cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
High-affinity uptake of 67Cu into a veratridine-releasable pool in brain tissue

We have previously characterized two saturable, ligand-dependent processes for 67Cu uptake by hypothalamic slices: a high- and low-affinity process (22). In this study, we wished to ascertain if veratridine, a secretagogue that mimics a physiological release process, stimulates the release of newly taken up 67Cu and whether uptake of 67Cu into the releasable pool of copper is dependent on the process of 67Cu uptake. Hypothalamic or caudate slices from male rats were loaded for 30 min with 67Cu complexed to histidine (His) under conditions favoring high- or low-affinity uptake. First, we assessed the stability of the newly taken up 67Cu and found that, regardless of the mode of 67Cu entry into the tissue, greater than or equal to 85% of the 67Cu is retained in tissues incubated for 3 h in 67Cu-free buffer. Moreover, the 67Cu taken up by the high-affinity process was not displaced by 15-fold molar excess of nonradiolabeled Cu2+, histidine, albumin, or Zn2+, and only 20-30% of the 67Cu taken up by the low-affinity process was displaced by 10-fold excess Cu2+ or albumin. Next, we assessed veratridine stimulation of 67Cu release and found that 67Cu release occurred only from tissues loaded with the high- but not with the low-affinity process. This effect of veratridine was calcium dependent and was blocked by Tetrodotoxin, a specific blocker of the voltage-sensitive Na+ channel. In addition, we confirmed our earlier observation that a depolarizing concentration of K+ stimulates 67Cu release.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Internet resources in gay and lesbian studies

Cet article presente les ressources Internet concernant la communaute homosexuelle dans de nombreux domaines : les organismes specialises, les archives et bibliotheques, les etudes concernant les homosexuels, les minorites homosexuelles, les films, le jounalisme, la politique de communication et la famille
Site significance and historical archaeology—A scenario and commentary

Site significance is an issue that faces most archaeologists, often on a daily basis. The papers presented offer different means to assess site significance. Comments are offered on the papers and the different assessment approaches.
Stripping Citizenship: Does Membership Have Its (Moral) Privileges?

ABSTRACTIf states have the moral authority to decide their memberships by denying citizenship, I argue that they may also strip citizenship, from law-abiding members, for the same reasons. The only real difference is that when states revoke citizenship they may need to compensate people for their prior contributions, but that is not unlike what frequently occurs in divorce. Once just termination rules are established, stripping citizenship could become, like divorce, an everyday event. Partly because of this implication, we should reject the membership authority of states.
Marital History and Survival After Stroke

BackgroundStroke is among the leading causes of disability and death in the United States, and nearly 7 million adults are currently alive after experiencing a stroke. Although the risks associated...
A Note on Economic Policy in Tortola

(1953). A Note on Economic Policy in Tortola. Caribbean Quarterly: Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 110-115.
A Valuable New Direction in Ethical Analysis of Psychiatric Genetics

Kong and colleagues (Kong, Dunn, and Parker 2017) have written a timely analysis of ethical concerns raised by the societal reception of recent results from genetic studies of mental illnesses. The...
Discordance Between Physician Assessment and Patient-Reported Depressive Symptoms in Parkinson Disease.

Objective:To assess concordance between physician assessment and patient-reported symptoms when screening for depression in Parkinson disease (dPD).Background:Depression in Parkinson disease is highly prevalent (∼40%) and has a significant impact on quality of life and disability, yet physician recognition and treatment remain inadequate.Methods:One thousand seventy-six patients with PD completed the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 (BSI-18), a screening questionnaire for psychiatric symptoms, which was compared to item #3 (depression) on the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS).Results:The mean BSI-18 depression score was 51.4 (9.7). Of the 170 (16%) patients screening positive for dPD on the BSI-18, 104 (61%) were not recognized as depressed by neurologists on the UPDRS. Factors associated with lower neurologist recognition included male gender, better mental health quality of life, and lack of antidepressant use.Conclusion:More than 60% of patients screening positive for depression on self-report...
Socioeconomic, Psychosocial and Behavioral Characteristics of Patients Hospitalized With Cardiovascular Disease.

Abstract Background Recent studies have drawn attention to nonclinical factors to better understand disparities in the development, treatment and prognosis of patients with cardiovascular disease. However, there has been limited research describing the nonclinical characteristics of patients hospitalized for cardiovascular care. Methods Data for this study come from 520 patients admitted to the Duke Heart Center from January 1, 2015 through January 10, 2017. Electronic medical records and a standardized survey administered before discharge were used to ascertain detailed information on patients' demographic (age, sex, race, marital status and living arrangement), socioeconomic (education, employment and health insurance), psychosocial (health literacy, health self-efficacy, social support, stress and depressive symptoms) and behavioral (smoking, drinking and medication adherence) attributes. Results Study participants were of a median age of 65 years, predominantly male (61.4%), non-Hispanic white (67.1%), hospitalized for 5.11 days and comparable to all patients admitted during this period. Results from the survey showed significant heterogeneity among patients in their demographic, socioeconomic and behavioral characteristics. We also found that the patients' levels of psychosocial risks and resources were significantly associated with many of these nonclinical characteristics. Patients who were older, women, nonwhite and unmarried had generally lower levels of health literacy, self-efficacy and social support, and higher levels of stress and depressive symptoms than their counterparts. Conclusions Patients hospitalized with cardiovascular disease have diverse nonclinical profiles that have important implications for targeting interventions. A better understanding of these characteristics will enhance the personalized delivery of care and improve outcomes in vulnerable patient groups.
The association between insomnia and prescription opioid use: results from a community sample in Northeast Florida

Abstract Objective The current analysis examines whether opioid use is associated with insomnia in a community sample, as the consequences of the growing epidemic of prescription opioid use continue to cause public health concern. Study design A cross-sectional study including 8433 members in a community outreach program, HealthStreet, in Northeast Florida. Methods Community Health Workers (CHWs) assessed health information, including use of opioids (i.e., Vicodin®, Oxycodone, Codeine, Demerol®, Morphine, Percocet®, Darvon®, Hydrocodone) from community members during field outreach. Insomnia was determined based on self-report: “Have you ever been told you had, or have you ever had a problem with insomnia?” Summary descriptive statistics were calculated and logistic regression modeling was used to calculate adjusted odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals for insomnia, by opioid use status, after adjustment for demographics and other covariates. Results Among 8433 community members recruited (41% male; 61% Black), 2115 (25%) reported insomnia, and 4200 (50.3%) reported use of opioids. After adjusting for covariates, opioid users were significantly more likely to report insomnia than non-users (adjusted OR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.25–1.61). Conclusion Insomnia was 42% more likely among those who reported using prescription opioids compared to those who did not. With one half of the sample reporting prescription opioid use, and a fourth reporting insomnia, it is important to further investigate the relationship between the two. Findings provide useful preliminary information from which to conduct further analyses.
Gendered Stigma Management among Young Adult Women Smokers in South Korea

Although researchers have examined the health behaviors of stigmatized groups, few studies have focused on the intersection of gender norms, stigmatization, and health outcomes. Korean women underr...
The Lesson of Guild History: Variance Reduction Must Be Balanced with Innovation

[This abstract is based on the author's abstract.] A response to J.M. Juran's challenge to learn from the history of quality management looks at the history of the guilds. The study concludes that the variance minimization that was the foundation of qu..
Interstellar Scattering: Observations and Interpretations

The successful theory for radio propagation through the interstellar plasma is reviewed, where the density spectrum follows the Kolmogorov model. However, there are also several observations indicating more refraction than expected. A particular model of enhanced refraction is proposed in which isolated regions of the warm ionized medium support filaments of enhanced density on a scale of 1 AU, which do not couple to a turbulent cascade.
Response to induction or hypomethylating agent therapy among patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms progressing to accelerated or leukemic phase.

e18561Background: Post-myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and accelerated phase disease (AP) are associated with poor outcomes; the optimal management of these patients ...
Soil microbial response to Rhododendron understory removal in southern Appalachian forests: Effects on extracellular enzymes

Abstract Rhododendron maximum is a native evergreen shrub that has expanded in Appalachian forests following declines of american chestnut (Castanea dentata) and eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis). R. maximum is of concern to forest managers because it suppresses hardwood tree establishment by limiting light and soil nutrient availability. We are testing R. maximum removal as a management strategy to promote recovery of Appalachian forests. We hypothesized that R. maximum removal would increase soil nitrogen (N) availability, resulting in increased microbial C-demand (i.e. increased C-acquiring enzyme activity) and a shift towards bacterial-dominated microbial communities. R. maximum removal treatments were applied in a 2 × 2 factorial design, with two R. maximum canopy removal levels (removed vs not) combined with two O-horizon removal levels (burned vs unburned). Following removals, we sampled soils and found that dissolved organic carbon (DOC), N (TDN, NO3, NH4), and microbial biomass all increased with R. maximum canopy + O-horizon removal. Additionally, we observed increases in C-acquisition enzymes involved in degrading cellulose (β-glucosidase) and hemicellulose (β-xylosidase) with canopy + O-horizon removal. We did not see treatment effects on bacterial dominance, though F:B ratios from all treatments increased from spring to summer. Our results show that R. maximum removal stimulates microbial activity by increasing soil C and N availability, which may influence recovery of forests in the Appalachian region.
Sidney W Mintz: Charting an anthropology of the Caribbean:

The research program established by the anthropologist Sidney W Mintz (1922–2015) in a professional career spanning more than half a century was definitive in charting an anthropology of the Caribb...
The neuraminidase of A(H3N2) influenza viruses circulating since 2016 is antigenically distinct from the A/Hong Kong/4801/2014 vaccine strain

A(H3N2) virus predominated recent influenza seasons, which has resulted in the rigorous investigation of haemagglutinin, but whether neuraminidase (NA) has undergone antigenic change and contributed to the predominance of A(H3N2) virus is unknown. Here, we show that the NA of the circulating A(H3N2) viruses has experienced significant antigenic drift since 2016 compared with the A/Hong Kong/4801/2014 vaccine strain. This antigenic drift was mainly caused by amino acid mutations at NA residues 245, 247 (S245N/S247T; introducing an N-linked glycosylation site at residue 245) and 468. As a result, the binding of the NA of A(H3N2) virus by some human monoclonal antibodies, including those that have broad reactivity to the NA of the 1957 A(H2N2) and 1968 A(H3N2) reference pandemic viruses as well as contemporary A(H3N2) strains, was reduced or abolished. This antigenic drift also reduced NA-antibody-based protection against in vivo virus challenge. X-ray crystallography showed that the glycosylation site at residue 245 is within a conserved epitope that overlaps the NA active site, explaining why it impacts antibody binding. Our findings suggest that NA antigenic drift impacts protection against influenza virus infection, thus highlighting the importance of including NA antigenicity for consideration in the optimization of influenza vaccines. The neuraminidase antigenicity of the circulating influenza A(H3N2) viruses differs from that of a recent A(H3N2) vaccine virus due to three amino acid substitutions, two of which introduce an N-linked glycosylation site that significantly reduces the binding of neuraminidase by antibodies.
Income and Effort: An Instrumental Variables Approach

Does income affect how much people value effort? If income has a negative causal effect on how much effort is valued, an increase in income will adversely affect the cultivation of a growth mindset. Achievement will then be affected because intelligence, abilities, skills, and intrinsic motivation are affected. By utilizing data from the 2010 Chinese General Social Survey, this paper shows that doubling income reduces the probability of an individual valuing effort by two to three percentage points. This study is the first to examine the effect of income on how much effort is valued. It addresses the endogeneity of income by using the regional unemployment rate, regional Consumer Price Index, and regional retail growth rate as instruments. Placebo tests were performed to evaluate the validity of the instruments. The negative causal effect of income on how much effort is valued implies that creating an environment where intrinsic motivations can flourish is of greater importance among higher income workers. Promoting employees with higher income may have a negative effect on engagement through the cultivation of a growth mindset.
Field-Plated Lateral Ga 2 O 3 MOSFETs With Polymer Passivation and 8.03 kV Breakdown Voltage

This letter reports the polymer passivation of field plated lateral $\beta $ -Ga2 O3 MOSFETs with significant improvement in the breakdown voltages as compared to non-passivated devices. We show consistent results of higher breakdown voltages in passivated devices as compared to non-passivated devices for MOSFETs with $\text{L}_{\textit {gd}}$ ranging from $30~\mu \text{m}$ to $70~\mu \text{m}$ and across two process runs. We obtain a record high breakdown voltage of 6.72 kV for a MOSFET with $\text{L}_{\textit {gd}}= {40}\mu \text{m}$ giving an average field strength of 1.69 MVcm−1. The peak drain current is $\sim ~3$ mA/mm for $\text{L}_{g}= {2}\mu \text{m}$ device with a gate source separation of $3~\mu \text{m}$ . The on-resistance for the device is, $\text{R}_{\textit {on}}= {13}\,\,\text{k}\Omega ^{.}$ mm, giving a power device Figure of Merit of 7.73 kWcm−2. The $\text{R}_{\textit {on}}$ is high due to plasma induced damage of channel and access regions. The $\text{R}_{\textit {on}}$ and on-current density remain unchanged after passivation. The breakdown increases with $\text{L}_{\textit {gd}}$ up to 70 $\mu \text{m}$ , giving a maximum breakdown voltage of 8.03 kV.
A Pen-Writable Electroless Plating Method for Large-Area RF Circuit Applications

This paper proposes a novel, large area, low temperature compatible approach to the fabrication of RF electronics through a combination of AM methods and electroless plating. A silver nanoparticle based ink containing particles averaging ~35 nm in size was loaded into ballpoint pens which were used to directly write 868 MHz RFID antennas upon a waterproof inkjet positive film with a microporous coating. After curing, the components were subjected to Cu electroless plating to increase conductivity, resulting in fully functional, flexible and water-resistant devices demonstrating read ranges up to 0.85 m. The effects of the Cu electroplating upon the morphology of the conductive surface and RFID antenna performance were examined. It was found that the addition of the electroless plating provided a notable enhancement to device performance without significantly impacting the advantages of high-throughput, simplicity and low cost offered by AM methods.
Forty years of emergency medicine research: Uncovering research themes and trends through topic modeling.

Abstract Study objective Topic identification can facilitate knowledge curation, discover thematic relationships, trends, and predict future direction. We aimed to determine through an unsupervised, machine learning approach to topic modeling the most common research themes in emergency medicine over the last 40 years and summarize their trends and characteristics. Methods We retrieved the complete reference entries including article abstracts from Ovid for all original research articles from 1980 to 2019 within emergency medicine for six widely-cited journals. Abstracts were processed through a natural language pipeline and analyzed by a latent Dirichlet allocation topic modeling algorithm for unsupervised topic discovery. Topics were further examined through trend analysis, word associations, co-occurrence metrics, and two-dimensional embeddings. Results We retrieved 47,158 articles during the defined time period that were filtered to 20,528 articles for further analysis. Forty topics covering methodologic and clinical areas were discovered. These topics separated into distinct clusters when embedded in two-dimensional space and exhibited consistent patterns of interaction. We observed the greatest increase in popularity in research themes involving risk factors (0.4% to 5.2%), health utilization (1.2% to 5.0%), and ultrasound (0.7% to 3.3%), and a relative decline in research involving basic science (8.9% to 1.1%), cardiac arrest (6.5% to 2.2%), and vitals (6.3% to 1.3%) over the past 40 years. Our data show only very modest growth in mental health and substance abuse research (1.0% to 1.6%), despite ongoing crises. Conclusions Topic modeling via unsupervised machine learning applied to emergency medicine abstracts discovered coherent topics, trends, and patterns of interaction.
Integrating Air Quality and Public Health Benefits in U.S. Decarbonization Strategies.

Research on air quality and human health "co-benefits" from climate mitigation strategies represents a growing area of policy-relevant scholarship. Compared to other aspects of climate and energy policy evaluation, however, there are still relatively few of these co-benefits analyses. This sparsity reflects a historical disconnect between research quantifying energy and climate, and research dealing with air quality and health. The air quality co-benefits of climate, clean energy, and transportation electrification policies are typically assessed with models spanning social, physical, chemical, and biological systems. This review article summarizes studies to date and presents methods used for these interdisciplinary analyses. Studies in the peer-reviewed literature (n = 26) have evaluated carbon pricing, renewable portfolio standards, energy efficiency, renewable energy deployment, and clean transportation. A number of major findings have emerged from these studies: [1] decarbonization strategies can reduce air pollution disproportionally on the most polluted days; [2] renewable energy deployment and climate policies offer the highest health and economic benefits in regions with greater reliance on coal generation; [3] monetized air quality health co-benefits can offset costs of climate policy implementation; [4] monetized co-benefits typically exceed the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of renewable energies; [5] Electric vehicle (EV) adoption generally improves air quality on peak pollution days, but can result in ozone dis-benefits in urban centers due to the titration of ozone with nitrogen oxides. Drawing from these published studies, we review the state of knowledge on climate co-benefits to air quality and health, identifying opportunities for policy action and further research.
Phrasing in Reproducible Search Methodology: The Consequences of Straight and Curly Quotation Marks

In recent years, various disciplines have engaged in efforts to increase research reproducibility including the adoption of replicable search methodologies. With the development of reporting checklists and guidelines for systematic reviews such as the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Statement, authors are expected to transparently report search strategies. Replicable search strategies are critical since the included studies will be screened for inclusion in some forms of evidence synthesis, which could have practice and policy implications. In cases where search strategies miss germane literature, studies are open to further criticism and can face difficulties in peer review. In some cases, search strategies that contain nonalphanumeric or special characters may not retrieve pertinent literature due to a search platform’s capacity for handling said characters. In this study, we explore issues with phrasing search strategies containing curly and straight quotation marks tested in 40 search platforms. The discovery platforms were tested using quotation characters and the absence of said characters to investigate platform behavior. Searches were categorized into one of five groups: CI (curly ignored), CA (curly acknowledged), CU (curly unclear), NP (no phrases), and UC (unsupported characters). The study found that 42.5 percent of platforms ignored curly quotation marks and interpreted the test term as a phrase, 30 percent of the bibliographic platforms acknowledged curly quotations and completed the phrase search, and one platform flagged curly quotation marks as an unsupported character.
Tire-derived aggregate applications in civil engineering

Abstract Tire-derived aggregate (TDA) has been used for several decades in various civil engineering applications including but not limited to retaining wall backfill and embankments. While there is an environmental advantage to using recycled tires as TDA, a primary factor in selecting the material for use in civil engineering projects is the low unit weight of the aggregate. Often, during construction, poor-quality soils are encountered and can sustain only moderate loads before failure. By substituting TDA for soil fill, the overburden stress is reduced. Additionally, TDA has a much lower active earth pressure coefficient, which can significantly reduce the design requirements for retaining walls. Since the TDA is essentially buried in the ground during construction, there is always a concern about groundwater contamination. Numerous studies have shown that the leachate behavior of TDA is minimal and unlikely to have any impact on groundwater quality.
Podcasts and new orality in the African mediascape

While podcasts as a storytelling media have exploded in popularity in the West since 2014, the uptake and consumption of this sonic new media was relatively slow in Africa until recently. This arti...
Expression of genes associated with nutrient uptake in intestines of chickens with different growth potentials show temporal changes but are not correlated with growth.

The study was designed to compare the expression of genes that encode proteins located at either the brush border (BB) or basolateral (BL) of the gut epithelium among fast and slow-growing broilers.Six lines of chicks with different growth capacities were used: Ross 708, Hubbard H1 (HH1), Cobb 500, Longnecker's Heritage (LHR), Red-Bro, and the Athens Canadian Randombred Control (ACRB). Birds were sampled between embryonic day (ED) 19 and day 35 post-hatch (PH).Performance parameters indicated that Ross 708, HH1, and Cobb 500 had the highest body weights (BW) while ACRBs had the lowest.Quantitative RT-PCR was performed on 13 genes encoding proteins associated with nutrient processing and uptake. Statistical analysis was carried out (ANOVA) for eight BB genes: Aminopeptidase N (APN), four amino acid transporters, (ATBo,+, BoAT, bo,+AT, EAAT3) a di- and tri- peptide transporter (PepT1), and two sugar transporters (GLUT5 and SGLT1). Analysis of four amino acid transporters (CAT1, CAT2, LAT1, and γ+LAT1), and a single sugar transporter (GLUT2) associated with BL was carried out.Four BB associated genes (APN, EAAT3, BoAT, and b0,+AT) in the small intestine were negatively correlated with growth.In most cases, genes encoding BB proteins increased in expression over time (P<0.05) in the small intestine, while, in the caeca, the expression decreased (P<0.05). The mRNA of BL-associated proteins showed decreased (P<0.05) expression over time in all gut segments, with exception of GLUT2, which increased in expression in the small intestine.The temporal changes in gene expression were consistent among bird lines and BB associated genes tended to increase over time, while BL associated genes tended to decrease over time. Correlation analysis indicated that mRNA expression of nutrient transporter genes may not be a good predictor of growth potential.
Organic Chemistry Students’ Written Descriptions and Explanations of Resonance and Its Influence on Reactivity

Resonance is a fundamental concept that is necessary for students’ successful learning in organic chemistry. However, there is a need to know more about both (1) what students find important when describing resonance and (2) students’ conceptual understanding. This research seeks to address this discrepancy by examining second-semester organic chemistry students’ responses to a writing-to-learn (WTL) assignment focused on resonance. This work is guided by the cognitive process theory of writing and studies within undergraduate STEM and chemistry courses that indicate the usefulness of WTL assignments for examining how students convey their understanding of fundamental concepts. We analyzed students’ responses to a WTL assignment designed to elicit students’ explanations of resonance and its influence on reactivity to a general, nonscientific audience. The goal of our analysis was to identify the features students found important when explaining resonance and to gain insight regarding their conceptual understanding. The analysis was guided by an analytical framework outlining the learning objectives for resonance at the introductory organic chemistry level. We identified various elements in students’ writing, including (1) the analogies or examples students used to explain resonance, (2) the basic definitions of the concept students included, and (3) the various ways students described the influence of resonance on reactivity. Our findings indicate that students generally described resonance with an operational rather than conceptual definition, focusing on the process of drawing resonance structures rather than providing conceptual explanations. Furthermore, we identified that students tended to associate resonance with stability, with many students often extending this association to make overgeneralized statements about the influence of resonance on reactivity.
In Vivo Significance of In Vitro Studies on G-Protein-Coupled Receptor Heteromers.

Interactions between distinct receptor proteins have been assessed in vitro and in vivo. Among these studies are G-Protein-Coupled Receptor (GPCR) heteromers. GPCR heteromers form a popular area for study in molecular pharmacology and are expected to contribute valuable information to clinical needs for development of medications discovery in various neuropsychiatric diseases and symptoms. For example, physical formation of GPCR heteromers could result in a novel signaling mechanism that is distinct from those of individual GPCR monomers or their homomer. However, significance of various studies on dopamine (DA) D1/D2 receptor heteromers was challenged by a recent report [1]. Javitch et al. [1] provided compelling evidence against D1/D2 heteromers, one of the most prominent subjects of interest in neuropsychiatry field. In the study Javitch et al. performed an “in vivo” assessment of the first demonstration for the presence of DA D1/D2 receptor heteromers in animal tissues [1]. Surprisingly, despite the successful creation of DA D1/D2 receptor heteromers “in vitro”, their immunohistochemical studies discovered the virtual absence of physical DA D1/D2 receptor heteromers in the shell region of the nucleus accumbens (NAS) from C57Bl/6J mouse brain [1]. In the NAS, DA D1 and D2 receptors seem to co-express in the same neuron for some neurons but did not localize [1]. The virtual absence of physical DA D1/D2 receptor heteromers “in vivo” was further substantiated by the discovery of lack of localization across species. For example, there was little if any signal indicative of the presence of DA D1/D2 receptor heteromers in the NAS from a rat and the ventral striatum from rhesus monkey. Since various drugs abused by humans are known to increase extracelluar DA levels in the NAS, the “in vivo” negative results against the presence of DA D1/D2 receptor heteromers in the NAS could have a substantial impact at least on research for drug abuse. In sumary, the failure to demonstrate in vivo the presence of DA D1/D2 receptor heteromers [1] undoubtly suggests reconsideration of the use of the “in vitro preclinical” models using receptor couplings. There is a clear need to reassess the validity of this approach for the development of medications discovery regarding various neuropsychiatric diseases and symptoms.
A Novel Approach for the Registration of 2D Portal and 3D CT Images for Treatment Setup Verification in Radiotherapy

In this paper we present a framework to simultaneously segment portal images and register them to 3D treatment planning CT data sets for the purpose of radiotherapy setup verification. Due to the low resolution and low contrast of the portal image, taken with a high energy treatment photon beam, registration to the 3D CT data is a difficult problem. However, if some structure can be segmented in the portal image, it can be used to help registration, and if there is an estimate of the registration parameters, it can help improve the segmention of the portal image. The minimax entropy algorithm proposed in this paper evaluates appropriate entropies in order to segment the portal image and to find the registration parameters iteratively. The proposed algorithm can be used, in general, for registering a high resolution image to a low resolution image. Finally, we show the proposed algorithm’s relation to the mutual information [19] metric proposed in the literature for multi-modality image registration.
The O-type Spectroscopic Binary System HD 149404

HD 149404 (HR 6164) was noted to have double lines by Conti, Leep and Lorre (1977). The spectrum has been previously classified as 09Ia, and shows strong Si IV λ4089, 4116 absorption, He I stronger than He II, N III λ4634,41 weakly in emission, He II λ4686 “filled in,” and all the Balmer lines through H13 in absorption except Hα, which is strongly in emission.
An object oriented testing and maintenance environment

The object-oriented (OO) paradigm enjoys increasing acceptance in the software industry. Although the OO paradigm has visible benefits in the development cycle, testing and maintenance of OO programs have been considered challenging tasks by the research community. In this paper, we describe an OO testing and maintenance model and present a supporting CASE environment. The model consists of three types of diagrams: the Object Relation Diagram (ORD), Block Branch Diagram (BBD), and Object State Diagram (OSD). An ORD depicts the inheritance, aggregation, and association relationships between the classes of an OO program, a BBD presents the control flow graph of a function/method and its interfaces to other parts of the OO program, and an OSD displays the state-dependent behavior of a class in terms of a hierarchy of state transition diagrams. These diagrams are extracted from code using a reverse engineering approach and facilitate the understanding, test preparation, and maintenance of OO programs. Based on the model, a CASE environment, called OOTME, has been developed to support object-oriented testing and maintenance in aspects of test strategy generation, test case/data generation, code change, and impact identification. In addition, the application of OOTME to the InterViews library is presented.A software demonstration will be provided at the conference site.
Properties of Purified Glycogen Synthetase b from Liver

A procedure has been developed for the acquisition of highly purified rat liver glycogen synthetase b. In density gradient centrifugation experiments 2 major peaks of synthetase b activity were found in the absence of ligands, plus small amounts of higher molecular weight components. The heavier peak appeared to be a dimer of the lighter peak and was of approximately 258,000 to 284,000 molecular weight. In the presence of ligands a single, nearly symmetrical peak of activity was obtained corresponding to the heavier of the 2 peaks. Similar observations were made with disc gel electrophoresis experiments where the presence of G-6-P converted the major component to a species of lower mobility. Preincubation of certain preparations of synthetase b with G-6-P also produced a marked time-dependent increase in activity. In crude extracts of normal livers which had been filtered through Sephadex G-25, Mg+2 stimulated the synthetase phosphatase reaction. By contrast Mg+2 had no effect on the phosphorylase phosphatase reaction. In addition, phosphorylase phosphatase activity was present in extracts from starved, adrenalectomized animals in which synthetase phosphatase activity was absent. We propose some views of the metabolic significance of interconvertible forms of enzymes.
Automatic generation of heuristics for scheduling

This paper presents a technique, called GENH, that automatically generates search heuristics for scheduling problems. The impetus for developing this technique is the growing consensus that heuristics encode advice that is, at best, useful in solving most, or typical, problem instances, and, at worst, useful in solving only a narrowly defined set of instances. In either case, heuristic problem solvers, to be broadly applicable, should have a means of automatically adjusting to the idiosyncrasies of each problem instance. GENH generates a search heuristic for a given problem instance by hillclimbing in the space of possible multiattribute heuristics, where the evaluation of a candidate heuristic is based on the quality of the solution found under its guidance. We present empirical results obtained by applying GENH to the real world problem of telescope observation scheduling. These results demonstrate that GENH is a simple and effective way of improving the performance of an heuristic scheduler.
Automated Phase Design and Timing Adjustment for Signal Phase Design

In this paper we describe the design processes of human traffic engineers and the development of an automated system that solves the problem of timing adjustment in signal phase sequence design. i>Signal phase sequencing refers to the sequence of signal changes and the timing of each change for a system of traffic lights at an isolated intersection. In designing signal sequences, one must decide how much time to allocate for each phase of the sequence so that traffic can flow with a minimum of delay. Other automated phase design systems can generate an initial phase design, but if the initial design is not precisely correct, the timing sequence must be adjusted by hand. This paper presents TIMELY, an automated signal phase design generator that generates an initial phase design i>and automatically adjusts the timing if necessary. TIMELY uses an interactive redesign strategy which largely mimics that used by human experts. The system invokes a set of redesign rules (which we have dubbed the “Robin Hood” procedure), gathered from human experts, which tweak the phase design. The new design is fed back into a simulator and tested again. The process stops when we find that the average delay is not improved. We take the design from the previous step as our final design. An expert has verified the soundness of all of TIMELY's results.
Tolerogenic APC generate CD8+ T regulatory cells that modulate pulmonary interstitial fibrosis.

Transforming growth factor-β2-treated Ag-pulsed APC mimic APC from the immune privileged eye, and provide signals that generate regulatory T (Tr) cells and mediate peripheral tolerance. We postulated that TGF-β2-treated Ag-pulsed APC (tolerogenic APC (tol-APC)) might also orchestrate regulation of immune mediated pathogenesis in nonimmune privileged tissues such as the lung. We used an adoptive transfer model of autoimmune pulmonary interstitial fibrosis called hapten immune pulmonary interstitial fibrosis (ADT-HIPIF) in this study. Mice that received 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid-sensitized cells and challenged (intratracheally) with the hapten developed pulmonary interstitial fibrosis. However, transfer (i.v.) of TGF-β2-treated 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid-pulsed bone marrow-derived APC (tol-APC) to experimental mice 1 day after intratracheal challenge reduced the collagen deposition in the interstitium of the lung that usually follows challenge. Furthermore, ADT-HIPIF mice that received tol-APC developed Ag-specific efferent CD8 + Tr cells. Adoptive transfer of the Tr cells to another set of presensitized mice mediated suppression of the efferent phase of Th1 immune response and the subsequent immune dependent pulmonary interstitial fibrosis. Thus, tol-APC induced efferent CD8 + Tr cells in immune mice, and the regulation of the immune response limited the development of autoimmune pulmonary fibrosis in sensitized and pulmonary-challenged mice. Because ADT-HIPIF shares etiological and pathological characteristics with a variety of human immune inflammatory conditions in the lung that eventuate into interstitial fibrosis, these studies provide insight into potential therapy to alter the course of pulmonary fibrosis in humans.
Novel molecular targeted therapies for refractory thyroid cancer

The incidence of thyroid cancer continues to increase and this neoplasia remains the most common endocrine malignancy. No effective systemic treatment currently exists for iodine-refractory differentiated or medullary thyroid carcinoma, but recent advances in the pathogenesis of these diseases have revealed key targets that are now being evaluated in the clinical setting. RET (rearranged during transfection)/PTC (papillary thyroid carcinoma) gene rearrangements, B-Raf gene mutations, and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR-2) angiogenesis pathways are some of the known genetic alterations playing a crucial role in the development of thyroid cancer. Several novel agents have demonstrated promising responses. Of the treatments studied, multi-kinase inhibitors such as axitinib, sorafenib, motesanib, and XL-184 have shown to be the most effective by inducing clinical responses and stabilizing the disease process. Randomized clinical trials are currently evaluating these agents, results that may soon change the management of thyroid cancer.
The use of linguistic resources by mathematics teachers to create analogies

Abstract Researchers have documented the use of analogies by teachers when introducing mathematical concepts. This article asks the question what linguistic resources do teachers use to create analogies? The article applies systemic functional linguistics to examine examples in which a geometry teacher used analogies to connect daily life instances and mathematical ideas. Specifically, the method applies cohesion analysis to examine the teacher's use of lexical cohesion, conjunctions, and reported speech in the creation of analogies. The teacher created a parallel structure between the target and base of the analogies. The study demonstrates how linguistic analysis can be useful for researchers studying how teachers construct the mathematical classroom register through analogies, particularly when connecting colloquial and mathematics discourses.
Cotton genotypic variation in the photosynthetic response to irradiance

The photosynthetic response of 8 cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) genotypes to changing irradiance was investigated under field conditions during the 1998 through 2000 growing seasons. Equations developed to describe the response of net photosynthetic rate (PN) to photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) demonstrated that, across all irradiances, the two okra leaf-type genotypes photosynthesized at a greater rate per unit leaf area than all of the six normal leaf-type genotypes. This superior photosynthetic performance of the okra leaf-type genotypes can be partially explained by their 13 % greater leaf chlorophyll content relative to that of the normal leaf-type genotypes. The 37 % reduction in leaf size brought upon by the okra leaf trait may have concentrated the amount of photosynthetic machinery per unit leaf area. Nevertheless, the lack of sufficient canopy leaf surface area suppressed the potential yield development that could accompany the higher PN per unit leaf area.
Analysis of Fibronectin on Human Sperm

AbstractPurpose: The purpose of this study was to localize fibronectin on human sperm and correlate its distribution with the morphological and functional integrity of sperm.Materials and Methods: Semen samples were collected and sperm fractionated by swim-up. Subsets of the swim-up sperm were capacitated and acrosome reacted. Damage to swim-up sperm was induced by freezing and thawing. The presence of fibronectin on the surface of sperm was determined by immunocytochemistry.Results: FN immunoreactivity was variable but staining on the sperm tail was consistently highest, whereas FN immunoreactivity over the acrosome and equatorial band was consistently lowest. Capacitation and acrosome reaction did not substantially change the distribution of FN staining. However, swim-up sperm had significantly less FN immunoreactivity (4%) than sperm that were unable to swim-up (12%; p < 0.01). Sperm that were deliberately damaged by freeze/thaw showed significantly increased FN binding (p < 0.01). FN immunoreactivity ...
Quantitative myocardial-perfusion SPECT: comparison of three state-of-the-art software packages.

Background We almed to compare the automation and diagnostic performance in the detection of coronary artery disease (CAD) of the 4DMSPECT (4DM), Emory Cardiac Toolbox (EMO), and QPS systems for automated quantification of myocardial perfusion.
Emergency surgery in massive hemorrhage from high lesser curvature ulcers.

1. Four cases of massive hemorrhage from peptic ulcers above the mid-portion of the lesser curvature are reported in which emergency surgery was carried out. 2. Two patients exsanguinated after surgery, one following gastrectomy in which the ulcer was left in situ, the other following wedge resection. 3. The emergency procedure of choice in these cases appears to be a high Hofmeister resection with removal of the ulcer under local anesthesia notwithstanding the patient's poor condition. 4. Two cases are reported in which this was done successfully.
NADH oxidase activity present on both the external and internal surfaces of soybean plasma membranes

Abstract Soybean plasma membranes exhibit NADH oxidase activities accessible to NADH supplied to either the external or internal membrane surfaces. Activity at the external surface was demonstrated using plasma membranes of right side-out orientation prepared by aqueous two-phase partition and using intact soybean cells grown in culture. Activity at the internal membrane surface was demonstrated using vesicles of inside-out orientation obtained by preparative free-flow electrophoresis or by aqueous two-phase partition following freeze–thaw or Brij detergent treatment to invert some of the right side-out vesicles. The NADH oxidase activity of both membrane surfaces appeared to be stimulated by the synthetic auxin 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D). Following the freeze–thaw treatment utilized to evert the vesicles, however, the NADH oxidase activity of right side-out vesicles was greatly reduced. A 2,4-D-stimulated activity of these vesicles could be restored by treatment first with reduced glutathione and then with hydrogen peroxide or oxidized glutathione. Upon treatment with 0.1% Triton X-100, both right side-out and inside-out vesicles exhibited approximately the same specific activity and the same 2,4-D-stimulated component of activity equal to the sum of the activities of the right side-out and inside-out vesicles assayed separately. These findings suggest that a significant NADH oxidase activity of the soybean plasma membrane responsive to 2,4-D resides on the external plasma membrane surface. This latter activity is unlikely to function under physiological conditions in the direct oxidation of NADH and alternative functions, such as in protein disulfide–thiol interchange, would be more appropriate.
Negotiating equitable access to influenza vaccines: global health diplomacy and the controversies surrounding avian influenza H5N1 and pandemic influenza H1N1.

As part of the PLoS Medicine series on Global Health Diplomacy, David Fidler provides a case study of the difficult negotiations to increase equitable access to vaccines for highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) and pandemic 2009 influenza A (H1N1).
Ocular irritancy responses to various pHs of acids and bases with and without irrigation

Acids and alkalies were instilled into the eyes of 2 groups of rabbits; the eyes of one group were washed with tap water 30 s after exposure. Damage seen in washed and unwashed eyes was not always related to pH. Some strong acids with greater acidity than pH 2.5 produced opacities while 0.3% hydrochloric acid with a pH of 1.28 produced no ocular damage. Phenol (5%) and acetic acid (5%) with pHs greater than 2.5 produced damage equivalent to or greater than that produced by equal concentrations (w/v) of the mineral acids. All alkalies with pHs ranging from 11.5 to 13.5 produced opacities and other ocular damage of different degrees depending upon the alkali and its concentration. For example, low concentrations of some alkalies in the pH range from 11.3 to 12.8 produced no ocular changes. The duration of the corneal opacities produced by phenol, 1% sodium hydroxide, acetic acid and anhydrous sodium carbonate and the onset of corneal opacity produced by 5% sulfuric acid, the weak acids and 1% sodium hydroxide were reduced as a result of washing the test eyes 30 s after instillation of the test material. These data suggest that acidity and alkalinity of the test material are not the only factors to be considered in relation to a substances' capacity to produce severe ocular injury. The concentration of the test chemical and its period of contact with the eye prior to washing are also important.
New polyisobutylene based model ionomers

Mechanical properties of tri-arm polyisobutylene based ionomers have been investigated. Number average molecular weights (¯Mn's) of the polymers were varied from 8,300 to 34,000. The ionomer of lowest ¯Mn (8,300) exhibits very low extension at break (∼ 150%) while the others with ¯Mn's of 11,000, 14,000 and 34,000 show very high extensions, often exceeding 1,000%, and display relatively low permanent set and low hysteresis behavior. Since the ionic bonding is located exclusively at the chain ends, end-linked pseudo networks are formed due to coulombic attractions.At higher temperatures the coulombic interactions are weakened and the networks can be compression molded (∼150°C).