cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Integrated compensatory network is activated in the absence of NCC phosphorylation

Thiazide diuretics are used to treat hypertension; however, compensatory processes in the kidney can limit antihypertensive responses to this class of drugs. Here, we evaluated compensatory pathways in SPAK kinase-deficient mice, which are unable to activate the thiazide-sensitive sodium chloride cotransporter NCC (encoded by Slc12a3). Global transcriptional profiling, combined with biochemical, cell biological, and physiological phenotyping, identified the gene expression signature of the response and revealed how it establishes an adaptive physiology. Salt reabsorption pathways were created by the coordinate induction of a multigene transport system, involving solute carriers (encoded by Slc26a4, Slc4a8, and Slc4a9), carbonic anhydrase isoforms, and V-type H⁺-ATPase subunits in pendrin-positive intercalated cells (PP-ICs) and ENaC subunits in principal cells (PCs). A distal nephron remodeling process and induction of jagged 1/NOTCH signaling, which expands the cortical connecting tubule with PCs and replaces acid-secreting α-ICs with PP-ICs, were partly responsible for the compensation. Salt reabsorption was also activated by induction of an α-ketoglutarate (α-KG) paracrine signaling system. Coordinate regulation of a multigene α-KG synthesis and transport pathway resulted in α-KG secretion into pro-urine, as the α-KG-activated GPCR (Oxgr1) increased on the PP-IC apical surface, allowing paracrine delivery of α-KG to stimulate salt transport. Identification of the integrated compensatory NaCl reabsorption mechanisms provides insight into thiazide diuretic efficacy.
A Sensitivity Analysis of Mortality/Pm-10 Associations in Los Angeles

AbstractSeveral recent studies have reported statistically significant and quantitatively similar associations between daily mortality and PM-10 or total suspended particulates (TSP). These results have raised questions of biological plausibility, as well as questions regarding the statistical methods employed, which are relatively new and not widely understood. This article evaluates the sensitivity of mortality/PM-10 results to a range of statistical methods in a newly developed data set from Los Angeles county for the period 1985–1990. Data reported here include total daily deaths (excluding accidents and suicides), 24-h average PM-10, daily 1-h maximum 03 and carbon monoxide, maximum daily temperature, and mean daily relative humidity. Analyses were limited to the subset of days on which PM-10 data were available (every sixth day). Several alternative methods for addressing each of four issues were explored in this data set. These four issues were cyclic data variations, weather influences, other air ...
Development and function of the synergid cell

The synergid cells are located in the female gametophyte and are essential for angiosperm reproduction. During the fertilization process, a pollen tube grows into one of the synergid cells, ceases growth, ruptures, and releases its two sperm cells into this cell. The synergid cells produce an attractant that guides the pollen tube to the female gametophyte and likely contain factors that control arrest of pollen tube growth, pollen tube discharge, and gamete fusion. The synergid cells contain an elaborated cell wall at their micropylar poles, the filiform apparatus that likely plays a role in pollen tube guidance and pollen tube reception. Recent genetic, molecular, and physiological studies in Arabidopsis, maize, and Torenia have provided insights into synergid cell development and the control of pollen tube growth by the synergid cell.
Ultralow-power operational amplifier CMOS chip for monolithic integration with neural microprobes

A CMOS test chip has been designed and fabricated which can monolithically integrate ultra low-power operational amplifiers with neural microprobes through post-IC processing. Neural microprobes of varying widths (70 μm, 60 μm, 50 μm, and 40 μm) are designed with varying center-to-center spacing (195 μm, 175 μm, 165 μm, 155 μm, 145 μm, and 125 μm) on a test chip for integration. Neural microprobes are first fabricated on a separate Si substrate to develop a fabrication process for post-IC processing for integration. The amplifier is designed in standard 1.5 μm CMOS process for operation at m 0.4 V. Low power performance is realized by combining forward biased source-substrate junction MOSFETs with a novel low-voltage level-shift current mirror. The designed amplifier gives a gain of 7000 (77 dB) and a 3-dB bandwidth of 30 kHz. The amplifier output has a positive offset of only 20 μV and power dissipation of only 40 μW.
Refractive-index increase in laser-written waveguides in glasses

We present estimates of the refractive-index change in waveguides in silica produced by focused femtosecond laser pulses. The estimates are based on the shift of the central frequency of ω4 (TO) band (Si-O stretching mode) in micro-Raman spectra. These data were compared with the relation of this parameter to density and to refractive index changes in seen in glasses modified by high pressure or irradiation. We conclude that the measured refractive-index increase in the waveguides can be explained by densification of glass.© (2006) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Workload characterization for operator-based distributed stream processing applications

Operator-based programming languages provide an effective development model for large scale stream processing applications. A stream processing application consists of many runtime deployable software processing elements (PE) that work in flows to process incoming messages. Operators (OP) are logical building blocks hosted by PEs. One or more OPs can be fused into a PE at compile-time. Performance optimization for our streaming system includes compile-time fusion optimization and runtime PE-to-host deployment. One of the goals of an optimized stream application is to use minimal computing resource to sustain maximal message throughput.Characterizing the resource usage of PEs is critical for performance optimization. During compile-time optimization, OP-level resource usage is used to predict the resource usage of fused PEs. When starting an application, PE-level resource usage is used as an initial estimation by the scheduler. In this paper, we propose an efficient workload characterization approach for data stream processing systems. Our method includes the procedures for obtaining reusable OP-level resource usage information from profiling data and recomposing OP-level profiles to predict PE-level resource usage. We present several techniques to overcome measurement errors from the OP data collection. The impact of hardware speed and multi-threading contention on hyper-threading and multi-core machines are also studied. We show that our method can be applied to several streaming applications and the prediction of the PE CPU resource usage is within 15% of the actual CPU usage.
Preparatory Column Fractionation of Polymers: Selection of Solvent Gradient

Abstract The use of a programmable solvent gradient attachment with a high-speed liquid chromatograph affords a rapid and precise method for evaluating the effects of a variety of solvent gradients on fractionation, a determination of the effect of flow rate on efficiency, and a ready procedure to establish conditions for producing approximately equal amounts of polymer in each fraction.
The CombiUgi Project and Closing the Open Science Loop

This presentation combines 2 blog posts explaining the CombiUgi project and the predicted anti-tumor activity of a virtual library of 68,000 compounds.
Paleostress history of the Basin and Range province in western Utah and eastern Nevada from healed microfracture orientations in granites

Healed microfractures in quartz grains in 14 to 169 Ma granites from the Basin and Range province in western Utah and eastern Nevada record a history of paleostress. The microfracture data are in good agreement with the orientations of paleostresses determined for this same region by using orientations of dikes emplaced into only slightly older igneous host rocks. Samples generally have two or three steeply dipping microfracture sets. One set is related to the tectonic stress field at the time of magma emplacement. It strikes northeast-southwest in 31-169 Ma samples and east-northeast-west-southwest in 25-30 Ma samples, rotates to east-west by about 22 Ma, and strikes northwest-southeast in the youngest samples (about 14 Ma). Plutons younger than about 14 Ma are not exposed at the surface in western Utah and eastern Nevada. Other crack sets in the samples could have formed during cooling of the pluton, during a post cooling regional thermal or tectonic event, or during some local stress event. A strong north-south trend in these other crack sets may suggest a formation during Basin and Range extension.
Unsupervised nonmodel-based image analysis approach--block processing

An eigenstructure approach for the region detection is presented in this paper. It first defines Block and Snapshot, followed by the data formulation. A covariance matrix is formed as an overall description of the entire image environment. Then information criteria are finally applied to directly determine the number of regions. This approach does not make the heuristic assumptions for the model and considers the spatial correlation among the pixels. it also provides faster and more accurate operation than model-based approaches. The principle of block processing is described and the encouraging results are included.
Troponin T expression in trout red muscle correlates with muscle activation

Red or aerobic muscle from the anterior of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss activates (generates force) more quickly than that from the posterior. TnT is a component of the troponin complex that modulates muscle activation once Ca2+ is bound. Since trout express at least two forms of TnT in their red muscle (S1 and S2), the differential expression of these two forms was predicted to explain variations in contractile properties. TnT isoforms from trout muscle were identified through hydroxy-apatite chromatography of purified myofibrillar proteins followed by SDS-PAGE. Western blots employing a mammalian anti-troponin T monoclonal antibody were used to identify TnT isoforms. The relative expression of the two isoforms of TnT was then examined at seven longitudinal positions from each of three fish using SDS-PAGE and densitometry on the silver-stained TnT bands. A significant shift in expression was detected from anterior to posterior in all three fish with TnT S1 becoming more dominant in the posterior red muscle. As predicted, a shift in TnT expression was associated with the decrease in activation rate along the length of the fish. This study was then extended to include a different species of salmonid, brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis , to explore the generality of TnT modulation of muscle activation. Muscle contractile properties were determined from anterior and posterior muscle, and relative expression of S1 and S2 was determined. Unlike rainbow trout, there is no consistent longitudinal pattern of muscle activation in brook trout: some fish have kinetically faster muscle in the anterior, some in the posterior. Similarly, there is no consistent pattern of TnT expression. Individual analysis of muscle activation and TnT expression in brook trout provides insight into the role of TnT in modulating muscle activation in slow fish muscle.
SEVERITY OF EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT HYPOTENSION PREDICTS ADVERSE HOSPITAL OUTCOME

ABSTRACTArterial hypotension often signifies inadequate systemic perfusion. We hypothesize that in a heterogeneous emergency department (ED) population with clinically suspected circulatory shock, the severity of hypotension on presentation predicts in-hospital outcome. We performed a secondary anal
Energetics of the lattice: packing elements in crystals of four-stranded intercalated cytosine-rich DNA molecules

Condensation of single molecules from solution into crystals represents a transition between distinct energetic states. In solution, the atomic interactions within the molecule dominate. In the crystalline state, however, a set of additional interactions are formed between molecules in close contact in the lattice--these are the packing interactions. The crystal structures of d(CCCT), d(TAACCC), d(CCCAAT), and d(AACCCC) have in common a four-stranded intercalated cytosine segment, built by stacked layers of cytosine.cytosine+ (C.C+) base pairs coming from two parallel duplexes that intercalate into each other with opposite polarity. The intercalated cytosine segments in these structures are similar in their geometry, even though the sequences crystallized in different space groups. In the crystals, adenine and thymine residues of the sequences are used to build the three-dimensional crystal lattice by elaborately interacting with symmetry-related molecules. The packing elements observed provide novel insight about the copious ways in which nucleic acid molecules can interact with each other--for example, when folded in more complicated higher order structures, such as mRNA and chromatin.
Further developments on polyelectrolyte coupled dynamics

Generalized equations are presented for the interpretation of dynamic light scattering from multicomponent component systems, where the cumulant analysis and mutual diffusion approaches are distinguished. These equations are then applied to a salt-free system, with specific emphasis on the dynamics of ordered clusters that have been observed for some highly charged systems. The short comings of the approximations employed as to the interpretation of real data are discussed in detail, and suggestions are made for future studies.
Trust and Satisfaction in Adult Child–Mother (And Other) Relationships

We examined relationships between adult children and their mothers from a relational perspective. We investigated positive regard for mother relationships versus other dyadic relationships and the role that trust plays in fostering satisfaction in these relationships. In Study 1, undergraduates completed surveys about their relationships with their mothers. Trust was the strongest predictor of satisfaction in participants’ relationships with their moms. In Study 2, adults older than 25 completed questions about their satisfaction with their relationships with their mothers. Participants were more satisfied with and more trusting of their mothers than of anyone other than their best friends. Trust was again the most important predictor of satisfaction in relationships with mothers (as well as in several other relationships).
On the modeling and analysis of computer networks

Analytic models for computer network performance evaluation are surveyed. The basics of network analysis are presented, the network design procedure is discussed, and some of the fundamentals of network control are introduced. Some of the issues surrounding the design and behavior of gigabit networks are discussed. >
Wildfire temperature and land cover modeling using hyperspectral data

Wildfire temperature retrieval commonly uses measured radiance from a middle infrared channel and a thermal infrared channel to separate fire emitted radiance from the background emitted radiance. Emitted radiance at shorter wavelengths, including the shortwave infrared, is measurable for objects above a temperature of 500 K. The spectral shape and radiance of thermal emission within the shortwave infrared can be used to retrieve fire temperature. Airborne Visible Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) data were used to estimate fire properties and background properties for the 2003 Simi Fire in Southern California, USA. A spectral library of emitted radiance endmembers corresponding to a temperature range of 500–1500 K was created using the MODTRAN radiative transfer model. A second spectral library of reflected solar radiance endmembers, corresponding to four vegetation types and two non-vegetated surfaces, was created using image spectra selected by minimum endmember average root mean square error (RMSE). The best fit combination of an emitted radiance endmember and a reflected solar radiance endmember was found for each spectrum in the AVIRIS scene. Spectra were subset to reduce the effects of variable column water vapor and smoke contamination over the fire. The best fit models were used to produce maps of fire temperature, fire fractional area, background land cover, land cover fraction, and RMSE. The highest fire temperatures were found along the fire front, and lower fire temperatures were found behind the fire front. Saturation of shortwave infrared channels limited modeling of the highest fire temperatures. Spectral similarity of land cover endmembers and smoke impacted the accuracy of modeled land cover. Sensitivity analysis of modeled fire temperatures revealed that the range of temperatures modeled within 5% of minimum RMSE was smallest between 750 and 950 K. Hyperspectral modeling of wildfire temperature and fuels has potential application for fire monitoring and modeling.
Employee skills analysis using a hybrid neural network and expert system

The integration of neural networks and expert systems creates the potential for systems that are more powerful than ones using either of the techniques alone. The project presented uses hybrid systems for analyzing corporate databases. In this amplification, a neural network is trained to recognize patterns of information in an employee database, and an expert system component combines those results with a rule-based analysis to recommend staffing for projects. Results are presented along with implementation details and recommendations for further work in this area. >
Delivery Outcomes of Low Risk Births: Comparison of Certified Nurse Midwives and Obstetricians

This study determined differences in delivery outcomes of primiparous women (n = 107) by certified nurse midwives versus similar deliveries by experienced obstetricians through a retrospective chart review of low risk births. The use of both forceps and midline episiotomies were found to be significantly higher in the obstetrician group. Obstetricians also were more likely to use anesthesia than the midwife group. No significant differences were found in the number or degree of perineal lacerations or in the mean Apgar scores.
Electro-Thermal Design of a Heat Pipe Based High Power Voltage Source Converter Using Emitter Turn-Off Thyristor

Flexible AC transmission system (FACTS) applications are gaining more popularity and have been given a great impetus by the development of multilevel converters for high power applications. In this paper, a high power modular Voltage Source Converter (VSC) is developed based on the newly developed Emitter Turn-off Thyristor (ETO). In order to achieve this modular functionality, heat pipes are used as the cooling system, replacing the traditional water based cooling method. Through the use of non-isolated heat pipes, we can avoid the electrical isolation issue of cooling system in high voltage FACTS application. The heat pipe also helps to increase the VSCs power density and reliability by reducing the amount of pipes used and reduction of components counts. The hardware configuration, thermal calculation as well as component selection and design are presented in this paper.
Effect of Beach Replenishment Projects on Waterbird and Shorebird Communities

Abstract In an effort to identify the potential effects of beach replenishment projects on waterbird and shorebird communities, avian abundance, species richness, and behavior were monitored at three transects before and after beach replenishment. The length of the study was 2 years with weekly surveys for most of the year. Data were analyzed with a Before/After Control Impact Pairs (BACIP) design, which incorporated spatial and temporal data from a control beach and replenished beaches into one analysis. No significant changes in mean waterbird and shorebird abundance were detected after replenishment, although the data do suggest that habitat use by waterbirds might have increased at replenished beaches. Of the individual waterbird and shorebird species examined, only Laughing Gulls and Black-bellied Plovers exhibited a significant change in abundance after replenishment, with these species exhibiting an increase and a decrease, respectively. Postreplenishment changes in waterbird and shorebird species ...
SRAM bit-line electromigration mechanism and its prevention scheme

In this paper, we demonstrate that signal lines in SRAM arrays are prone to electromigration (EM). Our analysis shows that the read operation can cause unidirectional current flow in bit-lines. Thus the length of bit-lines should be bounded not only by performance requirements, but also by the Blech length constraint to avoid EM. We propose a method of determining the bit-line width under layout constraints to maximize the number of cells attached to a bit-line, while ensuing the reliability of the bit-line and maintaining SRAM performance. We also study the effects of SRAM parameter variations on the EM-safe bit-line length. Simulation results show that the EM-safe bit-line length decreases as technology scales, temperature or frequency rise, and parameter variations increase.
An efficient parallelized discrete particle model for dense gas-solid flows on unstructured mesh

An efficient, parallelized implementation of discrete particle/element model (DPM or DEM) coupled with the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model has been developed. Two parallelization strategies are used to partly overcome the poor load balancing problem due to the heterogeneous particle distribution in space. Firstly at the coarse-grained level, the solution domain is decomposed into partitions using bisection algorithm to minimize the number of faces at the partition boundaries while keeping almost equal number of cells in each partition. The solution of the gas-phase governing equations is performed on these partitions. Particles and the solution of their dynamics are associated with partitions according to their hosting cells. This makes no data exchange between processors when calculating the hydrodynamic forces on particles. By introducing proper data mapping between partitions, the cell void fraction is calculated accurately even if a particle is shared by several partitions. Neighboring partitions are grouped by a gross evaluation before simulation, with each group having similar particle number. The computation task of a group of partitions is assigned to a compute node, which has multi-cores or multiprocessors with a shared memory. Each core or processor in a node takes the computation of the gas governing equations in one partition. Processors communicate and exchange data through Message Passing Interface (MPI) at this coarse-grained parallelism. Secondly, the multithreading technique is used to parallelize the computation of the dynamics of the particles in each partition. The number of compute threads is determined according to the number of particles in partitions and the number of cores in a compute node. In such a way there is almost no waiting of the threads in a compute node. Since the particle numbers in all compute nodes are almost the same, the above strategy yields an efficient load balancing among compute nodes. Test numerical experiments on TeraGrid HPC cluster Queen Bee show that the developed code is efficient and scalable to simulate dense gas-solid flows with up to more than 10 millions of particles by 128 compute nodes. Bubbling in a middle-scale fluidized bed and granular Rayleigh-Taylor instability are well captured by the parallel code.
A Longitudinal Examination of Enterprise Resource Planning System Post-Implementation Enhancements

ABSTRACT: Past information systems research on real options suggests that large-scale information technology projects, such as enterprise resource planning systems (ERPS), create various future options for system reconfiguration and extension. Management would decide whether to exercise an option according to future conditions. From the real options lens, we conduct a longitudinal examination of the determinants of post-implementation enhancement decisions for firms that have previously reported ERPS adoptions. We find that proactive ERPS adopters that employ performance-enhancing post-implementation review (PIR) practices and obtain favorable performance outcomes are more likely to make system enhancements. Evidence also shows that management likely makes joint decisions on PIR uses and ERPS enhancements, consistent with the view that managers perform gateway reviews at points where potential enhancement opportunities are present. Moreover, management tends to delay the enhancing decision until after th...
Meeting the Demands of Digital Scholarship: Challenges and Opportunities

Paper accompanying a poster presentation for the 2005 ASIS&T Annual Conference. This paper provides an overall scenario in the areas of aggregating a variety of digital formats, archiving digital content, and innovative uses of digital library technologies.
Effective dose to patients and staff when using a mobile PET/SPECT system

The purpose of this study was to determine the number of weekly acquisitions permissible using a mobile PET/SPECT scanner for myocardial perfusion/viability imaging in an intensive care unit (ICU) based on the effective dose to patients and staff. The effective dose to other patients and staff in an ICU was calculated following recommendations from the American Association of Physicists in Medicine Task Group 108 report (AAPM TG-108). The number of weekly acquisitions using 555 MBq (15 mCi) Tc-99m for myocardial perfusion or F-18 for myocardial viability was determined using the regulatory limits described in the Code of Federal Regulations 10 CFR 20. To increase the number of weekly acquisitions allowed, a reduction in administered dose and portable shielding was considered. A single myocardial perfusion image can be acquired with Tc-99m each week with a dose reduction to 455 MBq (12.3 mCi) without additional shielding. To acquire a myocardial viability image with F-18, an activity reduction to 220 MBq (5.9 mCi) is required to meet the regulatory effective dose limit without additional shielding. More than one weekly acquisition can be performed if additional shielding or activity reduction is utilized. A method for calculating dose to patients and staff in an ICU has been developed using conservative assumptions and following AAPM TG-108. This calculation must be repeated for each individual clinic before any acquisition is performed.
The La antigen binds 5′ noncoding region of the hepatitis C virus RNA in the context of the initiator AUG codon and stimulates internal ribosome entry site-mediated translation

Translation initiation of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA genome occurs through an internal ribosome entry site in a cap-independent manner. Here, we have examined the interaction between La antigen and the HCV 5′ noncoding region (5′NCR). In this analysis, competitor RNAs derived from HCV 5′NCR carrying deletions and a point mutation were used to identify the site(s) of La antigen binding during UV cross-linking assay. These studies suggest that La antigen recognizes the intact HCV 5′NCR structure. Further, these interactions occurred in the context of the initiator AUG. The latter view is supported by an analysis in which mutants of the HCV 5′NCR RNA with deletion or substitution in the initiator AUG codon failed to compete for La antigen binding to the wild-type 5′NCR. The evidence for the interaction between liver cell-derived La antigen and the HCV 5′NCR is provided by immunoprecipitation of a UV cross-linked species from the S100 fraction of Huh7 cell lysates. The functional relevance of this interaction was demonstrated by the stimulation of the HCV internal ribosome entry site-mediated translation in the presence of La protein. These results suggest an important functional role of La protein in the regulation of internal initiation of translation of the HCV RNA genome.
Extreme Gradients in the Nocturnal Boundary Layer: Structure, Evolution, and Potential Causes

During the Cooperative Atmosphere‐Surface Exchange Study-1999 (CASES-99) campaign in southeastern Kansas in the fall of 1999, the University of Colorado’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) made a series of vertical profiling measurements using the CIRES tethered lifting system (TLS). The results reported here began during a period when the nocturnal boundary layer (NBL) was characterized by a low-level jet (LLJ) peaking at 120 m and a temperature profile that increased smoothly with height to a point slightly above the height of the LLJ peak. Then, within a period of less than 30 min, the character of the NBL changed abruptly, with the breakdown of the well-defined LLJ and the appearance of a surprisingly steep temperature change of some 3.5 K around 180‐190 m AGL. Part of this inversion was extremely sharp, with the steepest portion showing a temperature change of 1 K over an altitude range of only 5 cm, corresponding to a vertical temperature gradient in excess of 20 K m 21. The general shape of this steep gradient was maintained—albeit with slightly reduced values—for at least 20 min. It is understood that the magnitude of the steepest portion of this gradient exceeds all previously observed atmospheric gradients by over an order of magnitude, although comparable gradients—albeit under very disparate conditions—have been observed in the ocean. A second surprising feature apparent in these results was the steepness of the gradients in turbulence structure at the top of the NBL and within the residual layer (RL), the region above the NBL that is usually slightly stably stratified and extends upward to the height marked by the vestiges of the previous day’s capping inversion. At the NBL top, energy dissipation rates and temperature structure parameters dropped sharply by more than one order of magnitude over a distance of only a few meters. At higher altitudes within the RL, a 60-m-thick region of very weak turbulence was observed. This low-turbulence region also exhibited sharp edges, where energy dissipation rates and temperature structure parameters changed by at least an order of magnitude over vertical distances of only a few meters.
Dying while Dry: Kinetics and Mechanisms of Deterioration in Desiccated Organisms'

Persistence of anhydrous organisms in nature may depend on how long they remain viable in dry environments. Longevity is determined by interactions of humidity, temperature, and unknown cellular factors that affect the propensity for damaging reactions. Here we describe our research to elucidate those cellular factors and to ultimately predict how long a population can survive under extreme conditions. Loss of viability typically follows a sigmoidal pattern, where a period of small changes precedes a cataclysmic decline. The time for viability to decrease to 50% (P50) varied among seed species and among 10 phylogenetically diverse organisms. When stored at elevated temperatures of 35°C and 32% relative humidity (RH), P50 ranged from about a week for spores of Serratia marcescens to several years for fronds of Selaginella lepidophylla. Most of the species studied survived longest at low humidity (10-20% RH), but suffered under complete dryness. Temperature dependencies of aging kinetics appeared similar among diverse organisms despite the disparate longevities. The effect of temperature on seed aging rates was consistent with the temperature dependency of molecular mobility of aqueous glasses, with both showing a reduction by several orders of magnitude when seeds were cooled from 60°C to 0°C. Longevity is an inherited trait in seeds, but its complex expression among widely divergent taxa suggests that it developed through multiple pathways.
Valuing Regulations Affecting Addictive or Habitual Goods

The analysis of regulations affecting addictive or habitual goods has drawn considerable controversy. Some studies have suggested that such regulations have only small welfare benefits, as consumers value these goods despite health benefits from quitting, while other studies suggest that information or behavioral problems make existing consumption decisions a poor guide to welfare evaluation. We examine potential utility offsets to health benefits of regulations affecting addictive or habitual goods theoretically and empirically. Our analysis focuses on individuals who consume these goods only, ignoring other social costs and benefits. Theoretically, we show the importance of several factors including: money saved in addition to health improvements; differentiating steady-state utility losses from short-term withdrawal costs; lack of utility loss for people dissuaded from starting to consume the good; and accounting for utility consequences of explicit or implicit cost increases. Our empirical analysis considers regulations that affect smoking. To measure the welfare cost of smoking cessation, we divide the population into those with more and less rational smoking behavior and use the valuation of smoking from more rational smokers to impute values of losses for less rational smokers. Our results show that the utility cost of smoking cessation is small relative to the health gains in people for whom withdrawal costs are the main utility loss of quitting, and even among people who have some ongoing loss, the utility offsets represent 20%–25% of the health gains. While marginal smokers induced to quit by regulations can be expected to have low or no steady-state loss, even this higher estimate is far below prevailing estimates of the utility cost of smoking used by the Food and Drug Administration and other analysts.
Don't Tread on Me: Faster than a Tire Blowout, Congress Passes Wide-Sweeping Legislation that Treads on the Thirty-Five Year Old Motor Vehicle Safety Act

In the wake of one of the most controversial recalls ever to strike the automotive industry, the 106th Congress passed the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation (TREAD) Act on October 11, 2000, which President Clinton signed into law on November 1, 2000. The TREAD Act amends the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 (Vehicle Safety Act) in response to unanswered questions surrounding the (lack of) reporting of potential defect information that led to the recall of over fourteen million Bridgestone/Firestone ATX, ATX II, and Wilderness AT tires on August 9, 2000. Prior to this recall, numerous complaints on file with National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) had alleged that the Firestone tires, which Ford Motor Company (Ford) mounted as standard equipment on Ford Explorers, suffered tread separation causing vehicle rollover that culminated in death or serious bodily injury. Congress was distraught to learn that Ford failed to notify NHTSA of the numerous tire-related safety campaigns conducted by Ford in overseas markets and the numerous lawsuits filed against Bridgestone/Firestone. Even more distressing to Congress was that, while Ford was required to notify NHTSA of safety campaigns conducted in the United States, Ford was not required under law to report the very same safety campaigns conducted in overseas markets. This article examines the TREAD Act's massive impact on the thirty-five year old Vehicle Safety Act. Part I (Background) traces the origins of the Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 before turning to the Ford-Firestone tire recall events, which ultimately culminated in high profile congressional hearings and eventual passage of the TREAD Act in October 2000. Part II (Analysis) focuses on the text and impact of the TREAD Act, in particular, the impact both on NHTSA and the automotive industry. Further, Part II points out major differences between the Senate and House versions and offers suggestions for NHTSA to consider as it undertakes numerous rulemaking activities implementing the TREAD Act. The article concludes by focusing on issues NHTSA will need to address as it undertakes to implement the numerous TREAD Act mandates.
Pharmacologic treatment for postviral olfactory dysfunction: a systematic review

Background Postviral olfactory dysfunction (PVOD) is the most common cause of olfactory dysfunction. Several treatments have been presented in the literature. The objective of this study is to systematically review the existing literature on the effectiveness of pharmacologic treatments for PVOD. Methods We performed a literature search of PubMed, Ovid, and ScienceDirect from 1966 to 2014. Inclusion criteria included English-language articles containing original data on pharmacologic treatment of PVOD with ≥5 subjects, measurable outcomes, and readily available treatments. Data was collected regarding study design, subject demographic information, clinical outcomes, and level of evidence. Two investigators reviewed all articles independently. Results Of 445 abstracts identified, 8 articles were included, yielding 563 patients. Treatments investigated included oral corticosteroids, local injections of corticosteroids, zinc sulfate, alpha lipoic acid, caroverine, vitamin A, Ginkgo biloba, and minocycline. Outcome measures were determined by symptom scores and objective olfactory test methods—the most common being Sniffin’ Sticks. Improvement was noted in subjects receiving oral corticosteroid therapy, local injections of corticosteroid, alpha lipoic acid, and caroverine, whereas vitamin A, zinc sulfate, Ginkgo biloba, and minocycline groups did not show significant improvement. Conclusion The majority of therapies investigated that show benefit in treating PVOD are of poor quality. Although caroverine therapy showed benefit and is a level 1b study, etiologies of olfactory dysfunction other than PVOD were included as well, which clouds the results. Overall, there is no strong evidence for any pharmacologic treatment of PVOD in the literature.
Formation of Co-Mn Composite Oxide Films from Saturated Solution

Co-Mn Conposite oxide films were formed on stainless steel electrodes by polarizing them slightly cathodically in a dilute aqueous solution containing Co2÷ and MnO4- ions. The solutions were supersaturated with sparingly soluble compounds, Co2O3 and MnO2, which were produced as a result of the redox reaction between Co2+ and MnO4- ions. Supersaturation was kept during the film formation. The [Mn] / [Co] ratio of the films varied with the concentrations of Co2+ and MnO4- ions in the solution, the elapsed time from solution preparation, and the electrode potential of stainless steel. This method is applicable to the film formation of sparingly soluble compounds on conductive materials.
On bacterial dissociation

Abstract A possible explanation for bacterial dissociation is presented. Alternation of haploidy to diploidy to haploidy is offered as an explanation for dissociation. By studying dissociation with such an approach, the real sexual mechanism of bacteria may be discovered.
Laser therapy for the treatment of pearly penile papules.

Pearly penile papules (PPP) present as dome-shaped papules of no more than 3 mm in diameter that line the base of the glans of the penis. These benign lesions affect between 14.3 and 48 % of men. While often asymptomatic, PPP can cause a great deal of psychological distress that may warrant treatment. Current treatment options include cryotherapy, electrodessication, and curettage (ED&C). However, these modalities may have considerable adverse cosmetic effects, including scarring, pain, and pigmentary changes. Laser modalities offer clear potential for improved cosmetic outcome in PPP treatment, but is not routinely used. Thus, a systematic review of available literature using the National Library of Medicine database PubMed was completed to find articles relevant to the treatment of PPP with laser and light therapy. The systematic search and screening of articles resulted in inclusion of eight articles discussing a total of 55 patients with PPP treated by laser therapy. The present systematic review found that erbium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Er:YAG) and CO2 laser were the most commonly reported (n = 45 and 7, respectively). Furthermore, the use of CO2, Er:YAG, pulsed dye laser, and fractional photothermolysis therapies demonstrated complete clearance of PPP in all cases with minimal complications and discomfort. Thus, based on the currently available evidence, laser therapy is a well-tolerated and efficacious method for treating PPP with minimal long-term adverse effects and a cosmetically desirable outcome. Although the included studies are limited in power, this systematic review offers clinically relevant insight into the potential for laser therapy.
The economic burden of prostate cancer: A comparison of African American and Caucasian men

A60 Background: Prostate Cancer is the foremost type of cancer diagnosed in men, and the second leading cause of death. In the United States, 218,890 new cases were estimated to occur in 2007 with approximately 27,050 deaths. The incidence rates have increased with the introduction of early detection screening, and morbidity rates are slowly declining. Even with this decrease, the disproportionate impact of cancer morbidity and mortality prevails in African American men at rates more than double those recorded for Caucasians. In Florida it is estimated that 15,710 males will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2007 and approximately 2,180 are expected to die. Purpose: Considering the high mortality and morbidity rates associated with prostate cancer, the economic burden of this disease to society is significant. Cost of illness for prostate cancer has been a minimal area of exploration. More importantly, there are few studies to ascertain the impact of prostate cancer in African-American men compared to Caucasian men. The goal of this study was to report the overall cost of treating men with a primary diagnosis of prostate cancer. The secondary objective was to analyze if the average cost of treating African American men with a primary diagnosis of prostate cancer was different from that of Caucasian men with the same diagnosis. Methods: A nonrandomized, retrospective, secondary data analysis was conducted to achieve study objectives. Data was obtained from Miami Veterans Affairs Medical Center database, an equal access delivery system, which could identify members by race. A cost of illness analysis was conducted to determine the overall economic burden for men and to compare the costs between African American and Caucasian men. Analysis: SAS 9.00 for Windows XP was employed for the data analyses. Student t-test was used to compare the economic burden of prostate cancer for African American and Caucasian men. Results: Economic burden of prostate cancer for the Miami Veterans Affairs system for a one-year period was determined to be $1,788,862.94 for 1204 men. African American men tend to be younger than Caucasian men 69.9/72.7 (P=.01). The mean cost for treating outpatient African American men ($1,846) is significantly greater (P
A Meta-Analytic Approach for Uncovering Neural Activation Patterns of Sustainable Product Preference Decisions

This paper explores the use of neuroimaging data to inform results from a preference decision study involving product sustainability. Neurosynth, a meta-analytic database of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies, was used to extract regions of interest (ROIs) for cross comparison with an empirically collected fMRI dataset. The tasks for the empirically collected fMRI dataset were product preference decisions involving sustainability. In particular, participants were engaged in preference judgments separated into two conditions; one with and one without calculated environmental impact values displayed alongside each design alternative. Extracted meta-analytic ROIs were generated based upon keywords (moral, emotion, etc.) from hypotheses on the ways individuals formulate opinions regarding the environment. Furthermore, additional keywords were seeded based on the results of a whole-brain fMRI analysis. Results indicate the important role of moral reasoning and theory of mind processing in product evaluations within social choice domains, such as sustainability.
Elective laminectomy and excision of the thoracic spine neoplasm: an evaluation of early outcomes.

BACKGROUND Laminectomy with excision of spinal neoplasms is commonly performed. The current study examines risk profiles associated with elective laminectomies of benign, malignant primary, and secondary/metastatic neoplasms of the thoracic spine. METHODS Adult patients undergoing elective thoracic laminectomy and excision of spinal neoplasm were abstracted from ACS-NSQIP years 2011-2014. Patients were classified into three cohorts: benign primary, malignant primary, secondary/metastatic. Univariate and multivariable analyses compared operation time, early complications, hospital length of stay (HLOS), and discharge destination across cohorts. RESULTS One-hundred sixty patients were included, aged 58.0±14.8-years. Mean operation time was 209.23±101.52 minutes and cohorts did not differ significantly on multivariable analysis. Mean HLOS was 6.10±7.14 days and did not differ by cohort. Early complications were observed in 15.6% of patients; secondary/metastatic patients associated with increased odds of >1 unit of blood transfusion, but not overall complications. Failure to be discharged home occurred in 31.8% of patients (benign primary: 30.0%, malignant primary: 66.6%, secondary/metastatic: 10.5%; P<0.001). Malignant primary tumors associated with increased multivariable odds of failure to be discharged home (OR 3.63, 95% CI [1.09, 12.10], P=0.036). Tumor location (extradural, intradural/extramedullary, intramedullary) was not a significant predictor of outcomes. A higher number of concurrent fusions were observed for secondary/metastatic laminectomies (benign primary: 7.3%; malignant primary: 5.5%; secondary/metastatic: 36.8%; P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS Comparable performance on operation time and HLOS between neoplasm cohorts suggests broad indication of resectional laminectomies for elective treatment. Primary malignant thoracic spine tumors may require higher levels of early postdischarge care. Future studies are needed to confirm these findings.
Effects of aging on action-intentional programming.

ABSTRACTBackground: Action-intentional programs control “when” we initiate, inhibit, continue, and stop motor actions. The purpose of this study was to learn if there are changes in the action-intentional system with healthy aging, and if these changes are asymmetrical (right versus left upper limb) or related to impaired interhemispheric communication. Methods: We administered tests of action-intention to 41 middle-aged and older adults (61.9 ± 12.3 years). Results: Regression analyses revealed that older age predicted a decrement in performance for tests of crossed motor response inhibition as well as slower motor initiation with the left hand. Conclusion: Changes in action-intention with aging appear to be related to alterations of interhemispheric communication and/or age-related right hemisphere dysfunction; however, further research is needed to identify the mechanisms for age-related changes in the brain networks that mediate action-intention.