assessments for several of these mini-cases will be reported at FIE 08. Preliminary mini-case details on distinct materials covered in the separate service courses will also be available at FIE 08.
How to Tie Equity Compensation to Long-Term Results

Companies, investors, and regulators around the world are now seeking to tie executives' payoffs to long-term results and avoid rewarding executives for short-term gains. Focusing on equity-based compensation, the primary component of top executives' pay, the authors analyze how such compensation should best be structured to provide executives with incentives to focus on long-term value creation. To improve the link between equity compensation and long-term results, the authors recommend that executives be prevented from unwinding their equity incentives for a significant time period after vesting. At the same time, however, the authors suggest that it would be counterproductive to require that executives hold their equity incentives until retirement, as some have proposed. Instead, the authors recommend that companies adopt a combination of “grant-based” and “aggregate” limitations on the unwinding of equity incentives. Grant-based limitations would allow executives to unwind the equity incentives associated with a particular grant only gradually after vesting, according to a fixed, pre-specified schedule put in place at the time of the grant. Aggregate limitations on unwinding would prevent an executive from unloading more than a specified fraction of the executive's freely disposable equity incentives in any given year. Finally, the authors emphasize the need for effective limitations on executives' use of hedging and derivative transactions that would weaken the connection between executive payoffs and long-term stock values that a well-designed equity arrangement should produce.
Data management for a perioperative medicine practice.

The extent to which a perioperative medicine practice requires information technology support for data management varies widely with the goals of the practice. The informational goals may range from the simple tracking of sentinel event rates or outcomes, such as ICU admission rates or hospital length of stay, to using a complete electronic medical record encompassing all aspects of patient care. Because the human and financial resource demand is orders of magnitude different between these two extreme solutions, an honest assessment of the informational requirements and the available information technology support is a critical first step. This article assists the reader in this process by providing an overview of the possible uses of information technology to support a perioperative medicine service, and describes the required investment for various solutions and the current issues confronted by the application of information technology in the health care environment.
Halide peroxidase in tissues that interact with bacteria in the host squid Euprymna scolopes.

An enzyme with similarities to myeloperoxidase, the antimicrobial halide peroxidase in mammalian neutrophils, occurs abundantly in the light organ tissue of Euprymna scolopes, a squid that maintains a beneficial association with the luminous bacterium Vibrio fischeri. Using three independent assays typically applied to the analysis of halide peroxidase enzymes, we directly compared the activity of the squid enzyme with that of human myeloperoxidase. One of these methods, the diethanolamine assay, confirmed that the squid peroxidase requires halide ions for its activity. The identification of a halide peroxidase in a cooperative bacterial association suggested that this type of enzyme can function not only to control pathogens, but also to modulate the interactions of host animals with their beneficial partners. To determine whether the squid peroxidase functions under both circumstances, we examined its distribution in a variety of host tissues, including those that typically interact with bacteria and those that do not. Tissues interacting with bacteria included those that have specific cooperative associations with bacteria (i.e., the light organ and accessory nidamental gland) and those that have transient nonspecific interactions with bacteria (i.e., the gills, which clear the cephalopod circulatory system of invading microorganisms). These bacteria-associated tissues were compared with the eye, digestive gland, white body, and ink-producing tissues, which do not typically interact directly with bacteria. Peroxidase enzyme assays, immunocytochemical localization, and DNA-RNA hybridizations showed that the halide-dependent peroxidase is consistently expressed in high concentration in tissues that interact bacteria. Elevated levels of the peroxidase were also found in the ink-producing tissues, which are known to have enzymatic pathways associated with antimicrobial activity. Taken together, these data suggest that the host uses a common biochemical response to the variety of types of associations that it forms with microorganisms.
Double-V scrotoplasty for repair of congenital penoscrotal webbing: A hidden scar technique

Abstract Objective Penoscrotal webbing (PSW) is a common reason for deferral of neonatal circumcision. Reports of successful procedures and outcomes in the literature are sparse. We have performed double-V scrotoplasty (DVS), a modification of a V–Y technique, in 138 patients with excellent results. Patients and methods We retrospectively reviewed the charts of boys who had undergone DVS for PSW since January 2009 by a single surgeon (S.A.A.). The indications, intraoperative findings, concomitant procedures, outcomes, and complications were recorded. Results A total of 138 DVSs were performed. Concomitant genital surgeries included 81 hidden penis repairs and 10 other (hernia, hypospadias, chordee, orchidopexy). The median age at the time of surgery was 9.6 months (6.1 months–9.8 years). Patients were evaluated about 1 month postoperatively. In seven cases (5%), minor skin separation occurred at the penoscrotal junction but all healed completely. Superficial skin infection occurred in one patient. None required reoperation and cosmetic results were subjectively excellent. Conclusions PSW has been corrected in 138 patients without significant complications and with excellent results. This is the largest known peer-reviewed series evaluating a surgical technique for congenital PSW repair. We believe our technique is simple, reproducible, and, with no diverging suture lines lateral to the median raphe, improves cosmesis.
Prevention of UV-induced damage to the anterior segment using class I UV-absorbing hydrogel contact lenses.

Purpose To determine whether class I ultraviolet (UV) light-blocking contact lenses prevent UV-induced pathologic changes in a rabbit model. Methods Twelve rabbits were assigned to 1 of 3 treatment groups (n = 4), as follows: senofilcon A (class I UV blocking) contact lenses; lotrafilcon A contact lenses (no reported UV blocking); no contact lens. The contralateral eye was patched without a contact lens. Animals received UV-B (1.667 J/cm(2)) exposure daily for 5 days. Postmortem tissue was examined as follows: in the cornea, the expression of matrix-metalloproteinases (MMPs) was evaluated by zymography, and apoptosis was evaluated by TUNEL and caspase-3 ELISA; ascorbate in the aqueous humor was evaluated by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy; crystalline lens apoptosis was evaluated by TUNEL and caspase-3 ELISA. Results Exposed corneas showed a significant increase in MMP-2 and -9, TUNEL-positive cells, and caspase-3 activity in the lotrafilcon A group compared with the senofilcon A group (all P = 0.03). A significant decrease in aqueous humor ascorbate was observed in the exposed lotrafilcon A lens-wearing group compared with the exposed senofilcon A lens-wearing group (P = 0.03). Exposed crystalline lenses had significantly increased caspase-3 activity in the lotrafilcon A group compared with the senofilcon A group (P = 0.03). Increased numbers of TUNEL-positive cells were noted in both the lotrafilcon A and the non-contact lens groups. Conclusions The authors show that senofilcon A class I UV-blocking contact lenses are capable of protecting the cornea, aqueous humor, and crystalline lens of rabbits from UV-induced pathologic changes.
Nelfinavir/ritonavir reduces acinar injury but not inflammation during mouse caerulein pancreatitis

There is no clinical treatment that reduces acinar injury during pancreatitis. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) protease inhibitors (PI), including nelfinavir (NFV) and ritonavir (RTV), may reduce the rate of pancreatitis in HIV-infected patients. Since permeability transition pore (PTPC)-mediated mitochondrial dysfunction occurs during pancreatitis, and we have shown that PI prevents PTPC opening, we studied its effects in a model of pancreatitis. The effect of NFV plus RTV (NFV/RTV) or vehicle on caerulein-induced pancreatitis in mice was compared by measuring changes in mitochondrial membrane potential in vitro and cytochrome c leakage in vivo. Histological and inflammatory makers were also compared. NFV/RTV improved DiOC6 retention in acini exposed to caerulein in vitro. In vivo NFV prevented cytosolic leakage of cytochrome c and reduced pancreatic acinar injury, active caspase-3 staining, TUNEL-positive acinar cells, and serum amylase (P < 0.05). Conversely, trypsin activity, serum cytokine levels, and pancreatic and lung inflammation were unaffected. NFV/RTV reduces pancreatic injury and acinar cell death in experimental mouse caerulein-induced pancreatitis but does not impact inflammation.
Using active learning to teach creative thinking on the job: A mechanical engineering example

A senior-level course in mechanical engineering at Penn State that employs active learning to promote creative thinking is described. The course features innovative group design projects with an emphasis on preparing students to think creatively in the workplace. This approach to the "capstone" design component of the engineering curriculum also helps smooth the student's transition into professional practice. >
The role of the microbial loop in Antarctic pelagic ecosystems

The Paradigm pelagic food web organization in Antarctic waters is undergoing fundamental revision evidence that large fractions of material and energy flow through the microbial food web. because of the unique Antarctic ecosystem conditions, the microbial food web performs some roles that are fundamentally different from those in oligotrophic temperate and tropical waters: 1) during winter, bacterial production, at the expense of slow-turnover DOM (dissolved organic matter) from the previous summer, could be a significant factor in the survival of over wintering animal populations; 2) microbial regeneration of ammonium in nitrate-replete Antarctic waters may spare the reductants necessary for nitrate assimilation and thus enhance primary productivity of deep-mixed light-limited phytoplankton; and 3) the small diatoms and phytoflagellates which dominate the Antarctic pelagic primary production are apparently directly digestible by the metazoan herbivores, whereas cyanobacteria which dominate the primary productivity in lower latitude oligotrophic waters are not digestible by the metazoan herbivores. These roles performed by the microbial loop may, in part, explain why Antarctic waters, in contrast to the lower latitude oligotrophic waters, have high levels of tertiary productivity despite low primary productivity.
Financing the 2008 Congressional Elections: A Prospective Guide

Every two years the financing of federal elections changes, sometimes subtly and other times more dramatically, sometimes necessarily in response to new rules and other times innovatively in response to old ones. This essay discusses changes in place or afoot for the 2008 congressional elections. In the coming cycle, the new congressional majority will enjoy a significant fundraising edge, social-welfare organizations will be more engaged in political interventions, unions and corporations will re-enter the pre-election advertising scene, and lobbyist contributions will come into the sunlight. Vacancies on the Federal Election Commission will likely stifle the creativity of candidates and campaign financiers, as innovations cannot be sanctioned until a quorum is available to approve advisory opinions. The non-profit education program of the IRS may also temper the anticipated rush to shift political activity to social-welfare organizations.
Wood distribution along streams draining old-growth floodplain forests in Congaree National Park, South Carolina, USA

Abstract We measured wood volume and other characteristics along a series of instream and floodplain transects in and around Congaree National Park, South Carolina. Seven transects were surveyed at most sites; one within the bankfull channel, and three on each bank, at 10, 50, and 100 m lateral distances, respectively, from the channel. Along each transect we measured piece dimensions, location along transect, orientation, and decay category. We also characterized channel width, drainage area, vegetation type, average forest basal area, and inundation category for each transect. Forest transects > 100 m from a channel were also surveyed. Instream wood loads for unmanaged channels draining old-growth forests were 102–178 m 3 /ha, which is lower than most instream wood loads documented for old-growth temperate forests. We attribute the lower wood loads to the combined effects of high transport capacity and rapid decay. Floodplain wood loads are lowest close to the channel but increase with distance, reaching comparable values (up to 172 m 3 /ha) at distances > 100 m from a channel. Channel geometry does not appear to exert the significant influence on instream wood loads that has been documented for more laterally constrained channels. Channel-spanning jams are uncommon and appear to be transient features.
Clinical Reasoning: A 50-year-old man with “elephantiasis” and headache

A 50-year-old man with a medical history of “elephantiasis” of the legs, status post left above the knee amputation with prosthetic limb, and hypothyroidism presented with 1 week of headache and nausea. The headache was continuous, with gradual worsening over the 7 days prior to admission, and he had minimal relief with ibuprofen. On the second day, he developed nausea. He denied any history of headaches, blurred or double vision, numbness, weakness, tingling, loss of balance, vertigo, chest pain, palpitations, or shortness of breath. In the emergency room, he was afebrile with a heart rate of 78 beats per minute and regular, and a blood pressure of 132/78 mm Hg. General physical examination revealed right leg hypertrophy with hyperpigmentation, and edema more prominent distally (tree-barking) (figure 1). A comprehensive neurologic examination had normal results. Basic laboratory tests including complete blood count, basic metabolic panel, and thyroid tests were within normal limits. Head CT showed a hypodensity in the left cerebellar hemisphere (figure 1).
Documenting Petroglyphs on Easter Island

Lost in the vastness of the south Pacific Ocean, Easter Island is the most isolated inhabited place on the face of the Earth. The first European to land on the island was the Dutch admiral, Jacob Roggeveen, who paid it a single day’s visit on Easter Sunday in 1722. An expedition dispatched by the Spanish viceroy of Peru rediscovered the island in 1770, calling it San Carlos. To the original Polynesian settlers, it was simply “the land,” the center of the world, Te Pito te Henua. The Spanish were the first to report that the aborigines had their own local form of writing and estimated the population to be some 3,000 persons. Civil war or plague seems to have raged on the island before the arrival of the British navigator, Captain James Cook, in 1774. He found a decimated, poverty-stricken, Polynesian population of only about 600 or 700 people, and observed that the large statues were no longer venerated, many having been overthrown.
Comparative geometric analysis of renal artery anatomy before and after fenestrated or snorkel/chimney endovascular aneurysm repair.

Objective The durability of stent grafts may be related to how procedures and devices alter native anatomy. We aimed to quantify and compare renal artery geometry before and after fenestrated (F-) or snorkel/chimney (Sn-) endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR). Methods Forty patients (75 ± 6 years) underwent computed tomographic angiography before and after F-EVAR (n = 21) or Sn-EVAR (n = 19), with a total of 72 renal artery stents. Renal artery geometry was quantified using three-dimensional model-based centerline extraction. The stented length was computed from the vessel origin to the stent end. The branch angle was computed relative to the orthogonal configuration with respect to the aorta. The end-stent angle was computed relative to the distal native renal artery. Peak curvature was defined as the inverse of the radius of the circumscribed circle at the highest curvature within the proximal portion from the origin to the stent end and the distal portion from the stent end to the first renal artery bifurcation. Results Sn-renals had greater stented length compared to F-renals ( P P P P P −1 ( P Conclusions Stented renal arteries were angled more inferiorly after Sn-EVAR and more superiorly after F-EVAR due to stent configuration. Sn-EVAR induced significantly greater angle change at the stent end and curvature change distal to the stent compared to F-EVAR, although no difference in patency was noted in this small series with relatively short follow-up. Sn-RRAs exhibited greater end-stent angle change from the pre- to the postoperative period as compared to the F-RRA. These differences may exert differential effects on long-term renal artery patency, integrity, and renal function following complex EVAR for juxta- or pararenal abdominal aortic aneurysms.
Leveraging Mid-Level Semantic Boundary Cues for Automated Lymph Node Detection

Histograms of oriented gradients (HOG) are widely employed image descriptors in modern computer-aided diagnosis systems. Built upon a set of local, robust statistics of low-level image gradients, HOG features are usually computed on raw intensity images. In this paper, we explore a learned image transformation scheme for producing higher-level inputs to HOG. Leveraging semantic object boundary cues, our methods compute data-driven image feature maps via a supervised boundary detector. Compared with the raw image map, boundary cues offer mid-level, more object-specific visual responses that can be suited for subsequent HOG encoding. We validate integrations of several image transformation maps with an application of computer-aided detection of lymph nodes on thoracoabdominal CT images. Our experiments demonstrate that semantic boundary cues based HOG descriptors complement and enrich the raw intensity alone. We observe an overall system with substantially improved results (~78% versus 60% recall at 3 FP/volume for two target regions). The proposed system also moderately outperforms the state-of-the-art deep convolutional neural network (CNN) system in the mediastinum region, without relying on data augmentation and requiring significantly fewer training samples.
POPULATION SEX STRUCTURE AND REPRODUCTIVE FITNESS IN GYNODIOECIOUS SIDALCEA MALVIFLORA MALVIFLORA (MALVACEAE)

The spatial distribution of females and hermaphrodites within gynodioecious populations is expected to exert considerable selective pressure on gender fitness through pollen limitation of seed set. If pollen flow is predominantly local, seed set in individual plants may be sensitive to the proximity of pollen donors; pollen limitation of seed set may occur if hermaphrodites are locally rare. Under such circumstances, female fitness will be negatively frequency dependent and hermaphrodite fitness will be positively frequency dependent. Given local seed dispersal, a nonrandom clumped distribution of the genders is expected in gynodioecious populations due to the heritability of gender in gynodioecious species. If gender fitness is frequency dependent, such structure should favor hermaphrodites and select against females. To test this hypothesis, I quantified the distribution of the genders in terms of nearest neighbors and neighborhood sex ratio in two populations of gynodioecious Sidalcea malviflora malviflora. I then measured the effect of neighborhood sex ratio on open-pollinated seed set and pollen limitation in both manipulated and unmanipulated neighborhoods. Results indicate that the genders have a patchy distribution and that both genders are pollen limited and show an increase in seed set with an increase in neighborhood hermaphrodite frequency. The observed population sex structure favors hermaphrodites and disadvantages females. These results highlight the importance that population-level traits can have in determining individual fitness and the evolution of sex ratios in gynodioecious species.
Survivorship After Primary Total Hip Arthroplasty in Solid-Organ Transplant Patients

Abstract Background Although a growing number of primary total hip arthroplasties (THAs) are being performed on solid-organ transplant (SOT) recipients, long-term patient and implant survivorships have not been well studied in contemporary transplant and arthroplasty practices. Methods A total of 136 THAs (105 patients) with prior SOT were retrospectively reviewed from 2000 to 2013 at mean clinical follow-up of 5 years. The mean age was 59 years, with 39% being females. The most common SOT was renal (56%), followed by liver (24%). Results Patient mortality was 3.8% and 13.3% at 2 and 5 years, respectively. There were 9 revisions (6.6%), including 5 (4%) for deep periprosthetic infection. Implant survivorship free of any revision was 95% and 94% at 2 and 5 years, respectively. Transplant type or surgical indication did not significantly impact patient or implant survivorship. Conclusion Compared with the general population, SOT patients undergoing THA have slightly higher mortality rates at 5 years. Implant survivorship free of revision was slightly lower than the general population, primarily due to an increased risk of periprosthetic joint infection.
Risk-Informed Decision Framework for Built Environment: The Incorporation of Epistemic Uncertainty

Managing a risk to a built environment from natural and man-made hazards is an important issue for the prosperity of a nation. Risk assessment forms the basis for the risk management, which often involves uncertainties that arise from our ignorance about the risk, such as lack of data, errors in collected data, and assumptions made in the modeling and analysis. This uncertainty that arises from imprecise information is referred to as epistemic uncertainty, as opposed to the aleatory uncertainty that arises from the variability of possible outcomes. If epistemic uncertainty prevails, assessing and managing a risk rely on risk perception of a decision maker. Studies have suggested that the risk of low-probability high-consequence events tends to be overestimated by the public. Thus, the role of risk perception in risk management of civil infrastructure exposed to natural and man-made hazards becomes significant because of the potential catastrophic consequences of such risks (e.g. casualties, functional and economic losses of the built environment, etc.) to the public. The consideration of epistemic uncertainty and risk perception in risk assessment of a built environment may lead to a risk management solution that is different from what is obtained when it is not incorporated. In this study, we present a risk-informed decision-making framework that can assist decision makers, including governmental agencies that allocate limited resources to enhance the safety and security of the civil infrastructure. In this framework, epistemic uncertainty is incorporated by utilizing generalized interval probability theory and cumulative prospect theory. The framework is illustrated with an example of regional hurricane risk management for residential buildings located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, considering the effect of changing climate.
Effect of immune sensitization on stimulated ACh release from trachealis muscle in vitro

We assessed the effect of immune sensitization on acetylcholine (ACh) release from parasympathetic nerve terminals in tracheal smooth muscle (TSM) strips from ragweed-sensitized (RWS) and sham-sensitized, littermate control (LMC) dogs. Strips of TSM were tethered to force transducers at optimal length in perfusion chambers containing [3H]choline and a fixed volume of physiological perfusate. Tissues were equilibrated for 1 h by electrical field stimulation (EFS) every 5 min to facilitate uptake of label into parasympathetic nerves as ACh. Fresh perfusate (containing 3 x 10(-8) M physostigmine) was collected at 5-min intervals for 1 h, and a rate coefficient of [3H]ACh release was determined. Tissues were exposed to agonists in the seventh collection period, and the increase in label release (ratio change where < or = 1.00 = baseline) and force production were determined. Ragweed antigen challenge stimulated [3H]ACh release and contraction in RWS but not LMC tissues. [3H]ACh release was 1.93 +/- 0.22 x baseline in RWS vs. 0.92 +/- 0.02 in control tissues (P < 0.01); contraction was 31.2 +/- 9.5% of that elicited by EFS (% EFS) in RWS vs. 0% EFS in LMC tissues (P < 0.01). Strips of TSM from RWS but not LMC dogs demonstrated concentration-dependent, augmented release of ACh caused by histamine. After 10(-4) M histamine, [3H]ACh release in RWS was 1.94 +/- 0.37 x baseline vs. 1.05 +/- 0.06 for LMC tissues (P < 0.05); histamine also caused greater contraction in RWS (106.5 +/- 5.9% EFS) vs. LMC (86.5 +/- 5.6% EFS; P < 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Temporal NetKAT

Over the past 5-10 years, the rise of software-defined networking (SDN) has inspired a wide range of new systems, libraries, hypervisors and languages for programming, monitoring, and debugging network behavior. Oftentimes, these systems are disjoint—one language for programming and another for verification, and yet another for run-time monitoring and debugging. In this paper, we present a new, unified framework, called Temporal NetKAT, capable of facilitating all of these tasks at once. As its name suggests, Temporal NetKAT is the synthesis of two formal theories: past-time (finite trace) linear temporal logic and (network) Kleene Algebra with Tests. Temporal predicates allow programmers to write down concise properties of a packet’s path through the network and to make dynamic packet-forwarding, access control or debugging decisions on that basis. In addition to being useful for programming, the combined equational theory of LTL and NetKAT facilitates proofs of path-based correctness properties. Using new, general, proof techniques, we show that the equational semantics is sound with respect to the denotational semantics, and, for a class of programs we call network-wide programs, complete. We have also implemented a compiler for temporal NetKAT, evaluated its performance on a range of benchmarks, and studied the effectiveness of several optimizations.
Out of the Ivory Tower and Into the Chat Rooms -- Are We Giving in Too Much to Technology?

Once upon a time professors pondered in offices, conducted research, and lectured to students sitting in straight rows in university classrooms. Students came to their professors for instruction; professors became personal gurus to many; their words were written down, digested and often repeated. Many long hours were spent in dark and musty libraries, searching the card catalogs, journals and other sources for literature reviews. Frustration was high when the typewriters ran out of ribbon or individual letters were unrecognizable because the keys were clogged with ink. Those days are somewhatlong gone. Gone, too, are those days when professors of academia sat in their ivory towers; students were in residence at the universities because off-campus sites were few, and distance learning meant either independent courses studies at a distance, or watching a televised series of lectures. While we are reminiscing, gone is the stereotypical professor attire: jacket with patched elbows.
THE PHANTASM OF THE WESTERN CAPITAL (SŎGYŎNG): IMPERIAL KOREA'S REDEVELOPMENT OF P'YŎNGYANG, 1902–1908

The Western Capital (Sŏgyŏng) project was of ideological, cultural, and strategic significance for the Empire of Korea (1897–1910) struggling for survival in the age of imperialism. This study argues that Imperial Korea's understanding of its place in the civilized world of the past, present, and future inspired redeveloping P'yŏngyang as the secondary capital. The advocates cited the history of the city in particular and of the nation in general to legitimize the project. Also, status-conscious specialist chungin (“middle people”), a newly prominent social group with loyalist members, played active roles. Moreover, responding to the deteriorating Russo-Japanese relations, Korea began preparing the nation's secondary capital, located within a neutral zone that Russia proposed to Japan. From the outset, the critics of the project highlighted funding constraints, a heavy tax burden on the local population, and rapacious officials exploiting the situation. The Japanese victory over Russia in 1905 effectively ended the project, but the memory of P'yŏngyang's status as the secondary capital outlived the Empire of Korea and the subsequent Japanese colonial rule before the city became the national capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, established in 1948.
Emotion Reactivity and Cerebrovascular Burden in Late-Life GAD: A Neuroimaging Study

Objective Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in older adults is associated with persistent deficits in emotion reactivity (ER) and regulation, yet the neural basis of these deficits has not been explored. This study focuses on the neural basis of ER deficits in late-life GAD and the association with cerebrovascular burden. Methods Twenty elderly nonanxious participants and 17 late-life GAD participants were included. The faces-shapes functional magnetic resonance imaging task was used to assess ER; the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale and the Penn State Worry Questionnaire to measure global anxiety and worry, respectively; linear regression models to examine the association between ER and global anxiety severity and between ER and worry severity; and mediation analysis to explore the effect of ER on the relationship between global anxiety/worry severity and cerebrovascular burden. Results A positive association was found between ER and global anxiety in the left parahippocampus, left and right precuneus, and right superior occipital gyrus. A negative association was found between ER and worry severity in the left and right precuneus. The association between cerebrovascular burden and anxiety/worry severity was indirectly mediated by increased ER in limbic and paralimbic areas and by decreased ER in prefrontal regulatory regions. Conclusion These results indicate that ER is associated with different neural activation patterns for worry and global anxiety and that ER-related functional connectivity indirectly mediates the relationship between cerebrovascular burden and late-life GAD. This latter result supports a yet-unexplored cerebrovascular pathway involved in the pathophysiology of late-life anxiety.
Formal versus traditional institutions: evidence from Ghana

ABSTRACTCitizens in Ghana have a host of options when it comes to local governance provision as a result of the government’s decentralization policies. We undertake to explore and understand how Ghanaians navigate the constellation of local institutions, both formal and traditional, to solve an array of common problems. A four-constituency survey was administered during the summer of 2009 and asked respondents about their experiences interacting with four formal institutions and one traditional institution. We find that formal institutions are by and large working effectively and are enhanced by the presence of a traditional institution. We consider the implications of our results with respect to both democratization and decentralization.
Clomipramine for Compulsive Tics

Reduction of adventitious movements and compulsions during clomipramine treatment (25 mg - 200 mg daily at bedtime) in five prepubertal, autistic, retarded boys is reported from the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Bellevue Hospital and New York University Medical Center, New York.
Cross-Device Interfaces: Existing Research, Current Tools, Outlook

In this tutorial, I will describe key technical and design challenges of developing cross-device interfaces, which are not only able to adapt to a wide variety of device characteristics and user preferences, but can actually migrate a user's tasks from one device to another and even distribute the interface between multiple devices jointly used by one or more users. Starting with a review of the cross-device design concepts, authoring tools and interaction techniques presented in the ISS and larger HCI literature, I will give a comprehensive overview of the state of the art. I will then analyze the current tools for design and development of cross-device interfaces, and present one of these tools, XDBrowser, in detail. Participants will get hands-on experience with designing cross-device versions of existing interfaces using such authoring tools created for non-technical users. Finally, I will discuss open issues and provide an outlook based on the results from recent cross-device workshops I co-organized or participated in at CHI, EICS, and DIS.
CHAPTER 12 – Planning

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the initial states and goals of planning. The ability to plan ahead is a key aspect of intelligent behavior. By knowing the consequences of actions and exploiting that knowledge, one can achieve goals while avoiding danger and economizing on resources. The initial state in a planning problem is the state in which the executor is expected to begin operation. The initial state designator is name for this state, and one use this state designator in writing sentences about the initial state. The set of action designators in a planning problem includes a term for every primitive or composite action that can be used to convert the initial state into a state that satisfies the goal relation. Even though there are only finitely many primitive action designators, there can be infinitely many composite action designators in this set. When this is the case, one cannot pass the set as argument to planner, and so instead one specifies a computable metalevel relation that is true of every term in the set, and only those terms that are in the set.
Reforming Last-Resort Lending: The Flexible Open Market Alternative

I offer a plan for supplying liquidity during financial emergencies that altogether dispenses with direct central-bank lending. The plan instead relies upon "flexible" open market operations to supply liquidity in amounts needed and to firms most in need of it, where the necessary "flexibility" is achieved (1) by allowing all sound depository institutions, as well as existing Primary Dealers, to participate in Fed security purchases and sales; (2) by switching from a "Treasuries only" open-market framework to one that allows counterparties to bid for Fed funds using the full set of securities traditionally eligible as collateral for Fed discount loans; and (3) by replacing conventional auctions with "Product Mix" auctions, like those now employed by the Bank of England, so competitive bidding takes place on price and collateral-quality dimensions simultaneously. These arrangements should collectively suffice to render direct central bank lending, whether broad based or to specific markets and firms, unnecessary.
Personal Transformation in RNs Who Recently Graduated From an RN to BSN Program

The purpose of this study was to explore experiences of personal transformation and development of self-authorship in registered nurses (RNs) who recently completed an RN to bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) program. A content analysis was performed on the qualitative data obtained from semistructured interviews with 14 RNs. Experiences of personal transformation and development of self-authorship fell into two categories: changes in self included having gained (1) a broader perspective, (2) confidence, and (3) awareness and clarity, and changes in practice included feeling (1) more well rounded as a nurse, (2) more confidence in practice, and (3) having acquired new skills. Meaningful changes occurred in this sample of RNs, shedding light on characteristics of personal transformation in the context of learning. Development of self-authorship differed by age-groups. Research is recommended to explore ways to encourage personal transformation and development of self-authorship and whether these changes ...
Interactive Book Reading to Accelerate Word Learning in Bilingual Children With Developmental Language Disorder: A Preliminary Intervention Approach

This article will describe a bilingual preliminary treatment method currently being utilized in a clinical research study to teach vocabulary to bilingual (Spanish/English) preschool aged (four to six years old) children with developmental language disorder (DLD). The objective of this treatment method is to advance English vocabulary while supporting the native language abilities of English learners (ELs). In this bilingual treatment method, Spanish and English are used within the session, which includes the reading of books in English and Spanish and the teaching of vocabulary in English and Spanish.
Comparison of linearized dynamic robot manipulator models for model predictive control

When using model predictive control (MPC) to perform low-level control of humanoid robot manipulators, computational tractability can be a limiting factor. This is because using complex models can have a negative impact on control performance, especially as the number of degrees of freedom increases. In an effort to address this issue, we compare three different methods for linearizing the dynamics of a robot arm for MPC. The methods we compare are a Taylor Series approximation method (TS), a Fixed-State approximation method (FS), and a Coupling-Torque approximation method (CT). In simulation we compare the relative control performance when these models are used with MPC. Through these comparisons we show that the CT approximation method is best for reducing model complexity without reducing the performance of MPC. We also demonstrate the CT approximation method on two real robots, a robot with series elastic actuators and a soft, inflatable robot.
Facilitating and Supporting EdD Students’ Scholar Practitioner Writing as an Epistemological Tool

Becoming adept at crafting scholarly writing is an important aspect of a doctoral student’s development. Presented in this article is an EdD course, embedded writing scaffold that engages students and faculty to develop students’ scholarly inquiry projects. That scaffold is the Applied Inquiry Plan (AIP). The AIP creates a programmatic pathway to guide a Dissertation in Practice. Working to improve the quality and value of scholar practitioner writing parallels and draws from efforts in the biomedical fields to develop writing guidelines that impact the quality and value of practice. Creating and using the AIP provides opportunities for broad discussion of how to engage EdD students to view their writing as an epistemological tool. Discussed is the AIP impact on EdD program redesign and improvement.
DNA-to-protein crosslinks and backbone breaks caused by far- and near-ultraviolet, and visible light radiations in mammalian cells.

The cytotoxic, mutagenic and carcinogenic potential of germicidal far-UV* radiation has been known for decades. This radiation is not a major component of the solar radiations that reach the surface of the earth, unlike the abundant near-UV and visible radiations present in the solar spectrum. Although it has been recognized for decades that the mixture of mid-UV, near-UV, and visible radiation (wavelengths longer than 290 nm) that comprise sunlight is cytotoxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic,1 surprisingly little attention has been paid to the specific DNA damages that may be caused in cells by these particular wavelengths of nonionizing radiation—even though these radiations are environmentally abundant, penetrate deeply through skin, and are increasingly used for cosmetic purposes (natural and artificial solar exposure of human skin).
Evolving molecules for drug design using genetic algorithms via molecular trees

We present a new representation for a genetic algorithm to evolve molecular structures representing possible drugs that bind to a given protein target receptor. Our representation is tree-structured with functional groups for leaves, and captures chemically relevant information efficiently. We assume a given target protein structure with known essential residues, and derive the placement of the functional groups in each chromosome from both lengths and the position of a pharmacore in the receptor. Our fitness evaluation takes into consideration both proximities and polarities of the functional groups of the evolved drug structure and the residues. Our evolved structures were intriguingly similar to known active anti-viral drug structures. Our experiments indicate that a tree-structured molecular representation and a simple evolutionary computation can design acceptable molecular structures that are potentially useful for drug design endeavors.